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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Admirals, by W.H.G. Kingston
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Three Admirals
+
+Author: W.H.G. Kingston
+
+Illustrator: J.R. Wells and C.J. Staniland
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2007 [EBook #21447]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THREE ADMIRALS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+The Three Admirals. Life in the Royal Navy in the 1860s. By W.H.G.
+Kingston.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+This is the fourth in Kingston's tetralogy that begins with The Three
+Midshipmen, and ends with The Three Admirals.  These books were among
+the first written by Kingston, and were published serially in weekly
+magazines.  Kingston's reputation was made by these books, that first
+appeared about 1860, and dealt with an officer's life in the Navy at
+about that time.
+
+By an extraordinary co-incidence, the three young men who had met as
+midshipmen, get postings that enable them to keep their friendships live
+even when they are Admirals.  Another old friend is Admiral Triton, who,
+is now dead and buries on the Isle of Wight, but they get to visit his
+grave.
+
+This is actually quite a long book, but it is full of adventures, and
+you will love it as much as you loved its predecessors.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+THE THREE ADMIRALS. LIFE IN THE ROYAL NAVY IN THE 1860s. BY W.H.G.
+KINGSTON.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+THE DRAGON OFF THE BONINS--A CONVERSATION BETWEEN TOM ROGERS AND ARCHIE
+GORDON--GERALD DESMOND ON THE SICK-LIST--THREATENINGS OF A TYPHOON--IT
+STRIKES THE SHIP--SHE RUNS BEFORE IT--THE SHIP HOVE TO--THE BOWSPRIT
+CARRIED AWAY--A MARINE WILL-O'-THE-WISP--ENTER A BAY IN ONE OF THE BONIN
+ISLANDS--TOM, GERALD, AND BILLY GET LEAVE TO VISIT THE SHORE--A
+BEAUTIFUL CAVERN--LAND ON THE ISLAND--THEIR DISCOVERIES--FISHING--
+INTERRUPTED BY SHARKS--A PICNIC--BOAT DRIFTS AWAY FROM THE SHORE--TOM
+SWIMS OFF--NARROW ESCAPE FROM A SHARK--SEE THE SHIP IN THE OFFING--PULL
+AFTER HER--A HURRICANE COMING ON--FEARFUL DANGER WHEN RE-ENTERING THE
+HARBOUR.
+
+Her Majesty's corvette _Dragon_, lately commanded by our old friend Jack
+Rogers, who had been superseded by Commander Rawson, was on her passage
+across the wide Pacific, bound for Esquimault harbour, Vancouver's
+Island, from Japan, to which she had been sent with despatches.
+
+The wind being fair, the screw was at rest, and she was under all sail,
+looking as trim and taunt a little man-of-war as a sailor's heart could
+desire.  Her stay in Japan had been short, so that no leave had been
+granted, and even the officers had seen little of the country and
+people; though, as they hoped to return before long, that did not much
+matter.  As it was of no great importance that the _Dragon_ should soon
+get back to Vancouver's Island, Commander Rawson had received directions
+to visit the Ladrone Islands, somewhat to the southward of his course,
+in order to obtain particulars of an outrage, said to have been
+committed on an English subject by some of the mongrel inhabitants of
+those islands, which have for some centuries belonged to Spain.
+
+The smooth sea shone brightly in the rays of the sun, undimmed by cloud
+or mist.  In all directions the snowy wings of sea fowl could be seen,
+now dipping towards the ocean, now rising into the blue ether, showing
+that land was at no great distance.  As the wind was from the northward,
+the air was cool, though the shady side of the ship was generally sought
+for by the watch on deck, except by a few whose heads seemed impervious
+to the hot rays of a tropical sun.
+
+Two midshipmen were slowly pacing the port side of the quarter-deck,
+where a few feet of shade afforded them shelter from the heat.  The one,
+a somewhat short, well-knit lad, with open countenance, well tanned, and
+blue laughing eyes, his whole appearance giving promise of strength and
+activity; the other, a tall youth with sandy hair, and pleasant features
+well freckled.  Though tall, he was too well built to be called lanky,
+and showed that he possessed both strength and activity.
+
+"I say, Archie, I do envy those fellows of the _Eolus_ going on to
+China; they will see all sorts of fun, for the Celestials are sure not
+to give in in a hurry.  The _Eoluses_ will have the same sort of work
+that my brother Jack and your cousin Murray went through in the last
+Chinese war, when they were midshipmen."
+
+The speaker was Tom Rogers, the youngest brother of Captain Jack Rogers;
+his companion was Archie Gordon, Captain Alick Murray's cousin.
+
+"Gerald was dreadfully cut up at not being able to remain on board the
+_Eolus_, and having instead to come back with us to return home; but
+Captain Adair's letter was peremptory, and, as the newspapers say, I
+hope that he will hear of something to his advantage.  Gerald would have
+been better pleased had his uncle let him know why he was sent for."
+
+"He has no great cause to complain, seeing that the climate of China is
+none of the most delectable, and he would have run the risk of being
+shot into the bargain," observed Archie.  "I wish that I had the chance
+of going home, and finding myself the possessor of a tidy fortune with a
+title."
+
+"But then there's the honour and glory, and the fun, and the pig-tails
+to be captured, and the loot, and the chance of serving in a naval
+brigade and seeing some work on shore, just as the _Shannon's_ people
+did in India, with a fair prospect of promotion at the end of it."
+
+"If a body happens not to be shot, ye ken," observed Archie, who, though
+every bit as eager as Tom for the sort of work he described, took a
+pleasure in differing in opinion from him whenever he could.
+
+"We will not, however, bother poor Desmond about the subject until he is
+well again," said Tom.  "I really believe that he fell sick through
+vexation, though he was happy enough to be with us once more."
+
+"He is much better to-day," remarked Archie, "and I hope by to-morrow
+that the doctor will let him come on deck again, although he may not be
+fit for duty for a day or two more."
+
+Mr Mildmay, the first lieutenant, who was officer of the watch, paced
+the deck, spyglass in hand, now and then going on to the bridge and
+sweeping the horizon with his glass, while he frequently called to the
+look-outs on the forecastle and fore-yardarm to keep their eyes open.
+Jos Green, the master, was also continually there, or else consulting
+the chart in his cabin, for that part of the ocean was comparatively
+little known, and cruel reefs might exist, not marked down.
+
+"The first lieutenant and the master seem very fidgety," remarked Tom.
+
+"So would we be, I suspect, if the responsibility of navigating the ship
+rested with us," answered Archie.  "After all, no one suffers by being
+sufficiently careful; that's the rule my cousin gave me when I first
+came to sea."
+
+"And a very good rule it is, too, no doubt about that," observed Tom.
+"My brother Jack is as careful of his ship, and everything connected
+with her, as an old lady is of her best silk gown on a Sunday morning,
+though any one, to hear him talk, would suppose that he was the most
+harum-scarum fellow alive, always excepting his old shipmate, Captain
+Adair.  He is, however, staid and steady enough in reality.  I was very
+glad to hear that he got his post rank at the same time as my brother
+Jack did; and now the three old messmates, as they delight to call
+themselves, are post-captains, and will some day, I hope, be admirals.
+I wish, however, that they had not to wait so long.  Your grave cousin
+Murray is as fit to be an admiral now as he will be twenty years hence,
+and, unless not a few fine fellows die off, it will take the best part
+of that time for any of them to get their flag."
+
+"It is encouragement for us, though," observed Archie; "for if they have
+all been posted without any great amount of interest, we may hope to get
+promoted in consequence of our good conduct."
+
+"Yes, but then remember that they have seen a great deal of service, and
+should the piping times of peace return, we may find it a hard matter to
+get employed and be able to exhibit our good conduct."
+
+"Weel, mon, we'll hope for the best, and may be some other nation will
+kindly think fit to come to fisticuffs with old England, and give us
+something to do," said Archie.
+
+"There's every chance of that, I should think," said Tom.  Just then
+seven bells struck in the afternoon watch.  "I'll go and see how Gerald
+is getting on, before I have to come on deck again; it's dull work for
+him lying all by himself."
+
+Tom found his old messmate, whose cot was slung a little way outside the
+berth, so that he might have the advantage of the air coming down the
+after-hatchway, sucking lustily at an orange which he grasped in one
+hand, while he held a book in the other.  He was so absorbed in its
+perusal that he did not notice Tom.  Suddenly he burst into a loud fit
+of laughter.
+
+"Capital fun; I should have liked to have seen it!" he exclaimed;
+"soused over head and ears a second time.  Ah, ah, ah!"
+
+"What's the joke?" asked Tom.
+
+"I've just got to where old Peregrine Wiffle tumbles into the water a
+second time, when he is showing how he saw the small fish playing under
+the wharf, and was picked up with a boat-hook."  Tom and Gerald had a
+good laugh together.
+
+"You don't seem very bad," observed Tom.
+
+"No; the fever, or whatever it was, that had got hold of me, has cut its
+stick, though I don't feel quite as nimble as I ought to be," answered
+Gerald.  "I believe that the disappointment of not going to China, and
+the thinking over what my uncle Terence can want me home for, had more
+to do with it than the climate, the hot sun, or anything else, and I
+intend to ask the doctor to let me go on deck to-morrow, by which time I
+shall have finished my book, and I want to have a look at any of the
+islands we may happen to pass.  There are some curious shaped ones, I am
+told."
+
+"Yes; we have sighted some.  One seemed to rise three or four hundred
+feet in a pointed peak, right out of the water, and it was not, I should
+say, an eighth of a mile in circumference.  It is marked on the chart as
+Lot's wife.  A solitary existence she must lead all by herself."
+
+"Whereabouts are we?" asked Desmond.
+
+"At noon, when we were passing that curious rock, our latitude was 29
+degrees north, and our longitude 14 degrees east.  We shall next sight
+the Bonin Islands, or Rosario, which is another lofty island, little
+more than a rock, standing up out of the sea."
+
+"Do ask the doctor if I may get up, Tom; I should be sorry to pass these
+places without having a look at them," exclaimed Desmond.  "I can finish
+my book by-and-by."
+
+Just then the officer spoken of, Mr Hussey, came out from the gun-room.
+He was a short, somewhat stout gentleman, with a good-natured
+expression of countenance, and a merry twinkle in the eye, which showed
+that he could enjoy a joke, and was likely to utter many a one himself.
+His naturally florid complexion was deepened into a still more ruddy hue
+by exposure to the hot suns of the tropics.
+
+"Do, doctor, let me get up; your physic has done me an immense deal of
+good, and I feel quite well already," said Desmond.
+
+The doctor felt his pulse.  "You get up!" he exclaimed.  "What do you
+think yourself made of?" trying to look grave.
+
+"Arrah, shure, sugar and spice and all that's nice! that's what
+midshipmen are made of.  But shure, doctor dear, you will not keep me
+here, stewing by myself, when I might be enjoying the pure air of
+heaven?--for I really am well, doctor."
+
+"You mean to say that you have finished your book, and have got tired of
+lying in bed," was the reply.  "Well, if you promise to be a good boy
+and keep in the shade, you may dress and go on deck, but I cannot
+undertake to scratch you off the sick-list yet."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Desmond; "I will do everything you tell me, and
+take as much medicine as you think fit to prescribe.  I do not want to
+do duty yet, as I've got a hundred pages more of `Tom Cringle's Log' to
+read, and I cannot gallop over a book as some people do."
+
+"Well, well, possibly the ship may manage to take care of itself without
+you," said the doctor, as he passed on.
+
+Whereupon Desmond began to put on his clothes, a task which he
+accomplished with Tom's assistance.  He felt himself, however, much
+weaker than he had expected, as he made his way upon deck, though he
+tried hard to show that he was himself again.  He received a friendly
+greeting from his messmates, and Mr Mildmay congratulated him on being
+able once more to make his appearance.
+
+There was plenty to amuse those who had a taste for natural history even
+when no land was in sight, and the doctor, who was a great naturalist,
+was constantly on the _qui vive_, for the sea teemed with squid,
+medusae, polypi, and flying-fish.  Several of the latter came through
+the ports, when there was a general scramble for them, the midshipmen,
+who were on the watch and the most active, coming in for the largest
+share.  A short time afterwards the unhappy fish made an appearance,
+well fried, on their mess-table.  Whales, too, were sporting in all
+directions, tempted to the locality by the abundance of food which the
+before-named creatures afforded.  Several old whalers among the crew
+could scarcely restrain their impatience, and, could they have obtained
+leave, would have gone off with such gear as they could have prepared to
+attack the monsters of the deep.
+
+Since the _Dragon_ had left Japan, the weather had been remarkably fine,
+with calms and light winds.  But the calms lasted scarcely long enough
+to have the fires lighted before the ship was again under sail.  That
+evening, however, a long heavy swell began to come from the north-east;
+the undulations rapidly increasing in size, making the ship roll from
+side to side, until her chains touched the water.  Desmond, in common
+with two or three of his messmates, and most of the ship's boys and
+marines, began to feel very uncomfortable.
+
+"What's going to happen?" he asked; "I'm mighty quare about the region
+of the stomach."
+
+"I suppose we are going to have a gale of wind, as a change," answered
+Tom, who had never been ill since he first came to sea.  "We shall have
+to shorten sail, I've a notion, before long, to be prepared for
+blustering Boreas, when he thinks fit to visit us."
+
+The whole appearance of the sky and sea quickly changed.  The wildfowl,
+which had been hovering around the ship, winged their flight to the
+nearest islands where shelter could be found.  The atmosphere was
+pervaded with a peculiar glare by the rays of the sun coming through the
+clouds of a dull ochreous red, giving the ocean, the ship, her canvas
+and sides, the same unnatural tint.
+
+As the summits of the swells, till now as smooth as glass, rose higher
+and higher, they formed crests of foam, which sparkled in the ruddy
+light, like masses of jewels.  Hitherto there had not been sufficient
+wind to steady the ship as she made her way amid the heaving billows.
+Mr Jay, the second lieutenant, was now the officer of the watch; he
+made a sign to Tom.
+
+"Rogers," he said, "go and tell the commander that the weather is
+getting much worse."
+
+"Be quick about it, too," exclaimed Green; "there is no time to lose."
+
+Commander Rawson was quickly on deck.  After taking a rapid glance
+round, he shouted out, "All hands shorten sail."
+
+The watch below came tumbling up on deck.  The topsails were lowered,
+and the topmen, like bees, swiftly swarmed aloft, laying out on the
+yardarms.
+
+"Hold on by your teeth and eyelids, Billy," said Tom to his old friend
+Billy Blueblazes, as he sprang up to his station in the main-top.  The
+canvas was speedily reduced to closely-reefed fore and main-topsails and
+fore-staysail.  It was hard work to hold on, for the ship rolled even
+more violently than before.  The wind, however, did not come as soon as
+was expected, but it was impossible to say at what moment it might
+strike her.  That it would come with no ordinary strength, and without
+further warning, there was every reason to believe.
+
+The crew, having performed their task, were called down on deck.  There
+was something in the appearance of the sea and sky, and the heaviness of
+the atmosphere, which made even the toughest old seaman feel an
+extraordinary depression of spirits, though he might not have suspected
+the cause.
+
+"Faith!  I'm sorry I did not remain quietly in my cot," said Desmond;
+"it seems to me as if the world were coming to an end.  I should not be
+surprised to see flames spouting up out of the sea.  It looks as if some
+big fires were burning away under it."
+
+"Don't you ken, Gerald, that the water would be putting the fire out,"
+observed Archie; "though from the appearance of some of those islands
+there has been fire enough below them at one time or other.  They have
+all been raised up out of the ocean by volcanic agency."
+
+"I am not disposed to dispute the truth of your remark," said Desmond;
+"I only wish the sea would get quiet, and let us glide comfortably over
+it, instead of kicking up such a disturbance."
+
+While the midshipmen were speaking, the ship had continued her uneasy
+course, slowly rising to the summit of a huge billow and then gliding
+down into the deep trough.
+
+Suddenly a loud roar was heard, and it seemed as if some mighty monster
+of the deep had struck a prodigious blow on the side of the ship.  Over
+she heeled until the water rushed in at her lee ports.
+
+"Up with the helm.  Furl the main-topsail.  Take another reef in the
+fore-topsail.  We must run before it," cried the commander, hoping to
+steer clear of any islands or reefs which might be ahead.
+
+The ship quickly rose to an even keel, and dashed forward amid the
+foaming seas, rolling, however, even more violently than before.  So
+rapidly did the waves follow, that many struck her stern; not, however,
+before her dead lights had been closed.  So tremendous were some of the
+blows, that it seemed as if her masts would be shaken out of her.  The
+doctor and purser, who were sitting in the gun room, were thrown off
+their seats sprawling under the table, fully believing that the ship had
+struck a rock, and that all hands would soon be struggling for their
+lives.
+
+As soon as things could be got to rights, Tom helped Desmond below, and
+he was glad enough to again turn into his hammock, which he had before
+been so anxious to quit.
+
+"Shure we have got Harry Cane aboard of us, Mr Rogers," observed Tim
+Nolan, who was in Tom's watch, and took the liberty of an old shipmate
+to address his officer with a freedom on which others would not have
+ventured.  They were both stationed together on the forecastle, looking
+out ahead.
+
+"I wish that the gentleman would be good enough to take himself off,
+then," answered Tom, "or he may be playing us a scurvy trick, by sending
+our craft on some of the ugly reefs which abound hereabouts."
+
+"We'll be after keeping a bright look-out for that, sir," said Tim.
+
+"We may be on a reef before we can see it," observed Tom.  "For my part,
+if I did not believe that Providence was steering us, I should not be at
+all comfortable."
+
+The ship continued to drive on before the gale.  The second lieutenant
+came forward, but he had to confess that his eyes were of little value
+to pierce the dark gloom ahead.  The foam-crested waves could alone be
+seen, rapidly rising and falling.  Tom's eyes ached.  He was not sorry
+when he was relieved.  Still, neither he nor any one else felt inclined
+to go below; no one could tell what might happen.  The thick clouds hung
+down like a dark canopy, apparently just above the masts' heads.  The
+thunder, which had been rumbling in the distance, now began to roar
+loudly, while flashes of forked lightning came zig-zagging through the
+air, threatening every instant to strike the ship.  But, though they
+played round on all sides, none touched her.  The commander had ordered
+the fires to be got up, so that the ship might be under steam, ready for
+any emergency.
+
+Hour after hour the typhoon continued to howl even more fiercely than at
+first.  Frequently a blast would strike the ship, making her tremble as
+if some solid mass had been hurled against her.  Then there would come a
+lull for a few seconds, then another blast would suddenly strike her in
+a way that made every plank shake throughout her frame.  Even the most
+hardy on board wished for day.  The morning light brought no abatement
+of the gale.
+
+Onward went the ship, now plunging into a vast hollow, which threatened
+to engulf her; now she rose rapidly to the top of another sea, while on
+either side they appeared to be vying with each other, which could leap
+the highest and accomplish her destruction.
+
+The officers were gathered aft, the men in the waist, holding on firmly
+to the stanchions, or anything to which they could secure themselves.
+Each time that the ship plunged her head into the seas, the masts bent,
+as if every moment they would go by the board.  At length a lull came,
+and the commander, having consulted with Green, fearing dangers ahead,
+determined to bring the ship to, an operation attended by considerable
+risk, as a sea striking her at the moment might sweep her deck.  A
+favourable opportunity was waited for.  The crew stood ready to lower
+the fore-topsail and hoist the main-topsail, which had been closely
+reefed.  Both tasks were accomplished; the officers were anxiously
+watching the seas as the ship rode over them, but happily she was safely
+rounded to, and now lay with her main-topsail to the mast, though
+scarcely had she got into that position, than a fierce foam-crested sea,
+roaring up, struck her bows and deluged her decks, but shaking herself
+clear, like a thing of life, she sprang forward, while the water rushed
+through the ports.  The lull continued, and many hoped that the gale was
+breaking; but in less than an hour another furious squall struck the
+ship, and nearly laid her over on her beam ends.  Once more she rose,
+her stout canvas having stood the severe trial to which it had been put,
+and she rode with comparative ease for a few minutes.
+
+The seas, however, seemed to become more broken than ever.  A prodigious
+one came roaring towards the weather bow.  The _Dragon_ appeared to see
+her danger, and struggled to avoid it, but the next instant she pitched
+headlong into a deep hollow, when another monstrous wave, rising
+apparently half as high as the foretop, fell completely down on her
+deck.  For a few seconds, her commander and his officers feared that she
+would never again rise.  No orders could be issued, and nothing could be
+done.  The crew stood silently at their stations, not uttering a word,
+or showing that they felt the fearful predicament in which they were
+placed.
+
+The ship remained, as it were, fixed in the sea; then with a sudden jerk
+she burst her way through it, but her stout bowsprit was broken short
+off, and the next sea threw the wreck of it across the forecastle.  The
+commander's voice was now heard in tones vying with the howling of the
+gale.  The crew, obedient to his orders, rushed forward to secure the
+bowsprit with lashings; while the boatswain, with another gang, lost not
+a moment in setting up fresh stays, to prevent the foremast being
+carried away.
+
+This, with the loss of one of the boats, and the forepart of the
+bulwarks stove in, were the chief damages hitherto received by the
+_Dragon_ during the gale.  It was not over, however.  Again the sun set,
+and the wind continued to rage with unabated fury.  The watch below had
+been ordered to turn in, but few of the officers had done so, and,
+though tired out, still remained on deck.  Tom and Archie were standing
+aft, close together, when the latter suddenly grasped Tom by the arm.
+
+"Oh, mon! what's that?" he exclaimed, pointing to the main-topmast head,
+which appeared crowned by a ball of pale fire.
+
+"It has a curious appearance; though I never saw it before, my brother
+Jack has told me about it.  It is a sort of Jack-o'-lantern, or
+Will-o'-the-wisp, or, as Gerald once called it, `Saint Vitus' dance.'  I
+believe he meant to say Saint Elmo's fire."
+
+While the midshipmen were gazing up, the flame descended rapidly down
+the mast, running first along the main topgallant yardarm, then
+returning, down it came, to the main-topsail yard, where it glided out
+to the extreme end.  Here it rested for some seconds, as if it had not
+made up its mind what next to do.  Presently back it came to the mast,
+and darted out to the lee yardarm.  It had not yet finished its journey.
+Once more gliding back, it ascended the mast, when it made its way by
+the main-topmast stay, on to the foremast and there went gliding
+backwards and forwards along the yard.
+
+"I wish it would come down on deck, and then we might have a chance of
+catching it," said Tom.  "I have read somewhere that a man going aloft
+with a bucket, clapped it over the light, and brought it down a
+prisoner.  It is a sort of gas which is driven about through the air
+until it finds something to rest on.  Why it goes moving up and down in
+that curious way I don't know, nor does anybody else, I believe.  I wish
+the doctor were on deck,--he would tell us."
+
+"Shall I call him?" asked Archie.
+
+"I don't think he would thank you," said Tom.  "Let him rest in quiet;
+perhaps before he can get on his clothes the fire will have
+disappeared."
+
+Tom was right.  In another minute the luminous ball, gathering itself
+into a point, shot upwards and vanished.
+
+"That's a good sign," they heard Green observe to the first lieutenant;
+"we shall have the gale breaking before long."
+
+Before the watch was out the hurricane had sensibly decreased, showing
+that the master was right in his prognostication.  The sea continued,
+however, to tumble the ship about terribly until the morning dawned,
+when the clouds began to disperse, and as the sun rose they appeared to
+fly before his burning rays.  By noon the sky was perfectly clear, when,
+an observation having been taken, the commander determined to run under
+the lee of one of the Bonin Islands, which were sighted shortly
+afterwards.  Steam had been got up, and the vessel made rapid way,
+though she continued to roll considerably, moved by the now glass-like
+swell, which still came in from the north-east, showing that, although a
+calm rested on the waters where she was, a storm raged in another part
+of the ocean.
+
+Several islands were now seen rising out of the water on the port bow,
+and as the _Dragon_ drew near trees could be distinguished on the hills,
+showing that they were not as barren as they appeared to be at a
+distance.  Rounding the southern end of one of them, she went on at half
+speed, feeling her way with the lead until she opened a sheltered bay
+between two high projecting points.  Running in she brought up within a
+quarter of a mile from the shore in perfectly still water.  Everybody
+was glad enough to be at rest after the tumbling about they had had
+during the last few days.  They were not allowed, however, to enjoy many
+minutes' quiet; all hands were speedily set to work to repair damages.
+
+"We should be thankful that we have escaped so easily," observed Archie
+Gordon, who had been surveying the shore through his telescope.  "Look
+there, Tom, at those tall trees stretched on the ground with their roots
+in the air; it must have taken a pretty hard blow to break them down.  I
+can see some stumps sticking up, showing that others have been snapped
+off by the wind.  It is a mercy that we weathered it out as well as we
+did."
+
+Tom took the glass.  "I should have been sorry to have been under them,"
+he answered, "and I only hope that no poor fellows were living on shore,
+or they would have run great risk of being crushed.  It makes me think
+of the old song--
+
+  "`A strong nor'-wester's blowing, Bill;
+  Hark I don't ye hear it roar now?
+  Lord help 'em, how I pities them
+  Unhappy folks on shore now!'
+
+"I hope the commander will let us take a run on shore, however, before
+we sail."
+
+In the course of a couple of days the repairs were nearly finished, but
+as there was a good deal of painting to be done, the commander resolved
+to remain at anchor another day.  Green and the second lieutenant had
+been employed during the time in surveying the island, but their surveys
+were not complete.
+
+"I say, Gerald, we must get our trip some way or other," said Tom to
+Desmond.  "You'd be the better for a run ashore, and I'm sure, if you
+suggested the idea to the doctor, he will say so, and get Mr Mildmay to
+let us have a boat."
+
+Gerald followed Tom's advice.
+
+"Of course, my boy," answered the good-natured doctor; "if you find
+anything curious, remember to bring it off for me."
+
+"That I will, sir," said Tom.
+
+The doctor having spoken to the first lieutenant, Tom went up boldly and
+asked for the use of the jolly-boat.
+
+"You can have her; but remember you must be on board again in good
+time," answered Mr Mildmay.
+
+Tom and his party were quickly ready, carrying some fishing-lines, as
+well as some baskets to bring off any wild fruit they might happen to
+find.  Tom and Gerald were below making their preparations, when Billy
+Blueblazes came out of the gun-room.
+
+"Holloa!" he exclaimed; "I've got leave to go with you.  I suppose
+you'll take some grub?"
+
+"We'll be afther finding that on shore," answered Desmond; "game, or
+fish, and fruit.  I propose we carry a couple of muskets; we shall be
+sure to find something or other."
+
+"Elephants or rhinoceroses," suggested Billy.
+
+"Not quite such big beasts as they are," answered Tom.  "We should find
+them rather too cumbrous to stow away in our game-bags."
+
+"But we'll take some bread, and rum, and some cold beef--they are not
+likely to grow on the island, at all events; or potatoes either, or a
+pot to boil them in," remarked Desmond.
+
+The articles they fancied would be required were quickly collected.
+
+"Shure, if we haven't forgotten the powder and shot!" exclaimed Desmond,
+as they were committing the things to the charge of Tim Nolan, who was
+to accompany them, that he might stow them away in the boat.  Pat Casey,
+the other Irishman who had been saved from the savages, with Jerry Bird,
+formed the crew of the boat.  Bird and Nolan were tried, steady men.
+Casey, who was accustomed to a savage life, might be useful in searching
+for fruits or any animals which might be found in the island.  He was
+also a first-rate fisherman, having had plenty of experience during his
+residence with the Indians.
+
+The party shoved off soon after the second lieutenant and master had
+left the ship.
+
+"The only thing I'm sorry for is that Archie is not with us," said Tom.
+"However, we are sure to have plenty of fun of some sort or other."
+
+At the further end of the bay was a small piece of sandy beach, towards
+which Tom steered the boat.  As there was no surf, they ran her up on
+it, and stepped out without difficulty.  A nearer acquaintance, however,
+showed them that the country was not of so tempting a character as they
+had at first supposed.  There were a few trees close to the beach, some
+of which had been broken in two by the storm, and now lay prostrate on
+the ground.  Even larger trees, a species of mahogany, lay uprooted in
+all directions, so that they found it very difficult to make their way
+among them.  Still, by dint of climbing over the fallen trunks, and
+cutting a road through the brushwood, they had made some progress, when
+they discovered a circle of rocky hills, in many places almost
+precipitous.  It seemed almost hopeless to attempt climbing over them,
+especially as Desmond acknowledged that he "did not feel very well up to
+that sort of work," and they would have had likewise to carry their
+muskets, provisions and cooking utensils.
+
+"As we have not much time to lose, I propose that we go back to the
+boat, and try and find another landing-place further along the coast,"
+said Tom.
+
+His plan was agreed to; and launching the boat, they again took to their
+oars.  After rounding a rocky point, which formed the eastern side of
+the bay, they pulled along for some distance in the hopes of finding
+another landing-place, from whence they could make their way into the
+interior.  As there was no surf, and the sea was perfectly smooth, they
+kept close in with the land.  In many places high cliffs rose
+precipitously out of the water.  As they pulled along at the foot of one
+of these cliffs, Tom shouted out--
+
+"Holloa! there's a big cavern directly ahead of us; the water seems to
+run right up into it, and I should not be surprised if we could get up
+some distance in the boat."
+
+They stopped rowing, to survey the mouth of the cavern.  It appeared to
+be upwards of thirty feet in height and almost of the same width.
+Everybody, of course, was eager to explore the cavern; and rowing
+gently, that no risk might be run of knocking the bows of the boat
+against a rock, they made their way into the cavern.  By just keeping
+the oars moving, the boat glided on.  Ahead, all was darkness, so that
+it was impossible to ascertain how far the cave penetrated into the
+land.  As soon as their eyes got accustomed to the subdued light which
+existed at a distance of thirty or forty feet from the entrance, the
+beauties of the grotto began to dawn on their sight.  Glittering
+stalactites, of a thousand fantastic forms, hung down from the high and
+vaulted roof, while at either side appeared columns and arches like
+those of some ancient temple, tinted with numberless delicate hues, the
+extreme points of the stalactites glittering like bright gems as they
+were reached by the reflected rays of the sun, which penetrated far down
+into the depths beneath, illuminating every object below its glassy
+surface.  So beautifully clear was the water, that when the party in the
+boat looked over the sides, they could see right down to the bottom of
+the cavern, which appeared to consist of masses of rock, forming caves
+and hollows, covered with the richest marine vegetation.  Here were
+corals of various tints, blue and yellow, red and white: amid them the
+ocean fan expanded its vast leaves; from the lowest depths sprang up the
+sea-green stems of the fucus, twining round columns which sank far down,
+and afforded them support.  Here feathery tufts of green vegetables
+floated upwards in the clear water, while others of various strange
+shapes and hues formed recesses and arches, twisted and knotted in a
+variety of ways.  Fish, of varied forms and brilliant colours, darted in
+and out among the openings, some rising close up to the boat, as if
+curious to ascertain the character of the visitors to their submarine
+palace.
+
+"I wish the doctor were here to tell us their names," exclaimed Tom.
+"Look there, at those odd creatures.  What can they be?"  The fish at
+which he pointed were flat, of an oval form, and of a rich silvery
+colour, delicately striped downwards with azure bands.  They swam in a
+perpendicular position, aided by two long and slender fins, one curving
+upwards from the back, of a considerable length, and the other curving
+downwards from the opposite side.  There were many others differing in
+form, but all of the most beautiful colours, darting and gliding in and
+out, but, being apparently of a less curious or more timid disposition
+than those which had excited Tom's astonishment, did not venture near
+the boat.  There were cray-fish, too, of large size, and enormous crabs,
+and star-fish, and sea-urchins, and bivalves of various sorts clinging
+to the rocks, with open mouths, to catch any unwary creatures coming
+within their reach.
+
+After enjoying the scene for some time, by giving a few strokes with
+their oars the midshipmen allowed the boat to proceed further up the
+cavern.  Most of the party were hanging over the water with their noses
+just above the surface, some with their hands trying to catch any of the
+fish which might venture near, when a cry from Tim made them spring up.
+
+"Shure, he'll be afther catching some of us, if we don't look out,"
+exclaimed the Irishman, and at that moment they saw rising out of the
+far depths of the cavern an enormous shark, his eyes glaring like two
+glowing coals, as with open jaws he came nearer and nearer the boat.
+
+"He'll be after swallowing the whole of us," cried Tim.  "Back water!
+back water!"  To the Irishman the shark probably appeared much larger
+than it really was.
+
+"He won't do us any harm; but just keep the oars out of the water," said
+Tom, who was, of course, obeyed, and the shark glided alongside the
+boat, which he kept eyeing with suspicious glances.
+
+"Would you be afther wishing to have one of us?" asked Desmond.  "Then I
+hope you'll be mistaken; unless, Billy, you wish to be kind to the
+baste, and let him have your arm as a treat."
+
+"Thank you," said Billy; "I'd rather not.  It wouldn't give him much
+trouble to bite it off, though."
+
+"We must not be disappointed in our expectation of exploring the cavern
+by a brute like that," exclaimed Tom.  "Hand me the boat-hook."
+Standing up, he struck the point with all his might against the nose of
+the monster, which at that instant sank with a suddenness which made Tom
+lose his balance, and had not Desmond and Billy seized him he would have
+been overboard.
+
+"He's more afraid of us than we are of him," said Tom.  "Now let us get
+as far up the cavern as we can."
+
+They pulled cautiously on, Tim standing up in the bows, and feeling
+ahead with the boat-hook.  The mouth of the cavern seemed to grow
+smaller and smaller, until only a point of light remained.  Suddenly Pat
+Casey, who was pulling with Jerry Bird, declared that he felt something
+seize the blade of his oar.
+
+"It's the shark, perhaps," said Tom.  "We have the muskets ready.  I'll
+give him a shot, and that will make him keep his distance.  Wait until
+he tries it again."
+
+Tom took the musket, and stood up ready to fire.
+
+"There! he's got my oar in his jaws," cried Pat.
+
+Tom fired.  The flash revealed for an instant the sides and roof of the
+cavern, which seemed to glitter as if studded with thousands of jewels,
+while ahead all was pitchy darkness, showing that they had not yet got
+to the extremity.  The sound of the report, greatly increased in
+loudness, went echoing amid the arches and pillars, until it died away
+in the far distance, proving the great extent of the cavern.
+
+Whether the shark was hit or not, it was impossible to say; but the
+bullet tore off the point of Pat's oar, showing that Tom had taken good
+aim.
+
+Jerry Bird now suggested to the midshipmen that it would be prudent to
+pull back, as without torches they could not see where they were going.
+There might be, for what they could tell to the contrary, some big sea
+monster squatting up at the further end, who might crunch them up
+without ceremony.
+
+Though Tom had no apprehensions on that score, he agreed to return,
+proposing, should the _Dragon_ remain at anchor another day, to explore
+the cave with a supply of torches.  The boat was accordingly cautiously
+pulled round, and made her way towards the mouth.  It was curious to
+watch the arch growing higher and higher, and the light gradually
+increasing.  They had almost reached the entrance, when, on either side,
+not one, but several sharks, came gliding up.  One, bolder and bigger
+than the rest, seized the blade of an oar, crunching off the end; and
+the other men had to keep a watchful eye to save theirs from being
+destroyed.  Tom fired the other musket, and declared that the bullet
+went through the shark's head.  As the monster did not appear the worse
+for it, Desmond and Billy doubted the fact.  Not until Tom had fired
+several times, and the boat had got to a considerable distance from the
+cavern, did the sharks leave her.
+
+"There's one thing certain: that's not a place to bathe in, nor would it
+be pleasant to tumble overboard hereabouts," observed Tom, gravely.  "I
+never can see those black monsters, with their wicked eyes, floating
+near and looking up at one, without feeling uncomfortable."
+
+They had to row farther than they expected.  At last they saw a narrow
+opening in a reef of rocks, within which they made out a small bay, with
+a sandy shore, where they could land with ease and draw up the boat.
+The country beyond, too, looked far more tempting than they had yet
+seen.  The water in the passage was deep, so that they had no difficulty
+in making their way into the bay.  As yet they had seen nothing of the
+second lieutenant's and the master's boats, which, supposing the island
+to be of small size, they had expected to meet coming round from the
+opposite side.
+
+"We shall probably see them if we cut directly across the island,"
+observed Tom.
+
+They were not disappointed in the bay.  The beach was exactly what they
+wished for.  They hauled the boat up, and agreed that she could be left
+without danger.
+
+"But I hope you fellows are not going to begin a long march without some
+food," observed Billy, who was noted for his excellent appetite.  "We
+have no game, nor have we caught any fish.  It's lucky that we brought
+some food, as I advised."
+
+Wood was collected, and a fire quickly made.  As they had brought cold
+meat and bread with them, they had only their potatoes to cook.  This
+operation was superintended by Tim, while the rest of the party searched
+for any other productions of the island which might add to their repast.
+They had not gone far when Tom exclaimed--
+
+"Why, there are some cocoa-nut trees, and very fine ones, too.  I
+thought there were none on the island."
+
+"They are cocoa-nut trees, sure enough," said Desmond, "and with
+cocoa-nuts growing on them.  How to get them down is the question, for
+the stems are too stout to allow us to swarm up."
+
+"`Where there's a will there's a way'; up we must climb, some way or
+other," said Tom, who never liked to be beaten.
+
+On reaching the spot, they found not only cocoa-nut trees, but yams and
+bananas, covering the ground in the wildest profusion, the latter
+climbing up the surrounding branches, from which the ripe fruit hung
+temptingly down.
+
+On examining further, they discovered the remains of a fence, showing
+that the ground had been enclosed, for the purpose of forming a garden,
+at some probably distant period.
+
+"Bless the man whoever planted these," said Jerry Bird; "he had a
+thought for any poor fellows who might be wrecked here some day or
+other.  If others would do the same at all the desert islands they
+visit, the lives of many castaway seamen might be saved."
+
+The yams, from growing wild, were not likely to be worth much, but the
+bananas, notwithstanding the latitude, appeared to be very fine.  In
+vain, however, they gazed up at the cocoa-nuts.  Jerry, though an active
+man, vowed that he could not attempt to reach the top unless they could
+get a rope over one of the branches.  While they were discussing the
+matter, Pat Casey, who had been helping Tim, came up, having also caught
+sight of the cocoa-nut trees from a distance.
+
+"Bedad, I'll be afther doing it," he exclaimed; and running back to the
+boat, he returned with three or four fathoms of rope.  This he twisted
+into a huge grummet round the tree, leaving space enough for his own
+body to get in also.  Then slipping it behind his waist, he began to
+swarm up, shoving the rope on the opposite side of the tree each time he
+moved on, as high as his shoulders.  In a wonderfully short time he
+reached the top of the tree.
+
+"Stand from under," he shouted out, as he threw down a cocoa-nut, which
+very nearly hit Billy, who had not attended to his warning.  Several
+cocoa-nuts split by their fall, but Billy, rushing forward, seized one
+of them before all the milk had run out.  This example was followed by
+the rest: Seeing this, Pat secured several about his neck, and then
+getting into his grummet he descended.  That one tree gave them as many
+nuts as they could require.
+
+"We ought not to take more than we want," said Tom; "though before we
+shove off, we will get a supply for the ship."
+
+Tim now shouted out that the "taters" were cooked, and returning to the
+camp-fire, the party enjoyed a very satisfactory repast with the aid of
+the bananas and cocoa-nuts.  After this they made their way for some
+distance inland, passing large forests of tamanas, or mahogany trees,
+which appeared to cover the greater part of the island.  Excepting in
+the deserted plantation, they could discover no other fruit-bearing
+trees or roots, but they observed traces of some wild animals, which Pat
+asserted must be hogs.
+
+As there was some risk of losing themselves, and there was nothing to
+induce them to continue their ramble, they returned to the boat.
+Desmond, seconded by Billy, now proposed that they should set to work to
+fish, that they might carry a supply with them on board.
+
+Tom agreed, and Pat having collected a quantity of crabs which he found
+among the rocks, to serve as bait, they once more embarked.  They pulled
+out towards the mouth of the bay, just inside of a high reef, which
+completely shut out the sea from their view.  Here, so clear was the
+water, that although fully three fathoms deep, the bottom could be
+clearly seen, covered with masses of coloured coral and sea-weeds of
+various shades and tints.  Amid them they observed beautiful fish of all
+sizes and tints, gliding in all directions, now disappearing under some
+cavern, now darting again into sight.
+
+"As the creatures can see us and our lines, we shall have no chance of
+catching any," said Tom.
+
+"Just try, your honour," exclaimed Pat; "they're mighty hungry bastes,
+and not accustomed to the look of white faces, so that they will not
+know what we're afther."
+
+The hooks were accordingly baited with crabs, and scarcely was the first
+line let down than a big fish caught it, and was immediately hauled up.
+
+"I told you so," cried Pat exultingly; "we shall have as many as we like
+to catch."
+
+All were now eager to get their lines overboard, and no sooner had the
+hooks sunk towards the bottom than the fish, attracted by the tempting
+bait, dashed forward and seized them.
+
+"We'll mighty soon have a boat load," exclaimed Pat, as fish after fish
+was hauled in.
+
+Suddenly a change came over the scene.  From out of a cavern, far down
+below the reef, a huge form appeared, very similar to the monster which
+had attacked the boat in the stalactite cave.  Rapidly and noiselessly
+it glided up, and before Billy, who just then felt a bite, saw its
+approach, it had seized the fish which had bitten at his hook.  Billy
+gave a pull, expecting to haul up his fish, and very nearly got his
+fingers cut through by his line, as the shark, finding something
+tickling his throat, darted off with it.  Bird, seeing what had
+happened, cut the line, and away dashed the shark.  The monster had put
+the other fish to flight, and it was some time before they returned.
+Scarcely had they assembled, and a few more had been caught, than, other
+sharks appearing, the lines were immediately drawn up, to save them from
+the fate Billy's had met with.  As these pirates of the deep appeared,
+the smaller fish darted off in all directions.
+
+"Shure, it matters very little to them whether they are caught by one of
+us or by those black brutes, excepting for the honour of the thing, and
+the pleasure of tasting a crab's leg before they die," observed Desmond.
+
+These interruptions prevented the party taking note of time.  They had
+got no small number of fish, still they were eager to catch a boat load;
+and Tom, who ought to have looked at his watch, forgot to do so.
+
+Thus hour after hour passed by, until they all began to get hungry, when
+Desmond proposed going on shore and cooking some of their fish.  The
+idea was too good a one to meet with dissenting voices; and returning to
+the beach, they quickly made up their fire, the embers of which had
+remained burning, and soon had three or four fine fish roasting on
+sticks round it, under the superintendence of Pat Casey.  So busy were
+they with this interesting occupation, that no one had observed the
+changed appearance of the sky.  The fish were, as Pat declared, "just
+done to a turn," and Tom and Desmond and Billy were served, the latter
+having filled his mouth with a dainty morsel, when they were startled by
+the booming sound of a gun.  Another followed.  It was evidently fired
+for their recall.
+
+"We ought to have got back before this," exclaimed Tom, starting up and
+looking seawards.
+
+The rest followed him, carrying the cooked fish down to the beach.  What
+was their dismay to find, on reaching it, that the boat, which had been
+hauled up, had been floated by the rapidly rising tide, while a strong
+gust of wind had driven her a considerable distance from the shore, from
+which she was drifting further and further off.
+
+Not a moment was to be lost.  Tom felt that he had been guilty of an act
+of indiscretion in remaining so long on shore, and in not having seen
+that the boat was properly secured.  He had not forgotten those huge
+monsters of sharks, which had been prowling about, but there was only
+one way by which the boat could be regained.  Somebody must swim off to
+her.  These thoughts rapidly passed through his mind.  The swim itself
+was nothing; he had often swum ten times further without fatigue.  But
+those sharks!  He recollected the shudder which had passed through him
+as he had seen them approach the boat not two hours before.  Without
+saying anything, he had quickly thrown off his clothes.
+
+"Shout, all of you, as loud as you can," he exclaimed.  "Good-bye,
+Desmond; good-bye, Billy," he said, shaking hands.  "If I am swallowed
+by one of those brutes, say it happened while I was doing my duty."
+
+Without another word, Tom plunged in, and the rest of the party, rushing
+forward up to their knees, began splashing the water about, and shouting
+at the top of their voices.
+
+"I cannot let him go alone," said Jerry Bird, as soon as he saw what the
+midshipman was about.  Throwing off his jacket and shirt, he followed
+Tom, shouting out lustily.
+
+"I am coming, Mr Rogers," he cried; "you climb in on one side of the
+boat, and I will on the other."
+
+Tom was within a couple of fathoms of the boat, when to his horror he
+saw a dark fin, just rising above the water.  It was stationary,
+however.  Perhaps the savage brute was merely surveying the boat, and
+wondering what strange creature it was.
+
+Tom, undaunted by the sight, swam on.  He might manage to scramble on
+board before the shark caught sight of him.
+
+"Do not lose heart, Bird," he cried out, for he guessed that his
+companion would have seen the shark's fin; "the chances are that he
+won't attack two of us."
+
+A few strokes more, and Tom had got hold of the gunwale of the boat;
+Jerry had seized that on the other side.
+
+Tom, being in no way fatigued, easily held himself up, and, having got
+his left leg over, was about to drag up the other, when Jerry threw
+himself in and tilted the boat over to the side he was on.  It was a
+fortunate movement, for the shark ran his snout against the side,
+missing Tom's foot almost by a hair's breadth.  Tom felt the brute's
+head strike against the boat, and well knew what had happened.  It made
+him draw his breath quickly; but he had work before him.  Without
+stopping a moment, he and Jerry, seizing the oars, rapidly pulled the
+boat back to the beach.  Their companions gave way to a hearty cheer as
+they reached it.
+
+"Thank Heaven, you have escaped," said Desmond.  "I saw what happened;
+my heart sank so low that I thought it would never get up again to its
+right place.  However, `a miss is as good as a mile'; now the sooner we
+are away from this the better."
+
+Tom's and Jerry's clothes having been handed into the boat, they dressed
+themselves, while the rest of the party pulled down the bay.
+
+"I vote we eat the fish while it's warm," said Billy Blueblazes, whose
+appetite (as Gerald used to say of him) "no dangers could daunt."
+
+"Just hand me a slice, and I'll eat it as I pull."  This proposal was
+seconded by the looks of the men, and Tom accordingly passed portions,
+with some biscuit, forward.  The crew ate the fish with gusto.  They
+were wise in so doing, as they might have a long pull before them.
+Another and another gun was heard.
+
+"Those guns were not fired in the harbour," observed Tom; "the ship must
+have put to sea."
+
+Gerald agreed with him; but as yet the reef, which ran across the mouth
+of the bay, concealed her from sight.  The wind had lately been blowing
+from all quarters--now down the harbour, now directly across it--until
+at length a heavy squall came in through the entrance.
+
+"We shall have a strong wind in our teeth, and a pretty heavy pull,"
+observed Tom to Gerald.  "I wish we had not spent so much time here; and
+I shall justly get the blame, if anything happens."
+
+"It won't much matter who gets the blame if we happen to be all
+drowned," answered Gerald.  "However, as we were known to have gone in
+this direction, the captain will probably stand along the shore to pick
+us up; and the chances are that we shall be safe on board within an hour
+or so."
+
+The men had now to bend their backs to the oars to force the boat over
+the heavy seas which came rolling in through the narrow entrance.  Under
+other circumstances, Tom would have put back and waited for an
+improvement in the weather; but the signal of recall was peremptory, and
+he considered it his duty to try and get on board at all risks.  The
+sea, which had been so calm when they pulled along the coast, was now
+tossed into heavy foam-crested billows, which came rolling on in rapid
+succession, bursting with loud roars against the rock-bound shore, and
+casting sheets of spray over the reef.
+
+"We must heave our cargo overboard," said Tom, when he saw the heavy
+seas come tumbling in.  "The lighter the boat is the better."
+
+The fish, with which they hoped to regale their shipmates, were quickly
+thrown overboard.
+
+"Shure, a fine feast we are giving to the sharks," observed Desmond, as
+he was engaged in the work.  They retained, however, a dozen or so of
+the cocoa-nuts, in case they might be required for food.  So slow was
+the progress they made against the sea and wind, that it was almost dusk
+before they got clear of the land.  Tom had been keeping a look-out to
+the westward, the side on which he expected the ship to appear.
+
+"There she is," he exclaimed at length; "but she is under sail, standing
+to the south-east, and I see no smoke coming out of her funnel."
+
+Gerald agreed with Tom that such was the case.  They asked Jerry Bird,
+the oldest seaman on board, to give his opinion.
+
+"You're right, sir," he said; "to my mind something has happened to the
+machinery.  Either the shaft or the piston rod is broken, and they
+cannot get the screw to work.  The commander, of course, did not like to
+remain in the bay, with the chance of a hurricane blowing right into it;
+and so he got up the steam, and was probably standing along the shore to
+look out for us, when the accident, whatever it was, happened; and the
+only chance he had of saving the ship was to go about and stand on the
+course he is now doing.  Maybe he will come about again before long to
+look for us."
+
+Tom and Gerald were very sure that the commander would not desert them,
+at the same time they felt far from comfortable at seeing the ship at so
+great a distance off.  The wind was rapidly increasing; the seas came
+rolling in far more heavily than before, while the spray from their
+foaming crests being sent over the boat, soon thoroughly wetted through
+all hands.  This, of course, no one cared much about; the question was
+whether their small boat would live in the furious sea they were likely
+to encounter before they got on board.  If Jerry Bird was right, the
+ship herself must endeavour to get a good offing from the island in case
+a hurricane should come on.  Of that there now seemed every probability.
+The gloom of night had rapidly increased, and now they could only
+distinguish the ship from the light which she showed over her quarter.
+Was it intended for a signal to them, or had the other two boats not yet
+returned to her?  As the night advanced, the weather became worse and
+worse.
+
+"It's that old rascal Harry Cane at his tricks again," cried Tim; "I
+wish that he had waited a bit, and let us get comfortably on board."
+
+"Never complain, Tim," observed Pat; "maybe we shall be glad that we
+haven't left the boat; we have got a harbour under our lee, and plenty
+of grub on shore, and that's what many a poor fellow has wished for, and
+not been able to find."
+
+Tom and Gerald were excessively anxious to get on board, and determined
+to persevere as long as they possibly could.  The men strained at their
+oars with hearty good will.  Now the boat mounted one sea, rapidly to
+descend into the trough of another.  Tom steered her carefully, keeping
+her head to the seas.  He full well knew that at any moment one of the
+heavy tops of those seas falling on board might swamp her.  Bird
+frequently looked over his shoulder with an anxious glance.
+
+"Beg pardon, Mr Rogers, but it won't do," he said at length; "the
+keener we put about and run back into the harbour, the better chance we
+shall have of living through this night; what has happened to the ship I
+cannot tell.  But, while it's blowing like this, dead on shore, we
+shan't get on board to-night or to-morrow either."
+
+Tom and Gerald at length saw that Jerry Bird was right.  They could no
+longer distinguish the _Dragon's_ lights.  Either a thick mist had
+arisen, or she had got too far off for them to be seen; indeed, the
+shore itself, as the boat sank into the hollow of the sea, was
+invisible.
+
+"We must look out for a smooth, and pull the boat round, lads," cried
+Tom.
+
+"Arrah! shure, that will be a hard matter to find," said Tim Nolan, as
+if to himself.
+
+Watching for an opportunity, Tom, when in the trough of the sea, got the
+boat round.  "Give way, lads! give way!" he shouted out.  Not that there
+was any necessity for saying that; the men knew well enough that their
+lives depended on their pulling as hard as they could.  Any moment a
+sea, rolling up astern, might break over them.  Tom stood up to look out
+for the entrance to the harbour, which he believed they must be
+approaching, but he could see nothing but one unbroken line of foam
+bursting over the reef.  The land rose from the shores of the bay.  On
+the highest part Tom recollected having observed a large clump of tamana
+trees, which, as they had pulled down the harbour, he had noted as a
+good land-mark for entering.  In daylight it could easily be seen, but
+in the darkness he could scarcely hope to make it out against the sky,
+while the boat tumbled and rolled about in the way she was now doing.
+Still, it was their only hope; should she strike a reef on either side
+of the entrance, she must in an instant be dashed to pieces, and all
+hands be washed amidst the foaming breakers.
+
+"Now, Desmond, use your eyes as you never have before, and try and see
+that clump of trees, or find out the passage."
+
+Gerald strained his eyes.  "I think I see a dark spot almost ahead," he
+said at length.
+
+"If you do, that must be the entrance," observed Tom.  "I can see no
+other; it is our only chance; the boat will not live long in the sea
+which is now getting up."
+
+Tom steered towards the point Gerald indicated.  On sped the boat.  The
+loud roar of the breakers as they neared the shore almost deafened them,
+and Gerald, though sitting next to Tom, had to shout to make him hear.
+
+"That's the passage, I'm sure of it," he cried out.
+
+"You're right," answered Tom.  "Give way, lads!"  The boat rushed on.  A
+tremendous sea, with a huge crest of foam, came roaring up astern, and
+threatened to overwhelm her.  The men saw it, and redoubled their
+efforts.  On either side rose a wall of white foam dashing directly over
+the rocks beneath which they had been fishing.  An instant later and the
+boat would have been swamped; but on she flew, surrounded by spray, and
+in another minute was floating in comparatively smooth water within the
+sheltering reef.  At that moment the hurricane burst forth, sending the
+breakers flying in sheets over the reef, howling fearfully as it went
+rushing amid the trees of the forest, tearing off huge limbs, and laying
+many low, while vivid flashes of lightning were followed by peals of
+rattling thunder, adding yet further to the wild uproar of the elements.
+
+"Thank Heaven, we are safe!" exclaimed Gerald.
+
+"We may rightly acknowledge that; but what has become of the other boats
+and the old barkey?" said Tom.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+LAND--BURY THE BOAT--TAKE SHELTER UNDER A ROCK--THE HURRICANE RAGES--THE
+NIGHT PASSES BY--DESMOND SHOOTS AT A WILD BEAST--STORM ABATES--NO SHIP--
+BOAT MISSING--BOAT DISCOVERED--TIM'S PORK CHOPS--DIGGING OUT THE BOAT--
+PAT CHARGED BY A WILD BOAR--FLAG-STAFF SET UP--NO SHIP APPEARS--A HUT
+BUILT--EXPLORE THE ISLAND--MISS THE HOGS, BUT KILL SOME BIRDS--
+PREPARATIONS FOR THE VOYAGE--TURTLE--BILLY'S EXPLOIT--LEAKY CONDITION OF
+THE BOAT--SEARCH FOR PITCH--TOM AND DESMOND SET OUT TO EXPLORE THE
+ISLAND.
+
+Tom steered the boat up the bay towards the beach they had so lately
+left.  It no longer afforded an easy landing place, for the waves came
+rolling in, even through the narrow entrance, creating a surf on the
+sandy shore, and scarcely had her stern touched the beach than a sea
+burst on board, not only wetting every one through, but nearly washing
+several articles out of her.  All hands therefore jumped out.
+
+"Now, lads, a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together," cried
+Tim.  In another minute the boat was hauled up the beach, and they began
+taking out the things and carrying them to the spot where they had left
+their fire burning.  Fortunately, the muskets and ammunition, though
+wet, had been saved, as had the articles of value in the boat, together
+with a compass which Tom had thoughtfully brought, although they had
+hitherto had no use for it.  The ashes of their fire were still alight,
+but they at once found that the exposed beach was not the spot where
+they would exactly wish to encamp.
+
+"We must find some sheltered place, where we can put up our tent," said
+Tom to Desmond.  "A high overhanging rock would suit us best, but it
+won't do to be under these tall mahogany trees, which may at any moment
+crash down upon our heads, and we have already had a specimen of how
+they are likely to behave."
+
+"I'd rather get into a snug cavern, if we can discover one," said
+Desmond.  "But how is that to be found in the dark?"
+
+"I'll soon twist up a couple of torches such as I used to make when I
+was Prime Minister of the Cannibal Islands," cried Pat Casey.  "I think
+we could find our way to the left, where I saw some big rocks this
+morning, and I should not be surprised to find tolerable shelter under
+them."
+
+"We ought to be there as soon as possible," observed Tom, "for we shall
+probably have the rain down upon us before many minutes are over,--and
+the hurricane has only just begun, we must remember.  Get your torches
+made as soon as you can.  Before we leave this we must look after the
+boat, and haul her farther up the beach; it is impossible to say how
+high the water may rise with a hurricane setting on the shore."
+
+They accordingly hurried back and ran the boat some feet farther up, but
+beyond that they found it impossible to move her.
+
+"If we leave her as she is, she'll sure to be blown away," observed
+Jerry Bird.  "If I may advise, sir, I'd make a sort of dock all round
+her, and fill her up with sand, so as to sink her in it.  It will cost
+us some little trouble to clear it out again, but it will be better than
+having her knocked to pieces."
+
+Tom and Desmond highly approved of Jerry's proposal.  All hands,
+therefore, set to work with the boat stretchers to make the dock, which
+was very easily and quickly accomplished.  They then filled her up with
+sand, almost to the gunwale.
+
+"She will be steady enough now, sir," said Jerry.
+
+As soon as the work was finished, they returned to their former
+encampment, carrying the boat's mast, yards, sails, and oars with them,
+to assist in forming a tent, while the rest of her gear they placed for
+safety high up on the bank.  Pat had quickly twisted up some torches
+from the fibre of the cocoa-nuts, and now loading themselves with all
+their property, they set out, he leading the way.  Scarcely had they
+commenced their march, than they felt themselves almost taken off their
+feet; a loud crash was heard, and down fell a large tree, close to where
+they were, torn up by the roots.  Happily they were on the weather side.
+They hurried on, keeping as much as possible in the open ground.
+Another blast came with redoubled fury, almost blowing out Pat's
+torches, which burnt, indeed, with so much rapidity, that there seemed
+but little probability of their being able to reach the point towards
+which they were steering, by their light.  They had not gone far when
+two torches had burnt out.  Heavily laden as they were, they could not
+move very fast.  Tim Nolan alone was staggering under the boat's sail,
+an oar, a musket, and a basket of provisions.  Jerry Bird had the
+breaker of water hung at his back, and was equally heavily laden.
+
+It was a great relief to Tom when he heard Pat shout out, "Here are the
+rocks, though not the sign of a cave can I see."
+
+"Perhaps, if we skirt along them, we may find a still more sheltered
+place than this," observed Tom.
+
+The party accordingly moved on, and just as Pat announced that his torch
+was beginning to burn his fingers, they found themselves in a recess of
+the rocks, where they were well sheltered from the wind, although they
+would obtain no protection from the rain when it should begin to fall.
+The end of the torch afforded them sufficient light to collect sticks
+for a fire, and by its light they were able to put up their tent.  The
+side of the rock affording a back, it was made to slope from the rock
+down to the ground, so that the heaviest rain would run off.  There was
+just room for all hands to get under it, closely packed; and after the
+fatigues of the day, they were very thankful to obtain such shelter.  As
+far, indeed, as they themselves were concerned, they had no reason to
+complain.  They had shelter, fire, food, and water.
+
+"Let us see what you have brought, Billy?" said Gerald.
+
+Billy produced three fish, which he had hung over his back.  "I thought
+that we should want something for supper, and it is always wise to carry
+one's grub with one," he observed.
+
+"Much obliged to you for your forethought," said Gerald; and Tim and Pat
+were summoned to cook the fish.  The fire had been made up close under
+the rock, so that it was not much influenced by the wind.  In a short
+time Tim announced that the supper was ready, "smoking hot," when a
+bottle of rum was produced from the provision basket.
+
+"Now, lads," said Tom, as he poured out the liquor.  "I do not want to
+stint you of your grog, but recollect that we have but a small supply,
+and my belief is that it may be many days before we get back to the
+ship, so a glass apiece is all I can give you."
+
+The grog was mixed, and the seamen, with their young officers, sat round
+the fire, thinking just then very little of the past or future.  The
+fish were pronounced excellent; while they sipped their grog one or the
+other alternately spun a yarn or sang a song.  Tom Rogers must be
+excepted.  He felt his responsibility as commanding the party, and he
+could not get over the consciousness that he ought to have returned at
+an earlier hour to the ship.  This thought weighed down his spirits,
+although he tried not to allow his companions to discover his
+uneasiness.  He felt also very anxious about the ship.  If Jerry Bird
+was right in supposing that an accident had happened to the machinery,
+she might, during the hurricane, be exposed to the greatest possible
+danger; and if she was wrecked, they might have to remain for many
+months on the island, before they could find an opportunity of escaping.
+
+Tom, before he came to sea, had often read about living on a desert
+island with one or two pleasant companions, and had thought that it
+would be very good fun.  When the reality rose vividly before him, he
+could not but confess that he would rather be keeping watch on board,
+with a prospect of returning home to see his father, mother, and
+friends.  When, however, it came to his turn to sing, he trolled forth,
+in his rich deep voice, "Cease, rude Boreas," or some other sea song of
+the same character, as if he had no anxious thoughts to trouble him.
+The blazing fire which they kept up served to dry their clothes.
+
+When, about an hour later, the rain came down, as it is wont to do in
+the tropics, they all crept under the tent, taking care to carry the
+muskets and such things as would be damaged by the wet with them.  Tom,
+in spite of his fatigue, lay awake for some time.  He was thankful that
+they were safe on shore, and had been able to find a sheltered position
+for their encampment.  The wind roared and howled in the most terrific
+manner among the forest trees.  The very earth seemed to shake, as if it
+would topple down the high rock above them; but although branches, and
+sometimes large shrubs, torn up by the roots, flew over their heads,
+none fell on their tent.  Sometimes, for several minutes together, crash
+succeeded crash, as huge trees were levelled with the ground.  Then
+there would come a lull, and the wind would whistle mournfully, or
+rather moan, but only to recommence roaring more lustily than ever.
+
+Tom wondered how his companions could sleep so soundly amid the uproar.
+The light of the fire, which came through the side of the tent, fell on
+their forms stretched out with their heads against the rock; while, in
+the lulls of the tempest, he could hear them all snoring away in
+concert.  He was sufficiently well acquainted with the natural history
+of the Pacific Islands to be aware that there were no wild beasts to
+interfere with them, excepting the hogs, whose traces they had seen; and
+he had every reason to believe that the island was uninhabited.  He
+thought it possible, however, that the rocks at the top of the cliff,
+loosened by the hurricane, might come tumbling down on their heads; but
+as only earth and small branches had hitherto fallen, he hoped that they
+would continue in their places.  At all events, even should he and his
+companions move away, they were not likely to find more secure shelter.
+Should refuge be sought under the trees, they might prove still more
+treacherous.  He kept an eye on the fire, fearing that a sudden blast
+might whisk the embers into the tent; but, as the canvas was thoroughly
+wet, that would take some time to burn.  He got up two or three times,
+and, by standing with his back against the cliff, he avoided the rain
+which poured in torrents scarcely more than a foot in front of him.
+Excepting where the glare of the fire was cast upon the white tent on
+one side, the black rocks on the other, and the shrubs in front, all was
+pitchy darkness, though, on looking upwards, he could distinguish the
+tops of the trees waving to and fro against the sky.  "I pray that the
+dear old _Dragon_ may have escaped this!" he ejaculated more than once,
+as the hurricane, with apparently renewed strength, again and again
+hurled itself against the island.  At length Desmond roused up.
+
+"You must have had your two hours' watch or more.  Tom," he said.  "Just
+lie down and get a snooze; we may have a long pull before us, and there
+won't be much room for sleeping in the boat."
+
+Tom, not sorry to be relieved, lay down, while Desmond took his place.
+
+How long Tom had been sleeping he could not tell, when he and the rest
+of the party were aroused by a shot fired close to their oars, and,
+looking up, they saw Desmond with the musket at his shoulder, which he
+had just discharged.
+
+"What did you fire at?" asked Tom.
+
+"At a bear, or a wolf, or some big baste or other, to be shure,"
+answered Desmond.  "Whatever it was we shall find out, for it cannot be
+far off.  I hit it, I am certain of that, for it gave a terrible growl,
+and bolted back into the bushes."
+
+The fire had by this time almost burnt out, giving forth a faint glow,
+which scarcely afforded light sufficient to see any objects except those
+close to them, so that it would be useless to attempt searching for the
+wild beast which Desmond asserted he had shot.  He acknowledged that he
+had dropped asleep, and that, on suddenly awakening, he had seen the
+animal's eyes glaring at him not ten yards off.  Tom, on looking at his
+watch by the declining light of the fire, saw that it was nearly dawn.
+A change for the better had occurred.  The strength of the hurricane had
+much abated, though the tree tops still waved backwards and forwards as
+the wind whistled and howled amid the branches, but it was with abated
+breath, while the rain had completely ceased.  On looking up, small
+spaces in the clouds could be seen, through which, here and there, a
+star glittered brightly.
+
+Jerry Bird, who ought to have been on the watch before, now took
+Desmond's place, and the party settled down again to wait for morning.
+Sailors are accustomed to short snatches of sleep.  Even half an hour or
+less of rest was not to be despised, so that in less than a minute they
+all again had their eyes closed in happy forgetfulness of where they
+were.  Tom required no calling; he had scarcely forgotten in his sleep
+what had happened, and no sooner had the pale light of early morn driven
+away the darkness of night, than, opening his eyes, he crept out of the
+tent over Bird, who had just dropped off.  "I will let the rest sleep
+on, and see how things look," he said to himself.  As he made his way
+over the fallen trunks towards the bay, he kept looking out to discover
+some accessible part of the hill, by which he might climb to the summit
+of the rock, under whose shelter they had slept, and which he supposed
+to be the highest point thereabouts, in order that he might obtain a
+wide view of the ocean around.  He at length found a part, from whence
+by a little climbing he might reach the top of the hill.  He had began
+his ascent, when he heard Desmond's voice shouting to him, and sitting
+down he waited for his messmate to come up.  The rock was more rugged
+and uneven than they had at first supposed.  Sometimes Desmond helped
+him up to a ledge, then he hauled Desmond after him.  Here and there
+shrubs grew in the crevices of the rock, which assisted them in their
+ascent.  At last they stood together on the top.  On casting their eyes
+around, they could nowhere see the ship; indeed, they scarcely expected
+that she would have been in sight.  As far as the eye could range to the
+southward and eastward, foam-crested giant waves leaped up and down, but
+already their motion was becoming less rapid, and they seemed to be
+tumbling lazily and slowly against each other, as if weary of their late
+exertions, though the breakers incessantly burst on the rocky coast,
+sending masses of foam flying far inland.
+
+"Even should the ship appear, we are not likely to be able to get out to
+her to-day," observed Desmond, pointing to the entrance of the bay,
+through which the seas came tossing and foaming.  "It seems a wonder how
+we got through last night."
+
+"We may indeed be thankful to heaven that we were not swamped," said
+Tom; "but I should not be surprised if we find, within a few hours,
+should the ship appear, that we can get off to her.  There has scarcely
+been time for the sea to go down since the hurricane ceased blowing; I
+do hope that the other boats got on board, or they will have run great
+risk of being lost."
+
+"Perhaps our shipmates landed," observed Desmond; "and we shall meet
+them before long.  I should be very glad to know for certain that Archie
+and Jos Green and Mr Joy are safe, though it is a terrible thing to
+think that the ship may have been cast away."
+
+"We will hope for the best," answered Tom; "and now we will go down and
+see how the boat has fared.  I am somewhat anxious about her, though I
+don't see how we could have secured her better than we did."
+
+The descent was nearly as difficult as the climb up the hill, and they
+ran a great risk, when leaping from rock to rock, of slipping off and
+tumbling a dozen or more feet at a time down to the next level.  They
+had nearly reached the bottom, when they saw Billy Blueblazes and Jerry
+Bird looking up towards them.  The countenances of both wore an aspect
+of dismay.
+
+"What has happened?" asked Tom.
+
+"The boat has gone!" answered Billy; "we can't see her anywhere, not
+even a bit of her wreck."
+
+"Faith! that's bad news," exclaimed Desmond; "but did you look
+everywhere? for, remember, everywhere means a good wide space."
+
+"No, we did not go right up to the spot, for there was no use in doing
+that," answered Billy.
+
+"Then we will, and perhaps we may discover some signs which may indicate
+the direction in which she has been driven," said Tom.
+
+They accordingly set off.  Tom observed what Billy had failed to do,
+that the shape of the beach was greatly altered, the wind having driven
+the sand far higher up than usual, so that in some parts it had risen to
+the height of the bank on which grass and shrubs grew.  Indeed, a
+portion of the grassy ground had itself been covered up by the sand.
+
+"What shall we do without the boat?" cried Billy; "we shall have to
+spend our lives here, I suppose, if the ship has been lost, and the men
+say that they think she had very little chance of escaping."
+
+"I hope they are wrong in their conjectures," answered Tom; "and as for
+the boat, I am not quite so certain that she is lost, although we may
+have some trouble in finding her."
+
+On arriving at that part of the beach where the boat had been left, Tom
+looked round in every direction, and examined carefully the bushes and
+herbage along the edge of the beach.
+
+"If she was driven in this direction, she would have broken some of
+these bushes, but they do not appear to have been injured," he observed.
+"Now, let us see whereabouts she lay.  Do you think you can tell,
+Bird?"  The seaman examined the ground.
+
+"I remember coming through just such a clump of bushes as these,
+directly after I left her; and look there, sir, there is her rudder and
+a stretcher," and he enumerated other articles belonging to the boat.
+Then stepping back, he said, "I'm sure it was just hereabouts where she
+lay."
+
+"Then, depend upon it, here we shall find her.  Don't you see the sand
+has blown over her, and she is safe enough within it.  To save ourselves
+trouble, we will dig a line parallel with the beach, and another at
+right angles, and the chances are we shall strike some part of her
+gunwale before long."
+
+"Shall I go and call the other men?" asked Billy.
+
+"They are cooking the breakfast, sir," observed Bird.
+
+"Let them go on by all means," said Tom; "if we find the boat we will
+come back afterwards and dig her up."
+
+They immediately set to work, under Tom's directions, but the sand had
+risen even higher than they had supposed, and as they had only the
+boat's stretchers and their hands to work with, it was a slow business.
+
+"I've thought, sir, of a quicker way of finding her than this," observed
+Jerry; and taking his axe, he cut a short pole with a sharp point, and
+ran it down though the sand, along the line which Tom had marked out.
+"There's something here, sir," he cried out at length, and forthwith a
+hole was dug at the spot.  Jerry then plunged down his hand.  "No doubt
+about it, sir; there's the boat's side, and if the weight of the sand
+has not bulged her out, she will be all to rights."
+
+"I have no fear on that score," observed Tom.  "The sand has probably
+driven up around her, and afforded her sides support.  I am very
+thankful that we took the precaution of banking her up as we did, or I
+am pretty sure that she would have been rolled over and over, and
+knocked to pieces."
+
+The party having satisfied themselves as to the safety of the boat,
+returned to their camp, where they found Tim and Pat busily engaged over
+a huge fire in cooking pork chops.
+
+"Why, where did these come from?" asked Tom.
+
+"Shure, sir, they are from a porker which we found in the bush.  It's my
+belief it's the very baste Mr Desmond shot last night.  He was not
+quite dead, and showed some fight, but we finished him, and cut him up
+in a jiffy."
+
+"I congratulate you on your success," said Tom.
+
+"To tell you the truth," said Desmond, "I was half dreaming at the time;
+and I was not quite sure this morning whether I had shot anything or
+not, but I'm mighty glad to find that my dream has come true."
+
+The pork chops were found very satisfactory, and it was still more so to
+know that there was an abundance of animal food in the island; for if
+there was one hog, there would to a certainty be many more; at the same
+time, they would have prevented the increase of roots which would
+otherwise have afforded nourishment.
+
+"As hogs live here, there, are probably acorns and nuts of various
+sorts, so that even should the cocoa-nuts and bananas run short, we need
+be under no apprehension of wanting vegetable diet," said Tom to
+Desmond.  "Again I say we have good reason to be thankful that we have
+landed on an island so abounding in provisions."
+
+"I wish we had brought off some tea, coffee, and sugar," said Billy.  "I
+should have enjoyed my breakfast much more."
+
+"Be thankful for what you have got," observed Tom.
+
+Before setting out to commence the digging up of the boat, Tom suggested
+that they should form some rough spades, without which the operation
+would be a very tedious one.  They had fortunately brought with them two
+axes for cutting fire-wood, and with these Jerry and Pat managed to chop
+out from the fallen branches six rough spades.  They would have finished
+them off in better style had Tom allowed them.  Having ascertained the
+exact position of the boat, by running down a pointed stick, they
+commenced operations.  They were much surprised at the enormous pit they
+had to dig before they even reached the gunwale of the boat.  The
+digging was easy enough; the labour consisted in heaving the sand to a
+sufficient distance.  All hands were getting very hungry.  Billy, as
+usual, was the first to cry out.
+
+"What do you say to dinner, Rogers?"
+
+Tom looked at his watch, and directed Pat to go to the camp and prepare
+dinner, while the rest continued to work as before.  It took them till
+noon to clear away the sand as far down as the gunwale, as of course it
+was necessary to dig a much wider space all round the boat than simply
+her width.  The sun, too, had now become excessively hot, and the only
+coverings they had for their heads were straw hats.
+
+Tom suggested that they should stick some large leaves or small branches
+into the bands, by which means a more effectual shelter could be formed
+for their heads.  In spite of the heat, they returned with good
+appetites to the camp.
+
+"Bedad, it's fortunate we have got anything to eat at all," exclaimed
+Pat, as they approached.  "Just as I came up, what should I see but a
+couple of porkers poking their noses into the tent; in another minute
+they would have got hold of the meat and fish I had hung up ready for
+cooking.  I would have turned them into pork pretty quickly, but before
+I could get hold of a musket, they had scampered away back into the
+woods; but we'll be even with them before long.  When I went to look for
+the rest of the hog, if the bastes hadn't eaten up their brother,
+barring the hide, and that they had been quarrelling over, by the way it
+was torn to pieces."  There was an ample supply of pork, and fish, and
+bananas, cocoa-nuts and vegetables, for that day's dinner Tom had to
+consider what provision should be made for supper, and the next day.
+Eager as he was to get the boat dug out, in case the ship should appear,
+he would not allow his companions to work for a couple of hours or more,
+for fear of their suffering from a stroke of the sun, whose fierce rays
+beat down with terrific force on the sand.  Pat, who was well inured to
+a far greater heat, under the line itself, in the meantime took one of
+the muskets, "to try and kill some game," he said, "or one of the
+porkers which had lately paid him a visit."
+
+The rest of the party lay down in the shade under the rock, to prepare
+themselves for their afternoon's work.  Pat had been absent for some
+time, and a couple of shots had been heard; but lately no sound had
+reached them, when again they heard a report at no great distance.
+Presently he was seen scampering along, a big boar close at his heels.
+It appeared as if the next instant the creature's tusks would have run
+into him, when he seized the branch of a free and threw himself up upon
+it, while the animal ripped off the hem of his broad trousers.  Luckily
+the canvas gave way, or Pat would have been brought to the ground.  The
+boar looked up at his late opponent as if he still meditated vengeance;
+but suddenly seeing the party under the cliff, he came towards them,
+tearing up the ground in his fury, with his sharp tusks.  Fortunately
+the other musket was loaded.
+
+"Stand by, for advance or flight," cried Tom, seizing the weapon.  Bird
+grasped the boat-hook, while Desmond and Tim each took an axe, Billy,
+having no arms, fulfilled the latter part of the order, by beginning to
+climb up a ledge of the rock on one side of the cliff.  It was a moment
+of dreadful suspense, for, should Tom miss, he well knew that the boar's
+tusks might, in the next instant, pierce him through.  Fortunately the
+animal caught sight of Billy as he was climbing up the cliff.  This for
+a moment distracted his attention, and, instead of coming directly at
+Tom and his companions, it swerved a little on one side.  Seeing,
+however, that Billy had got beyond its reach, it once more came
+galloping towards them, singling out Jerry, who was the most conspicuous
+object, for its attack.  Tom waited until it got within twelve feet,
+when he fired.  The bullet hit the animal, but did not stop it.  Jerry
+sprang on one side to avoid its charge, and then drove his boat-hook
+into its neck, bearing it to the ground.  On this Tim and Desmond sprang
+forward, and, before it could again rise, dealt it several heavy strokes
+with their axes, preventing it from committing any further mischief.
+
+"Hurrah; you've finished the baste, I hope," cried Pat, who had been
+watching the proceedings from his bough, and now came hurrying forward.
+
+"I'd somehow or other missed a couple of pigs, when I caught sight of
+this big fellow taking a snooze in the sun.  I was creeping up to him,
+when he opened his wicked eyes, and if I hadn't taken to my heels he
+would have had his tusks through and through me.  At last I stopped
+behind a free and gave him a shot; but he didn't mind it at all, at all,
+by reason that the bullet flew over his head, and I had again to run for
+it.  However, `All's well that ends well,' and, sure, we will be having
+him for supper, with the greatest pleasure in the world."
+
+After this specimen of rat's sportsmanlike qualities, Tom resolved not
+to trust him with the musket again, as it was necessary carefully to
+husband their powder and shot.  As, however, Pat possessed very good
+qualifications for a butcher, he was left to cut up the boar, while the
+rest of the party returned to the boat, he being directed to rejoin them
+as soon as he had secured the joints.
+
+Digging out the boat was severe labour, as to prevent the sand slipping
+back it had to be thrown several feet on either side of the boat.  They
+then had to cut a channel down to the water.  Tom soon saw that they
+could not hope to get their boat afloat for another whole day at the
+soonest.  Diligently as they worked, the sun was sinking rapidly towards
+the horizon before the boat was free of sand.  They examined her
+anxiously, fearing that her sides might have been forced out; but, as
+far as they could ascertain, she had received no material injury.
+
+"We must take another look-out for the ship, before it gets dark,"
+exclaimed Tom; and he and Desmond set off to ascend the hill, from
+whence they could obtain an extensive view of the ocean around them.  In
+vain they strained their eyes; no sail was in sight--not a speck
+appeared above the horizon.  The sea was rolling in lazy undulations,
+here and there flecked with foam, which sparkled brightly in the rays of
+the setting sun, while the sea-fowl were once more venturing forth from
+their rocky homes in search of prey.
+
+"She must have run a long distance before the gale, and it will take her
+some time to beat back," observed Tom.  "We must not give her up yet."
+
+"I should think not, indeed," answered Desmond.  "It would have been
+rather inconvenient if she had come, and we had not got the boat afloat.
+However, we must manage to get a signal-staff set up to-morrow morning,
+in case she should appear, that they may know where we are, and send in
+to help us."
+
+Tom agreed with Desmond, and they accordingly arranged to cut a
+flag-staff the first thing the next day, and manufacture a flag which
+might be seen from the ship.  Descending the rock, they returned to
+their companions, who were still hard at work.  Pat, however, had been
+sent back, to light the fire and prepare supper.  The party continued
+digging in the sand until darkness at length compelled them to give
+over.  They had no little difficulty in making their way back to the
+camp, until their eyes were gladdened by the sight of Pat's blazing
+fire.
+
+"We must compliment you on your pork chops," exclaimed Billy, holding up
+the remains of one which he had been discussing with the help of his
+clasp knife.  "I'll trouble you for another, as soon as it's done
+brown."
+
+"You're welcome to it, sir; and, bedad, I'm mighty better pleased to be
+cooking his hams, than for him to have had his tusks through mine,"
+answered Pat.
+
+The supper was pronounced excellent, though they had nothing but cold
+water from a neighbouring rivulet with which to wash it down.  Tim
+suggested that a thimbleful of rum would be mighty pleasant.
+
+Tom refused to serve out any of their limited supply, having determined
+to keep it in case of emergency.  Although he did not express his fears
+to his companions, he could not help dreading that some accident might
+have happened to the _Dragon_.  The night passed quickly away.  As soon
+as it was daylight Tom and Desmond ascended to their look-out place.
+They were again doomed to disappointment.  The sea had become perfectly
+calm, a light air occasionally only rippling the surface.
+
+"It will take her a good many hours to get up to our island, even if she
+is now only just out of sight," observed Tom.  "Still we must get a
+flag-staff set up, in case she should appear before we can launch the
+boat, and we shall be fortunate if we can do that before night."  As
+soon as breakfast was over, Tom having told the men what was wanted, all
+hands went in search of a tree fit for the purpose.  None, however, were
+discovered.  At last it was agreed that a young cocoa-nut tree must be
+cut down.  This was soon done by Jerry and Tim, while the rest
+recommenced their attempt to free the boat.  All hands were required to
+get the flag-staff to the top of the rock and set it up.  The three men
+offered their handkerchiefs, which with others belonging to the
+midshipmen formed a tolerably sized flag.  As they had no halyards, it
+was fixed with rope yarns to the top of the staff, before it was set up.
+A crevice was found in the rock, into which it was driven, and fixed on
+either side with large stones.
+
+"That will show clearly enough where we are, and if they can count the
+number of handkerchiefs, they will know we are all right," observed
+Desmond.
+
+"I trust that the ship will come," said Tom, though he could not throw
+much confidence into his tone.  "Now, lads, we must go back and dig away
+at our boat.  I should like to see her afloat to-night or early
+to-morrow morning."
+
+In spite of the heat, they toiled on, not even returning to the camp for
+dinner; Pat instead being sent to bring provisions and water.
+Notwithstanding their perseverance, the work was not finished when Tom
+set off alone to have another look out from Flag-staff Hill.  He was
+soon seen coming back.
+
+"Not a sign of her," he said; and taking up his spade he resumed his
+labours.  A heap of sand still remained between the boat and the water,
+that had to be removed before she could be launched.
+
+"We must get rollers under her, or it will be more than we can do to
+drag her into the water," observed Jerry, as he stamped his foot into
+the soft yielding sand under her keel.
+
+"You are right," said Tom, "and we must make them the first thing in the
+morning."
+
+The songs sung and yarns spun that evening were not so cheerful as they
+had been; indeed, all hands were so sleepy that they were glad to turn
+in as soon as supper was over.  Tom hoped against hope, that the next
+morning the ship would appear, had no accident happened to her.  Even
+without her machinery she would surely be able to beat up to the island
+by this time.
+
+Tom was at the flag-staff as soon as the light enabled him to see his
+way up the hill.  He waited, gazing anxiously at the horizon, while the
+ruddy glow which suffused itself over the sky, announced the rising of
+the sun.  But no sail appeared.  "She will not come at all," he
+exclaimed to himself; "she must have been driven on the rocks during
+that fearful night, and probably all hands have perished.  Poor Archie,
+I wish he had come with us, and I am very, very sorry for all the rest."
+
+Tom, however, well knew that he must not give way to his melancholy
+forebodings, and that, at all events, it was his duty to try and keep up
+the spirits of his companions.  On returning to the tent he put on as
+unconcerned a countenance as possible, and sat down to breakfast as if
+he had nothing on his mind.  The high flavour of the pork showed him
+that they must, in the first place, look out for another hog, and some
+means must be found for preserving it.  Pat asserted that the hams were
+still very good, and Tom suggested that they should be immediately
+smoked, until salt could be scraped from the rocks, or obtained by
+evaporation.  "You see we have got plenty to do, and even if we spend a
+month here, we shall have no time to be idle," he observed.
+
+Jerry and Tim, before they recommenced digging, cut with their axes a
+number of rollers, which were then placed under the boat's keel, when
+with renewed ardour all hands set to work to clear away the intervening
+sand.  It took, however, much longer than they had expected, and another
+day was drawing to a close before they could attempt to begin launching
+her.  She was moved, however, but a few feet cut of the hollow in which
+she had been imbedded, as there was no object to be gained that night by
+putting her in the water, although the bay was now so smooth that she
+might have floated in perfect safety.
+
+Tom made his usual visit to Flag-staff Hill, and came back with the same
+report as on the previous evening.
+
+"Before we launch our boat," he said, when he rejoined the party at
+breakfast, "we must dismantle our tent; and indeed it is not wise to
+wear out our sail by using it as a roof.  We may want it, and we shall
+certainly require the oars.  I therefore propose, should the ship not
+appear by noon, to build a hut in the place of the tent, and we shall
+then have shelter, should we require it, at night.  We cannot tell what
+we may need.  The hurricane season is not yet over, we may depend upon
+that.  We came in for the first blow, and there may be several others
+before the weather becomes settled."
+
+"What!  Do you think the ship's not coming back for us?" asked Billy, in
+an anxious tone.  "I should like to change my clothes, and I wish we had
+some tea and sugar, and some hard tack, and pepper, mustard, and all
+sorts of things."
+
+"As to the ship's coming back, it's possible she may not," observed Tom.
+"If she does not, we must manage to do without the things we should
+like to have, and make the best of those we have got."
+
+"That's the right sort of philosophy," observed Jerry Bird, who knew
+that he might take a liberty which another man might not, and talk
+freely to his officers.
+
+As soon as breakfast was over, the oars and gear of the boat were
+carried down to the beach, when, with the help of rollers, she was, all
+hands hauling together, after some labour, run into the water.
+
+As Tom had feared might be the case, it was soon discovered that, either
+from the hot atmosphere or the pressure to which she had been subjected,
+she leaked considerably.  The leaks, however, it was hoped, would
+partially fill up, though she would require some fresh caulking, and a
+coat of tar, or some substitute, if tar was not to be procured.  The
+hour of noon approached, and, in spite of the heat, Tom and Desmond
+climbed to the flag-staff.  They looked around the horizon, and then at
+each other.
+
+"I am afraid she will not come at all," exclaimed Desmond.
+
+"I feared as much from the first," answered Tom.
+
+"Then what do you propose doing?" asked Desmond.  "I don't wish to have
+to live on here month after month, or for what we can tell year after
+year, while our fellows are fighting the Chinese, and all the rest of
+the world, perhaps."
+
+"No, nor do I," said Tom.  "We must fit our boat as well as we can for
+sea, and try and make our way, either back to Japan, or to the Ladrones,
+to which we were bound; but, as I said before, it won't do to put to sea
+until the hurricane season is over.  Even in fine weather it will be a
+pretty long trip in an open boat; but people have gone as far, or much
+farther, and what others have done we can do."
+
+"I am ready for anything you think best," answered Desmond, "and I am
+sure the rest will be, but we must try and fit the boat for a long
+voyage, and the sooner we set about it the better."
+
+"It will be a difficult job to do that without tools," observed Tom.
+
+"Faith, I forgot that," remarked Desmond.  "Still, as you often say,
+`Where there's a will there's a way.'  As we shall want our sail, we
+must try and manufacture some thick matting instead of canvas, to fix
+over the bows to raise the gunwale a foot or two, to keep out the sea.
+Then for provisions, we shall have to salt down as many hogs as we can
+kill, dry a stock of yams, and carry our water in cocoa-nut shells."
+
+"I am glad, Gerald, that you have thought about the matter; that's just
+what I was going to propose," said Tom.
+
+"Of course," cried Gerald.  "I have been thinking of that and a number
+of other things besides while I was digging in the sand, though I did
+not like to talk about them until the time came for action."
+
+Thus the two midshipmen discussed their plans for the future.  On their
+return to the camp, as the time fixed upon by Tom had passed and the
+ship had not arrived, the tent was dismantled and Tom set the men to
+work to cut poles of sufficient length to serve for rafters and
+uprights.  Their tent had answered so well that it was agreed that the
+hut should have a roof of the same shape.  The walls were formed by
+closely interlacing the uprights with creepers, which also served to
+bind on the large pandanus leaves which they used for covering the roof.
+The hut being nearly completed, Tom and Desmond set out, armed with
+their muskets, to try and kill a hog or some small game.  Billy wanted
+to go, but Tom advised him to remain and assist in finishing the hut.
+
+"If one of those fellows were to run at you, what could you do without a
+weapon of some sort?"
+
+"But I'd take the boat-hook," said Billy.
+
+"A wild bear would be afther laughing at it in your hands," observed
+Desmond.
+
+Though they saw several hogs, which animals seemed to abound in the
+island, they were unable to get near enough to obtain a fair shot.
+While in search of hogs, their object was also to explore the island.
+They made their way across to the northern side.  It consisted of deep
+indentations and high rocks, to the top of one of which they climbed;
+they could make out in the far distance another island to the north of
+them.  Though they narrowly scanned the ocean in every direction, no
+sail was to be seen.
+
+"I am determined not to give her up altogether," said Tom; "but still,
+if she has escaped shipwreck, I cannot account for the commander not
+coming to look for us.  My only idea is that by some mistake or other he
+supposes we were lost, and that being driven a long way to the
+southward, he does not think it worth while to come so far out of his
+course."
+
+On their way back they caught sight of a large number of good-sized
+birds perched thickly in a tree, apparently intending to roost there for
+the night.  Having drawn their bullets, they loaded with small shot, and
+firing into the midst of the birds, they brought down a dozen, which
+proved to be a species of pigeon.
+
+"We have got something for supper, at all events," cried Desmond as he
+ran to pick up the birds and to finish off a few which were still
+fluttering on the ground.
+
+Their ill-success in hog-hunting made them determine the next day to go
+out fishing in the boat.  It need not be said that either Tom or Desmond
+paid periodical visits to the flag-staff.  So often had they been
+disappointed that they at last gave up all expectation of seeing the
+ship.  Their fishing excursion, though not as successful as the first,
+had produced a good supply of fish, some of which they ate fresh and the
+rest they dried in the sun and smoked over a wood fire.  They had,
+however, to keep baling nearly the whole of the time.  This satisfied
+them that they must caulk the boat before they could venture out to sea
+in her.  All hands were now busily employed in a variety of ways.  Pat
+had woven some baskets with long grass, and Billy and Tim, each carrying
+one, went out in search of salt, of which they found a plentiful supply
+in the hollows of the rocks, close down to the sea.
+
+Tom and Desmond searched in all directions for trees which might yield
+pitch or a gum of some description which would serve to pay over the
+outside of the boat, but they searched in vain.
+
+"We must find some substitute for pitch, or we cannot accomplish our
+voyage, that's very certain," said Tom.
+
+The boat was constantly kept wet; at last they tried sinking her for
+several hours together, but her planks would not swell sufficiently to
+stop the leaks.  They were almost in despair.
+
+"Had we only a good supply of powder, we might live in luxury on fish,
+flesh, and fowl, with plenty of vegetables; but without the powder,
+should we get a continuance of had weather, we may be reduced to the
+vegetable diet," said Desmond, as they were sitting round the fire at
+supper.
+
+"As to the hogs, we may be pretty sure of catching them," observed Pat;
+"we can soon find out their runs, and by digging pitfalls it won't be
+long before a porker will find his way in."
+
+"Then the sooner you can manage to dig a pitfall and catch a porker the
+better," said Tom.
+
+"That will be the very thing I'll set about to-morrow morning, with Tim
+as my mate," answered Pat.
+
+Tim agreed, and so it was arranged.
+
+"I should like to get half a dozen hogs well salted and smoked, so that
+there may be no fear of the meat turning bad," said Tom; "we cannot tell
+how long our voyage may last, and it will not do for us to run short of
+provisions if we can help it.  We must also catch and cure a supply of
+fish, and they, with the yams, will serve us for provisions.  Nothing
+else will be likely to keep, though perhaps we may obtain birds and
+vegetables at some of the islands we may pass."
+
+"But it won't do to land, sir, unless we know the people who inhabit
+them," said Pat.  "Where I was living so long they would have knocked
+any visitors on the head and eaten them up, to a certainty."
+
+"My belief is that the people on this side of the equator are generally
+well disposed towards strangers," said Tom.  "I heard the commander say
+so only a short time ago, and he had been reading some books on the
+subject."  So altogether Tom was persuaded and imbued his companions
+with the same idea that the proposed voyage could be performed without
+any extraordinary risk, and all hands looked forward to the time when
+they might venture to commence it--not that they were tired of remaining
+on the island--but even the men had no wish to spend their days there,
+and the midshipmen were naturally anxious to be employed on active
+service.  Next morning, Tom, having gone as usual to the flag-staff to
+take a look out, as he was descending, saw several dark objects moving
+on the sand of the bay below him.  Some were far up on the dry sand,
+others nearer the water.  "Those must be turtle," he said to himself;
+"we may catch some of them if we are quick about it, before they return
+to the water."  He hurried back to the camp and told his companions what
+he had seen.  They all followed him as fast as they could scamper
+towards the bay.  Each man got hold of a stick or weapon of some sort.
+The instinct of the turtle telling them that enemies were approaching,
+those farthest up the beach began to make their way, vigorously working
+their fins, towards the water.  Tom and Desmond, who were ahead, managed
+to get their sticks under a good-sized one, which they turned over
+without much difficulty, and they then attacked three others in
+succession, throwing them over on their backs.  The rest of the party
+had now come up.  Jerry and Tim, in the same way, turned over two more.
+Their success encouraged Billy, who, being ambitious, tackled a big
+fellow, which was scrambling away at a great rate towards the water.
+Billy, who was as courageous as a lion, seized hold of its fins, and in
+an instant he was covered over with showers of sand thrown up by its
+other fin, while the turtle showed no disposition to stop.  Billy
+shouted to his companions to come and help him.  Pat, who though the
+last on the field, having just turned a turtle, rushed forward and
+seized the big fellow by the other fin; but the creature had got good
+way and was not to be stopped by the united efforts of the midshipman
+and the Irish sailor, who in another instant were dragged into the
+water.  It was still too shallow for the turtle to swim, but it used its
+four flappers with so much effect against its two assailants, as to give
+them a thorough shower-bath.
+
+"We must have him; help, help!" shouted Billy; "don't let him go, Pat!"
+
+"That I'll not, shure!" answered Pat, who maintained his hold like grim
+death to the hind flapper.  "Tim, me darlin', be quick here, or the
+baste will be off.  Jerry, man, lend a hand."
+
+"Rogers, Desmond, do come and help, or the fellow will get away after
+all our trouble," shouted Billy.
+
+Thus summoned, the whole party came to the assistance of the two heroes,
+Tim in his eagerness toppling over on his nose in the shallow water.  He
+quickly, however, recovered himself, and he and Jerry seizing one of the
+fore flappers, and Tom and Gerald the other.  They managed to stop the
+progress of the unfortunate turtle, though not until they had all been
+well wetted.
+
+With a heave they turned the turtle over and dragged it up again on the
+dry beach.  By this time nearly all the other turtle had escaped; but
+another big fellow had just got into the water, and was paddling off,
+when Pat in his eagerness threw himself upon it, shouting to his
+companions for help.  Billy dashed forward, when Pat at the same moment
+contrived to turn over the turtle, but, unhappily for poor Billy, his
+foot slipping, down he fell with the turtle on the top of him; though
+his head was above water, the turtle almost smothered him with water and
+sand, which its flappers sent flying into his face.
+
+"Help, help!" he kept crying out.  Pat, in his efforts to release the
+midshipman, also slipped down under the turtle, which was all the time
+working itself into deep water, and dragging its assailants, who still
+held on, with it.
+
+Tom and Gerald, however, came to their rescue; but already the turtle
+had got into water of sufficient depth to enable it to recover its
+proper position, and with such good effect did it use its flappers,
+that, in spite of the exertions of the midshipmen and Pat, who had to
+choose between being drawn into deep water at a risk of being drowned or
+seized by a lurking shark, or losing their prize, they instinctively let
+go, and the turtle diving, joined its more fortunate companions who had
+escaped.  As, however, more turtle had been caught than the party could
+possibly eat, they had no cause to complain.
+
+"Hurrah!  I don't mind the wetting," cried Billy, as he shook himself
+like a spaniel on coming out of the water.  "We shall live for many a
+day like aldermen."
+
+"There's little chance of our eating them up before they turn bad,"
+observed Desmond.
+
+"You need not fear that, sir," said Pat; "we will build a house for
+them, where they will live as happy as princes till we want to cook
+them?"  His plan was to form an enclosure with a roof over it to protect
+the turtle from the rays of the sun, and to keep them well supplied with
+wet sea-weed.
+
+"I wonder I did not at once think about that," said Tom.  "We will do as
+you propose immediately."
+
+The axes were soon at work, and the enclosure was formed of sufficient
+size to contain all their turtle, before they returned to breakfast,
+dragging with them one of the smaller turtle, which was destined to
+serve them as food for the day.  They had turtle steaks for, breakfast,
+turtle soup for dinner, and turtle again at night.
+
+"It is a pity we have not some port wine, and cayenne pepper, and some
+lemons," cried Billy.
+
+"We have no cause to complain, since we have abundance of salt," said
+Tom.  "For my part, I think we have every reason to be thankful for the
+ample supply of food with which we have been provided."
+
+As day after day went by the hope that the _Dragon_ would return became
+fainter and fainter.  Tom made up his mind that if they were to escape
+from the island, they must perform the voyage in the boat; but as he
+examined her again and again he could not help confessing that she was
+but ill-suited for the undertaking in her present state.  Whenever they
+went out fishing they had to keep constantly baling, so that they ran a
+great risk of going down.  He had no anxiety about provisions, though
+there would be a difficulty in preserving them sufficiently to stand the
+constant exposure to the sun and wet.  That risk must, however, be run.
+He charged Pat and Tim to thoroughly salt and smoke the pork and fish.
+He directed them also to clear out a number of cocoa-nuts to serve as
+bottles for holding water.  Pat had succeeded in catching two hogs in
+his pit-fall, and when the subject of carrying water was discussed, he
+offered to sew up the skins, so as to form two big leathern bottles.
+
+"Where will you find the needles and thread to sew them up?" asked Tom.
+
+"The needles! shure, I'd be afther makin' them from bone, and there
+would be no difficulty in finding the thread."
+
+Though Tom allowed all preparations to go on, his mind was not at all
+easy in regard to the condition of the boat, and Desmond agreed with him
+that, unless her leaks could be stopped, it would be madness to put to
+sea.
+
+While the men, therefore, continued working at their several tasks Tom
+had assigned to them, assisted by Billy, who was not fond of long walks,
+he and Desmond continued their search for pitch or something which would
+answer as a substitute.  Desmond had heard of pitch springs, and looked
+about for them for some time, until Tom recollected that such were alone
+found in volcanic regions, and that they could only expect to discover
+some vegetable substance.
+
+At last they determined to explore the whole of the island, which would
+occupy them some two or tree days.
+
+Taking one of the muskets, they filled their wallets--which Pat lad
+manufactured for them of plaited grass--with a store of dried yams, salt
+pork, and fish, which they carried in case they should be unsuccessful
+in obtaining game.  They charged Billy, should the _Dragon_ appear, to
+fire off the musket left behind, and also to light a beacon fire on the
+summit of Flag-staff Hill, the smoke of which they would probably be
+able to distinguish from any part of the island.  Bidding farewell to
+their companions, they first directed their course towards the
+south-east end of the island, which, as it had a rocky and barren
+appearance, they had not yet visited.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+TOM AND DESMOND DISCOVER A WRECK--HORRIBLE SCENE--FIND TOOLS AND STORES
+ON BOARD--RETURN WITH THEIR TREASURES TO THE CAMP--VISIT THE WRECK IN
+THEIR BOAT, AND BRING BACK STORES--THE BOAT FITTED FOR SEA--LAST NIGHT
+ON SHORE--SETTING SAIL--STEER FOR JAPAN--WIND CHANGES--STAND TO THE
+SOUTH--A LONG CALM--FOLLOWED BY A SHARK--A BREEZE, BUT AGAINST THEM--
+RUNNING SHORT OF PROVISIONS--REDUCED TO YAMS AND OIL--BOAT RUN DOWN BY A
+WHALER--DESMOND AND TIM MISSING--TOM AND JERRY FIND THEM.
+
+Tom and Gerald trudged manfully forward on their survey of the island.
+The path was very uneven.  They kept as near to the coast as they could,
+and frequently they could only make their way, on account of the
+ruggedness of the rocks, by turning inland.  They had to clamber over
+fallen trunks or to cut a path with their axe through thick creepers.
+At other times they had to climb wild rocks and rugged hills, then to
+descend again, either into some valley running up from the shore or to
+the shore itself.  Their object being, however, to examine the
+productions of the island, they generally kept away from the beach.
+They had made good eight or ten miles, when, ascending a rocky height,
+they obtained a view of the sea and a line of coast for some distance.
+Suddenly Tom stopped and put his hand on his companion's arm.
+
+"Tell me, Desmond, what do you think is that dark object out there?  It
+is curiously shaped, like--or, is it--"
+
+"A vessel, to be sure," exclaimed Desmond, whose eyes had been turned
+towards the spot.  "How could she have come there without our seeing
+her?"
+
+"She may possibly have been there for some time," said Tom.  "Certainly
+she must have been wrecked during a gale before we landed here, and she
+appears to be thrown high up on the rocks."
+
+As they got up to the vessel, they saw that she had been driven on shore
+between two ledges, where she had remained fixed.  It had probably been
+high tide when she was wrecked, as the water had completely left her.
+After much difficulty, by scrambling along over the rocks, the
+midshipmen got alongside, then hauled themselves on board by some ropes
+which were hanging over the bows.  The vessel was a fore-top-sail
+schooner.  Her masts were still standing, and her canvas was hoisted,
+though torn to tatters, now fluttering in the breeze.  A horrible odour
+came up from the main hold as they went aft, and on looking down what
+was their horror to see three bodies, one apparently a white seaman,
+from his dress, the other two evidently blacks, from the few rags still
+hanging to their remains.  The two midshipmen anxious to accomplish the
+survey of the vessel, hastened aft.  About the companion hatch and on
+the bulwarks, the wood had been chipped off, as if by bullets, and there
+were other signs that a severe struggle had taken place at some time or
+other on board.  They descended the companion ladder; at the foot were
+stains of blood, traces of which were discovered on the steps.  They
+expected, from the odour which pervaded the whole vessel, to find some
+festering body in the cabin, but no human being, either dead or alive,
+was there.  They discovered, however, what had evidently been the
+captain's log-book, by which it was shown that the vessel was the _Ark_,
+of Brisbane, Queensland, and that she had been engaged in carrying
+labourers from various islands to serve as apprentices for three years
+in that colony.  How she had come thus far north it was impossible to
+say.  The last entry in the log showed that she was in the latitude of
+the Caroline group; so that if she had been deserted there, she must
+have drifted several hundred miles.  Tom and Desmond concluded that the
+blacks must have risen on the white crew, and that the latter, after
+defending themselves desperately, must have been overcome, while the
+former had probably swum on shore.  One thing was certain, that a
+terrible tragedy had been enacted on board.  The dead bodies below could
+tell no tales; probably they had fallen in the struggle and been left
+there by their companions.  Perhaps the blacks, after murdering the
+crew, had steered to the northward, fancying that their own islands lay
+in that direction.
+
+"We may suppose anything we like," said Tom; "but we shall not get
+nearer the truth.  However, we will take care of the log, and see if
+anything more can be got out of it.  We will see now if the vessel
+contains anything likely to be useful, and if there is, we must send and
+fetch it without delay, as another gale might knock her to pieces."
+
+Before they could further continue their search they had to come up and
+take fresh air; and they then again descended into the little cabin.  No
+sooner had they commenced their search than they found a set of
+carpenter's tools, some parcels of nails, and several other articles
+which they required for repairing their boat.
+
+"These are indeed treasures," said Tom, as he examined them.  "Now, if
+we can only find a cask of tar, we shall be fortunate."
+
+"That most likely is forward, or in the hold," said Desmond.
+
+"Ugh!  I don't like having to go into the hold," said Tom; "but we must
+go down, if we do not find what we want forward."
+
+Nearly all the articles they wanted most were in the after cabin: a
+quadrant, a chart, canvas and rope, sail-maker's needles, twine--indeed,
+almost everything they could possibly require.  They at once placed,
+ready for packing up, the things which were of the most value to them,
+such as some of the tools, the quadrant, and chart, a spy-glass, and
+other articles.  They then, as they were unwilling to remain longer on
+board than was necessary, made their way forward.  Almost one of the
+first objects which their eyes encountered as they examined the fore
+hold was a cask of tar, which had been got up apparently for use; there
+were also oil, turpentine, white lead, and brushes.
+
+"I only wish we had time and skill, and we might, instead of repairing
+our own boat, have built another better fitted for our intended voyage.
+Perhaps we could get the vessel off?" suggested Desmond.
+
+"You would not say that if you saw her at high tide, when the water must
+flow in and out of her, for her bottom is like a sieve," answered Tom.
+"We must not think of launching her, or of building another boat; but we
+may improve our craft, so as to make her thoroughly seaworthy."
+
+As the tackles were at hand, they at once hoisted the tar-barrel on
+deck; but by this time it was impossible to remain longer on board, and
+therefore, doing up the more valuable articles in two parcels, Tom
+having first descended, Desmond lowered them over the side to him.
+Altogether their packages weighed a good deal; but, delighted with their
+acquisition, they trudged along right merrily, hoping to get back before
+night.
+
+"We shall astonish them," exclaimed Desmond, "when they see us and the
+things we have brought."
+
+They had no little difficulty in getting back, and had frequently to
+stop and rest; but eager to join their comrades, they persevered, and at
+length, as night closed on them, they caught sight of the welcome fire
+under the cliff.  Pat had just concocted their potful of turtle soup,
+and had some yams roasting in the embers.  He and the rest could
+scarcely believe their eyes when they saw the treasures Tom and Desmond
+had brought.  The men were all eager to set off the next day.  Tom,
+however, determined to go in the boat, as there was a landing-place not
+far off, and the weather promised to be fine.  Next morning they
+accordingly launched their boat, carrying several cocoa-nut shells with
+which to bale her out, not forgetting to take also a supply of
+provisions.
+
+The wind was off the land, the water smooth; and setting the sail, they
+skimmed merrily along outside the reefs, keeping a bright look out for
+any which might be just below the surface.
+
+The only disagreeable part of the expedition was the necessity of
+keeping two bands constantly baling.  This showed how utterly impossible
+it would have been to have attempted the proposed voyage before the boat
+had been repaired.  They found a sandy beach about a quarter of a mile
+from the wreck.  Here they hauled the boat up, and all hands at once
+eagerly hastened on board.  Pat suggested that the first thing to be
+done was to bury the bodies, so that they might search the hold without
+inconvenience; and he and Tim agreed to perform the disagreeable task.
+Having found an old sail, they placed the remains in it.  Among the
+articles on board were a couple of spades, so that having dragged the
+bodies to a piece of soft ground inside the rocks, they quickly dug a
+grave, in which the white man and the blacks were placed together.
+
+"They'll not fight there," said Tim, "whatever they may have done while
+they had life in them."
+
+The hold was then washed down, after which some cases of gun-powder
+having been found, Tom devoted a portion to fumigating the hold.  They
+were now able to search the vessel thoroughly.  Almost everything they
+could possibly require was discovered in her.  Still Tim was seen
+searching about, as eagerly as at first.  At length he gave a shout.
+
+"Hurrah!" he cried out, "here is the treasure, my boys;" and he produced
+a box of tobacco, in which was still a considerable portion of its
+original contents.  "It will serve us for many a day to come."
+
+Some pipes were also found, and Tom at once gave the men leave to take a
+smoke, for which they were truly grateful after the unpleasant duty they
+had performed.  The midshipmen in the mean time were engaged in
+selecting the articles which they considered would be of the most use,
+so that should any accident happen to the wreck before they could
+return, they might at all events have secured the most necessary things.
+
+In Tom's eyes the cask of tar was the most valuable.  The voyage had
+apparently been a long one, as nearly all the provisions had been
+exhausted.  A small barrel of biscuit, with a few pieces of beef at the
+bottom of a cask, were almost the only provisions remaining on board.
+There was, however, some tea, coffee, and sugar, and they did not forget
+to carry off some cooking utensils, as well as a few cups, plates, a
+tea-pot, some knives and forks, as also several articles of clothing,
+which would enable them to enjoy the luxury of a change of linen.
+
+Tom at first thought of shifting their head-quarters to the little bay
+where their boat was drawn up; but on consideration, as it was in an
+exposed situation, he and Desmond agreed to return to their original
+camp.  They found a sufficient amount of planking to raise the boat's
+gunwales, and to put a small deck forward and some lockers aft.
+Altogether they were highly satisfied with the treasures they had
+obtained, and having laden their boat, they once more put off.  The wind
+again favouring them, they had a pleasant sail back to the bay.  It was
+night by the time they landed their stores and had conveyed the articles
+of food to their encampment.
+
+Tom and Desmond were in much better spirits than they had been before.
+They had now, as they could make their boat seaworthy, great hopes of
+performing their intended voyage.  They had a good store of provisions,
+with a compass, chart, quadrant, and almanac, so that they could direct
+their course in any direction which was considered advisable.  They were
+still in some doubt whether they should go on to the Ladrones or steer
+for Japan.  In the latter case they would be likely to fall in with an
+English man-of-war, but the voyage must be difficult, and they finally
+decided to be guided by the winds and the state of the weather.
+
+Japan was certainly nearer, but they might make a port at which no
+Englishmen were settled, and it was very uncertain how they might be
+treated by the natives.  They hoped, too, that the _Dragon_ might have
+escaped and managed to reach the Ladrones, where, as she would without
+doubt remain some time, they might be able to rejoin her.
+
+None of the party, unfortunately, had much practical knowledge of
+carpentering.  Pat, from having lived so long among the savages, was the
+most skilful and accustomed to turn his hand to all sorts of work.  They
+trusted, however, for success to the right exercise of their wits.  They
+had to make a couple more trips to the wreck, to bring away various
+articles which they thought might be of use.  They then, without further
+loss of time, commenced operations.
+
+The first task was to fix on a false keel, about half a foot in depth,
+to enable the boat to sail closer to the wind than she would otherwise
+have been able to do.  It took some time, as they were greatly afraid of
+injuring the original keel.  Fortunately, they had found some long
+screws, which much assisted them.
+
+"I have a bright idea," said Tom, as they were about to begin.  "We'll
+nail on a length in the first place two inches deep, which we can firmly
+secure with iron hoops to the side of the keel, and into that we can run
+our screws, so that there will be no risk of splitting the keel."
+
+This plan was carried out.
+
+"To my mind, no carpenter could have done it better," exclaimed Jerry,
+as he surveyed the work.
+
+The fore-part of the boat was next decked over, a piece of canvas being
+nailed down on the top of it, and well painted, thus rendering it
+perfectly water-tight.  On the same principle they formed some large
+lockers aft, and another amidships, in which their heavier previsions
+could be stored.
+
+These being made water-tight, would materially assist in keeping the
+boat afloat should a heavy sea break on board of her.  The gunwale was
+then raised a foot all round, and a bulwark placed athwartships, abaft
+the forecastle deck, from which, extending some feet further aft, a
+sliding hatch was fitted, so that in reality their boat was half decked
+over.  They lastly gave her a thick coat of tar outside, and two coats
+of paint all over inside.  She was rigged with a mainsail, a mizen, and
+a foresail, to which they added a sliding bowsprit, so that a jib could
+be set in light winds, with a flying gaff topsail.  Having plenty of
+canvas and spars, they also fitted a square sail; some sand-bags served
+for ballast, although the stores they intended to take would reader them
+at first unnecessary.  Tom had, however, half a dozen spare ones made,
+which could be filled from the beach of any island at which they might
+touch, as their stores became exhausted.  Altogether the craft was made
+thoroughly seaworthy.  They had been working hard all day, the last
+touch was given, and after a critical examination she was pronounced
+complete.
+
+"Now, lads, we will launch her," cried Tom.
+
+By means of the rollers placed under her keel, this was done without
+much difficulty, and all hands jumped on board.  Ballast was then placed
+in her, and she was found not to make a drop of water.
+
+"For my part," exclaimed Tom, anxious to encourage the rest, "I should
+be ready to sail right across the Pacific in her."
+
+"And so should I," cried Billy and Desmond in chorus.
+
+"Pardon me for saying it, sir; there are two things we cannot carry
+enough of to do that--water and fresh provisions," said Jerry Bird, the
+oldest seaman of the party.  "If we did not meet with a hurricane or too
+heavy a gale for the boat, we might of course get across.  Such voyages
+have been performed before now, but no man would willingly undertake one
+if it could be avoided."
+
+These observations of Jerry set Tom thinking.  "We must calculate the
+quantity of water we can carry, and go on an allowance from the first,"
+he said to Desmond.  "We must do the same also with regard to our yams
+and all our other provisions, or, after all the pains we have taken, we
+might run short, which would not be pleasant."
+
+"I should think not," remarked Billy.  "I don't mind how long we remain
+in the boat, but I should not like to be on short commons."
+
+The weather promising to be fine, the boat was anchored close in shore,
+being also secured by an additional warp fastened to a stake driven into
+the ground.  Their intention was to carry their provisions and stores on
+board the next morning and immediately sail.  With the writing materials
+he had found on board the schooner, Tom wrote a short account of their
+adventures, and their intentions as to their _future_ proceedings, and
+corked the paper up in a bottle.  This they lashed carefully to a stake
+close to the flag-staff, which they felt sure would be visited should
+any vessel come off the island.
+
+"At all events, our friends will some day or other learn what has become
+of us if we are lost," said Desmond.
+
+"Oh, pray don't talk about that," cried Billy; "I can't bear to think
+about, anything so dreadful."
+
+It was some time before Tom, who felt the responsibility of the
+undertaking resting on his shoulders, could go to sleep.  He thought
+over what had to be done, and how he should act under the various
+circumstances which might occur.
+
+Just as the first streaks of dawn appeared in the sky, he awoke.  He
+immediately got up and went out to look at the state of the weather.  As
+far as he could judge, from the sheltered position of the hut, it was as
+fine as it had been for some days past.  "Thank Heaven, we shall
+commence our voyage under favourable auspices, at all events," he said
+to himself.  Then he shouted--
+
+"Rouse up there, rouse up!"  His companions were quickly on foot.  Billy
+wanted to have breakfast immediately.  Tom would not hear of it.
+
+"No, no, we must get the cargo on board, and then we will take our last
+breakfast on the beach," he answered.
+
+The party now loaded themselves with the various articles which were to
+be taken from the hut.  The heavier stores had been housed close to the
+beach.  Tom took a look round to see that nothing was left behind.  They
+then all set off to the boat, which floated in the calm water of the
+bay.  Some time was occupied in loading her and stowing the stores
+judiciously away, so that those first required might be uppermost.
+Their live stock were the last articles carried on board, consisting of
+a couple of turtle, which they hoped would live and serve them for fresh
+provisions.  The survivors of those in the pen they allowed to scramble
+back into the water, a proceeding at which Billy sighed deeply.
+
+"Can't we tow them after us," he said, "or haul them on board as we
+might want them, or during calms make them tow us?"
+
+"Bosh!" was the only answer Tom made to Billy's remark.  It was with
+considerable anxiety that Tom watched the depth to which the stores, as
+they were placed on board, gradually brought down the boat.  They had
+still more water in cocoa-nuts and pigskins to bring on board.  He, soon
+saw that should they meet with bad weather they might have to heave
+overboard a considerable portion; still, as long as the sea remained
+smooth, she was not considered much overloaded.
+
+Pat having lighted a fire on the beach, the party sat down to take their
+last breakfast on the shore.  It was a hearty one, it may be supposed,
+as after this they could not venture to have more than one hot meal in
+the day.  They had found a small cooking apparatus on board the wreck,
+which could be heated either by an oil-lamp or by wood chips.
+
+"All hands on board," cried Tom at length.  He stood the last on the
+beach.  Having a gain cast an eye around to see that nothing was left
+behind, he once more gave a look at the boat.  "She is indeed deep in
+the water--almost too deep," he said to himself.  "She will, however, I
+trust, weather any gale we are likely to meet with.  We must, at all
+events, run the risk, and trust to providence to take care of us."
+
+Having cast off the warp, Tom waded out to the boat and got on board.
+Before giving the order to weigh anchor, he saw that everything was
+properly stowed, and that the chart, quadrant, and compass were in the
+locker ready for use.  The wind in the bay was very light, but by the
+colour of the water outside, it could be seen that a breeze was blowing,
+though from what quarter it was difficult to determine.
+
+"Now, lads, we will get up the anchor and pull away into the offing,
+though one cheer before we go for our island home."
+
+A cheerful hurrah burst from the lips of the party, the anchor was
+lifted and stowed, and the oars being got out, they pulled merrily down
+the harbour.  The entrance to the passage was as smooth as the rest of
+the bay.  Having at length got well into the offing, Tom and Desmond had
+to decide in which direction to steer.  The chart showed them Guam, the
+principal of the Ladrone Islands, much further off than Yokohama, on the
+coast of Japan, towards which they proposed steering.  The wind, too,
+was from the north-east, and should it continue from the same point,
+they might reach some place in the latter islands, much sooner than they
+could hope to arrive at Guam.  Still, as they had taken it into their
+heads that the _Dragon_ would touch at Guam, they were far more inclined
+to go there than to Japan.  When Tom, however, considered the risk of
+running short of water and of fresh provisions, he decided that they
+ought to attempt to reach Japan.  Desmond agreed with him, and he
+accordingly at once put the boat's head to the north-west.  The wind was
+so light that both the jib and gaff-topsail were set, and the boat
+which, at a distance, would have looked like a little cutter, stood well
+up to her canvas.
+
+"She will do it, sir," said Jerry Bird.  "She is going better than four
+knots an hour now, and if there comes a stiff breeze, we shall get six
+out of her."
+
+Tom was not quite so sanguine as to that; indeed, when he came to heave
+a log which he had fitted, he found that she was making really only
+three and a half knots, though that, considering the lightness of the
+wind, was very good.  The little island on which they had spent so many
+days drew gradually astern.  They could see others away to the
+northward.  They concluded that they were also uninhabited, or, if there
+were any people on them, that they were not likely to afford them any
+assistance.  At last the island itself faded from sight, and as the sun
+went down they floated in the midst of a watery circle.  Tom, with
+Desmond and Jerry Bird, had taken the helm one after another, for Billy
+had had no experience, and neither of the other men could be trusted to
+steer by the compass.  As it got dark Tom wisely took in the
+gaff-topsail and jib, while he kept a hand always ready to lower the
+mainsail, should a sudden squall strike the boat.  There appeared to be
+little chance, however, of that, for scarcely had the sun gone down than
+the wind fell to a perfect calm, and the boat lay motionless on the
+water.
+
+"Don't you think it would be well to take to the oars?" asked Desmond.
+
+"If we were certain of making good our passage in this direction.  I
+should say so, but before exerting our strength we must see from which
+quarter the wind will next blow.  It may be in our teeth, and all our
+labour will have been in vain."
+
+Tom divided the crew into two watches: he, Billy, and Pat taking one;
+Desmond, with Jerry Bird and Tim, being in the other.  Tom took the
+first watch, as he had an idea that the weather would change before
+midnight.
+
+"You need not sit up, Billy," he said.  "If you are wanted I'll call
+you.  Tim will tend the main halyards and keep a look-out forward."
+
+Billy, who was always ready for a _caulk_, lay down in the stern sheets.
+Tim kept himself awake by alternately singing snatches of Irish songs
+and whistling.  Tom himself had some difficulty in keeping awake.  He
+had lighted the binnacle lamp, by which he saw that the boat's head was
+turned now to one, now to another point of the compass.  Several times
+he got up to look about; though no sailing vessel could near them, a
+steamer might, and often and often he fancied he heard the sound of one
+in the distance.  Hour after hour passed by; he looked at his watch,
+which had fortunately kept good time.  At midnight he roused up Desmond,
+charging him to keep a good look out for any sudden squall.  "Which way
+it may come it is impossible to say, but I think very likely from the
+point for which we are steering," he observed.
+
+Bird was of the same opinion.  "We'll not be caught napping, sir," he
+said, as Tom lay down, thankful for the prospect of getting some rest.
+Desmond managed to keep awake, and amused himself by listening to Pat
+Casey's yarns, which were so extraordinary that Desmond fancied he must
+be drawing upon his imagination, though he did not think fit to say so.
+The middle watch passed away much as the first had done.  Now and then a
+whale or some vast fish was heard blowing or splashing in the water, but
+nothing could be seen, the sound travelling over the smooth surface to a
+great distance.
+
+"We will let the first watch have their sleep out," said Desmond.  "It
+is a pity to rouse them up until daylight, though you, Pat, can lie
+down."
+
+"Shure, it's only my tongue that's been kept hard at work, and that will
+get along very well without any rest, so with your leave I'll sit up and
+keep Jerry company," answered the Irishman.
+
+Scarcely an hour after this, Desmond, who fancied he was awake, was
+sitting near the tiller, with his hand placed mechanically on it, when
+he felt it suddenly move.  There was a rushing sound, the boat heeled
+slowly over.  Tom, who even in his sleep felt the movement, jumped up,
+and finding the boat heeling over, "Let go the main-sheet," he shouted
+to Pat, who, being in the land of dreams, had neglected to lower away on
+the main halyards.  Once aroused, he quickly obeyed the order, and the
+boat happily righted.  Fortunately, the stores being well stowed,
+nothing shifted, or it might have gone hard with them.  Tom's first act
+was to look at the compass.  The wind, as he had expected, was from the
+north-west.  Desmond was keeping the boat close on the starboard tack,
+heading away to the southward of west.
+
+"I was afraid so," exclaimed Tom.  "However, we will try what we can do.
+Perhaps it will shift again to its old quarter; but if it holds as it
+now does, we shall have a dead beat to Yokohama, and it may be many a
+long day before we get there.  We will give it a fair trial, however, in
+case the wind should change."
+
+Daylight soon came.  Tom gazed anxiously around.
+
+"We will heave to and go to breakfast.  Should the wind continue as it
+is for a couple of hours, we will then bear up at once and run for Guam.
+It is a sign to us that that must be our destination."
+
+Having boiled their kettle, they took their first breakfast on board the
+boat.
+
+"Follow my example, and make a good one," said Billy.  "If it comes on
+to blow, and we should have to heave any of our cargo overboard, it is
+as well to save as much as possible."
+
+The men, at all events, were inclined to follow the midshipman's advice;
+and after breakfast Tom got out his chart and pricked off their course
+and present position.
+
+"With this wind we shall soon sight the Bonins, so that we shall not
+have lost much time.  We shall, I hope, make Bailey Islands before dark;
+after that our course must be south by east, which will carry us clear
+of several rocks and reefs to the westward, and I hope that if we have a
+good breeze we may sight one of the more northern of the Ladrones in the
+course of a week or ten days, and Guam is about three hundred miles
+further south."
+
+Desmond fully agreed to Tom's proposal, and the time they had fixed on
+having arrived, and the wind blowing as strongly and steadily as ever,
+the helm was put up, and the boat was steered on the proposed course.
+Although the Bonins were seen, night came on before they sighted Bailey
+Islands; and Tom, afraid of running on them in the dark, steered more to
+the eastward than he otherwise would have done.
+
+Before the first watch was set he addressed his companions, urging them
+one and all to keep a vigilant look out ahead, both day and night.  "We
+have not the advantage, recollect, of a large vessel, when a rock or
+reef may be seen from the mast-head," he observed.  "Should there be any
+sea running, the first intimation we may have of our danger may be by
+finding ourselves on the top of a coral rock.  We must be always ready,
+at a moment's notice, to alter our course, and get out the oars should
+the wind fail us.  By that means we may escape the dangers we must
+expect to meet with.  Remember, the chart we have got is an old one and
+may be inaccurate, so that it would be unwise to trust completely to
+it."
+
+"Very important remarks, and I hope the men in my watch will remember
+them, as I shall myself," said Desmond.
+
+Though the wind was fair, they ran on all night, under the main-sail,
+foresail, and mizzen, in case they should suddenly have to haul up to
+avoid any danger upon which they might be running.  "As soon as we have
+daylight we will set the square sail, and make up for lost time," said
+Tom.  The wind held fair, but towards morning it began to fall, and by
+daybreak it was again perfectly calm.
+
+"Suppose the wind springs up next time from the southward, are we to run
+north?" asked Billy.
+
+"Wait until that time comes," answered Tom.  "We have now laid a course
+for Guam, and Guam I hope we shall reach some day or other."
+
+As the sun rose the heat became very great, increased by the glare from
+the ocean, which shone like a sheet of burnished gold.  Having a second
+suit of sails, Tom had the mainsail rigged as an awning, which, as the
+sun got higher, served to shelter their heads, and to prevent the risk
+of a sunstroke.  The awning, however, could only be kept up as long as
+it remained calm, when it was of course most required.  Although some
+progress might have been made by rowing, Tom was unwilling to fatigue
+his crew, thinking it better to husband their strength for any emergency
+which might occur.  At the usual hour Tom piped to breakfast, which was
+made to last as long as possible.  Tom's great difficulty was to find
+occupation for all hands.  Unfortunately they had no books except the
+nautical almanac, which was not interesting reading.  Yarn spinning is
+very well in the evening when men have done their work, but few can go
+on all day either as listeners or narrators.  Even singing songs becomes
+somewhat monotonous, especially when the list is small and the singers
+have already trolled them forth over and over again.  Their chief
+amusement was watching the coveys of flying-fish which rose every now
+and then from the ocean, and darted through the air, their bright scales
+glittering in the sun.  Occasionally a whale spouted forth a jet of
+vapour and spray with a loud noise like that emitted by the safety valve
+of a steam engine; while albicores, bonitos; and dolphins, with various
+other fish, could be seen here and there, sporting and tumbling, as they
+came to the surface, sending a circle of wavelets extending far and wide
+around.  Sea birds also flew through the blue ether, their wings
+appearing of snowy whiteness as they caught the rays of the sun in their
+rapid flight.
+
+Jerry Bird proposed getting out the oars.  "Maybe, sir, if we pull on
+for a few hours we may fall in with some craft becalmed; and though we
+may wish to continue the voyage in our boat, we may have a talk with her
+people, hear the news, and maybe get a glass of grog."
+
+"Or slice of plum pudding, or pot of jam," put in Billy.
+
+As there appeared to be no signs of a breeze springing up, Tom agreed to
+Jerry's proposal, and the oars were got out, Billy taking one of them,
+at which Gerald promised to take a spell when he got tired.  Heavily
+laden, however, as the boat was, they could scarcely send her ahead at
+the rate of two knots an hour; but even that was something; and
+supposing they could row for fifteen hours, night and day, thirty miles
+might be made good during the four and twenty.
+
+Jerry, to keep up the spirits of his companions, led off with a song,
+when Tim and Pat followed him; and thus they continued until Tom piped
+to dinner.  They indeed seemed much happier than when doing nothing.  As
+soon as dinner was over they again took to the oars, and pulled on
+steadily until dark; but no land was seen, nor was a sail in sight.
+Indeed, so limited was their horizon, that they were likely to pass low
+islands without observing them.  The night was as calm as the day; but,
+as the men required sleep, Tom kept only two oars going.  When the sun
+rose the next morning it shone on the same polished surface as on the
+previous day.
+
+"Not an air in the heavens," said Jerry, in answer to Tom's inquiries,
+as he rose from his sleeping-place in the stern sheets; "and, to my
+mind, there won't be."
+
+"We must have patience," said Tom, preparing to take a morning bath by
+jumping overboard.
+
+"Be careful, sir, and look out for sharks," observed Jerry.  "I would
+not, if I were you, go far from the boat."
+
+"I will follow your advice.  Keep the oars splashing, and that will
+frighten them off, if any are near," said Tom.
+
+Plunging in, the midshipmen swam round and round the boat several times.
+Billy jumped overboard, but being of opinion that he was likely to
+prove a tempting morsel to Jack Shark, very quickly begged Jerry to help
+him on board again.  The midshipmen having dressed themselves, the men
+imitated their example.  They were splashing about round the beat, when
+Pat shouted out--
+
+"Bear a hand; get on board, mates.  I caught sight of the fin of a big
+fellow not twenty fathoms off; he'll be after trying the taste of our
+legs, if we don't look sharp."
+
+The midshipmen stood ready to help in the men, for they also had seen
+the ominous black fin.  Jerry, who had an especial dread of sharks,
+quickly threw himself over the gunwale, with the assistance of Tom,
+while Desmond and Billy helped up Tim.  Pat, who was farthest out,
+caught hold of the bobstay and was hoisting himself on board by the
+jibboom, when a cry of dismay escaped him.
+
+"He nearly had me, the baste; for I felt his jaws touch my foot."
+
+That this was not imagination was proved by the blood running from Pat's
+heel, where the lips, though fortunately not the teeth of the monster,
+had struck him.  A second later, and Pat's foot would have been off to a
+certainty.  The shark was directly afterwards seen swimming alongside
+the boat and casting a malicious leer at those on board.
+
+"It will be a lesson to us in future not to swim away from the side,"
+observed Tom.
+
+"It will be a lesson for me not to go overboard at all," said Billy.
+"_I've_ no fancy to become food for a shark."
+
+Another night passed.  Tom found at noon the next day that, instead of
+thirty, they had not made good twenty miles.  The fact was that at times
+they were not rowing at all; at others only two oars were going, when
+not more than one mile an hour was made, and even when four were rowing,
+they had to exert themselves to move the boat at the rate of two knots
+an hour.  Still progress was being made.  They should in time reach the
+most northern of the Ladrones, where they might venture on shore without
+fear of being killed and eaten, as would certainly be their lot on any
+of the islands further to the south-west.  Rowing all day under a
+burning sun is not conducive to health, and though none of the party
+were actually ill, they began to long for a breeze, which would send
+them more rapidly on their course; while their spirits, which had
+hitherto been kept up, also flagged considerably.  Each day, too, they
+made less progress than on the former one, a sign that their strength
+was somewhat failing.  They had hitherto had an ample supply of food.
+The salt junk found on board the wreck had been kept to be used only in
+case of necessity.  Of their turtle, one had been killed, and they had
+feasted on it for a couple of days, until the remainder grew bad, and
+they were compelled to throw it overboard.  One morning Pat, who had
+taken charge of the animals, announced that the other was dead, having
+died during the night, and that unless it was quickly eaten it would be
+lost.  This proved to be the case, especially to Billy's regret, who saw
+the tempting morsels swallowed by the shark, which had, since its first
+appearance, followed the boat.  The still more alarming announcement was
+that several of their hams, which they had fancied so well cured, were
+also getting bad.  Some were consigned to the maw of the voracious
+shark, though others, which were only slightly tainted, were kept until
+the continued heat rendered them uneatable.  Pat could not make it out,
+but it was discovered on examination that neither the smoke nor salt had
+penetrated to any depth, and that they would have done better to have
+cut the meat in thin strips and attempted thus to preserve it.
+
+"Well, we shall have fish enough and roots, before we attack the junk;
+we must husband the biscuit and other things," observed Tom.
+
+He accordingly put all hands on an allowance.  It was with no small
+anxiety that he examined the cured fish, which he was grieved to find
+emitted far from a pleasant odour; still, as it was at present eatable,
+he continued to serve it out.
+
+"It is not often I have known a calm last so long as this," exclaimed
+Jerry, when a whole week had passed, and not a breath of air had filled
+their sails.  "We would have been better off on shore had we known what
+was coming."
+
+"We should not grumble," observed Tom.  "We have got upwards of a
+hundred miles to the southward; when a breeze does come we shall have so
+much less distance to make."
+
+"But the food and the water, sir?" exclaimed Jerry.
+
+"We must touch at the nearest island we sight and obtain a fresh
+supply," was the answer.
+
+Day after day the shark had followed the boat, and while his hideous
+snout was seen, or that triangular fin of his, it would have been
+useless to put over a fishing-line, as it would certainly have been
+carried off.  When, however, the fresh provisions ran short, Gerald and
+Tom determined to try and get rid of their fearful foe.  The three men
+and Billy, who, though fat and short, pulled a very good oar, were
+rowing as men do who have been at the task many hours, in a sort of
+mechanical fashion, when Tom exclaimed--
+
+"Load the muskets, Desmond, and if we cannot kill that brute astern, and
+get a few slices out of his carcase, we will, at all events, drive him
+away."
+
+The muskets had been kept clean and ready for use.  They were soon
+loaded, when the midshipmen, bringing the weapons to their shoulders,
+took, as they thought, a steady aim and fired.  The shark instantly sank
+out of sight.  Whether they had hit him or not, they could not tell, but
+it was possible that the bullets, being deflected by the water, had
+glanced clear of his head.  They at once reloaded, expecting that he
+would return; but though they looked down into the clear water astern
+and on either side, the monster was nowhere to be seen.
+
+"He won't trouble us again," said Desmond.  "I feel pretty sure my
+bullet went into him."
+
+"And I think mine did," said Tom; "but neither could have killed him, or
+he would have floated up."
+
+"Then the sooner we get out the lines and try and catch some fish for
+supper the better," exclaimed Billy.
+
+Taking off the heavy leads, two of the lines were baited with pieces of
+rancid pork and allowed to tow astern.  The lines had been out for some
+time, but not a bite had been obtained.
+
+"Perhaps the lines are not deep enough, or the bait is not as good as it
+should be," observed Desmond, beginning to haul in upon his line.  He
+had got it in a third of the length, when he felt it torn from his
+grasp, and he caught sight of a monster running off with it.  The next
+instant, as Desmond had the line round the thwart, it snapped short off.
+Away went hook and line.  Directly after, Tom's line, hanging over the
+other quarter, without any warning was snapped off.
+
+"It's that brute of a shark come back again," cried Tom.  "Get the
+muskets, Desmond, and if we can entice him near, we will settle him this
+time."
+
+"He's too knowing for that, sir," observed Jerry.  "You may fire away
+every shot you've got--he'd see them coming, and be out of the way
+before they reach him."
+
+Tom, not believing this, determined to try once more.  He got out
+another piece of pork, and fastened it to the end of one of the broken
+lines.
+
+"The hooks will puzzle his inside," said Desmond, "when he begins to
+feel them.  He'll think twice before he has another bite."
+
+The muskets were loaded, and the midshipmen standing up, kept their eyes
+closely watching the bait, which floated on the surface, two or three
+fathoms astern.
+
+"There he comes," cried Desmond.  And as the shark, turning on his back,
+exposed the white of his belly, they both fired.  The brute disappeared,
+and so did the bait, sinking like a rocket until lost to sight.
+
+"We have finished him this time, at all events," cried Desmond.  "He'll
+not take any more of our hooks."
+
+"Yes, but we have lost the slices out of his back," cried Billy; "and,
+unless we can now catch some fish, we shall be on short commons for
+supper."
+
+Hoping that they should not be again troubled by the shark, fresh lines
+were got out.  No fish, however, took the bait; either none came near,
+or it was not suited to their tastes.  Supper consequently consisted
+only of biscuits and tea; but the warm tea was a great comfort after the
+heat of the day.  The watch kept the lines down all night, but still
+without success.  Two more days went by with little variation.  Now and
+then their hopes were raised seeing a ripple far away on the surface;
+but, if caused by wind, it died away before it reached them.  They were
+now on a short allowance of water; that in the skins had either
+evaporated or leaked out, the store in the cocoa-nuts had soon been
+exhausted, and they had only the boat's breaker, on which they had
+already commenced.  A few biscuits and a portion of the salt beef, which
+was at the best scarcely eatable, and possessed but slightly nutritive
+qualities, alone remained.  Still they had enough to keep them alive for
+three or four days, perhaps for longer; but before that time, should a
+breeze spring up, they might at all events reach Faralon de Pajaros, the
+most northern of the Ladrones.  There were other small islands marked
+down to the westward, one of which they might sight; and, if so, Tom
+determined to land, and try to obtain water and any food they might be
+able to find.  They would most likely be able to get shellfish from the
+rocks, which would be an improvement on the junk.  It was night.
+Desmond had the watch, and Tom was lying down fast asleep.  He was
+aroused by hearing Desmond sing out, "A breeze! a breeze!  All hands
+make sail!"  Tom in a moment was on his feet.  He looked around him and
+up at the stars.
+
+"From which quarter does it come?" he asked.
+
+The binnacle lamp had not been lighted.  A light was soon struck.  Tom
+examined the compass.  "It is dead against us," he exclaimed, with
+almost a groan.
+
+"It is coming on very strong too, sir," observed Jerry.  "It would be
+better not to set the mainsail, until we see what happens."
+
+As Jerry had feared, the wind became stronger, and they presently had as
+much as the boat could stagger under, with only her mizzen and foresail
+set.  The sea, however, was not as heavy as might have been expected.
+Tom kept the boat's head close to it, and she rode easily over the
+fast-rising billows.  The hatch, which had hitherto been of no use, was
+shipped, and kept out the seas which occasionally broke on board.  The
+boat was much lighter than when she had started; indeed, as Jerry
+observed, "she would have been the better for a few more sand-bags in
+her bottom."  Tom was delighted at her behaviour.
+
+"She rides beautifully over the seas," he exclaimed.  "I should have
+been sorry not to have given her a trial.  The wind will very likely
+change before long, and we shall have a quick run to Faralon.  I wish
+that I knew more about it, but if we can get water and cocoa-nuts and
+shellfish there, we must not complain.  We can afterwards make our way
+without difficulty to Guam, having plenty of islands to stop at in our
+course."
+
+Tom said this to keep up his own spirits and those of his companions.
+They had not as yet begun to suffer from hunger, but he well knew that
+they should in a few days unless they could reach land.  They had none
+of them calculated on the contingency which had occurred.  The gale
+continued all day.  At night the sea went down, and the wind fell
+considerably, but still blew from the southward.  The boat was put
+about, as Tom and Desmond agreed that they must try and beat up to
+Faralon, which they might hope to sight in two or three days at the
+utmost.  By daylight the wind had fallen sufficiently to enable them to
+set all sail, but they agreed that it would have been better to have had
+a dead calm, so that they might have pulled the boat in the direction
+they wished to go.  At present, however, there was too much wind to
+enable them to do that.
+
+Tom, who had hitherto bravely kept up his spirits, began to feel far
+from happy, although he did his best not to allow his companions to
+discover this.  He could not help reflecting that in three or four days
+their water and provisions must come almost to an end.  They had not
+enough now, even to keep up their strength, and it might still take two
+or three weeks before they could reach an island inhabited by civilised
+people.  He, however, did his best not to communicate his feelings to
+his companions.
+
+"I wish we had gone to Japan," exclaimed Billy Blueblazes.  "We should
+have been there long ago, and I don't like these short commons--that I
+don't."
+
+"I acted for the best," answered Tom.  He could not say another word: he
+felt more for his companions than himself.
+
+The two Irishmen were looking very woe-begone.  All Pat's fun had left
+him; he had just strength enough to tend the jib sheets.  Tim was
+stationed at the foresail, while Jerry stood by the main halyards.
+
+Tom and Desmond, who had never played tricks with their constitutions,
+which were remarkably good ones, suffered much less than the rest, but
+even they felt themselves growing weaker and weaker.  They had each day
+taken an observation.  According to the chart they were nearly up to
+Faralon, but no land appeared in sight.  Each day Tom had lessened the
+allowance of food and water; he now took stock of what remained.  Half a
+dozen yams had been discovered, and these, beaten up with some oil, were
+all they had to sustain life.  It was nauseous at best, but they ate it
+greedily.  Another night came on; the sea was tolerably smooth, the sky
+was overcast, and a thick mist arose, although it still blew very fresh.
+The boat was kept under easy sail, close-hauled.  Tom had the first
+watch with Billy and Pat.  It was unusually dark, so that it was with
+difficulty that he could see the length of the boat.  Before night came
+on Tom had again examined the chart.
+
+"I am convinced that by noon--perhaps earlier--to-morrow at latest, we
+shall see land," he said.
+
+"I agree with you," exclaimed Desmond.  "On the strength of it, I
+propose that we have a glass of grog apiece."
+
+"You'll not be afther laughin' at us, shure, Mr Desmond?" said Tim.
+"If we could but have a dhrop of the creature, it would cheer our hearts
+mightily."
+
+"Indeed, I am not," said Desmond, producing the bottle from one of the
+after lockers.  It was but a quarter full of rum, but even the small
+portion mixed with water which Desmond served out was sufficient to
+restore energy, to the almost exhausted party.  The remainder he
+carefully put by for the next day.  After this the watch below lay down
+and went to sleep.
+
+Tom sat at the helm.  Every now and then he told Pat to keep a bright
+look out.
+
+"Arrah, sir, it will be a hard matter to do that, since I cannot see
+half a fathom before my nose."
+
+"There cannot be much use in looking out," said Billy.  "If we were near
+the land we should have seen it before dark; and as we have not fallen
+in with a single vessel since we left the Bonins, we are not likely to
+meet with one to-night."
+
+"That's not sound reasoning, Billy," answered Tom.  "We must, until the
+fog lifts, make more use of our ears than our eyes.  We may hear
+breakers ahead in time to avoid them if we listen attentively."
+
+They were silent for some time.  Tom's chief object in speaking was to
+keep his companions awake.
+
+"Billy," he said, after some time, "did you hear anything?"
+
+"Yes; I fancied I heard a bell strike."
+
+"More than once?"
+
+"Yes; four times."
+
+"So did I," said Tom; and he took out his watch, intending to look at it
+by the light of the binnacle lamp, when at that instant the lamp went
+out.  The oil had been exhausted, and there was no more in the can.
+Pat, he had reason to fear, had taken a pull at it unperceived.
+
+He struck a match, and saw it was just ten o'clock.  There could be no
+doubt, then, that the bell they heard was that on board a ship; still it
+was so faint that she was probably a long way off.
+
+Tom could now only steer by the wind, which, however, he believed was
+holding steady.  He had settled with Desmond to go about at four bells,
+and to keep on the starboard tack until midnight, then again to go
+about.  He had just ordered Pat to let fly the jib sheet, and had put
+down the helm, when, as the boat was in stays, Pat sang out--
+
+"A sail right ahead!"  What was Tom's horror at that instant to see a
+vast pyramid of sail towering above him.  The next moment a crash was
+heard; the stranger's stem struck the boat's bow.  At the sound Desmond
+and Jerry sprang to their feet.  Instinctively they knew that they had
+been run down, and simultaneously they uttered shouts of "Help, help!"
+Ropes were hove to them by the look-out men on the stranger's
+forecastle.  Tom put one into the hands of Billy, who was too much
+alarmed to know what to do, while he himself grasped another.  Pat had
+caught hold of the dolphin striker, and was making his way up to the
+bowsprit.  Jerry grasped another rope, and all three swarmed up until
+they met friendly hands to assist them.  Tom supposed that Desmond and
+Tim were following, but, as he looked back, what was his dismay to see
+the boat drifting away.  The crash he had heard convinced him that her
+side must have been stove in, and that she must sink almost immediately.
+
+"There are two men clinging to the craft you ran down, sir.  In mercy's
+sake, lower a boat and pick them up," he shouted out.
+
+"Aye, aye," was the answer.
+
+And he thankfully heard the order given to shorten sail and bring the
+ship to the wind.  Rushing aft, he found a party of men preparing to
+lower a boat.  He begged to go in her.  Before she was in the water
+Jerry joined him, and, together with three other hands, they shoved off.
+He then saw that she was a whaleboat.  One of the men, an officer he
+concluded, took the steering oar.
+
+"Desmond!  Tim!" he shouted out.
+
+No answer came.  The boat must have gone down, but they could both swim
+well.
+
+"Do you know the bearings?" he asked of the mate.
+
+"Aye, aye!  I guess I do," was the answer.  "We will give them another
+hail presently."
+
+The boat pulled on.  Then Tom, standing up again, halloed, the rest of
+the party joining him.  An answer came from right ahead.  Tom recognised
+Desmond's voice.  With renewed zeal they pulled on and looked around.
+Tom could distinguish the boat through the gloom, just above the water.
+
+"Bear a hand," shouted Desmond again, and they were up to the boat.
+
+She had gone almost over, her side being only above water.  Desmond was
+clinging to it.
+
+"Here, take him off first," he said; and the crew of the whaleboat
+lifted Tim on board.  Desmond sprang after him.  Scarcely had they got
+clear of the wreck of the boat than she went down.
+
+"Thank Heaven, you are safe," exclaimed Tom, as he rung Desmond's hand,
+as if they had been long parted.  "Did you not hear our first hail?"
+
+"No; I suppose it was when I was dragging poor Tim up.  He got a blow on
+the head, I think, and was very nearly slipping off.  As the boat broke
+clear of the ship I was on the point of hauling myself up, but I could
+not bear to desert him."
+
+"Just like you," said Tom.  "I hope he will recover."
+
+"No fear of that.  We Irishmen have good hard heads.  If there is a
+doctor on board he will soon bring him round."
+
+"Have you a doctor on board?" asked Tom of the mate.
+
+"I guess we have; a smart man he is, too," answered the mate.  "Are
+there any more of you to pick up?"
+
+"No, thank you," replied Tom; "all the officers and ship's company of
+our craft have been rescued."
+
+"What craft was she?" asked the mate.
+
+"The jolly-boat of her Majesty's ship _Dragon_," answered Tom.
+
+"And how did you happen to be out here?"  Tom explained that they had
+lost their ship, and that they were steering for Guam, where they
+expected to find her.
+
+"I guess you'll not do that, for we put in there a week ago, and there
+was no British man-of-war there at that time."
+
+This was unsatisfactory news.  The mate had not time to ask many more
+questions before the boat was alongside.  Tom and Desmond, on reaching
+the deck, found the master, who informed him that he was Captain Paul
+Sibley--that the ship by which the boat had been run down was the whaler
+_Columbia_, of Boston.  "I am very sorry for the accident," he added,
+"but I do not see that any one was to blame.  It could not be helped.
+We could not see you, and you could not see us, and of course the
+weakest went to the wall, or rather to the bottom.  However, now you are
+on board, you are welcome to remain until we can put you on board your
+ship, or set you on shore wherever you wish to land.  I guess it won't
+be on any of the Solomon Islands of New Hebrides, where they have an
+ugly fancy for eating their visitors."
+
+"Thank you," answered Tom.  "If our ship is not at Guam, where we expect
+to find her, we must consider at what other place it would be best to
+land, so that as soon as possible we may get on board a ship of war."
+
+"Well, well, there, is no hurry," answered the captain.  "And just now,
+the best thing you can do is to get off your wet clothes and turn in.  I
+will have some shakedowns made up for you young gentlemen in my state
+cabin, while your three men can go forward, and the doctor will look
+after the one with the broken head."
+
+Tom, Gerald, and Billy thanked the good-natured captain for his kind
+offer, but hinted that, as they had had nothing but mashed yams and oil
+for the last two days, they should be thankful for something to eat.
+
+"Not very pleasant fare.  It's an ill wind that blows nobody good; so,
+though I ran you down, you are better off than you would have been
+starving on such food as that, I guess.  Here, Peter, light the galley
+fire, and get some food as quick as possible.  Hot tea in the mean time;
+and look after the men forward--they want food as much as their
+officers."
+
+The black steward, who had been asleep, came out rubbing his eyes, and
+hurried to obey the orders he had received; while the captain ushered
+his guests into the cabin, and soon produced three blankets.
+
+"There, strip off your wet duds, and wrap yourselves in these," he said,
+"while I make up your beds."
+
+The three midshipmen, weary and hungry as they were, indulged in a
+laugh, as they sat with the blankets over them, like three Indian squaws
+looking at each other, while the kind captain completed the arrangements
+he had promised.
+
+The steward quickly returned with a pot of hot tea, and the captain
+produced a box of American crackers, which soon took off the edge of
+their appetites.
+
+"There, lie down now, until Peter is able to bring you mere substantial
+fare," said the captain.
+
+They followed his advice, Billy carrying a handful of crackers with him,
+munching which he soon fell fast asleep.  They were roused up, it seemed
+to them, a moment afterwards by the steward, who announced that supper
+was on the table; when they again, not _unwillingly_, wrapped in their
+blankets, sat down to discuss some basins of hot soup and slices of cold
+beef, which, as Billy observed, "was a great improvement on the raw salt
+junk, which had so long been their only substantial fare."
+
+At length the captain, observing that all three were nodding over the
+table, advised them to return to their beds; and scarcely had they put
+their heads on their pillows, than they were fast asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+KINDLY TREATED ON BOARD THE AMERICAN WHALER--LOOKING OUT FOR WHALES--A
+WHALE KILLED--CUTTING IN AND TRYING OUT--THE MASTER GOES OFF IN CHASE--
+THE SECOND MATE LOST OVERBOARD--SANDWICH ISLANDER ENDEAVOURS TO SAVE
+HIM--THE BOATS DISAPPEAR--NO APPEARANCE OF THE MASTER AND FIRST MATE--A
+GALE--THE BOATSWAIN ASSUMES COMMAND AND PLAYS THE TYRANT--WILL NOT
+SEARCH FOR THE CAPTAIN--HIDES THE NAUTICAL INSTRUMENTS--THE BOATSWAIN
+DASHES TOM'S QUADRANT TO THE DECK--NIGHT--THE MIDSHIPMEN TURN IN--THE
+SHIP STRIKES--BOATSWAIN AND CREW PUT OFF--LEAVE TOM AND HIS COMPANIONS
+ON THE WRECK--WEATHER MODERATES--LAND SEEN--THEY BUILD A RAFT--VOYAGE TO
+THE SHORE--SEE A SAVAGE ON IT--TURNS OUT TO BE PAT CASEY--NIGHT ON
+SHORE.
+
+When Tom Rogers at length awoke, he found the captain, Doctor Locock
+(the surgeon), and the first mate seated at dinner.
+
+"Well, young gentlemen, do you find yourselves well enough to join us?"
+asked the former.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Tom, slipping into his clothes, which he found
+perfectly dried by his side.  He aroused his companions, and they were
+all three soon seated at table, where plates had been laid for them.
+They were thankful to hear from the doctor that Tim, though still in his
+hammock, was in a fair way of recovery, and would be on deck in a day or
+two.
+
+They now gave a fuller account of their adventures than they had done on
+the previous night.  The possible loss of the _Dragon_ was discussed,
+and from the captain and mate's observations the midshipmen's hopes were
+somewhat raised that she might have escaped shipwreck.  Their opinion
+was that, as her machinery was damaged, she would have run to Hong-kong,
+the nearest place at which it could be repaired; and that it would take
+several weeks before she could get back to the Bonins to look for them.
+That their captain would return they felt sure, unless he was convinced
+that they were lost.
+
+"At all events, as we are about to fish off there, we will take a look
+round the neighbouring islands on the chance of discovering the wreck,
+and rescuing any of her people who may have escaped," said the master.
+"If we fail in that, we may fall in with a British man-of-war, and you
+shall be put on board.  If not, we will land you at Yokohama or
+Kagoshima, from whence you can without difficulty get to Hong-kong."
+
+Tom, as spokesman, thanked the captain for his kindness, adding, "I feel
+sure that the British consul at any place at which you may land us will
+reimburse you for the expense to which you may be put on our account."
+
+"We won't talk about that, my young friend," answered the American
+captain.  "We will set off the loss of your boat against that; and I am
+only too happy to have saved your lives, and to have rendered any
+service in my power to British officers in distress, for I tell you it
+is my belief that you would all have starved before you got to Guam, or
+any other island at which you could have landed in the Ladrones."
+
+"I guess that they don't value midshipmen at a long figure in your
+service," observed the mate, as if he doubted that the _Dragon_ would
+return to look for them.
+
+"That depends on the sort of midshipmen they happen to be," answered
+Tom, putting on a modest air.  "We flatter ourselves that we are not
+likely to be neglected.  Now, if we happened to have all been like Billy
+Blueblazes there, who, from the quantity of beef he consumes, is
+undoubtedly a heavy cost to her Majesty, our captain might have
+considered it his duty to leave us to find our own grub for the future,
+and thus save our beloved country a heavy expense."
+
+"I see," said the mate with a wink, discovering that Tom was not a
+person out of whom he could take much change.  "And pray may I ask if
+that young gentleman's name is really Billy Blueblazes?  It's a curious
+sounding one, at all events."
+
+"It's the name by which he is known among us, at all events," answered
+Tom.  "The captain may in his supreme wisdom call him Mr William
+Blewitt, or when he is gazetted, on obtaining his lieutenancy, he may
+possibly be designated by the last-mentioned appellation; but Billy
+Blueblazes he will be called by his messmates while he remains afloat."
+
+The midshipmen went for a short time on deck, where they found Jerry and
+Pat, who seemed well pleased at the way they had been treated by the
+crew, who, though rough enough in appearance, were far less so than the
+seamen of many merchant vessels.
+
+"They have, howsumever, already tried to persuade Pat and me to join
+them, as they have lost two or three men since they came out; but you
+know, Mr Rogers, that an old man-of-war's man is not likely to desert
+his flag, and least of all to join a greasy, stinking whaler," said
+Jerry in a whisper, not wishing to be overheard.
+
+Tom and Gerald paid Tim a visit, and found him almost himself again.
+"If it had not been for you, Mr Desmond, I should have lost the number
+of my mess--that I know; and though I cannot make a fine speech about
+it, you know that an Irishman's heart can be grateful.  If you ever come
+to Barry Shingle, there is an old mother I've got; and a couple of
+sisters, who will be showing you what they think of the matter.  I have
+been thinking, as I lay here, what a sorrowing there would have been if
+you had not held on to me after I got that crack on the skull."
+
+On returning to the deck, Tom and Desmond found Billy Blueblazes fast
+asleep on the companion hatch; and as they could scarcely keep their own
+eyes open, they followed the captain's advice and turned in, where they
+quickly forgot what had happened and where they were.  They awoke up for
+a short time to take supper, and very soon went off to sleep again.
+Indeed, even Tom felt that he required sound rest for two or three
+nights, to set him up after the hardships he had gone through.
+
+The voyage of the _Columbia_ had hitherto been fortunate; she had,
+however, lost two of her boats stove in, and three hands drowned.  She
+was already half full, and Captain Sibley hoped in the course of a few
+more months to be able to return home.  The midshipmen were politely and
+kindly treated, and agreed that they ought to be thankful at finding
+themselves so well off.  They were anxious, before leaving the ship, to
+see a whale captured, and to witness the operation of cutting out and
+trying in, which the doctor described to them.
+
+Hitherto it had been almost calm since they came on board.  The ship had
+but slightly changed her position; still a look-out was kept for whales,
+as at any moment one might appear.  The midshipmen were asleep, when one
+morning, just at daybreak, they were aroused by the sound of feet
+hurrying overhead, and springing on deck, they saw the crew busily
+engaged in lowering two of the boats.
+
+"There! and there again!" shouted the look-out, meaning that a whale,
+which he had some time before seen, had come to the surface was
+spouting.  Tom immediately sprang into the rigging, and on looking out,
+he saw a whale spouting about a mile to windward.  In less than a minute
+after the people had come on deck half dressed, the boats started away
+with six men in each, including the headsman and boat's steerer.  The
+captain went as headsman in one, and the first mate in the other.  The
+water bubbled and hissed under the bows of the boats, as the eager crews
+urged them forward.
+
+"I wish I had gone in one," cried Tom.
+
+"So do I," said Desmond; "but I doubt whether we should have found
+ourselves of much use, and as the captain would have considered us in
+the way, we should have had very little chance.  However, we can see the
+fun, and if we get a breeze we may beat the ship up to the whale."
+
+The boats made good way, but before they got near enough to fire their
+harpoons into the monster, it sank beneath the surface.
+
+"The whale has disappeared!  How provoking!" cried Desmond.
+
+"Don't suppose that.  Depend upon it, the captain has not given up the
+chase yet.  The whale must soon come to the surface again to breathe,"
+said Tom.
+
+He was right.  The whale rose at no great distance from where it had
+gone down, and somewhat nearer the ship.  The boats were quickly up to
+it, and before it had done spouting, two harpoons, with a deadly force,
+were shot into its side.  The boats backed off speedily to return to
+strike into it a number of lances.  The whale, feeling a sudden pain,
+lifted up its flukes and disappeared.  The line was quickly run out, and
+before long the creature again came to the surface and attempted to swim
+away from its foes; but it had not gone far, before it began furiously
+to lash the water with its flukes, beating it into a mass of foam and
+blood.  The boats kept clear, their crews well knowing that one blow of
+that mighty tail would dash their boats to splinters.  It was the last
+effort of the monster, which soon rolled over on its side perfectly
+dead.  A cheer from the boats' crews, which was heard over the water,
+announced their success, when, securing tow-ropes to the whale, they
+dragged it alongside without loss of time, and the operation of cutting
+out was commenced.
+
+Two of the crew descended with sharp spades, when they cut off the head
+of the whale, which was at once secured under the counter.  A large hook
+being then fastened in a hole cut in the blubber at the head end of the
+animal, the operator commenced cutting off a strip about three feet
+broad, in a spiral direction, and a tackle having been fixed to the
+hook, this was drawn up on board, the body of the whale turning round
+and round.  As the blubber was thus hoisted up, it was cut into pieces,
+known, as blanket pieces, and thrown into huge cauldrons arranged along
+the deck.  As soon as the carcase was stripped of this, its outer
+coating, it was allowed to float away, and the spermaceti oil in the
+head astern was dipped out with small buckets at the end of poles, until
+the whole was extracted.  This oil, the most valuable part of the whale,
+was then boiled separately, and stowed in casks.  Now commenced the
+operation of trying out.  Fires were lighted under the huge try-pots,
+the crisp membranous parts of the blanket, after the oil had been
+extracted, serving as fuel.  The blubber was boiled until the oil rose
+to the surface, when it was skimmed off and placed in casks.  In
+daylight the men thus employed looked grim enough, but at night, as they
+worked away, stripped to their waists, the fire casting a glare over
+their smoke-begrimed figures, they seemed more like a group of demons
+engaged in some diabolical work, than human beings.  The midshipmen
+could scarcely recognise those with whom they had been talking
+familiarly the day before.
+
+The whale, which was a large one, gave, the captain told them, eighty
+barrels of oil.  It took the crew upwards of two days to try out and
+stow away that quantity.
+
+"I should have to be precious hard up before I turned whaler," observed
+Billy Blueblazes.  "It is hot work at night, but it must be terrible in
+a calm, with the blazing sun beating down on the poor fellows' heads."
+
+Several days passed away after this before another whale was seen.  A
+breeze, however, having sprung up, the ship stood to the northward.
+There was some sea on and the weather looked changeable, when one
+afternoon, as Tom and Gerald were enjoying a read at some of the
+captain's books in the cabin, Billy rushed in, exclaiming--
+
+"Here's a school of whales close to us.  Come up and have a look at
+them, or perhaps they will be off."
+
+Sure enough, when the midshipmen came on deck, they saw half a dozen or
+more whales spouting together, which, as the captain told them, were
+young bull whales.  The crew were standing ready to lower the boats as
+soon as they should get the captain's order.  The weather appeared to
+clear a little, and eager to obtain one or more of the frolicsome
+monsters, he determined, in spite of the threatening aspect of the
+weather, to go off in chase.  He, as before, went in one boat, and the
+first mate in the other.  The boats were, however, apparently seen by
+the whales, which immediately separated and went off in different
+directions.  One, however, after making several turns, came directly
+towards the captain's boat.
+
+"'Faith!  I wish we were with him," exclaimed Desmond.  "He is sure to
+have that one."
+
+The captain, making a sign to his men not to move their oars, waited
+silently for the young bull, which came close up without discovering its
+foe.  When at length it did so, it swerved on one side, at that moment
+receiving the deadly weapon just behind its hump.  No sooner did the
+whale feel the pain than, apparently terror-stricken, it seemed unable
+to move; but as the captain was again about to fire, suddenly recovering
+itself, it darted off like an arrow, spinning the boat so quickly round
+that she was nearly upset.
+
+Away went the whale dead to windward, towing the boat at a rate of
+nearly fifteen miles an hour, right against a head sea which, as she
+ploughed through it, was formed in a high bank of surf on either side,
+while she was almost concealed by the showers of spray flying over her.
+The second mate, who was at some distance, seeing the whale coming,
+pulled up in time to shoot his weapon into its side, when both boats,
+being fast, were towed almost as rapidly as had been the captain's.  In
+vain the boats attempted to haul up closer, so as to strike their lances
+more deeply into the animal.
+
+Tom and Gerald, borrowing spy-glasses, ran aloft to watch the
+proceedings, but at so great a speed had the whale gone that, in a short
+time, neither it nor the beats could be seen by the naked eye.  From the
+mast-head the midshipmen could just observe three objects like specks
+upon the ocean, and at length they entirely disappeared beyond the
+horizon.  The wind had now freshened.
+
+"We must go and lend a hand," said Tom, "as I suppose the second mate
+will beat the ship up to the boats."
+
+They accordingly descended; but before they were half-way down, the
+fearful cry reached their ears of "A man overboard!"  On looking astern
+they saw him struggling in the waves.  Who he was they could not tell.
+Hastening to the deck, they found the helm put down, the hands raising
+tacks and sheets to bring the ship about.  In the mean time some oars
+and a hen-coop had been hove into the sea, but the man, whoever he was,
+seemed to have very little notion of swimming, as his efforts to reach
+them were unavailing.  Tom's first impulse was to leap overboard.
+Gerald, holding him back, exclaimed, "You could not save the poor
+fellow; he would carry you down, if you attempted to get near him."
+
+"But I could tow the hen-coop up to him," said Tom.
+
+"Stay where you are, young gentleman," said the doctor.  "See! there is
+a man gone to his assistance;" and they then caught sight of a Sandwich
+Islander in the water.  He had slipped quietly overboard and was making
+his way towards the drowning man.  Just then the sun dipped beneath the
+horizon, looking angry and red, while the sky threatened a stormy night.
+Only one small boat remained, which was lowered immediately; the ship
+was brought to, and Tom, with Desmond, Jerry, and two of the crew,
+jumped into her; but by this time they had lost sight both of the
+drowning man and the Sandwich Islander.  The sea, which was every moment
+getting up, broke over the bows of the boat as they pulled towards the
+spot where the men were last seen.
+
+"Who is the poor fellow?" asked Tom of one of the crew.
+
+"Our second mate.  He has been queer for some time, and I don't expect
+we shall find him."
+
+This was painful intelligence.  Tom felt it his duty to persevere.  At
+length they heard a cry.  It came from the Sandwich Islander.  They
+could not see him, but they caught sight of a hen-coop, which assisted
+them in directing their course.  Just then Tom, who had taken the bow
+oar, standing up to look out, saw two heads.  "We shall be in time, even
+now.  Pull away!" he sang out.
+
+The mate had apparently got hold of an oar.
+
+"I see him," shouted Tom to the Sandwich Islander.  "Wait another
+minute, and we will take you on board;" and he pointed towards the mate.
+They were not twelve fathoms from him, when a loud shriek escaped him,
+and, letting go the oar, he threw up his arms and sank from sight.  They
+pulled round, still hoping that he might re-appear, but it was in vain.
+The Sandwich Islander came swimming rapidly up to them, and without
+waiting for assistance threw himself over the bows.
+
+"A shark got him," he said; "and would have had me in another minute."
+
+It was not without some danger of being swamped that the boat regained
+the ship's side.  Until the return of the captain and first mate the
+ship was under the command of Mr Betts, the boatswain, who appeared to
+be a rough hand; although Tom concluded that he was a good seaman, who
+would act for the best, and endeavour to get up to the boats and take
+the officers on board.  Tom at once offered his and his companions'
+services to work the ship.  Indeed, she was so short-handed that without
+their assistance she could with difficulty even be put about.
+
+"I suppose those who are eating the owner's bread should work for the
+owner," was the gruff answer, as if he declined the offer for himself.
+
+This, however, mattered very little to Tom.  As the wind increased he
+felt more and more anxious for the fate of the absent ones.  In order
+not to miss them, it was necessary to make short boards, so that all
+hands were kept constantly at work, putting the ship about every quarter
+of an hour, while lanterns were hung over the weather side to show her
+whereabouts should the boats have got clear of the whale.  The gale
+became stronger and stronger.  The canvas was taken in, until the ship
+was under closely reefed topsails.  The sea got up more and more,
+frequently breaking over her bows, so that it seemed too probable that
+the boats, before they could reach her, would be swamped.  Already it
+would be a difficult matter for them to get alongside.  Tom, having
+discovered that there were some blue lights on board, burnt one every
+now and then, hoping that they might be seen and encourage the crews of
+the wave-tossed boats.  The surgeon told him that he still had some
+hopes that they might escape, as boats had often done in a heavy sea, by
+hanging on under the lee of a dead whale, which served as a breakwater.
+
+"In that case we must take care not to go too far, or we may get to
+windward of them, and they might not venture to leave the shelter which
+the whale affords them," observed Tom.  On this he proposed to the
+boatswain to "heave to."
+
+"We are not up to them yet," was the answer.  "I was at sea before you
+were born, young gentleman.  Leave me to judge what is best to be done."
+
+Tom made no reply.  "We have got a queer character to deal with," he
+observed to Desmond.  "However, we must try to manage him, although it
+will be a serious matter to us, as well as all on board, if we do not
+recover the poor captain and mate."
+
+No one turned in; indeed, all hands were required to put the ship about,
+and all night long she was kept on tack and tack without any answering
+signal.  The doctor continued to fire at intervals one of the
+six-pounder guns on deck, but no signal was heard in return.  When
+morning broke, the boatswain at length consented to heave to.  Neither
+of the boats had been seen, and those on board began to despair.  The
+gale showed no signs of abatement, while the sea had continued to
+increase.  High-tossing waves, crested with foam, rose up around, while
+the sky was obscured by dense masses of dark clouds.
+
+"Will your whaleboats live in a sea like this?" asked Tom of the
+boatswain, who in his character as commanding officer was standing aft.
+
+"I guess they could, young man, if they are handled as we know how to
+handle them," was the answer.
+
+"Then we may still hope to find the captain and mate," observed Desmond.
+
+"If that whale did not smash up one of the boats with her flukes.  If he
+did, twelve people would prove a heavy cargo in a sea like this, and she
+is likely enough to have been swamped."
+
+"I am afraid that some such accident must have occurred," observed Tom.
+
+"I guess you may not be far wrong," was the unsatisfactory remark.
+
+On going into the cabin for breakfast they found Doctor Locock resting
+his head on his hands, with his elbows on the table.
+
+"Poor Captain Sibley!  He and those with him are gone, I fear.  I would
+have given all I possess to save him.  A kinder-hearted man never
+commanded a ship.  His poor wife and children!  And the second mate
+gone!  Only that rough diamond in charge, without men enough to handle
+the ship.  It will prove a very serious matter to us, I fear, young
+gentlemen, even should we ride out the present gale and bad weather
+continue."
+
+"With our party of six we shall have no difficulty in managing the
+ship," observed Tom.  "My eldest messmate and I are thorough navigators;
+and though we cannot assist in following up the object of the voyage, we
+shall be able to take her into a port where she can obtain another
+master, with more officers and men.  I should propose steering for
+Hong-kong, where we are certain to fall in with American merchantmen,
+and probably a man-of-war; but, before we leave this neighbourhood, I
+should wish to make a thorough search for the missing boats.
+Notwithstanding what the boatswain says, I am not satisfied that they
+are lost."
+
+"Do you think it possible that they can have escaped?" asked the
+surgeon, looking up.
+
+"I think it possible, though I dare not say it is probable," answered
+Tom.  "They may have killed the whale and hung on under the lee of its
+body, or they may have run before the wind and succeeded in reaching one
+of the small islands to the eastward.  The weather has been so thick
+that they might easily have passed us without discovering our signals."
+
+These remarks of Tom's greatly cheered the poor surgeon, who grieved for
+the loss of his friend the captain, and he was also naturally very
+anxious about his own fate.
+
+"With any other man than Betts I should have less fear; but I know him
+to be an obstinate, self-opinionated, unprincipled fellow, and very
+ignorant at the same time," he observed.  "If he were utterly ignorant
+of navigation there would be less danger; but he knows something about
+it, and has an idea that he is a first-rate navigator, and fully capable
+of taking charge of the ship."
+
+"We must take our observations and keep our reckoning carefully, and we
+may then be able to correct his errors," said Tom.
+
+As he spoke, a gruff voice was heard to exclaim, "What's that you say?"
+and the boatswain, who had been standing at the door of the cabin,
+walked in, casting furious glances at the doctor and the three
+midshipmen.
+
+"So you think I know nothing about navigation, do you?" exclaimed the
+man.  "I'll soon show you what I know, and as this cabin is mine, unless
+you can keep civil tongues in your heads, out you shall go and find
+berths forward."
+
+Tom, remembering that a soft answer turneth away wrath, replied, "We
+have no wish to dispute your authority, Mr Betts, and shall be glad to
+give you all the assistance in our power.  If the captain were here, and
+both the mates had been lost, he would have wished us to take
+observations and help him navigate the ship."
+
+"The captain was one man, and I am another.  He might have liked what
+won't suit my fancy.  So now, as I'm captain, I'll beg you to keep your
+hands in your pockets until you receive my orders to take them out.  You
+understand me?"  Desmond, who was not so much inclined to keep his
+temper as Tom, was firing up at the boatswain's impudence, when Tom put
+his hand on his mouth, and turning to the boatswain, said, "Very well,
+Mr Betts; we understand each other.  But without boats, even if my
+people were able to help, you could not attempt to catch any more
+whales, and you have not even a sufficient number of men to take the
+ship home, so that you must put into a port to get fresh hands.  If you
+take my advice you will, as soon as the gale is over, shape a course for
+Hong-kong, but before we leave this part of the ocean I would strongly
+urge you to make a diligent search in all directions for the boats."
+
+"We might as well look for a needle in a bundle of hay.  The boats are
+swamped, I'm sure of that, and don't intend to lose time by hunting for
+what we shall never find," answered the boatswain, as he took the
+captain's seat at the table.
+
+Tom had considerable difficulty in restraining Desmond from saying
+anything which might irritate the man.  Billy ate his breakfast in
+silence, stowing away an ample supply of provender to be ready for all
+emergencies.  The doctor made no remark, fearful lest anything he might
+say should irritate the boatswain, whom he knew was capable of any act
+of tyranny.
+
+As soon as the meal was over, Tom and Desmond went on deck.
+
+"I wouldn't give way to that fellow," exclaimed the latter.  "He'll be
+wanting us to take the ship round Cape Horn to Boston, and then get the
+credit of bringing her home himself.  The best thing we can do is to
+clap him in irons and take command ourselves.  The doctor would side
+with us, and so would two or three of the ship's company, if not all of
+them; for, depend upon it, they must be aware that he is no navigator,
+and would not wish to trust the craft to him."
+
+Tom, who was averse to this proceeding, replied, "It might turn out very
+well if we were first to fall in with a British man-of-war; but suppose
+we met an American, we might be accused of running away with the ship.
+Rest assured that the boatswain and some of the men would be ready to
+swear to anything which would suit their own purposes."
+
+"I would risk that," said Desmond.  "The doctor's word would be taken
+before that of the boatswain, and any American officer would at once see
+that our statement was the true one."
+
+"Suppose we were to fail in our attempt to seize the boatswain, he would
+murder us all, or at all events clap us in irons, and accuse us of
+mutiny and an attempt to seize the ship."
+
+"Arrah! now, what's come over you, Tom?" exclaimed Desmond.  "You'll not
+persuade me that you're afraid of carrying out my plan."
+
+"No," answered Tom, smiling.  "I only want to look at both sides of the
+case, as Archie Gordon would have done if he were with us.  I fully
+agree with you, that if the fellow refuses to go to Hong-kong we must
+compel him by some means or other; but, it would be wrong in us to seize
+the ship unless we are assured of the incapacity of the boatswain, by
+which her safety and the lives of all on board would be imperilled.  In
+that case we should be justified in acting as you propose."
+
+"And isn't he incompetent?" exclaimed Desmond.  "The doctor says so.  If
+he had been a good navigator he would not have been serving as
+boatswain."
+
+"If he will agree to go to Hong-kong or Sydney, or even to the Sandwich
+Islands, and let us assist him in navigating the ship, well and good, as
+we can leave her at any of those places, and he can obtain a fresh
+crew."
+
+Tom's remarks satisfied Desmond that they ought to wait and see how the
+boatswain would act.  A look-out was kept in every direction for the
+boats, but hours went by and still they did not appear.  As the day drew
+on the wind began to abate, and the sea proportionately to go down.  The
+boatswain had turned into the captain's berth and gone to sleep, and no
+one felt inclined to awaken him.  Tom, Desmond, or Billy were constantly
+going to the mast-head to look out for the missing boats, still hoping
+that they might appear.  Desmond had gone into the cabin, where he heard
+the boatswain snoring loudly.
+
+He returned on deck.
+
+"Now would be our time to seize the fellow," he said to Tom.  "The
+doctor has a brace of pistols and a fowling-piece.  I found another
+brace in the first mate's berth.  I will speak to Jerry, and he can
+easily let Tim and Pat know what we are doing.  Peter, I am certain,
+would side with us by the way he looked when he saw the boatswain take
+the captain's seat.  The rest of the men would be very easily won over;
+and if not, after we have clapped the boatswain in irons, we must make
+them prisoners.  We can easily tackle the watch on deck, and then master
+those below as they come up."
+
+"Your plan is a good one, and I dare say would succeed, but I hope we
+shall not have to carry it out," said Tom.  "We have had no proof that
+the boatswain will not act reasonably, and I again repeat that I do not
+consider we should be justified in taking the ship from him until he has
+shown by his conduct that he is likely to endanger our lives, and the
+rest of those on board."
+
+The midshipmen had the after part of the deck to themselves, while the
+ship was hove to.  Only two of the crew could be seen; one of them was
+the boatswain's mats, who, with the carpenter, were the only men
+remaining on board capable of taking charge of a watch.
+
+Tom and Desmond were now wishing that the boatswain would come up, in
+order that they might learn in what direction they were to steer.  They
+were both indeed getting so sleepy that they could scarcely keep their
+eyes open, and much longed to lie down, even for a couple of hours.  At
+last the boatswain made his appearance.
+
+"May I ask, Mr Betts, what you intend doing?" said Tom, in as polite a
+tone as he could command.
+
+"What's that to you?" asked the boatswain, gruffly.  "You are only
+passengers, and will have to go where the ship goes."
+
+"I had no intention of dictating to you," replied Tom; "but because we
+are passengers, we naturally wish to learn when we are likely to get on
+shore."
+
+"That must depend upon circumstances," said the boatswain, evasively.
+"I am in command of this ship, and intend to keep it, unless the captain
+and mate should come on board."
+
+"We are perfectly ready to obey you, and to assist you in carrying the
+ship, either to Hong-kong, or Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands, or
+Sydney, where you may obtain fresh hands to take her home, and all I ask
+is that you will tell me for which of these ports you intend to steer."
+
+"I have not made up my mind upon the matter," answered the boatswain.
+
+"Perhaps you expect that we may still find the captain and boats crews;
+and if we were to work to windward during the night, and run back
+to-morrow over the same course, we may fall in with them, should they
+have kept afloat during the gale," said Tom suggestively, for he was
+afraid of saying that this was the course he would advise.
+
+"Wait until you see what I do," said the boatswain.  "As you may be
+wanted on deck, I advise you to turn in and get some sleep; the ship is
+hove to now, and for what I can tell, hove to she will remain for some
+hours longer."
+
+Tom and Desmond agreed that they had better follow the boatswain's
+advice, and accordingly they went below.  They found Billy Blueblazes
+snoring away, not troubling himself about what was likely to happen.
+Throwing themselves on their beds, they were both in another minute fast
+asleep.  They expected to have been called to keep watch; but no one
+arousing them, fatigued as they were, they slept on until daylight.  Tom
+was the first to awaken; he roused up Desmond and Billy, and all three
+went on deck together, where they found that the wind had again
+freshened up from the old quarter, and that the ship was standing close
+hauled to the eastward.  The carpenter had charge of the deck, but they
+could get nothing out of him.  The doctor soon afterwards came up.  Tom
+inquired whether he knew the boatswain's intentions?
+
+"He has not thought fit to enlighten me, but I conclude from the course
+he is steering that he intends visiting the Sandwich Islands," was the
+answer.
+
+"I wish that he had thought fit to steer in the opposite direction,"
+observed Tom.  "However, we may perhaps find one of our ships there, and
+should then have no reason to complain."
+
+"I hope that you will keep to your intention of taking an observation
+every day, and ascertaining our position," said the doctor, in a low
+voice, so that he might not be overheard.
+
+"You may depend upon that," answered Tom.
+
+"I conclude that you can tell whereabouts we now are?" said the doctor.
+
+"Not unless I can learn at what hour sail was made and we began to stand
+on our present course," was the reply.
+
+When Tom inquired of the carpenter, he received an evasive answer, and
+on going forward to learn from Jerry, Tim, or Pat, they all said that
+they had gone below at night, and had not been roused up.  Some of the
+crew replied that it was in the first watch, others that it was in the
+middle watch.
+
+"At all events, I hope to ascertain our latitude if the weather clears,
+and perhaps we may get an observation in the afternoon, or a lunar at
+night," said Tom.  "But a good look-out must be kept ahead, for I know
+that there are numerous small islands and reefs, one of which may bring
+us up if we are not careful."
+
+The doctor assisted the midshipmen to search for a sextant and nautical
+almanack, but, to their surprise, neither were to be found.  "The
+chronometer was," the doctor said, "he knew, in the captain's cabin;"
+and they at last began to suspect that the boatswain had managed to get
+hold of the mate's as well as the captain's sextant and charts, and had
+shut them up in the cabin he had appropriated.  What his object was in
+so doing it was difficult to say, unless he thought that he should keep
+the midshipmen more in his power by preventing them from knowing
+whereabouts they were.
+
+Just before breakfast the boatswain came out of his cabin, carefully
+locking the door behind him.  After remaining on deck some time, he
+returned and took his seat without uttering a word either to the surgeon
+or to the midshipmen, although he swore away at Peter for not being
+quick enough in bringing him what he asked for.  Tom took no notice of
+this, but after waiting some time, said in his usual polite way--
+
+"I should be much obliged to you, Mr Betts, if you can supply me with a
+sextant, and the use of the chronometer, as I should like to ascertain
+our position."
+
+"Then you won't be obliged to me, for I don't intend to let you have
+them," answered the boatswain.  "I can take care of this ship, and I
+won't have any one interfering with me."
+
+"I do not wish to interfere," said Tom.  "I only desire to take an
+observation for my own satisfaction."
+
+"Then you won't have the satisfaction," said the boatswain.  Desmond bit
+his lip, and Tom expected to hear him every moment say something, which
+would be sure to enrage the boatswain.
+
+"At all events, if I can get a look at a chart, I shall be able to
+calculate where we are although that may not prevent this obstinate
+fellow from running the ship on a reef, and it will be a mercy if that
+is not her fate," thought Tom.
+
+"I believe the man has gone out of his mind," said Desmond, when he
+found himself alone with his two messmates.  "It is a pity we did not
+put him in irons at first, and we might now have been on our way to
+Hong-kong."
+
+"We did what was right," observed Tom, "and whatever happens that will
+be a satisfaction."
+
+They hunted about for a chart, but the boatswain had locked that up
+also, and refused to allow Tom to look at it.  The wind continued
+tolerably steady during the day, though the weather looked unsettled,
+and the sea appeared again to be getting up.  As the ship was kept under
+her topsails and spanker, with two reefs down, no fresh sail was made,
+and the boatswain did not order the midshipmen to perform any duty.  The
+doctor seemed to feel the loss of the captain very much.  He had until
+that morning entertained a hope of finding him, but this he now
+abandoned, and having no confidence in the boatswain's skill as a
+navigator, he seemed to have made up his mind that the ship would be
+cast away, and that all on board would be lost.  He had hitherto
+appeared to be of a cheerful disposition, but he now sat all day moodily
+in his cabin, with a book before him, although his eye scarcely glanced
+at its pages.  Tom and Gerald tried to induce him to come on deck, but
+he shook his head, declaring that he did not feel able to walk.  Billy
+endeavoured to amuse him by telling him one of his funny stories, but
+not a smile came over the poor doctor's face.  At dinner the midshipmen
+had all the conversation to themselves.  The boatswain did not address
+even a word to them.  This did not, however, disconcert them in the
+least, and they continued talking away as if there was no such person
+present, so that he was well pleased to get up and go on deck.
+
+The same weather continued for a couple of days.  The boatswain kept a
+watch on the midshipmen to prevent them taking an observation.  Billy,
+however, found a quadrant in the second mate's cabin, and watching his
+opportunity when Mr Betts was below, brought it up on deck to Tom and
+Gerald.  They had fortunately carefully compared their watches with the
+chronometer, and the doctor had concealed a nautical almanack.
+
+"Arrah!" exclaimed Desmond; "we shall be able to make something of an
+observation, although not as correct as we should wish."
+
+Tom took the quadrant and was looking through it, when he suddenly felt
+it dashed from his hand, and falling on deck it was broken.  Turning
+round he saw Mr Betts, who had stolen up behind him.
+
+"So you fancy I cannot navigate the ship, do you; and must needs try and
+take an observation yourself?  Do you and your mates try that prank
+again, and I'll land you all on the first island we sight, where you may
+follow your own pleasure, if the savages don't knock you on the head and
+eat you; and if some one doesn't take you off, which is not very likely,
+there you will remain to the end of your days."
+
+Gerald was beginning to answer this rude address, when Tom stopped him.
+
+"We do not wish to have a dispute with you, Mr Betts, though we have a
+perfect right to take an observation, or to do anything else which does
+not interfere with the discipline of the ship," said Tom, as he turned
+away, feeling that it was better to avoid any dispute with the
+boatswain.
+
+Tom accordingly signing to his companions, they all left the deck,
+allowing the boatswain to pace up and down by himself.
+
+Towards evening he sent the steward to them, and told them that he
+expected all three to keep the middle watch.
+
+"Your men will have the first watch," he said, "and I would advise you
+to be on deck directly you are called."
+
+As there was no reason to object to this they agreed to do as the
+boatswain wished.  They accordingly turned in for the first part of the
+night.  They had been asleep some time when a fearful crash was heard.
+They, all three being awake, quickly slipped into their clothes.
+
+"I knew it would be so," exclaimed the doctor, whom they met in the
+cabin; "we shall none of us see another sunrise."
+
+"I hope things won't be so bad as that," said Tom; "the ship seems to be
+moving forward; perhaps she has merely touched a coral reef and has
+scraped clear.  We will go on deck and ascertain how matters stand."
+
+The cries and shouts which reached the cabin showed that something
+serious had happened.  Scarcely had Tom and his companions gained the
+deck, than again the ship struck with greater force than before, every
+timber quivering from stem to stern.  The foremast went by the board,
+carrying with it the main-topmast, when a sea striking the ship swept
+over her.  The wild shrieks for help which followed showed that some of
+the crew had been borne away.
+
+"Can you see land?" asked Desmond of Tom.
+
+"No; we are on a coral reef, and our chances of escape are very small."
+
+Just then they heard the boatswain shouting out to the crew to lower a
+boat, the only one remaining.
+
+"Don't let us go in her," said Tom; "if the ship holds together, we
+shall be better off where we are: when daylight comes we can form a
+raft, and if there is any land near we may get there on it."
+
+Both Desmond and Billy agreed to do as Tom proposed.
+
+Just then Jerry came up.  "I'll stick by you, whatever you intend
+doing," he answered, when Tom told him what he proposed.
+
+In the mean time, the boatswain, with the survivors of the crew, had
+lowered the boat, and were throwing various things into her.  Jerry made
+out Tim and Pat among the people about to go off.
+
+"Where are you going to?" he shouted.  "Mr Rogers says he'll stick by
+the wreck, and you'll not be deserting him, I hope?"
+
+"That I'll not.  Tim Nolan is not the man to desert his officer,"
+answered Tim, as he made his way to the after part of the ship, where
+Jerry was.  Pat either did not hear Jerry, or determined to go off in
+the boat if he could.  The doctor and Peter, who had come on deck,
+seemed undecided.  It was evident from the dislike Peter had for the
+boatswain that he was unwilling to accompany him.  The boatswain, with
+six other men, who alone remained of the crew, disappeared over the side
+into the boat.  The doctor, seized by a sudden impulse, rushed to the
+side of the ship, shouting--
+
+"Take me with you! take me with you!" but the oars had been got out, the
+boat shoved off, and was already tossing among the broken water on the
+lee of the ship, several fathoms off.
+
+"You are safer on the wreck than in that boat," said Tom, as the doctor
+came back.
+
+"Dat you are, Massa Locock," said Peter.  "See dare where de boat go."
+
+Through the gloom the boat could just be distinguished, surrounded by
+leaping masses of foaming water.  The party on board watched her with
+anxious eyes, until she disappeared in the darkness.
+
+"Hark!" cried Peter.  "Me tink I hear a shriek; dat come from de boat;
+depen' upon it we no see her 'gan."
+
+As, however, she must have been by this time a long way to leeward, Tom
+thought it impossible that any human voice could have come up against
+the wind still blowing as it did.  Tom and Desmond, with the rest of the
+party, discussed the probability as to where they were.  They must have
+passed over a sunken reef, on which the ship had first struck, and had
+then run right on to another part of the reef, somewhat higher, where
+she had become fixed.  This was probably on the inner or lee side.
+Though the sea broke over the fore part of the ship, the after part was
+tolerably dry, and hopes were entertained that she would hold together
+for some hours, and, should the wind go down, perhaps for days, which
+would enable them to provide for their safety.  After the doctor had
+sufficiently recovered to take part in the discussion, he suggested that
+perhaps she might be got off.
+
+"You wouldn't say that, sir, if you had been forward when she struck,"
+answered Jerry.  "She is entirely stove in, and must have twelve or
+fourteen feet of water in her by this time.  It will be a hard job
+before long to get any provisions."
+
+"Then the sooner we set about it the better," said Tom, "if we can
+manage to find our way in the dark."
+
+"De lamp in de cabin is still 'light--me get him," said Peter, who soon
+returned, carefully shading the lamp, when he, Jerry, and Tim made their
+way below, hoping to reach the fore hold, where the bulk of the
+provisions were stowed.  They were, however, very soon convinced that it
+would be utterly impossible to get up anything until the tide had
+fallen, as the sea was rushing in at the bows, and completely flooding
+the hold.
+
+"Then we must try what we can do at daylight, for at present it would be
+useless to attempt getting anything up.  We will see, however, what is
+to be found in the afterpart of the ship."
+
+Peter recollected that there were some eases of biscuits and other
+articles, which it was necessary to keep dry.  His report encouraged Tom
+to hope that they should not starve.
+
+"Now, my lads, the first thing we have to do is to collect all the spars
+and loose plank we can get hold of, to form a raft.  We are likely to
+find land either on one side or the other, perhaps not far off, though
+we are unable to see it now, and we must manage to reach it and carry
+provisions for our support, as we are not likely to find much more than
+cocoa-nuts and fish.  One satisfactory thing is that the people
+hereabouts are not cannibals, and are generally disposed to be friendly
+to white men, so that if the island we may reach is inhabited we are not
+likely to be ill-treated."
+
+Tom by these remarks and by keeping up his own spirits, prevented his
+companions from losing theirs.  Even the doctor began to hope that they
+might escape.  All hands now set to work to collect materials for the
+raft as far as could be done in the dark, and to drag them up to the
+weather side of the quarter-deck, where there was not much risk of their
+being carried away.  Altogether they managed to secure a number of spars
+and pieces of the bulwarks and a good supply of rope of various sizes.
+The cabin bulk-heads with other portions of the vessel which could
+easily be torn away would give them wood enough to make a raft of
+sufficient size to carry the whole party as well as provisions.  By
+lashing underneath two rows of casks, it would be sufficiently buoyant.
+
+They were thus employed until daylight, when Tom, who had sprung up to
+the poop to look out, exclaimed--"A ship in sight! a ship in sight!
+she's only just hull down."
+
+His shout brought the rest of the party up around him, and all were
+eagerly looking out in the direction be pointed.  As daylight increased,
+Tim began to rub his eyes--
+
+"Arrah now, ill-luck to it; but my ship has just turned into a white
+rock," he cried out.  "Shure but it's a mighty disappointment."
+
+The expectation of speedy deliverance was thus suddenly destroyed; but
+the shipwrecked party continued looking round on every side, in the hope
+of discovering land.  The light yet further increasing, Tom's
+countenance brightened as he observed what looked like the masts of a
+ship rising, far off, out of the water.
+
+"Why, I believe those are three cocoa-nut trees," he cried out
+cheerfully.  "I see several others away to the eastward."
+
+"If there are cocoa-nut trees, there must be land too, for they don't
+grow out of the sea," said Billy, "and I hope we may be able to get
+there."
+
+"You need not doubt about our doing that," said Tom.
+
+This announcement raised every one's spirits.  The weather had much
+moderated.  The sea between the reef on which the ship lay and the land
+was tolerably smooth.
+
+The forlorn party began to cheer up.  All now began to feel hungry.
+"I'll tell you what it is: if we don't get something to eat soon, I for
+one shall die of inanition," exclaimed Billy.  "I can't stand starving
+at the best of times, and I am suffering dreadfully."
+
+"We will see what can be done, Billy," said Tom, and as if it was a
+matter of course, he told Peter to get breakfast ready.
+
+"Yes, massa officer, me soon do dat same," answered the black, grinning
+and looking towards where the caboose had lately stood.  "Me try what
+can do in de cabin," he added, diving below.
+
+Though the caboose had been washed away Peter managed to light a fire in
+the cabin stove and to cook a tolerable breakfast, of which all
+thankfully partook.
+
+"'Faith! we're not so badly off after all," observed Gerald.  "If the
+boatswain and the poor fellows with him had stuck to the ship, they
+might all have been alive now and have reached land without difficulty."
+
+Immediately after breakfast they began to put the raft together, which
+Tom determined to form of an oblong shape like a catamaran, so that it
+might, should the wind be fair, be sailed or propelled by paddles
+towards the shore.  As the distance was considerable, it was important
+to make it as strong as possible, to stand any amount of sea they were
+likely to meet with before they reached the shore.  It took upwards of
+an hour to form the frame-work and deck it.  They then, having cut away
+the bulwarks, launched it overboard with capstan bars.  The water under
+the lee of the wreck was tolerably smooth, so that the raft remained
+alongside without injury.  They had next to lash the casks below it.
+This was a more difficult operation, as it was necessary to secure them
+firmly in their proper positions, a row on each side, head to head.
+When it was completed, the platform floated well out of the water.
+
+Three oars only could be found on board, so that they had to form
+paddles by nailing boards on to the ends of short spars.  The next work
+was to rig the masts.  Tom and Desmond agreed to have two masts with a
+bowsprit, so that they might be able to sail with the wind abeam.  The
+masts were firmly fixed by means of blocks nailed to the deck, and they
+were set up with stays.  By noon the raft was completed.  The midshipmen
+surveyed her with considerable satisfaction.
+
+"I for one should not mind sailing in her anywhere, provided she was
+well provisioned," said Billy Blueblazes.  "I don't see why we should
+not try to fetch the Ladrones, if we don't find ourselves very
+comfortable where we are going."
+
+"I would strongly advise you not to make the attempt, young gentlemen,"
+said the doctor, with a groan, he not being as well satisfied with the
+appearance of the raft as his younger companions.
+
+"We shall see how she will behave when she has her cargo on board, and
+we get under way," said Tom.
+
+"Don't you think we had better have some dinner before we shove off?"
+asked Billy; "it won't do to be going away without our grub, as it may
+be some time before we reach the shore."
+
+Billy's proposal was agreed to, although Tom strongly recommended that
+there should be no unnecessary delay.  While Peter was preparing dinner,
+all the stores which could be collected were placed on the raft and
+lashed securely down amidships.  The principal provisions found aft were
+biscuits, tins of potted meats, a few preserves, coffee, tea, sugar, and
+five well-cured hams.
+
+"We are pretty well off as it is," said Desmond; "but don't let us go
+without firearms."
+
+The doctor had a fowling-piece, and muskets and pistols enough were
+found to arm each of the rest of the party.  With a good supply of
+ammunition they would thus, should they meet with hostile savages, be
+able to keep them at bay.
+
+They had already secured provisions sufficient to last them for several
+weeks.  As it was important, however, to obtain some of a more
+substantial character, Jerry and Tim volunteered to dive down into the
+fore hold to try and get up some casks of beef.  This, after some labour
+and no little risk of drowning themselves, they succeeded in doing, and
+two casks of beef were hoisted on deck.  They fortunately came upon two
+casks, one of flour the other of rice, which, although damaged by the
+water, might be dried on shore in the sun, and rendered eatable.  These
+accordingly were added to their provisions.  Two cases of wine and a
+small keg of spirits were also put on board.  Peter added to these some
+cooking utensils, with cups, plates, knives, and forks.  At length, Tom
+declared that the raft would carry no more.  It was high time indeed to
+set off, as it might take them until dark to reach the land in sight.
+
+"Let me advise you, gentlemen, to carry some clothing and blankets; they
+will not weigh much, and we may want them," observed the doctor.
+
+His advice was followed.
+
+"We must get on board and shove off," cried Tom, at last.
+
+His messmates and the men obeyed him, being fully as eager as he was.
+The doctor was below; he presently appeared with his medicine chest and
+instrument case, which were handed down.
+
+"Why, we are going off without a chart or nautical instrument!"
+exclaimed Tom, reminded of his negligence by seeing the doctor's cases.
+
+He and Desmond returned on board and found the chart, sextant, and
+chronometer, which the boatswain had fortunately not carried off.
+
+"The raft is as fully laden as she should be," observed Tom to Desmond;
+"we should arrange what things to heave overboard, if it comes on to
+blow and she cannot carry them all."
+
+"The doctor's physic, cases, and instruments, I should say," answered
+Desmond; "however, I hope we shall not have to do that.  The weather
+looks promising.  As the wind is fair, we may soon reach the land."
+
+These remarks were made on deck.  The two midshipmen now sprang on board
+the raft.  Tom gave the order to cast off, and all hands getting out the
+oars and paddles, the raft began to move away from the wreck.  The
+foresail was now set, then the mainsail with the jib, Tom steering with
+a long oar, the raft glided rapidly and smoothly over the water.  Their
+voyage was thus far well commenced, but Tom and Desmond could not help
+recollecting their late adventure in the boat, and how narrowly they had
+escaped perishing from hunger, although they had been so well supplied
+with provisions when they started.  While Tom steered, Billy remained
+aft to tend the main-sheet, and Desmond, with Jerry, stood forward to
+keep a look-out for any reefs which might not have sufficient water on
+them to allow the raft to pass over.  No dangers, however, as yet
+appeared ahead.  They were apparently in the centre of a large circular
+reef, of which the island they hoped to gain formed a portion.  They
+expected to find a beach on which they might run the raft, and land
+their cargo without difficulty.  They were, however, too far off as yet
+to ascertain its character.  Of its existence they could only tell by
+seeing the cocoa-nut trees growing on it.  It was evidently very low.
+Of its extent they were unable to form an opinion.
+
+"My fear is that we shall find no water on it, and in that case we must
+search for another," observed the doctor.
+
+"You forget the milk in the cocoa-nuts," said Desmond, laughing.
+
+"We should very soon exhaust that," answered the doctor, in a gloomy
+tone.
+
+"But we don't know yet that we shall not find water," answered Desmond;
+"I can already make out the land extending a couple of miles north and
+south, and if it was not higher than we at first supposed, we should not
+see it even yet."
+
+"If any volcanic agency has been at work, we may then hope to find
+water," observed the doctor, brightening a little; "but I confess that I
+cannot see the land."
+
+The doctor, however, was near-sighted.  The question next arose whether
+there were any inhabitants, and if so, whether they were likely to prove
+friendly.
+
+"I should say that if white kidnappers from your colonies have visited
+them, they are likely to be anything but friendly, and we shall probably
+have to fight for our lives," said the doctor.
+
+"But, my dear sir, we don't know whether there are any inhabitants,"
+said Desmond.  "Let us look at the bright side of things we have escaped
+with our lives, and have abundance of provisions.  Why should we make
+ourselves more unhappy than is necessary?"
+
+The wind occasionally dropped, when the oars and paddles were put in
+motion, and the raft continued its course steadily towards the land.
+Even when the wind blew the freshest she moved but slowly, so that for a
+long time it appeared as if she would not reach the shore before dark.
+As they looked astern, however, they found that they had sunk the wreck
+almost out of sight.  The doctor fancied she must have gone down, as he
+could not distinguish her.  The wind, however, again freshened, and
+Jerry asserted that the raft was going at the rate of three knots an
+hour.
+
+At length the land was clearly seen in some places, at the further side
+of the island especially, rising to a considerable height in ridges and
+hillocks.
+
+"No fear now, doctor, about not finding water," observed Desmond.
+"Volcanic agency must have been at work to throw up those hills, and I
+begin to see low trees or shrubs.  It may turn out to be after all a
+fertile spot, though not a very picturesque one, I grant."
+
+"If it affords us rest to our feet, and vegetable productions to keep
+scurvy at a distance, with an ample supply of water, we shall have
+reason to be thankful," said the doctor, whose spirits rose as he was
+persuaded that his worst anticipations would not be fulfilled.
+
+The sun was now getting low, and it would be dark before they could
+reach the shore.  Desmond and Jerry both declared that they could see no
+sign of breakers, and just before the sun dipped beneath the horizon his
+rays shone on a white sandy beach, which promised to afford them an easy
+landing-place.  On one point, however, the doctor's mind was not
+satisfied.  "What if the island is inhabited by savages?  And if it
+supplies food and water, it is very likely to be the case," he observed.
+
+"We must try and make friends with them, or, if they will not be
+friends, keep them at a distance; depend upon it they will be civil
+enough when they see our firearms," answered Desmond.
+
+"Inhabited?  I'm sure it is," exclaimed Jerry, suddenly.  "Look there!
+there's a fellow dancing away on the top of that hillock.  He sees us;
+the chances are a score or two more black fellows like him are hidden
+away, who will be down upon us as we step on shore."
+
+Desmond at the same time saw the savage, and told Tom.
+
+"Well, there is but one as yet," said Tom; "perhaps, however, it may be
+prudent to load a couple of the muskets, though one will be sufficient,
+depend upon it, to keep them at bay."
+
+As the raft approached the shore, the gestures of the savage appeared to
+become more and more frantic, but the gloom of evening soon rendered his
+form indistinct, although he could still be seen against the sky.  The
+breeze having once more almost died away, the paddles were again got
+out.  The raft neared the shore.  There was, they saw, a little surf,
+but not sufficient to endanger the raft and cargo.  In a few minutes
+more the beach would be reached.  The savage had disappeared, but a
+voice was heard, evidently shouting to them.
+
+"Bedad! but the savage is Pat Casey!" exclaimed Tim, who recognised his
+countryman's voice, and, as the raft touched the beach, Pat rushed
+forward, and grasped the hands of Jerry and Tim, who sprang overboard to
+assist in securing it.  The rest of the party quickly followed, as it
+was important to lighten the raft as soon as possible.
+
+"Where are the other men?" asked the doctor.  "We thought you were all
+lost soon after you left the wreck."
+
+"Sure, so they all were entirely but myself," answered Pat; "and how I
+came on shore is more than I can tell, except that I'm after supposing I
+held on to the bottom of the boat, and this morning I found myself high
+and dry on the beach.  I'm mighty glad to see you all, and you are
+welcome to the island."
+
+"Are there any savages?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Barring myself, no, your honour," answered Pat, with a laugh.  "They
+would have been down upon me before now if there had been any, but not a
+soul have I set eyes on since I came ashore."
+
+However, there was no time for talking, as it was important at once to
+land the cargo.  The whole party, aided by Pat, immediately set about
+performing this task.  Everything was got on shore without damage.  The
+raft itself was then secured by the strongest ropes they possessed to
+the trunk of a cocoa-nut tree, which fortunately grew near.  Pat had
+collected wood for a fire, though he had forgotten that he did not
+possess the means of igniting it.  But some matches having been
+fortunately brought among other things, a bright blaze was soon
+produced.  By its light, at the doctor's suggestion, a tent was formed
+with the sails of the raft and some spare canvas, large enough to afford
+shelter to the whole party.
+
+Peter and Pat had been, in the mean time, busily engaged in preparing
+supper, to which all hands were ready to do justice.
+
+"Dare, gentl'm," exclaimed Peter, as he placed some slices of fried ham
+before the doctor and midshipmen; "you no get better dan dis in de bes'
+hotel in Boston.  Per'aps you tink de cook is worth glass ob grog?"
+
+Tom took the hint, and divided a couple of bottles of wine among the
+party, which assisted to put them in good spirits.  They sat round the
+fire, yarns were told and songs were sung, but their heads soon began to
+nod, and they were glad to seek the shelter of the tent.  As the island
+was uninhabited, Tom did not consider it necessary to set a watch;
+indeed, had any one of the party made the attempt, the probabilities
+were that he would have been unable to keep his eyes open.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+SEARCH FOR AND FIND THE BOAT--RETURN IN HER TO THE WRECK--FIND MORE
+STORES, AND BUILD A RAFT--CARRY IT TO THE SHORE, AND GO BACK TO BREAK UP
+THE WRECK FOR BUILDING A VESSEL--ONCE MORE GETTING BACK THEY FIND THE
+DOCTOR WORKING AT A STILL--ANOTHER TRIP--IT COMES ON TO BLOW HARD--REACH
+SHORE--THE STILL SUCCESSFUL--THE GALE INCREASES--ITS EFFECTS ON THE
+WRECK--MORE STORES SAVED--SEEDS FOUND AND SOWN--A FLAG-STAFF SET UP--
+PLANS FOR THEIR PROPOSED VESSEL--ENGAGED IN SHOOTING AND FISHING--
+DISCOVER A MARINE POULTRY-YARD--BILLY AND THE EGGS--SUCCESSFUL FISHING--
+SEEDS SOWN.
+
+Tom, who was always the first on foot, roused up his companions.
+
+"Do let a fellow have his sleep out," murmured Billy; "we have got
+nothing to do."
+
+"We've plenty to do," answered Tom.  "We've got to look out for water,
+and if we find it to build a hut, and ascertain what food the island
+produces, and try to go back to the wreck and bring off more stores, and
+put up a flag-staff, and fifty other things."
+
+"Well, I didn't think of all that," said Billy, sitting up.  "Dear me,
+dear me! here we are, on another desert island; with the chances of
+remaining all our born days."
+
+"Better than being at the bottom of the sea, or crunched up by sharks,"
+observed Desmond, "or than being cast on shore among cannibals, who
+would have cooked and eaten us at the first opportunity.  It is not a
+barren island either, for there are cocoa-nut trees, and there may be
+other fruits or roots.  We shall probably also be able to catch plenty
+of fish."
+
+"If we could get hold of some fine fat turtle, it would be more to the
+purpose," said Billy.  "Pat makes capital turtle soup.  I'm glad he
+escaped."
+
+"I am afraid the turtle have done laying their eggs by this time,"
+observed the doctor.  "They only come on shore for that purpose, and we
+are not likely to catch them otherwise, so you must give up all thoughts
+of revelling on turtle."
+
+While Peter prepared breakfast, Pat climbed one of the cocoa-nut trees,
+and sent down nuts enough to afford each of the party a refreshing
+draught of liquid.  It could not properly be called milk, as it had not
+yet assumed its white appearance, which it does only after the nut is
+perfectly ripe.  It was welcome, notwithstanding.  Though a small cask
+of water had been brought on shore, Tom wisely wished to husband it
+until a spring had been discovered.  About this the doctor was very
+doubtful, and Pat, whom he questioned on the subject, stated that he had
+not discovered any signs of water.
+
+"I should have wished to search for water the first thing," observed
+Tom; "but whether it is to be found or not, it is most important that we
+should ascertain whether the boat was washed up on the beach, and if she
+can be repaired to enable us to return to the wreck."
+
+"Can you show us where you came on shore, Pat?"
+
+"Bedad, sir, I've been wandering up and down so many times, that I am
+not quite certain; but it's my belief that if she is to be found
+anywhere, it will be away to the northward, for I didn't see her at the
+other end."
+
+"Then we will set off without delay," said Tom; and taking Pat, he and
+Desmond, with Jerry Bird, commenced a search for the boat in the
+direction Pat mentioned.
+
+The sandy beach was divided in many places by masses of coral extending
+some distance into the water, among which the boat might easily be
+concealed.  Had she, however, been thrown on any of them, she would, Tom
+feared, in all probability be knocked to pieces.  The surprising thing
+was that Pat had not seen her.  It appeared from his account that when
+he had partially recovered his senses, finding himself on shore, he had
+set off in a confused state of mind, without knowing where he was going,
+and that some time must have elapsed before he came entirely to himself.
+
+"Suppose we do not recover the boat, how are we to visit the wreck?"
+asked Desmond.
+
+"We must build a smaller raft out of the large one, which we can much
+more easily manage; and should the weather continue calm, as there
+appears to be no strong current likely to drive us away, we may, I
+think, without much risk easily make the trip there and back," answered
+Tom.
+
+"But how are we to carry a cargo?" inquired Desmond.
+
+"We must form another raft on board, and the materials will serve for
+building our hut," was the answer.
+
+"Then you think we shall have to remain some time on the island?" said
+Desmond.
+
+"Of course; it may be for months or years, or we may get off in a few
+days or weeks.  Had we a good carpenter among us, we might have built a
+vessel from the wreck, should she hold together long enough for us to
+bring a good portion of her planking and timber ashore; but I am very
+certain that none of us are capable of that, although we have a stock of
+carpenter's tools."
+
+"There is nothing like trying," said Desmond.  "I have seen ships being
+built; and if we can obtain timber, we might manage in time to put one
+together large enough to carry us at once to Guam or to the Sandwich
+Islands."
+
+"We will hear what the doctor says.  What do you think about it, Bird?"
+
+"Well, sir, I have helped to rig many a craft, but cannot say that I
+ever worked as a shipwright, though I am ready to try my hand at that or
+anything else, and `where there's a will there's a way.'"
+
+"What do you say, Pat?" asked Tom.
+
+"As to that, Mr Rogers, when a man has been a Prime Minister, he ought
+to think himself fit for anything; and sooner than live on a dissolute
+island all me life, I'd undertake to build a ninety-gun ship, if I had
+the materials."
+
+The answers of the two seamen made Tom think that Desmond's proposal
+was, at all events, worth consideration.
+
+"Well, if we find we can get timber enough from the wreck, I don't see
+why we should not make the attempt," he said, after turning over the
+matter in his mind.
+
+"I'll undertake that we can build a vessel of ten or fifteen tons, which
+will carry us to the Sandwich Islands," observed Desmond, confidently.
+"I have got the idea in my head, though I cannot promise that she will
+be much of a clipper, but she shall keep afloat, beat to windward, and
+stand a pretty heavy sea."
+
+Tom and Desmond discussed the matter as they walked along.  Presently
+Pat, who had started on ahead, cried out, "Arrah! here she is, all
+right, if not all tight," and he pointed to a little sandy bay, almost
+at the extreme northern end of the island.  There lay the boat on the
+beach.  She had narrowly missed being swept round the island, when she
+would in all probability have been lost unless some counter current, on
+the lee side, had driven her back.  She had escaped also another danger,
+that of being dashed to pieces against a rugged ledge close to which she
+must have passed.  The party hurried up to her to ascertain what damage
+she had received.  The surf had evidently turned her over, and but
+little water remained in her.  At first sight she appeared to be
+uninjured.
+
+"I was afraid so," said Tom, as he was going round her, and put his hand
+through a hole in the bows.  "The water ran out here; perhaps she would
+have suffered more if she had not been thus damaged.  If she's stove in
+nowhere else, we shall be able to repair her."  This was apparently the
+only damage the boat had received.
+
+"I am not surprised that she should have been swamped with so many men
+in her, in the heavy sea there was running when those unhappy men put
+off," observed Tom.  "We shall have to bring our tools and materials
+here.  And now let us see if any oars have been cast on shore."  They
+hunted about, but the oars, being so much lighter than the boat, had
+either been swept round the north end of the island or thrown on some
+other part of the shore.
+
+Having hauled the boat up, they returned towards the camp.  Tom and
+Desmond were very anxious to repair the boat and visit the wreck before
+night-fall, in case the weather should change and she should go to
+pieces.  As they walked along they discussed the best plan for repairing
+the boat.  Desmond suggested that they should first nail on pieces of
+well-greased canvas, and then fix over that two or more lengths from the
+staves of one of the casks.
+
+"But where's the grease to come from?  I'm afraid we have none,"
+observed Tom.
+
+"We've got a piece of bacon, and there would be grease enough from that
+for the purpose," answered Desmond.
+
+Their conversation was interrupted by a shout from Jerry Bird, who held
+up an oar which he had found floating close in by the shore under one of
+the ledges.  This, with the three oars they already possessed, and one
+of the long paddles to steer by, would enable them to shove off as soon
+as they could patch up the boat.  The doctor's spirits rose considerably
+when he heard that the boat had been discovered, and he consented to
+remain on shore with Tim and Peter, while the rest of the party returned
+to the wreck--he undertaking to search for water.
+
+"You must not be alarmed if we do not come back to-night," said Tom;
+"for, if the weather promises to be fine, it may be better to build a
+large raft, on which we can tow ashore all the stores we can obtain."
+
+"Remember, Rogers, to bring one of the tripods, the smith's forge and
+tools, and some piping; for should we fail to discover water, I may be
+able to construct a still, by which we may obtain as much fresh water as
+we require."
+
+"A capital idea," exclaimed Tom.  "I didn't think of that."
+
+"`Necessity is the mother of invention,'" answered the doctor.  "I never
+worked as a smith, but I know the principles on which a still is
+constructed, and I hope that I shall be able to put one up; if, however,
+we can find water, we may be saved the trouble, and employ our labour
+for other purposes."
+
+As they would have no time on board to spare for cooking, Tom had a
+supply of food, sufficient for a couple of days, put up, with a bottle
+of water and a few cocoa-nuts, in case they might be unable to get at
+the water on board.  Thus laden with the materials for repairing the
+boat, they went back to where she lay, accompanied by Billy.  Tom had
+begged the doctor to light a fire at night, in case the weather should
+come on bad and they might have to return sooner than they intended.
+
+Desmond's plan was carried out.  Bird had brought some oakum, which was
+forced in between the seams with a chisel, and as the party surveyed
+their work, they had reason to hope that the boat would at all events
+swim.
+
+They watched the result, however, with no little anxiety, as, having run
+her down the beach, she was once more afloat.  She leaked slightly, but
+Desmond declared that it was not through the place where she had been
+repaired, and they found after getting some distance from the shore that
+they could easily bale out the water which made its way in.  Tom had
+brought the compass, and believing that he knew the bearings of the
+wreck, he steered a course which would soon bring them in sight of her.
+The sea was so calm that he did not suppose it possible she could have
+gone to pieces, and as they pulled on, he looked out eagerly for her.
+At length he made out a dark object rising out of the blue sea almost
+due west of the island.
+
+"There she is!" he exclaimed; "we shall be on board of her in an hour."
+
+The crew gave way, and in less than the time mentioned they were
+alongside.  She appeared to be exactly in the condition they had left
+her.  The boat having been carefully secured, they climbed up her side.
+The first thing to be obtained was a cask of fresh water, which they
+were fortunate in finding; it was at once got up and placed on deck.  It
+would take too long to describe the various articles which were
+obtained.  Among them were the smith's forge, some piping and the
+tripod, which the doctor especially asked for.  For some of them Jerry
+or Pat dived into the hold.  Others were found on the spar-deck and the
+after part of the ship, where they were got up without difficulty.  Tom
+and Gerald, when they came on deck, frequently took a glance around to
+see how the weather looked, and were satisfied that there was every
+appearance of its holding fine.  They accordingly made up their minds to
+remain during the night.  Having collected all the stores which such a
+raft as they intended to build could carry, they at once commenced
+forming one.  The mizzen and part of the mainmast still remained
+standing; Tom proposed forming shears and trying to hoist out the
+former; but as this was found impracticable, they cut both the masts
+away, to serve as the main beams of their raft.  Several more spars were
+got up, and they then began cutting away the spar-deck.  They worked on
+until it was dark, when Pat cooked some supper--the first food they had
+eaten since the morning.
+
+"Now, we shall want some sleep," said Tom; "but though the ship won't
+run away with us, it will be prudent to keep watch in case bad weather
+should come on; although it looks very fine at present, we should not
+trust to that.  I'll keep the first watch; you, Desmond, take the
+middle; and Bird shall have the morning watch.  We will excuse Billy,
+because it is just possible he may fall asleep and tumble overboard, or
+at all events forget to call us, and Pat requires another night's rest
+after his night on the bottom of the boat and the hard work he has done
+to-day."
+
+Tom, in reality, did not wish to trust Pat entirely, thinking it very
+possible that as soon as they were all below he would stow himself away
+and go to sleep.  The deck cabin being free from water, the party were
+far more comfortably off than they would have been on shore.  The deck
+having too great an inclination to afford a good walk, Tom managed to
+keep awake by holding on to the weather bulwarks, and moving backwards
+and forwards, constantly looking to windward for any change of weather.
+Though, after all the trouble they had taken, they would have been sorry
+to lose the various things they had found on board, it would have been
+unwise to have risked remaining on the wreck should the wind get up.
+The sky, however, was perfectly clear, the stars shone out brilliantly,
+undimmed by the slightest vapour, while scarcely a breath of wind
+disturbed the surface of the now slumbering ocean.
+
+"We shall want a breeze to-morrow to carry us to the shore, though I
+hope it will remain calm as at present until then," thought Tom.  He
+very frequently had the greatest difficulty in keeping his eyes open,
+but he succeeded.  He calculated that it was about midnight when he went
+below, and finding that it was time, roused up Gerald.  "Do not let
+sleep overtake you, old fellow," he said.  "I found it a hard matter to
+keep my eyes open."
+
+"Yes, but mine have been shut for four hours," said Desmond.  "I'll look
+after the ship, and depend upon it as soon as my watch is out I'll rouse
+up Jerry."
+
+The middle watch passed away as calmly as the first, and Jerry, after
+taking a look round, declared his belief that the day would be as fine
+as the former.  According to Tom's orders, all hands were aroused at
+daybreak, and they immediately set to work on the raft, which was
+completed and launched overboard before they knocked off for breakfast.
+Empty casks were then got under it, and masts set up.  As the wind was
+fair, they had only to rig a couple of large lugs, which answered every
+purpose.  They had next to load their raft; the water was perfectly
+smooth, and it was hauled under the side, where this was easily done,
+though they had to lower many of the heavier articles on it with a
+tackle.  Tom directed Desmond and Jerry to go ahead in the boat, while
+Billy and Pat remained on board to help with the raft.  As the day
+advanced, a steady breeze arose, and the raft, heavy as it was, made
+great progress, helped by the boat, towards the shore.  As towards
+evening they neared the beach, they saw their companions anxiously
+waiting for them.  The doctor's face looked even longer than usual.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Tom, as he shook hands.
+
+"We have found no water," answered the doctor; "and if you have not
+brought materials for making a still, we are doomed."
+
+"But I hope we have brought everything you want, doctor," replied Tom.
+
+"Thank Heaven! our lives may then be preserved," said the doctor.  "I
+was almost afraid to ask the question."
+
+"We have got even more than we expected," said Desmond; "and should the
+weather hold fine, we may hope, in the course of two or three trips, to
+get wood enough for our proposed craft."
+
+There was no time for talking, however.  All hands set to work to unload
+the raft; the doctor, who was now in better spirits, hauling away with
+might and main, to get the more heavy articles up the beach before dark.
+Not only was everything already on shore, but the two rafts taken to
+pieces, and dragged up likewise.
+
+The weather continued so fine that Tom and Desmond determined, before
+hauling up the boat, to go back to the wreck for further stores, and to
+bring away as many rafts of timber as they could obtain.  The doctor
+said he must remain on shore to work at the still.  For his assistants
+he chose Billy Blueblazes and Peter the black.  Billy was not ingenious,
+but, as the doctor observed, "he could collect wood and blow the
+bellows."
+
+Billy was at first indignant on being told that he was thus to be
+employed, but after due reflection he came to the conclusion that it
+would be easier work than tearing off planking from the wreck, or
+pulling an oar under a hot sun for several hours each day.  The first
+thing to be done was to set up the forge.  All hands had turned out at
+daybreak, so that the doctor was able to begin work before the boat
+party shoved off.
+
+It took them two hours to get to the wreck.  They had hard work before
+them.  First they made a thorough search for all remaining provisions,
+iron-work, canvas, ropes, and blocks.  These were placed aft, ready for
+lowering on to the raft as soon as one could be put together.  Sailors
+naturally feel it a somewhat melancholy task to break up a ship.  It
+seems as if all hope of its being of further use is gone, but probably
+the party did not trouble themselves with any sentimental ideas on the
+subject just then; all they thought of was the best, way to tear up the
+planking, and to secure as much timber as possible.  They indeed were
+cheered with the thoughts that they should be able to build a trim
+little craft out of the battered hull, to carry them to some place from
+whence they could once more get back to Old England.  For hours they
+laboured away with sledge-hammers, crowbars, and saws.  The bowsprit was
+first got out, then all the remaining portions of the bulwarks wore cut
+away.  They then commenced on the upper deck, and as the planks were
+torn up they were lowered overboard and lashed alongside.
+
+"To my mind, a pretty strong gale would save us a mighty deal of
+trouble," observed Tim, as he was working away.  "The say in a few hours
+would do more work than we can get through in as many days."
+
+"Very likely, my boy," observed Jerry; "but where would all the timber
+go to? it would not come floating of its own accord to our
+landing-place, and I suspect it would not be of much use when it got
+there.  Let us be thankful for the calm weather, and work away while it
+lasts."
+
+After some hours' labour, a sufficient quantity of wood had been
+obtained to form a large raft.  It was of a much rougher description
+than the two former ones, but still buoyant enough to carry the
+remaining stores.  Among other things they had brought a kedge anchor
+and a hawser.  They had, however, forgotten that there were no spars
+remaining to serve as masts or yards; it was necessary, therefore, to
+tow the raft.  By the time all was ready, it was so late that it would
+be impossible to reach the shore before dark, and Tom had omitted to
+charge the doctor to keep up a fire by which they might steer to the
+landing-place.
+
+"Well, never mind, we will begin our voyage," he said, "and when it gets
+dark we will anchor the raft and return for it in the morning.  Should
+bad weather come on, the chances are that the timber, at all events,
+will be washed on shore, though we may lose the stores; but that will
+not matter so much, although we may be compelled to reduce the
+dimensions of our craft."  Tom and Jerry took charge of the raft, having
+contrived two large paddles to propel it, while Desmond and the rest
+went in the boat and pulled ahead.  More progress was made than had been
+expected, as a slight current set towards the shore, and they had
+performed half the distance before it grew dark.  The night also was
+very fine, and as Desmond had a compass in the boat and had taken the
+bearings of the harbour, he was able to steer for it.  The doctor had
+not forgotten them.  In a short time, catching sight of a fire blazing
+up brightly, which they knew must be burning close to the beach, they
+continued their course.  It was, however, past ten o'clock before they
+reached the shore, where they found the doctor and his companions ready
+to receive them.
+
+"You have not been idle, I see; nor have I," he exclaimed.  "I have made
+good progress with my still, and I hope to get it into working order
+early to-morrow."
+
+Tom hoped that the doctor would not be disappointed in his expectations,
+for on examining the water he found that they had sufficient, at the
+rate at which it was consumed, to last only two or three days more.  He
+determined, therefore, to place the party on an allowance, in case the
+still should not succeed.
+
+"You need not be afraid of that," observed the doctor; "if we do not
+obtain the fresh water by to-morrow evening, I will undertake to drink a
+gallon of salt water.  Will that satisfy you?"
+
+"I should think so," answered Tom, laughing.  "I have no doubt of your
+success; but some accident may happen, and it is as well to be on the
+safe side."
+
+Another trip was made the next day to the wreck, and as the party were
+able to devote the whole of their strength to the work of breaking up
+the vessel, they got out a larger quantity of wood than on the previous
+day, including several of the timbers, which, sawn through, would make
+the ribs of their proposed vessel.  As the day drew on, the weather gave
+signs of changing.  Tom had intended remaining until even a later hour
+than before, for as the doctor had promised to keep a fire blazing on
+the beach, the voyage could be performed as well during the dark as the
+day-time.  But, about two o'clock the wind began to get up, and the
+ocean, hitherto shining like a mirror in the rays of the sun, was seen
+to be rippled over with wavelets, which gradually increased in size,
+while the dash of the water against the weather side of the wreck
+sounded louder and louder.
+
+"We shall have it blowing strong before night, Mr Desmond," observed
+Jerry; "and I am thinking it would be prudent if Mr Rogers were to
+order us to shove off, and to make the best of our way to the shore."
+
+Desmond reported what Jerry had said to Tom, who at once saw the wisdom
+of the advice.
+
+The timber which had been got out was forthwith fastened together.  A
+spar to serve as a mast, with a square sail, had been brought off, and
+these being rigged the voyage was commenced.
+
+The wind increased and sent the raft along at a rapid rate, considering
+its form and weight, Tom, as before, steering it.  Sometimes, indeed,
+those at the oars had little work to do except to assist in guiding the
+raft.  At last Tom ordered them to cast off end keep alongside, in case
+he and Jerry might be washed away by the fast-rising seas which
+occasionally swept almost over the raft, so that the water was up to
+their knees.  Gerald at length advised Tom to come into the boat and to
+let the raft find its way as it best could to the shore.
+
+"No, no," answered Tom; "as long as I can steer it I will, and try to
+carry it safely on to the beach; should it strike the coral rocks, the
+timbers may be injured and of no service."
+
+As the raft neared the island, Jerry every now and then took a look
+astern.  "There won't be much of the ship left by to-morrow morning, but
+I hope that a good part of her will come on shore, and if we can get
+this lot safe on the beach we shall have timber enough for building our
+craft and some to spare for fire-wood."
+
+Though the wind blew stronger and stronger, Tom stuck to the raft, and
+was rewarded for his perseverance by carrying it, just before dark,
+safely on to the beach.
+
+"Welcome back, my young friends.  I shall not have to drink the gallon
+of salt water," exclaimed the doctor, producing a jug.  "Just taste
+that."
+
+All the party pronounced the product of the still excellent, and as they
+had had nothing to drink since they had left the wreck, they were glad
+to obtain it.
+
+After taking a few hurried mouthfuls of food they set to work to drag up
+the materials of the raft, lest the sea might carry them off during the
+night.  The task accomplished, they at length lay down in the tent,
+which the doctor had rendered more tenable than it otherwise would have
+been by putting up a close paling on the weather side.  Fortunately no
+rain fell, but the wind, which as the night advanced blew with great
+force, found its way in through the crevices.
+
+In the morning the ocean was covered with tossing foam-crested waves,
+which as they rolled in broke with a continuous roar on the rocky shore.
+They soon had evidence of the effect of the gale on the wreck.
+Fragments of various sizes and casks of oil were seen floating in all
+directions, the larger portion drifting towards the northern end of the
+island.  Some came right into the bay, and were at once secured; others
+struck the coral rocks, and were soon ground into small pieces.  Jerry
+proposed going along the shore, accompanied by Tim and Pat, in order to
+pick up whatever they could find.  They might save not only timber but
+casks and cases from the hold, which, from being under water, they had
+been unable to get up.  The rest of the party in the mean time commenced
+building the hut.  They first selected such timber and planking as would
+be of no use to the vessel.  The discomfort they had endured the
+previous night made them anxious to secure sufficient shelter before the
+rain should come on, as in that exposed situation they could not trust
+to the protection of the tent.  The roof, however, they intended to form
+with canvas, as they had enough for the purpose, and it would answer
+better than anything else they could obtain.  Peter prepared dinner for
+all the party.
+
+"But there is more here than we want," observed the doctor, looking into
+the pot; "we must be economical in the use of our provisions."
+
+"Neber fear, massa," answered Peter; "dey all come back in good time.
+Dey smell dis at de oder end ob de island."
+
+Peter was right in his conjectures.  Just as he was about to serve out
+the stew, Jerry and his companions made their appearance.  They reported
+that they had hauled up several good-sized pieces of wreck, three casks
+of oil, a barrel of flour, and two of beef or pork.
+
+"Very good," observed the doctor; "we shall not run short of provisions;
+but I should have been glad to hear that you had found a case or two
+containing lime-juice.  We must look out for vegetables of some sort, or
+we may not keep scurvy at bay."
+
+"Shure, doesn't this island grow taters?" asked Tim.
+
+"I'm afraid not," answered the doctor.
+
+"Thin it must be a poor place, and I'll not wish to spend the remainder
+of me days here," answered Tim, with one of his inimitable grimaces.
+
+"Though there are not potatoes, there may be roots of some sort, and we
+have not yet examined all the cases which we brought out of the cabin.
+If I recollect rightly, some seeds were sent on board before we sailed,
+though fortunately we had no opportunity of making use of them,"
+observed the doctor.
+
+A search was at once instituted, and the box the doctor spoke of
+discovered; it contained cabbage, lettuce, onion, carrot, turnip, and
+several other kinds of seeds.
+
+"The onions, in our case, will prove the most valuable, as they will
+have grown to some size before the vessel has been completed, and we can
+carry them to sea with us.  They are the most certain specific against
+scurvy," said the doctor.
+
+These remarks were made while the officers and men sat together at
+breakfast.  They were all in good spirits, thankful that they were so
+well supplied with everything they could possibly require.  Had it not
+been for the doctor, however, how different would have been their
+condition!  In a day or two they would have been suffering all the
+horrors of thirst, and must ultimately have perished miserably, but now
+they could obtain as much fresh water as they could require for drinking
+and cooking.
+
+"One thing, however, we must remember, that our provisions will in time
+come to an end," observed Tom.  "We must use the most perishable first
+and keep the best preserved for our voyage."
+
+"But we shall be able to catch fish, and we need not go on short
+commons, I hope," said Billy.
+
+"You shall have all you catch," said Desmond, laughing; "but have we any
+hooks?"
+
+"Lashings, sir," answered Tim.  "I found a bag full in the carpenter's
+store-room, and threw them down among the other things."
+
+The hooks and lines were soon discovered, but at present there was too
+much work to be done to allow any one to go fishing.  The hut was very
+soon finished.  It was placed with its back to the wind.
+
+There were plenty of spars, which, without cutting, served for rafters,
+and over them were stretched a couple of sails, lashed securely down, so
+that no ordinary hurricane could have blown them away.  In front,
+sheltered from the wind, were established the two fires, one for
+cooking, the other for the still.  To give a sufficient supply of water,
+it was necessary to keep the latter always alight.
+
+Gerald, who had been the first to propose building a vessel, was anxious
+to lay down the keel.
+
+"I should be as eager as you are, did I not think that we may possibly
+be taken off by some passing vessel," said Tom.  "As soon as the gale is
+over we must set up a flag-staff, and a good tall one too, so that it
+may be seen at a long distance, as no vessel is likely, intentionally,
+to come near these reefs."
+
+"But we've only got an American flag, and I should not like to be taken
+for a Yankee," exclaimed Desmond, without considering what he was
+saying.
+
+"Young gentleman," exclaimed the doctor, bristling up, "you might sail
+under a less honoured flag, and fight under it too, let me tell you!  It
+is one which has made itself respected in every sea, and will ever be
+found on the side of freedom and justice."
+
+"I beg your pardon, doctor," answered Desmond.  "If I was not an English
+midshipman, I should be perfectly ready to become an American commodore,
+and I fully believe your navy, for its size, is superior to that of any
+other nation under the sun."
+
+"Well, well, my young friend, we all of us have our national prejudices,
+and it is right that we should, provided we do not bring them too
+prominently forward.  You may think England the tallest country in the
+world, and I may consider the United States taller still, but it is as
+well not to be measuring heights, or we may both have to come down a peg
+or two."
+
+"Come," said Tom, "let us set up the flag-staff and hoist the stars and
+stripes, and should one of Uncle Sam's ships come by, we will hand over
+the island as a free gift in exchange for our passage to any part of the
+world for which she may be bound."
+
+It did not take long to form a flag-staff and to fit it with rigging:
+the chief difficulty was to dig a hole of sufficient depth in the coral
+rock in which to step it.  This, however, was at last done, and the wind
+having fallen, before the evening the flag-staff was fixed, and with a
+hearty cheer, led by the doctor, the stars and stripes were run up to
+the top.  The flag was, however, hauled down again at sunset.  Tom also
+had a quantity of wood collected and piled up on the highest point near
+the flag-staff, so that should a ship at any time in the evening be seen
+in the offing, it might be lit to attract attention.  One of the brass
+guns which had beer brought on shore was placed on its carriage near the
+flag-staff, so that it might be fired if necessary.
+
+"We have had a good day's work, and I propose that to-morrow we lay down
+the keel of our vessel," said Desmond.
+
+To this Tom readily agreed; and the two midshipmen, with the doctor, sat
+up until a late hour, discussing the subject and drawing plans for their
+proposed craft.  They had a couple of adzes, three axes, and two augers,
+but only five of the party could be engaged on the building; indeed, it
+would have been dangerous to have entrusted some of them with such
+tools.  Billy to a certainty would have cut off his toes, and neither
+Tom nor Desmond were accustomed to their use, although they knew what it
+was necessary to do.  To form the keel was simple work enough, to shape
+the timbers properly required the greatest skill.
+
+Here the doctor was superior to the rest.  He chose a level part of the
+sand, on which he drew the form of the timbers, and the rest of the
+party executed the plans he gave them.  As the timbers had to be out in
+two, a saw-pit was dug, at which Billy was doomed to work as
+under-sawyer, a task which Desmond assured him he performed to
+perfection.  By the end of the first day the keel was put down and the
+stem and stern-post set up.
+
+"I have other work, which must not be neglected, my friends," said the
+doctor, when the party were collected at supper.  "We must look after
+fresh provisions.  Perhaps, Rogers, you or Desmond will take your guns
+and shoot some birds to-morrow; there are large numbers, I see, at the
+further end of the island.  They may prove wholesome, if not palatable
+food.  I don't know who are the best fishermen among you, but I would
+advise that two should go out every day in the boat fishing, so that we
+may not trespass on our salt provisions."
+
+"Pat Casey is the most skilful fisherman among us, and he with another
+of our party will do as you suggest, doctor," said Tom.
+
+Tom and Desmond accordingly, who had wished to explore the end of the
+island not hitherto visited, set off with their guns the next morning.
+They had not gone far when they found themselves among numbers of birds,
+a large portion of which had made their nests on the ground.  It
+appeared that for some reason or other they had selected the southern
+end of the island.  Most of them were so tame that they refused to move,
+and attacked the midshipmen's legs with their beaks.  Among them were
+gannets, sooty terns, and tropical birds in large numbers.  The gannets
+sat on their eggs croaking hoarsely, not moving even when the midshipmen
+attempted to catch them.  There were also frigate birds which had built
+their nests, in the lower trees, of a few sticks roughly put together.
+They sat for some time watching the trespassers on their domain, then
+spreading their wings flew off, inflating their blood-red bladders,
+which were of the size of the largest cocoa-nuts, to aid them in their
+ascent though the air.
+
+"We need not expend any powder and shot on these fellows," observed
+Desmond; "and all we have to do is to wring the necks of as many as we
+want for our use, and take the eggs."
+
+"Let us ascertain how long the eggs have been sat upon, or we may have
+the trouble of carrying them for nothing," answered Tom.
+
+They went forward, expecting to get beyond the region of birds, but
+instead, the nests grew thicker and thicker; indeed, the midshipmen's
+progress was almost stopped at times, as they had to dodge in and out
+and skip here and there to avoid the attacks made on their legs.
+
+"We need have no fear of starving, although we might in time get tired
+of poultry," said Desmond.
+
+At last they came to a lower part of the island, over which the sea
+occasionally washed.  It had been avoided by the wise birds, but still
+had its inhabitants.  Whole armies of soldier-crabs were marching about
+in every direction with their shells on their backs, as well as common
+crabs on the watch for lizard or snake-like creatures which ventured
+among them.  Sometimes, when a big crab had got hold of one of these,
+and its attention was occupied in carrying off its prey, a frigate bird
+would pounce down and seize it, carrying both it and its captive off to
+its nest.
+
+The midshipmen were so amused that they could not tell how time passed,
+until hunger and the hot sun reminded them that it was the time when
+dinner would be ready; and passing through the "farm-yard," as Desmond
+called it, they secured as many birds as they could carry and also
+filled their pockets with the freshest-looking eggs they could find.
+Desmond, giving a wink to Tom, put among them a couple from a nest over
+which the mother bird had fought stoutly, and which certainly did not
+look very fresh.  "I can almost hear it croak," he said, placing an egg
+to his ear.  "I intend these as a _bonne-bouche_ for Billy.  We won't
+show the others, and will make him suppose that we especially favour him
+by bringing these, knowing how fond he is of eggs."
+
+Gerald kept to his intention.  As nobody was in the hut when they got
+back, they hid away all the eggs with the exception of two, which
+Desmond so kindly selected for his messmate.  Peter was engaged in
+cooking, and having his stew ready, he shouted to announce the fact.
+
+They hurried in, for all were hungry and eager again to begin work.  Tom
+and Desmond showed their birds, and described the numbers they had met
+with.
+
+"Did you bring any eggs?" asked the doctor; "they can be cooked at once,
+and are likely to prove better flavoured than the birds themselves."
+
+"Yes," said Desmond, "we brought as many as our pockets will hold, and
+we will hand them over to Peter directly, but I want to give Billy some
+first, as he is especially fond of eggs; he will value them the more if
+he thinks that nobody else has them."
+
+Saying this, he handed them to Peter to put them under the ashes.
+
+"There," he exclaimed when Billy appeared, "we know how you like eggs,
+and so we brought a couple, and whenever we go out again we will try and
+find some more."
+
+Billy watched the eggs eagerly, until Peter declared that they were
+sufficiently cooked.
+
+"Doctor, won't you have one?" asked Billy, politely, when Peter handed
+them to him.
+
+"No, thank you," answered the doctor; "I am content with this stew."
+
+Billy very reluctantly felt himself called upon to offer an egg to Tom
+and Desmond; but they both declined.
+
+"Then I suppose I must eat them myself," said Billy, beginning to break
+the shell.  He went on until the operation was performed, when he
+clapped the end into his mouth.
+
+"Horrible!" he exclaimed, spitting the contents out.  "If I haven't
+bitten off a bird's head!"
+
+"Try the other, Billy," said Desmond; "that may not be so mature."
+
+Billy, not suspecting a trick, commenced on the second egg, when
+Desmond, running into the hut, produced the rest they had brought, which
+Peter slipped under the ashes.  Billy looked several times at the second
+egg; he was going to put it into his mouth when he bethought him of his
+knife.  No sooner had he cut into it, than he threw it away,
+exclaiming--
+
+"I do believe, Desmond, that you brought those on purpose; you have
+almost spoilt my appetite."
+
+"Then I have done more than anything else has ever accomplished,"
+answered Desmond, laughing.  "Never mind, Billy, you shall have the
+freshest of those eggs cooking under the ashes if you can regain your
+appetite."
+
+"I think I shall be able to do that, but I think I will take some stew
+in the mean time."
+
+The rest of the eggs were fresh, but the doctor advised that they should
+collect a supply at once, before the birds had sat too long on them, as
+probably the greater number had by this time done laying.
+
+In the afternoon Pat went off in the boat a short distance, and in less
+than an hour caught more fish than the party could consume.  The doctor
+had been too busily employed hitherto, but he, having set each man to
+work, started at the same time in search of vegetables.  He came back
+with a bag filled with small green leaves.
+
+"I have found nothing except the cocoa-nuts very palatable, but until
+our garden seeds come up this will prove of greater value than any roots
+likely to be discovered.  I was not aware that it was to be found in so
+low a latitude.  It is a species of sorrel; it seems placed here by
+Providence for the especial use of seamen, as it is most efficacious in
+preventing scurvy.  All sea officers should be acquainted with it, as it
+grows on nearly every uninhabited island."
+
+As soon as it became too dark to work on the vessel, all hands turned to
+for the purpose of breaking up a plot for forming the proposed garden
+close to the hut, that the seeds might be put in without delay.  They
+again went to work the following morning before daybreak, and in a short
+time a sufficient space was cleared and broken up for the intended
+object; as there were no animals, all that was necessary was to run a
+few sticks into the ground to mark the spot.
+
+"Now," said the doctor, "if Providence so wills it, we may live here for
+the next ten or twenty years, should we fail to build a craft in which
+we can venture to sea."
+
+"I am not afraid about that," said Desmond, "and I hope by the time the
+crop of vegetables is up, that we may have our craft afloat, and ready
+to sail for the Sandwich Islands, or Hong-kong."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+PROGRESS MADE IN BUILDING A VESSEL--TOOLS BREAK--SIGNAL KEPT FLYING--A
+SAIL SEEN--THE FLYING BEACON--A NIGHT OF SUSPENSE--SIGNAL GUNS FIRED--AN
+ANSWERING GUN HEARD--A MAN-OF-WAR STEAMER IN SIGHT--A BOAT COMES ON
+SHORE--TOM AND HIS FRIENDS GET ON BOARD HMS BELLONA, CAPTAIN MURRAY, AND
+FIND CAPTAIN ROGERS--FALL IN WITH A DISMASTED JUNK--JONATHAN JULL AND
+HIS WIFE--SUSPICIOUS APPEARANCE OF JUNK--JULL AND HIS WIFE TAKEN ON
+BOARD THE BELLONA--THE JUNK BLOWS UP AND FOUNDERS--THE BELLONA PROCEEDS
+ON HER COURSE--PASS A REEF--A WRECK SEEN--VISITED--SUPPOSED TO BE THE
+DRAGON--NO ONE FOUND ON SHORE--BELLONA REACHES HONG-KONG--JULL
+DISAPPEARS--CAPTAIN ROGERS ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE EMPRESS.
+
+The midshipmen and doctor had been somewhat over sanguine in regard to
+the rapidity with which the proposed craft could be built.  They had not
+taken into account the damage the tools would receive from unskilful
+hands.  They were constantly striking bolts and nails with their adzes
+and hatchets, blunting the edges.  One of their two augers broke, and
+they had reason to fear that the second was injured.  Tim Nolan cut
+himself badly, and was unable to work for several days.  Two of the
+party were obliged to go off and fish for some hours, as the fish caught
+on one day were unfit for food on the next.  Several of the ribs, from
+being unscientifically shaped, had to be taken down and reformed.  Two
+or three were split so as to render them useless.  Tom and the doctor,
+who were the architects, exerted all their wits, for practical skill
+they had none, and they often regretted the want of such training.
+
+"If every sea officer were to serve for a few months in a dockyard, he
+would gain a knowledge which would be useful under our circumstances, at
+all events," observed the doctor.
+
+Still, by dint of sawing and chopping, they got a dozen ribs cut out and
+fixed in their places.  They improved too, and, Gerald declared, "would
+have got on like a house on fire," had not one of the adzes been totally
+disabled by the constant grinding which it required to restore the edge.
+An axe also broke, and they had now only three tools for executing the
+rougher work, beside some large chisels; but they found smoothing down
+with these was a very slow process.
+
+The doctor was constantly charging Jerry and Tim to be careful when
+using the took.  He was especially anxious about the auger.  "If that
+goes we shall be brought pretty well to a standstill, for I doubt if I
+can replace it," he remarked.  At last he determined not to let it out
+of his own hands, and to bore all the bolt holes himself.
+
+One day, however, as he was working away, a crack was heard, the auger
+refused to advance.  He drew it out; the tip had broken.  Examining it
+with a look of dismay, he sighed deeply, "Our shipbuilding must come to
+an end, I fear, unless we can replace this simple instrument."
+
+"We will try, however, and see what we can accomplish in the forge,"
+said Tom.
+
+"You forget that it is steel," observed the doctor; "it will be
+difficult to soften it and afterwards to restore its temper."
+
+"We can but try," repeated Tom; "a day or two won't make much
+difference, and we can go on with the other parts of the vessel in the
+mean time."
+
+Tom was not disappointed; after repeated experiments he and the doctor
+succeeded in putting a head to the auger, and their success encouraged
+them to repair the first which had been broken; but they found that
+neither worked as well as they had done before.  At last, however, they
+again broke.
+
+Neither Tom nor Desmond were made of stuff which could easily be
+defeated.
+
+"We must try again," said Tom.  "I have heard of a missionary in the
+South Seas who built a vessel entirely by himself, without a single
+white man to help him, in the course of three or four months.  He had to
+begin without tools, and with only a ship's anchor and chain cable, and
+trees still growing in the forest.  He set up a forge, manufactured
+tools, saws, and axes, then taught the natives to use them.  They cut
+down trees, which they sawed up.  He made ropes out of fibre, and sails
+from matting; and the necessary iron-work, of which there was very
+little in the whole craft, was formed from the remainder of the old
+anchor; yet that vessel performed long voyages and during several years
+visited numerous islands in the Pacific.  Surely if one man can
+accomplish such a work, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves if, with
+materials all ready to our hands, we cannot build such a craft as we
+want."
+
+"Yes, my friend; but the missionary you speak of--the late lamented
+Williams, who was murdered not far off to the west of us--was a
+practical mechanic.  He had studied blacksmith's work before he left
+England, and must have possessed a large amount of mechanical talent,
+such as none of us can boast of."
+
+Encouraged by Tom, the doctor recovered his spirits, and once more their
+shipbuilding progressed at fair speed.  The main beams had been fixed
+up, and the skeleton was almost complete, but as yet not a plank had
+been fixed on.  This, however, appeared to them comparatively easy work,
+and no one entertained a doubt of the success of their undertaking.
+Regular discipline had been maintained all the time.  At daybreak Tom or
+Desmond visited the hill, hoisted the flag, and took a look round.  In
+the evening, when the flag was hauled down, generally two went up, in
+case a distant sail might escape the observation of one, and be
+discovered by the other, when they intended to light the beacon fire, in
+the hopes of attracting her attention.
+
+Billy Blueblazes, who had got a sharp pair of eyes, whatever might be
+said about his wits, had one evening accompanied Desmond.  They stood
+for some minutes scanning the horizon, but not a speck was visible in
+the blue sky except here and there, where a sea-fowl was winging its way
+towards the shore.
+
+"It would save us a great deal of trouble if a vessel would come,"
+observed Billy.  "If we could build a steamer it would be very well; but
+we may be becalmed for days together, and I should not like to go
+through what we had to endure in the boat--mashed yams and oil.  Bah!
+I've not got the taste out of my mouth yet."
+
+"You've put a good many things into it, though, since then," said
+Desmond.  "For my part, after we have done so much, I should be almost
+disappointed if we were to be taken off before our craft was finished.
+I should not exactly wish to go round Cape Horn in her, but I would go
+anywhere else.  I hope Rogers will decide on sailing for Hong-kong."
+
+"At all events, I wish she was finished, for I am tired of that sawing
+work," cried Billy.
+
+"Well, Billy, we will haul down the flag, as there appears to be nothing
+in sight; but before we go, just swarm up the flag-staff, and take
+another look round; the horizon is remarkably clear, and you might see a
+ship's royals, even though they were but just above it."
+
+Billy did as Desmond asked him to do.  Presently he took off his cap,
+and waving it, shouted--
+
+"A sail! a sail! to the eastward!"
+
+"Are you certain of it?" asked Desmond.
+
+"As sure as if I had it in my hand," answered Billy.  "A ship's royals,
+I am certain of it.  I think, too, she is standing this way."
+
+"Come down, then," said Desmond, "and I'll have a look out through the
+glass."  He had a telescope slung at his back.  He swarmed up until he
+reached the head of the shrouds, when, securing himself, he brought his
+glass to bear in the direction Billy had pointed.
+
+"You are right, Billy," he exclaimed, after taking a steady look through
+it.  "I can make out the fore, main, and the head of the mizzen royals.
+A large ship too, and, as you say, she is standing this way, with the
+wind from the eastward.  She will not pass far from this either."
+Having taken another steady glance through the glass, Desmond descended;
+indeed, the thickening gloom by this time almost shut out the sail from
+sight.  He and Billy hurried back to the camp.
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah!" they shouted out in one breath.  "There is a ship
+coming to take us off!"
+
+The rest of the party were incredulous until Desmond fully described the
+appearance of the sail.  "And now let us get the beacon fire alight," he
+exclaimed.
+
+"No great hurry for that," said Tom.
+
+"It could not be seen for some time, but we will carry up a supply of
+fuel to keep it burning all night.  There may be a sail, but you cannot
+be positive she is standing this way, or if she is she may alter her
+course, which will carry her to a distance from us," said the doctor.
+
+"But I can be positive that she is standing this way," exclaimed
+Desmond.  "She may alter her course, but our fire will be seen."
+
+At the doctor's suggestion, one of the oil barrels was rolled up that
+the contents might increase the flame.  Every one was eager to light the
+beacon fire; even Billy forgot to propose that they should first eat
+their supper.
+
+The doctor remarked that as the ship was drawing near they should send
+up a long spar, placed horizon tally with a burning mass at the end of
+it, which from its greater height might be seen further off than the
+fire on the ground.
+
+His plan was adopted; the signal halyards were strong enough for the
+purpose, and by means of a line at the other end it could be hoisted
+without risk of burning the shrouds.  He quickly manufactured a fusee,
+so that the mass would not blaze up until the yard was fixed.  The
+material to be fired was composed of oakum mixed with gunpowder, canvas
+saturated with oil, and bundles of shavings kept together with pieces of
+iron hoop.  Tom gave the word to hoist away, and "the flying beacon," as
+Desmond called it, soon afterwards burst forth into a bright flame.  The
+fire below was then lighted, and as it blazed up it cast a lurid glare
+over the whole island, on the ribs of their vessel, their hut below the
+tall cocoa-nut trees, and the lower shrubs.  At the same instant loud
+screams were heard--the birds, startled by the unusual appearance,
+mounted into the air, numbers flying towards the fire, and the party on
+the hill had to use sticks to keep them off, as they darted here and
+there, blinded by the light.  More and more fuel was added, and as soon
+as the doctor's flying beacon had burnt out, another of the same
+description was hoisted.
+
+"Well, if they don't see our fire they must be all asleep on board the
+stranger," said Desmond.
+
+"No fear of that," remarked the doctor; "in these seas, with reefs on
+every side, depend upon it a bright look-out will be kept, or no ship
+could get across with safety."
+
+"If she stood on, as you supposed she was steering, she must be by this
+time near enough to hear our gun," said Tom.  "Bring up powder and
+wadding, Bird."
+
+Jerry eagerly hastened to obey the order.  The gun was fired every five
+minutes, although it was not likely, as the sound had to travel against
+the wind, that it would be heard for some time on board the ship.  Most
+of the party had forgotten all about supper, until Billy exclaimed: "If
+I don't get some provender, I shall collapse."
+
+As the rest acknowledged that they were much in the same state, Peter
+and Pat were sent to bring up a supply of food.
+
+"Let there be plenty," said Billy; "we need not be on short commons now,
+I hope!"
+
+The supper was discussed by the light of the fire.  Tom in the mean time
+could not refrain from now and then looking out for an answering signal.
+
+Hours went by, and all remained dark as before round the island.  As to
+sleeping, few would have closed their eyes even had they gone back to
+the hut.
+
+Tom had kept his watch in his hand to time the firing.  The gun had just
+been discharged and all was again silent, when, as he was about again to
+give the order to fire, there came down on the breeze the boom of a
+heavy gun.
+
+"No doubt about the sort of piece that comes from, sir," exclaimed
+Jerry.  "The craft away there is a man-of-war, or I'm no sailor."
+
+"I think so too," cried Tom; "they must have noticed our signals, and I
+don't think the ship will pass by without sending on shore."
+
+"We might go off to her in our boat," said Jerry.
+
+"We should have a difficulty in finding her at night, so we shall be
+wise to remain until the morning," answered Tom; "the wind is very light
+and she is probably still a long way off, for I could not see the flash
+of her gun."
+
+Notwithstanding their belief that they were discovered, the party on the
+island still kept their beacon fire blazing, and fired the gun at
+intervals.
+
+At length, pretty well tired out, all hands turned in with the exception
+of two, who remained to keep up the fire and discharge the gun every ten
+minutes.
+
+Tom awoke at dawn of day and hurried up to join Desmond, who was keeping
+the morning watch.
+
+"Where is she?" he exclaimed eagerly.
+
+"That is more than I can tell," answered Desmond.  "I expected to see
+her close to, and to have had a boat come on shore by this time."
+
+"The mist hides her from us; see how it sweeps over the water from the
+northward.  As the sun rises depend upon it we shall see her," observed
+Tom.
+
+Still Desmond was in doubt; the mist was so light that he had not
+hitherto observed it, and his eyes were dazzled by the glare of the
+fire, which was still burning.  Tom ran up the flag, so that it might be
+seen the moment the mist should disperse.  In a short time they were
+joined by the rest of the party, who in various tones expressed their
+disappointment at not seeing the stranger.
+
+Presently the sun rose, and in a few seconds the veil lifted, disclosing
+a large ship, her bulwarks just rising above the horizon.
+
+"She is a man-of-war steamer," said Tom, who had been the first to take
+a look at her through the telescope.  "She's English too, for she's just
+hoisted her ensign.  There is smoke coming out of her funnel; she's
+getting up steam.  Hurrah! we shall soon have her here."
+
+The excitement after this became general and greater than ever.  Tom and
+Desmond, however, were the only two of the party who witnessed the
+approach of the British man-of-war with unmitigated satisfaction.  The
+men, having plenty of food, were in no hurry to go back to their routine
+of duty.  The doctor and Peter would be among strangers, besides which
+the former, feeling assured that the vessel would in time be completed,
+was anxious to perform a voyage in a craft constructed under his own
+superintendence.
+
+"The bother is, I shall have to keep that tiresome watch," murmured
+Billy.  However, he did not express himself openly to his messmates on
+the subject.
+
+The frigate came slowly on with the lead going and look-outs at frigate,
+although she might not carry more than six or eight guns.  At length she
+got within about a mile of the island, when the screw was stopped and a
+boat lowered.  There was only one landing-place on the lee side, close
+below the hill on which the flag-staff had been erected.
+
+Tom, securing four handkerchiefs to the end of a spar, hastened down to
+it to guide the boat in.  On she came, pulled by six strong arms, a
+lieutenant and midshipman in the stern sheets.  Tom, Desmond, and Billy
+stood ready to receive the strangers.  The boat was quickly run up on
+the beach, when the officers stepped on shore.
+
+The lieutenant, observing the three midshipmen's tattered uniforms,
+advanced towards them, and inquired as he shook hands, "Has an American
+man-of-war been cast away here?"
+
+"No, sir; but an American whaler was wrecked here a few weeks ago."
+
+"Then who are you, and how came you here?" asked the lieutenant.
+
+Tom in a few words narrated their adventures, and then asked, "And what
+is your ship, sir?"
+
+"The _Bellona_, Captain Murray--"
+
+"What!  Captain Alick Murray?" exclaimed Tom.  "I served with him.  He
+is my brother Jack's greatest friend."
+
+"Are you Captain Rogers's brother?  That is extraordinary," exclaimed
+the lieutenant, "for he is a passenger with us, going out to command the
+_Empress_ in the China seas."
+
+"My brother Jack on board!  That is good news."
+
+Tom now doing the honours, introduced the lieutenant to Dr Locock.
+
+"Of course Captain Murray will be most happy to receive you on board,
+with any of the survivors of the whaler's crew," said the lieutenant.
+
+"I am much obliged to you; there is but one, and I shall be glad to
+embrace the opportunity of visiting China," answered the doctor.
+
+The lieutenant had received orders to return as soon as possible, but
+Tom begged him to come and see the vessel they had commenced building;
+though he had made up his mind to try and get Jack to come on shore
+also, as he was ambitious to show their handiwork to him.
+
+"You deserve great credit for the attempt," said the lieutenant, as he
+examined the structure; "but I congratulate you on escaping the
+necessity of making a voyage in her, for had she touched a rock, it is
+probable that she would have gone to pieces."
+
+After this remark Tom felt less anxiety to exhibit the vessel to his
+brother Jack.  The lieutenant now repeated that his orders were to
+return immediately.  The doctor merely requested that he might be
+allowed to take his medicine case, instruments, and clothes.
+
+"I shall be happy to let you have as many things as the boat will
+carry," said the lieutenant; "but as the captain is in a hurry to
+continue the voyage, he may be unwilling to send ashore again for any
+other articles."
+
+The boat was soon loaded with the doctor's property, the nautical
+instruments, and the clothing which the men had appropriated, and then
+rapidly made her way towards the _Bellona_.  The doctor had written a
+note, which he left in the hut, stating the name of the vessel wrecked
+on the island, and the circumstances under which he and the only
+survivor of the crew, with a party of English officers and men, had
+quitted it.  By his special request the stars and stripes were left
+flying.
+
+As the midshipmen followed the lieutenant up the side, they saw the two
+captains standing on the quarter-deck, but even Jack did not recognise
+his own brother.  Tom, lifting the remnant of his cap, went aft, and
+putting out his hand exclaimed--
+
+"What, don't you know me, Jack?"
+
+Captain Rogers looked at him for a few seconds, then wringing his hand
+said, "How did you come into this plight, my dear fellow?"
+
+Tom of course explained what had happened, while Gerald and Billy were
+telling the same story to Captain Murray.  Doctor Locock was of course
+well taken care of by the surgeon, and invited into the ward-room.  Tom
+had a good deal to hear about family matters.  Desmond and Billy
+Blueblazes were soon made at home by the other young gentlemen of the
+ship, while the men were equally cared for forward.  Captain Murray did
+not think it worth while to send on shore for the small part of the
+whaler's cargo which had been saved, but he promised to give information
+to the first American man-of-war he might fall in with, that she might
+go for it if it was thought worth while.
+
+The account which the midshipmen gave of the _Dragon_ caused
+considerable anxiety.  When Captain Murray heard that her machinery was
+out of order, he felt satisfied that she had gone on to Hong-kong, and
+as she would certainly be detained there for some time, she would not
+even yet be able to get back to the Bonins.
+
+"Perhaps," observed Tom, "Commander Rawson fancies we are lost, and if
+so he is not likely to come and look for us."
+
+The wind continuing light, the _Bellona_ steered on, soon leaving the
+coral island far astern.
+
+Shortly after they had got on board, Gerald asked Tom to try and learn
+from his brother the reasons why his uncle had sent for him home.
+
+"One of them was, I conclude, that as he expected to get a command
+himself, he was anxious to have his nephew with him," answered Jack.
+"Another is that in consequence of the death of several persons, young
+Desmond is heir-at-law to a handsome estate and a title.  His uncle
+thought it better to have him near at hand, instead of knocking about
+far away from home.  There is likely to be a trial of some sort, but my
+friend Adair is very sanguine of success.  It may be several years,
+however, before the matter is settled, as all depends upon the life of
+the present possessor, who, although somewhat old, is hale and hearty.
+But as he may possibly break his neck, or go out of the world suddenly
+by some other means, it is well that Desmond should be on the spot to
+claim his rights.  I don't know whether Adair intended to let his nephew
+know this until his arrival, but as it was not told to me in confidence,
+I may mention it to you.  However, use your own discretion in what you
+say to your friend--only do not let him be too sanguine; but it may
+perhaps make him take care of himself, which hitherto I suspect he has
+not been apt to do."
+
+Tom promised to be very discreet in what he said to Gerald, so as not to
+disappoint him should he fail of success.
+
+Towards the evening of the day the _Bellona_ had left the coral island,
+a shout was heard from the look-out at the mast-head, "A rock on the
+starboard bow!"  An officer, however, going aloft with his glass,
+pronounced it to be a dismasted vessel.  The frigate was accordingly
+headed up towards her, and on a nearer approach, from her peculiar
+build, she was seen to be undoubtedly a Chinese or Japanese craft.  It
+was at first supposed that no one was on board, but as the steamer
+neared, a flag was waved from the after part of the stranger.
+
+The ship's way was accordingly stopped, and a boat was lowered.  Captain
+Rogers volunteering to examine her, Tom accompanied him.  As they
+approached they saw that she must have encountered bad weather, for not
+only had she lost her masts, but she had no boats, and a considerable
+portion of her upper works had been carried away, while her sides had a
+weather-worn appearance, as if she had been a long time knocking about
+at sea.
+
+On getting on deck, one person only was to be seen, who, though dressed
+as a Chinese, had European features.
+
+"I am thankful you have fallen in with us, gentlemen," he said, in good
+English, "for I don't know what would otherwise have become of this
+craft or us."
+
+"Of us!  Is there any one besides yourself on board?" asked Jack.
+
+"Yes, I have my wife with me--we were passengers on board; when the junk
+was blown off the coast and lost her masts, the crew deserted in the
+boat, leaving us to our fate."
+
+"Your wife!  Where is she?" asked Jack.
+
+"She is below, sir," was the answer; "but she is a foreigner, young, and
+timid, and was afraid to come on deck."
+
+"What are you?--an Englishman?" inquired Jack.
+
+"Well, as to that, I am more of an American, though I have been out in
+these seas so long that I cannot say I belong to any nation.  Still, I
+have not forgotten my native tongue.  I should be grateful if you would
+take us in tow, or supply me with spars and canvas, so that I might find
+my way back."
+
+"That is more than you will be able to do, I suspect, with your craft
+knocked about as she is, and probably leaking not a little, even with
+the assistance of your wife," answered Jack.  "As for taking you in tow,
+that is out of the question--we should drag the bows out of her; but if
+you will bring your wife and any property you possess on board, I can
+answer for it that the captain will give you a passage to Hong-kong or
+any other place at which we may touch where you desire to leave the
+ship.  You are a seaman, I presume, from your undertaking to sail back
+the junk.  What is your name, may I ask?" said Jack.
+
+"Jonathan Jull, at your service."
+
+"That name has a Yankee smack about it, certainly," observed Jack.
+"Well, Mr Jull, I'll overhaul the craft, and report her condition to
+the captain.  He may possibly think fit to take her in tow, but I can
+make no promises on the subject.  In the mean time prepare your wife for
+accompanying you on board."
+
+While Jonathan Jull went into one of the after cabins, Jack and Tom,
+with two men who had come on board, went round the junk.  She had a
+considerable amount of cargo on board, of a somewhat miscellaneous
+character.  Jack ordered the well to be sounded.  Tom and one of the men
+performed the operation, and reported three feet in the hold, a large
+amount of water for a flat-bottomed craft.  They had not long continued
+their search when Tom exclaimed--
+
+"Look here; these are suspicious-looking marks.  I have already observed
+others.  They are evidently caused by bullets.  See, in several places
+pieces of wood have been chipped off, and here is a bullet sticking in
+the planking."
+
+"What do you think of this, sir?" asked one of the men, pointing to some
+dark splashes on the deck and side of the vessel.
+
+"That's blood; there can be no doubt about it.  I suspect that there has
+been some foul work on board," observed Jack.  "I wonder whether Mr
+Jull can account for the circumstance."
+
+"He, at all events, will give his own version of the matter," remarked
+Tom.
+
+On a further search other signs of violence were discovered.  Jack began
+to suspect that the man's account of being deserted by the crew was not
+a true one.  He resolved, however, before questioning him, to take him
+on board the _Bellona_, to let Captain Murray decide what to do.  "It
+appears to me that unless several hands are placed on board to keep the
+vessel clear of water, she must sink in a day or two if towed by the
+ship; and that certainly Mr Jull, experienced seaman as he may be, even
+with the aid of his wife, cannot, even were the craft supplied with
+masts and sails, find his way back to China.  He is far more likely to
+run on a coral reef, or purposely cast his vessel away on one of the
+many islands in these seas, and take up his abode there."
+
+One thing was certain, there was something suspicions about the man.
+Captain Rogers and Tom now made their way to the main cabin, where what
+was their surprise to see a remarkably handsome young female bending
+over a chest, in which she was engaged in packing up various articles
+which Jonathan Jull, as he called himself, standing by, was handing to
+her.  Her complexion and countenance, as well as her costume, showed her
+to be an oriental, probably a Malay, though her features were more
+refined than those of Malays in general.  She rose as she saw the
+strangers enter the cabin, and unconsciously stood with her arms crossed
+on her bosom, gazing at them with her large lustrous eyes, which
+expressed more terror than satisfaction.
+
+"I see that you are preparing to quit the vessel, Mr Jull," said Jack.
+"I must beg you to make haste and stow that chest, as we cannot remain
+much longer on board.  Indeed, from her condition, it is impossible to
+say when she may go down."
+
+The man, without at first answering, turned to the Malay girl, and spoke
+some words to her in her own language, on which she again knelt down and
+continued packing the chest.  There were several cases which the man
+handed quickly to the girl, but the other things were chiefly articles
+of clothing, with two or three jewel-hilted daggers, a short sword, and
+a brace of long-barrelled, beautifully mounted pistols.  He had been
+apparently not desirous to allow the English officers to see the
+contents of his chest.  As soon as it was filled, having locked it, he
+produced a stout rope and lashed it in a seamanlike manner.
+
+"Now, sir, my wife and I are ready," he said, throwing a cloak over the
+girl's head, with which she could conceal her features.  "If your people
+will lend me a hand to get this chest into the boat, I shall be
+obliged," he continued.  "As you say, sir, the craft is not very
+seaworthy, and since I made you out I have neglected to keep the pump
+going.  I have been compelled to work at it for several hours every day,
+or the leak would soon have gained on me."
+
+The man as he spoke seemed perfectly cool and collected, and not at all
+unwilling to go on board the ship of war.  The chest, which was somewhat
+heavy, was lowered into the boat, with the aid of a tackle which the
+owner produced.  He and his wife then followed, taking their seats in
+the stern sheets.  As the boat pulled away from the junk Jack observed
+that she had sunk already much lower in the water than when he went on
+board, and seemed to be settling down astern.
+
+"That craft has sprung a fresh leak since we saw her first," observed
+one of the crew, who had remained in the boat looking at the stranger.
+"I heard a curious noise as we were alongside, as if water was rushing
+in under the counter.  We should have let you know if you hadn't come to
+the side with the chest."
+
+These words were spoken loud enough to be heard aft.  Tom fancied that
+he detected a peculiar expression pass over Jull's countenance, but the
+man immediately resumed his unconcerned look, and spoke to his wife as
+if endeavouring to quiet her apparent alarm.
+
+The chest was hoisted on board, and the two persons who had been taken
+from the junk were allowed to seat themselves on it, while Jack made a
+report to Murray of his visit to the junk.
+
+"Her cargo," he observed, "appears to be of considerable value, and it
+would be a pity to lose it."
+
+"We might get some of the most valuable portion out of her, but we must
+not spend time about it," remarked Murray.  "From your account, even
+were we to take her in tow, she is not likely to keep above water.  We
+can afterwards examine this suspicious gentleman and his wife, although
+I doubt whether we shall get much out of them."
+
+"We are not likely to get much out of the junk either," said Jack,
+pointing at her.  "Look there!"
+
+As he spoke the junk, towards which the frigate was steering, was seen
+to lift her bows, and immediately afterwards a loud report was heard;
+her stern and after decks were blown into fragments, and in a few
+seconds she disappeared beneath the surface.
+
+"Our friend there had no intention that we should make a further
+examination of the craft," observed Jack.  "Depend upon it, he had taken
+effectual measures to prevent us from doing so after he had secured in
+his chest the most valuable property on board."
+
+"We have no proof that he was instrumental in her destruction, though
+the circumstances are suspicious," said Murray.  "He will of course tell
+us what he thinks fit as to the cause of her sudden foundering and the
+explosion on board, while we are prevented from making any further
+examination of the signs of a conflict, which you suppose must have
+taken place.  We will, however, try to get some information out of the
+man."
+
+A few fragments of wood floating on the surface was all that remained of
+the junk, as the frigate, now again put on her proper course, passed
+over the spot where she had lately floated.  Notwithstanding the
+suspicions which were entertained about Mr Jull, Captain Murray wishing
+to treat the man's wife with consideration, ordered a screen to be put
+up on the main-deck, where she might be in private and have the chest
+under her eye.  He then sent for Mr Jull to come into the cabin, where
+he, with Jack and the first lieutenant, were seated.
+
+Jonathan Jull persisted in the story he had given to Jack, stating that
+he had commanded an opium clipper, which had been cast away; and that he
+had simply taken a passage with his wife on board the junk to go to
+Shanghai, where he expected to find other employment.  He glibly
+announced the name of his craft, the _Swallow_, as well as the names of
+his officers, and was running on with those of his crew when he was
+stopped.
+
+"That is not necessary at present," observed Captain Murray.  But Mr
+Jull seemed to be anxious that there should be no suspicion resting on
+him.  He next mentioned her tonnage and armament, and indeed everything
+about her.
+
+"All very good," said Captain Murray; "but can you account for the signs
+of violence which we observed on board the junk--the stains of blood,
+the chipped beams, the bullets sticking in the bulkheads?"
+
+Captain Jull, as he announced himself, looked very much astonished.
+"You have observed, sir, what I failed to discover," he answered, "and I
+simply cannot account for the marks.  If any violence occurred, it must
+have taken place before I went on board the junk.  The crew appeared
+perfectly orderly, and only after the vessel had been dismasted, and
+they found her drifting away from the shore, did they take to their
+boats.  For some reason, for which I cannot account, they refused to
+allow my wife and me to accompany them."
+
+"Very well, Mr Jull; but can you account for the junk sinking so soon
+after you left her, and for the explosion?"
+
+"She was leaking very much indeed, and probably a butt suddenly gave
+way," answered Captain Jull.  "In regard to the explosion, my wife had
+lit a fire in a stove aft, and I suppose a cask of gunpowder must
+inadvertently have been left in the neighbourhood.  But this is merely
+conjecture.  She herself will tell you that she lit the fire."
+
+It was very clear that the naval officers would not get any information
+from Captain Jull which he was unwilling to give them.  Although there
+were several suspicious circumstances against him, Captain Murray did
+not feel justified in making him a prisoner, and he therefore allowed
+him to remain with his wife.
+
+Tom and Gerald made themselves happy on board with their new shipmates,
+and Billy was always liked wherever he went, never being out of humour
+and having not the slightest objection to be laughed at, besides which
+he had a store of amusing anecdotes, and was able to spin a good yarn,
+and sing a merry song.
+
+Tom had plenty to talk about to his brother Jack, who in course of time
+gave him all the news from home.  Captain Rogers had been very unwilling
+to leave his wife, but the command of a ship having been offered him, he
+felt himself bound not to refuse.  It had cost Murray also not a little
+to leave _Stella_.
+
+"We shall have his magnificent little boy come to sea before long," said
+Jack.  "How old it makes one!  It seems to me only yesterday since I was
+a midshipman like you, Tom, and I can scarcely fancy myself even now a
+post-captain."
+
+"I hope I shall not be a midshipman long," said Tom, "and that Desmond
+and Gordon will get promoted."
+
+"There's little doubt about that," said Jack, "if there is anything to
+do in China, and I fully expect there will be something, for the
+government are sending out troops and more ships.  The Chinese are too
+self-conceited to give in without a sound thrashing.  By-the-by, have
+you told Desmond anything about his prospects?"
+
+"No; I thought it might upset him," answered Tom.  "I merely hinted that
+you had heard from his uncle that there was a possibility of his
+obtaining a fortune, but that there was some uncertainty, and as he did
+not cross question me much, I got off without committing myself."
+
+Jack commended Tom's discretion.  "It would be better indeed that he
+should hear the whole matter from his uncle, who will probably be sent
+out to China, where we shall meet him before long," observed Jack.
+
+The ship had run on for a couple of days, the weather continuing calm
+and fine, though a favourable breeze would have been acceptable to save
+coal.  About noon land was sighted on the starboard bow.  The master
+stated that it was the Island of Dolores, very appropriately so called,
+as it consists of a small patch of land rising up amid a collection of
+coral reefs, which would prove the destruction of any unfortunate vessel
+driven on them.  The _Bellona_ had passed along the southern edge of the
+group, and the glasses of several of her officers had been turned
+towards the land to ascertain its appearance, when, just as they were
+leaving it on the starboard quarter, the look-out from aloft hailed the
+deck to say there was what appeared to him to be a wreck on an outer
+reef off the western side.
+
+The master and second lieutenant, on going aloft, were convinced that
+such was the case, and the ship was accordingly headed in that direction
+at half speed, a bright look-out being kept for any dangers which might
+lie off at a distance from the reef below the water.  As soon as the
+ship arrived abreast of the wreck, two boats were lowered, and sent off
+under the second lieutenant and master to examine and ascertain what she
+was, and, if possible, what had become of her crew.  Captain Rogers and
+Tom went with the first-mentioned officer, and Desmond with the master.
+As there appeared to be a channel leading up to the island, Captain
+Murray directed the party in the boats, should no persons be found on
+board, to make their way to the shore and see whether any people were
+there or had been there lately.
+
+The perfect calmness of the sea enabled the boats to get close up.  As
+they got near, they saw from her shattered condition that it was not
+likely any one was remaining on board.  When they were almost up to her,
+Jack exclaimed--
+
+"She is a steamer, for I see some of her machinery above water, and a
+man-of-war too, and I very much fear that she is the _Dragon_."
+
+"I am afraid that she is," said Tom.  "That we shall soon learn,
+however, when we get on board, for I know every inch of her, and knocked
+about as she is, I should recognise something or other, which would put
+the matter beyond doubt."
+
+The ship lay broadside on the reef.  The stern had been completely
+knocked away, and nearly the entire part of the lower side, but the fore
+part had suffered less, although the bulwarks had been swept off, and
+the bowsprit had gone.  Indeed, she greatly resembled the skeleton of a
+vast animal, with the head attached.
+
+There was but little footing anywhere, but Tom and Desmond, getting over
+the rocks, scrambled up.
+
+"Yes, this is the old craft; there is no doubt about it," said Tom,
+after they had made such a survey as was possible.
+
+"I am very sure of it," answered Desmond.  "If Bird or Nolan had come
+with us, they would have known this part of the ship even better than we
+do."
+
+They were now joined by Captain Rogers, who was perfectly satisfied that
+they were right.  For a few seconds he stood contemplating the sad
+remains of the once gallant vessel he had commanded.  What his thoughts
+were may be imagined.  Whether or not he heaved a sigh is not known, but
+Jack Rogers was not addicted to being sentimental.
+
+"We must ascertain whether any of the poor fellows have escaped," he
+exclaimed, leading the way to the boat.  "We will now carry out Captain
+Murray's directions, and visit the island."
+
+The boats were accordingly steered for the shore.  It required a careful
+look-out to keep in the right channel, so that the rocks, which appeared
+in all directions under water, might be avoided.
+
+The shore was reached at last, but no one was seen, though fragments of
+the wreck were found scattered about and fixed in the crevices of the
+rocks.  Here and there were pieces of casks, cases, and cabin furniture,
+but all were so shattered that it was impossible to recognise them.
+
+The whole island was searched, but no huts had been put up.  No remains
+of fires were seen--indeed, there were no signs of any one having
+landed; not even a skeleton was discovered.
+
+"They must all have been lost, I fear," said Jack.  "We can easily
+conceive, with a fierce gale blowing, what a fearful surf would be
+dashing over these rocks.  Not a boat could live in it."
+
+The other officers were of opinion that every one on board must have
+been lost.
+
+"Poor Archie!" said Tom to Desmond; "there's one of us gone, then.  I
+wish he had come in our boat, instead of accompanying the surveying
+expedition.  Captain Murray will be very sorry when he hears it."
+
+As time was of consequence, and there was no object in searching
+further, the boats put off and returned to the ship.
+
+Captain Murray, while deeply regretting the loss of the _Dragon_, her
+officers, and crew, was especially grieved to believe that his young
+cousin, in whom he had taken so deep an interest, had perished also.
+Both officers and men, however, soon got over their sorrow for
+ship-mates and friends.  They knew very well that such might be their
+own fate some day, though, as is natural to human beings, they hoped to
+escape it and die in their beds at a good old age, their fighting days
+over and their gallant deeds done.
+
+The _Bellona_ continued her course, passing through the Bashee Channel
+to the south of Formosa, when she had a clear run for Hong-kong.  At
+length the lofty heights which extended from east to west along the
+entire length of the island came in sight, and the _Bellona_ steered for
+Sulphur Channel, which lies between the larger island and the little
+island known as Green Island.
+
+Steering through this channel, she entered the harbour of Victoria,
+which assumed a completely land-locked appearance, being shut in on one
+side by the Kowloon Peninsula and on the other by a point jutting off
+from the main land, the former being only about a mile from the town of
+Victoria.
+
+The island of Hong-kong is of irregular shape, about nine miles long and
+three broad.  Besides the centre ridge there are a series of high lands
+on either side of it.  The Western end rises to the height of 1825 feet;
+Victoria Peak, at the foot of which stands the town of Victoria,
+creeping up the height from the beach.  There are several other
+harbours--Ly-tum on the southern side, and another on the west known as
+Wong-ma-kok.  On the western side of the neck of the peninsula which
+forms the latter harbour is the military station of Stanley, where
+barracks have been erected, as it was supposed that it would prove a
+healthy position from being exposed to the south-west monsoon.
+
+The _Bellona_ steamed up to an anchorage near Victoria.  Among the ships
+in the harbour was the _Empress_, which Jack Rogers was destined to
+command.  There were several vacancies, and Tom, Desmond, and Billy
+Blueblazes accompanied her captain, who intended to get them appointed
+to her.  Bird, Nolan, and Casey were also entered on her books, and
+Peter, from having been well treated on board the _Bellona_, expressed
+his wish also to join; Jack, at Tom's recommendation, took him as his
+steward.  Dr Locock, expressing his gratitude for the kindness he had
+received, went on shore, intending to remain until he could join an
+American ship, either a man-of-war or a merchantman.
+
+No sooner was the anchor dropped than the ship was surrounded by Chinese
+boats with all sorts of provisions.  Murray had not forgotten Captain
+Jull and his wife.  Before Captain Rogers left the ship, he sent Tom to
+summon the man, intending to question him again to ascertain where he
+was going.  Tom in a short time returned saying that Jull and his wife,
+with their chest, had disappeared, and no one could tell what had become
+of them, he must have managed, while the officers and men were busily
+engaged, to slip his chest through a port into a native boat alongside.
+No one had, however, seen him; his Chinese dress and the cloak his wife
+wore would have prevented them in the confusion from being observed.
+
+"There is something not altogether right about that fellow, depend upon
+it," said Jack.  "He had good reason for not wishing the junk to be
+brought into harbour, and he would have taken good care to destroy her
+even if we had had her in tow.  We might have brought him to a trial for
+her loss, when very possibly he might have been recognised."
+
+On mentioning the subject afterwards on shore, Murray learned that a
+large fleet of piratical junks were said to be commanded by an
+Englishman, but little was known about them, except from the
+depredations they committed on the Chinese merchant shipping, and
+occasionally on that of other nations, although they had hitherto
+avoided the risk of interfering with English vessels.
+
+The first inquiry Murray and Rogers made, on coming on shore, was for
+the _Dragon_; but as neither she nor any of her crew had been heard of,
+their fears that she was the vessel they had discovered on the reef were
+confirmed.
+
+The _Empress_ had been some time on the coast, and the members of the
+midshipmen's berth were full of what they had seen and ready to impart
+the information to Tom and Desmond, who had heard little or nothing of
+what had taken place.  They found several old acquaintances on board,
+among whom was Charley Roy, whom they had met frequently in the Black
+Sea.  Charley could talk, and was not loth to make use of his talents.
+
+"You fellows want to know all we have done and all we expect to do out
+here," he began, the very first day they were on board.  "The Chinese,
+in my opinion, are the most obstinate fellows in the world; besides
+which they beat all others in cunning and deceit--at all events, their
+diplomatists do.  They have a wonderful opinion of themselves, and don't
+know when they are beaten; Lord Elgin has found that out.  You, of
+course, have heard of the thrashing we gave the Celestials at the Bogue
+Forts, Canton, Pekin, and dozens of other places, and of the expedition
+hundreds of miles up the big river, the Yang-tse-kiang, till we supposed
+that we had brought them to order, but they were still too clever for
+us, as you shall hear.  You may have heard that Lord Elgin being
+desirous of going right up to Pekin to exchange the necessary
+ratifications of the lately formed treaty, a squadron of gun-boats was
+sent up to escort him.  As soon as they arrived off the Peiho, the
+admiral sent an officer to announce the approach of the British
+ambassador, but the Chinese commander refused him permission to land.
+Of course this showed that they meant fighting."
+
+"Before we commenced operations, however, a reconnoissance was made to
+ascertain what obstructions were in our way.  In the first place we
+found that the forts, which before had been destroyed, were replaced by
+earthworks, mounting a large number of guns, and that the two forts
+higher up on the left bank were so placed as to rake any vessels which
+might advance abreast of the forts on the right, these forts being
+united by raised causeways.  Right across the river also were no end of
+stakes and booms, some of iron, each several tons in weight, forked
+above and below so as to rip up any vessel striking them.  There was
+also a boom composed of three stout cables, one of hemp and two of iron
+chain, while some hundred yards further on were two great rafts of
+timber, stretching one from each bank, a passage being left between them
+of scarcely sufficient width to allow even a gun-boat to pass through.
+In front of the line of forts were ditches and wide spaces of soft mud,
+over which it would be scarcely possible for storming parties to pass.
+The Chinese declared that these arrangements were simply made to prevent
+smuggling, and that they would be immediately removed.
+
+"Another day passed, and no steps having been taken by the Celestials to
+do as they had promised, the admiral sent in word to say that if the
+obstructions were not removed he should take upon himself to do so by
+force.  Having waited three days, he resolved to bombard the fort on the
+left.  As our shot would have fallen into the town of Taku, the admiral
+sent an officer to advise the inhabitants to provide for their safety by
+leaving the place.
+
+"They, however, replied that they did not receive orders from
+foreigners, and that if we touched the barriers the batteries would open
+fire upon us.  Of course it now became necessary to attack the forts.
+Three of the larger ships and nine gun-boats were sent in two divisions
+to attack, in the first place, the Taku forts on the right bank, and one
+of the gun-boats was directed to pull up the stakes so as to afford a
+passage to the rest of the squadron.  She at length succeeded and made
+her way up to the boom.  The moment she struck it, the Chinese batteries
+opened on her with heavy guns.  The other gun-boats took their stations
+astern of her.  Two unfortunately got aground, one on the northern
+extremity and the other on the southern.
+
+"The former, however, was notwithstanding still able to render some
+service against the forts further down the stream.  In an hour one of
+the gun-boats was completely disabled; her commander killed, and out of
+a crew of forty men, nine only remained unhurt; the admiral himself, who
+was on board, being severely wounded.  On this he shifted his flag into
+another vessel, with which he went close under the forts.  Here he
+received a second wound, but still would not quit the fight.  Unable to
+move, he took his place on the bridge, when the chain against which he
+was leaning was shot away, and he was thrown to the deck with such
+violence that one of his ribs was broken.  Three times injured, it might
+have been supposed that he would have retired; but again shifting his
+flag to another vessel, he remained on deck in his cot, and directed the
+battle until, faint from loss of blood and pain, he consented to yield
+up command to the senior captain, who took his place.
+
+"Still the battle continued; but three of our gun-boats were on shore
+and reduced to mere wrecks.  We had, however, vessels and men sufficient
+to carry on the fight.  At last it was determined to storm the forts.
+The soldiers, marines, and the blue-jackets detailed for the purpose
+were landed; the commander of an American man-of-war showing his
+sympathy by assisting with his boats in taking detachments of the
+storming party on shore.  The tide, which had gone out, had left large
+banks of mud between the channel and the firm ground.  Through this our
+men had to wade for many yards, covered, however, by the guns of the
+_Lee_, which opened fire for their protection.  Scarcely, however, had
+they left the boats than every gun still serviceable in the fort, with
+numberless gingalls, rifles, and muskets, were directed upon them.
+
+"One captain was mortally wounded, another severely hurt, and the
+colonel of the marines fell desperately wounded.  The third in command
+still led on the storming party.
+
+"The first ditch being nearly empty of water, was crossed, but a second,
+close under the walls of the fort, was full; and here, finding his
+immediate followers reduced to fifty men, while the larger party behind
+was almost exhausted, nearly 300 having been stricken down in their
+disastrous rush across the mud--he felt that it was his duty to wait for
+reinforcements.  On sending back, however, for them, the commanding
+officer was obliged to refuse the request and to order him to retire, as
+there were no men to be spared.  As it was, they were nearly cut off,
+for the tide rising, several boats had drifted up the stream.  Some were
+taken possession of by the Chinese; but others were recovered.  During
+the retreat the Chinese kept up a galling fire on our ranks, striking
+down many, who lay helpless in the mud until the returning tide put an
+end to their sufferings by washing over them.
+
+"Not until past midnight did the commanders of the storming party,
+having collected all the men they could discover, embark in the last
+boat and return with heavy hearts to their ships.  Six gun-boats were on
+shore, and it was feared that all would be lost; but the tide, rising
+higher than usual the next day, three were floated off, the others,
+however, remained immovable.  Altogether we lost 80 men killed on the
+spot, and 350 wounded, many of whom died, among them being one of the
+most gallant officers in the service, Captain Vansittart.
+
+"This disaster has shown us that, after all, when the Chinese have the
+advantage of strong fortifications, they are no contemptible enemies,
+and that it will not do to despise them.  Of course, they are not to go
+unpunished for this last proceeding.  As soon as the troops can be
+collected and the ships are ready, we expect to go back to Peiho to
+capture the Taku Forts and proceed on by land and water to Pekin, which,
+if the emperor will not give up, we are to bombard and take possession
+of.  So you see you fellows have plenty of work before you.  You need
+not be afraid of that."
+
+Tom and Desmond, in return for the information they had received, had a
+still longer yarn to spin of the adventures they had gone through.
+Billy occasionally put in a word.
+
+"The worst part of the business was when we were nearly starving and had
+to live on rotten yams and train oil.  How would you fellows have liked
+that?" he asked.
+
+"Not very pleasant," observed Charley Roy.  "But you, Billy, don't
+appear to have suffered much from the fare you describe."
+
+"I have had time to pick up again," answered Billy; "but I assure you
+that for many weeks afterwards I was as thin as a whipping-post."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+A VISIT TO THE TAILOR'S, AND A WALK ROUND VICTORIA--TRICKS OF THE
+COOLIES--A CHINESE FESTIVAL--SAIL FOR SHANGHAI--AN UNEXPECTED MEETING--
+ADVENTURES OF THE DRAGON'S CREW--A WALK THROUGH SHANGHAI--THE
+MIDSHIPMEN'S RIDE INTO THE COUNTRY--THEIR PLEASURE DISAGREEABLY
+INTERRUPTED--A RIDE FOR LIFE, AND A NARROW ESCAPE--BRING NEWS OF THE
+APPROACH OF THE REBELS--REGAIN THEIR HOTEL--AROUSED BY THE SOUND OF
+FIRING--SHANGHAI ATTACKED BY THE REBELS--THE BLUE JACKETS TAKE PART IN
+THE DEFENCE--TREACHERY DEFEATED--JERRY SAVES TOM'S LIFE--THE REBELS
+DEFEATED--RETURN ON BOARD THE EMPRESS--THE ORION, CAPTAIN ADAIR, ARRIVES
+FROM ENGLAND--ADAIR COMES ON BOARD THE EMPRESS--GERALD'S ANXIETY--AN
+ASTOUNDING REQUEST--CAPTAIN ADAIR COMMUNICATES SOME INTERESTING
+INFORMATION TO DESMOND--THE FLEET ASSEMBLES, AND THE ARMY LANDS ON THE
+SHORES OF CHINA.
+
+The fleet lay in readiness to proceed to Pe-chili, where it was expected
+that they would find work to do, as the Taku Forts had to be captured
+before the troops, now assembling in strong force, could march on Pekin.
+In the mean time Captain Rogers took the midshipmen on shore to obtain
+an outfit for them, which they much required.  With this object they
+repaired to the shop of Tung-Cheong, the Buckmaster, of Victoria.
+
+Mr Tung-Cheong came forward with a smiling countenance, guessing, as he
+surveyed the tattered uniforms of the three midshipmen, what they
+required.
+
+"Me thinkee greatest tailor in the world.  Thinkee nothing to make
+coat'ees for three gentlemans," he observed, as he pointed to the
+uniforms of every possible description hanging up in the shop.  He at
+once produced a midshipman's uniform, which he kept as a specimen to
+show of what he was capable, and having taken their measures, he
+promised that all three should be ready the following evening, together
+with every other article they might please to order.  They, of course,
+wanted shirts, socks, caps, and shoes, swords and belts, all of which,
+to their surprise, he had in stock--indeed, he showed, like most of his
+countrymen, that he had a keen eye for business, and would undertake to
+fit out a ship's company, from an admiral down to a powder-monkey.
+
+Leaving the town, they climbed to the top of Victoria Peak, from whence
+they could look down on the harbour, which had the appearance of a
+picturesque lake, dotted over with vessels of every rig, while they
+obtained a good view of the town itself which extended along the shore
+for nearly four miles.  Below on one side was the Kowloon Peninsula, now
+covered with military tents, while on the south side were seen
+numberless islands, with the wide expanse of the China Sea beyond.
+
+"Now let us pay a visit to the Happy Valley," said Tom, as they
+descended the heights.
+
+"It must be a pleasant place to live in.  I should like to take up my
+abode there," observed Billy.
+
+"Wait until you reach it before you form an opinion; it has a good many
+inhabitants already," observed Tom, who had heard all about the
+Wang-ne-chung from Charley Roy.
+
+Billy changed his opinion when they got to the place, which is the
+burial ground of Hong-kong.  On entering the Protestant cemetery, they
+saw a column erected to the memory of the officers and men of the 59th
+Regiment, which regiment, in the course of nine years, lost 644 persons,
+including a number of women and upwards of 100 children; the greater
+number cut down not by the weapons of the enemy, but by the pestiferous
+climate.
+
+On their way to the town they met a soldier, holding a Chinaman by his
+pigtail, which he had twisted two or three times round his hand.  On
+asking the Englishman what he was about to do with his prisoner, his
+reply was--
+
+"Why, sir, this here chap is a coolie recruit; he has received his pay
+in advance, and was bolting, when I clapped eyes on him, and am taking
+him back to the barracks."
+
+The coolie corps had just been raised to act as carriers to the
+regiments going to Pekin.  Not being over troubled with honesty, the men
+took every opportunity of escaping as soon as they had received an
+advance, intending in many instances again to enlist.
+
+On returning to the ship, Charley Roy told them of an incident, which
+had occurred just before.  A number of coolies had been embarked on
+board a troop-ship, when one of them, who had purchased a quantity of
+pepper, started up and threw it into the eyes of the sentry placed over
+him, then dashing past the guard, leaped overboard, swam to a boat which
+was in waiting, and succeeded in making his escape.
+
+While the midshipmen were at Hong-kong the great Chinese festival was
+going on; and as they had leave to go on shore, they had an opportunity
+of witnessing the proceedings.
+
+One day they met a procession, consisting of some 3000 or 4000 people,
+many of them merchants and tradesmen, dressed in their gaudiest attire,
+extending upwards of a mile in length.  There were bands of music and
+groups of figures, either carried on men's shoulders or wheeled along on
+platforms, representing various somewhat incomprehensible characters,
+but the chief attractions were three enormous dragons, each a hundred
+feet in length, which required thirty men to carry them.
+
+In the evening an entertainment was given, open to all, without charge.
+It was in an enormous building erected for the purpose, composed of
+bamboo frame-work covered with matting.  The interior was elegantly
+fitted up, and lighted by large numbers of glass chandeliers; the sides
+were richly decorated, and here were soon altars overhung with gorgeous
+drapery, and conservatories full of flowering plants, while concerts of
+vocal and instrumental music were going on in several parts of the
+building.  There were also rooms where light refreshments, such as tea,
+coffee, and fruit, could be obtained without charge.  Those who required
+more substantial fare could procure it at booths outside the large
+building, on very moderate payment.  The midshipmen enjoyed themselves,
+and voted the Chinese very amusing, hospitable fellows.
+
+At length the ships of war were ordered to the northward.  The _Empress_
+was to call at Shanghai, at the southern entrance of the great river
+Yang-tse-kiang.  Shanghai consists of a large English settlement and a
+Chinese city of considerable size.  Soon after the _Empress_ had come to
+anchor, a shore boat, pulled by Chinese, was seen approaching.
+
+"She has English officers on board.  Who can they be?" exclaimed Gerald,
+who was on the look-out at the gangway, to Tom.  "I do believe!  Can it
+be possible?  Yes, I am nearly certain!  There's Archie Gordon, Mr Joy,
+and there is Commander Rawson himself.  Then the old _Dragon_ must have
+escaped after all."
+
+Tom sprang to the gangway, and waved his cap.  This salute was replied
+to by those in the boat, which in another minute was alongside, and
+Commander Rawson, with the lieutenant and Archie, came on deck.
+
+"We had given you up for lost," said Tom, as he shook hands with his
+brother midshipman.
+
+"And we, to say the truth, had very little expectation of seeing you
+again," answered Archie.  "How did you escape?"
+
+"How did you find your way here?" asked Tom, without answering the
+question.
+
+Before Archie could reply, Captain Rogers came on deck and welcomed the
+party.  After exchanging a few words, the commander and lieutenant
+accompanied him into the cabin, while Archie was led off by his old
+shipmates into their berth.  Before, however, he would give them an
+account of his adventures, he insisted on hearing about theirs, which of
+course occupied some time.
+
+"And now," said Tom, "we want to hear your yarn.  Was the _Dragon_ lost?
+was it her we saw on the rocks, or was that some other unfortunate
+vessel?"
+
+"She was the _Dragon_, there can be no doubt," answered Archie.  "You
+remember the day at the Bonins when the hurricane suddenly sprang up.
+We had just got on board and were looking out for you, when the
+commander, considering that we should to a certainty be driven on shore
+if we remained where we were, ordered the steam to be got up, intending
+to run round and take you on board.  We had not got far, however, when
+one of our boilers burst, killing half a dozen men and committing other
+damage.  We had now to depend upon our canvas, while the hurricane was
+every instant increasing in strength.  The ship, however, behaved very
+well.  We ran on before the gale for four and twenty hours, when a lull
+coming on, the commander, wishing to get back to the Bonins, hauled the
+ship up.  We had not, however, stood on long under close-reefed
+topsails, when a furious blast suddenly struck her, and in one fell
+swoop carried away all our masts.  We managed, however, to get before
+the wind again by hoisting a sail on the stump of our foremast, and ran
+on, hoping to get under the lee of some island by the time the gale was
+over, where we might rig jury masts.
+
+"Night came on; the hurricane was over.  We were anxiously looking for
+daylight.  Our belief was that we were a considerable distance from any
+island, when suddenly a loud crash was heard, and we had too sure
+evidence that the ship was on shore.  Happily the sea had gone down, and
+although she struck heavily several times, we had hopes that she would
+hold together until we had made our escape.  The commander, who was as
+cool as a cucumber, told us that although he could not get the ship off,
+seeing that already she had two or three holes in her bottom, our lives
+might all be preserved if we maintained discipline and exerted
+ourselves.  When daylight came we found ourselves in sight of a small
+island, but it looked barren and inhospitable, with intervening reefs,
+over which the sea was breaking, so that we could have but little hope
+of reaching it.  Outside, however, it was much calmer, but as the boats
+could not carry us all, the commander determined to build two or more
+rafts or catamarans which might convey all who could not go in the
+boats, and carry provisions and water.
+
+"We hoped to reach the Loo-choo Islands, should we miss Grampus Island,
+half-way to them.  The weather coming on perfectly fine, we were able to
+get three rafts rigged and the boats prepared for sea.  The boats were
+to take the rafts in tow and keep within hailing distance, steering as
+the commander might direct.  With a light wind from the eastward we
+shoved off from the wreck, without leaving a man behind.  We made but
+slow progress, as the wind was light and the rafts towed somewhat
+heavily, still, we were all in good spirits, except that we regretted
+the loss of the ship and could not help thinking what had become of you
+fellows.  We ran on for three days and then began to look out for
+Grampus Island, when the weather became threatening.  As the barometer
+fell, so did our spirits.  Had we all been in the boats, we might by
+this time have reached the shore, but of course they would not desert
+the rafts.  The second lieutenant had charge of one raft, Josling
+another, and I volunteered to command the third.  Even should a gale
+spring up, we did not altogether despair of navigating our rafts, so
+that we might run before it and lash ourselves down to escape being
+washed off.
+
+"The wind blew stronger and stronger; the sea got up, and as night
+approached, matters were looking very disagreeable.  The commander came
+round and spoke to those on the rafts, telling us what to do, and
+promising that the boats should remain by us should the worst come to
+the worst.  The night was dark and squally.  The catamarans rode over
+the sea better than was expected, although at times we scarcely expected
+to see another sunrise.  When day at length broke, we were still in
+sight of each other, but there was no abatement in the gale, nor could
+land anywhere be discerned.
+
+"Though we had weathered one night, from the experience we had had we
+earnestly hoped that we might not be exposed to a still severer gale,
+and yet there seemed every likelihood of the wind increasing.  For my
+part, I began to think it was a pity those in the boats should expose
+themselves to greater danger by remaining by us, and was considering
+that we ought to urge the commander to leave us to make the best of our
+way, when a sail appeared in sight to the southward.  As she stood
+towards us we made her out to be an American whaler.  On coming up to us
+she hove to, when our commander went on board.  We were, it may be
+supposed, not a little anxious to know what arrangements he would make
+with the master of the whaler.  He was not long in settling matters.  In
+a short time he made a signal for the other boats to come alongside,
+which they quickly did.  The stores and the people not required for
+pulling were at once taken on board.  The boats then came off to the
+rafts, when we all got into them and towed the rafts up to the ship.
+The stores were at once hoisted up, when the rafts were cast adrift,
+while our larger boats were allowed to tow astern, as they could not be
+taken on board.  The American captain, who was bound to the coast of
+Japan in search of whales, agreed to land us at Yokohama.
+
+"The voyage, however, was much longer than we expected.  We were first
+of all caught in a heavy gale which came on that night, and were
+compelled to heave to, when we lost the boats towing astern.  A day or
+two after this several whales were seen, which the captain was naturally
+anxious to catch.  As he had plenty of hands on board, he put off with
+all his boats, and no less than three fish were killed.  Then we had to
+cut them up and stow them away, which occupied the best part of a week.
+Scarcely was the operation concluded when two more whales were seen and
+taken, the American captain acknowledging that it was owing much to our
+assistance that he was able to secure such prizes.
+
+"After this we had calms and light or contrary winds, so that our voyage
+was a protracted one.  We had brought provisions and water, though they
+were nearly exhausted.  What with so many men being on board, and the
+dirty condition of the whaler, it was a wonder that sickness did not
+break out among us so the doctor said, and so it would have done had not
+the people lived as much as possible on deck.
+
+"The American captain fulfilled his promise, and landed us at Yokohama.
+We were detained there a considerable time before we could get across to
+this place.  As soon as we arrived we sent word to Hong-kong of our
+safety, but I suppose the news had not reached that place before you
+sailed."
+
+"Well, I am very glad, old fellow, that you and the rest have escaped,"
+said Tom, "and I hope that we three shall be as fortunate as were my
+brother Jack and his two friends, when they were midshipmen."
+
+The three newly re-united friends at once got leave to go on shore
+together with a few other midshipmen.
+
+They first walked through the European settlement, which is handsomely
+laid out in streets running at right angles to each other.  Many of the
+houses were well built, and stood in compounds like those in India.
+Strong wooden barriers had been put up at the beads of all the main
+streets, with loopholes in them, so that the place could be defended
+should the rebels succeed in capturing the native town beyond.  This
+town is a short distance to the south of the European settlement.  It
+was surrounded by a brick wall of about twenty-five feet in height, with
+an earthen embankment inside, forming a rampart six to ten feet wide.
+The parapet was two feet thick and seven high, containing embrasures for
+large gingalls three or four feet only apart.  Between each gingall was
+a small hole in the parapet which held an earthen vessel filled with
+slaked lime, ready to be flung in the faces of an enemy attempting to
+escalade the walls.  A considerable number of Chinese troops were
+stationed on the ramparts, with gay-coloured flags of various devices
+flying above their heads.  It seemed curious that while the English were
+at war with the emperor, they should be in alliance with some part of
+his troops engaged in defending one of his towns against his rebel
+subjects.
+
+"This is mighty dull work," exclaimed Gerald, after they had been
+wandering about the native town some time.  "I vote that we get horses
+and take a gallop into the country.  We shall have the fun of a ride, at
+all events, and perhaps see something curious."
+
+"But suppose we fall in with the Tae-pings--that would not be pleasant;
+they would cut off our heads before we could explain who we were,"
+observed Archie, who always took the cautious side.
+
+"They look upon the English as friends, I believe," remarked Charley
+Roy.  "They might, to be sure, take us prisoners and hold us as
+hostages; however, we must take care not to get near them, and by the
+last reports they were at Pow-shun, twenty miles off at least."
+
+Notwithstanding the risk they might run, the votes were decidedly in
+favour of a ride if horses could be procured.  The midshipmen for some
+time made inquiries where horses were to be let, in vain.  At length
+they got a Chinaman to stop and try to understand what they wanted.
+
+Gerald, jumping on Billy's back, sticking his heels into his sides and
+beating behind, the Chinaman signified that he comprehended their
+meaning, and led the way along several streets until they reached some
+stables containing a dozen Tartar ponies, sorry-looking half-starved
+animals.  An old man with a long pig-tail, dressed in a blue serge shirt
+hanging over trousers of the same material, made his appearance, and
+again they had recourse to signs to ascertain whether he would let the
+horses, and how much they were to pay.  To do this Tom produced some
+money, which he counted out into the hands of the old man, who
+immediately pocketed it, then saddled and bridled one of the ponies,
+thus giving the midshipmen to understand that he must be paid
+beforehand.  As they had no objection to do this, the rest followed
+Tom's example.
+
+"Take care no go near Tae-pings," said the old man, showing that he was
+accustomed to have dealings with the English, although his stock of
+words in that language was limited.  The party, having been supplied
+with sticks instead of whips, set off in the direction of the west gate,
+which was wide open.  As no enemy was near and it was supposed that the
+English officers were merely about to make a short circuit in the
+neighbourhood, they were allowed to pass unquestioned.  As soon as they
+were clear of the walls, they put their horses into a gallop and dashed
+along at full speed, as if they were riding a race, laughing and
+shouting, to the great astonishment of the peasantry, who came out of
+their cottages to look at them.  They had not gone far when they came
+upon a small pagoda-shaped edifice, about twenty feet in height.  Seeing
+a man entering it carrying a small oblong bundle, wrapped round with
+bamboo straw, they followed him.  Tom and Gerald, getting off their
+horses, entered the building.  Round it were shelves, on which a number
+of similar bundles were seen; a pair of small feet sticking out of one
+of the bundles revealed to them the contents, and upon further inquiries
+from the man they ascertained that it was the "baby tower," in which the
+remains of infants whose parents were too poor to afford an ordinary
+funeral were deposited, and that when it was full it was cleared out by
+the municipal authorities.
+
+"What wonderfully methodical people these Chinese are," said Archie;
+"but they certainly have curious ways of doing things."
+
+The road over which they passed was well made and the country highly
+cultivated, with corn and paddy fields and gardens full of vegetables
+and fruit trees; ditches full of water to irrigate the ground ran in all
+directions, and over them were picturesque bridges, the larger ones of
+stone, and the others of wood or bamboo.  People were at work in the
+fields, or employed in turning water-wheels, to raise the water to
+higher lands.  The cottages were low, full of windows, deep caves, and
+so lightly built that it seemed as if a moderate gale would blow them
+away.  The midshipmen had gone a considerable distance, much further,
+indeed, than they intended, but everything looked so peaceable that they
+could not fancy there was any risk, as they concluded that the rebels
+must be a long way off.
+
+At last, getting hungry and thirsty, they looked about in the hopes of
+discovering a tea-house where they might obtain refreshments.  Meeting a
+few peasants, as they seemed, by the road-side, they inquired by the
+usual language of signs where they could get something to eat.  The men
+pointed to the west, and signified that they would soon come to a
+village where they could obtain what they wanted.
+
+"Probably it is not much further; let us ride on," said Charley Roy.
+
+They galloped forward, and were not mistaken, a good-sized village
+appeared in sight, and one of the first houses in it was of the
+description they were in search of.  The host chin-chinned as they
+approached, and welcomed them to his establishment.  Having fastened up
+their horses in a stable close at hand, where food and water were given
+them, they entered a tea house, and cakes, biscuits, and sweetmeats,
+with tea in wonderfully small cups, were at once placed before them.
+
+"I say, I wonder whether the old fellow hasn't got something more
+substantial than this?" exclaimed Billy.  "Some beef steaks and mutton
+chops, with a supply of vegetables, would be more to the purpose."
+
+All the signs they made, however, produced nothing but a further supply
+of the same fare, which they despatched with a rapidity calculated to
+astonish their host, who was seen looking round at each of them and
+apparently calculating how much he should charge.
+
+After their repast, they strolled out into the garden behind the house,
+containing arbours, miniature ponds filled with fish, canals crossed by
+bamboo bridges, and beds of tulips with other gay flowers.  As there
+were no other visitors, they made themselves at home, lighted their
+cigars and took possession of the arbours, while Billy amused himself by
+trying to catch the fish with his hands as they swam up to gaze at the
+strange creature looking down upon them.
+
+"This is really very jolly," said Desmond.  "We will patronise our
+friend again if we come this way, although I wish I could make him
+understand that we want something better than cakes and tea."
+
+They had been resting for some time, two or three of the party dropping
+off to sleep, when the sound of distant shouts and cries reached their
+ears.  The noises grew louder and louder.  Presently their host appeared
+at the door, gesticulating wildly, and pointing to the way they had
+come.  Some straggling shots were heard.
+
+"The place must be taken by the rebels, and as it is not our business to
+fight them, the best thing we can do is to make ourselves scarce,"
+exclaimed Archie Gordon.
+
+"We shall all be knocked on the head if we don't," cried Charley Roy,
+starting up.  "Come, lads, the sooner we are on horseback the better."
+
+Tom, shouting to his companions, led the way towards the house.  The
+host had vanished, but they again caught sight of him hurrying off with
+a bundle under one arm, a box under the other, and a basket at his back.
+The doors were open, so they quickly rushed through the house towards
+the stables.  The grooms had fled, fortunately not carrying off the
+steeds, which were munching away at their hay.  To slip on the bridles
+and tighten up the girths did not take long.
+
+"Now, boys," cried Tom, "discretion in this case is the best part of
+valour."
+
+"We shall get preciously wigged by the first lieutenant if we lose our
+heads, for coming where we have no business to be," cried Gerald.
+
+As they led out their horses, they saw people hurrying off in all
+directions across the fields, some scampering along the road they were
+about to follow.  Behind them, at the further end of the village, came a
+confused multitude, but whether fugitives or pursuers they could not
+make out.  One thing was certain, that if they delayed they would get
+into serious trouble, if not lose their lives.
+
+"Mount, mount, and let us be off!" cried Tom.  "Here, Billy, I will lend
+you a hand," and he lifted up his messmate, whose steed was somewhat
+restive, into his saddle; he then leaped on his own.  Only a minute was
+lost before the midshipmen were all mounted, but that minute was of
+consequence.
+
+The cries in their rear grew louder; several shots came whizzing past
+their ears.
+
+"On! on!" shouted Tom.  "I will bring up the rear," and, giving a whack
+to Billy's pony, he drew up for an instant to let the others pass him.
+They then altogether galloped on as fast as their steeds could move
+their nimble legs.  Half-starved as the animals looked, they went at a
+good pace.  Should their pursuers be on foot, they would very soon be
+beyond all danger of being shot.  Tom occasionally turned to glance over
+his shoulder.  Still the people behind, whoever they were, came rushing
+on, though as they were distanced they seemed to be more and more
+confused, until only a dark-coloured mass could be distinguished.
+
+"We shall soon be beyond their reach," shouted Tom; "it won't do to pull
+up until we have distanced them thoroughly."  Soon afterwards, as he
+looked again, he saw the dark mass divided, when he could distinguish
+sword blades flashing in the sun as they waved here and there.
+
+"There are cavalry of some sort after us," he cried out.  As far as he
+could judge at that distance, the horsemen were engaged in cutting down
+the native peasantry, whom they had overtaken unprepared for resistance.
+
+"If we can make our horses go faster, we must do so," cried Tom.  "Those
+fellows astern mean mischief, and we must keep well ahead, or they will
+be trying the sharpness of the sabres on our necks."
+
+The party did not require this exhortation to do their best to make
+their steeds move forward faster, urging them on with rein and
+reiterated whacks on the back with their sticks.  The hoofs of the
+animals clattered over the hard ground, sending up clouds of dust.  The
+day was further advanced than they had supposed, but darkness would
+favour them should they find a road by which they might turn off and
+gain the city by another entrance.
+
+"How far have we got to go?" inquired Desmond, shouting to Tom.
+
+"That is more than I can tell; I know we came a good long way," answered
+Tom; "but our horses will carry us if we stick on their backs.  Keep a
+good hand on your reins.  Whatever you do, don't let them tumble down."
+
+Though Tom encouraged his companions, he did not feel very sure that
+they would escape.  He could distinguish flags and spears, as well as
+the sword blades.  The horsemen behind them were becoming every instant
+more distinct.  Much depended on the strength of their pursuers' horses.
+If these had already come a good way that morning they might be tired
+and soon knock up, but if they were fresh they might ere long overtake
+the midshipmen.
+
+"If they overtake us, we must stand and make a fight for it," cried Tom.
+
+"No doubt about that," answered Desmond.  "It will never do to be cut
+down like sheep, running away."
+
+"But as long as we can run we will," cried Tom.  "If they do come up
+with us, my idea is that we should leap our horses over the ditch or
+fence, as may be most suitable, on our left, then wheel round and charge
+them if they attempt to follow us."
+
+Roy and the rest agreed to Tom's proposal.  "I don't think the cavalry
+have carbines, so that they cannot shoot us down at a distance, and our
+pistol bullets will reach farther than their lance points."
+
+Tom had taken command of the party by tacit consent, and no one was
+disposed to dispute his authority.  There was no time, however, for
+saying much.  As they went along Tom had the satisfaction of observing
+that the enemy did not appear to be much, if at all, gaining upon them.
+This raised his hopes.  They had already made good several miles, when
+Charley Roy proposed a halt, to breathe their horses and ascertain
+whether they were still pursued.  Scarcely, however, had they stopped,
+than the clattering of their pursuers' horses' hoofs sounded in their
+ears, mingled with the shouts of the riders.
+
+"We must push on, whether our nags like it or not," cried Tom; "if we
+can once distance them, the enemy are very likely to give up the chase,
+as they know they will run a risk of being cut off should they get too
+near the town."
+
+Again the party galloped forward.  Even their short halt enabled the
+Tae-pings to gain on them, and the rebels' voices sounded considerably
+louder.
+
+"All right! they have no bow chasers, or we should have had them firing
+after us," cried Tom, laughing; "they will have had their ride for
+nothing, I hope, after all."
+
+Two or three miles more were got over.  The midshipmen began to look out
+for the lanterns on the city walls, which, by this time, they expected
+to see.  Near, however, as they might be to a place of refuge, as their
+foes still continued the pursuit, they were not out of danger.  Their
+steeds, too, were giving evident signs of being knocked up, and they had
+to keep their sticks going to make the poor animals move forward.
+Presently, down came Billy's horse, sending its rider clear over its
+head, Billy narrowly escaping a kick from the heels of the animal
+directly before him.  Tom, without stopping to see what had become of
+Billy, pulled up, and fortunately succeeded in catching the animal's
+reins.
+
+"Where are you, Billy?" he shouted out; "not hurt, I hope?"
+
+"Not much, only on my knee," answered Billy, as he hobbled up and
+climbed again into his saddle.
+
+The rest of the party, not seeing what had occurred, galloped on.
+Billy's horse, like his rider, had cut both its knees, and seemed very
+unwilling to continue the headlong race they had been so long running.
+
+"You must make him get along," said Tom, applying his own stick to the
+animal's back.  "I don't want my head cut off, and I don't want to leave
+you behind."
+
+Short as had been the delay, it was of serious consequence, for when Tom
+looked round he could distinctly see the enemy coming after them.
+Billy, not being a good rider, cried out that he should be off again, as
+he had got one of his feet out of the stirrup.
+
+"Never mind; hold on by your hands, and I'll lead your horse," cried
+Tom, seizing the rein.  He had no wish to delay the rest of the party,
+so he did not shout out to them to stop, but he determined to push
+forward as long as the horses could keep on their legs.  Billy in a
+short time succeeded in getting his foot into the stirrup.
+
+"Now," said Tom, "if we have to leap, don't be pulling at the rein, but
+let your horse have his head, and you stick on like wax."
+
+In the mean time the rest of the party pushed forward, Gerald was
+surprised that Tom did not answer a question; he shouted to him, still
+fancying that he was close behind.
+
+"There's a light ahead," he cried out; "it must be on the walls, or else
+a house in the suburbs."
+
+"If it was on the walls, it would appear higher," answered Archie, "What
+do you think, Tom?" he asked.
+
+No reply came from Tom, and on looking round Roy discovered that both
+Tom and Billy were nowhere to be seen.
+
+"We must wait for them," cried Archie; "we cannot leave them behind."
+
+Before, however, he or his companions could pull up, a loud challenge
+was heard, and several shots came whizzing past them.
+
+"If we stop or attempt to gallop back to look for them, we shall have
+another volley," said Roy.  "I will ride forward slowly.  That must be a
+piquet of the Indian regiment stationed outside the town.  They mistake
+us for the enemy, and they may aim better the next time they fire."
+Without waiting for his companions' reply, Roy rode forward, shouting,
+"Friends, friends!  English, English!"  At length he came in sight of a
+party of men drawn across the road, and the English officer, advancing,
+inquired who he was.  He explained that they were pursued by a body of
+cavalry, whom they supposed to be Tae-pings, and that he very much
+feared two of their companions had fallen into their hands.
+
+The officer on this ordered his men to advance, but to be careful not to
+fire until he gave the word.  Roy, riding forward, quickly overtook
+Archie and Gerald.  On either side was a bank covered with shrubs, which
+would afford concealment in the dusk to the whole of the party.  On
+seeing this, the officer told Roy to go a little distance further on and
+then to halt, and immediately he should hear the rebels advancing, to
+gallop back towards the town.
+
+"You may, I hope, meet your friends, but if not, and they should have
+fallen into the hands of the rebels, we shall have a good chance of
+rescuing them."
+
+"I understand, and will carry out your direction," said Roy, and the
+three midshipmen rode slowly back, hoping every instant to fall in with
+Tom and Billy.  Their disappointment was bitter when they were nowhere
+to be seen.  They had not, however, gone far, when they saw the Tae-ping
+horsemen moving rapidly towards them, but neither Tom nor his companions
+were visible.  On this they immediately turned their horses' heads and
+galloped back, as they had been told to do, in the direction of the
+town, feeling dreadfully anxious as to the fate of their friends.  They
+had got some little distance beyond the ambush when a rapid succession
+of shots told them that the Indian soldiers had opened their fire on the
+enemy.  They at once pulled up, feeling sure that the Tae-pings would
+not venture to advance further.  In this they were right, for as they
+returned they saw them in rapid flight, the soldiers still firing after
+them.
+
+"You have saved our lives, I believe, sir," said Roy, addressing the
+officer, who had advanced to meet him.  "What can have become of our
+companions?"
+
+"I am afraid that the Tae-pings must have overtaken them, and too
+probably, immediately have cut them down, for they certainly were not
+with the party we got under our fire.  My men tell me that they saw no
+English uniforms."
+
+"If they were killed, they must be lying on the road," said Desmond, his
+heart sinking within him as he spoke.  "We must go and look for them."
+
+To this the officer made no objection, and sent forward five men with a
+sergeant.  They proceeded even beyond where Tom and Billy had last been
+seen.  Although they came on the dead bodies of several Tae-pings, who
+had been shot by the soldiers, they could discover no trace of their
+friends.
+
+"Then they must have been carried off prisoners," observed Desmond.
+"However, that is better than had they been killed, as we may possibly
+recover them."
+
+Any further search was useless; indeed, the officer was anxious to send
+back to the town to give notice that the Tae-pings were in the
+neighbourhood, and that a cavalry force had advanced so far without
+infantry to support them.  The whole party accordingly returned to the
+house where the outpost was stationed.  Gerald and Archie were so much
+cut up at the thought of Tom's loss--though, if the truth was known,
+they did not care so much about poor Billy,--that they felt scarcely
+able to ride back, and were glad to accept the lieutenant's offer of
+refreshment before they returned to the city.
+
+"They'll be after cutting off the poor fellows' heads," cried Gerald.
+"How did we come to miss them?  I would not have gone on if I hadn't
+thought they were close at our heels."
+
+"Nor would I," said Archie; "it's some blundering of that fellow Billy
+Blueblazes.  He must have tumbled off his horse, and Tom wouldn't leave
+him."
+
+The lieutenant could give them very little consolation.  The Tae-pings,
+from the reports received, committed the most horrible cruelties in the
+places they had taken, and when they captured Pow-shun they put to death
+indiscriminately men, women, and children; the defeated Imperialist
+troops having joined them and assisted in plundering the place.
+
+"Our horses must be rested; it is time for us to be going back," said
+Roy at last.
+
+Thanking the lieutenant, they again mounted.  Just as they got outside
+the house they heard the sound of homes' hoofs.
+
+"Don't fire!" cried the officer to his men.  "These must be friends."
+
+In another moment two horsemen were seen coming along the road, and
+Gerald, dashing forward, shouted out, "Hurrah!  Why, it's Tom Rogers and
+Billy Blueblazes!"
+
+Gerald was not mistaken, although their friends could scarcely be
+distinguished from the masses of mud which covered them and their
+steeds.  Tom and Billy having received the congratulations of the party,
+and being introduced to the lieutenant, explained that finding the
+Tae-pings gaining upon them, they had leaped over a ditch bordered by
+trees, which concealed them from the view of their pursuers, and that
+they had then galloped along over the soft ground, having to scramble
+through a number of ditches, which were too wide to leap, until they,
+once more catching sight of the lights in the village, made their way
+back to the road.
+
+As Tom and Billy were wet through, they declined to do more than stop
+and take a cup of hot tea, and the whole party then galloped on, as fast
+as their tired steeds could go, to the town, and managed to find their
+way back to the stable from which they had hired the horses.
+
+The old man examined them with his lantern, exhibiting a rueful
+countenance, and shaking his head, muttering as he did so, "No good, no
+good!"
+
+Tom tried to explain that if they had not ridden hard, he would never
+again have seen his horses; but probably the midshipman's explanations
+were not understood, as the owner of the animals still kept muttering,
+"No good, no good!"
+
+"Well, as it was partly our fault for delaying so long, I propose that
+we pay the old fellow something more," said Tom.
+
+All agreed, and: Mr Kay Chung's countenance brightened greatly when
+they handed him some more coin.  On their way back they met several of
+the English inhabitants, to whom they reported that a force of Tae-pings
+was in the neighbourhood.  Their news created no small amount of stir in
+the place.  Information had already been received at head-quarters from
+the outposts, and immediately active preparations were made for the
+defence of the town, lest the enemy should advance during the night.
+Pretty well tired out, the midshipmen at last got back to the hotel
+where they settled to remain for the night, as it was too late by that
+time to return on board.  Tom and Billy were not sorry to turn in, while
+a Chinese waiter undertook to get their jackets and trousers cleaned and
+polished up by the next morning.
+
+Tom had been sleeping for several hours, when Gerald, followed by Roy,
+who had a different room, rushed in, exclaiming, "Rouse up, old fellows;
+something serious is going on.  There's been tremendously heavy firing
+for the last ten minutes in the direction of the Chinese town, and there
+can be no doubt but that the Tae-pings are attacking the place.  We are
+starting off to see the fun."
+
+"Fun, do you call it!" said Archie, who had been awakened by Gerald's
+first exclamation.  "It will be no fun if the rebels take Shanghai, and
+there is but a small garrison for its defence.  As likely as not the
+Chinese will run away, or more probably fraternise with the Tae-pings."
+
+"The marines and that Indian regiment are sufficient to drive back the
+enemy, and we shall have our own blue-jackets on shore, depend upon it,
+when Captain Rogers hears what is going forward," said Roy.
+
+"Come, Tom, are you going with us?  I suppose nothing will induce Billy
+to turn out, if he can help it."
+
+"But my clothes, my clothes! that Chinese waiter Fau-ti has got them.  I
+have nothing to put on."
+
+"I will unearth him, and make him bring them to you," said Desmond; "and
+Billy's also, for he won't like to be left behind."
+
+While Desmond went off to find the waiter, Billy, who was sitting up in
+bed, rubbing his eyes, asked what the row was about.  On being told, he
+answered--
+
+"Let them fight it out by themselves; I don't see why we should
+interfere," and lying down, he was about again to compose himself to
+sleep, when Roy and Archie, seizing the clothes, effectually roused him
+up.  The firing was now heard closer than before, apparently extending
+over a considerable space.  Billy, as much as he was disinclined to
+leave his bed, did not like to be left behind, and forgetting that his
+clothes had been taken away, began hunting for them.
+
+"If you cannot find them, you must come as you are.  Wrap yourself up in
+a sheet; you will help to scare the enemy, at all events," said Roy.
+
+Desmond at last returned, followed by the waiter bringing the
+midshipmen's uniforms.  Although they were not long dressing, some time
+had been spent, but it was not yet daylight.  There was a general
+commotion going forward in the house, the other inmates calling to each
+other, and inquiring what was happening.
+
+When the midshipmen got to the door of the house they found a large
+party collected, most of them with arms in hand and full of fight.  For
+what they could tell to the contrary, however, the Tae-pings might
+already have scaled the walls.  Just as they were setting off, the tramp
+of a large body of men was heard approaching.  The midshipmen recognised
+Captain Rogers with the blue-jackets and marines of his ship, and
+several officers.  Tom at once joined his brother, and confessed what
+they had been about, and how narrowly they had escaped being caught by
+the rebels.
+
+"You were the means, however, of putting the garrison on the alert, for
+the messenger who came off with a request for me to land my men informed
+me that a party of midshipmen had brought in the intelligence of the
+approach of the enemy."
+
+Tom was well pleased to hear this, as he hoped that he and his
+companions would escape the reprimand they expected to receive for
+having gone so far from the city.  The sound of heavy guns was now
+heard, and a shot occasionally pitched into the ground at no great
+distance in front of them, showing that the enemy could not be far off
+outside the walls.
+
+"They have not yet got inside, and we shall be in time to help drive
+them off before they succeed," said Jack.
+
+A Chinese officer had been sent to guide the seamen to a part of the
+walls where the defenders most required support.  Just as they arrived
+the guns pointed in that direction had ceased firing, and large bodies
+of men were seen through the gloom approaching with scaling ladders.
+
+"We shall soon tumble those fellows over if they make the attempt to
+escalade the walls," said Tom.
+
+The rebels, however, showed no want of pluck.  In another instant the
+ladders were placed against the walls, and numbers of pig-tailed
+fellows, with broad hats, holding their shields above their heads, began
+to climb up, in spite of the hot fire which the marines and blue jackets
+poured down upon them.  They had evidently not expected to meet with
+such a reception, supposing that the place was defended only by their
+own countrymen armed with matchlocks and spears.  Along the whole line
+of the wall, at different points, the same scene was being enacted.
+Thousands of men were crowding forward, expecting by their numbers to
+overcome the limited garrison, but in every place they were met by the
+most determined courage, the civilians vying with the soldiers in
+repelling the foe.
+
+Captain Rogers had ordered another party of seamen to join him under the
+second lieutenant as soon as the boats could bring them on shore, and
+finding the determined way in which the rebels were attacking the part
+of the walls he had been directed to defend, he sent back Tom and
+Desmond to hurry them forward.  The midshipmen met the party about
+half-way, and Tom delivered the message.  Under the belief that he knew
+the road, he led them through several narrow streets, when suddenly he
+discovered that he had made a mistake, but whether he ought to have kept
+more to the left or right, he could not tell.
+
+Sharp firing, however, being heard to the right, he concluded that was
+the direction he ought to have taken.  The party moved forward again at
+the double.  The walls soon rose up before them, and the shot, which
+came down like hail, showed that the enemy were firing away as hard as
+ever.  Just then, at the end of a short street they caught sight of a
+large body of men moving away from them.
+
+"I wonder where those fellows can have come from?" remarked the
+lieutenant.
+
+"They are making for the gate we rode out of yesterday," observed Tom.
+
+"Probably the enemy are attacking it; we will go and assist, though they
+appear to be Chinese, and are not likely to make much of a stand,"
+observed the lieutenant.
+
+The seamen dashed forward, when just as they reached the gate, which was
+in front of them, it was thrown open, and the party they had seen,
+turning round, rushed back the way they had come, followed by many
+others who were streaming through the gate.
+
+"There is some treachery at work here," exclaimed the lieutenant, and
+ordering his men to halt and fire, they poured a volley upon the
+advancing mass.
+
+Before the rebels could recover from the confusion into which the
+unexpected shower of bullets had thrown them, the blue jackets were in
+their midst, cutting them down, knocking them over, or making them turn
+and try to escape through the gate.  This put a stop to the further
+progress of those still outside, and the seamen, led by their gallant
+officer, fought their way up to the gate.  Here a desperate struggle
+ensued.  A big Tae-ping was on the point of cutting down Tom, when, a
+cutlass intervening, brought the Tae-ping with a blow on the head to the
+ground, and Tom saw his old shipmate, Jerry Bird, whom he had not before
+recognised, slashing away right and left by his side.  The rebels at
+length having been forced out, the lieutenant ordered the gates to be
+shut.  This was no easy matter, with the space on either side covered
+with the dead and wounded, but the seamen, hauling the bodies out of the
+way, at last succeeded.
+
+One party remained to guard the gate, the other made prisoners of many
+as they could catch of those who had treacherously opened it.  Tom, with
+Jerry Bird and three other men, was now sent to inform Captain Rogers of
+what had occurred, that he might despatch people to the other gates to
+prevent the same trick being played.
+
+"You rendered me good service just now," said Tom to Jerry Bird, "in
+saving my head from the sword of that big Tae-ping.  He would have cut
+me down to a certainty.  I shall never forget it."
+
+"Lor' bless you, sir, I'm as well pleased as you are; I wouldn't have
+had you killed, no, not to be made port admiral, and I hope, if ever
+there comes another occasion, I may do the same."
+
+"Still, you have saved my life, and I should be grateful whether it was
+a pleasure to you or not," said Tom.
+
+There was not much time for conversation, however.  As they hurried on,
+they had to keep a look-out, lest they might be attacked by any of the
+traitors within the walls, who would have liked to have revenged
+themselves on those who had defeated their treacherous object.  Several
+suspicious-looking characters approached, but dreading the cutlasses of
+the British seamen, they retired to a respectful distance.  Tom and his
+party quickly made their way to the part of the walls where Captain
+Rogers and his men were stationed, and Tom delivered his message.  On
+receiving it, Jack immediately despatched some of the midshipmen with
+the information to the officers commanding in the neighbourhood of the
+other gates, that they might be on their guard against any intended
+treachery.
+
+The rebels, supposing that their friends had got inside the city,
+continued to make feints in all directions, to keep the garrison
+employed, fully believing that the place would in a short time be
+theirs.  Along the whole line, as far as the eye could reach on either
+side appeared a rapid series of flames of fire, both from the summits of
+the walls and from below, as the defenders and their assailants
+exchanged fire.
+
+The assault continued until daylight breaking exposed the rebels more
+clearly to view, and they, probably believing that they had no prospect
+of success, ceased firing along their whole line, and began rapidly to
+retreat.  The officer in command, on seeing this, sent a considerable
+body of men out of the west gate, and pursued them for some distance,
+giving them a lesson it was not likely they would wish to have repeated.
+The Chinese soldiers cut off the heads of those they took.  The English
+sailors contented themselves with depriving the fugitives of their
+pig-tails, generally giving them a probe in the back before they applied
+the final stroke.  The whole ground for some distance was strewn with
+the dead, while under the walls they lay still more thickly, proving the
+desperation with which they fought, and the hot fire poured down upon
+them.  Captain Rogers with his men remained on shore until it was
+ascertained that the rebels had retreated to Pow-shun, twenty miles off,
+and there appeared no probability of their returning.  Information was
+received, however, that they were plundering the provinces in every
+direction, murdering the inhabitants, and committing every possible
+species of cruelty.  An English regiment also arrived from Hong-kong to
+reinforce the garrison, when there was no longer the slightest fear that
+the rebels would succeed in taking the place.
+
+Captain Rogers and his men had just returned on board the _Empress_,
+when a man-of-war was seen standing in for the anchorage.  She made the
+signal _Orion_.
+
+"Why, that's the ship to which your uncle Adair is said to be
+appointed," observed Archie to Gerald.
+
+"I hope he has got her.  I shall be very glad to see him, for a better
+fellow does not exist, and I shall then know all about the mysterious
+matter for which I was to go home," said Gerald.
+
+The _Orion_ brought up a short distance from the _Empress_.  In less
+than half an hour a boat put off from her.
+
+"There's no doubt about it; that's my uncle Adair," said Gerald, who was
+watching through his glass.  "He's coming on board, so I feel like a
+young lady who is going to have a proposal made to her.  I only hope now
+he has come out he won't insist on sending me home."
+
+In a short time Captain Adair stepped up the side.  Having been received
+with due honour, he was heartily welcomed by Captain Rogers, whom he
+accompanied, after he had shaken hands with his nephew, into the cabin.
+
+"I'm not much wiser than I was before," observed Gerald; "but I suppose
+he will send for me soon."
+
+Gerald, however, had to endure his suspense some time longer.  Tom had
+faithfully kept the secret with which he was entrusted, so that Gerald
+had only a faint idea that some piece of good fortune was in store for
+him.
+
+While the two captains were in conference, a handsome Chinese boat came
+off, and a mandarin of rank stepped on deck.  He "chin-chinned" as the
+midshipmen drew up on either side of the gangway to do him honour, and
+the captains, hearing of his arrival, came out to receive him.  He of
+course again "chin-chinned" to them, when, through an interpreter he had
+brought with him, he stated that "he had come to make a request which he
+hoped would not be denied."
+
+Captain Rogers answered "that he should be happy to render any service
+that was in his power."
+
+The mandarin replied, "that although he should consider the favour a
+great one, the trouble to him would not be so."
+
+"Pray state, my friend, what it is," said Jack.
+
+"Understand, that my beloved brother died a few days ago of a malignant
+fever, and that his body is now deposited in the Ning-foo Jos-house,
+outside the city walls.  He belongs to Teit-sin, where his family
+reside, and as there is a difficulty in sending him by a merchant
+vessel, I shall feel deeply obliged if you will convey his coffin to
+that place, where it may be deposited with his august ancestors," was
+the answer.
+
+Adair, when he heard what was said, could not refrain from bursting into
+a fit of laughter.  Jack tried to compose his countenance as he told the
+mandarin that it was with much regret he must refuse his request, as the
+ship would not certainly get so far as Teit-sin, and that it was not
+usual for men-of-war to carry about dead bodies, except in rare
+instances; that when people died on board, they were buried at sea, and,
+especially for sanitary reasons, he could not receive that of a person
+who had died of a malignant fever.
+
+In vain the mandarin pleaded that his brother was shut up tightly and
+would not cause the slightest annoyance.  Jack was firm, and the
+mandarin had to return and allow his brother to remain in the Jos-house
+until navigation was opened.  Terence had brought word for the _Empress_
+to proceed to the mouth of the Peiho in the Gulf of Pe-chili, as it had
+been resolved at once to recapture the Taku Forts and to march the army
+to Pekin, should the emperor not immediately yield to the demands of the
+British ambassador.
+
+The summer had begun and the weather was remarkably fine.  The two ships
+sailed along in company, getting up steam only when the wind fell light.
+
+Gerald and Billy Blueblazes were transferred to the _Orion_, the berth
+of the _Bellona_ being overcrowded.  Some of the crew of the unfortunate
+_Dragon_ were also sent to her, the remainder being kept on board to be
+distributed among other ships of the squadron, while most of the
+officers had gone on to Hong-kong with Commander Rawson, to await a
+passage home.  Mr Joy joined the _Orion_ in lieu of her third
+lieutenant, who was invalided.  Gerald, as soon as he had an
+opportunity, having waited in vain for his uncle to speak on the
+subject, asked to be informed about the matter for which he had been
+sent for home.
+
+"The uncertainties connected with it are so very great, that I have been
+unwilling to disturb your mind on the subject," answered Adair.  "You
+know that you had a distant relative, Lord Saint Maur, who had a fine
+estate and numerous heirs to succeed him.  One after the other, however,
+they have died.  Immediately on hearing this I put the matter into the
+hands of a clever Dublin lawyer, who tells me that the direct
+descendants of the last lord having died, it is necessary to go several
+generations back, to a former Lord Saint Maur, of whom your grandfather
+was the lineal descendant, and that all the other lines having become
+extinct, you are the rightful heir to the title and estate.  Other
+Desmonds, however, have appeared, who have made out a similar claim, and
+the question is who has the best.  They have money, which,
+unfortunately, you have not; but our Dublin friend is so confident that
+he has undertaken the matter at his own risk.  You, at all events, will
+lose nothing, and may gain your case; at the same time, I must confess I
+am not very sanguine on the subject.  At first being so, I sent for you
+home, but after a time I arrived at a different conclusion, and would
+advise you not to think about the matter, though, if some day or other
+you succeed, well and good.  It will be pleasant to be Viscount Saint
+Maur and owner of a fine estate, but perhaps you would not be much the
+happier.  If you stick to the navy you will get promoted in due course,
+and it will be much the same thing to you a hundred years hence."
+
+Gerald did not quite agree with his uncle in the philosophic view he
+took of the case; at the same time, he determined not to bother himself
+about the affair.  He was sorry to be parted from Tom and Archie, and to
+have only Billy Blueblazes instead, the rest of his shipmates being
+strangers to him.
+
+The _Bellona_ and _Orion_ had a quick run to the rendezvous off the
+Sha-la-tung shoal, about twenty miles from Pehtang.  On their way, near
+the entrance to the gulf, they came up with the fleet conveying the
+troops intended to be disembarked near the mouth of the Peiho.  It was a
+magnificent sight, as the clouds of canvas appeared covering the blue
+ocean, the ships' bows dashing up the spray, which sparkled in the
+sunshine as they clove their onward way.  Among them were numerous
+steamers, but the wind being fair they were also under sail.  The
+despatch vessels and gun-boats were moving about, enforcing orders and
+bringing up the slower craft.  The ships as they arrived at their
+destination took up their position in line, according to the division,
+brigade, and regiment of the troops on board, all confusion being
+avoided by the admiral having furnished each captain with a plan showing
+the place in which he was to anchor.  The next day the French fleet
+arrived, and the whole force moved nearer the shore.  The smaller craft
+only could cross the bar of the Pehtang, at the mouth of which is a town
+of the same name.
+
+Early on the morning of the first of August the signal was made for the
+gun-boats and the small steamers attached to the fleet to take as many
+troops as they could on board, and to tow boats carrying others, when
+the whole flotilla commenced steaming slowly towards Pehtang.  As it
+would have been dangerous for the gun-boats to attack the forts in their
+crowded condition, they proceeded to a spot 2000 yards south of it.
+
+The country presented anything but an attractive appearance, as all that
+could be seen was an extensive mud flat, with a raised causeway, running
+from Pehtang towards Taku, while deep ditches were cut for the purpose
+of drainage, and were likely to prove disagreeable places to cross.  The
+boats of the men-of-war were employed also in landing the troops.  Tom
+had command of one of the _Empress's_ boats, and Gerald one of the
+_Orion's_, so that they had an opportunity of seeing what was going
+forward.  As the boats approached, some Chinese soldiers showed
+themselves, but perceiving the strength of the force invading their
+country, wisely beat a retreat.
+
+Among the first to approach the shore was the commander-in-chief.  It
+was impossible to get close to the bank.  He surveyed the extent of mud
+before him; then pulling off his shoes and stockings, and rolling up his
+trousers, he leaped overboard, his example being followed by his
+officers and men.  Together they splashed and waded for upwards of half
+a mile through a horrible black mud.  The French brigade landed on the
+left, and in the same manner in the neighbourhood, but finding somewhat
+harder ground, were the first to reach the causeway.  A cavalry picquet
+now appeared on a drawbridge across the causeway, watching the movements
+of the allies, but they also, as the troops floundered on, mounted their
+horses and rode at a dignified pace southward towards Taka.  The whole
+day was occupied in landing troops.
+
+In the evening it was ascertained that the forts of Pehtang were
+abandoned.  It was intended at once to march in and take possession, but
+private information was obtained from some of the Chinese that the
+garrison had left numerous infernal machines so placed with long fuses
+that they would explode among the troops on entering.  The Chinaman who
+had given the information was at once compelled to point out where these
+horrible engines of destruction were hidden, and they were removed by
+some men sent forward for that purpose.  The army which had now landed,
+if so it could be called, had to pass the night on the mud flats and
+causeway, destitute of water and food, without tents, and wet ground
+alone on which the men could stretch themselves.  It was not a pleasant
+commencement of a campaign.  Jack and Desmond agreed that they had
+reason to be thankful for having their own comfortable ship to sleep in.
+
+The next morning at daybreak the gun-boats entered the river, and the
+troops advancing from their position occupied the town, the unhappy
+inhabitants being ejected to make room for them.  It was one of the sad
+necessities of warfare that they were compelled to turn out the poor
+people.  Children in arms, old men and women, who had not for years left
+their homes, were forced to seek for shelter, which was not to be found;
+and many of the men destroyed themselves and their families rather than
+expose them to the perils they would have to meet with.  The English
+took up their quarters in one part of the town, the French in the other.
+It was said to have contained 20,000 inhabitants, but when it was
+abandoned by the army scarcely any were to be found.  Among those who
+thus destroyed themselves was the man who had given the important
+information respecting the infernal machines, he and his whole family
+having put themselves to death.  Although, except as volunteers, the
+blue-jackets and their officers had but little prospect of fighting,
+they had work enough to do in landing the troops and stores, they being
+thus engaged at all hours of the day and night for many days together.
+
+"There is little honour or glory to be gained, that I can see, though we
+are very useful, I dare say," observed Desmond to Tom, after they had
+been in their boats for twelve hours on a stretch.  "However, I don't
+mind if we can help the soldiers to lick the Celestials, who deserve a
+sound drubbing, at all events."
+
+The soldiers were worse off than their sailor brethren.  Rain came down,
+rendering the town almost uninhabitable by the horrible smells which
+arose, while the mud in many places was several feet deep.  Such was the
+detestable spot in which the army was cooped up for nearly a fortnight.
+
+The allied armies having captured the Taku Forts, the smaller steamers
+entered the river and greatly aided the army by conveying troops and
+stores to Teit-sin; but very few naval men saw anything of the
+subsequent operations, which terminated in the surrender of Pekin and
+the destruction of the emperor's summer palace, and the establishment of
+peace between the British and Chinese.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+BELLONA AND EMPRESS IN VICTORIA HARBOUR--A COMPLAINT OF PIRACY--MR. JULL
+AGAIN--THE TWO SHIPS SAIL IN SEARCH OF HIS FLEET OF JUNKS--CAPTAIN PO-HO
+GOES AS PILOT--FAIL IN WITH ORION--ORDERED TO JAPAN--EXPEDITION TO
+ATTACK A PIRATICAL FLEET COMMANDED BY JULL--THE PIRATE FLEET SIGHTED--
+TOM AND DESMOND SENT IN CHASE OF JUNKS--TOM HOARDS A JUNK, AND HAS GOOD
+REASON FOR GETTING OUT OF HER AGAIN--TOM, PURSUING THE ENEMY, IS
+CAPTURED--BILLY PULLS AFTER THE OTHER BOATS--THE FIRST JUNK BLOWS UP--
+VAIN SEARCH FOR TOM--RETURN TO THE GNAT--THE FORT AND JUNKS ATTACKED--
+THE ROUND MOON RECOVERED--JERRY RECOGNISES JULL--THE SEAMEN AND MARINES
+ON SHORE PREPARE TO ATTACK THE FORT.
+
+The Taku Forts had been captured, the march to Pekin accomplished, the
+summer palace destroyed, the pride of the emperor humbled, and once more
+peace was established.
+
+Her Majesty's ships _Bellona_ and _Empress_ lay in Victoria Harbour, the
+broad pennant of Commodore Murray, for he had lately been raised to that
+rank, flying on board the former.  He and Captain Rogers were seated in
+the cabin of his ship after dinner.  The officers who had been the
+commodore's guests had retired, the midshipmen having previously
+received a polite hint to go on deck and ascertain which way the wind
+blew.
+
+"I heartily hope we shall soon be ordered away from this most
+undelectable coast," observed Jack.
+
+"So do I, in truth," answered Murray.  "From what I hear, we shall soon
+be sent to Japan, which seems to be in a very unsettled state with the
+Mikado, Tycoon, and the Damios at loggerheads.  If the latter especially
+are not put down, they will get the upper hand of their two spiritual
+and temporal sovereigns, and then set to work to murder each other, and
+the whole country will be thrown into a state of anarchy."
+
+"I should be glad of something to do, at all events," said Jack.  "The
+gun-boats have all the work nowadays, and as we have reduced the
+Celestials to order there is not much prospect of our big ships being
+wanted."
+
+"Had I a reason for proceeding in any definite direction I would sail
+to-morrow," observed the commodore; "but there is no object in cruising
+up and down the coast, expending coals and wearing out the ship."
+
+"I am sometimes tempted to wish that steam power had never been
+introduced on board men-of-war when I think of our early days on the
+_Racer_ in the Mediterranean, and the life we led on the coast of Africa
+and out here," said Jack.  "After all, youngsters have the best of it."
+
+"They certainly have few cares and responsibilities, and enjoy sounder
+sleep than those in command can do when at sea," observed Murray.
+
+While they were speaking, Archie Gordon, cap in hand, entered the cabin,
+and addressing the commodore said, "A Chinaman has just come on board,
+sir, and as far as we can understand, desires to see you to report that
+his junk has some time ago been attacked and carried off by pirates."
+
+"I will see him at once; let him come below," answered the commodore.
+"Request Mr Chin-ho, the interpreter, to come here."
+
+"He has gone on shore, sir," replied the midshipman.  In less than a
+minute Gordon returned, ushering in a stout-built Chinaman, dressed, to
+English eyes, in a very unnautical costume, but characteristic of that
+strange people.
+
+"What have you got to say, my friend?" asked Murray, after the visitor
+had made the usual salutation and been requested to sit down, for Murray
+properly made it a rule to treat all the Chinese with due courtesy.
+
+The stranger introduced himself as Po-ho, captain of the big junk _Round
+Moon_.  As the curious jargon in which he made his statement would not
+be understood by most readers, we must give it in ordinary English.
+
+"The _Round Moon_ was lying in Swatow roads, in company with several
+other trading junks, when I, being asleep in my cabin, was awakened by a
+loud noise on deck, of shrieks and cries, clashing of swords, scuffling
+and thumps, as though men were falling.  Rushing out to see what was the
+matter, what was my horror to discover that the deck was in the
+possession of strangers, and that most of my crew lay dead or dying.  My
+mate with two or three others was still fighting bravely, not far from
+the cabin door, when I beheld an Englishman, Jull by name, whom I knew
+to be a fearful scoundrel, a sword covered with blood in his hand, and
+about to attack the mate and the others.  Before I could run back and
+get my arms, Jull had killed the mate, and the rest were cut down.
+Seeing that I should share the same fate, I jumped through the cabin
+port into the water, intending to swim to a junk astern, when Jull, who
+had followed me into the cabin, discovering that I was overboard, fired
+at me, but missed.  I thought that I should escape, but presently
+another shot struck me in the back; still I swam on, and reached the
+side of the junk.
+
+"When I got on board, the first thing I saw was my ship with all sails
+set, standing out of the harbour.  I wanted the captain of the junk who
+had picked me up to give chase, but he answered, `No, no; Jull has got
+too many men and long guns.'  Before I could say anything more I had
+fainted.  When I came to myself, the _Round Moon_ was out of sight.  I
+have not seen her since, but wishing to recover her, I have not ceased
+inquiring about Jull at every place at which I have touched.  A few days
+ago, as I was sailing from Chusan, I heard that Jull, in command of a
+large fleet of junks, had attacked and plundered a number of merchant
+vessels in that neighbourhood, and that he was even then at anchor with
+all his fleet in a channel between the island of Latea and that of
+Chusan.  If you go at once northward with your steamers, you may arrive
+in time to catch him before he sails away.  He has nearly thirty junks,
+carrying heavy guns and gingalls, and 500 or 600 men.  Your steamers
+cannot get up the creek to attack him, and he is very likely to make his
+escape if he knows you are coming.  You must, therefore, send in a large
+force, and be very careful how you approach, and as he fights with a
+rope round his neck, he will struggle to the last."
+
+This narrative took a long time to deliver, as Mr Po-ho, though he
+professed to speak English fluently, had to search about for words to
+express himself, and Murray and Rogers had to cross-question him and
+make him repeat over and over again what he had said before they could
+comprehend his meaning.  The above, however, as has been said, was the
+substance of his statement, reduced to plain English.  Murray inquired
+whether Mr Po-ho, or rather Captain Po-ho, was ready to go as pilot.
+He jumped at the offer.  Nothing would give him more satisfaction than
+to see Jull's head cut off.
+
+"We will both go," said Murray.  "Return on board, Jack; hoist the blue
+Peter, fire your guns to bring off any of your officers or men who may
+be on shore.  I will do the same, and we will sail this very evening.
+Are you ready, Captain Po-ho?"  The Chinaman's little eyes twinkled with
+satisfaction.  "He would," he said, "send his boat back to let his
+friends know that he had found some generous Englishmen to avenge his
+loss, and expressed a hope that should his own junk be recovered, she
+would be restored to him."
+
+That night the two ships, with most of their officers on board--with the
+exception of two or three, who, having gone to the other side of the
+island, were left on shore--were steaming northward.  Just before they
+sighted Chusan, a vessel under all sail was seen standing from the
+north-east.  As she approached she made the signal of the _Orion_, and
+that she had despatches for the commodore.  The _Bellona's_ way was
+therefore stopped, the _Empress_ also waiting for her.  In a short time
+Captain Adair came on board.  He had come from Japan with the request
+that some of the ships on the station might be sent there at once to
+protect British interests, subjects, and property, which were in
+constant danger from the Damios.  The commodore decided, however, that
+the matter was not so urgent as to prohibit his first looking after the
+pirate and his fleet, and resolved to carry out his object, taking the
+_Orion_ with him.  At Chusan, off which he called to obtain further
+information, he found a gun-boat, the _Gnat_, which, from her small
+size, would be able to play an important part in the expedition.
+
+From the information furnished by Captain Po-ho, Murray learned that the
+pirate's stronghold was in the midst of several small islands, with four
+navigable channels between them leading up to it, and that to prevent
+the escape of the villains it would be necessary to watch the whole of
+them.  The pirate also, Po-ho said, had a strong battery on shore, its
+guns commanding a deep bay, in which the junks were at anchor.  Thus the
+boats in the expedition would be exposed to a hot fire, and should the
+junks be captured, they might immediately be sunk, before they could be
+carried off, by the guns of the fort, which was described as being very
+strong originally, and since it had been occupied by the pirates they
+had been employed in still further adding to the defences.  It was said
+also that within was stored a large amount of merchandise, obtained by
+the pirates during several cruises.  One thing appeared certain, that
+the piratical fleet was still at anchor off the fort.  The commodore,
+having obtained all the necessary information, stood with his squadron
+late in the day towards the islands, so that he might not arrive off
+them until darkness would conceal his movements.  Po-ho advised that
+three of the entrances should be guarded, each by one of the ships, and
+that the gun-boat and boats should proceed up the other to attack the
+pirates.  This suggestion was adopted.  Murray ordered three boats from
+each ship, with a strong body of blue-jackets, to rendezvous alongside
+the _Gnat_, which also carried the larger number of marines.
+
+Captain Rogers, accompanied by Po-ho as pilot and interpreter, went on
+board the _Gnat_ and took command.  The three midshipmen had each charge
+of a boat, as had our old friend Jos Green, while the others were under
+command of lieutenants or mates.  Tom was accompanied by Billy
+Blueblazes and Tim Nolan.  The _Gnat_, taking the fleet of boats in tow,
+steered towards the entrance of the chief channel, up which the
+expedition was to proceed.  As they neared it just before dawn, a rocket
+was seen to rise, forming an arch in the dark sky, its glittering drops
+shining brilliantly as they fell.  It was fired apparently from the
+centre of the island, where the fort was supposed to be situated, as a
+signal to some of the junks which might have been at anchor near the
+entrance of one of the channels.  As Captain Po-ho could not give a very
+exact account of the position of the fort, Captain Rogers thought it
+prudent to wait until daybreak before commencing the attack.  Of the
+character of the enemy, however, he had no doubt, from the information
+obtained at Chusan.  They were a daring band of pirates, who had long
+been the terror of traders.
+
+The _Gnat_, having a long line of boats astern, made but slow way.  A
+bright look-out was kept, lest any of the junks might attempt to steal
+out and escape; but none appeared.  The rocket, however, was an evidence
+that some of the pirate fleet, at all events, were still inside.  The
+entrance was at length gained.  The shore on either side was so close
+that, had the enemy concealed themselves among the rocks and shrubs,
+they might greatly have annoyed the flotilla without the risk of much
+damage to themselves.
+
+When morning broke the _Gnat_ was approaching a long, low, rocky point,
+over which the masts of a considerable fleet of junks could be
+perceived.  The steamer must at the same time have been discovered by
+the pirates, for the junks' sails were hoisted, and the wind favouring
+them, they stood away towards a channel in the opposite direction.
+
+"The villains will soon find they have made a mistake, if they expect to
+get off that way," observed Tom to Blueblazes.  "They will fall from the
+frying-pan into the fire.  The shots from our ships will send every one
+of them to the bottom."  Just then the _Gnat_ grounded on a sand-bank,
+and the boats had to take to their oars while she made efforts to back
+off.  While she was thus engaged, the junks were seen returning to their
+anchorage, sweeping along at a good speed.
+
+"The rascals have discovered that they are caught in a trap, and, like
+rats driven into a corner, will fight desperately," said Tom.  "We shall
+have some real work to do, Billy."
+
+"I don't mind much about that, provided it will soon be over and we can
+get back to breakfast," answered the other midshipman.  "I am terribly
+hungry already."
+
+This delay enabled the greater part of the pirate fleet to get back to
+their anchorage, but the wind blowing stronger as the sun rose, three of
+them, unable to make headway against it, turned down another channel,
+expecting probably to escape in that direction, being thus unable to
+render any assistance to their companions.
+
+On this Captain Rogers ordered three of the boats, of which Tom's was
+one, to go in chase of the fugitives and capture them, hoping, from the
+prisoners who might be taken, to ascertain the strength of the fort, so
+that he might devise the best way of attacking it.  The second
+lieutenant of the _Empress_ led the boats, Desmond's making the third.
+Away they pulled as hard as they could go.  The pirates, seeing them
+coming, opened on them with their stern guns, and at the same time kept
+up a pretty hot fire with gingalls; but their shot generally flew over
+the boats, which, although the junks sailed well, were rapidly coming up
+with them.
+
+"I will take the headmost; you board the other two," sang out the
+lieutenant, addressing Tom and Desmond.
+
+In each boat, it should have been said, there were four marines, who, in
+return, fired at the junks, taking steady aim, and seldom failing to
+kill or wound some of their crews.  The channel took several turnings,
+which would have been an advantage to the pursuers had they been
+acquainted with the navigation, but the fear of running on any rocks or
+sand-banks made them keep directly astern of the junks.  Presently a
+shot struck one of Tom's men, and another knocked an oar to pieces.
+This of course caused some delay, and the boat dropped astern.  On
+rounding a point Tom saw that the junk he had been ordered to board was
+in the act of running ashore in a small bay at the further side, while
+the other two junks continued their course, pursued by the lieutenant
+and Desmond.  Tom considered it his duty to attack the one which could
+no longer escape him.  He was soon alongside; but as he and his men
+clambered up on deck the pirates rushed forward, leaped down over the
+bows on to the beach, and began to make their way inland.  Tom, on
+looking round from the more elevated position he had gained, discovered
+that the creek ran at the back of the fort, but how far off he could not
+tell.
+
+"We must capture some of those fellows; Captain Rogers wants some
+prisoners," he sang out, and was about to lead the way over the bows
+when Tim Nolan exclaimed, "The villains have set their craft on fire.
+She'll be after goin' off like a sky-rocket in another minute."
+
+"Back, back to the boat!" shouted Tom, seeing that Tim's words were
+likely to prove true.
+
+The whole party quickly tumbled in, each man trying to be first.  Tom
+was the last to leave his prize, and followed with no little reluctance.
+Shoving off, they pulled away in the direction they had before been
+going, to assist, if necessary, the other boats.  They had not got far,
+however, when Tom caught sight of some of the pirates who had landed.
+They halted, and appeared as if they intended to return to the stranded
+junk.  In their hurry they had thrown down their gingalls, and were
+armed only with their swords.
+
+"We must have some of those fellows," cried Tom.
+
+Steering in his boat, he jumped on shore, followed by the marines and
+four seamen, while he told Billy to remain in charge of the rest of the
+crew.
+
+Off the little party dashed, hoping without difficulty to capture some
+of the pirates.  The latter turned and fled, leading their pursuers to a
+distance from the boat.  Tom imprudently was rushing on considerably
+ahead of his men when a volley fired from among some rocks laid three of
+their number low.  The rest halted to return the fire of their concealed
+enemy, but, seeing no one, they let fly among the rooks, against which
+their bullets were flattened, without doing further execution.  Before
+they could re-load a party of desperadoes sprang out, and seizing Tom,
+dragged him along with them.  In vain Tom endeavoured to free himself,
+expecting every instant to feel the point of a sword, or its edge, at
+the back of his neck.  The survivors of his party charged bravely,
+hoping to recover him; but another volley wounded two more, and, seeing
+that they would all be cut off, they retreated towards the boat.  They
+would even now probably have been attacked had not Billy, showing
+unusual discretion on hearing the firing, landed with the rest of the
+men, and fired on the advancing pirates.  What was his dismay to find
+that Tom was not among those returning.
+
+"Where is Mr Rogers?" he exclaimed.
+
+"The pirates, sir, have got hold of him," answered Tim, who had
+reluctantly returned.  "If we are quick about it, and the rest can come
+with us, we can overtake them, and we will get back Mr Rogers, at all
+events."
+
+Billy and the rest of the men could not resist this appeal, and were
+rushing forward when they came to the three men who had fallen.  One was
+dead, but the other two were still living, though unable to walk.  They
+entreated that they might be carried back to the boat; and Billy,
+finding that the pirates had disappeared, judged that there would be no
+use in pursuing them, and he remembered also that he had been directed
+to remain in the boat.
+
+Notwithstanding, therefore, Nolan's remark, Billy ordered the men back
+to the boat.  Just at that instant the junk, from which their attention
+had been diverted, and which had been in flames fore and aft, blew up
+with a loud explosion, portions of the fragments being scattered far and
+wide, many falling close to them.
+
+"Shove off!" cried Billy; "not a moment must be lost."
+
+His crew pulled away after the lieutenant and Desmond, in the hopes that
+should they have succeeded in taking the two junks, of obtaining their
+assistance and going in search of Tom.  On getting round the point which
+hid them from sight, Billy discovered the junks, nearly a mile away,
+both on shore.  As his boat got nearer he caught glimpses of the pirates
+running among the bushes, in the direction, as far as he could judge, of
+the fort.  Both junks had, therefore, been captured.  Billy only hoped
+that the pirates had not attempted the same trick they had played him,
+by laying trains to their magazines, although he half expected, before
+he reached the junks, to see them blow up into the air.
+
+In his eagerness to save his other shipmates, he almost forgot poor Tom.
+"Give way, lads, give way!" he cried.  "They will all be sent up like
+sky-rockets if we don't warn them in time."
+
+The seamen made the boat fly over the water, understanding the danger as
+fully as he did.
+
+As he got near he shouted out, "Back, back to the boats, or you will all
+be blown up!"
+
+"No fear about that, now," answered Desmond, from the deck of the
+nearest junk.  "We found a burning fusee, sure enough, but took good
+care to throw it overboard.  Hallo! where's Rogers?" he exclaimed,
+looking down into the boat.
+
+"Gone!  The pirates have got hold of him, and may probably have cut his
+head off," answered Billy.
+
+"Gone!  His head out off!" cried Desmond, in an agony of grief, although
+scarcely believing his messmate's account; "How did you come away
+without him?"
+
+"We could not help it," answered Billy, in a melancholy tone.  "We
+should all have been killed if we had not.  We have as it is lost two
+poor fellows knocked over, and four wounded.  That shows that we did not
+give up the attempt to rescue Rogers while there was a chance of
+success."
+
+"Pull round and report to Mr Norman what has occurred.  I will go with
+you," said Desmond, jumping into Billy's boat.
+
+The lieutenant was, of course, greatly grieved.  "We must try and
+ascertain his fate, at all events.  You did not see his head cut off?"
+he asked, turning to Billy.
+
+"No, sir.  We saw him in the pirates' hands.  They were dragging him
+along."
+
+"Then, perhaps they intend holding him as a hostage," observed Mr
+Norman.  "The junks do not appear to have much in them; and so, for fear
+lest the pirates should get on board again, we will set them on fire,
+and pull back to where you lost Rogers."
+
+Mr Norman at once gave the order, which the seamen executed with the
+delight of school-boys igniting huge bonfires, and then the three boats
+pulled back in the direction of the still burning junk.  On reaching it
+Mr Norman landed his men, forming them in more regular order than Tom
+had done, four of the marines advancing in skirmishing order to feel the
+way.
+
+No enemy, however, appeared; but being an experienced officer, he knew
+that they might be lurking at no great distance ahead, or concealed
+behind the brushwood either on the right hand or the left, so that they
+might attack him at any moment on the flank or get behind him and out
+off his retreat.  Having advanced therefore a short distance, he ordered
+a halt, and getting close under a hill from the top of which he hoped to
+obtain a survey of the country, he climbed up it, accompanied by
+Desmond.
+
+"There's the fort, sir," exclaimed the latter, "and I see a number of
+men going into it.  If they have not cut off Rogers's head, they will be
+taking him in with them, and he'll run a great risk of being killed when
+the _Gnat_ opens fire on the fort."
+
+Mr Norman thought Desmond was right in his conjectures.
+
+"Could not we make a dash at the rear of the fort? we might get in
+before the pirates know we were coming," said Desmond.
+
+"With a stronger party I would try what we could do; but as the pirates
+must have been watching us, they would be prepared for an attack, and I
+very much doubt if we should succeed."
+
+Desmond, though eager to try and rescue Tom, of whose death he was as
+yet far from being convinced, acknowledged to himself that his
+lieutenant was right.  They remained a few minutes longer, taking a more
+perfect survey of the fortress and the surrounding country.
+
+"If I mistake not, could we land on the right side of it, we might make
+our way, concealed by the mass of brushwood to the rear of the fort, and
+get close up to it before we are discovered, while the pirates, if they
+expect us to make the attempt, will be looking out for us over that open
+ground more to the left; but we must get back and communicate with
+Captain Rogers," observed the lieutenant.
+
+Mr Norman, directly he came down from the hill, ordered his men to
+retreat.  As soon as they were on board, the boats pulled away for the
+_Gnat_ as fast as the crews could lay their backs to the oars, all
+knowing the importance of placing the wounded under the surgeon's care
+as soon as possible.  Two poor fellows required no doctoring, but their
+bodies were carried, nevertheless, for the purpose of giving them, as
+Jack called it, "decent burial?"--in reality that they might be sewn up
+neatly in their hammocks, with a shot at their feet, to carry them down
+to the oozy bed of the ocean beyond the ken of the sharks.
+
+The _Gnat_ had just got off, and with the musquito fleet in tow was
+steaming up towards the pirates' stronghold.  As Mr Norman's three
+boats passed within long range of the fort, several shots were fired at
+them without doing any damage, nor did the pirates make chase, which
+they might have done with a good chance of capturing their enemies.
+
+At last the boats got alongside the _Gnat_.  Captain Rogers received the
+account Mr Norman gave him with much concern.
+
+"But is it certain that he is killed?  Did any one see him fall?" he
+inquired.
+
+"No, sir," answered Mr Norman.  "We are confident that he was made
+prisoner; but the belief is that the pirates, in revenge for the
+destruction of their junks, would have cut off his head unless they were
+induced to hold him as a hostage."
+
+"I trust that the latter is the case, and that we may manage to get him
+out of their hands," observed Captain Rogers.  "But in my anxiety to
+save him I must not neglect my duty.  We must attack these fellows
+without delay.  Unfortunately they have had some time for preparations,
+and will give us more trouble than would have been the case had not this
+craft got on shore.  I purpose, while the boats attack the junks, to
+land the marines and storm the fort."
+
+Captain Adair having come on board, Captain Rogers directed him to
+accompany the marines with a small body of blue-jackets.
+
+"I believe, sir, that we may be able to get to the rear of the fort from
+a landing-place I discovered as I came along," said Mr Norman.  "While
+the _Gnat_ and the boats are assaulting the fort, we may hope to
+approach undiscovered, and by coming suddenly on the pirates, should
+your brother be still alive, we may be able to rescue him before they
+have time to revenge themselves by killing him."
+
+"I trust that you are right, Mr Norman, and that the poor fellow has
+escaped, although from the pirates not having sent off a flag of truce
+to treat for terms, I greatly fear that they have not kept him as an
+hostage."
+
+While the _Gnat_ sailed on Captain Rogers made the necessary
+arrangements for the attack.  She, with two of the largest boats, were
+to bombard the fort, the rest of the flotilla were to board the junks,
+with the exception of the boats under Mr Norman, who was to land with
+their crews and some marines and attack the fort in the rear.  Very
+little time longer elapsed before the _Gnat_, the leading vessel, got
+within range of the junks, which immediately began to blaze away with
+their guns and gingalls, she and her smaller consorts returning the fire
+with interest.  Two large junks lay directly in the way; one, after the
+first round was fired, began to settle down so rapidly that many of the
+crew must have sunk with her, while the rest were seen swimming like a
+shoal of tadpoles towards the shore.  The other, a fine-looking vessel,
+stood out longer.
+
+"Fire at te deck, at te deck!" cried Po-ho; "she my ship; no sink her!"
+
+A volley of musketry made the pirate crew quit the vessel and follow
+their companions on shore, while the _Round Moon_ remained floating
+tranquilly, although Captain Murray fully expected to see her burst out
+into flames and blow up as the others had done.  Po-ho entreated that he
+might go on board to prevent any such catastrophe; and he was allowed
+the dingy and a couple of men that he might take possession of his
+vessel.  He might have been safer on board the _Gnat_, for several shot
+from the fort struck the junk as the man-of-war glided in between her
+and the shore.  So close did the _Gnat_ get that the guns of the fort,
+which were trained at too high an elevation, sent their shot over her;
+while the shells, round shot, and rockets, which she poured into the
+fort, were apparently producing havoc among its defenders.  First one
+gun was silenced, then another, but the remainder continued blazing
+away, either at the gun-boat or at the other boats.
+
+The report that Tom Rogers had been taken prisoner soon spread among the
+boats of the _Empress_, and from them to the boats of the other ships,
+no one exactly knowing how it had happened.  There was a search on board
+each junk captured, in the hopes of discovering him, as junk after junk
+was taken.  Several, however, which were farther from those first
+attacked, slipped their cables and tried to run on shore; some were
+overtaken before they had time to do so; others were set on fire by the
+pirates and blew up, and the remainder succeeded in effecting their
+purpose.
+
+A good many of the prisoners, however, were taken, who either could not
+swim or had not time to make their escape.  The British casualties were
+very small, as only two or three of the junks showed fight.  One of the
+largest fired away until the boats were close up to her; she then cut
+her cable and made for the shore, still blazing away with her heavy
+guns, gingalls, and match-locks.  Twice the crew were about to desert
+their guns and attempt to leap overboard, but were restrained by a
+fine-looking fellow in a Malay dress, who with his sword kept the men to
+their duty, cutting down two or three who showed signs of disobedience.
+
+Jerry Bird was in one of the boats of the _Empress_, and catching sight
+of the pirate captain, he exclaimed, "Why, as I'm alive, that's no other
+than our friend Jonathan Jull!  Hallo, Mr Jull, knock under; it's no
+use holding out!"
+
+A fire-lock aimed at Jerry's head was the only answer made by the pirate
+chief.  Fortunately the bullet merely cut off one of his love-locks, and
+the junk, already close to the shore, stood on.  In another minute she
+touched the beach, when Jull, firing the last gun, set the example of
+deserting her, and leaping overboard, began to wade up the beach,
+surrounded by his men, towards the fort.
+
+The British boats followed them, but as they got to the other side of
+the junk they were exposed to a hot fire from the fort.  This, however,
+did not stop them.  On they rushed, their lieutenant leading them,
+hoping to capture the pirate chief, and thus quickly put an end to the
+contest.  Jull, however, had a very fast pair of legs, and he and his
+men were close up to the gate, when the gun-boats ceased firing and two
+rockets rose together, the signal agreed on to show that the party on
+shore were about to attack the fort.
+
+In the mean time Captain Adair, with the marines, Lieutenant Norman,
+Desmond, and Gordon, had landed in a little sheltered bay, which had
+been discovered near the fort, and had pushed on without being perceived
+by the enemy.  They advanced cautiously, feeling their way, in case of
+an ambush having been placed to attempt their destruction.  All the time
+the continuous cannonade going on sounded in their ears.
+
+Mr Norman had told Captain Adair that he had seen a number of people
+escaping from the junks, as well as others outside the fort, and that it
+would, therefore, be but prudent to be prepared for a surprise.
+
+None, however, was made.  The pirates had apparently assembled in their
+fort, determined to hold out to the last.  They must have seen, however,
+that their case was desperate, when junk after junk was taken or
+destroyed, and that unless they possessed abundance of ammunition and
+provisions they must very soon have to surrender.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+TOM IN THE HANDS OF THE PIRATES--ABOUT TO BE KILLED WHEN RESCUED BY
+JULL'S YOUNG WIFE--TOM WITNESSES THE FIGHT FROM THE ROCK--THE FORT TAKEN
+AND JULL KILLED--FUGITIVES BRING THE NEWS--THE YOUNG WIDOW'S
+PHILOSOPHY--SHE MAKES TOM AN OFFER, WHO SAYS HE MUST ASK HIS CAPTAIN--
+TOM ESCORTS THE WIDOW ON BOARD THE GNAT--JACK FORBIDS THE BANNS--BOOTY
+REMOVED--THE WIDOW ENGAGED BY PO-HO--THE SQUADRON REACHES YOKOHAMA--
+CURIOUS SIGHTS ON SHORE--EXPECTED ATTACK ON PRINCE SATSUMA--SQUADRON
+SAILS--THE PRINCE'S TOWN BOMBARDED AND HIS FLEET CAPTURED, PROCEEDINGS
+WHICH BRING HIM TO REASON AND ESTABLISH FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN THE
+TWO COUNTRIES.
+
+We must now return to Tom Rogers.  On finding himself in the hands of
+the pirates, he expected nothing but instant death.  His uniform,
+however, showed them that they had got hold of an officer, and always
+having an eye to business, they probably considered that they might
+obtain a high ransom for him, or that if hard pressed, he would prove a
+valuable hostage in their hands, and compel their enemies to come to
+terms.  On hearing the shouts of his companions in the rear, he made
+several desperate efforts to escape, but, on calmer reflection, the
+sight of a sword-blade held to the level of his throat made him see the
+wisdom of desisting from any such attempts.
+
+On they dragged him to the rear of the fort; it was already in sight,
+when the party were joined by the fugitives of the other two junks which
+had been destroyed.  They came boiling with rage at their defeat, and on
+seeing an English officer in the power of their companions, instantly
+prepared to kill him.  A fierce-looking Malay, whom Tom guessed was
+their captain, drew his sword and was about to cut him down, when
+another party who had come out of the fort, appeared on the scene.  They
+were escorting, so it seemed, a young female to a place of greater
+safety than the fort, which, although the pirates might be victorious,
+would they knew be exposed to showers of shot and shell.  Tom instantly
+recognised the girl as the young Malay wife of Jonathan Jull, their
+guest on board the _Bellona_.  As he had no desire to die, he
+immediately shouted out to her, imploring her protection, and letting
+her know who he was.  In another moment the savage Malay would have
+cloven his head in two, had not the Malay girl, answering to his appeal,
+sprung forward and placed herself in front of him, making violent
+gestures and vociferating vehemently.  What she was saying Tom could
+only guess at, although he supposed she was insisting that his life
+should be spared.
+
+"Thank you, thank you!" he said, taking her hand, and putting it to his
+lips.  "You have saved my life this once, and I will do my best to
+protect you, if I get clear altogether."
+
+The effect of the Malay girl's speech had been to appease the savage old
+captain, who at length stalked away at the head of his men towards the
+fort, leaving Tom with the Malay girl and the party escorting her, and
+some of the men who had captured him.  Still Tom felt his position very
+insecure.  At any moment, should the pirates be defeated, they might, in
+revenge, put him to death, and even should Jull lose his life, Tom
+thought his protectress might probably turn against him from the same
+motive.  He did his best, however, to ingratiate himself with her.
+
+As by this time the shot and shell were falling pretty thickly into the
+fort, some of the former occasionally flying over it and coming
+unpleasantly near the guard attending the Malay girl, they hurried her
+on, taking Tom with them.  He was willing enough to go, as he would
+avoid the unnecessary danger he would otherwise have run had he been
+carried into the fort.  The guard consisted only of about a dozen men,
+sufficient in number, however, to prevent Tom from making his escape.
+What they intended ultimately to do with him he could not ascertain, but
+he felt tolerably safe while with the Malay girl, who had already shown
+her willingness to befriend him.  He talked away to her, although, as he
+could not speak a word of Malay and very few of Chinese, and she
+understood a very small number of English phrases, he found it a hard
+matter to make himself understood.  "How can I prove my gratitude?" he
+thought; and he considered what present he could make her.  He felt in
+his pockets; he could only find a few Chinese coins, a clasp knife, and
+a pencil-case--the latter being merely plated, and somewhat battered,
+was not very valuable.  He then recollected there was a gold seal
+attached to his watch-chain.  This he offered to her, but she smilingly
+put it back and showed him a variety of gold ornaments, which she
+produced from a bag by her side;--how come by, Tom did not ask.
+
+Their conversation, such as it was, was interrupted by the increased
+roar of the guns, by which he guessed that the _Gnat_ and the boats were
+hotly engaged with the fort and the fleet of junks.  Tom observed
+several men climbing up to the top of a rock, from whence he judged that
+they could see what was going forward.  He naturally felt very anxious
+to do the same, and made signs to the girl for her permission.  She
+nodded her consent, and the pirates made no objection to his joining
+them.  As, however, they watched the fight and saw junk after junk blow
+up, and others towed away by the boats, their countenances assumed a
+still deeper scowl than usual, while their hands ominously clutched
+their swords; still, they did not make any effort to molest him, and he
+was permitted by his guards to remain where he was and see the fight.
+At length he observed the large junk attacked by the boats, and, after a
+hot fight, run on shore.  Shortly afterwards he caught sight of the
+marines appearing from under the shelter which had concealed them, and,
+with a party of blue-jackets, making a desperate assault on the rear of
+the fort towards the right hand.  Slight preparations only had been made
+for its defence, and but scarcely a minute had elapsed before he saw the
+red-coats, flanked by the blue-jackets, climbing up the embankment, and
+bounding like red and blue balls over the parapet.
+
+At first the pirates gave way, allowing the entrance of the whole force,
+and from the height he could clearly see all that was going forward in
+the inside.  Before the victorious party had got half-way across they
+were met by a band of savage-looking fellows led by a big captain, who
+quickly rallied the fugitives.  The pirate chief, for such Tom guessed
+he was, fought with the greatest desperation, but he and his men could
+not long withstand the points of the British bayonets, and the sharp
+edges of their cutlasses.  Tom now saw the chief fall, with a dozen of
+his men round him, while the rest giving way, made their escape out by
+the left gate, and were seen scampering away in hot haste across the
+country.
+
+Tom, as he saw this, felt himself in no very enviable position.  The
+villains into whose hands he had fallen might revenge the death of their
+companions by murdering him, but he maintained as indifferent a manner
+as he could assume, while he watched the countenances of those
+surrounding him.  He had the satisfaction of observing that instead of
+thinking of killing him, they themselves were evidently much alarmed.
+They were, indeed, completely separated from the fugitive pirates, and
+should they leave their cover, they would to a certainty be discovered
+by the victors, who now had possession of the fort, as they and Tom knew
+by seeing the British flag run up to the summit of the flag-staff on the
+fort.  He was somewhat anxious to see what effect this would produce on
+the Malay girl and the rest of the party.  Would any one venture to tell
+her that her husband was killed, or should he break the intelligence to
+her?  She soon, however, apparently guessed from the exclamations of the
+pirates that the fort was captured, and might have suspected hat was her
+husband's fate.  If such was the case, it did not appear to have any
+great effect upon her.  She sat on the fallen trunk of a tree below the
+rock, maintaining the same composure as at first.
+
+Tom now began to fear that the English would blow up the fort and embark
+without coming to look for him.  "Sooner than they should do that I must
+try and make a run for it," he said to himself.  "These fellows look so
+cowed that they will not dare to stop me.  I must, however, first thank
+this young lady for having saved my life, and as she can have no object
+in keeping me a prisoner, I will tell her boldly what I intend doing,
+and ask her assistance."
+
+Having formed this resolution, he descended the rock and approached the
+Malay girl.
+
+"Things appear to have gone against my friends," she observed.  "It was
+their misfortune, and cannot be helped."
+
+"_Yes_, the English have possession of the fort, and have captured all
+the junks, so that I would advise your friends here to yield themselves
+prisoners, as the best way of saving their lives.  I will intercede for
+them."
+
+"A very good idea," remarked the girl.  "If you will go at once I will
+accompany you."
+
+"I shall be very glad of your society," answered Tom; "but what will
+these fellows do?  They may try to stop us."
+
+"I will order them to remain here until the English come and make them
+prisoners.  Indeed, they cannot get away without being discovered, even
+if they wish it."
+
+Tom, who was highly delighted at thus easily obtaining his liberty,
+agreed to the proposal.  "Poor thing, she will be dreadfully cut up when
+she hears of her husband's death!" he thought.
+
+As it might be dangerous to remain longer, lest the pirates should
+change their minds, Tom proposed to set off at once, and the Malay girl
+agreeing, they started together for the fort, none of the pirates
+attempting to stop them.
+
+"I wonder whether I ought to tell her about her husband's death?"
+thought Tom; "but she will hear it soon enough when we get to the fort."
+
+While he was discussing the matter in his own mind, she turned to him
+and said--
+
+"They tell me my husband has been killed; if it is true, I hope that
+some of your people will take care of me.  He was a dreadful tyrant; and
+now, after having lost all his wealth, he would have treated me even
+worse than before."
+
+This remark showed Tom that all his sympathy had been thrown away.  The
+young lady greatly puzzled him when she proposed that he should marry
+her.  He was too polite to refuse at once, but remarked "that English
+midshipmen were not allowed to have wives on board, and that he would
+not think of such a thing without asking his captain's leave."
+
+This appeared to satisfy her, and they continued walking along side by
+side very amicably, till Tom heard a voice exclaim, "Why, there's Tom
+Rogers, all alive and merry!"
+
+Immediately several of his messmates rushed out of the fort to greet
+him.  A party were at once despatched to make prisoners of the pirates
+who were hiding behind the rock, and who were shortly afterwards brought
+in.
+
+Preparations were now made for destroying the pirates' strong hold.  The
+prisoners were handcuffed and carried on board the junks, with a guard
+placed over them.  The _Gnat_ meantime got up her steam in readiness to
+tow out the captured junks.  The Malay girl kept close to Tom, evidently
+considering him her protector, and he, of course, in gratitude, could do
+nothing less than attend to her, and as soon as a boat could be obtained
+he took her off to the _Gnat_.  He explained her wishes to Jack.
+
+"We must carry her to Chusan, where I dare say she will find friends,"
+said Jack; "but you must let her understand that I cannot give you
+permission to make her your bride."
+
+The girl pouted when she heard this, but being evidently of a
+philosophical turn of mind, soon appeared reconciled to her lot.  A
+considerable amount of booty was found in the fort, the most valuable
+portion of which was embarked in the captured junks.  In the mean time
+the guns of the fort, several of which were of brass, and of
+considerable value, were carried on board the gun-boat.  Some powder
+having been landed and placed in advantageous positions for blowing up
+the fort, a train was laid, and as soon as all the party had embarked,
+it was fired.
+
+The junks with the prisoners on board were taken in tow by the _Gnat_,
+while the other boats took charge of the rest of the junks.  As the
+flotilla moved off, the fort blew up with a loud explosion, its
+fragments being scattered far around.
+
+"I hope the lesson we have given the rascals will teach them in future
+to turn to more lawful occupations," observed Captain Rogers, as he
+witnessed the destruction of the fort.
+
+"They will be at the same work in a few weeks, if they can cut out a
+junk, and find a fellow to lead them," said Adair, to whom the remark
+had been made.  "Altogether we have had a good morning's work, and
+rendered some service to commerce by putting a stop for the present to
+the career of such desperadoes."
+
+The flotilla having got clear of the passage, rejoined the larger ships,
+which, taking the junks in tow, steamed back to Chusan.  Jack's chief
+puzzle was to know in what way to dispose of the Malay girl; but his
+anxiety was removed when Captain Po-ho, in due form, offered to marry
+her, an arrangement to which she appeared to have no objection.  Jack
+was at all events very glad to get her out of the ship, as, to say the
+best of her, she was a determined coquette, and had turned the heads of
+half the midshipmen, and, it was whispered, of more than one of the
+lieutenants, during the short time she had been on board.
+
+The prisoners were handed over to the Chinese authorities, to be dealt
+with according to law.  Some lost their heads, others escaped, and the
+rest were turned over to the Chinese navy.  The junks were sold for the
+benefit of the captors, with the exception of the _Round Moon_, which
+was delivered back with her cargo to Captain Po-ho, who, considering
+that he had regained his vessel and property, and a wife in addition,
+benefited more largely than anybody else by the expedition.
+
+These arrangements having been made as quickly as possible, the
+commodore continued his course.
+
+In about a week the squadron came to anchor before the lately built town
+of Yokohama.  It stands on a dead flat, formerly a swamp, with bluffs of
+high land at each extremity, joined by a range of low and picturesquely
+wooded hills in the form of a horse shoe.  Beyond these hills, some
+fifty miles away, rising to the height of 14,000 feet above the sea,
+towers the truncated cone of Fasiama.  At the southern extremity was
+seen a long two-storied bungalow, serving as the British legation.
+Although some time before the followers of one of the principal damios
+had wantonly murdered an Englishman, the people were friendly to
+foreigners, who did not hesitate to ride out into the country.
+
+The three captains the following day went on shore to see as much as
+they could of the country and its curious inhabitants, and those
+fortunate individuals, the three midshipmen, with some of their
+messmates, were invited to accompany them.
+
+The foreign settlement was soon inspected, as there was but little to
+see in it, beyond its bungalow-looking buildings and gardens.  They then
+went into the adjoining Japanese town.  It greatly resembled that of
+some of the northern cities of China, the principal streets being broad,
+with neat and clean-looking shops.  These greatly resembled those of
+China, except that the Japanese used neither tables, chairs, nor
+counters.  Those in the main street contained lacquer ware, carvings in
+ivory, bronzes, some very beautiful porcelain, and a variety of toys.
+
+Strange sights were witnessed.  Females of no exalted rank were carried
+about in a basket-like litter, sitting cramped up in a most
+uncomfortable posture.  The basket, which is called a "cango," is
+suspended from a pole, borne on the shoulders of two men.  Ladies and
+gentlemen of higher rank were seen going about in palanquins, which were
+smaller, than those used in India.  They were formed of wicker work, and
+covered outside with lacquer.  They also were supported by poles on the
+shoulders of bearers.  None of the gentlemen, who sat their horses with
+apparently such wonderful dignity, really guided them, though they held
+their bridles in their hands--a groom always leading their
+gaily-caparisoned steeds.  The soldiers, however, of whom a troop was
+always in attendance on any "damio," or great lord, of course, managed
+their horses themselves.
+
+The naval officers encountered a party of these gentlemen, and knowing
+the importance of avoiding any cause of dispute, managed in good time to
+get out of their way.  The "betos," for so the horse-soldiers are
+called, cast fierce glances at the strangers.  Gerald, ever inclined to
+merriment, could scarcely refrain from laughing as he watched them
+passing by.
+
+"Well, those fellows are the thinnest-clothed rascals I have ever seen.
+Look, Tom, at their braided coats, they fit as tight as their skins.
+See what curious devices they have on them, both back and front.  Look
+at that fellow with the big dragon--the head and fore part on his chest,
+its body and tail coming round his back, in blue, red, and yellow
+colours!"
+
+"Why, that is his skin which is thus tattoed over in that curious
+fashion," answered Tom.  "Not a shred of a coat has he got.  See, every
+one of them has some device marked on him, and they are all in the same
+style of uniform."
+
+"Take care, lads; don't speak so loud; or should the fellow see that you
+are laughing or talking about them, they may fancy you are insulting
+them, and disagreeable consequences may ensue," cried Jack.
+
+The three captains accordingly turned their horses' heads and rode off
+in a different direction to that which the damio and his followers had
+taken.
+
+On returning on board, the captains received a summons from the admiral,
+desiring to see them on important business.  Having got themselves up in
+full fig, as required on such occasions, they pulled away for the
+flag-ship.
+
+"There is something in the wind, depend upon it!" observed one of the
+midshipmen to Tom.  "Did the captain say anything about it to you?"
+
+"I don't think he knows himself; but if he did, he would not tell me
+sooner than anybody else," answered Tom.  "I'll tell you what I heard
+him and Captain Adair speaking about, and I shouldn't be surprised if
+what they are now meeting for is connected with it."
+
+Most of the occupants of the midshipmen's birth were assembled at tea.
+
+"Well, Rogers, what is it?" exclaimed several voices.
+
+"Most of us have heard of Prince Satsuma, a mighty magnificent
+three-tailed Bashaw, the chief lord and owner of the city of Kagosima
+and the adjacent parts.  He, it appears, or one of his bare-backed
+followers, some time ago murdered, without any rhyme or reason, an
+English merchant, who happened to be riding along the high road.  Of
+course the British Government demanded satisfaction: the punishment of
+the murderer, and a good round sum as compensation to his bereaved
+family.  These very moderate terms the prince doesn't seem inclined to
+agree to, and we are, therefore, ordered here to impress him with the
+necessity of doing so, and, if he does not, we are to batter down his
+town, to take possession of his fleet--for it is said that he has got
+one--and to make such other reprisals as may be deemed expedient to
+bring him to reason.  I heard the captain say that he paid a visit with
+one of the principal merchants residing here, who has transactions with
+the prince, to a Japanese official of high rank in the place--I forget
+his name--and that during the conversation the matter under dispute was
+introduced.  A Japanese who speaks English very well was present to act
+as interpreter.  The great aim of this official seemed to be to induce
+the British squadron not to go to Kagosima, and he entreated the captain
+to visit another official, the prince's chief envoy.  This, he said,
+could not be done without permission of the admiral, but, if granted, he
+would willingly do as he was requested.  No sooner had the interpreter
+translated the captain's reply than the great man, taking out writing
+materials from a box, seated himself on the floor, and began scribbling
+away on a scroll of paper, in wonderfully large characters, a note to
+the envoy.  As line after line was finished he rolled it up, and then,
+with due formality, handed it to the captain, who had the curiosity to
+measure it, and what do you think was its length?  Why, six feet at the
+very least.  Official documents, by the same rule, must be thirty or
+forty feet long, according to their importance."
+
+"Can you tell us the length of a lover's _billet-doux_?" asked the
+assistant surgeon.
+
+"That depends very much on the excess of his ardour, and what he has got
+to say," answered Tom; "though, from what I've heard, I don't think the
+Japanese are addicted to writing love-letters."
+
+"And what happened next?"
+
+"That's more than I can tell, though I believe that the letter was
+delivered and answered, with a hint to Prince Satsuma that whatever
+might be said, he had better look sharp and yield to our demands, or
+that he might expect to have his town tumbling about his ears.  The
+British envoy and admiral have been waiting a reply, and I suspect that
+it has arrived and is not satisfactory; consequently we shall proceed
+immediately to teach the haughty damio that Englishmen are not to be
+murdered with impunity.  These Japanese will be like the Chinese until
+they are taught better.  They fancy that their castles are impregnable,
+and as they have never been attacked, except by each other, that they
+can beat off an English squadron with perfect ease."
+
+This information given by Tom afforded intense satisfaction, and all
+hands waited with considerable anxiety to hear how soon they might
+expect to exchange shots with the Japanese.  They had heard that the
+batteries they were likely to be engaged with were somewhat of a
+formidable character, having already fired on an American and French
+man-of-war and inflicted considerable damage; the American indeed, being
+unsupported, narrowly escaped destruction.  The captain, on his return,
+brought intelligence which confirmed their hopes.  The emperor had,
+however, sent a document fifteen feet in length, earnestly requesting
+that the expedition might be put off; but as he gave no guarantee that
+by so doing a satisfactory result would be arrived at, the British envoy
+kept to his determination of immediately enforcing the demands of his
+government.
+
+Early the following morning, the official gentlemen having embarked on
+board the flag-ship, the signal was made for the squadron to weigh, and
+the ships, steaming out of the harbour, shaped a course for the Bay of
+Kagosima.  The distance was considerable, the voyage occupied four days,
+during which all preparations were made for the expected attack on the
+capital of the Prince of Satsuma.  At last, through a wide entrance they
+steamed into the beautiful Bay of Kagosima, where they came to anchor
+some miles below the town, intending to wait there until the following
+morning.
+
+The midshipmen, as might be supposed, during the evening talked over the
+work they expected to be engaged in the next day.  Some thought that
+they should land and storm the town, others that the admiral would be
+content with bombarding it at a distance.
+
+"One thing I know that if there is work to be done my brother Jack is
+the man to go in and do it," observed Tom to Desmond.  "We are certain,
+therefore, to see the best part of the fun, whatever it may be."
+
+"I don't think my uncle Captain Adair will be far astern of him if he
+has a chance," said Desmond, for he very properly always stuck up for
+his relative.
+
+One thing only was generally known, that the admiral had orders to
+bombard the place and burn it down if the Japanese did not accede
+unconditionally to all demands made on them.  The weather did not look
+so promising as could have been wished, but still hopes were entertained
+that it would allow the ships to take up their positions.
+
+At an early hour the next morning, the signal was made for weighing, and
+the squadron steamed up the bay until they arrived off the town to be
+attacked, when they again dropped anchor.  It was no trifling work in
+which they were about to engage, for they could see a long line of
+fortifications extending across the whole front of the city, the flag of
+Prince Satsuma flying from one of them.  The guns, however, remained
+silent.
+
+"We shall soon knock that place to pieces," said Billy Blueblazes, as he
+surveyed it with a look of contempt.
+
+"Don't be too sure of that," answered Tom; "there are some pretty heavy
+guns inside those forts, and the Japanese know how to handle them too."
+
+Still the guns did not open fire, and in a short time a boat was seen
+putting off from the shore.  She contained a party of two-sworded
+officials, who came on board the flag-ship, where Captain Murray and
+Archie happened at the time to be.  Archie afterwards related all he saw
+and heard.
+
+One of the principal of the two-sworded gentlemen inquired, with an air
+of surprise, "why the ships of war had come uninvited to the town?"
+adding that he concluded the ships had brought a letter from the British
+Government on some subject or other.
+
+"You are perfectly correct there," was the answer.  "It is a letter,
+insisting that all the demands which have been made should be complied
+with within twenty-four hours, if not, you see the guns which our ships
+carry; we have shells and rockets and other missiles of warfare, and we
+shall be compelled to let them fly pretty thickly about your ears."
+
+"But the prince is fifty miles off, and it is impossible to get an
+answer within the time specified."
+
+"Then we will make the time thirty hours.  Your posts can perform the
+distance in that time, and take care that they do not dally on the way."
+
+The Japanese chief official smiled blandly, and then said that it would
+facilitate matters if the admiral and the _charge d'affaires_ would come
+on shore to discuss the matter in an amicable manner within the city,
+where a palace had been prepared for their reception.
+
+"The Japanese must think us very green if they suppose us to be caught
+in that fashion," remarked one of the officers standing by, when he
+heard the interpreter give the invitation.
+
+The Japanese official pressed the offer in the most bland and courteous
+manner, pointing out the great advantage which would be gained by more
+quickly bringing affairs to a conclusion.
+
+The admiral, however, was not to be caught, and he had good reason to
+congratulate himself that he did not accept it, when it was reported
+that the Japanese intended as soon as he and the envoy had got inside
+the castle to lift the drawbridges and to send word on board the
+squadron that should a shot be fired the prisoners would be instantly
+beheaded.
+
+The interview at length came to a conclusion, and the two-sworded
+officials took their departure for the shore.  Within the time specified
+they returned with a long rigmarole letter, which was of course anything
+but satisfactory.  They looked very much surprised when ordered to
+return on shore with an intimation that no further communication would
+be held with the prince unless under a flag of truce.
+
+In the mean time a boat expedition had been ordered to proceed further
+up the gulf to ascertain what had become of the fleet of vessels which
+the prince was said to possess.  Tom and Desmond had the satisfaction of
+going in one of the boats, their hopes being raised that some work would
+be cut out for them.
+
+The scenery presented on either shore was magnificent, while the weather
+continued fine.  No ships were, however, seen until they had got about
+seven miles up, when they came in sight of three large steamers, with
+the flag of the prince flying on board.
+
+It was hoped that these would be at once captured and held in pledge
+until the demands of the British were complied with; but the officer in
+command having been directed simply to make a reconnaissance, ordered
+the boats to be put about, and they returned to the squadron.  They
+found that the Japanese officials had been going backwards and forwards,
+evidently with the intention, for some reason or other, of spinning out
+the time.  That the Japanese intended hostilities was manifest enough,
+for they began to assemble large bodies of men in their batteries, and
+to point the whole of their guns, numbering some seventy or eighty, upon
+the squadron.  Shortly after this, five large junks were warped out of
+the inner harbour, and anchored out of the line of fire.  Later in the
+day, a number of Japanese boats came out of the harbour, and as they
+approached the squadron, they were seen to be filled with soldiers,
+although, at the same time they contained a few water melons, fowls, and
+eggs, apparently intended to represent the provisions with which the
+Japanese had promised to supply the ships.  Instead of coming alongside,
+however, they merely pulled round the squadron, evidently for the
+purpose of counting the number of guns, that the garrisons of the forts
+might be satisfied how far superior a force they themselves possessed.
+
+The best scene of all, however, was a visit from a damio, or person of
+high rank, who came off with a guard of forty men.  He had the impudence
+to ask to come on board the flag-ship with his guard, and, perhaps
+greatly to his surprise, this was granted, but he looked very much
+astonished when he saw a body of marines drawn up on the opposite side
+of the deck, who in a few seconds would have sent him and his guard of
+honour flying headlong into the water had they shown any hostile
+intentions.
+
+Of this the two-sworded official was evidently very well aware, judging
+by the nervous expression on his countenance.  As soon as he could find
+an excuse for doing so--glad enough to get out of the ship--he hurried
+away.  Before he was half-way down the companion ladder, the admiral
+hoisted the signal to the squadron to get up steam and to be ready to
+weigh anchor at a moment's notice.  The reason of his doing so was
+evident, for it was seen that the Japanese had been training their guns
+to bear directly on the squadron, under the belief that they were going
+to remain where they were, to be shot at.
+
+The admiral then issued another order, directing five of the smaller
+vessels of the squadron to proceed up the gulf and take possession of
+the three steamers which had been discovered by the boats.
+
+"We shall have some fun now, at all events," exclaimed Tom to Desmond,
+who, with himself and a boat's crew, had been sent on board one of the
+gun-boats short of hands.  "If they do not fight they will run, and we
+shall have the amusement of making chase.  It will be better fun than
+battering away at the walls, which, in my opinion, is a sort of work
+affording very little satisfaction to any one."
+
+The men-of-war, immediately getting under way, proceeded up the gulf.
+They steamed on at full speed, and soon came in sight of the three
+Japanese steamers, which, however, showed no inclination either to fight
+or run away.  This was somewhat of a disappointment.  No sooner did the
+men-of-war approach, then they hauled down their flags and tamely
+submitted to be carried off, when they were brought to, just out of
+range of the guns of the fort, their crews and other persons found on
+board being taken out of them.
+
+"The admiral is speaking to us, sir," said Desmond, who was acting as
+signal midshipman on board the _Empress_.
+
+Captain Rogers quickly turned over the leaves of the signal book.
+"Engage north battery, until signal to form line of battle is thrown
+out."  Jack immediately gave the order to slip the cable, and steam
+having been got up, the ship moved away towards the spot she was
+directed to occupy, opening her fire without loss of time on the
+battery, which replied in earnest, with well-directed shots.  Several
+struck her hull, while others, flying between her masts, cut away her
+rigging.  This only made her crew work with greater zeal, in the hopes
+of soon silencing the battery.  That, however, was not easily done, for
+the Japanese were evidently handling their guns well, and were not to be
+driven from them.
+
+Desmond kept his glass directed towards the flag-ship, to report any
+signals which might be made.  Tom was attending to his duty at the guns.
+Billy Blueblazes was standing near Desmond, ready to convey the
+captain's orders.  A shot passed unpleasantly near his head.
+
+"A miss is as good as a mile," remarked Desmond, as Billy bobbed,
+looking rather pale.
+
+"I hope no other will come nearer than that," said Billy, recovering
+himself and trying to laugh.
+
+Just then a shot struck the end of Desmond's telescope, shattering it to
+pieces, and carrying the instrument out of his hands, a fragment
+striking Billy on the cheek and drawing blood, but not inflicting any
+serious wound.  The same shot took off the head of a man who was at the
+moment coming aft, at the other side of the deck.
+
+"Now, that's not fair!" exclaimed Billy; "aiming at me on purpose."
+
+"Then go and get me another spy-glass, and afterwards ask the doctor to
+stick a plaster on your cheek," said Desmond.  "You'll be out of harm's
+way there, and have the honour of being reported wounded, which will be
+pleasanter than being in the other list, though it may not tend so much
+to your fame."
+
+Billy gladly hurried off, holding his handkerchief to his face and
+speedily returned with the telescope, with which Desmond, as coolly as
+before, continued to watch the mast-heads of the flag-ship.  It was warm
+work, for already two men had been killed and several wounded, not
+including Billy, who, however, appeared on deck with a large black patch
+on his cheek and a handkerchief tied round his head, not certainly
+improving his beauty.
+
+"Did you get any teeth knocked out?" asked Tom, as Billy passed him.
+"If you did, take care to pick them up and get the doctor to stick them
+in again, for they will grow, depend on that."
+
+"No, I lost no teeth; I only had a piece taken out of my cheek," said
+Billy.
+
+"Lucky it wasn't your nose," observed Tom; "it would have spoilt your
+beauty for ever."  He could make no further remark, as he had to attend
+to his gun.
+
+Jack had well performed the duty entrusted to him, and was expecting to
+remain until he had battered down the fort, when Desmond cried out that
+the admiral was again making signals.  They were to the effect that all
+ships of the squadron were to get under way and form line of battle
+before the town.
+
+Accordingly Jack, leaving the sorely battered fort, steamed away to take
+up his position in the line.  The weather, which had long been
+threatening, came on much worse as the crews stood ready at their guns.
+A heavy squall blew across the gulf, and at the same instant a downfall
+of rain came on.
+
+Suddenly the whole of the batteries opened on the squadron; still the
+ships did not return the fire.  Immediately the squall cleared away, the
+signal was seen flying from the flag-ship, directing the prizes to be
+destroyed and the vessels which had them in charge to join the line of
+battle.  The flag-ship, which was leading, was for some time, owing to
+the heavy gale which was blowing, exposed to the fire of several
+batteries, which killed two of her officers and wounded a considerable
+number of men.
+
+As soon as the weather would allow, the other ships got up and lost not
+a moment in opening with their guns on the batteries.  The ships had not
+long been engaged, when the effects of their fire became visible from
+the battered state to which the fort was reduced, while flames were seen
+bursting out in different parts of the town.  Every moment the weather
+was getting worse.  The wind had increased almost to a hurricane.  The
+sky was overcast with dark and gloomy clouds, rendering more than
+usually vivid the flashes of the guns as they poured forth their
+death-dealing shot into the town.  At length it became difficult to work
+them, and the admiral gave the signal to discontinue the action.
+
+Five large junks lay to the southward of the town, which the Japanese
+might have hoped would have escaped, but they were mistaken in supposing
+that the prince was not to receive the full punishment due to him.
+These vessels were his private property.  The admiral ordered one of the
+smaller ships to proceed immediately and set fire to the junks, as there
+was no possibility of carrying them off.  One after the other they were
+quickly blazing up, and the flames, fanned by the rising gale, soon
+destroyed them.
+
+The steamer also threw her shells into an arsenal and among a number of
+large storehouses, which soon, sharing the fate of the junks, were left
+furiously blazing away.
+
+The squadron now stood off from the batteries and returned to their
+former anchorage.  Scarcely were their anchors down than the hurricane
+came on with greater fury than before.  The night was as dark as pitch,
+heavy thunder-clouds rolling overhead; but the wind was off the land,
+though it was a question whether it might not change, and should any of
+the ships be driven ashore, their crews could expect but little mercy
+from the hands of the Japanese.
+
+The _Empress_ was one of the outermost of the squadron.  It had just
+gone four bells in the first watch when the third lieutenant reported
+that the ship was dragging her anchors.  More cable was veered out, but
+she was by this time exposed to the full blast of gale.  The lead was
+hove, and sixty fathoms reported; that she could hold the ground now
+was, therefore, impossible.  The captain ordered the cable to be
+slipped, and the steam having been kept up, she drifted slowly away,
+still endeavouring to regain her lost position.  Every moment she became
+more and more exposed to the force of the hurricane.  All on board were
+well aware of her danger, although she might bring up on the opposite
+side of the bay; she would then be on a lee shore, and should her
+anchors not hold, her loss was almost inevitable, although some hours
+might pass before her fate was sealed.
+
+All hands remained on deck.  Jack had been in many a dangerous position;
+but in those days he had no wife to care for, and he had not the
+responsibilities of command.  The night passed slowly away.  When
+morning broke, the gale continued blowing as fiercely as ever, while the
+land to leeward looked unpleasantly near.  Still steam was kept up, and
+the trusty screw was doing its best to drive the gallant ship ahead.
+The instant the hurricane moderated she began to make way, and soon
+again got up to her anchorage with the rest of the squadron.
+
+Desmond was turning his telescope towards the shore, where, at the top
+of a hill overlooking the anchorage, among a grove of thick trees, he
+saw a number of Japanese working away with picks and shovels, and a
+little further on he caught a glimpse of a heavy gun, dragged by a
+number of horses, coming along the road, and then another and another.
+It was very clear that the Japanese intended, from the advantageous
+position they held, to open fire on the smaller vessels lying within
+pistol-shot of the shore.  The admiral, on discovering this, ordered the
+squadron to weigh, and his ship leading they steamed through the channel
+in line, passing the batteries on either side, which they saluted as
+they glided by with a hot fire, bestowing particular attention on the
+palace of the prince, teaching him a lesson he was not likely soon to
+forget.  The batteries replied, but feebly and without damage to any one
+of the ships.
+
+The squadron now returned to the anchorage they had taken up on first
+entering the bay, where their crews had plenty of work to do in
+repairing damages; fishing spars and refitting before proceeding to sea.
+
+Returning to Yokohama, they had the satisfaction of learning that their
+proceedings having brought the prince to reason, the whole of the sum
+demanded had been paid and ample apologies offered.  The undertaking,
+however, had been a costly one.  Two gallant officers and eleven men had
+been killed and forty-eight wounded.
+
+Friendly relations were ultimately established with Prince Satsuma, who
+expressed his intention of sending several of his young nobility to
+England to be educated, while the Tycoon despatched a special envoy to
+congratulate the British _charge d'affaires_ on the satisfactory
+termination of all difficulties, and to express a hope that in future
+amicable relations would exist between the two nations.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+THE EMPRESS SAILS FOR THE FIJI ISLANDS--PICKS UP TWO PAPUANS--CALLS OFF
+THE COAST OF NEW GUINEA--THE WRECK SEEN--TWO BOATS GO ON SHORE--WHAT
+HAVE BECOME OF THE CREW?--LIEUTENANT NORMAN ASCENDS A HILL--TOM DESMOND
+AND THEIR PARTY PUSH ON--THE LIEUTENANT ATTACKED BY THE NATIVES--
+RETREATS--TOM AND DESMOND MISSING--AFTER A SEVERE FIGHT, REGAINS THE
+BOATS--CAPTAIN ROGERS LANDS, TO RECOVER HIS BROTHER AND HIS COMPANIONS--
+UNSUCCESSFUL MARCH--NATIVE VILLAGE BURNT--BOATS SENT IN AGAIN--GALE
+COMES ON, AND THE SHIP STANDS OFF THE LAND--RETURNS--NO TRACES OF THE
+MIDSHIPMEN--CONTINUES HER VOYAGE--LONG STAY AT FIJI--EMPRESS AND ORION
+SAIL FOR SYDNEY--A WRECK SEEN.
+
+The Japanese difficulty having been satisfactorily settled, the ships of
+the squadron separated to proceed to their various destinations.  The
+_Empress_, while lying in Victoria Harbour, received orders to proceed
+to the Fiji Islands, with directions to touch on her way at the northern
+coast of New Guinea in search of the crew of a merchant vessel said to
+have been lost thereabouts.  Captain Rogers was afterwards to visit
+Sydney and other Australian ports before returning home.
+
+All hands were well pleased at the thoughts of the number of places they
+were to visit, and the curious people they were to see.
+
+The _Empress_ was once more at sea.  Passing by the north of the
+Philippine Islands into the Pacific, she steered to the southward until
+she sighted the Pelew Islands, about eight degrees north of the equator.
+As they are surrounded by a reef, she did not stand close in.  Several
+well-built canoes, however, came off, manned by the dark-skinned race
+who inhabit the group.  They brought tropical fruits and vegetables, and
+appeared eager to trade.  Hills covered with trees, and fruitful valleys
+with streams trickling down them, could be seen.  The distance to the
+shore, however, was too great to allow of a landing being made, and
+further intercourse being opened up with the people.
+
+The natives, having disposed of the cargoes of their canoes, were about
+to return, when another canoe came off, having on board two black men
+with frizzly heads of hair, evidently not Pelew Islanders.  Having come
+on board, they made signs that they wished to go to some country to the
+southward.  The captain on this placed a chart before them, pointing to
+the islands off which the ship then was.  After regarding it for some
+time, one of them drew his finger along the chart until it reached the
+coast of New Guinea.  On a picture of a group of Papuans being then
+exhibited to him he seemed at once to recognise it; indeed, on looking
+at his features and then at the picture, Jack was himself convinced that
+his two visitors were themselves Papuans.  One of the Papuans, who had
+been on board a whaler for some months and could speak a little English,
+confirmed this.  Jack accordingly, without hesitation, undertook to
+carry the men to their native land.  Their names, they informed Pat
+Casey, who took to them at once and managed by some means or other to
+understand what they said, were Nicho and Picho, and forthwith they were
+dubbed Nick and Pipes.
+
+Nick was a curious-looking little fellow, scarcely four feet high, but
+with broad shoulders, and as strong as Hercules, his face being as
+hideous as could be well imagined.  Pipes was taller by a foot or more,
+and was intelligent and not so desperately ill-looking as his companion,
+though far from a beauty.  They rapidly acquired a knowledge of English,
+and Pat took great pains to teach them.  They were evidently accustomed
+to a ship, and he discovered that they had been brought off from their
+native land by a whaler, on board which they had picked up some
+knowledge of the language.
+
+Captain Rogers hoped that they would make themselves useful in
+communicating with their countrymen.  He would indeed gladly have had
+them on board for some weeks, in order that they might express
+themselves better than they now did.  However, Pat understood them, and
+so did Tom and Gerald, who were constantly talking to the men.  The ship
+continued her course under sail in order to spare the coals, but as the
+wind was light she made but little way.  At length, however, the coast
+of New Guinea was sighted, ranges of lofty mountains appearing in the
+distance, while the ground from their base was of a more level
+character, and thickly covered with trees down to the water's edge.  The
+ship stood along the coast, sending her boats frequently on shore, but
+nothing of the wreck was seen, nor could Nick or Pipes manage to
+communicate with any of their countrymen, whom they described as "bad
+mans," and made gestures significant of knocking on the head any
+intruders.  Captain Rogers began to fear that such had been the fate of
+the crew of the _Fair Imogene_, the vessel of which they were in search.
+The ship occasionally came to an anchor, but the two Papuans invariably
+gave the same character to the inhabitants.
+
+She was running along one afternoon before a light breeze under easy
+sail, the lead going, and the fires banked ready to get up steam should
+it be necessary, when the master, who was standing on the bridge, with
+his glass turned towards the coast, exclaimed--
+
+"I see a wreck close in shore, though her masts are gone; but that's a
+ship's hull, or I'm a Dutchman."
+
+Several glasses were pointed in the same direction, and all came to the
+conclusion that the master was right.  The ship was accordingly hove to
+with her head off shore, and two boats were sent in, the second
+lieutenant going in one to command the expedition, and having Billy
+Blueblazes with him, Tom having charge of the other with Desmond, Pat
+Casey, and Peter the black, with Nick and Pipes.  The sea was perfectly
+smooth, so that they were able to get alongside the wreck.  A cursory
+examination left no doubt that she was the vessel of which they were in
+search.  She was in a fearfully battered condition.  Her after-cabin had
+been knocked to pieces, and the whole of her cargo washed out of her;
+still it was possible that her crew might have escaped to the shore, and
+not have been destroyed by the natives.  Pipes asserted that they were
+"good mans," but Nick was evidently doubtful about the matter.  On
+reaching the beach the party from the boats landed without difficulty,
+and two men being left in charge of each, the rest proceeded in search
+of any signs of the _Fair Imogene's_ crew.  Mr Norman said he thought
+they might probably have built a hut on the shore with part of the
+wreck, or erected a flag-staff to make signals to any passing vessel.
+Not far off was a stream of fresh water, which would have enabled them
+to remain on the spot.
+
+Birds innumerable, of gay plumage, and the traces of four-footed
+animals, showed that they could have been in no want of food.  A search
+of an hour and a half or more, however, convinced Mr Norman that if the
+crew had landed there, they must have soon taken their departure, either
+inland or along the coast, for not the slightest sign of them could be
+found.  The next thing was to discover some natives with whom to try and
+open up a communication.  Not far off to the right was a rocky hill
+partly covered with trees.  Mr Norman, taking two of his men with him,
+climbed to the top, hoping from thence to be able to obtain a good view
+over the country, and to ascertain if any human habitation existed in
+the neighbourhood.  Tom and Gerald, with their party, accompanied by the
+natives, had, perhaps imprudently, pushed further inland, intending to
+return to meet the lieutenant, who had neglected to give them any
+directions to remain stationary until he had come down from the hill.
+This was considerably higher than he had supposed, and occupied him a
+much longer time than he had expected in gaining the summit.  He
+obtained, however, a much more extensive view than he had thought
+possible.  Although the shore was fringed with trees, which made it
+appear as if the whole country was covered with them, there were here
+and there plantations or open grassy spaces, as also numerous huts,
+built apparently like those of the Malays, on piles.  He had been for
+some time noting these and various other objects, when he caught sight
+below the hill, to the westward, of a considerable body of men, some
+armed with muskets, others with bows, spears, and swords.  As they were
+making directly for the hill, he had but little doubt that he had been
+observed; and as they might cut him and his companions off from the rest
+of the party, he considered it prudent instantly to descend.  Just as he
+got to the bottom, he caught sight between the trees of a body of
+natives advancing towards him.
+
+"Where are Mr Rogers and his men?" he inquired.
+
+"They went in that direction," was the answer.
+
+"It is possible, sir, that they have got back to the boats by some other
+way," said Bird.  "We fancied we caught sight of them between the trees
+in the distance."
+
+Mr Norman, however, not satisfied that such was the case, was about to
+lead forward his men in the direction which Tom, Desmond, and his
+companions had taken, when the natives in considerable numbers spread
+out in front of him, evidently intending to dispute his advance.  As the
+captain had given him strict orders on no account to show any hostility
+to the inhabitants, he considered it his duty to halt and make signs of
+friendship.  This, however, produced no effect on the natives.  Had
+either Nick or Pipes been with him he might have opened a communication,
+but they had gone on with Tom Rogers, and he had no means of making the
+natives understand that he wished to be on friendly terms with them.
+
+They soon showed their hostility by firing several shots.  The
+lieutenant, therefore, felt it his duty to call his men together and to
+retreat in order to the boats, hoping to find that Tom and his party had
+already reached them.  As soon as they began to retreat the enemy
+pressed on.  He now gave the order to fire in return, but no sooner did
+the seamen lift their muskets to their shoulders than the natives got
+under cover, and although the shot must have passed close to them, no
+one apparently was hurt.  As others were seen coming up, Mr Norman
+continued to retreat.
+
+The enemy now grew bolder, and showers of arrows fell around the seamen,
+in addition to the bullets which whistled past their ears.  The moment
+they halted to fire, the natives again dodged behind the trees, though
+they did not altogether escape, and two or three were seen to fall.  The
+enemy, increasing in numbers, rushed boldly on, and only stopped when
+the sailors turned round to fire at them.  Mr Norman was wounded in the
+arm by a bullet, and an arrow struck him in the side.  Calling on his
+men again to halt and fire, he succeeded in pulling it out and continued
+to retire.  Four of his men were shortly afterwards wounded, either by
+bullets or arrows, but happily as yet none had fallen.
+
+At length he could see the boats in the distance.  He hoped that Tom
+Rogers and his men would come to his assistance, but he looked in vain.
+Except the two men in the boats, who must have heard the firing and were
+standing up with their muskets ready for service, no one was to be seen.
+His great object was now to prevent the enemy getting between him and
+the water.  Continuing his retreat, he ordered his men to reload and
+fire as rapidly as they could, and then to push on for the boats.  From
+the courage and hostility of the people, he doubted very much that they
+were Papuans, and was convinced that they were Malays who had taken
+possession of that part of the country.  One thing was certain, that
+they must have had constant intercourse with white men to have obtained
+so large a supply of firearms and powder.
+
+Not seeing Tom and Desmond, nor any of the men who accompanied them, he
+began to fear that they must have been cut off by another party of the
+natives.  He determined, however, on reaching the boats, should the
+enemy advance, to shove off to a distance, and there await the possible
+reappearance of the midshipmen, or, should they not return, to go off to
+the ship for reinforcements, and if they had escaped with their lives,
+to endeavour to rescue them.
+
+It was a serious question, however, whether he should succeed in
+reaching the boats.  He called on his men to fight to the last, and to
+sell their lives dearly.  A hearty cheer was the reply, and the seamen
+fired a well-directed volley, which knocked over several of their
+enemies; but before they could reload, the natives were upon them, and a
+hand-to-hand fight ensued.  Animated by the voice of their officer, they
+got their bayonets fixed and charged the enemy.  Two poor fellows had
+dropped, shot through the heart.  Besides those already wounded, another
+close to Mr Norman had his brains knocked out.  The survivors making a
+desperate effort, finally succeeded in reaching the boats.
+
+Scarcely, however, had they got on board than the enemy regaining
+courage rushed down upon them, and not without a severe struggle did
+they manage to shove off, so many being wounded that it was with the
+greatest difficulty they could man the oars.  Scarcely had Mr Norman
+taken his seat in the stern sheets than he sank down fainting.  He
+recovered somewhat as the boats got beyond the reach of shot from the
+shore; and although he wished to put himself and the other wounded men
+under the care of the surgeon, he felt a great unwillingness to pull off
+without having ascertained the fate of the midshipmen.
+
+"Did any one see them?" he asked.
+
+"No, sir," answered Jerry Bird in a mournful tone.  "Not a glimpse of
+them.  I have been listening in case they should fire, but I have not
+heard a shot from the direction I've an idea they took."
+
+"Give way, then, lads," said the lieutenant, putting the boat's head
+round; the other following his example, they pulled back to the ship.
+
+The sound of the firing having been heard, the captain had just ordered
+three boats to be got ready, and a party of marines and blue-jackets
+well armed to go in and help their shipmates, when the boats were seen
+coming off.  As it was supposed that all had returned in them, the order
+was countermanded.  On hearing from Mr Norman what had occurred, the
+boats were immediately ordered off, the captain himself taking command,
+the third lieutenant and the senior mate having charge of the other
+boats, with two or three other midshipmen and master's assistants, who
+were all eager to recover their lost messmates.
+
+No one would believe that they had been actually cut off, and fully
+expected to find them either defending themselves in some strong
+position, or on the beach, having cut their way through their enemies.
+The boats drew near the shore, but no natives were to be seen, nor were
+the missing party.  On landing, Jack ordered the marines to form, and
+threw out skirmishers in front and on either side, to feel the way,
+fully expecting every moment to come in sight of a large body of the
+natives.  Still on they went, but no one appeared.  On getting to the
+foot of the knoll from which Lieutenant Norman had obtained a view of
+the country round, the captain and a party of men climbed up to the
+summit.  Not a native was to be seen.  In vain Jack turned his glass in
+every direction, hoping to see his brother's party.  No human being was
+visible, not even among the huts in the distance which Lieutenant Norman
+had discovered.  To be sure, there might be natives close to them, yet
+concealed by the dense growth of the trees.
+
+Jerry Bird, who had returned in the captain's boat, and was as anxious
+as any one to recover the young officers, expressed his opinion that
+they had gone to the southward or south-west, and Jack resolved to make
+his way in that direction, in the hopes of coming upon their "trail," as
+the expression is in North America.  Desirous as he was of recovering
+the lost ones, he did not forget his duty to his ship.  He felt that he
+must not run the risk of being drawn into a trap and surrounded by a
+superior force of the enemy, while it was incumbent on him to return to
+the boats before nightfall.  The party could advance but slowly through
+the thick brushwood, in many places having to hew away with their
+cutlasses, every instant expecting to see the enemy start up before
+them.  There were traces of blood on the ground and bushes, showing
+where some of the natives had fallen by the bullets fired by Mr
+Norman's party, but the bodies of those killed had been carried off.
+Indeed, savage as these Papuans appeared to be, they apparently
+considered that "discretion is the best part of valour," and seeing a
+superior force landing, had beat a retreat into their inland fastnesses.
+
+Jack began to feel sick at heart as hour after hour went by, and several
+miles of ground had been passed over, without any traces of Tom and his
+companions having been discovered.  The heat was intense, and the men
+began to show signs of fatigue, though they endeavoured to keep up as
+well as they could.  Jack, finding a tolerably open space with a rivulet
+of fresh water running through it, called a halt.  He considered that
+here there was no risk of surprise, as by placing men on the watch,
+there would be time to stand on the defensive before they were attacked.
+The rest, with food and fresh water, restored the men, and they were
+eager once more to push forward.  The "bush" in front was becoming
+thicker than ever; should they once work their way well into it, they
+might find it a difficult matter to get out again.  He accordingly
+ordered them to fire off their muskets and to give a good hearty British
+cheer, so that should the missing party be anywhere in the neighbourhood
+they might hear it.  They waited in silence; no reply came.  Jack looked
+at his watch.  There would be barely time to reach the boats before
+dark, and should the enemy get between them and the shore, they would
+have to cut their way through them.
+
+With a heavy heart the captain at last gave the order to retire.
+
+"What! are we going off without punishing the rascals for the opposition
+they have shown us?"  Jack overheard one of the officers remark.  "They
+will consider that they have gained the day, and will behave in the same
+fashion to any who may pay them another visit."
+
+Jack's thoughts had been so completely engaged about Tom and the other
+midshipmen that the necessity of inflicting punishment on the natives
+had not occurred to him.  Perhaps, after all, should their friends not
+have been killed, they might have been carried prisoners to the village
+he had seen from the height.  He accordingly directed his march towards
+it, and as the country was pretty open in that direction, the party made
+good progress.
+
+The huts were reached; they were of considerable size, raised above the
+ground on piles, and were constructed chiefly of bamboos and thatched
+with palm leaves.  The first they entered was deserted.  They went on
+from house to house.  Not a human being was to be found, even the old
+people and children had been removed.  As the only means of punishing
+the people for the uninvited attack they had made on the boats' crews,
+Jack ordered the whole village to be given to the flames.  By igniting a
+few handfuls of dried leaves which were thrown into the houses, they
+quickly blazed up from one end to the other.  They were left burning so
+furiously that even should the inhabitants return, they could not
+possibly extinguish the fire.
+
+Even this necessary act did not induce the enemy to come from their
+hiding-places, nor did they appear even in the distance as the party
+marched back to the boats.  It was a bitter disappointment not to have
+recovered the midshipmen and their companions, while, from not having
+got hold of any of the natives, it had been impossible to ascertain
+their fate.
+
+Night was approaching.  Jack felt it his duty to return to the ship, but
+he resolved on leaving one of the boats under Mr Hanson, the third
+lieutenant, who volunteered to remain.  He was to keep close in shore,
+prepared to shove off at any moment, should he be attacked by a superior
+force of the enemy.
+
+Much regret was expressed when the captain returned on board, that Tom
+and his companions had not been recovered.  The ship remained hove to
+all night, and many hoped and believed that the boat would return with
+the missing ones in the morning.
+
+When the morning came, however, no boat appeared.  Jack accordingly
+pulled in with two other boats, intending to relieve Lieutenant Hanson.
+The latter was seen coming out to meet them.  He had remained at his
+post, he said, all night, and although he was not attacked, he heard the
+natives shouting and occasionally firing off muskets, so that even had
+the midshipmen attempted to do so, they could not have succeeded in
+making their way to the beach without fighting.
+
+Jack, unwilling to give up all hope of getting Tom back, again landed
+with his whole force and marched inland, but, as on the preceding day,
+the enemy retreated and hid themselves, being evidently conscious that
+they were unable to cope with so strong a party.  The difficult nature
+of the country rendered it impossible for them to advance further than
+they had done on the previous day, and Captain Rogers was again
+compelled to return to the boats, without having effected anything.  He
+left another boat under Mr Tomkinson, the senior mate, with the same
+directions he had given to the lieutenant.  In addition, however, he
+instructed him that should the natives approach, if possible to get hold
+of one or more of them, charging him on no account to fire, unless
+attacked.  Once more the boats pulled back to the ship.  On getting on
+board, Jack, finding that the barometer was falling slightly, though the
+sky looked as serene as ever, considered it prudent to get a better
+offing than on the previous night, intending to stand back in the
+morning to pick up Mr Tomkinson's boat.  He talked over with his first
+lieutenant the possibility of penetrating further into the country with
+a larger number of men than he had before landed.  Much would depend on
+the state of the weather; should it continue calm the larger boats might
+go in with guns in their bows, and securely hold the beach against any
+number of the inhabitants who might appear, so that a party landing
+might advance a considerable distance without fear of being attacked in
+the rear.
+
+Their plans were, however, defeated.  As the night drew on the weather
+began sensibly to change, and fears now began to be entertained that Mr
+Tomkinson's boat would not succeed in regaining the ship.  Should the
+expected gale blow on the shore, it would be necessary for the ship to
+gain a good offing as soon as possible.  Steam was got up, and her head
+was put towards the shore; she slowly made her way back, so as to be as
+close in as possible, in the expectation that Mr Tomkinson would,
+seeing the change in the weather, pull off to meet her.  The lead was
+kept going, that she might run no risk of getting into too shallow
+water.  Just before daylight the captain ordered a gun to be fired, and
+another shortly afterwards, which Mr Tomkinson would, of course,
+understand as a signal of recall.  When at length the gloom of night had
+cleared away, the boat was seen pulling off as fast as the crew could
+lay their backs to the oars.  The ship's head, in the meantime, was put
+round, as it would have been dangerous for her to approach nearer.  Mr
+Tomkinson reported, as Mr Hanson had done, that the natives had
+continued making a noise the whole night and firing, but that they had
+carefully kept out of the way, so that he had been unable to catch hold
+of any of them.  Scarcely had the boat been hoisted up, than a heavy
+squall struck the ship, and it became necessary to put on all the steam
+to enable her to obtain a sufficient offing from the land.  As the wind
+continued to get up and the sea to increase, all hopes of communicating
+with the shore for some days to come, had to be abandoned.  Jack still
+would not believe that his midshipmen had been killed, though it was
+generally supposed on board that such had been their fate.
+
+The surgeon, Dr McGauley, however, was inclined to hold with the
+captain.  "Dinna fash yourself, Captain Rogers," he observed,
+"midshipmen have nine lives, like cats, and it is hard if the three
+together don't manage to get clear of the savages, although, should they
+be addicted to cannibalism, master Billy will run a good chance of being
+eaten."
+
+"It is said, however, that the Papuans are not cannibals, and the
+fellows we encountered are certainly not the sort of savages I supposed
+we should meet.  My hope is that they have either made prisoners of the
+midshipmen and the other men, or that our people have managed to escape
+to the southward, and perhaps we may pick them up further along the
+coast," observed the captain.
+
+There was, however, no abatement of the gale; on the contrary, it had
+become a perfect hurricane, and as reefs abound along the coast of New
+Guinea, it was necessary for the safety of the ship to stand out to sea.
+For nearly ten days the bad weather continued, and upwards of two weeks
+elapsed before the _Empress_ could get back to the coast.  Boats were
+sent on shore as before, but the natives took good care not to appear.
+The ship then slowly steamed to the southward, firing guns and making
+signals, and, whenever possible, sending the boats in on two or three
+occasions the natives were seen, but without an interpreter it was found
+impossible to hold intercourse with them.
+
+At length Jack was reluctantly compelled to give up all hope of
+recovering his midshipmen and the men with them.  He felt bound to
+continue his voyage and to visit the islands at which he was directed to
+call, before going to Fiji.
+
+Several places were touched at in New Ireland, the Solomon Islands,
+Santa Cruz and New Hebrides.  One of the duties Captain Rogers had to
+perform was to overhaul vessels suspected of unlawfully having islanders
+on board for the purpose of taking them to work in Queensland or Fiji.
+Several were met with, but their papers were regular and their
+passengers appeared to be willingly on board; but at the same time, as
+there was no one to interpret for them, the latter point remained
+doubtful.
+
+The _Empress_ continued her voyage, touching at numerous places, until
+she reached the Fiji group, which has since passed into the possession
+of England.  Here she fell in with the _Orion_, commanded by Captain
+Adair; and the two old friends, after spending some time in visiting the
+various chiefs, sailed for Sydney, their ultimate destination.  A visit
+was paid to Noumea, the French settlement in New Caledonia, and the
+ships also touched at Norfolk Island, no longer a convict establishment,
+but now the habitation of the Pitcairn Islanders, and the head-quarters
+of the Melanesian mission.
+
+The ships had been at sea five days after leaving Norfolk Island, being
+under sail, when the look-out from the mast-head of the _Empress_
+announced that he saw what looked like a dead whale away on the
+starboard bow.
+
+"A whale does not float so high out of the water as that," remarked Mr
+Hanson, who went up the rigging with his glass.  "That's a vessel of
+some sort, and a good large one, on her beam ends.  Possibly her crew
+may have escaped, and are clinging on to her."
+
+On returning on deck he made his report, and the captain ordering the
+yards to be braced up, the ship stood in the direction of the wreck.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+TOM AND DESMOND WITH THEIR PARTY RETREAT INTO THE INTERIOR--NICK SETS
+OUT TO SCOUT--RETURNS--TOM GOES OUT AND BRINGS UNSATISFACTORY
+INTELLIGENCE--THE PARTY REACH THE RIVER--EMBARK IN A CANOE--PURSUED--
+ESCAPE UP THE RIVER--MOOR TO A TREE FOR THE NIGHT--A PLENTIFUL
+BREAKFAST--THROUGH A FOREST--TOM AND PIPES VISIT THE SHORE--SEE THE SHIP
+SAIL--A STORM--RETURN TO THEIR COMPANIONS--COMMENCE JOURNEY TO THE
+SOUTHWARD--ESCAPE OBSERVATION OF NATIVES--NUMEROUS DANGERS--PETER SEIZED
+BY A TIGER--BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS--BIRDS OF GAY PLUMAGE SHOT--BILLY NARROWLY
+ESCAPES FROM A CROCODILE--ATTACKED BY MONKEYS--CROSS A WIDE PRAIRIE--
+WANT OF WATER--FIND WATER-MELONS--BUFFALOES KILLED--SIGHT A SNOWY
+MOUNTAIN--DEER KILLED, AND A FIGHT WITH A TIGER--CROSSING THE
+MOUNTAINS--SEE A VOLCANO--AN ERUPTION--SERPENTS--A LARGE LAKE--A
+FRIENDLY CHIEF--JOURNEY CONTINUED--THE COAST REACHED--AN ENGLISH BRIG IN
+THE HARBOUR.
+
+The party consisting of Tom Rogers, Gerald Desmond, and Billy
+Blueblazes, with Casey, Peter, and the two Papuans, Nick and Pipes, had
+penetrated a considerable distance to the south-west, when they heard
+the sound of hot firing in the rear.  The midshipmen proposed at once
+returning to rejoin their friends, but Pipes, in great alarm, pointed
+out the probability that the Papuans had got between them and the
+English, and that they would to a certainty, should such be the case, be
+attacked and killed before they could regain the beach.  Nick joined his
+entreaties to those of his countryman, and offered to steal forward and
+ascertain the position of the two parties, begging his friends to remain
+concealed behind some rocks and thick bushes until his return.  The
+sound of firing continued.  From the nature of the volleys it was
+evident that two parties were engaged, and that the Papuans must possess
+a considerable number of muskets.  Tom, therefore, thought it prudent to
+agree to Nick's proposal.  He and his companions accordingly concealed
+themselves in the spot proposed, while Nick hurried forward in the
+direction of the firing.  Tom and Desmond considered that it must have
+been further off than they had at first supposed.  As Nick did not
+re-appear, they at last began to fear that he had been caught by the
+enemy, or had perhaps deserted to them.  They suggested this to Pipes,
+who replied, "No, no; he good man; come back!"
+
+"I wish that we had run for it, and tried to reach the shore," said
+Desmond.
+
+"We might have been knocked on the head had we made the attempt,"
+answered Tom; "but should we be discovered by the enemy we will sell our
+lives dearly, if we can but get possession of one of those rocks near us
+and hold it until our ammunition is expended."
+
+"Oh dear? how dreadful!" exclaimed Billy.  "I'm thankful to say,
+however, that I brought away a powder flask quite full, and an
+ammunition pouch, so that we may hold out for some hours; and I hope by
+that time our friends will come to our rescue."
+
+They waited for nearly an hour longer.  Again there came the sound of
+even sharper firing than before, though it seemed further off.  Pipes
+now and then crept out of his hiding-place to ascertain if any one was
+approaching, a proceeding, had such been the case, which would very
+likely have betrayed him.
+
+"Here come Nick!  Him sure!" exclaimed Pipes at last.
+
+"I hope it is," said Tom.  "But silence, all of you, in case it should
+prove an enemy who might betray our hiding-place."
+
+It was Nick, however.  He looked very much alarmed.  His report, as far
+as could be understood, was that the Papuans, having collected from
+other villages, had taken up positions some little distance from the
+coast, whence they could watch the proceedings of the white men, and
+that it would be impossible to get down to the shore without being
+discovered.
+
+Tom and Desmond, on this, proposed fighting their way through.  Casey
+and Peter were ready enough to do so, or anything else they wished; but
+Nick and Pipes objected strongly to such a proceeding, affirming that
+they should be discovered and shot down were they to make the attempt.
+
+"Wait; by-and-by mans go away!" said Pipes.
+
+Tom, not satisfied with this, determined to go out and scout for
+himself.  Desmond and Billy wanted to go with him.
+
+"One is enough to run the risk," he answered.  "Two are more likely to
+be observed.  I will not go far, and keep well under cover."
+
+Desmond and Billy felt very anxious while Tom was away, lest he should
+fall into the hands of the Papuans.
+
+"If they get him they will cut off his head," said Billy, "and we shall
+never see him again."
+
+"Tom knows what he is about; and unless the enemy suspect that we are in
+their rear, and are looking about, there is not much risk of his being
+discovered," answered Desmond.
+
+"It would have been better to have sent one of the black fellows,"
+observed Billy.  "I say, Desmond, what are we to do for grub?  I'm
+getting very sharp set, in spite of my feelings."
+
+"I suspect we shall get nothing to-night," answered Desmond.  "If we
+were to fire we should betray ourselves, and have the enemy down upon
+us.  Perhaps Tom will report that they have moved away, and we shall
+after all be able to reach the beach.  Lieutenant Norman is sure not to
+go away without us."
+
+"But he won't stop if he fancies that we are killed; and that will be
+his opinion, depend upon it," said Billy, in a melancholy tone.
+
+"Hark!  I hear some one coming," said Desmond.  "Keep quiet!"  It proved
+to be Tom, who looked unusually grave.
+
+"I have been a considerable distance," he said, "and have had a sharp
+run for it to keep ahead of the enemy.  They are coming this way, and I
+question whether this will prove a secure hiding-place; for, as I
+watched them, they seemed to be stowing themselves away between trees or
+behind hillocks and rocks, and some of them are sure to pop in here."
+
+Nick and Pipes appeared quickly to understand what he was saying.  "Den
+we go on higher," said Nick, pointing towards the bank of the river.
+
+It at once occurred to Tom that the Papuan expected to find a canoe by
+which they might escape down the river and get out to sea.  He
+accordingly without hesitation followed Nick's advice; and the party set
+out, following the two Papuans as fast as they could run, hoping to
+avoid being seen by the enemy.  Instead, however, of keeping down the
+stream, as Tom expected they would do, they proceeded up it.
+
+"I suppose they think we shall find a canoe in that direction more
+likely than below," said Tom to Desmond, "but it won't do to turn back."
+
+They continued along the bank in the direction their guides led them,
+thus getting further and further from the coast.  They had gone on some
+way when Tom asked Nick whether he was sure they should find a canoe.
+
+"Yes, yes, sure," was the answer.
+
+"We shall soon get back with the current," observed Desmond.  "It won't
+make much difference, indeed it will be sufficient if we wait until
+dark, and then we shall run but little risk of being seen."
+
+The two Papuans were still positive that before long they would find a
+canoe.  Casey was of the same opinion, although on what he grounded it,
+it was difficult to say.  When they stopped they could hear the enemy
+shouting and shrieking behind them, which convinced them that it would
+be safer to go on than to turn back.  At last, after a run of several
+miles along the banks of the river, they caught sight of five canoes
+hauled up on the shore, and not far off several huts.  None of the
+inhabitants were visible; perhaps they had gone down to defend their
+shores from the expected invasion of the white men.
+
+"Hurrah! we are all right now!" cried Desmond.  "We will take the best
+canoe, and it might be prudent to smash the others to prevent the enemy
+giving chase to us."
+
+"Let us get our own into the water first, and see about that
+afterwards," said Tom, looking about for paddles.  He found enough for
+each of his party, and a couple besides, which were carried off.
+
+It took some little time to launch the canoe, which was somewhat heavy
+and drawn up at a distance from the water.  Tom seated himself aft to
+steer.  Desmond and Billy sat next to him, Casey and Peter next, and the
+two Papuans in the bows to use the two foremost paddles.  Pipes was
+still on shore prepared to shove off the bow of the canoe before he
+stepped on board, when pointing to the eastward, he exclaimed "Here
+come!"  The midshipmen, looking in that direction, saw a large body of
+men approaching.
+
+"Jump in, Pipes, jump in!" exclaimed Tom.  "We must get down the stream
+before the enemy reach the banks, or they may be peppering us more
+warmly than we may find pleasant."
+
+Tom was about to turn the head of the canoe in that direction, when
+Desmond exclaimed--
+
+"Look there, look there! what are those fellows about?"  Three canoes
+full of men were seen darting from behind some thick bushes out of
+another small river which had not before been observed.  They would
+effectually prevent the escape of the midshipmen's canoe.
+
+"We shall have a desperate fight with those fellows before: we can get
+down the river," cried Desmond, "and they will have the assistance of
+their friends on shore."
+
+While Desmond was speaking and Tom was considering what was best to be
+done, several men flourishing paddles in their hands were seen to rush
+out of the huts.
+
+"Dat way, dat way!" exclaimed both Nick and Pipes at the same time,
+pointing up the river.
+
+The sun was by this time on the point of setting, and Tom considered
+that if they could keep ahead of their enemies until darkness set in,
+they might then either find some place of concealment, or paddle
+silently down during the night and escape observation.  There was no
+time to consider the plan proposed; they must either follow it at once,
+or prepare for a desperate encounter.
+
+"It is the only thing to be done," observed Desmond; and Tom, turning
+the head of the canoe up the river, told his crew to paddle away for
+their lives.  They had scarcely got good way on the canoe, before the
+men from the village began to launch theirs.  More natives appeared, and
+in two or three minutes the whole of the native fleet was in the water.
+
+"They don't appear to have firearms, but they have got bows and arrows,"
+said Tom, looking astern.  "If we had a good English boat, the whole
+fleet should not make us fly, but they might quickly capsize this canoe
+and have us in their power.  I fear that more than their arms.  Paddle,
+paddle, lads!" he shouted.
+
+His crew did paddle, probably harder than they had ever done in their
+lives.  Poor Billy exerted himself until he was red in the face,
+"puffing and blowing," as Desmond declared, "like a grampus;" for in
+spite of the danger they were in, he amused himself by quizzing his
+companion.
+
+"We are gaining on them at all events," said Tom.  "If we do not
+encounter any more higher up the river, we shall distance them by the
+time it is dark, and then we shall have a good chance of getting clear."
+
+The river continued broad, and as the current was not very strong, the
+canoe made good headway.  They kept in the centre, to run no risk of
+being attacked by the natives on the shore.  Here and there among the
+trees huts were seen, but the inhabitants either did not perceive them
+or supposed that they were Papuans, for although they saw several canoes
+drawn up on the banks, no attempt was made to launch them.
+
+Thus they went on without relaxing their efforts for an instant until
+sunset, when the shades of night quickly crept over the scene.  Tom felt
+very unwilling to go further from the coast, and proposed looking out
+for some creek or bay, shaded by trees, where they could remain
+concealed until their enemies were likely to be no longer watching the
+river, and they might steal down unobserved.  No such spot, however,
+could they discover, and when at last wearied by their exertions they
+stopped paddling, they heard the shrieks of their pursuers in the
+distance.
+
+"They have not given up the chase yet," observed Desmond.  "The fact of
+their following us shows that they fear we may escape them by some other
+way.  Perhaps we may find a branch with another outlet to the sea."
+
+"Oh, do let us paddle on," cried Billy.  "I don't like the thoughts of
+being caught and eaten by the savages."
+
+"Whether they eat men or not, they will knock us on the head, and it
+will come to much the same thing," said Casey; "so that we had better
+keep ahead of them until they give up the chase, and very likely, when
+they don't find us, they will fancy that we have landed, and turn back
+to where they come from."
+
+The paddles were accordingly plied with as much vigour as before.  Tom
+had a pocket compass, but it was too dark to see it; he however judged
+by the stars overhead that the river was running from the southward, and
+he hoped, by landing on the right bank, to be able to strike eastward
+across the country and regain the sea-shore.  Had he known the nature of
+the task, he would have considered the undertaking far more difficult
+than he now supposed it to be.  In vain he and his companions looked out
+for another branch of the river which they might descend.  No opening
+appeared either on one side or the other.  After paddling on for another
+hour, they again stopped.  At first no sounds were heard except the
+cries of night birds and the strange shrieks of animals in the forest.
+
+"We might pull in now to one bank or the other, and rest until it is
+time to slip down again," observed Desmond.
+
+They were on the point of doing as proposed, when again the sound of the
+natives' voices was heard coming up the stream.  The enemy had probably
+by this time been joined by the other canoes which had been seen on the
+banks, and Tom confessed that he considered the risk of attempting to
+escape by the way they had come very great.  The only thing they could
+therefore do was to keep on until Tom and Desmond had good reason to
+believe that they had completely distanced their pursuers, and then as
+soon as it was daylight they might hope to strike across the country and
+regain the coast, where they were sure that the boats would be on the
+look-out for them.
+
+For some time they had seen no lights on the banks or other indications
+that the country was inhabited, and the further they got up the river
+the less risk there was of being discovered.  They had not correctly
+calculated the distance they had gone.  There had been for some time
+little or no current against them, but this they had not discovered
+while they were paddling on.  The tide was setting up the river, and had
+thus sent them on much faster than they had supposed.  Nick and Pipes
+urged them to continue their course.
+
+"All right; we get away!" cried Nick.
+
+"No fear," cried Pipes.  "Paddle, boys, paddle!"  Thus hour after hour
+they paddled on, until Tom declared that it would be folly to go
+further, and that they must either land or else secure the canoe to the
+trunk of a tree and wait in her until daylight.  The latter plan was
+adopted.  Steering to the right bank, where some thick branches overhung
+the stream, they secured the canoe to the stem of a small tree.
+
+"We must keep watch," said Tom, "or we may receive a visit from a wild
+beast, or be found napping by the natives, and be made prisoners or
+killed without an opportunity of defending ourselves."
+
+Gerald agreed to keep the first watch for a couple of hours, and then to
+call Tom.
+
+"I wish we had something to eat," said Billy.  "I shall grow as thin as
+a whipping-post, and never be able to march all the way to the coast,
+which must be very far off, I suspect."
+
+"Never fear, Billy; you had better get some sleep, and forget all about
+the matter.  In the morning we shall probably be able to kill some
+birds, or find some wild fruit," answered Tom.
+
+Billy, with a groan, lay down in the bottom of the canoe, in which the
+rest of the party had stretched themselves as well as they could,
+although there was not much room for their legs.
+
+Desmond sat up with his musket in his hands, keeping an eye down the
+river, and occasionally peering in among the trees on the shore.
+Mournful sounds ever and anon came out of the forest, but he could
+detect no human voices; and he therefore hoped that the enemy had given
+up the pursuit.  He had a hard matter to keep awake, the murmur of the
+water, as it passed by, tending much to lull him to sleep.  He
+contrived, however, to keep his eyes open.  He knew that in that region
+such disagreeable creatures existed as anacondas, tigers, huge baboons,
+and alligators, and that one or the other of them might suddenly make
+its appearance.  He had stood his watch, as near as he could calculate,
+about a couple of hours, when feeling that, notwithstanding the danger
+to be apprehended, he could not hold out much longer, he roused up Tom,
+who, after his two hours' sound sleep, was soon wide awake.
+
+"I have been thinking of all sorts of horrible creatures who may chance
+to be in the neighbourhood.  Take care you do not let any of them get
+hold of us," said Gerald.
+
+"No fear of that," answered Tom, taking Gerald's musket; "I will try and
+give a good account of any beast which comes near us."
+
+Tom sat, as Desmond had done, with his rifle ready for immediate action.
+It had hitherto been too dark to look at his watch, and he thought it
+imprudent to strike a light for the purpose.  He had, therefore, no
+notion of how time went by.  Greatly to his surprise he very shortly saw
+the streaks of dawn in the sky, and ere long a rich glow, heralding the
+rising sun, appeared to the eastward, shedding a ruddy tint over the
+calm surface of the river.
+
+He had now to decide what was next to be done.  To attempt to descend
+the river during the daytime would expose them to certain capture.  He
+was anxious to try and reach the coast as early as possible.  Taking out
+his compass, he ascertained that it lay due east, and that the course of
+the river was south-west and north-east; but how far off the shore was
+it was difficult to say.  Nick and Pipes evidently did not like the
+thoughts of having to proceed in that direction, and, pointing towards
+the south, said that that was where their native village was situated.
+
+"We must go to the coast, at all events," said Tom.  "If they desert us
+we cannot help it."
+
+"Since that matter is settled, let us have some breakfast," exclaimed
+Billy.  "I wish you would knock over a few birds.  There are plenty of
+them.  Here are some small shot.  I thought it would be useful."
+
+There were parrots, paraquets, doves, and several other birds of
+exquisite plumage, flying about; and Tom, who was a very good shot, even
+with a ship's musket, in a few minutes shot as many as would serve the
+party for breakfast.  The men then set to work to pluck them, caring
+very little for their fine feathers.  An open space, where they could
+venture to light a fire, was soon found.  Nick and Pipes had in the mean
+time been hunting about for wild fruit, and quickly brought in a good
+supply.
+
+"There's no fear of starving in this country; that's one comfort,"
+observed Billy, as he began to munch away at his share of a parrot.
+
+The fruits were very refreshing.  They ate them without fear, although
+they did not know their names, as Nick and Pipes assured them they were
+good.
+
+The meal over, the party prepared to set out.  They first, however, drew
+up the canoe, and concealed it as closely as possible under the bushes,
+that they might again make use of it if necessary.  Nick and Pipes, when
+they understood what Tom required, offered to go in front and scout, but
+gave him to understand that should they fall in with an enemy they would
+retreat, and that he must be prepared to halt or turn back again, as
+they might deem necessary.
+
+They soon found themselves in a very dense forest, through which it was
+a hard matter to make their way.  Wherever there was an open space the
+ground was covered with a profusion of flowers; and birds of gay plumage
+flew amid the trees, and monkeys of various sizes leaped from branch to
+branch.  Occasionally they had to make their way with their cutlasses,
+but it was a somewhat slow business, and fatiguing into the bargain.  In
+many places Nick and Pipes were no more able to get through than they
+were, and they were also constantly afraid that they might come suddenly
+upon some natives and betray themselves.  At last, coming to a brook,
+from sheer fatigue they were compelled to halt and eat the remainder of
+the provisions they had cooked in the morning.  After resting they again
+pushed on, but their progress was not more rapid than at first.  Towards
+evening Tom, in hopes of getting a sight of the ocean, climbed a tree
+taller than most of its fellows.  Having his spy-glass, he could see to
+a great distance.
+
+"How far off is it?" inquired Desmond, when Tom came down.
+
+"Shall we get there to-night?" asked Billy.
+
+"Not for a week if we do not make better way than we have done this
+morning," answered Tom.  "I could make out the sea in the distance, and
+I fancied some huts and plantations between us and the shore.  We must
+try to pass by them without being discovered by the inhabitants."
+
+The heat had been excessive, and the midshipmen were glad to rest until
+the following morning.  During the night it was utterly impossible to
+make their way through the wood.  As no huts had been seen near, they
+ventured to light a fire, watching carefully that it should not spread,
+when, as Billy observed, their provisions would have been very much
+overdone.
+
+After camping, the first thing they had to do was to look out for food.
+The parrots, for some reason or other, were rather shy, but a troop of
+inquisitive monkeys came near to ascertain what the strangers were
+about.
+
+Pipes, who accompanied Tom, urged him to shoot.
+
+"Him very good, very good," he said.
+
+Tom had of course heard that the creatures were eaten, although he had
+never tasted monkey.  He accordingly fired, and brought down two who
+were sitting together grinning at him.  The rest on this came chattering
+and screeching to the boughs close above his head, and began to throw
+down sticks and nuts, some of the latter of which they had been eating,
+and to spit at him in the most furious fashion.
+
+"Kill more, kill more!" cried Pipes.
+
+Tom again fired, and two others fell to the ground, when the remainder
+ran shrieking away through the forest.  Pipes, taking possession of the
+game, marched back to the camp with a well-satisfied air.
+
+"You do not mean to say we are to feed on these creatures?" exclaimed
+Desmond.
+
+"I can't shoot anything else, and better eat them than starve," answered
+Tom.
+
+"Ah! let's try them," cried Billy.  "Anything better than an empty
+stomach."
+
+By the time the monkeys had been cooked the appetites of all the party
+had considerably increased.  Although the midshipmen made some wry faces
+at first, after a few mouthfuls they went on eating monkey as if they
+had been accustomed to it all their lives.  Nick and Pipes advised that
+they should keep up the fire all night, as otherwise they might find
+that somebody had been carried off by a huge species of tiger which they
+said infested the woods and forests of their country.  Their advice was
+followed, and all hands took it by turns to remain on watch.  Billy
+called up his companions twice, declaring that he saw the head of a huge
+tiger peering from between the bushes, but he did not fire, as he was
+afraid of missing.  Though Desmond grumbled at being roused up, it was
+proved that Billy was right by the marks the tiger had left on the
+ground.
+
+They had not got far the next day when their scouts came back and urged
+them not to proceed.  As to reaching the shore without being discovered,
+they said that it was impossible, as the country was thickly inhabited
+and open, their only chance being to pass through it at night.  Should
+they advance much further they would run great risk of being seen.
+
+After searching about Pipes and his companion discovered a good
+hiding-place, very similar to the one in which they had before concealed
+themselves.  Towards night they could tell, by the soughing of the wind
+in the trees and the appearance of the sky, that there was a change in
+the weather.
+
+"I am sure the boats won't leave us while there is a chance," observed
+Tom.  "I will make my way alone, with the help of Pipes, and see what
+has become of them.  If I do not come back you will know that I am
+caught, and I would advise you to try and get to the southward, where
+you may perhaps find the inhabitants more friendly, and be able to get
+across to Australia."
+
+Desmond begged Tom to let him go instead; but Tom had made up his mind
+to undertake the excursion, and as soon as it was dark he set off with
+Pipes, who had agreed to go, although he evidently did not like the
+work.  Tom and his faithful attendant set off.  They had a long distance
+to go, and detours to make.  Occasionally they heard dogs bark, and saw
+lights in the windows of huts; but they kept clear of them, and made
+good progress.  They had one or two narrow escapes; and on one occasion
+both tumbled into a water-course.  They, however, scrambled out again,
+with only the inconvenience of a wetting, which, considering the warmth
+of the weather, was of no great consequence, even to Tom; and Pipes had
+only to rub himself over with his hand, and he was dry again in a few
+minutes.  It was nearly daylight, however, before the beach was reached,
+when they hunted about and found shelter under some rocks, which would
+prevent their being seen by the people on shore.
+
+Here they waited until daylight, when Tom eagerly looked out for the
+ship.
+
+"There she is!" he cried out, as the gloom of night clearing away he saw
+her standing in towards the land, though at some distance to the
+northward of where he was.  Presently a gun was fired, followed shortly
+afterwards by another.  He was about to set off to try and make his way
+along the beach, feeling sure that the guns were fired as signals to
+some of the crew on shore, when he saw through his telescope a boat pull
+out from behind a point and make her way towards the ship, which at the
+same time swept round until her head was off shore.  He had no means of
+making a signal.  Even should he fire his rifle, it would not be heard.
+To shout would be of no avail.  He watched the boat until she was
+alongside, when she was hoisted up and the ship steamed away.  It was
+high time that she should get off the shore, for a heavy gale had sprung
+up, sending the heavy breakers with fury against the rock-bound coast.
+
+"There is no chance of our getting off if this continues," said Tom to
+himself; "we are left to our own resources, I see that.  The best thing
+would be to start to the southward, as Pipes recommends."
+
+Tom was eager to return and consult with Desmond, but Pipes earnestly
+entreated him to remain concealed during the day, and then at night
+there would be but little difficulty in making their way back to their
+companions.
+
+It was a melancholy day, as he sat on the sea-shore under the rocks,
+watching the departing ship.  A few shell-fish was the only food he and
+Pipes could procure.  As soon as night came on and the inhabitants had
+returned to their huts, he and his faithful companion set out.  As the
+storm was howling and making a tremendous noise, there was little danger
+of being discovered.
+
+Desmond and Billy had become very anxious and were thankful to see them,
+although Billy uttered a deep groan when he heard that the ship had
+sailed away, and that he would have some hundreds of miles to trudge
+through the country.  None of them indeed knew what they were about to
+undertake, and, with the exception of Billy, looked upon the journey as
+a pleasant excursion.
+
+As Tom had had plenty of time to rest during the previous day, he was
+ready to set off early in the morning.
+
+Guided by Tom's pocket compass, they steered westward of south, which
+was the direction Nick and Pipes wished them to take.
+
+The two Papuans explained that they would have to go out of their way to
+reach the river, and advised them to keep in the direction they were now
+pursuing.
+
+During the day they travelled on without stopping, anxious to get away
+from the sea-board.  It was evidently the most thickly populated part of
+the country, while, judging from what they had seen, there were few or
+no inhabitants in the interior.  In the afternoon, as they were moving
+on, Pipes, who had been scouting in front, came back and made a sign to
+them all to get under the cover of some bushes, which he pointed out
+close at hand.
+
+Scarcely had they crouched down, when they heard the voices of a party
+of natives who passed close by without discovering them.  Further on
+they came upon a plantation, with a number of women working on it.  By
+turning aside in time, they escaped observation.  They were, however,
+afraid of lighting a fire that night, lest it might betray their
+whereabouts to the natives.  They had, fortunately, preserved some of
+the cooked meat before starting, and had enough for supper, with the
+help of some fruit.  Tom urged all hands, each man in his turn, to keep
+a strict watch; for having no fire there would be a great risk of being
+attacked by wild beasts.  All promised to obey his injunctions.
+
+Tom intended to take the first watch, Casey the next, Desmond the third,
+and Billy--who, it was hoped, after a good sleep, would keep awake--the
+fourth.  The three first had carefully kept their watches, moving round
+and round their sleeping companions, so that no savage beast could
+approach unperceived.  Desmond, however, fancied that he saw some object
+moving amid the trees in the gloom.  At last he called up Billy, and
+charged him to keep a bright look-out.  "If you don't, depend upon it
+you or some of us will be carried off by one of those beasts of tigers,"
+he said, with much emphasis.  "I have not felt so uncomfortable for a
+long time as I have been during the time I have been on the watch."
+
+Billy promised to remain broad awake and to keep his weather eye open.
+
+"Mind you do!" said Desmond, as he lay down.
+
+The whole camp was awakened by a fearful shriek and a loud cry from
+Billy, and starting to their feet, they saw by the light of the day,
+which had just broken, a huge animal carrying off Peter, the black, in
+its jaws, while Billy lay sprawling on the ground where he had fallen,
+his foot having caught in a supple jack, as he was making chase after
+the depredator.  The whole party followed, but the tiger, if tiger it
+was, quickly bounded out of sight.  Tom and the other midshipmen had a
+sincere regard for honest Peter, and were grieved to think that they had
+lost him.  Rushing on, they caught sight of Peter in the monster's jaws.
+But the black was not inactive, for having been seized by the left
+shoulder, with his right hand, which was free, he was punching the tiger
+furiously in the eyes.  Tom was afraid of firing, lest he should hit
+Peter; at the same time it seemed scarcely possible that the poor fellow
+would escape being torn to pieces.  Suddenly, however, the tiger gave a
+spring forward, when the midshipmen saw that Peter was no longer in the
+creature's mouth.  Tom and Desmond both fired together, but the tiger
+bounded away.  On getting up, what was their surprise to find Peter
+rising to his feet, and, although his left shoulder was very much torn
+and he looked somewhat confused, he was well able to accompany them back
+to the camp.  He knew no more about the matter than they did.  Suddenly
+he had felt himself carried off in the jaws of a big animal, and as he
+said, "naturally made the best use of his fists to get free."
+
+Billy looked very much ashamed of himself, and was compelled to
+acknowledge that he must have been dozing, as he certainly did not see
+the tiger coming.
+
+"It shows that we must keep very wide awake, or none of us will reach
+the end of our journey," said Tom.  "Now, the sooner we get away from
+this the better; for the sound of our shots may have attracted the
+attention of the natives in the neighbourhood."
+
+Casey, who had been accustomed to see all sorts of wounds, assisted to
+bind up the hurt of poor Peter, who declared that he was perfectly ready
+to continue the march.  As they were afraid of lighting a fire and had
+no food, they pushed on during the cool hours of the morning, intending
+to take a substantial meal as soon as it was too hot to proceed.  They
+had no little difficulty, however, in making their way amid the creepers
+and climbing plants, which, hanging from tree to tree, interlaced each
+other in a perfect network.  They often, therefore, had to hunt about
+until they could discover a more open place, through which they could
+advance.
+
+They calculated that they had pushed forward about ten miles, when they
+reached a stream, arched over by tall trees, from which hung numberless
+flowers, bearing climbers of great beauty and of varied and brilliant
+colours.  Many of them were convolvulus-shaped, and of prodigious size,
+some white and yellow, spotted with red, others of a pale violet.  There
+were scarlet flowers, blue, and sulphur-coloured flowers, and others of
+similar tints, striped and spotted in the most curious way.  But far
+more interesting to the hungry travellers were the numberless
+water-fowl, which flew up and down the stream, and Tom and Desmond in a
+few minutes had knocked over several kingfishers, storks, and ducks,
+amply sufficient to supply all hands with food.
+
+The two natives had, in the mean time, been searching for honey and
+nuts, of which they brought in a supply.  The latter grew on some
+enormous trees at no great distance.  The natives had picked them up
+from the ground to which they had fallen, having been bitten off by the
+parrots.  The outer shell was black and hard, about the size and shape
+of a lemon, and the kernel, enclosed in a thick inner covering, was
+white and hard, resembling chestnuts when roasted.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Billy.  "We shall run no risk of starving, at all
+events.  These nuts will serve us for bread, and with the honey will
+stay our appetites."
+
+The fire was quickly blazing up, and the birds, plucked and spitted,
+placed before it.  A sharp look-out was kept on every side for natives,
+snakes, tigers, or any other wild beasts which might be tempted to pay
+them a visit.  Tom urged his friends to keep together as much as
+possible, and always to have their arms ready.  After a good rest they
+again pushed on, and encamped in the evening on the bank of a large
+river, no doubt the one up which they had come in the canoe.
+
+While Casey and Peter were lighting the fire, the two Papuans were
+looking out for honey, and Tom and Desmond were shooting some birds for
+supper, Billy went down to the water to fill a large gourd which Pipes
+had procured for them.  Just as he was about to dip it in, a long snout
+appeared above the surface, the possessor of which--a huge crocodile--
+made directly at him.  Billy, throwing down the gourd, scampered off.
+Fortunately for him the monster stopped for an instant to pick up the
+gourd, which it crushed in its huge jaws, and thus Billy was able to
+increase his distance.
+
+Pat Casey and Peter, on hearing his cries, started up with their rifles,
+and as they ran forward uttered loud shouts to distract the attention of
+the crocodile.  Still, so determined was the monster to seize poor
+Billy, that it did not seem to heed them.
+
+"Jump on one side, sir, jump on one side!" cried Casey to Billy, who
+followed the advice, and the seaman, levelling his rifle, poured the
+contents down the crocodile's throat.  It immediately rolled over, and
+after a few struggles lay dead.
+
+Tom and Desmond considered it advisable on their return to move further
+away from the river.  Fortunately they did so, for while they were
+sitting round the fire cooking their game, a dozen crocodiles crept out
+of the water and came towards them.  The whole party, starting to their
+feet, shouted and shrieked, but not until Tom and Desmond had fired down
+the throats of a couple of the saurians did the rest turn tail, when,
+plunging into the water, they disappeared beneath the surface.
+
+"If we don't keep a bright look-out during the night one or other of us
+will be carried off, depend upon that," observed Tom.
+
+His warning had a good effect, and it was agreed that two of the party
+should keep watch together, as they had to risk an attack from
+crocodiles on one side and tigers on the other, not to speak of big
+serpents and other creatures.  The most dangerous of these were
+scorpions, several of which were seen five and six inches long, with
+stings which the natives asserted would deprive a person of life in the
+course of an hour or less.
+
+"Oh dear, oh dear!" sighed Billy.  "I knew the journey would be
+fatiguing enough, but I little thought the trouble all these horrid
+beasts would cause us."
+
+For several days they travelled on along the course of the river, but
+taking care not to camp near enough to the bank to be surprised by a
+hungry crocodile.  On several occasions they caught sight of tigers, and
+three were shot which came nearer to them than was pleasant.  Among the
+vast numbers of the feathered tribe which perched in the trees, or
+flitted amid the boughs, or soared high into the air, were the beautiful
+birds of paradise, of brilliant colours and graceful forms, which Tom
+and Desmond agreed it was a shame to kill when they could obtain as much
+game of a different species as they required.  Monkeys of various sizes
+were seen, some not larger than cats and others half as big as a man.
+The travellers were moving on, Nick and Pipes scouting in front, the
+three midshipmen following, Casey and the black bringing up the rear.
+Presently they heard a loud chattering overhead, and down came a shower
+of nuts, one of which hit Billy on the nose.  The pain made him cry out,
+when his voice was replied to by shrieks of laughter from overhead,
+followed by another volley.  On looking up they caught sight of a large
+troop of big monkeys scampering from bough to bough, some of them
+descending as close as possible in order to get nearer the intruders of
+their domain.
+
+One old fellow spat right at Desmond, and when he saw that the shot had
+been successful, shrieked and chuckled with laughter as he climbed back
+to a more secure part of the bough.  The monkeys on this, emboldened by
+success and increased in numbers, discharged volleys of missiles of all
+descriptions, some of a very disagreeable character, so that the three
+midshipmen with their followers were fairly put to flight, the monkeys
+pursuing them, chattering and shrieking until they made their escape
+from the forest, which here fortunately came to a termination.
+
+"I'll pay you off for this!" cried Desmond, who had been a sufferer with
+Billy, and, firing, he brought down one of the monkeys, on which the
+rest set up the most fearful cries, shaking their fists and making all
+sorts of defiant grimaces.
+
+They now entered on a region totally different to any they had hitherto
+passed through.  It was a vast open prairie, covered in many places with
+long grass, amid which snakes of large size were seen creeping, but Nick
+assured Tom that they were not venomous, and would afford a meal at any
+time, should game not be abundant.  The difficulty of walking over this
+grass was considerable, as they had to lift their feet high at every
+step, while they were exposed to the rays of the sun.  Having hitherto
+obtained as much water as they required, it did not occur to them that
+they might fail to procure it.  They caught sight of herds of buffalo
+and deer, but none during the day came near enough to be shot.  All day
+they trudged on without water, and were well nigh ready to drop from
+thirst.
+
+"I shall die if I don't get something to drink," cried poor Billy.
+
+Tom got Casey and Peter to lift him up on their shoulders that he might
+obtain thereby a wider view, but nowhere was a stream or lake to be
+seen.  He, however, caught sight of several round yellow objects on the
+ground, and on getting nearer, great was the joy of the party to
+discover that they were melons, the produce of a creeper with ivy-shaped
+leaves.
+
+The fruit proved even more refreshing than water, and enabled them to
+march on for several hours during the night.  This they did in the hopes
+of reaching some clump of trees the next day before the sun had attained
+its greatest height.  At last, overcome with fatigue, they were
+compelled to camp on the open prairie without afire.  They were afraid
+of lighting one lest it should ignite the grass.  After a few hours'
+rest they again moved on.  Already the sun had risen and every moment it
+was gaining strength, when they saw before them a grove of palm trees
+rising out of the plain.  Although they hastened their steps and went on
+for some time, they still seemed a long way off, but happily they found
+an abundance of water melons, which quenched their thirst.  Without them
+they must have perished.  They were also getting very hungry, and in the
+open country no honey or nuts were to be procured, nor did birds come
+near them.  A flight of parrots passed over their heads, but too high up
+for a shot, Billy was crying out that he should die, when a herd of
+buffaloes were seen scampering across the plain towards them.
+
+"Down, down!" cried the two Papuans; "dey no see us den."
+
+The whole party hid themselves in the tall grass, with their rifles
+ready for action.  There seemed great likelihood, however, that the
+buffaloes would trample them to death as they came rushing furiously on
+not dreaming of danger.  The leading animals were close upon them when
+Nick and Pipes jumped up and waved their hands, shouting loudly at the
+same time.  This turned the herd slightly, and as they swept by the
+animals presented a good shot, when their concealed foes, Tom and
+Gerald, fired, and two young bulls rolled over.  The rest were not so
+successful, and before the first two who had fired had time to re-load,
+the herd were out of range.  The two buffaloes shot were, however, more
+than sufficient for their wants, and in an instant Casey and Peter,
+aided by the Papuans, were engaged with their long knives in flaying the
+two beasts, and cutting off such pieces of flesh as they could carry.
+Here was a supply of food which would last them as long as it would keep
+good.  The midshipmen did not fancy eating it raw, but the rest of the
+party were not so fastidious, and cut off favourite bits, which they
+clapped into their mouths with evident satisfaction.  They were, in
+consequence, better able to bear their loads of meat than the
+midshipmen, who had satisfied themselves with two or three water melons
+apiece.  At length the clump of trees was reached.
+
+The party seated in the shade enjoyed the cool air which played among
+the tall stems.  Having cleared away the grass in front of them, they
+lighted a fire and cooked a part of their meat, the rest being cut into
+strips and hung up in the sun to dry.  It was fortunate for them that
+they took this precaution.  For two days or more they travelled on
+without meeting with a drop of water, but existed as before on water
+melons, which prevented them suffering from thirst--as valuable to them
+as the plant of a similar species which exists on the arid sands of
+Africa is to many a weary traveller, as well as to the wild beasts who
+roam over those sandy regions.
+
+They were keeping a look-out ahead for some prominent object by which to
+steer, when, as the sun rose one day, after they had been marching all
+night, his rays fell on what seemed like a white cone rising out of the
+plain.  As they pushed on and on it rose higher and higher, although it
+seemed as far off as ever.
+
+"Why, it must be a snow-covered mountain!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+"I hope we shall not have to climb it, although I should not object to a
+good roll in the snow just to cool myself," said Billy.
+
+In spite of their eagerness they were compelled to rest as before at the
+first wood they reached, near the banks of a stream.  As most of the
+party lay fast asleep in the shade, Tom, who was on the watch, observed
+a herd of small deer apparently coming down to drink.  He roused up
+Desmond, and taking their rifles they crept behind two trees.  The deer
+came on in single file.  They were graceful little animals of a dark
+drab colour on their backs and sides, and white underneath, and pretty
+large antlers.  Without hesitation they at once began to cross the
+stream, passing along close to where the midshipmen were concealed.  Tom
+selected one animal and Gerald another, and both firing brought the two
+to the ground.  The rest of the deer looked about very much astonished,
+but did not take to flight.  Those who had crossed still continued the
+same course as before.  This gave Tom and Gerald time to re-load, and
+they brought down two more animals.  Not until this did the herd bound
+off in confusion.  The firing had roused up the rest of the party.  Tom
+and Desmond were eagerly rushing out to despatch one deer which was not
+quite dead, when they saw before them a large tiger, which had been
+following the herd, and was now going to seize hold of one of the slain
+deer.  The beast looked at them, and seemed about to spring.  Neither of
+them had re-loaded his rifle, Tom immediately began to do so, keeping
+his eyes on the tiger.
+
+"Don't move, Desmond," he cried out, "or the brute will spring on you!"
+Desmond, imitating Tom's coolness, also began to load, the tiger in the
+mean time lashing his tail and showing his huge teeth, while he kept a
+paw on one of the deer, which he seemed to claim as his prize.
+
+"Now!" cried Tom.  "I'll fire at his head, you at his shoulder."
+
+Just as the tiger was about to make a spring which might have proved
+fatal to one of the party, Tom fired and hit him in the head.  The
+creature gave a bound into the air.  Desmond's bullet struck him at the
+same moment and he rolled over dead.
+
+"Well done, your honour!" cried Casey, who had just come up; "that was a
+fine shot."
+
+"Hurrah! we shall have some venison now," exclaimed Billy, who followed
+him.
+
+"We shall want it," said Tom, "if we have to climb those mountains
+ahead, for very likely we shall find no food there."
+
+The deer were collected, and without delay all hands set to work to cook
+some of the fresh flesh and to dry the remainder.
+
+Three days after this they found themselves at the foot of a large and
+lofty mountain, which if they were to get to the south must be crossed.
+Each man cut a stout stick, the end of which he pointed in the fire.
+Their dried meat held out; fortunately they shot a couple more deer out
+of a herd which came to drink at a pool near their camp, and thus the
+next morning at daybreak, with their provisions strapped on their backs,
+they commenced the ascent.  The cone which they had seen in the distance
+rose high on their left hand, but they discovered a passage lower down.
+Up and up they climbed, feeling the cold increase, and suffering
+intensely after the heat of the plain.  At length they could with
+difficulty breathe, and a desire to sleep seized all the party.  Tom,
+knowing the danger of giving way to it, urged his companions to keep
+moving.  Once Peter sat down, declaring that he could go no further.
+Tom and Desmond dragged him up, and told Casey to prick him on with the
+point of his stick if he attempted to stop again.  Poor Billy puffed and
+panted, and at last declared that "he must have a snooze."
+
+"It won't be until you are over the other side," cried Desmond.  "Haul
+him along!  Do you want to leave your bones here, or come with us?  Just
+think of the venison pasties and the parrot pies we will have when we
+get down into a more civilised country!"  Thus urged, Billy exerted
+himself afresh.  None of them could afterwards describe the way they got
+over the mountain.  For several miles they dragged themselves over the
+snow, with the fear of sinking down into some crevice or hollow, while
+fearful precipices yawned now on one side, now on the other.  The two
+Papuans held out bravely, and, considering their scanty clothing, this
+was surprising.  For a considerable time the whole party moved on
+without speaking, staggering as if in sleep.  Their eyes were dazzled
+with the whiteness of the snow, which now surrounded them on all sides.
+Above their heads hung icicles of fantastic shapes, ornamenting cliff
+and crag.
+
+At length the summit of the pass was gained, and they commenced their
+descent, less painful because they knew that soon they would get into a
+warmer region.  By nightfall they reached a valley, where the trees
+afforded them fuel to light a fire, round which they gathered, its
+genial blaze restoring warmth to their frozen limbs.  For two days more
+they continued among the mountains, but gradually attained a lower
+altitude, until at last they once more found themselves in a tolerably
+level country.  As far as they could see to the south, rose here and
+there ranges of hills, but they hoped, by skirting round their bases, to
+avoid the sufferings they had lately endured.  The cooler air of this
+region enabled them to make longer journeys than before.  They had been
+travelling along a range of hills, which shut out the country to the
+south from their view.  Having crossed these, they encamped one evening
+on some rocky ground, from whence they saw away to their left conical
+mountains, several thousand feet in height, of which they had only just
+before obtained a view.  There appeared to be clouds rising above their
+summits, of which they, however, took but little notice, as they were
+busy preparing for the night.  Tom and Desmond, as usual, were hunting
+for game.  They had shot several birds and a couple of monkeys, which
+they immediately brought into the camp to be cooked.
+
+After the heat they had endured, finding the night chilly, they piled up
+some pieces of rock and slabs of bark to form a shelter from the wind.
+They had all stretched themselves to sleep, with the exception of Casey,
+who had to keep the first watch, when they were aroused by a loud
+exclamation uttered by him, and at the same time by a thundering sound
+and by feeling the earth shake beneath them.  Starting to their feet,
+their eyes were attracted by a bright light, which rose from the
+mountain, where shooting upwards, it increased in size, until it assumed
+a mushroom appearance, the top extending far and wide round the
+mountain.  It was a volcano which had suddenly burst forth.  No lava,
+however, was seen descending its sides, but they felt a shower of fine
+ashes falling on their heads.  The screen they had put up, however,
+partially sheltered them from it.  Nothing further could be done, so
+they resolved to remain where they were, hoping that the eruption would
+not increase.
+
+Further sleep was out of the question; all night long they watched the
+fearful flames, expecting every moment to find a fiery shower falling
+upon them.
+
+"It might have been much worse," said Tom.  "We might have been close
+under it, and here, at all events, we only get a little peppered."
+
+Towards morning the eruption began to subside, and by daylight dense
+smoke only was seen ascending out of the crater.  In spite of their want
+of sleep, they at once continued their march, hoping to get well to the
+southward.  As none of the party had pocket-books, they were unable to
+note down a description of the curious creatures they met with and the
+wonderful scenery they passed through.  They frequently saw serpents of
+fifteen or twenty feet in length, and huge apes, upwards of five feet in
+height, with hideous features, of almost human shape.  They were
+thankful when they got out of the volcanic region, although they had
+again to endure the heat of the plains.  What was their joy, after
+ascending a low ridge, to see before them a wide expanse of water,
+glittering in the sun.
+
+"The sea! the sea!" exclaimed Billy.
+
+Casey and Peter echoed the cry.  Had they truly reached the termination
+of their journey?  Tom doubted it.  Looking through his telescope, he
+discovered both to the east and west, a low shore.  It might be an
+estuary extending a long way inland, but they might still be many days'
+journey from the coast.  Whether it was really the sea or a fresh water
+lake, could only be determined by getting down to it and tasting its
+waters.
+
+With stout hearts they marched on.  They were now well supplied with
+food.  Seldom many hours passed without their meeting herds of deer and
+buffalo, from which they obtained an ample supply of food.  Smaller
+game, such as monkeys and parrots, were in abundance in the woods, while
+there were plenty of streams and lakelets of pure water, in which they
+often took a refreshing bath.
+
+Billy, whose spirits had risen with the expectation of reaching the
+coast, insisted to the last that the water they had seen from the height
+was the sea.  Casey and the black agreed with him.  At last they got
+close to it.  They all hurried forward.  Fortunately the bank they
+reached was hard, and they without difficulty got down to the water.
+Billy dipped in his hand.
+
+"It's fresh!" he exclaimed, as he tasted it.
+
+"I was sure of that," said Tom.  "It's a lake, and a good big one too.
+We are a couple of hundred miles yet from the coast."
+
+They continued their course along the western shore of the lake, and as
+they spent fully four days before they reached the southern end,
+calculating by the rate at which they travelled it must have been
+between seventy and eighty miles long.
+
+After this they had another range of mountains to pass, which, though
+wild and rugged in the extreme, were of less elevation than those to the
+north.  Once more they were on a level country, covered with tall grass.
+They crossed several streams, in wading through one of which a huge
+crocodile made a dash at them and very nearly caught poor Billy.
+
+Nick and Pipes now began to examine the country with more curious eyes
+than before, and at last led them into a native path.
+
+"Friends there!" said Pipes, pointing ahead, and they saw through an
+opening in the trees several huts.
+
+The two Papuans hurried on, begging their friends to sit down in the
+shade.  In a short time they returned with a large party of natives,
+who, ugly as they were, had smiling faces.  One of them who seemed to be
+the chief, advanced to Tom and made him a speech, which Pipes, who had
+accompanied him, interpreted as an invitation to the strangers to come
+to his village.
+
+"Good mans!" said Pipes.  "Plenty food!"  The invitation was, of course,
+accepted.  The chief, taking Tom by the hand and signing to the rest to
+follow, led him towards the village, which consisted of a number of
+large huts composed of wooden frames covered with mats, with which the
+floor was also spread.  The chief begged his visitors to sit down, and
+ordered food to be brought in.  A number of yellow-skinned damsels in a
+short time appeared, bearing boiled rice and messes of roasted and
+stewed monkey and yams.  Whatever the midshipmen might formerly have
+thought of such a repast, they acknowledged that this was delicious.
+Calabashes full of toddy, prepared from the sap of the cocoa-nut tree,
+were then introduced.
+
+"I say!" said Tom, after he had drunk two or three cups, "we had better
+not take too much of this, or we shall find ourselves fou."
+
+They wisely declined a pressing invitation of the chief to imbibe any
+more of the apparently harmless liquor, but their two Papuan friends,
+after their long absence, seemed to enjoy it, and were in a short time
+perfectly drunk.  This was a misfortune, as they could no longer
+communicate with the friendly chief.  However, he made signs to them to
+lie down on their mats.  Feeling confident of his honesty, they
+willingly complied with his request.
+
+After a day's rest, which all the party greatly required, Nick and Pipes
+having recovered, they set off for a village on the coast, about thirty
+miles distant.
+
+Here the two Papuans found friends and relatives, who welcomed them
+cordially, having long given them up for lost.  The chief of the
+village, to whom Nick and Pipes were related, requested the midshipmen
+to take up their abode in his hut.  It was situated in the midst of a
+grove of magnificent trees, and near it was a garden, in which were
+growing yams, bananas, pumpkins, and many other vegetables and fruits.
+They were glad to accept the invitation, as the hut was of considerable
+size, the floor spread neatly with mats, and perfectly clean.  The
+reception over, they made their way down to the shores of the harbour,
+where, among several Chinese and other strange craft, what was their
+satisfaction to see an English brig.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+THE MASTER OF THE FOX--BARGAIN FOR A PASSAGE--TRADING WITH THE NATIVES--
+FAREWELL TO FRIENDS--THE SKIPPER'S RASCALLY TRICK--THE FOX WITH THE
+MIDSHIPMEN ON BOARD AT SEA--BAD FARE--FISHING--A SHARK CAPTURED, AND THE
+SKIPPER KNOCKED OVER--SHORT OF WATER--THE FOX STRUCK BY A SQUALL--
+CAPSIZED--THE MIDSHIPMEN HOLD ON TO THE SIDE OF THE BRIG--IN A DESPERATE
+CONDITION--A SAIL--TAKEN OFF BY A BOAT FROM THE EMPRESS--FOX FOUNDERS--
+WELCOMED ON BOARD--SYDNEY REACHED--A PLEASANT VISIT ON SHORE--BOUND FOR
+NEW ZEALAND.
+
+While the midshipmen were standing on the shore of the harbour a boat
+put off from the brig, and came towards them.  She was pulled by four
+hands, two of whom were blacks and two Malays.  A stout white man, in a
+broad-brimmed straw hat, evidently the skipper, sat in the stern sheets.
+On landing, the latter, looking hard at them, and surveying their
+travel-stained, tattered uniforms, inquired--
+
+"Where in the world do you come from?"
+
+"From the other side of New Guinea," answered Tom.  He briefly narrated
+their adventures.  "We want to get on to Sydney, where we expect to find
+our ship.  Can you take us there?" he added.
+
+"That depends on circumstances," answered the skipper.  "Can you pay for
+your passage?"
+
+"We can work it, at all events, and I have no doubt that our captain
+will pay any sum we agree to," said Tom.
+
+Tom did not like either the manner or appearance of the skipper.  Of
+course he did not express his opinion, either by words or looks.
+
+"Are you bound for Sydney?" inquired Tom; "for, if so, we may come to
+terms."
+
+"As to that, I should not mind putting in there, provided you will pay
+the expenses.  I was thinking of going further south, but I have not
+quite made up my mind," was the answer.  "The _Fox_ is a fine craft, and
+you will not have another chance of getting to Sydney, or to any other
+English port for many months to come.  Few British traders touch here."
+
+"I see several Chinese junks and Malay proas.  We may have a chance of
+getting to Banda, or to some Dutch port, or Singapore," said Tom,
+determined not to be done, if he could help it, by the master of the
+_Fox_.
+
+"You will wish yourself on board the _Fox_ if you sail in one of those
+craft, I can tell you," said the skipper.  "Come, you had better close
+with me, and I'll undertake to land you at Sydney.  What do you say now
+to 30 pounds a head, and payment for such provisions and liquors as you
+consume?  It will be a mighty deal better than sweltering on here in
+this hot place, with a chance of being knocked on the head, or being
+brought down by fever."
+
+Tom thought the charge exorbitant, as probably no small sum would be
+added for provisions.  He drew Desmond and Billy aside to consult with
+them.  They were of opinion that the captain would certainly be
+unwilling to pay so large an amount.  They soon returned to where the
+master of the _Fox_ was standing watching them.
+
+"May I ask your name?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes; it's Stubbins; I've no reason to be ashamed of it."
+
+"Well, Captain Stubbins, we will pay you twenty pounds a-head for
+ourselves, and fifteen for each of our men, besides a pound a day for
+provisions."
+
+"You are sharp young gentlemen, I've an opinion," said the skipper.  "If
+you don't like my terms you will stay here until you wish you had
+accepted them.  I shall not be away for a fortnight or more, for I only
+came in yesterday, and have to get rid of my cargo and take a fresh one
+on board."
+
+Accompanied by Captain Stubbins they returned to the hut of the chief,
+who was, they found, the principal trader in the place.  He and the
+skipper appeared to be well acquainted, and arrangements for trading
+were soon concluded.  The _Fox_ had brought a cargo of very
+miscellaneous articles, consisting of gorgeously coloured calicoes of
+patterns such as to attract the savage taste--firearms, powder and shot,
+axes, knives, other articles of ironware, and no small amount of
+execrable rum and other spirits.  The skipper invited the natives on
+board, and took good care to ply them with liquor before he commenced
+trading.  The chief and his people had stores collected for the purpose,
+consisting of birds of paradise, and monkey skins, pearls, various kinds
+of wood and bark and gums, drugs and spices, besides cocoa-nuts, and
+other fruit and vegetables.
+
+They showed themselves keen traders; and it was evident that, should
+they meet with a certain sale and obtain fair prices, they would be
+ready to collect a large amount of valuable produce, such as there can
+be no doubt their country furnishes.
+
+Captain Stubbins, having obtained all the produce which had been
+collected by the natives, urged them to obtain a supply from other
+villages in the interior; and parties set off in various directions with
+the goods they had brought to make purchases.  Thus the midshipmen were
+detained a month instead of a fortnight; and, as Captain Stubbins would
+not abate his demands, they were finally compelled to accept them.
+Immediately they had agreed to his terms, the skipper's manner changed.
+He appeared to be anxious to accommodate them in every way in his power.
+He persuaded them to come and live on board, as they would be more
+comfortable than in the hut of the chief, and he would be ready, should
+the wind come fair, to put to sea at any moment, without having to wait
+for them.  The midshipmen agreed to his proposal, carrying with them
+several monkeys, and cages full of birds, which the hospitable chief had
+given them.  In return for all his kindness they presented him with
+their own rifles, while they gave to Nick and Pipes two seamen's
+muskets, and such other articles as they could spare, promising to send
+the honest fellows more should an opportunity occur of forwarding the
+things from Sydney, as a reward for their fidelity.  The two Papuans and
+their chief were highly delighted and grateful for the gifts, which they
+looked upon as an ample return for the services they had rendered.
+
+The brig looked like a menagerie, with the number of creatures which the
+captain and crew were taking, mostly monkeys and birds, such as were not
+to be found in Australia.
+
+The natives now returned with a considerable amount of produce, which
+the skipper received on board, promising to send the goods in payment on
+shore.  In the mean time he presented, with apparent generosity, some
+kegs of spirits to the chief and his people.
+
+The midshipmen, Casey, and Peter had turned in for the night, which was
+very dark, with the wind off shore.  They heard the skipper go on deck,
+but were soon asleep again.  Not long after this they were awakened by
+the sound of the windlass.
+
+"Why they must be weighing anchor!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+He and Desmond dressed, and went on deck.  The brig was already under
+way, standing out of the harbour.
+
+"Why, Captain Stubbins, you've forgotten to send the goods on shore, in
+return for the produce which came off yesterday!"
+
+"Bless my heart! so I have!" answered the skipper, with a hoarse laugh.
+"I'll pay the people the next time I come here; but they are too drunk
+by this time to know whether I have paid or not; and, knowing that you
+were in a hurry to get to Sydney, as the wind was fair, I could not
+resist the temptation of putting to sea."
+
+Tom made no reply, but he had a very strong suspicion that the skipper
+had intended to cheat the poor natives, and such, indeed, he found to be
+the case.
+
+When morning dawned, the _Fox_ was far beyond the possibility of pursuit
+by the natives, even had the chiefs been in a condition to follow her,
+which in all probability they were not, owing to the cunningly bestowed
+kegs of liquor.  The breeze continued, and the _Fox_ made good way.  The
+skipper and his mate were constantly on the look-out to avoid the rocks
+and shoals which so thickly dot the entrance to Torres Straits.  The
+brig then stood to the eastward, so as to run well clear of the coral
+reefs which fringe the north-eastern portion of Australia.  Tom and his
+companions were thankful at length to find themselves, after all the
+dangers and toils they had gone through, on their way to a place where
+they could hope to meet with their ship; at the same time, there was
+little comfort to boast of on board.  Their berths were narrow recesses
+on either side of the little cabin, which was close in the extreme, and
+swarmed, moreover, with cockroaches and other creeping things, scorpions
+and centipedes, which had come on board with the cargo and occasionally
+made their appearance.
+
+"I don't care for the beasts, hungry as they are, but it is not pleasant
+to know that one may be stung at any moment by them," said Desmond, as
+he brought his knife down on one which had fallen on the breakfast
+table.
+
+As long as their fresh provisions lasted, they fared pretty well, but
+when these were exhausted, they were reduced to very short commons, and,
+as Desmond observed, "very bad of its sort."  Salt junk, which had made,
+perhaps, more than one voyage round the world, and mouldy biscuit,
+constituted the chief ingredients of their meals.  The midshipmen
+complained, but the skipper replied that he gave them the best he had.
+Billy especially declared that he should die of inanition.  "Salt junk
+never agreed with me at the best of times, and this is more like old
+horse than beef," he groaned, as he turned about a piece of
+black-looking stuff at the end of his fork.
+
+The men were quite as ill off--they could not be worse; but when they
+found their officers faring as badly as they were, they could not
+complain.  The old brig sailed like a tub even in a breeze, and at last
+the wind dropped and they lay becalmed day after day with the sun
+striking down on their heads.  They had found it hot enough very
+frequently in travelling through the country; it was here sometimes even
+hotter.  On their journey they had had at all events abundance of food,
+refreshing fruits, and clear water, while now they had only tepid,
+thick, brackish liquid to drink.  When they made faces as they poured it
+out at meal time, the skipper remarked with a grin--
+
+"You're better off than if we had none, and if we are many weeks longer
+on the voyage maybe we shall be in that condition."
+
+Tom suggested that as soon as a breeze sprang up, they should steer for
+Brisbane, or one of the northern Australian ports, but the skipper would
+not listen to any such proposal.  He preferred keeping the open sea,
+free of the reefs which existed nearer in with the land.  Tom observed
+that they were already much further to the eastward than was necessary,
+but Captain Stubbins, though he was evidently no great navigator,
+declared that he knew his way as well as any naval officer, and refused
+to lend Tom his quadrant to make an observation.
+
+Billy looked very melancholy, and declared that should the voyage
+continue much longer he should give up the ghost.
+
+"If we could catch some fish we should do better," said Tom.  "Suppose
+you ask the skipper if he has got any hooks and lines."
+
+"I doubt whether the old fellow will take the trouble to look them out
+if he has," observed Desmond.
+
+Billy applied as was proposed, and greatly to his delight the mats
+produced a shark hook and several others of smaller size, with a supply
+of lines.  In a few minutes all hands were busy with lines overboard
+with bits of pork and beef for bait.  Several curious fish were hauled
+up, but the native crew pronounced them poisonous, and declared that
+those who ate them would die.  This was tantalising.
+
+While they were engaged in the sport, Toby--Desmond's favourite monkey,
+whom he had taught all sorts of tricks--hopped on the bulwarks to see
+what they were about.
+
+"Take care what you are doing, Master Toby," sang out Desmond, springing
+forward to catch the monkey, who was in dangerous proximity to the shark
+hook line.  Toby, expecting to be caught, made a spring, but having no
+rope to take hold of, lost his balance, and over he went into the water.
+
+Desmond, who was fond of the little animal, threw a line, calling to him
+to catch hold of it, but the monkey, finding itself in the water, was
+too much alarmed to obey his directions.
+
+"I'll go after him," cried Desmond, and was on the point of leaping
+overboard, when Toby uttered a cry of agony, a black snout was seen to
+rise for an instant, the white of a shark's belly glanced in the water,
+and Toby disappeared beneath the surface.
+
+"The horrid brute!" exclaimed Desmond; "we will pay him off for this if
+we can."
+
+The fishermen persevered, and Desmond caught a good-looking fish and Tom
+another.
+
+"I've got one!" cried Billy, pulling away.  "Here, Desmond, come and
+help me haul it in--he must be a big fellow."
+
+They hauled away at the line, which suddenly came up very rapidly, when
+a shark's nose appeared above the water; it was but for a moment, and
+the next Billy and Desmond were sprawling on the deck with the hook
+bitten off some way above the shank.
+
+"Bad luck to the beast!  It's the same which ate up poor Toby," cried
+Desmond, as he picked himself up.
+
+"I only hope he will not run away with any more of our hooks," said Tom.
+"It will be as well to haul them in before he gets hold of them."
+
+Directly afterwards the line with the shark hook attached was seen to be
+pulled violently.
+
+"Hurrah! the voracious brute has got hold of the hook intended for him,"
+cried Tom.  "Let's haul him in before he breaks clear."
+
+All hands ran to the line.  Casey made a bowline round the line, ready
+to slip over the shark's head as soon as it should appear above water.
+Could it once be got round its body, its capture would be certain.
+
+Peter, in the mean time, got another ready to slip over its tail.  The
+mate and some of the Malays came to the assistance of the midshipmen.
+Keeping a steady pull on the line, they soon brought the head of the big
+shark to the surface.  It had bolted the hook, and was biting away at
+the chain secured to the shank.
+
+"He'll be through it if we don't make haste!" cried Tom.  "Quick, quick,
+Casey! slip the bowline round him!"
+
+The seaman managed dexterously to do this, and the rest of the crew,
+hauling away, at length got its body out of the water.  It was a huge
+creature, ten feet long.  It struggled desperately, beating the water
+into foam alongside, so that it was some time before Peter could get a
+rope round its tail.  That done it was a close prisoner.
+
+"Keep all the lines taut, or he'll be wriggling through them and carry
+off the hook and line!" cried Tom.  At last it was got up flush with the
+bulwarks, when down it came, knocking over poor Billy and two of the
+native crew.  Had not Tom and Desmond rushed forward and hauled Billy
+out of the way, he would have been beaten into a mummy by the furious
+lashing of the creature's tail.  For several moments it had possession
+of the deck, until at length Casey and Peter, having got hold of an axe
+apiece, rushed up and each dealt him a blow across the tail, springing
+back the next instant out of its way.  Again and again they had to
+repeat their blows.  It was some time before the struggles of the
+monster ceased.
+
+"I shouldn't like to be in the way of that fellow's jaws," exclaimed
+Billy, as he examined the shark's head.
+
+Just then the creature gave a heave, and Billy sprang back, knocking
+over Peter, who, in his turn, tumbling against the skipper, brought him
+sprawling to the deck.  Captain Stubbins, getting up, furiously attacked
+poor Peter, as if he had tumbled against him intentionally, and, seizing
+a rope, began to belabour him severely.  This excited Tom's and
+Desmond's indignation.
+
+"You've no business to treat the poor fellow in that way," exclaimed
+Tom; "and I'll not allow it!"
+
+"Who are you?" said the skipper.  "This is mutiny, and I'll clap you and
+your companions in irons as soon as look at you."
+
+"We are Queen's officers, and cannot allow a man under our charge to be
+treated as you have this poor fellow," answered Tom, in a determined
+tone.
+
+The skipper, muttering a furious oath, without another word retired to
+his cabin, and presently re-appeared with a pistol in his hand, and
+another sticking out of his pocket.
+
+Tom fixed his eye calmly upon him.  "We do not fear your threats,
+Captain Stubbins," he said.  "If you were to kill one of us, you would
+be guilty of murder, and would be hung to a certainty.  Let me advise
+you, then, to take those pistols back to your cabin.  We have no wish to
+insult you or to dispute your authority.  Our messmate, who was the
+cause of the black's falling against you, is ready to apologise: I hope
+that will satisfy you."
+
+"Really, Captain Stubbins, I am very sorry for what has happened,"
+exclaimed Billy; "and I am sure the shark would be if he could speak,
+for he, after all, was the cause of your misfortune.  Had he not given
+so unexpected a plunge, I should not have tumbled down nor knocked over
+Peter, and Peter would not have knocked over you.  I promise you it
+shall not occur again, for I'll keep clear of him until we have a few
+delicately browned slices placed on the table.  I never ate shark, but
+I'll undertake that it shall be better than the salt beef we have on
+board."
+
+By the time Billy had finished his apology the skipper's anger had
+somewhat cooled down, but he still walked the deck with a pistol in his
+hand, and Tom and Desmond kept an eye upon him lest he should all of a
+sudden take it into his head to fire at one of them.  At last, greatly
+to their satisfaction, he went below, and replaced the pistols in his
+berth.
+
+Several other fish were caught after this, so that the midshipmen were
+not reduced to eat the shark.  On cutting it open, poor Toby was
+discovered within, and served as a _bonne bouche_ to the crew, the
+midshipmen contenting themselves with the fish.
+
+As long as the calm lasted, and fish could be obtained, the passengers
+and crew of the _Fox_ did not fare ill; but as the midshipmen were
+anxious to get over a disagreeable passage and rejoin their ship, they
+would gladly have gone on short commons and made a quick passage.  The
+water every day became worse and diminished in quantity, and they had
+serious apprehensions of what might be the result.
+
+"If we could manage to construct such a still as our friend the American
+doctor formed on the sand-bank, we might obtain fresh water," observed
+Tom.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know exactly how it was done," answered Desmond, "but
+I remember the principle, and feel pretty sure that I could manage it if
+any one on board understands blacksmith's work.  Steam we can produce
+fast enough from the largest tea-kettle on board; the chief difficulty
+will be the condenser."
+
+When, however, Tom mentioned his idea to Captain Stubbins, the skipper
+laughed at him, and declared that he could not do it if he tried, as
+there was no blacksmith on board.  A breeze springing up made it less
+necessary for Tom to try his experiment, and the skipper asserted that
+the water would hold out until they could get into Sydney.  He was,
+however, all this time keeping much further to the eastward than was
+necessary.  Tom and Desmond agreed that he was not aware how far off he
+was from land, though he would find out his mistake when he came to haul
+to the westward.
+
+"Well, I do wish this voyage was over," exclaimed poor Billy, on whom
+the hard fare was beginning to tell, though he had wonderfully withstood
+the long journey across the country.  "I shall be losing the number of
+my mess if this horrid brig doesn't make better way than she has
+hitherto been doing."
+
+There seemed every probability of the voyage being prolonged.  Now the
+wind was contrary, now it again fell calm; and even with a fair wind the
+tub of a brig seldom made more than five or six knots an hour.  The heat
+of the cabin was such that the midshipmen never remained below longer
+than they could help, and much of the night was spent on deck.  The
+skipper, on the contrary, seemed seasoned to any amount of heat, and was
+constantly below.
+
+One night, after a supper of hard, cold, salt beef, which they could
+only eat by cutting it into the thinnest of slices--mouldy biscuit, rum
+and muddy water--they went on deck, where they found Casey and Peter,
+who had been taking a meal of the same description.  Excepting the
+watch, the rest of the crew were below.
+
+"Any chance of our getting in, sir?" asked Casey of Tom.  "It is pretty
+well time we should be there, for I've been trying to learn what
+quantity of water we have got on board.  As far as I can make out, we've
+not got a gallon at the most, and that won't keep our tongues moist for
+more than a couple of days."
+
+"I doubt whether the master himself is aware of this," said Tom, "for he
+takes the matter very easy, and he ought to have put all hands on an
+allowance before this.  He must do so, or we shall be dying of thirst
+before we drop anchor in Sydney harbour."
+
+The brig was at this time under all sail, but the wind was light, and
+she was making little way.  Suddenly her sails gave a loud flap against
+the mast.
+
+"We are going to have another calm, I fear," said Desmond.
+
+"I'm not quite so sure of that," said Casey.  "I've been watching the
+sky, and it seems to me as if a thick gloom was spreading over it.  I've
+observed a dark bank rising rapidly to the southward and eastward.
+Look, sir, you cannot see a star in that quarter.  If I was the mate,
+I'd shorten sail at once."
+
+Tom and Desmond took a survey of the horizon in the quarter to which
+Casey was pointing.  The bank was rising rapidly; it looked, indeed, as
+if a dark curtain was being drawn over the sky.
+
+"I'll point it out to the mate," said Tom.
+
+On going aft, Tom found the mate seated close to the taffrail.  Instead
+of keeping a look-out, he was fast asleep.  Tom roused him up, and
+pointed out the appearance of the sky.
+
+"I don't think it's anything," he observed, rubbing his eyes.
+
+"It is, though," cried Tom.  "Listen to that roar."
+
+At that moment a dull rushing sound was heard, and a long streak of
+white was seen extending from east to south-west across the ocean.
+
+"Turn the hands up! shorten sail!" cried Tom.
+
+The mate repeated the order.  The midshipmen sprang to the main-topsail
+halyards, Casey and Peter to the fore-topsail; but almost before a rope
+could be let go, a fierce blast struck the brig.  In vain the mate tried
+to put the helm up.  Over she heeled more and more, until the yardarms
+touched the water.  Tom and Desmond seized hold of Billy, who had just
+before dropped off to sleep, and scrambled up to the weather bulwarks.
+Casey and Peter had been doing the same.  Another instant and the brig
+was on her beam ends, with the water rising up to the combings of the
+hatchway.
+
+Believing that the brig was going over, the midshipmen and their
+companions got on to the outside of the bulwarks, holding on to the
+main-chains.  As the lee side of the sails was already under water,
+there was no probability that the brig would rise again.  Every moment,
+indeed, it seemed as if she must go down.  Their position was truly a
+fearful one.
+
+The mate and the man at the helm had apparently slipped off into the
+water, as they were nowhere visible.  Of the two men forward, one only
+succeeded in gaining the bulwarks, the other had probably shared the
+fate of the mate.  The condition of those below was terrible.  Unable to
+gain the deck, they were probably drowned in their berths.  Although the
+main hatchway was closed, the fore and companion hatches were open.
+
+The wind howled over the doomed brig; the sea was getting up.  The
+midshipmen believed that she must quickly founder and their fate be
+sealed.
+
+"We have gone through many a danger together," said Tom, to Desmond;
+"but I believe our time has come at last.  I wish my brother Jack could
+have known our fate.  He will be very sorry for us, and so will those at
+home."
+
+"It cannot be helped," said Desmond.  "I should have liked to live
+longer, and we are better off than the poor fellows drowning in their
+berths."
+
+"What!  Do you think the brig is going down?" cried Billy.  "Dear me,
+how dreadful; can't we get something to float upon?"
+
+"As the water is rushing into her fearfully fast, I don't see what
+chance there is of her floating," answered Tom.  "However, we will not
+give up all hope while she remains above water.  Perhaps, when the
+squall is passed over, we may manage to scramble out along the masts and
+cut away the topgallant yards, and get hold of some of the gratings or
+spare spars to form a raft."
+
+"We must be quick about it, then," observed Desmond; "for the old craft
+may go down at any moment."
+
+"While the wind is blowing as it is now, there is no use making the
+attempt," said Tom.  "She does not appear to me to have sunk lower than
+she did when she first went over.  She has a light cargo, and will float
+longer than a vessel heavily laden."
+
+The midshipmen, however, could not talk much, for it was a difficult
+matter to make each other hear, what with the sound of the wind, and the
+sea dashing against the hull of the brig, while showers of spray fell
+over them.  They could distinguish the figures of Casey and Peter, with
+another man holding on to the fore-rigging, but as yet they had been
+unable to exchange words with them, and were afraid to let go their
+hold, lest they should be washed off by the sea.  The gale continued to
+blow furiously, and for two hours a perfect hurricane raged.  It
+suddenly ceased, and the sea--though not so rapidly--began to go down.
+On this their hopes revived.  Tom was anxious to ascertain Casey's
+opinion, and made his way to the fore-rigging.
+
+"I'd stick to the hull, sir," answered Pat.  "The brig has floated so
+long; she may float longer, and we had better wait until daylight before
+we attempt to make a raft.  We may chance to slip off into the sea, or
+one of those savage sharks may be watching a chance to get hold of us."
+
+Tom followed Casey's advice, and without much difficulty regained his
+former position.  Never had a night appeared so long to any of the
+party.  Notwithstanding their position, however, Billy was constantly
+dropping off to sleep, and Tom and Desmond had to hold him on, or he
+would to a certainty have fallen into the water.  As the morning
+approached, the sea became perfectly calm.  They would have been
+thankful for the breeze, which might bring some vessel to their succour.
+What hope could they have of surviving many hours on the bottom of the
+brig?  The sun rose.  Almost exhausted, the midshipmen could with
+difficulty hold on.  As they turned their weary eyes in all directions,
+not an object was in sight.
+
+"No land to be seen?" asked poor Billy.
+
+"That may be a couple of hundred miles away, I fear," answered Tom.
+
+"Any vessel coming to our help?" again inquired Billy, who, stretched on
+the rigging, could not lift his head.
+
+"Without a breath of air, there is no chance of that," said Desmond;
+"but cheer up, Billy, perhaps a steamer will be coming this way."
+
+"There are not many likely to be cruising in this direction," observed
+Tom.  "However, as I have said all along, we will hope for the best."
+
+"Oh!  I'm so hungry; so thirsty," moaned the younger midshipman.  "Can't
+you get me something to eat?"
+
+"If we were to go into the cabin, we should find nothing," said Desmond.
+"The last cask of water was on the starboard side, with the hung out,
+and must be full of salt water by this time."
+
+The midshipmen again relapsed into silence.
+
+The sun rose higher and higher, its beams striking down with fury on
+their heads; even Tom, who was the strongest, felt that they could not
+hold out much longer.  Hour after hour went by; still, if they were not
+to perish, something must be done.  He asked Casey and the other men
+whether they had by chance any fish-hooks in their pockets?  They
+searched, but in vain, and as to going below to look for them, they all
+declared that it would be impossible.  The brig, however, continued to
+float; that was something, but Tom could not help acknowledging that
+they would be unable to hold out another night.  Even he, as he felt the
+pangs of hunger and his mouth parched with thirst, began to despair.
+Desmond and Billy were already far gone.  He gazed at the countenances
+of his two messmates.  "They'll never see another sun rise, and shall
+I?"  Tom began seriously to consider how best to prepare himself for his
+inevitable fate.
+
+Just then Casey sang out, "A breeze! a breeze!  I felt it on my cheek, a
+moment ago!"  He endeavoured to wet his finger with his parched tongue,
+but could hardly do so.  He held up his hand.  "It's from the southward,
+and if we can manage to build a raft, we may yet reach the land, or get
+into the line of vessels running between Sydney and the northern ports."
+
+These exclamations aroused Tom; even Desmond looked up.
+
+"A breeze!  Yes, indeed, there is, and a sail too.  She is standing
+towards us!"  He pointed to the southward.  A patch of white canvas, on
+which the sun was shining brightly, appeared on the blue ocean.  Casey,
+at at the same time, caught sight of it.
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah! we are saved; she cannot fail to see us."
+
+The cheer was taken up by his companions in misfortune.  Even Billy
+lifted up his head.
+
+"Is it true, Rogers, that you see a sail?" he asked.
+
+"As true as that we are here, but we must not make too sure of being
+discovered," replied Tom.
+
+"Sure, they would not be after passing us, if they once get sight of the
+wreck," said Desmond.
+
+"That's just what they may not happen to do," answered Tom, who had
+become much less sanguine than formerly, and, hungry and worn out, was
+inclined to look on the dark side of things.
+
+The breeze increased, the stranger drew nearer and nearer.  Tom and
+Desmond were both of opinion that she was a man-of-war.  Casey thought
+the same.  The question was, however, whether she would pass them by.
+She was steering due west, and an object so low in the water as the hull
+of the brig now was, might not be visible.  On she came, until she was
+about south-east of them, and as yet it was evident that those on board
+had not seen the wreck, though she herself was easily made out to be a
+large man-of-war steamer.  Proudly she was gliding on, when her yards
+were braced up and she stood towards the brig.
+
+"Thank Heaven, there is no longer any doubt about it!" cried Tom.
+"Rouse up, Billy, rouse up, my boy!  We are all right!  Here comes the
+steamer to our assistance, and more than that, I'm very sure that she is
+the _Empress_, or a craft so like her that it would be difficult to
+distinguish one from the other."
+
+Poor Billy could only raise his head and smile faintly, as he
+ejaculated, "Thank Heaven, too!"
+
+Tom was undoubtedly right.  In a few minutes more the _Empress_ was
+almost within hail, a boat was lowered, and with rapid strokes came
+pulling towards them.  Mr Norman, from whom they had last parted on the
+coast of Papua, was in her, but he evidently did not recognise them,
+supposing them to be part of the brig's crew.
+
+"Slide down, and we will catch you," he cried out, as the boat pulled
+close to the keel of the brig, the rigging preventing her approaching
+the deck side.
+
+"Billy shall go first," said Tom, and making a rope fast round their
+messmate, he and Desmond lowered him down.
+
+"Handsomely, handsomely!" cried the lieutenant, "or that boy's skin will
+be torn off his back.  Why! who have we here?" exclaimed Mr Norman in
+astonishment, looking at Billy's haggard countenance and recognising him
+rather by his faded and tattered uniform than by his features.
+
+"Don't you know me, sir?" asked Billy, in a faint voice.  He could say
+no more.
+
+"Bless my heart, is it you? and are those Rogers and Desmond?"
+
+"Here we are, to answer for ourselves," said Tom, who, with Desmond, had
+managed with the aid of the rope to get down close to the boat, into
+which they were helped by the men, although in their weak state, so
+overcome were they by the exertion they had made, that they could hardly
+stand.  They were handed into the stern sheets, and the boat then moving
+on took off the other three men in the same fashion.  Scarcely were they
+dear of the brig than she righted, and as she did so began rapidly to
+settle down.
+
+The midshipmen and their companions were received with hearty
+congratulations on board the _Empress_, by no one more so than by her
+captain, who was truly thankful to get back his younger brother, about
+whose fate he had long been intensely anxious.  The _Orion_, which had
+been astern, now came up, and Adair was informed that his nephew was
+safe, although apparently in a precarious condition.
+
+It was several days before the midshipmen could give an account of their
+adventures.  When once they were able to use their tongues, they had
+very little rest, for every one was eager to know what they had done and
+seen, and it must be acknowledged that sometimes they were inclined to
+indulge their hearers with travellers' tales.
+
+By the time they reached Sydney they were well enough to come on deck
+and have a look at the magnificent scenery of that superb harbour.
+
+Of their stay there, although full of interest to themselves, but a
+brief account alone can be given.  They were received in the kindest way
+by the inhabitants, and spent some weeks at the house of an old friend
+of the Rogers' family.
+
+Their friends, Mr and Mrs Calvert, had several daughters, who
+contributed not a little to make their stay agreeable.  On their first
+arrival the young gentlemen were compelled to keep their rooms, as it
+was considered that they had not sufficiently recovered to bear the
+excitement of society.  They were not allowed to starve, however.  A
+handsome repast had been sent up to them, and they were pledging each
+other in glasses of light Australian wine, which they found very
+refreshing, when the two captains entered the room.
+
+"I congratulate you," said Jack, as he handed two official-looking
+letters, the one to Tom and the other to Desmond, respectively addressed
+Lieutenant Thomas Rogers and Lieutenant Gerald Desmond.
+
+The envelopes contained their commissions.
+
+"Those papers, I suspect, will do more to set you up than anything
+else," said Jack.
+
+"Indeed they will, although they have been long enough in coming,"
+answered Tom.
+
+"Faith!  I could get up and dance a jig forthwith," exclaimed Desmond.
+
+"You'd better not, in case the ladies should arrive to congratulate
+you," observed his uncle.
+
+"Is there no letter for me?  I wonder when I shall get promoted!" asked
+Billy from his corner of the room.
+
+"All in good time," answered Jack.  "Perhaps you will have an
+opportunity before long of doing something to distinguish yourself."
+
+Next morning the two lieutenants and Billy were able to come downstairs.
+Their promotion had had a wonderful effect on Tom and Desmond, who
+talked and joked at a great rate with their fair hostesses.  As might be
+supposed, the young lieutenants lost their hearts, and even Billy
+Blueblazes, though still a midshipman, became more sentimental than he
+was ever before known to have been, the most juvenile of the ladies
+being the object of his adoration.  A copy of verses, which he had begun
+to compose in her praise, though as yet he had not got very far in them,
+afforded a subject of amusement to his messmates.
+
+Their visit on shore was, however, brought abruptly to an end, in
+consequence of the two ships being ordered off to New Zealand.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+WARFARE IN NEW ZEALAND--BLUE-JACKETS FROM EMPRESS AND ORION LAND--A
+DESPERATE ATTACK ON A PAH--THE PAH CAPTURED--A NIGHT MARCH--THE PARTY
+LOSE THEIR WAY--GAIN THE TOP OF A HILL--BIVOUAC--ATTACKED BY A LARGE
+PARTY OF MAORIS--A GALLANT DEFENCE--MANY KILLED--TOM WOUNDED--NEARLY
+OVERWHELMED--JACK HOLDS OUT BRAVELY--SUCCOURED IN TIME BY ADAIR AND
+DESMOND--ASSAULT ON THE PAH--DESERTED BY THE GARRISON--A NIGHT MARCH TO
+ATTACK A VILLAGE--DESPERATE DEFENCE OF THE INHABITANTS--THE OLD CHIEF'S
+GRANDDAUGHTER--TIM PROPOSES TO SPLICE HER OFFHAND--THE END OF THE
+CONTEST--HOMEWARD BOUND--BILLY STRUCK BY MOON-BLINDNESS--A
+THUNDERSTORM--BILLY RESTORED TO SIGHT--THE ORION LOST SIGHT OF--THE
+EMPRESS REACHES SPITHEAD.
+
+Each of the two ships carried a party of volunteers, who had been raised
+to assist the New Zealand colonists and regular troops in putting down
+the Maori rebellion, which had some time before broken out.
+
+The part of the northern island of New Zealand in which the natives had
+taken up arms, is a region of mountains, hills, and valleys, with lakes
+and streams, and several rivers of considerable size, the Thames and the
+Waikato being the largest.  The ground is either covered with dense
+forest or scrub, or long grass, and the thickly growing flax plant,
+which afforded cover to the Maoris in their engagements with the British
+troops.  The rebels had frequently been defeated, but had fought bravely
+on all occasions, and sometimes successfully defended themselves.
+
+The commander-in-chief had resolved to attack a strong pah, in which one
+of the principal chiefs, with a large body of followers, held out, and
+the ships of war were ordered round, that the men of the larger ones
+might be landed to co-operate with the troops, while the smaller vessels
+and gun-boats proceeded up the river to bombard the enemy's
+fortifications before they were assaulted.  The Maoris had already shown
+themselves to be both brave and intelligent foes, and that, savages
+though they were called, they were in no way to be despised.
+
+Jack and Adair were dining together on board the _Empress_.  They
+intended to land next day with about eighty men and several officers, to
+assist the troops in the attack on the pah.  It was situated on a hill
+some way up the river.  The smaller steamers and gun-boats were to
+convey the troops and tow the men-of-war's boats with the blue-jackets
+on board.  Besides the pah, strong entrenchments had been thrown up by
+the Maoris, reaching from the right bank of the river to a lake on the
+opposite side of the pah, thus completely blocking up the road.  In
+addition to these fortifications, were two lines of rifle-pits, the most
+dangerous style of defence to attack in the hands of a desperate enemy.
+Both soldiers and sailors knew that it was no child's play in which they
+were to be engaged, and that, savage as was the foe, many a life might
+be lost before he would be compelled to succumb.
+
+Jack was unusually grave.  Adair laughed and joked, as was his custom.
+
+"If I fall to-morrow," said Jack, "tell Julia how I longed to return
+home to be with her.  There is a letter for her, which I wrote last
+night, in my desk.  I have left you my executor.  My worldly affairs are
+in good order, so that you will not have much trouble.  My letter
+contains chiefly expressions of my devoted affection and a few
+directions."
+
+"Of course I will do everything you wish, should such a misfortune
+happen, but I do not believe that the bullet is cast that is to deprive
+you of life, Jack," answered Adair.  "You'll get your flag, as I hope to
+get mine one of these days; although I know it is possible that a bit of
+lead may find me out, yet the chances are if it does it won't hit a
+vital part.  Still, in case such a thing should happen, you will bear my
+affectionate farewells to Lucy, though she knows that I love her as the
+`apple of my eye.'"
+
+Gerald had come on board to see Tom, and the four relatives spent the
+evening together.  The two young lieutenants were to join in the attack.
+
+At an early hour the next morning the expedition commenced the ascent of
+the river.  It was sufficiently wide and deep to float steamers of
+considerable size, but as the current was very strong, it greatly
+impeded their progress.  It had been arranged that simultaneous attacks
+should be made both above the fortifications and below them.  The
+steamers which carried the troops destined to assault the southern end
+of the pah proceeded up the river.
+
+Jack and Terence with their men, having landed on the north side of the
+fortifications, were directed to proceed close to the neck of land, and
+sweeping round, left shoulders foremost, to attack the entrenchments at
+the part they would then reach.
+
+Their guide conducted them until they reached the foot of a low ridge
+just beyond gunshot of the enemy.  Here they were to remain until a
+signal was made for them to commence the action.
+
+Jack and Tom climbed up among some low brushwood which lined the top of
+the ridge, whence they could see into the pah about to be attacked.  It
+was a formidable-looking place, with a deep ditch in front, and strong
+palisades, which must be pulled down or escaladed before it could be
+entered.  Through his glass Jack observed a line of dark heads with
+musket barrels shining in the sun.  These were only the outer defences;
+within were other entrenchments and pits, all probably concealing a host
+of determined enemies, for it had been reported that the pah was held by
+nearly a thousand men.
+
+The blue-jackets cared very little for the difficulties and dangers
+before them.  They were laughing and joking as usual, eagerly looking
+forward for the signal to assault the works.  In the mean time the
+troops, having landed, were marching up to their destined positions, the
+object of the general being so completely to surround the pah that none
+of the garrison could escape and give further trouble.
+
+Just then an officer arrived, directing Captain Rogers to keep his men
+in reserve.  This was disappointment, as all hoped to be among the first
+in the fort.
+
+At length the gun-boats, which had got into position, opened fire on the
+fort.  Their shot, however, produced but little effect in the wide open
+space into which they fell, the enemy having numberless pits and holes
+in which they could protect themselves.  The larger steamers were
+impeded by the current, and unable to get into position from whence they
+could discharge their shot at the pah.
+
+At length a rocket flew up from a hill at the north end above the river,
+as a signal to attack.  It was answered by another at the south end,
+when the troops, rising from behind the cover which had concealed them
+from the enemy, rushed forward towards the pah, those who had just
+landed joining them on their right.  They were received by a withering
+fire from the fortifications, which brought many to the ground, but,
+nothing daunted, they pushed forward to plant their scaling ladders
+against the palisades.  The first line was quickly gained.  More
+soldiers, as they landed, joined the first assailants, when the enemy
+retreated to the centre of the redoubt, where they seemed determined to
+defend themselves.  The troops on the south side were at the same time
+fighting their way across the lines of rifle-pits, from which the enemy
+were firing at them with deadly effect.  One pit after another was
+taken, the occupants of some being bayoneted, while those of others,
+losing heart, leaped out and endeavoured to make their escape across the
+lake to the east, the only outlet which now remained for them.
+
+The main body of the enemy held out in their centre fortification, which
+was of the strongest description.  In vain the most desperate attack was
+made on it by a gallant party of artillery.  So high were the palisades
+that the scaling ladders could not reach the summit.  Their commanding
+officer, in searching for a spot through which an entrance might be
+made, was brought mortally wounded to the ground.  Other officers fell;
+at length the soldiers had to retire.
+
+"Now, Captain Rogers, will you see what you can do?" said an
+_aide-de-camp_, who had been despatched by the general.
+
+"On, lads!" cried Jack.  He and Adair led the way, followed at hot speed
+by their men.  Terence had brought a number of hand-grenades, which were
+carried by a party under Desmond's command.  It was hoped, by throwing
+them in, the enemy would be driven from the spot, and time allowed for
+the seamen to climb over the palisades.  The naval party were received
+with as hot a fire as had met the troops.  The brave Maoris,
+disconcerted by the repeated attacks made on them, began to waver.
+
+Jack, in leading on his men, was struck down, and Tom, who took his
+place, was wounded in the left shoulder, but still continued at the head
+of his men.
+
+Desmond, in the mean time, was endeavouring to throw in his
+hand-grenades.  Although they burst in the midst of the enemy, and must
+have wounded several, others springing forward occupied their places,
+and nearly a score of blue jackets being killed or wounded, Captain
+Adair was obliged to retire.
+
+Just then Jack, who had been stunned by a bullet which had grazed his
+head, inflicting a scalp wound, recovered, and, calling on his men to
+follow, led them up once more to the assault.
+
+Adair, imitating his example, and observing that some of the palisades
+had been shattered by the hand-grenades, attacked them with a party of
+his men who carried axes.  While the Maoris hurried to defend the spot
+thus threatened by Adair, Jack and Tom, quickly followed by the
+_Empress's_ men, mounting their ladders, climbed over the palisades, and
+were inside before the enemy perceived them.  Although there was yet
+another fortification in which the Maoris might have held out for a
+short time longer, finding that they were overpowered, they hoisted a
+white flag as a sign that they were ready to capitulate.
+
+The troops who had been advancing to the support of the blue-jackets
+joined their shouts to the hearty cheers of the victors.  Not another
+shot was fired.  Several hundred Maoris, many of them being chiefs, laid
+down their arms.  Some of the warriors declared that when they saw an
+officer whom they thought killed get up and lead on his men as bravely
+as before, it was time to give in.
+
+The victory, however, had been dearly purchased: upwards of forty men
+had been killed, including four officers, and nearly a hundred wounded,
+while the Maoris must have lost a much larger number.  Two or three
+hundred of the enemy, who had been unable to escape, yielded themselves
+prisoners of war, promising never again to take up arms against the
+British.  They were kindly treated, and at once became on very good
+terms with the soldiers and blue-jackets.  It was curious to see them
+mingling with the men round their camp fires, talking in broken English,
+and apparently on the most friendly terms with their late enemies.  As
+they were totally unarmed, and their chiefs remained as hostages well
+guarded, there was no fear of their attempting any treachery.
+
+A redoubt was now commenced on the captured position.  Soldiers and
+sailors laboured together in its construction, the latter especially in
+bringing up the guns, ammunition, and stores required by the garrison.
+
+Another important pah, one of the principal strongholds of the enemy,
+further in the interior, had now to be attacked.  The steamers proceeded
+up the river as far as the depth of water would allow, and the troops
+landed, with several bodies of blue-jackets from the different ships,
+under their respective officers.
+
+Jack had his second lieutenant with him, Mr Norman, his brother, Billy
+Blueblazes, and about sixty men, among whom were Jerry and Tim Nolan.
+Adair was accompanied by Desmond, his second lieutenant, and about the
+same number of men.  While the main body of the troops were to assault
+the pah in front, other parties were sent round to attack it in the
+rear, as also to cut off the retreat of the enemy.
+
+Jack had secured the services of a guide, a friendly native, who
+professed to know the country, and undertook to conduct him to a
+position whence he could observe the fort, and either move on to attack
+it, or, should the Maoris take to flight, capture or shoot them down if
+they refused to yield.  The force destined to attack the enemy in
+reverse, which had furthest to go, started from the camp late in the
+evening.  The men had had their supper, and were ready for any amount of
+fatigue they might be called on to endure.  Tom marched alongside Jack
+for the first part of the distance.  There was no necessity for keeping
+silence, as no enemy was near.
+
+"I wish this business was over," said Tom.  "There is little honour or
+glory to be gained.  It is excessively fatiguing and unsatisfactory
+work."
+
+"It has to be done, at all events," observed Jack.  "As to honour and
+glory, these Maoris are no despicable foes, and fight as bravely as any
+men can do, though not always in the most civilised fashion, it must be
+allowed.  It is to be hoped that they will in time discover the
+hopelessness of their cause, and sue for peace.  It is sad to think how
+many brave officers and men have already lost their lives, and if the
+enemy holds out many more, too, probably will be killed.  I am sorry,
+too, for the Maoris themselves, who, from their ignorance of our power,
+venture so boldly to resist it."
+
+"It is satisfactory, at all events, to find that when they discover how
+hopeless is resistance, that they are inclined to become friends, as
+they have just shown," observed Tom.
+
+The party were marching along a native path towards the south-east.  On
+the left were hills covered with brushwood; on the right a more level
+country, partly wooded, with wide open spaces, in which grew in rich
+profusion the tall New Zealand flax.  The shades of evening were
+gradually closing around.  Jack was well aware that should the enemy
+discover the advance of his party, his position might become critical in
+the extreme.  He therefore kept his men well together, and pushed
+forward as rapidly as the nature of the ground and the darkness would
+allow.  Having proceeded some distance, he ordered them to maintain
+perfect silence, and to tread as lightly as possible, so that their
+footsteps might not be heard at a distance.  He sent Tom with four men
+ahead, directing him to fall back should an enemy appear.  Thus the
+little band marched on, climbing hills, diving into valleys, now
+crossing open spaces, now making their way through the dense scrub.
+
+At length Jack began to suspect that they had marched much longer than
+was necessary to gain the desired position.  He interrogated the guide,
+who, in his replies, showed some hesitation, and at length confessed
+that a considerable period had elapsed since he had come that road.
+
+"I was afraid so," said Jack.  "We must look out for a spot where we can
+encamp until daylight, when we shall be able to ascertain our true
+position.  If we march further we may get beyond the pah, and be too
+late for the assault."
+
+The party were then in a small valley, commanded on the left side by a
+wooded hill, from whence an enemy might fire down with impunity upon
+them.  The guide asserted there was no risk of this, and advised Jack to
+advance for a short time longer, assuring him that they should soon
+reach the position he wished to gain.
+
+He was so confident in his manner that Jack allowed him to continue
+ahead to lead the way.  As they advanced, however, the valley narrowed
+so that the party might be assaulted on both sides.  Still, as no enemy
+appeared, his belief in the guide's honesty returned.  Again the valley
+opened out; a hill appeared on the left side, sloping gradually up from
+the valley.  Jack determined to take possession of it, and to remain
+there until daylight.  He accordingly sent Tim Nolan on to Tom, who had
+charge of the guide, directing him to halt until the main body came up,
+when he hoped the guide would find a path by which the hill might be
+ascended.  Tim quickly returned, reporting that the guide had
+disappeared and although two of Tom's men had instantly set off in
+pursuit, they had been unable to find him.  This looked suspicious, and
+made Jack more than ever anxious to get into a secure position.  A path
+was found leading up the hill.  He determined to pursue it, though steep
+and narrow, directing the men to be prepared for an attack, as he
+thought it possible that the hill might be in possession of the Maoris.
+In perfect silence they proceeded, two men abreast, for the path would
+allow of no more.  At any moment they might hear the crack of the
+enemy's rifles, and a shower of bullets might come rattling about their
+ears.  Still they went boldly on.
+
+Up and up they ascended among the tall trees.  It was too dark to see
+more than a few yards ahead; and Jack issued orders that should the
+enemy appear, his men were to fire a volley and charge, when he had
+little doubt but that the Maoris would give way.  The path made several
+bends to avoid the steeper portions of the hill.  It might easily have
+been defended by a determined body of natives.  As none showed
+themselves, Jack began to hope that he should gain the position without
+fighting.  Suddenly looking upwards, he discovered that there were no
+tall trees rising above him, and directly afterwards he found himself in
+an open space, destitute even of brushwood, on the summit of the hill.
+A line of palisades, partly broken down on the opposite side, convinced
+him that the ground was the site of an ancient pah or village; and, as
+it was of considerable elevation, he hoped at daylight, by obtaining a
+good view over the country, to ascertain the direction he must then
+take.  It was not, he was certain, the position he had been directed to
+occupy, and was, he thought, a considerable way beyond it.  That,
+however, without a guide, could only be ascertained in the morning.  It
+was more secure than would have been a spot covered with trees, but at
+the same time the enemy might steal close up to it without being
+discovered.  He therefore saw the necessity of keeping a vigilant
+look-out.
+
+A short time before a detachment of military, after a long march, having
+halted, had become scattered, the officers going to a distance from
+their men, when the Maoris, who had been on the watch, fell upon them,
+killed one of the officers, wounded another, and killed or wounded
+upwards of a dozen men.  To avoid a like misfortune, Jack kept his men
+together in the centre of the space, and placed sentries all round.  The
+rest he allowed to lie down with their arms by their sides.  As they had
+had supper before marching, they were not hungry.  Many cried out for
+water, but unfortunately none had been brought.  Although there was no
+moon the stars were bright, and enabled objects to be seen from the
+hill-tops at a considerable distance.  Jack, though he sat down, did not
+venture to go to sleep, keeping his eyes and ears open.  Occasionally he
+and Tom made a circuit of the ground, stopping every now and then to
+listen, but no sounds reached their ears.
+
+"I really don't think the enemy can have discovered us," observed Tom;
+"or if they know where we are, they consider it too hazardous to attack
+us."
+
+Jack was inclined to be of Tom's opinion; so, directing the look-out men
+to keep a vigilant watch, they retired to the centre of the open space,
+and sat down close to the rest of the people.
+
+"It has occurred to me," said Tom, at length, "that if our guide means
+treachery, he will find out the Maoris and bring down a body upon us;
+and it is quite possible that we may even now be attacked before
+morning."
+
+"I have little doubt that he did intend treachery; and that he thought,
+on deserting us in the valley, that we should bivouac where we then
+were, from failing to discover this hill.  If so, the Maoris will be
+disappointed," answered Jack.  "Whether they will venture to attack us
+when they find that we have gained this position, is the question."
+
+Scarcely half an hour had passed after these remarks had been made, when
+suddenly, from amid the dark wood on every side, bright flashes of flame
+burst forth.  The crack of rifles was heard, and bullets came flying
+over where the men lay.  The sentries returned the fire.  Two of them
+the next instant were seen to fall.  Had the rest of the men been
+standing up, many of them must have been hit.
+
+The sound of musketry made the party spring to their feet; and Jack,
+directing Mr Norman and Tom to hold their ground with half the men, led
+the other half towards the side of the hill from whence the firing
+appeared to be thickest.  As he gained it he ordered half of those with
+him to fire a volley down the hill, aiming at any objects they could see
+moving, then to lie down or seek cover behind trees.  As soon as the
+smoke had cleared away he caught sight of a number of dark forms
+advancing up the hill.
+
+"Now is your time, my lads!" he sang out.
+
+The men in reserve, while the first half were re-loading, fired at the
+approaching foe.  Several must have been hit, but the next instant not a
+man was to be seen, they having evidently sought cover by springing
+behind the trees.
+
+What has now been described occupied scarcely a minute of time.  Jack
+did not forget that the enemy were on the right and left of him, and
+might at any moment gain the level ground and get between him and the
+rest of his party.  He therefore thought it prudent to fall back,
+intending to hold the position on the side where the hill was steepest,
+and which might be defended by a few men, while the main body were
+occupied by the enemy in front.
+
+His position was dangerous in the extreme.  Completely surrounded as he
+was by apparently a large force, he might find it difficult to hold out
+until the arrival of reinforcements; indeed, it was a question whether
+they would be sent to him.  Before he could get across the open space to
+the spot he had determined to hold, the enemy again appeared, this time
+coming boldly from under the cover of the trees, firing as they did so.
+They must have been somewhat surprised by the volley they received in
+return, as they must have supposed that the small number of men they
+first encountered formed the whole of the party.  Still several of the
+seamen had been hit, and two more poor fellows killed outright.  It
+wanted yet an hour to dawn, but it was doubtful whether Jack's position
+would be improved by daylight.  The enemy would be able to take better
+aim from behind the trees at his men, exposed in the open.  Had there
+been time he would have pulled down the old palisades and made a
+breastwork, which would have afforded some protection to his people, but
+now the Maoris had got behind the palisades and fired from thence.  To
+attempt to leave the position would be madness.  He could not hope to
+gain a better without having to pass through the thick of the forest,
+while his men would have been exposed to the fire of an almost invisible
+foe.  His chief hope was that the Maoris would discover that the other
+pah was to be attacked and would retreat to assist in its defence.
+This, however, was only likely provided they were at no great distance
+from the fortification.  The warm way in which he received the enemy
+whenever they appeared kept them in check, and sometimes, for several
+minutes together, it was hoped that they had retreated, but again and
+again they came on, though they must have suffered severely.
+
+Many more seamen would have been hit had not Jack made them lie down and
+only rise on their knees to fire.  It was satisfactory to him to think
+that it was owing to his vigilance that his whole party had not been
+surprised.  It was very evident that they were far out-numbered by the
+enemy, who still seemed resolved to persevere in the attack.  Dawn at
+length broke, and as daylight increased Jack knew that the diminished
+numbers of his party would be discovered by the Maoris.  For some time,
+however, no attack was made, nor could an enemy be seen.  Hopes were
+entertained that they really had retreated.  The wounded were crying out
+for water, and as at some distance at the bottom of the hill, a stream
+could be discerned, Jerry Bird and several of the men volunteered to go
+down and fetch it.
+
+Jack, of course, could not allow them to do this until he had
+ascertained whether the enemy had left the neighbourhood.  Taking,
+therefore, a dozen men with him, he was making his way across the open
+to examine the side of the hill, when a hundred dark forms sprang from
+behind the brushwood, where they had concealed themselves, and opened a
+hot fire on him and his small party.
+
+"Give them a volley in return, lads, and retreat!" cried out Jack.
+
+He was promptly obeyed by all but three, who had been struck down.  He
+and his men then rapidly retreated, re-loading as they went.
+
+Seeing what had occurred, Tom, with a dozen more men, rushed forward to
+succour the captain, and greatly contributed to keep back the Maoris,
+who, on seeing the retreat of the first party, had begun to advance.
+Jack was on the point of giving the order for the whole of his party to
+charge, when a volley fired in his rear by a number of the enemy who had
+climbed up the steep sides of the hill, made him order the men to halt
+and deal with the fresh party of the foe.  Though the latter climbed up
+with the greatest courage, they were unable to avoid exposing
+themselves.  Several being shot, the rest sprang down the steep side of
+the hill, seeking such shelter as they could find.
+
+More of the seamen had been wounded, and even now from behind rocks and
+trunks of trees the Maoris continued to fire from the foot of the hill
+at any of the sailors who exposed themselves.  Jack was casting a look
+round his diminished band, when to his grief he saw Tom fall.  He sent
+Jerry Bird to ascertain the nature of his brother's wound.  Jerry,
+stooping down, bound up Tom's side, and directly afterwards Lieutenant
+Norman, who was bravely repelling, with half-a-dozen men, another
+assault on that side of the hill, was struck in the head by a bullet.
+In a short time Bird rejoined him.
+
+"Lieutenant Rogers is badly hurt, sir; but I don't think he is mortally
+wounded, and as I've managed to stop the bleeding, if he can get the
+help of the doctor I think he'll do well, but I'm sorry to say, sir,
+poor Mr Norman is done for.  He never moved after he fell.  We've lost
+a good officer, sir."
+
+"You speak the truth, Bird, but I wish you would stay by Lieutenant
+Rogers while you are able, and defend him to the last, should the enemy
+gain the hill.  We must keep in check those in front.  If it were not
+for our wounded, who would be exposed to destruction, I would charge and
+drive them down the hill."
+
+A short time after this the hard-pressed band were left at peace, and
+the wounded who lay on the ground were lifted up and brought together,
+so that a small party could defend them.  The sun rose, and the heat,
+even on the summit of the hill, became excessive.  The poor wounded
+fellows cried out loudly for water.
+
+"I think, sir, I might get down, and by keeping among the trees, be back
+with a couple of hats full before the enemy find me out," said Jerry.
+
+"I wish, my brave fellow, that I dare let you go," answered Jack.  "I
+feel confident that you would be discovered and shot."
+
+It was very tantalising to see the water glittering in the distance and
+yet not to be able to get to it.  That Jack was right was soon shown by
+the enemy suddenly appearing.  They must have observed how many of the
+seamen had already been shot down, and felt confident of ultimate
+success.  They were received with the same steady fire as before, and
+several were killed.  Jack at last began to lose all hope of escaping,
+but he determined to hold out while a man remained alive.  He had often
+been in dangerous positions, but at no time had he seen the prospect of
+death so near for himself and his followers.  As long as his ammunition
+held out, however, he might still hope to keep the enemy at bay, as they
+appeared to have no inclination to come to close quarters.  Scarcely a
+man of his party had escaped without one or more bullets having pierced
+his clothes or hat, while on each occasion, when attacked, several had
+fallen.
+
+A longer pause than before ensued, when the Maoris, with loud shouts,
+sprang up the hill, as if resolved to surround and overwhelm the small
+party of seamen.  Jack could not help feeling that they would too
+probably succeed.  He, notwithstanding, cheered on his men and urged
+them to deliver their fire steadily at the foe.
+
+Just then a cheer was heard at the bottom of the hill.  The advancing
+Maoris stopped and looked over their right shoulders.  The next instant
+a volley was fired among them, which brought several to the ground,
+while the rest turned and fled away to the left, many throwing down
+their muskets as they rushed through the brushwood.  In a few minutes a
+party of seamen were seen coming up the hill, and Adair and Desmond
+dashed across the open to meet Jack with his men.  Their greeting was
+but short, as Adair considered that the enemy should be followed and
+severely punished.  Jack advised him not to go far lest he might fall
+into an ambush.
+
+Happily Adair's party was accompanied by an assistant surgeon, who at
+once hastened to attend to the wounded.  He gave a favourable report of
+Tom, whose wound he had dressed, as well as most of the other men who
+were wounded.  The hill being cleared of the enemy, Bird with a party
+set off to obtain water for them, for all, even those unhurt, were
+suffering fearfully from thirst.
+
+In a short time Adair returned, having found it impracticable to force
+his way through the bush in pursuit of the enemy.  He brought in a
+number of muskets and pouches, showing that a panic must have seized the
+Maoris, who evidently fancied that the whole of the British force was
+upon them.  He, like Jack, had lost his way, and hearing the firing, had
+directed his course to the spot whence it came.
+
+From the summit of the hill they were now able with their glasses to
+distinguish the pah it was intended to attack, which had been passed at
+a considerable distance.  Stretchers were at once made for the wounded,
+and as it was impossible to carry the dead, graves were dug at the top
+of the hill, where the bodies were interred.  As far as they could
+judge, the attack on the fort had not commenced, and they would still be
+in time to perform the duty assigned to them.  Jack's people, though
+hungry and weary, and mourning for their shipmates, were still eager for
+the fight.
+
+Taking a survey of the country from the hill, they were able to select a
+more open path than that by which they had come, towards the pah, which
+could be seen in the far distance.  They of course had to keep a bright
+look-out, and to send out scouts on either hand to avoid a surprise
+should the natives rally and again attack them.  They were at length
+much relieved by falling in with a body of troops sent round to join in
+the assault on the rear of the fort.  As the road to the river was
+perfectly safe, the wounded were carried down to the boats to be
+conveyed on board the ships of war, where they could be better attended
+to than on shore.
+
+Jack and Terence learned from the officer commanding the troops that the
+attack on the pah had been postponed, and that they were still in time
+to take part in it.  They accordingly pushed forward until they got just
+beyond gunshot, where they halted, expecting the signal from the
+opposite side for commencing the assault.  Jack and Terence advanced,
+under cover of the trees, to a point whence they could obtain a good
+survey of the whole pah through their glasses.
+
+"Very strange!" observed Jack.  "I see no people moving about, nor any
+in the entrenchments."
+
+"We must not, however, be too sure of that," answered Terence.  "They
+may show themselves fast enough when we commence the assault."
+
+They were now joined by the major commanding the troops, and together
+they settled the part of the works on which to direct the chief attack.
+
+Scarcely was this done when up went the signal rocket, and hurrying back
+to their men they led them forward, expecting every moment to be exposed
+to the enemy's fire, but still not a black head appeared, not a gun
+barrel was to be seen.  As soon as the ground would permit, the
+blue-jackets and soldiers advanced at the double, creating a dust which
+completely surrounded them.  On reaching the palisades the seamen began
+to climb over, while the soldiers with their axes commenced opening a
+space through which they could force their way.  Still not a shot had
+been fired.  They could see that the troops at the other side of the pah
+were engaged in similar work, and almost at the same moment both parties
+forced an entrance.  Great was their surprise and disappointment to
+discover that the space was deserted.  There could be no doubt that the
+Maoris who had attacked Jack formed part of the garrison, and that
+finding the formidable preparations made for their destruction, they had
+deserted the pah, and falling in with him on their retreat, had intended
+to revenge themselves by attempting to cut him off.
+
+The general now resolved to attack two other important positions to the
+south of the province of Auckland, which prevented a free communication
+between that province and Taranki.  Jack had much wished to return on
+board the _Empress_ to ascertain how Tom was getting on, but finding
+that more work was to be done, he overcame his fraternal feelings,
+though Tom's wound caused him considerable anxiety.
+
+The object on most occasions throughout the warfare waged with the rebel
+tribes was to out-flank and take the enemy in the rear.  The success of
+these movements of course depended greatly upon the secrecy with which
+they were conducted.  The force was now strengthened by three guns, two
+Armstrong six-pounders, and a naval six-pounder which Terence had
+brought from his ship.  The tents were allowed to stand until after
+nightfall, and no signs were made in the British camp that the troops
+were about to move.  Soon after dark, however, the tents were struck and
+the troops being paraded without sound of bugle, moved silently forward.
+Among them were the seamen and marines landed from the _Empress_ and
+_Orion_.  Jack and Terence marched with their men, who dragged along
+their gun, which from the careful way they handled it, they evidently
+regarded with the greatest affection.
+
+After marching for a couple of hours, and crossing a river by a ford,
+they approached the enemy's position, into the rear of which it was
+necessary to get without being discovered.  So perfect was the
+discipline of the troops that not a sound was uttered as they moved
+along, and the Maoris--not dreaming that they were in the
+neighbourhood--were heard calling out as usual to evince their
+alertness--
+
+"I see you, ye dogs, come on and fight! come on!"
+
+A low chuckle from the seamen was the only reply.  It was not the
+intention of the general to attack this position, which would, by its
+supplies being cut off, become untenable when turned, and the column,
+therefore, marched on to capture a large Maori village in which were
+considerable stores, the whole neighbourhood being also under
+cultivation.  The advance guard consisted of a body of forest rangers, a
+colonial cavalry corps.  They were followed by the seamen, who, lightly
+clad, managed to keep up with them.  For several miles they marched
+along a path with high ferns on either side, the country beyond being
+completely shut out from their view.  By pushing the cavalry and light
+troops forward it was hoped that the village might be surrounded, and
+the inhabitants prevented from making their escape.  Whether they would
+attempt to defend themselves was doubtful.  It was hoped that they would
+see the uselessness of doing so, and orders were issued to treat them--
+should they yield--with all kindness and consideration.  Ascending a
+slight elevation, the village, covering a wide extent of ground, could
+be seen, not a quarter of a mile away.  No lights were visible in any of
+the huts, nor were any of the people moving about.  Not a dog barked--
+not a sound was heard.  The rangers were ordered to push forward and
+enter the village on one side, while the seamen and marines closed it in
+on the other, so that should the inhabitants take to flight they must
+fall into the hands of the troops who were coming up over the ridge.  As
+the seamen were advancing, not supposing that they were even discovered,
+suddenly a line of fire opened on them from a range of huts in their
+front, the Maoris running their muskets through the walls.  The
+defenders in the smaller huts were soon disposed of, but from a large
+hut in the centre a most determined resistance was made.  One of the
+seamen had got close up to the door, when it was opened and he was
+hauled inside before his comrades could rescue him.  There could be
+little doubt but that he was instantly put to death.  There being
+nothing at hand to break in the door, the seamen again and again
+attempted to force an entrance, while the defenders continued to fire
+through the walls.
+
+"We must not let those fellows keep us back," cried Jack, dashing
+forward at the head of his men, when all at once flames burst forth so
+furiously from every part of the building that no one could approach it.
+
+Not another shot was fired; probably the defenders had exhausted their
+ammunition.  Just as Jack was about to order his men to move on and
+attack another part of the village, the door opened and a tall Maori
+stalked forth, his blanket over his head to defend himself from the
+flames.  With a dignified step he advanced towards Jack, and presenting
+his war axe, he yielded himself up as a prisoner.  No others came out,
+and the roof of the hut directly afterwards fell in.  For a moment the
+seamen stopped, gazing at the catastrophe; then the impulse seized them
+to rush forward and attempt to rescue their fellow-creatures, but it was
+too late: for an instant a blackened head rose amidst the burning
+embers, and in another place an arm and shoulder appeared, but directly
+after sank down.  Not a groan, not a sound proceeded from the building.
+All within it had perished, together with the unfortunate seaman who had
+been dragged inside.
+
+In the mean time the resistance offered in the other parts of the
+village had been overcome.  A hut near the centre still remained,
+however, from which shots were fired at the assailants.  Jack led on his
+men to attack it.  As the door was closed they fired, knowing that their
+bullets would penetrate the walls.  After the first discharge Jack
+called to the inmates to surrender themselves.  A shout of defiance was
+the only reply, followed by several shots.  Again the seamen fired, when
+dashing forward they burst open the door.  No further resistance was
+then offered.  On the ground lay stretched four Maoris, still grasping
+their muskets, while at the other end sat a young girl, supporting in
+her lap the head of an old warrior, who had been shot through the chest
+and who was apparently dying.  Three other men--the remainder of the
+garrison--having thrown down their weapons, stood ready to deliver
+themselves up.
+
+As Jack, followed by Bird, Nolan, and other men, approached the young
+girl, she said in broken English, pointing to the old warrior, "He
+grandfather!  Soon die!  No hurt him!"
+
+"That we won't, my pretty maiden.  I am sorry that he should have been
+wounded.  We will see what the doctor can do for him."
+
+The girl shook her head.  Jack saw that not only was blood flowing from
+the wound in the old man's breast, but that it came gushing out from his
+mouth.  He despatched one of his men for the surgeon, and had the old
+warrior lifted out of the hut, which felt hot and stifling, in the hopes
+that the fresh air might revive him.  The girl followed and again seated
+herself on the ground beside her aged relative.
+
+"Sure! isn't she a beauty!" exclaimed Tim Nolan, who had assisted in
+carrying the old man, and now stood regarding the girl with an
+expression of admiration in his countenance.  "If she'd be after having
+me, I'd lave the sarvice and settle down in this beautiful country."
+
+"May be she wouldn't have you, me boy," observed Jerry Bird.  "If she is
+a chief's daughter she'll be looking after an officer."
+
+Tim gave a hitch to his trousers.  "Though I'm not an officer I'm a
+British seaman, and a mighty deal better looking than many an officer,
+no disrespect to my superiors, and I don't see why a Maori girl should
+turn up her nose at me or at any one like me.  I'll ask the captain's
+lave to splice her off hand."
+
+The surgeon soon arrived and at once pronounced the old chiefs wound
+mortal; indeed, before many minutes elapsed he had breathed his last.
+
+The poor girl was inconsolable.  Her mother, she said, was dead, and her
+father had gone off to defend a pah which it was supposed would be
+attacked by the British.  Jack promised to protect her to the best of
+his power.  She seemed inclined to trust him.  He was greatly puzzled,
+however, how to act, and Tim, who made the offer to "splice her
+forthwith," in no way relieved him.  While Jack was in this dilemma the
+surgeon suggested that a missionary, who had accompanied the forces as
+interpreter, would be the best person to whom to consign her.  The
+excellent man, when appealed to, gladly undertook the task, promising to
+send her at once to his station, where she would be looked after by his
+wife with some other chiefs' daughters of the same age.  Whether the
+young lady was pleased or not with this arrangement, it was difficult to
+say.  She had been overcome with grief at the death of her relative, and
+she was still seen every now and then to give way to tears.  Poor Tim
+was in despair.
+
+"I told you so," observed Jerry Bird.  "She's a young lady born, though
+she's not rigged out in silks and furbelows, and she's not for such as
+you or me.  If you are a wise man you'll wait for an English or an Irish
+girl, for though she may have a cock-up nose, and weigh three times as
+much as this young beauty, she'll make you a far better wife."
+
+The expedition was successful.  The strong posts of the Maoris being
+captured, and the inhabitants of the whole of that part of the country
+having sent in their submission, the seamen and marines were able to
+return to their ships.
+
+Jack and Terence, after this, were engaged in several other expeditions
+on shore, in which, though successful, several officers and a large
+number of men lost their lives.  At length the Maoris discovered, what
+they might have known from the first, had they not been instigated by
+the knavish foes of England, who kept well in the background, that it
+was useless to contend against the power of Britain.  Most of the rebel
+chiefs losing heart, tendered their submission, and promised in future
+to be faithful subjects of Queen Victoria.
+
+The regular forces were consequently withdrawn, and the protection of
+the provinces left to the care of the colonial troops.  Jack and
+Terence, greatly to their satisfaction and to that of their officers and
+crews, received orders to return home.  They agreed, as far as they were
+able, to keep together, although they would have few opportunities of
+communicating, except by signal.  They were of course to proceed under
+sail, except in the event of continued calms, when they would put on
+steam.  They had filled up their bunkers with coal at Auckland, and they
+hoped to avoid the necessity of touching at Rio, or any other place for
+fuel.  The _Empress_ taking the lead, the two men-of-war steamed
+together out of Auckland harbour, when, having gained a good offing and
+a fair breeze springing up, all sail was made and they stood together on
+their homeward course.
+
+Tom Rogers, having completely recovered, was able to resume his duty.
+Though he had often made Billy Blueblazes his butt, he had a sincere
+regard for the midshipman, who was placed in his watch.
+
+He was one night, soon after leaving New Zealand, walking the deck, on
+which the full moon shone down with even more than its usual brilliancy,
+when he missed Billy.  Leaving the poop he walked forward, when he found
+that he had slipped down with his back leaning against the bulwarks,
+just behind a gun, and was fast asleep with his eyes open.
+
+"Well, Billy, what sort of a night is it?" he asked.
+
+Billy, starting up, rubbed his eyes.  "Very dark, sir; I've been looking
+out for some time, but can see nothing."
+
+Tom was somewhat astonished at this answer.
+
+"What's the matter with you?" he asked.  "I don't like to suppose that
+you were asleep, but it did look like it."
+
+"Oh, no, sir," answered Billy.  "I never go to sleep if I can help it,
+at all events on duty.  It is a dark night, although some time ago I
+know the moon was shining very brightly."
+
+"You must be joking," said Tom; "why the moon is shining as brightly as
+ever I saw it in my life."
+
+"On my word, I cannot see that or any thing else," answered Billy.  "It
+seems to me that I have not been ten minutes on deck."
+
+Just then it struck seven bells of the first watch.  Again poor Billy
+rubbed his eyes.
+
+"I'm very sorry, but if I've been asleep I didn't know it," he said,
+putting out his hands instinctively before him.  "Do you know, I'm
+afraid I'm blind."
+
+"I very much fear that you are," said Tom.  "I'll send you below and
+you'd better turn in and have the doctor to see you in the morning;
+maybe that your eyes are only a little dazzled just now, and you will be
+all to rights by that time."
+
+Tom called another midshipman and directed him to help Billy into his
+hammock and let him know how he was.
+
+From the way poor Billy walked, it was very evident that he could not
+see an inch before his nose, although, when he had once got his feet on
+the after hatchway ladder, he easily made his way to his hammock.  He
+felt about, however, where to place his clothes, and required some
+assistance in turning in.  When there, he heaved a deep sigh.  His
+messmates heard him murmur, "Oh, dear me! am I going to be blind all my
+life?"
+
+"I hope not Billy, but Mr Rogers says that he thinks you have been
+struck by moon-blindness, from sleeping with your eyes open, gazing too
+long at Dame Luna.  You would have got in a precious scrape if that had
+not happened.  I suppose Mr Rogers won't report you now."
+
+Again Billy groaned.  He had much rather have been reported and punished
+than have lost his sight, as he now supposed was the case.  As soon as
+Tom's watch was over, he came down to see Billy, who was still groaning
+at the thoughts of having lost his sight.  Tom did not think matters so
+serious.  Intending to comfort Billy, he told him that in consideration
+of what had happened, the captain would not be severe on him.
+
+Billy at last groaned himself to sleep.  He awoke just before daylight.
+All was as dark as ever, but, though he began to groan again, he very
+soon once more dropped off to sleep.  At last he was aroused by hearing
+the hammocks piped up.  He instinctively tumbled out of his, when what
+was his surprise to find that he could see as well as ever, though his
+eyes ached a little, and he felt an uncomfortable smarting about them.
+
+He hastily dressed and went on deck.  The discovery that he could see
+threw him into high spirits.  He began to tell every one of his
+wonderful recovery.  In a short time the doctor heard of what had
+happened, and called him up to hear about it and to examine his eyes.
+
+"I don't wish to damp your spirits, but you must not be too sure of
+retaining your sight," observed the surgeon.
+
+Still Billy would not believe this, and was perfectly satisfied that he
+was all right.  At night, however, what was his disappointment when,
+directly the sun set, he became blind and had to be led below to his
+hammock.  In vain the doctor applied remedies--none of them had the
+slightest effect.  Poor Billy was under the impression that he should
+have to leave the service without a chance of becoming one of England's
+admirals, or even obtaining his lieutenancy.
+
+The two ships, still keeping in company, had a long spell of fine
+weather, but at length one evening it came on to blow hard.  The wind
+increased during the night, and on the following day a terrific storm of
+thunder and lightning burst over the ship.  The _Orion_, which had
+hitherto kept company, was lost sight off.  The thunder rolled and
+rattled, and flash succeeded flash, each more vivid than the first.
+Several times it appeared as if the ship herself would be struck, as the
+forked lightning, bursting from the mass of dark clouds above, went
+zig-zagging over the summits of the waves.  It was Tom's watch.  Billy,
+who, in the day time, could do duty as well as ever, was on deck, as
+indeed were most of the officers, who had come up to witness the
+terrific strife of the elements.  Billy was standing by himself, when a
+flash, darting through the air, passed so close to him that it appeared
+as if he had been struck.  It was seen to flash across the deck and to
+lose itself in the foaming ocean.  Billy uttered a cry and put his hands
+to his eyes.  Tom asked him if anything had happened.
+
+He answered, "No, only the lightning looked very bright.  I thought I
+was struck."
+
+The gale continued.  No one thought of leaving the deck.  Night came on,
+yet Billy remained moving about as he had not done for several weeks
+past.
+
+"Why, Billy, you seem, to be able to see your way as well as ever," said
+Tom, who observed him.
+
+"So I do; although, between the flashes, the night is dark enough, I can
+make out objects as well as I ever could."
+
+Though the gale continued, the thunderstorm blew over before midnight,
+and Billy, with the rest of the watch below, turned in.  The next
+evening he found to his infinite satisfaction that his moon blindness no
+longer existed, and the doctor and all who pretended to any scientific
+knowledge, were of opinion that it had been cured by the electric fluid,
+which had glanced across his face.
+
+"Another half-inch, however, and we might have had a different tale to
+tell of you," observed the doctor.
+
+"How so?" inquired Billy.
+
+"Why, that you would have been turned into a piece of charcoal, instead
+of being restored to sight.  There is something to think of, my boy, for
+the rest of your days."
+
+A look-out was kept for the _Orion_.  Although the gale had ceased, and
+the horizon was clear, she was nowhere to be seen.
+
+"I hope they've not been after killing a pig aboard," remarked Pat.
+"They may not get off so cheap as we have."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Tim Nolan.
+
+"Why, for what we can tell, one of them zig-zag flashes may have struck
+her, and sent her down to Davy's locker, or fired her magazine and blown
+her up sky high."
+
+"I hope that's not Captain Adair's fate," observed Jerry Bird.  "I've
+sailed with him many a day, and a better officer and a nicer gentleman
+does not command one of her Majesty's ships.  When I have been on shore
+with him, he has been kind and friendly like, and looked after the
+interests of his men, seeing that they have plenty of grub when it was
+to be got.  Never made us work when there was no necessity for it, and I
+should be sorry indeed if any harm happened to him."
+
+When, however, day after day went by, and the _Orion_ was not seen, even
+Jack began to feel somewhat anxious.  She was not likely to have gone
+ahead of the _Empress_, which was the faster ship of the two, nor could
+she have dropped so far astern as to be altogether out of sight in so
+short a time.  Still, as Jack observed to Tom, "They had often, during
+their early days, been inclined to give each other up for lost, and
+always met again," and he still hoped that such would be the case.  At
+last, however, when the shores of Old England appeared in sight, he
+began to dread having to tell his sister Lucy his anxiety about her
+husband.  Proceeding up Channel, Spithead was reached, and the _Empress_
+immediately received orders to go into harbour to be paid off.
+
+Jack wisely, when writing to his wife, who, with Lucy, was staying at
+Lady Rogers', did not speak of his anxiety about Adair, but merely said
+that he had parted from him at sea and hoped the _Orion_, which had
+proved herself rather a slower ship than the _Empress_, would soon make
+her appearance at Spithead.  Murray and Stella, with their children,
+were, he learned, at Bercaldine, for which he was sorry, as he thought
+he might have had the satisfaction of meeting them in the south.  Some
+days must elapse before he could pay off his ship; he fully expected
+that Julia and Lucy would forthwith come down with their elder girls to
+Southsea, though he felt very much inclined to advise them to wait.  Tom
+was glad to find that Archie Gordon had been promoted for more than a
+year, and was now serving in the Channel squadron, so that he was very
+likely to fall in with him before long.  As Jack had expected, scarcely
+two days had passed since the _Empress_ had dropped anchor, before Julia
+and Lucy arrived at Southsea, each with a little girl, the very image of
+their mothers.  Jack had the happiness of hearing that a little Jack had
+been born a few months after he had left England, and was grown into a
+fine chubby fellow, and that if the small Lucy was the image of her
+mamma, still more so was young Jack that of his papa.  Poor Lucy began
+to look very sorrowful, when day after day went by, and the _Orion_ did
+not appear.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+A VISIT TO THE GRAVE OF AN OLD FRIEND--THE THREE OLD SHIPMATES MEET--
+DESMOND IN IRELAND--LAYS CLAIM TO A TITLE AND ESTATE--THE POST CAPTAINS
+TAKE TO YACHTING--CRUISES ON BOARD THE STELLA--A NAVAL REVIEW--DOWN
+CHANNEL--A GALE--A RUN UP THE IRISH SEA--DUBLIN REACHED--GERALD DESMOND
+HAS BECOME VISCOUNT SAINT MAUR--PLEASANT EXCURSIONS ROUND DUBLIN--
+COUNSELLOR MCMAHON AND HIS FAIR DAUGHTERS--THE STELLA AGAIN SAILS, WITH
+LORD SAINT MAUR ON BOARD--BECALMED IN THE CHOPS OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL--
+THE YACHT RUN DOWN BY A BIG SHIP--SAINT MAUR DISAPPEARS--ANXIETY AS TO
+HIS FATE--DANGEROUS CONDITION OF THE YACHT--FALMOUTH REACHED--DICK
+STOKES GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THE COLLISION--RETURN TO RYDE--THE STELLA
+SAILS NORTHWARD--JACK APPOINTED TO THE BELLONA, ADAIR TO THE EMPRESS.
+
+Two gentlemen, who might at a glance have been known as naval officers,
+were walking arm-in-arm towards a church in the midst of a burial
+ground, standing on the summit of a hill surrounded by woods in the Isle
+of Wight, overlooking the Solent.  The trees were green with the bright
+leaves of early summer, the birds flew here and there, carrying food to
+their young, and chirping merrily.  In several places openings had been
+cut, affording a view of the blue water down the Channel in the
+direction of Calshot Castle and towards Spithead and the entrance of
+Portsmouth harbour.
+
+One of the gentlemen was strongly built, of middle height, with an open,
+well-bronzed countenance, a few grey hairs showing themselves amid his
+bushy whiskers, proving that he was getting on in life.  The other was
+tall and of slender proportions, but had equally the air and bearing of
+a son of the ocean.
+
+Passing though a wicket gate, they went along a well-kept gravel path,
+and stopped before two monuments, side by side, one of granite, the
+other of white marble.  On the first, surmounted by a naval crown, was
+engraved--"To the memory of Admiral Triton;" and on the other was
+inscribed the name of Deborah Triton, daughter of the late Captain
+Triton, RN, and sister of Admiral Triton, who lies interred by her side.
+
+At a little distance followed two ladies, with a party of girls and
+boys, who had been laughing, chatting, and joking, as they ran in and
+out among each other, skipping and jumping, and darting here and there.
+Their voices were, however, hushed as they approached the wicket gate
+and discovered that they had arrived at the churchyard.
+
+"I'm glad that my directions have been carried out," said Captain Adair,
+the taller of the two gentlemen.  "It is but a poor mark, after all, of
+the gratitude and affection I owe to my kind old friends, by whom I have
+been so largely benefited.  What do you think of them, Jack?"
+
+"They are very much to my taste, and are exactly such as I should have
+wished to put up," answered Captain Rogers.  "We shall hear what Julia
+and Lucy say."
+
+Their two wives, who now arrived, were equally pleased.  The elder
+girls, who had brought wreaths of flowers, placed them on the graves as
+a token of their visit--an idea of their mothers, though it is probable
+that neither Jack nor Terence would have thought of doing such a thing.
+They were still looking at the monuments when carriage wheels were
+heard, and a gentleman and lady soon afterwards appeared from the other
+side of the churchyard, and approached them, accompanied by a
+fine-looking lad in a midshipman's uniform.
+
+"Why, Murray!  My dear fellow!  I little expected to see you here!"
+exclaimed Jack, hurrying forward to greet them, Adair following.
+
+Captain Murray introduced his son, who had just left the _Britannia_,
+and expected every day to be appointed to a ship.
+
+"But where have you come from, and where are you staying?" asked Jack.
+
+"From Bercaldine, on board the _Stella_, but not the _Stella_ you know.
+Our family having considerably increased, we had outgrown the old craft,
+so I purchased a fine schooner in Greenock, aboard which we arrived only
+yesterday evening.  Finding you were staying at Ryde, we went to your
+house and there heard that you had gone in this direction.  Guessing
+your object, we drove on here in the hopes of meeting you."
+
+This of course gave Jack and Terence and their wives the greatest
+satisfaction.  Thus the three old shipmates were again united, and
+together they stood round the grave of the friend they had known from
+their youth upwards.  Of course they had a great deal to talk about, and
+Murray, sending away his carriage, walked back with his friends to Ryde.
+
+Young Alick, as may be supposed, made himself agreeable to Miss Julia
+Rogers and Miss Lucy Adair--for both girls were christened after their
+mothers.  He was a fine handsome boy, full of life and spirits, without
+a particle of bashfulness.  Murray inquired after Tom and Desmond.  Tom
+was at sea on board the _Roarer_, a lately launched composite frigate,
+which was expected to perform wonders both under sail and steam, but she
+had already had to put back twice into Plymouth with broken-down
+machinery and other injuries.  It was hoped, however, now that she had
+undergone a thorough repair, that she would at all events be able to
+keep above water, although she might not succeed in running after a
+smaller enemy, or in running away from a big one.
+
+"And where is your nephew Desmond?" asked Murray.
+
+"In Dublin, closeted every day, he writes me word, with a lawyer, poring
+over papers, writing and receiving letters, and seeing witnesses.  Our
+friend McMahon assures me that he is certain ultimately to succeed his
+father's relative, Viscount Saint Maur, a fifth, sixth, or seventh
+cousin, I believe, who has died lately.  Several other persons, however,
+having laid claim to the title and estates, McMahon was somehow or other
+induced to look into the case, and became convinced that Gerald was the
+rightful heir.  I thought that it was better while he was at sea not to
+unsettle his mind by holding out any great prospect of success."
+
+"I heartily hope that he will succeed," said Jack.  "He is a fine young
+fellow; although he has not particularly distinguished himself in the
+service, I'm sure he will, should he have an opportunity.  I hope he'll
+stick to it even although he should become Viscount Saint Maur."
+
+"I'm not very confident about his doing that, even should the Lords of
+the Admiralty offer to promote him," said Terence, laughing.  "He may
+possibly imitate the example of our old school-fellow, Johnny Grant, who
+had been a mate eight or ten years, when, on his coming into a title, my
+lords wrote, offering at once to promote him and appoint him to a ship.
+He politely replied, that though hitherto overlooked, he was bound to
+thank them, but declined their noble offer.  I suspect that Gerald also
+will prefer remaining at home looking after his property, and probably
+taking to himself a wife."
+
+"Not one of our Australian friends?" asked Jack.  "I didn't think he was
+so far gone as that."
+
+"Oh no; he is as heart-sound as ever, but an Irishman with a title and
+good property is not likely to be allowed to remain in single
+blessedness.  If he gains his cause at the trial, which is to come off
+shortly, I hope that he will come over and pay us a visit while the old
+house is undergoing repairs; we shall then probably go and stay with him
+during the winter.  I wish that you and Murray would come and see us at
+Ballymacree--including, of course, Mrs Murray and Mrs Rogers and all
+your belongings.  We have had the place put to rights, and I've bought
+back some of the dirty acres surrounding it which my poor father let
+slip through his fingers, so that it has regained some of its pristine
+greatness or glory, although we do not intend to carry on as was the
+custom in days of yore, when half-a-dozen hogsheads of claret were on
+tap at once, and anybody who asked for it got the key."
+
+The young ladies were, perhaps, not quite so much interested with the
+account Adair gave of his nephew as were their parents, or in the
+prospect of seeing the future viscount.  Murray feared that he should be
+unable to visit Ballymacree.
+
+"We are due at Bercaldine in the autumn," he observed.  "We are
+unwilling to disappoint the people there, who always look forward to our
+return, and we have been so many years absent that we do not like to
+remain away oftener than is necessary."
+
+"You'll be getting your flag soon," observed Adair.  "Then if you have
+an appointment offered you, surely you would not wish to decline it.  It
+will be some time before Jack and I become admirals, although I shall
+scarcely feel myself neglected if I do not get a ship.  In the mean
+time, I have paid several visits to the Admiralty lately to ascertain by
+ocular demonstration what are my prospects, and, judging by appearances,
+they are not so bad as may be supposed.  By my calculations, you will
+have your flag in a couple of years at the outside."
+
+"How is that?" asked Mrs Murray.
+
+"Why, I will tell you.  Your husband, as well as Rogers, well knows the
+waiting-room to which officers are ushered, who desire to pay their
+respects to the First Lord of the Admiralty, to obtain anything they can
+out of him.  When I see a number of old post-captains collected, I
+generally drop a remark that I have not come to ask for employment, but
+to inquire how soon I am likely to obtain my flag.  Some one is sure to
+think I'm cracked, and to beg that I will say how I can possibly learn
+that?  My reply is that I watch the way in which my seniors go upstairs.
+If they run nimbly up when summoned, I am pretty sure that they are
+likely to remain on the books as long as I am, and become admirals.  But
+if they drag their legs up after them, and ascend at a slow pace, I feel
+certain that they will be placed on the retired list, or perhaps go out
+of the world altogether.  On hearing this my respected seniors have
+generally cast angry looks at me; and when they are summoned I follow
+them out.  The first few steps they go up nimbly enough, but by the
+fourth or fifth they drag their legs slower.  Before they are out of
+sight I see them creeping on, and often blowing like grampuses with the
+unusual exertion they have made.  I generally pull out my watch too, and
+time them, making a note also of their mode of progress.  In nine cases
+out of ten I have found that I have been right.  Since the idea first
+occurred to me fifty at least have gone off the list."
+
+Mrs Murray looked somewhat grave.  "I had rather Alick remained a
+captain than see a number of officers put aside or die to make room for
+him," she answered.
+
+"Why, my dear Mrs Murray, it's all we have to look to," answered
+Terence.  "We must grow old, it's certain; and we wish to become
+admirals before we are laid up with the gout, or become too decrepit to
+go to sea.  I hear the Admiralty are taking the matter into
+consideration, and intend to increase the retired list, so that we
+juvenile captains may have a better chance of our flags."
+
+Jack and Terence accompanied Murray and Stella down to the pier, where
+their boat was waiting to take them off to the yacht, which lay among
+several other fine craft a short distance from it.  Both promised to go
+on board with their wives and children the next morning.
+
+"Have you got Ben Snatchblock as master?" asked Jack.
+
+"No, no," said Murray, laughing.  "He modestly declined taking so
+responsible a charge, and I thought he was right, so he has subsided
+into the more retiring character of boatswain or second mate.  I brought
+the craft round myself, but I intend to look out for a Cowes man as
+first mate and pilot, as I wish to have no anxieties, and be able to
+send the vessel anywhere I wish, without going in her.  I propose
+engaging a couple of good men as master and mate, if they are to be
+found at this season of the year.  Most of the well-known men are, of
+course, already engaged."
+
+Next morning Jack and Terence, with their belongings, went down to the
+pier, where the _Stella's_ boat, with the young Alick, was waiting to
+receive them with oars in the air.  Young Alick gave the word to shove
+off in a very officer-like way, and the blades dropping flat on the
+water, scarcely making a splash, the boat with rapid strokes was pulled
+alongside the yacht.  Even to Jack's critical eye she was as neat and
+trim as any craft could be, and, moreover, a thoroughly comfortable,
+wholesome vessel, as are most of the Scotch yachts.
+
+Captain Murray stood in the gangway to hand in his guests, who were soon
+seated in easy camp chairs, on cloaks and cushions round the skylight.
+The anchor was hove up.  The vessel's head, under her jib and foresail,
+payed round before a light air from the eastward, and the mainsail being
+hoisted, she stood away with several other yachts, which got under way
+at the same time, standing to the westward.  The sky was blue and clear,
+and the sun shone brightly on the glittering water, just rippled over by
+the breeze, on the polished sides of the yacht, on the burnished brass
+work, and on the sails white as snow.
+
+As the _Stella's_ squaresail was set, she ran by several of the yachts,
+showing that, although a comfortable craft, she was no laggard.  Every
+thing on board was perfect.  The men in their white duck trousers, blue
+shirts, their hats having a band on which the name of the yacht was
+inscribed in gold letters, the decks without a spot, the ropes neatly
+flemished down, the bulwarks of a pale salmon colour, the stanchions,
+belaying-pins, and other brass work burnished to a nicety, all betokened
+a thoroughly well-ordered yacht, Murray himself setting the example in
+his own person.  The yacht soon glided by the wooded heights of Binsted.
+The royal domain of Osborne, surrounded by trees, with its green lawn,
+was passed, Cowes Point rounded, and its harbour opened out full of
+yachts of every size and rig, some at anchor, others just getting under
+way.  Its club house and picturesque villas, amid its groves of trees
+and bright lawns, were seen close on the port side; while on the
+opposite shore, at the mouth of Southampton Water, could be
+distinguished Calshot Castle, once the residence of a general well known
+in the Peninsular War, the predecessor in the command of the British
+army of Sir Arthur Wellesley.  Beyond Calshot rose the tower of
+Eaglehurst, and to the west of it, reaching to the shore, the outskirts
+of the New Forest.  Then further on could be seen the town of Lymington,
+at the end of a river meandering through mud flats, with
+Jack-in-the-basket at its mouth; on the Isle of Wight shore the village
+of Newton, peeping out amongst the thick foliage, with a line of downs
+rising far beyond it, extending to the extreme west of the island; and
+Yarmouth, with its long street and sturdy little castle at one end, a
+church tower rising in its midst; and Freshwater, with its
+attractive-looking residences, perched on the hillside; and to the west
+of it, its formidable but unpicturesque-looking forts, scientifically
+placed on heights commanding the entrance to the Solent.  On the right,
+at the end of a long spit of sand, were the red light-houses, and the
+castle, and newly erected batteries of Hurst, such as no hostile fleet
+would dare to encounter; outside of which could be distinguished, by the
+broken water, the dangerous shoal of the Shingles, well marked also by
+its huge black buoys.
+
+"How beautiful and curious those cliffs are coloured!" exclaimed the
+children in chorus, pointing to a bay in the Isle of Wight shore, a
+short distance inside the white Needle rocks.
+
+"That is Alum Bay," answered Captain Murray.  "The cliffs are composed
+of fine sand of different colours, as you see.  You shall land there
+some day, when we will come down on purpose; and you can collect
+specimens for your museum.  There are tints sufficient for forming a
+picture, and you may try who can produce the prettiest landscape with
+them."
+
+Beyond Alum Bay the cliffs rose to a great height, continuing to the
+very end of the island, where the white Needle rocks ran out into the
+blue waters.  The most northern one had been scarped so as to form a
+platform, on which a granite light-house had been built, instead of one
+on the downs, which, frequently shrouded by mists, was not to be seen in
+thick weather by vessels entering from the westward.  The Needle rocks
+were soon rounded, while the tide was still ebbing, and Scratchel's Bay
+was opened out, its perpendicular cliff rising sheer out of the water
+several hundred feet.  The pilot Murray had engaged narrated how once
+upon a time a transport on a dark night ran in on the rocks, and the
+crew and passengers escaped over the fallen masts, and succeeded in
+scrambling up the more accessible part of the cliff; when the morning
+broke the white rocks looked as if sprinkled over by lady-birds, as the
+soldiers in their red jackets attempted to make their way to the summit.
+
+The yacht stood on until Christchurch Head was passed, and Bournemouth,
+peeping out amid pine groves, and Studland Bay, and the pretty little
+town of Swanage appeared, when she hauled her wind to save the tide
+back, as with a light breeze she would require every inch of it to reach
+Ryde before nightfall.
+
+The ladies, who had never sailed down the Solent before, were delighted
+with the scenery.  Even the three captains, who had so often come in and
+out through the Needle passage, declared that they enjoyed the views
+more than they had ever done before.  The sea was so smooth that there
+was no necessity to bring up for luncheon, while before dinner-time the
+_Stella_ was again inside the Isle of Wight.
+
+It was the first of several pleasant trips the three old friends with
+their young people took on board the _Stella_.  The captains declared
+that they felt like boys again, and that it was the happiest time in
+their lives.  They had picnics at Alum Bay, Netley Abbey, on the shores
+of Southampton Water; they pulled up Beaulieu River in the boats, and
+several times sailed round the Isle of Wight.
+
+Adair received a letter from his nephew Gerald, giving a hopeful account
+of his prospects.
+
+"What do you say to a trip round to Dublin to congratulate him if he
+succeeds, or to console the poor fellow if he fails?" said Murray.  "You
+will come, I am sure, and I dare say Jack will have no objection to the
+trip."
+
+Both Adair and Jack were perfectly ready to accept the invitation.  Mrs
+Rogers expressed her readiness, and Lucy undertook to remain at Ryde to
+look after the children.  It was finally settled that the eldest Miss
+Murray and Miss Rogers should go with the yacht, with, of course, young
+Alick, while the rest remained behind.  It was arranged that the
+_Stella_ should sail as soon as a grand review of the fleet, which was
+about to take place, was over.  The review was in honour of a visit paid
+to the Queen by the Sultan of Turkey and the Pasha of Egypt, or rather
+to exhibit Britannia's might and power to the two Eastern potentates.
+Murray had invited several friends of his own, as well as of Jack's and
+Adair's, to see the fleet.  As soon as they were on board, the _Stella_
+got under way, and making sail ran down the two lines, the one composed
+of lofty line-of-battle ships and frigates, relics of days gone by,
+consisting of the _Victory_, the _Duke of Wellington_, the _Donegal_,
+the _Revenge_, the _Saint Vincent_, the _Royal George_, the _Saint
+George_, the _Dauntless_, and many others, whose names recalled the
+proudest days of England's glory, but which were probably three or four
+times the size of the old ships, with a weight of metal immensely
+surpassing their predecessors.  In the other line were cupola or
+turret-ships; iron-clads, with four or five huge guns, armoured screw
+frigates, and screw corvettes, and rams--hideous to look at, but
+formidable monsters--and gun-boats innumerable, like huge beetles turned
+on their backs, each with a single gun capable of dealing destruction on
+the proudest of the ancient line-of-battle ships.
+
+The fleet getting under way stood to the eastward, when they formed in
+perfect order, the sailing ships taking the port line, the iron-clads
+the starboard.  The _Stella_, having stood back to Spithead, saw them
+approaching, presenting a magnificent spectacle as they gradually
+emerged from the broad wreaths of smoke issuing from their funnels.
+
+"Gaze at yonder sight, ladies and gentlemen; it will probably be the
+last time you will see the ancient and modern fleets of Great Britain
+placed in juxtaposition.  All those magnificent three-deckers will be
+cut down into turret-ships, as the _Royal Sovereign_ has been treated,
+or be broken up as useless, unable to contend with the smallest gun-boat
+afloat."  Jack heaved a deep sigh as he spoke, adding, "I cannot help
+wishing at times that things had remained as they were, and that
+smoke-jacks and iron-clads, and rams and torpedoes, and other diabolical
+inventions had never been thought of; but we must take them as they are
+and make the best use of them in our power.  In the next naval war,
+whenever it takes place, there will be some extraordinary naval events
+to be recorded.  Instead of stately ships and light frigates, with their
+white canvas reaching to the skies, the ocean will be covered with low
+black monsters, darting here and there seeking for antagonists, others
+ramming, and some sending their vile torpedoes beneath an enemy's keel;
+others thundering away from their monster guns; not a few blowing up and
+foundering with all hands on board."
+
+"You do not draw a pleasant picture of the battles of the future,"
+observed Adair, laughing.  "My idea is that if the British fleet is kept
+up as it should be, no enemy will venture out to attack it."
+
+A strong south-westerly gale kept the _Stella_ in Cowes harbour for some
+days, but the weather again clearing, and promising to continue fine,
+she sailed with a northerly breeze down Channel.  By this time the
+ladies had got so well accustomed to the yacht that they felt themselves
+perfectly at home.  Murray had a good supply of books, and a box from
+Mudie's was added to the store, with creature comforts of all sorts on
+board.
+
+"After all, though we are somewhat closer packed than we should be on
+board a line-of-battle ship, I must say that yachting is a mighty
+pleasant way of spending the time," exclaimed Adair.
+
+"Lucy, I suspect, will be well content if you are satisfied with
+indulging your nautical propensities in this way, instead of going
+afloat for three or four long years," observed Julia.
+
+"It's as well not to think about the future.  If the Lords of the
+Admiralty insist on my taking the command of a ship, unless I make up my
+mind to give up the service, I must accept their offer.  However, at
+present, as they do not know where to find me, I am not likely to hear
+about the matter, even should they offer me a ship, so let's be happy
+while we can, and drive dull care away."
+
+The fine weather continued until the _Stella_ had got to the westward of
+the Eddystone, when it came on to blow pretty hard from the southward.
+Murray proposed running into Falmouth for the sake of the ladies.
+
+"Will there be any danger if we continue the voyage?" asked his wife.
+
+"Not the slightest; at the utmost we need only expect a summer gale, and
+though we may have a heavy sea when doubling the Lizard, once round it
+there will be a fair wind for us," was the answer.
+
+The ladies were unanimous in their desire to keep at sea, so the yacht
+stood on her course.  They certainly did repent of their resolve when
+the beacon on the Wolf Rock appeared on the starboard hand, and the gale
+came down with redoubled force, while a heavy sea got up, such as those
+who have often been in the chops of the Channel have experienced to
+their cost.  The ladies, however, showed not a shadow of fear.
+
+The yacht behaved beautifully.  Murray knew that he could trust to her
+spars and rigging, for Ben had superintended the fitting out of the
+vessel, and set up each shroud and stay, and carefully examined every
+inch of her masts and yards, so that he felt confident that not a flaw
+existed.  In a short time the helm was put up and the yacht stood for
+the passage between the Land's End and the Scilly Isles, guided by the
+two magnificent lights, the Longships on the starboard bow and those of
+the light vessel off the Seven Stones on the port.
+
+"Why, I expected that we should have a terrible night of it; how
+suddenly the gale has gone down!" exclaimed Julia, not aware that the
+yacht had been just put before the wind, as she and the other ladies
+were seated on the sofas in the luxurious cabin.
+
+The yacht, instead of heeling over as she had hitherto been doing, was
+on a tolerably even keel, though she gave now and then a little playful
+roll or pitch into the seas as she rapidly clove her way over them.
+
+Jack came down and invited them to come on deck and see the two lights,
+which now appeared before them on each bow.
+
+"Before the light vessel on the port bow was stationed there, no ship on
+a dark night and bad weather would willingly run through this channel,"
+he observed.  "But now it can be done as safely as in the broadest
+daylight, or indeed even more so."
+
+"But I see two lights close together," said Julia.
+
+"Yes," answered Jack, "one is at each mast-head of the vessel.  It can
+thus be distinguished from the larger light of the Longships, which is a
+single light of much greater power.  We can also thus distinguish the
+Longships from the revolving light of Saint Agnes, on the southern rocks
+of Scilly.  You can see it low down over the port quarter.  Now you see
+it is hidden, but it will appear again in another minute, whereas the
+Longships light is fixed and is always visible."
+
+As Murray had prognosticated, the wind moderated, and the _Stella_ had a
+pleasant run across the mouth of the Bristol Channel, sighting the
+Smalls light-house the next forenoon to the westward of Milford Haven on
+the starboard hand, the revolving Tuscar lights off the Irish coast
+being seen over the port quarter as it grew dark.
+
+The wind now fell, and not until next morning did a light breeze spring
+up, which wafted the _Stella_ along the Wicklow coast.  Just before dark
+she brought up in the beautiful Bay of Dublin, the wind not allowing her
+to get into Kingstown harbour.  Adair being especially anxious to go on
+shore to learn how it fared with Desmond, the boat was manned, and Jack
+accompanied him on shore, the ladies preferring to remain on board.
+
+The eventful day of the trial was over, and already it had been decided
+whether Gerald Desmond was to remain a poor lieutenant with his half-pay
+alone to depend upon, or become the owner of a handsome estate--albeit
+somewhat encumbered--and the possessor of a title, at all events worth
+something, whatever cynics might think about the matter.  Jack felt
+almost as much interested as Adair, and could talk of nothing else
+during their passage up to Dublin.  The crew seemed to guess there was
+something in the wind, and gave way with a will.  On arriving at Dublin,
+having sent the boat back to the yacht, they hastened up to the
+residence of the Counsellor McMahon, with whom Desmond was staying.
+They intended to sleep that night in Dublin, and to return the next
+morning by way of Kingstown to the _Stella_.
+
+Captain Adair, excited by his feelings, pulled the bell with more than
+his usual vehemence.
+
+"Is Counsellor McMahon at home?" he asked.
+
+"No, your honour, the master, with the lieutenant, is out, but they'll
+not be long before they're home," was the answer.
+
+Adair thought the term lieutenant augured ill.  Surely the servant would
+speak of Desmond as the young lord if he had gained his cause.  He,
+however, considered that it would be undignified to put the question.
+
+"Are any of the family at home?" asked Jack, as he and Adair tendered
+their cards.
+
+"Sure, yes, capt'ns; the mistress and the young ladies are at home, and
+they'll be mighty glad to see ye."
+
+"Take up our cards, at all events," said Adair, "and we will wait in the
+hall."
+
+The servant hurried off, while Jack and Adair stood waiting his return.
+The man soon returned.
+
+"Come up, come up, capt'ns; the mistress will be mighty pleased to see
+you," he said, beginning, in a way no English servant would have thought
+of doing, to relieve them of their hats.
+
+"Sure, I'll just take charge of these; they'll be after incommoding you
+in the drawing-room," he said, taking possession of their beavers by
+gentle force.
+
+Adair smiled, but made no objection, although Jack was very unwilling to
+give up his hat.
+
+They were ushered into a handsome drawing-room, and the lady of the
+house--a buxom dame--came smiling forward, while three young damsels
+rose and put down the work on which they had been engaged.
+
+"The Counsellor must have had good hope of success, or he would scarcely
+have invited the young lieutenant to remain at his house with three such
+attractive girls as those are," thought Jack, as he cast a glance at the
+young ladies, while he advanced across the room.
+
+Mrs McMahon received them with Irish cordiality and begged them to be
+seated.  "I'm expecting the counsellor back every moment, and I conclude
+that our young friend, Lord Saint Maur, will return with him; for so I
+may call Lieutenant Desmond, as only a few technicalities have to be
+gone through before he can properly assume the title."
+
+"Has he really gained the cause?" exclaimed Adair.  "I am delighted, and
+grateful to Counsellor McMahon, without whose aid he would have had no
+chance of success."
+
+"The counsellor has done his best, and his success has afforded him as
+much satisfaction as it can any one else," answered the lady, bowing.
+"Indeed, it is a pleasure to have been of service to so excellent and
+delightful a young man as your nephew, Captain Adair."
+
+Jack looked round to see whether any of the young ladies gave responsive
+looks to the encomiums passed on Gerald.  They all three smiled sweetly,
+with precisely the same expression, so that it would have required a
+better physiognomist than was Captain Rogers to have discovered what was
+passing in their innocent minds.
+
+"I fully believe that the counsellor was disinterested in the efforts he
+made to forward Desmond's cause," he thought to himself.
+
+There was not much time for conversation before Counsellor McMahon, a
+round, ruddy-faced, white-haired, bright-eyed man, accompanied by
+Desmond, entered the room.  He took Adair's hand in both his own and
+shook it cordially, saying in a hearty tone--
+
+"I congratulate you, my dear captain, on your nephew's success."
+
+"Oh, don't thank me; I merely took care justice was done--that's all a
+lawyer has to do, from his client's point of view at all events.  We
+triumphed, as I knew we should, notwithstanding the forgeries, the
+falsehood, and the perjury brought in array against us.  It was truly a
+satisfaction to fight in the cause of your nephew, who bore his blushing
+honours with so much equanimity.  I believe that had he lost, he would
+again have gone to sea and done his duty with as much zeal as ever.
+Whether or not he will now return to tempt once more the tempest and the
+waves, not to speak of round shot and bullets, is more than I can say.
+I only know that if I were in his place I should stick to _terra firma_.
+But I never much admired a life on the ocean wave, albeit feeling the
+deepest respect for its gallant sons who hazard their lives in their
+country's cause."
+
+The lawyer ran on, scarcely allowing Jack or Adair to get in a word.  At
+last, however, they had an opportunity of congratulating Desmond on his
+good fortune.
+
+He spoke very sensibly, and was evidently in no way unduly elated by his
+success.  Jack rightly thought that he had been too busy to dream of
+making love to the lawyer's fair daughters, attractive as one and all of
+them were.
+
+In a few minutes supper was announced, and Jack, as the senior officer,
+handed down the lady of the house, Desmond modestly slipping behind and
+refusing to move.
+
+Mrs McMahon was affability itself, the counsellor brimful of jokes and
+good humour, laughing and talking for everybody else.  On hearing that
+Jack and Adair had part of their families on board, he insisted that
+they should come on shore, and allow his wife to show them the lions of
+Dublin and its neighbourhood.  "You'll not be going away without taking
+a drive into Wicklow, the most perfect paradise on the surface of the
+globe in my opinion," he added.  "Carriages shall be in waiting for the
+ladies, and I'll take all the trouble off your hands."
+
+So pressing an invitation was not to be refused.  The various excursions
+Mrs McMahon and her friends made on shore need not be described.  They
+were delighted with all they saw of the country, if not of Dublin itself
+and the Misses Murray at once declared that they should be perfectly
+ready to come and live in Ireland, though they had seen no spot which
+could equal Bercaldine.
+
+As Captain Murray had to return to Ryde to take on board his younger
+children, before returning to Scotland, his stay in Dublin could not be
+prolonged.  "We can give you a berth, Saint Maur, if you are inclined to
+take a trip to sea again, although we will not make you keep watch
+unless you specially wish it," he said, scarcely expecting, however,
+that the invitation would be accepted.
+
+"I shall be delighted," answered Desmond; "I can spare a couple of
+weeks, as McMahon will not immediately require my signature and will do
+all that is necessary in the mean time.  I feel as fond of the sea as
+ever, though I shall certainly not seek for employment, and may possibly
+retire and start a yacht next year if I can afford it, although on that
+score I am not very sanguine, as the old house, I understand, requires
+extensive repairs, and there is much to be done on the estate: decent
+cottages, instead of pigsties, to be built; land to be drained and
+fences put up--the tenantry must be looked after."
+
+Murray, as the only way of returning the attentions he had received from
+Counsellor McMahon, took him, his wife, and daughters, a trip on board
+the _Stella_, their cruise being along the Wicklow coast, and highly
+delighted the young ladies were, though the counsellor acknowledged that
+he was much happier when the _Stella_ brought up in Kingstown Harbour,
+and he found himself at the dinner table in the comfortable cabin at
+perfect rest.
+
+"It may be very pleasant for you young people to be tumbled and tossed
+about while you are gazing at the scenery of our incomparable mountains,
+but I confess that I can only enjoy the beauties of nature while I find
+my feet securely placed on _terra firma_," he remarked.
+
+The following day, with a spanking breeze from the westward, the
+_Stella_ sailed on her return to the Isle of Wight.  The fine weather
+continued until she had got clear of Scilly.  While she was still in the
+chops of the Channel it fell a dead calm, and a thick fog came on.
+There the _Stella_ lay, drifted slowly up by one tide and to the
+westward again by the other.  Night came on.  The officers agreed that
+they had never been in the Channel with such perfect darkness as hung
+over the water.  Lights were hoisted, and a look-out kept for any
+steamers which might be coming up or down the Channel, although to get
+out of their way was impossible.
+
+Captain Murray and his friends felt far more anxiety than they would
+have experienced had it been blowing a strong gale.  The evening was
+unusually chilly.  Moisture dropped from the sails and rigging,
+preventing the ladies from remaining on deck.  Adair went below, as he
+said, to amuse them; but Murray, Jack, and Desmond remained looking out,
+ready to shout should they see a steamer approaching.  Of sailing
+vessels there was no fear, for they, as was the _Stella_, would be
+becalmed.
+
+"Oh, those horrible steam-kettles!  I never before so heartily hated
+them as I do now.  If one of them was to come thundering along now,
+without a bright look-out, she might be into us before our lights could
+be seen, or our warning shouts heard!" exclaimed Adair.
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered Murray.  "I'm almost inclined to get the ladies
+on deck and to have a boat lowered, in case a steamer should run into
+us.  We should have a better hope of saving their lives, for the sides
+of a yacht are but ill able to withstand a blow from a steamer going at
+even a moderate speed; and some of those steam-boat skippers, provided
+they make a fast passage, care very little what damage they may do to
+small craft in their way."
+
+Murray, however, kept all fast.  He felt ashamed of making preparations
+for a catastrophe which might never occur.  Hour after hour passed by,
+while they paced the deck with their hands in their pockets, whistling
+for a breeze.  It was very trying, as they were in a hurry to get back.
+
+"You had better go below, Saint Maur," said Murray; "there is no
+necessity for us all to remain on deck."
+
+"Thank you; but I would rather assist in keeping a look-out, while
+either you or Captain Rogers turn in.  I'll keep moving, though, for I
+feel it rather cold;" and Desmond continued walking up and down at a
+quick pace.
+
+Captain Rogers at last said he would go below to see what the ladies
+were about, and to advise them to turn in.
+
+Scarcely had his head descended below the companion hatch than Murray
+exclaimed--
+
+"Here's a breeze at last!  Its dead ahead though; but it will blow away
+the fog, I hope, and we shall be able to keep the yacht moving."
+
+Two or three minutes, however, passed before the vessel's sails, feeling
+the influence of the wind, enabled her to gather way.  Contrary to
+Murray's expectations, the fog still hung as thickly as before above the
+water.
+
+"Here, Murray, the ladies want you to settle a knotty point," exclaimed
+Jack, from the foot of the companion ladder.
+
+Murray, seeing that the schooner had now got way on her, dived below.
+Not a minute after, a crash was heard.  He, followed by Jack, sprang on
+deck, when they saw a large dark hull, with a pyramid of canvas, rising
+above the deck, over the after part of which a long projecting bowsprit
+made a rapid sweep, tearing a hole through the mainsail, and carrying
+away the leech.  They both instinctively sprang aft to the helm, the man
+at which had been knocked down.  In another instant the schooner was
+clear, and the stranger had disappeared in the darkness.
+
+Jack, taking the helm, kept it up, for the blow had brought the vessel
+to the wind, while Murray hastened to ascertain what damage had been
+done.
+
+"She has only torn away our bulwarks, sir," cried Ben.  "Try the well,"
+said Murray.
+
+Ben reported--
+
+"She's making no water, but I don't know what she may do when we go on
+t'other tack."
+
+"Clear the boats ready for lowering," exclaimed Murray.
+
+That on the port side, however, was found to have been carried away,
+with the davits, and now hung crushed to pieces, held by the falls.  The
+darkness prevented all the damage which had been done from being
+discovered for some time.  Adair had remained a minute behind his
+friends, to quiet the alarm of the ladies, who were naturally somewhat
+agitated at hearing the sound caused by the collision.  He now sprang on
+deck, just as Murray was ordering a boat to be lowered.
+
+"Here, Desmond," he sang out, "lend me a hand at the after falls."
+
+"Hold on!" cried Murray; "there's no necessity for lowering a boat.
+There's no great damage done, after all, I hope; though it would have
+been the same to that big fellow, for no one on board him even hailed to
+know whether we required assistance."
+
+The breeze was every instant freshening.  The schooner heeled over to
+starboard.
+
+"Where are you, Desmond?" exclaimed Adair.
+
+No one answered.
+
+"Good Heavens! where's Saint Maur?" cried Jack.  "Can he have gone
+below?"
+
+"That's not likely.  Alick, where are you?" cried Captain Murray, the
+fearful idea occurring to him that some accident might have happened to
+his son.
+
+"Here, sir," cried Alick, who had been forward talking to Ben
+Snatchblock.
+
+Murray uttered his thanks to Heaven.  "Bring a light here, and look
+round the deck," he exclaimed.  "He may have been struck down."
+
+The search was in vain.  The man who had been at the helm seemed to have
+been seriously injured, as he was found senseless close to the taffrail.
+It became too sadly evident that the young lord had been carried
+overboard.
+
+He must have been struck on the head; for no cry had been heard, and,
+owing to the pitchy darkness, no one had seen him.  The crew, with the
+exception of the helmsman, having been gathered forward, they were now
+mustered to ascertain if any one else had been carried overboard, but
+all answered to their names.
+
+Murray and Jack blamed themselves bitterly for having left the deck when
+they ought to have been on the look-out; but even had they remained, the
+collision might not have been avoided, so suddenly had the stranger
+appeared running down before the wind.  Adair could scarcely restrain
+his grief for the loss of his nephew.  Murray immediately put the
+schooner about, and then kept away, so as to pass over the spot where
+the accident had occurred.  Desmond might possibly have recovered his
+senses, and kept himself afloat, either by swimming or holding on to the
+fragments of the boat.  Every eye was strained in looking ahead and on
+both sides, in the possibility of discovering him; but no voice replied
+to their repeated shouts, and nothing was seen floating on the water.
+Hands were stationed at the falls to lower the boat, should it become
+necessary.  The schooner was frequently tacked, so that every inch of
+water was explored; but the search was in vain.
+
+Murray considered that it would be useless to attempt to overtake the
+stranger, to ascertain who she was, and to demand reparation for the
+damage inflicted.  At length the search was abandoned as hopeless; and
+the yacht once more hauled her wind.  She was destined, to all
+appearance, to have a long beat up Channel.
+
+Jack undertook to convey the sad intelligence to his wife and Mrs
+Murray, who had remained below, wondering what had occurred.
+
+It was a sad event in the trip, which had otherwise been so agreeable.
+The wind continued to increase, and Murray felt too anxious to go below.
+The schooner had been put about and was now standing to the northward.
+He had made up his mind to run into Falmouth to wait for a fair wind,
+should the weather not improve.  Ben Snatchblock came aft.
+
+"I'm afraid, sir, that the craft's making more water than she should.
+We'll man the pumps, if you please.  She got more damage than I had
+supposed.  The chief injury seems to be amidships, and I should not be
+surprised if the water wasn't coming in through one of the side berths."
+
+Jack and Adair went below to examine into the state of affairs.  One of
+the berths on the port side had been occupied by Desmond.  On entering
+it, by the light from the main cabin, they saw the water gushing in
+every time the schooner heeled over.  The ladies naturally cried out
+with alarm.
+
+"It might have been far worse," said Jack.  "We can soon stop this.  We
+must shorten sail and keep as much as possible on an even keel."
+
+The carpenter came below with some tools and planks, and set to work to
+try and stop the leak.  The pumps were, in the mean time, kept actively
+going, and Ben reported that the water was decreasing.  Still, the
+injury might be more serious than was at first apprehended, and no
+little anxiety was felt by all on board.  It might be many hours before
+Falmouth could be reached.
+
+The damage having been partially repaired, the yacht was put about.  The
+leak in the side was anxiously watched, to ascertain if the water still
+came in.  A small quantity was evidently forcing its way through the
+seams, but Murray hoped that it would not prove of much consequence, and
+that the pumps might easily keep the vessel clear.  Still he was aware
+that at any moment the plank nailed on might be forced in.  It seemed a
+wonder indeed that the yacht had not been sunk at once by the blow she
+had received.
+
+"The wind's coming a point or two more to the south'ard, sir," observed
+Ben Snatchblock, who had been looking at the binnacle.  "Half a point or
+so more, and we shall weather the Lizard.  There are the lights, sir.  I
+thought we should see them before long."
+
+The mist clearing away, the fixed lights of the Lizard were seen on the
+port bow.  Gradually the wind allowed the vessel's head to be turned
+more to the eastward, when they appeared broad on the bow.  The
+schooner, by keeping close to the wind, was able to steer a course
+direct for Falmouth Harbour, and away she went slashing through the seas
+at a great rate.  Just before dawn it again grew unusually dark and
+thick, so that even the bright lights of the Lizard could be seen but
+dimly.  They served, however, to show that she was at a sufficient
+distance from the shore, but that shore was a lee one, and should any
+accident happen, she would be placed in great peril.
+
+"Luff all you can," said Murray to the helmsman, for he naturally
+dreaded, should the wind increase, to find himself with a rocky coast
+under his lee, though he had confidence in his craft.
+
+Day dawned, and the Cornish land appeared stretching along from north to
+south, and much nearer than had been supposed.  Breakers were seen
+dashing over the dangerous rocks of the Manacles, close under their lee.
+Just then a heavy squall struck the yacht; over she heeled, and the
+water rushed half up her deck, pouring in through crevices which had
+hitherto not been discovered.  To keep her away was impossible.  By
+luffing up she ran the risk of getting into the wind.  To shorten sail
+would have been equally hazardous.  She must stand on at all risks.  The
+yacht flew through the water, plunging into the seas like a being
+struggling for life.  Falmouth Harbour appeared directly ahead, with
+Saint Anthony's light-house on the east side of the entrance.  In a
+short time the vessel would be safe.  She shot by close to the buoy of
+the Manacles.  Murray knew that it was placed some distance outside the
+rocks.  He drew his breath when he saw it astern; still no one looking
+at him would have suspected the anxiety which had weighed on his heart.
+
+By keeping the pumps going the water did not gain sufficiently to cause
+much alarm, but the _Stella_ had already more in her hold than was
+pleasant, and her stores, at all events, were likely to suffer.  Murray
+was infinitely relieved when he was able to let go the anchor, and the
+yacht rode safely in the beautiful harbour of Falmouth, among numerous
+other craft, of various rig and size.  The vessel once at rest, the
+water was soon pumped out, and, breakfast over, Murray and Adair went on
+shore to obtain a carpenter capable of thoroughly repairing the damages
+the vessel had received, as also to ascertain whether she had received
+any injury below water.  Meantime Ben was engaged in mending the
+mainsail.
+
+The ladies did not feel disposed to go on shore.  They were,
+fortunately, not fully aware of the danger in which the yacht had been
+placed, and had as much confidence in her as ever.  The carpenter and
+his assistants set to work without delay, and, wonderful to relate,
+undertook to have all damages repaired by the following day.  A doctor
+was also sent for to attend to poor Dick Stokes, who had remained
+senseless since he was taken below.  After some treatment, however, he
+recovered sufficiently to speak and to give an account of what he
+recollected from the moment he saw the stranger gliding stem on towards
+the _Stella's_ beam.
+
+"She seemed to be coming just as it were out of a fog, like a big ice
+mountain, and I thought it was all over with us," he said.  "I'd just
+time to put the helm down, hoping to scrape clear of her, when I heard a
+crash and saw her bowsprit come sweeping along over our deck, tearing
+away the luff of the mainsail and knocking the port quarter-boat to
+pieces.  I thought I saw some one hanging on to her bobstay, and the
+next moment that or something else struck me on the head and shoulders,
+and I thought I was going overboard.  It seemed as if I heard a cry, but
+whether it was my own shout or some one else's is more than I can tell.
+You see, sir, it was so dark I could not make out anything more, so
+whether it was really a man I caught sight of or not I cannot tell.  To
+my mind, where the schooner was struck, she bounded off from the ship,
+or we should have been sent to the bottom.  That she was a sailing ship
+and not a steamer I am pretty certain, for I had time to see her canvas
+rising up above us."
+
+Dick's statement, as far as the appearance of the ship was concerned,
+was corroborated by the rest of the crew, but so dark was it that only
+two had actually seen her before she was again clear of the schooner and
+running past astern.  Dick's statement slightly raised the hopes of
+Adair and his friends, that Lord Saint Maur might have escaped, but why,
+if he had got safely on board the ship, she did not heave to to allow
+the yacht to speak with her was surprising.  The only supposition was
+that she was a foreigner, and that he could not make himself understood,
+or that the officer of the watch, supposing that the schooner had sunk,
+was afraid to heave to lest he might be made answerable for the
+catastrophe.
+
+Such utter disregard for human life had before been exhibited on more
+than one occasion, and this might be another instance.  However,
+conjectures were useless.  If Saint Maur had been saved they would hear
+of him again.  He would either get on board a homeward-bound vessel, or
+land at the first port at which the ship touched.  The sad subject was
+discussed over and over again.
+
+"I cannot believe that Lord Saint Maur is dead," said Miss Julia Rogers,
+Jack's eldest daughter--who had looked the picture of woe since the
+accident, although she had said nothing--when she heard Dick's
+statement.  "He was telling me of the numerous dangers he and Tom had
+been in, and how they had got out of them all, and I don't see why he
+should not have escaped from this one.  Dick Stokes thinks he saw a
+human being clinging on to the bowsprit rigging, and that must have been
+Lord Saint Maur, and he being a sailor could easily have climbed up and
+got on board.  I have been picturing to myself his doing so, and how
+astonished the sailors must have been when they saw him, though it was
+very, very cruel of them not to heave to and wait for us to receive him
+back again."
+
+Stella smiled sadly at young Julia's remark.  Murray was not so sanguine
+as his friends.  He suspected that Dick had been nodding at the helm,
+and that had he had his eyes open, he would at all events have given the
+alarm before the stranger had struck the yacht.  The latter, it should
+have been said, was sailing on a course diagonal to the ship, or she
+would have been more severely damaged.
+
+The bad weather being over, the _Stella_ once more sailed for the Isle
+of Wight.  Adair had written to Counsellor McMahon an account of the
+accident.  He had posted the letter before Dick had come to his senses,
+and he then expressed no hopes that his nephew had escaped.  As the
+winds were light, the _Stella_ was three days getting up the Channel,
+and it was not till late at night that she brought up off Ryde.  The
+party, therefore, did not go on shore until the following morning.  His
+aunt and young cousins were deeply grieved at hearing of Desmond's
+possible fate.
+
+"It will be a sad blow for Tom and Archie when they hear of it,"
+observed Jack to Adair.  "They have as great an affection for him as we
+three had for each other."
+
+Murray remained at Ryde some days longer, taking trips in various
+directions, and then the captain and his family, bidding adieu to their
+old friends, sailed, intending to go homewards along the east coast and
+round the north of Scotland.  Young Alick, who had not yet been
+appointed to a ship, accompanied his father and mother.
+
+Next morning, as Jack and Adair were seated at breakfast, Adair
+remarked, as he was overlooking a new navy list, just sent in from the
+library--
+
+"I had no idea that Murray was so near his flag.  I see that Sir
+Benjamin Blowhard, old Grummet, poor Marlin, and Kelson, Lord Figgins,
+as we used to call him, Dick Dotheboys, and Oakum, have gone the way of
+all flesh.  I saw by yesterday's paper that Bulkhead had died in the
+West Indies, and two other captains senior to Murray are very ill."
+
+"I shall rejoice at Murray's promotion," said Jack; "there is no man
+better suited to command a fleet."
+
+"I cannot say that I wish for such a responsibility," observed Adair,
+"nor am I in any special hurry to become an admiral, though Lucy may
+think it a very fine thing, especially if I am made a KCB, of which,
+however, there is not the slightest probability.  I'm much more likely
+to be kicked off to sea and sent to the East Indies or West Coast of
+Africa to sun myself."
+
+While this conversation was going forward, two long official-looking
+letters were received.  Julia and Lucy looked at them suspiciously.
+
+"Those very affectionate gentlemen, the Lords of the Admiralty, request
+that I will do them the favour of taking command of the _Bellona_,
+Murray's old ship," said Jack; "but whether to serve on the home station
+or to go out to the Antipodes they do not explain."
+
+He handed the letter to his wife, who put her hand to her heart, as if
+she felt a sudden pain there.
+
+"Oh, Jack, I did not think they would send you off again!" she said,
+with a deep sigh.
+
+"And what is your despatch about?" asked Lucy, in a trembling voice.
+
+"Of the same tenor as Jack's.  Those dear old fellows offer me the
+command of the _Empress_, but leave me as much in the dark as Jack is as
+to where I am to go."
+
+Lucy always behaved better than her sister-in-law on such occasions,
+although she certainly did not love her husband a bit the less.
+
+"I hope if you are sent out to a foreign station where the children and
+I can live, that you will let us go too," said Lucy; "either to North
+America, or the Mediterranean, or Australia, or the Cape.  I'm sure it
+will be one of these."
+
+Julia was equally pressing to be allowed to go out to any part of the
+world to which the _Bellona_ might be sent, but Jack would wisely make
+no promises.
+
+"Well, we must go over to-morrow or the next day to commission the old
+tubs, I suppose," said Adair, laughing, as if the appointment was
+anything but satisfactory, although in reality he felt proud at being
+again sent to sea.
+
+This event almost banished poor Desmond for a short time from his mind,
+until he received a letter from Counsellor McMahon:--"I cannot believe
+that our young friend has gone, after all the efforts we made to obtain
+his rights for him.  I would rather suppose that he was even now
+swimming about somewhere in the chops of the Channel, or was carried off
+by the ship which so abominably attempted to run you down.  I have
+always heard that midshipmen have as many lives as a cat, and though he
+had become a lieutenant, he had not abandoned the privilege he enjoyed
+in his youth.  I don't believe he is lost, and I do not intend to let
+either of the other claimants get hold of the property, or assume his
+title, until I have stronger evidence of his death than your letter
+supplies.  I remember only a short time ago, one of the Lords of the
+Admiralty, or some high official in the Marine Department, was carried
+off by a stranger running into the vessel he was on board, and it was
+not until several days after that he was discovered, having clung to
+what is called the dolphin striker--although to what part of a ship's
+rigging that instrument belongs I do not know, but conclude that it must
+be at the end of the bowsprit--and that his lordship was hooked up by
+the breeks, from which disagreeable position he was rescued by the
+sympathising crew of the vessel which had run into his."
+
+The lawyer's confidence, although, perhaps, arising from insufficient
+grounds, greatly restored Adair's spirits, and he and Jack the next day
+went over to Portsmouth to assume command of their respective ships.
+
+Jack applied for his brother, and the Lords of the Admiralty graciously
+granted his request.  He was very glad to obtain Archie Gordon as his
+first lieutenant.  He at once wrote to Murray, saying how delighted he
+should be to have young Alick.  His letter found the _Stella_ lying in
+Leith Roads, she having put into the Firth of Forth to remain a few
+days.  In less than twenty-four hours young Alick appeared with a letter
+from his father, requesting Jack to obtain the necessary articles for
+his outfit.  Orders were received to get both ships ready for sea with
+all possible expedition, and the two captains found that they were to
+proceed round the Cape of Good Hope to Aden, to which place further
+orders were to be transmitted to them.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+THE BELLONA AND EMPRESS SAIL FOR ADEN--PART COMPANY--BELLONA FALLS IN
+WITH A MERCHANTMAN IN DISTRESS--A GLEAM OF HOPE--TOUCHES AT THE CAPE AND
+ADEN, AND PROCEEDS UP THE RED SEA--THE BELLONA REACHES ANNESLEY BAY--
+JACK AND TOM LAND AT ZULLA--VISIT THE BRITISH CAMP--EXTENSIVE OPERATIONS
+GOING FORWARD--MARCH COMMENCED--INTERVIEW BETWEEN SIR ROBERT NAPIER AND
+THE PRINCE OF TIGRE--THE BRITISH ARMY ADVANCES TO ATTACK MAGDALA--
+ENCOUNTERS THEODORE'S FORCES--DEFEAT OF THE ABYSSINIANS--THEODORE SENDS
+LIEUTENANT PRIDEAUX TO SIR ROBERT--ANXIOUS NEGOTIATIONS--THE CAPTIVES
+RELEASED--MOST OF THEODORE'S TROOPS LAY DOWN THEIR ARMS--THE KING HOLDS
+OUT--MAGDALA STORMED--THEODORE SHOOTS HIMSELF--THE FORTRESS DESTROYED--
+RETURN MARCH--THE BELLONA SAILS FOR ADEN.
+
+The _Bellona_ and _Empress_ had been for some time at sea on their
+voyage round the Cape of Good Hope.  Adair had, to the last moment
+before leaving England, expected to hear of his nephew, Lord Saint Maur,
+but although he had instituted every possible inquiry, no news had come
+of him.
+
+He had hoped, should Gerald have been carried off by the ship which ran
+down the yacht, that he would have got on board some homeward-bound
+vessel or have landed at some port from whence he could send word of his
+safety, which he would certainly have done, knowing the deep anxiety
+which must be felt about him, not only by his uncle, but by his many
+other friends.
+
+Though sailing in company, Jack and Adair were seldom able to
+communicate except by signal.  They had, before crossing the line, met
+with a heavy gale, during which they lost sight of each other, though
+they fully expected to meet again before long, as their course was the
+same and both ships sailed or steamed at a pretty equal rate.  On board
+the _Bellona_, which ship we must accompany, a look-out was kept for the
+_Empress_, as Jack had no doubt that she was ahead.  But day after day
+the sun rose and set and she did not appear.  The _Bellona_ had reached
+almost to the latitude of Saint Helena, when it came on a dead calm, and
+as there appeared every prospect of its continuance, Jack unwillingly--
+as he had been charged to husband his coal--got up steam, and the ship
+clove her rapid way through the calm water.
+
+Just as morning dawned, the look-out from the mast-head announced a
+vessel in sight on the starboard bow.  Archie Gordon, who, as first
+lieutenant, was paddling about with his trousers tucked up and his feet
+bare, superintending the process of holystoning and washing decks,
+inquired the appearance of the stranger, hoping that she might prove to
+be the _Empress_.
+
+"She looks as if she had met with bad weather, sir; her foremast and two
+topmasts are gone.  She has just hoisted a signal of distress half mast
+high."
+
+Tom at that moment came on deck, and on hearing this went aloft with his
+spy-glass to have a look at the stranger.  Being satisfied that she was
+really in distress, on coming down, he sent young Alick to inform the
+captain, and asked leave to steer for her.
+
+Jack, quickly coming on deck, ordered the ship to be headed up towards
+the stranger.  As the _Bellona_ approached, her battered condition
+became more clearly visible; her boats were gone, her bulwarks stove in,
+and she lay a mere wreck on the water; a few people only were seen on
+her deck, and even through the telescopes directed at them, their
+countenances appeared worn and haggard as they stood leaning over the
+bulwarks gazing at the approaching man-of-war.  The _Bellona's_ way was
+stopped, and a boat being lowered, Tom was soon alongside the wreck.
+
+"What ship is that?" he asked, as he pulled up.
+
+"The _Argo_, Captain Robson, from Hong-kong.  In Heaven's Dame, I trust
+you can render us assistance," said the man, in a hollow voice.  "We are
+short of provisions, and consumed our last drop of water yesterday.  We
+are dying of thirst, and scarcely strong enough to keep the pumps
+going."
+
+"We will give you all the help we can," said Tom, climbing up on deck,
+where the spectacle which met his view convinced him of the truth of the
+master's statement.  Five of the hands, whose countenances showed the
+sufferings they had endured, were working away at the pumps with all the
+strength they possessed, the clear stream which issued from the side
+showing the large amount of water the vessel must be making; while
+several others lay about the deck, exhausted from their previous
+exertions.  A few only remained on foot, who looked ready to sink.
+
+Tom, on seeing this, without further inquiries sent young Alick back in
+the boat with a report of the state of the ship, requesting that the
+carpenter and his crew and some hands might return, to assist in
+repairing as far as possible the damages, as also that a supply of water
+and provisions might quickly be sent.
+
+"Water! oh, water!  Let us have water first!" cried the master.
+
+The men bent to their oars, and quickly reached the _Bellona_.  Two
+other boats were immediately lowered, and into Alick's, which was the
+first ready, a cask of water was at once put, with which he and several
+additional hands returned to the merchantman.
+
+The fresh hands jumped on board and hoisted up the cask of water, at the
+sight of which the thirsty crew rushed aft.  Tom, who stood by while the
+contents were drawn up, was about to hand the cup to the master.  He
+took it and hurried below.
+
+"It's for his wife," observed one of the men; "she's very bad."
+
+Two boys, whose looks betrayed their sufferings, came forward, heaving
+deep sighs as they poured the refreshing liquid down their throats.  The
+other men followed in turn.  By this time the master returned and
+eagerly drank a draught of water.
+
+"Thank Heaven!" he ejaculated.  "It has restored new strength to me, but
+we must not let the pumps be idle, or the water will gain upon us more
+rapidly than it has been doing."
+
+"Let your men rest," said Tom, leading the way to the pumps, which he
+with his people manned.
+
+Meantime Alick took his place at the cask and served out more water to
+the master and his men, who appeared still far from satisfied.
+
+Jack, hearing of the condition of the merchantman's crew, sent the
+doctor, who now stepped on board.
+
+"Stop, my lads!" he cried, on seeing the quantity of water the men were
+drinking.  "You may have too much of such a simple thing as pure water."
+
+"Will you come below and see my poor wife, sir?" said the master, in an
+anxious tone.
+
+The doctor at once descended with him.  Meantime the provisions were
+handed up; some cans of hot cocoa and biscuit.  The crew stood round
+like school children, waiting to be supplied with their food, with
+difficulty restraining their eagerness until the cups of cocoa were
+handed to them.
+
+The food had a magical effect, and even those stretched on the deck now
+managed to move about.
+
+Some spars had been towed off from the _Bellona_, and Tom at once set
+about fitting up a jury-mast, while the carpenter and his crew went
+below to try and find the leak, and see what could be done to stop it.
+The energetic pumping of the man-of-war's men soon reduced the water in
+the hold.  After a long search the carpenter sent up to say he had
+discovered the worst leak and was already at work stopping it.
+
+Expressions of thankfulness escaped from the crew as they heard this,
+and they turned to with a vigour they had not hitherto shown, to assist
+in the repairs going forward.
+
+"Your wife will do very well," said the doctor, as he accompanied the
+master on deck.  "Proper food is all she wants, and Captain Rogers will
+do his utmost to supply you."
+
+"I shall be very grateful," said the master.  "My poor wife would not
+take more than her share when she found how the men were suffering, nor
+touch any of mine, and, being delicate, she was almost succumbing."
+
+The doctor having now examined the most suffering of the crew, returned
+on board to report their condition, and obtain the medicines he
+considered necessary.
+
+Jack liberally supplied the ship with such provisions as were required
+to take them home.  As he was anxious to lose as little time as
+possible, he also sent Mr Large, the boatswain, with more men on board,
+who, working assiduously, soon got up a fore jury-mast, repaired the
+bowsprit, set up topmasts, with their rigging, and bent fresh sails, all
+of which had been carried away.
+
+The carpenter, having stopped the leak, set to work to patch up the
+bulwarks, a task the diminished crew of the _Argo_ were unable to
+accomplish.
+
+Captain Robson gave a sad account of their sufferings.  Two men had died
+of fever, while three had been washed overboard during a previous gale,
+which had well-nigh sent her to the bottom.  "By-the-by, sir," he said
+to Tom, "we spoke a ship just as it was commencing, but there was too
+much sea on to allow us to board her.  She was under Dutch colours,
+bound out to Batavia.  She began to signalise us, but all I could make
+out was what seemed to be `British officer, take him on board, say'; but
+before I could distinguish the other flags, the gale came down on us,
+and we had too much to do to look after his signals, which probably did
+not concern us."
+
+"Could you make out anybody on the stranger's deck?" asked Tom, eagerly.
+
+"No, sir, for evening was coming on, and we were too far off for that.
+She was a big ship, high out of the water for one outward bound.
+However, I did not further note her, and she was soon out of sight.
+That very night we lost a man overboard, but it was not until some weeks
+later, after we had been becalmed for ten days or more, that we fell in
+with the gale which reduced us to the wrecked state in which you found
+us."
+
+"I wish you could have made out the signal," said Tom.  "Are you certain
+that the first part was `British officer'?"
+
+"No doubt about that," answered Captain Robson, "and I am certain as to
+the other words."
+
+"That's strange," thought Tom.  "I wonder whether Desmond could have
+been on board.  If so, we may hear of him from Batavia, or one of the
+Spice Islands, to which the stranger was bound."
+
+Tom, as he surveyed the still haggard-looking crew and their commander,
+felt how unfit they were to continue the voyage to England, and proposed
+that he should request the captain of the _Bellona_ to strengthen her
+crew, and assist in navigating her to Saint Helena, or back to the Cape.
+
+"No, thank you, sir," replied the stout-hearted master, "you have set me
+to rights, and given me food and water, and I will touch at Saint Helena
+or Ascension for more, if necessary, and hope, with God's providence, to
+find my way safe up the Mersey.  I have been in a worse plight than
+this, and provided the leak doesn't break out again, or my men fall
+sick, and we don't run short of provisions and water, we shall get home
+in time.  You will come below, sir, before you leave, and let my wife
+thank you.  She is grateful for all you have done for us.  It is the
+only return we can make, under present circumstances."
+
+Tom accepted the invitation, and found the master's wife seated on sofa,
+and a very ladylike person she seemed to be, though she looked
+dreadfully ill.
+
+"I shall be better soon, I trust, now that I have some wholesome food;
+but we are in God's hands.  He knows best what is good for us, and we
+must not repine.  You and your men, sir, have saved our lives, for we
+could not have held out many hours longer; and accept our gratitude.
+Our prayers will be offered for your safety wherever you go."
+
+Tom could remain but a couple of minutes.  His men having performed
+their tasks, had returned to the ship, and his boat was the only one
+alongside.  He jumped into her, feeling very doubtful whether the _Argo_
+would ever reach home in safety.
+
+"Go ahead!" cried the captain, as Tom's boat was hoisted up, and the
+_Bellona_ soon left the unfortunate _Argo_ astern.  In a few hours,
+however, they met a strong breeze, which they hoped would fill her sails
+and waft her on her way.
+
+In consequence of the expenditure of so much coal, the _Bellona_ had to
+touch at the Cape.  Jack and Tom made every possible inquiry for Lord
+Saint Maur, but they could gain no tidings of the Dutch ship.
+
+"He must, then, have gone on to Batavia.  I was in hopes that he might
+have put in here," observed Tom.
+
+Jack was surprised that the _Empress_ had not got in, as he thought that
+she could have done so before him, in consequence of his delay in
+assisting the _Argo_.  Some time was occupied in taking in coal and
+fresh water and provisions, to make up for the stores supplied to the
+merchant vessel.  He waited until the last moment he felt justified in
+doing, but still the _Empress_ did not appear, and he then had to
+continue his course up the Mozambique Channel, with which he and Green
+were so well acquainted, and onwards to Aden.
+
+Here he found numerous ships of war, and several transports and store
+ships.  The troops were to proceed up the Red Sea to Massowah, a port
+belonging to the Egyptians, at which the Foreign Office had obtained
+permission for the disembarkation of the forces destined to march to the
+rescue of the British prisoners held captive by Theodore, the tyrant
+King of Abyssinia.  Colliers also were arriving with coal to supply
+motive power, both for the transit of troops and also for the purpose of
+condensing from the sea fresh water for the use of men and animals.
+
+The _Bellona_, in company with numerous other ships, now proceeded up
+the Red Sea.  On their arrival in the neighbourhood of their destined
+port, they found that a convenient landing-place had been selected at
+Zulla, on the shore of Annesley Bay.
+
+The _Bellona_ steamed slowly in amid the vast number of vessels already
+arrived, and at length came to an anchor.  About fourteen miles off rose
+the lofty mountains of Abyssinia, which it was the destined task of the
+British soldiers to scale.  Between these mountains and the sea extended
+a wide plain, on which could be seen a large collection of white canvas
+tents, glittering in the tropical sun.  Among them red dots represented
+the British soldiers moving about; while the banner of England floated
+from a tall flag-staff in their midst.  A long wharf had been
+constructed, extending into the sea, and on both sides of it were
+lighters, discharging munitions of war and stores of all descriptions,
+while countless other boats pulled backwards and forwards between the
+vessels and the pier.
+
+On shore, thousands of labourers of every hue were employed like ants,
+carrying the stores as they were landed to the commissariat depots.
+Steam-engines were at work, rendering help of all sorts; some condensing
+the salt water, and, when turned into fresh fit for drinking, forcing it
+through pipes to the shore.
+
+Nearly every hour fresh vessels were arriving, both from Suez and Aden,
+the former bringing mules and horses in vast numbers, to be employed in
+the transport service, the latter camels and even elephants, attended by
+swarthy drivers, sent out from India.
+
+Jack, accompanied by his brother, hastened on shore to report his
+arrival and request to know from the commander-in-chief what service he
+could render.  He was not a little pleased to find that a naval brigade
+was to be formed, and that there was a prospect of seeing some fighting
+and more of the wild mountainous region which rose before them, about
+which people in general seemed to know very little.  [See note 1.]
+
+Of course the expected warfare was the subject of conversation in the
+ward room, and various opinions were hazarded as to the result.
+
+"We shall know more about it in the course of a few days, when the march
+is commenced," observed the first lieutenant.  "The question is whether
+Theodore will murder his prisoners and fight to the last, or whether,
+when he sees the approach of so formidable a force as ours, he will
+deliver them up and apologise for his conduct."
+
+"At all events we will do our best to help the soldiers," said Tom, and
+this sentiment was very general throughout the squadron, for never did
+soldiers and sailors work more cordially together.
+
+The next morning Tom and his men, with Billy Blueblazes and Dicky Duff,
+now senior mate, and Alick Murray as midshipman, went on shore to join
+the Naval Brigade, to which, to their infinite satisfaction, they had
+been appointed.  It was under the command of Captain Fellows.  They had
+been but two days encamped when the order to commence the march was
+issued.
+
+The army, in detachments, moved forward for the front, for which the
+commander-in-chief had started on the 25th of January.  The first post
+was Senaffe, high up among the mountains, 7000 feet above the level of
+the sea.  It was situated about two miles in front of the issue of the
+Komayli defile, on elevated rocky ground.  To the east and west rose
+lofty cliffs, and in front extended a wide plain.  The scenery was
+magnificent.  Here rose masses of jagged rock, topped with acacia and
+juniper trees, deep valleys intervened with rushing streams, while
+heights extended as far as the eye could range over a vast extent of
+country.  Tom fancied that the army was to push on without stopping, but
+he found that each post had to be fortified and garrisoned, for it was
+evident that as the expedition showed strength, so in proportion it
+obtained the confidence of the savage rulers of the country.
+
+In spite, however, of the toil the army had to undergo, the men were in
+high spirits, the seamen especially laughing and joking as they marched
+along.  They could carry but a small amount of provisions; and every
+article of baggage which could be dispensed with was left behind.  In
+regard to provisions, they hoped that, on arriving at the next post,
+they would be amply provided.
+
+Billy groaned as he went puffing and blowing up the hills.
+
+"I believe, Mr Rogers, that we are worse off than we were when making
+our way through Papua."
+
+"I can't agree with you there," answered Tom, laughing.  "We found it
+pretty hard work, to be sure, crossing the mountains, and where for
+several days we had to go on short allowance of food and water, but I
+expect that things will mend as we advance, when we shall get into a
+more fertile region."
+
+Tom was right.  At length the army emerged into a broader but still
+barren portion of the pass, the road winding steeply for several miles
+along a snowy water-course, whence they passed over a plain, which, from
+the number of guinea fowls found there, obtained the name of "Guinea
+Fowl Plain."  Here were seen tulip trees of enormous size, and graceful
+acacias, while the cactus, with its stiff, prickly leaves, grew in
+profusion among the rocks.  Antelopes frequently bounded across the
+road, and it was said at no great distance elephants and wild boars were
+to be found.  Birds of all sizes, some of the most gorgeous plumage,
+flashed here and there in the sunlight.  Monkeys and baboons appeared
+scrambling among the rocks, or leaping from tree to tree, jabbering at
+the strangers visiting their territory.
+
+"Those beasts remind me of Papua, though they have a very different
+appearance," observed Billy.  "We should astonish some of our friends if
+we were to shoot and cook a big monkey for dinner.  I shouldn't mind
+eating one, I know."
+
+The monkeys, however, were generally too wary to come within gunshot;
+and Billy had not an opportunity of astonishing his friends, which he
+certainly would have done.  The country through which they passed
+continued rugged and barren in the extreme.  The villages consisted of
+groups of mud hovels, generally pitched on high ground, originally for
+defence.  The inhabitants were tall, with fine figures, the men dressed
+in a single robe of cotton, seldom washed, their black hair plaited and
+covered with rancid butter.  Their arms generally consisted of a crooked
+sword and spear, as well as a club.  Such were the weapons used for ages
+by their ancestors; but many had matchlocks, and others even
+double-barrelled guns.  The discipline of the army was strict, so that
+no plundering took place; and the inhabitants were everywhere treated
+with kindness.  Negotiations were now opened with the Prince of Tigre,
+who professed a friendship for the British.  Nothing created so much
+astonishment as the appearance of the elephants, which were followed by
+crowds of wondering natives, who had been under the impression that no
+elephant could be tamed.  The arrival of a battery of Armstrong guns
+created equal surprise.
+
+Notwithstanding the difficulties of the road, the gunners succeeded in
+carrying their guns to Adigerat.  Step by step the army advanced, until
+Anotolo was reached, on the 2nd of March.  Anotolo may be said to be
+half-way between Zulla and Magdala.  Letters were received from the
+prisoners, stating that Theodore was still engaged in efforts to get up
+his ordnance and heavy baggage to Magdala; but, impeded by his mortar,
+it was not likely that he could reach that stronghold until the first
+week in March.
+
+News was now brought that Kassai, Prince of Tigre, was advancing, to
+seek an interview with the British general, and Sir Robert accordingly
+marched forward, taking advantage of the cool hours of the morning to
+meet him on the banks of the Diab.
+
+The force, which was accompanied by several guns, pitched their camp
+about half a mile from the eastern bank of the river, which it was
+arranged should divide the two armies.
+
+The scenery around was magnificent, the ground sloping up gradually from
+the western bank of the Diab, where the Tigrean army was to be posted.
+The sun shone out brilliantly.  The heat was excessive.  About eleven
+o'clock the vanguard of Kassai's army was seen approaching, and a body
+of men hurriedly coming forward, pitched a red tent on the slope
+opposite to that of the strangers' camp.  Just before midday the whole
+of the Tigrean army, with drums beating and standards flying, consisting
+of about 4000 men, advanced down the slope towards the river, two yellow
+and red flags fluttering high above their heads showing the position of
+the chief and his principal officers.  Sir Robert had directed a tent to
+be raised close to the bank of the river, where the meeting was to take
+place.
+
+As soon as the Abyssinians were seen advancing, the English forces got
+under arms.  The commander-in-chief, mounted on an elephant, and
+followed by his staff, rode forward.  The appearance of the elephant
+undoubtedly greatly impressed the Abyssinians, it being supposed that
+their own African elephants are untameable.  On getting near the stream
+Sir Robert descended from his elephant, and mounted a horse, on which
+the Abyssinian line opened; and Kassai, surrounded by his chiefs and
+mounted on a white mule, with a crimson umbrella borne over his head,
+came forward, and at once fording the river approached Sir Robert.  The
+Abyssinian chief wore a white robe embroidered with crimson round his
+body, and a flowered silk shirt; his black hair, carefully plaited, was
+drawn back from his forehead, and tied behind his neck with a ribbon.
+He was still in the prime of manhood.  His complexion was of a dark
+olive hue, his countenance intellectual; but he looked careworn and
+anxious.
+
+After the usual civilities had been gone through, Sir Robert conducted
+his guest to the tent, where a guard of honour drawn up fired a salute,
+evidently causing no small alarm in the chiefs mind and in that of his
+followers, who probably expected that the strangers would set upon them
+and shoot them down.  On dismounting Sir Robert led the chief into the
+tent, when their respective officers arranged themselves on either side,
+the Abyssinians squatting down on the ground.
+
+The conversation was for some time commonplace.  Then the presents which
+had been brought were offered, among which was a fine Arab horse, the
+gift of Sir Robert himself.  Port wine was then served out, greatly to
+the satisfaction of the chiefs, when all, with the exception of two of
+the principal officers of both parties, having retired, serious matters
+were entered into between Sir Robert and Kassai, who was assured that if
+he showed a friendly disposition and would send grain to the army, he
+would be handsomely rewarded.
+
+After the prince had rested, a review of the forces took place.  The
+regiments, whose uniforms were very picturesque, among them being seen
+the light blue and silver of the Bombay cavalry, the scarlet of the
+King's Own, the dark blue and red facings of the artillery, and the
+scarlet coats and white turbans of the Tenth Native Infantry, went
+through various manoeuvres.  Now they skirmished, now formed square for
+receiving cavalry, and then the cavalry charged furiously at a supposed
+foe.  The prince appeared to take especial interest in the rifled guns,
+and complimented the British on possessing, as he called it, "so
+inestimable a blessing."
+
+Sir Robert returned the visit later in the day, and with his staff
+crossed the stream to the Abyssinian camp.  The uniform of the soldiers
+of Tigre was picturesque, if not quite according to European notions.
+Their heads were bare, except such covering as their plaited hair
+afforded.  They wore long white robes, embroidered with scarlet, and the
+greater number possessed firearms, either matchlocks or double-barrelled
+percussion guns, some even had double-barrelled rifles, many had
+pistols, and all wore long, crooked swords on the right side.  A
+comparative few were armed with sword, spear, and shield.  The cavalry,
+to the number of about 400 men, were mounted on shaggy ponies or mules.
+The discipline of the men was, however, very good, and they went through
+a number of movements in a most creditable manner.
+
+The general and his staff descended close to Kassai's tent; inside it
+was a couch, covered with silk, on which the prince placed Sir Robert by
+his side.  Several richly and variously dressed officers also were
+present, while the evening sun, shining through the red tent on the
+group, produced a most picturesque and scenic effect.  Girls soon
+afterwards came in, bearing baskets with bread and curry.  They were
+followed by others carrying huge jugs, filled with tedj, a beverage
+manufactured from fermented honey.  Each guest was expected to drink
+several flasks, but as it tasted somewhat like bad small beer, they had
+no great satisfaction in performing the necessary ceremony.  Shortly
+afterwards a band of six musicians, playing on long pipes, performed a
+wild piece of music; then a minstrel sang a war song, in which all the
+Abyssinians joined.
+
+The entertainment being now considered at an end, the chief insisted on
+presenting Sir Robert with the gifts he had prepared.  The first
+consisted of a silver gilt armlet, the sign of a great warrior, which
+was clasped round the general's arm.  Then a lion's skin and mane, the
+mark of a fierce fighter in battle, was thrown over his shoulder, a
+sword was next girt on his side, and a spear and shield, intended for
+his use, handed to one of the _aides-de-camp_, who acted for the nonce
+as his armour bearer.  In this guise the general had to ride back to his
+own camp on a mule, but fortunately by this time the shades of evening
+having closed in, he was prevented from exhibiting himself in so antique
+a guise to his troops.
+
+Notwithstanding all the professions of friendship and promises of
+assistance he received, Sir Robert very wisely did not put perfect faith
+in the prince, but determined to fortify his posts and guard his
+advance, as if he was passing through the country of an enemy.
+
+At Anotolo the army was re-distributed in divisions, to each of which a
+separate duty was assigned.  Tom and his men marched with the second
+brigade of the first division.  Communication was kept up the whole of
+the way with Zulla, and a telegraph wire laid down.  On the 20th of
+March Sir Robert led forward his forces to Tat.  From this station he
+began a rapid advance on Magdala.  Hitherto every movement had been in
+preparation for that undertaking.
+
+By the 31st March the army was at no great distance from the line of
+Theodore's advance posts, and scouts were frequently seen on horseback,
+but were too nimble to be captured.  Precautions were taken against a
+night attack, which it was supposed Theodore would make.  Several of the
+enemy's deserted camps were passed.  The inhabitants had hitherto been
+universally friendly, and the Gallas, who were now gained over in
+consequence of the barbarous treatment they had received from Theodore,
+undertook to guard the passes by which the tyrant could make his way
+eastward.
+
+Young Alick Murray had bravely endured the fatigues of the march; he
+generally kept by the side of Tom, who, indeed, was unwilling to have
+him out of his sight.  As they and the other officers of the Naval
+Brigade sat round the camp fire at night, many a yarn was spun and many
+a merry song sung, while during the day, as they marched on, jokes were
+constantly cracked by the seamen, whose spirits never flagged.  They
+were always meeting objects of some sort to interest them, while the
+scenery itself through which their route lay was often magnificent in
+the extreme.  At length the Delanta Heights were reached with the river
+of Bashilo flowing beneath them on its course westward, hereafter to
+swell the waters of the mighty Nile, of which it is one of the
+numberless tributaries.
+
+On either side of the valley through which the river flowed rose a
+series of rugged heights forming a crescent, on the eastern horn of
+which stood the fortress of Magdala, Theodore's supposed impregnable
+stronghold, while on the west was the rugged hill of Fahla, mid-way
+between it and the lofty plateau of Selassie.  Magdala and Selassie were
+seen to be connected by a ridge, known as the Saddle of Islamgi, while
+the ridge joining Selassie to Fahla was called the Saddle of Fahla.  The
+plateau on which Magdala stood rose to a height of upwards of 9000 feet
+above the sea, and 3000 above the ravines immediately surrounding it.
+The sides were so steep and scarped by nature that it seemed as if it
+would be impossible to scale them, but a closer inspection showed that
+two causeways led to the plateau, one from Islamgi and one from
+Sangalat.
+
+Theodore's army, its size and strength unknown, was seen encamped on the
+spit of Islamgi.  A deep ravine led into the wide valley beneath the
+heights occupied by the Abyssinians.  Over-looking the plain of Arogi
+was a spur, bearing in different parts the names of Gumbaji and Afficho,
+which Sir Robert had resolved to occupy, so that he could operate on
+either side of Fahla, evidently the key of Theodore's position.  The
+army was encamped above the Bashilo, the troops in high spirits at the
+thoughts that at length they were about to meet the enemy whom they had
+marched so many miles to encounter.
+
+Sir Robert and his staff having crossed the river and reconnoitred the
+ground, at early dawn on the 10th of April the advance was ordered.  As
+no water was to be procured between the river and the fortress, except
+under the enemy's fire, a band of carriers had been organised for
+transporting a supply for the troops, while another band marched in the
+rear with stretchers for the removal of the wounded.
+
+While the greater part of the troops were toiling slowly up the steep
+slopes of the Gumbaji spur, which they were destined to occupy, the
+Naval Brigade and a party of artillery, with the baggage of the first
+brigade, were making their way through the pass of the Wurki Waha
+valley, which it had been the intention of the general to secure by a
+body of infantry, and to form a road from thence up the Gumbaji spur.
+The latter task, through a mistake, had not been performed, nor was the
+issue of the pass secured.  The day had been threatening, already
+showers of rain had begun to fall, while roars of thunder and flashes of
+lightning burst from the clouds.  The mules of the artillery and the
+Rocket Brigade had just emerged from the valley, when, echoing the roar
+of the thunder, the report of a gun was heard, fired from the heights on
+which Theodore's army was posted, from whence, at the same moment, a
+body of warriors was seen descending, evidently with the intention of
+attacking the artillery.  The small body of British immediately prepared
+for the expected encounter.  Most of the enemy were on foot, though
+some, evidently chiefs, from their gorgeous scarlet costumes, were
+mounted.  The Naval Brigade, hastening up the Afficho plateau, got their
+rocket tubes into position to receive the advancing mass of the foe.
+Their position was critical in the extreme.  Should the Abyssinians push
+forward they might be overwhelmed by numbers.  Without thinking of that,
+however, they began blazing away with their rockets, every missile
+telling fearfully among the crowded ranks of Theodore's troops, who,
+brave as they were, appeared to be thrown into confusion.  Tom looked
+round to see what support was coming.  At first the thought flashed upon
+him that he and his companions must be annihilated by the overwhelming
+hordes of barbarians rapidly approaching.  Young Alick was thinking much
+the same thing, but no sign of fear was exhibited in his countenance.
+
+"I suppose, Mr Rogers, we shall have a pretty hard fight for it?" he
+remarked; "but we won't let them take our rocket tubes at all events."
+
+"No fear of that," answered Tom.  "See, the troops are advancing."
+
+While he was speaking, one party of the Abyssinians was seen coming
+towards the artillery and baggage guard, who were, however, prepared to
+receive them, while another larger party, taking a different course,
+hurried on to battle, for now over the rugged ground the red coats of
+the British were seen making their way as skirmishers in front, the
+rapid crack of their rifles being heard as they got within range of the
+enemy.
+
+The troops now engaged consisted of the King's Own Regiment, with the
+Belochees, and a detachment of the Royal Engineers and Bombay Sappers,
+the men cheering lustily as they saw their enemy before them.  At the
+same time two companies of the 4th Regiment, with a body of pioneers,
+attacked the enemy on their flank, pouring in rapid discharges from
+their Snider rifles, the rockets whizzing again and again through their
+ranks, while the artillery produced equal havoc.
+
+All this time the enemy's guns had been playing on the British columns,
+but, owing to their elevated position, their fire was plunging, while
+their shot, from the use of too heavy charges of powder, ranged too far
+to do any harm.  The seamen continued to fire their rockets among the
+mass of Abyssinians until the infantry, advancing, drove back the enemy,
+when the rockets were directed upon the summit of Fahla, where Theodore
+and his staff were still posted.  So good was their practice, that they
+caused confusion and dismay, and one, it was afterwards ascertained,
+very nearly killed the king as he was superintending the fire of his
+guns.
+
+Though defeated at all quarters again and again, the Abyssinians
+advanced.  Masses of slain and wounded covered the plain.  For three
+hours the contest continued, when, in spite of their heroic courage, the
+dark-skinned warriors were compelled to retire, at first slowly and
+steadily up the heights, but a panic at length appeared to seize them as
+they cast an eye over the ground on which they had fought, covered by
+heaps of their men, when the larger number took to flight.  The pursuit
+continued for some way, but Sir Robert wisely prevented his troops from
+advancing too far, lest by the British having to retire, the Abyssinians
+might regain their courage.  Wet and weary with the exertions they had
+gone through, the troops bivouacked for the night at the mouth of the
+ravine.
+
+"I can't say I admire campaigning," observed Billy Blueblazes, as they
+were sitting round their camp fire on the wet ground, the lofty hills
+rising up above them, while the cries of the wounded Abyssinians could
+still be heard from various parts of the plain where they had fallen.
+
+The British camp was kept constantly on the alert for lights were seen
+passing over the plain; but at length it was discovered that they were
+borne by Abyssinians searching for their wounded or dead countrymen.
+
+The British wounded amounted only to twenty men.  They were soon brought
+in.  Most of them were suffering from spear wounds, received during the
+desperate attempt of the Abyssinians to capture the baggage.  Such of
+the wounded Abyssinians as could be found were also brought into the
+British camp to be attended to by the surgeons.
+
+Next morning Tom, with several other officers, went over the
+battle-field, which exhibited a scene of horror in every direction.  At
+the entrance of the ravine, men and horses were heaped together, shot
+down or pierced through with sword or bayonet, ten or twelve together.
+Further on could be seen tracks of blood, where the wounded had
+attempted to crawl back to their friends or to gain the shelter of some
+rock or bush.  Almost in the middle of the field lay the dead body of
+Theodore's chief general, arrayed in a splendid scarlet dress,
+surrounded by no less than seven chiefs who had fallen with him.
+Further to the right, where the firing had been at long ranges, there
+were fewer dead, but numbers were stretched wounded on the ground.  The
+points towards which the rockets had been chiefly directed could be
+discovered by the charred masses, showing the awful death the missiles
+carried wherever they sped their devastating course.
+
+The British army, having taken up their position, were again advancing
+to attack the enemy, when, in the far distance, a white flag was made
+out, borne aloft in the midst of a small party of horsemen, who came
+winding down the mountain path to meet them.
+
+As they approached nearer, the uniform of a British officer was seen
+among them.  Amid joyful cheers Lieutenant Prideaux and the missionary,
+Mr Flad, rode through the outposts towards Sir Robert Napier's tent.
+They came with a verbal message only from the king.  He acknowledged
+that heretofore he had considered himself the most important personage
+in the world, but having now discovered that there were others more
+powerful, he consequently desired to be reconciled to his sister
+sovereign, the Queen of England.
+
+Sir Robert replied that he must come and put himself into the power of
+her general, and that no other terms could be accepted.  The British
+lieutenant and the missionary, with the courage of heroes, returned with
+this answer in writing, knowing perfectly well that the tyrant in his
+rage might put them to death.
+
+Some time elapsed, when they returned with a written answer from
+Theodore, in which he declared it had been his intention to conquer the
+whole world, and that, among other things, he hoped to lead an army
+against Jerusalem and expel the Turks from it; consequently he was not
+inclined to yield to the British arms.
+
+To this absurd missive Sir Robert sent back the answer he had returned
+in the morning by Lieutenant Prideaux and Mr Flad, who owned that their
+apprehensions of being put to death were very naturally increased.
+Intense was their joy and that of many others who had accompanied them
+on part of their journey to see a large band of persons approaching the
+camp, who turned out to be the envoy Mr Rassam, Consul Cameron, Doctor
+Blanc, and several others.
+
+"The king," they said, "convinced that he was defeated, had put a pistol
+to his head and attempted to destroy himself.  On it being wrested from
+him, he had at once ordered the release of the captives, who immediately
+took advantage of his permission to get out of his power."  During the
+day a herd of cattle arrived at the outpost, sent by the savage king as
+a peace offering, but the animals were returned by Sir Robert, who saw
+the importance of exhibiting no signs of wavering.  Not only was it
+necessary to vindicate the honour of England, but, in justice to those
+tribes who had assisted the British on their march, it was absolutely
+necessary to remove Theodore from the country, for, had he escaped, he
+would not have failed to have revenged himself on those who had sided
+with his foes.
+
+Some of his troops had now again gathered round him, and, his spirits
+reviving, he led them into Magdala.  The larger portion, however,
+deserted him, and thousands were flying from the fortress.
+
+Sir Robert had meantime so posted his forces that, with the aid of the
+Gallas, no outlet for escape was left for Theodore.  The second brigade
+occupied the heights of Selassie, when the king's troops who had not
+entered Magdala were ordered to lay down their arms.  This they
+immediately did, to the number of about 10,000 men, besides whom there
+were 15,000 or 20,000 women and children, who had fled with their
+husbands and fathers from the fortress.  They now hurried as fast as the
+narrow path would allow to the plain below, where they remained to watch
+the issue of the contest.
+
+A curious scene was enacted on the Islamgi Saddle, which was occupied by
+a detachment of cavalry as well as by a company of infantry.  Between it
+and Magdala, Theodore had posted his six guns.  A party from the
+fortress issued out and dragged off two of these, but before the other
+four could be removed, they were completely under the fire of the
+British rifles.  Theodore himself appeared mounted on a handsome
+charger, when, riding towards his foes, he began careering about,
+boasting of his mighty deeds, and occasionally firing off his rifle,
+shouting in a loud voice to any of the British officers who would come
+forth and meet him.  He took good care, however, not to have his retreat
+to the fortress cut off, and all that could be done was to prevent him
+and his followers from making their escape down the other side of the
+Saddle.
+
+Tom, with a party of his men, had joined the infantry thus engaged.  As
+they were moving along the top of the cliff, their noses were assailed
+by a most fearful odour.  Looking down, what was their horror to see, at
+the foot of the precipice to the right, a mass of human bodies in a
+dreadful state of corruption, some chained together, others manacled,
+many among them being those of old men, women, and children.  They were
+some unfortunate prisoners who had been carried off by a party from the
+fortress some time before, and had been put to death in a drunken fit by
+Theodore the day he heard of the approach of the British.  It was, in
+truth, a fearful sight, and increased the desire of the soldiers and
+sailors to inflict condign punishment on the author of the atrocity.
+
+The end was now approaching.  Sir Robert had occupied with his troops
+the nearest level spot to the principal gate of Magdala, and, planting
+his artillery and rocket battery in commanding positions, he prepared
+for the assault.  Beyond this point, known as the Saddle of Islamgi, the
+rock on which the fortress stood rose 300 feet in height, with
+precipitous sides, a narrow, steep, and winding path leading up to it,
+with two lines of defence, in each of which was a narrow gateway.  It
+was thus difficult to get a sight of the defenders, yet occasionally
+armed men were seen moving about, and a stubborn resistance was
+expected.
+
+With a humanity worthy of imitation, Sir Robert so placed his guns that
+they should only act upon the gate, without running the risk of hurting
+the women and children still within the fortress.  The two brigades now
+advanced, the storming party leading, and, covered by their fire, up the
+steep path they climbed with scaling-ladders fixed, and crowbars to
+burst open the gates.  They were met by a hot fire from the garrison,
+not a man of whom could be seen.  Before the stormers was a wall,
+surrounded by a strong and thick barricade of stout stakes, with a
+narrow stone gateway.  On reaching this gateway the engineers, finding
+that the powder-bags were not forthcoming, immediately set to work with
+their crowbars and burst it in, when, what was their disappointment to
+discover a pile of large stones, twelve feet in height, and a still
+greater breadth, directly in front of them.
+
+All this time they were exposed to the fire of the garrison.  In vain
+they endeavoured to surmount a formidable barricade, but at length a
+party of the 33rd Regiment, turning to the right, discovered a lower
+part of the wall, against which a scaling-ladder was placed.
+Immediately mounting, they reached the top of the wall, and, leaping
+down, forming as they did so, attacked the garrison, who, seeing that
+their fortress was entered, took to flight towards the second defence.
+The whole regiment was quickly in, and, pressing after the fugitives,
+rushed through the second gateway, when, the summit of the fortress
+being gained, the British flag was quickly flying above it.  On this the
+Abyssinians, throwing down their arms, asked for quarter, which was at
+once granted.
+
+But what had become of the unhappy king, who had been the chief cause of
+the misery and suffering endured by his unhappy subjects for so many
+years?  Stretched on the ground leading to the second gateway to the
+palace his body was found, with a pistol-bullet through his head, the
+weapon with which he had shot himself still by his side.  Near the
+outward gateway lay several of his devoted chiefs, while the rest of his
+officers, throwing down their arms, endeavoured to escape.  They all,
+however, before long, having been driven back by the Gallas, who were
+watching for them on the other side, were compelled to return to the
+fortress, where they delivered themselves up.
+
+Taking possession of Magdala, Sir Robert, having made a hasty survey of
+it, collected all the Abyssinians in the centre space, and placed a
+strong guard over them.  An anxious night now commenced, as at any
+moment the numberless thatched buildings which covered the heights might
+have been set on fire and a heavy loss of life have ensued.  The two
+gates were carefully watched, and, owing to the admirable arrangements,
+no disturbance occurred.  The inhabitants were desired to take their
+departure, while the body of Theodore was delivered up to his unhappy
+queen, and was interred two days afterwards in the church of Magdala.
+The queen and her son then came into the British camp, where they
+received honourable treatment, while the inhabitants were escorted as
+far as was necessary towards the district where they had friends.
+
+The fortress was afterwards destroyed, the buildings within set on fire,
+and the guns which had been captured were also burst into fragments.  As
+the British army retired they could see for many a league the dense
+clouds of smoke which rose to the sky and hung like a funeral pall over
+the stronghold of the tyrant king.
+
+"I'm thankful that we've done it, and done it well," exclaimed Tom, as
+he, with his blue jackets, commenced their march towards Annesley Bay.
+
+"So am I," answered Billy Blueblazes.  "For my part, I don't like this
+campaigning business.  It may be very pleasant over a tolerable good
+road and plenty to eat, but I don't like having to climb these hills and
+to exist on short commons."
+
+The return march was not without its dangers, for the rebel tribes were
+on the watch to attack any weak convoy, tempted by the plunder they
+hoped to obtain, and aware that the British were not likely to follow
+them far into their mountain fastnesses; indeed, several persons who had
+incautiously wandered out of the line of march were cut off and
+murdered.
+
+The events of the return march need not be described.  It was managed
+with the same skill as the advance, although the troops suffered
+somewhat from the storms of rain to which they were exposed.
+
+With no small satisfaction the men of the Naval Brigade returned to
+their respective ships, whose crews, however, had to remain to assist in
+the embarkation of the troops and stores.
+
+"Why, Mr Blewitt, you appear to have lost two stone in weight!"
+observed the first lieutenant when Billy made his appearance on board.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Billy, with a rueful countenance.  "I believe I've
+lost three stone; but I intend to do my best to make up for it now I've
+got back to the ship."
+
+Billy did not fail to keep to his intentions, and the rest of the mess
+declared that he ought to pay a double subscription, as he certainly
+consumed more than any two others among them.
+
+"So would you if you fellows had gone through what I have done,"
+answered Billy, and he gave, not for the first time, an account of the
+hardships he had endured, the weight he had carried on his shoulders,
+his hard fare, the steep hills he had climbed, and the abrupt descents
+down which he had had to make his way.
+
+The _Bellona_ remained with other ships of war until the troops had gone
+and the last of the stores had been embarked, when once more Annesley
+Bay was left to itself, in its original solitude.  With a cheerful song
+the crew tramped round and round at the capstan, steam was got up, and
+the _Bellona_, proceeding out of the bay, steered for Aden, where
+Captain Rogers hoped to obtain intelligence of the _Empress_.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  An account of the origin of the war, and of many interesting
+particulars connected with it, will be found in "Our Soldiers, or
+Anecdotes of the Campaigns and Gallant Deeds of the British Army,"
+published by Griffith and Farran.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+THE BELLONA PROCEEDS DOWN THE AFRICAN COAST--OVERHAULS A SUSPICIOUS
+DHOW--TOM FINDS HIS OLD ACQUAINTANCE PANGO ON BOARD, AND THE DHOW IS
+CONDEMNED--AFTER TOUCHING AT ZANZIBAR, THE BELLONA PROCEEDS TO SIMON'S
+BAY--TAKES TROOPS ON BOARD FOR CAFFRARIA--MAJOR BUBSBY AND HIS FAMILY--A
+STORM IN THE CABIN--BILLY IN LOVE--A HEAVY SURF ON THE COAST--MACHINERY
+GIVES WAY--SHIP ON A LEE SHORE--ATTEMPT TO BEAT OFF--BILLY AND ANGELICA
+FALL OUT--THE BELLONA ANCHORS--IN GREAT DANGER--HAS TO STAND OFF SHORE--
+A MAN ON A RAFT PICKED UP--INTERESTING INFORMATION--A FIRE BREAKS OUT ON
+BOARD--THE MAJOR'S FAMILY LOWERED INTO A BOAT--HE IS DETAINED BY
+ANGELICA--THE BOAT DROPPED ASTERN--THE FIRE IS EXTINGUISHED--THE MAJOR
+COLDLY RECEIVED BY HIS OFFICERS--THE TROOPS LANDED--THE MAJOR BEGS TO
+RETURN IN THE BELLONA--JACK REFUSES, AND SENDS HIM ON SHORE--THE
+STRANGER PICKED UP REPORTS HAVING SEEN A SIGNAL ON A LONE ROCK--THE
+BELLONA REACHES SIMON'S BAY, AND SAILS IN SEARCH OF THE EMPRESS.
+
+Jack had some hopes on touching at Aden that he might hear something of
+the _Empress_, but not a word had been received there of her.  Taking in
+coal at that sandy and most unattractive of England's possessions, the
+_Bellona_ sailed for the Cape.  She actually did sail, for the wind was
+fair, and Jack, in common with other officers, had received orders to
+consume as little coal as possible.  A bright look-out was kept for
+slavers, and several suspicious-looking craft were overhauled, but as
+the black-looking individuals found on board appeared to be either part
+of the crew or passengers, they were allowed to proceed on their voyage.
+
+Some time before Zanzibar was reached, a dhow was seen early one morning
+becalmed.  Some hours previously the _Bellona_ had got up her steam, and
+was cleaving her way rapidly through the smooth water.  By altering her
+course slightly she was thus able to pass close enough to the dhow to
+ascertain her character.  As the sun rose, a breeze sprang up, and the
+dhow was seen to hoist her largest sail and to stand away for the coast.
+As this looked suspicious, a gun was fired, as a signal to her to heave
+to.  The breeze was increasing, and she might lead the _Bellona_ a
+considerable distance out of her course.  She took no notice of the
+signal, but continued standing on as before, her crew possibly ignorant
+of the rate at which the dark-looking stranger could go.  Full speed was
+put on, and the steamer gained on the chase, while Captain Rogers
+continued throwing shot on either side of her, with no more effect,
+however, than at first.  As, however, the _Bellona_ must ere long come
+up with the dhow, he refrained from firing a shot into her, which he
+felt very much inclined to do.  At length, when the Arabs saw that they
+could not possibly reach the shore before they were overtaken, they
+lowered their huge sail, and the _Bellona_ was quickly up to them.
+
+A boat being lowered, Tom and Alick soon pulled up alongside the dhow.
+As Tom had no interpreter, and knew as much about Arabic as he did about
+the ancient Chaldean, he could only judge of the character of the craft
+by the appearance of things.  Her crew were very picturesque gentlemen,
+but, judging by their looks, cut-throats every one of them, and without
+any ceremony would have stuck their long daggers into the English
+officers had they dared.  But the sight of the yardarm of a man-of-war,
+not to speak of her guns, has a wonderful effect in keeping such gentry
+in order.  Along the decks were arranged a party of ladies and
+gentlemen, most of them jet black, dressed out in a variety of fanciful
+costumes.  Some in pink and checked shirts, others with blankets over
+their shoulders, and others in loose trousers and vests, but it was easy
+to see that they were destitute of under garments.
+
+Nearly a score of naked fellows, with clothes only round their waists,
+were standing round the halyards, to which they were holding on as if
+they were part of the crew.
+
+Tom inquired of the savage-looking fellow who came forward in the
+character of captain, where they came from.
+
+"Zanzibar," was the answer.
+
+"And where bound for?"
+
+The captain pointed to the north-east, and pronounced some name not on
+the chart.
+
+"Of how many men does your ship's company consist?" asked Tom, making
+signs by hauling away with his hands, then pretending to be rowing, and
+then holding up his fingers and pretending to count.
+
+The skipper pointed to the black fellows forward and then to the Arabs,
+who were, indeed, alone quite sufficient for navigating the craft.
+
+"Who are these ebony-coloured ladies and gentlemen who sit so demurely
+about the deck?" asked Tom, pointing to them.
+
+The Arab replied by signs that they had paid money into his hands for
+their passage, and by putting his head down, as if to sleep, that they
+had no work to do.
+
+"So they are passengers," observed Tom.  "I understand that, and now my
+fine fellow, we will have a look below."
+
+In the cabin were seated nearly a dozen young women and girls, dressed
+up in somewhat more elegant costumes than those on deck.
+
+"Who are these?" asked Tom.
+
+The captain signified that they were his wives.
+
+"What! all of them, you old wretch?" cried Tom.
+
+The captain smiled in return, and pressed his hand on his heart, either
+to signify that he was speaking the truth or that they reigned there
+supreme.
+
+"We will now have a peep into the hold."
+
+Tom, telling Alick to look out on deck, descended with two hands below.
+As little light reached that region, it appeared at first to be entirely
+empty.  The odour was not very pleasant.  Tom was on the point of
+returning on deck when he heard a groan, and hurrying to the fore part,
+by the dim light which came down, he distinguished a human form lying on
+the deck.  Blood was streaming from the poor fellow's head.  Tom and his
+men lifted him up, and discovering no one else, they carried him under
+the main hatchway.  He quickly revived in the fresher air, and gazed
+with astonishment at the lieutenant and his men.
+
+"Who are you, my poor fellow?" asked Tom, not expecting an answer.
+
+"Me Pango; served board English man-war."
+
+"Pango!" exclaimed Tom, remembering the black who had been rescued at
+Zanzibar by the _Opal_, and who, after serving on board of her for some
+time, was lost sight of.  "I recollect all about you, and if you wish it
+you shall come on board again, but I want first to know who all those
+people are."
+
+"All slavy, slavy," answered Pango.  "Dey jus' dress up, an' when I tell
+cap'n dat trick no do, he cut me down an' try to kill me."
+
+"There is no time to be lost; take him up on deck, and we will soon show
+the skipper that you speak the truth," said Tom.
+
+The Arab captain looked very much taken aback, while he cast savage
+glances at poor Pango; he saw, however, that the game was up, and that
+it was useless any longer to attempt deceiving the English officer.
+
+Tom immediately ordered him and several of his crew to get into the
+boat, which conveyed them on board the _Bellona_, under charge of Alick.
+Another boat being lowered, Pango was taken on board, with the
+remainder of the Arab crew, that the surgeon might look to him.  Tom
+then returned to the _Bellona_.
+
+Jack decided on taking all the supposed passengers on board.  As soon as
+Pango was sufficiently recovered to act as interpreter, they were
+examined, when they said that they had been forced to dress up, and
+threatened that should they not do so they would be thrown overboard.
+It was ascertained that most of them had been carried away from the
+coast not many days before, and that they had come a long journey from
+the interior.  Pango had been picked up from a canoe while fishing off
+the shore, and carried away.
+
+The evidence was so clear that Jack, without hesitation, destroyed the
+dhow, which could not be towed all the way to Zanzibar, resolving to
+risk all the consequences.
+
+During the passage several other dhows were met with, but although there
+were blacks on board, there was not sufficient evidence to prove that
+they were slaves.  It convinced Jack, however, that the abominable trade
+was still carried on, that thousands of Africans were carried off to
+Arabia, Persia, and other parts of Asia, to toil in hopeless slavery for
+the remainder of their lives, and that it would be necessary to make yet
+more strenuous efforts than before if it was to be effectually put down.
+He remembered, too, all the horrors he had witnessed and heard of in
+connection with the slave trade in the interior, when whole villages and
+districts were depopulated, and numbers were killed or perished from
+hunger, besides those captured by the Arabs.
+
+Pango was of assistance in enabling him to condemn two dhows, besides
+those he was compelled to let escape.  The black improved rapidly in
+English, or rather recovered what he had lost.  Jack asked where he
+wished to be put on shore.
+
+"Me no go shore 'gain," answered Pango.  "May be slave fellow take me
+'gain.  Me go where ship go.  Me stay board.  Pango now sailor man."
+
+He was accordingly entered as one of the crew, greatly to his delight.
+
+Jack inquired for his brother Bango.
+
+Pango's countenance became very sad.  "Do slavy man take him.  Me tinke
+cut him troat.  Me not see him now five years;" and poor Pango burst
+into tears as he thought of the fate which had overtaken Bango, showing
+that some Africans, at all events, have as great an affection for their
+relatives as have white men for theirs.
+
+On arriving at Zanzibar, Jack handed over the Arab crew to the
+authorities, to be dealt with for their infraction of the law; and the
+slaves were placed on board another man-of-war, to be carried to the
+Seychelle Islands, where they might enjoy liberty and a climate suited
+to their constitutions.
+
+Jack was again disappointed at not gaining at Zanzibar any tidings of
+the _Empress_.  Running through the Mozambique Channel, he continued his
+course for Cape Town, where he arrived without any further adventure.
+His first inquiry was for the _Empress_.  No tidings, however, had been
+received, and serious apprehensions were felt for her safety.
+
+"It is supposed that she must have foundered in a typhoon in the Indian
+seas, if she ever got there; or that she has been cast away and gone to
+pieces on some unknown rock," was the answer received.
+
+"Poor Adair! is such your end?" exclaimed Jack, sorrowfully.  "I won't
+believe it, however.  I trust that Lucy will not hear these reports."
+
+A day after his arrival the mail from England came in, bringing letters
+for him from Julia and Murray, who had just gained his rank as an
+admiral.
+
+"As there are so many good officers seeking for employment, I conclude
+that I shall be virtually shelved, although for my boy's sake I would
+gladly have gone to sea again," wrote Murray.  "His mother and I are
+looking out anxiously for tidings of him.  His last letter gave us an
+account of the commencement of the Abyssinian expedition, and that he
+was to go up the country with the Naval Brigade.  It is important that a
+youngster should see service on shore as well as afloat, although we
+naturally feel anxious lest he should have suffered from the hardships
+to which he must of necessity have been exposed.  We are, therefore,
+eagerly looking forward to his next letter.  Our girls are well, and we
+hear good accounts from Julia of yours; but Lucy is naturally in a sad
+state of anxiety.  No tidings have reached England of the _Empress_, nor
+has anything been heard of Saint Maur.  I am continuing to make all
+possible inquiries, and have written to agents at various seaports to
+ascertain from the masters of ships trading foreign to endeavour to find
+some clue to his fate."
+
+The remainder of the letter referred to private matters.  The _Bellona_
+remained some time in Simon's Bay, and all on board were in hopes of
+being sent home, when, no transport being ready, Captain Rogers was
+requested to proceed with a wing of the --- Regiment to the coast of
+Caffraria, where they were immediately wanted to put down a serious
+outbreak of the natives.  It was far from a satisfactory or pleasant
+task, for the _Bellona_ had no accommodation for officers or men; but
+Captain Rogers was not a person to throw difficulties in the way when a
+service could be rendered to the country.  He had lately, during his
+constant intercourse with military men, got on without a dispute; and he
+hoped that such would be the case at present.  All hands were busily
+employed in taking the baggage on board and embarking the men, so that
+neither he nor his officers had much time to attend to their guests.
+The last person to arrive on board was Major Bubsby, commanding the
+troops; and Jack was not a little taken aback when he found that he had
+brought his wife and two tall daughters on board.  The lady was almost
+twice the height of her better half, and the daughters promised to grow
+into the same proportions.  The major was undoubtedly a short man,
+although not a small one either in girth or in his own estimation.  He
+had a rubicund countenance, huge mustachios, and small, ferrety eyes.
+
+"I was not aware that we should have ladies, or I should have advised
+you not to bring them, although, as they have come, I will endeavour to
+provide the best accommodation I can for them," said Jack, with his
+usual politeness.
+
+"You must understand, Captain Rogers, that I never move anywhere without
+Mrs Bubsby and my daughters.  They are accustomed to camp life, and
+like it; and should I be wounded or fall sick, I should have them at
+hand to nurse me.  I require care, for I am not so young as I once was,
+though still strong and active;" and the major twirled his mustachios
+and gave a loud "Ahem!"
+
+"I am afraid that the ladies will be put to much inconvenience, both on
+board and on shore; for, should the regiment have to advance into the
+interior, I don't know what will become of them," observed Jack.  "And
+if you will take my advice--though, as I have said, I am perfectly ready
+to accommodate them--you will leave them at Cape Town to await your
+return."
+
+"Never!  Captain Rogers, never!" exclaimed Major Bubsby.  "If I do I
+shall not know what they are about."
+
+"But should you be killed, and there may be some sharp fighting, what
+then will become of your wife and daughters?" observed Jack, eyeing the
+stout little major.
+
+"Then, Captain Rogers, I must beg that you will have the kindness so far
+to oblige me as to take them back to Cape Town," answered the major,
+looking evidently as if he did not quite like the remark.  "I have now
+been in the service thirty years, and have no intention that the Caffres
+or any other savages should take my life.  They are a contemptible lot.
+Why, a glance from my eye alone would be sufficient to put a whole host
+of the niggers to flight!"
+
+"As you please, Major Bubsby," said Jack.  "I shall be ready to
+appropriate a portion of my after cabin to your wife and daughters, and
+I will direct the carpenter to put up a screen, that they may live in
+private if they wish to do so."
+
+"Ah, that will do, that will do," answered the major.
+
+This conversation took place out of earshot of Mrs Bubsby, who was not
+aware of Jack's kind intentions towards her.  Jack, approaching with a
+bow, requested her and her daughters to remain on deck until the cabin
+was fitted up for their accommodation.  "We do things rapidly on board,
+and shall not detain you long," he added.
+
+"I am surprised that the major did not intimate his intention to bring
+us; but it is very like him," answered Mrs Bubsby.  "He is a worthy
+man, and devotedly attached to me and my daughters.  Allow me to
+introduce them.  Eugenia, my eldest, and Angelica, my second daughter.
+They look forward with greater pleasure to the voyage and life in the
+bush than I do, I confess.  They are good-hearted girls, and would be
+ready to follow their father into the field, if required."
+
+"Ah, yes; we do not care where we go, or what we do," said Eugenia.  "We
+are never so happy as when on horseback or living under canvas."
+
+"I delight in the sea, and I love seamen," said Angelica, smiling
+sweetly at the captain.
+
+She was not aware that Jack possessed a wife and family.  He had now to
+quit the ladies to attend to the duty of the ship.
+
+"Blue Peter" had been flying for some time, and a gun was fired to hurry
+off those on shore.  The anchor was weighed, and the _Bellona_ with her
+living freight steamed majestically out of the harbour.
+
+As soon as things had been got somewhat to rights, the baggage stowed
+away, and the soldiers berthed, Jack and his lieutenants had time to
+look after the officers.
+
+Directly the ladies' cabin was ready, Jack escorted them below.  Mrs
+Bubsby cast a somewhat indignant glance at the canvas screen which had
+been put up, but said nothing.  But Eugenia exclaimed--
+
+"How nice! we shall hear everything that is said outside, and you'll
+hear us, so we must take care what we talk about."
+
+"I'm sure that we shall hear nothing but what is pleasant and sensible
+and right," said Jack, with less veracity than it was his wont to speak.
+
+Mrs Bubsby gave a "hem!" and Jack, bowing, left the cabin in possession
+of his fair guests.
+
+The major was pacing the deck, fussing and fuming.  Something had gone
+wrong with him.  Jack kept out of his way.  He had already got hold of
+one of his own junior officers, to whom he was explaining what had
+happened.  At last he came up to Jack.
+
+"I must beg you, Captain Rogers, to put back.  My dressing-case, with
+valuables to a large amount, has been left behind; and it will to a
+certainty be stolen.  I cannot do without it while campaigning; and it
+will be a fearful inconvenience not to have it on board.  I will give
+you a written request, if you think it necessary to have one."
+
+"I cannot return to harbour for such a purpose, even with a written
+request from you," answered Jack, scarcely able to restrain his
+laughter.  "Perhaps the case in question has been brought on board after
+all.  If not, anything I possess I shall be happy to place at your
+disposal."
+
+"You do not possess what I require, I am sure," answered the major.
+
+"But tell me what it is that your case contains which I cannot supply!"
+said Jack.
+
+The major took Jack by the arm and led him out of earshot of his
+officers.  "My second set of teeth," he whispered.  "I confide the fact
+to you; I shall never masticate my food without them; I shall die of
+indigestion."
+
+Jack could not help giving way to his inclination to laugh.  "I own,
+major, I do not possess a second set of teeth of any description, but we
+will try the doctor; he is a clever man, and although such things are
+not supplied among our medical stores, he may possibly have some."
+
+"I shall be most grateful if he can furnish me," answered the major, in
+the same tone as before; "but if you will not return into port, I must
+request you to institute a search for the dressing-case.  You will not
+speak of its contents?"
+
+Jack promised to do as the major requested, and directed Tom to learn if
+any case belonging to one of the officers had been carried forward or
+stowed away by mistake.
+
+The major having allowed his "woman kind," as he called them, time to
+shake into their berths, went below.  He had not been there long before
+Jack, who had gone to his cabin, heard a low whispering from within.  He
+caught the words--
+
+"It was your fault!"
+
+"It was yours!"
+
+"I tell you it was not.  I looked after everything entrusted to me.
+Sniggins should have kept a better eye on your baggage."
+
+"No; he was not to blame.  It was your business to look after the
+smaller articles; for what other reason do I carry you and your
+daughters about?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't want to go.  You and the girls made me."
+
+"I made you?  I never made you do anything in your life which you did
+not like.  My beloved, you are losing your temper!"
+
+"I tell you I am as cool as a cucumber!" answered the lady, the tone of
+her voice belying the assertion.
+
+"Don't fall out about it, papa," said a younger voice.  "You are
+inclined to be aggravating."
+
+"My dear, I am as calm as your mamma," said the major.
+
+"Then why do you come here and accuse me of doing what I didn't?" cried
+the lady.  "I will not stand such treatment.  It is all your fault!"
+
+"It's your fault, I say!  Why was that case left behind?"
+
+"It was not my fault," exclaimed Mrs Bubsby.  "I'll teach you not to
+repeat such falsehoods!"  There was a slight scream from Eugenia, echoed
+by Angelica, while some sounds greatly resembling those produced when a
+person is having his ears boxed, proceeded through the canvas.  Directly
+afterwards the major, with a flushed countenance and a bald head, rushed
+out at the door, followed by a wig sent as a missile after him.  On
+seeing Captain Rogers reading at the further corner of the cabin, he
+tried to pick it up, but the vessel giving a gentle roll at the time,
+sent him flying into the middle of the cabin before he had succeeded in
+his object.  Pulling out his handkerchief in a vain endeavour to conceal
+his shaven crown, he uttered a groan.  Jack tried not to look at him,
+but believing that he had been hurt, was compelled at length to inquire
+what was the matter.
+
+"I confessed to you, Captain Rogers, that I made use of some false teeth
+in addition to my own natural ones, and now you have discovered that I
+wear a wig.  But you will not, I trust, make it known to my officers, or
+they may lose the respect they now entertain for me."
+
+A scornful laugh from within showed that the major's last observation
+had been overheard, and that some one did not agree with it.
+
+Jack, however, kindly rising from his seat, picked up the major's wig,
+and having handed it to him, helped him to get on his legs.
+
+"Do you wish to return to your cabin?" asked Jack.
+
+The major shook his head.  "Not at present," he whispered; "I'll wait
+until the storm has blown over.  She is a good woman," pointing with his
+thumb to where it might be supposed Mrs Bubsby was standing; "but she's
+a little hasty, as you see, at times.  I would have left her behind, but
+I could not bring my girls without a chaperon, besides which she would
+come, whether I liked it or not.  I am frank with you, Captain Rogers;
+but I am frank by nature."
+
+"Would you like to walk on deck, Major Bubsby?" asked Jack, not wishing
+to make any remark in the presence of the lady, aware that every word he
+uttered would reach her ears.
+
+"Yes, indeed, I would," answered the major; "a little fresh air would
+greatly restore me.  These fits are apt to unman me for a time, but I
+quickly recover, and soon resume the command of my amazon forces."
+
+Jack heard another scornful laugh from within, as the major hurried into
+the main cabin.  The captain good-naturedly paced the deck with him for
+some minutes, listening to the account of his domestic woes, arising
+from Mrs Bubsby's somewhat uncertain temper.
+
+"She is in the main, however, a charming creature, charming when I
+married her--a perfect angel.  Still charming, though less angelic, I'll
+allow, at times."
+
+Jack could not help smiling.  The major observed him.
+
+"You doubt my assertion!  Wait until you have been married as long as I
+have, thirty years or more, and you'll understand what's what.  You are
+not married, I conclude, Captain Rogers?"
+
+"I have the happiness of being so, although we poor sailors are not
+allowed to carry our wives and families with us, as you military men
+have the privilege of doing."
+
+"That will be a disappointment to Eugenia and Angelica," observed the
+major, apparently speaking to himself.  "They fully speculated on your
+being a bachelor.  You have some bachelor officers, however, captain?"
+
+"Oh, yes," answered Jack laughing; "my three lieutenants are all
+unmarried, and so are the rest of the officers, with the exception of
+the doctor and paymaster."
+
+"That's some consolation, at all events.  If there's one thing I have at
+heart more than another, it is to see my charming daughters well
+married."
+
+"I wish you every success in so laudable an object," said Jack, "but it
+is a matter in which I should decline to interfere with respect to my
+officers.  Indeed they are all too young to take upon themselves the
+responsibilities of married life.  In my opinion a naval officer should
+not venture to fall in love until he is thirty at least, if he intends
+to get on in the service, and it would be much better to wait a few
+years beyond that."
+
+"Ah, but my daughters would not consider them too young," said the
+major.  "Angelica once engaged herself to a young gentleman of
+seventeen, and would have married him too had not his father, who
+objected to the match, sent him off up the country, and the poor girl
+for a month at least could not hold up her head.  It was not until a
+fresh regiment arrived that she in any way recovered her usual buoyant
+spirits, and had no less than three admirers at once dangling after her.
+One was so old that she could not make up her mind to accept him.
+Another was over head and ears in debt, and asked me to pay his bills,
+on condition that he would take my daughter off my hands, and a third
+had, I found out, an unacknowledged wife.  So you see my sweet Angelica
+is perfectly free to give her heart and hand to the first person who
+asks her."
+
+The major, as he made these revelations, did not appear at all aware of
+the effect they were likely to produce on his auditor, who, as may be
+supposed, found it difficult to offer any remark on some of them.
+
+"I think I may now venture below, as time has been given for the storm
+which raged in a certain region to calm down," said the major, who was
+beginning to feel a little tired from so long pacing the deck.
+
+Jack advised him by all means to return to his cabin.  He wanted,
+indeed, to enjoy a good hearty fit of laughter by himself, as he felt
+every instant ready to explode.  He somewhat astonished Tom, who was on
+deck, when he at length gave way to his feelings as the major's head
+disappeared below the deck.
+
+Tom, on hearing the account of the major's expulsion from the cabin, as
+may be supposed, joined his brother Jack in his merriment, and it was
+with difficulty for hours afterwards that he could refrain from bursting
+into fits of laughter.
+
+The _Bellona_ steamed on; not at full speed, however, for the engineer
+found something amiss with the machinery, and begged the captain, as
+soon as the wind should shift, to proceed under sail, that he might have
+an opportunity of repairing the defect.
+
+The young ladies were constantly on deck, endeavouring to make
+themselves as charming as possible.  Archie Gordon and Tom were
+respectfully polite, and took care not to commit themselves by any undue
+attentions.  Billy Blueblazes was far less cautious.  Whenever he could
+find a spare minute, he was sure to make his way to the side of the fair
+Angelica.
+
+At last, one night, while Tom was on watch, he was surprised to find
+Billy walk up to him.
+
+"I thought you'd turned in," remarked Tom.
+
+"It wouldn't have been of any use; I couldn't have slept had I tried,"
+answered Billy, with a sigh.  "I want, Tom, to confide a secret to you."
+
+"What is it?" inquired Tom.  "You have had no quarrel with any of those
+military officers, I hope?"
+
+"Oh, no, no," answered Billy.  "I know, Rogers, that you were once
+susceptible of the tender passion, and I want to make you my confidant.
+I am in love, irretrievably, hopelessly in love, and the fair object of
+my affections returns it, she assures me, with the same ardour.  But,
+you know, my income is small.  At present I have nothing but my pay, and
+that will only keep me and allow me a few pounds to spend on tarts and
+jellies and ice creams, and I should have to give those up at all
+events, which would be a terrible sacrifice.  And then the major, her
+father, is evidently a hard-hearted, stubborn old fogey, and the
+mother's a she-dragon.  The adorable creature insists that I shall marry
+her on the first opportunity.  She, indeed, proposes that the chaplain
+should perform the ceremony on board, but I am afraid the captain would
+not allow that, and I am in a fearful state of perplexity."
+
+"Which of them is it?" asked Tom; "for you appeared equally attentive to
+both whenever I have seen you together."
+
+"Ah! but you have not observed the glances Angelica has cast at me, nor
+the blush which mantles on her cheek when I approach.  I thought that
+every one must have observed it, though I desired to keep the matter a
+secret in my own breast until I confided it to you.  We have been
+shipmates for many years, so that I felt sure I could trust you."
+
+"Indeed you can," answered Tom.  "I'll give you the best advice I can.
+Don't say anything to any one else for a few days; at all events
+restrain your ardour, do not commit yourself while the lady remains on
+board.  You can write to her, you know, at any time, when she's safe on
+shore, then the captain would not interfere.  Perhaps, after a little
+absence, you may find your affection cool; for, from the way you
+describe her parents, I am, as a friend, bound to tell you that there
+are some objections to the match, and I am sure the captain would see
+them."
+
+"I am sure that I shall never love her less than I do now," answered
+Billy.  "I have been thinking of composing some verses to present to
+her.  As you know, I am something of a poet, but I should like to show
+them to you before I give them."
+
+"Didn't you once begin some to a young lady in Sydney?" asked Tom,
+slily.  "I don't think you ever finished them."
+
+"No, nor did I; still, I thought of completing them now.  You must
+remember that the young lady there gave me no encouragement, but at
+present I know that they will be received, and my poetic genius will be
+stimulated.  Oh, Tom! it is very delightful to be in love, but it sadly
+unhinges a man, you know that from experience."
+
+"Bosh!  If I ever was in love, it is so long ago and I was such a boy at
+the time, that I have forgotten all about it," answered Tom, not quits
+liking Billy's remark.  "But what about the verses?" he asked.
+
+"I have them in my pocket, as far as I have gone.  I would read them by
+the binnacle lamp but that the helmsman would overhear me.  I think,
+however, I can recollect them.  They begin--
+
+  "`Angelica, my own beloved,
+  An earthly angel thou!'
+
+"I forget the third line, but the fourth is--
+
+  "`Before thy shrine I bow.
+
+  "`The jasmine, lily, and the rose,
+  In thee are all entwined.'
+
+"Those third lines bother me, but the fourth I thought of terminating
+with `combined.'  Perhaps you can help me, Tom?"
+
+"Couldn't you put in something about a sunflower or a poplar," suggested
+Tom.  "The lady in question rather brings to my mind some of the taller
+productions of nature.  You must have remarked she's a head and a half
+taller than you are, Billy, and Mrs Bubsby even more than that above
+the major."
+
+"I might begin, `Tall art thou as the stately pine,' but I think I
+should be bothered if I had to introduce the sunflower," observed Billy.
+
+"Give them to me," said Tom, "and I will look them over; perhaps I may
+get the paymaster to help me--he's a capital hand with his pen."
+
+Billy, pulling a paper out of his pocket, gave it to Tom, and after
+pacing the deck for a few minutes longer went below to turn in, though,
+he averred, not to sleep.  It should have been mentioned that Billy had
+been promoted before leaving England, and was now junior lieutenant of
+the ship.
+
+Tom, however, had no opportunity of looking at the verses.  The
+following night the ship was five or six miles from Waterloo Bay, but
+Jack deemed it prudent to wait until next morning to stand in.
+
+Billy was very miserable at the thoughts of having so soon to part from
+Angelica.
+
+"I say, Rogers, do you think the captain would let me go on shore just
+for a day or two?  The ship is sure to remain here for some time."
+
+"I'm not so certain of that, and you cannot be spared," answered Tom.
+"The captain would smell a rat; depend upon that.  He's too
+sharp-sighted not to have observed what has been going on.  I don't
+think he altogether admires the young lady as much as you do."
+
+"Have you read the remainder of the verses?" asked Billy.  "Some of the
+lines want endings, and some of the verses want lines and rhymes.  My
+ideas are very grand, but I am apt to break down for want of appropriate
+rhymes."
+
+"I'll find them for you," said Tom.  "I've got a dictionary, and I'll
+run my eye down it, and select as many as you can want."
+
+"I should like to have finished them before she goes on shore," said
+Billy.
+
+"I don't see how that can be managed," observed Tom.  "You can send them
+to her before we again put to sea; it will be a last tender mark of your
+affection, and she will appreciate it.  If you will write the address on
+an envelope I will get it sent with the captain's letters."
+
+Billy was contented with this proposal, and turned in until his watch on
+deck came round.  At daylight the _Bellona_ slowly steamed in for the
+land, for it was very nearly a calm, though heavy undulations rolled on
+beneath the ship towards the shore.  On approaching it the loud roar of
+the surf was heard.  It soon became evident that it would be utterly
+impossible to land the troops.  Jack made a signal to ask how long this
+state of things would last.  The answer was unsatisfactory.  It might be
+for a week or ten days.  The troops were greatly wanted, but it would be
+impossible for them to land, and Captain Rogers was requested to keep
+close to the coast, that no opportunity might be lost in case the surf
+should unexpectedly cease.  He accordingly put the ship's head round,
+and was steaming off, when suddenly the engines stopped.
+
+The anchor, of course, was now the only resource, as there was not
+sufficient wind to enable the ship to claw off the land.  As rapidly as
+possible the anchor was let go.  No sooner had it caught the ground, and
+the cable run out, than the influence of the rollers began sensibly to
+be felt and the ship began pitching in a very unsatisfactory manner.
+Astern was the threatening, barren-looking coast, with a broad line of
+white breakers dashing savagely on it.  On trying the current, it was
+found setting west by north at the rate of a mile and a half an hour,
+which, with the swell, would soon have placed the ship in a most
+dangerous position.  Jack himself went below to ascertain the amount of
+damage to the machinery, and to urge the engineers to work with all
+speed.  The chief engineer looked grave.
+
+"We ought to be in harbour, with smooth water, to accomplish this work,"
+he observed; "but we will do our best, sir."
+
+"Should a breeze spring up, we will get under way, and the ship will be
+far more steady than she is now," answered Jack.  "What was the cause of
+the accident?"
+
+"A flaw, sir, which ought to have been discovered.  It is only a wonder
+that it did not give way before, and I cannot account for its going now.
+However, as I said, sir, we will do our best."
+
+"You can do no more, Mr Rivett," answered Jack.  "Send for as many
+hands as you want, if they can assist you."
+
+"Our own people are enough at present, but we may want them by-and-by,"
+was the answer.
+
+Jack returned on deck to find his principal guest looking rather pale.
+The major had been often enough at sea to know that a ship caught on a
+lee shore, with the chance of a heavy gale springing up, was not in a
+pleasant position.  He felt also somewhat physically upset by the
+unusual motion.  The ship was indeed riding uneasily, pulling at her
+cable as if at any instant she might haul the anchor from the bottom.
+Jack ordered another cable to be ranged in case of accident, for, should
+the bower anchor be carried away, there would be no time to lose in
+bringing up.
+
+It is an ill wind that blows nobody good; and Billy was congratulating
+himself on the happiness of spending a few more days in the society of
+Angelica, but the motion of the ship had produced the same effect on her
+as it had on her papa, and when at length she did appear on deck, Tom
+remarked that she looked wonderfully yellow about the region of the
+mouth.
+
+"I say, Billy," he observed, mischievously, "I think it would be very
+appropriate to compare her to the sunflower now."
+
+In vain Billy tried to console her; she was too miserable to speak.  He
+at length had to lead her below to the door of her cabin.
+
+The calm continued all night, though the weather looked very
+threatening.  In vain the engineers toiled on without ceasing.  It might
+take two or three days even now before the damage could be repaired.
+The night came on.  The captain, first lieutenant, and master felt too
+uneasy to turn in.  Either the second or third lieutenant remained on
+the forecastle, ready to issue the necessary orders for letting go the
+other cable, should the first give way.  It held on, however, until
+morning, but still the same heavy surf as before rolled on the shore,
+from whence, in answer to Jack's signals, the reply came, "Troops cannot
+yet land."
+
+"I think, sir, before long, we shall have a breeze," said the master.
+"I hope it won't come due south; and from the look of the sky I should
+say that we shall have it from the south-west, or perhaps from the
+westward."
+
+"I trust, if we do get it, that it will be from a quarter which will
+enable us to make sail," answered Jack.
+
+Still hour after hour went by, and no breeze came.  At length, towards
+night, a few ripples were seen on the water.  They became more frequent.
+The dog vanes blew out.
+
+"Hurrah! here comes a breeze!" cried the master.  "We shall have it
+strong enough presently to make sail," he added.  "We may then get that
+ironwork of ours to rights."
+
+The capstan was manned.  Scarcely had the men commenced tramping round
+than a loud report was heard.  The messenger had given way, when the
+cable ran out to the clench, carrying away the stoppers, and running
+through both compressors.  By great exertions, however, the messenger
+was again shackled together and the anchor hove up.  No sooner did it
+appear above water than Tom, who was on the forecastle, exclaimed--
+
+"Both flukes carried away, sir; nothing but the shank and stock
+remaining."
+
+Sail was now made; but the ship was evidently drifting to the westward,
+by which she approached nearer and nearer the shore.  Every stitch of
+canvas that could be set was hoisted.  The wind shifted to the very
+worst quarter from which it could blow.  The ship stood on, however,
+close-hauled, first on the starboard tack, and then, the wind shifting
+half a point or so, for the purpose of taking advantage of it, she was
+put about.  Every sheet and brace was flattened aft; still, judging by
+the roar of the breakers, she was no further off the threatening coast
+than at first.
+
+Many an eye was turned to leeward in an endeavour to discover the line
+of the coast, which, through the gloom, could dimly be distinguished
+below the bright sky.
+
+"We still hold our own," said Jack to Archie Gordon, who was walking the
+deck.  "If we can continue to do that until the sea goes down, we may
+still do well; and we must hope, if we should let drop an anchor, that
+it will prove sounder than the last.  Probably the engineers will by
+that time have accomplished their task, and we shall be able to get
+steam on the ship.  She doesn't sail close-hauled as well as I expected,
+and we never before have had an opportunity of testing her as we are now
+doing."
+
+"I suspect that it is the current carrying her to leeward," observed
+Archie.  "Possibly the wind may increase before daylight, and we shall
+then be better able to claw off the land."
+
+All night long the captain, endeavouring to take advantage of every
+change of wind, frequently put the ship about, anxiously wishing for
+daylight, to be able to judge better than he could during the darkness
+of her distance from the land.  The lead kept going showed no increase
+of depth, which ranged from thirty-five to forty fathoms.  As morning
+approached, the water shallowed, showing that she was nearer than she
+had been when night closed in.
+
+"By the deep, twenty," sang out the man in the chains.  A short time
+afterwards, "fifteen fathom," then "twelve."  Just at daylight she was
+in ten fathoms of water.  As the sun rose, the marks denoting the
+entrance to Waterloo Bay were seen under the lee.  The bay afforded no
+shelter with the wind blowing, as it then did, directly into it.  Jack
+hoisted the signals, "Can the troops land?"  The answer run up on shore
+was, "Not until the weather moderates."
+
+In a short time a pilot came off in a surf-boat, and the ship was
+brought up in nine fathoms, about a mile and a half from the shore.  A
+spring was also got on the cable, in case of requiring to slip, and a
+bow-rope for a slip-rope, while the spare anchor was shifted to the
+cathead, in lieu of the one carried away, that everything might be ready
+in case of necessity.
+
+The pilot, on discovering that the machinery had given way, looked
+grave.  He had been accustomed to sailing vessels all his life, and had
+no love for steamers.
+
+"I hope your engineers will look sharp and get their work done," he
+observed to the master.  "This is a queer place when the wind is as it
+is, though well enough when it's off shore."
+
+After breakfast, the major and his family came on deck.  Angelica,
+looking about her, inquired why they could not land.
+
+"Because the boats would be upset and rolled over and over in these
+breakers, and you, my sweet girl, would be gobbled up by a shark!"
+answered Billy, to whom the question was put.  "They would choose you
+first.  I'm sure, if I was a shark, I shouldn't like to eat your papa or
+mamma!"
+
+"Oh, what a dreadful idea!" exclaimed Angelica; yet she smiled at what
+she considered Billy's compliment.
+
+Billy, who had recovered his verses from Tom, although he had not had
+time to look at them, thought this a good opportunity of presenting
+them; and, observing that the major's eyes were turned another way, took
+the paper out of his pocket and gave it to her.
+
+"These lines, my dearest, will show you the depth of my affection," he
+said.
+
+Angelica, with a blush, which she had the art of commanding at pleasure,
+took the paper.  A frown, however, gathered on her brow as she read--
+
+  "`Tall as a poplar, sharp as a thorn;
+  I should never have missed you had you never been born.
+  Roses are sweet and lilies are fair,
+  But they lose their beauty when seen in your hair.'"
+
+"Do you mean to insult me?" exclaimed Angelica, in an angry tone, as she
+continued to read on the doggerel which Tom had substituted for those
+Billy had given him.  Just then the major, turning round, saw his
+daughter with a paper in her hand, and Billy standing by her side.  He,
+supposing it to be a formal proposal which, in his paternal anxiety, he
+had carefully been looking for, approached with the intention of
+clinching the matter in the presence of witnesses, and allowing Billy no
+chance of escape.  So convinced was he of this, that, without asking to
+look at the paper, he grasped Billy's hand.
+
+"My dear fellow," he exclaimed, in his enthusiasm, "I am happy to
+congratulate you on your success and good taste.  She will make you an
+admirable wife; and you will prove, I am sure, an affectionate husband.
+I accept your offer on my daughter's behalf and you shall have my
+blessing and that of Mrs Bubsby."
+
+"But I have not made a downright offer," answered Billy.
+
+"No, indeed he has not," exclaimed Angelica.  "Look at these abominable
+lines he has just presented to me.  What his object was I cannot
+divine."
+
+The major took the paper and read the lines.
+
+"Do you mean to insult my beloved child by putting such wretched trash
+as this into her hands?" exclaimed the major, with a sudden revulsion of
+feeling.
+
+"I did not write them," answered Billy.  "Indeed I did not.  I had no
+wish to insult Miss Angelica; for I thought her a most charming person,
+and had got some beautiful lines almost ready, which I had intended to
+give her."
+
+"This does not satisfy me, sir," answered the major.  "The only apology
+you can make is to go down on your knees and beg the forgiveness of my
+innocent child, and offer to marry her forthwith."
+
+"That I'll not," answered Billy, who had not at all liked the ominous
+frown which he had seen gather over the fair Angelica's brow, and still
+less the dictatorial tone of the irate major.  Billy had a fair
+proportion of good sense, although he made a fool of himself sometimes;
+and was, when put on his mettle, as brave as any man.  His good genius
+suggested to him the various remarks which Tom had made respecting the
+Bubsby family.
+
+"I say that I did not intend to insult your daughter, and that I had not
+read the lines presented to her, nor did I compose them myself.  I must
+beg that she will give them me back.  I am ready to apologise for my
+unintentional mistake, and do so now."
+
+At this juncture Mrs Bubsby and her other daughter joined the party,
+and at once set tooth and nail on poor Billy, not literally, but
+metaphorically.  His spirit, however, was up.  He positively refused to
+marry the fair Angelica, or to offer any further apology than he had
+already done.
+
+"Then, sir, I must have satisfaction," exclaimed the major.  "Your blood
+or mine must dye the soil of Africa ere many days are over!"
+
+"Oh! my beloved husband, do not say that," exclaimed Mrs Bubsby.  "He
+is beneath your notice.  If he refuses to marry Angelica, the loss will
+be his.  She will find ere long a far better husband."
+
+"You wicked, deceitful, cruel, abominable young man!" exclaimed
+Angelica.  "If you do not marry me you'll break my heart!  It's not the
+first time I've been treated in this way.  It shows me, however, more
+and more that you naval officers are not to be trusted."
+
+Jack observed that something unpleasant was going on; but he was too
+much occupied with watching the position of the ship to interfere, as
+were the other officers.  Billy himself also had presently to hurry
+forward to attend to his duties, while the major and his wife and
+daughters retired to their cabins to discuss the matter.
+
+By this time heavy rollers were coming in, breaking within a cable's
+length of the ship on each quarter, making her position far from
+pleasant.  There was but a light air from the southward, insufficient to
+enable her get under way.
+
+Jack much regretted having come to the place, for it was evidently a far
+from satisfactory one for landing troops.  The cutter was now lowered,
+and sent round the ship to sound.  On her return on board the master
+reported only seven fathoms close to the breakers.  The breeze now
+freshened from east-south-east, but the rollers increasing, the sea
+broke heavily half a cable's length from her.  Everything was now
+prepared for making sail.  On the cable being shortened in, it was
+discovered that it had swept over a rock about fifty fathoms from the
+anchor, and that at any moment it might give way.
+
+"Stop heaving!" cried the captain.  "Make ready to slip!"  The sails
+were loosened; but as they were about to be sheeted home, the cable
+parted.  Instantly the sheet anchor was let go.  For some seconds it
+seemed doubtful, before it could reach the bottom, whether the ship
+would strike on the rocks; but it happily brought her up, though
+fearfully near them.
+
+By this time it was again night; the rollers had greatly increased, and
+should the sheet anchor give way, it was clear that nothing could save
+the ship.  Jack had seldom been in so anxious a position.  All on board
+saw the danger they were in.  The major's cheek lost its ruddy hue, and
+even Mrs Bubsby's countenance exhibited signs of alarm.  Not far off
+lay a small vessel with both anchors down.  Her master coming on board
+volunteered to make a hawser fast to her for the purpose of casting the
+man-of-war the right way.
+
+The engineer stated that it would be some hours before steam could be
+got up.
+
+"Then let me advise you, sir, to get under way forthwith," said the
+master of the merchantman.  "Should the anchor fail to hold, the ship
+must inevitably strike on that reef of rocks where the surf is breaking
+so furiously, and where, strong as she may be, she will not hold
+together for an hour, while there will not be the slightest chance of
+saving a single human life."
+
+Jack gladly accepted the worthy master's offer.  The cutters were
+lowered, and hawsers carried to the vessel.  The sheet anchor was then
+weighed, when, on its coming above water, it was found that both the
+flukes had gone.  Her only hope of safety was on the remaining anchor.
+Would it hold until sail could be made?  From the direction the beats
+were drifting it was soon seen that, in spite of all the efforts of
+their crews, it would be impossible to carry the hawsers to the
+merchantman.  Jack looked anxiously at the compass and dog vanes.  He
+knew full well that at any moment the cable might part, and, should the
+ship not cast the right way, she must be driven on the rocks and every
+soul perish.
+
+"I would advise you to return on board your own vessel, my friend," he
+said to the master of the merchantman.  "You will be safer on board her
+than here."
+
+"Now is your chance, captain," exclaimed the master, as the wind veered
+a point well to the eastward.
+
+The cable was slipped.  The ship mercifully canted the right way under
+single-reefed topsails, topgallant sails, jib, and driver, and with a
+strong breeze stood out of the treacherous bay.
+
+Jack and all on board had good reason to thank a merciful Providence
+that they had escaped the danger to which they had been exposed.  At
+length the _Bellona_ was clear of the land.  Now came the question of
+what to do with the troops.  There was only one anchor left.  Jack
+considered that it would be extreme rashness to bring up again close to
+the shore until he had steam power on which to depend to help him off,
+should the wind continue to the southward.  Still it was of the greatest
+importance that by some means or other the troops should be landed.  The
+major, who was by this time anxious to leave the ship, insisted that "it
+ought to be done, and must be done."
+
+"The _must_ depends upon circumstances," answered Jack.  "If I can land
+your men I will, without risking their lives or those of my boats'
+crews.  By running further to the eastward, a place may be found where
+you can be put on shore, and you must march from thence to the place you
+were ordered to garrison, but until the machinery is in good working
+order, I must do my utmost to keep off the land."
+
+To this the major had nothing to say.
+
+The breeze freshened.  By nightfall the _Bellona_ was out of sight of
+land, and Jack felt much more easy than he had done for several days.
+Although the rough seas had greatly delayed the engineer, he was at
+length able to report that the machinery was again in order.  The wind
+also had fallen considerably, and the sea having much gone down, Jack
+hoped that he might at length get rid of his guests.  Both officers and
+men had behaved admirably, and had assisted on all occasions in making
+sail, or when pulling and hauling was required on deck.  The ship was,
+at this time, about forty miles from the port of debarkation.  After
+many anxious hours of watching, Jack turned in, leaving Tom, as officer
+of the watch, on deck.
+
+Young Alick Murray had been placed in Tom's watch, and besides him there
+was a mate and another midshipman.  The night was tolerably clear, the
+stars shining, but a mist hung above the surface of the sea, so that no
+object could be seen until tolerably near.  Tom constantly hailed the
+look-outs forward to ascertain that they were keeping their eyes open,
+and young Alick paid frequent visits to the forecastle, sent by Tom for
+the same purpose.  The engines were working, though not in so
+satisfactory a manner as was desirable.  Alick was forward, when his
+sharp eyes discovered an object almost ahead, though slightly on the
+starboard bow.
+
+"What's that?" he asked, pointing it out to Tim Nolan, who was on the
+watch.  "A boat, a raft, or a sunken vessel?"
+
+"It looks to me like a raft, and we must starboard the helm if we don't
+want to run into it," said Tim.
+
+"A raft on the starboard bow!" shouted Alick, in his clear voice.
+
+"Starboard the helm!"
+
+"Starboard it is," was the answer, and presently what looked like a
+hen-coop and a grating with a few spars lashed together, came in sight,
+and an object, evidently a human being, lying on it, but whether alive
+or dead could not at once be ascertained.  Presently, however, as the
+ship was abreast of the raft, a man rose on his knees and waved his
+hand, while he shouted out, "Ship, ahoy!"  His voice sounded hollow and
+shrill; he apparently supposed that he had not been seen.  Tom
+immediately ordered the engines to be stopped, and a boat to be lowered,
+but before this was done she had got a considerable distance from the
+raft.  Another cry escaped the forlorn occupant of the raft, as if he
+fancied he was to be left to his fate.  Tom hailed him, telling him that
+assistance would be sent.  In a few minutes a boat was pulling as fast
+as the crew, with sturdy strokes--eager to rescue a fellow-creature--
+could drive her through the water.  Alick had jumped into the boat,
+which he steered carefully up to the raft.  No voice was heard as they
+approached.  The poor man, overcome with the thought that he had been
+deserted, had apparently fainted or sunk down again from weakness.  At
+first Alick thought that he was not there, but his form was seen
+stretched out at full length on the frail raft.
+
+"Look out not to capsize it!" sang out Alick to his men, two of whom
+were about to spring on the raft.  "Let one at a time get on it, and
+lift the man carefully into the boat."
+
+His orders were obeyed, the man was got on board and passed along to the
+stern sheets, where he was laid with his head on a flag, which happened
+to be in the boat.  Alick pulled back as hard as possible, that the
+stranger might be placed under charge of the doctor.  The poor man
+breathed, and that was all.  Alick was afraid that he might go off
+unless speedily attended to, for the boat had come away without brandy
+or any other restorative.
+
+The rescued man was handed on deck with all the tenderness with which
+sailors are wont to treat the sick and wounded, or women and children.
+The doctor was immediately roused up to do what he considered necessary.
+
+The stranger seemed by his dress to be an officer, although, whether
+officer or man, he would have been looked after with the same care.  Tom
+had him at once carried to his cabin, where the doctor undressed him.
+
+The various remedies which his case required having been applied, the
+stranger soon gave signs of returning animation.
+
+"His pulse is improving," observed the doctor, "and he will do well
+enough after a time.  No one must talk to him, however, when he comes to
+his senses, or try to learn how he got into the situation in which he
+was found."
+
+Tom's watch being over, and having given up his cabin he was about to
+roll himself up in his cloak in a corner of the ward room, when the
+fearful cry of "Fire! fire!" was raised.  He hurried on deck, where Jack
+and all the officers and crew quickly assembled.  The drum beat to
+quarters.  The men flew to their stations.  The soldiers, who well knew
+the meaning of the tattoo, hastened on deck and fell in, according to
+their officers' orders, on either side.
+
+During that moment of awful suspense, strict discipline prevailed.  The
+last persons to appear were the major and Mrs Bubsby and their two tall
+daughters.  The former, with a blanket thrown over his head, making him
+look very much like a young polar bear, and the lady in her nightcap,
+with a bonnet secured by a red woollen shawl fastened under her chin,
+while the costume of the young ladies showed also that they had
+hurriedly dressed themselves, and in a way they would not have wished to
+have appeared in, under ordinary circumstances, one having her papa's
+military cloak tied round her waist, while the other had a railway rug,
+of large size, covering her shoulders and hanging down behind.
+
+"What's the matter? what's the matter?" asked the major, in a tone of
+agitation.
+
+"The ship is on fire, and we, with the aid of your men, have to put it
+out," said Jack.
+
+"Fire!" exclaimed Mrs Bubsby.  "Oh, dear! oh, dear! what will become of
+us.  I thought such a thing was impossible on board of a well-regulated
+man-of-war."
+
+Jack had no time to reply to the lady.  That the ship was on fire was
+too certain, as they could perceive a strong smell of burning, and
+although the smoke could not be seen through the darkness, its
+suffocating effects were felt as it ascended through the after
+hatch-way.  Jack at once ordered the first lieutenant and boatswain with
+a party of men to go below and ascertain the cause and extent of the
+fire, while the soldiers stood ready with buckets full of water in their
+hands, as did a party of the crew, with wet blankets and sails, to
+extinguish it.  No sooner was the hatch taken off, however, than not
+only smoke but bright flames ascended.  On this the soldiers, who were
+standing on the lower deck, were ordered to advance and heave the
+contents of their buckets over the spot.  At first it appeared to
+produce but little effect.  The steam pump was set to work and the hose
+carried aft, but scarcely had it begun to work, than the machinery by
+some accident gave way, and it was of no service.
+
+The major, seeing the serious aspect of affairs, at length rushed up to
+Jack.
+
+"Captain Rogers, what is to become of my wife and daughters?" he asked,
+in an agitated tone.
+
+"We will lower one of the boats, and put them into it," said the
+captain, "with the senior mate and a midshipman."
+
+Jack at once issued the order for the cutter to be lowered and manned.
+Her own crew went in her with the officers Jack had appointed.
+
+"Murray, you go too," he said.  "We will take you on board again as soon
+as the fire is put out."
+
+Alick touched his cap, but was evidently very unwilling to go, though he
+said nothing.
+
+"The boat is ready, major, for your wife and daughters," shouted Jack.
+
+The accommodation ladder was lowered to enable them to descend.
+
+"Now, my precious ones," cried the major.  "Your lives shall be saved at
+all events, though it's my belief that the ship will burn to the water's
+edge and go down."
+
+Billy was too busy attending to his duty below to assist his fair
+friends; indeed, he would not have been sorry to keep out of their way
+had he known what was taking place.
+
+Mrs Bubsby was the first to descend, helped by two of the crew, who
+could for a moment be spared to assist her.  The eldest daughter went
+next, when the major descended, supporting Angelica, who, overcome by
+her feelings, appeared to have fainted.  When the crew offered to assist
+her into the boat, he exclaimed--
+
+"No, no, hands off, I must place her in her mother's arms," and stepped
+in, not without a risk of pitching over into the stern sheets.
+
+Jack, who just then looked over the side, observing that no one else
+remained to get into the boat, ordered her to shove off.
+
+"But the major is in her, sir," answered Alick.
+
+"He must not go back to the dreadful ship!" cried Mrs Bubsby, her words
+being echoed by her daughters, while Angelica, throwing her arms round
+his neck, held him down.  In vain the major struggled, or appeared to
+struggle, to regain the accommodation ladder, but each time that he made
+an attempt to get on board, his wife and daughters pulled him back.
+
+While this was going forward, the boat was veered astern by a long warp,
+and now and then the major attempted to shout, but his wife placed her
+hand over his mouth, so that his demands to be taken on board were
+unheeded.
+
+At length, appearing reconciled to his fate, he subsided down and
+remained quietly with his wife and family, without any further effort to
+return to the ship.
+
+"It can't be helped, sir," said young Alick.  "They'll do very well
+without you, as there are quite men enough to put out the fire.  I wish,
+though, that I was on board to help."
+
+"Do you think there is any chance of the ship blowing up?" said Mrs
+Bubsby.  "If it does I'm afraid we shall lose all our things."
+
+"You may be very sure, madam, that if the ship does blow up you will
+lose everything, but I can't help thinking that the lives of the
+officers and crew, not to speak of the poor soldiers, are of more
+consequence than your traps," answered Alick.
+
+"Oh dear! oh dear! will the ship blow up, do you suppose?" inquired
+Angelica.  "And poor Lieutenant Blewitt, what will become of him?"
+
+"I suppose that Billy must share the fate of others," answered Alick.
+"But I can assure you that I have no fear that she will blow up.  Her
+crew are well-disciplined, and the soldiers appear to be equally so,
+judging by the way they were behaving when we left the ship, and it was
+only as a matter of precaution, in case of accident, that Captain Rogers
+had you put into the boat, and it is probable that we shall be on board
+again in an hour or so, or in less time."
+
+"Do you venture to call Lieutenant Blewitt `Billy?'" exclaimed Angelica,
+in whose tender besom the full amount of affection she had ever felt had
+returned for our friend, on supposing that he was in peril and might be
+lost to her for ever.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Miss Angelica.  I forgot when I spoke that you and
+he were spooney on each other," answered Alick, with perfect gravity.
+"I confess that we always call him `Billy' in the berth, but on duty we
+address him with due respect as `Lieutenant Blewitt'; the other
+lieutenants, however, always speak of him as `Billy Blueblazes,' and he
+likes the name, he has got so accustomed to it."
+
+Meantime, as far as could be ascertained by those in the boat, the fire
+continued burning on board the ship.  Sparks were seen occasionally
+rising above the deck, and Alick now began to entertain serious
+apprehensions that the ship would be destroyed.  Some of her crew might
+escape in the boats, but he was very sure that the officers would be the
+last to leave her, and that it would be impossible to construct rafts to
+convey them all.  He had been ready up to this time to joke and even to
+laugh.  He now became very serious.  The fire might reach to the
+magazine, though he felt sure that Captain Rogers would order it to be
+drowned or the powder to be thrown overboard, if such could be done.
+
+Meantime Jack and those under his command were making every effort which
+men could make to extinguish the fire.  It was discovered to have
+originated in the after bunkers, and that the flames had got hold of
+some of the wood-work.  By persevering efforts they having been
+extinguished, Tom, covering up his head with a piece of wet blanket,
+followed by Jerry Bird and a gallant party of seamen similarly
+protected, made their way, buckets in hand, to the very seat of the
+fire.
+
+Again and again they were driven back, and Jerry, stout-hearted as he
+was, was hoisted senseless on deck, overcome by the smoke; two others
+suffering in the same manner, Tom and the rest persevering.  He was
+ready to perish rather than allow Jack's ship to be destroyed.  More
+volunteers were called for.  At length, by their united efforts, as one
+party being overcome, another taking their place, the fire was got
+under, when the bunk being cooled by water, the coals were scraped out.
+
+By this time the sun was just rising above the horizon, casting a bright
+glare on the ship, as she slowly moved over the calm water.  Jack and
+all the naval and military officers were still on deck, many of them
+with their faces and hands blackened, as well as their clothing, by the
+smoke, while the ship herself presented far from her usual trim
+appearance.  The boat was hauled alongside.  The first to appear was the
+major, still wearing his blanket, which he had forgotten to throw aside,
+and not recollecting the curious figure he cut.  His own officers turned
+from him, disgusted at what they supposed his pusillanimity and his
+desertion of them and his men; while the naval officers only laughed at
+his unusual and somewhat absurd costume.  He was followed by his two
+daughters, Mrs Major Bubsby bringing up the rear, though it might have
+been wiser in her to have led the van.  Her curious appearance did not
+lessen the merriment of those who had not before seen her, and those of
+the crew who were standing near in no way attempted to restrain their
+laughter.
+
+"What's it all about?" asked the major, in an indignant tone.  He was
+too acute not to perceive the effect his conduct had produced on his own
+officers, but he determined to brazen it out.  "You think I deserted
+you, gentlemen," he said.  "You are much mistaken.  I was the victim of
+affection.  My beloved wife and daughters kept me an unwilling prisoner.
+I put it to you, gentlemen, how would you have behaved under similar
+circumstances?  I made the most strenuous efforts to regain the deck,
+but these two dear girls of mine clung to me with frantic energy, and
+Mrs Bubsby held me down by main force."
+
+"I did, I own it," exclaimed Mrs Bubsby, who, now the danger was over,
+saw the dubious position in which her husband was placed.  "My deep
+affection overcame every other consideration, and all I thought of was
+the safety of my beloved husband.  My daughters were animated by the
+same spirit."
+
+"Yes, we are.  We thought that you would all be burnt, or blown up, or
+go to the bottom, and poor dear Lieutenant Blewitt into the bargain; and
+we could not endure the thoughts of losing our papa, so we held him
+tight, though he is as brave and strong as a lion.  It was a very
+difficult thing to keep him down, I can assure you;" and Angelica burst
+into tears.
+
+Whether or not they produced any effect on the hard hearts of the
+captains and subalterns of the regiment it is impossible to say.
+
+"I should advise you, major, and Mrs Bubsby to go below and turn in, or
+change your dress, which is not quite becoming the deck of a man-of-war,
+and I hope your daughters will follow your example," observed Jack, who
+thought that matters were proceeding too far.
+
+It was impossible to stop the shouts of laughter which escaped the
+ship's company as, one after another, they managed to get a look at the
+curious group.
+
+"I will take your advice, Captain Rogers," answered the major, and he,
+followed by his tall family, disappeared.
+
+The ship had received less damage than might have been expected, and the
+machinery not having been injured, she proceeded towards her
+destination.  Next day she came off a small, but land-locked, bay.  The
+master, by careful pilotage, brought her in, and she anchored safely.
+
+Jack breathed a sigh of relief as he thought that he should now get rid
+of the major and his family, as well as of the troops, admirably as they
+had behaved on board.  The officers thanked him for the courtesy he had
+shown them.  They eyed the major, who was standing at a little distance,
+with looks askance.
+
+"What we shall do under such a commanding officer is more than I can
+tell," said the senior captain.  "I am sorry, Captain Rogers, that you
+have had so bad a specimen of a military man on board your ship.  Were
+any superior officers on shore, we should at once bring him to a
+court-martial, and you would be under the necessity of carrying him and
+his belongings back.  As it is, in the face of an enemy, we cannot
+refuse to serve under him, and we can only hope that his wife and
+daughters will cling round his neck and keep him at head-quarters, or
+that a shot may disable him from active service.  A very little thing
+would, I suspect, do that.  We wish him no further ill."
+
+"I am very willing to oblige you in everything," said Jack, laughing;
+"but I would rather not have the pleasure of carrying him and his `woman
+kind,' as he calls them, back to Simon's Bay."
+
+The boats were busily employed in landing the soldiers, who bade an
+affectionate farewell to their blue-jacket brethren.  Most of the
+officers had landed; the major and his family still remained.  He
+appeared to have arrived at the conclusion that he did not stand very
+well with those under his command.  Had the ship gone down, he would
+have saved his life, and there would have been nobody to complain; but
+as it was, and there had been no real danger, he found himself placed in
+a very awkward position.  Of this he was well aware.  He came up to
+Jack.
+
+"Age and infirmity have told upon me lately, Captain Rogers," he said.
+"Mrs Bubsby and my daughters are of the same opinion.  My charming
+daughter Angelica is very anxious to go back with you to Cape Town.  I
+have, therefore, come to the conclusion of resigning my command and
+returning home, whatever may be the consequences."
+
+"Are you speaking seriously?" asked Jack.  "Have you considered the
+consequences of such an act?  I should have thought that you would have
+been anxious to retrieve your character by showing your courage the
+first time you had an opportunity of meeting the enemy."
+
+"_My_ courage!" exclaimed the major; "who ever doubted that?  It was not
+my courage gave way; it was the stout arms and affectionate embraces of
+my beloved daughters which kept me back in the boat when they thought
+that the ship was going down.  My courage and honour are as bright as
+they ever were in my best days, when I was known as a perfect
+fire-eater.  Do you know what I did in the Crimea--how gallantly I
+behaved at the storming of Sevastopol? how I held the rifle-pits against
+a host of the enemy? how at the Alma I climbed up the heights, shouting
+`Death or victory!' when my men were driven back by the showers of
+bullets hissing past us and might have fled?  Why, sir, if any officer
+deserved the Victoria Cross, I did!"
+
+"I have not heard of your brave deeds, Major Bubsby," answered Jack,
+"and it is my duty to land you and your wife and daughters at the
+nearest place to your destination.  The state of the surf prevented my
+doing so at Waterloo Bay, and now I have only to inform you that the
+boat is waiting to convey you and your family on shore.  Your heavy
+baggage has already been sent off; what remains can be carried with
+you."
+
+The major looked aghast.  "Surely, Captain Rogers, you do not mean to
+say you insist on my landing, whether I like it or not, and would compel
+me and my delicate wife and those fair young creatures to march thirty
+miles or more through the sands of Africa without conveyance for
+ourselves and baggage?"
+
+"Duty is duty, major," answered Jack, who was determined not to take him
+back if he could help it.  "Your duty is to land, mine is to put you on
+shore.  You'll excuse me for saying this, but I intend to perform my
+duty."
+
+The major, seeing that he had no help for it, made a virtue of
+necessity.  He called out to his wife--
+
+"We must go, my beloved, and our sweet children must be exposed to the
+fearful dangers of this unknown land."
+
+On hearing this Mrs Bubsby approached Jack, who stood boldly prepared
+for the assault he had every reason to expect from the frown which had
+gathered on the lady's brow.
+
+"Captain Rogers!" she exclaimed, in a voice which made Jack answer--
+
+"Madam!"  He had no time to say more, when she went on--
+
+"Have you, who belong to the sister service, the barbarity to refuse a
+passage to my beloved husband and my delicate daughters, when the
+request has been made to you?  For myself, I care not; I can march
+wherever the regiment can go.  I did not expect this from you; and I'd
+have you know that I do not consider your conduct worthy of an officer
+and a gentleman."
+
+"Madam!" again ejaculated Jack, "I must not submit to such language,
+even from a lady.  I have simply to perform my duty, which is to land
+Major Bubsby and his family.  If he will not go, I should be sorry to
+have to hoist him and you over the side; but I intend to do so."
+
+Mrs Bubsby plucked off her gloves.  Jack looked at her hands; her nails
+were long, but the captain of a man-of-war was not likely to be
+assaulted on the deck of his own ship, even by a lady.  Still Jack could
+not tell what might be the irate dame's intention.
+
+The fair Angelica cast a glance at Lieutenant Blewitt, who was standing
+at the gangway, hoping heartily to have the honour of handing her and
+her sister down the accommodation ladder, and of uttering a last
+farewell, but he averted his eyes when he saw those of his charmer fixed
+on him.  The major now began to be seriously alarmed that his wife, of
+whose temper he had full experience, might proceed to extremities, and
+that it would be better to face the scorn of his officers and the
+assegais of the Caffres than be ignominiously tumbled over the side.
+
+"Come, come, my beloved!  Captain Rogers knows his duty.  He fulfils it
+sternly, I must say; but still we must obey; so march!"  In the mean
+time Archie Gordon, having received directions from Jack, was seeing the
+light baggage of the major conveyed to the boat.  He sent Alick to say
+that all was ready.  The major saw that there was no excuse for further
+delay.
+
+"Farewell, Captain Rogers," he said, lifting his hat.  "Farewell,
+gentlemen.  You see a doomed man!" and he marched to the gangway.
+
+"Oh, cruel! cruel!" uttered Mrs Bubsby, an exclamation repeated by
+Eugenia and Angelica.
+
+"Give her another copy of verses," whispered Tom to Billy, "or repeat
+those I wrote for you."
+
+"I forget them, or I would," said Billy.
+
+"Good-bye, Miss Angelica," he added, as the young lady passed him with
+an averted countenance, not deigning a reply.  The major descended into
+the boat.  He would have been in a still greater hurry to be off had he
+not known what he was to expect on landing.  He had some thoughts of
+throwing himself overboard; but the fin of a shark gliding by turned him
+from his intention.  The ladies followed; and as they took their seats
+they put their handkerchiefs to their eyes, but whether to weep at
+parting from the naval officers or on account of their harsh treatment,
+it was impossible to say.  Alick, who steered the boat, declared that he
+did not think they were crying at all.  The major sat silent and moody
+for some time.  Once he got up, "with fury in his countenance," as Alick
+afterwards described; but his wife and daughters pulled him down, and at
+length he and they were landed safe on the beach, their various articles
+of baggage being carried up after them to a spot where a sergeant and a
+party of men were standing ready to escort them to the camp which had
+already been pitched in an advantageous position inland.  They might at
+any time be attacked by the Caffres; but the force was sufficient to
+keep at bay any number of the enemy likely to be in that part of the
+country.
+
+"Have you any message to send to Lieutenant Blewitt, Miss Angelica?"
+asked Alick, touching his cap with perfect gravity to that lady, who was
+walking last; he having already wished the major and the rest
+"Good-bye."
+
+"Yes; tell him he is a base deceiver," answered Angelica, "and that I
+hope he may catch a tartar the next time he attempts to make love to an
+innocent maiden by presenting her with any of his abominable verses."
+
+"Yes, miss," answered Alick; "I'll faithfully deliver your message."
+And as he had been ordered to return without delay, he hurried back to
+the boat.
+
+"Well, Alick, what did they say?" asked Tom, as he returned on board.
+
+Alick described what had happened, and did not fail to repeat Miss
+Angelica's message to Lieutenant Blewitt.
+
+"I would rather not deliver it myself.  Perhaps you will, sir, as it may
+appear somewhat disrespectful coming from me," added the midshipman.
+
+"All right," said Tom, chuckling.  "I'll take care he gets it."
+
+Tom took the opportunity, when most of the officers were collected at
+the mess table, to deliver Miss Angelica's message.
+
+Billy laughed as heartily as any one.  "I don't care what she called me,
+now that I am rid of her.  I'm very much obliged to you, Rogers, for
+your verses, although I confess that at the time I certainly did feel
+considerably annoyed."
+
+Jack, having got rid of his guests, and being anxious to repair the
+damage caused by the fire, without delay steamed out of the harbour and
+proceeded on his voyage to Simon's Bay.
+
+The man who had been picked up just before the fire broke out had been
+carefully tended by the surgeon.  During the whole time that efforts had
+been made to extinguish it, he had remained in a state of insensibility,
+and only recovered after the troops had landed.  Tom, whose berth he
+occupied, visited him frequently, but found him ill able to converse or
+even to give any account of himself.  At length, after a refreshing
+sleep, he awoke greatly recovered.
+
+"I understand from the doctor, sir," he said, when Tom soon afterwards
+went to see him, "that you have placed me in your berth, and I wish not
+to keep you out of it longer than possible.  I am a ruined man, and must
+not expect longer to enjoy any of the comforts of life, until I can
+retrieve my fortunes, if that can ever be done."
+
+"Pray do not consider that you have inconvenienced me," answered Tom.
+"I am very happy to be of service to you.  All we know is that we found
+you nearly perishing, and are happy to render you any aid in our power.
+We are naturally somewhat curious to know how you came to be floating
+all by yourself on a raft."
+
+"That's very natural, sir.  My story is not a long one.  My name is
+Cooper.  I was master and part owner of a fine barque, the _Flora_,
+trading to Hobart Town, in Tasmania.  I was coming home by the southern
+route, when during some thick weather we sighted a rock not laid down in
+my chart.  I call it a rock, but it was rather a small island rising in
+lofty precipices out of the sea.  The weather clearing, somewhat to my
+surprise I made out a signal flying from a flag-staff, and on standing
+in close I could see through my glass a small hut.  Believing that some
+shipwrecked people were there, I stood still closer in, when a sudden
+squall struck my vessel, and laid her on her beam ends.  She righted
+without much damage, as far as could be discovered; but the weather
+coming on very bad, I was obliged to keep off the shore.  I made a
+second attempt, but was again driven off, and soon afterwards as heavy a
+gale as ever I experienced coming on from the southward, having lost my
+main and mizzen masts, and very nearly my fore-topmast, I was compelled
+to run before it.  I had hopes of getting into Simon's Bay, when the
+carpenter came to me and reported eight feet of water in the hold.  I
+sent the crew to the pumps, but all their efforts could not free the
+ship, for the water kept rushing in with fearful rapidity.  A butt had
+been started.  A heavy sea was running at the time, but I hoped the
+boats would live.  I ordered them to be lowered when the cry arose that
+the ship was sinking.  A panic seized my crew, and all hands rushed to
+the sides.  Some leaped into one boat, some into another.  Almost
+immediately the boats were swamped, and I had the misery to see the poor
+fellows drowned before my eyes.  I alone remained on deck.  The ship
+floated longer than I expected, and I had time to lash together the
+imperfect raft on which you found me, get it overboard, and to leap upon
+it, and with only a few biscuits which I stuffed into my pockets and a
+bottle of water.  Had I not taken them I must have perished.  How I
+could have existed for a whole week, as I did, I know not; but I must
+have been very far gone, when through the mercy of Heaven you found me."
+
+"You have indeed escaped from a terrible danger," said Tom.  "But I wish
+that you could have given more perfect information about the rock on
+which you saw the signal flying, and its position."
+
+"I noted it down at the time, sir, but my log was lost, and the events
+which have since occurred have put that and many other things out of my
+head, though I have been trying in vain to recall it.  I do not remember
+at all clearly how many weeks' sail we were from Hobart Town, or how far
+I ran after sighting the rock; nor, indeed, how long I must have been on
+the raft, though while I retained my consciousness it seemed an age.  On
+considering over the matter, I conclude that the gale could not have
+lasted much less than a week, and perhaps longer."
+
+Tom, on obtaining this important information, at once communicated it to
+Jack, who immediately went to Captain Cooper, and had a conversation
+with him.
+
+"It is within the range of possibilities that the _Empress_ may have
+been lost on the rock sighted by Captain Cooper, though how she could
+have got so far to the east, when she should have hauled up long before
+for Aden, it is difficult to say," observed Jack, when afterwards
+talking the matter over with the lieutenant and master.  "Probably her
+machinery broke down, as ours did."
+
+"And meeting with a gale, she had to run before it," remarked the
+master.  "These steam-kettles of ours can never be depended upon.  I
+wish we could go back to the good old sailing ships.  When we had them
+we knew what we were about, and took good care to keep off a lee shore;
+or, when it came on to blow, we hove the ship to and rode it out
+comfortably.  Now we trust to the machinery, and it fails us in time of
+need.  I shouldn't like to say that to the engineer, for he sticks up
+for his engines, and wonders how ships used to cross the ocean before
+they got steam power."
+
+Jack smiled.  The master was a thorough seaman, and he was allowed
+always to have his say against the "new-fangled notions of the day," as
+he called them.  Both Gordon and Tom agreed with the master that there
+was a great probability that the _Empress_ had been lost on the rock
+seen by Captain Cooper, as she had not touched at Aden nor been heard of
+further to the eastward.  Some of her crew might have escaped, although
+it was too probable that many were lost, and if so that Adair was among
+them; he certainly would not have quitted the wreck until the last--they
+knew him too well to suppose that.
+
+"The signal seen by Captain Cooper may, however, have been hoisted by
+the people who escaped from some other wreck," observed Tom.
+
+"Perhaps the _Empress_ went down during the gale in which we lost sight
+of her," said the master.
+
+"I trust that such was not the case; she was as likely to keep afloat as
+we were, unless some unforeseen accident happened--"
+
+"To the machinery," put in the master.  "If the steam was shut off and
+Captain Adair had trusted to his stout canvas, I should have no fear on
+the subject."
+
+"Heaven forbid that she should have foundered.  If she did, we shall
+never obtain proof positive of the fact," said the captain.  "I am far
+rather inclined to believe that she struck on some unknown reef, and
+that the rock or island was reached in the boats, or that the ship
+herself gained it, unless too much damaged to continue her voyage.  One
+thing I am determined to do as soon as our repairs are completed, to
+obtain leave to go in search of her, and should any other unfortunate
+persons be on the rock, we shall at all events have the satisfaction of
+rescuing them."
+
+Fortunately the weather continued fine, and the _Bellona_, without
+further misadventure, reached Simon's Bay.  The repairs, however, took
+longer than was expected, as the damage received was far more serious
+than at first supposed.  However, the work was such as could be
+accomplished while the ship was in Simon's Bay.
+
+"Take care your machinery don't break down again, Mr Rivett," observed
+Mr Scales, the master, who was generally known as Gunter Scale.  "We've
+got a ticklish part of the ocean to navigate, I can tell you, and if
+your engines fail just at the moment they are wanted to back astern off
+a coral reef, or keep the ship from being drifted on a lee shore, I
+shan't have much to say in their favour."
+
+"I beg, Mr Scales, that you will not take the ship into any such
+position.  I understood that every rock and shoal between us and the
+south pole was well laid down, and it will be your fault if we come upon
+danger without knowing it beforehand."
+
+"You were wrongly informed, Mr Rivett; and there is many a rock, and
+many a shoal, and many an island, too, between us and the pole which no
+one alive knows anything about, although many a poor fellow has found
+them out too late, when his ship has run right upon them."
+
+"What you say reminds me of the Irish pilot who told the captain of a
+ship he was taking to an anchorage, that he knew every rock on the
+coast.  The captain doubted him, and five minutes afterwards the ship
+went crash upon one.  `Bedad!  I tould your honour I knew thim, an'
+that's one of thim.  There's many a rock I've found out in the same
+manner,'" said Tom, who thought it better to put an end to the
+discussion.
+
+"I hope we shall find out none in that fashion," said Mr Rivett.
+
+"That will depend on your machinery," said Mr Gunter Scale, chuckling.
+"We shall have to keep a bright look-out ahead and the lead going, and
+if your piston rods and boilers prove faithful, well and good.  If not,
+I cannot warrant that the ship will keep out of the danger into which
+that screw of yours will run us.  Let me have her under canvas and I'll
+know where I'll go and where I'll not go, and I'll answer for it that I
+won't run a ship under my charge into a place where her sails can't take
+her off again."
+
+"Then you have not perfect confidence in my machinery?" observed Mr
+Rivett.
+
+"No, I have not, and I wonder that you expect me to have.  I say again,
+give me tough masts, sound spars, well set-up rigging, and stout canvas,
+with a properly built ship under my feet, and I'll keep the sea in all
+weathers, and carry her safely round the world."
+
+The discussion might have continued for many hours had not both officers
+been summoned to their respective duties.
+
+Jack, according to his intention, reported to the admiral the account he
+had received from Captain Cooper, who afterwards repeated it.
+
+"I'm afraid that there is but little chance of your finding the missing
+ship, but at all events you shall go in search of her," was the answer.
+
+The repairs at length being completed, the _Bellona_ sailed in search of
+the _Empress_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+THE EMPRESS LOSES SIGHT OF THE BELLONA--A GALE--SAILS BLOWN AWAY--RUNS
+BEFORE THE WIND--A LEAK--THE PUMPS MANNED--CREW SET TO BALE--PAT'S
+DREAM--PETE DISCOVERS THE LEAK--A THRUMMED SAIL GOT UNDER THE BOTTOM--
+ANOTHER LEAK--THE GALE INCREASES--STEER FOR VIRGINIA ISLAND--ALL HANDS
+SPELL AND SPELL--THE SHIP PASSES OVER A REEF--FALSE KEEL CARRIED AWAY--
+THE WATER GAINS ON THEM--ADAIR ADDRESSES THE CREW--THE MIDSHIPMAN AND
+SHIP'S BOY WITH THEIR WATER JUGS--LAND IN SIGHT--REACHED AT NIGHT--A
+BEACON FIRE APPEARS ON SHORE--SHIP DRIFTS FROM HER ANCHOR--SURMISES AS
+TO ITS BEING FLY-AWAY ISLAND--THE SHIP REGAINS AN ANCHORAGE--TWO BOATS
+SENT ON SHORE--GREEN GRASPS THE HAND OF LORD SAINT MAUR--STORES AND PART
+OF THE CREW LANDED--THE SHIP AGAIN DRIVEN OFF THE SHORE.
+
+We must now go back to the _Empress_, which we left somewhere about the
+Tropic of Capricorn, in a heavy gale of wind, approaching to a
+hurricane.  The weather having come on very thick, she soon lost sight
+of her consort, when the heavy sea which got up compelled Captain Adair
+either to heave the ship to or to run before the wind.  He chose the
+former alternative, the steam still being kept up.  Waiting for a lull,
+he brought her to the wind under a close-reefed main-topsail.  Heavy
+ship as she was, and deep in the water with stores and provisions of all
+sorts, she did not ride it out in the comfortable fashion of an old
+wooden frigate.  A fierce blast blew her canvas to ribbons, and a sea
+striking her carried away the bulwarks forward, and swept her deck,
+knocking two of her boats to pieces, and doing other serious damage.
+Her screw working brought her up again, or the consequences might have
+been still more serious.  It took a long time with all the strength that
+could be applied to set another sail, when the ship for a time rode
+rather more easily.
+
+She thus continued hove to for a couple of days, the weather in no way
+moderating.  Adair felt anxious about the _Bellona_, which he hoped to
+have seen, not being aware that by running south he would have got out
+of the gale as she did.  Many a good seaman under similar circumstances
+has made the same mistake.  Suddenly the engines stopped.  Adair sent to
+inquire the cause.  Part of the machinery had got out of gear, but the
+engineer reported that it would be soon again in order if the ship could
+be induced to remain steady for a time.
+
+"He might as well tell us to land him and his engines and to set up a
+forge and shop," observed Jos Green, the master, who had no greater
+affection for "steam-kettles" than had old Gunter Scale, his brother
+master of the _Bellona_.
+
+The ship was now in an uncomfortable position, to say the best of it
+another blast might blow away a second topsail, and if she fell oil it
+would be a difficult task to bring her to the wind again; her only
+resource would then be to run before the gale.  The danger apprehended
+came upon her: the ship fell into the trough of the sea.
+
+"Hold on, hold on, all of you for your lives!" shouted Adair, as he saw
+a heavy wave come rolling on.  It struck the ship, the decks were again
+swept, and two poor fellows, who had failed to obey the captain's
+orders, were carried away without the slightest hope of being rescued.
+Adair sent below; he received the same answer as before from the
+engineer.  Meantime an attempt was made again to set head sail.  As she
+thus lay the sea broke over her several times, doing more damage.
+
+The well was sounded, and the carpenter reported four feet of water in
+the hold.  The donkey engine was immediately set to work.  Fortunately,
+that not refusing to do its duty, after being some time in operation it
+gained on the water.
+
+In the mean time another main-topsail was set and an attempt made to
+wear ship.  Suddenly the wind shifted to the north-west, and filling the
+sails of the sorely battered ship she flew before it, though the heavy
+broken seas which rolled up astern threatened at any moment to poop her.
+The engineer complained bitterly of the way in which the ship tumbled
+about.
+
+"Never mind it now, my good fellow," said Green; "we are under snug
+canvas and as much as we can carry, and your engines may have some rest.
+By-and-by we shall get into a calm; it will be your turn then.  We
+seamen have the ship to ourselves at present.  If we put into Simon's
+Bay, and there happens to be no rollers tumbling in, you will have time
+enough to put your gimcrack machinery to rights."
+
+"That's just what old Gunter Scale would have said," observed the
+engineer, who had once served with him on the _Bellona_, and was
+accustomed to his satirical remarks.
+
+The ship, however, was not destined to touch at the Cape, for one of
+those terrific gales which occasionally blow off the African coast
+caught her when within a hundred miles of land, covering her deck with a
+fine impalpable sand, and having only her canvas to depend upon, she was
+driven so far to the southward that it would have compelled her to go
+considerably out of her way had she hauled up again for the Cape.  She
+then fell in with a trade wind, which carried her under all sail to the
+eastward, and Adair, hoping to regain the lost time, continued in that
+course until in the longitude of Madagascar, outside of which he
+intended to stand, avoiding the Mozambique Channel, and probably, if
+necessary, to touch at the Mauritius, where he could get his engines
+repaired.
+
+Once more, however, another gale, not inferior in power to those she had
+already encountered, came on from the north-west.  The battered
+_Empress_ was but ill-prepared to encounter it.  The donkey engine had
+been kept going, and the water had not hitherto considerably increased,
+but still it was evident that a serious leak existed somewhere, although
+where it was had not yet been ascertained.  Adair and his lieutenant, as
+well as the carpenter and boatswain, had made repeated efforts to
+discover the exact spot.  The only way to do this was to creep under the
+bunkers among the bilge water, an unpleasant and dangerous task.  It was
+evident that the water must be reduced before the leak could be
+discovered.
+
+The word was given to man the chain pumps, and the bilge pumps were also
+set in motion, while a double line of men were formed with all the
+buckets which could be found on board, from the main-deck to the hold,
+to bale out the water, one line passing down the empty buckets and the
+other handing up the full ones, almost as quickly as a chain pump could
+have done it.  The men worked with a will, for they knew full well the
+danger to which they were exposed.  Perfect discipline, however, was
+maintained; no one showed the slightest sign of fear, no one complained.
+Adair had shipped among his crew our old acquaintances Pat Casey and
+Peter the black, the last-named as a stoker, being better able to
+perform the office than most Englishmen.  With one or two exceptions,
+the remaining stokers were either Irishmen or Germans, the latter having
+an aptitude for becoming stokers and sugar bakers, avocations which
+require the power of enduring heat.
+
+The gale continued to increase, and in spite of all the efforts of the
+crew the water rushed in as furiously as before.  Even had the engines
+been in order, it would have been impossible to steam back against the
+wind to the Cape, and it was a great question whether the ship could be
+kept afloat until the Mauritius--the nearest land--could be reached.
+Adair and Jos Green anxiously examined the chart.
+
+"Should the wind shift a few points more to the westward, we might
+manage it under sail, but in our present circumstances the only thing to
+be done is to keep the ship before the gale," observed the master.
+
+In few parts of the ocean is the sea more heavy than in the latitude in
+which the _Empress_ now was, except, perhaps, to the southward of Cape
+Horn.  All the other pumps were now set going, and a fresh party was
+told off to bale out the water with iron hand-buckets.  These were
+hoisted up at the rate of seventy an hour.
+
+"Set the fiddle and fife going, it will keep up the spirits of the men,"
+said Adair to the first lieutenant, who at once issued the order.
+Presently merry notes were heard amid the howling of the gale, sounding
+strangely, and yet inspiriting the crew.  Still, in spite of all that
+could be done, the water rose higher and higher.
+
+"Peter," said Pat Casey to his old shipmate, when, after toiling for
+four hours, they knocked off to get a little rest, "it's my opinion that
+this is the last cruise you and I shall take together.  I've been in
+many a mighty quare fix before now, but niver one like this.  Sure,
+there's nothin' I hate more than a ship with a hole in her bottom, an'
+that's what we've got, an' a pretty big one, I'm after thinkin'."
+
+"You no gib up, Pat," answered Peter.  "We fall in with 'nother ship, or
+sight some land, and we get 'shore, or stop de leak.  When de cap'n
+finds de ship make too much water, he keep her 'float by fixin' a sail
+under her."
+
+"You may say what ye plaise, but before a sail could be thrummed an'
+passed under her keel, she'll be many fathoms down into the depths of
+the ocean.  An' supposin' we did fall in with a ship, sure, how could we
+get aboard of her with this sea runnin'?  Then, as to reaching land--
+where's the land to reach?  I niver heard speak of any land away to the
+south'ard, except the icy pole, an' that we should niver see if we
+wished it ever so much."
+
+"Dat may be de case; I nebber could make out de meanin' ob a chart, but
+wheneber I hab been in de Pacific, me find many islands, and tink dere
+mus' be some here'bout.  Why you so down-hearted?"
+
+"Down-hearted is it, sure?  I'm not down-hearted, Pater; but I'll tell
+ye, I dreamed a dream the night the gale came on, as I lay in me
+hammock; the ould mither--who's gone to glory these six years--came and
+stood by me side, an' I saw her face as clearly as I see yours, an' says
+she, `Tim, me son, I've come to wake you;' then says I, `Mither, what's
+that for?'  Says she, `I can wake ye well, although I cannot give ye
+dacent burial.'  Upon that she sit up such a howlin' I thought it would
+be heard all along the deck.  Says I, `Mither, just hold fast there, or
+you'll be afther disturbin' the whole watch below.'  But she wouldn't,
+an' still howled on, jist as I mind th' women doin' in ould Ireland whin
+I was a boy.  Again I sung out, `Mither, if ye love me, hold your peace.
+I don't want to be waked just now,' and as I uttered the words I heard
+the boatswain pipe all hands on deck, when sure if the wind wasn't
+shrieking, an' the blocks rattling, an' the masts groaning, showin' that
+a dacent hurricane was blowin'.  Me mither vanished immediately, an' I
+tumbled up on deck, more asleep thin awake, thinkin' of what the good
+soul had been saying to me."
+
+Peter fell asleep while Pat was talking, and both in a brief time were
+again summoned to take their spell at baling.  All efforts to discover
+the leak had been hitherto in vain.  Peter went to the chief engineer.
+
+"Pardon, sir, me tink find out de leak.  If black Peter get drowned,
+easily find better man to take him place."
+
+"I shall be very glad if you do, Peter, for I suspect if the leak is not
+found we shall all be drowned together," said the engineer.  "What do
+you propose doing?"
+
+"Jus' dive down under de water, wid rope round him waist, an' have a
+bright light held above where him go down.  You see, sir, lantern no
+burn under de water, or me take him down."
+
+"You might possibly succeed; but I fear you will lose your life,"
+answered the engineer.  "But you shall try if you like."
+
+"All right, ear," said Peter, "me try, no matter what happen."
+
+The engineer reported to the captain the offer of the black.  Adair
+allowed him to make the attempt, and ordered the gunner to bring several
+blue-lights, as well as a dozen ship's lanterns, and he, with his first
+lieutenant, the chief engineer, the gunner, and boatswain, and three men
+to hold the rope, went below, where Peter stood prepared for his
+undertaking.  The hatches overhead were taken off to allow the fumes of
+the blue-lights to escape.
+
+"Now," cried Peter, "me ready," and slipping into the water, he
+disappeared beneath it.  A blue-light was instantly ignited, the bright
+glare of which must, it was hoped, penetrate to the very bottom of the
+ship.  It seemed impossible to those standing by that Peter could exist
+beneath the black fluid which surged over him.  The seconds went slowly
+by, each second appearing to them almost like a minute.  The doctor, who
+had come down, kept his watch in his hand.  Adair expected him every
+moment to give the signal for drawing up the man.
+
+"The poor fellow will be drowned if he stays any longer," observed
+Adair.
+
+"He will endure it for twenty-five seconds more," answered the doctor.
+"We must have him up by that time, if he does not return."
+
+"Haul him up," cried Adair; "he cannot stand it longer."
+
+Just as he spoke, the black's head appeared above the water.
+
+"Me find it next time," he said, drawing a deep breath.  In a couple of
+minutes Peter declared himself ready again to descend.  Another
+blue-light was burned, irradiating the depths below.  As before, the
+doctor watched the time Peter was under the water.  Two minutes had
+passed, when Adair ordered the man to be hauled up.  It was not a moment
+too soon.  At first, from his appearance, all supposed he was drowned,
+and the doctor began to prepare to resuscitate him, when he came to
+himself.
+
+"All right!" he exclaimed; "de leak found, big 'nough to put him hand
+through."
+
+Peter, as soon as he had regained his strength, showed the exact spot
+where the hole existed, through which the water was spouting as through
+a hose.  Adair was satisfied that the black was right.  The question was
+now how to stop it.  The carpenter had got plugs ready, but Peter
+averred that no human power could force them in, unless the pressure of
+water was first taken off from the outside.  The only way of doing this
+was by getting a thrummed sail under the ship's bottom.  The engineer
+suggested that an iron plate should be screwed on, but the difficulty
+was to screw it in the proper position.  He then proposed fixing an iron
+bar to the plate and securing the other end to a beam above it.  The
+plate was quickly prepared as he suggested, but though it prevented the
+water spouting upwards as it had before done, it found an entrance
+notwithstanding, between the plate and the ship's bottom.  Adair now
+gave orders to have a sail thrummed.  The operation is as follows: A
+sail is stretched out and masses of oakum are fastened on to one side,
+so as to give it the appearance of a large rug of great thickness.
+Strong ropes are secured to the four corners; it is then dragged under
+the ship's bottom, when, by the force of the water rushing in, it is
+sucked into the leak, and although some water still finds its way
+through, it is calculated greatly to impede its entrance.  Happily there
+came a lull, and during it the ropes were got over the ship's bows, and
+dragged on until the part where the leak existed was reached, when the
+thrummed sail was hauled under the bottom, and firmly secured.
+
+A hundred more hands were now told off to bale at the different
+hatchways with canvas buckets, which the sailmaker's crew and other men
+had been employed in making to supplement the iron ones.  Adair
+anxiously watched the result of their labours.
+
+"If the weather improves we shall do well yet," observed Green to the
+first lieutenant.
+
+"One does not see much prospect of that," was the answer.
+
+The sky indeed was as gloomy as ever, the wind blew a perfect hurricane,
+while the thick mist and spray which flew over the deck wetted every one
+to the skin.  As the hours went by there was no relaxation for the
+hard-worked crew.  The seamen and marines, engineers, and stokers, as
+well as the officers, laboured away with but short intervals for rest.
+
+No sooner were the men relieved, than, overcome by their exertions, they
+threw themselves down on the deck and waited until it was their turn
+again.  The carpenter reported the water diminishing.
+
+"We ought, howsumever, to have got more out of the ship by this time
+than we have," he observed.  "To my mind, there must be another leak
+somewhere."
+
+Adair feared that the carpenter was right, and Peter, hearing his
+opinion, volunteered again to do down and grope about until he could
+discover it.  The same precautions were taken to save him from
+destruction.
+
+He persevered until he was so utterly exhausted that the doctor declared
+him to be unfit again to go below.  Though he had not succeeded, Adair
+thanked him for his gallant conduct, and promised that it should not be
+overlooked.
+
+"Me berry happy, cap'n, if de ship get into harbour.  No want reward,"
+answered the brave negro.
+
+Scarcely had the thrummed sail been got under the ship, than it began to
+blow as hard as ever.  Should the gale continue for many days longer,
+all hope of saving the ship must be given up, and probably every soul on
+board would perish.  Adair did not conceal this from himself, although
+neither by word nor look did he show what was passing in his mind.
+There were rocks, rather than islands, he knew to the southward, one of
+which might possibly be reached, but much depended on the state of the
+weather.  Should the sea go down, the ship might be kept afloat, but he
+could not hope to get back to the Cape nor even to the Mauritius.  At
+present he could steer no other course than directly before the wind.
+
+On examining the chart, he discovered that about 200 miles off to the
+southward of east was a rock marked Virginia Island, but he could not
+find any description of it.  Whether its sides were precipitous and
+could not be scaled, whether low and easy of access, or whether it
+possessed a harbour of any description, not a word was said.  It might
+be a barren rock without water, or any means of affording sustenance to
+even a small number of men.  He could scarcely expect it to be
+otherwise, for in that latitude, he knew, where exposed to the icy
+blasts of the southern pole, all vegetation would be stunted if not
+destroyed, while he could scarcely entertain a hope that springs
+existed.  Still it was the nearest land of any description, and land is
+eagerly sought for by those on board a foundering ship.  He was aware
+that other rocks in this latitude were the product of volcanic action,
+and that this was so likewise he had little doubt; should such be the
+case, it was very improbable that water would be found.
+
+Poor Adair felt his position keenly.  Through no fault of his, the lives
+of all entrusted to him were placed in jeopardy.  Often and often his
+thoughts went wandering away to his dear Lucy.  Although he would not
+have allowed any fear of losing his own life to oppress him, he could
+not help dreading the idea of plunging her in grief and exposing her to
+long months of anxious suspense.  Still his officers, as they watched
+his calm countenance and brisk manner, fancied he was as light-hearted
+as ever, and some thought that he could not have realised the fearful
+position in which they were placed.
+
+They were now running across a little-known sea.  The chart showed
+dangers, but marked as somewhat uncertain.  Still the storm-driven ship
+could pursue no other course.  A hundred miles at least had yet to be
+accomplished before the island they hoped to sight could be reached; but
+even should that prove to be correctly marked on the chart, Green had
+some doubt about sighting it.  The ship might pass it and yet it might
+not be seen, or the gale, continuing, might drive her on with headlong
+force, so that she might not be able to haul up in time to get under its
+lee.  Twelve or fourteen hours would decide the point, perhaps even
+less.
+
+The wind had begun to moderate slightly, and some of the older hands on
+board, accustomed to the southern ocean, prognosticated a change of
+weather.  All prayed that it might come.  Night returned, but it brought
+no rest to the labouring crew.  Every man and boy on board, except those
+on the look-out, were engaged in pumping or baling, unless lying down
+recruiting their strength for renewed exertions.  They were working
+spell and spell, knowing full well that unless such were done, the ship
+could not be kept afloat.  As she had before being recommissioned
+undergone a thorough repair, no one could account for the leak.  Many
+did anything but bless the ship-builders.  Some declared that the outer
+coat of wood was rotten, and that the inner one of iron had become
+corroded and had just been patched up to deceive the eye of the
+surveyor.
+
+"Bedad!  I belave it must be one of thim big fishes with the long noses
+has run against us, an' drilled a hole before he could get off again,"
+said rat Casey to his shipmate Peter; "or, maybe, the big say sarpint
+was swimmin' by and gave us a whisk of his tail unbeknown."
+
+"Me tink, Massa Pat, dey make you officer, if eber we get into harbour,
+if you swear to dat."
+
+"Faith, me boy, swear, is it?" observed Pat.  "It's just th' sort of
+yarn a dockyard matey would swear to, if only to plaise his superiors;
+but there's one thing I believe, an' that is, that the wood an' iron are
+both rotten.  Bad luck to thim who didn't repair the damage whin they
+found it out!  You are of the same opinion, though it wouldn't have
+become ye to say so.  All you'd got to do was to find out where the hole
+was, an' ye did it like a brave man, an' sure I'd be sorry not to get
+home, if it were only because you'd be afther losin' your reward."
+
+What other reflections might have been cast on the dockyard officials it
+is impossible to say, when a grating sound was heard, and the ship
+quivered fore and aft.  For a moment her way seemed to be stopped, and
+the cry rose from many a mouth, "We are lost! we are lost!"  A
+tremendous sea came rolling up astern.
+
+"Hold on, for your lives!" shouted Adair, and the order was echoed along
+the decks.  The wave struck the vessel's stern.  A portion broke over
+her, but the next moment she was again driven forward.  That fearful,
+dread-inspiring sound, which tells that the keel has come in contact
+with a hard rock, continued.  Every instant Adair dreaded that the
+terrific crash would come which would denote the doom of all on board.
+Still he stood calm, and apparently unmoved, as before.
+
+"Keep to your stations, my lads! we will not yet let the old ship go
+down," shouted Adair.
+
+The order was repeated along the deck.  The magnificent discipline which
+prevails in the British navy, even at that terrible moment, triumphed.
+Not a man deserted his post, but continued pumping or baling away as if
+no rugged reef was beneath the ship's keel.  Several times she rose and
+surged onwards, but it was only to feel the rock still under her.  On
+she went.  At that instant the wind began to abate, and even the sea was
+calmer than it had been before she had touched the reef.  Still it could
+not be doubted that she had received a serious injury.  As the howling
+of the tempest abated, Adair could make his voice heard along the decks.
+
+"My lads," he said, "I know you to be true British seamen.  Things may
+be bad enough, but we must not give way to despair.  Maintain the
+discipline of which we are justly proud, obey your officers, and don't
+give in while a plank remains above water.  The weather is moderating,
+and as soon as it is calm enough we will try and discover the amount of
+damage the ship has received.  Stick to the pumps and buckets, and we
+will see if we cannot heave the water out of her faster than it comes
+in.  Now, turn to again!"  The men, while Adair was speaking, had
+knocked off for a few minutes.  He saw, however, that he had gained
+time, by the energy with which they again set to work, he himself
+showing an example by handing along the buckets, as did all his
+officers.  Adair and Green, however, had to knock off to try and take an
+observation, for the clouds gave signs of breaking, and they hoped every
+moment to see the sun burst forth.  It was all-important indeed to
+ascertain the ship's exact position on the chart, that they might steer
+for the nearest spot where she might, if necessary, be beached, or at
+all events under the lee of which she might anchor, and an endeavour be
+made to repair damages.  Whether this could be done or not could only be
+ascertained by a more thorough examination of her bottom than had yet
+been possible.  The midshipmen were summoned to assist.  Adair and his
+officers stood with their sextants in their hands ready to note the
+sun's altitude should he burst forth, while the first lieutenant watched
+the chronometer.  The tossing seas rose round the labouring ship.  They
+had already lost their leaden hue, and here and there bright green tints
+could be seen, while their crests no longer hissed and foamed as before.
+Suddenly, as if by a stroke of the magician's wand, the clouds parted,
+and the bright sun shone forth in a clear space of blue.  The men on
+deck cheered as they saw it.  To them it seemed an augury of safety.  A
+satisfactory observation was taken, the exact longitude was obtained, at
+noon they would find the true latitude, and then, should Virginia Island
+have been laid down correctly, they might steer with confidence towards
+it.  According to the chart, it was still to the eastward, and might, if
+the ship had not run too far south, be sighted before night.
+
+Noon was anxiously waited for.  The crew continued labouring away with
+the same energy as before, though in the case of some it was the energy
+of despair.  Again Adair took his place in the line of men passing the
+buckets up and down.  Still all their efforts did not avail to lessen
+the amount of water within the ship, but they kept it from increasing--
+that was something.  As long as their strength held out, they might
+continue to do that.  Every one knew that, should they relax in their
+efforts, the water would conquer them; the great point was to keep it
+sufficiently low to prevent the fires being put out.  Should that occur
+and a calm come on, their case would then be desperate, even though in
+sight of land.  Some, it is true, might be saved in the boats and others
+on rafts, should the ship float long enough to enable them to be
+constructed, but the bulk--two-thirds, probably--must be doomed to
+perish.  Adair knew that he must be among the latter.  While a soul
+remained on board, he could not quit his ship.  Dear as life might be to
+him, for the sake of others it must be sacrificed.  When also the trying
+moment should come, would discipline be maintained?  Would not the crew
+scramble into the boats and swamp them? or leap headlong on the rafts
+and render them useless?
+
+Frequently the captain and master looked at their watches.  Once more
+they returned to the poop, with their sextants in hand.  Noon was
+approaching.  Clouds were still passing slowly across the sky; they
+might too probably rest between the sun and the ship, rendering it
+impossible to take an observation.  The officers watched their progress.
+A large cloud was floating by; would it pass onwards before the sun
+gained its extreme altitude?
+
+"Now, master!" cried Adair, in a cheerful tone.
+
+The western edge of the cloud, tinged with a golden hue, was seen, and
+the sun came forth.  The captain and Green with the first lieutenant had
+their sextants to their eyes in a moment: the sun was still rising.
+
+"It has dipped!" cried Adair.
+
+They carefully noted down the latitude, and Green, in a few seconds,
+worked out the observation on a little slip of paper, not bigger than
+one's thumb nail.  Hurrying below, the chart was got out, and now the
+exact position of the ship was obtained.
+
+"Hurrah!  If this volcano of an island doesn't prove a fly-away piece of
+rock, we shall be up to it before sunset," exclaimed Green.
+
+The wind had now sufficiently gone down to allow all sail to be set.
+The part of the crew who had knocked off from the pumps and the buckets
+were roused up.  With the greatest alacrity, as if they had had their
+usual rest, they flew to their stations.
+
+The topsails and courses, long furled, were let fall and sheeted home;
+staysails were hoisted, and with the screw thus aided, the ship again
+rushed rapidly through the water.  She steered, however, with some
+difficulty; and Green expressed an opinion that damage had been done to
+her false keel, that a portion of it had been torn off, and that another
+part was still hanging down attached to the bottom.
+
+"We must take that into account when we wish to bring up," observed
+Adair, "so that there may be no chance of running the ship on the rocks,
+where we do not want her to go."
+
+The next few hours were as anxious as any that had been passed; for,
+although the sea was going down and the wind was moderate, the water
+rushed in through the leaks at a rate which required the ceaseless
+efforts of the crew to keep under.  The youngest midshipman on board--
+Tommy Pratt, hitherto unknown to fame or to our readers--was observed,
+with one of the ship's boys, who had been considered not strong enough
+to handle the buckets, running up and down with two big jugs, which they
+emptied through the scuppers.
+
+"Every little helps, I've heard say," answered Tommy to the first
+lieutenant; "and I suppose a few quarts too much would sink the ship.
+So I got Ned Jones, who was doing nothing, to lend me a hand; and I
+calculate that we have emptied two hundred gallons at least, and that's
+something, sir."
+
+"Well done, my boy," answered the lieutenant.  "I'll not forget you and
+Ned.  Who knows but that you and he have kept out the last hundred
+gallons which might have sent her to the bottom?"  Some time afterwards
+they were found still working away, though Tommy confessed that "his
+arms were aching considerably, and that he should be very glad when they
+could stop the leak."
+
+Men with sharp eyes were sent to the mast-head, to look out for Virginia
+Island.  It was uncertain whether it was a high rocky a fertile island,
+or little better than a sand-bank.  Should it be the first and correctly
+laid down, the master hoped that it might at any moment be seen; but
+should it prove to be a low island, it might not become visible until
+they were close upon it.  Then again came the question, was it laid down
+correctly?  Adair, though he had assured his crew that they ought to be
+there before night, was not quite satisfied on that point.  Hitherto the
+men had laboured away bravely, but some of the weaker and less spirited
+began to show signs of fatigue; and the instant they were relieved,
+threw themselves on the deck as though utterly incapable of further
+exertion.  Some of the men, indeed, actually sank down at the pumps, but
+others took their places, and the doctor went round to the exhausted
+ones, giving them stimulants, and urging them to fresh exertions.
+Several, however, when it came again to their turn to pump or hand up
+the buckets, declared that they were unable to move.  It was important
+to maintain discipline; at the same time the first lieutenant, who went
+among them, was unwilling to use harsh measures.  Suddenly he
+recollected Tommy Pratt.  Taking one of the men, he showed him where the
+young midshipman and his companion were still working away with their
+big water jugs, running up and down as nimble as squirrels.
+
+"They have been at that work for the last eight hours, to my certain
+knowledge," said the lieutenant.  "Are you, a big, strong man, not
+ashamed of yourself?"
+
+"Yes, I am," was the answer; and, rousing up the other men, they all
+again set to work without further grumbling.
+
+"I was sure the example of those youngsters would do good," observed the
+lieutenant to Captain Adair.  "Not only have they baled out several
+hundred gallons, but through their gallant conduct many thousands
+probably will be pumped out of the ship."
+
+As the _Empress_ ran on, and no land was seen, the spirits of all began
+to fall lower than before.  In that latitude gales were as likely to
+prevail as often as fine weather; and another might spring up before the
+ship could be carried into a harbour, or run on shore if necessary.
+Even Adair, who, since he had ascertained the correct position of the
+ship, had had his hopes revive, now felt it was too probable that the
+shore might never be reached.
+
+The hours were passing by.  He and Green again consulted the chart, to
+decide for what other spot in the ocean they should steer should
+Virginia Island not appear.  They had just returned on deck, when the
+look-out aloft shouted--
+
+"Land! land!"
+
+"Where away?" inquired the captain.  "Just over the port bow."
+
+"Are you sure it is land?" asked the captain.
+
+"Certain, sir.  I've seen it for the last ten minutes; but there was a
+mist about it, and I could not make it out clearly enough."
+
+The master and second lieutenant immediately went aloft, and took a look
+through their glasses at the land.  On coming below they reported that
+there was no doubt about its being land of considerable elevation, but
+of no great extent, with indented shores; and that they hoped,
+therefore, a harbour might be found there.
+
+The ship's course was accordingly slightly altered, and she stood
+towards it under sail and steam.  In a short time a high, rocky island
+could be seen rising out of the now blue ocean, sparkling in the rays of
+the setting sun.  It was several miles to the eastward of the spot
+marked on the chart.
+
+"If it affords us shelter and the means of repairing the ship, we must
+be truly thankful," observed Adair.
+
+No murmurs were now heard.  Even those who had shown an inclination to
+skulk, laboured away with might and main.  In a few more hours their
+safety might be secured.
+
+The sun set.  Although the land was for some time distinctly seen, it
+was yet a considerable distance off.  Adair determined to run on and
+anchor under the lee of the land, and to await until daylight, when a
+harbour might be found.
+
+The crew by this time might have given in, for the muscles even of the
+strongest ached; but one and all laboured as before.  Tommy and his
+companion worked away with their jugs, although the poor little fellows
+were almost dead beat.
+
+"Cheer up, Ned!"  Tommy kept saying.  "If we keep the water out of the
+ship, we shall see our mothers and sisters again; and if we don't, we
+shan't.  So work away, boy, work away!"  The lieutenant declared
+afterwards that he believed the boys would have continued heaving water
+overboard until the sea had got up to their necks, and the ship was
+going down.
+
+As the _Empress_ approached the island, sail was shortened, her way
+stopped, that the lead might be hove; but no soundings were found.  She
+therefore kept at a respectful distance, cautiously steering round to
+the lee side, with the lead constantly going, lest she might run against
+any reef below the water.  The outline of the island could only dimly be
+seen rising high out of the ocean against a clear sky.  It looked barren
+and forlorn enough.  As Adair and his officers, and indeed all who could
+find time, were eagerly watching it, a light was seen suddenly to burst
+forth.  It gradually increased, until what must have been a large fire
+was observed blazing on a height.
+
+"There are inhabitants, at all events," exclaimed Adair to the first
+lieutenant.
+
+"There is one, any way," said the latter, "or that fire could not have
+been lighted.  Perhaps there is a harbour, and he expects that it will
+serve as a beacon to us."
+
+"He would scarcely suppose that we would venture in without some one on
+board who knows it, unless there are no dangers in the way," answered
+the captain.  "Our only safe plan will be to bring up outside, and wait
+till daylight.  We will stand in as close as we can--a dozen fathoms, if
+possible."
+
+The leadsmen stood in the chains on either side, swinging the leads high
+in the air as they hove them.  The ship appeared already very close
+before any bottom could be found.  Slowly she stood on.  The first heave
+showed twenty fathoms, the next fourteen, when it seemed as if the ship
+was directly under the cliffs.  But the more experienced seamen knew
+that the darkness was deceptive.
+
+"Let go!" shouted Adair, and the anchor ran out.  The ship quickly
+brought up, and Adair hoped that, now she was at rest, the water would
+run in with less rapidity, though it would still be necessary to keep
+the crew steadily pumping away.
+
+For the first time for several nights Adair turned in, desiring to be
+called should any event of importance occur.  When he awoke, he had the
+satisfaction of hearing that the crew had gained six inches on the leak,
+though, from any relaxation of their efforts, the water would quickly
+have flowed in again.
+
+All hands anxiously waited for daylight.  The fires were kept banked up,
+ready at any moment should it become necessary to put on steam.  It was
+fortunate that this precaution was taken.  It had just gone two bells in
+the second watch, when a sudden squall, descending from the cliffs,
+struck the ship.  The lead, which the second lieutenant, who had the
+watch, ordered to be hove, showed that she was drifting.
+
+Adair was on deck in a moment.  He ordered more cable to be veered out.
+The third lieutenant, who was in the forecastle, reported that the
+anchor was away.  It was accordingly hove up, when it was found that it
+had parted close to the shank, leaving both flukes fast in the sand or
+rock into which it had stuck.  Steam was immediately got up, although by
+that time the ship had drifted some distance out to sea.  When the
+morning broke she was surrounded by a thick mist, shutting out every
+object half a mile off.  Still, the direction of the land was known, and
+the engines being set to work, she soon steamed back.
+
+"I was afther thinkin'," said Pat, "that that black rock we saw last
+night was but Cape Fly-away, afther all.  It will be a wonder to me if
+we ever sight it again.  But, hurrah! there's the fire we saw burning,
+so there must be a human being there; an' Cape Fly-away contains no
+living sowl except, maybe, the Flyin' Dutchman, afther he got tired of
+cruising about in his ould craft, an' taken to livin' on shore."
+
+Similar ideas, although expressed in different language, were uttered by
+many of the other men.  However, that did not prevent them from pumping
+away as before.  All this time, it must be remembered that without a
+moment's cessation the whole crew were thus engaged spell and spell.
+
+"If that's Cape Fly-away, it's not had time to fly very far," observed
+Pat, as the land once more came in sight and the anchor was let go in
+seven fathoms of water, still closer in with the shore, where it was
+hoped it would hold.
+
+The engineer, however, received orders to keep the fires up, so that she
+might hold her own against any ordinary blast which might again strike
+her.
+
+As the mist cleared away, every object on shore could be distinctly
+seen.  The ship was found to be but a quarter of a mile distant from an
+almost circular line of cliffs, forming a deep basin, the only opening
+towards the sea.  They rose in many places to the height of nearly 900
+feet, extending on either side of this curious basin for about a mile.
+It was thus conjectured that the island was about two miles in length.
+That there was a bar at the entrance of the harbour was evident from the
+way the water broke completely across it; but, from the size of the
+basin, it would have contained a fleet of ships as large as the
+_Empress_.  While they were looking at the shore, a Dutch flag was run
+up to the end of a staff at the end of a high rock at the southern side
+of the entrance.
+
+"Sure, I thought so!" said Pat, when he saw it.  "That's the Flyin'
+Dutchman.  Before the boats reach the shore he an' his island will be
+off again, an' lead us a pretty chase!"
+
+"Maybe, Massa Pat," replied Peter, "if it come on calm, we beat him by
+de steam.  He hab always sail head to wind; but me tink dat big rock no
+play us dat trick."
+
+Before sending any of the boats on shore, Adair mustered all hands.
+
+"Now, my lads," he said, "I have to tell you what I did not think it
+right before to acknowledge, although you may have guessed it, that this
+ship will not reach Aden or the Mauritius, or any other land that I know
+of; and that, to save your lives, I propose running into yonder harbour
+and beaching her to prevent her going down; but, remember, there is one
+thing I must have--that is, strict discipline and obedience to orders.
+You will understand that I will severely punish any man who exhibits
+insubordination.  It is as well to say that, at the same time, I know
+that I can trust you.  You have all shown what you can do by having kept
+the ship afloat so long.  You will, I know, work with a will, and every
+man must do what is necessary for the preservation of our lives.  Return
+to the pumps until you can get the ship into harbour, or, if not, to
+some spot where she can sink no lower."
+
+The crew gave three cheers, and resumed their labours.  Adair
+immediately despatched two boats, with the first lieutenant and master,
+to sound the entrance of the harbour and communicate with the person or
+persons who had lighted the fire at night and hoisted the flag in the
+morning.
+
+The master in his boat led the way, sounding as he went, until the
+entrance was nearly gained.  Twelve feet were found, which shallowed to
+eight, the greatest depth over the bar.  As the boats got in closer
+Green observed a person at the end of the point, dressed in a conical
+goat-skin cap, with jacket and trousers of the same material, who had
+been watching them closely and waving vehemently.  The master, having
+performed the first part of his duty, steered in the direction towards
+which the stranger was pointing.  As the boat touched the beach he
+sprang out, and the instant afterwards, instead of seeing a stranger,
+what was his surprise and delight to find his hand grasped by Gerald
+Desmond.
+
+"How, by all that's wonderful, did you come here?" exclaimed the master.
+"We had long given you up for lost."
+
+"I was afraid so," answered Desmond.  "And, faith, I had some idea
+myself that I was lost, for here I've been for many a long month, with
+only two companions who escaped with me from the wreck of the Dutch ship
+which brought me thus far.  But, tell me, did the _Stella_ escape with
+my uncle and the rest of the party on board?"  Green relieved Desmond's
+mind on that point, and astonished him not a little by adding that
+Captain Adair commanded the ship outside.  "And who are your
+companions?" asked the master.
+
+"An honest Dutch lad--Rip Van Winkle, as I call him--who was wrecked
+with me, and our faithful dog Snarley.  They set off this morning to
+bring in a couple of goats to be sacrificed for your entertainment.  I
+saw you coming in last night, and I suspected that you were an English
+man-of-war.  You may, therefore, judge of my disappointment this morning
+when I found that you had disappeared.  Though I guessed the truth, that
+you had been blown off again and would steam back, sometimes the
+horrible thought would occur to me that the ship had gone down; but, if
+such was the case, I hoped that some boats would have escaped and come
+on shore."
+
+Desmond expressed his great satisfaction on receiving the information
+that his uncle Terence was captain of the ship which had in so
+extraordinary a manner been driven for refuge towards the very rock on
+which he had been wrecked.
+
+"We very nearly met with the fate you supposed, and as the ship's bottom
+somewhat resembles a sieve, such must be her destiny if we cannot manage
+to get her over the bar at high water.  At all events, we must run her
+on it, for as the men are well-nigh worn out, she cannot be kept afloat
+many hours longer," added Green.
+
+"The sooner that's done the better, then," answered Desmond, "for should
+the gale blow heavily, either on or off this shore, and provisions and
+stores not have been saved, we may all quickly be reduced to starvation.
+Rip and I have found enough to eat with the aid of our fishing-lines,
+but the ship's company will be an over-abundant population for our small
+kingdom."
+
+"But I am eager, Desmond, to know how you reached this said `small
+kingdom' of yours," said Green.
+
+"I'll tell you all about it as we pull off," answered Gerald, "though I
+am anxious to see my uncle's honest face again and to learn how things
+have gone on at home--whether any other claimant has taken possession of
+my title and estate.  Poor fellow! he won't bless this island, whatever
+you do, for having afforded me shelter, though it may be a mighty long
+time before I get back to old Ireland to disappoint him and to delight
+the heart of our old friend, Counsellor McMahon, who will be fancying
+that all his toil and trouble have been thrown away, while his purse too
+will have suffered not a little.  I have often wished that I possessed
+the means of tranquillising his mind on that point."
+
+"From what Captain Adair has said, I don't think the counsellor has ever
+given up the idea of your safety," answered the master, "but you will
+hear all about it very soon."
+
+This conversation took place as the boat was returning to the ship,
+after Desmond had exchanged greetings with the first lieutenant.
+
+"Well," exclaimed Jos, "`it's an ill wind that blows nobody good,' and
+although I'm sorry enough to lose the ship, yet finding you goes a long
+way towards reconciling me to her fate, especially as I have not to pay
+for her."
+
+Adair expressed himself in somewhat similar language on seeing his
+nephew, Saint Maur.
+
+"I was sure that you would turn up one day or other, Gerald," he said,
+"and so was the counsellor, and I don't mind the court-martial and all
+the bother I shall have to go through, now that I have found you.
+Although I am anxious enough to hear how you came here, I have too much
+to do just now to listen to you."
+
+Such, indeed, was the case.  Before an attempt could be made to carry
+the ship over the bar, everything possible must be got out of her.  The
+boats were immediately lowered and loaded with provisions and canvas for
+forming tents.  All hands worked away with a will, young Lord Saint Maur
+turning to with as much energy as the rest, officers and men pulling and
+hauling away at the ropes.  To land the stores more rapidly, Adair
+directed the carpenter to construct several rafts, which would be
+serviceable as long as the sea continued smooth, but which would be most
+untrustworthy should it come on to blow.
+
+Lord Saint Maur gave the satisfactory intelligence that he had found
+three large boats on the island, which had apparently been left by a
+party who had been there for the purpose of catching whales, but for
+some reason or other had gone without having had time to remove them.
+He considered that they could be quickly repaired.  He accordingly,
+accompanied by the carpenter's crew, returned on shore, and soon after
+mid-day, he and the men sent to assist him brought them off.  They were
+soon loaded and on their way back to the shore.  Not a moment was lost.
+The marines were at once landed to help unload the boats and carry the
+cargoes to the spot selected for the proposed encampment on the right
+side of the entrance, where there was a level space of some size at no
+great distance above the water.  Desmond's companion, Rip Van Winkle,
+had, in the mean time, brought in a couple of goats, which he had killed
+and prepared for the refreshment of the boats' crews.  No one, however,
+had time to do more than "fist" a piece and run back with it to the
+boat.
+
+Not until it became too dark to see the entrance did the boats cease
+plying backwards and forwards, and even then the crew on board were
+engaged in hoisting up articles of all sorts from the hold, to be
+discharged at daybreak.  The night was calm, and every hope was
+entertained that the next day a large portion of stores and provisions
+might be landed, as well as the ammunition and some of the guns.  A
+careful watch was kept, but the greater portion of the officers and crew
+turned in to obtain that rest they so much needed.  Those not actually
+on the look-out were engaged in pumping as before, for although the
+water ran in less furiously than at first, it would very soon otherwise
+have gained its previous ascendancy.  Strange that men should sleep so
+soundly in a sinking ship, for sinking she was, slowly though gradually,
+and any relaxation of the efforts necessary to keep her afloat would
+have proved their doom.  Several times during the night Captain Adair
+turned out, too anxious to sleep soundly.  As morning approached, he
+feared, from the appearance of the sky, that the weather would change.
+His nephew, who had slept on board, joined him.
+
+"I don't think we need fear that as yet," he observed.  "I've watched
+the appearance of the weather ever since I landed, for every day I have
+been on the look-out in the hopes of seeing a ship passing and being
+able to attract her attention.  Not long ago a vessel hove in sight, but
+the weather came on very bad, and although she made an attempt to near
+the rock, she was driven off again, and I saw no more of her."
+
+Captain Adair was cheered up by Saint Maur's remarks.  No sooner had the
+first streak of dawn appeared in the sky, than he roused up all hands,
+and the boats, which had been hoisted up, were lowered and immediately
+loaded with the stores which had been got ready the previous night.  The
+other boats came off from the shore, and now as fast as they could load
+and unload they passed backwards and forwards between the harbour and
+the ship.  To save the long pull, Captain Adair determined, by Saint
+Maur's advice, to carry her closer in.  Steam was got up, and the anchor
+being hove from the bottom, she stood towards the shore.
+
+As the day advanced the wind, hitherto coming off the land, shifted and
+began to blow much stronger than before, while a white line of surf
+formed across the mouth of the harbour.  The boats, however, continued
+to pass through it, although not without risk of being swamped, while
+their crews on each occasion got their jackets well wetted.  No one
+thought of that or any other danger or inconvenience.  Their great
+object was to land stores and provisions sufficient to last them as many
+weeks or months, it might be, as they were to stay there, for all well
+knew that the old ship must go to the bottom or be knocked to pieces,
+unless run safely over the bar and beached inside the harbour.  She had
+still a good store of coals on board.  This was sacked and sent on
+shore, a small quantity only remaining, little above what was required
+to carry the ship over the bar.  Night put an end to their labours.
+Besides the marines, several officers and men had been landed.  As on
+the previous night, while part of the crew slept, the rest worked the
+pumps and kept a look-out.
+
+It had just gone one bell in the middle watch, when Tommy Pratt knocked
+at the door of the captain's berth, and in a hurried tone exclaimed,
+"The wind is blowing hard; dead on shore, sir.  Mr Green says the ship
+is drifting towards the land."
+
+Adair sprang on deck.  As he listened to the sound of the wild breakers
+and watched the masses of foam which appeared through the darkness
+leaping over the rocks, he saw that if the ship was drifting she must
+very soon be dashed on the wild coast under her lee.  He immediately
+ordered steam to be got up.  Small as was the amount of coal left on
+board, it must be employed to get the ship out of danger, when she must
+be carried to a safer anchorage, and some more coal brought back from
+the shore.
+
+Some time elapsed, however, before steam could be got on her.  She was
+riding to the wind with her stern to the shore, instead of, as before,
+with her head to it.  Adair and Saint Maur anxiously paced the deck,
+watching the rocks under their lee.  Every instant the wind was
+increasing.  The roar of the breakers sounded louder, while masses of
+foam could be seen flying in sheets over the rocks.
+
+At length the engineer announced that steam was got up, and the engines
+being put in motion, the cable was slipped and the still sinking ship
+steamed away from the only place which could afford her refuge in her
+last extremity.  Still, with the sea there was breaking on the shore,
+she would to a certainty strike, and in all probability many of those on
+deck would be washed away, while she herself would be exposed to the
+full force of the waves, when ere long she would go to pieces.  Adair
+addressed the crew, urging them to renewed exertions at the pumps.  All
+day long she continued under steam, with her head to the wind, though
+still making but little way.  The captain saw the importance of waiting
+until the spring tides, when, lightened as she was, he hoped that she
+would get across the bar.
+
+That day was one of great suspense.  There was too much sea for the
+boats to be got out, and should the bad weather continue, the coal on
+board would be exhausted, and she, perfectly helpless, would be driven
+to a distance from the land, and might be unable to regain it under
+sail.  Saint Maur did his best to cheer up his uncle.
+
+"I have escaped so many dangers, when I thought that all hope was gone,
+that I cannot say I feel as anxious as you do," he observed.  "I have
+remarked that the wind here never blows long together from one quarter.
+We may have it fine and calm again to-morrow."
+
+"I pray Heaven it may," said Adair, in a more melancholy tone than he
+had yet spoken in.  However, to his officers and crew he kept up the
+same cheerful aspect as he had done all along.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+LORD SAINT MAUR NARRATES HIS ADVENTURES--CARRIED OFF BY THE DUTCHMAN--
+ILL-TREATED--DRUNKEN SKIPPER AND MATES--RIP VAN WINKLE AND SNARLEYOW--
+SHIP STRIKE, ON A REEF--CREW DESERT HER--SAINT MAUR, RIP, AND SNARLEY
+GET INTO THE LONG-BOAT--SHIP GOES DOWN--REMAIN UNDER THE LEE OF THE REEF
+ALL NIGHT--MAKE SAIL IN THE MORNING--NO WATER--VIRGINIA ISLAND REACHED--
+BOAT CAPSIZED ON THE BAR--SAINT MAUR AND RIP SAVED BY SNARLEY--THEIR
+LIFE ON THE ISLAND--WATER FOUND--GOAT'S FLESH--THE EMPRESS SEEN
+APPROACHING THE ISLAND--PREPARATIONS FOR CROSSING THE BAR--AWFUL
+SUSPENSE--SHIP STEAMS ON--STRIKES WITH A CRASH ON THE BAR--MORE STORES
+LANDED--THE JOLLIES ALARMED BY A JET OF STEAM--SAILS SEEN IN THE
+DISTANCE.
+
+"By-the-by, I never told you how I came to be playing Robinson Crusoe
+and his man Friday on yonder barren rock," observed Saint Maur, as he
+and his uncle paced together the deck of the _Empress_.
+
+"You remember the night I was hooked off the yacht by a stranger which
+ran us down, and, as I thought, sent you to the bottom.  I leave you to
+judge in what a state of fear and anxiety I was left.  From the way the
+fellows talked when I got on board, I discovered that they were
+Dutchmen.  I rushed aft to the skipper and entreated him to heave to and
+lower his boats to try and pick up any of you who might be floating, but
+he either did not understand me or would not.  When I ran to the helm,
+intending to put it down, that he might the better comprehend my
+meaning, he and his mates held me back.  I pitched into one fellow and
+knocked him over, and was about to treat the other in the same way, when
+the skipper with his big fist hit me a blow on the head which brought me
+to the deck.
+
+"When I came to my senses it was broad daylight, and I knew that long
+before that time, if the yacht had gone down, you must all of you have
+lost your lives.  I believe the Dutchman intended to apologise for
+having treated me in so unceremonious a fashion, but, as I could not
+understand a word he said, I am not sure.  He behaved, however,
+afterwards, far better than I should have expected from the way our
+acquaintance had commenced.  I was never a very good hand at picking up
+languages, so that it was some time before I could make myself even
+imperfectly understood by any one on board.  Strange to say, not a man
+among them spoke a word of English.  I wanted the skipper to put into
+some port, but he replied that, `Out of his course he would not go for
+me or any man.'  I then begged him, chiefly by signs, that should we
+fall in with a homeward-bound ship, to put me on board of her.  He
+nodded his head and let me understand that, providing it was during calm
+weather, he should have no objection, and advised me meanwhile to
+console myself with his schiedam, of which he had a plentiful supply.
+Both he and his mates indulged in it pretty largely, I found.  I
+expected that he would touch at the Cape, but to my disgust he ran to
+the south'ard, in order to fall in with the westerly trades, and I found
+that he intended to touch nowhere until he reached Batavia.
+
+"This was anything but consolatory, besides which I had no one to talk
+to, and not a book on board I could read.  I tried hard to make out the
+few Dutch books he had on board, and used to ask him or the mates, or
+indeed any of the men I found at hand, to pronounce the words, when I
+tried to discover their meaning.  I believe, had the voyage lasted
+longer, I should have learned to speak and read Dutch fluently; but, as
+the skipper was drunk half his time, and the mates the other two
+quarters, I could not get much out of them.  The only fellow who really
+was of use was young Rip Van Winkle.  He took a liking to me, as I did
+to him, from the first, and I often saved him from many a cuff and kick
+which he was wont to receive from the crew.  He was, I confess, a sort
+of `dirty Dick' on board, and so he would have continued had I not
+taught him to clean himself; and now he is as fond of washing as any
+one, except when the weather is cold, then he rather objects to it, and
+falls back into his bad habits.  My only companion besides Rip was a
+large dog--no great beauty--whom I called Snarleyow, from being unable
+to pronounce his Dutch name, and he took to it, as he did to me,
+immediately, and always came when so called.  I treated him as a friend,
+whereas, from the skipper downwards, he was accustomed to receive more
+kicks than ha'pence, except from poor Rip, and consequently had no great
+affection for his masters.
+
+"Besides my anxiety about you, and my disappointment at not being able
+to take advantage of the new position into which, through Counsellor
+McMahon, I was placed--not that that weighed very much with me--I could
+not help feeling anxious about the way in which the ship was navigated.
+Being unable to understand the Dutch books, I could not myself work out
+the reckonings, though frequently I took an observation, to keep my hand
+in.
+
+"I once only had a chance of communicating with England.  We sighted a
+British ship, and as by that time I had picked up enough Dutch to use
+the signal-book, I hoisted the signals `British officer on board; heave
+to for him.'  I thought when the skipper saw the other ship heave to
+that he would do the same, but it was blowing hard, and he obstinately
+refused to lift tack or sheet or lower a boat, and you can just fancy
+how I felt when I saw the homeward-bound vessel standing away from us.
+From the temperature of the weather I now suspected that we had got a
+very long way to the south, when it came on to blow hard.  The Dutchman
+shortened sail, as he generally did when there was any wind, and
+continued the course on which he was steering.  The old ship, though a
+tub, was a good sea boat, and I had no reason to fear danger, provided
+she did not run her stem into an iceberg or strike any rocks or reefs.
+Blow high, blow low, the skipper walked the deck with his hands in his
+pockets and a huge meerschaum in his mouth, looking as composed as
+usual?
+
+"One night I was about turning in, when I felt the ship strike.  Of
+course I sprang on deck, where I was followed by the skipper and the
+first mate, the second mate having the watch.  The crew were singing out
+that we were lost.
+
+"`Do not be afraid, boys!' cried the skipper, calling for a light for
+his pipe, and thrusting his hands into his pockets.  `She'll drive over
+it.  Another hand to the helm.  Keep all standing!'
+
+"I knew, by the thickness of his voice, that he was half seas over, for
+he never exhibited his state in any other way, except when he sank down
+under the table.  Still, I hoped from his composure that he knew where
+we were, and that we should scrape clear of the sand-bank over which the
+sea was breaking with fearful force.  Several seas, indeed, nearly
+pooped us; but we surged forward, touching occasionally in a way which
+threatened to split the ship into fragments; but she held together
+wonderfully.  The men, however, had not the same hope that I had; for I
+saw them gathering on either side, near the boats, taking the falls in
+their hands, ready to lower them with or without orders.
+
+"Rip came up to me.  `What's going to happen, mynheer?' he asked.
+
+"`The ship will probably go to the bottom or get knocked to pieces; but
+we may perhaps escape the danger, and so at last reach Batavia,' I
+answered.  `Whatever happens, stick by me, Rip, and you can lend me a
+hand whenever I want it, and I may perhaps save you.'
+
+"Scarcely, however, had I spoken than the ship struck with far greater
+force than before, the fore and main masts going by the board, but
+falling clear of the deck.  Still she went on; but the carpenter sounded
+the well, and found that the water was rushing in at a rate which
+precluded all possibility of keeping the ship afloat.  She had gone over
+the edge of the reef, which rose on the starboard bow, high above the
+water, and broke the force of the sea.  Springing aft, I put down the
+helm, which the man had deserted, and she rounded to under the lee of
+the rocks.
+
+"The crew instantly began lowering the boats.  The skipper and his first
+mate tumbled into one, and they with several of the men shoved off;
+while the second mate took possession of the other, with the rest of the
+crew, leaving Rip and me still on deck.  So overcrowded were they, that
+I saw they were both likely to go down; and I determined to take my
+chance in the ship, which I thought, having a light cargo on board,
+might possibly float long enough to enable us to build a raft.  The two
+boats quickly disappeared in the darkness, without provisions or water,
+which the men in their hurry forgot to take, while the skipper and his
+first mate were too drunk to think of it.  I bethought me of examining
+the boat amidships, which I feared might have been crushed by the
+falling mast; but fortunately it had escaped.  I told Rip to cut the
+lashings clear, reminding him that our lives depended on it--to see that
+not a rope remained attached to the vessel's deck.  I jumped in,
+followed by Rip and Snarley, who had been left on board with us, and
+whose instinct showed him that the boat was likely to prove the only ark
+of safety.  The oars, as well as the masts and sails, were stowed in
+her, with a couple of hen-coops, our last surviving pig, and a variety
+of other articles.  Rip was about to heave the pig overboard, when I
+stopped him, and told him to hunt about for the plug-hole, which he had
+just time to stop with a bung, when I saw the water rushing over the
+deck.  The ship did not go down immediately; and I suspect that, had all
+hands remained on board, we might have kept her afloat until daylight,
+at all events.
+
+"We got out the oars to shove the boat clear the instant the water
+rushed over the deck.  I do not think I ever experienced a more anxious
+moment in my life.  At last a sea came sweeping along, round the reef,
+and lifted us clear, right above the bulwarks, and free of the masts and
+spars still hanging over the side.  We pulled away for our lives, and
+just saw the masts dragged down as the ship went to the bottom.  The
+mizzenmast remained the last above water.  We pulled under the lee of
+the reef; but, having no anchor, we were compelled to hold her in her
+position by paddling all night.  When morning broke, no land was in
+sight; but as the wind was from the westward, I judged that our safest
+plan was to steer to the northward, when we might either fall in with
+some ship, or make Java, or the western coast of Australia, should we
+not sight any island on the way.  We had a small cask of water in the
+boat, and three empty casks, put there to be out of the way.  My hope
+was that we should be able to fill these with rain water before we got
+into a more northern latitude, where we were likely to meet with a ship.
+The reef off which we lay ran half a mile from north to south above the
+water; how much further below it I could only judge by the line of white
+foam which extended as far as the eye could reach.  As this was a place
+no ship was likely to approach, the sooner we got out of its latitude
+the better.  The wind having moderated, we accordingly made sail and
+stood to the eastward.
+
+"We had been three days in the boat, our small cask of water gradually
+diminishing, while not a drop of rain had fallen to fill our casks, when
+we sighted this small island.  Hoping that it might afford us some
+shelter, and at all events that we might obtain water, we steered
+towards it.  As we approached we saw the harbour opening out before us.
+Though I thought that there would be some risk in crossing the bar, yet
+I determined to make the attempt.  Anything was better than dying of
+thirst.  The water appearing to be smoother in the centre, I stood under
+all sail the boat could carry towards it, for it was still blowing
+fresh.  The bar was reached; and I expected the next instant to be in
+smooth water, when an abominable roller came tumbling in, swamped our
+boat, and turned her over, washing Rip away.  I clambered up on the
+bottom, when I saw Snarley, who had just come to the surface.  The dog,
+having looked about him, made towards a point inside the harbour, and,
+exerting his strength, hauled Rip up.  I, meantime, was tossing about on
+the bar, expecting every moment to be washed off, when I saw Snarley
+returning.  Knowing that I should have his help, I sprang off and swam
+towards him.  I twisted the fingers of my left hand in his long, shaggy
+hair, and he towed me through the surf safely to the shore, where I
+found Rip already recovered waiting for me.  He threw his arms around my
+neck and burst into tears, exclaiming in Dutch--`I thought you had gone,
+mynheer, and that I was left alone; but now you are come we shall manage
+to live.'
+
+"He then bestowed his caresses on Snarley for having saved me.  The sun
+being bright and warm, we soon dried our clothes; but how we were to
+exist was the next question, when we had eaten up our pig, who was
+doomed quickly to die to satisfy our hunger.  I had no fancy for raw
+pork, although my companions were not so particular.  Suddenly I
+bethought me that before the wreck I put a tin box of matches in my
+pocket to light my pipe.  I felt for it.  It was there; and although the
+water had got in, I hoped that the sun would restore their efficiency.
+I laid them out carefully on the rock, and sat down to watch them,
+turning them over and over, while Rip set off to obtain fuel.  Pieces of
+driftwood strewed the shore; and some, during high tide, having been
+thrown up to a distance from the water, were perfectly dry.  Rip
+discovered also plenty of moss and branches of the low shrubs which grew
+in the hollows and level parts of the island.  He had soon a sufficient
+supply for a good fire.  I looked anxiously at the matches.  I was
+afraid to strike one of them until I was certain that it was thoroughly
+dry, as I should otherwise have knocked off the end.  I selected one
+from the middle of the box, which appeared never to have been wetted,
+and getting into a sheltered place, I drew it along the side of the box.
+To my great delight it ignited immediately; and leaving Rip to blow up
+the fire, I replaced the other matches in the box, which I stowed
+carefully away in my pocket.  We had our knives, for I had got a large
+one on board for cutting up tobacco.  We both turned our eyes on poor
+piggy, who was grubbing about near us, trying to find roots.  In a
+moment Rip sprang upon him, and before he could give two grunts and a
+squeak he was turned into pork.
+
+"We did not stop to singe him, but quickly had some steaks toasting
+before the fire, while Snarley looked wistfully on, giving a hungry
+sniff every now and then at piggy's carcase.  It was somewhat lean, as
+he had been on short commons in the boat.
+
+"`Good dog, you deserve some food,' said Rip, giving Snarley certain
+portions which I for one had no inclination to eat.
+
+"While we were at our meal we saw a cask wash on shore.  The pork had
+excited our thirst, and Rip ran down, hoping to find water in it; but it
+was empty.  We looked about, trusting that the cask which had some still
+remaining in it might be sent to us, but it was nowhere to be seen.
+
+"`Patience,' I observed; `we may have a shower before long, and fill our
+cask, so bring it up where it will be safe.'  The boat, I should have
+said, had been tumbling about on the bar.  At length it was driven
+inside the harbour.  Rip offered to swim off and tow her in.  I
+hesitated for fear of sharks, but he declared that in that latitude they
+were not likely to be found.  I begged him to wait until she got nearer,
+which she soon did, and then stripping off his clothes, he boldly
+plunged in.
+
+"`You remain on shore, mynheer,' he said; `you will better be able to
+help me than if you come now.  Should I get tired, I can always rest on
+the bottom of the boat.'
+
+"When Snarley saw him set off, he also plunged in.  On reaching the boat
+Rip put a rope in the dog's mouth, and taking another himself, they
+began to tow the boat towards the beach.  It was hard work, though the
+wind was partly in their favour, but at the same time it was sending the
+boat towards the foot of the cliffs opposite the entrance, against which
+the surf broke heavily, and would soon have knocked her to pieces.  When
+Rip got tired, he climbed up, as he intended, on the bottom of the boat,
+and after resting a few seconds, again took to towing, Snarley all the
+time swimming bravely on.  I never saw an animal exhibit so much
+sagacity.
+
+"At length the boat was brought near enough to enable Rip to wade, when
+I going to his assistance, we dragged her up until she grounded.  A
+slight examination showed us that without tools we should never be able
+to repair her, for the whole of one side was crushed in and the other
+was greatly damaged.  We accordingly determined to break her up and
+build a hut with the fragments to shelter us.  By this time, however,
+our thirst became almost unbearable.
+
+"`Perhaps water may be found in the hollows of some of the rocks,'
+observed Rip.
+
+"Snarley was apparently suffering as much as we were, and when he saw us
+moving away from the landing-place he ran on ahead.
+
+"`He'll find water, if there's any to be found,' said Rip; and I had the
+same hope.  We climbed up the rocks, and after some exertion we reached
+the top of the island, when Snarley dashed forward, and to our great joy
+we saw him with his head in a hollow, evidently enjoying a draught of
+water.  We ran on, nearly toppling on our noses in our eagerness as we
+made our way over the rough ground.  We soon were following Snarley's
+example, for a pure pool of water was at our feet, while there were two
+others close at hand, each about a dozen yards in circumference.
+Although they were apparently filled with rain water, and not from a
+spring, there was a sufficient quantity to supply all our wants.  Even
+could it be possible to exhaust them, they would be refilled by fresh
+showers.
+
+"Having quenched our thirst we stood up to look around us, when we
+caught sight of several animals at no great distance off stopping to
+gaze at us.  They were goats, and some had kids by their sides.  Here
+was food enough to last us for years to come, though we might have a
+difficulty in catching them ourselves.  We felt that Snarley would
+render us valuable aid in the matter, and that we need have no fear of
+starving.  Refreshed, we set off to take a further survey of the island.
+
+"As we passed along the cliffs overlooking the harbour, we caught sight
+in a little bay of three boats, hauled up on the beach, with a couple of
+huts, but no human being was to be seen.  We shouted; our voices,
+however, might possibly not reach the spot.  It was evident, at all
+events, that the island had at some time or other been inhabited, but at
+that distance we could not judge of the condition of the boats or the
+huts, so that it might have been years before.  As we wished to be
+housed before night, we now returned to the landing-place, discovering
+on our way, among the grass, some leaves which tasted like spinach.  I
+felt sure that they would serve as vegetable diet, which it was
+important to obtain.  The mast, yards, and sails were still attached to
+the boat.  Though we had not strength enough to drag her up entire, we
+got hold of them and put up a small tent, which served to shelter us for
+the night.  We were thankful even for this protection, for after sunset
+the atmosphere became very chilly.  We were in pretty good spirits, and
+thankful to Heaven that we had found the means of sustaining life.  I
+thought it probable, too, that before long a vessel would appear and
+take us off.  Snarley, who had dried himself by running about, crawled
+into our tent and assisted to keep us warm, while for the first part of
+the night we kept a large fire blazing at our feet.  We did not keep
+watch, for our island did not certainly contain any savage inhabitants
+or wild beasts, so that we slept soundly with a sense of perfect
+security.
+
+"Next morning, after breakfasting on pork and sorrel leaves, which we
+ate raw, for want of means of boiling them, we set off to examine the
+boats and huts.  It was a long walk round to where the huts were; as we
+expected, we found them empty.  The boats were in tolerable condition;
+and though they had not, we judged, been used for several months, were
+still serviceable.  Without tools, however, we could not repair even one
+of them sufficiently to enable us to continue our voyage.  While
+examining the huts, we discovered an iron pot, which was likely to prove
+of the greatest value to us.  Rip immediately set to work to scrape it
+clean.  On our way back we filled it with water.  The rest of the day
+was spent in pulling to pieces the wreck of the boat, and carrying them
+up to the spot we had selected for our habitation, which we preferred to
+those we had discovered near the boats.
+
+"As soon as we had finished our pork, which lasted us for ten days or
+more, we set off in search of a kid, which we felt sure Snarley would
+help us to catch.  We were not disappointed, though its poor mother
+fought bravely in its defence.  As she stopped until we got up, we
+captured her also, and soon managed to tame her sufficiently to afford
+us milk.  We spent our time in improving our habitation, in hunting a
+goat when we wanted one, and in collecting sorrel, which enabled us to
+make some tolerable broth.  Salt we got in abundance from the crevices
+of the rocks, and manufactured spoons out of drift-wood, and wooden
+platters and cups.  We also brought materials from the other huts to
+improve our own.  I think you'll say, when you see it, that it is a very
+respectable abode for a couple of bachelors.  I own that very often I
+longed for a loaf of soft tack and a glass of something stronger than
+water.  I managed to keep myself and Rip constantly employed.
+
+"While rummaging about in the huts during one of our early visits, he
+discovered in a corner a bag containing a palm and sail needle, and
+nearly a dozen fishing-hooks and other articles.  The hooks were likely
+to prove of great value.  We immediately twisted some fishing-lines, and
+taking a piece of goat's flesh as bait, we scrambled out to the end of a
+rock, below which the water was deep, to try our luck.  That day we
+caught ten fine fish.  We had an additional cause to be thankful, for
+our health required a change of diet.  We no longer had the slightest
+apprehension of starving.  Still after a few months of this sort of
+life, I began to wish to get away.  We rigged the flag-staff you saw,
+and hoisted the Dutch flag, one we had found in the locker of the boat.
+
+"Day after day I looked out for a sail, but none appeared, and I began
+to think that I was doomed to spend the remainder of my life on this
+desert spot.  At last our clothes wore out.  To replace them I prepared
+some goat-skins, and we rigged ourselves out in the strange costume in
+which Green discovered me.  I had often when a boy fancied that it would
+be very pleasant to live on an island by myself, or with one companion;
+but faith!  I found the reality very different, and I would gladly have
+given up my title and estates to escape.  `It is an ill wind that blows
+no one good.'  I can assure you that my heart leaped into my mouth when
+I saw the _Empress_ approaching, not dreaming at the time of the
+dangerous condition to which she had been reduced.  I own, however, that
+I shall be very glad to see her safe inside the harbour."
+
+After some hours, the gale having moderated, the _Empress_ again stood
+back to the mouth of the harbour, and came to an anchor as close in as
+Adair thought it safe to go.  A boat now came off, with a sufficient
+supply of coal to enable her to cross the bar.  Adair began to fear that
+it would be impossible to wait for the spring tide, as the leaks had
+again begun to gain on the pumps in spite of the efforts of the crew to
+keep the water under.  The larger the quantity of water which got into
+the ship, the lower she would be, and the less able to cross.  As the
+surf had considerably gone down, the boats were again employed from
+morning until night in landing stores.  But every time they returned
+loaded over the bar, they ran a considerable risk of being swamped.
+
+Adair was seated in his cabin, the day's work being over, with his
+nephew, when the carpenter desired to speak with him.
+
+"The men have been doing their best, and I have done my best; but it is
+my opinion and my duty to express it: the ship won't swim four and
+twenty hours longer," said Mr Gimlet.  "All hands are ready to work on
+at the pumps and with the buckets until we drop, but the water is
+rushing in faster than we can pump it out, and should it come on to blow
+again, no human power can keep the ship afloat."
+
+Adair was not offended at the freedom with which the warrant officer
+spoke.
+
+"You and all the hands have done your very best, Mr Gimlet," he
+answered.  "We must manage to keep the ship from going down to-night,
+and to-morrow morning, at the top of high tide, we will attempt to take
+her over the bar.  It is a question whether we shall succeed, and I am
+very loth to lose her, but the risk must be run."
+
+"No doubt about that, sir," answered the carpenter.  "If she once
+strikes on that bar, she'll never get off again, except piecemeal; but
+that's better than going to the bottom."
+
+Although, besides the marines, a good many men had been landed, a
+sufficient number remained to work the pumps, watch and watch, and Adair
+and Desmond set an example by labouring with them, as they had before
+done.  That night was as trying a one, to the captain at all events, as
+any yet passed.  To-morrow must decide the fate of the ship, whether she
+would be cast a helpless wreck on the reef or be carried into smooth
+water and beached on a spot where it might be possible to repair her.
+Besides, her upper works were strong and sound, but below she was too
+evidently of a very different character, like many another fine-looking
+craft.  Morning came at length.  Adair urged Saint Maur to go on shore.
+
+"I don't hide from myself that crossing the bar will be an undertaking
+of considerable danger--some, if not all of us, may be lost," said the
+captain.  "I want you to return home to assume your title and property,
+and to enjoy your life for many years, and to benefit the peasantry on
+your estate by doing all the good you can.  I am getting on in life, and
+at the best cannot expect to enjoy many more."
+
+Nothing, however, that the captain could say would induce the young lord
+to quit the ship.
+
+"I know the bar as well as any one.  There exists a channel, though a
+narrow one, through which I think I can take her," he answered.
+
+Adair at last consented; preparations were made for crossing the
+dangerous spot.  Adair ordered the men to take breakfast, and then all
+went to their stations.  The whole of the crew were on deck except the
+engineers, who of course had to remain below attending to the engines.
+There was no time to be lost, for already the water in the hold had
+risen higher than it had ever done before.  Steam was got up.  The
+engineer reported that all was ready below.  Two of the best hands were
+sent to the wheel.  The crew stood some forward, some aft, where most of
+the officers were stationed.  Desmond took his post by the side of the
+captain, whence he could direct the helmsmen.  All on board felt it to
+be an awful time.  Some said that the ship, the moment she touched the
+ground, would go to pieces, and that the sea breaking over her would
+wash all hands from her decks.  Desmond, however, assured the captain
+that he had no such fear; even should the ship not cross the bar, she
+would run far enough over it to escape the full force of the breakers,
+besides which, at present they were very moderate, and were not likely
+to injure her materially.
+
+The anchor was now hove up, the fore-topsail only was set to assist in
+steering her, and she was headed in towards the mouth of the harbour.
+Onwards she seemed to fly towards it.  Many even of the stoutest held
+their breath.  The boats were all waiting inside the harbour's mouth, to
+render assistance should it be necessary.  To a stranger on the shore
+watching the approaching ship, she appeared as trim and stout a
+man-of-war as need be.  Nothing on deck gave indication of her rotten
+condition below.  Pat Casey and Peter were standing together.
+
+"Shall we get in an' put the ould boat to rights, or shall we stick on
+the bar an' see her knocked to pieces?" asked Pat of his companion.
+
+"Me tink, Massa Pat, dat if de ship stick on de rocks him go to pieces,
+and dat it better for him to do dat dan you and all hands get drowned,
+'cause we den get 'shore while him break up."  Similar remarks were
+exchanged amongst the men generally.
+
+"Silence, fore and aft!" sang out the captain, as the harbour's mouth
+was approached.  All on board turned their eyes towards the white line
+of foam which stretched across it.  Desmond pointed out to the helmsmen
+the exact spot for which they were to steer.  He had not to give another
+order; no one spoke.  The smooth water could be seen inside.  Would the
+ship ever float on it?
+
+Full steam was put on.  Forward she glided like an arrow towards its
+mark.  Already the outer barrier was reached where the water broke,
+hissing and foaming on either side.  Onward she plunged; then there came
+a crash, her masts quivered, and all knew that the noble ship was
+devoted to destruction.  A roller came sweeping on astern.  It lifted
+her.  Again she moved forward, but it was only to strike with greater
+force than before.  Once more she floated on the buoyant water, but it
+was again to descend with a crash which was heard and felt from stem to
+stern, telling that the rocks had gone through her bottom.  There she
+remained firmly fixed, her engines continuing to work until the rapidly
+rising water rushing in, put out the fires.  The engineer, having
+thoughtfully turned off the steam to prevent the boilers from exploding,
+his duty done, appeared on deck to announce to the captain that the
+engines had stopped.
+
+"I see that they have," said Adair, smiling, even at the moment so sad
+to a captain who had just seen his ship wrecked.  The vessel was
+evidently immovable, and even had the rollers come in with sufficient
+force to lift her, she must have sunk immediately in deep water.  Crash
+succeeded crash, as the rocks burst through her planks, but not a cheek
+blanched, not an eye quailed, not a cry was heard, not a man deserted
+his station.
+
+The rollers continued to tumble in, breaking close under her stem, but
+failed to wash over her.  Adair stood earnestly watching for what would
+next take place.  At last he was satisfied that the lives committed to
+his charge were safe.
+
+"My lads," he exclaimed, "our brave ship will never float again on the
+ocean; but you still form her crew, and whether on board or on shore, I
+am sure that you will exhibit the same good discipline you have hitherto
+maintained.  We will now turn to again and get all we can out of her.
+We may be discovered and taken off in a few weeks, or we may have to
+remain months here.  As we must be prepared for the latter alternative,
+we must husband our provisions and stores.  I hear that the harbour is
+full of fish, and that there are goats on the island, and, what is of
+more consequence, that water is to be found, so that we need have no
+fear of starving.  The rest all depends upon yourselves.  We may be a
+very happy ship's company if we make the best of everything, or we may
+become the contrary if we grumble and are discontented.  I don't expect
+that of you, and I'm sure we shall all work with a will and look at
+things on the bright side."
+
+The crew gave three hearty cheers, and Adair directing the first
+lieutenant to summon the boats alongside, all hands turned to in loading
+them with the numberless articles which still remained on board.  The
+most valuable things had already been got out.  By the doctor's advice
+four main-deck tanks were landed, with the smith's forge and other
+apparatus pertaining to his trade, that the engineers might manufacture
+a machine for turning salt water into fresh.  The sails and ropes were
+also sent on shore, and indeed every article likely to prove of service
+which the ship contained.  The captain and Desmond, with several of the
+principal officers, still remained on board, a careful watch being kept
+at night to give them due notice should a change of weather threaten and
+make it advisable for them to quit the ship.
+
+Fortunately the weather continued fine and the wind mostly blew off the
+land, so that the boats were able to ply backwards and forwards all day
+long.  One of the assistant-surgeons, who had only lately come to sea,
+declared that he should not have believed it possible that the ship
+could have contained the multitudinous articles he saw landed; he had no
+idea where they could all have been stowed away.  In that latitude the
+winter was likely to prove severe, and as it was approaching, it was
+important not only to land stores and provisions, but to house the party
+comfortably.
+
+For the latter purpose, Adair went on shore for the first time and laid
+down the plan of their town.  It formed one long street, with blocks on
+either side, while a cross road ran at right angles with the main one.
+One block formed the barracks of the marines, another a hospital.  The
+captain's own house was at the top of the street, and opposite to it one
+for the lieutenants, another for the rest of the ward-room officers, and
+a third on their side of the way for the midshipmen.  Then came rows of
+huts, eight on each side, for the seamen.  Another was put up for the
+petty officers, the stokers had one for themselves, and the officers'
+servants one.  At the top of the street, so that it could be seen from
+the very bottom, was the officers' mess tent, with flags flying over it,
+and a very tasty-looking affair it was.  The walls were partly composed
+of stone, partly of turf, roofed over with canvas.  The roof of Captain
+Adair's house was also lined with canvas, as were the walls, and divided
+by partitions.
+
+Some of the midshipmen expressed their regret that there were no ladies
+among them.
+
+"The ladies are very much obliged to you," observed Charley Roy, who had
+joined the _Empress_, and was now senior mate on board.  "I suspect that
+they would rather remain comfortably on shore.  Perhaps you'd like a
+grand piano, a ball-room, and a croquet lawn?"
+
+One building there was called the grand hotel, and it was frequented by
+all ranks, from the warrant officers and sergeant of marines down to the
+stokers and ship's boys.  Liquor in very small quantities and well
+watered could be obtained there, as could tea and coffee, and various
+beverages, such as ginger beer, which the doctor continued to
+manufacture with certain ingredients in his possession, and which was
+highly appreciated in hot weather.  The sergeant of marines was a
+temperance man, and persuaded half his own corps and fully a third of
+the blue-jackets to sign the pledge, which, as they had not the means of
+breaking, was very faithfully kept.  Thus not a man ever got drunk, and
+many who found that they could get on as well without liquor as they
+could with it, became very steady, sober men.  The officers did their
+best not only to keep the men employed, but to amuse them in a variety
+of ways.  No grumbling was heard from any ranks.  One fellow only showed
+signs of insubordination.  He had long been known on board as "Grumpy
+Dick."  No sooner had he set his foot on shore than he asserted that he
+was a free man, and would no longer work.
+
+"Very well, my fine fellow," said the captain.  "If all hands side with
+you, the officers and I shall have to do what you ought to do to keep
+you all and ourselves alive.  But if not, you shall as surely taste the
+cat as our stout ship lies there on the rocks.  Sleep upon it, and let
+me know what you think about it to-morrow morning."
+
+Grumpy Dick, who was as obstinate as a pig going to market, was in the
+same mood the next morning, on which the captain ordered him to be
+triced up and to receive a dozen at the hands of the boatswain's mate.
+This example had a very good effect; and if any other men were inclined
+to follow it, they thought better of the matter, and from that time
+forward all worked away as well as if they had been on board.  They had
+plenty to do in building their houses.  When the men were not otherwise
+employed, they were engaged in pulling down the materials of the old
+huts, and bringing them round to strengthen the new.  They were fond of
+boasting of the size of the town, and Pat Casey averred that it was
+quite large enough to send a member to Parliament, offering to be their
+first representative on Liberal principles.
+
+Then water had to be brought to supply the town from the ponds Desmond
+and Rip had discovered at the top of the hill.  It was a work mainly
+accomplished by means of piping of various descriptions.  Some was of
+lead, another part was of canvas, and another portion was of wood in the
+form of a trough.  It could be turned off at the top as was required.
+The apparatus for turning salt water into fresh also supplied them with
+such water as they required; but, on account of the fuel it consumed, it
+was only used when in dry weather there was a risk of the ponds becoming
+empty.
+
+As soon as the town was finished, Adair had a flag-staff erected and
+fully rigged, in a way which Desmond, with only one assistant, had been
+unable to accomplish.  A couple of men and a midshipman were stationed
+there with spy-glasses, to watch the horizon, and to hoist a flag
+directly a ship was seen, a hut having been built for their
+accommodation.  A small six-pounder, used on board for signalising, was
+also hauled up to be fired in case of a stranger coming near enough for
+it to be heard.  A pile of wood was also collected in order that a
+beacon fire should be kindled at night, and rockets and blue-lights were
+kept ready for letting off should a ship appear in the offing.
+
+A hag of fish-hooks and lines had been found on board, and a party every
+day were told off to fish, and who never failed to return with an
+abundant supply.
+
+"Our friend `Blueblazes' would have been perfectly happy here," said
+Desmond, laughing, as he and the captain sat at the wardroom mess table,
+at which they daily dined.  They had had some especial fine fish for
+dinner that day--indeed, they were never at that time on short commons.
+Of articles of luxury, as well as of meat and biscuit, which must,
+should they be kept there many months, ultimately come to an end, a
+small allowance only was of course served out.  To keep up good feeling,
+dinner-parties were given by one mess to another.  The first lieutenant
+invited the warrant officers and the engineers, who ranked with them, on
+one occasion, and the midshipmen invited them on another.  Some of the
+seamen occasionally dined with the marines, and _vice versa_.  Then they
+had games; though there was no ground for cricket, quoits could be
+played, and of course there was a fiddler on board, and hornpipes were
+danced.  On Sunday no work was done after the first week or two, and the
+chaplain had service regularly twice in the day, and occasionally also
+on other days in the week when they became settled on the island.
+
+Adair and Desmond had been walking a short distance from the town one
+afternoon, just after the men's dinner hour, when, as they came in sight
+of the marines' barracks, which were, as has been described, at a short
+distance from the high street, they heard a slight explosion, while a
+jet of white vapour ascended above the roof of the huts, and at the same
+instant the "jollies" were seen rushing out, shouting in English,
+Scotch, Irish, Yorkshire, and South country dialects, tumbling over each
+other, some sprawling on the ground, many without caps or jackets, some
+making their way to the town, others down to the harbour, others
+scrambling away up to the hill.
+
+"What's the matter, my man?" asked Adair, as soon as he got one of them,
+who happened to be an Irishman, to stop.
+
+"Arrah! your honour, captain dear, we're blown up entirely.  Sure there
+must be a big fire or an engine of some sort under the barracks, and we
+would have been roasted or boiled, if it had been at night an' we had
+all been in our beds."
+
+The column of steam, for Adair saw that it was not smoke, continued to
+ascend.
+
+"There must be some volcanic agency at work," observed Desmond; "and I
+am not surprised at the fellows being frightened when it burst out
+suddenly in their midst."
+
+"We'll examine it, at all events," said Adair.  "If there's a vent-hole,
+I don't suppose we need apprehend any danger."
+
+"Don't go near it, cap'n, it may go off again," exclaimed the Irishman,
+as he saw Adair and Desmond making their way into the huts.
+
+Several of the men, who recognised their captain, shouted to their
+companions to stop, and the greater number came back, forming a circle
+round the spot, ashamed probably of their sudden flight.  On examining
+the place, Adair found that directly under where the men's table had
+stood, a jet of steam had burst forth and upset it, when it must have
+fallen with no small force against the men seated on one side.  Two poor
+fellows were still under the table.  At first Adair feared that they
+were killed, but they appeared only to be stunned or frightened into
+unconsciousness, and in no way injured, for the table had saved them
+from being scalded.
+
+The orifice was nearly a foot in diameter, and was apparently
+increasing, as fresh columns of steam, issuing from it, ascended high
+into the air, having blown off the canvas roof of the hut.  The captain
+and Desmond summoned the men within hail, ordering them to carry their
+injured comrades to the hospital, where the surgeons, who had come up on
+hearing the noise, examined them.
+
+The whole population had by this time turned out, and various were the
+surmises as to what might occur.  One thing was certain, that the island
+was volcanic.  What might ultimately happen it was impossible to say.
+The "croakers" feared that it was but the commencement of disasters, and
+that at any moment the town might be blown into the air, or the whole
+island itself, for what they could tell.  Adair and his officers
+endeavoured to quiet their alarm.
+
+The "jollies," having recovered from their fright, were ready to pull
+down their barracks and rebuild them at a short distance only from the
+vent-hole, the surgeon assuring them that they would be better off than
+their shipmates in the winter season, by having warm ground under their
+feet.  As all hands turned to, the huts were shifted to another spot, a
+little above their former site, and before evening the work was
+completed.
+
+Two days afterwards, however, a rocking motion was felt, accompanied by
+a low, rumbling sound, and immediately afterwards two fresh jets of
+steam burst forth.  Day after day the rumblings were heard, and those
+who wandered to a distance from the town brought word that they had
+seen, not only jets of steam, but of smoke and fire, while certain
+rocks, which they had remarked rising above the water, had disappeared,
+and others, in different places, had come to the surface.  Although
+Adair did not believe that any violent convulsion would take place, he
+naturally became more anxious than before to escape from the rock.  Any
+spot in the neighbourhood of an active volcano is no pleasant place to
+live in.  Still more disagreeable did the officers and ship's company of
+the hapless _Empress_ feel it to find themselves on the side of a
+mountain which might at any moment be overturned or sink into the ocean,
+without the possibility of making their escape.  As, however, Adair saw
+no prospect of averting the evil, should it overtake them, he
+endeavoured to keep up his own spirits and those of his people by
+persuading himself and them that such an event as they feared was highly
+improbable.
+
+After a time the men got accustomed to the appearance of jets of steam,
+and the "jollies" even made use of them by putting their pots on them to
+boil their fish.  At length the public mind became perfectly
+tranquillised, and things went on much as before.  Still the captain
+could not help feeling it more than possible that a fresh outbreak might
+occur, and he found that the surgeon and first lieutenant were of the
+same opinion.
+
+A sharp look-out had of course been kept for any passing sail.  The
+royals of two ships had been seen, but the signal-gun was probably not
+heard; nor could the flag have been sighted.  The time spent on the rock
+was, meanwhile, not altogether uneventful.
+
+Week after week, however, passed by, and many by that time were
+perfectly reconciled to their lot; but others, especially the officers,
+began to grow weary of the life they were leading, and longed to get
+away.  Trips also were taken to the ship every day, as long as anything
+remained on board to get out of her.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+CAPTAIN ADAIR'S LAST VISIT TO THE EMPRESS--RESOLVES TO BUILD A VESSEL
+OUT OF THE WRECK--THE DOCTOR FEARS THAT THE ISLAND MAY BE BLOWN UP--A
+HURRICANE--THE BOATS GET ADRIFT--THE SEA WASHES UP THE BEACH--A FLASH OF
+LIGHTNING REVEALS THE SHIP PARTING AMIDSHIPS--THE MASTS FALL--THE SHIP
+BREAKS UP--AN EARTHQUAKE--ROCKS FAIL FROM THE CLIFFS--RAFTS
+CONSTRUCTED--THE BOATS LAUNCHED--A STILL MORE FEARFUL CONVULSION THAN
+BEFORE OCCURS--THE CREW EMBARK ON THE RAFTS AND IN THE BOATS--ROY LEFT
+ON THE CLIFF--SAINT MAUR RETURNS TO CALL HIM--A FEARFUL RUSH FOR THEIR
+LIVES--REACH THE GIG IN TIME--THE ISLAND IN A TERRIFIC STATE OF
+COMMOTION--A SAIL IN SIGHT--APPROACHES THE ISLAND--PROVES TO BE THE
+BELLONA--ALL SAFE ON BOARD--TOUCHES AT THE CAPE--THE LAST OF MAJOR
+BUBSBY--ARRIVAL AT HOME--HAPPY MEETINGS--CONCLUSION.
+
+Adair and Desmond paid a visit to the _Empress_ one bright morning, when
+the harbour was smooth as a mill pond, and scarcely a ripple even was
+seen over the expanse of ocean outside.  She lay as firm as ever, with
+her masts standing, and to all appearance in as good condition as she
+was the day when the attempt was made to bring her into the harbour,
+except that when they looked below they could see the clear water
+washing in and out of her.  At a distance she might have been supposed
+to be at anchor.
+
+"I have been thinking that as no vessel has come near us since we have
+been here, we might have to wait for months, or perhaps years more,
+unless we make an attempt to get off by such means as we have at our
+disposal," observed Adair.
+
+"What, you would not try to cross the Indian Ocean in the boats, would
+you?" asked Saint Maur.
+
+"No; I would not thus risk the lives of my people, but we must endeavour
+to build a craft out of the wreck large enough to get as far as Batavia,
+or even Madras or Calcutta," answered Adair.  "I had hopes when we first
+came on shore that a ship would shortly appear, or I should at once have
+decided on building a vessel.  I have now determined to delay no longer.
+When we return I will draw up plan for carrying my intention into
+effect."  Adair took several turns along the deck.  "This is the third
+ship I have lost, and I suppose that I shall never get another," he
+said, with a sigh.  "I shall be looked upon as an unlucky man, though in
+neither case could I blame myself, nor could any one blame me.  We will
+go on shore."
+
+He stepped down the accommodation ladder, which still remained at the
+side.
+
+Some time was spent in consulting the carpenter and making the
+arrangements for pulling the old ship to pieces.  Next morning all hands
+were to begin work.  It was likely to prove a long undertaking, and one
+which no sailor likes to be engaged in.  It was also doubtful if the
+weather would continue fine enough to enable it to be completed.  During
+the day a slight movement of the earth was felt, and the same rumbling
+noise as before sounded beneath their feet, while another jet of steam
+burst forth from an orifice at a distance from the town.  But the ship's
+company had become so accustomed to the sight of these spouts, that they
+did not trouble themselves about the matter.  In the evening, while
+Adair and Desmond were seated together, the doctor called upon them.
+
+"I have come, Captain Adair, to state that I have been made anxious for
+some days past by various phenomena which I have observed on the island.
+I cannot help fearing that some internal commotion is taking place
+beneath our feet, which may produce serious consequences.  The orifices
+through which the steam we have observed makes its escape may prove
+safety valves, but what if a larger quantity of steam is engendered than
+they can let off?"
+
+"You mean to say, doctor, that you fear the island may be blown up, and
+that we shall be blown up with it?" said Adair, laughing, though he did
+not feel altogether comfortable in his mind on the subject.
+
+"Such, captain, I apprehend may be the case, but whether shortly or some
+time hence I cannot take it upon myself to say," observed the doctor.
+"I would only urge that a vessel be built in which we can all embark,
+for I should not like to leave a human being to run the risk of being
+destroyed, which would be the case were such a convulsion as I dread to
+take place."
+
+"That's the very thing we are now doing as fast as possible," said
+Adair.  "Do not, however, let the men know what you think may possibly
+occur, nor the officers either.  The carpenter considers that it will
+take us two months at least to break up the ship and build a new craft
+out of the materials, and we can only hope that the land will remain
+quiet until that task is accomplished.  Lord Saint Maur and I will
+accompany you to inspect the new vent-hole and the other phenomena you
+speak of; and although we would not pit our scientific knowledge against
+yours, yet perhaps we may make some discovery which may allay your
+apprehensions."
+
+They set out at once, as there was still sufficient daylight to enable
+them to reach the spot to which the doctor had alluded.  Adair, after
+making a considerable circuit, during which they discovered several
+spots so hot that they could scarcely touch them with their hands,
+thought that possibly the doctor might be correct.  All that he could
+do, however, was to make arrangements to afford the chance of escape to
+portion of his people, should the island be overwhelmed.
+
+He resolved to have all the boats fitted for sea with stores, water, and
+provisions.  The whole of the community had turned in for the night with
+the exception of the sentries, who were told off to keep watch according
+to man-of-war fashion, although there was no enemy likely to attack
+them, when they were roused by the well-known sound of a furious gale
+blowing on the shore.  It came on as suddenly as a clap of thunder, and
+ere long the breakers could be heard roaring as they dashed against the
+rocky coast.  Already the wind had lashed the surface of the harbour
+into foam, and the water rushed up the beach, threatening to carry off
+the boats, the largest of which were moored a short distance off, while
+the others were hauled up on the sand.
+
+The captain and officers were the first to be aroused by the sound of
+the gale.  They hurried out, and turned up all hands to secure the
+boats.  This was no easy matter, for two had already broken adrift, and
+it was necessary at all risks to go off after them.  They, however, were
+brought back before the full fury of the hurricane burst on the island.
+They were at length hauled up on the beach by means of rollers placed
+under them and the strength of fifty hands at least applied to each.
+The sea continued to rise, and it became necessary to drag them still
+further up out of the danger of being washed away.  Even in the harbour
+so enormous were the waves that they washed right up to the huts,
+threatening to destroy the whole lower part of the town, the inmates of
+which were compelled to carry off their goods and chattels higher up the
+rock.  The largest of the boats still remained on the beach, and the
+men, headed by the captain, and accompanied by several officers, were
+attempting to drag her up, when a loud sound, like the report of a heavy
+gun, was heard.
+
+"There goes the old ship!" cried several voices.
+
+Adair feared that the remark was true.  Scarcely had the words been
+uttered, when a flash of lightning revealed the ship parting asunder
+amidships.  The mizzenmast fell at the same time, but the mainmast was
+seen still standing.  In another minute down came the mainmast with a
+crash, followed shortly afterwards by the foremast and bowsprit, and,
+high above the roar of the surf and howling of the wind, the rending and
+crashing of the ship's timbers could be distinguished.
+
+"There goes all chance of our being able to build a craft," observed
+Saint Maur to the captain.  "The fragments which come on shore will be
+so battered and crushed that they will be of no use."
+
+"I fear so, indeed," answered Adair; "but we must not show the men that
+we are disheartened."
+
+The gale went on increasing, while the sad sounds of the ship breaking
+up continued, and huge fragments were cast by the force of the waves on
+the beach, several striking the stern of the large boat, and almost
+staving her in before she could be hauled out of danger.  Though the men
+could do no more, they stood watching the catastrophe which, though many
+of them had long expected it, had come at last so suddenly upon them.
+
+As they thus stood grouped together they felt the earth rock beneath
+their feet in a way it had never done before.  Then came a sound far
+louder than any yet heard.  Several of the men cried out that the island
+was blowing up.  At that moment there was a fearful crash, and by the
+light of another flash of lightning a glimpse was caught of a huge mass
+of rock descending from the summit of the hill into the water.  Another
+and another followed.  Adair and Saint Maur remembered the doctor's
+prognostications, and began truly to fear that the whole island was
+breaking up, and that ere long it might present a mass of broken
+fragments or sink down bodily beneath the sea.
+
+They endeavoured, notwithstanding, to maintain their own composure and
+to restore confidence to the men, many of whom were greatly alarmed.
+
+"Whatever becomes of those high cliffs which seem to be crumbling away,
+I consider that we, on this level spot, have every chance of escaping,"
+exclaimed Adair.  "We must, however, keep out of the way of those rocks,
+which, tired of their existence up in the sky, are going to find out how
+they like the bottom of the sea."
+
+By this time the night was nearly over, and when morning dawned and
+Adair looked out, not a particle of the ship remained entire except her
+engines, which, like some huge creature, could just be distinguished,
+surrounded by the masses of foam breaking on the bar, while over the
+surface of the harbour and outside along the coast could be seen
+fragments of wreck of every size, tossed here and there by the waves.
+Adair heaved a deeper sigh than he had ever done before in his life.
+
+The storm still continued to rage as fiercely as at first, and it was
+impossible to secure any portions of the wreck except those which were
+washed ashore in the harbour, and even to do that was a service of
+danger, as they were tossed about, threatening to crush those who
+approached them.  Still Adair thought that it might be possible to save
+wood sufficient for the building of a vessel.  It would, at all events,
+give the men something to do and keep up their spirits with a prospect
+of getting off.  The carpenter shook his head when he spoke to him on
+the subject.
+
+"I am afraid, sir, it will be a rum sort of craft we should build, but
+if you will permit me to say so, I think if we were to lengthen some of
+the boats and rise upon them two or three feet, we should produce a
+better style of craft than we are likely to put together."
+
+Adair thought the matter over, and discussed it with Saint Maur.  They
+agreed that it was possible, and that, should some fearful convulsion of
+the island take place, it would be as well to have the boats thus
+fitted, in order that some of their lives, at all events, might be
+preserved.
+
+"We will hope that some ship will come in sight before the land sinks
+down to the bottom of the sea," said Saint Maur, in a cheerful tone.
+
+The captain just then remembered that the men had been on foot all that
+morning without breakfast.
+
+"Pipe to breakfast, Mr Smalls," he sang out to the boatswain, who was
+near.
+
+The shrill pipe of the boatswain was heard sounding above the roaring of
+the breakers, the howling of the wind, and the crash of the falling
+rocks, which still, though in smaller pieces than before, came toppling
+down from the summit of the cliff above into the seething waters of the
+harbour.
+
+The men willingly obeyed the call, and were quickly seated at their mess
+tables, talking and laughing away as usual.  Adair and Saint Maur
+returned to their cottage.  The roofs of the huts had been too securely
+fastened down to be blown away, and all hands were soon beneath their
+shelter.  All day long the gale raged.  In spite of it, the carpenter,
+with the hands he required, set to work in preparing the wood they had
+obtained for enlarging the boats.  The largest had, it must be
+remembered, been left just above the influence of the sea, where it was
+fancied she was free from danger.
+
+In the morning, as usual, a party was sent off to the flag-staff, which
+was not visible from the town.  Some hours had passed and a relief was
+proceeding to take their place, when they were observed coming down the
+cliffs, holding on to the rocks as they slowly made their way.
+
+"What has happened?" asked Charley Roy, who commanded the second party.
+
+"The flag-staff is gone and we were all well-nigh carried off with it,"
+was the answer.  "There is no ship in sight; and if there were, she
+would take good care not to come near this rock if she could help it, so
+that there is no use in your going on and running the chance of losing
+your lives."
+
+"You are quite right," said Roy, and he returned to obtain further
+orders.
+
+Adair, of course, told him not to go on to the hill, adding, "We must
+get another flag-staff ready to set up as soon as the gale is over," and
+he at once issued orders to the carpenter to prepare it.
+
+When night closed in there was no appearance of a cessation of the gale;
+indeed, if anything, matters looked worse than they had done all day.
+At the usual hour all hands turned in to obtain the rest they required,
+while the men on watch stowed themselves away in the most sheltered
+corners they could find, for not a human being even during four hours
+could have stood exposed to the pitiless tempest.
+
+It was about midnight when those nearest the water were aroused by a
+crashing sound, and before they had time to dress themselves, they found
+the sea washing right up to their huts, far higher than it had done the
+day before.  Adair, who slept lightly, was also awakened by the voices
+and the shouts of the men as they rushed with their clothes bags and
+mess things out of their huts.  He and Saint Maur hurried down to
+ascertain what was the matter, when on looking towards the beach where
+the large boat had been left, on which their hopes of safety depended,
+she was nowhere to be seen.  A mass of timber and shattered fragments,
+surrounded by the seething water, alone marked the spot.  A portion of
+the wreck, it was evident, had been driven against her, and the retiring
+sea had carried her off knocked to pieces.  The remainder of the night
+was spent in shifting the huts exposed to the waves to a safer spot.
+Adair allowed no word of complaint to escape him, but he could not but
+dread what might next happen.
+
+Towards morning the gale abated, and the men were employed in hauling up
+the fragments of spars which floated among the rocks.  Some were of good
+size, while others were broken into small pieces, which could be of no
+use but to saw into planks.  With the large ones the carpenter
+contrived, in the course of a couple of days, to build a fresh mast to
+supply the place of the old one.  By this time the weather was again
+calm, and Adair and Saint Maur and several officers accompanied the
+party who were selected to set it up.  They carried their telescopes,
+hoping against hope that a ship might appear.  But not a sail was to be
+seen in the horizon, nor a wreath of smoke to indicate a passing
+steamer.  The flag-staff was erected, the ensign run up, and the gun
+fired to do it honour.
+
+But we must hasten on with the account of the adventures of the captain
+and crew of the unfortunate _Empress_.  Day after day, week after week
+went by.  Occasionally the earth trembled and shook, but no more jets of
+vapour or gas burst forth, and the orifices of those which had first
+appeared were stopped up.  The surgeon's face grew longer and longer.
+
+"Well, doctor," said Adair, when the latter was paying him a visit, "we
+are not to be blown up yet, and I hope that the old rock will stand firm
+enough until long after we have left it, unless we are to spend our
+lives here."
+
+"That's no reason why that fearful event should not some day occur,
+captain," answered Dr McQuae.  "I last night heard worse rumblings than
+have yet occurred.  My bunk moved up and down in a curious fashion."
+
+"You must have been dreaming," said Adair.  "I slept but lightly, and
+heard no noises nor did I feel the slightest movement of the earth."
+
+"Pardon me, Captain Adair.  I was broad awake at the time, and could not
+be mistaken."
+
+Adair, on making inquiries, was surprised to find that several other
+persons had heard noises and felt a movement, especially the sergeant of
+marines, who averred that he was very nearly thrown out of his bunk.
+His statement, however, was somewhat discredited by the warrant
+officers, who expressed their belief that he was addicted to romancing.
+Be that as it may, a very uncomfortable feeling prevailed both among the
+officers and men, and all were wishing themselves away from so
+treacherous a locality.  A few days after this a commotion took place
+throughout the length and breadth of the island, which left the matter
+no longer in doubt.  Vast fragments of rock came tumbling down from the
+summits of the cliffs, sending huge waves rolling up the beach, although
+the sky was serene and the wind blew gently from the northward, so that
+no surf broke along the mouth of the harbour.
+
+"If this continues much longer we must launch the boats and build rafts
+sufficient to carry all the people, to give some of us a chance for our
+lives, at all events," observed Adair to Saint Maur.
+
+"Cheer up, Uncle Terence," exclaimed Desmond; "the cliffs may tumble
+down, but still, as you remarked before, we may have firm ground to
+stand upon."
+
+"I don't know what I should have done without you," answered Adair.
+"Frankly, I believe I should have broken down altogether: For my poor
+Lucy's sake and yours I am as anxious to escape, if I can do so with
+honour, as any man, but desert my people while one remains in danger I
+must not."
+
+"At all events, there can be no harm in getting the rafts built," said
+Desmond.
+
+"I will direct the first lieutenant to set the people about the work at
+once, just as a matter of precaution, so as not to alarm them," answered
+Adair.
+
+There were few, however, who did not feel as anxious as the captain to
+get the rafts completed, and all hands set to work to collect every
+particle of timber they could find along the coast, and to haul it to
+the bay.
+
+The carpenter, upon calculation, found that he could form six rafts,
+thirty feet long and twenty wide.  These would carry all the crew who
+were not able to find room in the boats, provided the sea was tolerably
+smooth.  A couple of rafts had been completed, and as many hands as
+could be employed were working away at the others, when again that
+ominous sound which before had alarmed them was heard, and the whole
+island seemed to be convulsed, as if about to be rent asunder.  Although
+the movement ceased, it made them work away with almost frantic haste.
+By means of hand-spikes and rollers, the rafts, as they were finished,
+were launched, when the boatswain and his mates commenced rigging them
+in the best fashion they could, while the sail-makers were employed in
+cutting out the canvas, some of which had been kept in store, the rest
+being, taken for the roofs of the huts.
+
+Although so much of the cliff had fallen down as to half fill the
+harbour, the point on which the flag-staff stood remained intact.
+Charley Roy was stationed there with a party of men, who kept a look-out
+around the horizon from sunrise to sunset.  They were relieved at night
+by another party under the third lieutenant, who was directed to burn
+blue-lights and let off rockets at intervals, in case any ship should be
+passing.
+
+Night brought no cessation to the toils of the crew.  Torches were
+formed, and fresh hands laboured away at the rafts.  Several times as
+they were thus toiling, the ground below them shook more or less
+violently.
+
+"Stop a bit, an' we'll be afther gittin' off you," cried Pat Casey, who
+was always ready with a joke to cheer up his companions.  "Jist keep
+quiet, me darlin', for a few hours longer, an' you an' me will part
+company, whin ye can trimble as much as ye like."
+
+Whether or not the volcano would accede to his request seemed very
+doubtful.  Towards morning the commotions increased, crash succeeded
+crash, and they could perceive that other portions of the cliff had
+given way, while there was some fear that the rafts would be swamped by
+the sea which the falling masses created, before they could get out of
+the harbour.  Strange to say, in spite of the fearful danger in which
+they were placed, the men joked as much as ever, though they worked away
+in a manner which showed that they were fully conscious of the necessity
+of speed, the officers labouring with them as hard as any one.  At the
+sound of the boatswain's call they scampered off to breakfast, which
+they bolted in a few minutes, and soon came back to their work.
+
+The weather now became finer than it had been since they had landed on
+the island many months before.  The sky was clear and the air pure, and
+there was not an invalid among them.
+
+The sixth raft had just been completed, and the men were working it down
+to the water, when a rumbling sound far louder than any thunder was
+heard.  The tall cliffs appeared as if about to fall down and fill up
+the whole of the harbour, the mouth evidently of an ancient crater.  The
+rocks were seen to lift and heave; Adair stood on the shore,
+superintending the launching of the raft, apparently as cool and unmoved
+as ever.
+
+"Now, my lads, get the boats into the water," he exclaimed.  "Let their
+proper crews attend to them; the rest of you assist the marines in
+bringing down the provisions and water."
+
+It should have been said that, under the direction of the pay-master and
+his assistants, all the casks had been filled with water, and all the
+provisions done up in packages, which could be easily transported.
+
+Even at that moment perfect discipline prevailed; the men hurried
+backwards and forwards, it is true, as fast as their legs could carry
+them.  They worked like a colony of ants, knowing exactly what they had
+to do.  The midshipmen were ordered into the boats with their respective
+crews to stow the packages, and to keep the rafts off the beach.  These
+were next loaded, and the boats being filled, the men were ordered to
+take their places on the rafts.
+
+Captain Adair and Lord Saint Maur stood alone on the shore, when the
+sound of a gun was heard.
+
+"I forgot Roy and the men with him," exclaimed Adair.
+
+"I'll go for him," cried Desmond, and before he could be stopped, he
+darted off.
+
+Adair now ordered the boats to take the rafts in tow, and to proceed
+over the bar, as it would be impossible to find a more favourable
+opportunity for crossing it.  One boat--his own gig--with four hands in
+her, only remained, so that she was able to carry, in addition, Roy and
+his party.
+
+Again the sound of the gun was heard, followed by a third report.  All
+this time the cliffs above the further end of the harbour appeared
+crumbling away, while the ground where the marines' huts stood, as well
+as beyond them, was heaving in visible undulations.  Adair felt that at
+any moment the whole island might be convulsed in such a way as to
+destroy all remaining on it.  He anxiously looked out for the return of
+Saint Maur and Roy.  The movements increased in violence.  He saw the
+men in the boat turning their eyes towards the cliff, as if they were
+eager to be away, fearing lest they themselves would be involved in the
+expected destruction of the island.  He drew his breath more freely when
+at length he saw Saint Maur appear on the top of the path leading from
+the hill, followed by Roy and his men.  Down they rushed at headlong
+speed.  They had not a moment to lose; already huge rents appeared in
+the ground, some of a width across which it seemed scarcely possible
+they could leap, while the rocks on either side were tumbling and
+leaping along, and threatening to crush the party as they made their
+downward way.
+
+Adair ordered the men in the gig to come in, and he stood half in the
+water holding her stem.  He had no need to hurry Saint Maur and the
+rest.  One poor fellow was struck, but his companions did not wait for
+him; they saw at a glance that he was killed.  Another narrowly escaped,
+and a huge block came near Saint Maur as he sprang over a wide gap.
+With frantic haste they dashed along, and almost breathless reached the
+beach.
+
+"Spring in!" cried Adair; "I shall be the last to leave the shore!"
+
+Roy and the other men followed.  Adair now jumped on board, and made his
+way to the stern sheets.  The bow-men shoved, off without waiting for
+orders, and bending to their oars the gig was soon across the bar.
+Saint Maur and Roy were too much out of breath to speak.  Indeed, Adair
+himself forgot to ask the reason of the signals they had heard; as,
+while steering for the bar, and casting a momentary glance over his
+shoulders, he saw the whole island rocking to and fro, and not only
+steam and smoke, but flames bursting forth from several fissures.  Even
+now neither he nor his men were in safety: for should the island sink,
+the rafts and boats would be drawn into the vortex; or should it blow
+up, as seemed very likely, the fragments would too probably fall down
+and crush them, or create so violent a commotion of the ocean that they
+would scarcely escape being overwhelmed.  Steering for the heaviest
+raft, he joined another boat in towing her.  As yet they were under the
+lee of the island, and their sails were of no use.  Long paddles had
+been formed for the use of the men on the rafts, who worked
+energetically, as the boats, heavily laden as they were, were unable to
+make much headway.
+
+Roy, who had been hitherto panting too much to speak, now recovering
+himself, exclaimed--
+
+"A sail, sir! a sail!  We saw her standing towards the island.  She's a
+steamer, I think, though I could not make out her funnel.  I caught
+sight of a wreath of white smoke hanging above her masthead."
+
+"Too probably she's only passing," said Adair.
+
+"No, sir, she was standing steadily this way; and the heads of her
+courses had already risen above the horizon.  We left the flag flying,
+so if the hill doesn't come toppling down, she will see that, and know
+that there is some one on the rock.  Perhaps she is coming expressly to
+look after us."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" cried Adair, in a voice choking with emotion, for the
+first time the calm composure he had hitherto exhibited giving way.  "My
+poor people will be saved!"
+
+The joyful news soon spread from boat to boat and raft to raft.  At
+length feeling the wind, sail was set, and the little squadron steered a
+course as close to it as was possible, not to near the ship, but to get
+further off from the island.  As soon as they had gained what Adair
+considered a safe distance, he ordered the first lieutenant, who was in
+one of the boats, to cast off and stand towards the stranger, whose
+topsails by that time could be seen.  He had now only earnestly to pray
+that the weather would continue calm until they were all on board.
+Meantime he had cast many an anxious glance towards the land, which
+seemed, at the distance they were now from it, to be at rest, though the
+rumbling sounds which reached them and the thick clouds of smoke and
+flame ascending, showed them that they had good reason to be thankful
+that they had escaped it.
+
+The first lieutenant's boat was eagerly watched as she glided rapidly
+over the smooth water.  At last her white speck of canvas disappeared
+beneath the horizon, and a further period elapsed.
+
+The stranger was pronounced by the cut of her canvas to be a British
+man-of-war.  At last she was seen to change her course, and to stand
+directly for the rafts.  Soon afterwards the glorious ensign of England
+blew out at her peak.  The sight was welcomed by a cheer from the whole
+crew.  There could be no doubt that the first lieutenant had got on
+board.  On she came until she approached, when her canvas was reduced.
+
+"Hurrah! she's the _Bellona_!" exclaimed Saint Maur and Adair at the
+same moment.  They both knew her, and in another minute they recognised
+Captain Rogers and several old friends.  Adair and Desmond, springing up
+the side, were heartily welcomed.
+
+"We have come expressly to look for you," said Jack, as he grasped their
+hands, and he told them of the information he had received from the
+master of the Australian trader.  The _Bellona's_ boats had been lowered
+and now approached to take off the crew from the rafts, as well as the
+provisions and water.
+
+"We have arrived in the nick of time," said Jack; "but as your island
+now seems tolerably quiet, we may as well remove the stores, the men's
+bags, and your own things, which it will be a pity to lose, and I shall
+be glad to leave some of these boats which we cannot take away."
+
+The _Bellona_ accordingly steamed on towards the entrance of the
+harbour, keeping, as may be supposed, at a safe distance in case of a
+sudden outbreak.  By this time the smoke and flames had disappeared, and
+the boats pulled in, piloted by Adair and his officers.
+
+The blue-jackets were highly delighted at recovering their bags, and the
+marines their kits, which had of necessity been left behind.  The boats
+which Saint Maur and Rip had found when they landed were hauled high up
+on the beach and covered over with canvas to protect them from the
+weather.  The more valuable stores were carried off, though provisions
+and other articles were left which might afford assistance to the
+sufferers of any ship which might be wrecked on the island.
+
+The _Bellona_ steered directly for the Cape, in a short time, as the
+wind became fair, making all sail.  That night the watch on deck
+declared that they saw a bright glare in the sky above the rock and that
+a low rumbling noise was heard coming from the same direction.  Whether
+or not Virginia Island had blown up remained a matter of doubt, and
+Captain Rogers did not think that with two ships' companies on board it
+was his duty to return and ascertain the fact.
+
+Crowded as they were, both officers and men were as happy as could be
+under such circumstances, and wonderful were the yarns which the crew of
+the _Empress_ had to spin, none of the facts which had occurred losing
+in the narration, besides which there were many more to describe which
+are not chronicled in this history.
+
+The _Bellona_, immediately on her arrival in Simon's Bay, was ordered
+home, where Captain Adair and his officers would have, of course, to
+undergo the usual court-martial for the loss of the _Empress_.  Scarcely
+had she dropped her anchor, when, in one of the first boats which came
+off, was seen a stout military man, accompanied by two ladies.  Shortly
+after, Major Bubsby and the two Misses Bubsby ascended the side.  Jack,
+who was never wanting in politeness, whatever were his feelings, stood
+ready to receive them.
+
+"My dear Captain Rogers," exclaimed the major, grasping him by the hand,
+"I was at the telegraph station when you made your number, and I
+immediately hurried down to welcome you, picking up Eugenia and Angelica
+on the way.  Will you do me a favour?"
+
+"What is it?" inquired Jack.
+
+"Yes, it is a favour; I will acknowledge it as a favour if you grant it.
+Will you convey Mrs Bubsby and myself with our two dear daughters to
+England?  You must know that I was compelled to resign my command, and I
+do not find my stay here as pleasant as I should wish."
+
+Billy Blueblazes, who was standing behind the captain, observed Miss
+Angelica casting loving glances towards him.  "Heaven forbid that the
+captain should grant the major's request," he said to himself.
+
+He need have had no fear on that score.  Jack as politely as possible
+declined, and did not even invite the major and the Misses Bubsby below.
+
+"You must understand, Major Bubsby, that I have the officers and part of
+the ship's company of the _Empress_ to carry home, so that we have not
+an inch to spare.  I cannot turn them out of the only berths I have to
+offer, and you and your daughters would not like to sling up your
+hammocks on the lower deck."
+
+"I did not expect this of you, Captain Rogers," said the major, an angry
+frown gathering on his brow.
+
+"Hard-hearted man!" murmured Miss Angelica.
+
+But Jack was deaf to all they could say, and felt very much inclined to
+order the master-at-arms to escort his visitors, _nolens volens_, down
+the side.  They at last made a virtue of necessity, and returned to
+their boat.
+
+Billy heaved a sigh of relief as he watched them pulling towards the
+shore.  It was the last he or his captain ever saw or heard of Major
+Bubsby and his daughters, the major's name disappearing soon afterwards
+from the army list.  Lord Saint Maur, of course, went home in the
+_Bellona_.  He was accompanied by Rip and Snarley, the former begging
+that he might enter his service as valet.  Old England was reached at
+last, when Captain Rogers made the pleasing discovery that he had become
+an admiral by seniority.
+
+In a very short time, telegrams having conveyed the joyful intelligence
+of the arrival of the ship with Captain Adair and Lord Saint Maur on
+board, Julia and Lucy, the former accompanied by her fair daughters,
+arrived at Southsea, which had so often before witnessed their grievous
+partings and happy meetings.  This, as may be supposed, was one of the
+happiest.  Captain Adair was honourably acquitted for the loss of the
+_Empress_.  Though he did not again obtain a ship, he accompanied the
+expedition to Coomassie, and took an active part in an exploit which
+redounded so greatly to the honour of the troops, blue-jackets, and
+marines engaged in it, as well as to that of its noble leader, proving
+what stern discipline and courage can effect, even in the most
+pestiferous of climates and against hosts of brave foes.
+
+Lord Saint Maur, shortly after his return home, married Miss Lucy
+Rogers, and Archie Gordon became the husband of another of Jack's
+daughters.  Tom was supposed to be a confirmed bachelor, notwithstanding
+his early susceptibilities to female attractions, until, on going over
+to pay a visit to his old shipmate at Kilcullin Castle, he there met the
+Misses McMahon, the youngest of whom he married.  Billy Blueblazes, who
+came to act the part of his best man, fell head over ears in love with
+the eldest--not the first Englishman under similar circumstances who has
+been captivated by one of Erin's fair daughters, and she, discovering
+attractions which satisfied her, and the counsellor ascertaining that he
+was heir to a good estate, no objections were raised, and Billy became a
+happy benedict, quitting the service as a retired commander.
+
+Tim Nolan and Pat Casey made their appearance at the castle one day,
+"just," as they said, "to see how his lordship was getting on."
+
+"What are you going to do with yourselves, my good fellows?" asked Lord
+Saint Maur.
+
+They twirled their hats and scraped their feet and acknowledged that
+they had not quite settled, except that they had made up their minds not
+to go to sea again.
+
+On this Lord Saint Maur offered them cottages rent free, and employment
+on board his yacht in summer, and charge of his boats on the river which
+ran through his estate.
+
+Jerry Bird obtained a pension and settled near Admiral Rogers, while
+Peter became butler to Billy Blueblazes.  Indeed, a satisfactory account
+can be given of all the friends who have played a part in this history.
+
+Soon after his return from Africa Captain Adair obtained his flag, and
+the "Three Admirals" remain, as they had been in their youth and through
+the whole of their career, the firmest friends, and, though they
+themselves are shelved, take the warmest interest in the glorious
+service in which they spent their lives, and in the welfare of their
+younger relatives and former followers.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Admirals, by W.H.G. Kingston
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