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diff --git a/23378.txt b/23378.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed0c1d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/23378.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7235 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of the Sea, 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: Tales of the Sea + And of our Jack Tars + +Author: W.H.G. Kingston + +Illustrator: Stephen Miller; Engraver: T. Robertson + +Release Date: November 6, 2007 [EBook #23378] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF THE SEA *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Tales of the Sea, by W.H.G. Kingston. + +________________________________________________________________________ +This is a collection of nine stories, some short, and some not so short. +They are all very good reading, and Kingston seems to be at his best in +the short story mode. You will probably enjoy the two episodes from the +life of "Uncle Boz", that form the second story, especially the first, +when he organises the rescue of the crew and passengers of a vessel that +is wrecked near his house on a stormy Christmas Day. + +The first story, "Happy Jack", is by far the longest, occupying one +third of the whole book. Jack, in spite of the desires of his lawyer +father, goes to sea, where he has many adventures, culminating in an +event in which he was presumed to have perished. Very short of money, +and looking somewhat dishevelled, he reaches home, where he is not +recognised by his sisters, but a girl who was being brought up by the +family, and who was mutually interested in Jack, does recognise him, and +he is given a proper welcome home. + +________________________________________________________________________ +TALES OF THE SEA, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON. + + + +STORY ONE, CHAPTER 1. + +HAPPY JACK. + +Have any of you made a passage on board a steamer between London and +Leith? If you have, you will have seen no small number of brigs and +brigantines, with sails of all tints, from doubtful white to decided +black--some deeply=laden, making their way to the southward, others with +their sides high out of the water, heeling over to the slightest breeze, +steering north. + +On board one of those delectable craft, a brig called the _Naiad_, I +found myself when about fourteen summers had passed over my head. She +must have been named after a negress naiad, for black was the prevailing +colour on board, from the dark, dingy forecastle to the captain's state +cabin, which was but a degree less dirty than the portion of the vessel +in which I was destined to live. The bulwarks, companion-hatch, and +other parts had, to be sure, once upon a time been painted green, but +the dust from the coal, which formed her usual cargo, had reduced every +portion to one sombre hue, which even the salt seas not unfrequently +breaking over her deck had failed to wash clean. + +Captain Grimes, her commander, notwithstanding this, was proud of the +old craft; and he especially delighted to tell how she had once carried +a pennant when conveying troops to Corunna, or some other port in Spain. + +I pitied the poor fellows confined to the narrow limits of her dark +hold, redolent of bilge-water and other foul odours. We, however, had +not to complain on that score, for the fresh water which came in through +her old sides by many a leak, and had to be pumped out every watch, kept +her hold sweet. + +How I came to be on board the _Naiad_ I'll tell you-- + +I had made up my mind to go to sea--why, it's hard to say, except that I +thought I should like to knock about the world and see strange +countries. I was happy enough at home, though I did not always make +others happy. Nothing came amiss to me; I was always either laughing or +singing, and do not recollect having an hour's illness in my life. Now +and then, by the elders of the family, and by Aunt Martha especially, I +was voted a nuisance; and it was with no small satisfaction, at the end +of the holidays, that they packed me off again to school. I was fond of +my brothers and sisters, and they were fond of me, though I showed my +affection for them in a somewhat rough fashion. I thought my sisters +somewhat demure, and I was always teasing them and playing them tricks. +Somehow or other I got the name among them and my brothers of "Happy +Jack," and certainly I was the merriest of the family. If I happened, +which was not unfrequently the case, to get into a scrape, I generally +managed to scramble out of it with flying colours; and if I did not, I +laughed at the punishment to which I was doomed. I was a +broad-shouldered, strongly-built boy, and could beat my elder brothers +at running, leaping, or any other athletic exercise, while, without +boasting, I was not behind any of them in the school-room. My father +was somewhat proud of me, and had set his mind on my becoming a member +of one of the learned professions, and rising to the top of the tree. +Why should I not? I had a great-uncle a judge, and another relative a +bishop, and there had been admirals and generals by the score among our +ancestors. My father was a leading solicitor in a large town, and +having somewhat ambitious aspirations for his children, his intention +was to send all his sons to the university, in the hopes that they would +make a good figure in life. He was therefore the more vexed when I +declared that my firm determination was to go to sea. "Very well, +Jack," he said, "if such is your resolve, go you shall; but as I have no +interest in the navy, you must take your chance in the merchant +service." + +"It's all the same to me, sir," I replied; "I shall be just as happy in +the one as in the other service;" and so I considered the matter +settled. + +When the day of parting came, I was as merry and full of fun as ever, +though I own there was a strange sensation about the heart which +bothered me; however, I was not going to show what I felt--not I. + +I slyly pinched my sisters when we were exchanging parting kisses, till +they were compelled to shriek out and box my ears--an operation to which +I was well accustomed--and I made my brothers roar with the sturdy grip +I gave their fingers when we shook hands; and so, instead of tears, +there were shouts of laughter and screeches and screams, creating a +regular hullabuloo which put all sentimental grief to flight. "No, no, +Jack, I will have none of your tricks," cried Aunt Martha, when I +approached with a demure look to bid her farewell, so I took her hand +and pressed it to my lips with all the mock courtesy of a Sir Charles +Grandison. My mother! I had no heart to do otherwise than to throw my +arms round her neck and receive the fond embrace she bestowed upon me, +and if a tear did come into my eye, it was then. But there was another +person to whom I had to say good-bye, and that was dear little Grace +Goldie, my father's ward, a fair, blue-eyed girl, three or four years +younger than myself. I did not play her any trick, but kissed her +smooth young brow, and promised that I would bring her back no end of +pearls and ivory, and treasures of all sorts, from across the seas. She +smiled sweetly through her tears. "Thank you, Jack, thank you! I shall +so long to see you back," she whispered; and I had to bolt, or I believe +that I should have began to pipe my eye in a way I had no fancy for. My +father's voice summoned me. "Now, Jack," he said, "as you have chosen +your bed, you must lie on it. But remember--after a year's trial--if +you change your mind, let me know." + +"No fear of that, sir," I answered. + +"We shall see, Jack," he replied. He wrung my hand, and gave me his +blessing. "I have directed Mr Junk to provide your outfit, and you +will find it all right." Who Mr Junk was I had no conception; but as +my father said it was all right, I troubled my head no more about the +matter. + +My father's old clerk, Simon Munch, was waiting for me at the door, and +hurried me off to catch the Newcastle coach. On our arrival there he +took me to the office of Junk, Tarbox and Company, shipbrokers. + +"Here is the young gentleman, Mr Junk," he said, addressing a one-eyed, +burly, broad-shouldered personage, with a rubicund countenance, in a +semi-nautical costume. "You know what to do with him, and so I leave +him in your hands. Good-bye, Jack, I hope you may like it." + +"No fear of that, Mr Munch," I answered; "and tell them at home that +you left me as jolly and happy as ever." + +"So, Master Brooke, you want to go to sea?" said Mr Junk, squirting a +stream of tobacco-juice across his office, and eyeing me with his sole +bloodshot blinker; "and you expect to like it?" + +"Of course I do; I expect to be happy wherever I am," I answered in a +confident tone. + +"We shall see," he replied. "I have sent your chest aboard of the +_Naiad_. Captain Grimes will be here anon, and I'll hand you over to +him." + +The person he spoke of just then made his appearance. I did not +particularly like my future commander's outside. He was a tall, gaunt +man, with a long weather-beaten visage and huge black or rather grizzled +whiskers; and his voice, when he spoke, was gruff and harsh in the +extreme. I need not further describe him; only I will observe that he +looked considerably cleaner then than he usually did, as I afterwards +found on board the brig. He took but little notice of me beyond a +slight nod, as he was busy with the ship's papers. Having pocketed +them, he grasped me by the hand with a "Come along, my lad; I am to make +a seaman on ye." He spoke in a broad Northumbrian accent, and in a +harsh guttural tone. I was not prepossessed in his favour, but I +determined to show no signs of unwillingness to accompany him. + +We were soon seated in the stern of an excessively dirty boat, with +coal-dust-begrimed rowers, who pulled away with somewhat lazy strokes +towards a deeply-laden brig lying out in mid-stream. "Get on board, +leddie, with you," said the captain, who had not since my first +introduction addressed a single word to me. I clambered up on deck. +The boat was hoisted in, the topsails let fall, and the crew, with +doleful "Yeo-yo-o's," began working round the windlass, and the _Naiad_ +in due time was gliding down the Tyne. + +She was a very different craft to what I had expected to find myself on +board of. I had read about the white decks and snowy canvas, the bright +polish and the active, obedient crew of a man-of-war; and such I had +pictured the vessel I had hoped to sail in. The _Naiad_ was certainly a +contrast to this; but I kept to my resolve not to flinch from whatever +turned up. When I was told to pull and haul away at the ropes, I did so +with might and main; and, as everything on board was thickly coated with +coal-dust, I very soon became, as begrimed as the rest of the crew. + +I was rather astonished, on asking Captain Grimes when tea would be +ready--for I was very hungry--to be told that I might get what I could +with the men forward. I went down accordingly into the forecastle, +tumbling over a chest, and running my head against the stomach of one of +my new shipmates as I groped my way amid the darkness which shrouded it. +A cuff which sent me sprawling on the deck was the consequence. "Where +are your eyes, leddie?" exclaimed a gruff voice. "Ye'll see where ye +are ganging the next time." + +I picked myself up, bursting into a fit of laughter, as if the affair +had been a good joke. "I beg your pardon, old fellow," I said; "but if +you had had a chandelier burning in this place of yours it would not +have happened. How do you all manage to see down here?" + +"As cats do--we're accustomed to it," said another voice; and I now +began to distinguish objects around me. The watch below were seated +round a sea-chest, with three or four mugs, a huge loaf of bread, and a +piece of cheese and part of a flitch of fat cold bacon. It was rough +fare, but I was too hungry not to be glad to partake of it. + +A boy whom I had seen busy in the caboose soon came down with a kettle +of hot tea. My inquiry for milk produced a general laugh, but I was +told I might take as much sugar as I liked from a jar, which contained a +dark-brown substance unlike any sugar I had before seen. + +"Ye'll soon be asking for your bed, leddie," said Bob Tubbs, the old man +whose acquaintance I had so unceremoniously formed. "Ye'll find it +there, for'ard, if ye'll grope your way. It's not over airy, but it's +all the warmer in winter." + +After supper, I succeeded in finding the berth Bob had pointed out. It +was the lowest berth, directly in the very bows of the vessel--a +shelf-like space, about five feet in length, with height scarcely +sufficient to allow me to sit upright,--Dirty Dick, the ship's boy I +have mentioned, having the berth above me. Mine contained a mattress +and a couple of blankets. My inquiry for sheets produced as much +laughter as when I asked for milk. "Well, to be sure, as I suppose you +have not a washerwoman on board, they would not be of much use," I sang +out; "and so, unless the captain wants me to steer the ship, I will turn +in and go to sleep. Good night, mates." + +"The leddie has got some spirit in him," I heard Bob Tubbs observe. +"What do you call yourself, boy?" + +"Happy Jack!" I sang out; "and it's not this sort of thing that's going +to change me." + +"You'll prove a tough one, if something else doesn't," observed Bob from +his berth. "But gang to sleep, boy. Ye'll be put into a watch +to-morrow, and it's the last time, may be, that ye'll have to rest +through the night till ye set foot on shore again." I little then +thought how long a time that would prove; but, rolling myself up in my +blanket, I soon forgot where I was. + +Next morning I scrambled on deck, and found the brig plunging away into +a heavy sea, with a strong southerly wind, the coast just +distinguishable over our starboard quarter. The captain gave me a grim +smile as I made my way aft. + +"Well, leddie, how do you like it?" he inquired. + +"Thank you, pretty well," I answered; "but I hope we sha'n't have to +wait long for breakfast." + +He smiled again. "And you don't feel queer?" + +"No, not a bit of it," I replied. "But I say, captain, I thought I was +to come as a midshipman, and mess with the other young gentlemen on +board." + +He now fairly laughed outright; and looking at me for some time, +answered, "We have no young gentlemen on board here. You'll get your +breakfast in good time; but you are of the right sort, leddie, and +little Clem shall show you what you have got to do," pointing as he +spoke to a boy who just then came on deck, and whom I took to be his +son. + +"Thank you, captain," I observed; "I shall be glad of Clem's +instruction, as I suppose he knows more about the matter than I do." + +"Clem can hand, reef, and steer as well as any one, as far as his +strength goes," said the captain, looking approvingly at him. + +"I'll set to work as soon as he likes, then," I observed. "But I wish +those fellows would be sharp about breakfast, for I am desperately +hungry." + +"Well, go into the cabin, and Clem will give you a hunch of bread to +stay your appetite." + +I followed Clem below. "Here, Brooke, some butter will improve it," he +said, spreading a thick slice of bread. "And so you don't seem to be +seasick, like most fellows. Well, I am glad of that. My father will +like you all the better for it, and soon make a sailor of you, if you +wish to learn." + +I told Clem that was just what I wanted, and that I should look to him +to teach me my duties. + +"I'll do my best," he said. "Take my advice and dip your hands in the +tar bucket without delay, and don't shirk anything the mate puts you to. +My father is pretty gruff now and then, but old Growl is a regular +rough one. He does not say much to me, but you will have to look out +for squalls. Come, we had better go on deck, or old Growl will think +that I have been putting you up to mischief. He will soon pick a +quarrel with you, to see how you bear it." + +"I'll take good care to keep out of his way, then," I said, bolting the +last piece of bread and butter. "Thank you, Clem, you and I shall be +good friends, I see that." + +"I hope so," answered my young companion with a sigh. "I have not many +on board, and till you came I had no one to speak to except father, and +he is not always in the mood to talk." + +Clem's slice of bread and butter enabled me to hold out till the +forecastle breakfast was ready. I did ample justice to it. Directly I +made my reappearance on deck, old Growl set me to work, and I soon had +not only my hands but my arms up to the elbows in tar. Though the +vessel was pitching her head into the seas, with thick sheets of foam +flying over her, he quickly sent me aloft to black down the main +rigging. Clem showed me how to secure the bucket to the shrouds while I +was at work, and in spite of the violent jerks I received as the vessel +plunged her bluff bows into the sea, I got on very well. Before the +evening was over I had been out on the yards with little Clem to assist +in reefing the topsails, and he had shown me how to steer and box the +compass. + +Nothing particular occurred on the voyage, though we were ten days in +reaching the mouth of the Thames. Clem and I became great friends. The +more I saw of him the more I liked him, and wondered how so +well-mannered a lad could be the son of such a man as Captain Grimes. + +I saw nothing of London. I should, indeed, have been ashamed to go on +shore in my now thoroughly begrimed condition. We were but a short time +in the Thames, for as soon as we had discharged our cargo we again made +sail for the Tyne. + +Before this time old Growl, the mate, had taught me what starting meant. +He had generally a rope's end in his fist, and if not, one was always +near at hand. If I happened not to do a thing well enough or fast +enough to please him, he was immediately after me, laying the rope +across my shoulders, or anywhere he could most conveniently reach. I +generally managed to spring out of his way, and turn round and laugh at +him. If he followed me, I ran aloft, and, as I climbed much faster than +he could, I invariably led him a long chase. + +"I'll catch you, youngster, the next time. Mark me, that I will," he +shouted out to me one day, when more than usually angry. + +"Wait till the next time comes, mate," I sang out, and laughed more +heartily than before. + +The men sympathised with me, especially Dirty Dick. His shoulders, till +I came on board, had been accustomed to suffer most from the mate's ill +temper. Now and then old Growl, greatly to his delight, caught me +unawares; but, suffering as I did from his blows, I never let him see +that I cared for them, and used to laugh just as heartily as when I had +escaped from him. On this, however, he would grin sardonically, and +observe, "You may laugh as you like, young master, I know what a rope's +end tastes like; it's a precious deal bitterer than you would have me +fancy. I got enough of it when I was a youngster, and haven't forgotten +yet." + +One day when old Growl had treated me as I have described, and had gone +below, Clement came up to me. "I am so sorry the mate has struck you, +Brooke," he said. "It's a great shame. He dare not hit me; and when I +told father how he treats you, he told me to mind my own business, and +that it was all for your good." + +"I don't know how that can be," I answered; "but I don't care for it, I +can assure you. It hurts a little at the time, I'll allow, but I have +got used to it, and I don't intend to let him break my spirit or make me +unhappy." + +Clement all the time was doing his best to teach me what he knew, and I +soon learned to steer in smooth water, and could hand and reef the +topsails and knot and splice as well almost as he could. Some things I +did better, as I was much stronger and more active. I was put to do all +sorts of unpleasant work, such as blacking down the rigging, greasing +the masts, and helping Dirty Dick to clean the caboose and sweep out the +forecastle. Though I didn't like it, I went about the duty, however, as +if it was the pleasantest in the world. Pleasant or not, I was thus +rapidly becoming a seaman. + + + +STORY ONE, CHAPTER 2. + +I had as before, on reaching the Tyne, to remain and keep ship, though +little Clem went on shore and did not return till we had a fresh cargo +on board, and were just about sailing. + +Scarcely were we clear of the river than a heavy gale sprang up and +severely tried the old collier. The seas came washing over her deck, +and none of us for'ard had a dry rag on our backs. When my watch below +came, I was glad to turn in between my now darkly-tinted blankets; but +they soon became as wet as everything else, and when I went on deck to +keep my watch, I had again to put on my damp clothes. The forecastle +was fearfully hot and steamy. We had to keep the fore hatch closed to +prevent the seas which, washing over our decks, would otherwise have +poured down upon us. In a short time, as the ship strained more and +more while she struggled amid the waves, the water made its way through +the deck and sides till there was not a dry space to lie on in our +berths. Then I began really to understand the miseries of forecastle +life on board a collier, and many other craft too, in which British +seamen have to sail; with bad food, bad water, and worse treatment. Ay, +I speak the truth, which I know from experience, they have to live like +dogs, and, too often, die like dogs, with no one to care for them. + +Day after day this sort of work continued. I wondered that the captain +did not run back, till I heard him say that the price of coals was up in +the London market, and he wanted to be there before other vessels +arrived to lower it; so, tough seaman as he was, he kept thrashing the +old brig along against the south-westerly gale, which seemed to increase +rather than show any signs of moderating. We had always, during each +watch, to take a spell at the pumps, and now we had to keep them going +without intermission. I took my turn with the rest, and my shoulders +ached before I had done; still I sang and laughed away as usual. + +"It's no laughing matter, youngster," said old Growl, as he passed me. +"You will be laughing the wrong side of your mouth before long." + +"Never fear, mate," I replied; "both sides are the same to me." + +The captain and mate at last took their turns with the rest of us, for +the crew were getting worn out. I did not know the danger we were in, +but I was beginning to get tired of that dreadful "clank, clank, clank." + +At last, by dint of keeping at it, we had got a good way to the +southward, when one night, just as we had gone about hoping to lay our +course for the Thames, the wind shifted and came again right in our +teeth. I had turned into my wet bunk all standing, when, having dropped +off to sleep, I was awoke by a tremendous crash, and on springing up on +deck I found that the mainmast had gone by the board. The gale had +increased, and we were driving before it. As I made my way aft, the +flashes of lightning revealed the pale faces of the crew, some +endeavouring to clear away the wreck of the mast, others working with +frantic energy at the pumps. The leaks had increased. As may be +supposed, the deeply-laden collier had but a poor chance under such +circumstances. Presently the vessel gave a heavy lurch. A sea rolled +up. The next instant I found myself struggling in the midst of the +foaming surges. All around was dark; I felt for the deck of the vessel, +it was not beneath me; I had been washed overboard. I struck out for +life, and in another minute I was clinging to the mainmast, which had +been cut clear. I clambered up on it, and looked out for the brig. She +was nowhere to be seen; she must have gone down beneath the surge which +washed me from her deck. What had become of my shipmates? I shouted +again and again at the top of my voice. There was a faint cry, "Help +me; help me." I knew the voice; it was Clement's. Leaving the mast, I +swam towards him; he was lashed to a spar. The old captain's last act +had been to try and save the young boy's life ere he himself sank +beneath the waves. I caught hold of the spar, bidding Clement keep his +head above the water while I towed it to the mast. I succeeded, and +then clambering on it, and casting off the lashings, dragged him up and +placed him beside me. We hailed again and again, but no voice replied. +It may seem strange that we, the two youngest on board, should have +survived, while all the men were drowned, but then, not one of them +could swim. We could, and, under Providence, were able to struggle for +our lives. + +I did my best to cheer up little Clem, telling him that if we could +manage to hold on till daylight, as a number of vessels were certain to +pass, we should be picked up. "I am very, very sorry, Clem, for your +father," I said; "for though he was somewhat gruff to me, he was a +kind-hearted man, I am sure." + +"That indeed he was," answered Clement, in a tone of sorrow. "He was +always good to me; but he was not my father, as you fancy--the more +reason I have to be grateful to him." + +"Not your father, Clem!" I exclaimed. "I never suspected that." + +"No, he was not; though he truly acted the part of one to me. Do you +know, Brooke, this is not the first time that I have been left alone +floating on the ocean? I was picked up by him just as you hope that we +shall be picked up. I was a very little fellow, so little that I could +give no account of myself. He found a black woman and me floating all +alone on a raft out in the Atlantic. She died almost immediately we +were rescued, without his being able to learn anything from her. He had +to bury her at sea, and when he got home he in vain tried to find out my +friends, though he preserved, I believe, the clothes I had on, and most +of her clothes. He sent me to an excellent school, where I was well +taught; and Mrs Grimes, who was a dear, kind lady, far more refined +than you would suppose his wife to have been, acted truly like a mother +to me. He was very fond of her, and when she died, nearly a year ago, +he took me to sea with him. I did not, however, give up my studies, but +used to sit in the cabin, and every day read as much as I could. +Captain Grimes used to say that he was sure I was a gentleman born, and +a gentleman he wished me to be, and so I have always felt myself." + +I had been struck by little Clem's refined manners, and this was now +accounted for. "I am sure you are a gentleman, Clem," I observed; "and +if we ever get home, my father, who is a lawyer, shall try to find out +your friends. He may be able to succeed though Captain Grimes could +not. I wonder he did not apply to my father, as, from my having been +sent on board his ship, the captain must have known him. I suspect that +they wanted to sicken me of a sea life, and so sent me on board the +_Naiad_; but they were mistaken; and now when they hear that she has +gone down--if we are not picked up--how sorry they will be!" + +The conversation I have described was frequently interrupted--sometimes +by a heavier sea than usual rolling by, and compelling us to hold tight +for our lives; at others we were silent for several minutes together. +We were seated on the after-part of the maintop, the rigging which hung +down on either side acting as ballast, and contributing to keep the +wreck of the mast tolerably steady in one position. We were thus +completely out of the water, though the spray from the crest of the seas +which was blown over us kept us thoroughly wet and cold. Fortunately, +we both had on thick clothing. Clement was always nicely dressed, for +the captain, though not particular about himself, liked to see him look +neat, while I, on the contrary, had on my oldest working suit, and was +as rough-looking a sea-dog as could be imagined. My old tarry coat and +trousers, and sou'-wester tied under my chin, contributed, however, to +keep out the wind, and enable me the better to endure the cold to which +we were exposed. I sheltered Clem as well as I could, and held him +tight whenever I saw a sea coming towards him, fearing lest he might be +washed away. I had made up my mind to perish with him rather than let +him go. Hour after hour passed by, till at length, the clouds breaking, +the moon came forth and shone down upon us. I looked at Clem's face: it +was very pale, and I was afraid he would give way altogether. "Hold on, +hold on, Clem," I exclaimed. "The wind is falling, and the sea will +soon go down; we shall have daylight before long, and in the meantime we +have the moon to cheer us up. Perhaps we shall be on shore this time +to-morrow, and comfortably in bed; and then we will go back to my +father, and he will find out all about your friends. He is a +wonderfully clever man, though a bit strict, to be sure." + +"Thank you, Jack, thank you," he answered. "Don't be afraid; I feel +pretty strong, only somewhat cold and hungry." + +Just then I recollected that I had put the best part of a biscuit into +my pocket at tea-time, having been summoned on deck as I was eating it. +It was wet, to be sure; but such biscuits as we had take a good deal of +soaking to soften thoroughly. I felt for it. There it was. So I put a +small piece into Clem's mouth. He was able to swallow it. Then I put +in another, and another; and so I fed him, till he declared he felt much +better. I had reserved a small portion for myself, but as I knew that I +could go on without it, I determined to keep it, lest he should require +more. + +I continued to do my best to cheer him up by talking to him of my home, +and how he might find his relations and friends, and then I bethought me +that I would sing a _song_. I don't suppose that many people have sung +under such circumstances, but I managed to strike up a stave, one of +those with which I had been accustomed to amuse my messmates in the +_Naiad's_ forecastle. It was not, perhaps, one of the merriest, but it +served to divert Clem's thoughts, as well as mine, from our perilous +position. + +"I wish that I could sing too," said Clem; "but I know I could not, if I +was to try. I wonder you can, Jack." + +"Why? because I am sure that we shall be picked up before long, and so I +see no reason why I should not try to be happy," I answered +thoughtlessly. + +"Ah, but I am thinking of those who are gone," said Clem. "My kind +father, as I called him, and old Growl, and the rest of the poor +fellows; it is like singing over their graves." + +"You are right, Clem," I said; "I will sing no more, though I only did +it to keep up your spirits. But what is that?" I exclaimed, suddenly, +as we rose to the crest of a sea. "A large ship standing directly for +us." + +"Yes; she is close-hauled, beating down Channel," observed Clement. +"She will be right upon us, too, if she keeps her present course." + +"We must take care to let her know where we are, by shouting together at +the top of our voices when we are near enough to be heard," I said. + +"She appears to me to be a man-of-war, and probably a sharp look-out is +kept forward," Clement remarked. We had not observed the ship before, +as our faces had been turned away from her. The sea had, however, been +gradually working the mast round, as I knew to be the case by the +different position in which the moon appeared to us. + +"We must get ready for a shout, Clem, and then cry out together as we +have never cried before. I'll say when we are to begin." + +As the ship drew nearer Clem had no doubt that she was a man-of-war, a +large frigate apparently, under her three topsails and courses. + +"She is passing to windward of us," I exclaimed. + +"Not so sure of that," cried Clem. "She will be right over us if we do +not cry out in time." + +"Let us begin, then," I said. "Now, shout away, Hip! Hip!" + +"No, no!" cried Clem, "that will not do. Shout `Ship ahoy!'" + +I had forgotten for the moment what to say, so together we began +shouting as shrilly as we could, at the very top of our voices. Again +and again we shouted. I began to fear that the ship would be right over +us, when presently we saw her luff up. The moon was shining down upon +us, and we were seen. So close, even then, did the frigate pass, that +the end of the mast we were clinging to almost grazed her side. Ropes +were hove to us, but the ship had too much way on her, and it was +fortunate we could not seize them. "Thank you," I cried out. "Will you +take us aboard?" There was no answer, and I thought that we were to be +left floating on our mast till some other vessel might sight us. We +were mistaken, though. We could hear loud orders issued on board, but +what was said we could not make out, and presently the ship came up to +the wind, the head yards were braced round, and she lay hove-to. Then +we saw a boat lowered. How eagerly we watched what was being done. She +came towards us. The people in her shouted to us in a strange language. +They were afraid, evidently, of having their boat stove in by the wreck +of the mast. At last they approached us cautiously. + +"Come, Clem, we will swim to her," I said. "Catch tight hold of my +jacket; I have got strength enough left in me for that." + +We had not far to go, but I found it a tougher job than I expected. It +would have been wiser to have remained till we could have leaped from +the mast to the boat. I was almost exhausted by the time we reached +her, and thankful when I felt Clem lifted off my back, I myself, when +nearly sinking, being next hauled on board. We were handed into the +stern-sheets, where we lay almost helpless. I tried to speak, but could +not, nor could I understand a word that was said. The men at once +pulled back to the ship, and a big seaman, taking Clem under one of his +arms, clambered up with him on deck. Another carried me on board in the +same fashion. The boat was then hoisted up, and the head yards being +braced round, the ship continued her course. Lanterns being brought, we +were surrounded by a group of foreign-looking seamen, who stared +curiously at us, asking, I judged from the tones of their voices, all +sorts of questions, but as their language was as strange to us as ours +was to them, we couldn't understand a word they said, or make them +comprehend what we said. + +"If you would give us some hot grog, and let us turn into dry hammocks, +we should be much obliged to you," I cried out at last, despairing of +any good coming of all their talking. + +Just as I spoke, an officer with a cloak on came from below, having +apparently turned out of his berth. "Ah, you are English," I heard him +say. "Speak to me. How came you floating out here?" + +I told him that our vessel had gone down, and that we, as far as I knew, +were the only survivors of the crew. + +"And who is that other boy?" + +"The captain's son," I answered. + +"Ah, I thought so, by his appearance," said the officer. "He shall be +taken into the cabin. You, my boy, will have a hammock on the lower +deck, and the hot grog you asked for. I'll visit you soon. I am the +doctor of the ship." + +He then spoke to the men, and while Clement was carried aft, I was +lifted up and conveyed below by a couple of somewhat rough but not +ill-natured-looking seamen. I was more exhausted than I had supposed, +for on the way I fainted, and many hours passed by before I returned to +a state of half consciousness. + + + +STORY ONE, CHAPTER 3. + +In three days I was quite well, and the doctor sending me a suit of +seaman's clothes, I dressed and found my way up on deck. I looked about +eagerly for Clem, but not seeing him, I became anxious to learn how he +was. I could make none of the men understand me. Most of them were +Finns--big broad-shouldered, ruddy, light-haired, bearded fellows; very +good-natured and merry, notwithstanding the harsh treatment they often +received. Big as they were, they were knocked about like so many boys +by the petty officers, and I began to feel rather uncomfortable lest I +should come in for share of the same treatment, of which I had had +enough from the hands of old Growl. I determined, however, to grin and +bear it, and do, as well as I could, whatever I was told. + +I soon found that I was not to be allowed to eat the bread of idleness, +for a burly officer, whom I took to be the boatswain, ordered me aloft +with several other boys, to hand the fore royal, a stiff breeze just +then coming on. Up I went; and though I had never been so high above +the deck before, that made but little difference, and I showed that I +could beat my companions in activity. When I came down the boatswain +nodded his approval. I kept looking out for Clem. At last I saw my +friend the doctor, with several other officers, on the quarter-deck. I +hurried aft to him, and, touching my cap, asked him how Clem was. The +others stared at me as if surprised at my audacity in thus venturing +among them. "The boy is doing well," he answered; "but, lad, I must +advise you not to infringe the rules of discipline. You were, I +understand, one of the ship's boys, and must remain for'ard. He is a +young gentleman, and such his dress and appearance prove him to be, will +be allowed to live with the midshipmen." + +"I am very glad to hear that," I answered; "but I am a gentleman's son +also, and I should like to live with the midshipmen, that I may be with +Clem." + +"Your companion has said something to the same effect," observed the +doctor; "but the captain remarks that there are many wild, idle boys +sent to sea who may claim to be the sons of gentlemen; and as your +appearance shows, as you acknowledge was the case, that you were before +the mast, there you must continue till your conduct proves that you are +deserving of a higher rank. And now go for'ard. I'll recollect what +you have said." I took the hint. The seamen grinned as I returned +among them, as if they had understood what I had been saying. + +I kept to my resolution of doing smartly whatever I was told, and +laughed and joked with the men, trying to understand their lingo, and to +make myself understood by them. I managed to pick up some of their +words, though they almost cracked my jaws to pronounce them; but I +laughed at my own mistakes, and they seemed to think it very good fun to +hear me talk. + +Several days passed away, when at length I saw Clement come on deck. I +ran aft to him, and he came somewhat timidly to meet me. We shook +hands, and I told him how glad I was to see him better, though he still +looked very pale. "I am very glad also to see you, Jack," he said, "and +I wish we were to be together. I told the doctor I would rather go and +live for'ard than be separated from you; but he replied that that could +not be, and I have hopes, Jack, that by-and-by you will be placed on the +quarter-deck if you will enter the Russian service." + +"What! and give up being an Englishman?" I exclaimed. "I would do a +great deal to be with you, but I won't abandon my country and be +transmogrified into a Russian." + +"You are right, Jack," said Clem, with a sigh; "however, the officers +will not object to my talking with you, and we must hope for the best." +After this I was constantly thinking how I should act should I have the +option of being placed on the quarter-deck and becoming an officer in +the Russian service, for we were on board a Russian frigate. + +Clem got rapidly better, and we every day met and had a talk together. +Altogether, as the boatswain's lash did not often reach me, though he +used it pretty freely among my companions, I was as happy as usual. I +should have been glad to have had less train-oil and fat in the food +served out to us, and should have preferred wheaten flour to the black +rye and beans which I had to eat. Still that was a trifle, and I soon +got accustomed to the greasy fare. Clem was now doing duty as a +midshipman, and I was in the same watch with him. + +The weather had hitherto been generally fine; but one night as the sun +went down, I thought I saw indications of a gale. Still the wind didn't +come, and the ship went gliding smoothly over the ocean. I was in the +middle watch, and had just come on deck. I had made my way aft, where I +found Clem, and, leaning against a gun, we were talking together of dear +old England, wondering when we should get back there, when a sudden +squall struck the ship, and the hands were ordered aloft to reef +topsails. I sprang aloft with the rest, and lay out on the lee fore +yard-arm. I was so much more active than most of my shipmates, that I +had become somewhat careless. As I was leaning over to catch hold of a +reef point, I lost my balance, and felt, as I fell head foremost, that I +was about to have my brains dashed out on the deck below me. The +instant before the wind had suddenly ceased, and the sail giving a flap, +hung down almost against the mast. Just at that moment, filled with the +breeze, it bulged out again, and striking me, sent me flying overboard. +Instinctively I put my hands together, and, plunging down, struck the +now foaming water head first. I sank several feet, though I scarcely +for a moment lost consciousness, and when I came to the surface I found +myself striking out away from the ship, which was gliding rapidly by me. +I heard a voice sing out, "A man overboard." I knew that it must have +been Clem's, and I saw a spar and several other things thrown into the +water. I do not know whether the life-buoy was let go. I did not see +it. Turning round I struck out in the wake of the ship, but the gale +just then coming with tremendous fury, drove her on fast away from me, +and she speedily disappeared in the thick gloom. I should have lost all +hope had I not at that moment come against a spar, and a large basket +with a rope attached to it, which was driven almost into my hands. +Climbing on to the spar, to which I managed to lash the basket, I then +got into the latter, where I could sit without much risk of being washed +out. It served, indeed, as a tolerably efficient life-preserver; for +although the water washed in and washed out, and the seas frequently +broke over my head, I was able to hold myself in without much trouble. +I still had some hopes that the ship would come back and look for me. + +At length I thought I saw her approaching through the darkness. It +raised my spirits, and I felt a curious satisfaction, in addition to the +expectation of being saved, at the thought that I was not to be +carelessly abandoned to my fate. I anxiously gazed in the direction +where I fancied the ship to be, but she drew no nearer, and the dark +void filled the space before me. Still I did not give way to despair, +though I found it a hard matter to keep up. I had been rescued before, +and I hoped to be saved another time. Then, however, I had been in a +comparatively narrow sea, with numerous vessels passing over it. Now I +was in the middle of the Atlantic, which, although rightly called a +highway, was a very broad one. I could not also help recollecting that +I was in the latitude where sharks abound, and I thought it possible +that one might make a grab at my basket, and try to swallow it and me +together, although I smiled at the thought of the inconvenience the fish +would feel when it stuck its teeth into the yard, and got it fixed +across its mouth. Happily no shark espied me. + +Day at last dawned. As I looked around when I rose to the summit of a +sea, my eyes fell alone on the dark, tumbling, foaming waters, and the +thick clouds going down to meet them. I began to feel very hungry and +thirsty, for though I had water enough around me, I dare not drink it. +I now found it harder than ever to keep up my spirits, and gloomy +thoughts began to take possession of my mind. No one, I confess, would +have called me Happy Jack just then. I was sinking off into a state of +stupor, during which I might easily have been washed out of my cradle, +when, happening to open my eyes, they fell on the sails of a large brig +standing directly for me. I could scarcely fail to be seen by those on +board. On she came before the breeze; but as she drew nearer I began to +fear that she might still pass at some distance. I tried to stand up +and shout out, but I was nearly toppling overboard in making the +attempt. I managed, however, to kneel upon the spar and wave my +handkerchief, shouting as I did so with all my might. The brig altered +her course, and now came directly down for me. I made out two or three +people in the forechains standing ready to heave me a rope. I prepared +to seize it. The brig was up to me and nearly running me down, but I +caught the first rope hove to me, and grasped it tightly. I could +scarcely have expected to find myself capable of so much exertion. +Friendly hands were stretched out to help me up, but scarcely was I safe +than I sank down almost senseless on deck. I soon, however, recovered, +and being taken below, and dry clothes and food being given me, I +quickly felt as well as usual. "Where am I, and where are you bound +to?" were the first questions I asked, hoping to hear that I was on +board a homeward-bound vessel. "You are on board the American brig +_Fox_ bound out round the Horn to the Sandwich Islands and the west +coast of North America," was the answer. "But I want to go home to +England," I exclaimed. "Well, then, I guess you had better get into +your basket, and wait till another vessel picks you up," replied the +captain, to whom I had addressed myself. "Thank you, I would rather +stay here with dry clothes on my back and something to eat," I said. +"Perhaps, however, captain, you will speak any homeward-bound vessel we +meet, and get her to take me?" + +"Not likely to fall in with one," he observed. "You had better make the +best of things where you are." + +"That's what I always try to do," I replied. "You are the right sort of +youngster for me, then," he said. "Only don't go boasting of your proud +little venomous island among my people. We are true Americans, fore and +aft, except some of the passengers, and they would be better off if they +would sink their notions and pay more respect to the stars and stripes. +However, you will have nothing to do with them, for you will do your +duty for'ard I guess." I thought it wiser to make no reply to these +remarks, and as the crew were just going to dinner, I gladly accompanied +them into their berth under the topgallant forecastle. The crew, I +found, though American citizens, were of all nationalities--Danes, and +Swedes, and Frenchmen, with too or three mulattoes and a black cook. +They described Captain Pyke, for that was the master's name, as a +regular Tartar, and seemed to have no great love for him, though they +held him in especial awe. I was thankful at being so soon picked up, +but I would rather have found myself on board a different style of +craft. The cabin passengers were going out to join one of the +establishments of the great Fur Trading Company on the Columbia river. +They were pleasant, gentlemanly-looking men, and I longed to introduce +myself to them, as I was beginning to get somewhat weary of the rough +characters with whom I was doomed to associate. But from what the men +told me, I felt sure that if I did so I should make the captain my +enemy. He and they were evidently not on good terms. I got on, +however, pretty well with the crew, and as I could speak a little +French, I used to talk to the Frenchmen in their own language, my +mistakes affording them considerable amusement, though, as they +corrected me, I gradually improved. + +Among the crew were two other persons whom I will particularly mention. +One went by the name of "Old Tom." He was relatively old with regard to +the rest of our shipmates, rather than old in years--a wiry, active, +somewhat wizen-faced man, with broad shoulders, and possessing great +muscular strength. I suspected from the first, from the way he spoke, +that he was not a Yankee born. His language, when talking to me, was +always correct, without any nasal twang; and that he was a man of some +education I was convinced, when I heard him once quote, as if speaking +to himself, a line of Horace. He never smiled, and there was a +melancholy expression on his countenance, which made me fancy that +something weighed on his mind. He did not touch spirits, but his short +pipe was seldom out of his mouth. When, however, he sat with the rest +in the forecastle berth, his manner completely changed, and he talked, +and argued, and wrangled, and guessed, and calculated, with as much +vehemence as any one, entering with apparent zest into their ribald +conversation, though even then the most humorous remark or jest failed +to draw forth a laugh from his lips. + + + +STORY ONE, CHAPTER 4. + +The other person was a lad a couple of years my senior, called always +"Young Sam," apparently one of those unhappy waifs cast on the bleak +world without relations or friends to care for him. He was a fine young +fellow, with a blue laughing eye, dauntless and active, and promised to +become a good seaman. In spite of the rough treatment he often received +from his shipmates, he kept up his spirits, and as our natures in that +respect assimilated, I felt drawn towards him. The only person who +seemed to take any interest in him, however, was old Tom, who saved him +from many a blow; still, no two characters could apparently have more +completely differed. Young Sam seemed a thoughtless, care-for-nothing +fellow, always laughing and jibing those who attacked him, and ready for +any fun or frolic which turned up. He appreciated, however, old Tom's +kindness; and the only times I saw him look serious were when he +received a gentle rebuke from his friend for any folly he had committed +which had brought him into trouble. I believe, indeed, that young Sam +would have gone through fire and water to show his gratitude to old Tom, +while I suspect that the latter, in spite of his harsh exterior, had a +heart not altogether seared by the world, which required some one on +whom to fix its kindlier feelings. + +I had been some time on board when we put into a port at the Falkland +Islands, then uninhabited, to obtain a supply of water. While the crew +of the boats were engaged in filling the casks, Mr Duncan, one of the +gentlemen, taking young Sam with him, went into the interior to shoot +wild-fowl. + +The casks were filled; and the boats, after waiting for some time the +return of Mr Duncan and Sam, came back. Mr Symonds, the second mate, +proposed to return for our shipmates after the casks had been hoisted on +board. The captain seemed very angry at this; and when Mr Symonds was +shoving off from the brig's side, ordered him back. He was hesitating, +when another gentleman jumped into the boat, declaring that he would not +allow his companion to be left behind, and promised the men a reward if +they would shove off. Two of the men agreed to go in the boat, and the +mate, with the rest, coming up the side, they pulled away for the shore. + +The captain walked the deck, fuming and raging, every now and then +turning an angry glance at the land and pulling out his watch. "He +means mischief," muttered old Tom in my hearing; "but if he thinks to +leave young Sam ashore to die of starvation, he is mistaken." + +The night drew on, and the boat had not returned. My watch being over, +I turned in, supposing that the brig would remain at anchor till the +morning. I was, however, awakened in the middle watch by old Tom's +voice. "Come on deck, Jack," he said; "there's mischief brewing; the +captain had a quarrel with Mr Duncan the other day, and he hates young +Sam for his impudence, as he calls it, and so I believe he intends to +leave them behind if he can do so; but he is mistaken. We will not lift +anchor till they are safe on board, or a party has been sent to look for +them. They probably lost their way, and could not get back to the +harbour before dark. There are no wild beasts or savages on shore, and +so they could not come to harm; you slip into the cabin, and call the +other gentlemen, and I'll manage the crew, who have just loosed +topsails, and are already at the windlass with the cable hove short." + +I was on deck in an instant, and, keeping on one side, while the captain +was on the other, managed to slip into the cabin. I told the gentlemen +of old Tom's suspicions, and observed that the captain probably thought +those in the boat would return without Mr Duncan and Sam, when they saw +the vessel making sail. + +They instantly began to dress; and one of them, a spirited young +Highlander, Mr McIvor, put a brace of pistols into his belt and +followed me on deck. I tried to escape being seen by the captain, but +he caught sight of me, I was sure, though I stooped down and kept close +to the bulwarks as I crept for'ard. + +By this time the men were heaving at the windlass, which they continued +to do, in spite of what old Tom said to them. The captain had overheard +him, and threatened to knock the first man down with a handspike who +ceased to work. Old Tom, however, had got one in his hand, and the +captain did not dare to touch him. In another instant I heard Mr +McIvor's voice exclaiming, "What is this all about, Captain Pyke? What! +are you going to leave our friends on shore?" + +"If your friends don't come off at the proper time they must take the +consequences," answered the captain. "Then, what I have got to say, +Captain Pyke, is, that I'll not allow them to be deserted, and that I +intend to carry out my resolution with a pretty strong argument--the +instant the anchor leaves the ground I'll shoot you through the head." + +"Mutiny! mutiny!" shouted the captain, starting back, "seize this man +and heave him overboard." As he spoke the other two gentlemen made +their appearance, and old Tom and I, with two or three others, stepped +up close to them, showing the captain the side we intended to take. +Neither of the mates moved, while the men folded their arms and looked +on, showing that they did not intend to interfere. + +"Very well, gentlemen," cried the captain, "I see how matters stand--you +have been bribing the crew. I'll agree to wait for the boat, and if she +does not come with the missing people we must give them up for lost." + +"That depends upon circumstances," said Mr McIvor, returning his pistol +to his belt. He and the rest continued to walk the deck, while the +captain went, muttering threats of vengeance, into his cabin. + +None of us after this turned in. In a short time the splash of oars was +heard, and the boat came alongside. "We have come for food," said Mr +Fraser, one of the gentlemen who had gone in her. "I intend going back +at daylight, and must get two or three others to accompany me. We will +then have a thorough search for Duncan and the boy--there is no doubt +that they have lost their way, and if we fire a few muskets, they will, +with the help of daylight, easily find the harbour. Mr McIvor promised +to accompany his friend, and I volunteered to go also." + +"No, Jack," said old Tom, "you remain with me. If we all go, the +captain may be playing us some trick." I don't know what side old Tom +would have taken if it had not been for young Sam. Judging by his usual +conduct, I suspect that he would have stood with his arms folded, and +let the rest, as he would have said, fight it out by themselves. + +At daylight the boat pulled away with Mr McIvor and another additional +hand, taking a couple of muskets with them. Shortly afterwards the +captain appeared on deck--though he cast frequent angry glances towards +the shore, he said nothing--probably he could not afford to lose so many +hands, as there were now four away, besides the two gentlemen, while the +aspect of old Tom, with the rest of the crew, kept him from attempting +to carry out his evil intentions. Two or three times, notwithstanding +this, I thought he was about to order the anchor to be hove up; but +again he seemed to hesitate, and at length, towards noon, the boat was +seen coming off, with Mr Duncan and Sam in her. The captain said +nothing to the gentlemen, but, as soon as the boat was hoisted up, he +began to belabour poor Sam with a rope's end. He was still striking the +lad, when old Tom stepped between them, grasping a handspike. "What has +the lad done, sir?" he exclaimed. "Why not attack Mr Duncan? If +anyone is to blame for the delay, he is the person, not young Sam." The +gentlemen were advancing while old Tom was speaking, and several of the +crew cried out shame. The captain again found himself in the minority, +and, without replying to old Tom, walked aft, muttering between his +teeth. + +These incidents will give some idea of the state of matters on board the +ship. + +We now made sail, with a gentle breeze right aft, but scarcely had we +lost sight of the islands when a heavy gale sprang up. The lighter +canvas was instantly handed--young Sam and one of the men who had gone +in the boat were ordered out on the jibboom to furl the flying-jib. As +they were about this work, a tremendous sea struck the bows, the gaskets +got loose, the jibboom was carried away, and with it the two poor +fellows who were endeavouring to secure the sail. The captain, who had +seen the accident, took no notice of it, but the first mate, not wishing +to have their death on his conscience, sprang aft and ordered the ship +to be brought to, while others hove overboard every loose piece of +timber, empty casks, or hencoops, which they could lay hands on, to give +our shipmates a chance of escape. Old Tom and I instantly ran to the +jolly-boat, and were easing off the falls, when I felt myself felled to +the deck by a blow on the head, the captain's voice exclaiming, "What, +you fools, do you wish to go after them and be drowned too?" When I +came to myself I saw the boat made fast, and could just distinguish the +articles thrown overboard floating astern, while old Tom was standing +gazing at them with sorrowful looks, the eyes of all on board, indeed, +being turned in the same direction. + +"It would have been no use, Jack," he said, heaving a deep sigh; "the +captain was right, the boat couldn't have lived two minutes in this sea, +but I would have risked my life to try and save young Sam, though, for +your sake, my boy, it's better as it is." + +After this the ship was put on her course, and we stood on, plunging +away into the heavy seas which rose around us, and threatened every +instant to break on board the brig. The passengers looked, and, I +daresay, felt very melancholy at the accident, for young Sam especially, +was liked by them, and on that account Mr Duncan had taken him on his +expedition. Old Tom could scarcely lift up his head, and even the rest +of the crew refrained from their usual gibes and jokes. The captain +said nothing, but I saw by the way he treated the first mate that he was +very savage with him for the part he had taken in attempting to save the +poor fellows. + +After this old Tom was kinder than ever to me, and evidently felt +towards me as he had towards young Sam, whose duties as everybody's +servant I had now to take, being the youngest on board, and least able +to hold my own against the captain's tyranny, and the careless and often +rough treatment of the crew. + +I had some time before told poor young Sam how I used to be called +"Happy Jack," and he went and let out what I had said among the men. +When one of them started me with a rope's end, he would sing out, +"That's for you, `Happy Jack.'" Another would exclaim, "Go and swab the +deck down, `Happy Jack;'" or, "`Happy Jack,' go and help Mungo to clean +out the caboose, I hope you are happy now--pleasant work for a young +gentleman, isn't it?" + +"Look you," I replied one day, when this remark was made to me, "I am +alive and well, and hope some day to see my home and friends, so, +compared to the lot of poor young Sam and Dick Noland, who are fathoms +deep down in the ocean, I think I have a right to say I am happy--your +kicks and cuffs only hurt for a time, and I manage soon to forget them. +If it's any pleasure to you to give them, all I can say is, that it's a +very rum sort of pleasure; and now you have got my opinion about the +matter." + +"That's the spirit I like to see," exclaimed old Tom, slapping me on the +back soon afterwards, "You'll soon put a stop to that sort of thing." I +found he was right; and, though I had plenty of dirty work to do, still, +after that, not one of the men ever lifted his hand against me. The +captain, however, was not to be so easily conquered, and so I took good +care to stand clear of him whenever I could. + +The rough weather continued till we had made Cape Horn, which rose dark +and frowning out of the wild heaving ocean. We were some time doubling +it, and were several days in sight of Terra del Fuego, but we did not +see anything like a burning mountain--indeed, no volcanoes exist at that +end of the Andes. + +The weather moderated soon after we were round the Horn, but in a short +time another gale sprung up, during which our bulwarks were battered in, +one of our boats carried away, our bowsprit sprung, and the +foretop-sail, the only canvas we had set, blown to ribbons. Besides +this, we received other damages, which contributed still further to sour +our captain's temper. We were at one time so near the ironbound coast +that there seemed every probability that we should finish off by being +dashed to pieces on the rocks. Happily, the wind moderated, and a fine +breeze springing up, we ran on merrily into the Pacific. + +Shortly after, we made the island of Juan Fernandez, and, as I saw its +wood-covered heights rising out of the blue ocean, I could not help +longing to go on shore and visit the scenes I had read about in Robinson +Crusoe. I told old Tom about my wish. Something more like a smile than +I had ever yet seen, rose on his countenance. "I doubt, Jack, that you +would find any traces of the hero you are so fond of," he observed; "I +believe once upon a time an Englishman did live there, left by one of +the ships of Commodore Anson's squadron, but that was long ago, and the +Spaniards have turned it into a prison, something like our Norfolk +Island." + + + +STORY ONE, CHAPTER 5. + +We, however, did call off another island in the neighbourhood, called +Massafuera, to obtain a supply of wood and water. The ship was hove-to, +and the pinnace and jolly-boat were sent on shore with casks. I was +anxious to go, but old Tom kept me back. "You stay where you are, +Jack," he said, "or the skipper may play you some trick. It's a +dangerous place to land at, you are sure of a wetting, and may lose your +life in going through the surf." + +In the evening, when the party returned, I found this to be the case. +Still, I might have been tempted, I think, to run off and let the ship +sail away without me, as I heard that there were plenty of goats on the +island, abundance of water, and that the vegetation was very rich. + +It is also an exceedingly picturesque spot, the mountains rising +abruptly from the sea, surrounded by a narrow strip of beach. Those who +went on shore had also caught a large quantity of fish, of various +sorts, as well as lobsters and crabs, which supplied all hands for +several days. + +Perhaps old Tom had a suspicion of what I might have been tempted to do, +and I fancied that was his chief reason for keeping me on board. + +The idea having once taken possession of my mind, I resolved to make my +escape at the next tempting-looking island we might touch at, should I +find any civilised men living there, or should it be uninhabited. I had +no wish to live among savages, as I had read enough of their doings to +make me anxious to keep out of their way, and I was not influenced by +motives which induce seamen to run from their ships for the sake of +living an idle, profligate life, free from the restraints of +civilisation. + +A few days after leaving Massafuera, we got into the trade winds, which +carried us swiftly along to the northward. Again we crossed the +equator; and about three weeks afterwards made the island of Owhyee, the +largest of the Sandwich Islands. As we coasted along, we enjoyed the +most magnificent view I had ever beheld. Along the picturesque shore +were numerous beautiful plantations, while beyond it rose the rocky and +dreary sides of the gigantic Mouna Eoa, its snow-clad summit towering to +the clouds. It was on this island that Captain Cook was murdered by the +now friendly and almost civilised natives, who have, indeed, since +become in many respects completely so, and taken their place among the +nations of the world. + +We sailed on, passing several islands, when we brought up in the +beautiful bay of Whytetee. Near the shore was a village situated in an +open grove of cocoa-nut trees, with the hills rising gently in the rear, +presenting a charming prospect. The more I gazed at it, the more I +longed to leave the brig, and go and dwell there, especially as I heard +that there were several respectable Englishmen and Americans already +settled on the island, and that they were held in high favour by the +king and his chiefs. Still old Tom had been so kind to me, and I +entertained so sincere a regard for him, that I could not bear the +thoughts of going away without bidding him farewell. I was afraid, +however, of letting him know my intentions. Often I thought that I +would try and persuade him to go too. I began by speaking of the +beautiful country, and the delicious climate, and the kind manners of +the people, and how pleasantly our countrymen, residing there, must pass +their lives. "I know what you are driving at, Jack," he said, "You want +to run from the ship; isn't it so?" I confessed that such was the case, +and asked him to go with me. "No, Jack," he replied, "I am not one of +those fellows who act thus; I have done many a thing I am sorry for, but +I engaged for the voyage, and swore to stick by the brig; and while she +holds together, unless the captain sets me free, I intend to do so. And +Jack, though you are at liberty to do what you like, you wouldn't leave +me, would you?" He spoke with much feeling in his tone. "Since young +Sam went, you are the only person I have cared to speak to on board, and +if you were to go, I should feel as if I were left alone in the world. +I should have liked to have made friends with those fine young men, +Duncan and McIvor. Once (you may be surprised to hear it) I was their +equal in position, but they don't trouble themselves about such a man as +I now am, and they will soon be leaving the brig for the shore. If I +thought it was for your advantage, I would say, notwithstanding this, +go; but it isn't. You will get into bad ways if you go and live among +those savages--for savages they are, whatever you may say about them. +And you will probably be able to return home by sticking to the brig +sooner than any other way." + +These arguments weighed greatly with me, and I finally abandoned my +intention, greatly to old Tom's satisfaction. He redoubled his kindness +to me after this. Towards every one else he grew more silent and +reserved. + +I may just say, that the next day we anchored off Honoluloo, the chief +town, where the king and his court resided; and that we carried on some +trading with the people, his majesty in particular, and taking some +half-a-dozen Sandwich islanders on board to replace the men we had lost, +and, as old Tom observed, any others we might lose, we sailed for the +American coast. + +From that day I could not help observing a more than usually sad +expression on my friend's countenance; indeed, every day he seemed to +become more and more gloomy, and I determined to ask him what there was +on his mind to make him so. I took the opportunity I was looking for +one night when he was at the helm, and the second mate, who was officer +of the watch, had gone forward to have a chat, as he sometimes did, with +the men. The night was fine and clear, and we were not likely to have +eaves-droppers. "Tell me, Tom," I said, "what is the matter with you? +I wish that I could be of as much use to you as you have been to me." + +"Thank you, Jack," he answered; "the fact is, I have got something on my +mind, and as you have given me an opportunity, I'll tell you what it is. +I think I shall be the better afterwards, and you may be able to do for +me what I shall never have an opportunity of doing myself, for, Jack, I +cannot help feeling sure that my days are numbered. If that captain of +ours wishes to get rid of me, he will find means without staining his +hands in my blood, he will not do that, there are plenty of other ways +by which I may be expended, as they say of old stores in the navy. For +myself I care but little, but I should wish to remain to look after you, +and lend you a helping hand should you need it." + +"Thank you, Tom," I said, "I value the kind feelings you entertain for +me, and I hope that we shall be together till we reach England again. +But I was going to ask why you think that the captain wishes to get rid +of you? He can have no motive that I can discover to desire your +death." + +"He hates me, that's enough; he's a man who will go any lengths to +gratify his hate," answered old Tom. "But I promised to tell you about +the matter which weighs on my mind. Jack, I did many things when I was +a young man, which I am sorry for, but I was then chiefly my own enemy. +A time came, however, when I was tempted to commit a crime against +others, and it's only since I began this voyage that I have had a wish +to try and undo it as far as I have the power. You must know, Jack, I +am the son of a gentleman, and I went to college. I had got into bad +ways there, and spent all my property. When my last shilling was gone, +I shipped on board a merchant vessel, and for years never again set foot +on the shores of old England. I knocked about all that time in +different climes and vessels, herding with the roughest and most +abandoned class of seamen, till I became almost as abandoned and rough +as they were. Still, during all my wanderings, I had a hankering for +the associates and the refinements of society I had so long quitted. +Thoughts of home would come back to me even in my wildest moments, +although I tried hard to keep them out. At length I returned to England +with more money in my pocket than I had ever again expected to possess. +Throwing aside my seafaring clothes as soon as I got on shore, I dressed +myself as a gentleman, and repairing to a fashionable watering-place, +where I found several old friends, managed to get into respectable +society. I forgot that unless I could obtain some employment my money +must soon come to an end. It did so, but the taste for good society had +been revived in me. It was now impossible to indulge in it, and I was +compelled once more to seek for a berth on board ship. Thoughtlessly, I +had never studied navigation while I was at sea, and consequently had +again to go before the mast. I got on board an Indiaman, and reached +Calcutta. On the return voyage we had a number of passengers. I of +course knew but little about them, as I seldom went aft except to take +my trick at the helm. I observed, however, among them a gentleman of +refined appearance, with his wife and their little boy. They had a +native nurse to take care of him. No one could be more affectionate +than the gentleman was to his wife and child, but he seemed of a +retiring disposition, and I seldom saw him speaking to any one else. We +had had particularly fine weather during the greater part of the +passage, when the ship was caught in a tremendous gale. During it the +masts were carried away, several of the hands--Lascars and Englishmen-- +were lost overboard, while she sprung a leak, which kept all the crew +hard at work at the pumps. + +"It became evident, indeed, before long, that unless the weather +moderated the ship would go down. We had four boats remaining, but as +they would not carry a third of the people on board, the captain ordered +all hands to turn to and build rafts. We were thus employed when night +came on; such a night I never before had seen. The thunder roared and +the lightning flashed around us, as if it would set the ship on fire. +Some hours passed away; we could get on but slowly with our work. I was +on the after-part of the deck, when I remember seeing the gentleman I +have spoken of come up and make an offer to the captain to lend a hand +at whatever might be required to be done. I observed at the time that +he had a small case hanging to his side. He did not seem to think that +there was any danger of the ship going down for many hours to come; nor +indeed did any one; for the leaks were gaining but little on the pumps, +although they were gaining. He seemed so well to understand what he was +about that I suspected he was a naval officer. We worked away hard, and +it was nearly morning, when a dreadful peal of thunder, such as I had +never heard before, broke over our heads, and it's my belief that a bolt +passed right through the ship. Be that as it may, a fearful cry arose +that she was going down. The people rushed to the boats. Discipline +was at an end. The gentleman I spoke of shouted to the men, trying to +bring them back to their duty. Then I saw him, when all hope of doing +so had gone, hurry into the cuddy. Directly afterwards he came out with +his wife and child, together with the nurse. Supposing, I fancy, that +the boats were already full, or would be swamped alongside, he secured +the nurse to the raft we had been building, and had given her the child +to hold, calling on me and others to assist in launching it overboard, +intending to take his place with his wife upon it. He was in the act of +securing her--so it seemed to me--when the ship gave a fearful plunge +forward, and a roaring sea swept over her. I at once saw that she would +never rise again. On came the foaming waters, carrying all before them. +Whether or not the gentleman and his wife succeeded in getting to the +raft, I could not tell; there was no room, I knew, for me on it. Just +before I had caught sight of one of the boats, which had shoved off with +comparatively few people in her, dropping close under the ship's +quarter. I sprang aft, and, leaping overboard, struck out towards her, +managing to get hold of her bow as it dipped into the sea. I hauled +myself on board. By the time I had got in, and could look about me, I +saw the stern of the ship sinking beneath a wave, and for a moment I +thought the boat would have been drawn down with her. Such fearful +shrieks and cries as I never wish to hear again rose from amid the +foaming sea, followed by a perfect and scarcely less terrible silence. +We had but three oars in the boat, which we could with difficulty, +therefore, manage in that heavy sea. Most of the men in her were +Lascars, and they were but little disposed to go to the assistance of +our drowning shipmates. There were three Englishmen in the after-part +of the boat, and I made my way among the Lascars to join them. Even the +Englishmen belonged to the least respectable part of the crew. They, +however, sided with me, and, seizing a stretcher, I swore that I would +brain the fellows if they would not try to pick up some of the drowning +people. Two or three on this drew their knives, flourishing them with +threatening gestures. Knowing them pretty well, I felt sure that if we +did not gain the day, they would take the first opportunity of heaving +us overboard; and with all my might I dealt a blow at the head of the +man nearest me, who held his weapon ready to strike. The stretcher +caught him as he was in the act of springing up, and he fell overboard, +sinking immediately. `Any more of you like to be treated in the same +way?' I exclaimed. The wretches sank down in their seats, thoroughly +cowed; but in the scuffle one of the oars was lost overboard, and was +swept away before we could recover it. Some time was thus lost, and the +boat had drifted a considerable distance from the spot where the +Indiaman had gone down. We could hear, however, cries for help rising +above the hissing and dashing sounds of the tumbling waters. Every +instant I expected that the boat would be swamped; when at length the +Lascars, who had the oars, were induced by my threats to pull away and +keep her head to sea. I had taken the helm, and though we made no +progress, the rafts and various articles which had floated up from the +wreck came drifting down towards us, scattering far and wide over the +tossing ocean. I caught sight of a boat and two or three other rafts, +but they were too far off to enable me, through the gloom, to +distinguish the people on them. The shrieks had gradually ceased; now +and then the cry of some strong swimmer, who had hitherto bravely +buffeted the sea, was heard ere he sank for the last time. Daylight was +just breaking when, as I was standing up in the stern-sheets, I saw a +person clinging to a piece of timber, and I determined, if possible, to +save him. I pointed him out to the English seamen; and two of them, +springing up, seized the oars from the hands of the Lascars, and by +pulling away lustily we got up close to the spot. The man saw us +coming. It was not without difficulty that we managed to haul him on +board so as to avoid striking him or staving in the boat against the +piece of wreck which had kept him up. To my surprise I found that he +was the very gentleman who had assisted in forming the raft before the +ship went down. I knew him by the case, which he still had secured to +his side. He was so exhausted that for some minutes he could not speak, +though he was evidently making an effort to do so. At length, beckoning +me to put my ear down to his mouth, he asked in a low voice whether we +had seen his wife and child, with the nurse. The only comfort I could +afford him was by telling him that I had caught sight of several small +rafts, and possibly they might be upon one of them. He had been washed +away before he could secure himself when the ship foundered; and though +he was carried down with her, on rising to the surface he had caught +hold of the piece of wreck to which we had found him clinging. + +"There we were, fourteen human beings in a small boat out in the middle +of the Atlantic, the dark foaming seas surrounding us, without a +particle of food or a drop of fresh water, while our two oars scarcely +enabled us to keep her head to the sea, and save her from being capsized +or swamped. + +"I do not like to talk or even to think of the horrors which followed. +Daylight had now come on, but all around was gloom, the dark clouds +appearing like a pall just above our heads, and hanging round on either +side, so as to circumscribe the horizon to the narrowest limits. Here +and there I occasionally thought that I saw a few dark spots, which +might have been the boats and rafts, or pieces of the wreck. + +"The day passed by and there was no abatement of the gale. The Lascars +had again taken the oars, but as night again approached, worn out with +hunger and fatigue, they refused to pull any longer, and the gentleman +offering to steer, the three other men and I took it by turns to labour +at the oars. + +"Thus the second night passed by. I had begun to feel faint and hungry, +and to experience the pangs of thirst; and, judging by my own +sensations, I felt sure that, should we not fall in with a ship during +the coming day, some of my companions would give way. Another morning +dawned, but no sail was in sight. One of the Lascars lay dead in the +bows, the rest were stretched out under the thwarts, unable even to +continue baling, and apparently no longer caring what might become of +them. The gentleman, though the most delicate-looking of us all, held +out the best. His eye was constantly ranging over the ocean in search +of the raft or boat which might contain those he loved best on earth. I +had great difficulty in persuading him to let me take the helm again +while he got a little sleep. + +"As the day drew on the gale moderated, and the sea went down. So weak +were the three other Englishmen by this time, that I believe we should +not otherwise have been able to prevent the boat being swamped. The +Lascars were in a worse state. Two more died, and as their countrymen +would not heave them overboard, we were obliged to do so. Eagerly we +looked out for a sail, but none appeared. Before the next morning broke +all the Lascars were dead, and I saw that one of my messmates was likely +soon to follow them. Another, however, died before him, but ere the sun +rose high in the heavens, he was gone. + +"Besides the gentleman, only I and one man remained, the latter indeed +was near his last gasp. I will not tell you what dreadful thoughts +passed through my mind. Just then, as I was stooping down, I put my +hand under the after seat. There, stowed away, was a large lump of +grease. I felt round farther, and drew forth two bones with a +considerable amount of meat on them. One of the dogs, I have no doubt, +had made it his hiding place. The selfish thought came across me, that +had the Lascars and the other two men been alive, this food would have +gone very little way, but now it might support the existence of my two +companions and me for another day or two. Eagerly I seized the putrid +meat in my mouth, offering a piece to my companions. My messmate +attempted to eat it, his jaws moved for a few seconds, then his head +fell back. He had died in the effort. The gentleman could with +difficulty swallow a few morsels. `Water! water!' he muttered, `without +water it is too late.' I tried some of the grease, and felt revived. + +"Not without difficulty we hove the last who had succumbed into the sea, +and then the gentleman and I were alone. His spirits, which had +hitherto kept up, were now, I saw, sinking. He beckoned me to sit close +to him, and I saw that he was engaged in trying to loosen the strap +which held the case to his side. `You are strong, my friend,' he +whispered, `and may possibly survive till you are picked up, I feel that +I can trust you. Take charge of this case--it contains an important +document, and jewels and money of considerable value. Here, too, is a +purse of gold, to that you are welcome,' and he handed me a purse from +his pocket. `The case I as a dying man commit to your charge, and +solemnly entreat you to take care of it for the benefit of my widow and +orphan child, for the belief is still strong within me that they +survive. You will find within this metal case full directions as to the +person to whom it is to be delivered.' He said this with the greatest +difficulty, and it seemed as if he had exhausted all his strength in the +effort. I promised to fulfil his wishes, and fully intended doing so. +He took my hand, and fixed his eyes on me, as if he was endeavouring to +read my thoughts. I tried to make him take some more food, but he had +no strength to swallow it. Before the evening closed in he too was +gone. + +"I had not the heart at once to throw him overboard. As I stood looking +at him, prompted I believe by the spirit of evil, an idea came into my +head. Should I reach shore the purse of gold would enable me to enjoy +myself for some time, and perhaps I might obtain permanent employment in +a respectable position, instead of knocking about at sea. I took off +the dead man's clothes, and dressed myself in them, though I was so weak +that the task was a difficult one. I then lifted the body overboard. +Having secured the box round my waist, I placed the metal case and purse +in my pocket. + +"I was alone, and though suffering greatly from thirst, I still felt +that there was some life in me. I gazed around, but no sail was in +sight. A light breeze only was blowing, and the sea had become +tolerably calm, so eating a little more of the grease and meat, I lay +down in the stern-sheets to sleep. I was awoke by feeling the water +splashing over me. It was raining hard. There were two hats and a +bucket in the boat. I quickly collected enough water to quench my +thirst, and at once felt greatly revived. The rain continued long +enough to enable me to fill the bucket. Had it not been for that shower +I must have died. + +"Two days longer I continued in the boat, when, just as the sun rose, my +eyes fell on a sail in the horizon. How eagerly I watched her; she was +standing towards me. Securing a shirt to the end of an oar, I waved it +as high as I could reach. I was seen--the ship drew nearer. Being too +weak to pull alongside I made no attempt to do so, and this being +observed, the ship hove-to and lowered a boat, which soon had mine in +tow. I was carefully lifted up the side, and on my dress being +observed, I was at once treated as a gentleman. A cabin was given up to +me, and every attention paid to my wants. I found that the ship was an +emigrant vessel, outward bound, for Australia. + +"I was some time in recovering my strength, and when I appeared among +the passengers I took care to evade any questions put to me. I found +the life on board very pleasant, and having purchased some clothes and +other articles I was able to appear on an equality with the rest. + +"We fell in with no other ship till Sydney was reached. I went on +shore, purposing to amuse myself for a short time, and then return home +and fulfil the dying request of my unfortunate companion in the boat. +Would that I had gone on board a vessel sailing the very day of our +arrival. Jack, never put off doing your duty, under the idea that it +may be done a little time hence, lest that roaring lion we read of may +catch hold of you and tempt you to put it off altogether. I remained on +day after day, mixing in society, and rapidly spending my money. It was +all gone, and then, Jack," and old Tom lowered his voice, "I did that +vile deed--I broke open the box and took possession of the money I found +within--the widow's and orphan's gold. I tried to persuade myself that +they had certainly been lost. At first I only took the gold, intending +to go home with the other articles; then I got to the notes. I had some +difficulty in getting them changed, and was afraid of being discovered. +At last I began to dispose of the jewels. + +"At length I got a hint that I was suspected, and securing the case I +once more dressed myself as a seaman, bought a chest, and got a berth on +board a homeward-bound ship. I was miserable--conscience stung me--I +could get no rest. + +"The ship was cast away on the west coast of Ireland, and nearly all on +board perished. I had secured about me the case, which still contained +the parchment, the title-deeds of a large property, and a few jewels. + +"I, with a few survivors, reached the shore. I was afraid to go back to +England to deliver the case to the person to whom it was addressed, and +so, making my way to Cork, where I found a ship bound for America, I +went on board her. + +"Jack, I have been knocking about ever since, my conscience never at +rest, and yet not having the courage to face any danger I might incur, +and make the only reparation in my power to those who, if still alive, I +have deprived of their property. Now, notwithstanding what you say, +there's something tells me that I have not long to live. I never had +such a notion in my head before, but there it is now, and I cannot get +rid of it. You are young and strong, and I want you to promise me, if +you get home, to do what I ought to have done long ago. I will give you +the case when we go below. Take it to the lawyer to whom it is +addressed, and tell him all I have told you, and how it came into your +possession, he'll believe you, I am sure, and though the money and most +of the jewels are gone, the remainder will, I hope, be of value to the +rightful owners." + +I of course promised old Tom that I would do as he wished, at the same +time I tried to persuade him to banish the forebodings which haunted +him, from his mind. "That's more than I can do, Jack," he said, "I +shouldn't mind the thoughts of death so much, if I could find the means +of undoing all the ill I have done in the world--that's what tries me +now." Unhappily neither I nor any one on board could tell the poor +fellow that there is but one way by which sins can be washed away. I +did indeed suggest that he should try and borrow a Bible from one of the +gentlemen in the cabin, if they had one among them, for there was not +one for'ard nor in the captain's or officers' berths. + +When our watch was over, old Tom sat down on his chest, waiting till the +rest of the watch had turned in and gone to sleep. He then cautiously +opened his chest, and exhibited within, under his clothes, a small box, +strongly bound with silver, and the metal case he had spoken of. "Here, +Jack," he said, "I make you my heir, and give you the key of my chest: +I'll tell the men to-morrow that I have done so, and let the captain and +mates know it also, that there may be no dispute about the matter." I +thanked old Tom, assuring him, at the same time, that I hoped not to +benefit by his kindness. + +In about three weeks we reached the mouth of the Columbia river. A +strong gale from the westward had been blowing for several days, and as +we came off the river a tremendous surf was seen breaking across the bar +at its mouth. "I hope the captain won't attempt to take the vessel in," +observed old Tom to me. "I have been in once while the sea was not so +heavy by half as it is now, and our ship was nearly castaway." Still we +stood on. Presently, however, the captain seemed to think better of it, +and indifferent as he was to the lives of others, he apparently did not +wish to lose his own, and the brig into the bargain. She was +accordingly hauled to the wind, and we again stood off. It was only, +however, to heave-to, when he ordered a boat to be lowered. He then +directed the first mate to take four hands to go in her and sound the +bar. The mate expostulated, and declared that the lives of all would be +sacrificed in the attempt. "You are a coward, and are afraid," +exclaimed the captain, stamping with rage. "Take old Tom and `Happy +Jack,' and two others," he called out their names. "No man shall justly +say I am a coward," answered the mate; "I'll go, but I'll take none but +volunteers. My death and theirs will rest on your head, Captain Pyke." + +"I'll not go if the boy is sent," exclaimed old Tom; "but I am ready to +go if another man takes his place." + +"Let me go, Tom," I said; "if you and the mate go I am ready to +accompany you." + +"No, Jack, I'll do no such thing," answered my friend. "You stay on +board. Unless others step forward the boat won't go at all. The bar is +not in a fit state for the vessel to cross, much less an open boat." +The captain, however, seemed determined to go into the river, and now +ordered another man to go instead of me. "I'll make you pay for this +another day," he cried out, looking at me. I saw the mate shaking hands +with several on board before he stepped into the boat. "Remember the +case, Jack," said old Tom as he passed me, giving me a gripe by the +hand. "You have got the key, lad." + +The boat shoved off and pulled towards the bar. I watched her very +anxiously; now she rose to the top of a roller, now she was hidden by +the following one. Every instant I expected her to disappear +altogether. I couldn't help thinking of what old Tom had said to me. +Some time passed, when the captain ordered the helm to be put up, and +the brig was headed towards the bar. He had been looking with his +glass, and declared he had seen the mate's signal to stand in. The wind +by this time had moderated. The brig was only under her topsails and +main-sail, and I began to wonder at the mate's apprehensions. We had +not stood on long when I saw the boat to the northward of us, much +nearer the breakers than we were. She seemed to be carried by beyond +the control of those in her. A strong current had caught hold of her. +Presently she passed, not a pistol shot from us. The three men were +shouting and shrieking for aid; old Tom was in the bows, sitting +perfectly still; I could even distinguish the countenance of the mate, +as he turned it with a reproachful glance, so it seemed to me, towards +the captain. Beyond her appeared a high wall of hissing, foaming +breakers, towards which she was driving. The captain seemed scarcely to +notice the unfortunate men; indeed his attention was occupied with +attending to the brig, our position being extremely critical. I +couldn't take my eyes off the boat. Would she be able even yet to stem +the current and get back into smooth water? Suddenly, however, it +seemed as if the wall of foaming breakers came right down upon her, and +she disappeared amidst them. A cry of horror escaped me. "We may be no +better off ere long," I heard one of the men exclaim. He had scarcely +spoken when the brig struck, and the foaming waters leaped up on either +side, as if about to break on board. Another sea came roaring on, and +she again moved forward. Again and again the brig struck, and at last +seemed fixed. + +Darkness was coming on, the foaming waters roared around us, frequently +breaking on board, and we had to hold on to escape being washed away. +The hatches had been battened down, or the vessel would have filled. +She must have been a strong craft, or she could not have held together. +The passengers behaved like brave men, though they evidently thought +that it was the captain's obstinacy which had brought them into their +present perilous position. + +Hour after hour passed by, with no object discernible beyond the foaming +waters surging round us. The men declared that they could hear the +shrieks and cries of our shipmates. The captain swore at them as fools +for saying so, declaring that their voices must long since have been +silenced by the breakers. Every instant it seemed that the brig must go +to pieces, and that we should be carried away to share their fate. +Suddenly, however, I felt the brig move. The topsails were let fall and +sheeted home, and we once more glided forward. In another hour we were +safely at anchor in a sheltered bay within the mouth of the river. + +The next morning several natives came off to us in their canoes. They +were red-skinned painted savages, but appeared inclined to be friendly. +By means of Mr Duncan, who understood something of their language, they +were told of the accident which had happened to the boat, and they +undertook to search along the shore, in the possibility of any of the +crew having escaped, and been washed on to the beach. On hearing of +this my hopes of seeing old Tom again somewhat revived, though I +scarcely believed it possible that any boat getting into those fearful +breakers could have survived. Mr Duncan and two of the other gentlemen +agreed to accompany the savages. + +In the evening the boat which had taken them on shore was seen coming +off. I anxiously watched her. Besides those who had gone away, I +distinguished one other person, he turned his face towards the vessel as +the boat approached, and, to my delight, I saw that he was old Tom. +"And so you have escaped, have you?" said the captain, as he stepped on +board. "Yes, sir, but the others have gone where some others among us +will be before long," answered Tom, gloomily, "and those who sent them +there will have to render an account of their deeds." + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed the captain. "I leave that to others to +answer," said Tom, walking forward. + +He told me that the boat, on entering the surf, was immediately +capsized, and that all hands were washed out of her. That he had +managed to cling on with one man, and that when they got through the +surf they had righted the boat, and picking up two of the oars, after +bailing her out, had succeeded in paddling, aided by the current, some +distance to the northward. On attempting to land the boat was again +capsized. He had swam on shore, but the other poor fellow was drowned, +and he himself was almost exhausted when met by the party who brought +him back. "You see, Tom," I observed, "your prognostications have not +come true, and you may still live to get back to old England again." + +"Oh no, Jack, though I have escaped this once, I am very sure my days +are numbered," he answered; do all I could, I was unable to drive this +idea out of his head. + +The crew were so indignant at the boat having been sent away, declaring +that the captain wished to get rid of the mate and old Tom, that I felt +sure another slight act of tyranny would produce a mutiny. While the +gentlemen remained on board this was less likely to happen, but they +were about to leave us, and take up their residence on shore. + +Some time was occupied in landing their goods and stores, and then we +found that we were to proceed to the northward, on a trading voyage with +the Indians, and that Mr Duncan was to accompany us. We had also +received on board an Indian, who had long resided with the whites, and +who was to act as our interpreter. + +A fair wind carried us over the bar, and, steering to the northward, we +continued on for several days, till we brought up in a deep bay, on the +shore of which was situated a large native village. Large numbers of +the Indians came off in their canoes, with furs to exchange for cutlery, +cotton goods, looking-glasses, beads, and other ornaments. Many of them +were fine looking, independent fellows, but veritable savages, dressed +in skins, their heads adorned, after their fashion, with feathers, +shells, and the teeth of different animals. The captain treated them +with great contempt, shouting at them, and ordering them here and there, +as if they were beings infinitely inferior to himself. I saw them +frequently turn angry glances at him, but they did not otherwise exhibit +any annoyance. One day, however, he had a dispute with one of their +chiefs about a matter of barter, when, losing his temper, he struck the +savage and knocked him over on the deck. The Indian, recovering +himself, cast a fierce glance at him, then, folding his arms, walked +away, uttering some words to his companions, which we did not +understand. + +The next day, Mr Duncan, who had gone on shore, returned on board +hurriedly, with the interpreter, and warned the captain that the Indians +intended to take vengeance for the insult their chief had received. The +captain laughed, declaring that he did not fear what ten times the +number of savages who as yet had come on board, would venture to do. +"They are daring fellows, though, Captain Pyke, and treacherous, and +cunning in the extreme," observed Mr Duncan. "Take my advice and keep +them out of the ship. We have already done a fair trade here, and the +natives have not many more skins to dispose of." + +"I am not to be frightened as other people are," answered the captain, +scornfully. "If they have no skins they will not bring them, and if +they have, I am not the man to be forgetful of the interests of the +Company, by refusing to trade." + +This was said on deck in the hearing of the crew. "I'll tell you what, +Jack," observed old Tom to me, "the captain will repent not following +Mr Duncan's advice. If the Indians come on board, keep by me--we shall +have to fight for our lives. I know these people. When they appear +most friendly, they are often meditating mischief." + +That very evening several canoes came off, and in them was the chief +whom the captain had knocked down. He seemed perfectly friendly, +smiling and shaking hands with the captain as if he had entirely +forgotten the insult he had received. + +When the savages took their departure, they were apparently on the best +of terms with us all. + + + +STORY ONE, CHAPTER 6. + +The next morning we were preparing to put to sea, when two large canoes +came off, each carrying about twenty men. As they exhibited a +considerable number of furs, the captain allowed them to come on board, +and trade commenced as usual. In the meantime, three other canoes came +off with a similar number of men, and a larger quantity of furs of the +most valuable descriptions. They also were allowed to come up the side +like the rest. + +"Jack, I don't like the look of things," said old Tom. + +"Do you observe that the savages are wearing cloaks such as they have +not appeared in before. Just come down for'ard with me." + +I followed Tom below. "Here," he said, "fasten this case under your +jacket. If the savages attack us, we will jump into the boat astern; +they will be too much intent on plunder to follow us, and we will make +our escape out to sea. I propose to do this for your sake. As for me, +I would as lief remain and fight it out. I have mentioned my suspicions +to several of the men, and advised them to have an eye on the +handspikes; with them we may keep the savages at bay till we can make +good our retreat." + +I asked him why he did not warn the captain. "Because he is mad, and +would only laugh at me," he answered. "Mr Duncan and the interpreter +have already done so, and they are as well aware as I am that mischief +is brewing." + +On going on deck, we saw the captain speaking to the Indians, and +ordering them to return to their canoes. They appeared as if they were +going to obey him, when suddenly, each man drawing a weapon from beneath +his cloak uttered a fearful yell, and leaped at the officers and us. +The captain, with only a jack-knife in his hand, defended himself +bravely, killing four of his savage assailants. + +Led by old Tom, I, with three or four other men, fought our way aft to +join the officers, intending, should we be overpowered, to leap, as we +had proposed, into the boat. I saw poor Mr Duncan struck down and hove +into a canoe alongside. The captain was apparently trying to reach the +cabin, probably to get his fire-arms, when he fell, struck by a hatchet +on the head. + +"Follow me," cried Tom. "We may reach the boat through the cabin +windows." As he said this, he sprang down the companion-hatch, I and +two others following him. The remainder of our number were overtaken by +the savages before they could reach it. The last, Andrew Pearson, our +boatswain, contrived to secure the hatch. This gave us time to get hold +of the fire-arms fastened against the bulkheads, and to load and place +them ready for use on the table. There were at least a dozen muskets, +and as many brace of pistols. Had these been in our hands on deck, we +should probably have driven the savages overboard, or they would have +been deterred from making the attack. With them, we might now defend +our lives against vastly superior numbers. + +The scuffle on deck was still going on, the yells of the savages rising +above the stifled groans and cries of our unfortunate shipmates. They +soon ceased, and then arose a shout of triumph from our enemies, and we +knew that we were the only survivors. But we too were in a desperate +plight. Tom was severely wounded, and the boatswain and the other man +had received several gashes. I, indeed, thanks to the way in which Tom +had defended me, was the only person unhurt. + +"Green, do you look after the hatchway," said Pearson to the other man +who had escaped. "Tom, do you and Jack show your muskets through the +stern windows, I have some work to do. The savages think they have us +in a trap, but they are mistaken." He opened, as he spoke, a hatch +which led to the magazine, and I saw him uncoiling a long line of match, +one end of which he placed in the magazine, while he led the other along +the cabin to the stern-port. Meantime, the savages had all clambered on +board, and were shrieking and shouting in the most fearful manner, +crowding down into the hold, as we could judge by the sounds which +reached us, and handing up the rich treasures they found there. + +"No time to be lost," said Pearson, hauling up the boat. He went to the +locker, and collected all the provisions he could find. "Jump in, Tom +and Jack," he said. "Now for the fire-arms." He handed them in, and +told us to place them along the thwarts, ready for use. "Now, Green," +he said in a low voice, "jump in." We three were now in the boat, which +was hidden under the counter from those on deck. He struck a light, and +placed it to the slow match, and, having ascertained that it was +burning, slipped after us into the boat, in which the mast was +fortunately stepped. + +"Jack, do you take the helm, and steer directly for the mouth of the +harbour," he said, cutting the painter and seizing an oar. Tom and +Green did the same, and pulled away lustily. We had already got several +fathoms from the vessel before we were perceived. The sail had been +placed ready for hoisting. It was run up and sheeted home. The savages +were about to jump into one of the canoes, and chase us, but three +muskets pointed towards them made them hesitate. We were rapidly +slipping away from the doomed brig. We could see the savages dancing +and leaping on deck, their shouts and yells coming over the water +towards us. + +"They will dance to another tune soon," muttered Pearson between his +teeth. + +He and the other two had again taken to the oars. Even now a flight of +arrows might have reached us, but fortunately the savages had not +brought their bows with them, and probably that was the chief reason why +they had not ventured to pursue us. They well knew that several of +their number would have been shot down with our bullets had they made +the attempt. Still we could see some of the chiefs apparently trying to +persuade their warriors to follow us, and we knew that though we might +fight till all our ammunition was expended, we should at last be +overwhelmed by numbers. + +Our chance of ultimate escape seemed small indeed. "They will not +come," said Pearson. "See!" We had got half-a-mile or more from the +brig, when a deep thundering sound reached our ears. It seemed as if +the whole vessel was lifted out of the water, while up into the air shot +her mainmast and spars, and fragments of her deck and bulwarks, and +other pieces of timber, mingled with countless human bodies, with limbs +torn off and mangled in a fearful manner. At the same time the canoes +with those who had escaped were paddling with frantic energy towards the +shore, probably believing that the Great Spirit had sent forth one of +his emissaries to punish them for their treachery to the white people. +We concluded that some such idea as this was entertained by them, as we +saw no canoes coming off in pursuit of us. + +Rowing and sailing, we continued to make our way out to the open ocean. +It was blowing fresh but, the wind coming off-shore, the sea was +tolerably calm, and we agreed that at all events it was better to +undergo the dangers of a long voyage in an open boat than trust +ourselves in the power of the revengeful savages. We had reached the +mouth of the harbour, and could still see the village far off on its +shore, when, to our dismay, we found the sea breeze setting in. We had +accordingly to haul our wind, though we still hoped to weather the +headland which formed its southern point, and get an offing. + +Tom all this time had uttered no complaint, though I saw the blood +flowing down his side. The boatswain and Green had, with my help, bound +up their wounds. I wanted Tom to let me assist him. "No," he said; +"it's of no use. If you were to swathe me up, I could not pull. It +will be time enough for that when we get round the headland." He was +evidently getting weaker, and at last the boatswain persuaded him to lay +in his oar, and try to stop the blood. The wounds were in his back and +neck, inflicted by the savages as he fought his way onward to the cabin. +I bound our handkerchiefs round him as well as I could; but it was +evident that he was not fit for rowing, and that the only chance of the +blood stopping was for him to remain perfectly quiet. + +During the last tack we made I fancied, as I looked up the harbour, that +I saw the canoes coming out. I told the boatswain. "We will give them +a warm reception, if they come near us," he answered. + +I felt greatly relieved when we at last weathered the point, and were +now able to stand along shore, though we couldn't get the offing which +was desirable. + +Night was coming on. The weather looked threatening, and our prospects +of ultimately escaping were small. + +At last we got so near the surf that the boatswain determined to put the +boat about and stand out to sea. Although the other tack might bring us +almost in front of the harbour's mouth, it was the safest course to +avoid being cast on shore. + +The night came on very dark, but the wind was moderate, and there was +not much sea. Still the weather was excessively cold, and my companions +suffered greatly from their wounds. Tom had been placed in the +stern-sheets near me. Though he said less, he suffered more than the +rest, and I could every now and then hear low groans escaping from his +bosom. At last I heard him calling me. "Jack," he whispered, "what I +told you is coming true. I am going. I feel death creeping over me. +Remember the case. Do all you know I ought to have done. I have been a +great sinner; but you once said there is a way by which all sins can be +blotted out. I believe in that way. Jack, give me your hand. It's +darker than ever; and I am cold, very cold." He pressed my hand, and I +heard him murmuring to himself. It might have been a prayer, but his +words were indistinct; I could not understand what he said. I kept +steering with one hand, looking up at the sails, and casting a glance +now and then at him, while the other two men pulled away to keep the +boat to windward. Presently I felt his fingers relax; an icy chill came +from his hand. I knew too well that my friend was dead. It was some +time before I could bring myself to tell the boatswain what had +happened. "Poor fellow! But it may be the lot of all of us before +another day is over," he said; "yet, as men, we will struggle to the +last." + +The night passed on, and we still persevered in endeavouring to obtain +an offing, though so indistinct was the land that we could not tell +whereabouts we were. What was our dismay, when morning broke, to find +that we were directly off the mouth of the harbour, and at such a +distance that the keen eyes of the savages on the hills around might +easily perceive our sail. We at once put the boat about, hoping to get +again to the south'ard before we were discovered. "It's too late," +cried Green; "I see the canoes coming." + +"We must fight them, then," said the daring boatswain, calmly. "We +don't just expect mercy at their hands after the treat we gave them," +and he laughed at the fearful act he had committed. Still I thought +what could we three, in a small boat, with our dozen muskets, do against +a whole fleet of fierce savages. + +We could now see the canoes coming out of the harbour. The sea was +smooth, and they would without fail venture after us. Our only chance +of escape seemed in a sudden gale springing up, but of that there was +little probability. I was turning my eyes anxiously towards the offing +in hopes of seeing signs of a stronger breeze coming, when I caught +sight of a sail. I pointed her out to the boatswain. "She is a large +vessel," he exclaimed, "and standing this way." + +"Perhaps the savages will be more than ever anxious to catch us, for +fear we should persuade the people on board yonder ship to punish them +for what they have done," I observed. "They will catch us if they can," +answered Pearson; "but they will have to pay a good price yet if they +make the attempt," and he cast his eyes at the muskets which lay ready +loaded. The canoes were drawing nearer and nearer, and we could now +distinguish the figures of the plumed warriors as they stood up in the +bows. The boat at the same time was slipping pretty quickly through the +water. "The breeze is freshening," I observed; "we may escape them +yet." + +"I don't much care if we do or do not," said Pearson; "I should like to +knock over a few of these boasting fellows; we may hit them long before +they can get near enough to hurt us." I for my part did not wish to see +more of the savages killed, for they had only followed the instinct of +their untutored natures, and we had already inflicted a terrible +punishment on them in return. In a few minutes the breeze came down +even stronger than before, and greatly to my satisfaction, the canoes +appeared to be scarcely gaining on us, even if they did so at all. I +continued to give a glance every now and then at the ship, for I was +afraid after all she might alter her course, and stand away from us. + +At length, to my joy, I saw the savages in the canoes cease paddling. +They apparently were afraid of venturing farther out into the ocean, or +saw that it would be hopeless to attempt overtaking us. For some +minutes they waited, as if holding a consultation, and then round they +paddled and made their way back into the harbour. + +"Just like them," exclaimed Pearson. "Those cowardly red-skins will +never fight unless they can take their enemies at an advantage." + +We had to make several tacks towards the ship, and then when we got near +enough for the sound of our muskets to reach her, we fired several as a +signal. They were at length, we concluded, heard on board. She kept +away towards us. She drew nearer. We saw that she was a whaler, with +the English colours flying at the peak. She rounded to, and we went +alongside. "What has happened?" exclaimed several voices, as old Tom's +body was seen lying in the stern-sheets. A few words told our tale. I +was able to climb up the side, but Pearson and Green were so stiff from +their wounds that they had to be helped up. They were far more hurt +indeed than they had supposed, especially Pearson; but his dauntless +spirit had hitherto kept him up. Our boat was hoisted on board, and old +Tom's body was taken out and laid on deck. We were treated with great +kindness, and the captain, greatly to my satisfaction, volunteered to +give old Tom Christian burial. He had, as we supposed, intended to go +into the harbour to obtain wood and water, and to trade with the +natives; but when he heard of what had occurred he resolved to steer for +a port farther south, and he told me that he was very grateful to us for +giving him warning of the danger which he otherwise would have run. + +In the evening I saw my poor friend lashed up in a hammock, and +committed to his ocean grave. + +All night long I was dreaming of him and of the dreadful scenes I had +witnessed. + +The ship was the _Juno_. Her commander, Captain Knox, was a very +different sort of person to my late captain; and from his kind manner, +and the way he spoke to the officers and men, he seemed truly to act the +part of a father to his crew. The ship had been out a year and a half, +and it was expected she would remain another year in the Pacific. + +Though I was anxious to get home, yet when the captain asked me to enter +on board, I was very glad to do so. Pearson continued to suffer +fearfully from his wounds. Whether the deed he had done preyed on his +mind, I cannot say; but a high fever coming on, he used to rave about +the savages, and the way he had blown them up. At the moment he +committed the deed I daresay he had persuaded himself that he was only +performing a justifiable act of vengeance. The day before we entered +the harbour to which we were bound he died, and poor Green did not long +survive him, so that I alone was left of all the crew of the ill-fated +_Fox_. + + + +STORY ONE, CHAPTER 7. + +The captain of the _Juno_ took every precaution to prevent her being +surprised by the Indians. Boarding nettings were triced up round the +ship every night, and the watch on deck had arms ready at hand. None of +the natives were allowed to come on board, and only two or three canoes +were permitted alongside at a time. We judged by their manner, though +they were willing enough to trade, that they had already heard of what +had occurred to the northward. + +Having got our wood and water on board, we again put to sea, cruising in +various parts of the ocean known to be frequented by whales. A bright +look-out was kept for their spouts as the monsters rose to the surface +to breathe. The instant a spout was seen all was life and animation on +board; the boats were lowered, generally two or three at a time, and +away they pulled to be ready to attack the whale as it again rose to the +surface. I remember, the first time I saw one of the monsters struck, I +shouted and jumped about the deck as eagerly as if I myself were engaged +in the work. Now I saw the lines flying out of the boat at a rapid +rate, as the animal sounded; now the men in the boats hauled it in +again, as the whale rose once more to the surface; now they pulled on, +and two more deadly harpoons were plunged into its sides, with several +spears; now they backed to avoid the lashing strokes of its powerful +tail; now the creature was seen to be in its death-flurry, tumbling +about and turning over and over in its agony. At length it lay an inert +mass on the surface, and the boats came back, towing it in triumph. +Next there was the work of "cutting in," or taking off the blubber which +surrounded it; the huge body being turned round and round during the +operation, as the men stood on it cutting off with their sharp spades +huge strips, which were hoisted with tackles on deck. Last of all came +the "trying out," when the blubber, cut into pieces, was thrown into +huge caldrons on deck, with a fire beneath them; the crisp pieces, from +which the oil had been extracted, serving as fuel. It was a curious +scene when night came on, and fires blazed up along the deck, surrounded +by the crew, begrimed with oil and smoke, looking like beings of another +world engaged in some fearful incantation. + +This scene was repeated over and over again. We visited several islands +in the Pacific. At some, where Christian missionaries had been at work, +the inhabitants showed by their conduct that they were worthy of +confidence; but at others the captain deemed it necessary to be +constantly on his guard, lest they might attempt to cut off the crew and +take possession of the ship, as we heard had frequently occurred. + +At length, to my delight and that of all the crew, the last cask we had +on board was filled with oil, and with a deeply-laden ship we commenced +our homeward voyage. We encountered a heavy gale going round the Horn, +but the old _Juno_ weathered it bravely, though, as she strained a good +deal, we had afterwards to keep the pumps going for an hour or so during +each watch. We, however, made our way at a fair rate northward, and +once more crossed the line. + +It may seem surprising that I had not hitherto examined the metal case +which old Tom had committed to my charge. The box itself I had resolved +not to open. I did not suppose that I should be induced to act as he +had done, but yet I thought it wiser not to run the risk of temptation. +We for several days lay becalmed, and one evening, while the crew were +lying about the decks overcome with the heat, I stowed myself away +for'ard, at a distance from the rest, and drew the paper out of the +case. Great was my surprise to find that it was addressed to my own +father. It contained a reference to the parchment in the box, and gave +a list both of the jewels, the notes, and gold. The writer spoke of his +wife and infant son, and charged my father, should any accident happen +to him, to act as their guardian and friend as well as their legal +adviser. The letter was signed "Clement Leslie." + +"This is strange," I thought. "Then there can be no doubt that little +Clem is the very child old Tom saw placed in his nurse's arms on the +raft, and his poor mother must have been washed away when the ship went +down. Those Indian nurses, I have often heard, will sacrifice their own +lives for the sake of preserving the children committed to their charge, +and Clem's nurse must have held him fast in her arms, in spite of the +buffeting of the waves and the tossing of the raft during that dreadful +night when the Indiaman went down; and if she had any food, I dare say +she gave it to him rather than eat it herself. But, poor fellow, what +may have happened to him since we parted." + +I now felt more anxious than ever to reach home, and longed for the +breeze to spring up which might carry us forward through the calm +latitudes. It came at last, and the _Juno_ again made rapid progress +homeward. We were bound up the Irish Channel to Liverpool; when, +however, we got within about a week's sail of the chops of the Channel, +it came on to blow very hard. The leaks increased, and we were now +compelled to keep the pumps going during nearly the whole of each watch. +The weather was very thick, too, and no observations could be taken. +The crew were almost worn out; yet there was no time for rest. The gale +was blowing from the south-west, and the sea running very high, when in +the middle watch the look-out shouted the startling cry of "Land! on the +starboard bow." The yards were at once braced sharply up, and soon +afterwards the captain ordered the ship to be put about. We were +carrying almost more canvas than she could bear, but yet it would not +then do to shorten sail. Just as the ship was in stays, a tremendous +squall struck her, and in an instant the three masts went by the board. + +There we lay on a lee shore, without a possibility of getting off it. +The order was at once given to range the cables, that immediately the +water was sufficiently shallow to allow of it we might anchor. + +I will not describe that dreadful night. Onward the ship drove towards +the unknown shore. We had too much reason to dread that it was the +western coast of Ireland, fringed by reefs and rugged rocks. As we +drove on it grew more and more fearfully distinct. We fired guns of +distress, in the faint hope that assistance might be sent to us; but no +answering signal came. Too soon the roar of the surf reached our ears, +and it became fearfully probable that the ship and her rich cargo, with +all on board, would become the prey of the waves. I secured the +precious box and case as usual, determined, if I could save my own life, +to preserve them. The lead was continually hove, and at last the +captain ordered the anchors to be let go. They held the ship but for a +few minutes; then a tremendous sea struck her, and sweeping over her +deck, they parted, and again onward she drove. A few minutes more only +elapsed before she struck the rocks, and the crashing and rending sounds +of her timbers warned us that before long she would be dashed into a +thousand fragments. The sea was breaking furiously over the wreck, and +now one, now another of the crew was washed away. I was clinging with +others to a part of the bulwarks, when I felt them loosening beneath us. +Another sea came, and we were borne forward towards the shore. For an +instant I was beneath the boiling surf; when I rose again my companions +were gone, and in a few seconds I found myself dashed against a rock. I +clung to it for my life, then scrambled on, my only thought being to get +away from the raging waters. I succeeded at length in scrambling out of +their reach, and lay down on a dry ledge to rest. I must have dropped +to sleep or fainted from fatigue. When I came to myself, the sun was +up, and I heard voices below me. The tide had fallen, and numbers of +country people were scrambling along the rocks, and picking up whatever +was thrown on shore. I managed to get on my feet and wave to them. +Several came up to me, and the tones of their voices showed me at once +that they were Irish. + +Out of the whole crew, I was the only person who had been saved, and I +was very doubtful how I might be treated. However, I wronged them. It +was a matter of dispute among several who should take charge of me; and +at length a young woman, whose cottage was not far off, carried me up to +it. She and her husband gave me the best of everything they had; that +is to say, as many potatoes and as much buttermilk and bacon as I could +swallow. I was so eager to get home that, after a night's rest, I told +them I wished to start on my journey. I was, I knew, on the west of +Ireland, and I hoped that, if I could manage to get to Cork, I might +from thence find means of crossing to England. Though my host had no +money to give me, he agreed to drive me twenty miles on the way, +promising to find a friend who would pass me on; and his wife pressed on +me a change of linen, and a few other articles in a bundle. With these +I started on my long journey. + +I was not disappointed, for when I told my story I was fully believed, +and I often got help where I least expected it. + +At length I reached Cork, where I found a vessel just sailing for +Liverpool. The captain agreed to give me a free passage, and at last I +safely landed on the shores of old England. I must confess that I had +more difficulty after this in making my way homeward, and by the time I +reached the neighbourhood of my father's house my outer clothing, at all +events, was pretty well worn to rags and tatters. + + + +STORY ONE, CHAPTER 8. + +It was the early summer when one evening I came in sight of my home. +The windows and doors were open. Without hesitation I walked up the +steps, forgetting the effect which my sudden appearance might produce on +my family. One of my youngest sisters was in the passage. I beckoned +to her. + +"What do you want?" she asked; "you must not stop here; go away." + +"What! don't you know me?" I asked. + +"No," she answered; "who are you?" + +"Jack--your brother Jack," I answered. On this she ran off into the +drawing-room, and I heard her exclaim, "There's a great big beggar boy, +and he says he is Jack--our brother Jack." + +"Oh no, that cannot be!" I heard one of my other sisters reply. "Poor +Jack was drowned long ago in the _Naiad_." + +"No, he was not," I couldn't help exclaiming; and without more ado I ran +forward. My appearance created no small commotion among three or four +young ladies who were seated in the room. + +"Go away; how dare you venture in here?" exclaimed one or two of them. + +"Will you not believe me?" I cried. "I am Jack, I assure you, and I +hope soon to convince you of the fact." + +"It is Jack, I know it is!" exclaimed one of them, jumping up and coming +forward. I knew her in an instant to be Grace Goldie, though grown +almost into a young woman. "It is Jack, I am sure it is," she added, +taking my hand and leading me forward. "Oh, how strange that you do not +know him!" + +My sisters now came about me, examining me with surprised looks. "How +strange, Grace," said one; "surely you must be mistaken?" + +"No, I am sure I am not," answered Grace, looking into my face, and +putting back the hair from my forehead. "Are you not Jack?" + +"Yes, I believe I am," I answered, "though if you did not say so I +should begin to doubt the fact, since Ann, and Mary, and Jane, do not +seem to know me." + +"Well, I do believe it is Jack," cried Jane, coming up and taking my +other hand, though I was so dirty that she did not, I fancy, like to +kiss me. + +"So he is--he must be!" cried the others; and now, in spite of my +tattered dress, their sisterly affection got the better of all other +considerations, and they threw their arms about me like kind girls as +they really were, and I returned their salutes, in which Grace Goldie +came in for a share, with long unaccustomed tears in my eyes. + +Just then a shriek of astonishment was heard, and there stood Aunt +Martha at the door. "Who have you got there?" she exclaimed. + +"It's Jack come back," answered my sisters and Grace in chorus. + +"Jack come back! impossible!" cried out Aunt Martha, in what I thought +sounded a tone of dismay. + +"Yes, I am Jack, I assure you," I said, going up to her; "and I hope to +be your very dutiful and affectionate nephew, whatever you may once have +thought me;" and I took her hand and raised it to my lips. + +"If you are Jack I am glad to see you," she said, her feelings +softening; "and it will at all events be a comfort to your poor mother +to know that you are not drowned." + +"My mother! where is she?" I asked--"I trust she is not ill." + +"Yes, she is, I am sorry to say, and up-stairs in bed," replied my aunt; +"but I'll go and break the news to her, lest the sound of all this +hubbub should reach her ears, and make her inquire what is the matter." + +I had now time to ask about the rest of my family. My father was out, +but was soon expected home, and in the meantime, while Aunt Martha had +gone to tell my mother, by my sisters' advice I went into the bedroom of +one of my brothers, and washed, and dressed myself in his clothes. By +the time Aunt Martha came to look for me I was in a more presentable +condition than when I entered the house. + +I need not dwell on my interview with my mother. She had no doubts +about my identity, but drawing me to her, kissed me again and again, as +most mothers would do, I suspect, under similar circumstances. She was +unwilling to let me go, but at length Aunt Martha, suggesting that I +might be hungry, a fact that I could not deny, as I was almost ravenous, +I quickly joined the merry party round the tea-table, when I astonished +them not a little by the number of slices of ham and bread which I +shortly devoured. My father soon arrived. He was not much given to +sentiment, but he wrung my hand warmly, and his mind was evidently +greatly relieved on finding that his plan for breaking me of my desire +for a sea life had not ended by consigning me to a watery grave. He was +considerably astonished, and evidently highly pleased, when I put into +his hands the box and case which old Tom had given into my care; and I +told him how I had fallen in, on board the _Naiad_, with the boy I fully +believed to be Mr Clement Leslie's heir. + +"This is indeed strange," he muttered, "very strange, and we must do our +best to find him out, Jack. It's a handsome estate, and it will be a +pity if the young fellow is not alive to enjoy it. I must set Simon +Munch to work at once." + +"Perhaps if the Russian frigate has returned home, we may learn from her +officers what has become of him," I suggested. "We will think the +matter over. Would you like a trip to Russia, Jack?" + +"Above all things, sir," I answered. "I could start to-morrow if it +were necessary;" though I confess I felt very unwilling to run away +again so soon from home, especially as my mother was so ill. Perhaps, +also, Grace Goldie entered somewhat into my considerations. + +Next morning while we were at breakfast, and my father was looking over +the newspaper, he exclaimed. "We are in luck, Jack! Did you not say +that the name of the Russian frigate which picked you up was the +_Alexander_? I see that she has just arrived at Spithead, from China +and the Western Pacific. If so, there is not a moment to be lost, for +she will probably be off again in a few days. You must start at once. +Get your sisters to pack up such of your brother's things as will fit +you, and I'll order a post-chaise to the door immediately." + +"I shall be ready, sir, directly I have swallowed another egg or two, +and a few more slices of toast," I answered. "Munch must go with you, +that there may be no mistake about the matter," said my father. "He +will be of great assistance." + +All seemed like a dream. In a quarter of an hour I was rattling away as +fast as a couple of posters could go, along the road to London. I sat +in a dignified and luxurious manner, feeling myself a person of no +little consequence--remembering that, at the same hour on the previous +day, I had been trudging along the road ragged and hungry, with some +doubt as to the reception I was to meet with at home. My tongue was +kept going all the time, for Munch wished to hear all about my +adventures. "Well, Master Jack, I am glad to have you back," he said. +"To tell the truth, my conscience was a little uncomfortable at the part +I had taken in shipping you off on board the collier, though I might +have known--" he cast a quizzical look at me--"that those are never +drowned who--" + +"Born to end their lives comfortably in bed," I added, interrupting him. +"You needn't finish the sentence in the way you were about to do; I was +never much of a favourite of yours, Mr Munch, I know." + +"I hope we shall be better friends in future, Master Jack," he remarked. +"You used, you know, to try my temper not a little sometimes." + +As the old clerk was accustomed to long and sudden journeys, we stopped +nowhere, except for a few minutes to get refreshments, till we rattled +up to the George Inn at Portsmouth. + +Much to our satisfaction, we heard from the waiter that the Russian +frigate was still at Spithead, and as the weather was fine, we hurried +down the High Street, intending at once to engage a wherry and go off to +her. As we reached the point a man-of-war's boat pulled up, and several +officers stepped on shore. "That is not the English uniform," observed +Munch; "perhaps they have come from the Russian frigate." He was right, +I was sure, for I thought that I recognised the countenances of several +I had known on board the _Alexander_. Among them was a tall, slight +young man, dressed as a sub-lieutenant. I looked at him earnestly, +scanning his features. It might be Clement, yet I should not under +other circumstances have thought it possible. The young man stopped, +observing the way I was regarding him, and I began to doubt that he +could be Clement, as he did not appear to know me. I could bear the +uncertainty no longer, so, walking up to him, I said, "I am Happy Jack! +Don't you know me?" His whole countenance lighted up. With a cry of +pleasure he seized both my hands, gazing earnestly in my face. "Jack, +my dear fellow, Jack!" he exclaimed. "You alive, and here! Happy you +may be, but not so happy as I am to see you. I mourned you as lost, for +I could not hope that you had escaped a second time." His surprise was +great indeed when I told him I came especially to search for him, and we +at once agreed to repair to the "George," that I might give him the +important information I had to afford, and settle, with the aid of Mr +Munch, what course it would be advisable for him to pursue. + +He was overwhelmed, as may be supposed, with astonishment and +thankfulness when I told him of the wonderful way in which I had become +possessed of the title-deeds and jewels, which would, I hoped, establish +his claims to a fair estate. + +This matter occupied some time. "With regard to quitting the ship," he +observed, "there will, I trust, be no difficulty. I am but a +supernumerary on board, and as I could not regularly enter the service +till the frigate returned to Russia, the captain will be able to give me +my discharge when I explain the circumstances in which I am placed." + +Having settled our plans, Mr Munch and I went on board with Clement. +The captain at once agreed to what Clement wished, though he expressed +his regret at losing him. My friend the doctor recognised me, and +treated me, as did several of the other officers, with much kindness and +politeness. I was, however, too anxious to get Clement home to accept +their courtesy, and the next morning we were again on the road +northward. + +Clement had studied hard while on board the Russian frigate, and had +become a polished and gentlemanly young man, in every way qualified for +the position he was destined to hold. He was made not a little of by my +family, and though at one time I felt a touch of jealousy at the +preference I fancied he showed to Grace Goldie, he soon relieved my +fears by telling me that he hoped to become the husband of one of my +sisters. + +My father, after a considerable amount of labour, proved his identity +with the son of Mr Clement Leslie, who perished with his wife at sea, +and established his claims to the property. + +I had had quite enough of a "life on the ocean wave," and though I had +no great fancy for working all day at a desk, I agreed to enter my +father's office and tackle to in earnest, my incentive to labour, I +confess, being the hope of one day becoming the husband of Grace Goldie. +We married, and I have every reason still to call myself "Happy Jack." + + + +STORY TWO, CHAPTER 1. + +UNCLE BOZ, OR, HOW WE SPENT OUR CHRISTMAS DAY, LONG, LONG AGO. + +Those were some of the pleasantest days of my boyhood which my brother +Jack and I spent--with Uncle Boz in his curious-looking abode on the +shore of the loud-roaring, tumultuous German Ocean, or North Sea, as it +is more frequently called. On the English shore, I should have said; +for Uncle Boz would not willingly have lived out of our snug little, +tight little island, had the wealth of the Indies been offered him to do +so. + +"It's unique, ain't it?" Uncle Boz used to say, as he pointed with a +complacent air at his domicile. How Uncle Boz came to pick up that word +_unique_, I do not know; had he been aware of its Gallic derivation, he +would never have admitted it into his vocabulary--of that I am sure. +Singular it certainly was; I doubt if any other edifice could have been +found at all like it in the three kingdoms. It had been originally, +when Uncle Boz first became its owner, a two-roomed cottage, +strongly-built of roughly-hewn stone, and a coarse slate roof calculated +to defy the raging storms which swept over it. It stood on a level +space in a gap between cliffs, the gap opening on the sea, with a +descent of some twenty feet or so to the sands. + +Uncle Boz having made his purchase, and settled himself and his +belongings in his new abode, forthwith began to build and improve; but +as he was his own architect and builder, the expense was not so great as +some folks find it, while the result was highly satisfactory to himself, +whatever the rest of the world might have thought about the matter. +First he added a wing; but as the room within it, though suited to his +height, was not calculated for that of a tall shipmate who occasionally +came to see him, he built another on the opposite side of the mansion, +of the proper dimensions, observing that, should honest Dick Porpoise, +another old shipmate, come that way, the first would exactly suit him; +the said Dick amply making up in width for what he wanted in height. + +Uncle Boz then found out that, though he could grill a chop before his +dining-room fire, the same style of cooking would not suit a number of +people; and so he erected what he called the Caboose, at the rear of his +mansion. It certainly would not have been taken for what it was, had it +not been for the iron flue which projected from the roof. + +The greatest work Uncle Boz ever undertook with respect to his abode, +was what he called "putting another deck on the craft." I think he must +have summoned assistance, and that, relying on the sagacity of others, +he did not, as he was wont, employ his own; for when the walls were up, +the roof on, and the floors laid, it was discovered that there was no +staircase. He was in no way disconcerted, but he had no fancy for +pulling down; and so he built a tower outside, near the back door, to +contain the staircase; and having got it flush with the roof, he said +that it was a pity not to have a good look-out, and so ran it up a dozen +feet or so higher, with a platform and a flagstaff at the summit. +Several other rooms of different dimensions were added on after this, +and numerous little excrescences wherever by any ingenuity they could be +run out,--some to hold a bed, and others only a wash-hand-stand, a trunk +or two, or a chest of drawers. No materials seemed to come amiss. A +small craft laden with bricks was cast ashore, just as he was about to +begin one of his rooms. This was therefore built with her cargo, as +were several of the excrescences run out from the ground-floor, while +rough stones, and especially wood cast on shore from wrecks, had been +chiefly employed. Then his paint-brush was seldom idle; and, as he +remarked, "variety is pleasant," he coloured differently every room, +both inside and out, increasing thereby the gay appearance, if not the +tasteful elegance, of the structure. + +"Isn't it unique?" he asked for the hundredth time, as with paint-brush +in hand, he stood on the lawn in front, surveying the work he had just +completed. There was something, however, much more unique present,--not +the garden, nor the rock-work, nor the summer-house, nor the seats, nor +the fountain, nor the fish pond, nor the big full-rigged ship in front, +nor the weathercocks on the chimneys, but Uncle Boz himself, and his +factotum and follower, Tom Bambo. + +How can I describe Uncle Boz--that is to say, to do him justice? I'll +try. He was short, and he was round, and he had lost a leg and wore a +wooden one instead, and his face was full of the most extraordinary +krinklums and kranklums, wrinkles and furrows they might by some have +been called, but all beaming with the most unbounded good nature; and +his little eyes and his big mouth betokened kindness itself. As to how +they did this I cannot tell. I know the fact, at all events. His head +was bald, the hair, he used to affirm, having been blown off in a heavy +gale of wind off Cape Horn, excepting a few stumps, which he managed to +keep on by clapping both hands to the side of his head, to save the rim +of his hat when the crown was carried away. But his nose--foes, if by +possibility he could have had any, might have called it a snub, or a +button; supposing it was either one or the other, or both, it was full +of expression,--the best of snubs, the best of button noses, all that +expression betokening fun and humour, and kindness and benevolence. +Yes, that dear nose of Uncle Boz's was a jewel, though unadorned by a +carbuncle. And Tom Bambo--whereas Uncle Boz was white (at least, I +suppose he once had been, for he was now red, if not ruddy and brown, +with not a few other weather-stained hues), Tom Bambo was the colour he +had ever been since he first saw the light on the coast of Africa,--jet +black. In other respects there was a strong similarity. Uncle Boz had +lost his left leg, Tom his right. In height and figure they were +wonderfully alike. Bambo's mouth was probably wider, and his eyes +rounder, and his teeth whiter, and his nose snubbier, but there was the +same good-natured benevolent expression, the same love of fun and +humour; and, indeed, it was impossible but to acknowledge that the same +nature of soul dwelt within, and that the only difference between the +white man and the black was in the colour of their skin. Yes, there was +a difference: Uncle Boz had lost his hair, while Bambo had retained, in +its woolly integrity, a fine black fleece, which served to keep his +cranium cool in summer and warm in winter. Bambo used to be called the +shadow of Uncle Boz. A jolly, fat noonday shadow he might have been. +He had followed him, I believe, round and round the world, and when at +length Uncle Boz went into port, and was laid up in ordinary, Bambo, as +a matter of course, did the same. + +I have said what Uncle Boz was like, and the sort of house he lived in; +but "Who was this Uncle Boz?" will be asked. Uncle Boz was not our +uncle really, nor was he really the uncle of a very considerable number +of boys and girls who called him uncle. I am not certain, indeed, that +he was anybody's uncle: at least, I am very confident that dear old Aunt +Deborah, who occasionally came to stay with him, and was his +counterpart, barring the wooden leg, had no family, seeing that she was +always addressed with the greatest respect as Miss Deborah. The real +state of the case is this. Uncle Boz was beloved by all his shipmates, +and his kind heart made him look upon all his brother officers as +brothers indeed. One of them, shot down fighting for his country, as he +lay on the deck in the agonies of death, entreated Uncle Boz, who knelt +over him, to look after his two orphan boys. + +"That I will, that I will, dear brother. There's One above hears me, +and you'll soon meet Him, and know that I speak the truth." + +"Boz, you have always spoken the truth," whispered the dying lieutenant. +"I trust in Him; I die happy." + +The action was still raging. Another round-shot took off Uncle Boz's +leg. + +"I don't mind," he observed, as the surgeon finished the job for him; +"there's the pension to come, and that'll help keep poor Graham's +children." + +It's my belief that he did look after those children, as if he felt that +God was watching everything he did for them, or said to them; and the +best of fathers could not have managed them better. They both entered +the navy, and were an honour to the service. They naturally called him +uncle, and so their friends and other children of old shipmates came to +call him so, we among others; and as we were always talking of what +Uncle Boz had said and done, he became generally known by that name. +His name wasn't Boz, though. His real name was Boswell. He was no +relation, however, to Dr Johnson's famous biographer, and he was a very +different sort of person, I have an idea. I never saw him angry except +once, when some one asked him the question. + +"No, sir; I have the privilege, and I take it to be a great one, of +being in no way connected with the dirty little lickspittle--there!" he +replied, as if with a feeling of relief at having thus delivered +himself. + +Miss Deborah Boswell was shorter and more feminine than her brother, +seeing that icy gales, and salt-water, and hot suns had not played havoc +with her countenance, but she was fully as round and jolly. + +Uncle Boz was, as may have been surmised, a lieutenant in the navy. He +got no promotion for losing his leg, and though he went to sea for some +time after that, a lieutenant he remained, and what was extraordinary, a +perfectly contented and happy one. Not a grumble at his ill fortune did +I ever hear. Not a word of abuse hurled at the big-wigs at the head of +affairs. And Tom Bambo,--Tom Bambo had followed Uncle Boz for many long +years over the salt ocean. Tom had been picked up (the only survivor of +some hundreds) from a sunken slave ship off the coast of Africa. Uncle +Boz had on that occasion hauled him with his own hands into the boat. +He was grateful then. Falling overboard afterwards during a heavy gale, +in the same locality, where sharks abounded, when all hope of being +saved had abandoned him, Uncle Boz from the topsail of the ship saw him +struggling. + +"I cannot let that poor negro perish," he cried. "Pass me that +grating." Grating in hand, he plunged overboard, swam to Bambo with it, +and a boat being lowered, both were picked up. Bambo well understood +the risk the brave lieutenant had run for his sake. + +"Ah, Massa Boz, me lub you as my own soul," he exclaimed, coming up to +him with tears in his eyes. + +Uncle Boz had taught him that he had a soul. + +Such were Uncle Boz, Aunt Deborah, Tom Bambo, and the house they lived +in. I again repeat, I have spent the happiest days of my life with +them. Holidays they really were. He seldom had less than five or six +boys at a time with him stowed away in the before-mentioned little +excrescences of the mansion. Summer or winter we liked both equally +well. There was always a hearty, chirruping welcome for us, and even +now I see before me those three honest, round, kind faces in the porch, +Uncle Boz and Aunt Deborah in front, and Bambo in the rear, for being +generally employed in the back premises, he was last on the scene, and +it was physically impossible for him to pass his master and mistress. + +The Christmas holidays arrived. A jolly journey we had of it; our +pea-shooters were not inactive. There were Jack, and I, and big Ned +Hollis, and David Fowler, and Tom and Harry King; Ned was older than any +of us, and had been at sea, and we all looked up to him greatly. The +friends of Uncle Boz were mostly commanders and lieutenants, surgeons, +pursers, and marine officers. Now and then he entered on his list a +merchant he might have met abroad, whose sons had no home to go to. By +this time the Grahams were at sea, fitted out by Uncle Boz. Uncle Boz +had had a good deal of money come to him, and it's my belief that he +could have lived ten times better than he did, had he spent it all upon +himself, instead of thinking only how he could do most good with it. +The wheels of the chaise which contained us youngsters rolled so +noiselessly over the snow, that not till the wicket opened, and a secret +bell which communicated with the interior rung, did the tableau I have +described appear in the porch. There it was though, in all its +attractive freshness, by the time we had tumbled, some of us head +foremost, out of the chaise. + +There was a blazing fire and a plentiful dinner, and we were all soon as +merry as crickets, telling our adventures, Uncle Boz listening as if +they were important matters of state. It was bitterly cold outside, or +the snow would not have remained as it did so close to the sea. We were +looking forward to skating the next day on a piece of water a mile or so +inland, and we were to build a snow man, and a snow castle, which Uncle +Boz undertook to defend with Bambo against all assailants. Aunt Deborah +not being a combatant, was to be employed in the heroine-like occupation +of making ammunition for both sides, in the shape of snowballs. It was +decided that we would in the first place build a castle, and we were to +commence early the next morning; our only fear was that the snow might +melt, but as there was a very satisfactory biting, black, northerly wind +blowing, there was not much chance of that. + +Our conversation all the evening was about saps and counter saps, of +which Uncle Boz remarked that the red-coats ought to know far more than +he did; and this led him to talk of some of the scenes in which he had +taken part, and Bambo was sent for to assist his memory, and together +they enthusiastically fought their battles over again. They were like +Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim, except that the ocean was their field of +glory, and that the cut of the two old seamen's jibs was strongly in +contrast to the figures of their brother red-coats. It was a pleasant +evening, that it was. How their tongues wagged. How they flourished +their legs of wood! Bambo seemed to be sitting on quicksilver, on the +top of the wooden stool which he had brought in and placed near the +door. His exclamations and gesticulations kept us in hearty roars of +laughter, as he became interested in the account of any gallant deeds +thus brought by Uncle Boz to his recollection. It is impossible, +however, for me now to repeat any of their accounts. I may do so +by-and-by, when I have got on a little more with my story, for story I +have, and a very interesting one it ought to prove. + +Breakfast over the next morning, having put all wheel-barrows, +hand-barrows, and baskets we could find into requisition, we set to work +to rear the stronghold to be defended. Such a castle as was the result +never was seen before or since. Uncle Boz declared that he should be +proud to defend it to the last gasp, Bambo echoing the sentiment. It +was built on the side of the hill, with a perpendicular rock six feet +high at least below it, and we all pronounced the fortress equal to +those of Gibraltar, Ehrenbreitstein, San Sebastian, or any others of +like celebrity. Both defenders were armed with shields--tops of +saucepans--while, standing back to back, they with them defended their +heads, or bravely bobbed as the snowy missiles flew towards them. We +made our attacks now on one side, now on the other, they spinning round +on their wooden legs with astonishing rapidity, to meet them. At length +our general resolved to storm. The most difficult side was chosen-- +where the cliff was steepest. A feint was made on the opposite side, +towards which the defenders turned all their attention. We had reached +the summit. Our friends on the opposite side pushed so vehemently +against the walls, that an impetus was given to the whole fabric. +Thundering over the cliff it came, with defenders and assailants, and +all together were buried in the ruins. Uncle Boz soon scrambled out; +but where was Bambo? At length a brown stump was seen wagging faintly. +"That's his _leg_, haul away, boys," shouted Uncle Boz. We hauled and +dug with might and main, for we had no small fear lest our black friend +should be smothered outright; but the body followed the leg, as we +hauled, and happily there was not only life, but activity in him, and +jumping up, before we were aware what he was about to do, he began to +pelt us so vehemently, that, amid shouts of laughter, we were compelled +to take to flight, and scamper down the hill, Uncle Boz aiding him in +following up the victory. + +That evening Uncle Boz showed us an apparatus for sending a line on +board a stranded ship, whether invented or improved by him I am not +prepared to say, nor whether the projectile was a rocket or a shot, or +both, fired from a gun. Hollis, the eldest of our party, who had +considerable mechanical talent, seemed clearly to understand its use, I +remember. + +Great preparations had been made for Christmas Day. Such a turkey, such +a piece of beef, and such a plum pudding! We went to church in the +morning in spite of the distance, and a heavy gale blowing in our teeth +coming back. Fine old English holly, with many a scarlet berry on it, +adorned the church; and the instruments, violin, violoncello, flageolet, +etcetera, etcetera, with the voices, were in great tune and wind; and +the sermon was appropriate,--"Love, goodwill towards all men," just long +enough to send us away in a happy temper, with its leading idea or +principle in the heads, and may be in the hearts of some hearers. Our +appetites, too, were sharpened by our walk, and the keen wind and the +recollection of the appearance of our destined viands as we saw them +displayed in Miss Deborah's larder. The wind was blowing strong on +shore, not softened by its passage across the North Sea; the snow began +to fall; thickly and more thickly it came down. "Stop," cried Uncle +Boz, as we neared the cliff, "there's a gun!" We listened. The low, +dull sound of a gun came across the seething, tossing ocean, but the +ship from which it was fired was unseen. "She's a large ship, +dismasted, possibly lost her anchors, or has no confidence in our +holding ground. She is right. It is bad," he remarked; "firing to warn +us to be on the look-out for her. We'll do that same at all events, +poor souls. Where will she drive ashore, though?" Stooping down, he +listened attentively for some time, then standing up, he exclaimed, +"She'll strike not far from this to the south'ard. Bambo, we must try +to help them." + +"Ay, ay, sir. Dat we will," cried Bambo. + +"Then find out Dick Hawker, Sam Swattridge, and the rest. Tell them if +they'll go I'll command them, and if they won't, that they're a set of +cowardly so-and-soes--. No, no, don't say that, they'll go fast +enough." + +While Bambo hobbled off to the neighbouring fishing village, where there +was a small harbour, we accompanied Uncle Boz home. Near the harbour a +fine boat was kept ready to launch, which, though not a professed +lifeboat, from her having been fitted up by Uncle Boz, she possessed +many of the necessary qualifications for dangerous service. As soon as +we reached the house, Uncle Boz got out the apparatus I have described, +and gave it in charge of Ned Hollis, with Tom King as his lieutenant, +and the rest of us as crew. He directed us all to obey Hollis +implicitly. Hollis had not only been at sea, but had already superior +scientific attainments. + +"Remember men's lives may depend on the way you manage that affair, +lads. Now bear it along with you to the beach, to the spot where the +ship is likely to come ashore. Deb, we'll be back for dinner I hope, +and shall not have worse appetites. Perhaps we may have a guest or +two," he added, as we went out. + +We had not gone far before we met two of the coastguard men, who had +heard the firing. The head station, where the lieutenant resided, was +at a considerable distance, and it was feared that he had gone in an +opposite direction. Though the coastguard men would be of great +assistance, Hollis was still to have charge of the apparatus. Uncle Boz +having speedily made his arrangements, hurried off to the village, while +we continued our course along the beach. Behind us was a lofty +sand-hill, and Hollis ordered King and me to climb up to try and +discover the ship. It was bitter work, even on the beach, much worse +for the poor fellows wet through and through at sea. At first, on +reaching the top of the sand-hill, we could see nothing, but soon the +snow fell less densely, and through it we discovered the dim outline of +a large ship, now almost buried in the trough of the sea, now lifted to +the foaming summit of a wave as she drove onward towards the beach. Her +masts were gone, though her bowsprit remained. The tide was carrying +her somewhat along the beach, so that it seemed as if she would drift +not far from the harbour itself. While we were watching, the snow +ceased falling, and our interest was now turned towards the boat with +Uncle Boz and Bambo in her. She had just reached the mouth of the +harbour. It was perilous work. Huge seas were rolling in. A lull was +waited for. Out dashed the boat. It seemed as if it were impossible +she could live amid those troubled waters. How we held our breath as we +watched her progress. Now it seemed as if she were overwhelmed by the +curling, foaming seas; then again she emerged and struggled on, +buoyantly floating on their summits. To save the ship was beyond human +power, but the wish of Uncle Boz was evidently to try and pilot her in +between two rocks, where her crew might perhaps reach the shore. Lives +are more generally lost when a ship drives on an open beach than when +among rocks. In one instance the people may cling to the rocks, but the +undertow from the beach sweeps them out as often as they struggle +towards it, till their strength fails, and they sink beneath the waves. +With a glass King had brought, we could see the people on the deck of +the hapless craft. King handed it to me. "What do you see now?" he +asked. + +"Women as well as men, two or three at least," I exclaimed, almost +breathless. "Poor creatures! Oh, King, suppose there were children +among them!" + +The ship rolled fearfully, while the seas meeting with the resistance of +her already water-logged hull broke over it in showers of foam, which +must have frozen as they fell on her deck. Her crew were huddled +together, some forward and some with the passengers aft. For her size +there appeared to be very few seamen. We told Hollis. + +"When the masts went, many of them likely enough went also," was his +answer. + +Hitherto they had not observed the boat. We saw Uncle Boz waving to +them. There was a movement among the men. They saw him; an attempt was +made to hoist a sail on the stump of the foremast. It was blown away in +an instant. + +"No anchor would hold; yet it is their only chance," said Hollis. The +coastguard men agreed. + +The attempt was made. We saw the crew cutting the stoppers. It was a +moment of breathless anxiety. "Yes, it holds," was shouted. The ship +brought up head to wind. The boat was making way towards her. + +"It will never hold," cried Hollis. + +Now was the opportunity for the boat to get alongside. Should the cable +part, three minutes would see the ship amid the cruel breakers. The +boat seemed almost stationary; the people on deck stretched out their +hands to her imploringly. Our eyes ached with gazing on her. We +thought not of the biting wind, the piercing cold. + +"She is driving," cried Hollis. "But--but--see! see! Uncle Boz is +alongside. Heaven protect him!" + +There was a rush to the side. Several persons were lowered into the +boat. We saw others descending by ropes: whether they all got in we +could not tell. Some remained on deck. The boat suddenly appeared at a +distance from the ship. + +"The cable has parted!" cried Hollis. "No hope for them now!" + +We hurried along to where we saw the ship must strike. A huge roller +seemed to lift her, and with a terrific crash down she came on the sand, +the foaming sea instantly dashing over her, making every timber in her +tremble, and tearing off large fragments of her upper works. + +"The stoutest ship ever built couldn't stand those shocks many minutes," +observed one of the coastguard men. + +Hollis had planted his apparatus. A shot was fired, and the line fell +over the wreck as the sea took one poor fellow who had let go his hold +to clutch it. In vain he lifted up his hands to grasp some part of the +wreck. He was borne helplessly into the seething caldron below. Now he +was carried towards us. We could see his straining eyeballs, and his +arms stretched out. In vain, in vain. The hissing roller, as it +receded, swept him far away; a shriek reached our ears, and we saw him +no more. Such has been many a brave seaman's lot. Another seaman was +more successful, the line was secured, and now we signalled to those on +board to secure a stouter line that we might haul it on shore. One was +found, and we began hauling away, but our united strength could only +just do it. How should we ever get a cable taut enough to allow of the +people passing safely along it? Happily at that moment several +fishermen arrived with stout poles, boats' masts, and oars, and began +planting them in the sand. + +Then taking the rope in hand, they hauled it in with ease. A hawser had +been made fast to the rope. That in the same way was got in, and the +end secured to the poles. A traveller had been wisely placed on the +hawser. The first man securing himself to it worked his way along, +carrying a line with him. He was one of the mates. There were six more +people on board alive, including the captain, he told us. The rest had +been lowered into the boat, with the women and children. "Children out +in such weather as this!" more than one of us exclaimed. But the boat; +where was that? Now, for the first time, while the line which the brave +mate had brought on shore was being hauled back, we had time to look out +for her. I ran up the sand-hill. In vain I turned my eyes over the +angry, foaming sea. Not a glimpse of the boat could I obtain. Down +came the snow again. My heart sank within me. "Haul away!" I heard +shouted. I ran to take my part. The big tears sprang to my eyes. I +couldn't tell my companions what I feared. At last I could refrain no +longer. "Oh Hollis! oh King! the boat has gone," I cried out, bursting +into tears. "Uncle Boz! dear Uncle Boz and Bambo!" sobbed more than one +of us. + +"No fear, masters--no fear," exclaimed one of the fishermen. "The boat +is in long ago, and the lieutenant and those he has saved from a watery +grave are safe on shore, and on their way up to the house by this time." + +How our hearts felt relieved, and if we didn't shout for joy, it was +because they were too full for that. Well, I must cut my story short. +Three more men came on shore safe; a fourth attempting to get along, +trusting to his own strength without the traveller, was washed off, and +in spite of a rush made into the water to save him, was carried back and +lost. The brave captain was the last man to leave the ship, and +scarcely had he reached the strand than a huge sea, like some great +monster, with a terrific roar struck the wreck, and literally dashed her +into a thousand fragments. I must not stop either to describe the +appearance of the beach strewn with fragments of wreck, with cargo and +baggage, or how the people from far and near collected to appropriate +what they could, eager to secure a large booty before the proper +authorities arrived to take possession of the property. Bambo, who +appeared to invite all those we had rescued up to the house, satisfied +us that Uncle Boz was safe. We hurried on with our companions, for we +were all wet through, and bitterly cold. The house was hot enough when +we got inside, for there were blazing fires in each room, Uncle Boz +presiding over one, Bambo over the other, with saucepans and spoons, and +a strong smell of port-wine negus pervading the atmosphere. In the +dining-room, into which Miss Deborah did not venture, were five or six +rolls of rugs, with rough human heads sticking out of them. In the +drawing-room, the dear lady's own domain, was a large basket, serving as +a cradle, in one corner, and two big chairs forming a bed in another; +one occupied by an infant, the other by a little creature with fair +face, and beautiful blue eyes, which would look up with bewildered gaze +to watch what was going forward. Aunt Deb was deeply busied in grating +nutmeg, squeezing lemons, and stirring up sugar. + +"Oh, dear boys, run and change your clothes, or you'll all catch your +death of cold!" she exclaimed. + +Up we went, but soon discovered that she had forgotten to warn us that +most of our rooms were occupied. However, she recollected very quickly, +and hurrying, panting after us, brought us all dry garments into Hollis' +room. + +The captain had followed us, and arrived as we came back. Uncle Boz was +about to make another jorum of negus. He looked up, spoon in hand. +"Welcome on shore, 'tis no time for ceremony," he cried out. "Always +glad to receive a seaman, in distress. There, turn into my bed in the +room through there. Your men shall have rugs in the other room there, +till their clothes are dry." + +Where was our Christmas dinner all this time? That had the caboose to +itself, and Bambo every now and then stumped off to see how it was going +on, Miss Deborah also occasionally looking in for the same purpose. By +the time the dinner was cooked, the seamen's clothes were dried, and +then the table was spread in the dining-room, and Uncle Boz, standing +up, asked a blessing on the food, and told the shipwrecked seamen to +fall to. Miss Deborah carried off certain portions of the turkey and +ham up-stairs, and Uncle Boz, in like manner, took some into his best +guest-chamber, the one built for his late shipmate. All I know is that +every scrap had disappeared before he found out that neither he nor any +of us had eaten a morsel. He winked to us to say nothing about the +matter, and Bambo soon after placed on the drawing-room table some bread +and cheese, and a huge pile of gigantic mince-pies. We demolished them, +and I may honestly say that I never more thoroughly enjoyed a Christmas +dinner, at least seeing one eaten. + +I have a good deal more to say about that pair of blue eyes, now closed +by sleep in the arm-chair, and those up-stairs to whom the little owner +belonged; but I must cry avast for the present. Well! there _is_ a +satisfaction in toiling, and denying ourselves to do good to others, and +to make them happy, and that is the reason why I have an idea that that +same day I have been describing was one of the most satisfactory +Christmas days I ever spent. + + + +STORY TWO, CHAPTER 2. + +More than a year had passed away since those Christmas holidays when the +wreck happened, and my brother and I were again to become inmates of +Uncle Boz's unique abode. It was midsummer; the trees were green, the +air warm and balmy, the wind blew gently, and the broad blue sea +sparkled brightly, and seemed joyously to welcome our return. + +A somewhat poetical notion; the fact being that we were so happy to get +back to the dear old spot, and the dearer old people, that we could not +help feeling that all the objects, inanimate as well as animate, on +which our eyes rested were equally delighted to see us. Yes, I am +certain of it. The yellow sand looked cleaner and yellower; the sun +shone, and the wide ocean glittered more brightly; and the blue sky +looked bluer, with the bold cliffs standing up into it; and the gulls' +wings whiter, as they darted through the glowing atmosphere, than we had +ever seen them before. At all events, there were certain animate +objects who were delighted to see us, or we must have been very bad +decipherers of the human countenance. There stood Uncle Boz, Aunt +Deborah, and Bambo, and another personage who presented a very great +contrast in personal appearance to any one of the three. Not from being +very tall, or very thin, or very grave, or very sour-looking, or very +white, or very ugly. The personage in question had none of these +peculiarities. Who said that Uncle Boz was ugly? He wasn't! nor was +Aunt Deborah, nor was Bambo. They were all beautiful in their way; at +least, I thought so then, and do now. Well, but about this personage. +There was a pair of large blue eyes--the sky wasn't bluer, nor the sea +more sparkling when they laughed; and there was a face round them very +fair, with a delicate colour on the cheeks and lips. I should like to +see the coral which could surpass them, polished ever so much. There +was hair in ringlets, adorning the face; not flaxen exactly, though +light with a tinge from the sun, or from something which gave it a +bright glow. This head belonged to a little girl--very little, and +fairy-like, and beautiful. A different sort of beauty to Bambo's or +Uncle Boz's, or even to Aunt Deborah's. I don't indeed think that Aunt +Deb ever could have been like Katty Brand, even in her childhood's days, +or if she had, she was very considerably altered since then. The blue +eyes opened wider than ever with astonishment, and the lips parted, as, +jumping out of the carriage, we were kissed by Aunt Deb, and had our +hands wrung in the cordial grasp, first of Uncle Boz, and then of jolly +old Bambo. It was evidently a matter of consideration in that little +head of Katty's how she should receive us. We settled the point by each +of us giving her some hearty kisses, which I don't think offended her +much, though she did wipe her cheeks after the operation, and we very +soon became fast friends. + +"She is a beauty," whispered Jack to Aunt Deb; on which Aunt Deb nodded +and smiled, as much as to say, "Indeed she is." + +We were soon discussing with Uncle Boz the programme for our summer +amusements. We were to have salt-water fishing and fresh-water fishing, +and shooting, and boating, and egg hunting, and shells and other +curiosities were to be looked for on the seashore, and long walks were +to be taken; and then we were to have bathing, and to learn to knot and +splice, and to cut out and rig a ship; indeed, every moment of our time +would be fully occupied. + +Somebody wishes to know about the owner of those blue eyes. I first saw +them, on the evening of the wreck, watching Aunt Deb performing certain +culinary operations at the drawing-room fire. There is a sad story +connected with the beautiful little owner of which I have not liked +before to speak. I mentioned a lady in one room, and a gentleman in +another, and a little baby in a basket. They all now lay at rest in the +burying-ground of the church we went to that memorable Christmas +morning. + +We little thought at the time that there would be soon so many fresh +occupants. The lady soon sank under the effects of her exposure on the +stormy ocean that bitter winter's day. Her baby followed, and her +husband did not survive many days. Katty alone of the family remained. +She was too young to know the extent of her loss, or feel it long; and +had Aunt Deborah been her mother's dearest friend, instead of a total +stranger, she could not possibly have more tenderly cared for the little +orphan. This event formed a melancholy termination to those Christmas +holidays, and excited the warmest sympathy in our hearts for Katty +Brand. We knew well, however, that she was in good hands while Uncle +Boz and Aunt Deborah had charge of her. We were not disappointed. Hers +was a happy life, and a brighter or sweeter little rosebud never was +seen. + +It may easily be supposed that she was a pet among us boys in the +holidays, and each one of us would have gone through fire and water to +serve her. Jack, who was somewhat emphatic in his assertions, declared +that he would swim through hot pitch and burning sulphur, or sit on the +top of an iceberg in the coldest day of an arctic winter, if so doing +would give her a particle of pleasure. He was very safe in making the +offer; for as she was the most sensible, amiable little creature in +existence, it was not likely that she would ever thus test his regard. +I must say that Miss Katty ran a very great chance of being spoiled +between Uncle Boz and Aunt Deborah and Bambo, in spite of the wise saws +about training children to which Uncle Boz continually gave utterance. +"The little lady mustn't have her way, or mustn't do that thing," he was +continually saying; but the little lady notwithstanding had her way, and +did the very thing she wished. However, Aunt Deborah, with her watchful +care, though loving the little creature as much as any one, managed +quietly to correct the faults which would undoubtedly otherwise have +sprung up in her character, and deeply grateful some one is to her for +so doing. However, of that more anon. She was, of course, rather a pet +than a playmate of us youngsters; but even the least sentimental among +us considered her infinitely superior to any dog, even though he could +have danced a hornpipe, or monkey, however full of tricks, or parrot, +however talkative, which could have been provided for that purpose. As +Aunt Deborah was not much addicted to rapid locomotion, nor accustomed +to walk to any distance, Katty was her constant companion. Indeed, as +we were out all day shooting, or fishing, or boating, with Uncle Boz or +Bambo, we saw her, except on Sundays, only in the morning and evening. +When by any chance Aunt Deborah was unable to go out with her, my +brother Jack was always ready to take her place; and certainly no mother +could have watched over the little creature with more gentle care. It +happened that Aunt Deborah had caught a cold, and was compelled to keep +the house; the rest of us were going out trout-fishing with Uncle Boz; +but Jack made excuses for remaining behind, wishing, in fact, to offer +his services to take Katty a walk, or perhaps a row in our boat, if +Bambo could be spared to accompany him; if not, he proposed asking one +of the fishermen from the village, should any be found sauntering about +on the beach. As it happened, Bambo could not go; but Jack did not mind +that, as he knew that Bill Cockle would be ready to accompany him. We +left him working away at a vessel he was rigging, and waiting patiently +till the afternoon, when Aunt Deborah would let Katty go out with him. +We had a capital day's sport. Uncle Boz caught ten brace of trout, I +killed five, and the rest not many less. We took our dinner with us, +and discussed it sitting on a green bank, under the shade of a willow, +with the rapid stream flashing and sparkling by over its pebbly bed at +our feet. It would be a memorable day, we all agreed, as it was a most +pleasant one. What trout-fisher cannot recall some such to his memory, +not to be surpassed by others in subsequent years! + +When we got back we found Aunt Deb in a state of agitation at the +non-appearance of Katty and Jack. Bambo had gone out to look for them, +and had not returned. We, of course, ran off immediately to the beach, +expecting to find them there. Neither up nor down on the beach were +they to be seen. We ran to where our boat was moored in the little +harbour; she was not there. We cast our eyes over the sea: there were +several specks in the distance, undoubtedly boats; ours might be one of +them. There were also white sails in the horizon, vessels sailing to or +from Scottish ports. Every fishing-boat had gone out; Uncle Boz's large +boat was hauled up, undergoing repairs. We saw Bambo up at the village, +making inquiries. Bill Cockle had gone away early in one of the boats. +The women had been busily engaged in their houses, and had not watched +the harbour. I did not for one moment believe that Jack would have +taken Katty into the boat, and pulled out of the harbour by himself; yet +how to account for their disappearance? Uncle Boz himself, tired as he +was, very soon came down to us. He seemed quite calm; but loving the +little girl as he did, I knew how anxious he must have felt. Having +first examined the boat, "She'll float," he observed, and he then +directed Bambo to get her gear down from the boat-house in the village. +The news spread that something was wrong, and women and a few old men +collected from all sides to hear about it. The children also came, and +were seen talking among themselves. They had seen something unusual. +We tried to elicit what it was. We, not without difficulty, discovered +at last that they had seen some strange people on the beach; that they +had come down in a cart or waggon, which had afterwards driven rapidly +off; that they had got into a small boat, and pulled away for a lugger, +which stood in to meet them. Uncle Boz inquired where the coastguard +men had been at the time. They had been summoned in different +directions, so that none were near at hand. + +"I see it all," he exclaimed; "the scoundrels! That is the way they +take their revenge on me. They cannot have got far with this breeze; we +must be after them." + +It may seem surprising that Uncle Boz should have had any enemies--that +he could have offended any one; but the fact that he had is only another +proof that men who act uprightly cannot at all times avoid giving +offence to the bad. This part of the coast was occasionally visited by +smugglers from Dunkirk, as well as from the coast of Holland. Their +vessels were manned by a mixture of Dutch, French, and English, and they +were in league with Englishmen of various grades, who took charge of the +goods they brought over. During the previous winter, a young man, +struck down by sickness, and brought to repentance, sent, just as he was +dying, to Uncle Boz, and revealed to him a plot, in which he was +concerned, to run a large cargo, in doing which there was great risk +that the lives both of coastguard men and smugglers would be sacrificed. +Uncle Boz instantly went off himself to the Inspecting Commander of the +district; and so strong a force was sent down to the spot, and so sharp +a look-out kept up along the coast, that the smugglers found their +design impracticable, and were compelled to abandon it. Had the young +smuggler survived, they would have wreaked their vengeance on him; but +he was safe from them in his grave. Their rage, therefore, was turned +towards Uncle Boz, as they had discovered that he had given the +information, and assisted to make the arrangements which had defeated +their plans. Although not wishing to act the part of a volunteer +coastguard man, Uncle Boz had always set his face against the smugglers, +and spoke of their proceedings as lawless and wicked. "Black is black, +and white is white; and it is because people will persist in calling +black white that the ignorant are left in their ignorance, and unable to +discern right from wrong," he used to observe, when speaking on the +subject. It seemed almost incredible, however, that the smugglers, bad +as they might be, would maliciously injure a young boy and a little +child, even though they might suppose, as they probably did, that they +were the children of the man who had offended them. Still, such things +had been done before. There was no other way of accounting for the +disappearance of Jack and Katty. Jack would never have put off in the +boat by himself. Had he done so she would still be visible, and there +had been no wind to upset her. He would certainly not have remained out +so long willingly; besides, the account given by the children, who had +seen the strangers come down to the beach and push off in a boat, seemed +to settle the question. We had still to wait for a crew. Uncle Boz +sent up to the house for his tools, and an old carpenter in the village +lent a hand, and they, with Bambo, worked away to get the boat ready for +sea. We, meantime, hunted among the rocks along the shore for any +traces of the missing ones, not without a feeling of fear and dread that +we might discover some; then we searched the cliffs, and every cave and +cranny we could think of. Poor Aunt Deborah came down, when at length +her fears had been aroused, to ascertain what had become of her little +darling. I never saw her so grieved and agitated before. I was afraid +that she would blame Jack; but not a word against him did she utter. On +the contrary, she could only say, "Poor, poor fellow! I know that he +would die sooner than let the sweet angel be injured; and if she has +gone, so has he." Before I heard her say that I had not realised what +might have happened, and I burst into tears. While we were waiting, in +the hopes that some of the men for whom Uncle Boz had sent might be +found, one of the specks in the distance, which we knew to be boats, was +seen approaching. Slowly she drew nearer and nearer the shore. We +watched her anxiously. She might bring us some information. At length +she was seen to be a fishing-boat. We hurried down to the beach, as +with a light breeze she came skimming in over the calm sea. The first +person who jumped out of her was Bill Cockle. + +"Have you seen Jack? Have you seen Katty Brand?" I eagerly cried out. + +Bill pulled off his hat, scratched his head, and with a look of +astonishment, turning round his head as if some one had hit him, +exclaimed, "No! Why, what's happened?" + +We told him. On which giving a slap on his thigh, and a hitch to his +waistband, with a forcible expression, which I need not repeat, he +exclaimed, "The villains! That's what we saw, then. We couldn't make +it out. Well, I didn't--" + +"What was it you saw? What happened? Say, say!" we all exclaimed in +one breath. + +Cockle's explanation was somewhat long, and sorely tried our patience. +He and his mates had hauled in about half of one of their long nets, +when a large lugger, they had not before seen, passed them, very nearly +running them down. She stood close in, and exchanged signals with the +shore. A boat in a little time was seen to come off with several people +in her, and Cockle declared that he had seen a boy handed up the side of +the lugger, and he was nearly certain a baby or little child. The +lugger then hoisted in the boat, and made sail to the southward. As, +however, there had been either a calm, or but a slight breeze ever +since, from the southward, she could not have got far. This seemed to +settle the question. We had now collected enough men to form a crew. +We required arms and authority for boarding the lugger. Edward Grahame +was with us, but though a midshipman, dressed in his uniform, with a +dirk by his side, he could scarcely in his own person answer all our +requirements. He was of course to go, and, to my great satisfaction, +Uncle Boz gave me leave to be of the party, in consideration that it was +my brother who was lost. The rest went back somewhat unwillingly to +attend on Aunt Deborah. In spite of her grief, Aunt Deborah recollected +that we could not live without eating, and had gone home to provide as +large a store of provisions as the house could furnish. The men, +meantime, got some kegs with water, and several loaves of bread and a +cheese. We all ran backwards and forwards bringing the provisions Aunt +Deborah had provided. We were not likely to starve, even though we +might have had a chase of many days before we should overtake the +lugger. + +Though we had collected all the weapons to be found, we were not over +well armed. "Never mind, lads," cried Uncle Boz, "we have the boat's +stretchers, stout hearts, and a right cause, and if we can once get +alongside the villains, there's no fear but that we'll win back our +little jewel, and give them some broken heads for the trouble of heart +and body they've caused us." + +"Yes, dat we will," echoed Bambo, flourishing a heavy handspike over his +head, with a vehemence which showed that age had not impaired his +vigour. "We will treat dem as we did dem picarooning villains in de +Vest Indies, ven you led de boarders, massa Boz, eh!" + +"And you followed close at my side, and saved my life, Bambo," cried +Uncle Boz. "Shove away boys, lift her handsomely, she'll be afloat +directly." + +We were running the heavy boat down the beach into the water. Just as +we were about to shove off, who should appear but Lieutenant Kelson, of +the coastguard, with two of his men. + +"There's not much chance that he'll ever set the Thames on fire," I +heard Uncle Boz once remark of him, from which I concluded that he was +not a very bright genius. However, he was now cordially welcomed. He +possessed the authority we wanted. His men were well armed, and would +help us in fighting, of which I had a secret hope that we should enjoy a +fair amount. I did not know what fighting was in those days. I had +never seen blood drawn--human beings in the pride of manhood, shot down, +and mangled and torn by shot and shell and langrage fired by brethren's +hands, writhing and shrieking in their death agony. Fighting may be a +necessary evil, but an evil it is, and a dreadful one too. Mr Kelson +hearing what had occurred, agreed to come, and he jumping in with his +men, off we shoved amid the cheers of all who remained on shore, and +their good wishes for our success. The men let fall their oars. Bob +Grahame and I had one between us, and Uncle Boz steered; Kelson sitting +like an admiral in his barge, and doing nothing. The little wind there +had been fell completely, that was just what we wanted. If the calm +continued, we should be nearly certain to come up with the lugger. +Though the days were long, the sun was sinking down over the land, amid +a rich orange glow which suffused the whole western sky. We were +anxious before daylight had gone to catch sight of the lugger, lest we +might pass her during the night. Fast as she was, however, with the +light breeze which had been blowing for a short time, she might have +slipped along through the water for a considerable distance. Cockle +reported that she had edged off from the coast, and so having no other +course to choose, we steered in the same direction, at the same time +keeping a bright look-out in-shore, lest she might have afterwards kept +in again, in the hopes of a chance of running some contraband. Several +of the revenue cutters on the station had gone into port to refit, and +the smugglers were just now indulging themselves, as do mice when the +cat's away. Numerous vessels were seen in the offing, but none of them +like the lugger. We pulled steadily on. It was not likely that the +smuggler would have gone much to the eastward, as she was probably bound +for the coast of Holland or France. We should be certain, therefore, to +come up with her. Twilight lessened, and darkness was gathering round +us, when the moon, a vast globe of golden hue, rose out of the water, +and as she shot upwards, cast a brilliant sparkling pathway of light +athwart its surface. Never was I out in a more glorious night. Had we +not had serious work before us, it was one to engross all our thoughts. +Even the fish seemed to enjoy it, as we could see them leaping up on +either hand. Many of them must have been big fellows, by the loud +splash they made. On, on we pulled. "If we don't soon come up with +her, it will make our fellows very savage," observed Kelson to Uncle +Boz. + +"Yes, we eat 'um," cried out Bambo, who was a privileged joker. + +The remark was appreciated by the other men. + +"Yes Bambo, a jolly good supper we'll make of them, the waggabonds," +sung out one of the other men. + +It was time, however, for real supper, so we knocked off rowing, and +provisions, with grog, were served out, and not sorry I was to rest my +arms. A capital supper was made, and the crew seemed to enjoy it much. +Once more, with renewed strength, we took to our oars. To pull all +night long, with the chance of a fight at the end of it, is not so +pleasant as lying snugly in bed; but, under the circumstances, I +infinitely preferred being where I was--eagerness gave strength to our +arms. We could not go on much longer without falling in with her, it +was thought. + +"It depends whether she is full or empty," observed the lieutenant. "If +the latter, she'll be making the best of her way across to the +Continent; but if she's full she'll be hovering about the coast for the +chance of running her cargo. She'll probably just now have her canvas +lowered on deck, so that it will be a hard job to make her out." + +There seemed wisdom in this remark, but as she could have run some of +her cargo when she stood in in the afternoon if she had had any on +board, the general opinion was that she was steering a course for +Dunkirk, to which a smuggling lugger frequenting the coast was known to +belong, and it was thought that she must be that same lugger. All we +hoped for was that the calm would continue. We were pulling steadily +on, the men chatting with each other, when Mr Kelson sung out, +"Silence! a sail ahead!" I could not help looking anxiously over my +shoulder to ascertain what she was. I could just discern a dark object +no great height out of the water. + +"She's the lugger, I really think," observed Mr Kelson. "I hope she +may have some tubs aboard." + +"I pray that she may have the dear children safe," said Uncle Boz. + +"Yes, she's a lugger, there's no doubt about that," remarked the +lieutenant. + +Everyone was now on the alert, and I saw the men feeling that their +weapons were ready for use. My heart beat considerably quicker than +usual. We neared the stranger. + +"Pull out of stroke, lads," said Uncle Boz. "They'll take us for some +merchantman's crew." + +There were several men we could see on the deck of the lugger. It was +very difficult to prevent ourselves from dashing up alongside in the way +our feelings would have dictated. It seemed strange, however, that they +did not exhibit any alarm at our approach. Uncle Boz steered as if +going to pass her, then suddenly shearing the boat alongside, we jumped +on board. + +"Well, what is all this about?" exclaimed a man standing aft, no one +offering a show of resistance. + +"That we are in His Majesty's revenue service, and that you are our +prisoners," cried Lieutenant Kelson. + +"That we have contraband on board, or that you have a right to detain +us, must be proved," said the master calmly. "Step below, you will find +my papers correct; there is some mistake, I suspect." + +The lieutenant went down into the little cabin and I followed, half +hoping to find Jack and Katty; but not a sign of them was there. Uncle +Boz now came below; when the mate saw him he exclaimed, "Ah, sir, I know +you; I was second mate of the _Rosamond_, wrecked near your house, when +you saved our lives and treated us all so kindly. What has happened?" +Uncle Boz told him. + +"Then I'll help you if I can," said the master. "A lugger with sweeps +passed us not an hour ago, quite close. I had an idea I knew the +fellow, and but little honesty is there in him. Do you pull on as +before, and I will follow if there comes a breeze, and lend a hand +should you want me." + +There was no time for talking, and as the vessel was evidently honest, +we tumbled into our boat and pulled on as lustily as before. + +We soon caught sight of another vessel. "Hurrah! there she is," cried +Uncle Boz. "The fellows won't balk you this time; but we must go +alongside as we did the other." + +The lugger had taken in her sweeps, having got well off from the land. +As we drew near we began to pull carelessly as before. The people on +her deck evidently did not know what to make of us. They seemed, +however, satisfied, for several continued to walk up and down the deck, +as they had at first been doing, hands in pockets. We quickly made them +draw them out though. The boat in another instant was alongside, and we +were leaping on deck. Oaths in Dutch, French, and English burst from +the lips of the crew. + +"We are betrayed," shouted the captain of the lugger. "But cheer up, +lads. Overboard with the fellows!" + +As he began to show fight, a knock on the head silenced him, and the +crew on deck quickly succumbed. The lieutenant and his men jumped +below, and secured several of the men in their berths. Uncle Boz and I +meantime made our way into the cabin. A bright lamp hung from a beam +above. On a locker was seated my brother Jack, Katty resting on one +arm, while with his other hand he was feeding her with gruel from a +basin held by a tall thin old Frenchman, dressed in a faded suit, of +ancient cut, and a white nightcap on his bald head. I should have said +had been feeding, for the process was arrested by the noise on deck. +They all looked up as we entered, and Katty in her eagerness upset the +basin as she sprang forward to throw herself into Uncle Boz's arms. She +instantly ran back and took Jack by the hand, crying out, "Dear Jack +couldn't help it. If he bigger, he wouldn't let naughty smuggler carry +me away." + +They had not been ill-treated; the old Frenchman especially had been +very kind to them. + +"Ah! yes, I have von littel grandchild lik dat at home," he remarked. + +So sudden had been our attack that we found plenty of things on board to +condemn the vessel; while, of course, those concerned would be tried for +the abduction of Jack and Katty. As the old Frenchman was clearly only +a passenger, he was put on board the lugger we had previously boarded. +I was glad that he escaped, on account of his kindness to sweet Katty +and Jack, though I suspect that he was an absconding debtor. I should +think, however, that his creditors might as well have tried to skin a +flint as him. We carried the lugger in off the coastguard station, +where more hands were put on board. Before noon we had placed sweet +Katty in Aunt Deb's loving arms, not much the worse for her excursion. + +Jack went to sea, and Katty's cabinet was adorned with numberless +articles strange and beautiful from all parts of the world. Jack, of +course, wherever he could get a run on shore, had to come and inspect +them. By many a gallant deed he won his commander's commission, and +then Katty became his fond, devoted wife. + +In that old churchyard high above the German Ocean are three small +monuments placed by some loving friends of those who lie beneath. To no +one more truly can the epitaph be applied than that which is cut on each +tomb--that of the brother, of the sister, and of the faithful +African--_Hic jacet in pace_. + + + +STORY THREE, CHAPTER 1. + +THE SAN FIORENZO AND HER CAPTAIN, NARRATED BY ADMIRAL M--. + +There was not a happier ship in the service, when I joined her towards +the end of the year 1794, than the gallant _San Fiorenzo_, Captain Sir +Harry Burrard Neale, and those were not days when ships were reckoned +little paradises afloat, even by enthusiastic misses or sanguine young +midshipmen. They were generally quite the other thing. + +The crews of many ships found it that other thing, and the officers, of +course, found it so likewise. If the men are not contented, the +officers must be uncomfortable; and, at the same time, I will say, from +my experience, that when a ship gained the title of a hell-afloat, it +was always in consequence of the officers not knowing their duty, or not +doing it. Pride, arrogance, and an utter disregard for the feelings of +those beneath them in rank, was too prevalent among the officers of the +service, and was the secret of the calamitous events which occasionally +happened about that time. + +My noble commander was not such an one as those of whom I have spoken. +There were some like him, but not many his equals. I may truly say of +him "that he belonged to the race of admirals of which the navy of Old +England has a right to be proud; that he was a perfect seaman, and a +perfect gentleman." + +"He was one of the most humane, brave, and zealous commanders that ever +trod a deck, to whom every man under him looked up as a father." I was +with him for many, very many years--from my boyish days to manhood,--and +I may safely say that I never saw him in a passion, or even out of +temper, though I have seen him indignant; and never more so than when +merit--the merit of the junior officers of the service--has been +overlooked or disregarded. I never heard him utter an oath, and I +believe firmly that he never allowed one to escape his lips. I will say +of him what I dare say of few men, that, in the whole course of his +life, he was never guilty of an act unworthy of the character of a +Christian and a gentleman. I was with him when his career was run-- +when, living in private on his own estate, the brave old sailor, who had +ever kept himself unspotted from the world, spent his days in "visiting +the fatherless and widows in their affliction"--walking from cottage to +cottage, with his basket of provisions or medicines, or books, where the +first were not required. + +Genuine were the tears shed on his grave, and hearty was the response as +the following band gave forth the air of "The Fine Old English +Gentleman, all of the Olden Time?" + +And now, on the borders of his estate, visible afar over the Solent Sea +[Note 1], there stands a monument, raised by his sovereign and by those +who knew and loved him well, all eager to add their testimony to his +worth. But yet he lives in the heart of many a seaman, and will live +while one remains who served under his command. But, avast! whither am +I driving? My feelings have carried me away. + +After what I have said, it is not surprising that the _San Fiorenzo_ +should have been a happy ship. Her captain made her so. From the +highest to the lowest, all trusted him; all knew that he had their +interest at heart--all loved him. The _San Fiorenzo_ might have been a +happy ship under an inferior commander--that is possible; but I doubt +very much whether her crew would have done what they did do under any +officer not possessed of those high qualities for which Sir Harry was so +eminently distinguished. The _San Fiorenzo_ was highly honoured, for +she was the favourite ship, or rather, Sir Harry was the favourite +captain of His Majesty George the Third, who, let people say what they +will of him, was truly the sailors' friend, and wished to be his +subjects' friend, as far as he had the power. Sir Harry was a +favourite, not because he was a flatterer, but because the King knew him +to be an honest man. + +George the Third, as is well known, was very fond of spending the summer +months at Weymouth, whence he could easily put to sea in his yacht, or +on board a man-of-war, placed at his disposal. He seemed never to tire +of sailing, especially with Sir Harry. + +Whist was the constant game in the royal cabins. Sir Harry, who did +everything as well as he could, though far from a good player, often +beat the King, who was an indifferent one. Lord A--, a practised +courtier, was, on the contrary, a remarkably good one, and generally +beat Sir Harry. When, however, Lord A-- played with the King, His +Majesty always came off victorious. The King used to pretend to be +exceedingly puzzled. + +"It's very odd--very odd. I beat Lord A--, Lord A-- beats Sir Harry, +and Sir Harry beats me. How can it be--how can it be?" + +The King was always anxious to stand out to sea, so as to lose sight of +land. This, however, was too dangerous an amusement to allow him. Sir +Harry's plan was to put the ship's head off-shore, and to make all sail. +This satisfied the King, who was then easily persuaded to go below to +luncheon, dinner, or tea, or to indulge in his favourite game. Sail was +soon again quietly shortened, and the ship headed in for the shore. +Sometimes the King seemed rather surprised that we should have made the +land again so soon; but whether or not he suspected a trick, I cannot +say. His only remark was, "All right, Sir Harry; you are always right." + +It was impossible for a monarch to be more condescending and affable +than was the good old King to all on board. He used to go among the +men, and talk to them in the most familiar way, inquiring about their +adventures and family histories, and evidently showing a sympathy with +their feelings and ideas. Did they love the old King? Ay, there was +not a man of them who would not gladly have died for him. It was the +same with the midshipmen and officers. He used to delight in calling up +us youngsters, and would chat with us as familiarly as would any private +gentleman. He showed his real disposition, when able thus to cast aside +the cares of state, and to give way to the kindly feelings of his heart. +I say again, in that respect the King and his captain were worthy of +each other. The following anecdote will prove it:-- + +We had gone to Portsmouth, leaving the King at Weymouth, and were +returning through the Needles, when, as we got off Poole harbour, a +small boat, with three people in her, was seen a little on the starboard +bow. One man was rowing, the other two persons were beckoning, +evidently towards the ship. As we drew near, we saw, through our +glasses, that the two people were an old man and woman, and, as we +appeared to be passing them, their gestures became more and more +vehement. Many captains would have laughed, or taken no notice of the +old people. Not so Sir Harry--he had a feeling for everyone. Ordering +the ship to be hove-to, he allowed the boat to come alongside. + +"Oh, captain, is our ain bairn Davie on board?" shouted the old people, +in chorus. + +Sir Harry, with the benignant smile his countenance so often wore, +directed that they might be assisted up the side. + +"Who is it you want, good people?" he asked, as soon as their feet were +safely planted on the deck, where they stood, gazing round with +astonished countenances. + +"Our ain son, Davie--David Campbell, sir," was again the reply. + +"Is there any man of that name on board?" inquired Sir Harry. "Let him +be called aft." + +A stout lad soon made his appearance, and was immediately pressed in the +old people's arms. This son was a truant, long absent from his home. +At length, grown weary at delay, quitting their abode near Edinburgh, +they had travelled south, inquiring at every port for their lost son, +and only that morning had they arrived by waggon at Poole, believing +that it was a port where men-of-war were to be found. A boatman, for +the sake of a freight, had persuaded them to come off with him, pointing +out the ship which was then coming out through the Needles. + +Sir Harry was so pleased with the perseverance and affection which the +old couple had exhibited, that he took them on to Weymouth, when the +story was told to the King. His Majesty had them presented to him, and +he and Queen Charlotte paid them all sorts of attention, and at length, +after they had spent some weeks with their son, dismissed them, highly +gratified, to their home in the North. + +Queen Charlotte was as good a woman as ever lived, and, in her way, was +as kind and affable as was the King. She had a quaint humour about her, +too, which frequently exhibited itself, in spite of the somewhat painful +formality of the usual court circle. As an example--Sir Harry had had a +present of bottled green peas made to him the previous year, and, +looking on them as a great rarity, he had kept them to be placed on the +table before his royal guests. As he knew more about ploughing the +ocean than ploughing the land, and affairs nautical than horticultural, +it did not occur to him that fresh green peas were to obtained on shore. +The bottled green peas were therefore proudly produced on the first +opportunity. + +"Your Majesty," said Sir Harry, as the Queen was served, "those green +peas have been kept a whole year." + +The Queen made no reply till she had eaten a few, and sent several +flying off from the prongs of her fork. Then, nodding with a smile, she +quietly said, "So I did tink." + +To the end of his days, Sir Harry used to laugh over the story, adding, +"Sure enough, they were very green; but as hard as swan-shot." + +But I undertook to narrate a circumstance which exhibited Sir Harry +Burrard Neale's character in its true colours. I need not enter into an +account of that painful event, the Mutiny of the British Fleet. It +broke out first at Spithead, on the 15th April, 1797, on board Lord +Bridport's flag-ship, the _Royal George_; the crews of the other ships +of the fleet following the example thus set them. The men, there can be +no doubt, had very considerable grievances of which to complain; nor can +it be well explained how, in those days, they could by legal means have +had them redressed. One thing only is certain, mutiny was not the +proper way of proceeding. We were at Spithead, and not an officer in +the fleet knew what was about to occur, when, on the 14th, two of our +men desired to speak with the captain, and then gave him the astounding +intelligence that the ships' companies of the whole fleet had bound +themselves to make certain important demands, and which, if not granted, +that they would refuse to put to sea. The two men--they were +quartermasters--moreover, stated that they had themselves been chosen +delegates to represent the ship's company of the _San Fiorenzo_, by the +rest of the fleet, but that they could assure him that all the men would +prove true and loyal, and would obey their officers as far as was +consistent with prudence. + +Sir Harry thanked them, assuring them, in return, that he would trust +them thoroughly. He, however, scarcely believed at that time the extent +to which the mischief had gone. The next day evidence was given of the +wide spread of the disaffection. Affairs day after day grew worse and +worse; and although some of the superior officers acted with great +judgment and moderation, others very nearly drove matters to the +greatest extremity. + +Meantime, the delegates of the _San Fiorenzo_ attended the meetings of +the mutineers, and, though at the imminent risk of their lives, +regularly brought Sir Harry information of all that occurred. He +transmitted it to the Admiralty, and it was chiefly through his +representations and advice that conciliatory measures were adopted by +the Government. Nearly all the just demands of the seamen having been +granted, they returned to their duty and it was supposed that the mutiny +was at an end. Just before this, the Princess Royal had married the +Duke of Wirtemberg, and the _San Fiorenzo_ had been appointed to carry +Her Royal Highness over to Cuxhaven. We could not, however, move +without permission from the delegates. This was granted. Our +upper-deck guns were stowed below, and the larger portion of the +upper-deck fitted with cabins. In this condition, when arriving at +Sheerness, we found to our surprise that the red flag was still flying +on board the guardship, the _Sandwich_. Supposing that her crew had not +been informed of what had taken place at Spithead, Sir Harry sent our +delegates on board her, that they might explain the real state of +affairs. The disgust of our men was very great when they were informed +that fresh demands had been made by the crews of the North Sea fleet, of +so frivolous a nature that it was not probable they would be granted. +Our men, in spite of the character of delegates, which had been forced +on them, could not help showing their indignation, and expressing +themselves in no very courteous terms. This showed the mutineers that +they were not over-zealous in their cause, and our people were warned +that, should they prove treacherous, they and their ship would be sent +to the bottom. + +On returning on board, they informed Sir Harry of all that had occurred. +Our delegates, at his suggestion, immediately communicated with those +of the _Clyde_, an old fellow-cruiser, commanded by Captain Cunningham. +That officer, on account of his justice, humanity, and bravery, enjoyed, +as did Sir Harry, the confidence of his ship's company. An arrangement +was therefore made between the captains and their crews that, should the +mutineers persevere in their misconduct, they would take the ships out +from amidst the fleet, fighting our way, if necessary, and run for +protection under cover of the forts at Sheerness. Every preparation was +made. We waited till the last moment. The mutineers showed no +disposition to return to their duty. The _Clyde_ was the in-shore ship; +she was therefore to move first [Note 2]. We watched her with intense +interest, while we remained still as death. Not one of our officers +appeared on deck, and but few of the men, though numerous eager eyes +were gazing through the ports. The _Clyde_ had springs on her cables, +we knew, but as yet not a movement was perceptible. Suddenly her seamen +swarmed on the yards, the topsails were let fall and sheeted home. She +canted the right way. Hurrah! all sail was made. Away she went; and, +before one of the mutinous fleet could go in chase, she was under the +protection of the guns on shore. It was now our turn; but we had not a +moment to lose, as the tide was on the turn to ebb, when we should have +had it against us. What was our vexation, therefore, when the order was +given to get under weigh, to find that the pilot, either from fear, +incompetency, or treachery, had declared that he could not take charge +of the ship! Sir Harry would have taken her out himself; but the delay +was fatal to his purpose, and before we could have moved, boats from the +other ships were seen approaching the _San Fiorenzo_. They contained +the delegates from the fleet, who, as they came up the side, began, with +furious looks, to abuse our men for not having fired into the _Clyde_, +and prevented her escaping. High words ensued, and so enraged did our +men become at being abused because they did not fire on friends and +countrymen, that one of the quartermasters, John Aynsley by name, came +aft to the first lieutenant, and entreated that they might be allowed +"to heave the blackguards overboard." + +A nod from him would have sealed the fate of the delegates. I thought +then (and I am not certain that I was wrong) that we might at that +moment have seized the whole of the scoundrels, and carried them off +prisoners to Sheerness. It would have been too great a risk to have run +them up to the yard-arm, or hove them overboard, as our men wished, lest +their followers might have retaliated on the officers in their power. + +No man was more careful of human life than Sir Harry, and it was a plan +to which he would never have consented. The delegates, therefore, +carried things with a high hand, and, convinced that our crew were loyal +to their king and country, they ordered us to take up a berth between +the _Inflexible_ and _Director_, to unbend our sails, and to send our +powder on board the _Sandwich_, at the mast-head of which ship the flag +of the so-called Admiral Parker was then flying. That man, Richard +Parker, had been shipmate with a considerable number of the crew of the +_San Fiorenzo_, as acting lieutenant, but had been dismissed his ship +for drunkenness, and having lost all hope of promotion, had entered +before the mast. + +Our people had, therefore, a great contempt for him, and said that he +was no sailor, and that his conduct had ever been unlike that of an +officer and a gentleman. Such a man, knowing that he acted with a rope +round his neck, was of course the advocate of the most desperate +measures. Everything that took place was communicated immediately to +Sir Harry, who advised the men to pretend compliance, and, much to our +relief, the other delegates took their departure. As soon as they were +gone, Sir Harry told the ship's company that, provided they would agree +to stand by him, he would take the ship into Sheerness, as before +intended. The men expressed their readiness to incur every possible +risk to effect that purpose. The almost unarmed condition of the ship +at the time must be remembered. The men set zealously to work to +prepare for the enterprise. Springs were got on our cables. All was +ready. The flood had made. The object was to cast in-shore. The men +were at their stations. We were heaving on the spring--it broke at the +most critical moment, and we cast outward. There was no help for it. +Nothing could prevent us from running right in among the two ships of +the mutinous fleet which I have mentioned, and which lay with their guns +double shotted, and the men at quarters, with the lanyards in their +hands, ready to fire at us. Our destruction seemed certain; but not for +a moment did our captain lose his presence of mind. Calm as ever, he +ordered the quartermaster Aynsley to appear on deck as if in command, +while the officers concealed themselves in different parts of the ship, +he standing where he could issue his orders and watch what was taking +place. All was sheeted home in a moment, and we stood in between the +two line-of-battle ships, the _Director_ and _Inflexible_. The ship, by +this time, had got good way on her. It appeared that we were about to +take up the berth into which we had been ordered, when Sir Harry +directed that all the sheets should suddenly be let fly. This took the +mutineers so completely by surprise, that not a gun was then fired at +us. Sir Harry next ordered the helm to be put "hard-a-port," which +caused the ship to shoot ahead of the _Inflexible_--we were once more +outside our enemies. Springing immediately on deck, he took the +command, crying out, in his encouraging tone, "Well done, my lads--well +done!" + +A loud murmur of applause and satisfaction was heard fore and aft; but +we had no time for a cheer. + +"Now clear away the bulkheads, and mount the guns," he added. + +Every man flew with a hearty will to obey his orders. And need there +was; for scarcely were the words out of his mouth than the whole fleet +of thirty-two sail opened their fire on us. The shot flew like hail +around us, and thick as hail, ploughing up the water as they leaped +along it, chasing each other across the surface on every side of the +ship. We could have expected nothing else than to be sunk instantly, +had we had time for consideration; but, as it was, wonderfully few +struck our hull, while not a shroud was cut away, nor was a man hurt. +The huge _Director_, close to us, might have sent us to the bottom with +a broadside, but not a shot from her, that we could see, came aboard us. + +"They have not the heart to fire at us, the blackguards!" observed one +of the men near me. + +"It may be that, Bill; but, to my mind, they're struck all of a heap at +seeing the brave way our captain did that," answered another. "If we'd +had the guns mounted he'd have fired smack into them. We send our +powder aboard that pirate Parker's ship! we unbend our sails to please +such a sneaking scoundrel as he!" + +"It's just this, that the misguided chaps are slaves against their will, +and they haven't become bad enough yet to fire on their countrymen, and +maybe old friends and shipmates," said a third. + +Such were the opinions generally expressed on board. It was reported +afterwards that the _Director_ fired blank cartridges, and this may have +been the case, but I think more probably that her people were first +struck with astonishment at our manoeuvre, and then, with admiration at +the bravery displayed, purposely fired wide of us. As, however, we were +frequently struck, some shots by traitorous hands must have been aimed +at us from her, or from some of the other ships. In little more than +two hours the bulkheads were cleared away from the cabin door, to the +break of the quarter-deck (the whole space having, as I before said, +been fitted up with cabins for the suite of Her Royal Highness). The +guns on both sides were got up from the hold and mounted, and we were +ready for action. As soon as the task was accomplished, the men came +aft in a body, and entreated, should any ships be sent after us by the +mutineers, that they might be allowed to fight to the last, and go down +with our colours flying, rather than yield, and return to the fleet at +the Nore. + +Sir Harry readily promised not to disappoint their wishes. + +We stood on, but as yet no sign was perceptible of chase being made +after us. It was possible, we thought, that no ship's company could be +induced to weigh in pursuit. They well knew that we should prove a +tough bargain, had any single ship come up with us. Should we prove +victorious, every man might have been hung as a pirate. As to Parker, +he dared not leave his fleet, as he ventured to call it. + +Our master, although a good navigator, did not feel himself justified in +taking charge of the ship, within the boundaries of a Branch pilot, and +we were therefore on the look-out for a pilot vessel, when a lugger was +discovered on the lee bow, and we were on the point of bearing down to +her, when we made out first a ship or two, then several sail, and +lastly, a whole fleet, which we guessed must be the North Sea Fleet +standing for the Nore. We were steering for them, to give the admiral +notice of what had occurred, when the red flag was discovered flying on +board them also. They had, as it appeared, left their station in a +state of mutiny, having placed the admiral and all the officers under +arrest. To avoid them altogether was impossible, and before long a +frigate bore down to us. Should our real character be discovered, we +must be captured by an overwhelming force. Still Sir Harry remained +calm and self-possessed as ever. As the frigate approached, he ordered +all the officers below, and giving the speaking-trumpet to Stanley, the +quartermaster, told him to reply as he might direct. The frigate hailed +and inquired what we were about. "Looking out to stop ships with +provisions, that we may supply the fleet," was the answer. The people +of the frigate, satisfied with this reply, proceeded to rejoin the +fleet, while we, glad to escape further questioning, made sail in chase +of the lugger. She was a fast craft, and led us a chase of four hours +before we captured her. She proved to be the _Castor and Pollux_ +privateer of sixteen guns. Having taken out the prisoners, and put a +prize crew on board, we were proceeding to Portsmouth, when the lugger, +being to windward, spoke a brig, which had left that place the day +before, and from her gained the information that the mutiny had again +broken out at Spithead. Under these circumstances, Sir Harry thought it +prudent to anchor under Dungeness until he could communicate with the +Admiralty. This we did; but it was a time of great anxiety, for the +mutineers might consider it important to capture us, to hold Sir Harry +and his officers as hostages, and to wreak their vengeance on our men. +We got springs on the cable, and the ship ready for action. During the +middle watch a ship was made out bearing down towards us; she was high +out of the water, and was pronounced by many to be a line-of-battle +ship. Sir Harry was on deck in an instant--the private signal was +made--would it be answered? Yes; but there was no security in this, as, +should the ship's company have mutinied, they would naturally have +possessed themselves of it. The drum beat to quarters, the fighting +lanterns were up, their light streaming through our ports. Our men +earnestly repeated their request to be allowed to sink rather than +surrender to the mutineers. No sight of the sort could be finer, as the +brave fellows stood stripped to the waist, dauntless and resolute, not +about to fight with a common foe, but one that would prove cruel and +revengeful in the extreme. The wind was extremely light, and the +stranger closed very slowly. The suspense was awful. In a short time +we might be engaged in a deadly struggle with a vastly superior foe, and +deadly all determined that it should be. Nearer and nearer the stranger +drew; at length our captain hailed. The answer came: "The _Huzzar_! +Lord Garlais! from the West Indies." She anchored close to us, and we +exchanged visits. Her people, ignorant of the mutiny, could not +understand the necessity of the precaution we had taken. They were so +struck, when made acquainted with what had occurred, at the bravery and +determination of our ship's company, that they immediately swore they +would stick by us, and that, should any ship be sent to take us back to +the Nore, they would share our fate, whatever that might be. I am sure +that they would have proved as good as their word, but daylight came, +and no enemy appeared. We lay here for some time, that Sir Harry might +ascertain what was occurring on shore. He found that most active and +energetic measures were being taken to repress the mutiny, and in a few +days we heard that the ship's company of the _Sandwich_ had taken her +into Sheerness, and allowed their late leader, Parker, to be arrested by +a guard of soldiers, sent on board for that purpose by Admiral Buckner. +We sailed for Plymouth, and another ship was appointed to have the +honour of taking over the Princess Royal. + +I must say a word or two about that mutiny. I am convinced that the +proportion of disaffected men was comparatively small. The seamen had +grievances, but those would have been redressed without their proceeding +to the extremities into which they plunged, led by a few disappointed +and desperate men like Parker. Had greater energy been shown from the +first, during some of the opportunities which occurred, the whole affair +might have been concluded in a more dignified manner, at a much earlier +date. I will instance one occasion. Having one day got leave from the +delegates of our ship, while we lay off Sheerness, to go on shore, I +landed at the dockyard. I found, as I passed through it, that I was +followed by the whole body of delegates, walking two-and-two in +procession, Parker and Davis leading, arm-in-arm. Just as we got +outside the gates, the Lancashire Fencibles appeared, coming to +strengthen the garrison. As soon as the seamen got near the soldiers, +they began to abuse them in so scurrilous a manner, that the officer in +command halted his men, and seeing the admiral and superintendent, close +to whom I at the time was standing opposite the gates, he came, and, +complaining of the insults offered to himself and men, asked permission +to surround and capture them. So eager did I feel, that I involuntarily +exclaimed, "Yes! yes! now's the time!" The admiral, on hearing me, +turned sharply round, and demanded how I dared to speak in that way? +"Because there they all are, sir, and we may have them in a bunch!" I +replied, pointing to Parker, Davis, and the rest. The admiral told me +that I did not know what I was saying; but I did, and I have no cause to +suppose that I was wrong. + +When the truly loyal and heroic conduct of our ship's company became +known, it was intended to raise a sum in every seaport town in England +to present to them. From some reason, however, the Government put a +stop to it, and the only subscription received was from Ludlow in +Shropshire, from whence the authorities sent 500 pounds to Sir Harry +Neale, which he Distributed to the ship's company on the quarter-deck. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. The "Solent Sea" is the name of the channel between the Isle of +Wight and the mainland. + +Note 2. The plan was proposed and executed by the late Mr W. Bardo, +pilot, then a mate in the navy. He returned to the _San Fiorenzo_, and +piloted her as he had the _Clyde_, when her own pilot refused to take +charge. + + + +STORY FOUR, CHAPTER 1. + +ORLO AND ERA: A TALE OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE. + +There exists an extensive district on the west coast of Africa, about +forty miles to the north of the far-famed river Niger, known as the +Yoruba country. Sixty years ago it was one of the most thickly +populated and flourishing parts of equatorial Africa, the inhabitants +having also attained to a considerable amount of civilisation, and made +fair progress in many industrial arts. + +Then came those dreadful wars, carried on by the more powerful and cruel +chiefs, for the purpose of making slaves to sell to the white traders, +who carried them away to toil in the plantations of North and South +America and Cuba, and the prosperity of the once happy people of Yoruba +was brought to an end. The savage rulers of Dahomey and Lagos now +became notorious for the barbarities they inflicted on the unoffending +tribes in their neighbourhood. The Yoruba country was the chief scene +of their hunting expeditions. Towns and villages were attacked and +burned; the able-bodied men and young women and children were carried +off into slavery; the aged were ruthlessly murdered, fields and +plantations were laid waste, and a howling wilderness was left behind. +At length the scattered remnants of the population who had escaped from +slavery and death assembled together in a spot among rocks, especially +strong by nature, where they hoped to be able to make a stand against +their persecutors. Here they built a town, to which they gave the name +of Abbeokuta, or the place among the rocks. It increased rapidly in +population and extent, for numerous were the unfortunates in search of a +home, and rest, and peace. + +Lagos, one of the chief strongholds of the slave-dealers, which the +Yorubans most had to fear, has since been taken possession of by the +British, and has been declared an English colony or settlement; but +Dahomey, governed by its bloodthirsty monarch, with his army of six +thousand Amazons and five thousand male warriors, still exists as a +terrible scourge to the surrounding territories. + +On the confines of the Yoruba country existed a beautiful village which +had hitherto escaped the ravages of the relentless slave-hunting foe. +It was situated on the banks of a rapid stream, which gave freshness to +the air, and fertility to the neighbouring plantations. Palms, dates, +and other trees of tropical growth, overshadowed the leaf-thatched +cottages, in which truly peace and plenty might be said to reign. +Although true happiness cannot exist where Christianity is not, and +where the fear of the fetish and the malign influence of the spirit of +evil rules supreme over the mind, the people were contented, and +probably as happy as are any of the countless numbers of the still +benighted children of Africa, Rumours of wars and slave-hunts reached +them, but they had so long escaped the inflictions others had suffered, +that they flattered themselves they should escape altogether. So little +accustomed are the negro race to look to the future, contented with the +pleasures of the passing moment, that as they did not actually see the +danger, they allowed no anticipation of evil to mar their happiness. +The hearts of the dark-skinned children of that burning clime are as +susceptible of the tender sentiments of love and friendship as many of +those boasting a higher degree of civilisation, and a complexion of a +fairer hue. No couple, indeed, could have been more warmly attached +than were young Orlo and Era, who had lately become man and wife, and +taken up their abode in the village. They were industrious and happy, +and from morning till night their voices might be heard singing as they +went about their daily work. Orlo employed himself principally in +collecting the various products of the country to sell to the traders +who occasionally visited the district,--palm oil, and gold dust from the +neighbouring rivulet, and elephants' tusks, and skins which he took in +the chase. + +At length Era gave birth to a child, a little boy, which proved a great +addition to their happiness, and drew still closer the bonds of their +affection. Indeed no people can be fonder of their children than are +the negroes of Africa. + +Soon after little Sobo was born Orlo set off on a hunting expedition +with several other villagers, telling Era that he must get her some +fresh soft skins for their child's bed, and that he must be more +industrious than ever, as he had a family to provide for. + +Era entreated him not to be long away. + +"Two or three days will see me back, laden with the spoils of the +chase," was his answer, in a cheerful tone. + +Era's heart sank within her--why, she could not tell. With anxious eyes +she watched him and his companions as, with bows, and arrows, and lances +in hand, they disappeared among the trees. + +Seldom had Orlo and his party been more successful. More than one lion, +several antelopes, and numerous monkeys were killed. Even a huge +elephant was conquered by their skill and cunning. The skins of the +animals slaughtered were hidden in safe places, to be taken up on their +return. Excited by their success they proceeded even farther than they +intended. Night surprised them, and collecting together they formed a +camp, with fires blazing in the centre to keep off the savage beasts +roaming around. + +Their supper having been discussed, they were merrily laughing and +talking over their adventures when they were startled by some terrific +shouts and cries close to them. They grasped their arms, but before a +bow could be drawn a body of warriors rushed in on them with clubs and +swords, knocking over or cutting down all who stood at bay or attempted +resistance. Some endeavoured to escape, but they were completely +surrounded. Several were killed by their savage assailants, and their +bodies were left where they fell. The greater number were secured with +their arms bound tightly behind them, and they found themselves captives +to the troops of the King of Dahomey, towards whose capital they were +marched away in triumph. They had heard enough of the fate which had +befallen so many of their countrymen to know that they must never more +expect to taste the sweets of liberty; but they were scarcely aware of +the horrible cruelty to which the will of the tyrant King of Dahomey +might compel some of them to submit. Bitter, too, was the anguish which +poor Orlo suffered when he felt that he should for ever be separated +from his beloved Era. + +The journey was long and tedious, and the captives' feet were torn by +the thorns and cut by the hard rocks over which they had to pass; but +whenever they lagged behind they were urged on by the long spears of +their relentless captors. Arrived at the capital, they were astonished +at its extent and the number of its inhabitants, and, more than all, by +the vast array they saw drawn up for the inspection of the king. They +had little opportunity of seeing much, for they were soon conducted into +a large low building, where they were secured by iron shackles, back to +back, to a long beam, scarcely able to move. + +After remaining here for several days Orlo and others were separated +from their companions and carried to a building on one side of the great +square of the city, where all public ceremonies were performed. +Dreadful shrieks assailed their ears both by day and night. They heard +they were uttered by the human victims offered up by the savage king to +the spirits of his departed ancestors. + +They were not long left in doubt as to what was to be their fate. They +also were to be destroyed in the same manner. Some of their number on +hearing this sank into a state of apathy, others loudly bemoaned their +cruel lot, and others plotted how they might escape, but Orlo could +think only of his beloved Era, and the anxiety and anguish his absence +would have caused her. + +At length Orlo and nine others were taken out and told they were to +enjoy the high privilege of being sacrificed in presence of their king. +They were now dressed in white garments, and tall red caps were put on +their heads. Their arms and legs were then bound securely, and they +were placed in a sitting posture in small canoe-shaped troughs, and thus +in a long procession were carried around the square amid the cruel +shouts of the savage populace. At length they reached a high platform +or slope in the centre of the square, on which sat the king, under the +shade of a vast umbrella, surrounded by his courtiers and chiefs. Below +the platform were collected a vast mob of savages, their hideous +countenances looking up with fierce delight at the terrible drama which +was to be enacted. Among the crowd stood several men of gigantic +stature, even more savage-looking than the rest, armed with huge knotted +clubs. These they knew instinctively were their intended executioners. +Not one of them attempted to plead for mercy; that they knew were vain. +Their eyes glanced hopelessly round, now on the assembled throng below, +now on the groups collected on the platform, not expecting to meet a +look of compassion turned towards them. But yes, among one group they +see a man of strange appearance. His skin is white, and by his fine +dress, glittering with gold, they believe him to be a great chief. He +advances towards the king, whom, with eager look, he addresses in a +strange language. What he says they cannot tell, till another man of +their own colour speaks, and then they know that he is pleading for +their lives; not only pleading, but offering a large ransom if they be +given up to him. How anxiously they listen for the reply! The king +will not hear of it. The spirit of his father complains that he has +been neglected; that his nation must have become degenerate; that they +have ceased to conquer, since so few captives have been sent to bear him +company in the world of shades. Again the strange white chief speaks, +and offers higher bribes. Curious that he should take so much trouble +about some poor black captives they think. What can be his object? +What can influence him? + +He does not plead altogether in vain. The king will give him four for +the sum he offers, but no more. He would not dare thus to displease the +shade of his father, and the white chief may choose whom he will. The +victims gaze anxiously at his countenance. It is merciful and benign +they think--unlike any they have before seen. Which of them will he +select? + +He does not hesitate; he knows what must be passing in the hearts of +those poor wretches. He quickly lays his hand on four of them, and +turns away his head with sorrow from the rest. Orlo is among those he +has claimed. They show but little pleasure or gratitude as they are +released, and, being stripped of their sacrificial garments, are placed +under charge of his attendants. The rest of the miserable captives are +held up, some by men, others by the Amazonian warriors, to the gaze of +the expectant multitude, who shriek and shout horribly, and then they +are cast forward into the midst of the crowd, when the executioners set +on them with their clubs and speedily terminate their sufferings. For +several successive days is the same horrible scene enacted, the Fetish +men declaring that the spirit of the late king is not yet satisfied. + +Orlo by degrees recovered from the stupor into which his sufferings, +mental and bodily, and the anticipation of a cruel death had thrown him. +He then found that the white chief, whose slave he considered himself, +was no other than the captain of a British man-of-war, cruising off the +coast for the suppression of the slave-trade--not that he understood +very clearly much about the matter, but he had heard of the sea, and +that big canoes floated on it which carried his countrymen across it to +a land from which none ever came back. Still, as this captain had +certainly saved his life, he felt an affection for him, and hoped that +he should be allowed to remain his slave, and not be sold to a stranger. +As to asking to be liberated to be sent back to Era, he did not for a +moment suppose that such a request would be granted, and he therefore +did not make it. At last the coast was reached, and a ship appeared, +and a boat came and took them on board. The captain had seen something +in Orlo's countenance which especially pleased him, so he asked whether +he would like to remain with him; and Orlo, very much surprised that the +option should be given him, said, "Yes, certainly." + +So Orlo was entered on the ship's books, and soon learned not only to +attend on the captain, but to be a sailor. His affection for his patron +and preserver was remarkable. Whatever Captain Fisher wished he +attempted to perform to the best of his ability, while he was attentive +and faithful in the extreme. He soon acquired enough English to make +himself understood, while he could comprehend everything that was said +to him. + +The _Sea Sprite_ was a very fast sailing corvette, and had already, by +her speed and the sagacity with which her cruising-ground was selected, +made more captures than any other craft of the squadron. Her success +continued after Orlo had become one of her crew. He always got leave to +go on board the prizes when they were taken possession of, and his +services were soon found of value as interpreter. His object was +naturally to inquire about news from his own part of the country. He +was not likely to obtain any satisfactory information. Some time +passed--another capture was made. He returned on board the corvette +very depressed in spirits, and was often seen in tears. Captain Fisher +asked him the cause of his sorrows. He had learned that at length his +own village had been surprised during the night by the slave-hunters of +the King of Dahomey, that not one of the inhabitants had escaped, and +that all had been carried off into captivity. They had been sold to +different dealers, and had been transported to the baracoons on +different parts of the coast, ready for embarkation. Where Era had been +carried he could not ascertain; only one thing was certain--she and her +child had been seen in the hands of the Dahomian soldiers, on their way +to the capital. His beloved Era was then a slave; and he by this time +full well knew what slavery meant. He had seen several slave ships +captured, and the horrors, the barbarities, and indignities to which the +captives on board were exposed. He pictured to himself the terrible +journey from the interior, the lash of the brutal driver descending on +her shoulders as she tottered on with her infant in her arms, her knees +bending from weakness, her feet torn with thorns and hard rocks--she who +had been so tenderly cared for--whom he loved so dearly;--the thought +was more than he could bear. He looked over the side of the ship, and +gazed at the blue waters, and said to himself, "I shall find rest +beneath them; in the world of spirits I shall meet my own Era, and be +happy." + +One of the officers of the ship, a Christian man, had watched him. He +had before observed his melancholy manner, so different to what he had +at first exhibited. Lieutenant L-- called him, and asked him the cause +of his sorrow. + +Orlo narrated his simple history. + +"And no one has thought all this time of imparting any knowledge of +Gospel truth to this poor African," said the lieutenant to himself; and +a blush rose on his own cheeks. "No time shall be lost, though," he +added; and he unfolded in language suited to his comprehension, and in +all its simplicity, the grand scheme of redemption whereby sinning man +can be accepted by a holy and just God as freed from sin, through the +great sacrifice offered once on the Cross. + +Orlo listened eagerly and attentively. All ideas of suicide had left +his mind. He longed to know more of this wonderful, this glorious news. + +"Then, Orlo, would you not wish to please so merciful and kind a Master, +who has done so much for you?" asked the lieutenant. + +"Yes, massa, dat I would," answered the African. + +"One way in which you can do so, is to bear patiently and humbly, as He +did, the afflictions the loving God thinks fit to send. He does it in +mercy, depend on that. God's ways are not our ways; but the +all-powerful God who made the world must of necessity know better what +is right and good than we poor frail dying creatures, whom He formed +from the dust of the earth, and who, but for His will, would instantly +return to dust again." + +"Me see, me see," answered the negro, in a tone as joyful as if he had +found a pearl of great price; and so he had, for he had found Gospel +truth. + +"God knows better than we," was his constant remark after this when he +heard others complaining of the misfortunes and ills of life. + +The ship had now been nearly her full time in commission, and her +captain was in daily expectation of receiving orders to return home. +Poor Orlo's heart sank within him. He must either quit his kind master +and his still kinder lieutenant, or, by leaving the coast, abandon all +hopes of ever again seeing his beloved Era. To be sure, he knew that +she might long ere this have been carried off to the Brazils or Cuba; +and faint indeed was the expectation that they ever should meet in this +world. Then, again, another feeling arose: "I am now a Christian and +she is still a heathen. How can God receive her in heaven?" But after +a time he thought--"Ah, but I can pray that she may become a Christian. +God's ways are not our ways. He will hear my prayers--that I know. He +can bring about by some of His ways what I cannot accomplish." And Orlo +prayed as he had never prayed before. Captain Fisher treated Orlo with +unusual kindness, and, under the circumstances, he could not have been +happier on board any ship in the navy. + +Captain Fisher was not a man to relax in his efforts, as long as he +remained on the station, to suppress the abominable traffic in human +beings by all the means in his power. The _Sea Sprite_ continued +cruising, accordingly, along the coast, looking in at the different +stations, till one morning, at daybreak, a suspicious schooner was seen +at anchor, close in with the shore. The increasing light revealed the +corvette to those on board. The schooner instantly slipped her cable +and stood along the coast, while the _Sea Sprite_ made all sail in +chase. Of the character of the vessel there could be no doubt, or she +would not have attempted to run from the man-of-war. The _Sea Sprite_ +stood as close in as the depth of water would allow; farther in she dare +not go. There was still a possibility of the chase escaping. Orlo, as +usual, was the most eager on board. He delighted in seeing his +countrymen freed from slavery, and he never abandoned the hope of +meeting with Era. "I pray I meet her. I know God hear prayer," said +Orlo. + +The wind fell. "Out boats," was the order. Captain Fisher went +himself. The chase was a large schooner. A boat was seen to put off +from her and pull towards the surf: whether or not she could get through +it seemed a question. The English seamen bent to their oars; they were +resolved to reach the chase before she could again get the breeze. They +dashed alongside, and soon sprang over her bulwarks. No resistance was +made. Poor Orlo, glancing round, discovered, to his disappointment, +that she had no slaves on board. The master, it was found, had landed +with the specie for the purchase of slaves. One of the slave crew--a +mate, he looked like--appeared to have a peculiar thickness under his +knees; Orlo detected it, and pointed it out to the captain. The +master-at-arms was ordered to examine him. Most unwillingly the fellow +tucked up his trousers--grinning horribly at Orlo all the time--when he +was found to have on a pair of garters, out of each of which rolled +thirty doubloons. + +The schooner's head being put off-shore, the boats took her in tow, +till, a breeze springing up, sail was made on her for Sierra Leone. The +next morning commenced with a thick mist and rain. Orlo, from his +quickness of vision, was now constantly employed as one of the +look-outs. He was on the watch to go aloft directly it gave signs of +clearing. His impatience, however, did not allow him to remain till the +mist dispersed. Away aloft he went, observing, "It must fine soon; den +I see sip." He had not been many minutes at the mast-head when he +shouted, "Sip in-shore!" He had discovered her royals above the mist. +Sail was instantly made in chase. Some time elapsed before the _Sea +Sprite_ was discovered. Suddenly the mist cleared, and there appeared +close in-shore a large American slave ship. There was no doubt about +her, with her great beam and wide spread of canvas. + +Hoisting American colours, the stranger made all sail to escape. He was +standing off the land; but as on that course he would have had to pass +unpleasantly near the corvette, he tacked in-shore, and then bore away +along the surf, hoping thus, with his large sails, to draw ahead and +escape. The light wind appeared to favour him, but Captain Fisher +determined that it should not. Ordering the boats away, he took one +with a strongly-armed crew, and pulled to windward to cut off the chase, +while two others went to leeward, so that his chance of escaping was +small indeed. The slave captain seemed to think so likewise. He dared +not meet in fight the true-hearted British seaman. Regardless of the +risk he and his own crew would run, of the destruction he was about to +bring on hundreds of his fellow-creatures, the savage slave captain put +up his helm, and ran the ship under all sail towards the shore. + +"What is the fellow about?" exclaimed Captain Fisher. "If that ship is +full, as she seems to be, she has not less than four or five hundred +human beings on board, and he'll run the risk of drowning every one of +them." + +It was too evident, however, that this was the design of the slaver's +captain. His heart was seared. Long accustomed to human suffering in +every possible form, he set no more value on the lives of his cargo than +if they had been so many sheep, except so far as they could be exchanged +for all-potent dollars. On flew the beautiful fabric--for beautiful she +was, in spite of her nefarious employment--to destruction. With all her +sails set, through the roaring surf she dashed, then rose on the summit +of a sea, and down she came, striking heavily, her ropes flying wildly +and her sails flapping furiously in the breeze. What mattered it to the +slaver's crew that they left their hapless passengers to perish! Their +boats were lowered, and, with such valuables as they could secure, and +some of the slaves which, for their greater value, they wished to save, +they made their escape to shore, leaving the ship, with the American +colours flying, to her fate. + +Captain Fisher and the other boats now closed with the wreck, while the +corvette also was standing in. When close as she could venture to come, +she anchored, and the master came off from her in a whale-boat and +joined the other boats. Terrible was the sight which now met the eyes +of the English seamen. Orlo beheld it, too, with horror and anguish. +As the ship rolled fearfully from side to side, the terrified negroes +forced their way up on deck, and in their wild despair, not knowing what +to do, many leaped into the raging breakers which swept by alongside, +and, helplessly whirling round and round, were soon hidden beneath the +waves. One after the other the poor wretches rushed up on deck; many, +following the impulse of the first, leaped overboard to meet a like +speedy death; others, clinging to the wreck, were washed overboard; some +of the stronger still clung on; but many yet remained below. + +"This is sad work," exclaimed Captain Fisher. "We must save these poor +people at all hazards." + +A cheer was the reply, and, the men giving way, the boats dashed at +great hazard through the surf to leeward of the wreck; but here it +seemed almost impossible to board her from the heavy lurches she was +making, sending the blocks and spars and rigging flying over their +heads, and threatening to swamp the boats should they get alongside. +Still Captain Fisher and his gallant followers persevered. He was the +first on board, and Orlo leaped on the deck after him. The scene +appeared even more horrible than at a distance. The negroes, as they +could get clear of their manacles, climbed up from the slave deck, and +ran to and fro, shrieking and crying out like people deprived of reason. +Some ran on till they sprang overboard; others turned again, and +continued running backwards and forwards, till the seamen were compelled +to catch them and throw them below till the boats could be got ready for +their rescue. The captain ordered Orlo to try and pacify them. He +answered, that their extreme terror arose from the idea which the +slaver's crew had given them, that the object of the English in taking +possession of the vessel was to cut all their throats. Orlo did his +best to quiet their fears when he learned the cause, assuring them the +reason the British seaman had come on board was to do them good, and to +try and save their lives. It was some time, however, before they would +credit his assertions. The ship's barge had now been brought in and +anchored just outside the rollers, while the cutter was backed in under +the slaver's counter. Three of the slaves at a time were then allowed +to come up, and were lowered into the boat, from which the whale-boat +took them through the surf to the barge, and that when full ultimately +carried them to the corvette. The process was of necessity slow, the +toil was excessive, and the danger very great; but the British seamen +did not shrink from it. Orlo had from the first, while acting as +interpreter, been scanning the countenances of all he met, making +inquiries of those who could understand his language (for all could not +do so) if they could give him any information about his beloved Era. +Again and again he went below, but the darkness prevented him from +distinguishing any one, and the shrieks, groans, and cries from making +his voice heard, or from hearing what any one might have said. + +Night closed on the hitherto unremitting labours of the gallant crew. +They had thus saved two hundred poor wretches, but upwards of two +hundred remained on board when darkness made it impossible to remove +them. Still, could they be left to perish, which they probably would if +left alone? The slaver's crew might return, and either attempt to land +them, to keep them in captivity, or burn the ship, to prevent them from +falling into the hands of the British. The risk of remaining was very +great, but several officers volunteered. Orlo's friend, Lieutenant --, +claimed the privilege, and Orlo begged that he might remain with him. +The last performance of the boats was to bring off some rice which had +been found in the captured schooner, and cooked, thoughtfully, by the +captain's orders, in his coppers, in readiness for the liberated +negroes. Plenty of men were ready to remain with Lieutenant --. +Without this supply of food, few, probably, of the slaves on board would +have survived the night; even as it was, many of those who were rescued +died on their passage to the corvette, or on her decks. Lieutenant +-- and his brave companions had truly a night of trial. The wind +increased, the surf roared louder and louder as it broke around them, +the ship rolled and struck more and more violently, till it seemed +impossible that she could hold together, while all this time the unhappy +captives below were shrieking and crying out most piteously for help. +Poor creatures! they knew not how to pray, or to whom to pray. They +thought and believed, and not without reason, that a Fetish, or spirit +of evil, had got possession of them, and was wreaking his malice on +their heads. Orlo gladly, by the lieutenant's orders, went frequently +below to try and comfort them, and to assure them that by the return of +daylight fresh efforts would be made for their rescue. Still great +indeed were their sufferings. Many, both men, women, and children, died +during that fearful night, from wet, cold, fear, and hunger, as they +sat, still closely packed on the slave deck. Orlo's kind heart made him +suffer almost as much as they were doing--the more so that he felt how +little could be done to relieve them. + +At length the morning dawned, when it was found that the ship had driven +considerably farther in towards the beach. As daylight broke, people +were seen collecting on the shore; their numbers increased; they were +gesticulating violently. Did they come to render assistance to their +perishing fellow-countrymen? No; led on by the miscreant whites who had +formed the crew of the slave ship, and deceived by their falsehoods, +they had come to attempt the recapture of the ship. The corvette had, +of necessity, stood off-shore for the night. Lieutenant --, hoisting a +signal of distress, prepared to defend the prize to the last. He +examined the shore anxiously. The slaver's crew and their black allies +were bringing boats or canoes to launch, for the purpose of attacking +the ship. Should the wretches succeed, he knew that his life and that +of all his companions would be sacrificed. + +At length the corvette was seen working up under all sail. She +approached; her anchor was dropped, and her boats, being lowered, pulled +in towards the wreck. As they got near, the people on shore, balked in +their first project, opened a hot fire of musketry on them. The boats +had not come unarmed. The larger ones were immediately anchored, and, +each having a gun of some weight, opened a hot fire on the beach. This +was more than the slave-dealers had bargained for. They were ready +enough to kill others, but had no fancy to be killed themselves. +Several times the blacks took to flight, but were urged back again by +the white men, till, some of the shot taking effect on them, the beach +was at last cleared. + +The wreck was now again boarded. Lieutenant -- and his men were found +almost worn out; the hold was full of water, and the ship was giving +signs of breaking up. No time was to be lost. The larger boats +anchored, as before, outside the rollers, and, by means of the smaller +ones, communication by ropes being established, the negroes were, a few +at a time, hauled through the surf. Many were more dead than alive, and +several died before they reached the corvette. Some were brought up by +their companions dead, and many were the heartrending scenes where +fathers and mothers found that they had lost their children, husbands +their wives, or children their parents. Orlo had held out bravely all +the night, but his strength, towards the morning, gave way, and +Lieutenant --, seeing his condition, directed that he should be carried +back to the corvette, which he reached in an almost unconscious state. + +This living cargo was composed of all ages. There were strong men and +youths, little boys, women, young girls, and children, and several +mothers with infants at their breasts. How fondly and tenderly the poor +creatures pressed them there, and endeavoured to shelter them from the +salt spray and cold! Fully two hundred were carried on board the +corvette during the morning, and it was found that the immortal spirits +of nearly fifty of those who had been left on board during the night had +passed away. The last poor wretch being rescued, the wreck was set on +fire, both fore and aft; the flames burst quickly forth, surrounding the +masts, from which still floated that flag which, professing to be the +flag of freedom, has so often protected that traffic which has carried +thousands upon thousands of the human race into hopeless and abject +slavery. The seamen instinctively gave a cheer as they saw it disappear +among the devouring flames. + +The labours of Captain Fisher and his brave crew were not over. They +had to provide food and shelter for fully four hundred of the rescued +negroes. Rice, as before, was boiled, and cocoa was given them, and +those who most required care were clothed and carried to the galley fire +to warm. Among the last rescued was a young woman with a little boy, on +whom all her care was lavished. Though herself almost perished, before +she would touch food she fed him, and when some clothing was given her +she wrapped it round him. She had been found in the fore part of the +ship in an almost fainting condition, where she had remained unnoticed, +apparently in a state of stupor, with her little boy pressed to her +heart. Orlo had been placed under the doctor's care. It was not till +the next morning that he was allowed to come on deck, where his services +were at once called into requisition as interpreter. Though +unacquainted with the language of many of the tribes to which the +captives belonged, he was generally able to make himself understood. A +sail had been spread over part of the deck, beneath which the women and +young children were collected. The doctor, when about to visit it, +called Orlo to accompany him, as interpreter. Among them, sitting on +the deck, and leaning against a gun carriage, with her arm thrown round +the neck of a little boy, was a young woman, though wan and ill, still +possessing that peculiar beauty occasionally seen among several of the +tribes of Africa. Orlo fixed his eyes on her; his knees trembled; he +rushed forward; she sprang up, uttering a wild shriek of joy, and his +arms were thrown around her. He had found his long lost Era and their +child. "Ah! God hear prayer; I know now!" he exclaimed joyfully. +"Wife soon be Christian, and child. God berry, berry good!" + +Happily, the next morning the corvette fell in with another man-of-war, +between which and the schooner the rescued slaves being distributed, all +three made sail for Sierra Leone. The blacks were there landed, and +ground given them on which to settle. Orlo begged that he and Era and +their child might also be there set on shore. He did not go +empty-handed, for, besides pay and prize-money, generously advanced him +by his captain, gifts were showered on him both by his officers and +messmates, and he became one of the most flourishing settlers in that +happy colony. At length, however, wishing once more to see his own +people, and to assist in spreading the truth of the Gospel, which he had +so sincerely embraced, among them, he removed to Abbeokuta, where, with +his wife now a Christian woman, and surrounded by a young Christian +family, he is now settled, daily setting forth, by his consistent walk, +the beauties and graces of the Christian faith. + +Whenever any of his friends are in difficulties, he always says, "Ah! +God hear prayer! You pray; never fear!" + + + +STORY FIVE, CHAPTER 1. + +MY FIRST COMMAND AND HOW IT ENDED. THE OLD ADMIRAL'S YARN. + +I had been at sea about five years, and had seen some pretty hard +service, when I was appointed to a dashing frigate, the _Tiger_, on the +West India station. Our captain had never been accustomed to let the +grass grow on his ship's bottom, and he took good care to keep that of +the _Tiger_ pretty clean. Those were stirring times. England was +engaged in a fierce war, both by sea and by land, with the larger +proportion of the civilised nations in the world, and it was more easy +to find an enemy than a friend wherever we sailed. I cannot say that we +had any complaint to make with that state of things, as we came off +generally the victors, and made lots of prize-money. The more of the +latter we got the more we wanted, and we spent it as lavishly as if +there would be no end of it. We had taken several prizes, when we +received notice that a large French privateer was in those seas, +committing a good deal of havoc among our merchantmen. It is said that +everything is fair in love and war--in war, it may be the case; in love, +nothing is fair that is not straightforward and honourable. Our captain +considered that stratagem in war was, at all events, allowable, and he +used to disguise the frigate in so wonderful a way, that even we +ourselves, at a little distance, should not have known her. By this +means many an unwary craft fell into our clutches. One day we lay +becalmed, with our seemingly black and worn sails hanging against the +masts, our ports concealed by canvas, painted to represent the +weather-beaten sides of a big merchantman, our yards untrimmed, and all +our rigging slack. At length a breeze was seen coming towards us, +bringing up a large ship. When the stranger was within a couple of +miles the wind fell. We were soon convinced that our trap was well +baited, for we saw the stranger lower three boats, which came rapidly +towards us. We, in the meantime, lowered three others, well armed and +ready at a moment's notice to pull off in chase, when the enemy should +discover his mistake. Not, however, till the Frenchmen were close up to +us, did they find out that we were not what we appeared. We saw by +their gestures of astonishment that they suspected all was not right. +Before, however, they had time to pull round, our boats were after them. +I was in one of them. We were alongside in two minutes--they attempted +to defend themselves; they had better have been quiet; a few were +knocked overboard and hauled in by our fellows, and all three boats were +taken. We found that we had got the captain and second and third +officers of the stranger among our prisoners, and that she was the +privateer of which we were in search. The Frenchmen frantically tore +their hair, and swore terribly at us for the trick we had played them. +"Ah! you perfides Anglais, had we been on board our ship, you would not +have taken us so easily," exclaimed the French captain. "Then, sir, you +are welcome to go back and fight it out!" answered our captain. "All, +morbleu lion!" cried the Frenchman, with a shrug of his shoulders, "I +know what sort of fellows you are in this frigate, and I would rather +stay where I am with a whole skin than return to be riddled by your +shot. If my ship escapes, though, do not blame me." + +"Certainly not; but I have no intention that she shall escape!" said our +captain, with a bow, directly afterwards ordering all the boats ahead to +tow us towards the enemy. They pulled on till we got her well within +range of our guns, when the painted canvas being cleared away, we opened +fire. In five minutes she hauled down her colours. We found on board +the crew of a large English West Indiaman, captured that morning, and +supposed not to be far off, though not in sight. Depend on it we +whistled with right good will for a breeze. It came at length, and +disguising ourselves as before, and having the French ensign over the +English, we and our big prize made sail in chase. Greatly to our +delight, the merchantman was seen standing boldly towards us, attracted +by the firing. It was amusing to watch the countenances of the French +prisoners--they would have done their best to warn her off had they +dared, but they could only make grimaces at each other, and hurl low +muttered curses on our heads, while their richly-laden prize was +recovered by us. She was a West Indiaman--the _Diana_. I cannot say +much for the beauty of the goddess of the night, for she was a huge +wall-sided ship, capable of stowing away a vast quantity of sugar and +molasses, articles much in request at the time in Europe. The French +prize crew were being removed when the captain sent for me. My heart +fluttered unusually. "Mr Brine, you have behaved very well, very well +indeed, since you joined this ship, and I have much confidence in you," +he began. I bowed at the compliment--I had an idea that it was +deserved, though I did not say so--I had done two or three things to be +proud of, and I knew that I stood well in the captain's opinion, +although I was not yet a passed midshipman; "I accordingly place you in +command of the _Diana_, more willingly than I should any other +midshipman. You are to take her to Bristol or Plymouth, and remember +that she is of no small value to us." I thanked the captain for his +good opinion of me, but begged to have a mate capable of navigating the +ship, should I fall sick or lose my life; and I named Tony Fenwick, +another midshipman, my junior, and a great chum of mine. I had an old +follower, Paul Bott, who had been to sea with my father. His name was +short, but he was a tall man. I asked if he also might come. The +captain granted both my requests, and allowed me to pick out six other +men for my crew. I felt wonderfully proud as I walked the deck of my +first command, and certainly no two happier or better satisfied +midshipmen could be found than Tony Fenwick and I, as we navigated the +sugar-laden _Diana_ across the Atlantic. We only wished that we could +meet a letter of marque of our own size, which might attempt to +interfere with us. What thought we of tempests or foes, the possibility +of wreck or recapture? We both of us hoped soon to obtain our +promotion, for those were the days when a post-captain of nineteen +commanded one of the finest frigates in the navy, and had dared and done +deeds as gallant as any which naval history can record, and requiring +knowledge, judgment, and discretion, as well as bravery. Old heads were +often worn on young shoulders, though there were plenty of harum-scarum +fellows, as now, who did no good to themselves and much harm to others, +whenever they chanced to be placed in command. We had a fine passage +across the Atlantic--Cape Clear was sighted, and we expected, in a few +days at most, to carry the _Diana_ safe into port. Fenwick had the +first watch on deck one morning--daylight had just broke when the +look-out at the mast-head shouted, "A sail on the weatherbow--a large +ship!" I heard Fenwick's reply, and jumped on deck, for I always slept +in my clothes ready for work. The stranger, we concluded, was probably +an English cruiser. The _Diana_ was kept accordingly on her course; +still, not free from suspicion, we narrowly watched the stranger's +movements. I was looking in another direction, when I heard Tony utter +a loud exclamation, not complimentary to the French, and looking round, +when it was now too late to escape from her power, what was my annoyance +to see the hated tricolour flying from the stranger's peak! Still +neither Tony nor I had any thought of yielding up our charge without a +struggle. "She's a big one to tackle, and we shall have a squeak for it +at best!" observed Tony, eyeing the Frenchman with no loving glance. +All sail was made, but nothing but a miracle could have saved us. The +men showed their opinion of what was to happen by slipping down one by +one below, and putting on their best clothes, as sailors always do when +they expect to fall into any enemy's hands. I have known some to do so +when they expect to be wrecked, with but little prospect of saving their +lives. Now they had good reason for what they did, for the Frenchman, +should they take our ship, were sure not to leave us more than we had on +our backs, even if so much. All we could do to escape, we did, but in +vain. Before long, we found ourselves under the guns of a French +seventy-four, the _Droits-de-l'Homme_, one of the squadron, with troops +on board, intended for the invasion of Ireland. With sad hearts, Tony +Fenwick, Paul Bott, and most of our crew found ourselves conveyed on +board our captor, which soon afterwards made sail for France. It was +the winter season; the nights were long, the weather tempestuous. When +near the coast, two sail were seen--large ships, supposed to be British; +we devoutly hoped that they might prove so. The _Droits-de-l'Homme_ +made sail to escape them. Shortly afterwards two other ships were seen +steering so as to cut her off from the land. They were undoubtedly +enemies. Though surrounded, as they supposed, by foes, the Frenchmen +made every attempt to escape, but fortune was against them. "We caught +a Tartar t'other day--the Mounseers have caught half-a-dozen!" observed +Tony, as we watched what was going on through one of the main-deck +ports. A heavy squall, as he spoke, carried away the fore and +main-top-masts. It was no easy matter for us to refrain from cheering +at the accident, but the probability of getting a clout on our heads, +and being sent below for our patriotism, kept us silent. "There's no +fear now, that before many hours are over we shall be under our own flag +again," whispered Tony to me. "The same mishap which has occurred to +the Frenchman may befall our friends," I answered. "There are but two +frigates in sight, but I hope that they are more than a match for a +French seventy-four." + +The Frenchmen were so busy with clearing away the wreck of the masts to +be ready for their foes, that no one thought of us and the other English +prisoners they had on board. The gale increased; the sea ran high; the +English frigates were seen to be reefing topsails. "Why, they are not +going to desert us, I hope!" exclaimed Tony. "No, no, they are getting +under snugger canvas for more easy handling, depend on that," I +answered, laughing; "they are after us again--hurrah!" Before long the +largest frigate approached, and suddenly hauling up, fired her +broadside, which would have proved most destructive, had not the +_Droits-de-l'Homme_ hauled up likewise, the troops which were posted on +the upper-deck and poop replying with a heavy discharge of musketry. +Fortunately, perhaps, for us, though we did not consider it so at the +time, one of the French officers thought of sending us to join the other +prisoners in the cable tier, out of harm's way. Most unwillingly we +descended, though we should have run a great chance of having had our +heads knocked off without the honour and glory. On getting below we +found ourselves placed under guard, in almost total darkness. The big +ship rolled and tumbled in a way which made it appear as if the waves +alone would wrench her asunder; the great guns roared with greater +frequency, the musketry rattled, the shot from the active frigates came +crashing on board and tearing through the stout planks; there was the +tramp of men bearing their wounded comrades below; their shrieks and +groans, as the surgeons attempted in vain to operate on their shattered +limbs; and the rush of water which came through the ports, with the +fearful rolling of the ship. All these various sounds gave us an idea, +and not a pleasant one, of the work going on above our heads. Now and +then, too, louder reports and more terrific crashes told of guns +bursting, and masts gone by the board. Hour after hour passed by, and +still the fearful uproar continued. We prisoners would all of us rather +have been on deck, notwithstanding the more than possibility of having +our heads knocked off, than shut up in the dark, bilge-water smelling, +stifling hold. "I say, these Frenchmen fight bravely, but I wish that +they would give in; it would be wiser in them, and they must before +long," observed Fenwick, as he sat on a cask by my side, kicking his +heels against the staves. + +"All in good time," I answered. "But consider that this ship carries +more guns than the two frigates put together, and of heavier metal; and +aboard here there are more than twice as many men as will be found +between them. There will be a tough fight before we get our liberty, +but we shall get it, never fear." While we were speaking there was a +cessation of firing. "Can she have struck?" was asked by many of our +fellow-prisoners. We waited in breathless suspense. No intimation was +given to us of what had occurred. "The frigates cannot have given up +the fight, of that I am certain," I exclaimed. "Maybe they have just +hauled off to repair damages, and will be at it again," suggested Paul. + +He was right. Like the voice of a giant awaking out of sleep the big +ship's guns began again to roar forth, quickly followed by a duller +sound, showing that her enemies were replying with as much energy as +before. For long the battle raged furiously. How we unfortunates, like +rats in a hole below, longed to be on deck, that we might see what was +going forward! Again there was a cessation of firing. What could have +happened? Had the Frenchman struck? That either of the English +frigates had done so of course none of us would believe. It was a time +of awful suspense to us all. One thing was certain, that though the +battle might have ceased the war of the elements was raging more +furiously than ever. From the way the ship rolled it was evident that +she was dismasted. Various sounds, the cause of which seamen alone +could understand, were heard. "I suspects, sir, as how we're in shoal +water; they've let go an anchor," said Paul, calmly, though he knew full +well the peril of our position. "But it doesn't hold, d'ye see, sir." +Signal guns were heard. A few minutes passed, to most of us the time +appeared far longer. A dull, ominous roaring sound reached even to our +ears down in the depths of the ship. "We are among the breakers!" I +sung out, jumping from my seat; and scarcely were the words out of my +mouth when a cry was heard from above, and words of compassion reached +our ears. "Pauvres Anglais! pauvres Anglais! Montez bien vites; nous +sommes tous perdus!" The sentinel rushed from his post and we prisoners +sprang on deck. Fenwick and I, with Paul and a few others, stopped, +however, to help the more weak and helpless, for among them were women +and children, unable to take care of themselves. The early dawn, as we +reached the deck, revealed a scene of horror rarely equalled: breakers +on every side, the masts gone, the decks slippery with human gore, and +the ship driving to destruction. At a little distance lay one of the +English frigates, the surf breaking over her, her fate sealed. The +other was observed standing off from the Penmark Rocks, which threatened +her with instant destruction. "Can she be saved?" asked Fenwick, for, +in spite of our own danger, we had been intently watching her. "If her +sticks stand and she is well handled; if not, Heaven have mercy on the +souls of all on board, for their condition will be worse than ours!" I +said, in a sad tone. "The people in the other frigate, already on +shore, are badly enough off, but the sea as yet does not appear to break +heavily over her." + +"As it will, howsom'dever, over us, before the world's a minute older," +cried Paul; "I've been cast ashore more than once with your honoured +father, Mr Brine, and the advice he gave us was, `Lads, hold on to the +wreck till the time comes for getting ashore.' He wished to say, `Don't +let the sea take you off the wreck if you can help it, but just hold on +till you see that you have a fair chance of setting foot on land in +safety.'" + +This advice was not thrown away. In another instant a terrific shock +was felt; the wild seas dashed furiously over the huge wreck; shrieks +arose from every part of the ship; horror and dismay were depicted on +the countenances of all around us. As the foaming waters came rushing +over the decks many were swept helplessly away. + +We and our men kept together, holding fast by the upper bulwarks. We +could make out clearly a village on shore, and crowds of people, who +lined the beach but were unable to render us any assistance. There were +no lifeboats in those days, no apparatus for carrying ropes to a +stranded ship; boats were indeed launched by the hardy fishermen, but +were quickly dashed to pieces against the rocks. Rafts were built, but +those who ventured on them were swept off by the furious seas. Others +tried, by swimming, to convey a rope from the ship to the shore, but in +vain. Thus the day closed, and a night of horrors commenced, during +which numbers were washed away. Still my companions and I kept our +posts. All this time not a particle of food could be obtained, as the +hold was under water. Paul had observed a small boat uninjured. He +told me of it; I undertook to carry a line safely by her to the shore. +Fenwick and Paul agreed to accompany me, and we had no lack of other +volunteers among our men. At low water we three, with seven others, +stood ready to launch her. We allowed a heavy sea to roll by, "Now in +with her, boys, and give way," I shouted. Through the boiling cauldron +we pulled. None, indeed, but stout-hearted British seamen could have +made way in such troubled waters. Sea upon sea came rolling on after +us. On the summit of one we reached the beach. Before another sea +could follow we had leaped out and dragged our boat high up above the +power of the waters. We set to work, and had the satisfaction of saving +the lives of several of the French crew; but, unhappily, the rope +parted, and in vain we endeavoured to secure another. + +A second night passed--a third came, and few were saved. We remained on +the beach to afford all the aid in our power to those still on the +wreck. What occurred on board was not known to us till afterwards. The +Frenchmen endeavoured to launch one of their largest boats, but +discipline was at an end. In vain the officers ordered the men to keep +back--it was right that the sick and wounded should first be removed. +No one obeyed; a hundred and fifty men crowded into her. They shoved +off, a sea rushed on, they were hid from view; the shattered boat and +their lifeless corpses alone reached the shore. Eight hundred human +beings, it is supposed, had by this time perished. Those few who now +reached the shore, aided chiefly, I have a right to boast, by my party, +reported the dreadful condition of the remainder. Numbers were dying of +hunger; the decks were covered with corpses; expedients too horrible to +be believed for sustaining life had been proposed. A fourth day came, +and with it a more serene sky. The sea went down. "A sail! a sail!" A +man-of-war brig and an armed cutter appeared. Their boats quickly +approached, but the sea still broke so violently over the wreck that +they were unable to get alongside. The famishing survivors, therefore, +constructed some rafts, to be towed off by the boats, but many of those +who ventured on them were swept away by the surf. About a hundred and +fifty were, however, conveyed on board the brig that evening, leaving +still nearly four hundred human beings on the wreck to endure a sixth +night of horrors. The sufferings of many were more than human endurance +could sustain, and next morning, when the men-of-war's boats returned, +half of the hapless beings were found dead. We, meantime, when our +services could be of no further avail, found ourselves, being in an +enemy's country, marched off as prisoners; but I am bound to say that we +were treated with the greatest kindness by the French. The spot where +the wreck occurred was, we found, the Bay of Audierne, and the town near +it that of Plouzenec. Here we met part of the officers and crew of the +British thirty-six-gun frigate, _Amazon_, which had been wrecked with +us. Her whole ship's company (six men only excepted, who had stolen the +cutter and were drowned) had, by means of rafts, landed in safety by +nine a.m. of the morning the frigate went on shore. This might have +been partly owing to the position of the ship, but more particularly to +the admirable discipline maintained on board. We rejoiced to find that +the other frigate, which was the _Indefatigable_, of forty-four guns, +Captain Sir Edward Pellew, had escaped the danger which threatened her. +Fenwick and I were sighing over the prospect of our expected captivity, +and the destruction of all our hopes of promotion, when the captain of +the French ship, who had been among the last to leave the wreck, sent +for us, and, complimenting us on our behaviour, assured us that as we +had been fellow-sufferers with him and his people, we and our men might +rely on being liberated without delay. To our great joy we and our +companions were shortly afterwards placed on board a cartel and sent to +England without ransom or exchange, an act of generosity on the part of +the French worthy of note. + + + +STORY SIX, CHAPTER 1. + +OUR FIRST PRIZE--A YARN. + +Away on her course, before a strong north-easterly breeze, flew her +Majesty's brig _Gadfly_. Every stitch of canvas she could carry was +set, each sail was well trimmed, each brace hauled taut, and it might +have been supposed that we were eager to reach some port where friends +and pleasure awaited us. But it was far otherwise. We were quitting +England and our home, that spot which contains all a seaman holds most +dear, and were bound for a land of pestilence and death, the little +delectable coast of Africa, to be employed for the next three years in +chasing, capturing, or destroying, to the best of our power and ability, +all vessels engaged in the traffic of human flesh. We touched at the +Azores, and reached Sierra Leone, the chief port on that station, +without meeting with any adventure worth relating. We remained there a +week to wood and water, to perform which operations we shipped a dozen +stout Kroomen. These people come from a province south of Sierra Leone, +and are employed on board all vessels on that coast to perform such +occupations as would too much expose Europeans to the heat of the sun. +They are an energetic, brave, lively set of fellows, and very +trustworthy; indeed, I do not know how we should have got on without +them. They work very hard, and when they have saved money enough to buy +themselves one or more wives, according to their tastes, they return to +their own country to live in ease and dignity. As they generally assume +either the names of the officers with whom they have served, or of some +reigning prince or hero of antiquity, it is extraordinary what a number +of retired commanders and lieutenants, not to speak of higher +dignitaries, are to be found in Krooland. Sierra Leone has been so +often described that I will not attempt to draw a picture of its +romantic though deceitful beauties. Its blue sky and calm waters, its +verdant groves and majestic mountains, its graceful villas and flowering +shrubs, put one in mind of a lovely woman who employs her charms to +beguile and destroy those who confide in her. + +On turning to my log, I find that on the --, at dawn, we unmoored ship, +and under all plain sail ran out of the river of Sierra Leone. As soon +as we were clear of the land we shaped a course for the mouth of the +Sherbro River, a locality notorious for its numerous slave depots. On +our way thither we chased several sail, but some of them got off +altogether, and others proved to be either British cruisers, foreign +men-of-war, or honest traders; so that not a capture of any sort or kind +did we make. It was for no want of vigilance, however, on our part; +early and late, at noon and at night, I was at the masthead on the +look-out for a sail. I knew that if I did not set a good example of +watchfulness, others would be careless; for I held the responsible post, +with all the honour and glory attached to it, of first lieutenant of the +_Gadfly_. + +"Mr Rawson," said the captain one day to me, in a good-natured tone, as +I was walking the quarter-deck with him, "you will wear yourself out by +your never-ceasing anxiety in looking out for slavers. There may be +some, but my opinion is that they are a great deal too sharp-sighted to +let us catch them in the brig. We may chance to get alongside one now +and then in the boats and up the rivers, but out here it's in vain to +look for them." + +He was new to the coast, and the climate had already impaired his usual +energy. + +"Never fear, sir," I answered; "we may have a chance as well as others; +and at all events it shall not be said that we did not get hold of any +slavers for want of looking for them." + +The next day we made the land about the mouth of the Sherbro River, and +had to beat up against as oppressive a wind as I ever recollect +experiencing. One is apt to fancy that the sky and water in that +climate must always be blue. Now, and on many other occasions, instead +of there being any cerulean tints in any direction, the sky was of a +dirty copper tinge, or rather such as is seen spread out like a canopy +over London on a calm damp day in November; while the sea, which rolled +along in vast and sluggish undulations, looked as if it was formed of +sheets of lead of the same hue. Looking astern, one almost expected to +see the wake we ploughed up remaining indelible as on a hard substance. +Over the land hung a mist of the same brownish-yellow hue, hiding +everything but the faint outline of the coast. + +"This is what I call a right-down regular Harmattan," said the master, +who, like me, had been before in that delectable clime. The rest of the +officers were new to it. "It will put the purser's whiskers in curl if +he gives them a turn round with a marline-spike. Don't you smell the +earthy flavour of the sands of Africa?" + +"In truth I think I do," said Jenkins, the second lieutenant, one of a +group who were collected on the weather side of the quarter-deck. "I +can distinguish the lions' and boa-constrictors' breath in it, too, if +I'm not mistaken. Not much of Araby's spicy gales here, at all events." + +"Blue skies, and verdant groves, and spicy gales sound very pretty in +poetry, but very little of them do we get in reality," said the master. +"And when there is a blue sky there's such a dreadfully hot sun peeps +out of it, that one feels as if all the marrow in one's bones was being +dried up. But this won't last long. We shall have a change soon." + +"Glad you think so," observed Jenkins; "I'm tired of this already." + +"I didn't say the change would be for the better," answered the master. +"We may have a black squall come roaring up from off the land, and take +our topsails out of the bolt-ropes, or our topmasts over the side, +before we know where we are, if you don't keep a bright look-out for it; +and we shall have the rainy season beginning in earnest directly, and +then look out for wet jackets." + +"A pleasant prospect you give us, Smith," said I. "I wish I could draw +a better, but my experience won't let me differ from you." + +The fog and the heat continued, and the wind, which put one in mind of +the blast of a furnace, was equally steady, so, that we slowly beat up +till we got close in-shore. It was dark when we made our approach to +the mouth of the Sherbro, and when we were off it we furled everything, +and let the vessel go where she might, in the hopes that should there be +a slaver inside ready to sail she might take the opportunity of running +out while the land-wind lasted, and, not seeing us, might fall into our +clutches. Every light was dowsed on board, and the bells were even not +allowed to be struck. There we lay, like a log on the water, or, as +Jenkins said, like a boa-constrictor ready to spring on its prey. +Besides the regular look-outs, we had plenty of volunteer eyes peering +into the darkness, in hopes of distinguishing an unsuspecting slaver. +We of course kept the lead at the bottom, to mark the direction we were +driving; but we did not move much, as the send of the sea on shore was +counteracted by the wind blowing off it. Everybody made sure of having +a prize before morning. Jenkins said he was certain of having one, and +the master was very sanguine. The first watch passed away, and nothing +appeared, but neither of them would go below. + +"I think we must have driven too much to the southward," said Jenkins to +the master, growing impatient. "The written orders for the night are to +hold our position. Don't you think we had better make sail back again?" + +"What! and show our whereabouts to the slaver, if there is one?" +answered the master. "Besides, we haven't driven the sixteenth of a +mile, except off-shore; and there isn't much odds about that. Hark! did +not you hear some cries coming from in-shore of us?" + +We listened, but if sounds there were they were not repeated; and as +Jenkins had the middle watch, I turned in, desiring to be called if +anything occurred. I was on deck again just as the light of day was +struggling into existence through the heavy canopy which hung over us; +and as the sun, which must have been rising in the heavens, got higher, +so the mass of vapour over the land increased in density and depth. At +first it hung just above the mangrove bushes, and we could see the tops +of a few lofty palm-trees on shore, and some distant mountains popping +their heads above it; but by degrees they and the whole scene before us +were immersed in it. + +The people's breakfast was just over when the captain came on deck. + +"No success, Mr Rawson, last night," said he. "We'll try my plan now. +I'm convinced that there must be slavers up that river; so we'll send +the cutter and pinnace up to look after them. Desire Mr Jenkins to be +prepared to take the command of them, and let Mr Johnston go also." + +"Ay, ay, sir," I answered. "Shall I get the boats ready, sir?" + +"Yes, you may, at once," was the answer. + +And the boats' crews were soon busily engaged in making the necessary +arrangements for their departure. With three cheers from the ship, away +they pulled towards the mouth of the Sherbro. We watched them +anxiously; for although the wind was off-shore, the swell which rolled +in threw up a heavy surf on the bar, which at times makes the entrance +to that river very dangerous. There was, however, every probability of +Jenkins finding a smooth place to get across, and if not, he was ordered +to return. + +The crews gave way with a will, and the boats flew across the dark, +slow, heaving undulations, now on the summit of one of the leaden rises, +and now lost to view from the deck. At last they reached the irregular +line of white foam, which danced up glittering and distinct against the +dark mass of land and fog beyond. Into it they seemed to plunge, and we +saw no more of them, for the wall of breakers and the height of the +swell entirely shut out all view beyond. With hearty wishes for the +safety of our shipmates, we hoisted the topsails and ran off the land. + +When we had run some eight or ten miles by the log, it came on a dead +calm, and there we lay, rolling and tumbling about, as the master said, +like a crab in a saucepan, without being able to help ourselves. At +length it cleared up a little in the north-west, and a line of whitish +sky was seen under the copper. The line increased in size and blueness, +till our topsails were filled with a fine strong breeze from that +quarter. The brig was then kept away, in order to run down to the +southernmost extremity of our station. + +I had just gone aloft to have a look round, when my eye fell on a sail +broad on our starboard bow, which, from the size of her royals, just +appearing above the horizon, I judged to be a large square-rigged +vessel. I descended to the cabin to inform the captain, and to ask +leave to make sail in chase. + +"What, another of your phantom slavers, Rawson?" he answered, laughing. +"Make sail, by all means; but I'm afraid we shall not be much the +wiser." + +Hauling up a little, I soon had every stitch of canvas on the brig which +she could carry, with starboard fore-topmast studding-sails. We drew +rapidly on the chase, and in half-an-hour could see nearly down to her +topsails. The breeze freshened, and we went through the water in +earnest. + +"A thumping brig; there's no doubt about it," said the master. "Observe +the rakish cut of her sails; one can almost smell the niggers on board +her." + +"She's carrying on, too, as it she was in a hurry to get away from us," +I remarked. + +"So she is," said the captain, coming on deck. "But it strikes me that +those slave-dealers generally send faster craft to sea than she appears +to be. It's only some of your wise governments who don't care about the +slavers being caught who send out slow-coaches, which are fit for +nothing but carrying timber." + +"Then why should she be in such a hurry?" I observed. + +"A sail right ahead!" sang out the man at the mast-head. + +"Because she's in chase of something else," remarked the captain, +laughing. "Hand me the glass. I thought so. What do you make out of +that ensign which has just blown out at her peak?" + +I took a look through the telescope. + +"A Yankee brig, sir," I exclaimed, in a tone of vexation. "I should not +wonder but what she is an American man-of-war, after all." + +Well, though it must be owned that the Yankees can build fine and fast +ships when they wish to do so, and want them to go along, I must say +that the chase sailed as badly as any ship-of-war I ever met. We came +up with her hand-over-hand, and we were soon sufficiently near to +exchange signals, when we made out that she was the United States +brig-of-war the _Grampus_, in chase of a suspicious-looking craft to the +southward. + +Exchanging a few courteous expressions with the American captain, who +stood on the weather side of the poop eyeing us with a look of envy, we +passed rapidly by him. + +"If you make yon stranger a prize, I think we ought to go shares," he +said, laughing. "We sighted her first." + +"You shall have the whole of her if you overhaul her first," answered +our captain. + +"Then I calculate we may as well give in, for your legs are a tarnation +deal longer than ours, it seems." + +The sun, which now shone forth for a brief space, glittered on the +bright copper of the brig as she lifted to the send of the sea, and the +foam flew over her bows and washed fore and aft along her dingy sides as +she tore through the water; but it would not do, the little _Gadfly_ +laughed her to scorn, and, as we headed her, seemed impudently to kick +up her heels at her in contempt at her slow ways. We were not long in +coming up with the chase, nor in making out by the cut of her canvas, +her short yards, and heavy-looking hull, that she was no slaver. As +soon as we fired a gun, and hoisted our ensign and pennant, she hove-to, +and on sending a boat on board we found that she was the _Mary Jane_, of +Bristol, a steady-going old African trader. She had been carrying sail, +both because she was on her right course, and because she could not tell +but what the _Grampus_ might be a slaver or pirate, anxious to overhaul +her. + +The master, who was a very civil old fellow, came on board, and gave us +some valuable suggestions. He had witnessed some of the horrors of the +middle passage, and was a strong advocate for the abolition of the +slave-trade. + +"Africa will never improve while it exists, and it will exist as long as +people find it profitable, and the governments of the world either +encourage it or only take half measures to abolish it. I am sorry to +own, too, that people nearer home gain too much by it to withstand the +temptation of assisting those engaged in it, and I know for certain that +many English merchants have account-currents with slave-dealers, and +send their vessels out here full of goods expressly for them." + +I afterwards found that what he said was perfectly true. After taking +some luncheon with us, he tumbled into his boat and stood on his course, +while we hauled our wind to return to the northward. + +"We have not made our first prize yet, Rawson," said the captain, as I +took dinner with him in his cabin that day. + +"No, sir; but I hope we soon shall," I replied. "Better luck next +time!" + +As chance would have it, just after sunset we again fell in with the +_Grampus_, and passed close to her. + +"You didn't find many woolly heads on board that 'ere craft, I +calculate?" said a voice from the main rigging, followed by a loud laugh +from several persons. + +"No," I answered, indignantly, thinking of the conversation with the +master of the _Mary Jane_. "But there's a time coming when your people +will bitterly regret that woolly heads or slavery exists in your +country, and will wish that you long ago had done your best to abolish +it. Good night, gentlemen!" + +There was no answer, and we rapidly flew by each other. + +For two or three days we cruised about as unsuccessful as before, the +weather continuing fine; but the sky giving indubitable signs of the +approach of the stormy and rainy season, we beat back along shore to +pick up our boats. The wind had been veering about for some time, and +at length seemed to have made up its mind to enjoy a stiffish blow out +of the south-west. This, of course, would have kicked up a considerable +surf on the bar, and as Jenkins had orders, as soon as he saw signs of +such being the case, to come out and look out for us, we were in hourly +expectation of falling in with the boats. We had, however, seen nothing +of them, though we kept a very sharp look-out, and had almost got up to +the mouth of the river, when, in the afternoon watch, I bethought me +that by way of a change I would go aloft, and try if a fresh pair of +eyes would see farther than those of the man stationed there. I had +been up about five minutes, when my eye fell on the white canvas of a +largish vessel standing along shore under easy sail. She had a most +suspicious look; indeed, I felt convinced that she, at all events, was a +slaver. I was on deck in an instant, and, hurrying into the captain's +cabin with a look of triumph, though I tried to be perfectly calm and +unconcerned, I uttered the words, "A sail on the lee beam!" + +"Very well, Mr Rawson. What does she look like?" said the captain. + +"She's a large topsail schooner, sir, and she's without doubt a slaver," +I answered quite calmly, as a matter of course. + +"What, another of your slavers?" he answered. "I'm afraid they'll all +turn out Flying Dutchmen." + +"Not this time, sir, I'm certain," I replied. "Shall we make sail in +chase?" + +"Oh, certainly--certainly!" he replied. "I'll be on deck immediately +myself." + +I flew on deck, and, without waiting for him, sang out, in a cheery +voice, to the boatswain, "Turn the hands up! Make sail!" The pipe +sounded along the decks with a shriller sound than usual, I thought, and +the news that a suspicious sail was in sight having already travelled +below, the men were all ready, and flew aloft before the last sound of +the order was given. The gear of the courses was overhauled whilst the +topgallant-sails and royals were being loosed, and in a few seconds all +plain sail was made on the brig. The stranger, who had not apparently +before seen us, was not long in following our example. He set his +foresail, topgallant-sail, and royal, gaff-topsail and flying-jib, in +addition to the canvas he had been before carrying, and, putting down +his helm, stood off-shore on a bowline, with the intention of crossing +our bows. The reason of his doing this was, that to the northward a +long and dangerous reef ran off from the shore, so that he had no other +means of escape. We had him, indeed, partly embayed, and yet, if he was +able to carry on, it was clear that he might still manage to get out +ahead of us. The _Gadfly_ sailed well, and carried her canvas +admirably, but so did the stranger; and, by the way every sail on board +her was set, it was evident he was in earnest in doing his best to +weather on us. + +"What do you think of that fellow now, sir?" I said, as the captain +came on deck. "There's no mistaking what she is." + +"Why, Rawson, I think you are right this time, at all events," was the +answer. "Stand by the royals, though. We must not carry the masts over +the side; and she will go along as fast without them." + +I saw it was time, indeed, to take in our lighter canvas, for, as we +were obliged to haul more up, the masts were bending like whips, and the +green seas came washing in bodily to leeward, while the spray flew in +sheets over our weather bulwarks. The day wore on, and evening was fast +approaching, with every prospect of a dirty night; the wind was +increasing, and dark masses of clouds came rolling up from the +south-west, and flying over in the opposite quarter, though as they came +on faster than they disappeared, the sky overhead soon got pretty full +of them. The stranger, meantime, was carrying on in gallant style--not +an inch of anything did he slack. He seemed to think that it was neck +or nothing with him. It must be understood that while his course was +about west, and that nothing off that could he venture to go, we were +able to keep rather more away. There was no chance, however, of our +getting him under our guns before dark, when he, of course, would do his +best to double on us. It was an exciting time, and even the most +apathetic on board would not go below. We were longing to get near +enough to give her a shot or two with any probability of hitting her. +All this time the sea was getting up, and as she was evidently a sharp, +shallow vessel, this much impeded her progress. Instead of, as when we +first saw her, gliding gently through the waves, or putting them +gracefully aside with her bows, she now rose and fell as they passed +under her, and hammered away at them as she strove to make her onward +progress. + +We caught one bright gleam of the sun on her copper as she lifted on the +top of a wave, just as the glowing orb of day sank into the water, and +in a few minutes darkness would cover the face of the deep. Now was to +come the tug of war, or rather, the trial of our patience. The moon had +not yet risen, although it soon would, but, in the meantime, she might +tack and stand away to the southward, or she might pass ahead of us. + +"Try her with a shot, Mr Rawson," said the captain. "If we could hull +her, the fellow would heave-to." + +"I would prefer knocking away some of her wings, and thus secure her, +rather than trust to such slippery gentry," I thought, as I elevated one +of the lee guns and fired. + +The shot went over her or between her masts, for no damage was done. It +showed, however, that she was within range. + +"Have another slap at her," said the captain. "But I do not think +there's much chance of hitting her with the sea we have on." + +This time the gunner took aim, but with no better success. Another and +another shot was fired with the same want of result, and nothing seemed +in any way to daunt the chase. Darkness had now come on in earnest, and +we could just distinguish the schooner's sails through the gloom. A +number of sharp eyes were kept on her, though they at times almost lost +sight of her, and the dark clouds which hung overhead, to increase our +difficulties, every now and then sent down deluges of rain, which still +more impeded our prospect. After some time the captain, who had been +below, returned on deck. + +"Whereabouts is the chase, Mr Rawson?" he asked. + +"Right away under the lee cat-head," I answered, "She was there a moment +ago." + +I looked again. She was nowhere to be seen. I flew to the binnacle; we +had not in any way altered our course. + +"Provoking enough," observed the captain, coolly. "But I thought it +would be so." + +I had nothing to say in return, but I did not despair of seeing her +again. + +"She must have tacked," said the captain, "and hopes to get away to the +southward of us before the morning." + +"I think not, sir," I answered. "I suspect she'll hold her course; for, +when last seen, she was drawing near us, and she hopes to pass ahead of +us in the dark; but if we can but get a gleam of moonlight to show us +her whereabouts, we may yet clip her wings for her before she gets away +from us." + +Almost as I was speaking, the moon rose above the waters undimmed by a +cloud, its pale light revealing the schooner just where I expected her +to be. A cheer burst from the lips of many of the anxious watchers. + +"Now or never is the time to knock some of her spars away!" I thought, +"Shall we give her another shot, sir?" I asked of the captain. + +"Yes; you may give her a broadside, Mr Rawson, and slap it into the +fellow's hull. He deserves no mercy at our hands. But stay; we might +run the chance of killing some of the unfortunate blacks who may be +below." + +Going round to the guns, I elevated them as much as possible, and told +the captains to try and hit her masts. The order was given to fire as +each gun could be brought to bear. No easy task, let me observe, for so +much did the brig heel over, that the men in the waist were up to their +knees nearly all the time in water. It was a night to try the mettle of +fellows, and none could behave better than did outs. The wind howled +and whistled as it rushed through the rigging, the waves roared and +splashed as we dashed through them, and threw their white crests over +us, the masts seemed to bend, and the hull to utter unusual groans of +complaint as we tasked her powers to the utmost. Darkness was around +us, an enemy at hand, and a dangerous short, under our lee; but all +hands laughed and joked with the most perfect unconcern. Again the moon +was obscured, and on we tore through the foaming waters. There was no +use in firing, for no aim could then be taken. Once more the clouds +cleared away, and the moonbeams shone on the hull and sails of the +schooner with all her canvas set, just about to cross our fore foot. + +"Now's your time, my men!" I sang out, as I sprung forward, luffing up +at the same time, so as to get our broadside to bear on her. + +The foremost gun was the first fired, followed by the others in +succession. Nothing daunted, the fellow was holding on, his +jib-halyards alone having been carried away, and the jib was slashing +about under his bows. + +"By Jupiter! he'll weather on us now, if we don't take care and slip +away in the wind's eye," I exclaimed. + +The captain thought so too; and again ordering me to fire right at her +hull, a yaw was given, and gun after gun as they were brought to bear +was poured into the slaver. The effects of the shot made her fly up +into the wind. Several of her braces and halyards were cut away, and, +she now nearly a wreck, we in a few minutes were close aboard her. +"Hands, shorten sail." In three seconds Her Majesty's brig was under +topsails, hove-to alongside her prize. + +"Mr Rawson," said the captain, addressing me, "there will be some +difficulty in boarding that vessel, and I wish that you would go in the +gig and take possession of her. She is our first prize, remember, and +it would not do to let her slip through our fingers." + +"Ay, ay, sir. Gig's crew away, then?" I sung out, as I stepped to the +binnacle to take the bearings of the schooner from us. Luckily I did +so, for we could only then just distinguish her, and a dark mass of +clouds driving across the moon shut her out completely from our sight. +"Bear a hand there, and lower away the gig!" I sung out, for I was +anxious to shove off before the brig entirely lost her way through the +water. + +It was not particularly pleasant work in the heavy sea there was running +having to grope about in the dark for a craft manned probably by +desperadoes, who would be too happy to cut our throats if they had the +opportunity. I had a brace of pistols, and a few cutlasses had been +thrown into the boat. Thus prepared we cast off, and the men bent +bravely to their oars as the boat topped the heavy seas over which we +had to pass. The brig showed a light for us to steer by, but the +schooner was in no way so civil. On we pulled, however, in the hope of +hitting her, but though we had gone over fully the distance I calculated +she must have been from us, yet nothing of her could we see. I was +almost in despair, and as while looking for her I could not attend +carefully to the boat's steering we shipped two or three heavy seas, +which almost swamped her, and we had to bale them out as fast as we +could. For some time the men lay on their oars, just keeping the boat's +head to the seas while we looked round for the chase. + +"She has gone! The rascal took the opportunity of the last shower to +sneak off," I thought. "Pleasant. But patience; c'est la fortune de la +guerre." + +Disconsolate enough I was steering back for the faint glimmer of light +which I believed proceeded from the lantern on board the _Gadfly_, when +I fancied I heard the loud flapping of a sail near us. I looked +earnestly into the darkness. + +"There she is, sir," sung out the coxswain. + +"You're right. Give way, my boys," I cried; and in a few minutes we +were alongside the schooner. + +Not a rope was thrown to us, nor was any assistance offered, so we had +to scramble on board as best we could. It was fortunate that we met +with no resistance, from which we afterwards found we had had a narrow +escape, when all our lives would have been sacrificed. As we leaped +down on board over the bulwarks we found only one man on deck, on the +after-part of which he was walking by himself, evidently in a furious +rage, by the manner in which he cursed and gesticulated. As the light +of the lantern fell on his countenance I thought I had never seen one +with a more diabolical expression. He was a little man, slightly built, +with dark weather-beaten, and sharp features, excessively ugly. His +eyes were small, but black as jet, and I fancied that I could see them +twinkling even in the dark. The crew had all been sent below, but we +soon roused them up, twenty in number; fierce, cut-throat-looking +villains most of them were. The between-decks we found crowded with +slaves; and we found, when we came to count them, that there were three +hundred men, women, and children, so closely packed that they could not +lie down even to rest. They had suffered dreadfully during the chase, +with the fright and heat, and from having the hatches battened down. +Our first business was to shorten sail, which we made the Spaniards and +Portuguese who formed the crew go aloft to do; and we then edged the +schooner down to where the brig was, and lay-to close to her. + +The master of the slaver, when at length he became convinced that there +was no help for what had occurred, grew more calm, and he then told me +that everything he had in the world was embarked on board that craft, +that he had set his canvas and made every sheet and tack fast, when, +sending all his people below, the hatches being battened down, he +himself had taken the helm, determined to weather us or to run his +vessel under water. + +"I should have escaped, too," he continued, "if your cursed shot had not +carried away my topsails while all the hands were below. A quarter of +an hour more and you might have looked for me in vain." + +I did not tell him how nearly we were missing him after all; indeed I +had enough to do to watch him and his crew, and to see that they did not +play us any trick. All the men I confined in the fore peak, after +securing all the arms I could find, while I allowed him to turn into his +own berth, where he slept, or pretended to sleep. I never passed a more +anxious night, what with the stench and the groans of the wretched +slaves, and the risk of a crew of desperadoes rising on us. We kept, +however, as close to the _Gadfly_ as we could, and hailed every time the +bell was struck, to say all was right. Towards morning the wind +moderated and the sea went down, and at daylight a prize crew came on +board to set the schooner to rights. This we were not long in doing, as +her damages were slight, and such as, had the slaver's people been more +determined, they might without difficulty have repaired. There was by +that time merely a light breeze, and as soon as we got the canvas on the +schooner we found that we could sail round and round the brig, so that +it was fortunate we had managed to wing her before the sea went down, or +we should have had no chance with her. + +While the slave captain was still asleep, and the rest of his crew were +below, one of the fellows shoved his head up the fore hatchway, and +asked to speak with me. I told him to come aft, and I recognised him as +a Portuguese whom I had taken once before in the West Indies. With an +affrighted look he glanced towards the round-house on deck, where the +captain was sleeping, and motioned me to come as far from it as +possible. + +"I have run every risk, senhor, to come and warn you of danger, in the +hope that you will be lenient to us," he began. "That man in there, +senhor, is the very devil. Don't you recollect him? You took him in +the _Andorinha_, off the Havannah. He was really her master, though he +pretended to be the mate." + +It had struck me from the first that I had seen the fellow's face +before, but I could not recollect where. + +"Yes, I remember him," I replied. "But what of that?" + +"Why, senhor, you know what a desperate fellow he was then, and he has +not altered. Even last night, when we rounded to to prevent your +sinking us, he called us all aft, and asking us if we would stick by +him, proposed heaving some shot into your gig as you came alongside, +knocking you and your people on the head, and while your vessel was +looking about to pick up the sinking boat, in the dark to try and slip +away from you. He was in a furious rage when we would not consent. +Some were afraid of the plan miscarrying, and of being caught +notwithstanding, and hung for murder. Others were unwilling to kill +you, as you never ill-treat your prisoners, of which number pray rank +me, and while he was still urging his project you jumped on board. You +had a narrow escape though, senhor, for he was nearly pistolling you as +you appeared, to set us the example." + +So I felt, especially when I saw the diabolical-looking little villain +soon after appear on deck. I promised the informer that I would not +forget him, and would be on my guard, though I did not give him any +credit for disinterested motives in mentioning what had occurred. I had +no difficulty by daylight in recognising my friend the captain, nor +shall I again forget his ugly mug in a hurry. He also saw that he was +known, and had the impudence to claim me as an old acquaintance. + +Everything being put to rights on board the schooner, I handed her over +to a mate and the crew, who were to take her to Sierra Leone. Before +leaving her, however, I had all the slaves up on deck, a third at a +time, and had them washed and cleaned, as also the hold, as well as +circumstances would allow. A great number of the poor wretches died +before they reached their port; not on account of bad weather, or the +length of the voyage, but from their having been a long time confined in +the barracoons previously to their being embarked. The little captain +and most of his crew, however, we sent on board the _Gadfly_, as it +would not have been prudent to trust him in the schooner. + +With a flowing sheet our first prize stood away for Sierra Leone, and +three hearty cheers accompanied her on her course. + +"We've not made a bad night's work of it, master," said I, as I sat down +to breakfast with him. + +"No," he answered, "if the prize ever reaches her port." + +"Why should you think she will not?" I asked. + +"It's better not to be too sanguine. There's many a slip between the +cup and the lip," was the reply. + +"Too true an adage," I felt. "I'm sure I've found it so in my course +through life." + +We, meantime, stood in-shore to look for our boats. The night closed in +without our meeting with them, till at length we became seriously +alarmed for their safety. The next day, when just off the mouth of the +Sherbro, two black objects were descried from the mast-head. We made +towards them, and with no little satisfaction welcomed our shipmates on +board. They had had hard work of it, with damp fogs or rain nearly half +the time, and without having enjoyed any other shelter than such as the +boats and a sail could afford. Poor Jenkins was ill with fever, as were +several of the people, and they were for some time on the doctor's list. +We now shaped a course for Sierra Leone, to assist in the condemnation +of our prize. We found her arrived there safe enough, and having been +taken with slaves on board, there was no doubt of her capture being +legal. We were not sorry to get rid of the little slave captain and his +crew. He kept up his character to the last, and I never met a man so +energetic and daring in doing evil. Before we left we discovered that +he was trying to induce some other slave captains and their crews to +join with him in cutting out a condemned slaver which lay in the +harbour; but it appeared that they considered the risk of the +undertaking too great to attempt it. He formed afterwards several other +similar projects, and was finally shipped off to the Havannah as too +dangerous a character to remain in the colony. + +We afterwards captured a number of slavers, but none of them afforded us +so much interest and gratification as the taking of our first prize. + + + +Story 7--Chapter 1. + +CAST AWAY ON A SAND-BANK: OR, MY EXPERIENCES OF LIFE ON THE OCEAN. + +Midshipman wanted for a first-class India trader! "Oh! mother, that +will just do for me!" I exclaimed. "Do let me go; I shall be back in +no time, and have all sorts of yarns to tell you." I pressed and +pressed. My mother saw that I should do little good by remaining longer +at school, or thought so at all events, and I gained my point. Within a +month I found myself on board the good ship _Betsey Blair_, of six +hundred tons, Captain Joseph Johns, master, gliding over the Atlantic at +the rate of nine knots an hour, bound out to Singapore. We had two +mates, a surgeon, two midshipmen besides myself, one of whom was making +his first voyage, and three apprentices who had never before been to +sea, with a crew, including the boatswain, of five-and-twenty hands. I +did not find things quite as pleasant as I had expected, from reading +"Tom Cringle's Log" and Captain Marryat's novels, and other romantic +tales of the sea. Captain Johns was every inch a sailor. He told us +midshipmen that he intended we should become sailors, and he began by +sending us aloft the first calm day to black down the rigging and grease +the masts. I began to go aloft with my span new uniform on. "No! no!" +he said, calling me down, "the second mate will serve you out a shirt +and trousers fit for that work." The mates laughed and the men laughed +also. I got the shirt and trousers, and spent a couple of hours aloft, +making good use of tar-brush and grease-pot, till my clothes were as +black as the rigging and as greasy as the masts. It was my first real +lesson in the duty of a seaman. I am now much obliged to our worthy +master. I mention it to show that the realities of a midshipman's life +on board a merchantman, if the captain does his duty, are not quite what +young gentlemen anticipate. + +We had a quick passage to Singapore. There discharging our cargo, +which, from that important mart of the East, was distributed in small +craft in all directions among the numberless islands of those seas, we +got ready for our return home, having to call at Melbourne on our way. +Having taken in our cargo, we polished up, and hearing that several +passengers were coming on board, we midshipmen put on our best uniforms +to receive them, flattering ourselves that, as the paint-brushes and +polishing leathers had been kept going, we and the ship cut a very +respectable appearance. Captain Johns was proud of his ship, and +prouder still of keeping his crew in perfect order. We had several +passengers, a Mr and Mrs Haliday and three children, a Mrs Burnett, +Mrs Magnus, and a Mr Turner, a merchant. The ladies were going home, +I believe, on account of health. My chief friend on board was the +surgeon of the ship, Mr Gilbert. He was a young man, but very +intelligent and scientific, and took a pleasure in imparting the +information he possessed. There seemed thus every prospect of our +having a pleasant voyage home. Mr Crawford was the first mate. I was +in his watch. Our second mate was a Mr Morgan. With colours flying, +our smart little ship stood out of the harbour of Singapore. The +weather was fine and the sea smooth. + +"Do you think we shall have this sort of weather all the way home," +asked Mr Haliday, who was a timid man, and anxious about his wife and +family. + +"Well, sir, I have made three or four passages, when we carried the fine +weather the whole way out and home, but if we do not, we must do our +best and trust to God, Mr Haliday, that is my maxim, and I have always +found it hold good. I have been at sea ever since I was a boy, and in +more hurricanes and gales of wind than I can well count up, and yet I +never was shipwrecked, and here I am alive and well," answered Captain +Johns, to whom the question had been put. + +"But, captain, there is a saying, `the pitcher which goes often to the +well gets broken at last.'" + +"That, I rather think, means to refer to those who tempt God, and a man +who has to run into danger in the way of duty is not to my mind doing +that. We must trust God whatever happens, Mr Haliday. Even if the +stout little ship were to be cast away, He would find a means for our +escape if He thought fit." + +I overheard this conversation, and it made a strong impression on me. +For some time the fine weather continued, when it came on very thick, +with baffling winds. For three days or more we had been unable to take +an observation. The chief mate had the morning watch. Soon after I got +on deck I heard him sing out, "Keep a sharp look-out there forward!" +Then stepping aft he said to the man at the helm, "Keep the ship +north-by-west." The wind, I should say, at this time was west-by-south, +and we were going nearly nine knots through the water. The events of +that morning were vividly impressed upon my memory. + +"Mr Jennings," said the first mate to me, "what is that black look in +the water ahead!" + +I ran forward. The look-out man declared that it was the reflection of +a heavy black cloud hanging just over the ship. + +"It is no such thing!" exclaimed the mate, sharply looking over the +gangway. "Hard up with the helm! All hands on deck! Wear ship!" + +I, with the watch on deck, flew to the braces. The ship wore round, but +almost before we could touch the ropes a terrific crash was heard, and +she struck heavily aft. The following sea drove her broadside on to the +reef, part of which we now saw clearly rising out of the water not a +cable's length from us. The first crash sent the captain and other +officers rushing on deck, while cries and shrieks arose from the poor +passengers in the cabin. The next sea which struck her, after she had +touched, came flying over us, and there seemed scarcely a possibility of +our saving our lives. "Lads!" shouted the captain, "obey my orders, and +I will do my best for you. See to cutting away the masts. Clear the +rigging as the masts are cut away. Mr Jennings, clear the pinnace for +launching." Another midshipman was sent down to entreat the passengers +to remain quiet below till the boats were ready, assuring them that they +would run great risk of losing their lives if they came on deck. +Although the masts were quickly cut away, the ship continued to lurch +heavily upon the reef, and it seemed that she must quickly go to pieces. +She now lay completely on her beam ends, so that it was difficult to +stand on her deck. I had made the pinnace ready for launching, but she +was a heavy boat, and though all hands exerted themselves to the utmost, +we could not manage it, our good captain getting his leg jammed in the +attempt. We hauled him up to the weather bulwarks, where he held on, +still giving his orders. Our next attempt was to launch the jolly-boat. +To do this we had to hoist her up to the davits on the upper quarter. +When placing oars, and a couple of good hands in her, we watched our +opportunity, and, after a sea had broken over us, quickly bailing her +out, allowed her to glide into the water. Captain Johns ordered the men +to pull to the rock which we had at first seen, and which lay a short +distance inside the reef. We had a small well-built lifeboat. To +preserve her from injury was of the greatest importance. We got her up +in the same way to the upper davits and launched her in safety. As soon +as this was done the ladies and children were brought up from the cabin, +which was already half full of water, and, being placed in her, she +pulled away for the jolly-boat. The ladies' husbands watched them +anxiously. It was impossible to say at what moment the ship would break +up. So terrific were the blows she was receiving that it seemed +scarcely possible she could hold together many minutes; indeed, already +portions of her had been torn away, and were seen floating to leeward. + +In the next trip the men passengers and the young seamen were taken to +the jolly-boat. + +"Do you, Jennings, and you, Mr Gilbert, go in her," said the captain. + +"No, sir, thank you, I will stay by you," I answered. + +"I order you both into the boat. I am not to be disobeyed," he +exclaimed. + +Of course we could not refuse. Already the jolly-boat, when we got into +her, was very full, and there seemed some risk of her being swamped. +Just then one of the seamen struck his boat-hook down alongside. "Why, +the water is quite shallow here!" he exclaimed. "Overboard lads! The +ladies shall run no risk on our account;" and six or eight men instantly +jumped into the water, holding on to the boat, it being tolerably smooth +under the lee of the rock where she lay. + +By the last trip the master came off, bringing some charts and nautical +instruments, which he had secured. "What about food?" some one asked. +A small quantity, it appeared, had been secured, but not a drop of fresh +water had been brought off. The master now ordered some of the men to +get into the lifeboat, and we were pretty evenly divided among the two. + +"How far off are we from the Australian coast?" asked Mr Haliday. + +"Four hundred miles at the nearest," was the answer. "It is true, my +friends," said the master, "but half-a-mile off there is a sand-bank. +We will make for that, and there pray that God will give us the means of +escape." The grey dawn broke soon after we reached the bank, where we +landed in safety. "Now, my friends," said the master, as we stood +grouped around him, "let us lift up our hearts in thankfulness to that +merciful God who has thus far preserved us." Hearty and sincere was, I +feel assured, the prayer that rose from that barren sand-bank. We +thanked God for preserving us, and we prayed that He might yet watch +over us, and carry us in safety to land. + +The bank was scarcely more than a hundred and fifty yards long, and +about a third of the width. Still we had reason to be thankful. Not a +life had been lost, in spite of the fearful risk we had run. Had a gale +been blowing, however, not one of us could have escaped. As the sun +rose our clothes quickly dried, but its rays soon became fearfully hot, +and beat down upon our unprotected heads. The master was suffering all +this time from the injury he had received, and was obliged to lie down. +He, however, first directed the two mates to return with the boats to +the wreck, to bring off whatever they could find likely to be of use, +and anxiously we watched them as they pulled away. Our lives depended +upon the success of their expedition. Meantime, the hot sun increased, +and we all began to suffer from thirst. It was sad to see the poor +little children crying for water when there was none to give them. Some +of us, with pieces of board, began to dig in the sand, hoping to find +water, but after making several deep holes we came each time to the +coral rock. That, however, was moist and free from salt. Though the +amount of fluid we could obtain was trifling, it afforded us some slight +relief to lick the bare rock, and helped to cool our tongues. At length +the boats returned. Eagerly we all hurried down to welcome them, and +haul them up on the beach. A shout of joy arose when we found that the +jolly-boat had a cask of water on board, besides some provisions--a +cheese, some potted meat, and some biscuit. How thankfully we poured +the sweet liquid down our throats. Captain Johns, however, would allow +only half-a-gill to each of us, all sharing alike. These things might +prolong our lives for a short time, but yet our hopes of escaping were +small indeed. The wreck still hung together, but the wind appeared to +be again getting up; indeed, there was so much sea, that the captain was +afraid of sending back the boats. Anxiously that night passed away, but +our courage was kept up by the captain's cheerful and manly voice. + +"Trust in God, friends," he continued to say, "that is the best advice I +can give you. As I have said before, I will do my best, and I hope all +you will do your best, and let us never despair." Next morning, in +spite of the heavy sea running, the mates pushed off in the boats in the +hopes of obtaining further supplies from the wreck. Dangerous as was +the undertaking, the condition of our party on the sand-bank was not +less perilous, for should the boats be lost, our fate, in all human +probability, would be sealed. We watched them anxiously. Now they +appeared on the crest of a sea, now they were hidden by the foaming +breakers. At length they were altogether lost to sight from the +sand-bank. We stood, our hands on each others' shoulders, our necks +stretched out, eagerly watching for their return. Now a dark object was +seen. We thought it was one of the boats. No, it was a piece of the +wreck. Another and another piece appeared. Some drove on to the beach, +and we hurried down to secure them. At length I saw the lifeboat +drawing near. Alas! was the other lost? "See! see! she is astern of +her!" cried someone. On they both came, and we hurried down to welcome +them. Both of them came laden. In the jolly-boat were some sails, and +several casks of provisions, and in the lifeboat, among other things, a +small keg of lime-juice. The surgeon spied it out, and literally +shouted for joy. "It may be the saving of our lives," he exclaimed; +"and will at all events keep scurvy at bay." That night we were able to +erect a tent for the poor women and children, as also for some of the +men passengers, and two or three of the seamen and boys who were +suffering from exposure. Still my friend the surgeon looked grave. + +"Jennings," he said to me, as we were taking a turn together, "there is +one thing I dread more than all others--the want of water. What we have +will go a very, very short way, and then--! My lad, do you know what it +is to die of thirst--the throat becoming drier and drier, the tongue +swelling, and getting as hard as shoe-leather, and blacker and blacker, +the sight growing dim, the voice failing?" + +"A fearful picture!" I said. "What is to be done?" + +"Why, we must go off at all risks, and see if we cannot get materials +from the wreck to form a still. The ship struck at high water, I +observed, and possibly what we want, even though washed out of her, may +be obtained at low water. Will you go off with me to make the search?" + +I, of course, agreed, and the second mate steered the lifeboat. A fresh +crew was quickly found, and we put off from the bank. + +"Another night may see the wreck broken up, and we may lose everything," +observed the surgeon. We pulled on. The wreck had by this time driven +up so far on the reef that at dead low water part of the coral rock was +exposed, and we could wade up to her. We hunted about till we came upon +some copper piping. "This is valuable," exclaimed the surgeon. We next +found a boiler, and afterwards a large cistern, still inside the vessel. +We got it out, though not without difficulty, and on board the boat. +Several tools, an iron ladle and some solder were also found; indeed, we +regretted that the jolly-boat had not come off, that many more things +might have been landed. All we could hope was that the weather would +continue moderate, and that other articles might be saved on the +following day. We returned in safety with our prize. As soon as we +landed, the surgeon summoned the blacksmith and his mate to his +assistance, and a fire being lighted, immediately set to work to erect a +still. A shout of joy was raised when the first fresh water was seen to +issue from it. We lay down that night with one of our chief causes of +anxiety removed. "We may thank God for this," said the master, +summoning all the people round him. "Now I have a proposal to make. It +is clear we cannot remain on this reef for ever. I wish to know whether +those who are fit to assist in the work will undertake the building of a +boat, in which we may reach the mainland." A considerable number held +up their hands to signify their readiness to assist in what he proposed. +"Then, my friends," he said, "I will divide you into three parties--one +to assist Mr Gilbert in distilling the water, another to visit the +wreck and obtain all the materials which can be saved, while the third +will be employed in building the boat." All agreed to this proposal, +and early next morning, as soon as daylight broke, we were on our feet +ready to commence work. I was employed with the second mate in going +off to the wreck, while the first mate and the master assisted the +carpenter's crew in building the boat. We were fortunate in obtaining +all sorts of articles, amongst others, useful tools and a supply of +clothing. With the articles we found, the surgeon improved his +machinery for distilling the water, and at length he produced nearly +thirty gallons a-day. Our provisions, however, were getting short, and +at length we were reduced to half-a-pound of flour a-day, which we made +up into puddings with salt-water--very heavy dough, but it stopped our +hunger and kept us alive. It took us just a month from the day the +boat's keel was laid till she was launched. It was a day not to be +forgotten. The ladies and children stood round cheering lustily. We +called her the _Hope_. She sat well on the water, but leaked +considerably. We had therefore to haul her up again, and stop the +leaks. When again launched she was found to be thoroughly watertight. +It took us two days to get her rigged and stowed. All the casks we had +been able to save were filled with water, Mr Gilbert working day and +night to obtain a supply. At length, after a residence of five weeks on +the sand-bank, which would assuredly have proved our grave, had it not +been for the invention of our surgeon, we bade the sand-bank farewell, +and stood towards Moreton Bay, on the Australian coast. The wind was +fair and moderate. About thirty of us were on board the _Hope_, while +six preferred trusting their fortunes to the lifeboat. The wind +shifting, when we were, according to our calculations, about twenty +leagues off the land, drove us to the mouth of the Brisbane river. A +somewhat heavy sea was running, but the _Hope_ behaved beautifully, and +our captain knew the entrance. What an idea it gave us of perfect rest, +when, after being tossed about for so many days, we glided up the +tranquil river! The settlers came down as we reached the shore, and +warmly welcomed us. "Thanks, friends, thanks!" said our good master, +"but before I thank you I desire to thank One by whose means we have +been preserved," and kneeling down, the fine old man poured out his +heart in prayer. I am thankful to say that one and all of us followed +his example, and if we did not pray with as much fervour and earnestness +as he did, I believe that the prayer and the gratitude we expressed came +from our hearts. + + + +Story 8--Chapter 1. + +OWEN'S REVENGE--A TALE OF THE SEA. + +I was then scarcely ten years old. My father possessed a fine estate, +and we lived in the greatest luxury. I had ridden out by myself on my +pony, and had reached a somewhat secluded part of the park, where the +bridle-path passed among grassy knolls, and tall trees, flinging their +branches across a narrow dell, formed a thick canopy overhead, and gave +a somewhat gloomy aspect to the sequestered spot. It was one I seldom +visited, and I was wondering whether sprites or fairies, good or bad, of +whom I had heard the country people speak, really came there to gambol +and play their pranks, when a figure started up from behind a bush with +a menacing gesture, and before I could make my pony gallop on to escape +him, I found the rein seized by a stout man with bushy whiskers, a +sunburnt countenance, and, as I then thought, very unpleasant features. +He appeared to me much older than he probably really was, comparing, as +I naturally did, his fare with those on which I was most accustomed to +look. Though his features were rough, he was tolerably well dressed, +and did not look like a common ruffian who designed to rob me. For more +than a minute he held my rein in the attitude of forcing back my pony, +and glared fiercely at me. + +"I have come to look at you, that I may know you again when we meet," he +exclaimed at length; and, to my surprise, the tone of his voice was that +of a gentleman. "You have deprived me of my inheritance--you have come +between me and fortune and happiness and the only things worth living +for in this world, and I am determined to have my revenge. While we +remain together on earth, I will pursue you--whatever your course in +life may be, I will find you out; I will balk you in your dearest +wishes--I will prove your bane in whatever you undertake--I will destroy +your happiness--I will stand like a lion in your path, and bar your +progress. I will not injure you in life or limb--I might kill you, but +I will not do that--as you have injured me by legal means, so will I +keep within the law in taking my revenge, but it will be a full one +notwithstanding. Now go, youngster, and my bitter curses go with you! +You may tell your fond father and mother what you have heard; their love +cannot protect you--their anger cannot overtake me. Before they could +decide what to do I shall be far away beyond their reach; and tell them +that, though they may not for many a long day hear of me, that I bide my +time. Now go--go--or I may be tempted to do more than I intended, and +remember that I hate you!" + +He flung the pony's head from him, making the animal rear and almost +fall back over me, but I stuck on, and, digging my spurs into his +flanks, dashed on along the path, leaving the man gazing fiercely at me +with his fist clenched and his arm extended in the direction I had +taken. When I again took one more alarmed look round, he had +disappeared. My first impression was that the man was mad, but still +his curses and his threats and fierce looks frightened me, and I must +own that I felt somewhat inclined to cry. I did not, though, but +galloped on as hard as I could till I reached the house. Giving my pony +to a groom, I ran up into my room without speaking, and, locking myself +in, burst into a fit of tears. Two hours afterwards my mother, +wondering at my non-appearance in the drawing-room, came to my door, and +when I opened it and exhibited my scared countenance, she inquired if +anything dreadful had happened. "Oh no--nothing," I answered. "Only an +odd man appeared in the woods, and said something strange--but it's all +right now." This was the only account I ever gave of the adventure. It +was surmised that I had met a gipsy, who probably hoped to extort money +from me. My father made inquiries in every direction, and gave notice +that he should prosecute any rogues and vagabonds found trespassing on +his property. + +I, however, could not help often thinking over the adventure, and +wondering what the man could have meant when he said that I had come +between him and fortune. I determined to try and get my mother to solve +the mystery, so one day I asked her, casually, if my father had +inherited his estate, or how it was that he became possessed of it. She +seemed surprised at the question, but told me, with some hesitation, it +seemed to me, that he had gained the property a short time before, after +a long-contested lawsuit. Somebody coming in prevented me from asking +further questions, and my mother never again alluded to the subject. + + + +Story 8--Chapter 2. + +Three years passed by. I had been seized with an ardent desire to go to +sea, and as my parents had never been in the habit of thwarting my +wishes, they could not refuse me this somewhat unreason able one in a +young gentleman heir to some fifteen thousand a year. What they might +have done had I been an only son I do not know, but as I had several +brothers and sisters, they considered, I conclude, that should I be +expended in fighting my country's battles, my place as heir might +readily be supplied by my next brother, who highly applauded my +determination. To do him justice, however, I am very certain that he +had no selfish motives in so doing; indeed, his great wish was to be +allowed to go also, and share my fortunes. + +The matter settled, while my father wrote to our county member to beg +that he would look out for a good ship for me, I wrote to my tailor, +directing him to make me a uniform without delay, and to arrange my +outfit. Young gentlemen with large expectations are as fond of fine +clothes as are sometimes poor ones; and on the day my uniform arrived, +and during three months or so afterwards, I took every opportunity of +wearing it in public. Young as I was, I was made a good deal of in the +neighbourhood, and it thus became pretty widely known that I was about +to go to sea; or, as I told people, with no small amount of vanity, to +become an officer in the navy. + +I believe that very few young gentlemen ever went to sea with a better +kit than I had when I at length was directed to join the _Ianthe_ +frigate, of forty guns, commanded by Captain Hansome. I found that I +was not thought nearly so much of on board as I had been in our county, +at those houses where five or six flaxen-haired young ladies formed part +of the family. I remember that Jack wrote me word, however, that they +had begun to make fully as much of him on one occasion when it was +supposed that war would break out, and on another when it was reported +that the frigate had been sent to the West Indies; but that might have +been only his fancy. + +My father was unwell, so the steward took me to Portsmouth, and he, not +liking the look of the somewhat foam-covered Solent Sea, sent me off +under the charge of a waterman in a shore boat to the ship, which lay at +Spithead. We had a dead beat, and I was very sick before we got +half-way across. The first lieutenant was on deck as I crawled up the +side. + +"You have not been to sea before," he observed, glancing at my +woe-begone countenance, and then at the numberless articles handed up +after me. "A pity your friends hadn't any one to tell them that a +frigate has no lumber-room for the stowage of empty boxes. Boy! send +Mr Owen here." + +The lieutenant did not wait for an answer, and I stood expecting some +other remark to be made to me, but he did not deign to address me again. +While looking about and wondering at the strange appearance of the +frigate's deck, of which I had no previous conception, I saw a +broad-shouldered man, with large whiskers and a sunburnt countenance, in +the uniform of a master's mate, appear from below, and approach. He +touched his cap to the lieutenant, without looking at me, and asked for +what he wanted him. + +"To take charge of this youngster, Mr Owen," answered the lieutenant. +"You must dispose of his traps as you best can. The superfluous ones +will, I doubt not, be soon expended. Introduce him to the mess, and see +that he gets into no mischief." + +"Ay, ay, sir. I have had many a youngster to look after in my time +(some are now post-captains), and I know how to treat them," he +answered, glancing at me with as much indifference as if I were a lady's +poodle committed to his charge. + +There was a sympathy between the lieutenant and the mate--the first +might have been an admiral as far as age was concerned, the second a +post-captain. Without speaking, he led me into the midshipman's berth. +There were a good many people seated round the table, of all ages-- +assistant-surgeons, and clerks, and master's-assistants, besides +midshipmen and master's mates, as passed midshipmen were called. + +"Let me introduce to your favourable notice, gentlemen, Mr Harry +Nugent," he said, leading me in by the hand with much ceremony, but +speaking in a tone which sounded somewhat sarcastic. It struck me as +odd at the time that he should have known my name, as the lieutenant had +not told him. "I must go and look after his traps," he added, as the +rest of the party made room for me. + +They treated me kindly enough, offering me dinner, which had just been +placed on the table, but the food looked very coarse, and I was too sick +to touch anything. They soon drew from me all the information I had to +give about myself, and when they learned that I was an elder son, with +large expectations, and was to have what seemed an unlimited supply of +money, some of the older ones treated me with far more respect than at +first. + +"I wonder what could have induced you to come to sea, to be kicked and +cuffed by your superiors, till you are big enough to kick and cuff +others in return," observed an oldster, John Pearson I found was his +name. "If I had had a tenth of your tin, I'd have stayed on shore to +the end of my days. The sea is only fit for poor beggars like you and +me, Owen. Isn't that the case?" + +A curious expression passed over Owen's countenance, and a frown settled +on his brow, as, having disposed of my property and just retaken his +seat, he answered: + +"I suppose Nugent comes to sea to show us what a pleasant life it may +prove to a man of fortune, eh!" + +"No!" I answered, with simplicity. "I came to sea because I have read +of Howe and Jervis and Nelson and Collingwood, and because I expected to +find it a field of fame and glory, as they did." + +There was a general laugh, in which the youngsters joined the loudest. + +"A sucking Collingwood!" cried one. + +"A field of water, which the ship has to plough," said another, who set +up for a wit. + +There was no end to their remarks. + +"Never mind, Nugent," remarked Owen. "We'll soon get you out of those +antiquated notions." + +He was as good as his word, and I soon learned to look at a life at sea +in a very different light to what I had done when I determined to follow +it. Still, pride made me resolve to stick to it, and when I wrote home, +to speak as if I were thoroughly satisfied with my choice. + +Two days after I joined, the frigate sailed for the Mediterranean. Owen +did his best to gain my confidence, and so far succeeded, that, being +placed in his watch, I was his constant companion. I was at first +shocked at his opinions and open acknowledgment of his very lax morals, +and though in the latter respect he might not have been much worse in +reality than others in the mess, I observed that by degrees some of +them, especially Pearson, began rather to tight shy of him. Often I +remarked an expression on his countenance which was most disagreeable, +and two or three times as I looked at him the idea came across my mind +that I had seen him before. Once, and only once, I thought he must be +the person who had so frightened me years before in the park, but I +dismissed the idea as preposterous, as that person was a great deal +older than Owen, who, besides, seemed too careless, easy-going a fellow +to do anything of that sort. In the Mediterranean, that most delightful +of stations to a man who has plenty of money in his pocket, we visited a +number of places. Whenever Owen went on shore he took me with him, and +did not scruple to make use of my purse, in order, as he said, that he +might initiate me into the mysteries of life. + +Those who are acquainted with what a midshipman's life on shore often +is, may easily conceive the description of scenes into which he +introduced me. With the wariness of the serpent, however, he took care +not too early to shock my moral sense, and therefore only gave me +glimpses of the scenes to which I have alluded. We were at Naples for +some months. As my father had begged the captain, whenever duty would +permit, to give me every opportunity of seeing all that was to be seen +in the places we visited, I constantly got leave to go on shore, and +being under charge of so old and staid a Mentor as Owen, I was allowed +to remain away from the ship for several days together. Night after +night we went to the opera; then to some billiard or gambling-rooms; and +finally repaired to some place to sup, when Owen took care to order the +richest viands and the best wines at my expense. He drank hard, though +he did not get drunk exactly, and he encouraged me to drink, telling me +that it was a manly thing, and that after a little time I should be able +to drink as much as he could with impunity. One day I returned on board +feeling and looking, I doubt not, very ill. While Owen was on deck, +Pearson, who was always very kind to me, took me aside, and asked me, in +the gentlest and most friendly way, how I spent my time on shore. I +told him exactly how I had been employed. + +"Take my advice, youngster, and follow a better leader than Owen seems +to be, or rather act as your own sense of right and duty would prompt +you," he said, in a kind tone. "I most heartily wish you well, and +admire the spirit which prompted you to come to sea, when you might have +lived luxuriously on shore. You have everything before you which can +make life pleasant, but if you follow the course into which it is very +clear Owen intends to lead you, your life itself will be shortened, and +you will be incapacitated from enjoying the advantages you possess." + +I felt the truth of what Pearson had said, and told him that I would +follow his advice. The next day I was engaged to go on shore with Owen. +I did not choose to refuse to go, but resolved to be cautious how I +complied with any of his proposals. He had told the captain that we +were to ride out to visit some spot of interest in the neighbourhood, +and I had fully intended going. When we got on shore, he declared that +he had hurt his leg, and could not ride, and proposed resorting to a +billiard-room. To this, as I did not know what to do with myself alone, +I did not object, but after playing for some time, he declared that it +was very slow work, and suggested that we should go to a gambling-house +near at hand, where we might obtain liquor and refreshments of all +sorts. I fortunately knew the character of the place, and remembering +my promise to Pearson, positively refused to accompany him. He looked +astonished at first, and then set to work to overcome my scruples. I +was firm, and thank Heaven I was, for if a man breaks a newly-formed +resolution to act rightly, he is very apt to go back to his old courses, +and to continue in them more recklessly than before. + +"If you don't want to lose your money don't play high stakes, and if you +are afraid of getting drunk, I'll watch that you don't take more than is +good for you," he whispered to me. "But don't sit there like a booby." + +"I should be one if I followed your suggestions, for I have no taste for +either gambling or drinking, and I do not want to get it," I answered, +firmly. "Once for all, I will not go." + +He uttered a faint laugh as he said, "What has come over the fellow? +However, lend me five sovereigns, and I'll try my luck. If I lose, I +shall be in your debt; if I win, I will pay you double." + +"I want no profits," I answered, giving him my purse, from which he +helped himself. "I'll take a stroll along the shore of the bay, and +come back for you in time for the opera." + +Taking back my purse, without waiting to hear what he said, I hurried +out. On returning to the billiard-room, after a pleasant walk, at the +hour I had named, Owen was not there, and I was told that an English +officer, who had been desperately wounded in an affray, was lying in a +house close by, and apparently dying. I hurried to the spot, and found, +as I expected, Owen. He was unconscious, and so I engaged some porters, +and had him conveyed immediately on board, where I knew that he would +receive better treatment than elsewhere from our surgeon. When he came +to himself, and heard that I had had him brought on board, he was very +angry at my interference, though the surgeon assured me that by my +promptitude his life had been saved. According to his account, he had +received his wound from an assassin, who, probably mistaking him for +some one else, had rushed out and struck him with his dagger; but the +surgeon, who was not among his admirers, hinted that this was +impossible, and that there would have been no great loss to the world +had the wound been half-an-inch deeper. He was a long time recovering, +and as he never offered to repay me the five pounds I had lent him, I +concluded that his wound had made him forget the matter. + +Pearson lost no opportunity of strengthening me in my resolution not to +yield to any temptations Owen might throw in my way. The latter, +however, was not easily to be turned from his purpose. Again and again +he tried to prevail on me to accompany him on shore, laughing at my +scruples, and accusing me of parsimony and meanness. I did not give him +credit for any other motive for his wish to have me as his companion +beyond the very natural one of a desire to enjoy the use of my purse. +When he found that he had lost his influence over me, and that the move +he attempted to regain it the more I kept aloof from him, his whole +manner towards me in private changed, though in public, especially in +presence of the captain and lieutenant, it was as friendly as before. + +I now found myself subject to a number of petty annoyances, of which I +was nearly certain that he was the author, though I could not trace them +completely. My hammock was over and over again cut down by the head, to +the risk of breaking my neck; my chest was rifled, and articles of value +in it destroyed, and even my uniforms were so injured, that at last I +could scarcely appear respectably on the quarter-deck. When my watch +was over, and I came down to meals, I found that the worst of everything +had been kept for me, often food that was scarcely eatable. At the +mess-table, though still pretending great regard, he lost no opportunity +of making sarcastic remarks, and placing me on every occasion in a wrong +position. I found, too, that stories greatly to my prejudice were put +about, of a character difficult if not impossible to refute. Had it not +been for Pearson, my existence on board would have been intolerable, but +as he never in the remotest degree benefited by my purse, his interest +in me was above suspicion, and he stoutly maintained that the stories +were false, and invented by some one wishing to do me an injury. Had my +friends wished to disgust me with the sea, they could scarcely have +adopted a better plan than engaging Owen to treat me as I had every +reason to believe he was now doing. I should, in truth, have been +completely disgusted, but my pride came to my aid, and prevented me from +making any complaint. In other respects, I liked a sea life, and as +Pearson, who was much respected, sided with me, many of the +better-disposed midshipmen remained my friends. Thus passed the first +three years of my naval career. + + + +Story 8--Chapter 3. + +The frigate was ordered home to be paid off. I had found out one thing, +that fortune will not secure uninterrupted happiness even to a +midshipman. I had begun to suspect, also, that the romantic notions I +had entertained of fame and glory were in a great degree illusory; at +all events, that there was a great deal of hard, matter-of-fact, and +somewhat dirty, disagreeable work to be gone through. I discussed with +Pearson the advisability of my leaving the service. He asked me what I +should do with myself if I did? I confessed that I did not know, and +that I had no desire to go back to school, to a private tutor, or to +college. + +"Then stay in the service, and see the world," he answered. "I have +heard of a ship fitting for the Pacific, on board which my friends can +procure me a berth, and I have no doubt that you can also get appointed +to her if you apply in time." + +I took his suggestion, wrote immediately to my father to beg that he +would make interest to have me appointed to the _Sappho_ frigate, +fitting at Portsmouth, and, though he was greatly surprised at my taste, +he did not refuse my request. After a short stay at home--sufficiently +long to recount my adventures in the Mediterranean, and to grow tired of +doing nothing--I joined my new ship at Spithead the day after she came +out of harbour. I found Pearson on board, but some of the officers had +not joined, nor had the ship her full complement of men. + +Pearson liked the captain and officers he had seen, and expressed an +opinion that we should have a very pleasant voyage. + +I anticipated great pleasure in visiting Peru and Mexico, and the +numerous strange islands in the Pacific of which I had read, and perhaps +Australia, and China, and Japan, and longed to be away. The evening +before the ship was to sail, Pearson came into the berth where I was +sitting alone, and said: + +"I must prepare you for what is not likely to be pleasant. Owen has +joined; but follow my advice--receive him as an old shipmate, take no +notice of his former conduct, and treat him frankly, and you will +probably conquer his hostility. At all events, he knows by this time +that I will not allow him to play you the tricks he before did with +impunity." + +On going on deck, I saw Owen talking to a group of mates and midshipmen. +He expressed no surprise at finding Pearson and me on board, and though +there was an unpleasant look in his eye, there was nothing to find fault +with in his manner. + +We had a quick passage round the Horn. + +Owen appeared either very greatly changed, or proved that to his other +arts he could practise hypocrisy. Our captain was a religious man, and, +what was rare in those days, used to invite the officers in to read the +Bible with him. Owen, who used to say that he had never been into a +church since he came to sea, was among the most constant in his +attendance, and completely won the confidence of the captain, who spoke +of him as an excellent man who had not received his deserts. Owen, on +the strength of this, insinuated that my religious principles were very +defective, and offered to instruct me. He made a commencement, and +might have succeeded in instilling principles not such as our excellent +captain supposed he would, but directly the reverse, had not Pearson, to +whom I repeated what he said, again interfered, and threatened to expose +him if he continued to utter such sentiments. He excused himself by +declaring that I had mistaken his meaning; but Pearson knew well enough +that I had not; and I soon saw by his change of manner that he was +devising some new scheme to do me harm. + +When once, however, among the coral islands of the Pacific, we were so +constantly employed in looking out for reefs and rocks, that we had +little time for polemical discussions. Although the inhabitants of some +of the islands had in those days already become partially civilised +under missionary teaching, a large number were fierce and treacherous +savages, and in our intercourse with them we were compelled to be very +wary, to avoid the fate of Captain Cook, and that of the crews of many +other ships which had been cut off in those seas. We had already +discovered that the Pacific can be anything but tranquil at times, by +two heavy gales we had already experienced, but of late we had light +breezes and calms. At length our water began to run short, and it +became necessary to obtain a supply without delay. A look-out was +therefore kept for an island where it could be procured. Before long an +island was sighted, and three boats were ordered away to explore it. +Owen commanded one of them, and I was ordered to go in her. I was glad +enough to get on shore, though I would rather have been with any one +else. + +As there appeared to be no inhabitants, we were to land at different +places, so as the more readily to find water. We steered for a point +which would take us farther from the ship than the other boats. All +hands were in high spirits with the thought of a lark on shore. A +narrow passage was found in the surrounding reef, and we ran the boat +into a beautiful and sheltered bay, with the trees coming down on either +side almost to the water's edge. If water was to be found here it would +be easy to fill the casks and roll them down to the boats. In vain we +hunted about in every direction--no water was to be found. Owen then +ordered the men to dig; but they were unsuccessful. Some time was thus +occupied, but he declared that he would not return without finding +water, and that we must divide, some to push farther inland, and others +along the shore. Greatly to my disgust he ordered me to remain by the +boat, and I observed, as he spoke, that evil look with which he often +regarded me. He led one party along the shore to the right, while he +sent another more inland. Only one boy was left with me. They had been +gone some little time, when the report of a gun from the ship reached my +ear. It was the signal of recall. Another soon followed; I hoped that +the absent parties would hear the signal, or would soon return. A +third, and then the report of several guns in quick succession reached +my ear. There was evidently danger to be apprehended. I had little +doubt, on observing the changed appearance of the sky, that a gale was +expected, though in the sheltered bay where the boat was I had not +remarked any threatening signs. All I could do was to keep the boat +afloat, so that we might shove off directly the other parties arrived. +I looked eagerly out along the shore, but no one was to be seen. The +ship had ceased firing; indeed, from the appearance of the sea outside, +it was evident that the gale had commenced, and that she had been +compelled, for her own safety, to stand off-shore. Our only resource, +therefore, would be to wait till the gale should have blown itself out, +and the frigate could come back to pick us up. I now became very +anxious, for I thought that Owen must have observed the change in the +weather, and that something must have occurred to have prevented him +from returning. I was eagerly looking about in every direction, when I +caught sight of some persons running among the trees towards the boat. +I soon distinguished some of the boat's crew, with Owen among them. +They had good reason for running fast, for behind came a crowd of +savages, shouting and shrieking, and brandishing clubs and spears. Now +and then our people would face about, fire their pistols, and then again +retreat. As they drew near, Owen shouted to me to be ready to hand out +the muskets, which lay in the bottom of the boat. The boy and I did as +we were directed, but the savages, believing that their enemies were +about to escape them, made a dash forward, and two of the crew lay +gasping on the sand, struck down by their clubs, while the foremost +scrambled into the boat to escape a similar fate. The first impulse of +each man as he got on board was to seize an oar to shove off, Owen +setting the example; but as soon as the boat was afloat, the muskets +were taken up, and a volley fired into the midst of the savages, who +were wading in after us. It had the effect of keeping them back till we +were out of their reach. Yet what a fearful predicament we were in--a +storm raging outside, while we dare not approach the shore. The savages +had canoes, so that we could not even wait under the lee of the land for +fine weather. Owen announced his determination to stand out and run +before the gale. We had a fine sea boat, capable of going through very +heavy weather. Oh, the horrors of that voyage! We thought of the fate +of our companions left on shore, that was undoubtedly ere this sealed. +Our numbers were fearfully diminished. + +Owen told us to be thankful, as we had thus more food left to support +our lives. I thought that it mattered very little whether we had more +or less food, for even should our boat weather the gale, it was very +improbable that we should fall in with the ship again, and must be +starved, at all events. On we ran through the passage in the reef. As +we got clear of the land, it required all Owen's skill to steer the boat +amid the fearful seas, which threatened every instant to engulf her. +Four hands continued baling, without stopping; and even these could +scarcely keep the boat from foundering. On, on we flew. Night came on, +still the gale did not abate. Owen's countenance, as the darkness +closed around us, looked grim and firm; but there was a look of horror +(it was not common fear) in his eye which I can never forget. He kept +his post, steering the boat through that livelong night without uttering +a word. Day came back, and there he sat as before, keeping the boat on +the only course which could afford us a possibility of escape. Not till +then would he allow the coxswain, who had escaped, to take his place. +On we went as before, all day long. "Where were we going?" we asked +ourselves. No one could reply. Food was served out; few had an +inclination to eat. It was fortunate, for we had but a scanty +allowance, and still less to drink--a bottle of rum and a small keg of +water. Another night and a day, and again a night, and one of our +number sank exhausted. Owen still kept up, looking fierce and +determined as ever. Day came, and land appeared right ahead--a high, +rocky, and tree-covered island; but there was a barrier reef round it, +over which the seas, rising with foam-covered summits, beat furiously. +Our utter destruction seemed inevitable. To haul our wind and stand off +was now impracticable. Owen stood up, and, casting a glance around, +steered boldly on. I saw that there was a break in the wall of foam, +but a very narrow one. We had little time for thought before we were +among the raging breakers. A sea came roaring; on. I felt the boat +lifted, and the next moment was struggling with grim death in the yeasty +waters. + + + +Story 8--Chapter 4. + +As I came to the surface I caught a glimpse of the shore, and struck out +for it, but it seemed far distant. I swam like a man in his sleep; in +vain, my strength was failing me, a mist came over my eyes, and I could +no longer see the shore, when I felt a powerful hand grasping my +shoulder, and ere long was conscious that I had been hauled out of the +water and placed high up on the warm sand. I opened my eyes at length, +and the first object on which they rested was the vindictive countenance +of Owen, as he gazed at me. I say vindictive, because that was the +expression which had often puzzled me. Yet why should he nourish such +feelings towards me? + +"So you are alive, are you?" he remarked, when he saw that I had +regained my consciousness. "It might have been better for you had you +gone with the rest, for we are the only survivors. However, I had too +long a score with you to lose you, if I could bring you on shore safe." + +"Then I am indebted to you for my life," I remarked. + +"Yes, but the debt is not a heavy one, and you may think me entitled to +very small thanks; for let me tell you your existence here will be no +sinecure. I intend to make you slave and toil for me as you have never +toiled before. At length I have you in my power. Ha, ha, ha!" And he +laughed wildly. "Your wealth will avail you nothing here, your +refinement, your education, your romantic aspirations. You are now my +slave, and I your master. Ha, ha, ha!" + +This greeting was not calculated to aid my recovery, but, in spite of +it, my strength returned, and I was able to get up on my feet. + +"I am ready to obey you," I said calmly. "You saved my life, and it is +my duty to serve you as far as I have the power." + +"Always talking of your duty!" he exclaimed, with a sneer. "It shall +not be a light one, let me tell you. Now, as you can walk, find some +food--shell-fish and water. I don't ask for impossibilities, but take +care you do not touch any till I have eaten." + +I must obey him, so, observing some rocks, I hurried towards them, and +with my pocket-knife cut off as many mussels and other shell-fish as I +could carry. He had had a flint and steel and a powder-flask in his +pocket, and had thus without difficulty kindled a fire. While he +dressed and ate the shell-fish he sent me off to look for water. I went +with the fear every instant of falling into the hands of savage natives, +and it was not till I discovered the small size of the island that I +began to hope that there might be none upon it. I hunted about for some +time, till I at length came upon a stream of pure water bubbling out of +a rock. My difficulty was to convey it to Owen. Some cocoa-nut shells +were lying about. One less split than the rest I filled with water, but +the greater part was spilt before I reached him. He cursed me for an +idle hound for not bringing a larger supply, and sent me back for more. +Fortunately, I observed some shells on the shore. These I slung round +my neck, and with them brought as much water as he could require. Not +till then did he allow me to cook any of the shell-fish I had collected. +He had eaten all he himself had dressed. He then ordered me to collect +materials for a hut, and when I expostulated, as I had only my +pocket-knife to work with, he struck me with a stick, and said I must +see to finding a better tool. Still, as I had determined to do my +utmost to please him, I set to work to collect all the pieces of drift +timber I could find. To my satisfaction, I discovered also the boat's +sail and some rope cast on shore, and these articles, with a number of +thin sticks which I succeeded in cutting, I piled up near where he sat, +and asked him what else he required. + +"To help me build my hut," he growled out. + +By fixing the thinner sticks into the sand, fastening them at the top, +and stretching the sail over them, I formed something like an Indian +wigwam, strengthened by the heavier pieces of driftwood. I observed +that Owen moved about with difficulty, and looked ill, but he made no +remark on the subject. + +"Now go and collect dry leaves and grass for my bed. Be off with you," +he exclaimed, glaring fiercely at me. + +I obeyed as before, but when I returned, time after time, laden with +bundles of grass, not an expression of approval even did he utter. Thus +he kept me employed for the greater part of the day, and when I proposed +collecting some grass for my own bed, he told me that I could not occupy +his hut but must form one of boughs for myself. Such is an example of +the way he treated me, not for one day only, but for day after day, not +one passing without my being struck and cursed. It is wonderful that I +could have borne it, but I was not weary of my life, and I had resolved +to show my gratitude to him for having preserved it. I was very +anxious, however, to escape, and whenever I could get away from him, I +used to go to the highest part of the island to look out, in the hopes +of a ship appearing. With indefatigable labour, I cut out a long pole +and fixed it in the ground, with a part of my shirt, as a signal, +fastened to the end. When Owen found out what I had done, he ordered me +to take it down, and not again to visit the hill. + +"Ah! ha! youngster, you've friends you wish to return to, and wealth you +long to enjoy. I have neither, and I don't intend to let you go while I +can prevent it." + +This was almost more than I could bear, and I could not trust myself to +reply to him. I might fill a volume with my extraordinary life on that +islet in the Pacific--how I slaved on for that determined, stern, +evil-disposed man. Constant occupation enabled me to keep my own +health. I found cocoa-nuts and numerous roots and fruits, and invented +various ways of cooking them. I even made clothes of the bark of the +paper mulberry-tree, so that I was able to save my own before they were +quite worn out. Thus months passed away. I might have lived there from +youth to old age, as far as the necessaries of life were concerned, but +it was dreary work. Owen grew worse and worse, and I became convinced +that his days were numbered. He did not seem to be aware of the state +of the case, though rapidly growing weaker. I may honestly say that I +felt deep compassion for him. I told him at last that I thought him +very ill, and feared that he would not recover. + +"Don't flatter yourself with that. I shall recover sufficiently to make +you wish that you had never seen me," he answered, as he raised himself +on his arm and glared fiercely at me. + +I thought that he uttered but an empty threat which he had no power to +execute. Still he lived on, and I tended him as if he had been a friend +or brother. I had made my hut at some little distance from his. I had +one night gone to sleep, leaving him not worse than he had been for some +time past, when I suddenly awoke with a start, and hearing a noise +looked out. What was my horror to see Owen stalking stealthily along +with a huge piece of heavy driftwood uplifted in his hands, as if it +were a club. I darted out on the other side of the hut as down came the +log with a crash above where my head had just been laid, and a fearful +shriek rang through the night air. I expected to see Owen following me, +but he lay, as I looked back, across the ruins of my hut. I slowly +approached--he did not move--the timber had fallen from his grasp. I +touched his hand. He was dead. + +I must bring my tale to a close. I was convinced that the wretched man +was mad, though, from what afterwards came to my knowledge, there was +more reason than I had supposed why his madness should have taken the +form of hatred towards me. I cannot describe how I managed to pass the +many dreary days I was destined to spend in solitude on that island, or +how I was at length rescued by a South-Sea whaler, and ultimately fell +in with my own ship, on board which I was heartily welcomed, having long +been given up as lost. Owen's death excited universal horror. Pearson +told me that he had been directed by the captain to examine his papers, +among which he found parts of a journal, in which he described his +bitter disappointment on discovering that the estate which he thought +would be his had gone to another, and how, considering himself wronged, +he had resolved to wreak his vengeance on the head of the person who had +obtained what he conceived ought to have been his; how he had gone to +see me, and finding that I had resolved to enter the navy, how he had +formed the diabolical plan which he had attempted to carry out, but in +every step of which he had been so mercifully frustrated. + +I immediately wrote home to say that I was alive and well, with an +account of my adventures, and expressed a hope that my letter would +arrive in time to prevent Jack from being spoilt by the flatteries and +indulgences he might receive as an elder son, advising that, if he +appeared the worse for them, to effect a radical cure he should be +forthwith packed off to sea. + + + +Story 9--Chapter 1. + +PAUL PETHERWICK THE PILOT--A TALE OF THE CORNISH COAST. + +The _Sea-Gull_ Pilot-boat, hailing from Penzance, and owned and +commanded by old Paul Petherwick, lay hove-to, one winter's day many +years back, in the chops of the Channel. The dark-green seas rose up +like walls capped with snow on either side of the little craft; now she +floated on the foaming, hissing summit of one of them, again to sink +down into the deep watery trench from which she had risen. Thus, as +rising and falling, her white staysail glancing brightly, she looked not +unlike the sea-bird whose name she bore. + +Old Paul was the only person on deck, and he had lashed himself to the +bulwarks. His white hair, escaping from under his "sou'-wester," +streamed in the wind, and ever and anon he turned his head aside to +avoid the showers of spray which flew over him, covering his flushing +coat with wet. Again he would look out in search of any homeward-bound +vessel which might need his services. His heart was heavy, for the +previous night a fearful sea had struck the cutter, and washed his mate, +Peter Buddock, and another man overboard. The latter had seized a rope, +but it had slipped from his grasp; and poor Buddock was carried far +away, his shriek of despair as he sank beneath the waves being his last +utterance which reached the ears of his shipmates. + +Another of Paul's crew, an old hand, had been injured by a blow from a +block, and the rest were young men, willing and active enough, but not +able to take entire charge of the cutter. Still, old Paul was a +determined man, and as long as there was a chance of meeting a vessel to +pilot up Channel, and as long as the cutter could keep the sea, he would +not give in. + +Hour after hour passed by. Suddenly the crew, sitting round the stove +in the little after-cabin, heard a loud report, followed by a deep +groan. The trysail gaff had parted, and, falling, had struck the old +pilot to the deck. They carried him below, and placed him in his berth. +Not a moment was to be lost if their own lives were to be saved. The +helm was put up, and the little craft, paying off under her head-sail, +before the rough sea, which came roaring onwards, had reached her, was +running up Channel towards the Cornish coast. Old Paul continued to +groan, seeming unconscious, and evidently suffering great pain. One or +other of his young crew every now and then went below to ask him the +right course to steer, for not even the outline of the coast could be +seen. It was getting very dark, and thick flakes of snow were beginning +to fall. The old pilot probably did not comprehend them; not a word +could he utter. They endeavoured, therefore, to rig a spar on which to +set the trysail; but no sooner did they hoist it than it was carried +away, and at length they gave up the attempt in despair. They could +not, therefore, heave the cutter to, and were obliged to run on. One of +them went below, and endeavoured by every means he could think of to +bring the old man to consciousness. The darkness increased as the night +advanced, and the snow came down thicker and thicker. On flew the +cutter. + +"We must be nearing the land," said Jacob Pinner, the best seaman of the +crew. "I wish that the old man would rouse up. I don't like the look +of things, mates, that I don't." + +Scarcely had he spoken when a deep, sullen roar, easily distinguished by +a seaman amid the howling of the tempest, struck on the ears of the +crew. "Breakers! breakers ahead!" they shouted. + +"Port the helm--hard a-port!" cried a deep voice. It was that of the +old pilot. The sound of the breakers had reached his ears even below, +and roused him up. The order came too late. At that moment there was a +loud crash; the cutter struck, and her rudder was carried away. The +following sea lifted her and carried her on, while other seas came +roaring up, and hissed and foamed round her. Though they covered her +with sheets of spray, her crew were still able to cling to the rigging +and preserve their lives. Providentially, most of the hours of the +night were already spent, for they could not long have endured the cold +and wet to which they were exposed. When daylight broke they found that +they were near the end of a reef, about a mile from the shore. The gale +had greatly abated. The tide was low. Inside of the reef there was +smooth water. If they could launch their boat, which had remained on +deck uninjured, they might save themselves before the return of the +tide, when the cutter would be sure to go to pieces. Though the little +boat narrowly escaped being stove in, the attempt was successful. The +shore was reached. It was close to Paul Petherwick's house, some miles +to the eastward of the port to which the cutter belonged. + +Close to the spot where Paul and his crew landed, on the shore of a +romantic bay, stood the residence of Sir Baldwin Treherne, known as the +Manor House. Sir Baldwin was lord of the manor--a kind, warm-hearted, +generous man. He had himself been at sea in his youth, but on coming +into his estate had given up the profession. He had learned when at +sea, probably from experiencing some of the hardships sailors have to +endure, to sympathise with them, and to feel for their sufferings. He +had seen through his telescope, while dressing in the morning, the wreck +on the reef, and had immediately set off to find out what assistance +could be rendered to the crew. He met the old pilot and his people not +far from the shore, and insisted on their coming at once to the Manor +House to be warmed and fed. Paul Petherwick would indeed have been +unable to have reached his own home, as his strength and spirits were +already exhausted. As the day advanced the wind again increased, and +when the tide rose the _Sea-Gull_, battered by the waves, was seen +quickly to disappear. + +Great was old Paul's grief as he watched the destruction of the vessel. +"God's will be done," he said, bowing his head. "My poor wife and +children, what will become of them? With her goes all the means I have +of supporting them, and part of her cost is still unpaid." + +The kind baronet overheard him. "Paul, we have known each other a good +many long years," he said, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I should +like to make you a Christmas-box. Let you and me go off to Plymouth +to-morrow, and see if we cannot fall in with as fine a cutter as the +_Sea-Gull_. It won't do to be letting our ships knock about the chops +of the Channel this winter weather without you to show them the way up; +so I'll find you a craft, and may she have better luck than the poor +_Sea-Gull_!" + +"Oh, Sir Baldwin, you are very good; so good, I shall never be able to +repay you," exclaimed Paul Petherwick, respectfully pressing the kind +baronet's hand. + +"I am paid beforehand with all the blessings I enjoy," answered Sir +Baldwin. "They came to me without my having toiled for them, far less +deserved them; I am bound to make the best use of them in my power, so +say no more about the matter." + +A new cutter was found and purchased, and named the _Lady Isabel_, after +Sir Baldwin's wife; and for many a day, in summer and winter, Paul +Petherwick sailed her in pursuit of his calling. + + + +Story 9--Chapter 2. + +There was not a finer lad in the country round than Sir Baldwin's third +son, his blue-eyed, light-haired, merry, laughing boy Harry. When he +came home from school for the summer holidays, Harry declared his fixed +intention of going to sea. Sir Baldwin, after several conversations +with his son, felt convinced that it was his settled wish to enter the +navy, and forthwith set about obtaining a berth for him as a midshipman +on board a man-of-war. There was but little difficulty in doing this; +for, after a short peace, England was again at war with France and Spain +and other countries, and ships were being fitted out as fast as they +could be got ready. Harry was in high glee. The dream of his life was +to be realised. He had not talked about the matter. People often, when +they are very earnest in wishing for a thing, do not talk about it. Sir +Baldwin took him to Plymouth; his outfit was soon procured, and he was +entered on board the _Phoenix_, a dashing 36-gun frigate, destined for +the West India station; a part of the world where there was every chance +of her having plenty of fighting. Captain Butler, her brave commander, +lost no time in getting his crew into an efficient state by exercising +them constantly at their guns, and in shortening and making sail. Harry +Treherne thus rapidly acquired a knowledge of the profession he had +chosen. He had determined to be a good sailor; he gave his mind to the +work, and considered no details beneath his notice; consequently, +everybody was ready to give him instruction; he gained the confidence of +the officers and the respect of the men. + +"A sail on the lee bow!" shouted the look-out man at the mast-head. + +The cry made the captain and officers on deck turn their glasses in the +direction indicated. The helm was put up, and at length, through the +haze of a warm summer morning, the stranger was discovered, with her +mizen topsail aback and her main topsail shivering, evidently awaiting +the arrival of the _Phoenix_. She was clearly an enemy's frigate, +heavily armed. The _Phoenix_ had been disguised to look as much as +possible like a corvette, a much smaller class of vessel, and it was +more than possible that the Frenchmen might find that they had caught a +Tartar. + +"We shall have some glorious fighting," cried little Tommy Butts, the +smallest midshipman on board. "We shall thrash 'em in quarter less no +time. I hope that we shall have to board; that's the way I should like +to take the enemy." + +"Why, your cutlass would run away with you, Tommy," said a big mate, who +delighted to sneer at Tommy. "It is a shame to send such children as +you to sea." + +"His spirit may run away with him," observed Harry. "Never mind what +old Hulks says; Nelson was a little chap, and he did a few things to be +proud of." + +Many a joke and laugh were indulged in as the men, stripped to the +waist, stood at their guns, while the frigate approached her powerful +antagonist. At length, as she got within range, the Frenchman opened +his fire, the shot flying through the sails and wounding severely the +masts, yards, and rigging. Not a gun, however, was discharged on board +the _Phoenix_ in return till it could take deadly effect. The _Didon_, +the French frigate, however, from fast sailing and clever manoeuvring, +always managed to keep in such a position that the guns of the _Phoenix_ +could not bear on her. At length the English losing patience, ran right +down on the _Didon_ to windward, and thus the two antagonists were +brought broadside to broadside. + +This was the longed-for moment, and the British crew made up for the +previous delay by working their guns with a rapidity which soon strewed +the decks of the enemy with the dead and wounded, damaged her hull, and +cut up her rigging. + +Again the French ship got clear; but, as she had lost several of her +sails, the _Phoenix_ was more of a match for her. Once more the +antagonists closed, this time in a deadly embrace, the bow of the +_Didon_ running into the quarter of the _Phoenix_. + +"We have you now," cried the gallant captain, lashing, with the help of +some of his men, the bowsprit of the enemy to his own mizen mast. + +While he was so employed, Harry Treherne and Tommy Butts saw a Frenchman +taking deliberate aim at him. Tommy had got hold of the musket of a +marine who had fallen wounded. + +"See, Harry, what a little chap can do!" he exclaimed; at the same +moment firing at the Frenchman, who fell, his musket going off and +sending the bullet flying just above the captain's head. + +Captain Butler saw the act, and nodded his thanks, for he had no time to +speak. The next proceeding was to bring a heavy gun to fire through a +port which had been formed by enlarging one of the cabin windows. +Several seamen fell, picked off by the French marines, till the gun was +in its place. When, however, it once opened fire, its effects were +terrible indeed, full twenty of the Frenchmen being struck down at the +first discharge. + +Meantime the English marines kept up so hot a fire on the _Didon's_ +forecastle, that the seamen could not venture on it to fire the gun +which had been placed there. At length, however, the antagonists +separated, both presenting a woeful appearance. + +Instead of the clouds of canvas swelling proudly to the breeze with +which they had entered into action, rope-ends and riddled sails hung +drooping down from every mast and yard. The fight was not over; the +crew of the _Phoenix_ busily employed themselves in repairing damages, +and, having knotted and spliced the rigging, and trimmed sails, she +stood towards the _Didon_. + +With the first fresh puff of wind the foremast of her opponent went over +the side, and at the moment she was about to open her fire the brave +captain of the _Didon_ hauled down her colours, finding that he could +neither escape nor fight with any prospect of success. Loud cheers +burst from the British crew. This was Harry's first fight. It was +indeed a hard-fought one. Twelve men had been killed and twenty-eight +wounded of the crew; while the _Didon_ had lost no less than +twenty-seven officers and men killed, and forty-four wounded, out of a +crew of 330, while the _Phoenix_ went into action with only 245 men. +She and her prize arrived safely at Plymouth. She only remained long +enough to refit, and once more was at sea, and on her way back to the +West Indies. + +Harry's next exploit was of a different character. Passing near the +Isle of Pines, two schooners and a brig were discovered far up a bight, +protected by a battery. There was little doubt that they were +privateers, and likely to do damage to British shipping. + +"We must cut those vessels out," observed the captain. + +The frigate stood off the land as if she was going away, but at night +once more stood back. As soon as she was well in with the land she +hove-to, and three boats were manned and lowered. Harry was appointed +to go in one of them. They were to pull up the harbour and attack the +three vessels, and, if necessary, one boat's crew was to land and storm +the fort. With muffled oars they pulled up the harbour. They could +just make out the vessels as they lay floating in silence on the calm +water, a light wind blowing off-shore. The boats got close up to the +brig before they were discovered. The enemy then, who had rushed to +their guns, which were run out, opened a hot fire from them, with +muskets and pistols; but the boats being close the shots passed over the +heads of their crews. With loud cheers the British sprang up the sides +of the brig. The crew bravely stood to their arms, but were speedily +overpowered by the impetuosity of the boarders, and were cut down or +driven below, some in their terror leaping overboard. + +While Harry Treherne and his crew remained on board, the other two boats +proceeded to the attack of the schooners. He, meantime, having secured +the prisoners below, sent some of his hands aloft to loose sails while +the cable was cut, and in a few minutes the captured brig was standing +out of the harbour. The roar of the guns, the clashing of steel, and +the rattle of musketry had aroused the garrison of the fort, which +opened fire on the brig. The shots fell around her, and several went +through her sails, but no one was hurt. As he passed near the schooners +he listened anxiously for the signal which was to announce their +capture. First one loud cheer and then another told him that the work +was done, and they were soon perceived following under all sail, little +heeding the fire from the fort. Harry Treherne, with all the officers +and men engaged, was warmly commended for the spirited way in which the +exploit had been performed. It was not the only deed of naval daring in +which he took an active part. + +At length the frigate was ordered to Bermuda on her way home. Within a +short distance of that island a suspicious vessel was seen from the +mast-head. Sail was made in chase. The stranger on discovering the +frigate did her utmost to escape, steering to the eastward, the wind +being from the west. A stern chase is a long chase. The night was +clear and the stranger was kept in sight. When morning dawned the +frigate had scarcely gained on her. This made the captain still more +eager to overtake her. All that day the chase continued--the frigate +gaining, however, somewhat on the stranger, a large fore-and-aft +schooner. At length, at sundown, it fell calm, and fears were +entertained that, should a mist rise, the schooner might escape during +the night. The captain therefore, sent three of the boats to capture +her. They had been discovered some time before they got alongside. +Boarding nettings were up, small-arm men were stationed at the bow and +stern, and as they drew near the guns opened a hot fire with grape and +canister. Still the British seamen, not to be daunted, dashed on, and, +climbing up the sides and cutting their way through the nettings, in +another minute the schooner's deck was won. She proved to be a Spanish +privateer, a very fine new vessel. A light breeze at daybreak enabled +the frigate to come up with her. The prisoners were transferred to the +frigate, and the command of the prize given to old Hulks, the mate, who +had been Tommy Butt's tyrant; and Harry Treherne was sent as his second +in command, with orders to proceed to Plymouth. + +Old Hulks had several failings: whenever spirits came in his way he +could not refrain from them. Harry had, therefore, the chief charge of +the schooner. It was the winter season, and as they approached the +chops of the Channel the weather became very bad. Old Hulks, however, +declared that he must be home by Christmas, and ordered Harry to crack +on all the sail the schooner could carry night and day. Harry had taken +his observations as long as the sun could be seen, but for some days the +sky had been obscured by clouds. He believed that they were not far +from the Land's End, and well over to the British coast. Old Hulks +insisted that they were too far to the southward, and ordered the +schooner to be headed more to the northward. Night was approaching. It +was Christmas Eve. The wind was strong, and a heavy snowstorm prevented +the possibility of their sighting the land. + +"Never mind, Harry; we shall see it in the morning,--about Plymouth, I +take it, and I shall be at home in plenty of time for our Christmas +dinner, and you shall dine with me, as you won't be able to get to your +own place." + +"I wish that I could think so. We are nearer the English coast than you +suppose," said Harry. + +"Well, heave the schooner to at midnight," answered old Hulks. "I shall +go below--call me then; it's fearfully cold." + +Harry was compelled to obey the orders of his superior. He, however, +kept as good a look-out as he possibly could, wishing anxiously for +midnight. The hour was approaching. The wind blew stronger and +stronger, and the snow came down, covering the deck, and making it +impossible to see beyond the bowsprit end. Suddenly there was a loud +crash--the vessel groaned from stem to stern, the foremast went by the +board. Loud cries arose: "We are on the rocks! We are on the rocks! +Heaven protect us!"--was echoed from mouth to mouth. + + + +Story 9--Chapter 3. + +A large merry Christmas party was assembled under Sir Baldwin Treherne's +hospitable roof. All sorts of games had been carried on till a late +hour, and everybody was in high spirits. + +"Oh, if dear Harry was here it would be perfect," exclaimed one of his +sisters, the gentle Mary, who had been his chief playmate in his +childhood. + +"Oh, Harry is all right, enjoying the warm weather in the West Indies, +instead of being frozen as we are here." + +"Lucky dog!" said one of his brothers. + +They all went to bed at last. More than one prayer in the house was +offered up that night for young Harry's safety. + +Christmas morning came. The sky was overcast, the snow was falling +thickly. Sir Baldwin had promised to visit during the day a poor +family; the mother lay dying. + +"I cannot begin this blessed day better than by a work of love," he said +to himself, as he looked out on the snow-covered landscape. "If I put +it off till the afternoon she may no longer be here." + +He never allowed the weather to prevent him from going out. With a +thick greatcoat on, a stout stick in one hand, he set forth through the +snow on his errand of mercy, long before the rest of the family had left +their rooms. He was just going into the cottage when he met Paul +Petherwick, with his pilot-coat, sea-boots, and a spy-glass under his +arm, accompanied by several of his crew, carrying oars and coils of rope +and other ship's gear. + +"What, Paul, are you going to sea such a morning as this--Christmas +morning, too?" asked the baronet, in a tone of surprise. + +"Yes, Sir Baldwin, that I am; for you see, sir, I was one Christmas day, +as you will remember, tossing about on yon stormy sea till my craft was +driven on shore, and I and my crew well-nigh lost. I should have been +thankful if any brother pilot had been out on that morning to have towed +the _Sea-Gull_ into port. For what I know, there are some poor fellows +out of their reckoning; and if I can fall in with them, and pilot them +up Channel, I shall be doing as I should like to be done by." + +"You are right, my friend. Heaven protect and prosper you," said the +baronet. "You'll come up in the evening to hear the carol-singers. +There'll be a cup of mead ready for you, and for your people, too, if +they will come." + +"Thank ye, Sir Baldwin; we'll come," said several voices, and the +pilot's crew hurried down to their boat. + +The pilot vessel made several tacks along shore before stretching out to +sea. She had made her last tack, and was standing off the land when, +near the very reef on which the _Sea-Gull_ was lost, Paul thought he saw +the mast of a vessel. He called for his spy-glass. The boy brought it +to him. Just then the snow cleared off somewhat. + +"There are some poor fellows clinging to it, too," he exclaimed. "Ease +off the jib-sheet! Down with the helm! we must beat up to them." + +"Poor fellows! poor fellows! I hope that they will hold on till we +reach them," he exclaimed several times, as he himself went to the helm, +that he might make the vessel do her best, for tide and wind were +against her. Just then a large ship hove in sight, with a signal for a +pilot. "She can wait; these poor fellows cannot," he said, as he looked +towards her. "She would have paid us heavy pilotage, too." + +As the _Lady Isabel_ drew near the wreck, one of the people on the mast +was seen waving a hat feebly. The others appeared to be lashed to it, +but unable to move. The cutter was hove-to and the boat lowered. There +was a broken sea running, and it was a work of difficulty and danger. +Six men were clinging to the mast, most of them more dead than alive +from the wet and cold. + +"Take our young officer off first, pilot," said one of the men; "he's +furthest gone." + +Two of the most active of the pilot's crew climbed the mast, and brought +down the almost lifeless form of a young midshipman. Only two other men +could be carried in the small pilot-boat at a time. + +"Why, if it isn't Master Harry Treherne!" exclaimed old Paul Petherwick, +as he received the lad in his arms, and deposited him in the bottom of +the boat. "Pull, my sons, pull! the sooner we get him between the warm +blankets the better." + +Harry Treherne, for it was indeed he, was quickly conveyed on board the +_Lady Isabel_, and placed in the old pilot's bed, where, with the aid of +a glass of grog (the sailor's specific in all maladies--in this instance +the best that could be applied), he soon regained his consciousness. +His first inquiries were for the rest of his crew. Five had been saved, +but the rest, with old Hulks, had been lost. The cutter was now rapidly +nearing the small harbour close to the manor house. + +Sir Baldwin saw her coming, and having observed her manoeuvres near the +wreck, was sure that she was bringing some shipwrecked seamen on shore. + +"We have got some one here who will be glad to see you, Sir Baldwin," +said Paul, as he and his men lifted a sailor wrapped up in blankets out +of the boat. + +"Father, dear father, I am all right! don't be alarmed. Only rather +weak from having been out in the cold all night," cried a voice which +Sir Baldwin recognised as that of his son Harry. + +"Paul, you have repaid me, and more than repaid me," exclaimed the +baronet, after the first greetings with Harry were over. "I knew that +you would. Do what is right and kind on all occasions, and good will +come out of it somehow or other, though we do not always exactly see how +it is to be. That is what I have always said, and what has happened is +a strong proof that what I have said is true." + +The shipwrecked seamen were received into the manor house, and carefully +tended. Harry was almost himself again by the evening, and all agreed +that that Christmas Day, if not as merry, was as happy as any that the +family had spent. They had many great blessings to be thankful for, and +among them, not the least to the parents' hearts, was that their +sailor-boy, after all the perils he had gone through, had once more been +restored to them in safety. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of the Sea, by W.H.G. 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