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diff --git a/44499-8.txt b/44499-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f1b95b5..0000000 --- a/44499-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5278 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wreck of the Grosvenor, Volume 3 of 3, by -William Clark Russell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Wreck of the Grosvenor, Volume 3 of 3 - An account of the mutiny of the crew and the loss of the - ship when trying to make the Bermudas - -Author: William Clark Russell - -Release Date: December 24, 2013 [EBook #44499] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WRECK OF THE GROSVENOR *** - - - - -Produced by Charlie Howard and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -THE WRECK OF THE "GROSVENOR." - - - - - THE - WRECK OF THE "GROSVENOR:" - - AN ACCOUNT OF - _THE MUTINY OF THE CREW AND THE - LOSS OF THE SHIP_ - WHEN TRYING TO MAKE THE BERMUDAS. - - _IN THREE VOLUMES._ - VOL. III. - - LONDON: - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE & RIVINGTON, - CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. - 1877. - - (_All rights reserved._) - - - - - LONDON: - PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, - STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. - - - - -THE WRECK OF THE "GROSVENOR." - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -Our next job was to man the port-braces and bring the ship to a -westerly course. But before we went to this work the boatswain and I -stood for some minutes looking at the appearance of the sky. - -The range of cloud which had been but a low-lying and apparently a -fugitive bank in the north-west at midnight, was now so far advanced -as to project nearly over our heads, and what rendered its aspect -more sinister was the steely colour of the sky, which it ruled with a -line, here and there rugged, but for the most part singularly even, -right from the confines of the north-eastern to the limits of the -south-western horizon. All the central portion of this vast surface -of cloud was of a livid hue, which, by a deception of the eye, made -it appear convex, and at frequent intervals a sharp shower of arrowy -lightning whizzed from that portion of it furthest away from us, but as -yet we could hear no thunder. - -"When the rain before the wind, then your topsail halliards mind," -chaunted the boatswain. "There's rather more nor a quarter o' an inch -o' rain there, and there's something worse nor rain astern of it." - -The gloomiest feature of this approaching tempest, if such it were, was -the slowness, at once mysterious and impressive, of its approach. - -I was not, however, to be deceived by this into supposing that, because -it had taken nearly all night to climb the horizon, there was no wind -behind it. I had had experience of a storm of this kind, and remembered -the observations of one of the officers of the ship, when speaking -of it. "Those kind of storms," he said, "are not driven by wind, but -create it. They keep a hurricane locked up in their insides, and wander -across the sea, on the look-out for ships; when they come across -something worth wrecking they let fly. Don't be deceived by their -slow pace, and imagine them only thunderstorms. They'll burst like an -earthquake in a dead calm over your head, and whenever you see one -coming snug your ship right away down to the last reef in her, and keep -your stern at it." - -"I am debating, bo'sun," said I, "whether to bring the ship round or -keep her before it. What do you think?" - -"There's a gale of wind there. I can smell it," he replied; "but we're -snug enough to lie close, aren't we?" looking up at the masts. - -"That's to be proved," said I. "We'll bring her close if you like; but -I'm pretty sure we shall have to run for it later on." - -"It'll bowl us well away into mid-Atlantic, won't it, Mr. Royle?" - -"Yes; I wish we were more to the norrard of Bermudas. However, we'll -tackle the yards, and have a try for the tight little islands." - -"They're pretty nigh all rocks, aren't they? I never sighted 'em." - -"Nor I. But they've got a dockyard at Bermuda, I believe, where the -Yankees refit sometimes, and that's about all I know of those islands." - -I asked Miss Robertson to put the helm down and keep it there until the -compass pointed west; but the ship had so little way upon her, owing -to the small amount of canvas she carried now and the faintness of the -wind, that it took her as long to come round as if we had been warping -her head to the westwards by a buoy. - -Having braced up the yards and steadied the helm, we could do no more; -and resolving to profit as much as possible from the interval of rest -before us, I directed Cornish to take the wheel, and ordered the -steward to go forward and light the galley fire and boil some coffee -for breakfast. - -"Bo'sun," said I, "you might as well drop below and have a look at -those plugs of yours. Take a hammer with you and this light," handing -him the binnacle lamp, "and drive the plugs in hard, for if the ship -should labour heavily, she might strain them out." - -He started on his errand, and I then told Miss Robertson that there -was nothing now to detain her on deck, and thanked her for the great -services she had rendered us. - -How well I remember her as she stood near the wheel, wearing my straw -hat, her dress hitched up to allow freedom to her movements; her small -hands with the delicate blue veins glowing through the white clear -skin, her yellow hair looped up, though with many a tress straying like -an amber-coloured feather; her marble face, her lips pale with fatigue, -her beautiful blue eyes fired ever with the same brave spirit, though -dim with the weariness of long and painful watching and the oppressive -and numbing sense of ever-present danger. - -On no consideration would I allow her to remain any longer on deck, and -though she begged to stay, I took her hand firmly, and led her into the -cuddy to her cabin door. - -"You will faithfully promise me to lie down and sleep?" I said. - -"I will lie down, and will sleep if I can," she answered, with a wan -smile. - -"We have succeeded in saving you so far," I continued, earnestly, "and -it would be cruel, very cruel, and hard upon me, to see your health -break down for the want of rest and sleep, when both are at your -command, now that life is bright again, and when any hour may see us -safe on the deck of another vessel." - -"You shall not suffer through me," she replied. "I will obey you, -indeed I will do anything you want." - -I kissed her hand respectfully, and said that a single hour of sound -sleep would do her a deal of good; by that time I would take care that -breakfast should be ready for her and her father, and I then held open -the cabin door for her to enter, and returned on deck. - -A most extraordinary and wonderful sight saluted me when I reached the -poop. - -The sun had risen behind the vast embankment of cloud, and its glorious -rays, the orb itself being invisible, projected in a thousand lines of -silver beyond the margin of the bank to the right and overhead, jutting -out in visible threads, each as defined as a sunbeam in a dark room. - -But the effect of this wonderful light was to render the canopy of -cloud more horribly livid; and weird and startling was the contrast -of the mild and far-reaching sunshine, streaming in lines of silver -brightness into the steely sky, with the blue lightning ripping up the -belly of the cloud and suffering the eye to dwell for an instant on the -titanic strata of gloom that stood ponderously behind. - -Nor was the ocean at this moment a less sombre and majestical object -than the heavens; for upon half of it rested a shadow deep as night, -making the water sallow and thick, and most desolate to behold under -the terrible curtain that lay close down to it upon the horizon; whilst -all on the right the green sea sparkled in the sunbeams, heaving slowly -under the calm that had fallen. - -Looking far away on the weather beam, and where the shadow on the sea -was deepest, I fancied that I discerned a black object, which might -well be a ship with her sails darkened by her distance from the sun. - -I pointed it out to Cornish, who saw it too, and I then fetched the -telescope. - -Judge of my surprise and consternation, when the outline of a boat with -her sail low down on the mast, entered the field of the glass! I cried -out, "It's the long-boat!" - -Cornish turned hastily. - -"My God!" he cried, "they're doomed men!" - -I gazed at her intently, but could not be deceived, for I recognised -the cut of the stu'nsail, lowered as it was in anticipation of the -breaking of the storm, and I could also make out the minute dark -figures of the men in her. - -My surprise, however, was but momentary, for, considering the lightness -of the wind that had prevailed all night, and the probability of her -having stood to and fro in expectation of coming across us, or the -quarter-boat which had attacked us, I had no reason to expect that they -should have been far off. - -The boatswain came along the quarterdeck singing out, "It's all right -below! No fear of a leak there!" - -"Come up here!" I cried. "There's the long-boat yonder!" - -On hearing this, he ran aft as hard as he could and stared in the -direction I indicated, but could not make her out until he had the -glass to his eye, on which he exclaimed-- - -"Yes, it's her, sure enough. Why, we may have to make another fight for -it. She's heading this way, and if she brings down any wind, by jingo -she'll overhaul us." - -"No, no," I answered. "They're not for fighting. They don't like the -look of the weather, bo'sun, and would board us to save their lives, -not to take ours." - -"That's it, sir," exclaimed Cornish. "I reckon there's little enough -mutineering among 'em now Stevens is gone. I'd lay my life they'd turn -to and go to work just as I have if you'd lay by for 'em and take 'em -in." - -Neither the boatswain nor I made any reply to this. - -For my own part, though we had been perishing for the want of more -hands, I don't think I should have had trust enough in those rascals -to allow them on board; for I could not doubt that when the storm was -over, and they found themselves afloat in the _Grosvenor_ once more, -they would lay violent hands upon me and the boatswain, and treat us as -they had treated Coxon and Duckling, revenging themselves in this way -upon us for the death of Stevens and the other leaders of the mutiny, -and likewise protecting themselves against their being carried to -England and handed over to the authorities on shore as murderers. - -The lightning was now growing very vivid, and for the first time I -heard the sullen moan of thunder. - -"That means," said the boatswain, "that it's a good bit off yet; and -if that creature forrard 'll only bear a hand we shall be able to get -something to eat and drink afore it comes down." - -However, as he spoke, the steward came aft with a big coffee-pot. He -set it on the skylight, and fetched from the pantry some good preserved -meat, biscuit and butter, and we fell to the repast with great relish -and hunger. - -Being the first to finish, I took the wheel while Cornish breakfasted, -and then ordered the steward to go and make some fresh coffee, and keep -it hot in the galley, and prepare a good breakfast for the Robertsons -ready to serve when the young lady should leave her cabin. - -"Bo'sun," said I, as he came slowly towards me, filling his pipe, "I -don't like the look of that mainsail. It 'll blow out and kick up a -deuce of a shindy. You and Cornish had better lay aloft with some spare -line and serve the sail with it." - -"That's soon done," he answered, cheerfully. And Cornish left his -breakfast, and they both went aloft. - -I yawned repeatedly as I stood at the wheel, and my eyes were sore for -want of sleep. - -But there was something in the aspect of that tremendous, stooping, -quarter-sphere of cloud abeam of us, throwing a darkness most sinister -to behold on half the sea, and vomiting quick lances of blue fire from -its caverns, while now and again the thunder rolled solemnly, which was -formidable enough to keep me wide awake. - -It was growing darker every moment: already the sun's beams were -obscured, though that portion of the great canopy of cloud which lay -nearest to the luminary carried still a flaming edge. - -A dead calm had fallen, and the ship rested motionless on the water. - -The two men remained for a short time on the main-yard, and then came -down, leaving the sail much more secure than they had found it. Cornish -despatched his breakfast, and the boatswain came to me. - -"Do you see the long-boat now, sir?" - -"No," I replied; "she's hidden in the rain yonder. By Heaven! it _is_ -coming down!" - -I did not exaggerate; the horizon was grey with the rain: it looked -like steam rising from a boiling sea. - -"It 'll keep 'em busy bailing," said the boatswain. - -"Hold on here," I cried, "till I get my oilskins." - -I was back again in a few moments, and he went away to drape himself -for the downfall, and to advise Cornish to do the same. - -I left the wheel for a second or two to close one of the skylights, -and as I did so a flash of lightning seemed to set the ship on fire, -and immediately came a deafening crash of thunder. I think there is -something more awful in the roar of thunder heard at sea than on shore, -unless you are among mountains; you get the full intensity of it, the -mighty outburst smiting the smooth surface of the water, which in -itself is a wonderful vehicle of sound, and running onwards for leagues -without meeting with any impediment to check or divert it. - -I hastened to see if the lightning conductor ran clear to the water, -and finding the end of the wire coiled up in the port main-chains, -flung it overboard and resumed my place at the wheel. - -Now that the vast surface of cloud was well forward of overhead, -I observed that its front was an almost perfect semicircle, the -extremities at either point of the horizon projecting like horns. -There still remained, embraced by these horns, a clear expanse of -steel-coloured sky. _There_ the sea was light, but all to starboard it -was black, and the terrible shadow was fast bearing down upon the ship. - -Crack! the lightning whizzed, and turned the deck, spars, and rigging -into a network of blue fire. The peal that followed was a sudden -explosion--a great dead crash, as though some mighty ponderous orb had -fallen from the highest heaven upon the flooring of the sky and riven -it. - -Then I heard the rain. - -I scarcely know which was the more terrifying to see and hear--the -rain, or the thunder and lightning. - -It was a cataract of water falling from a prodigious elevation. It was -a dense, impervious liquid veil, shutting out all sight of sea and -sky. It tore the water into foam in striking it. - -Then, _boom_! down it came upon us. - -I held on by the wheel, and the boatswain jammed himself under the -grating. It was not rain only--it was hail as big as eggs; and the rain -drops were as big as eggs too. - -There was not a breath of air. This terrific fall came down in -perfectly perpendicular lines; and as the lightning rushed through it, -it illuminated with its ghastly effulgence a broad sheet of water. - -It was so dark that I could not see the card in the binnacle. The water -rushed off our decks just as it would had we shipped a sea. And for -the space of twenty minutes I stood stunned, deaf, blind, in the midst -of a horrible and overpowering concert of pealing thunder and rushing -rain, the awful gloom being rendered yet more dreadful by the dazzling -flashes which passed through it. - -It passed as suddenly as it had come, and left us still in a breathless -calm, drenched, terrified, and motionless. - -It grew lighter to windward, and I felt a small air blowing on my -streaming face; lighter still, though to leeward the storm was raging -and roaring, and passing with its darkness like some unearthly night. - -I squeezed the water out of my eyes, and saw the wind come rushing -towards us upon the sea, whilst all overhead the sky was a broad -lead-coloured space. - -"Now, bo'sun," I roared, "stand by!" - -He came out from under the grating, and took a grip of the rail. - -"Here it comes!" he cried; "and by the holy poker," he added, "here -comes the long-boat atop of it!" - -I could only cast one brief glance in the direction indicated, where, -sure enough, I saw the long-boat flying towards us on a surface of -foam. In an instant the gale struck the ship and over she heeled, -laying her port bulwark close down upon the water. But there she -stopped. - -"Had we had whole topsails," I cried, "it would have been Amen!" - -I waited a moment or two before deciding whether to put the helm up and -run. If this was the worst of it, the ship would do as she was. But in -that time the long-boat, urged furiously forward by the sail they still -kept on her, passed close under our stern. Twice, before she reached -us, I saw them try to bring her so as to come alongside, and each time -I held my breath, for I knew that the moment they brought her broadside -to the wind she would capsize. - -May God forbid that ever I should behold such a sight again! - -It was indescribably shocking to see them swept helplessly past within -hail of us. There were seven men in her. Two of them cried out and -raved furiously, entreating with dreadful, mad gesticulations as they -whirled past. But the rest, some clinging to the mast, others seated -with their arms folded, were silent, like dead men already, with fixed -and staring eyes--a ghastly crew. I saw one of the two raving men -spring on to the gunwale, but he was instantly pulled down by another. - -But what was there to see? It was a moment's horror--quick-vanishing as -some monstrous object leaping into sight under a flash of lightning, -then instantaneously swallowed up in the devouring gloom. - -Our ship had got way upon her, and was surging forward with her -lee-channels under water. The long-boat dwindled away on our quarter, -the spray veiling her as she fled, and in a few minutes was not to be -distinguished upon the immeasurable bed of foam and wave, stretching -down to the livid storm that still raged upon the far horizon. - -"My God!" exclaimed Cornish, who stood near the wheel unnoticed by me. -"I might ha' been in her! I might ha' been in her!" - -And he covered his face with his hands, and sobbed and shook with the -horror of the scene, and the agony of the thoughts it had conjured up. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - -I hardly knew what to make of the weather, for though it blew very hard -the wind was not so violent as it had been during those three days -which I have written of in another part of this story. - -The ship managed to hold her own well, with her head at west; I mean -that she went scraping through the water, making very little lee-way, -and so far she could fairly well carry the three close-reefed topsails, -though I believe that had another yard of canvas more than was already -exposed been on her, she would have lain down and never righted again, -so violent was the first clap and outfly of the wind. - -Nevertheless, I got the boatswain to take the wheel, and sent Cornish -forward to stand by the fore-topsail sheets, whilst I kept by the -mizzen, for I was not at all sure that the terrific thunder-storm that -had broken over us was not the precursor of a hurricane, to come down -at any moment on the gale that was already blowing, and wreck the ship -out of hand. - -In this way twenty minutes passed, when finding the wind to remain -steady, I sang out to Cornish that he might come aft again. As I never -knew the moment when a vessel might heave in sight I bent on the -small ensign and ran it half-way up at the gaff end, not thinking it -judicious to exhibit a train of flag-signals in so much wind. I then -took the telescope, and, setting it steady in the mizzen rigging, -slowly and carefully swept the weather horizon, and afterwards -transferred the glass to leeward, but no ship was to be seen. - -"We ought to be in the track o' some sort o' wessels, too," exclaimed -the boatswain, who had been awaiting the result of my inspections. "The -steamers from Liverpool to New Orleans, and the West Indie mail-ships -'ud come right across this way, wouldn't they?" - -"Not quite so far north," I answered. "But there ought to be no lack -of sailing ships from all parts--from England to the southern ports of -the United States and North America--from American ports to Rio and -the eastern coast of South America. They cannot keep us long waiting. -Something must heave in sight soon." - -"Suppose we sight a wessel, what do you mean to do, sir?" - -"Ask them to let me have a few men to work the ship to the nearest -port." - -"But suppose they're short-handed?" - -"Then they won't oblige us." - -"I can't see myself, sir," said he, "why, instead o' tryin' to fetch -Bermuda, we shouldn't put the helm up and square away for England. How -might the English Channel lie as we now are?" - -"A trifle to the east'ard of north-east." - -"Well, this here's a fair wind for it." - -"That's true; but will you kindly remember that the ship's company -consists of three men." - -"Of four, countin' the steward, and five, countin' Miss Robertson." - -"Of three men, I say, capable of working the vessel." - -"Well, yes; you're right. Arter all, there's only three to go aloft." - -"I suppose you know," I continued, "that it would take a sailing ship, -properly manned, four or five weeks to make the English Channel." - -"Well, sir." - -"Neither you, nor I, nor Cornish could do without sleep for four or -five weeks." - -"We could keep regular watches, Mr. Royle." - -"I dare say we could; but we should have to let the ship remain under -reefed topsails. But instead of taking four or five weeks, we should -take four or five months to reach England under close-reefed topsails, -unless we could keep a gale of wind astern of us all the way. I'll tell -you what it is, bo'sun, these exploits are very pretty, and appear very -possible in books, and persons who take anything that is told them -about the sea as likely and true, believe they can be accomplished. -And on one or two occasions they have been accomplished. Also I have -heard on one occasion a gentleman made a voyage from Timor to Bathurst -Island on the back of a turtle. But the odds, in my unromantic opinion, -are a thousand to one against our working the ship home as we are, -unless we can ship a crew on the road, and very shortly. And how can -we be sure of this? There is scarce a ship goes to sea now that is not -short-handed. We may sight fifty vessels, and get no help from one of -them. They may all be willing to take us on board if we abandon the -_Grosvenor_; but they'll tell us that they can give us no assistance to -work her. Depend upon it, our wisest course is to make Bermuda. There, -perhaps, we may pick up some hands. But if we head for England in this -trim--a deep ship, with heavy gear to work, and but two seamen to -depend upon, if the third has to take the wheel, trusting to chance to -help us, I repeat that the odds against our bringing the ship home are -one thousand to one. We shall be at the mercy of every gale that rises, -and end in becoming a kind of phantom ship, chased about the ocean just -as the wind happens to blow us." - -"Well, sir," said he, "I dare say you're right, and I'll say no more -about it. Now, about turnin' in. I'll keep here if you like to go below -for a couple of hours. Cornish can stand by to rouse you up." - -I had another look to windward before making up my mind to go below. -A strong sea was rising, and the wind blew hard enough to keep one -leaning against it. There was no break in the sky, and the horizon was -thick, but the look-out was not worse than it had been half an hour -before. - -We were, however, snug enough aloft, if not very neat; the bunt of -the mainsail, indeed, looked rather shaky, but the other sails lay -very secure upon the yards; and this being so, and the gale remaining -steady, I told the boatswain to keep the ship to her present course, -and went below, yawning horribly and dead wearied. - -I had slept three-quarters of an hour, when I was awakened by the -steward rushing into my cabin and hauling upon me like a madman. Being -scarcely conscious, I imagined that the mutineers had got on board -again, and that here was one of them falling upon me; and having sense -enough, I suppose, in my sleepy brain to make me determine to sell my -life at a good price, I let fly at the steward's breast and struck him -so hard that he roared out, which sound brought me to my senses at once. - -"What is it?" I cried. - -"Oh, sir," responded the steward, half dead with terror and the loss -of breath occasioned by my blow, "the ship's sinking, sir! We're all -going down! I've been told to fetch you up. The Lord have mercy upon -us!" - -I rolled on to the deck in my hurry to leave the bunk, and ran with all -my speed up the companion ladder; nor was the ascent difficult, for the -ship was on a level keel, pitching heavily indeed, but rolling slightly. - -Scarcely, however, was my head up through the companion, when I thought -it would have been blown off my shoulders. The fury and force of the -wind was such as I had never before in all my life experienced. - -Both the boatswain and Cornish were at the wheel, and, in order to -reach them, I had to drop upon my hands and knees and crawl along the -deck. When near them I took a grip of the grating and looked around me. - -The first thing I saw was that the mainsail had blown away from most -of the gaskets, and was thundering in a thousand rags upon the yard. -The foresail was split in halves, and the port mizzen-topsail sheet -had carried away, and the sail was pealing like endless discharges of -musketry. - -All the spars were safe still. The lee braces had been let go, the -helm put up, and the ship was racing before a hurricane as furious as -a tornado, heading south-east, with a wilderness of foam boiling under -her bows. - -This, then, was the real gale which the thunder-storm had been nearly -all night bringing up. The first gale was but a summer breeze compared -to it. - -The clouds lay like huge fantastic rolls of sheet lead upon the sky; in -some quarters of the circle drooping to the water-line in patches and -spaces ink-black. No fragment of blue heaven was visible; and yet it -was lighter than it had been when I went below. - -The ensign, half-masted, roared over my head; the sea was momentarily -growing heavier, and, as the ship pitched, she took the water in broad -sheets over her forecastle. - -The terrible beating of the mizzen-topsail was making the mizzen-mast, -from the mastcoat to the royal mast-head, jump like a piece of -whalebone. Although deafened, bewildered, and soaked through with the -screaming of the gale, the thunder of the torn canvas, and the spray -which the wind tore out of the sea and hurtled through the air, I still -preserved my senses; and perceiving that the mizzen-topmast would go if -the sail were not got rid of, I crawled on my hands and knees to the -foot of the mast, and let go the remaining sheet. - -With appalling force, and instantaneously, the massive chain was torn -through the sheave-hole, and in less time than I could have counted -ten, one half the sail had blown into the main-top, and the rest -streamed like the ends of whipcord from the yard. - -I crawled to the fore-end of the poop to look at the mainmast; that -stood steady; but whilst I watched the foremast, the foresail went to -pieces, and the leaping and plunging of the heavy blocks upon it made -the whole mast quiver so violently that the top-gallant and royal-mast -bent to and fro like a bow strung and unstrung quickly. - -I waited some moments, debating whether or not to let go the -fore-topsail sheets; but reflecting that the full force of the wind was -kept away from it by the main-topsail, and that it would certainly blow -to pieces if I touched a rope belonging to it, I dropped on my hands -and knees again and crawled away aft. - -"I saw it coming!" roared the bo'sun in my ear. "I had just time to -sing out to Cornish to slacken the lee-braces, and to put the helm hard -over." - -"We shall never be able to run!" I bellowed back. "She'll be pooped as -sure as a gun when the sea comes! We must heave her to whilst we can. -No use thinking of the fore-topsail--it must go!" - -"Look there!" shouted Cornish, dropping the spokes with one hand to -point. - -There was something indeed to look at; one of the finest steamers I had -ever seen, brig-rigged, hove to under a main-staysail. She seemed, so -rapidly were we reeling through the water, to rise out of the sea. - -She lay with her bowsprit pointing across our path, just on our -starboard bow. Lying as she was, without way on her, we should have -run into her had the weather been thick, as surely as I live to say so. - -We slightly starboarded the helm, clearing her by the time we were -abreast by not more than a quarter of a mile. But we dared not have -hauled the ship round another point; for, with our braces all loose, -the first spilling of the sails would have brought the yards aback, in -which case indeed we might have called upon God to have mercy on our -souls, for the ship would not have lived five minutes. - -There was something fascinating in the spectacle of that beautiful -steamship, rolling securely in the heavy sea, revealing as she went -over to starboard her noble graceful hull, to within a few feet of her -keel. But there was also something unspeakably dreadful to us to see -help so close at hand, and yet of no more use than had it offered a -thousand miles away. - -There was a man on her bridge, and others doubtless watched our vessel -unseen by us; and God knows what sensations must have been excited -in them by the sight of our torn and whirling ship blindly rushing -before the tempest, her sails in rags, the half-hoisted ensign bitterly -illustrating our miserable condition, and appealing, with a power and -pathos no human cry could express, for help which could not be given. - -"Let us try and heave her to now!" I shrieked, maddened by the sight of -this ship whirling fast away on our quarter. "We can lie by her until -the gale has done and then she will help us!" - -But the boatswain could not control the wheel alone: the blows of the -sea against the rudder made it hard for even four pairs of hands to -hold the wheel steady. I rushed to the companion and bawled for the -steward, and when, after a long pause, he emerged, no sooner did the -wind hit him than he rolled down the ladder. - -I sprang below, hauled him up by the collar of his jacket, and drove -him with both hands to his stern up to the wheel. - -"Hold on to these spokes!" I roared. And then Cornish and I ran -staggering along the poop. - -"Get the end of the starboard main-brace to the capstan!" I cried to -him. "Look alive! ship one of the bars ready!" - -And then I scrambled as best I could down on the main-deck, and went -floundering forward through the water that was now washing higher than -my ankle to the fore-topsail halliards, which I let go. - -Crack! whiz! away went the sail, strips of it flying into the sea like -smoke. - -I struggled back again on to the poop, but the violence of the wind was -almost more than I could bear: it beat the breath out of me; it stung -my face just as if it were filled with needles; it roared in my ears; -it resembled a solid wall; it rolled me off my knees and hands, and -obliged me to drag myself against it bit by bit, by whatever came in my -road to hold on to. - -Cornish lay upon the deck with the end of the main-brace in his hands, -having taken the necessary turns with it around the capstan. - -I laid my weight against the bar and went to work, and scrambling and -panting, beaten half dead by the wind, and no more able to look astern -without protecting my eyes with my hands than I could survey any object -in a room full of blinding smoke, I gradually got the mainyard round, -but found I had not the strength to bring it close to the mast. - -I saw the boatswain speak to the steward, who left the wheel to help -me with his weight against the capstan bar. - -I do think at that moment that the boatswain transformed himself into -an immovable figure of iron. Heaven knows from what measureless inner -sources he procured the temporary strength: he clenched his teeth, and -the muscles in his hands rose like bulbs as he hung to the wheel and -pitted his strength against the blows of the seas upon the rudder. - -Brave, honest fellow! a true seaman, a true Englishman! Well would -it be for sailors were there more of his kind among them to set them -examples of honest labour, noble self-sacrifice, and duty ungrudgingly -performed! - -The seas struck the ship heavily as she rounded to. I feared that -she would have too much head-sail to lie close, for the foresail and -fore-topsail were in ribbons--they might show enough roaring canvas -when coupled with the fore-topmast staysail to make her pay off, we -having no after-sail set to counterbalance the effect of them. - -However, she lay steady, that is, as the compass goes, but rolled -fearfully, wallowing deep like a ship half full of water, and shipped -such tremendous seas that I constantly expected to hear the crash of -the galley stove in. - -I now shaded my eyes to look astern; not hoping, indeed, to see the -steamer near, but expecting at least to find her in sight. But the -horizon was a dull blank: not a sign of the vessel to be seen, nothing -but the rugged line of water, and the nearer deep dark under the shadow -of the leaden pouring clouds. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -In bringing the ship close to the wind in this terrible gale, without -springing a spar, we had done what I never should have believed -practicable to four men, taking into consideration the size of the -ship and the prodigious force of the wind; and when I looked aloft and -considered that only a few hours before, so to speak, the ship was -carrying all the sail that could be put upon her, and that three men -had stripped her of it and put her under a close-reefed main-topsail -fit to encounter a raging hurricane, I could not help thinking that we -had a right to feel proud of our endurance and spirit. - -There was no difficulty now in holding the wheel, and, had no worse sea -than was now running been promised us, the helm might have been lashed -and the vessel lain as comfortably as a smack with her foresail over to -windward. - -The torn sails were making a hideous noise on the yards forward, and -as there was no earthly reason why this clamour should be suffered to -last, I called to Cornish to get his knife ready and help me to cut the -canvas away from the jackstays. We hauled the braces taut to steady the -yards, and then went aloft, and in ten minutes severed the fragments of -the foresail and topsail, and they blew up into the air like paper, and -were carried nearly half a mile before they fell into the sea. - -The wind was killing up aloft, and I was heartily glad to get on deck -again, not only to escape the wind, but on account of the fore-topmast -and top-gallant mast, both of which had been heavily tried, and now -rocked heavily as the ship rolled, and threatened to come down with the -weight of the yards upon them. - -But neither Cornish nor I had strength enough in us to stay the masts -more securely; our journey aloft and our sojourn on the yards, and our -fight with the wind to maintain our hold, had pretty well done for -us; and in Cornish I took notice of that air of lassitude and dull -indifference which creeps upon shipwrecked men when worn out with their -struggles, and which resembles in its way the stupor which falls upon -persons who are perishing of cold. - -It was fair, however, since I had had some rest, that I should now take -a spell at the wheel, and I therefore told Cornish to go to the cabin -lately occupied by Stevens, the ship's carpenter, and turn in, and then -crawled aft to the poop and desired the boatswain to go below and rest -himself, and order the steward, who had not done one-tenth of the work -we had performed, to stand by ready to come on deck if I should call to -him. - -I was now alone on deck, in the centre, so it seemed when looking -around the horizon, of a great storm, which was fast lifting the sea -into mountains. - -I took a turn round the spokes of the wheel and secured the tiller -ropes to steady the helm, and held on, crouching to windward, so that -I might get some shelter from the murderous force of the wind by the -slanting deck and rail. - -I could better now realize our position than when at work, and the -criticalness of it struck and awed me like a revelation. - -I cast my eyes upon the main-topsail, and inspected it anxiously, as -on this sail our lives might depend. If it blew away the only sail -remaining would be the fore-topmast staysail. In all probability the -ship's head would at once pay off, let me keep the helm jammed down as -hard as I pleased; the vessel would then drive before the seas, which, -as she had not enough canvas on her to keep her running at any speed, -would very soon topple over her stern, sweep the decks fore and aft, -and render her unmanageable. - -There was likewise the further danger of the fore-topmast going, the -whole weight of the staysail being upon it. If this went it would take -that sail with it, and the ship would round into the wind's eye and -drive away astern. - -Had there been more hands on board I should not have found these -speculations so alarming. My first job would have been to get some of -the cargo out of the hold and pitch it overboard, so as to lighten the -ship, for the dead weight in her made her strain horribly. Then with -men to help it would have been easy to get the storm trysail on if the -topsail blew away, clap preventer backstays on to the foremast and -fore-topmast, and rouse them taut with tackles, and send down the royal -and top-gallant yards, so as to ease the masts of the immense leverage -of these spars. - -But what could four men do--one of the four being almost useless, and -all four exhausted not by the perils and labour of the storm only, but -by the fight they had had to make for their lives against fellow-beings? - -Alone on deck, with the heavy seas splashing and thundering, and -precipitating their volumes of water over the ship's side, with the -gale howling and roaring through the skies, I grew bitterly despondent. -It seemed as if God Himself were against me, that I was the sport of -some remorseless fate, whereby I was led from one peril to another, -from one suffering to another, and no mercy to be shown me until death -gave me rest. - -And yet I was sensible of no revolt and inward rage against what -I deemed my destiny. My being and individuality were absorbed and -swallowed up in the power and immensity of the tempest, like a -rain-drop in the sea. I was overwhelmed by the vastness of the dangers -which surrounded me, by the sense of the littleness and insignificance -of myself and my companions in the midst of this spacious theatre of -warring winds, and raging seas, and far-reaching sky of pouring cloud. -I felt as though all the forces of nature were directed against my -life; and those cries which my heart would have sent up in the presence -of dangers less tumultuous and immense were silenced by a kind of dull -amazement, of heavy passive bewilderment, which numbed my mind and -forced upon me an indifference to the issue without depriving me of the -will and energy to avert it. - -I held my post at the wheel, being anxious that the boatswain and -Cornish should recruit their strength by sleep, for if one or the other -of them broke down, then, indeed, our case would be deplorable. - -The force of the wind was stupendous, and yet the brave main-topsail -stood it; but not an hour had passed since the two men went below when -a monster wave took the ship on the starboard bow and threw her up, -rolling at the same time an immense body of water on to the decks; her -stern, where I was crouching, sank in the hollow level with the sea, -then as the leviathan wave rolled under her counter, the ship's bows -fell into a prodigious trough with a sickening, whirling swoop. Ere she -could recover, another great sea rolled right upon her, burying her -forecastle, and rushing with the fury of a cataract along the main-deck. - -Another wave of that kind, and our fate was sealed. - -But happily these were exceptional seas; smaller waves succeeded, and -the struggling, straining ship showed herself alive still. - -Alive, but maimed. That tremendous swoop had carried away the jibboom, -and the fore top-gallant mast--the one close against the bowsprit head, -the other a few inches above the top-gallant yard. The mast, with the -royal yard upon it, hung all in a heap against the fore-topmast, but -fortunately kept steady, owing to the yard-arm having jammed itself -into the fore-topmast rigging. The jibboom was clean gone adrift and -was washing away to leeward. - -This was no formidable accident, though it gave the ship a wrecked -and broken look. I should have been well-pleased to see all three -top-gallant masts go over the side, for the weight of the yards, -swaying to and fro at great angles, was too much for the lower-masts, -and not only strained the decks, but the planking to which the -chain-plates were bolted. - -My great anxiety now was for the fore-topmast, which was sustaining -the weight of the broken mast and yard, in addition to the top-gallant -yard, still standing, and the heavy pulling of the fore-topmast -staysail. - -Dreading the consequences that might follow the loss of this sail, I -called to the steward at the top of my voice, and on his thrusting his -head up the companion, I bade him rouse up Cornish and the boatswain, -and send them on deck. - -In a very short time they both arrived, and the boatswain, on looking -forward, immediately comprehended our position and anticipated my order. - -"The topmast 'll go!" he roared in my ear. "Better let go the -staysail-halliards, and make a short job o' it." - -"Turn to and do it at once," I replied. Away they skurried. I lost -sight of them when they were once off the poop, and it seemed an -eternity before they showed themselves again on the forecastle. - -No wonder! They had to wade and struggle through a rough sea on the -main-deck, which obliged them to hold on, for minutes at a time, to -whatever they could put their hands to. - -I wanted them to bear a hand in getting rid of the staysail, for, with -the wheel hard down, the ship showed a tendency to fall off. But it was -impossible for me to make my voice heard; I could only wave my hand; -the boatswain understood the gesture, and I saw him motion to Cornish -to clear off the forecastle. He then ran over to leeward and let go the -fore-topmast staysail sheet and halliards, and, this done, he could do -no more but take to his heels. - -The hullabaloo was frightful--the thundering of the sails, the snapping -and cracking of the sheets. - -Boom! I knew it must follow. It was a choice of two evils--to poop the -ship or lose a mast. - -Down came the topmast, splintering and crashing with a sound that rose -above the roar of the gale, and in a minute was swinging against the -shrouds--an awful wreck to behold in such a scene of raging sea and -buried decks. - -I knew well now what ought to be done, and done without delay; for the -staysail was in the water, ballooning out to every wave, and dragging -the ship's head round more effectually than had the sail been set. - -But I had a wonderful ally in the boatswain--keen, unerring, and -intrepid, a consummate sailor. I should never have had the heart to -give him the order; and yet there he was, and Cornish by his side, at -work, knife in hand, cutting and hacking away for dear life. - -A long and perilous job indeed!--now up aloft, now down, soaked by the -incessant seas that thundered over the ship's bows, tripping over the -raffle that encumbered the deck, actually swarming out on the bowsprit -with their knives between their teeth, at moments plunged deep in the -sea, yet busy again as they were lifted high in the air. - -I draw my breath as I write. I have the scene before me: I see the -ropes parting under the knives of the men. I close my eyes as I behold -once more the boiling wave that buries them, and dare not look, lest -I should find them gone. I hear the hooting of the hurricane, the -groaning of the over-loaded vessel, and over all the faint hurrah those -brave spirits utter as the last rope is severed and the unwieldly wreck -of spars and cordage falls overboard and glides away upon a running -sea, and the ship comes to again under my hand, and braves, with her -bows almost at them, the merciless onslaught of the huge green waves. - -Only the day before, one of these men was a mutineer, blood-stained -already, and prepared for new murders! - -Strange translation! from base villainy to actions heroical! But those -who know sailors best will least doubt their capacity of gauging -extremes. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -By the loss of the fore-topmast the ship was greatly eased. In almost -every sea that we had encountered since leaving England, I had observed -the immense leverage exerted over the deep-lying hull by the weight -of her lofty spars; and by the effect which the carrying away of the -fore-topmast had produced, I had no doubt that our position would be -rendered far less critical, while the vessel would rise to the waves -with much greater ease, if we could rid her of a portion of her immense -top-weight. - -I waited until the boatswain came aft, and then surrendered the wheel -to Cornish; after which I crouched with the boatswain under the lee of -the companion, where, at least, we could hear each other's voices. - -"She pitches easier since that fore-topmast went, bo'sun. There is -still too much top-hamper. The main-royal stay is gone, and the mast -can't stand long, I think, unless we stay it forrard again. But we -mustn't lose the topmast." - -"No, we can't do without him. Yet there's a risk of him goin' too, if -you cut away the top-gall'nt backstays. What's to prevent him?" said -he, looking up at the mast. - -"Oh, I know how to prevent it," I replied. "I'll go aloft with a -hand-saw and wound the mast. What do you think? Shall we let it carry -away?" - -"Yes," he replied promptly. "She'll be another ship with them masts -out of her. If it comes on fine we'll make shift to bend on the new -foresail, and get a jib on her by a stay from the lower mast-head to -the bowsprit end. Then," he continued, calculating on his fingers, -"we shall have the main-topmast stays'l, mizzen-topmast stays'l, -main-topsail, mains'l, mizzen, mizzen-tops'l,--six and two makes -height--height sails on her--a bloomin' show o' canvas!" - -He ran his eye aloft, and said emphatically-- - -"I'm for lettin' of 'em go, most sartinly." - -I got up, but he caught hold of my arm. - -"I'll go aloft," said he. - -"No, no," I replied, "it's my turn. You stand by to cut away the -lanyards to leeward, and then get to windward and wait for me. We must -watch for a heavy lurch, for we don't want the spars to fall amidships -and drive a hole through the deck." - -Saying which I got off the poop and made for the cabin lately shared -between the carpenter and the boatswain, where I should find a saw in -the tool chest. - -I crept along the main-deck to leeward, but was washed off my feet in -spite of every precaution, and thrown with my head against the bulwark, -but the blow was more bewildering than hurtful. Fortunately, everything -was secure, so there were no pounding casks and huge spars driving -about like battering rams, to dodge. - -I found a saw, and also laid hold of the sounding-rod, so that I might -try the well, being always very distrustful of the boatswain's plugs -in the fore hold; but on drawing up the rod out of the sounding-pipe, -I found there were not above five to six inches of water in her, and, -as the pumps sucked at four inches, I had not only the satisfaction of -knowing that the ship was tight in her hull, but that she was draining -in very little water from her decks. - -This discovery of the ship's soundness filled me with joy, and, -thrusting the saw down my waistcoat, I sprang into the main-rigging -with a new feeling of life in me. - -I could not help thinking as I went ploughing and clinging my way up -the ratlines, that the hurricane was less furious than it had been an -hour ago; but this, I dare say, was more my hope than my conviction, -for, exposed as I now was to the full force of the wind, its power and -outcry were frightful. There were moments when it jammed me so hard -against the shrouds that I could not have stirred an inch--no, not to -save my life. - -I remember once reading an account of the wreck of a vessel called the -_Wager_, where it was told that so terrible was the appearance of the -sea that many of the sailors went raving mad with fear at the sight of -it, some throwing themselves overboard in their delirium, and others -falling flat on the deck and rolling to and fro with the motion of the -ship, without making the smallest effort to help themselves. - -I believe that much such a sea as drove those poor creatures wild was -spread below me now, and I can only thank Almighty God for giving me -the courage to witness the terrible spectacle without losing my reason. - -No words that I am master of could submit the true picture of this -whirling, mountainous, boiling scene to you. The waves, fore-shortened -to my sight by my elevation above them, drew nevertheless a deeper -shadow into their caverns, so that, so lively was this deception of -colouring, each time the vessel's head fell into one of these hollows, -it seemed as though she were plunging into a measureless abysm, as -roaring and awful as a maelström, from which it would be impossible -for her to rise in time to lift to the next great wave that was rushing -upon her. - -When, after incredible toil, I succeeded in gaining the cross-trees, I -paused for some moments to recover breath, during which I looked, with -my fingers shading my eyes, carefully all round the horizon, but saw no -ship in sight. - -The topmast was pretty steady, but the top-gallant mast rocked -heavily, owing to the main-royal stay being carried away; moreover, -the boatswain had already let go the royal and top-gallant braces, so -that they might run out when the mast fell, and leave it free to go -overboard; and the yards swinging in the wind and to the plunging of -the ship, threatened every moment to bring down the whole structure of -masts, including all or a part of the topmast, so that I was in the -greatest peril. - -In order, therefore, to lose no time, I put my knife in my teeth, and -shinned up the top-gallant rigging, where, holding on with one hand, I -cut the top-gallant stay adrift, though the strands were so hard that -I thought I should never accomplish the job. This support being gone, -the mast jumped wildly, insomuch that I commended my soul to God, every -instant believing that I should be shaken off the mast or that it would -go overboard with me. - -However, I succeeded in sliding down again into the cross-trees, and -having cut away the top-gallant rigging to leeward, I pulled out my saw -and went to work at the mast with it, sawing the mast just under the -yard, so that it might go clean off at that place. - -When I had sawed deep enough, I cut away the weather rigging and got -down into the maintop as fast as ever I could, and sung out to the -boatswain to cut away to leeward. - -By the time I reached the deck, all was adrift to leeward, and the mast -was now held in its place by the weather backstays. I dropped into the -chains and there helped the boatswain with my knife, and, watching an -opportunity when the ship rolled heavily to leeward, we cut through the -lanyards of the top-gallant backstay, and the whole structure of spar, -yards, and rigging went flying overboard. - -Encouraged by the success of these operations, and well knowing that -a large measure of our safety depended upon our easing the ship of -her top-hamper, I sung out that we would now cut away the mizzen -top-gallant mast, and once more went aloft, though the boatswain begged -hard to take my place this time. - -This spar, being much lighter and smaller, did not threaten me so -dangerously as the other had done, and in a tolerably short space -of time we had sent it flying overboard after the main top-gallant -mast; and all this we did without further injury to ourselves than a -temporary deprivation of strength and breath. - -The ship had now the appearance of a wreck; and yet in her mutilated -condition was safer than she had been at any moment since the gale -first sprang up. The easing her of all this top-weight seemed to make -her as buoyant as though we had got a hundred tons of cargo out of her. -Indeed, I was now satisfied, providing everything stood, and the wind -did not increase in violence, that she would be able to ride out the -gale. - -Cornish (as well as the boatswain and myself) was soaked through and -through; we therefore arranged that the boatswain and I should go -below and shift our clothes, and that the boatswain should then relieve -Cornish. - -So down we went, I, for one, terribly exhausted, but cheered all the -same by an honest hope that we should save our lives and the ship after -all. - -I stepped into the pantry to swallow a dram so as to get my nerves -together, for I was trembling all over with the weariness in me, and -cold as ice on the skin from the repeated dousings I had received; and -then changed my clothes; and never was anything more comforting and -grateful than the feel of the dry flannel and the warm stockings and -sea-boots which I exchanged for shoes that sopped like brown paper and -came to pieces in my hand when I pulled them off. - -The morning was far advanced, a little past eleven. I was anxious to -ask Miss Robertson how she did, and reassure her as to our position -before going on deck to take observations, and therefore went to her -cabin door and listened, meaning to knock and ask her leave to see her -if I heard her voice in conversation with her father. - -I strained my ear, but the creaking and groaning of the ship inside, -and the bellowing of the wind outside, were so violent, that had the -girl been singing at the top of her voice I do not believe that I -should have heard her. - -I longed to see her, and shook the handle of the door, judging that she -would distinguish this sound amid the other noises which prevailed, -and, sure enough, the door opened, and her sweet face looked out. - -She showed herself fully when she saw me, and came into the cuddy, -and was going to address me, but a look of agonized sorrow came into -her face; she dropped on her knees before the bench at the table -and buried her head, and never was there an attitude of grief more -expressive of piteous misery than this. - -My belief was that the frightful rolling of the ship had crazed her -brain, and that she fancied I had come to tell her we were sinking. - -Not to allow this false impression to affect her an instant longer than -could be helped, I dropped on one knee by her side, and at once told -her that the ship had been eased, and was riding well, and that the -gale, as I believed, was breaking. - -She shook her head, still keeping her face buried, as though she would -say that it was not the danger we were in that had given her that -misery. - -"Tell me what has happened?" I exclaimed. "Your troubles and trials -have been very, very great--too great for you to bear, brave and -true-hearted as you are. It unmans me and breaks me down to see you in -this attitude. For your own sake, keep up your courage a little longer. -The first ship that passes when this gale abates will take us on board; -and there are three of us still with you who will never yield an inch -to any danger that may come whilst their life holds out and yours -remains to be saved." - -She upturned her pale face, streaming with tears, and said the simple -words, but in a tone I shall never forget--"Papa is dead!" - -Was it so, indeed? - -And was I so purblind as to wrong her beautiful and heroic character by -supposing her capable of being crazed with fears for her own life. - -I rose from her side, and stood looking at her in silence. I had -nothing to say. - -However dangerous our situation might have been, I should still have -known how to comfort and encourage her. - -But--her father was dead! - -This was a blow I could not avert--a sorrow no labour could remit. It -struck home hard to me. - -I took her hand and raised her, and entered the cabin hand in hand -with her. The moisture of the deck dulled the transparency of the -bull's-eye, but sufficient light was admitted through the port-hole to -enable me to see him. He was as white as a sheet, and his hair frosted -his head, and made him resemble a piece of marble carving. His under -jaw had dropped, and that was the great and prominent signal of the -thing that had come to him. - -Poor old man! lying dead under the coarse blanket, with his thin hands -folded, as though he had died in prayer, and a most peaceful holy calm -in his face! - -Was it worth while bringing him from the wreck for this? - -"God was with him when he died," I said, and I closed his poor eyes as -tenderly as my rough hands would let me. - -She looked at him, speechless with grief, and then burst into an -uncontrollable fit of crying. - -My love and tenderness, my deep pity of her lonely helplessness, were -all so great an impulse in me that I took her in my arms and held her -whilst she sobbed upon my shoulder. I am sure that she knew my sorrow -was deep and real, and that I held her to my heart that she might not -feel her loneliness. - -When her great outburst of grief was passed, I made her sit; and -then she told me that when she had left the deck, she had looked at -her father before lying down, and thought him sleeping very calmly. -He was not dead then. Oh, no! she had noticed by the motion of the -covering on him that he was breathing peacefully. Being very tired she -had fallen asleep quickly, and slept soundly. She awoke, not half an -hour before she heard me trying the handle of the door. The rolling -and straining of the ship frightened her, and she heard one of the -masts go overboard. She got out of bed, meaning to call her father, so -that he might be ready to follow her, if the ship were sinking (as she -believed it was), on to the deck, but could not wake him. She took him -by the arm, and this bringing her close to his face, she saw that he -was dead. She would have called me, but dreaded to leave the cabin lest -she should be separated from her father. Meanwhile she heard the fall -of another mast alongside, and the ship at the moment rolling heavily, -she believed the vessel actually sinking, and flung herself upon -her father's body, praying to God that her death might be mercifully -speedy, and that the waves might not separate them in death. - -At this point she broke down and cried again bitterly. - -When I came to think over what she had gone through during that half -hour--the dead body of her father before her, of him whose life a few -hours before she had no serious fear of, and the bitterness of death -which she had tasted in the dreadful persuasion that the vessel was -sinking, I was too much affected to speak. I could only hold her hands -and caress them, wondering in my heart that God who loves and blesses -all things that are good and pure, should single out this beautiful, -helpless, heroic girl for suffering so complicated and miserable. - -After a while I explained that it was necessary I should leave her, as -I was desirous of observing the position of the sun, and promised, if -no new trouble detained me on deck, to return to her as soon as I had -completed my observations. - -So without further words I came away and got my sextant, and went on -deck. - -I found Cornish still at the wheel, and the boatswain leaning over -the weather side of the ship about half-way down the poop, watching -the hull of the vessel as she rolled and plunged. I might have saved -myself the trouble of bringing the sextant with me, for there was not -only no sign of the sun now, but no promise of its showing itself -even for a minute. Three impenetrable strata of cloud obscured the -heavens: the first, a universal mist or thickness, tolerably bright as -it lay nearest the sun; beneath this, ranges of heavier clouds, which -had the appearance of being stationary, owing to the speed at which -the ponderous smoke-coloured clouds composing the lowest stratum were -swept past them. Under this whirling gloomy sky the sea was tossing -in mountains, and between sea and cloud the storm was sweeping with a -stupendous voice, and with a power so great that no man on shore who -could have experienced its fury there, would believe that anything -afloat could encounter it and live. - -I remained until noon anxiously watching the sky, hoping that the -outline of the sun might swim out, if for a few moments only, and give -me a chance to fix it. - -I was particularly wishful to get sights, because, if the wind abated, -we might be able to wear the ship and stand for the Bermudas, which was -the land the nearest to us that I knew of. But I could not be certain -as to the course to be steered unless I knew my latitude and longitude. -The _Grosvenor_, now hove to in this furious gale, was drifting dead -to leeward at from three to four knots an hour. Consequently, if the -weather remained thick and this monstrous sea lasted, I should be out -of my reckoning altogether next day. This was the more to be deplored, -as every mile was of serious consequence to persons in our position, -as it would represent so many hours more of hard work and bitter -expectation. - -The boatswain had by this time taken the wheel, to let Cornish go below -to change his clothes, and, as no conversation could be carried on in -that unsheltered part of the deck, I reserved what I had to say to him -for another opportunity, and returned to the cuddy. - -I could not bear to think of the poor girl being alone with her dead -father in the darksome cabin, where the grief of death would be -augmented by the dismaying sounds of the groaning timbers and the -furious wash of the water against the ship's side. - -I went to her and begged her to come to me to my own cabin, which, -being to windward and having two bull's-eyes in the deck, was lighter -and more cheerful than hers. - -"Your staying here," I said, "cannot recall your poor father to life, -and I know, if he were alive, he would wish me to take you away. He -will rest quietly here, Miss Robertson, and we will close the cabin -door and leave him for a while." - -I drew her gently from the cabin, and when I had got her into the -cuddy, I closed the door upon the dead old man, and led her by the hand -to my own cabin. - -"I intend," I said, "that you shall occupy this berth, and I will -remove into the cabin next to this." - -She answered in broken tones that she could not bear the thought of -being separated from her father. - -"But you will not be separated from him," I answered, "even though you -should never see him more with your eyes. There is only one separation, -and that is when the heart turns and the memory forgets. He will always -be with you in your thoughts, a dear friend, a dear companion, and -father, as in life; not absent because he is dead, since I think that -death makes those whom we love doubly our own, for they become spirits -to watch over us, to dwell near us, let us journey where we please, and -their affection is not to be chilled by any worldly selfishness. Try -to think thus of the dead. It is not a parting that should pain us. -Your father has set out on his journey before you; death is but a short -leave-taking, and only a man who is doomed to live for ever could look -upon death as an eternal separation." - -She wept quietly, and once or twice looked at me as though she would -smile through her tears, to let me know that she was grateful for my -poor attempts to console her; but she could not smile. Rough and idle -as my words were, yet, in the fulness of my sympathy, and my knowledge -of her trials, and my sense of the dangers which, even as I spoke, were -raging round us, my voice faltered, and I turned to hide my face. - -It happened then that my eye lighted upon the little Bible I had -carried with me in all my voyages ever since I had gone to sea, and I -felt that now, with the old man lying dead, and his poor child's grief, -and our own hard and miserable position, was the fitting time to invoke -God's mercy, and to pray to Him to watch over us. - -I spoke to that effect to Miss Robertson, and said that if she -consented I would call in Cornish and the steward and ask them to join -us; that the boatswain was at the wheel and could not leave his post, -but we might believe that the Almighty would accept the brave man's -faithful discharge of his duty as a prayer, and would not overlook him, -if our prayers were accepted, because he could not kneel in company -with us. - -"Let him know that we are praying," she exclaimed, eagerly, "and he -will pray too." - -I saw that my suggestion had aroused her, and at once left the cabin -and went on deck, and going close to the boatswain I said-- - -"Poor Mr. Robertson is dead, and his daughter is in great grief." - -"Ah, poor lady!" he replied. "I hope God 'll spare her. She's a brave -young woman, and seen a sight more trouble within the last fortnight -than so pretty a gell desarves." - -"Bo'sun, I am going to call in Cornish and the steward, and read -prayers and ask God for His protection. I should have liked you, brave -old messmate, to join; but, as you can't leave the deck, pray with us -in your heart, will you?" - -"Ay, ay, that I will, heartily; an' I hope for the lady's sake that God -Almighty 'll hear us, for I'd sooner die myself than she should, poor -gell, for I'm older, and it's my turn afore hers by rights." - -I clapped him on the back and went below, where I called to the steward -and Cornish, both of whom came aft on hearing my voice. - -During my absence, Miss Robertson had taken the Bible and laid it open -on the table; and when the two men came in I said-- - -"My lads, we are in the hands of God, who is our Father; and I will -ask you to join this lady and me in thanking Him for the mercy and -protection He has already vouchsafed us, and to pray to Him to lead us -out of present peril and bring us safely to the home we love." - -The steward said "Yes, sir," and looked about him for a place to sit or -kneel, but Cornish hung his head and glanced at the door shamefacedly. - -"You need not stop unless you wish, Cornish," said I. "But why should -you not join us? The way you have worked, the honest manner in which -you have behaved, amply atone for the past. From no man can more than -hearty repentance be expected, and we all stand in need of each other's -prayers. Join us, mate." - -"Won't it be makin' a kind of game o' religion for the likes o' me to -pray?" he answered. "I was for murderin' you an' the lady and all hands -as are left on board this wessel--what 'ud be the use o' _my_ prayers?" - -Miss Robertson went over to him and took his hand. - -"God," said she, "has told us that there is more joy in heaven over one -sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine just persons who need -no repentance. But who is good among us, Cornish? Be sure that as you -repent so are you forgiven. My poor father lies dead in his cabin, and -I wish you to pray with me for him, and to pray with us for our own -poor lives. Mr. Royle," she said, "Cornish will stay." - -And with an expression on her face of infinite sweetness and pathos, -she drew him to one of the cushioned lockers and seated herself by his -side. - -I saw that her charming wonderful grace, her cordial tender voice, and -her condescension, which a man of his condition would feel, had deeply -moved him. - -The steward seated himself on the other side of her, and I began to -read from the open book before me, beginning the chapter which she had -chosen for us during my absence on deck. This chapter was the eleventh -of St. John, wherein is related the story of that sickness "which was -not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be -glorified thereby." - -I read only to the thirty-sixth verse, for what followed that did not -closely apply to our position; but there were passages preceding it -which stirred me to the centre of my heart, knowing how they went home -to the mourner, more especially those pregnant lines--"Martha saith -unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the -last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he -that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live," which -made me feel that the words I had formerly addressed to her were not -wholly idle. - -I then turned to St. Matthew, and read from the eighth chapter those -few verses wherein it is told that Christ entered a ship with His -disciples, and that there arose a great storm. Only men in a tempest at -sea, their lives in jeopardy, and worn out with anxiety and the fear of -death, know how great is the comfort to be got out of this brief story -of our Lord's power over the elements, and His love of those whom He -died to save; and, taking this as a kind of text, I knelt down, the -others imitating me, and prayed that He who rebuked the sea and the -wind before His doubting disciples, would be with us who believed in -Him in our present danger. - -Many things I said (feeling that He whom I addressed was our Father, -and that He alone could save us) which have gone from my mind, and -tears stood in my eyes as I prayed; but I was not ashamed to let the -others see them, even if they had not been as greatly affected as -I, which was not the case. Nor would I conclude my prayer without -entreating God to comfort the heart of the mourner, and to receive in -heaven the soul of him for whom she was weeping. - -I then shook Cornish and the steward heartily by the hand, and I am -sure, by the expression in Cornish's face, that he was glad he had -stayed, and that his kneeling in prayer had done him good. - -"Now," said I, "you had best get your dinner, and relieve the -boatswain; and you, steward, obtain what food you can, and bring it to -us here, and then you and the bo'sun can dine together." - -The two men left the cabin, and I went and seated myself beside Miss -Robertson, and said all that I could to comfort her. - -She was very grateful to me for my prayers for herself and her father, -and already, as though she had drawn support from our little service, -spoke with some degree of calmness of his death. It would have made her -happy, she said, could she have kissed him before he died, and have -been awake to attend to any last want. - -I told her that I believed he had died in his sleep, without a -struggle; for, so recent as his death was, less placidity would have -appeared in his face had he died awake or conscious. I added that -secretly I had never believed he would live to reach Valparaiso, had -the ship continued her voyage. He was too old a man to suffer and -survive the physical and mental trials he had passed through; and sad -though his death was under the circumstances which surrounded it, yet -she must think that it had only been hastened a little; for he was -already an old man, and his end might have been near, even had all -prospered and he had reached England in his own ship. - -By degrees I drew her mind away from the subject by leading her -thoughts to our own critical position. At another time I should have -softened my account of our danger: but I thought it best to speak -plainly, as the sense of the insecurity of our lives would in some -measure distract her thoughts from her father's death. - -She asked me if the storm was not abating. - -"It is not increasing in violence," I answered, "which is a good sign. -But there is one danger to be feared which must very shortly take me -on deck. The wind may suddenly lull and blow again hard from another -quarter. This would be the worst thing that could happen to us, for we -should then have what is called a cross sea, and the ship is so deeply -loaded that we might have great difficulty in keeping her afloat." - -"May I go on deck with you?" - -"You would not be able to stand. Feel this!" I exclaimed, as the ship's -stern rose to a sickening height and then came down, down, down, with -the water roaring about her as high as our ears. - -"Let me go with you!" she pleaded. - -"Very well," I replied, meaning to keep her under the companion, -half-way up the ladder. - -I took a big top-coat belonging to the captain and buttoned her up in -it, and also tied his fur cap over her head, so that she would be well -protected from the wind, whilst the coat would keep her dress close -against her. - -I then slipped on my oilskins, and taking a strong grip of her hand to -steady her, led her up the companion ladder. - -"Do not come any farther," said I. - -"Wherever you go I will go," she answered, grasping my arm. - -Admiring her courage and stirred by her words, which were as dear to me -as a kiss from her lips would have been, I led her right on to the deck -over to windward, and made her sit on a small coil of rope just under -the rail. - -The sea was no heavier than it had been since the early morning, and -yet my short absence below had transformed it into a sublime and -stupendous novelty. - -You will remember that not only was the _Grosvenor_ a small ship, but -that she lay deep, with a free board lower by a foot and a half than -she ought to have shown. - -The height from the poop rail to the water was not above twelve feet; -and it is therefore no exaggeration to say that the sea, running from -fifteen to twenty feet high, stood like walls on either side of her. - -To appreciate the effect of such a sea upon a ship like the -_Grosvenor_, you must have crossed the Atlantic in a hurricane, not in -an immense and powerful ocean steamer, but in a yacht. - -But even this experience would not enable you to realise our danger; -for the yacht would not be overloaded with cargo, she would probably be -strong, supple, and light; whereas the _Grosvenor_ was choked to the -height of the hold with seven hundred and fifty tons of dead weight, -and was a Nova Scotia soft wood ship, which means that she might start -a butt at any moment and go to pieces in one of her frightful swoops -downwards. - -Having lodged Miss Robertson in a secure and sheltered place, I crawled -along the poop on to the main-deck and sounded the well again. I found -a trifle over six inches of water in her, which satisfied me that she -was still perfectly tight, and that the extra leakage was owing to the -drainings from the decks. - -I regained the poop and communicated the good news to the boatswain, -who nodded; but I noticed that there was more anxiety in his face than -I liked to see, and that he watched the ship very closely each time she -pitched with extra heaviness. - -Miss Robertson was looking up at the masts with alarmed eyes; but -I pointed to them and smiled, and shook my head to let her know -that their wrecked appearance need not frighten her. I then took -the telescope, and, making it fast over my back, clambered into the -mizzen-top, she watching my ascent with her hands tightly clasped. - -The ensign still roared some half-dozen feet below the gaff-end; it was -a brave bit of bunting to hold on as it did. I planted myself firmly -against the rigging, and carefully swept the weather horizon, and -finding nothing there, pointed the glass to leeward; but all that part -of the sea was likewise a waste of foaming waves, with never a sign of -a ship in all the raging seas. - -I was greatly disappointed, for though no ship could have helped us in -such a sea, yet the sight of one hove to near us--and no ship afloat, -sailer or steamer, but must have hove to in that gale--would have -comforted us greatly, as a promise of help at hand, and rescue to come -when the wind should have gone down. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -All that day the wind continued to blow with frightful force, and the -sky to wear its menacing aspect. On looking, however, at the barometer -at four o'clock in the afternoon, I observed a distinct rise in the -mercury; but I did not dare to feel elated by this promise of an -improvement; for, as I have before said, the only thing the mercury -foretells is a change of weather, but what kind of change you shall -never be sure of until it comes. - -What I most dreaded was the veering of the gale to an opposite quarter, -whereby, a new sea being set running right athwart, or in the eye of -the already raging sea, our decks would be helplessly swept and the -ship grow unmanageable. - -A little after eight the wind sensibly decreased, and, to my great -delight, the sky cleared in the direction whence the gale was blowing, -so that there was a prospect of the sea subsiding before the wind -shifted, that is, if it shifted at all. - -When Cornish, who had been below resting after a long spell, came on -deck and saw the stars shining, and that the gale was moderating, he -stared upwards like one spell-bound, and then, running up to me, seized -my hand and wrung it in silence. - -I heartily returned this mute congratulation, and we both went over -and shook hands with the boatswain; and those who can appreciate the -dangers of the frightful storm that had been roaring about us all day, -and feel with us in the sentiments of despair and helplessness which -the peril we stood in awoke in us, will understand the significance of -our passionate silence as we held each other's hand and looked upon the -bright stars, which shone like the blessing of God upon our forlorn -state. - -I was eager to show Mary Robertson those glorious harbingers, and ran -below to bring her on deck. - -I found her again in the cabin in which her father lay, bending over -his body in prayer. I waited until she turned her head, and then -exclaimed that the wind was falling, and that all the sky in the -north-west was bright with stars, and begged her to follow me and see -them. - -She came immediately, and, after looking around her, cried out in a -rapturous voice-- - -"Oh, Mr. Royle! God has heard our prayers!" and, in the wildness of her -emotions, burst into a flood of tears. - -I held her hand as I answered-- - -"It was your grief that moved me to pray to Him, and I consider you -our guardian angel on board this ship, and that God who loves you will -spare our lives for your sake." - -"No, no; do not say so; I am not worthier than you--not worthier than -the brave boatswain and Cornish, whose repentance would do honour to -the noblest heart. Oh, if my poor father had but been spared to me!" - -She turned her pale face and soft and swimming eyes up to the stars and -gazed at them intently, as though she witnessed a vision there. - -But though the wind had abated, it still blew a gale, and the sea -boiled and tumbled about us and over our decks in a manner that would -have been terrifying had we not seen it in a greater state of fury. - -I sent the steward forward to see if he could get the galley fire to -burn, so as to boil us some water for coffee, for though the ship was -in a warm latitude, yet the wind, owing to its strength, was at times -piercingly cold, and we all longed for a hot drink--a cup of hot coffee -or cocoa being infinitely more invigorating, grateful, and warming than -any kind of spirits drunk cold. - -All that the steward did, however, was to get wet through; and this he -managed so effectually that he came crawling aft, looking precisely as -if he had been fished out of the water with grappling-hooks. - -I lighted a bull's-eye lamp and went to the pumps and sounded the well. - -On hauling up the rod I found to my consternation that there were nine -inches of water in the ship. - -I was so much startled by this discovery that I stood for some moments -motionless; then, bethinking me that one of the plugged auger holes -might be leaking, I slipped forward without saying a word to the -others, and, getting a large mallet from the tool-chest, I entered the -forecastle, so as to get into the fore peak. - -I had not been in the forecastle since the men had left the ship, and -I cannot describe the effect produced upon me by this dark deserted -abode, with its row of idly swinging hammocks glimmering in the light -shed by the bull's-eye lamp; the black chests of the seamen which they -had left behind them; here and there a suit of dark oilskins suspended -by a nail and looking like a hanged man; the hollow space resonant with -the booming thunder of the seas and the mighty wash of water swirling -over the top-gallant deck. - -The whole scene took a peculiarly ghastly significance from the -knowledge that of all the men who had occupied those hammocks and -bunks, one only survived; for four of them we ourselves had killed, and -I could not suppose that the long-boat had lived ten minutes after the -gale had broken upon her. - -I made my way over the cable-ranges, stooping my head to clear the -hammocks, and striking my shins against the sea-chests, and swung -myself into the hold. - -Here I found myself against the water casks, close against the cargo, -and just beyond was the bulk-head behind which the boatswain had hidden -while Stevens bored the holes. - -Carefully throwing the light over the walls, I presently perceived the -plugs or ends of the broom-stick protruding; and going close to them I -found they were perfectly tight, that no sign of moisture was visible -around them. - -It may seem strange that this discovery vexed and alarmed me. - -And yet this was the case. - -It would have made me perfectly easy in my mind to have seen the water -gushing in through one of these holes, because not only would a few -blows of the mallet have set it to rights, but it would have acquainted -me with the cause of the small increase of water in the hold. - -Now that cause must be sought elsewhere. - -Was it possible that the apprehensions I had felt each time the ship -had taken one of her tremendous headers were to be realised?--that she -had strained a butt or started a bolt in some ungetatable place? - -Here where I stood, deep in the ship, below the water-line, it was -frightful to hear her straining, it was frightful to feel her motion. - -The whole place resounded with groans and cries, as if the hold had -been filled with wounded men. - -What bolts, though forged by a Cyclops, could resist that horrible -grinding?--could hold together the immense weight which the sea threw -up as a child a ball, leaving parts of it poised in air, out of water, -unsustained save by the structure that contained it, then letting the -whole hull fall with a hollow, horrible crash into a chasm between the -waves, beating it first here, then there, with blows the force of which -was to be calculated in hundreds of tons? - -I scrambled up through the fore scuttle, and perceiving Cornish smoking -a pipe under the break of the poop, I desired he would go and relieve -the boatswain at the wheel for a short while and send him to me, as I -had something particular to say to him. - -I waited until the boatswain came, as here was the best place I could -choose to conduct a conversation. - -Beyond all question the wind was falling, and though the ship still -rolled terribly, she was not taking in nearly so much water over her -sides. - -I re-trimmed the lamp in my hand, and in a few minutes the boatswain -joined me. - -I said to him at once-- - -"I have just made nine inches of water in the hold." - -"When was that?" he inquired. - -"Ten minutes ago." - -"When you sounded the well before what did you find?" - -"Between five and six inches." - -"I'll tell you what it is, sir," said he. "You'll hexcuse me sayin' of -it, but it's no easy job to get at the true depth of water in a ship's -bottom when she's tumblin' about like this here." - -"I think I got correct soundings." - -"Suppose," he continued, "you drop the rod when she's on her beam ends. -Where's the water? Why, the water lies all on one side, and the rod 'll -come up pretty near dry." - -"I waited until the ship was level." - -"Ah, _you_ did, because you knows your work. But it's astonishin' what -few persons there are as really _does_ know how to sound the pumps. -You'll hexcuse me, sir, but I should like to drop the rod myself." - -"Certainly," I replied, "and I hope you'll make it less than I." - -In order to render my description clear to readers not acquainted with -such details, I may state that in most large ships there is a pipe that -leads from the upper deck, alongside the pumps, down to the bottom or -within a few inches of the bottom of the vessel. The water in the hold -necessarily rises to the height of its own level in this pipe; and in -order to gauge the depth of water, a dry rod of iron, usually graduated -in feet and inches, is attached to the end of a line and dropped down -the tube, and when drawn up the depth of water is ascertained by the -height of the water on the rod. - -It is not too much to say that no method for determining this essential -point in a ship's safety could well be more susceptible of inaccuracy -than this. - -The immersed rod, on being withdrawn from the tube, wets the sides of -the tube; hence, though the rod be dry when it is dropped a second -time, it is wetted in its passage down the tube; and as the accuracy -of its indication is dependent on its exhibiting the mark of the level -of water, it is manifest that if it becomes wetted before reaching the -water, the result it shows on being withdrawn must be erroneous. - -Secondly, as the boatswain remarked to me, if the well be sounded at -any moment when the vessel is inclined at any angle on one side or the -other, the water must necessarily roll to the side to which the vessel -inclines, by which the height of the water in the well is depressed, so -that the rod will not report the true depth. - -Hence, to use the sounding-rod properly, one must not only possess good -sense, but exercise very great judgment. - -I held the lamp close to the sounding-pipe, and the boatswain carefully -dried the rod on his coat preparatory to dropping it. - -He then let it fall some distance down the tube, keeping it, however, -well above the bottom, until the ship, midway in a roll, stood for a -moment on a level keel. - -He instantly dropped the rod, and hauling it up quickly, remarked that -we had got the true soundings this time. - -He held the rod to the light, and I found it a fraction over nine -inches. - -"That's what it is, anyways," said he, putting down the rod. - -"An increase of three inches since the afternoon." - -"Well, there's nothen to alarm us in that, is there, Mr. Royle?" he -exclaimed. "Perhaps its one o' my plugs as wants hammerin'." - -"No, they're as tight as a new kettle," I answered. "I have just come -from examining them." - -"Well, all we've got to do is to pump the ship out; and, if we can, -make the pumps suck all right. That 'll show us if anything's wrong." - -This was just the proposition I was about to make; so I went into the -cuddy and sang out for the steward, but he was so long answering that I -lost my temper and ran into the pantry, where I found him shamming to -be asleep. - -I started him on to his legs and had him on the main-deck in less time -than he could have asked what the matter was. - -"Look here!" I cried, "if you don't turn to and help us all to save our -lives, I'll just send you adrift in that quarter-boat with the planks -out of her bottom! What do you mean by pretending to be asleep when I -sing out to you?" - -And after abusing him for some time to let him know that I would have -no skulking, and that if his life were worth having he must save it -himself, for we were not going to do his work and our own as well, I -bid him lay hold of one of the pump-handles, and we all three of us set -to work to pump the ship. - -If this were not the heaviest job we had yet performed, it was the most -tiring; but we plied our arms steadily and perseveringly, taking every -now and then a spell of rest, and shifting our posts so as to vary our -postures; and after pumping I scarcely know how long, the pumps sucked, -whereat the boatswain and I cheered heartily. - -"Now, sir," said the boatswain, as we entered the cuddy to refresh -ourselves with a drain of brandy and water after our heavy exertions, -"we know that the ship's dry, leastways, starting from the ship's -bottom; if the well's sounded agin at half-past ten--its now half-past -nine--that 'll be time enough to find out if anything's gone wrong." - -"How about the watches? We're all adrift again. Here's Cornish at the -wheel, and its your watch on deck." - -As I said this, Miss Robertson came out of the cabin where her father -lay--do what I might I could not induce her to keep away from the old -man's body--and approaching us slowly asked why we had been pumping. - -"Why, ma'm," replied the boatswain, "it's always usual to pump the -water out o' wessels. On dry ships it's done sometimes in the mornin' -watch, and t'others they pumps in the first dog watch. All accordin'. -Some wessels as they calls colliers require pumpin' all day long; and -the _Heagle_, which was the fust wessel as I went to sea in, warn't the -only Geordie as required pumpin' not only all day long but all night -long as well. Every wessel has her own custom, but it's a werry dry -ship indeed as don't want pumpin' wunce a day." - -"I was afraid," she said, "when I heard the clanking of the pumps that -water was coming into the ship." - -She looked at me earnestly, as though she believed that this was the -case and that I would not frighten her by telling her so. I had learnt -to interpret the language of her eyes by this time, and answered her -doubts as though she had expressed them. - -"I should tell you at once if there was any danger threatened in that -way," I said. "There was more water in the ship than I cared to find in -her, and so the three of us have been pumping her out." - -"About them watches, Mr. Royle?" exclaimed the boatswain. - -"Well, begin afresh, if you like," I replied. "I'll take the wheel for -two hours, and then you can relieve me." - -"Why will you not let me take my turn at the wheel?" said Miss -Robertson. - -The boatswain laughed. - -"I have proved to you that I know how to steer." - -"Well, that's right enough," said the boatswain. - -"All three of you can lie down, then." - -I smiled and shook my head. - -Said the boatswain: "If your arms wur as strong as your sperrit Miss, -there'd be no reason why you shouldn't go turn and turn about with us." - -"But I can hold the wheel." - -"It 'ud fling you overboard. Listen to its kickin'. You might as well -try to prewent one o' Barclay Perkins' dray hosses from bustin' into -a gallop by catchin' hold o' it's tail. It 'ud be a poor look-out -for us to lose you, I can tell yer. What," continued the boatswain, -energetically, "we want to know is that you're sleepin', and forgettin' -all this here excitement in pleasing dreams. To see a lady like you -knocked about by a gale o' wind is just one o' them things I have no -fancy for. Mr. Royle, if I had a young and beautiful darter, and a -Dook or a Barryonet worth a thousand a year, if that ain't sayin' -too much, wos to propose marriage to her, an' ax her to come and be -married to him in some fur-off place, wich 'ud oblige her to cross the -water, blowed if I'd consent. No flesh an' blood o' mine as I had any -kind o' feeling for should set foot on board ship without fust having -a row with me. Make no mistake. I'm talkin' o' females, Miss. I say -the sea ain't a fit place for women and gells. It does middlin' well -for the likes of me and Mr. Royle here, as aren't afraid o' carryin' -full-rigged ships and other agreeable dewices in gunpowder and Hindian -ink on our harms, and is seasoned, as the sayin' is, to the wexations -o' the mariner's life. But when it comes to young ladies crossin' the -ocean, an' I don't care wot they goes as--as passengers or skippers' -wives, or stewardishes, or female hemigrants--then I say it ain't -proper, and if I'd ha' been a lawyer I'd ha' made it agin the law, -and contrived such a Act of Paleyment as 'ud make the gent as took -his wife, darter, haunt, cousin, grandmother, female nephey, or any -relations in petticoats to sea along with him, wish hisself hanged -afore he paid her passage money." - -I was so much impressed by this vehement piece of rhetoric, delivered -with many convulsions of the face, and a great deal of hand-sawing, -that I could not forbear mixing him some more brandy and water, which -he drank at a draught, having first wished Miss Robertson and myself -long life and plenty of happiness. - -His declamation had quite silenced her, though I saw by her eyes that -she would renew her entreaties the moment she had me alone. - -"Then you'll go on deck, sir, and relieve Cornish, and I'll turn in?" -observed the boatswain. - -"Yes." - -"Right," said he, and was going. - -I added: - -"We must sound the well again at half-past ten." - -"Aye! aye!" - -"I shan't be able to leave the wheel, and I would rather you should -sound than Cornish. I'll send the steward to rouse you." - -"Very well," said he. And after waiting to hear if I had anything more -to say, he entered his cabin, and in all probability was sound asleep -two minutes after. - -Miss Robertson stood near the table, with her hands folded and her eyes -bent down. - -I was about to ask her to withdraw to her cabin and get some sleep. - -"Mr. Royle, you are dreadfully tired and worn out, and yet you are -going on deck to remain at the wheel for two hours." - -"That is nothing." - -"Why will you not let me take your place?" - -"Because----" - -"Let the steward keep near that ladder there, so that I can call to him -if I want you." - -"Do you think I could rest with the knowledge you were alone on deck?" - -"You refuse because you believe I am not to be trusted," she said -gently, looking down again. - -"If your life were not dependent on the ship's safety, I should not -think of her safety, but of yours. I refuse for your own sake, not for -mine--no, I will not say that. For _both_ our sakes I refuse. I have -one dear hope--well, I will call it a great ambition, which I need not -be ashamed to own: it is, that I may be the means of placing you on -shore in England. This hope has given me half the courage with which -I have fought on through danger after danger since I first brought you -from the wreck. If anything should happen to you now, I feel that all -the courage and strength of heart which have sustained me would go. -Is that saying too much? I do not wish to exaggerate," I exclaimed, -feeling the blood in my cheeks, and lamenting, without being able to -control, the impulse that had forced this speech from me, and scarcely -knowing whether to applaud or detest myself for my candour. - -She looked up at me with her frank, beautiful eyes, but on a sudden -averted them from my face to the door of the cabin where her dead -father lay. A look of indescribable anguish came over her, and she drew -a deep, long, sobbing breath. - -Without another word, I took her hand and led her to the cabin, and I -knew the reason why she did not turn and speak to me was that I might -not see she was weeping. - -But it was a time for action, and I dared not let the deep love that -had come to me for her divert my thoughts from my present extremity. - -I summoned the steward, who tumbled out of his cabin smartly enough, -and ordered him to bring his mattress and lay it alongside the -companion ladder so as to be within hail. - -This done, I gained the poop and sent Cornish below. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -As I stood at the wheel I considered how I should act when the storm -had passed. And I was justified in so speculating, because now the sky -was clear right away round, and the stars large and bright, though a -strong gale was still blowing and keeping the sea very heavy. - -Indeed, the clearness of the sky made me think that the wind would go -to the eastward, but as yet there was no sign of it veering from the -old quarter. - -We had been heading west ever since we hove to, and travelling -broadside on dead south south-east. Now, if wind and sea dropped, our -business would be to make sail if possible, and, with the wind holding -north north-west, make an eight hours' board north-easterly, and then -round and stand for Bermuda. - -This, of course, would depend upon the weather. - -It was, however, more than possible that we should be picked up very -soon by some passing ship. It was not as though we were down away in -the South Pacific, or knocking about in the poisonous Gulf of Guinea, -or up in the North Atlantic at 60°. We were on a great ocean highway, -crossed and re-crossed by English, American, Dutch, and French ships, -to and from all parts of the world; and bad indeed would our fortune -be, and baleful the star under which we sailed, if we were not -overhauled in a short time and assistance rendered us. - -A great though unexpressed ambition of mine was to save the ship and -navigate her myself, not necessarily to England, but to some port -whence I could communicate with her owners and ask for instructions. - -As I have elsewhere admitted, I was entirely dependent on my -profession, my father having been a retired army surgeon, who had died -extremely poor, leaving me at the age of twelve an orphan, with no -other friend in the world than the vicar of the parish we dwelt in, -who generously sent me to school for two years at his own expense, and -then, after sounding my inclinations, apprenticed me to the sea. - -Under such circumstances, therefore, it would be highly advantageous -to my interests to save the ship, since my doing so would prefer some -definite claims upon the attention of the owners, or perhaps excite -the notice of another firm more generous in their dealings with their -servants, and of a higher commercial standing. - -Whilst I stood dreaming in this manner at the wheel, allowing my -thoughts to run on until I pictured myself the commander of a fine -ship, and ending in allowing my mind to become engrossed with thoughts -of Mary Robertson, whom I believed I should never see again after we -had bidden each other farewell on shore, and who would soon forget the -young second mate, whom destiny had thrown her with for a little time -of trouble and suffering and death, I beheld a figure advance along the -poop, and on its approach I perceived the boatswain. - -"I've been sounding the well, Mr. Royle," said he. "I roused up on a -sudden and went and did it, as I woke up anxious; and there's bad news, -sir, twelve inches o' water." - -"Twelve inches!" I cried. - -"It's true enough. I found the bull's-eye on the cuddy table, and the -rod don't tell no lies when it's properly used." - -"The pumps suck at four inches, don't they?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Then that's a rise of eight inches since half-past nine o'clock. What -time is it now?" - -"Twenty minutes arter ten." - -"We must man the pumps at once. Call Cornish. You'll find the steward -on a mattress against the companion ladder." - -He paused a moment to look round him at the weather, and then went away. - -I could not doubt now that the ship was leaky, and after what we -had endured, and my fond expectation of saving the vessel--and the -miserable death, after all our hopes, that might be in store for us--I -felt that it was very very hard on us, and I yielded to a fit of -despair. - -What struck most home to me was that my passionate dream to save Mary -Robertson might be defeated. The miseries which had been accumulated on -her wrung my heart to think of. First her shipwreck, and then the peril -of the mutiny, and then the dreadful storm that had held us face to -face with death throughout the fearful day, and then the death of her -father, and now this new horror of the ship whereon we stood filling -with water beneath our feet. - -Yet hope--and God be praised for this mercy to all men--springs -eternal, and after a few minutes my despair was mastered by reflection. -If the ship made no more water than eight inches in three-quarters -of an hour, it would be possible to keep her afloat for some days by -regular spells at the pump, and there were four hands to work them if -Miss Robertson steered whilst we pumped. In that time it would be a -thousand to one if our signal of distress was not seen and answered. - -Presently I heard the men pumping on the main-deck, and the boatswain's -voice singing to encourage the others. What courage that man had! I, -who tell this story, am ashamed to think of the prominence I give to -my own small actions when all the heroism belongs to him. I know not -what great writer it was who, visiting the field of the battle of -Waterloo, asked how it was that the officers who fell in that fight had -graves and monuments erected to them, when the soldiers--the privates -by whom all the hard work was done, who showed all the courage and won -the battle--lay nameless in hidden pits? And so when we send ships to -discover the North Pole we have little to say about poor Jack, who -loses his life by scurvy, or his toes and nose by frost-bites, who -labours manfully, and who makes all the success of the expedition -so far as it goes. Our shouts are for Jack's officer; we title him, -we lionize him--_his_ was all the work, all the suffering, all the -anxiety, we think. I, who have been to sea, say that Jack deserves as -much praise as his skipper, and perhaps a little more; and if honour -is to be bestowed, let Jack have his share; and if a monument is to be -raised, let poor Jack's name be written on the stone as well as the -other's; for be sure that Jack could have done without the other, but -also be sure that the other couldn't have done without Jack. - -Chained to my post, which I dared not vacate for a moment, for the ship -pitched heavily, and required close watching as she came to and fell -off upon the swinging seas, I grew miserably anxious to learn how the -pumping progressed, and felt that, after the boatswain, my own hands -would do four times the work of the other two. - -It was our peculiar misfortune that of the four men on board the ship -three only should be capable; and that as one of the three men was -constantly required at the wheel, there were but two available men -to do the work. Had the steward been a sailor our difficulties would -have been considerably diminished, and I bitterly deplored my want -of judgment in allowing Fish and the Dutchman to be destroyed; for -though I would not have trusted Johnson and Stevens, yet the other two -might have been brought over to work for us, and I had no doubt that -the spectacle of the perishing wretches in the long-boat, as she was -whirled past us, would have produced as salutary an effect upon them as -it had upon Cornish; and with two extra hands of this kind we could not -only have kept the pumps going, but have made shift to sail the ship -at the same time. - -The hollow thrashing sounds of the pump either found Miss Robertson -awake or aroused her, for soon after the pumping had commenced she came -on deck, swathed in the big warm overcoat and fur cap. - -Such a costume for a girl must make you laugh in the description; and -yet, believe me, she lost in nothing by it. The coat dwarfed her figure -somewhat, but the fur cap looked luxurious against her fair hair, -and nothing could detract from the exquisite femininity of her face, -manner, and carriage. I speak of the impression she had made on me in -the daytime; the starlight only revealed her white face now to me. - -"Is the water still coming into the ship?" she asked. - -"The bo'sun has reported to me that eight inches deep have come into -her since half-past nine." - -"Is that much?" - -"More than we want." - -"I don't like to trouble you with my questions, Mr. Royle; but I am -very, very anxious." - -"Of course you are; and do not suppose that you can trouble. Ask me -what you will. I promise to tell you the truth." - -"If you find that you cannot pump the water out as fast as it comes in, -what will you do?" - -"Leave the ship." - -"How?" she exclaimed, looking around her. - -"By that quarter-boat there." - -"But it would fill with water and sink in such waves as these." - -"These waves are not going to last, and it is quite likely that by -this time to-morrow the sea will be calm." - -"Will the ship keep afloat until to-morrow?" - -"If the water does not come in more rapidly than it does at present, -the ship will keep afloat so long as we can manage to pump her out -every hour. And so," said I, laughing to encourage her, "we are not -going to die all at once, you see." - -She drew quite close to me and said-- - -"I shall never fear death while you remain on board, Mr. Royle. You -have saved me from death once, and, though I may be wicked in daring to -prophesy, yet I feel _certain_--_certain_," she repeated, with singular -emphasis, "that you will save my life again." - -"I shall try very hard, be sure of that," I answered. - -"I believe--no, it is not so much a belief as a strong conviction, -with which my mind seems to have nothing to do, that, whatever dangers -may be before us, you and I will not perish." - -She paused, and I saw that she was looking at me earnestly. - -"You will not think me superstitious if I tell you that the reason of -my conviction is a dream? My poor father came and stood beside me: he -was so _real_! I stretched out my arms to him, and he took my hand and -said, '_Darling, do not fear! He who has saved your life once will -save it again. God will have mercy upon you and him for the prayers -you offered to Him._' He stooped and kissed me and faded away, and I -started up and heard the men pumping. I went to look at him, for I -thought ... I thought he had really come to my side.... Oh, Mr. Royle, -his spirit is with us!" - -Though my mind was of too prosaic a turn to catch at any significance -in a dream, yet there was a strange, deep, solemn tenderness in her -voice and manner as she related this vision, that impressed me. It made -my heart leap to hear her own sweet lips pronounce her faith in me, -and my natural hopes and longings for life gathered a new light and -enthusiasm from her own belief in our future salvation. - -"Shipwrecked persons have been saved by a dream before now," I replied, -gravely. "Many years ago a vessel called the _Mary_ went ashore on some -rocks to the southward of one of the Channel Islands. A few of the -crew managed to gain the rocks, where they existed ten or twelve days -without water or any kind of food save limpets, which only increased -their thirst without relieving their hunger. A vessel bound out of -Guernsey passed the rocks at a distance too far away to observe the -signals of distress made by the perishing men. But the son of the -captain had twice dreamed that there were persons dying on those rocks, -and so importuned his father to stand close to them that the man with -great reluctance consented. In this way, and by a dream, those sailors -were saved. Though I do not, as a rule, believe in dreams, I believe -this story to be true, and I believe in your dream." - -She remained silent, but the ship presently giving a sudden lurch, she -put her hand on my arm to steady herself, and kept it there. Had I -dared I should have bent my head and kissed the little hand. She could -not know how much she made me love her by such actions as this. - -"The boatswain has told me," she said, after a short silence, "that you -want to save the ship. I asked him why? Are you angry with me for being -curious?" - -"Not in the least. What did he answer?" - -"He said that you thought the owners would recompense you for your -fidelity, and promote you in their service." - -"Now how could he know this? I have never spoken such thoughts to him." - -"It would not be difficult to guess such a wish." - -"Well, I don't know that I have any right to expect promotion or -recompense of any kind from owners who send their ship to sea so badly -provisioned that the men mutiny." - -"But if the water gains upon the ship you will not be able to save her?" - -"No, she must sink." - -"What will you do then?" - -"Put you on shore or on board another ship," I replied, laughing at my -own evasion, for I knew what she meant. - -"Oh, of course, if we do not reach the shore we shall none of us be -able to do anything," she said, dropping her head, for she stood close -enough to the binnacle light to enable me to see her movements and -almost catch the expression on her face. "I mean what will you do when -we get ashore?" - -"I must try to get another ship." - -"To command?" - -"Oh dear no! as second mate, if they'll have me." - -"If command of a ship were given you would you accept it?" - -"If I could, but I can't." - -She asked quickly, "Why not?" - -"Because I have not passed an examination as master." - -She was silent again, and I caught myself listening eagerly to the -sound of the pumping going on on the main-deck and wondering at my own -levity in the face of our danger. But I could not help forgetting a -very great deal when she was at my side. - -All at once it flashed upon me that her father owned several ships, and -that her questions were preliminary to her offering me the command of -one of them. - -I give you my honour that all recollection of who and what she was, -of her station on shore, of her wealth as the old man's heiress, had -as absolutely gone out of my mind as if the knowledge had never been -imparted. What she was to me--what love and the wonderful association -of danger and death had endeared her to me as--was what she was as she -stood by my side, a sweet and gentle woman whom my heart was drawing -closer and closer to every hour, whose life I would have died to -preserve, whose danger made my own life a larger necessity to me than I -should have felt it. - -A momentary emotion of disappointment, a resentment whereof I knew not -the meaning, through lacking the leisure or the skill to analyse it, -made me turn and say-- - -"Would you like me to command one of your ships, Miss Robertson?" - -"Yes," she answered, promptly. - -"As a recompense for my humane efforts to preserve you from drowning?" - -She withdrew her hand from my arm and inclined her head to look me full -in the face. - -"Mr. Royle, I never thought you would speak to me like that." - -"I want no recompense for what I have done, Miss Robertson." - -"I have not offered you any recompense." - -"Let me feel," I said, "that you understand it is possible for an -English sailor to do his duty without asking or expecting any manner of -reward. The Humane Society's medals are not for him." - -"Why are you angry with me?" she exclaimed, sinking her head, and -speaking with a little sob in her voice. - -I was stirred to the heart by her broken tones, and answered-- - -"I am not angry. I could not be angry with you. I wish you to feel that -what I have done, that whatever I may do is ... is...." - -I faltered and stopped--an ignominious break down! though I think it -concealed the true secret of my resentment. - -I covered my confusion by taking her hand, and resting it on my arm -again. - -"Do you mean," she said, "that all you have done has been for my sake -only--out of humanity--that you would do as much for anybody else?" - -"No," said I, boldly. - -Again she withdrew her hand and remained silent, and I made up my mind -not to interrupt her thoughts. - -After a few moments she went to the ship's side, and stood there; -sometimes looking at the stars, and sometimes at the water that -stretched away into the gloom in heavy breaking seas. - -The wind was singing shrilly up aloft, but the sounds of the pumping -ceased on a sudden. - -I awaited the approach of the boatswain with inexpressible anxiety. -After an interval I saw his figure come up the poop ladder. - -"Pumps suck!" he roared out. - -"Hurrah!" I shouted. "Down with you for grog all round," for the other -two were following the boatswain. But they all came aft first and stood -near the wheel, blowing like whales, and Miss Robertson joined the -group. - -"If it's no worse than this, bo'sun," I exclaimed, "she'll do." - -"Aye, she'll do, sir; but it's hard work. My arms feel as though they -wos tied up in knots." - -"So do mine," said the steward. - -"Shall I take the wheel?" asked Cornish. - -"No; go and get some grog and turn in, all of you. I am as fresh as a -lark, and will stay here till twelve o'clock," I replied. - -The steward at once shuffled below. - -"Boatswain, ask Mr. Royle to let me take the wheel," said Miss -Robertson. "He has been talking to me for the last half-hour and -sometimes held the wheel with one hand. I am sure I can hold it." - -"As you won't go below, Miss Robertson, you shall steer; but I will -stop by you," I said. - -"That will be of no use!" she exclaimed. - -Cornish smothered a laugh and walked away. - -"Now, bo'sun, down with you," I cried. "I'll have you up again shortly -to sound the well. But half an hour's sleep is something. If you get -knocked up, I lose half the ship's company--two-thirds of it." - -"All right, sir," he replied, with a prodigious yawn. "You an' the lady -'ll know how to settle this here business of steering." - -And off he went. - -"You see how obedient these men are, Miss Robertson. Why will you not -obey orders, and get some sleep?" - -"I have offended you, Mr. Royle, and I am very, very sorry." - -"Let us make peace then," I said, holding out my hand. - -She took it; but when I had got her hand, I would not let it go for -some moments. - -She was leaving the deck in silence when she came back and said-- - -"If we should have to leave this ship suddenly, I should not like--it -would make me unhappy for ever to think of poor papa left in her." - -She spoke, poor girl, with a great effort. - -I answered immediately-- - -"Any wish you may express shall be carried out." - -"He would go down in this ship without a prayer said for him," she -exclaimed, sobbing. - -"Will you leave this with me? I promise you that no tenderness, no -reverence, no sincere sorrow shall be wanting." - -"Mr. Royle, you are a dear good friend to me. God knows how lonely I -should have been without you--and yet--I made you angry." - -"Do not say that. What I do I do for your safety--for your ultimate -happiness--so that when we say farewell to each other on shore, I -may feel that the trust which God gave me in you was honourably and -faithfully discharged. I desire, if our lives are spared, that this -memory may follow me when all this scene is changed, and we behold it -again only in our dreams. I should have told you my meaning just now, -but one cannot always express one's thoughts." - -"You have told me your meaning, and I shall not forget it. God bless -you!" she exclaimed, in her calm, earnest voice, and went slowly down -into the cuddy. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -The wind still continued a brisk gale and the sea very heavy. Yet -overhead it was a glorious night, and as the glass had risen steadily, -I was surprised to find the wild weather holding on so long. - -I busied my head with all kinds of schemes to save the ship, and -believed it would be no hard matter to do so if the water did not come -into her more quickly than she was now making it. - -Unfortunately, there were only two parts of the ship's hold which we -could get into: namely, right forward in the fore peak, and right aft -down in the lazarette. If she had strained a butt, or started any part -of her planking or outer skin, amidships or anywhere in her bottom -between these two points, there would be no chance of getting at the -leak unless the cargo were slung out of her. - -But the leak could not be considered very serious that did not run a -greater depth of water into the ship than under a foot an hour; and -with the Bermudas close at hand and the weather promising fair, I could -still dare to think it possible, despite the hopes and fears which -alternately depressed and elevated me, to bring the vessel to port, all -crippled and under-manned as she was. - -These speculations kept me busily thinking until half-past eleven, on -which I bawled to the steward, who got up and called the boatswain and -Cornish, though I only wanted the boatswain. Cornish thought it was -midnight and his turn to take the wheel, so he came aft. I resigned -my post, being anxious to get on the main-deck, where I found the -bo'sun in the act of sounding the well, he having lost some time in -re-lighting the lamp, which had burnt out. - -He dropped the rod carefully and found the water thirteen inches -deep,--that was, nine inches high in the pumps. - -"Just what I thought," said he; "she's takin' of it at a foot an hour, -no better and no worse." - -"Well, we must turn to," I exclaimed. "We mustn't let it rise above a -foot, as every inch will make our work longer and harder." - -"If it stops at that, good and well," said the boatswain. "But there's -always a hif in these here sinkin' cases. However, there's time enough -to croak when the worst happens." - -He called to the steward, and we all three went to work and pumped -vigorously, and kept the handles grinding and clanking, with now and -again a spell of a couple of minutes' rest between, until the pumps -gave out the throaty sound which told us that the water was exhausted. - -Though this proved beyond a doubt that, providing the leak remained as -it was, we should be able to keep the water under, the prospect before -us of having to work the pumps every hour was extremely disheartening; -all four of us required sleep to put us right, and already our bones -were aching with weariness. Yet it was certain that we should be able -to obtain at the very best but brief snatches of rest; and I for one -did not even promise myself so much, for I had strong misgivings as to -the condition of the ship's bottom, and was prepared, at any moment, to -find the water gaining more rapidly upon us than we could pump it out, -though I kept my fears to myself. - -I had been on deck now for four hours at one stretch; so, leaving -Cornish at the wheel, I lay down on the steward's mattress in the -cuddy, whilst he seated himself on the bench with his head upon the -cuddy table, and snored in that posture. - -But we were all aroused again within the hour by Cornish, who called -to us down the companion, and away we floundered, with our eyes gummed -up with sleep, to the pumps, and wearily worked them like miserable -automatons. - -The dawn found me again at the wheel, having been there half an hour. - -I scanned the broken desolate horizon in the pale light creeping over -it, but no ship was in sight. The sea, though not nearly so dangerous -as it had been, was terribly sloppy, short, and quick, and tumbled -very often over the ship's sides, making the decks, with the raffle -that encumbered them, look wretched. - -I had not had my clothes off me for some days, and the sense of -personal discomfort in no small degree aggravated the profound feeling -of weariness which ached like rheumatism in my body and absolutely -stung in my legs. The skin of my face was hard and dry with long -exposure to the terrible wind and the salt water it had blown and dried -upon it; and though my underclothing was dry, yet it produced all the -sensation of dampness upon my skin, and never in all my life had I -felt so uncomfortable, weary, and spiritless as I did standing at the -wheel when the dawn broke and I looked abroad upon the rugged fields -of water, and found no vessel in sight to inspire me with a moment's -emotion of hope. - -I was replaced at the wheel by the boatswain, and took another turn -at the pumps. When this harassing job was ended, I went into the -forecastle, making my way thither with much difficulty. - -I had a sacred duty to perform, and now that the daylight was come it -was proper I should go to work. - -On entering the forecastle I looked around me on the empty hammocks -swinging from the deck, and finding one that looked new and clean, took -it down and threw the mattress and blankets out of it and folded it up -as a piece of canvas. - -I then searched the carpenter's berth for a sail needle, twine, and -palm, which things, together with the hammock, I took aft. - -On reaching the cuddy I called Cornish, whose services in this matter I -preferred to the steward's, and bid him follow me into the cabin where -the old man's body lay. - -When there, I closed the door and informed him that we should bury -the poor old gentleman when the morning was more advanced, and that I -wished him to help me to sew up the body in the hammock. - -God knows I had rather that any man should have undertaken this job -than I; but it was a duty I was bound to perform, and I desired, -for Miss Robertson's sake, that it should be carried out with all -the reverence and tenderness that so rude and simple a burial was -susceptible of, and nothing done to cause the least violence to her -feelings. - -We spread the hammock open on the deck, and lifted the body and placed -it on the hammock, and rolled a blanket over it. A very great change -had come over the face of the corpse since death, and I do not think -I should have known it as the kindly, dignified countenance, reverent -with its white hair and beard, that had smiled at me from the bunk and -thanked me for what I had done. - -For what I had done!--alas! how mocking was this memory now!--with what -painful cynicism did that lonely face illustrate the power of man over -the great issues of life and death! - -I brought the sides of the hammock to meet over the corpse and held -them while Cornish passed the stitches. I then sent him to find me a -big holystone or any pieces of iron, so as to sink the body, and he -brought some pieces of the stone, which I secured in the clues at the -foot of the hammock. - -We left the face exposed and raised the body on to the bunk and covered -it over; after which I despatched Cornish for a carpenter's short-stage -I had noticed forward, and which was in use for slinging the men over -the ship's side for scraping or painting her. A grating would have -answered our purpose better, but the hatches were battened down, the -tarpaulins over them, and there was no grating to be got at without -leaving the hatchway exposed. - -I dressed this short-stage in the big ensign, and placed it on the -upper bunk ready to be used, and then told Cornish to stand by with the -steward, and went aft and knocked at Miss Robertson's door. - -My heart was in my throat, for this mission was even more ungrateful -to me than the sewing up of the body had been, and I was afraid that -I should not be able to address her tenderly enough, and show her how -truly I mourned for and with her. - -As I got no answer, I was leaving, wishing her to obtain all the sleep -she could, but when I had gone a few paces she came out and followed -me. - -"Did you knock just now, Mr. Royle?" she asked. - -I told her yes, but could not immediately summon up courage enough to -tell her why I had knocked. - -She looked at me inquiringly, and I began to reproach myself for my -weakness, and still I could not address her; but seeing me glance -towards her father's cabin she understood all on a sudden, and covered -her face with her hands. - -"I have left his face uncovered for you to kiss," I said, gently laying -my hand on her arm. - -She went at once into his cabin, and I closed the door upon her and -waited outside. - -She did not keep me long waiting. I think, brave girl that she was, -even amid all her desolating sorrow, that she knew I would wish the -burial over so that we might address ourselves again to the ship. - -"I leave him to you now," she said. - -I thought she meant that she would not witness the funeral, and was -glad that she had so resolved, and I accordingly took her hand to lead -her away to her cabin. - -"Let me be with you!" she exclaimed. "Indeed, indeed, I am strong -enough to bear it. I should not be happy if I did not know the moment -when he left me, that I might pray to God for him then." - -"Be it so," I answered. "I will call you when we are ready." - -She left me; and Cornish and the steward and I went into the cabin to -complete the mournful preparations. - -I cased the body completely in the hammock, and we then raised it -up and laid it upon the stage, which we had made to answer for a -stretcher, and over it I threw a sheet, so that only the sheet and the -ensign were visible. - -This done, I consulted with Cornish as to what part of the deck we -should choose in order to tilt the body overboard. It is generally the -custom to rest the body near the gangway, but the ship was rolling too -heavily to enable us to do this now, and the main-deck was afloat, so -we decided on carrying the body right aft, and thither we transported -it, lodging the foot of the stretcher on the rail abaft the port -quarter-boat. - -The boatswain removed his hat when he saw the body, and the others -imitated him. - -I went below and told Miss Robertson that all was ready, and took from -among the books belonging to the captain an old thin volume containing -the Office for the Burial of Dead at Sea, printed in very large -type. It was fortunate that I had noticed this slip of a book when -overhauling Captain Coxon's effects, for my own Prayer-Book did not -contain the office, and there was no Church Service among the captain's -books. - -I entreated Miss Robertson to reflect before resolving to witness the -burial. I told her that her presence could do no good, and faithfully -assured her that prayers would be read, and the sad little service -conducted as reverently and tenderly as my deep sympathy and the -respect which the others felt for her could dictate. - -She only answered that it would comfort her to pray for him and herself -at the moment he was leaving her, and put her hand into mine, and -gently and with tearless eyes, though with a world of sorrow in her -beautiful pale face, asked me to take her on deck. - -Such grief was not to be argued with--indeed, I felt it would be cruel -to oppose any fancy, however strange it seemed to me, which might -really solace her. - -She started and stopped when she saw the stretcher and the white sheet -and the outline beneath it, and her hand clasped mine tightly; but she -recovered herself and we advanced, and then resolving that she should -not see the body leave the stretcher, I procured a flag and placed it -near the after skylight and said she could kneel there; which she did -with her back turned upon us. - -I then whispered Cornish to watch me and take note of the sign I should -give him to tilt the stretcher and to do it quickly; after which I -placed myself near the body and began to read the service. - -It was altogether a strange, impressive scene, one that in a picture -would, I am sure, hold the eye for a long time; but in the reality -create an ineffaceable memory. - -The insecurity--the peril, I should prefer to say--of our situation, -heightened my own feelings, and made me behold in the corpse we were -about to commit to the deep a sad type and melancholy forerunner of -our own end. The ship, with her broken masts, her streaming decks, -her jib-boom gone, her one sail swollen by the hoarse gale, plunging -and rolling amid the tumultuous seas that foamed around and over her; -the strong man at the wheel, bareheaded, his hair blown about by the -wind, looking downwards with a face full of blunt and honest sorrow, -and his lips moving as they repeated the words I read; the motionless, -kneeling girl; the three of us standing near the corpse; the still, -dead burden on the stretcher, waiting to be launched; the blue sky, -and sun kindling into glory as it soared above the eastern horizon: all -these were details which formed a picture the wildness and strangeness -of which no pen could describe. They are all, as a vision, before me as -I write; but they make me know how poor are words, and eloquence how -weak, when great realities and things which have befallen many men are -to be described. - -When I came to that part of the office wherein it is directed that the -body shall be let fall into the sea, my heart beat anxiously, for I -feared that the girl would look around and see what was done. - -I gave the sign, and instantly Cornish obeyed, and I thank God that -the sullen splash of the corpse was lost in the roar of a sea bursting -under the ship's counter. - -Now that it was gone, the worst was over; and in a short time I brought -the service to an end, omitting many portions which assuredly I had -not skipped had not time been precious to us. - -I motioned to Cornish and the steward to carry the stretcher away, and -waited for Miss Robertson to rise; but she remained for some minutes on -her knees, and when she rose, the deck was clear. - -She gave me her hand, and smiled softly, though with a heart-broken -expression in her eyes, at the boatswain by way of thanking him for his -sympathy, and I then conducted her below and left her at the door of -the cabin, saying-- - -"I have no words to tell you how I feel for you. Pray God that those -who are still living may be spared, and be sure that in His own good -time He will comfort you." - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -All that morning the gale continued fresh and the sea dangerous. We -found that the ship was regularly making nine to ten inches of water an -hour; and after the funeral we turned to and pumped her out again. - -But this heavy work, coupled with our extreme anxiety and the perils -and labour we had gone through, was beginning to tell heavily upon us. -The steward showed signs of what strength he had coming to an end, -and Cornish's face had a worn and wasted look as of a man who has -fasted long. The boatswain supported this fatigue best, and always -went cheerfully to work, and had encouraging words for us all. As -for me, what I suffered most from was, strange to say, the eternal -rolling of the ship. At times it completely nauseated me. Also it gave -me a racking headache, and occasionally the motion so bewildered me -that I was obliged to sit down and hold my head in my hands until the -dizziness had passed. - -I believe this feeling was the result of over-work, long wakefulness, -and preying anxiety, which was hourly sapping my constitution. Yet -I was generally relieved by even a quarter of an hour's sleep, but -presently was troubled again, and I grew to dread the time when I -should take the wheel, for right aft the motion of the ship was -intensely felt by me, so much so that on that morning, the vessel's -stern falling heavily into a hollow, I nearly fainted, and only saved -myself from rolling on the deck by clinging convulsively to the wheel. - -At a quarter-past eleven I had just gone into the cuddy, after having -had an hour's spell at the pumps with the boatswain and the steward, -when I heard Cornish's voice shouting down the companion, "A sail! a -sail!" - -But a minute before I had felt so utterly prostrated, that I should not -have believed myself capable of taking half-a-dozen steps without a -long rest between each. Yet these magical words sent me rushing up the -companion ladder with as much speed and energy as I should have been -capable of after a long night's refreshing slumber. - -The moment Cornish saw me he pointed like a mad man to the horizon on -the weather beam, and the ship's stern rising at that moment, I clearly -beheld the sails of a vessel, though in what direction she was going I -could not tell by the naked eye. - -Both the boatswain and the other had come running aft on hearing -Cornish's exclamation, and the steward, in the madness of his -eagerness, had swung himself on to the mizzen rigging, and stood there -bawling, "Yonder's the ship! yonder's the ship! Come up here, and -you'll see her plain enough!" - -I got the telescope and pointed it at the vessel, and found that she -was heading directly for us, steering due south, with the gale upon her -starboard quarter. - -On this I cried out: "She's coming slap at us, boys! Hurrah! Cornish, -you were the first to see her; thank you! thank you!" - -And I grasped his hand and shook it wildly. I then seized the -telescope, and inspected the vessel again, and exclaimed, while I held -the glass to my eye-- - -"She's a big ship, bo'sun. She's carrying a main top-gallant sail, and -there's a single reef in her fore-topsail. She can't miss us! She's -coming right at us, hand over fist, boys! Steward, go and tell Miss -Robertson to come on deck. Down with you and belay that squalling. Do -you think we're blind?" - -The small ensign was still alive, roaring away just as we had -hoisted and left it; but in my excitement I did not think the signal -importunate enough, though surely it was so; and rushing to the -flag-locker, I got out the book of signals, and sang out to the -boatswain to help me to bend on the flags which I threw out, and which -would represent that we were sinking. - -We hauled the ensign down, and ran up the string of flags, and glorious -they looked in our eyes, as they streamed out in a semicircle, showing -their brilliant colours against the clear blue sky. - -Again I took the telescope, and set it on the rail, and knelt to steady -myself. - -The hull of the ship was now half risen, and as she came rolling and -plunging over the seas I could discern the vast space of froth she was -throwing up at her bows. Dead on as she was, we could not tell whether -she had hoisted any flag at the peak, and I hoped in mercy to us that -she would send up an answering pennant to the royal mast-head, so that -we might see it and know that our signal was perceived. - -But this was a foolish hope, only such a one as bitter eager anxiety -could coin. She was coming right at us; she _could_ not fail to see -us; what need to answer us yet when a little patience, only a little -patience, and she would be within a biscuit's throw of us? - -Miss Robertson came on deck without any covering on her head, and the -wind blew her hair away from its fastenings and floated it out like a -cloud of gold. She held on to the rail and stared at the coming ship -with wild eyes and a frowning forehead, while the steward, who had -fallen crazy with the sight of the ship, clambered once more into the -mizzen rigging, and shouted and beckoned to the vessel as a little -child would. - -It did not take me long, however, to recover my own reason, the more -especially as I felt that we might require all the sense we had when -the ship rounded and hove to. I could not, indeed, hope that they would -send a boat through such a sea; they would lie by us and send a boat -when the sea moderated, which, to judge by the barometer and the high -and beaming sky, we might expect to find that night or next morning; -and then we should require our senses, not only to keep the pumps -going, but to enter the boat calmly and in an orderly way, and help our -rescuers to save our lives. - -The boatswain leaned against the companion hatchway with his arms -folded, contemplating the approaching ship with a wooden face. -Variously and powerfully as the spectacle of the vessel had affected -Cornish and Miss Robertson, and myself and the steward, on the -boatswain it had scarcely produced any impression. - -I know not what kind of misgiving came into my mind as I looked from -the coming ship to his stolid face. - -I had infinite confidence in this man's judgment and bravery, and -his lifelessness on this occasion weighed down upon me like a heavy -presentiment, insomuch that the cheery gratulatory words I was about -to address to Miss Robertson died away on my lips. - -I should say that we had sighted this vessel's upper sails when she -was about seventeen miles distant, and, therefore, coming down upon us -before a strong wind, and helped onwards by the long running seas, in -less than half an hour her whole figure was plain to us upon the water. - -I examined her carefully through the glass, striving to make out her -nationality by the cut of her aloft. I thought she had the look of a -Scotch ship, her hull being after the pattern of the Aberdeen clippers, -such as I remembered them in the Australian trade, painted green, and -she was also rigged with skysail-poles and a great breadth of canvas. - -I handed the glass to the boatswain, and asked him what country he took -her to be of. After inspecting her, he said he did not think she was -English; the colour of her canvas looked foreign, but it was hard to -tell; we should see her colours presently. - -As she approached, Miss Robertson's excitement grew very great; not -demonstrative--I mean she did not cry out nor gesticulate like the -steward in the rigging; it was visible, like a kind of madness, in her -eyes, in her swelling bosom, in a strange, wonderful, brilliant smile -upon her face, such as a great actress might wear in a play, but which -we who observe it know to be forced and unreal. - -I ran below for the fur cap and coat, and made her put them on, and -then drew her away from the ship's side and kept close to her, even -holding her by the hand for some time, for I could not tell what effect -the sight of the ship might produce upon her mind, already strung and -weakened by privation and cruel sorrow and peril. - -The vessel came rolling and plunging down towards us before the wind, -carrying a sea on either quarter as high as her main-brace bumpkins, -and spreading a great surface of foam before and around her. - -When she was about a couple of miles off they let go the main -top-gallant halliards and clewed up the sail; and then the helm was -starboarded, which brought her bows astern of us and gave her a sheer, -by which we saw that she was a fine barque, of at least eight hundred -tons burden. - -At the same moment she hoisted Russian colours. - -I was bitterly disappointed when I saw that flag. I should have been -equally disappointed by the sight of any other foreign flag, unless it -were the Stripes and Stars, which floats over brave hearts and is a -signal to Englishmen as full of welcome and promise almost as their -own loved bit of bunting. - -I had hoped, God knows how earnestly, that we should behold the English -ensign at the gaff end. Our chances of rescue by a British ship were -fifty to one as against our chances of rescue by a foreigner. Cases, -indeed, have been known of ships commanded by Englishmen sighting -vessels in distress and leaving them to their fate; but, to the honour -and glory of our calling, I say that these cases make so brief a list -that no impartial-minded man will allow them to weigh with him a moment -when he considers the vast number of instances of pluck, humanity, and -heroism which illustrate and adorn the story of British naval life. - -It is otherwise with foreigners. I write not with any foolish insular -prejudice against wooden shoes and continental connexions: we cannot -dispute good evidence. Though I believe that the Russians make fair -sailors, and fight bravely on sea, why was it that my heart sank when -I saw that flag? I say that the British flag is an assurance to all -distressed persons that what can be done for them will be done for -them, and foreigners know this well, and would sooner sight it when -they are in peril than their own colours, be those colours Dutch, or -French, or Spanish, or Danish, or Italian, or Russian. But he must be a -confident man indeed who hopes anything from a vessel sailing under a -foreign flag when life is to be saved at the risk of the lives of the -rescuers. - -"He's goin' to round to!" exclaimed the boatswain, who watched the -movements of ship with an unconcern absolutely phenomenal to me even -to recall now, when I consider that the lives of us all might have -depended upon the issue of the stranger's actions. - -She went gracefully swooping and swashing along the water, and I saw -the hands upon the deck aft standing by at the main-braces to back the -yards. - -"Bo'sun!" I cried, "she means to heave to--she won't leave us!" - -He made no answer, but continued watching her with an immovable face. - -She passed under our stern not more than a quarter of a mile distant, -perhaps not so far. There was a crowd of persons near the wheel, some -looking at us through binocular glasses, others through telescopes. -There were a few women and children among them. - -Yet I could detect no hurry, no eagerness, no excitement in their -movements; they appeared as imperturbable as Turks or Hollanders, -contemplating us as though we were rather an object of curiosity than -in miserable, perishing distress. - -I jumped upon the grating abaft the wheel and waved my hat to them -and pointed to our signals. A man standing near their starboard -quarter-boat, whom, by the way he looked aloft, I judged to be the -captain, flourished his hand in reply. - -I then, at the top of my voice and through my hands, shouted, "We're -sinking! for God's sake stand by us!" On which the same person held up -his hand again, though I do not believe he understood or even heard -what I said. - -Meanwhile they had braced up the foreyards, and as the vessel came -round parallel with us, at a distance of about two-thirds of a mile, -they backed the mainyards, and in a few moments she lay steady, riding -finely upon the water and keeping her decks dry, though the seas were -still splashing over us freely. - -Seeing now, as I believed, that she meant to stand by us, all my -excitement broke out afresh. I cried out that we were saved, and fell -upon my knees and thanked God for His mercy. Miss Robertson sobbed -aloud, and the steward came down out of the rigging, and danced about -the deck, exclaiming wildly and extending his arms towards the ship. -Cornish retained his grasp of the wheel, but could not remove his eyes -from the ship; the boatswain alone remained perfectly tranquil, and -even angered me by his hard, unconcerned face. - -"Good God!" I cried; "do you not value your life? Have you nothing to -say? See, she is lying there, and will wait till the sea moderates, and -then fetch us on board!" - -"Perhaps she may," he answered, "and it'll be time enough for me to go -mad when I _am_ saved." - -And he then folded his arms afresh, and leaned against the rail, -contemplating the ship with the same extraordinary indifference. - -They now hauled down the flag, and I waited anxiously to see if they -would hoist the answering pennant to let us know they understood our -signal; but they made no further sign that way, nor could I be sure, -therefore, that they understood the flags we had hoisted; for though -in those days Marryatt's Code was in use among ships of all nations, -yet it often happened (as it does now), that vessels, both British and -foreign, would, through the meanness of their owners, be sent to sea -with merely the flags indicating their own number on board, so that -speaking one of these vessels was like addressing a dumb person. - -The movements of the people on the Russian barque were quite -discernible by the naked eye; and we all now, saving the boatswain, -watched her with rapt eagerness, the steward stopping his mad antics to -grasp the poop rail, and gaze with devouring eyes. - -We did not know what they would do, and, indeed, we scarcely knew what -we had to expect; for it was plain to us all that a boat would stand -but a poor chance in that violent sea, and that we should run a greater -risk of losing our lives by quitting the ship than by staying in her. - -But would they not give us some sign, some assurance that they meant to -stand by us? - -The agony of my doubts of their intentions was exquisite. - -For some time she held her ground right abreast of us; but our topsail -being full, while the Russian was actually hove to, we slowly began to -reach ahead of her. - -Seeing this, I cried out to Cornish to put the helm hard down, and keep -the sail flat at the leech; but he had already anticipated this order, -though it was a useless one; for the ship came to and fell off with -every sea, though the helm was hard down, and before we could have got -her to behave as we wished, we should have been obliged to clap some -after sail upon her, which I did not dare do, as we had only choice of -the mizzen and crossjack, and either of these sails (both being large), -would probably have slewed her round head into the sea, and thrown her -dead and useless on our hands. - -Seeing that we were slowly bringing the Russian on to our lee quarter, -I called out in the hope of encouraging the others-- - -"No matter! she will let us draw ahead, and then shorten sail and stand -after us." - -"Are they goin' to lower that boat?" exclaimed the boatswain, suddenly -starting out of his apathetic manner. - -There was a crowd of men round the starboard davits where the -quarter-boat hung, but it was not until I brought the telescope to bear -upon them that I could see they were holding an animated discussion. - -The man who had motioned to us, and whom I took to be master of -the ship, stood aft, in company with two others and a woman, and -gesticulated very vehemently, sometimes pointing at us and sometimes at -the sea. - -His meaning was intelligible enough to me, but I was not disheartened; -for though it was plain that he was representing the waves as too -rough to permit them to lower a boat, which was a conclusive sign, at -least, that those whom he addressed were urging him to save us; yet -his refusal was no proof that he did not mean to keep by us until it -should be safe to send a boat to our ship. - -"What will they do, Mr. Royle?" exclaimed Miss Robertson, speaking in a -voice sharpened by the terrible excitement under which she laboured. - -"They will not leave us," I answered. "They are men--and it is enough -that they should have seen you among us to make them stay. Oh!" I -cried, "it is hard that those waves do not subside! but patience. The -wind is lulling--we have a long spell of daylight before us. Would to -God she were an English ship!--I should have no fear then." - -I again pointed the glass at the vessel. - -The captain was still declaiming and gesticulating; but the men -had withdrawn from the quarter-boat, and were watching us over the -bulwarks. - -Since the boat was not to be lowered, why did he continue arguing? - -I watched him intently, watched him until my eyes grew bleared and the -metal rim of the telescope seemed to burn into the flesh around my eye. - -I put the glass down and turned to glance at the flags streaming over -my head. - -"There she goes! I knew it. They never shows no pity!" exclaimed the -boatswain, in a deep voice. - -I looked and saw the figures of the men hauling on the lee main-braces. - -The yards swung round; the vessel's head paid off; they squared away -forward, and in a few minutes her stern was at us, and she went away -solemnly, rolling and plunging; the main top-gallant sail being sheeted -home and the yard hoisted as she surged forward on her course. - -We remained staring after her--no one speaking--no one believing in -the reality of what he beheld. - -Of all the trials that had befallen us, this was the worst. - -Of all the terrible, cruel disappointments that can afflict suffering -people, none, _none_ in all the hideous catalogue, is more deadly, more -unendurable, more frightful to endure than that which it was our doom -then to feel. To witness our salvation at hand and then to miss it; to -have been buoyed up with hope unspeakable; to taste in the promise of -rescue the joy of renovated life; to believe that our suffering was -at an end, and that in a short time we should be among sympathetic -rescuers, looking back with shudders upon the perils from which we had -been snatched--to have felt all this, and then to be deceived! - -I thought my heart would burst. I tried to speak, but my tongue clove -to the roof of my mouth. - -When the steward saw that we were abandoned, he uttered a loud scream -and rushed headlong down into the cuddy. - -I took no notice of him. - -Cornish ran from the wheel, and springing on to the rail, shook his -fist at the departing vessel, raving, and cursing her with horrible, -blasphemous words, black in the face with his mad and useless rage. - -The boatswain took his place and grasped the wheel, never speaking a -word. - -I was aroused from the stupor that had come over me, the effect of -excessive emotion, by Miss Robertson putting her hand in mine. - -"Be brave!" she whispered, with her mouth close to my ear. "God is with -us still. My dead father would not deceive me. We shall be saved yet. -Have courage, and be your own true self again!" - -I looked into her shining eyes, out of which all the excitement that -had fired them while the Russian remained hove to, had departed. There -was a beautiful tranquillity, there was a courage heaven-inspired, -there was a soft and hopeful smile upon her pale face, which fell upon -the tempest in my breast and stilled it. - -God had given her this influence over me, and I yielded to it as though -He Himself had commanded me. - -All her own troubles came before me, all her own bitter trials, her -miserable bereavement; and as I heard her sweet voice bidding me have -courage, and beheld her smiling upon me out of her deep faith in her -simple, sacred dream, I caught up both her hands and bent my head over -them and wept. - -"Cornish!" I cried, recovering myself, and seizing the man by the arm -as he stood shouting at the fast-lessening ship, "what is the use -of those oaths? let them go their ways--the pitiless cowards. We are -Englishmen, and our lives are still our own. Come, brave companion! we -have all undergone too much to permit this trial to break us. See this -lady! she swears that we shall be saved yet. Be of her heart and mine -and the bo'sun's there, and help us to make another fight for it. Come!" - -He suffered me to pull him off his perilous perch, and then sat himself -down upon a coil of rope trembling all over, and hid his face in his -hands. - -But a new trouble awaited me. - -At this moment the steward came staggering up the companion ladder, his -face purple, his eyes protruding, and talking loudly and incoherently. -He clasped the sea-chest belonging to himself, which certainly was of -greater weight than he in his enfeebled state would have been able to -bear had he not been mad. The chest was corded, and he had no doubt -packed it. - -He rushed to the ship's side and pitched the chest overboard, and was -in the act of springing on to the rail, meaning to fling himself into -the sea, when I caught hold of him, and using more force than I was -conscious of, dragged him backward so violently that his head struck -the deck like a cannon shot, and he lay motionless and insensible. - -"That's the best thing that could have happened to him," exclaimed the -boatswain. "Let him lie a bit. He'll come to, and maybe leave his craze -behind him. It wouldn't be the fust time I've seen a daft man knocked -sensible." - -And then, coolly biting a chew out of a stick of tobacco, which he very -carefully replaced in his breeches pocket, he added-- - -"Jim, come and lay hold of this here wheel, will yer, while me and Mr. -Royle pumps the ship out!" - -Cornish got up and took the boatswain's place. - -"I can help you to pump, Mr. Royle!" said Miss Robertson. - -The boatswain laughed. - -"Lor' bless your dear 'art, miss, what next?" he cried. "No, no; you -stand by here ready to knock this steward down agin if he shows hisself -anxious to swim arter the Roosian. We'll see what water the ship's -a-makin', and if she shows herself obstinate, as I rayther think she -will, why, we'll all turn to and leave her. For you've got to deal with -a bad ship as you would with a bad wife: use every genteel persuasion -fust, and if that won't alter her, there's nothen for it but to grease -your boots, oil your hair, and po-litely walk out." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -There being but two of us now to work the pumps, it was more than we -could do to keep them going. We plied them, with a brief spell between, -and then my arms fell to my side, and I told the boatswain I could pump -no more. - -He sounded the well and made six inches. - -"There's only two inches left that we can get out of her," said he; -"and they'll do no harm." - -On which we quitted the main-deck and came into the cuddy. - -"Mr. Royle," he said, seating himself on the edge of the table, "we -shall have to leave this ship if we aren't taken off her. I reckon -it'll require twelve feet o' water to sink her, allowin' for there -being a deal o' wood in the cargo; and maybe she won't go down at that. -However, we'll say twelve feet, and supposin' we lets her be, she'll -give us, if you like, eight or nine hours afore settlin'. I'm not -saying as we ought to leave her; but I'm lookin' at you, sir, and see -that you're werry nigh knocked up; Cornish is about a quarter o' the -man he was; an' as to the bloomin' steward, he's as good as drownded, -no better and no worse. We shall take one spell too many at them pumps -and fall down under it an' never get up agin. Wot we had best do is to -keep a look all around for wessels, get that there quarter-boat ready -for lowerin', and stand by to leave the ship when the sea calms. You -know how Bermuda bears, don't you, sir?" - -"I can find out to-night. It is too late to get sights now." - -"I think," he returned, "that our lives 'll be as safe in the boat as -they are on board this ship, an' a trifle safer. I've been watching -this wessel a good deal, and my belief is that wos another gale to -strike her, she'd make one o' her long plunges and go all to pieces -like a pack o' cards when she got to the bottom o' the walley o' -water. Of course, if this sea don't calm, we must make shift to keep -her afloat until it do. You'll excuse me for talkin' as though I wos -dictatin'. I'm just givin' you the thoughts that come into my head -whilst we wos pumpin'." - -"I quite agree with you," I replied; "I am only thinking of the size of -the quarter-boat; whether she isn't too small for five persons?" - -"Not she! I'll get a bit of a mast rigged up in her and it'll go hard -if we don't get four mile an hour out of her somehows. How fur might -the Bermuda Islands be off?" - -I answered, after reflecting some moments, that they would probably be -distant from the ship between 250 and 300 miles. - -"We should get pretty near 'em in three days," said he, "if the wind -blew that way. Will you go an' tell the young lady what we're thinkin' -o' doing while I overhauls the boat an' see what's wantin' in her? One -good job is, we shan't have to put off through the ship sinkin' all of -a heap. There's a long warning given us, and I can't help thinkin' that -the stormy weather's blown hisself out, for the sky looks to me to have -a regular set fair blue in it." - -He went on to the main-deck. I inspected the glass, which I found had -risen since I last looked at it. This, coupled with the brilliant -sky and glorious sunshine and the diminishing motion of the ship, -cheered me somewhat, though I looked forward with misgiving to leaving -the ship, having upon me the memory of the sufferings endured by -shipwrecked men in this lonely condition, and remembering that Mary -Robertson would be one of us, and have to share in any privations that -might befall us. - -At the same time, it was quite clear to me that the boatswain, Cornish, -and myself would never, with our failing strength, be able to keep the -ship afloat; and for Miss Robertson's sake, therefore, it was my duty -to put a cheerful face upon the melancholy alternative. - -When I reached the poop the first thing I beheld was the Russian -barque, now a square of gleaming white upon the southern horizon. - -I quickly averted my eyes from the shameful object, and saw that the -steward had recovered from his swoon and was squatting against the -companion counting his fingers and smiling at them. - -Miss Robertson was steering the ship, while Cornish lay extended along -the deck, his head pillowed on a flag. - -The wind (as by the appearance of the weather I might have anticipated, -had my mind been free to speculate on such things) had dropped -suddenly, and was now a gentle breeze, and the sea was subsiding -rapidly. Indeed, a most golden, glorious afternoon had set in, with a -promise of a hot and breathless night. - -I approached Miss Robertson, and asked her what was the matter with -Cornish. - -"I noticed him reeling at the wheel," she answered, "with his face -quite white. I put a flag for his head, and told him to lie down. I -called to you, but you did not hear me; and I have been waiting to see -you that you might get him some brandy." - -I found that the boatswain had not yet come aft, and at once went below -to procure a dram for Cornish. I returned and knelt by his side, and -was startled to perceive that his eyeballs were turned up, and his -hands and teeth clenched, as though he were convulsed. Sharp tremors -ran through his body, and he made no reply nor appeared to hear me, -though I called his name several times. - -Believing that he was dying, I shouted to the boatswain, who came -immediately. - -The moment he looked at Cornish he uttered an exclamation. - -"God knows what ails the poor creature!" I cried. "Lift his head, that -I may get some brandy into his mouth." - -The boatswain raised him by the shoulders, but his head hung back like -a dead man's. I drew out my knife and inserted the blade between his -teeth, and by this means contrived to introduce some brandy into his -mouth, but it bubbled back again, which was a terrible sign, I thought; -and still the tremors shook his poor body, and the eyes remained -upturned, making the face most ghastly to see. - -"It's his heart broke," exclaimed the boatswain, in a tremulous voice. -"Jim, what's the matter with 'ee, mate? You're not goin' to let the -sight o' that Roosian murderer kill you? Come, come! God Almighty knows -we've all had a hard fight for it, but we're not beat yet, lad. 'Tis -but another spell o' waitin', and it'll come right presently. Don't let -a gale o' wind knock the breath out o' you. What man as goes to sea but -meets with reverses like this here? Swaller the brandy, Jim!... My -God! Mr. Royle, he's dyin'!" - -As he said this Cornish threw up his arms and stiffened out his body. -So strong was his dying action that he knocked the glass of brandy -out of my hand and threw me backwards some paces. The pupils of his -eyes rolled down, and a film came over them; he uttered something in a -hoarse whisper, and lay dead on the boatswain's knee. - -I glanced at Miss Robertson. Her lips were tightly compressed, -otherwise the heroic girl showed no emotion. - -The boatswain drew a deep breath and let the dead man's head fall -gently on the flag. - -"For Miss Robertson's sake," I whispered, "let us carry him forward." - -He acquiesced in silence, and we bore the body off the poop and laid it -on the fore-hatch. - -"There will be no need to bury him," said I. - -"No need and no time, sir. I trust God'll be merciful to the poor -sailor when he's called up. He was made bad by them others, sir. His -heart wasn't wrong," replied the boatswain. - -I procured a blanket from the forecastle and covered the body with it, -and we then walked back to the poop slowly and without speaking. - -I felt the death of this man keenly. He had worked well, confronted -danger cheerfully; he had atoned, in his untutored fashion, for the -wrongs he had taken a part in--besides, the fellowship of peril was a -tie upon us all, not to be sundered without a pang, which our hearts -never would have felt had fate dealt otherwise with us. - -I stopped a moment with the boatswain to look at the steward before -joining Miss Robertson. To many, I believe this spectacle of idiocy -would have been more affecting than Cornish's death. He was tracing -figures, such as circles and crosses, with his fore finger on the deck, -smiling vacantly meanwhile, and now and then looking around him with -rolling, unmeaning eyes. - -"How is it with you, my man?" I said. - -He gazed at me very earnestly, rose to his feet, and, taking my arm, -drew me a short distance away from the boatswain. - -"A ship passed us just now, sir," he exclaimed in a whisper, and with a -profoundly confidential air. "Did you see her?" - -"Yes, steward, I saw her." - -"A word in your ear, sir--_mum!_ that's the straight tip. Do you see? I -was tired of this ship, sir--tired of being afraid of drowning. I put -myself on board that vessel, _and there I am now, sir_. But hush! do -you know I cannot talk to them--they're furriners! Roosians, sir, by -the living cock! that's my oath, and it crows every morning in my back -garden." - -He struck me softly on the waistcoat, and fell back a step, with his -finger on his lip. - -"Ah," said I, "I understand. Sit down again and go on drawing on the -deck, and then they'll think you're lost in study and not trouble you." - -"Right, my lord--your lordship's 'umble servant," answered the poor -creature, making me a low bow; and with a lofty and dignified air he -resumed his place on the deck near the companion. - -"Wot was he sayin'?" inquired the boatswain. - -"He is quite imbecile. He thinks he is on board the Russian," I -replied. - -"Well, that's a comfort," said the boatswain. "He'll not be tryin' to -swim arter her agin." - -"Miss Robertson," I exclaimed, "you need not remain at the wheel. There -is so little wind now that the ship may be left to herself." - -Saving which I made the wheel fast and led her to one of the skylights. - -"Bo'sun," said I, "will you fetch us something to eat and drink out of -the pantry? Open a tin of meat, and get some biscuit and wine. This -may prove our last meal on board the _Grosvenor_," I added to Miss -Robertson, as the boatswain left us. - -She looked at me inquiringly, but did not speak. - -"Before we knew," I continued, "that poor Cornish was dying, the -boatswain and I resolved that we should all of us leave the ship. We -have no longer the strength to man the pumps. The water is coming in -at the rate of a foot an hour, and we have found latterly that even -three of us cannot pump more at a time out of her than six or seven -inches, and every spell at the pumps leaves us more exhausted. But even -though we had hesitated to leave her, yet now that Cornish is gone and -the steward has fallen imbecile, we have no alternative." - -"I understand," she said, glancing at the boat and compressing her lip. - -"You are not afraid--you who have shown more heart and courage than all -of us put together?" - -"No--I am not much afraid. I believe that God is looking down upon us, -and that He will preserve us. But," she cried, taking a short breath, -and clasping her hands convulsively, "it will be very, very lonely on -the great sea in that little boat." - -"Why more lonely in that little boat than on this broken and sinking -ship? I believe with you that God is looking down upon us, and that -He has given us that pure and beautiful sky as an encouragement and a -promise. Contrast the sea now with what it was this morning. In a few -hours hence it will be calm; and believe me when I say that we shall -be a thousandfold safer in that boat than we are in this strained and -leaking ship. Even while we talk now the water is creeping into the -hold, and every hour will make her sink deeper and deeper until she -disappears beneath the surface. On the other hand, we may have many -days together of this fine weather. I will steer the boat for the -Bermuda Islands, which we cannot miss by heading the boat west, even -if I should lack the means of ascertaining our exact whereabouts, -which you may trust me will not be the case. Moreover, the chance of -our being rescued by a passing ship will be much greater when we are -in the boat than it is while we remain here; for no ship, though she -were commanded by a savage, would refuse to pick a boat up and take -its occupants on board; whereas vessels, as we have already discovered -to our cost, will sight distressed ships and leave them to shift for -themselves." - -"I do not doubt you are right," she replied, with a plaintive smile. -"I should not say or do anything to oppose you. And believe me," she -exclaimed earnestly, "that I do not think more of my own life than of -that of my companions. Death is not so terrible but that we may meet -it, if God wills, calmly. And I would rather die at once, Mr. Royle, -than win a few short years of life on hard and bitter terms." - -She looked at the steward as she spoke, and an expression of beautiful -pity came into her face. - -"Miss Robertson," I said, "in my heart I am pledged to save your life. -If you die, we both die!--of that be sure." - -"I know what I owe you," she answered, in a low and broken voice. "I -know that my life is yours, won by you from the very jaws of death, -soothed and supported by you afterwards. What my gratitude is only God -knows. I have no words to tell you." - -"Do you give me the life I have saved?" I asked, wondering at my own -breathless voice as I questioned her. - -"I do," she replied firmly, lifting up her eyes and looking at me. - -"Do you give it to me because your sweet and generous gratitude makes -you think it my due?--not knowing I am poor, not remembering that my -station in life is humble, without a question as to my past?" - -"I give it to you because I love you!" she answered, extending her hand. - -I drew her towards me and kissed her forehead. - -"God bless you, Mary darling, for your faith in me! God bless you for -your priceless gift of your love to me! Living or dead, dearest, we are -one!" - -And she, as though to seal these words which our danger invested with -an entrancing mysteriousness, raised my hand to her spotless lips, and -then held it for some moments to her heart. - -The boatswain, coming up the poop ladder, saw her holding my hand. He -approached us slowly, and in silence; and putting down the tray, which -he had heaped with sailor-like profusion with food enough for a dozen -persons, stood looking on us thoughtfully. - -"Mr. Royle," he said, in a deliberate voice, "you'll excuse me for -sayin' of it, but, sir, you've found her out?" - -"I have, bo'sun." - -"You've found her out, sir, as the truest-hearted gell as ever did duty -as a darter?" - -"I have." - -"I've watched her, and know her to be British--true oak-seasoned, by -God Almighty, as does this sort o' work better nor Time! You've found -her out, sir?" - -"It is true, bo'sun." - -"And you, miss," he exclaimed, in the same deliberate voice, "have -found _him_ out?" - -She looked downwards with a little blush. - -"Mr. Royle, and you, miss," he continued, "I'm not goin' to say nothen -agin this being the right time to find each other out in. It's -Almighty Providence as brings these here matters to pass, and it's in -times o' danger as love speaks out strongest, turnin' the heart into a -speakin' trumpet and hailin' with a loud and tremendious woice. Wot I -wur goin' to say is this: that in Mr. Royle I've seen the love for a -long while past burnin' and strugglin', and sometimes hidin' of itself, -and then burstin' up afresh, like a flare aboard o' a sinkin' ketch on -a windy night; and in you, miss, I've likewise seen tokens as 'ud ha' -made me up and speak my joy days an' days ago, had it been _my_ consarn -to attend to 'em. I say, that now as we're sinkin' without at all -meanin' to drown, with no wun but God Almighty to see us, this is the -properest time for you to have found each other out in. Mr. Royle, your -hand, sir; miss, yours. I say, God bless you! Whilst we have breath -we'll keep the boat afloat; and if it's not to be, still I'll say, God -bless you!" - -He shook us heartily by the hand, looked hard at the poor steward, as -though he would shake hands with him too; then walked aft, hauled down -the signals, stepped into the cuddy, returned with the large ensign, -bent it on to the halliards, and ran it up to the gaff-end. - -"That," said he, returning and looking up proudly at the flag, "is to -let them as it may consarn know that we're not dead yet. Now, sir, -shall I pipe to dinner?" - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - -I think the boatswain was right. - -It was no season for love-making; but it was surely a fitting moment -"for finding each other out in." - -I can say this--and God knows never was there less bombast in such a -thought than there was in mine: that when I looked round upon the sea -and then upon my beloved companion, I felt that I would rather have -chosen death with her love to bless me in the end, than life without -knowledge of her. - -I put food before the steward and induced him to eat; but it was -pitiful to see his silly, instinctive ways, no reason in them, nothing -but a mechanical guiding, with foolish fleeting smiles upon his pale -face. - -I thought of that wife of his whose letter he had wept over, and his -child, and scarcely knew whether it had not been better for him and -them that he should have died than return to them a broken-down, puling -imbecile. - -I said as much to Mary, but the tender heart would not agree with me. - -"Whilst there is life there is hope," she answered softly. "Should -God permit us to reach home, I will see that the poor fellow is well -cared for. It may be that when all these horrors have passed his mind -will recover its strength. Our trials are _very_ hard. When I saw that -Russian ship I thought my own brain would go." - -She pressed her hand to her forehead, and an expression of suffering, -provoked by memory, came into her face. - -We despatched our meal, and I went on to the main-deck to sound the -well. I found two feet of water in the hold, and I came back and gave -the boatswain the soundings, who recommended that we should at once -turn to and get the boat ready. - -I said to him, as he clambered into the boat for the purpose of -overhauling her, that I fully believed that a special Providence was -watching over us, and that we might confidently hope God would not -abandon us now. - -"If the men had not chased us in this boat," I continued, "what chance -should we have to save our lives? The other boat is useless, and we -should never have been able to repair her in time to get away from the -ship. Then look at the weather! I have predicted a dead calm to-night, -and already the wind is gone." - -"Yes, everything's happened for the best," he replied. "I only wish -poor Jim's life had been saved. It's a'most like leavin' of him to -drown to go away without buryin' him; and yet I know there'd be no use -in puttin' him overboard. There's been a deal o' precious human life -wasted since we left the Channel; and who are the murderers? Wy, the -owners. It's all come through their sendin' the ship to sea with rotten -stores. A few dirty pounds 'ud ha' saved all this." - -We had never yet had the leisure to inspect the stores with which -the mutineers had furnished the quarter-boat, and we now found, in -spite of their having shifted a lot of the provisions out of her into -the long-boat before starting in pursuit of us, that there was still -an abundance left: four kegs of water, several tins of cuddy bread, -preserved meat and fruits, sugar, flour, and other things, not to -mention such items as boxes of lucifer-matches, fishing tackle, a -burning-glass, a quantity of tools and nails; in a word, everything -which men in the condition they had hoped to find themselves in might -stand in need of to support life. Indeed, the foresight illustrated by -the provisioning of this boat was truly remarkable, the only things -they had omitted being a mast and sail, it having been their intention -to keep this boat in tow of the other. I even found that they had -furnished the boat with the oars belonging to the disabled quarter-boat -in addition to those of her own. - -However, the boat was not yet stocked to my satisfaction. I therefore -repaired to my cabin and procured the boat's compass, some charts, a -sextant, and other necessary articles, such as the "Nautical Almanack," -and pencils and paper wherewith to work out my observations, which -articles I placed very carefully in the locker in the stern-sheets of -the boat. - -I allowed Mary to help me, that the occupation might divert her mind -from the overwhelming thoughts which the gradual settling of the ship -on which we stood must have excited in the strongest and bravest mind; -and, indeed, I worked busily and eagerly to guard myself against any -terror that might come upon me. She it was who suggested that we should -provide ourselves with lamps and oil; and I shipped a lantern to hoist -at our mast-head when the darkness came, and the bull's-eye lamp to -enable me to work out observations of the stars, which I intended -to make when the night fell. To all these things, which, sounding -numerous, in reality occupied but little space, I added a can of oil, -meshes for the lamps, top-coats, oilskins, and rugs to protect us at -night, so that the afternoon was well advanced before we had ended -our preparations. Meanwhile, the boatswain had stepped a top-gallant -stun'sail boom to serve us for a mast, well stayed, with a block and -halliards at the mast-head to serve for hoisting a flag or lantern, and -a spare top-gallant stun'sail to act as a sail. - -By this time the wind had completely died away; a peaceful deep blue -sky stretched from horizon to horizon; and the agitation of the sea -had subsided into a long and silent swell, which washed up against the -ship's sides, scarcely causing her to roll, so deep had she sunk in the -water. - -I now thought it high time to lower the boat and bring her alongside, -as our calculations of the length of time to be occupied by the ship -in sinking might be falsified to our destruction by her suddenly going -stern down with us on board. - -We therefore lowered the boat, and got the gangway ladder over the side. - -The boatswain got into the boat first to help Mary into her. I then -took the steward by the arms and brought him along smartly, as there -was danger in keeping the boat washing against the ship's side. He -resisted at first, and only smiled vacantly when I threatened to leave -him; but on the boatswain crying out that his wife was waiting for -him, the poor idiot got himself together with a scramble, and went so -hastily over the gangway that he very narrowly escaped a ducking. - -I paused a moment at the gangway and looked around, striving to -remember if there was anything we had forgotten which would be of some -use to us. Mary watched me anxiously, and called to me by my Christian -name, at the same time extending her arms. I would not keep her in -suspense a moment, and at once dropped into the boat. She grasped and -fondled my hand, and drew me close beside her. - -"I should have gone on board again had you delayed coming," she -whispered. - -The boatswain shoved the boat's head off, and we each shipped an oar -and pulled the boat about a quarter of a mile away from the ship; and -then, from a strange and wild curiosity to behold the ship sink, and -still in our hearts clinging to her, not only as the home wherein we -had found shelter for many days past, but as the only visible object -in all the stupendous reach of waters, we threw in the oars and sat -watching her. - -She had now sunk as deep as her main-chains, and was but a little -higher out of water than the hull from which we had rescued Mary and -her father. It was strange to behold her even from a short distance -and note her littleness in comparison with the immensity of the deep -on which she rested, and recall the terrible seas she had braved and -triumphed over. - -Few sailors can behold the ship in which they have sailed sinking -before their eyes without the same emotion of distress and pity almost -which the spectacle of a drowning man excites in them. She has grown -a familiar name, a familiar object; thus far she has borne them in -safety; she has been rudely beaten, and yet has done her duty; but the -tempest has broken her down at last; all the beauty is shorn from her; -she is weary with the long and dreadful struggle with the vast forces -that Nature arrayed against her; she sinks, a desolate abandoned thing -in mid-ocean, carrying with her a thousand memories, which surge up in -the heart with the pain of a strong man's tears. - -I looked from the ship to realize our own position. Perhaps not yet -could it be keenly felt, for the ship was still a visible object for -us to hold on by; and yet, turning my eyes away to the far reaches of -the horizon, at one moment borne high on the summit of the ocean swell, -which appeared mountainous when felt in and viewed from the boat, then -sinking deep in the hollow, so that the near ship was hidden from -us--the supreme loneliness of our situation, our helplessness, and -the fragility and diminutiveness of the structure on which our lives -depended, came home to me with the pain and wonder of a shock. - -Our boat, however, was new this voyage, with a good beam, and showing a -tolerably bold side, considering her dimensions and freight. Of the two -quarter-boats with which the _Grosvenor_ had been furnished, this was -the larger and the stronger built, and for this reason had been chosen -by Stevens. I could not hope, indeed, that she would live a moment in -anything of a sea; but she was certainly stout enough to carry us to -the Bermudas, providing the weather remained moderate. - -It was now six o'clock. I said to the boatswain-- - -"Every hour of this weather is valuable to us. There is no reason why -we should stay here." - -"I should like to see her sink, Mr. Royle; I should like to know that -poor Jim found a regular coffin in her," he answered. "We can't make -no headway with the sail, and I don't recommend rowin' for the two or -three mile we can fetch with the oars. It 'ud be wurse nor pumpin'!" - -He was right. When I reflected I was quite sure I should not, in my -exhausted state, be able to handle one of the big oars for even five -minutes at a stretch; and admitting that I _had_ been strong enough to -row for a couple of hours, yet the result to have been obtained could -not have been important enough to justify the serious labour. - -The steward all this time sat perfectly quiet in the bottom of the -boat, with his back against the mast. He paid no attention to us when -we spoke, nor looked around him, though sometimes he would fix his -eyes vacantly on the sky as if his shattered mind found relief in -contemplating the void. I was heartily glad to find him quiet, though -I took care to watch him, for it was difficult to tell whether his -imbecility was not counterfeited by his madness, to throw us off our -guard, and furnish him with an opportunity to play us and himself some -deadly trick. - -As some hours had elapsed since we had tasted food, I opened a tin of -meat and prepared a meal. The boatswain ate heartily, and so did the -steward; but I could not prevail upon Mary to take more than a biscuit -and some sherry and water. - -Indeed, as the evening approached, our position affected her more -deeply, and very often, after she had cast her eyes towards the -horizon, I would see her lips whispering a prayer, and feel her hand -tightening on mine. - -The ship still floated, but she was so low in the water that I every -minute expected to see her vanish. The water was above her main-chains, -and I could only attribute her obstinacy in not sinking to the great -quantity of wood--both in cases and goods--which composed her cargo. - -The sun was now quite close to the horizon, branding the ocean with -a purple glare, but itself descending into a cloudless sky. I cannot -express how majestic and wonderful the great orb looked to us who -were almost level with the water. Its disc seemed vaster than I had -ever before seen it, and there was something sublimely solemn in the -loneliness of its descent. All the sky about it, and far to the south -and north, was changed into the colour of gold by its lustre; and over -our heads the heavens were an exquisite tender green, which melted in -the east into a dark blue. - -I was telling Mary that ere the sun sank again we might be on board a -ship, and whispering any words of encouragement and hope to her, when I -was startled by the boatswain crying, "Now she's gone! Look at her!" - -I turned my eyes towards the ship, and could scarcely credit my senses -when I found that her hull had vanished, and that nothing was to be -seen of her but her spars, which were all aslant sternwards. - -I held my breath as I saw the masts sink lower and lower. First the -crossjack-yard was submerged, then the gaff with the ensign hanging -dead at the peak, then the mainyard; presently only the main-topmast -cross-trees were visible, a dark cross upon the water: they vanished; -at the same moment the sun disappeared behind the horizon; and now -we were alone on the great, breathing deep, with all the eastern sky -growing dark as we watched. - -"It's all over!" said the boatswain, breaking the silence, and speaking -in a hollow tone. "No livin' man'll ever see the _Grosvenor_ agin!" - -Mary shivered and leaned against me. I took up a rug and folded it -round her, and kissed her forehead. - -The boatswain had turned his back upon us, and sat with his hands -folded, I believe in prayer. I am sure he was thinking of Jim Cornish, -and I would not have interrupted that honest heart's communion with its -Maker for the value of the ship that had sunk. - -Darkness came down very quickly, and that we might lose no chance of -being seen by any distant vessel, I lighted the ship's lantern and -hoisted it at the mast-head. I also lighted the bull's-eye lamp and set -it in the stern-sheets. - -"Mary," I whispered, "I will make you up a bed in the bottom of the -boat. Whilst this weather lasts, dearest, we have no cause to be -alarmed by our position. It will make me happy to see you sleeping, and -be sure that whilst you sleep there will be watchful eyes near you." - -"I will sleep as I am, here, by your side. I shall rest better so," she -answered. "I could not sleep lying down." - -It was too sweet a privilege to forego: I passed my arm around her and -held her close to me; and she closed her eyes like a child to please me. - -Worn out as I was, enfeebled both intellectually and physically by the -heavy strain that had been put upon me ever since that day when I had -been ironed by Captain Coxon's orders, I say--and I solemnly believe -in the truth of what I am about to write--that had it not been for -the living reality of this girl, encircled by my arm, with her head -supported by my shoulder--had it not been for the deep love I felt for -her, which localized my thoughts, and, so to say, humanized them down -to the level of our situation, forbidding them to trespass beyond the -prosaic limits of our danger, of the precautions to be taken by us, of -our chances of rescue, of the course to be steered when the wind should -fill our sail: I should have gone mad when the night came down upon -the sea and enveloped our boat--a lonely speck on the gigantic world of -water--in the mystery and fear of darkness. I know this by recalling -the fancy that for a few moments possessed me in looking along the -water, when I clearly beheld the outline of a coast, with innumerable -lights twinkling upon it; by the whirling, dizzy sensation in my head -which followed the extinction of the vision; by the emotion of wild -horror and unutterable disappointment which overcame me when I detected -the cheat. I pressed my darling to me, and looked upon her sweet face, -revealed by the light shed by the lantern at the mast-head, and all my -misery left me; and the delight which the knowledge that she was my own -love and that I held her in my arms, gave me, fell like an exorcism -upon the demons of my stricken imagination. - -She smiled when I pressed her to my side and when she saw my face close -to hers, looking at her; but she did not know then that she had saved -me from a fate more dreadful than death, and that I--so strong as I -seemed, so earnest as I had shown myself in my conflicts with fate, -so resolutely as I had striven to comfort her--had been rescued from -madness by her whom I had a thousand times pitied for her helplessness. - -She fell asleep at last, and I sat for nearly two hours motionless, -that I should not awaken her. The steward slept with his head in his -arms, kneeling, a strange, mad posture. The boatswain sat forward, with -his face turned aft and his arms folded. I addressed him once, but he -did not answer. Probably I spoke too low for him to hear, being fearful -of waking Mary; but there was little we had to say. Doubtless he found -his thoughts too engrossing to suffer him to talk. - -Being anxious to "take a star," as we say at sea, and not knowing how -the time went, I gently drew out my watch and found the hour a quarter -to eleven. In replacing the watch I aroused Mary, who raised her head -and looked round her with eyes that flashed in the lantern light. - -"Where are we?" she exclaimed, and bent her head to gaze at me, on -which she recollected herself. "Poor boy!" she said, taking my hand, "I -have kept you supporting my weight. You were more tired than I. But it -is your turn now. Rest your head on my shoulder." - -"No, it is still your turn," I answered, "and you shall sleep again -presently. But since you are awake, I will try to find out where we -are. You shall hold the lamp for me while I make my calculations and -examine the chart." - -Saying which, I drew out my sextant and got across the thwarts to the -mast, which I stood up alongside of to lean on, for the swell, though -moderate enough to pass without notice on a big vessel, lifted and sunk -the boat in such a way as to make it difficult to stand steady. - -I was in the act of raising the sextant to my eye, when the boatswain -suddenly cried, "Mr. Royle, listen!" - -"What do you hear?" I exclaimed. - -"Hush! listen now!" he answered, in a breathless voice. - -I strained my ear, but nothing was audible to me but the wash of the -water against the boat's side. - -"Don't you hear it, Mr. Royle?" he cried, in a kind of agony, holding -up his finger. "Miss Robertson, don't you hear something?" - -There was another interval of silence, and Mary answered, "I hear a -kind of throbbing!" - -"It is so!" I exclaimed. "I hear it now! it is the engines of a -steamer!" - -"A steamer! Yes! I heard it! where is she?" shouted the boatswain, and -he jumped on to the thwart on which I stood. - -We strained our ears again. - -That throbbing sound, as Mary had accurately described it, closely -resembling the rythmical running of a locomotive engine heard in the -country on a silent night at a long distance, was now distinctly -audible; but so smooth was the water, so breathless the night, that it -was impossible to tell how far away the vessel might be; for so fine -and delicate a vehicle of sound is the ocean in a calm, that, though -the hull of a steamship might be below the horizon, yet the thumping of -her engines would be heard. - -Once more we inclined our ears, holding our breath as we listened. - -"It grows louder!" cries the boatswain. "Mr. Royle, bend your -bull's-eye lamp to the end o' one o' the oars and swing it about whilst -I dip this mast-head lantern." - -Very different was his manner now from what it had been that morning -when the Russian hove in sight. - -I lashed the lamp by the ring of it to an oar and waved it to and fro. -Meanwhile the boatswain had got hold of the mast-head halliards, and -was running the big ship's lantern up and down the mast. - -"Mary," I exclaimed, "lift up the seat behind you, and in the left-hand -corner you will find a pistol." - -"I have it," she answered, in a few moments. - -"Point it over the stern and fire!" I cried. - -She levelled the little weapon and pulled the trigger, the white flame -leapt, and a smart report followed. - -"Listen now!" I said. - -I held the oar steady, and the boatswain ceased to dance the lantern. -For the first few seconds I heard nothing, then my ear caught the -throbbing sound. - -"I see her!" cried the boatswain; and following his finger (my sight -being keener than my hearing) I saw not only the shadow of a vessel -down in the south-west, but the smoke from her funnel pouring along the -stars. - -"Mary," I cried, "fire again!" - -She drew the trigger. - -"Again!" - -The clear report whizzed like a bullet passed my ears. - -Simultaneously with the second report a ball of blue fire shot up into -the sky. Another followed, and another. - -A moment after a red light shone clear upon the sea. - -"She sees us!" I cried. "God be praised! Mary, darling, she sees us!" - -I waved the lamp furiously. But there was no need to wave it any -longer. The red light drew nearer and nearer; the throbbing of the -engines louder and louder, and the revolutions of the propeller sounded -like a pulse beating through the water. - -The shadow broadened and loomed larger. I could hear the water spouting -out of her side and the blowing off of the safety-valve. - -Soon the vessel grew a defined shape against the stars, and then a -voice, thinned by the distance, shouted, "What light is that?" - -I cried to the boatswain, "Answer, for God's sake! My voice is weak." - -He hollowed his hands and roared back, "We're shipwrecked seamen -adrift in a quarter-boat!" - -Nearer and nearer came the shadow, and now it was a long, black hull, a -funnel pouring forth a dense volume of smoke, spotted with fire-sparks, -and tapering masts and fragile rigging, with the stars running through -them. - -"Ease her!" - -The sound of the throbbing grew more measured. We could hear the water -as it was churned up by the screw. - -"Stop her!" - -The sounds ceased, and the vessel came looming up slowly, more slowly, -until she stopped. - -"What is that?--a boat?" exclaimed a strong bass voice. - -"Yes!" answered the boatswain. "We've been shipwrecked; we're adrift in -a quarter-boat." - -"Can you bring her alongside?" - -"Aye, aye, sir!" - -I threw out an oar, but trembled so violently that it was as much as -I could do to work it. We headed the boat for the steamer, and rowed -towards her. As we approached I perceived that she was very long, -barque-rigged, and raking, manifestly a powerful, iron-built, ocean -steamer. They had hung a red light on the forestay, and a white light -over her port quarter, and lights flitted about her gangway. - -A voice sang out, "How many are there of you?" - -The boatswain answered, "Three men and a lady!" - -On this the same voice called, "If you want help to bring the boat -alongside we'll send to you." - -"We'll be alongside in a few minutes," returned the boatswain. - -But the fact was the vessel had stopped her engines when further off -from us than we had imagined; being deceived by the magnitude of her -looming hull, which seemed to stand not a hundred fathoms away from us -and by the wonderful distinctness of the voice that had spoken us. - -I did not know how feeble I had become until I took the oar, and the -violent emotions excited in me by our rescue now to be effected after -our long and heavy trials, diminished still the little strength that -was left in me, so that the boat moved very slowly through the water, -and it was full twenty minutes, starting from the time when we had -shipped the oars, before we came up with her. - -"We'll fling you a rope's end," said a voice; "look out for it." - -A line fell into the boat; the boatswain caught it and sang out "All -fast!" - -I looked up the high side of the steamer: there was a crowd of men -assembled round the gangway, their faces visible in the light shed -not only by our own mast-head lantern (which was on a level with the -steamer's bulwarks) but by other lanterns which some of them held. In -all this light we, the occupants of the boat, were to be clearly viewed -from the deck; and the voice that had first addressed us said-- - -"Are you strong enough to get up the ladder? if not we'll sling you on -board." - -I answered that if a couple of hands would come down into the boat so -as to help the lady and a man (who had fallen imbecile) over the ship's -side, the other two would manage to get on board without assistance. - -On this a short gangway ladder was lowered, and two men descended and -got into the boat. - -"Take that lady first," I said, pointing to Mary, but holding on as I -spoke to the boat's mast, for I felt horribly sick and faint, and knew -not, indeed, what was going to happen to me; and I had to exert all my -power to steady my voice. - -They took her by the arms, and watching the moment when the wash of the -swell brought the boat against the ship's side, landed her cleverly on -the ladder and helped her on to the deck. - -"Bo'sun," I cried huskily, "she ... she is ... saved ... I am dying, I -think.... God bless her! and ... and ... your hand, mate...." - -I remember uttering these incoherent words and seeing the boatswain -spring forward to catch me. Then my senses left me with a flash. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - -I remained, as I was afterwards informed, insensible for four days, -during which time I told and re-told in my delirium the story of the -mutiny and our own sufferings, so that, as the ship's surgeon assured -me, he became very exactly acquainted with all the particulars of the -_Grosvenor's_ voyage, from the time of her leaving the English Channel -to the moment of our rescue from the boat, though I, from whom he -learnt the story, was insensible as I related it. My delirium even -embraced so remote an incident as the running down of the smack. - -When I opened my eyes I found myself in a small, very comfortable -cabin, lying in a bunk; and being alone, I had no knowledge of where I -was, nor would my memory give me the slightest assistance. That every -object my eye rested upon was unfamiliar, and that I was on board a -ship, was all that I knew for certain. What puzzled me most was the -jarring sound caused by the engines. I could not conceive what this -meant nor what produced it; and the vessel being perfectly steady, it -was not in my power to realize that I was being borne over the water. - -I closed my eyes and lay perfectly still, striving to master the past -and inform myself of what had become of me; but so hopelessly muddled -was my brain, that had some unseen person, by way of a joke, told me in -a sepulchral voice that I was dead and apprehending the things about me -only by means of my spirit, which had not yet had time to get out of -my body, I should have believed him; though I don't say that I should -not have been puzzled to reconcile my very keen appetite and thirst -with my non-existent condition. - -In a few minutes the door of the cabin was opened and a jolly, -red-faced man, wearing a Scotch cap, looked in. Seeing me with my eyes -open, he came forward and exclaimed in a cheerful voice-- - -"All alive O! Staring about you full of wonderment! Nothing so good as -curiosity in a sick man. Shows that the blood is flowing." - -He felt my pulse, and asked me if I knew who he was. - -I replied that I had never seen him before. - -"Well, that's not my fault," said he; "for I've been looking at you a -pretty tidy while on and off since we hoisted you out of the brine. - - 'Guid speed an' furder to you, Johnny; - Guid health, hale han's, an' weather bonnie; - May ye ne'er want a stoup o' brany - To clear your head!' - -Hungry?" - -"Very," said I. - -"Thirsty?" - -"Yes." - -"How do you feel in yourself?" - -"I have been trying to find out. I don't know. I forget who I am." - -"Raise your arm and try your muscles." - -"I can raise my arm," I said, doing so. - -"How's your memory?" - -"If you'll give me a hint or two, I'll see." - -He looked at me very earnestly and with much kindness in the expression -of his jovial face, and debated some matter in his own mind. - -"I'll send you in some beef-tea," he said, "by a person who'll be able -to do you more good than I can. But don't excite yourself. Converse -calmly, and don't talk too much." - -So saying he went away. - -I lay quite still and my memory remained as helpless as though I had -just been born. - -After an interval of about ten minutes the door was again opened and -Mary came in. She closed the door and approached me, holding a cup of -beef-tea in her hand, but however she had schooled herself to behave, -her resolution forsook her; she put the cup down, threw her arms round -my neck, and sobbed with her cheek against mine. - -With my recognition of her my memory returned to me. - -"My darling," I cried, in a weak voice, "is it you indeed! Oh, God is -very merciful to have spared us. I remembered nothing just now; but -all has come back to me with your dear face." - -She was too overcome to speak for some moments, but raising herself -presently she said in broken tones-- - -"I thought I should never see you again, never be able to speak to -you more. But I am wicked to give way to my feelings when I have been -told that any excitement must be dangerous to my darling. Drink this, -now--no, I will hold the cup to your lips. Strength has been given me -to bear the sufferings we have gone through, that I may nurse you and -bring you back to health." - -I would not let go her hand; but when I attempted to prop myself up, I -found my elbow would not sustain me; so I lay back and drank from the -cup which she held to my mouth. - -"How long is it," I asked her, "since we were taken on board this -vessel?" - -"Four days. Do you know that you fell down insensible in the boat the -moment after I had been carried on to the deck of this ship? The men -crowded around me and held their lanterns to my face, and I found that -most of them were Scotch by their exclamations. A woman took me by the -hand to lead me away, but I refused to move one step until I saw that -you were on board. She told me that you had fainted in the boatswain's -arms, and others cried out that you were dead. I saw them bring you up -out of the boat, and told the woman that I must go with you and see -where they put you, and asked if there was a doctor on board. She said -yes, and that he was that man in the Scotch cap and greatcoat, who was -helping the others to take you downstairs. I took your poor senseless -hands and cried bitterly over them, and told the doctor I would go on -my knees to him if he would save your life. But he was very kind--very -kind and gentle." - -"And you, Mary? I saw you keep up your wonderful courage to the last." - -"I fainted when the doctor took me away from you," she answered, with -one of her sweet, wistful smiles. "I slept far into the next day, and -I rose quite well yesterday morning, and have been by your side nearly -ever since. It is rather hard upon me that your consciousness should -have returned when I had left the cabin for a few minutes." - -I made her turn her face to the light that I might see her clearly, and -found that though her mental and physical sufferings had left traces on -her calm and beautiful face, yet on the whole she looked fairly well in -health; her eyes bright, her complexion clear, and her lips red, with a -firm expression on them. I also took notice that she was well dressed -in a black silk, though probably I was not good critic enough just then -in such matters to observe that it fitted her ill, and did no manner of -justice to her lovely shape. - -She caught me looking at the dress, and told me with a smile that it -had been lent to her by a lady passenger. - -"Why do you stand?" I said. - -"The doctor only allowed me to see you on condition that I did not stay -above five minutes." - -"That is nonsense. I cannot let you go now you are here. Your dear -face gives me back all the strength I have lost. How came I to fall -down insensible? I am ashamed of myself! I, a sailor, supposed to be -inured to all kinds of privation, to be cut adrift from my senses by a -shipwreck! Mary, you are fitter to be a sailor than I. After this, let -me buy a needle and thread, and advertise for needlework." - -"You are talking too much. I shall leave you." - -"You cannot while I hold your hand." - -"Am I not stronger than you?" - -"In all things stronger, Mary. You have been my guardian angel. You -interceded for my life with God, and He heard you when He would not -have heard me." - -She placed her hand on my mouth. - -"You are talking too much, I say. You reproach yourself for your -weakness, but try to remember what you have gone through: how you had -to baffle the mutineers--to take charge of the ship--to save our lives -from their terrible designs. Remember, too, that for days together you -scarcely closed your eyes in sleep, that you did the work of a whole -crew during the storm--dearest, what you have gone through would have -broken many a man's heart or driven him mad. It has left you your own -true self for me to love and cherish whilst God shall spare us to each -other." - -She kissed me on the mouth, drew her hand from mine, and with a smile -full of tender affection left the cabin. - -I was vexed to lose her even for a short time; and still chose to think -myself a poor creature for falling ill and keeping to my bed, when I -might be with her about the ship and telling the people on board the -story of her misfortunes and beautiful courage. - -It was a mistake of the doctor's to suppose that _her_ conversation -could hurt me. - -I had no idea of the time, and stared hard at the bull's-eye over my -head, hoping to discover by the complexion of the light that it was -early in the day, so that I might again see Mary before the night came. -I was even rash enough to imagine that I had the strength to rise, -and made an effort to get out of the bunk, which gave me just the best -illustration I could wish that I was as weak as a baby. So I tumbled -back with a groan of disappointment, and after staring fixedly at the -bull's-eye, I fell asleep. - -This sleep lasted some hours. I awoke, not as I had first awakened -from insensibility, with tremors and bewilderment, but easily, with a -delicious sense of warmth and rest and renewing vigour in my limbs. - -I opened my eyes upon three persons standing near the bunk; one was -Mary, the other the doctor, and the third a thin, elderly, sunburnt -man, in a white waistcoat with gold buttons and a blue cloth loose coat. - -The doctor felt my pulse, and letting fall my hand, said to Mary-- - -"Now, Miss Robertson, Mr. Royle will do. If you will kindly tell the -steward to give you another basin of broth, you will find our patient -able to make a meal." - -She kissed her hand to me behind the backs of the others, and went out -with a beaming smile. - -"This is Captain Craik, Mr. Royle," continued the doctor, motioning -to the gentleman in the white waistcoat, "commanding this vessel, the -_Peri_." - -I at once thanked him earnestly for his humanity, and the kindness he -was showing me. - -"Indeed," he replied, "I am very pleased with my good fortune in -rescuing so brave a pair of men as yourself and your boatswain, and -happy to have been the instrument of saving the charming girl to whom -you are betrothed from the horror of exposure in an open boat. I have -had the whole of your story from Miss Robertson, and I can only say -that you have acted very heroically and honourably." - -I replied that I was very grateful to him for his kind words; but I -assured him that I only deserved a portion of his praise. The man who -truly merited admiration was the boatswain. - -"You shall divide the honours," he said, smiling. "The bo'sun is -already a hero. My crew seem disposed to worship him. If you have -nothing better for him in your mind, you may hand him over to me. I -know the value of such men now-a-days, when so much is left to the -crimp." - -Saying this, he went to the door and called; and immediately my old -companion, the boatswain, came in. I held out my hand, and it was -clutched by the honest fellow and held with passionate cordiality. - -"Mr. Royle, sir," he exclaimed, in a faltering voice, "this is a happy -moment for me. There wos a time when I never thought I should ha' -seen you alive agin, and it went to my heart, and made me blubber -like any old woman when I thought o' your dyin' arter all the trouble -you've seen, and just when, if I may be so bold as to say it, you might -be hopin' to marry the brave, high-sperrited gell as you saved from -drownin', and who belongs to you by the will o' God Almighty. Captain -Craik, sir--I speak by your favour, and ax pardon for the liberty--this -gen'man and me has seen some queer starts together since we fust -shipped aboard the _Grosvenor_ in the West Hindie Docks, and," he -cried with vehemence, "I'd sooner ha' lost the use o' my right arm an' -leg--yes, an' you may chuck my right eye in along with them--than Mr. -Royle should ha' died just as he was agoin' to live properly and set -down on the bench o' matrimony an' happiness with a bold and handsome -wife!" - -This eloquent harangue he delivered with a moist eye, addressing us all -three in turn. I thanked him heartily for what he had said, but limited -my reply to this: for though I could have complimented him more warmly -than he had praised me, I considered that it would be more becoming to -hold over all mutual admiration and you-and-me glorification until we -should be alone. - -I observed that he wore a velvet waistcoat, and carried a shiny cloth -cap with a brilliant peak, very richly garnished with braid; and as -such articles of raiment could only emanate from the forecastle, I -concluded that they were gifts from the crew, and that Captain Craik -had reason in thinking that the boatswain had become a hero. - -The doctor shortly after this motioned him to go, whereon he gave a -shipshape salute, by tweaking an imaginary curl on his forehead, and -went away. - -I now asked what had become of the steward. Captain Craik answered that -the man was all right so far as his health went; that he wandered about -the decks very harmlessly, smiling in the faces of the men, and seldom -speaking. - -"One peculiarity of the poor creature," said he, "is that he will not -taste any kind of food but what is served out to the crew. I have -myself tried him with dishes from the saloon table, but could not -induce him to touch a mouthful. The first time I tried him in this -way he fell from me as though I had offered to cut his throat; the -perspiration poured from his forehead, and he eyed me with looks of the -utmost horror and aversion. Can you account for this?" - -"Yes, sir," I replied. "The steward was in the habit of serving out the -ship's stores to the crew of the _Grosvenor_. He rather sided with -the captain, and tried to make the best of what was outrageously bad. -When the men mutinied they threatened to hang him if he touched any -portion of the cuddy stores, and I dare say they would have executed -their threat. He was rather a coward before he lost his reason, and the -threat affected him violently. I myself never could induce him to taste -any other food than the ship's rotten stores whilst the men remained in -the vessel, and I dare say the memory of the threat still lives in his -broken mind." - -"Thanks for your explanation," said the doctor, "I shall sleep the -better for it; for, upon my word, the man's unnatural dislike of good -food--of _entrées_, man, and curried fowl and roast goose, for I tried -him myself--has kept me awake bothering my head to understand." - -"May I ask what vessel this is?" I said, addressing Captain Craik. - -"The _Peri_, of Glasgow, homeward-bound from Jamaica," he answered. - -"I know the ship now, sir. She belongs to the ---- Line." - -"Quite right. We shall hope to put you ashore in seven days hence. It -is curious that I should have known Mr. Robertson, your lady's father. -I called upon him a few years since in Liverpool, on business, and had -a long conversation with him. Little could I have dreamt that his end -would be so sad, and that it should be reserved for me to rescue his -daughter from an open boat, in mid-Atlantic!" - -"Ah, sir," I exclaimed, "no one but I can ever know the terrible trials -this poor girl has passed through. She has been twice shipwrecked -within three weeks; she has experienced all the horrors of a mutiny; -she has lost her father under circumstances which would have killed -many girls with grief; she has been held in terror of her life, and yet -never once has her noble courage flagged, her splendid spirit failed -her." - -"Yes," answered Captain Craik, "I have read her character in her story -and in her way of relating it. You are to be congratulated on having -won the love of a woman whose respect alone would do a man honour." - -"He deserves what he has got," said the doctor, laughing. "Findings -keepings." - -"I did find her and I mean to keep her," I exclaimed. - -"Well, you have picked up a fortune," observed Captain Craik. "It is -not every man who finds a shipwreck a good investment." - -"I know nothing about her fortune," I answered. "She did indeed tell me -that her father was a ship-owner; but I have asked no questions, and -only know her as Mary Robertson, a sweet, brave girl, whom I love, and, -please God, mean to marry, though she possessed nothing more in the -world than the clothes I found her in." - -"Come, come," said the doctor. - -"You're not a sailor, doctor," remarked Captain Craik, drily. - -"But, my dear sir, you'll not tell me that a gold pound's not better -than a silver sixpence?" cried the doctor. "Did you never sing this -song?-- - - 'Awa wi' your witchcraft o' beauty's alarms, - The slender bit beauty you grasp in your arms; - Oh, gie me the lass that has acres o' charms, - Oh, gie me the lass wi' the weel-stockit farms. - Then hey for a lass wi' a tocher; then hey for a lass wi' a tocher; - Then hey for a lass wi' a tocher; the nice yellow guineas for me.' - -Is not an heiress better than a poor wench?" - -"I don't see how your simile of the pound and the sixpence applies," -answered Captain Craik. "A good woman is a good woman all the world -over, and a gift that every honest man will thank God for. - - 'Mark yonder pomp of costly fashion - Round the wealthy titled bride; - But when compared with real passion, - Poor is all that princely pride.' - -That's one of Robbie's too, doctor, and I commend your attention to the -whole song as a wholesome purge." - -As the conversation was rather too personal to be much to my liking, I -was very glad when it was put an end to by Mary coming in with a basin -of soup for me. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - -Thanks to my darling's devotion, to her unwearied attentions, to her -foresight and care of me, I was strong enough to leave my cabin on the -third day following my restoration to consciousness. - -During that time many inquiries were made after my health by the -passengers, and Mary told me that the greatest curiosity prevailed fore -and aft to see me. So misfortune had made a little ephemeral hero of -me, and this, perhaps, was one stroke of compensation which I should -have been very willing to dispense with. - -The second officer of the ship, a man of about my height and build, -had very kindly placed his wardrobe at my disposal, but all that I -had chosen to borrow from him was some linen, which, indeed, I stood -greatly in need of; but my clothes, though rather the worse for salt -water, were, in my opinion, quite good enough for me to wear until I -should be able to buy a new outfit ashore. - -At twelve o'clock, then, on the third day I rose and leisurely dressed -myself, and then sat waiting for Mary, whose arm to lean on I preferred -to any one's else. - -She came to the cabin presently, and when she had entered I folded her -in my arms with so deep a feeling of happiness and love and gratitude -in me, that I had no words to speak to her. - -It was when I released her that she said--"Since God has heard our -prayers, dearest, and mercifully preserved us from death, shall we -thank Him now that we are together, and say one prayer for my dear -father, who, I firmly believe, looks down upon us and has still the -power to bless us?" - -I took her hand and we knelt together, and first thanking her for -reminding me of my bounden duty, I lifted up my heart to Almighty God, -Father of all men, who had guarded us amid our perils, who had brought -us to the knowledge and love of Him and of each other, by the lesson of -hard trials and sorrowful privation. - -And I would ask you to believe that I do not relate such circumstances -as these from any ostentatious wish to parade my piety, of which God -knows I have not so large a store that I need be vain of showing it; -but that I may in some poor fashion justify many good men in my own -profession who, because they are scandalised by persons among us that -are bad, are confounded with these by people ashore who imagine the -typical sailor to be a loose, debauched fellow, with his mouth full -of bad language and his head full of drink. I say earnestly that this -is not so; that a large and generous soul animates many sailors; that -they love God, pray to Him, and in many ways too rough, maybe, to -commend them to fastidious piety, but not surely the less honest for -the roughness, strive to act up to a just standard of goodness; and -that even among the bad--bad, I mean, through the looseness of their -morals and the insanity of their language--there is often found a -hidden instinctive religion and veneration and fear of God not to be -discovered in the classes ashore to which you may parallel them. Nor, -indeed, do I understand how this can fail to be; for no familiarity -with the mighty deep can lessen its ever-appealing grandeur to them as -a symbol of heavenly power and majesty; and the frequent fear of their -lives in which sailors go--the fury of tempests, the darkness of stormy -nights, the fragility of the ship in comparison with the mountainous -waves which menace her, the horror of near and iron coasts--I say that -such things, which are daily presented to them, must inevitably excite -and sustain contemplations which very few events that happen on shore -are calculated to arouse in the minds of the ignorant classes with whom -such sailors as I am speaking of are on a level. - -When I quitted the cabin, supported by Mary, I found myself in a very -spacious saloon, most handsomely furnished and decorated, and striking -me the more by the contrast it offered to the plain and small interior -of the _Grosvenor's_ cabin. - -The table was being prepared for lunch: smartly dressed stewards -and under-stewards trotted to and fro; there were flowers on the -table, vases of gold fish swinging from the deck, a rich thick carpet -underfoot, comfortable and handsome sofas; a pianoforte stood against -the mizzen-mast, which was covered with a mahogany skin and gilded; -two rows of lamps went the length of the saloon; and what with the -paintings on the cabin doors, the curtains, the rich brasswork about -the spacious skylights, the bright sunshine streaming in upon the whole -scene and kindling a brilliance in the polished woodwork, the crystal -on the table, the looking-glasses at the fore end of the saloon--I -fairly paused with amazement, scarcely conceiving it possible that this -airy, sunshiny, sumptuous drawing-room was actually the interior of a -ship, and that we were on the sea, steaming at the rate of so many -miles an hour towards England. - -There were a couple of well-dressed women sewing or doing some kind of -needlework and conversing on one of the sofas, and on another sofa a -gentleman sat reading. These, with the stewards, were all the people in -the saloon. - -The gentleman and the ladies looked at us when we approached, and all -three of them rose. - -The ladies came and shook hands with Mary, who introduced me to them; -but I forget their names. - -They began to praise me; the gentleman struck in, and asked permission -to shake me by the hand. They had heard my story: it was a beautiful -romance; in short, they overpowered me with civilities, and made me so -nervous that I had scarcely the heart to go on deck. - -Of course it was all very kindly meant; but then what were my exploits? -Nothing to make money out of, nothing to justify my appearance on the -boards of a London theatre, nothing to furnish a column of wild writing -to a newspaper, nothing to merit even the honour of a flattering -request from a photographic company. I very exactly knew what I _had_ -done, and was keenly alive to the absurdity of any heroizing process. - -However, I had sense enough to guess that what blushing honours were -thrust upon me would be very short-lived. Who does not thank God at -some time or other in his life that there _is_ such a thing as oblivion? - -So we went on deck; I overhearing one of the ladies talk some nonsense -about her never having read or heard of anything more deliciously -romantic and exciting than the young sailor rescuing a pretty girl -from a wreck and falling in love with her. - -"Did you hear that, Mary?" I whispered. - -"Yes," she answered. - -"Was it romantic?" - -"I think so." - -"And exciting?" - -"Dreadfully." - -"And did they live happily ever afterwards?" - -"We shall see." - -"Darling, it _is_ romantic, and it _is_ exciting, to us, and to no -one else. Yes, very romantic now that I come to think of it; but all -has come about so gradually that I have never thought of the romance -that runs through our story. What time did we have to think? Mutineers -out of Wapping are no polite garnishers to a love story; and romance -must be pretty stoutly bolt-roped not to be blown to smithereens by a -hurricane." - -There were a number of passengers on deck, men, women, and children, -and when I ran my eye along the ship (the _Grosvenor_ would have made -a neat long-boat for her) and observed her dimensions, I thought that -a city might have gone to sea in her without any inconvenience arising -from overcrowding. In a word, she was a magnificent Clyde-built iron -boat of some four thousand tons burden, and propelled by eight hundred -horse-power engines; her decks white as a yacht's, a shining awning -forward and aft; a short yellow funnel, towering masts and broad yards, -and embodying every conceivable "latest improvement" in compasses, -capstans, boat-lowering gear, blocks, gauges, logs, windlass, and the -rest of it. She was steaming over a smooth sea and under a glorious -blue sky at the rate of thirteen knots, or nearly fifteen miles an -hour. Cool draughts of air circled under the awning and fanned my -hollow cheeks, and invigorated and refreshed me like cordials. - -The captain was on deck when we arrived, and the moment he saw me he -came forward and shook my hand, offering me many kindly congratulations -on my recovery; and with his own hands placed chairs for me and Mary -near the mizzen-mast. Then the chief officer approached, and most, -indeed I think all, of the passengers; and I believe that had I been as -cynical as old Diogenes I should have been melted into a hearty faith -in human nature by the sympathy shown me by these kind people. - -They illustrated their goodness best, perhaps, by withdrawing, after -a generous salutation, and resuming their various employments or -discussions, so as to put me at my ease. The doctor and the chief -officer stayed a little while talking to us; and then presently the -tiffin-bell rang, and all the passengers went below, the captain having -previously suggested that I should remain on deck, so as to get the -benefit of the air, and that he would send a steward to wait upon me. -Mary would not leave my side; and the officer in charge taking his -station on the bridge before the funnel, we, to my great satisfaction, -had the deck almost to ourselves. - -"You predicted, Mary," I said, "that our lives would be spared. Your -dream has come true." - -"Yes; I knew my father would not deceive me. Would to God he had been -spared!" - -"Yet God has been very good to us, Mary. What a change is this, from -the deck of the _Grosvenor_--the seas beating over us, the ship -labouring as though at any moment she must go to pieces--ourselves -fagged to death, and each of us in our hearts for hours and hours -beholding death face to face. I feel as though I had no right to be -alive after so much hard work. It is a violation of natural laws and an -impertinent triumphing of vitality over the whole forces of Nature." - -"But you are alive, dear, and that is all I care about." - -I pressed her hand, and after looking around me asked her if she knew -whether this vessel went direct to Glasgow. - -"Yes." - -"Have you any friends there?" - -"None. But I have friends here. The captain has asked me to stay with -his wife until I hear from home." - -"To whom shall you write?" - -"To my aunt in Leamington. She will come to Glasgow and take me home. -And you?" - -"I?" - -I looked at her and smiled. - -"I! Why, your question puts a matter into my head that I must think -over." - -"You are not strong enough to think. If you begin to think I shall grow -angry." - -"But I must think, Mary." - -"Why?" - -"I must think how I am to get to London, and what I am to do when I get -there." - -"When we were on the _Grosvenor_," she said, "you did all the thinking -for me, didn't you? And now that we are on the _Peri_ I mean to do -all the thinking for you. But I need not say that. I have thought my -thoughts out. I have done with them." - -"Look here, Mary, I am going to be candid----" - -"Here comes one of the stewards to interrupt you." - -A very civil fellow came with a tray, which he placed on the skylight, -and stood by to wait on us. I told him he need not stay, and, -addressing Mary, I exclaimed-- - -"This recalls our farewell feast on the _Grosvenor_." - -"Yes; and there is the boatswain watching us, as if he would like to -come to us again and congratulate us on having found each other out. Do -catch his eye, dear, and wave your hand. He dare not come here." - -I waved my hand to him and he flourished his cap in return, and so did -three or four men who were around him. - -"I am going----" I began. - -"You will eat your lunch first," she interrupted. - -"But why will you not listen?" - -"Because I have made my arrangements." - -"But I wish to speak of myself, dear." - -"I am speaking of you--my arrangements concern you--and me." - -I looked at her uneasily, for somehow the sense of my own poverty came -home to me very sharply, and I had a strong disinclination to hear what -my foolish pride might smart under as a mortification. - -She read my thoughts in my eyes; and blushing, yet letting me see her -sweet face, she said in a low voice, "I thought we were to be married?" - -"I hope so. It is my dearest wish, Mary. I have told you I love you. It -would break up my life to lose you now." - -"You shall not lose me--but neither will I lose you. I shall never -release you more." - -"Mary, _do_ let me speak my thoughts out. I am very poor. The little -that I had has gone down in the _Grosvenor_. I could not marry you -as I am. I could not offer you the hand of a pauper. Let me tell you -my plans. I shall write, on reaching Glasgow, to the owners of the -_Grosvenor_, relate the loss of the ship, and ask for payment of the -wages that are due to me. With this money I will travel to London and -go to work at once to obtain a berth on another ship. Perhaps, when -the owners of the _Grosvenor_ hear my story, they will give me a post -on board one of their other vessels. At all events I must hope for the -best. I will work very hard----" - -"No, no, I cannot listen!" she exclaimed, impetuously. "You are going -to tell me that you will work very hard to become captain and save a -little money; and you will then say that several years must pass before -your pride will suffer you to think yourself in a proper position to -make me your wife." - -"Yes, I was going to say that." - -"Oh, where is your clever head which enabled you to triumph over the -mutineers? Has the shipwreck served you as it has the poor steward?" - -"My darling----" - -"Were you to work twenty years, what money could you save out of this -poor profession of the sea that would justify your pride--your cruel -pride?" - -I was about to speak. - -"What money could you save that would be of service when you know that -I am rich, when you know that what is mine is yours?" - -"Not much," said I. - -"Would you have loved me the less had you known me to be poor? Would -you not have risked your life to save mine though I had been a beggar? -You loved me because--because I am Mary Robertson; and I love you -because you are Edward Royle--dear to me for your own dear sake, for my -poor dead father's sake, because of my love for you. Would you go away -and leave me because you are too proud to make us both happy? I will -give you all I have--I will be a beggar and you shall be rich that you -need not leave me. Oh, do not speak of being poor! Who is poor that -acts as you have done? Who is poor that can enrich a girl's heart as -you have enriched mine?" - -She had raised her voice unconsciously, and overhearing herself, as it -were, she stopped on a sudden, and bowed her head with a sob. - -"Mary," I whispered, "I will put my pride away. Let no man judge me -wrongly. I talk idly--God knows how idly--when I speak of leaving you. -Yes, I could leave you--but at what cost? at what cost to us both? -What you have said--that I loved you as Mary Robertson--is true. I know -in my own heart that my love cannot dishonour us--that it cannot gain -nor lose by what the future may hold in store for me with you, dear -one, as my wife." - -"Now you are my own true sailor boy!" was all she said. - - * * * * * - -I began this story on the sea, and I desire to end it on the sea; and -though another yarn, which should embrace my arrival at Glasgow, my -introduction to Mary's aunt, my visit to Leamington, my marriage, and -divers other circumstances of an equally personal nature, could easily -be spun to follow this--yet the title of this story must limit the -compass of it, and with the "Wreck of the _Grosvenor_" my tale should -have had an end. - -And yet I should be doing but poor justice to the faithful and -beautiful nature of my dear wife, if I did not tell you that the plans -which she had unfolded to me, and which I have made to appear as -though they only concerned myself, included the boatswain and the poor -steward. For both a provision was contemplated which I knew her too -well to doubt that she had the power to make, or that she would forget: -a provision that, on the one hand, would bring the boatswain alongside -of us even in our own home, and make him independent of his calling, -which, to say the least, considering the many years he had been to -sea, had served him but ill, and still offered him but a very scurvy -outlook; whilst, on the other hand, it would enable the steward to -support himself and his wife and child, without in the smallest degree -taxing those unfortunate brains which we could only hope the shipwreck -had not irreparably damaged. - -Thus much, and this bit of a yarn is spun. - -And now I ask myself, is it worth the telling? Well, however it goes -as a piece of work, it may teach a lesson: that good sailors may be -made bad, and bad sailors may be made outrageous, and harmless men may -be converted into criminals by the meanness of shipowners. Every man -knows, thanks to one earnest, eloquent, and indefatigable voice that -has been raised among us, what this country thinks of the rascals who -send rotten ships to sea. And it is worth while to acquaint people -with another kind of rottenness that is likewise sent to sea, which in -its way is as bad as rotten timbers--a rottenness which is even less -excusable, inasmuch as it costs but a trifling sum of money to remedy, -than rotten hulls: - -I mean rotten food. - -Sailors have not many champions, because I think their troubles and -wrongs are not understood. You must live and suffer their lives to -know their lives. Go aloft with them, man the pumps with them, eat -their biscuit and their pork, and drink their water with them; lodge -with crimps along with them; be of their nature, and experience their -shore-going temptations, the harpies in trousers and petticoats who -prey upon them, who drug them and strip them. - -And however deficient a man may be in those qualifications of mind -which go to the making of popular novels, I hope no person will charge -such a writer with impertinence for drawing a quill on behalf of a -race of men to whom Britain owes the greatest part of her wealth and -prosperity, who brave death, who combat the elements, who lead in -numerous instances the lives of mongrel dogs, who submit, with few -murmurs that ever reach the shore-going ear, to privations which blanch -the cheek to read, that our tables and our homes may be abundantly -furnished, our banking balances large, and our national importance -supreme. - - -THE END. - - - LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET - AND CHARING CROSS. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -Cover and Table of Contents created by Transcriber and placed in the -Public Domain. - -Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in the three volumes of this novel, or to remedy -simple typographical errors; otherwise they were not changed. - -Dialect and other non-standard spellings have not been changed. - -Spaces before the contraction "'ll" (for "will") have been retained. -Such spacing was inconsistent in this volume - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines have been retained. - -Page 107: "gauge" was misprinted as "guage". - -Page 180: "so that speaking one of these vessels" was printed that way. - -Page 213: "never was there less bombast" was misprinted as "their"; -changed here. - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wreck of the Grosvenor, Volume 3 -of 3, by William Clark Russell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WRECK OF THE GROSVENOR *** - -***** This file should be named 44499-8.txt or 44499-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/4/9/44499/ - -Produced by Charlie Howard and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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