Courage, True Hearts Part 39

The roaring winds, the raging sea, In hopes on sh.o.r.e, To be once more, Safe moor'd with thee."

The crow's-nest had been taken down, but stride-legs on the foretop-gallant cross-trees sat Frank one sunny forenoon. Gently to and fro swings the ship, the top-masts forming the arc of a great circle.

But Frank minds not the motion.

He is an ancient mariner now.

Or he thinks he is.

"On deck there!"

It is a shout which is half hysterical with joy.

"Land on the lee-bow. The Cape, sir! The Cape!"

Then a cheer rises up from far below that makes the very sails shiver.

Vike starts up and barks, and taking this for an invitation to dance, Old Pen with a squawk and a squeal springs up, and next minute Johnnie Shingles and he are wheeling round in fine style on the quarter-deck.

"Land! Land! Land!" And, for a time at least, the dangers of the deep are past.

BOOK III.

IN THE LAND OF THE NUGGET AND DIAMOND.

CHAPTER I.--SHIPWRECK ON A LONELY ISLE.

This book opens amidst scenery far different indeed from that which I had to describe in my last.

I should like the reader to bear in mind that my youthful heroes were very far indeed from being mercenary, and were just at that age, when wild adventure appeals to the heart of a young fellow who has any spark of manhood in his composition.

Certainly they had sailed in search of fortune, but it was not on their own account they were seeking for wealth, as I have endeavoured to show.

Well, even already, they had been fairly fortunate. They had not buried their talents in the earth, nor in the ocean either, and at the Cape of Good Hope their cargo brought them in so much, that the fortunes of all who had a share in the ship was not only doubled but tripled.

They had, immediately after clearing out, employed a gang of heathens, as Morgan always called people with dark skins, to thoroughly scour and disinfect the ship. They had been employed for days at the work, under the lash of a ganger, the ganger himself being under the watchful eye of Morgan the first mate.

And so the work was perfectly done.

Then fresh and cleanly cargo was laid in, which would doubtless fetch a big price in the London market. This consisted of wool, firmly bound and packed into small compa.s.s; ostrich feathers, and wine, to say nothing of curios. They did not quite fill up, however, hoping to make even better bargains up the coast.

And so they did, especially as regards ostrich feathers, gum copal, pepper, nutmegs and arrow-root.

They called at Zanzibar, one of the strangest cities on earth, and here, while the _Flora M'Vayne_ lay quietly at anchor in the beautiful open roadstead, where floated ships bearing the ensigns of at least half a dozen different nations, the boys went on sh.o.r.e, taking Vike with them, and enjoyed most thoroughly not only rambles through the crowded streets, but out in the beautiful bush, where they could revel in the rarest and most delicious fruits the world can grow.

I need but mention mangoes, guavas, and cocoa-nuts, to say nothing of huge pine-apples, with the tropical sun-tints on their rough but shining rinds, and perfume as sweet even as their luscious taste and flavour.

But here were no wild adventures, so that the lads were not sorry when the anchor was once more weighed, and the ship far away on the heaving sea.

It was the captain's intention to be towed through the ca.n.a.l, but lo!

and alas! from the very first day of their leaving Zanzibar misfortune attended them.

One of these terrible circular storms, all too common in the Indian Ocean, and called typhoons, came roaring down upon them with scarcely a minute's warning.

The higher sails were blown into ribbons, the topgallant masts carried away, and the gallant ship thrown so much on her beam-ends, that the water came over the lee rails.

She righted again, it is true. And speedily too; and now like some living frightened creature she literally flew before the fearful storm.

As speedily as possible the sails that were not split were taken in.

This was a very dangerous employment, and one poor fellow was blown off the yardarm.

Nicholson was his name, and he was a powerful swimmer, but useful though this art of swimming is, what could it avail him in a sea like that!

For just a moment or two his brave and handsome face was seen among the surf in the wake.

He waved his hand once, as if bidding his comrades all adieu, then sank to rise no more.

As a rule, circular storms do not last for a very long time, and a good sailor like Talbot knows how to manoeuvre his ship so as to get clear as speedily as possible; but this typhoon ended in a gale, which in force was quite a hurricane.

And this kept on for several days.

The last night was the worst. About six o'clock in the evening the sun went down in a bra.s.sy haze, behind the foam-crested turmoil of waves; and the wind seemed still on the increase.

Not a star to-night.

It was pitchy dark, for the horizon was close aboard of the storm-tormented ship, and the clouds may have been half a mile in depth.

There were two men at the wheel, and those who had to keep watch were fain to lash themselves to rigging or shrouds.

But keeping watch is here but a figure of speech. What watch could be kept in a dark so dark? There was no thunder that could be heard, but the occasional flashes of lightning that dazzled the eyes one moment only rendered the darkness more intense the next.

It must have been about four bells in the first watch, and those in the saloon were trying to obtain a kind of scrambling supper. Old Pen had come aft, and Vike was here too. Both knew that to-night there was danger on the deep.

Suddenly there came a shout from those on deck, this was followed by a crashing sound like the splintering of masts, a loud grating noise, and then all motion ceased.

"We are doomed, boys, but we must still continue to have faith in our heavenly Father."

"Do you think, sir," faltered Frank, "that--that we are wrecked?"

"We are driven on sh.o.r.e, lad, but where, it is impossible to say."

The ship was already battened down, so that, although the seas were making a clean breach over her, there was no immediate danger.

The mate found his way below.