Sail Ho! Part 90

I grasped in an instant what he intended to do, and felt that at last I could act. For, seeing that he meant to leap overboard, I made a start to run back to the cabin and shout to those in the boat to pick him up, when he caught his foot in a rope, and fell upon the deck with a heavy thud; and before he could rise, the man with the oilskin overcoat flung it over him, rolled him over and over in it, and extinguished the flames.

In the midst of the loud talking which followed, I heard Jarette's voice above all the rest.

"It was his own fault," he cried. "Here, carry him below. I shall not take the blame."

"But you shot at and hit him," growled a man angrily.

"As I will at you, you dog," roared Jarette, "if you disobey my orders.

Quick!--get him below."

I saw Jarette bend down to the moaning man, for two of the crew held lanterns over him; and then, as they were all crowding down the hatchway, I hurried into the cabin, closed the door after me, and going to the window, I leaned out, and called in a whisper to Mr Brymer, but there was no answer.

I called again and again, raising my voice till, had any one been on deck, there must have been an alarm raised; but still there was no reply from the boat, and feeling at last that my companions must have rowed along by the ship to try and find out what was the matter, I was about to go back and run along till I could hail them and implore the doctor to come on board to try and save the poor wretch's life, when, all at once, there was the faint splash of an oar, and Mr Brymer exclaimed--

"Ah, at last! I was afraid you were being hunted. What were they doing? What was the meaning of those cries, and the torches they were rushing about the deck with?"

I explained in few words, and, saying I would fetch a rope, implored Mr Frewen to come up and help the poor creature.

"Come? Of course I will, Dale," he said; "but it seems curious work to do--help the men who have sent us adrift on the ocean in an open boat."

"Yes," I cried excitedly; "but wait while I get a rope."

"Yes; quick, my lad," said Mr Brymer. "It is our only opportunity."

I made no attempt now at concealment, but ran through the saloon, and out on the deck, to secure the first coil of rope I could find.

I got hold of one directly, not neatly coiled, but tumbled down anyhow; and then, looking forward to see if any one was on deck, I was conscious of a dull bluish glow, which I attributed to the lights by the forecastle-hatch, from which I could hear a low muttering of voices dominated by Jarette's sharp angry snapping.

Then grasping the fact that there appeared to be no one on deck, I ran back into the dark saloon, tapped smartly on the door of Miss Denning's cabin, cried, "Help coming!" and darted through the door, closing it after me.

"Got a rope?" came from below; and my answer was to lower it down as quickly as I could before pa.s.sing it twice round the legs of the fixed table.

Then came a sharp whisper--

"All fast?"

"Yes; all right," I said; and the next moment Bob Hampton was climbing in.

"Sent me to help you, my lad. Hooroar! the ship's our own again."

In another minute Barney was up alongside, and he was followed by Mr Frewen and Mr Brymer. These all seized guns.

"They're not loaded," I said sadly.

"Never mind, my lad; appearances go a long way," said Mr Brymer. "The scoundrels will not know. Now then, pick up something for a weapon, Dale, if it's only the cabin poker."

"Are you going to fight?" I said in a low tone. "I thought you were going to help that poor wretch."

"I can attend him as well when he is our prisoner, Dale, as if we were Jarette's."

"Of course," I said excitedly. "But hadn't you better have Dumlow too?"

"Can't climb up, my lad," said Bob Hampton, in a husky whisper; "and Mr Preddle's too fat."

"Ready?" said Mr Brymer.

"Ay, ay," came from the men, and "Yes" from Mr Frewen.

"Then come on."

The mate threw open the door to lead the way, and then hesitated for a moment or two, for the saloon was flooded by a pale bluish light.

"I hoped we should have darkness on our side," he said, "but--"

"Look, look!" I cried wildly; "the ship's on fire."

We all ran to the companion together, three on one side of the saloon-table, two on the other; while I could hardly believe my eyes as I saw flooding up from beyond the main-mast great soft waves of bluish fire.

"It is the casks of spirits in the hold," cried Mr Brymer, excitedly.

"They've done for it at last. But come on quickly: we can pa.s.s that without getting much harm; and as soon as we have secured the scoundrels, we must try the pump and hose."

We tried to go along the starboard side, but the flames came out in such strong pulsations there, that we were obliged to cross to the port side, where there seemed to be about ten feet clear.

"Now then," cried Mr Brymer; "they're all below, and have not taken the alarm. A quick rush, and we have them."

He was half-way along the clear pathway formed along the deck between the flames floating up from the hold and the port bulwark, and his figure stood up strangely unreal against the bluish light, when there was a heavy report below in the hold, and a rush of flame which extended from side to side of the ship. But after the report there was no roar or crackling sound of burning, for the blue and orange flames came pulsing up in great waves silent and strange, the quiet mastery they had attained being appalling.

The explosion--that of a spirit-cask, one of the many in the hold-- brought up the men from the forecastle, wild with excitement; but we only saw them for, a moment, and then they were screened from us by the fire, which was singularly clear from smoke, and rose steadily upward and away from the main-mast, whose sails hung down motionless in the calm.

We all stood motionless, unable to grasp the extent of this new calamity, and listened to the yelling and shouting of the frightened men, who now broke loose entirely from the slight control Jarette had held princ.i.p.ally by means of his revolver. For death in a more horrible form threatened them than that from the pistol which had held them in subjugation, and with one consent they all began to shout the word "Boats!"

Just then there was the report of a pistol, and Jarette's voice rose loud and clear.

"Silence--idiots--fools!" he shouted. "It is your own doing, and now you want to run away and leave a good ship and all its valuable cargo-- ours, do you hear?--all ours--to burn. Bah!"

"The boats, quick!--the boats!" shouted one of the men.

"Throw that fool overboard, some of you," cried Jarette, contemptuously; "he has not the spirit of a _mouche_. Bah! what is it? A cask or two of spirit in the hold. Come along, brave lads. The pumps and buckets; we will soon make grog of the spirits, and it will cease to burn."

"No, no! The boats!" cried two or three. "We are all lost!"

"Yes, if you do not obey," cried Jarette, speaking slowly through his teeth, and with a very marked French accent, as he did when greatly excited. "I go not to lose our great prize, for which I have fought and won. Every man now a bucket, and you four to the pump and hose."

"Draw back a little," whispered Mr Brymer; "they have not seen us."

"Shall we get buckets, sir?" said Bob Hampton in a gruff whisper.

"No; it is useless. There are nearly fifty of those casks of strong spirits there below, and no efforts of ours could stop that fire."