The African Trader Part 3

The poor second mate grew worse and worse. Paul visited him, and he heard from the lips of the black seaman, perhaps for the first time, the full and free message of salvation; and, I believe, from what Paul told me, and from the remarks the mate made to me before he died, that he had fully accepted G.o.d's gracious offer of reconciliation.

I am going ahead though too fast in my narrative. Before the morning came that we were to have left our anchorage Captain Willis himself was laid prostrate with the fever, and having now no one on board to navigate the vessel, we could not venture to sea. I would have done my best to find our way to Sierra Leone, but the black boatswain refused to leave the harbour without an officer capable of taking charge of the brigantine. We were compelled, therefore, to wait till Captain Willis should recover sufficiently, or till the arrival of another English vessel which could spare one of her mates to take charge of the "Chieftain."

Before many days were over Captain Willis, and Sambo, the black cook, and I, were the only persons of those who had come into the river, still alive on board. Had the Krumen been badly disposed, they might, without difficulty, have taken possession of the vessel, and made off with her rich cargo; but they appeared, as far I could judge, to intend to act faithfully, and perform their various duties as well as if the captain's eye had been constantly upon them. About Paul I had no doubt. Little as I knew of vital religion myself, I was sure that he was a true man, and that he acted according to his professions. Nothing could exceed his attention to the captain; he or I were constantly at his bedside; and Paul showed considerable skill in treating the disease. I believe that it was mainly owing to him, through G.o.d's mercy, that the captain did not succ.u.mb to it, as the rest of the crew had done.

"Paul," said the captain one morning, when he felt himself getting a little better, "I owe you my life, I will try not to forget you."

"Oh, no, no captain, poor fellow like me not able to do you good; give G.o.d de praise," he answered solemnly, looking upwards. "Oh, if you did but know how G.o.d loves you, how He takes care of you, and gives you all the good things of life, and saves you from danger, and wishes you to come and live with Him, and be happy for ever and ever, you would try to love Him and serve Him, and obey Him in all things."

"I don't think that G.o.d can care for one who has cared so little for Him," answered the captain. "I don't mean to say that I call myself a bad man, or that I have many great sins on my conscience, and so, I suppose, if I died He would hot shut me out of heaven altogether."

"Captain," said Paul, fixing his eyes steadily on him, "the debil told you dat; he a liar from the beginning. G.o.d says, 'There is none that doeth good, no not one,' 'The soul that sinneth shall surely die.' What does dat mean? Not, surely, that if you sinner He let you get into heaven. I ask you, captain, whether you are a sinner, or whether you pure and holy, and trust to Christ, and love Christ, and fit to go and live for ever and ever in the pure and holy heaven with Him?

Understand, I do not ask whether you are a great sinner in your own sight, but whether you have ever committed any sins; and remember, G.o.d says, 'the soul that sinneth,' not only the soul that is a great sinner."

The captain looked much annoyed. "Yes, of course, I have committed some sins; but I don't see why G.o.d has any right to charge them against me."

"G.o.d made this world, and all things that are therein. G.o.d rules this world, and G.o.d made His laws, and He says they are just and right, and G.o.d says, 'The soul that sinneth shall surely die,'" answered Paul, solemnly. "Captain understand, it is not I who say that. G.o.d says it.

But though G.o.d is a G.o.d of justice He is full of love and mercy, and He has therefore formed a plan for the benefit of sinning men, by which man's sins can be washed away, by which His justice will be satisfied, His love and mercy shown. He has allowed another to be punished instead of the sinner," Paul continued, explaining to the captain G.o.d's plan of salvation much in the same terms as he had already explained it to me.

"I never understood that matter before," said the captain. "But still I do not see how G.o.d can expect us to be as good as you say."

"Ma.s.sa Captain, I do not say dat G.o.d expect us to be good; but still He has a right to demand that we should be good. He made man pure and holy and upright, and He gave him free will to act as he chose; but man disobeyed G.o.d and went away from Him, and forgot Him, and so G.o.d has the right to punish man. But den G.o.d is full of love and mercy, and He does not want to punish him, but wants him to come back to Him, and so He has sent His message to man to tell him how he may do that. Now as man cannot be good and pure and holy and do nothing but good, but, on the contrary, does much harm, he must either accept G.o.d's plan of salvation, or be punished. You have heard, captain, about the thief on the cross, even when he was dying he put faith in Jesus, and Jesus told him that he should be that night with Him in paradise. So you see, captain, there is hope for the sinner, even at the last, and this shows that G.o.d does not expect us to do anything good in order to be saved, but only just to put faith in the sacrifice of His dear Son--that is to say, to believe that He was punished instead of us. But then remember, captain, that only one thief was saved; and that shows to us that we must not put off turning to Jesus to the last, and, therefore, I pray you, captain, go to Him at once; trust to Him now, and you will not feel unhappy; and if this fever takes you away, as it has taken away so many people on board this ship, you will hab no fear of death, for you will go to live with Jesus, and be happy with Him for ever and ever."

Captain Willis groaned. "I'll pray wid you, captain," said Paul, and he knelt down by the side of the bed, and lifted up his voice in prayer, and earnestly besought G.o.d to send His Holy Spirit to soften the captain's heart, and to enlighten his mind.

I had listened attentively to all that Paul had said, and I prayed that the blessing which he asked for the captain might descend on me also; for I had begun to discover that my heart was very hard, and p.r.o.ne to evil, and that I had no love for Jesus, no desire to obey His law. Thus the truths of the gospel, as they fell from the lips of the black sailor, first came home to my heart.

Several days pa.s.sed by--the "Chieftain" was got ready for sea, and the captain considered himself well enough to take the command.

CHAPTER FIVE.

WE AT LENGTH GET OUT OF THE RIVER INTO THE OPEN SEA, BUT A CALM COMES ON, AND THE CAPTAIN AGAIN BECOMES VERY ILL.--NO ONE ON BOARD UNDERSTANDING NAVIGATION, I DOUBT WHETHER I SHALL FIND MY WAY TO SIERRA LEONE.--THE CAPTAIN DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT HE IS IN DANGER.--PAUL PLEADS WITH HIM ABOUT THE SAFETY OF HIS SOUL.--A FIRE BREAKS OUT IN THE HOLD.-- WE IN VAIN ENDEAVOUR TO EXTINGUISH IT.--THE REST OF THE CREW DESERT US.--PAUL AND I ENDEAVOUR TO SAVE THE CAPTAIN, BUT DRIVEN FROM THE CABIN BY THE FLAMES LEAP OVERBOARD AND REACH A SMALL BOAT, WHICH WE RIGHT AND GET INTO.--SEE A SCHOONER APPROACHING US.

At day-break the pilot came on board, the sails were loosed, the anchor hove-up, and the "Chieftain," with a hot land breeze, which still blew strong, glided down the river. Captain Willis, who had been brought from his cabin by Paul and Sambo, sat propped up with pillows on the deck. It was melancholy to see him, his once strong frame reduced to a mere skeleton, his countenance pale and haggard, and his strong voice now sounding weak and hollow, and scarcely to be heard by those to whom he issued his orders. I stood by him to repeat them. I saw him cast an eye towards the spot which contained the graves of our shipmates, and I could divine his thoughts. Perhaps he might have reflected that had he not been so greedy of gain, many of them might be still alive, while he himself might be enjoying health and strength.

The mangrove covered sh.o.r.es looked even more sombre and monotonous than before, in the grey light of morning, as we glided down between them.

The air was hot and oppressive, and full of pestilence, and it seemed a wonder to me that I should have lived so many weeks while breathing such an atmosphere. I dreaded lest the breeze should fail us, and we should be compelled to spend another night under its influence; but the wind held, the tide was in our favour, and we had nearly reached the mouth of the river before the wind dropped, and we had to bring up. A few minutes afterwards the fresh sea breeze came rushing in, pure and sweet, and comparatively cool. With what delight did I gulp it down. I quickly felt like another creature. The captain also seemed to revive rapidly under its influence, and I began to hope that he would ultimately recover.

I eagerly watched the sparkling lines of white foam as the ocean waves, meeting the ebbing current of the river, broke across the bar. How I longed for the evening, when the land breeze would again fill our sails, and carry us out into the open bounding ocean. It seemed to me that then all difficulty would be pa.s.sed, and we should only have to shape our course for England, and steer on till we should reach it.

The captain, unwilling again to go below, sat all day on deck under an awning, ready for the moment when we might venture to weigh anchor. It came at last. Just before sunset the hot wind began to blow. Although the bar still wore a threatening aspect, the pilot declared that, without fear, we might venture over it.

Not a moment was lost, on we stood towards it. In a short time foaming breakers were hissing and bubbling around us. Once more I felt the vessel rising to the heaving wave, and welcomed the showers of spray which flew over her deck. On she sped, but very slowly; now she sank downwards, and it seemed as if the next roller would send her back on the bar. It glided under her, however, and then she appeared floating, as it were, almost at rest on its summit, and then downwards she slid, slowly making her onward way.

In a few minutes more we were in the free open ocean, and the dark sombre river, with its gloomy a.s.sociations, was far astern. Every inch of canvas the vessel could carry was set, that we might get a good offing before nightfall, when a calm was to be expected.

"I never wish to see that place again," I could not help exclaiming.

"Don't say that, Harry," answered the captain. "We may hope to have better luck the next time. If you ever want to grow rich you must run some risk. We have had an unusually sickly season, which may not again occur; and if the owners ask me to go back, I am not the man to refuse to do so, and I should look to you to go along with me."

Can it be possible, I thought, that a man, after running so fearful a risk, would willingly again expose himself to the same danger, merely for the sake of rapidly gaining wealth? I forgot at the moment that people not only hazard their health but their souls, for that object.

Had I remembered the fact, I should not have been surprised at what the captain had said.

We had got out of sight of land, but the wind was very light, and we made little progress. In a short time it fell calm altogether, and the vessel lay like a log on the water. The heat, too, was very great, and the captain appeared to suffer from it. It was evident, indeed, that he was falling rapidly back, and he had now no strength to come on deck. I was much alarmed on his account, for I thought it too likely that, after apparently being so near recovery, he would die. I was anxious also on our own account, for knowing so little as I did about navigation, I could not tell how I should take the vessel into port. I got out a chart and studied it, and marked the spot where I believed we then were.

I then drew a line from it to Sierra Leone, the place for which I intended to steer. It lay about north-west of us, and I hoped that if I could sight the land to the southward I might coast along till I came to it. There were, however, I knew, strong currents running, which might take us out of our course, and we might have contrary winds, which would further increase the difficulty. I thought that very likely some of the blacks knew more about the matter than I did, but I did not like to confess my apprehensions to them lest they might be tempted to play some trick, and perhaps run away with the vessel altogether.

The only person in whom I could confide was Paul. I knew that I could trust him thoroughly, but then I suspected that he was not a better navigator than I was, as he had only served on board a man-of-war and merchantmen, when he would not have been able to learn anything about the matter.

The captain caught sight of me through the open door of his berth, as I was poring over the chart spread out on the table of the main cabin.

"What are you about, Harry?" he asked.

I told him that I was looking at the chart to see what course we ought to steer.

"Don't trouble yourself about that, lad," he answered; "I shall be well as soon as the breeze comes. It's this hot calm keeps me down. If the wind had continued, I should have been myself again by this time, though I have had a narrow squeak for it I'll allow."

His face looked so pale and haggard, his eyes so sunken, his voice so weak and trembling, that I could not help fearing that he was mistaken.

I was unwilling to alarm him, but it was so important that I should know how to act in case of his death, that I could not help saying,--"But suppose anything was to happen to you, sir, what should you advise me to do?"

"I do not intend that anything shall happen to me, Harry," he answered, evidently annoyed at my remark. "After having got this valuable cargo on board we must not think of such a thing. Why Harry, in all my voyages I have never collected half so rich a freight."

"I earnestly hope that you may recover your health, sir," I said. "I mentioned the subject simply in case of accidents, and I did not suppose that you would be offended."

"Of course I am not, Harry," he replied. "You don't suppose that I am a coward and afraid to die; and if it was not for the sake of the vessel and her freight, I should not care, I fancy, so much about the matter; but it would never do now to knock under--so don't, Harry, put those gloomy thoughts again into my head."

On going on deck I told Paul my fears about the captain. "Yes, he very bad," he said; "but I more sorry about him soul. He think more of the cargo, which may go to the bottom in one moment, than of his soul, which live for ever and ever. O Ma.s.sa Harry, we must speak again to him about dat. We will plead with him with tears in our eyes, that he think about his soul, and we will tell him not to trouble about the vessel."

Without loss of time we went to the captain. At first he listened somewhat coldly to what Paul said, but he did not grow angry. "I thank you for interesting yourself about me," he said at last. "You may be right, and if you will pray with me I will try to join you."

Paul and I thereon knelt down, as we had done before, and Paul, in very plain language, earnestly besought G.o.d to send His Holy Spirit to soften the captain's heart, to show him that he was a lost sinner, and had need of a Saviour--to enlighten his mind, and to enable him to take hold of Christ as the only way whereby he could be saved.

The captain remained for a long time afterwards silent. At length he put out his hand and grasped Paul's. "I see it now," he said, sighing deeply. "I have been, and still am, a great sinner. Oh, that I knew better how I could be saved."

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," said Paul, in a firm voice. "That is G.o.d's loving message. He sends no other; and, captain, if all the ministers of your country were to come to you, they could bring you no other. If you do believe on Jesus, and are to die this very day, He says to you just what He said when hanging on the cross on Calvary to the dying thief, 'This night thou shalt be with me in paradise.'"

The captain was greatly moved, and I heard him, between his sobs, exclaiming, "Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief."

Oh how necessary is that prayer! and I am sure it is one which is always answered, when the sinner is truly desirous of turning from his sins, and is seeking, by every means in his power, to strengthen his belief.

I had got out my Bible several days before, and I now read it constantly to the captain, as well as to myself. Whenever I came to a pa.s.sage which seemed to meet his case, he desired me to read it over and over again. Notwithstanding this, the desire was strong within him to recover, for the sake of carrying home the vessel and her rich freight in safety. That was but natural, and I earnestly hoped that he might be restored to health. Instead, however, of gaining strength, he appeared to grow weaker and weaker.

The calm had now continued for several days. Often as I looked over the side I saw dark triangular fins just rising above the surface, and moving here and there round the ship, and frequently the whole form of the monster could be discerned as it glided by; and when I saw its keen cruel eyes glancing up towards me, I felt a shudder pa.s.s through my frame, such as, according to the vulgar notion, a person feels when it is said that some one is walking over his grave. Occasionally, when anything was thrown overboard, a white flash was seen rising out of the deep, and a large pair of jaws, armed with sharp teeth, opening, gulped it down, and directly afterwards the creature went swimming on, watching for any other dainty morsel which might come in its way. "How dreadful it would be to fall overboard," I thought. "Calm as the sea is, a person, with those creatures around, would have very little chance of escaping with life."

Dark clouds had been gathering around, and the wavelets began to play over the hitherto calm ocean. Although as yet there was not much wind, the sails were trimmed, and, by the captain's orders, the vessel was put on a north-west course. I concluded, consequently, that he at all events intended touching at Sierra Leone, to obtain a mate and some white hands. The wind, however, rapidly increased, sail was taken in, and before long it was blowing a perfect hurricane. This made the poor captain more anxious than ever to get on deck, but when he attempted to move he found that he had not strength even to sit up. The wind howled and whistled, the vessel tumbled fearfully about, and the seas, which rose up in foaming ma.s.ses, frequently broke on board, deluging her deck.

I had gone down to the captain, who had directed me to visit him every quarter of an hour to let him know how things were going on, when, as I entered the cabin, I discovered a strong smell of burning, and directly afterwards I saw thin wreaths of black smoke making their way through the forward bulk-head. The dreadful conviction came upon me that the vessel was on fire. I sprang on deck, and calling the boatswain and Paul, I told them my fears. That they were too well founded we had soon fearful evidence, for the smoke, now in thick volumes, rose above the deck, both fore and aft. Still there might be time to extinguish the fire. To do this it was necessary to take off the main-hatchway, and, in spite of the risk of a sea beating over us, it was done. The instant it was off dense ma.s.ses of black smoke rose up from below, preventing all attempts which the boatswain and some of his men made to discover the seat of the fire.