The Castaways Part 4

"Nothing more, thank you--except, perhaps, that you might suggest the value of quietness of movement on the part of anyone coming below. No slamming of cabin-doors, or anything of that sort, you know," answered the first voice, which I now recognised as that of the ship's doctor on board the _City of Cawnpore_.

"All right; I'll see to it," replied the other voice, now quite familiar to me as that of General O'Brien. A gentle click of the cabin-door latch succeeded; and I opened my eyes languidly, to see Scudamore's sharp-cut features bending close to mine, with an earnest, intent look in his kindly eyes.

"Well," he exclaimed heartily, as our eyes met, "how do you feel now?"

"In horrible pain," I answered, with another involuntary groan. "What is the matter with me, doctor? What has happened?"

"Only that you have been drowned; and that you have kept the general and myself busy, for two mortal hours and more, practising artificial respiration, before you would consent to come back to life. That is all!"

Then I remembered everything, and began to wonder by what means I had been recovered from those profound depths wherein my last conscious moments had been spent. I put the question to Scudamore, and he answered:

"Oh, as to that, we had no difficulty. There was a light heaving-line attached by one end to the hawser, and in the other end you had knotted a bowline which you pa.s.sed over your shoulders and under your armpits.

We simply hauled you aboard by means of that."

"And how long did the barque live after I left her?" I asked.

"How long?" repeated the doctor, in surprise. "Why, not ten seconds!

She was in the very act of foundering, stern first, when you jumped; and it was undoubtedly her suction that did the mischief. You must have been dragged fathoms deep by her; and but for the line round you, you would probably never have come to the surface again."

"And what of the French people? Are they all right?" I demanded.

"Yes; thanks to you, they are," answered Scudamore. "The man you jumped overboard after was the worst case; but, luckily, I had succeeded in resuscitating him before you were hauled aboard. You have saved fifteen human lives to-day! That is something to be proud of, is it not? And now, no more talking at present; what you require is sleep; and if you do not mind being left alone a minute or two I will go to my cabin and mix you a draught that will give you a good long nap, from which I have no doubt you will awake feeling as well as ever."

So saying, the medico softly withdrew, quietly closing the cabin-door behind him, only to return a few minutes later with a draught of decidedly pungent taste, which, at his command, I tossed off instanter.

Whether it was due to the potency of the draught, or to exhaustion, or to both combined, I know not, but certain it is that as I sank back upon the pillow my eyes closed, and almost instantly I went drifting off into the land of dreams.

When I next awoke it was well on toward evening, for the light had grown so dim that I could only indistinctly discern the various objects about the cabin. But there seemed to have been no abatement of the gale, for the ship was rolling and plunging as wildly as ever; the scuttle was frequently being dimmed by the dash of seas against the ship's side; and the screaming of the gale through the rigging still rose high above every other sound.

My body seemed to be bruised and aching all over; but, with this exception, I felt little or none the worse for my morning's adventure; I was very comfortable, but distinctly hungry; and I was lazily endeavouring to make up my mind whether I would go to the trouble of dressing, and hunting up a steward to find me something to eat, or whether I would remain where I was until somebody came to me, when the problem was solved by the opening of my cabin-door, and the entrance of the doctor. He advanced on tiptoe to the side of my bunk, and bent close over me, peering into my face to see whether I happened to be awake.

"What is the time, doctor?" I asked.

"Oh, so you _are_ awake, eh?" he responded. "Well, how do you feel?"

"Sore and aching from head to foot, but otherwise all right--excepting that I am uncommonly hungry," I answered.

"Hungry, eh?" said Scudamore. "Let me feel your pulse."

He laid his fingers upon my wrist for a few seconds, and then said:

"Well, there doesn't seem to be very much the matter with you now; you have had a good, long, sound sleep--I have been in and out from time to time, just to see that you were going on all right--and a good dinner will not hurt you. Will you have it brought to you here, or would you rather turn out and dress?"

"Oh, I will turn out, of course!" I exclaimed.

"Very well, then," said the doctor, "I will send a steward to help you to dress--you will need a little a.s.sistance, with the ship cutting these wild capers--and if you do not dawdle too long over your toilet you will be just in good time for dinner. There goes the first bell," he added, as the strident clamour suddenly pealed out from somewhere on the deck above.

He left me, and presently my berth-room steward appeared with my shaving-water, and I scrambled--rather more feebly than I had expected-- out of my bunk. The operation of dressing proved to be a considerably more lengthy one than I had antic.i.p.ated, for I found that I was decidedly shaky on my legs, and I had to sit on the sofa and take a short rest at frequent intervals, with the result that the second dinner bell rang before I was ready to leave my cabin. I was not very late, however, arriving in the cuddy last, it is true, but in time to see my immediate predecessors just taking their seats. As I crossed the threshold of the brilliantly-lighted apartment, leaning upon the arm of the steward, the entire company rose to their feet; every eye was turned upon me; and suddenly General O'Brien shouted, in great excitement:

"Three cheers for our gallant friend Conyers! Hip, hip, hip, hurrah!"

The three cheers thus unexpectedly called for were enthusiastically given--even the ladies joining in--to my great confusion, and as I pa.s.sed aft between the two tables everybody within reach must needs shake hands with me, and say something complimentary, until I felt so uncomfortable that I began to wish I had remained below. I noticed that Miss Onslow was on her feet, like the rest; but she appeared to have risen rather to avoid any appearance of singularity than with the intention of paying me a compliment; while the rest were almost boisterously enthusiastic she remained absolutely calm and devoid of the slightest sign of emotion, except that her cheeks and lips were colourless; a slight curl in her beautiful upper lip seemed to indicate a feeling of contempt for such an outburst of enthusiasm, and she steadfastly kept her gaze turned away from me, except for one brief fraction of a second, as I drew near to take my place beside her. Then, for the s.p.a.ce of a lightning-flash, our glances met; and, if anything so inconceivable as a display of emotion on her part could be credited as within the range of possibility, I would almost have sworn that I caught in her eyes the flash of tears. But, the little ovation over, we all sat down; and as she at once began talking to the skipper about the gun mounted as a trophy in front of Government House, Calcutta, I had not an opportunity to verify my suspicion.

As we seated ourselves I gave vent to a sigh of relief, believing that-- my fellow-travellers having expressed their approval of my behaviour of the morning--the affair was now at an end. But scarcely were we settled in our places when the French skipper's wife--a very charming little woman, who, with her husband, had been received into the cuddy by Dacre as his guests, and who had apparently failed to recognise me upon my entrance--learning from her neighbour what all the hubbub was about, must needs add to my confusion by rushing to me and throwing herself upon her knees, as she poured forth her expressions of grat.i.tude with a mingled fervour and grace that I found particularly discomposing. Then her husband followed suit, thanking me with manly earnestness and heartiness for what I had done. This further act of homage, so publicly performed, disconcerted me to such an extent that I hastened to dismiss the embarra.s.singly grateful pair by a.s.suring them that they were making altogether too much of what I had done, which was no more than any other man, confident of his swimming powers, would have unhesitatingly undertaken, had I not happened to have seized the initiative; that I was of course very glad it had fallen to me to be the means of saving their lives; but that I most earnestly begged them to say no more about it.

When dinner was over, General O'Brien joined me on deck, as I was smoking my pipe; and I seized the opportunity to thank him for the a.s.sistance he had rendered in the operation of securing my resuscitation. And I added:

"As I was recovering consciousness I heard the doctor make a remark to you to the effect that someone--I gathered that a lady was being referred to--seemed to be more than ordinarily concerned in the question of my recovery; and I understood from your reply that you perfectly understood to whom Scudamore alluded. Have you any objection to favouring me with the name of the individual?"

"Oh, so you heard that, did you?" remarked the general. "Well, my dear boy, it was not intended for you to hear, I am quite certain; Scudamore would not have made the remark had he been aware that you were sufficiently recovered to hear and understand it. As to my giving you the lady's name--well, I do not think I should be justified in doing so.

The matter stands thus, you see. When Scudamore spoke, he and I were of opinion that we had accidentally discovered the entirely unsuspected existence of a more than ordinary interest in you on the part of a certain lady; but since then I have come to the conclusion that we mistook overpowering excitement for a more tender feeling; hence I do not consider that I ought to enlighten you at all. If any tender feeling exists, why, it is the girl's own secret, for her to retain or not as she pleases; and if she has such a feeling, and is willing that you should know it, depend upon it she will discover a method of enlightening you; while if she has no such feeling it would be the height of bad taste on my part to suggest that possibly she has. So please ask me no more about it, there's a good fellow."

Of course I at once and finally let the subject drop, but somehow I could not help thinking about it, and wondering which of my fellow-pa.s.sengers was referred to, and for the next day or two I watched to see whether any one of them exhibited more than ordinary cordiality to me; but it was quite unavailing; _all_ were alike exceedingly cordial and friendly--except Miss Onslow, who still maintained her former att.i.tude of frigid reserve--so, as it was, after all, a matter that only very slightly interested me, I soon forgot all about it.

From this time forward, for a full month and more, life was absolutely uneventful on board the _City of Cawnpore_: the gale blew itself out that same night, and we got a breeze that carried us right into the north-east trades; then we lost five days on the Line parallels ere we caught the south-east trades; and when they left us we were baffled for two days more before getting a wind that would permit us to make any easting.

We caught this fair wind early one morning in the second week of December; and by noon it was blowing over the larboard quarter quite as strong as we wanted it, with studding-sails abroad on both sides, from the royals down, and every other inch of canvas that would draw. As the afternoon waned the breeze freshened; but Murgatroyd had by this time got preventer backstays rigged, fore and aft, with the avowed determination of carrying on and making the very utmost of so splendid a breeze. And making the most of it, he was, with a vengeance, for the ship was sweeping along like a mist wreath, reeling off her seventeen knots by the log, when the latter was hove at the end of the first dog-watch.

When I went on deck after dinner that night the sky had banked up to windward and astern of us, and heavy ma.s.ses of cloud were sweeping rapidly athwart the firmament, permitting an occasional brief and hasty glimpse of the young moon and a few misty stars. It was then blowing strong, with every promise of a windy night before us; and it seemed to me that, with so dim and uncertain a light, it was scarcely prudent to drive the ship at such headlong speed through the night. Indeed I ventured to suggest as much to Dacre, but he only laughed at me.

"It is all very well for you navy men, when you are cruising, to shorten sail at sunset, so that your people may be reasonably sure of an undisturbed night," he said. "But with us of the red ensign it is different; our owners expect us to pile up the profits for them; and the only way in which we can do that is by making quick pa.s.sages. But of course, while doing our best to accomplish this, we exercise every possible precaution. For instance, you seem to think that I am rather reckless in driving my ship at this speed through the night; but what have I to fear? We have all the sea-room we want; there are no rocks or shoals in our road for us to fetch up on; and if we should happen to fall in with any other vessels, they will be going the same way as ourselves, so we shall see them in ample time to avoid running over them. And, in addition to all this, we maintain a first-rate lookout, one on each bow, two in the waist, and the officer of the watch up here on the p.o.o.p; so we need have no fear of collision. Take my word for it, Mr Conyers; you are every bit as safe aboard here, sir, as if you were under the pennant!"

After this, of course, there was nothing more to be said, especially as I was well aware that, in mentioning such a matter at all to the skipper, I had committed an almost unpardonable breach of nautical etiquette.

Notwithstanding the strong breeze the night was quite warm, for we were not very far south of the tropic of Capricorn, and, moreover, it was close upon the midsummer of the Southern Hemisphere; consequently when two bells of the first watch struck, a good many of the pa.s.sengers were on deck, most of them listening to the miners, who were congregated on the main deck, singing. As for me, I was right aft, on the wheel grating, smoking, and staring skyward at the racing cloud ma.s.ses as they swept scurrying athwart the face of the moon.

Suddenly a loud yell of dismay and warning arose from the topgallant forecastle, the only words I caught being, "--_under our bows_!"

The next instant, with a shock that shot me off the grating on to the p.o.o.p, the ship was brought up all standing--not stopped dead as though she had run into a cliff, but rather as a horse stops when pulled up and thrown on his haunches--and then, as I lay on my back, half stunned by the shock of my fall, and still gazing skyward, I saw the three masts bow forward, bending like fishing-rods, when, with a dreadful rending crash, the entire complicated mechanism of sails, spars, and rigging went by the board, and lay fore and aft along the deck.

There was a moment's pause of utter silence, broken only by the hissing splash and rush of water alongside, and the moaning of the wind over the sea; and then arose the most terrific hubbub to which I had ever been doomed to listen--shrieks, groans, and curses from those injured by the fall of, or buried under, the wreckage from aloft; cries of "We're sinking! we're sinking! G.o.d help us!" people calling each other's names; and the voices of Captain Dacre and Mr Murgatroyd shouting orders. Then, all in a moment there arose among the miners a cry of "The boats! the boats! Let's launch the boats!" instantly followed by a rush of the whole crowd of them on to the p.o.o.p, where as many as could swarmed into the two quarter boats hanging at the davits. These two boats would not hold much more than a quarter of their number, and the moment that this was discovered there arose a sanguinary fight for the possession of the two frail craft, those who were crowded out drawing their knives and attacking the other party. Then Murgatroyd suddenly appeared on the p.o.o.p with a brace of revolvers in his hands, which he levelled at the fighting, surging mob.

"Come out of those boats, you cowardly blackguards; come out, I say, and stand by to obey orders! D'ye hear, there, what I say? You there with the red head, I'm talking to you: come out of that boat, or by G.o.d I'll shoot! You won't? Then take that,"--his pistol flashed as he spoke.

"I'll soon see who is master here!"

The next instant the brave fellow was down on the deck, stabbed in a dozen places from behind, and the life kicked and trampled out of him by the fighting, panic-stricken crowd of miners, who were now simply beside themselves with terror, and practically as irresponsible as so many wild beasts.

At this juncture the skipper, with some half a dozen seamen to support him, arrived upon the scene from forward--where he had apparently rushed, at the first alarm, to investigate the condition of the ship; and, pressing his way into the heart of the howling, struggling mob, endeavoured to bring them to their senses by a.s.suring them that there were boats enough for all, but that their only chance of being saved lay in allowing the sailors access to the tackles so that the boats might be properly launched. But before the poor fellow could get any further, he, too, went down and disappeared, amid shouts of "Our lives is as good as yours! We've got the boats, and we mean to keep 'em!" and so on.

And, in the height of the confusion, someone cut the bow tackle of the larboard quarter boat, with the result that her bow suddenly dropped into the water while her stern still hung suspended from the davit, and every man of the crowd who had scrambled into her was instantly precipitated into the water.

While this was going on upon the p.o.o.p, the entire crowd of cuddy pa.s.sengers appeared to be huddled together about the companion, utterly helpless and bewildered, while a party of seamen were working desperately down on the main deck to get the four boats off the gallows.

I could not see that anyone was doing anything to clear away the long boat; but that was probably because she had been destroyed by the fall of the mainmast, which appeared to have crashed right down on the top of her.

As for me, I did nothing; for the simple reason that there was nothing to be done; the ship was sinking fast--so fast, indeed, that she would probably plunge head first to the bottom in less than five minutes, which--taking into consideration the state of absolute panic that prevailed, and the inextricable raffle of wreckage that c.u.mbered and filled the decks--would leave no time in which to construct even the rudest kind of raft. No, there seemed to be nothing for it but for all hands to go down with the ship, thanks to the terror-stricken selfishness of the 'tween-decks pa.s.sengers, who were too ignorant to do anything useful themselves, and too obstinate and distrustful to allow anyone else to do anything. For myself, I had made up my mind not to give in and die so long as I could do anything to help myself; I was a good swimmer, and when the ship went down I should look out for a piece of wreckage, and cling to it until I was picked up by some pa.s.sing ship, or perished of hunger and thirst.

Suddenly, as I was standing close to the binnacle, watching the frantic mob of fighting miners, a woman emerged from the after companion, close beside me. She glanced round for a moment, in terror at the conflict that was raging about the boats, and then, stepping quickly to my side, laid her hand upon my arm--I could see the gleam and glitter of gems upon it in the dim starlight--and said, in a voice which I at once recognised as that of Miss Onslow:

"Oh, Mr Conyers, what does all this mean? What has happened? Is the ship sinking? For pity's sake tell me?"