The Missing Merchantman Part 5

A strong gang was now sent on board the barque, with the chief-mate in command; and the pumps were at once manned. A quarter of an hour's work at these sufficed to show that the vessel was making no water (that which was already in her having doubtless made its way in through the top-sides and down the pump-well whilst the craft was on her beam-ends); the men therefore went to work with a will, and by eight bells in the afternoon watch it was reported that the ship was dry.

Mr Gaunt, meanwhile, made his way into the cabin as soon as the mate took charge, and proceeded to give the place a general overhaul, with the object of ascertaining who and what the vessel was. He succeeded in finding the log-book, log-slate, and the captain's desk, with all of which he proceeded on board the _Flying Cloud_. The articles were placed in the hands of Captain Blyth, who forthwith sat down to examine them, with the result that the barque was found to be the _Umhloti_ of Aberdeen, her commander's name being Anderson. She was from Port Natal, bound to London, thirty-three days out when discovered; and her cargo consisted of hides, ivory, indigo, coffee, sugar, and wool. She was therefore a very valuable find, well worth the time and trouble they were devoting to her. The last entry on the log-slate had been made at eight o'clock on the previous morning; and the log-book had been written-up as far as noon on the day preceding that. Captain Blyth had therefore no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that the vessel must have been capsized in a very similar squall to that which had struck the _Flying Cloud_ on the previous day, and at about the same moment. This surmise was confirmed by the fact that when Mr Gaunt had entered the captain's state-room he had found the chronometers still going, though nearly run down. He had, of course, at once taken the precaution to wind them afresh.

Having brought the pumps to suck, the next task of the men on board the _Umhloti_ was to clear away and send down on deck the wreck of the fore and main-topgallant masts, with all attached, a couple of hands being at the same time deputed to give the store-room an overhaul to ascertain whether the contents had been damaged or not by water. Everything was luckily found to be in perfect order there, the water not having risen high enough in the hull to reach the lazarette. This being found to be the case, nothing now remained but to man the vessel and dispatch her on her homeward way.

Captain Blyth had already thought out his plans in this direction. And when it was reported to him that the barque could part company at any moment he went forward, and, mustering the steerage pa.s.sengers, told them he had not only observed their efforts to make themselves useful on board, but had also noticed that those efforts had been crowned with a very fair measure of success; he would now, therefore, ship the whole of them for the pa.s.sage, if they chose, paying them ordinary seamen's wages from the commencement of the voyage. So good an offer was not to be lightly refused; and, after a few minutes' consultation together, the men unanimously declared their willingness to accept it. This made the rest of the business quite plain sailing for the skipper; and, closing with the _Umhloti_, he hailed Mr Bryce to say that he intended to send him home in charge, and that he was to ascertain how many of the men then with him would volunteer to return to England. A crew of fourteen hands, all told, was soon made up, Tim Parsons and two of the apprentices being of the number; and just as night was closing down the two vessels parted company, Captain Blyth, Ned, and the saloon pa.s.sengers taking advantage of the opportunity to send home letters to their friends, the skipper taking the precaution to enclose them all in his dispatch to his owners, lest Mr Bryce, in his indifference, might neglect to post them. It may as well be mentioned here that the _Umhloti_ arrived safely in England about a fortnight later than the pa.s.sengers and crew who had abandoned her; and that the letters she carried duly reached their destination.

The changes rendered necessary by this drafting off of so large a proportion of her crew involved certain promotions on board the _Flying Cloud_, in which promotion Ned, to his intense gratification, was made a sharer, he being appointed acting second-mate _vice_ Mr Willoughby, who was promoted to the post of chief, whilst Williams was made boatswain's- mate.

The ship being now once more close-hauled, with the south-east trade- wind blowing steadily, and only a very moderate amount of sea running.

Miss Stanhope regarded the occasion as propitious for the perfecting of herself in the art of steering; and she accordingly practised with great a.s.siduity. Ned, of course, by virtue of his promotion, was no longer required to take his trick at the wheel--he was now the officer in command of the starboard watch--but Sibylla did not allow that circ.u.mstance to interfere in the least with her plans; on the contrary, she rather made it subservient to them. For, whereas she had before been obliged to wait for her lesson until Ned's trick came round, she now simply watched her opportunity, and whenever she saw that the young man had nothing very particular to do, she would go up to him and say, "Mr Damerell, is it convenient for you to give me a steering-lesson?"

Whereupon Ned would make a suitable response, and, accompanying the young lady aft, would say to the helmsman "Here, d.i.c.k, or Tom, or Harry", as the case might be, "go forward and do so and so; Miss Stanhope wishes to give you a spell. When she is tired I will let you know, and you can come aft again and relieve her." Upon which the seaman, with an inward chuckle and much carefully suppressed jocularity, would shamble away for'ard, fully convinced by past experience that he need think no more about the wheel until his trick should again come round. By the time that the ship had run through the south-east trades, Sibylla could steer her, when on a wind, as well as the best helmsman on board; and, proud of her skill, she then began to long for the opportunity to try her hand with the ship when going free. This opportunity came, of course, in due time; and, though the fair helmswoman at first found the task far more difficult that she had ever imagined it could possibly be, she soon developed such extraordinary skill that Ned's prophecy at length became literally fulfilled, Captain Blyth gradually getting into the way of turning to Miss Stanhope when any exceptionally fine steering had to be done--as, for instance, when some contumacious craft ahead persistently refused to be overhauled--and saying, "I am afraid there is no resource but to invoke your aid, my dear young lady; we shall never overtake yon stranger unless you will oblige us with a few of your scientific touches of the wheel."

Whereupon Sibylla, looking very much gratified, would make some laughing reply, and forthwith take the wheel, keeping the bows of the _Flying Cloud_ pointing as steadily for the strange sail as though they had been nailed there, always with the most satisfactory result.

It was perhaps only a natural consequence of Ned's a.s.siduous "coaching"

of Miss Stanhope in the helmsman's art that the formal relations usually subsisting between pa.s.sengers and officer should to a certain extent have given place to a kind of companionship, almost amounting to _camaraderie_, between these two young people. The seamen were almost, if not quite, as quick as their skipper in detecting what was going forward; and it is not very surprising that, with their love of romance, they should forthwith regard the handsome young mate and his pupil as the hero and heroine of an interesting little drama. This view of the affair afforded the men for'ard intense gratification. Ned was exceedingly popular with them; and the tars regarded the conquest with which they so promptly credited him almost as a compliment to themselves, and a triumph to which each might claim to have contributed, even though in ever so slight and indirect a way. It will be seen later on that this fancy on the part of the crew was the means of placing Sibylla in a most trying situation.

A few days later a sad fatality occurred. The ship was somewhat to the eastward of the Cape, going nine knots, with her topgallant-sails furled, the wind blowing very fresh from the northward, and a tremendously heavy swell running. Captain Blyth, the mate, and Ned were all on the p.o.o.p, busy with their s.e.xtants, the hour being near noon, when, the ship giving a terrific lee-roll, Mr Willoughby lost his balance, and, gathering way, went with a run to leeward. Whether the accident was due to the poor man's anxiety to preserve his s.e.xtant from damage or not can never be known, but certain it is that, from some cause or other, he failed to bring up against the light iron protective railing which ran round the p.o.o.p, overbalancing himself instead, and falling headlong into the water.

A shriek from the ladies, who witnessed the accident, and the shout of "Mate overboard!" from the helmsman caused the skipper and Ned to lay their instruments hurriedly down on deck and run aft to the lee quarter, where the first thing they saw was the unfortunate man's hat tossing on the crest of a sea about a dozen yards astern.

"He can't swim a stroke," exclaimed Ned to the skipper; and then, before the latter could stop him, the gallant fellow took a short run, and plunged headlong into the foaming wake of the ship.

"Down helm!" exclaimed the skipper to the man at the wheel, springing at the same time to the lee main-brace, which he let fly. The men forward, meanwhile, having heard the cry of "Mate overboard," rushed aft to the braces, and in another minute the ship was hove-to, with her mainsail in the brails.

This done, Williams, who was perhaps the keenest sighted man in the ship, sprang into the mizen-rigging, and, making his way with incredible rapidity into the top, stood looking in the direction where he expected to see the two men.

"D'ye see anything of them, Williams?" shouted the skipper.

"Yes, sir; I can see _one_ of them," was the reply; "but which one it is I can't tell. It must be Ned though, I think, for he seems to be swimming round and round, as though looking for the mate."

"Keep your eye on him, my man; don't lose sight of him for a single instant!" shouted the captain. Then, turning to the men, who were cl.u.s.tered together on the p.o.o.p, he exclaimed: "Now then, men, what are you thinking about! Out with the boat, my hearties; and be smart about it!"

The men moved to the tackles and threw the falls off the pins down on to the deck, talking eagerly together meanwhile; then one of them turned, and, stepping up to the skipper, said:

"Who is to go in the boat, sir? I must say I don't care about the job; and the others say the same. We don't believe we could get away from the ship's side in such a sea as this."

Captain Blyth stamped on the deck in his vexation and despair. It was only too true; the boat would to a certainty be stove and swamped if any such attempt were made; and that would mean the loss of more lives.

What was to be done? Leave two men to perish he would not, if there was any possible means of saving them.

"Can you still see either of them, Williams?" hailed the captain.

"Yes, sir; I can still see the one I saw at first; but not the other,"

was the reply.

"We _must_ pick him up, if possible," exclaimed the skipper. "Up helm, my man; hard up with it. Man the main-braces, and fill the topsail!"

At this juncture Sibylla, who had not heard the first part of the skipper's speech, stepped up to Captain Blyth, ashy pale, and gasped:

"What are you going to do, captain? Is it possible you are going to be inhuman enough to leave that poor fellow there _to die_?"

"No, my dear," was the answer. "I am going to save him, if it is in human power to do so. You go below, now, like a good girl, and persuade the others to go too; this is no sight for a woman to look upon."

But Sibylla could no more have gone below than she could have flown.

She walked aft, and stood at the taffrail with tightly-clasped hands and starting eyes, looking eagerly astern, her whole body quivering with an agony of impatience at what seemed to her the tardy movements of the ship.

As a matter of fact, however, the _Flying Cloud_ had never proved herself more handy, or been worked more smartly than on that precise occasion; had she been sentient she could scarcely have yielded to her commander's will more readily than she did. Keeping broad away until she had good way on her the skipper watched his opportunity, and, signing to the helmsman, the wheel was put over, and the ship flew up into the wind, tacking like a yacht, Williams at the same time making his way up on to the royal-yard, in order that the main-topsail might not interfere with his range of vision. In effecting this change of position, notwithstanding his utmost care, he contrived to lose sight of the diminutive speck on the surface of the water; and when Captain Blyth again hailed, asking him if he still saw it, he was compelled to answer "No." An anxious search of about a minute, however--a minute which seemed an age to Sibylla--enabled him to hit it off once more, and he joyously hailed the deck to say that the person--whoever it might be-- was still afloat and broad on the lee-bow.

"Keep her away a couple of points," commanded Captain Blyth; "and pa.s.s the word for the boatswain to muster all the light heaving-line he can lay his hands upon. Range yourselves fore and aft along the lee bulwarks, my lads, and let each one stand by to heave a rope's-end with a standing bowline in it as soon as we get near enough. How does he bear now, Williams?"

"Straight ahead, sir. Luff, or you will be over him! It is Ned, sir."

"Luff!" said the skipper. "Man the main-braces, some of you, and stand by to heave the main-yard aback."

Captain Blyth then sprang upon a hen-coop, and peered eagerly out ahead.

"I see him!" he eagerly exclaimed at last. "Back your main-topsail.

Luff, my lad; luff and shake her! So, well there with the main-braces, belay all; and stand by fore and aft with your ropes'-ends. Look out, for'ard there; now _heave_! Missed him, by all that's clumsy! Try you, the next man. Missed again; line not long enough. Steady, men, steady, or you'll lose him yet. Now, look out, Ned, my lad! Heave, boatswain, and let us see what you can do. _Well_ hove! Pay out the line, pay out smartly--ha! lost it. Tut! tut! this will _never_ do. Well done! he has it this time! Let him slip it over his shoulder; that's well.

_Now_ haul in--handsomely, my lads--and mind you don't lose him."

Half a minute more and poor Ned, gasping for breath, speechless, and too exhausted to stand upright, was dragged triumphantly up over the side and seated on the deck, where, of course, all hands instantly crowded around him. Doctor Henderson, however, promptly interfered, and, taking charge of the patient, was soon able to p.r.o.nounce that, barring exhaustion, the poor fellow was all right; upon which the anxious little crowd dispersed, Sibylla retiring to her state-room, locking herself in, and gaining relief to her overwrought feelings by abandoning herself to a perfect tempest of hysterical tears.

Under the doctor's skilful treatment Ned was soon sufficiently restored to answer a few questions, when he stated that though he had remained continuously on the watch from the moment of his rising above the surface after his first plunge to almost the moment of his being picked up, he had never caught a single glimpse of the mate, and that it was his impression the unfortunate man must have been hurt in his fall, and that he had never risen above water again. Notwithstanding this statement the ship was kept hove-to for another half-hour, with a man on the look-out on each topgallant-yard; when, nothing having been seen of the missing man during that time, Captain Blyth reluctantly gave up the search, and, wearing round, the ship once more proceeded on her voyage.

CHAPTER SIX.

THE SPRINGING OF THE MINK.

The deplorable fatality mentioned in the last chapter necessitated a further rearrangement of the official duties on board the _Flying Cloud_; Ned being advanced still another step and made acting chief- mate, or "chief-officer" as it is the custom to dub this official in the merchant service, whilst another apprentice--a very quiet, steady young man named Robert Manners--was promoted to the post of second-mate thus rendered vacant. Although these two posts--the most important and responsible in the ship next to that of the master--were now filled by two young men whose united ages fell short of forty years, the arrangement appeared to work in the most thoroughly satisfactory manner.

The lads performed their onerous duties efficiently; the crew were as orderly and obedient as heretofore, and not a single sinister omen or indication manifested itself to arouse anxiety in the mind of the skipper. To add to Captain Blyth's satisfaction, the island of New Amsterdam was sighted and pa.s.sed on the morning of the tenth day succeeding the loss of the unfortunate Mr Willoughby, and that, too, in a direction and at an hour which precisely verified the prediction of the captain, who rather prided himself upon his skill and accuracy as a navigator.

For several nights previous to this occurrence the skipper had been losing a great deal of rest; he had been too anxious to sleep, knowing that during his absence from the deck the ship was in absolute charge of one or the other of two lads whom he remembered, as though it had been but yesterday, joining him without a particle of experience. But as day after day, and night after night pa.s.sed, and he saw what excellent use those two lads had made of the training and instruction he had so conscientiously bestowed upon them, he had gradually grown less anxious.

And now, with fine weather, a fair breeze, and New Amsterdam sighted and pa.s.sed, the poor f.a.gged skipper once more knew what it was to enjoy an easy mind; and as he bade Ned "good-night" on the p.o.o.p, about five bells in the first watch, he announced, in tones loud enough to be distinctly heard by the man at the wheel, that he intended to treat himself to a whole night's sleep, and that he was not to be called or disturbed unless for something out of the common.

When, therefore, about three o'clock next morning, he was aroused from sleep by a gentle tap at the outer door of his state-room, Captain Blyth's first coherent thought was: "I wonder what is the matter now!"

It was nothing to do with the weather--unless the sky had a.s.sumed a threatening aspect--for, by long force of habit, he had acquired the power of detecting, even during his soundest sleep, any such important change in the state of the elements as a material increase of wind or sea, and, though the sleep from which he had been aroused was as sound as it ever falls to the lot of a seaman to enjoy, he had been quite conscious all the time that neither the sough of the wind in the rigging nor the steady swinging motion of the ship had become intensified. It was, therefore, in a somewhat peevish tone that he inquired:

"Well, what is the news?"

"Will you please step for'ard, sir, and see what ails Bob--young Mr Manners, I mean, sir?" said a voice which the skipper recognised as belonging to one of the seamen. "He's on the fo'c's'le-head, a cussing and carrying on as if he was mad, sir; and two of the hands is holding him down so's he sha'n't fling hisself overboard."

"Whew!" whistled poor Captain Blyth in dismay. "All right, my man; I'll be out there in a brace of shakes! What can be the matter with the poor lad?" he soliloquised, as he hastily drew on his most necessary garments. "A fit, perhaps, brought on by over-anxiety. Well, I won't disturb anybody until I see what it is; then, if necessary, I must rouse out Dr Henderson."

And, as he came to this conclusion, the worthy man softly opened his state-room door and stepped out on deck.

The night was dark, there being no moon, whilst the star-lit sky was almost blotted out by the squadrons of fleecy cloud which swept with stately motion athwart it. Yet there was light enough to reveal to the skipper a dark blot on the forecastle, which he knew to be a cl.u.s.ter of men; and toward these he hurriedly made his way. Before he could reach them, however, two bare-footed men stepped softly out behind him from the galley; and whilst one seized and pinioned his arms behind him, the other flourished a large-headed, short-handled hammer over his head whilst he whispered fiercely in the ear of the paralysed skipper: