The South Sea Whaler Part 5

Fortunately the weather remained calm, though even then it took three days to prepare the brig for the voyage. A third of her crew were received on board the _Champion_, they having volunteered to join her.

Both vessels then made sail, the _Champion_ accompanying the prize.

They had not got far, however, when the lookout at the masthead gave the welcome cry of "There they spout! there they spout!"

"Where away?" asked the captain.

"On the weather bow," was the answer.

The captain made the signal for the brig to proceed on her voyage, and ordered the _Champion's_ sails to be braced sharp up, to stand towards the whales which were seen to windward. There was a fresh breeze, which seemed likely to increase. After making a couple of tacks the ship was hove-to, and the captain ordered two boats to be lowered,--he going in one, and the second mate in the other. Away they pulled after the whales, which, however, caught sight of them, and went off in all directions. The captain made chase after one, which, taking several turns, at length came towards him. Ordering his men to lie on their oars, he stepped forward, waiting till the whale, a huge bull, came near enough, when with unerring aim he struck his harpoon deep into its side.

The whale, smarting with pain, turned round, almost upsetting the boat, and away it went dead to windward at a tremendous speed right against the sea, which flew from the bows, covering her with showers of foam.

The second mate, who had gone away after another whale, observing the course the first was taking as it came by, dashed up and fixed his harpoon into the other side of the monster. Away went both the boats, towed with undiminished speed, till in a short time neither could be seen from the _Champion's_ deck. Scarcely had they disappeared when several more whales were seen spouting at no considerable distance to windward. The opportunity of catching them was not to be lost, and Mr s...o...b..ok ordered the two remaining boats to be lowered,--he going in one and the fourth mate in the other, leaving the ship in charge of the surgeon.

Walter had long been anxious to see a whale actually caught; and not allowing the mate time to refuse him, he jumped into his boat.

"Do let me go," he exclaimed. "The whales are not far off, and we shall soon be back with a prize." The men in their eagerness had shoved off and were giving way. Walter sprang aft to the side of the mate, who was steering. "You won't be angry with me, Mr s...o...b..ok," he said; "I promise not to come again, if you object."

"I trust that no accident will happen, my boy," answered the mate. "It was for your own good alone that I wished you to remain on board, otherwise I should have been glad of your company, and given you the opportunity of seeing a whale caught."

A whole school of whales was in sight, several of them spouting together. The mates steered for them, making sure of getting hold of a couple at least. Some were spouting, others sounding, and others just coming up again to breathe. Mr s...o...b..ok steered for one which had just made its appearance above water; while the fourth mate's boat made way towards another huge monster which had already been blowing for some seconds.

The first mate's boat approached the whale he had selected. Stepping to the bows, he plunged his harpoon into the creature's side; and then taking one of the lances he thrust it deep into its body, singing out as he did so, "Back off, all!"

At that instant Walter heard a cry from the direction of the other boat.

He looked round, when what was his horror to see that the boat had been struck by the whale and lifted into the air! The next instant down it came, dashed into fragments, while those in it were sent flying in all directions. The first mate, in his desire to go to the rescue of his shipmates, was on the point of heaving his own line overboard with a drogue fastened to it, when the whale he had struck, lifting up its huge flukes, sounded, nearly dragging him overboard as he let out the line.

The men were backing out of its way, when suddenly it slewed round its tail. The men, well knowing their danger, made every effort to escape, and believing that they had got to a safe distance, and that the whale had gone down, pulled back to the a.s.sistance of their drowning shipmates. Just then a tremendous blow was felt, and the boat, struck amidships, was thrown into the air as the other had been, and smashed to fragments. The two men in the centre of the boat must have been killed instantaneously. Walter felt stunned for a moment, but, recovering his senses, found himself struggling in the water, and close to the broken stern of the boat, to which he clung fast. Only one person remained floating above the surface. Walter called to him; and Mr s...o...b..ok's voice answered, "Hold on, my lad; I'll be with you anon."

Walter saw that he was towing some of the fragments of the boat. The whale had disappeared, possibly having carried down some of the men in his mighty jaws. The first mate, after considerable exertion, reached Walter.

"Thank Heaven, you have escaped!" he said, helping him up on to the wreck of the boat. Fortunately the second line remained attached to it.

"We must put together a raft, Walter, and try to get back to the ship,"

said the mate. By means of the line he set to work, and lashed together the different pieces of the boat which he managed to pick up, till he had formed a raft sufficient to support Walter. The fragments of the other boat still remained floating at no great distance. Pushing the raft before him, he shoved it on till he reached the spot, when, collecting them, with the a.s.sistance of four oars he had picked up he formed a still larger raft, on which he, as well as Walter, could sit securely. He had also got two other oars with which to urge on the raft. Thus a considerable time was occupied, and it was now evening; before long it would be quite dark, and the difficulty of finding the ship much increased; they had less chance, also, of being picked up by either of the two other boats on their return to the ship.

Walter had not uttered a word of complaint, and had done his utmost to a.s.sist the mate. He could not help feeling how wrong he had been in getting into the boat, knowing, as he did, that his father would certainly have objected; and should he not find them, how grieved he would be on getting on board the ship to discover that they had not returned. The accident had occurred at too great a distance for those remaining on board to see what had happened, though they might, perhaps, conjecture that the boats had been destroyed.

The sun soon set, and darkness rapidly coming on, shrouded the far-distant ship from sight. The mate and Walter had done their utmost to impel the raft towards her; but gathering clouds obscured the sky, and they had no longer the means of directing their course.

"It will be impossible to reach her during the night," said the mate at length. "We are as likely to be pulling away from her as towards her; and I have a notion that the wind has shifted more than once. The best thing we can do is to lie on our oars and to wait patiently till the morning. Take care, however, my boy, that you do not drop asleep and fall off. Here, make a couple of beckets, and slip your arms through them; they will awake you if you move in your sleep."

"I have no wish to go to sleep," said Walter; "I feel too anxious to do that."

"You must not trust too much to that," said the mate. "Nature may be too powerful for you; and you will be all the better for the rest."

Still Walter insisted on endeavouring to keep awake. He was sitting up trying to pa.s.s the time with talking, when suddenly he exclaimed, "Look!

look, Mr s...o...b..ok! Where can that light come from?"

The mate gazed for some time, and then said solemnly, "Walter, I am afraid the ship is on fire."

CHAPTER FOUR.

ALICE LEFT ON BOARD--MUTINEERS AND PRISONERS ATTEMPT TO TAKE THE SHIP-- GALLANTRY OF THE SURGEON--FIRE BREAKS OUT--NUB SAVES ALICE ON A RAFT-- WATCH THE BURNING SHIP--VOYAGE OF ALICE AND NUB ON THE RAFT--LOOK OUT FOR A SAIL--A TERRIFIC THUNDERSTORM--A SAIL IN SIGHT.

After the boats had left the ship, Alice remained on deck, attended by Nub, watching their progress. Now and then Mr Lawrie came and spoke to her, but she was so eager that she could scarcely reply to what he said.

Away dashed the two boats dancing over the waves, and were soon almost lost to sight, though Alice saw that they had reached the spot where the whales had been seen spouting. They had been gone some time when she saw Tidy come from below and speak in a hurried, anxious tone to Mr Lawrie. He then hastened away, as if not wishing to be seen by his shipmates. Soon after the surgeon came to her, and begged that she would go into the cabin.

"Let me help you, Missie Alice," said Nub. "Better aff dere dan on deck."

Alice saw that something was wrong, but could not make out exactly what it was. She went, however, as Mr Lawrie requested her; and taking up a book endeavoured to read, but not with much success. She saw Mr Lawrie come in and put a brace of pistols in his belt. Nub and Tidy, with three or four of the other men, did the same. This, of course, made her very anxious. Several times she asked Nub if the boats were in sight, but always got the same answer: "No signs of boats yet, Missie Alice."

Poor girl, she felt very forlorn with both her father and Walter away.

Nub came in and placed the tea-things on the table, and she made tea.

At last Mr Lawrie came in, apparently in a great hurry, and somewhat agitated. Of course she asked him if the boats were in sight.

"I hope they soon will be," he answered.

"Is there anything the matter?" she asked.

"I hope it will not be of much consequence," he replied evasively; and without saying more, quickly went again on deck.

It was now getting quite dark. Nub lighted the cabin-lamp.

"You had better take a book and read, Miss Alice, and dat pa.s.s your time till de captain return." Alice found it almost impossible to keep her eyes on the page. Presently she heard some loud shouts and cries, and the stamping of feet, and pistol-shots.

That there was fighting going forward on deck she felt sure, but she dared not go up to ascertain. The noise increased--there was more firing--then Nub rushed into the cabin.

"Oh, what has happened?" she asked.

"I come to take care of you, Miss Alice," he answered. "De prisoners and de bad men who mutiny before try to take de ship from de surgeon and us, and dey are now fighting; and Mr Lawrie told me to come to take care of you."

"Oh, thank you, Nub. How I wish my father was on board, to help poor Mr Lawrie. What will he do?"

"He fight like brave Scotchman," answered Nub; "and he soon make de mutineers ask pardon. Don't be afraid, Miss Alice; de captain soon come, and all go right."

Nub, however, was more sanguine than the state of the case warranted.

Mr Lawrie, aided by the true men, had managed to drive the mutineers forward; but they were too numerous to allow him to hope for victory, unless the loyal part of the crew away in the boats should speedily return. For a short time all was again quiet; but the mutineers were merely gathering to make another rush aft. Several who had before been faithful joined them; and now again began to utter the most savage cries, this time shouting out, "Overboard with all who oppose us! Down with the officers! Death to our enemies!" They were already on the point of dashing aft to execute their threats; when thick smoke was seen ascending from the fore-hatchway, a bright flame shooting up directly afterwards in the midst of it.

"Fire! fire! fire!" shouted both parties of the crew.

"My lads, we must try and put it out, if we don't want to be burned alive," exclaimed the surgeon, addressing those about him. Then turning to the mutineers, he shouted out, "You men who are about to attack us,-- if you have any sense left in you, I entreat you for your own sakes to a.s.sist in extinguishing the fire."

"Ay, ay, sir," cried the boatswain; and then addressing his own party, he exclaimed, "There's sense in what the doctor says. Let's put the fire out first, and settle our differences afterwards."

All hands turned to and tried to save the ship; but the fire had already made so much progress below that there appeared little probability of their succeeding. The buckets were collected and filled; the hatches torn off; and the boatswain, heading a party of the boldest, went below, while the others pa.s.sed the buckets to them. Mr Lawrie and the other officers exerted themselves to the utmost, he setting a good example by his courage and activity. Dense volumes of smoke, however, continued to ascend both from the fore and main hatchway; while flames which had at first only flickered up occasionally now burst forth through the fore-hatchway, circling round the foremast and catching the rigging and sails.

Nub, in the meantime, who would have willingly worked with the rest, considered it his duty to remain with Alice, every now and then putting his head out of the companion-hatch to see how matters were proceeding.

At last he came back, his countenance exhibiting anxiety rather than terror. "De ship will be burned; no doubt about dat, Missie Alice," he said; "and de sooner we get away de better. You help me, and we make raft on which we float till de captain comes back to take us. Don't be afraid, Missie Alice; no harm will come to you, for G.o.d will take care of us better dan we can take care of ourselves. Still, we do what we can."

"I will do whatever you advise, Nub," answered Alice, endeavouring to overcome her alarm. She did what every truly wise person under such circ.u.mstances would do--she commended herself and her companion to the care of G.o.d. She then took Nub's hand, who led her up the companion-ladder to the p.o.o.p. Having obtained an axe, he immediately began to cut loose the hen-coops, spars, and gratings, and the lighter part of the woodwork of that part of the ship. Securing them to ropes, he forthwith lowered them over the side. Fortunately at this time the wind had fallen completely, so that the ship was making no way through the water. Placing Alice in one of the ports, from which she could leap if necessary into his arms, he descended, and began lashing together the spars and gratings and pieces of woodwork which he had thrown overboard.