The Swiss Family Robinson or Adventures on a Desert Island Part 50

Evening was drawing on and our day's work over; the rest of us were strolling up and down upon the beach, enjoying the cool sea breeze. They loaded and ran out their guns, and paddling off with an empty tub in the cajack, placed it out at sea as a mark for practice. They returned and fired, and the barrel flew in pieces, and then, with a shout of triumph, they cleaned the guns and ran them in.

Scarcely had they done so when, as though in answer to their shots, came the sound of three guns booming across the water from the westward.

We stopped, speechless. Was it fancy? Had we really heard guns from a strange ship? Or had the boys again fired? No! there were the lads leaping into their canoe and paddling in hot haste toward us. They, too, had heard the sound.

A tumult of feelings rushed over us--anxiety, joy, hope, doubt, each in turn took possession of our minds. Was it a European vessel close upon our sh.o.r.es, and were we about to be linked once more to civilized life?

Or did those sounds proceed from a Malay pirate, who would rob and murder us! What was to be the result of meeting with our fellow beings; were they to be friends who would help us, enemies who would attack us, or would they prove unfortunate creatures in need of our a.s.sistance? Who could tell?

Before we could express these thoughts in words the cajack had touched the sh.o.r.e, and Jack and Franz were among us.

"Did you hear them? Did you hear them?" they gasped. "What shall we do?

Where shall we go?"

"O Fritz," continued my youngest son, "it must be a European ship. We shall find her. We shall see our Fatherland once more," and in an emotion of joy he grasped his brother's hands.

Till then I knew not what a craving for civilized life had been aroused in the two young men by the appearance of their European sister.

All eyes were turned toward me. What would I advise?

"At present," I said, "we can do nothing, for night is drawing on. We must make what preparations we can, and pray for guidance."

In the greatest excitement we returned to the house, all talking eagerly, and till late no one could be persuaded to retire to rest.

Few slept that night. The boys and I took it in turn to keep watch from the veranda, lest more signals might be fired, or a hostile visit might be paid us. But about midnight the wind began to rise, and before we re-a.s.sembled to discuss our plans a fearful storm was raging; so terrific was the sea that I knew no boat could live, and had a broadside been fired at the entrance of the bay we should not have heard it through the howling of the blast. For two days and two nights the hurricane continued, but on the third day the sun again appeared, and, the wind lulling, the sea went rapidly down. Full of anxiety, I readily complied with the boys' desire to put off to Shark Island and discharge the guns; for who could tell what had been the result of the gale; perhaps the vessel had been driven upon the rocky sh.o.r.e, or, fearing such a fate, she had left the coast and weathered the storm out at sea; if so, she might never return.

With these thoughts I accompanied Jack and Franz to the fort.

One--two--we fired the guns and waited.

For some minutes there was no reply, and then an answering report rolled in the distance. There was no longer room for doubt; the strangers were still in the vicinity, and were aware of our presence. We waved the flag as a signal to those on sh.o.r.e that all was well, and quickly returned.

We found the whole family in a state of the greatest excitement, and I felt it necessary to calm them down as much as possible, for neither could I answer the questions with which I was besieged, nor could I conceal the fact that the visit of the vessel might not prove so advantageous as they expected.

Fritz and I at once prepared to make a reconnoissance; we armed ourselves with our guns, pistols, and cutla.s.ses, took a spygla.s.s, seated ourselves in the cajack, and with a parting entreaty from the mother to be cautious, paddled out of the bay and round the high cliffs on our left. For nearly an hour we advanced in the direction from which the reports of the guns seemed to proceed. Nothing could we see, however, but the frowning rocks and cliffs, and the waves beating restlessly at their base. Cape Pug-Nose was reached, and we began to round the bluff old point. In a moment all our doubts were dispelled, and joy and grat.i.tude to the Great Giver of all good filled our hearts. There, in the little sheltered cove beyond the cape, her sails furled, and anchor dropped, lay a brig of war with the English colors at her mast-head.

With the gla.s.s I could discern figures upon the deck, and upon the sh.o.r.e beyond several tents pitched under the shelter of the trees, and the smoke of fires rising among them. As I handed the gla.s.s to Fritz, I felt a sudden misgiving. "What," said I to myself, "can this English vessel be doing thus far from the usual track of ships?" and I called to mind tales of mutinous crews who have risen against their officers, have chosen some such sheltered retreat as this; have disguised the vessel, and then sailed forth to rob and plunder upon the high seas.

Fritz then exclaimed: "I can see the captain, father; he is speaking to one of the officers, and I can see his face quite well; he is English, I am certain he is English, and the flag speaks the truth!" and he put the gla.s.s again in my hand that I might see for myself.

Still keeping under the shelter of the cliff, I carefully surveyed the vessel. There was no doubt that Fritz was right, and my fears were once more dispelled; all was neatness and regularity on board: the spotless decks, the burnished steel and bra.s.s, and the air of perfect order which pervaded both ship and camp, betokened that authority and discipline there reigned. For some minutes longer we continued our examination of the scene, and then, satisfied by the appearance of the camp on sh.o.r.e that there was no chance of the brig quitting the coast for several days, we resolved to return without betraying our presence, for I was unwilling to appear before these strangers until we could do so in better form, and in a manner more in accordance with our actual resources.

We again landed at Rockburg, where our family awaited our arrival in eager expectation, and as fully as possible we told them of all we had seen. They thoroughly approved of our caution, and even Jenny, whose hopes had been excited to the highest pitch by our description of the English vessel, and who longed to meet her countrymen once more, agreed to postpone the visit until the following day, when, having put our yacht into good order, we might pay our respects to the captain, not as poor shipwrecked creatures begging a.s.sistance, but as lords and masters of the land, seeking to know for what purpose strangers were visiting the coast.

The rest of the day was occupied in making our preparations. Our dainty little craft was made to look her very best; her decks were scrubbed, her bra.s.s guns burnished, all lumber removed and put ash.o.r.e, and the flag of England hoisted to her peak. The mother overhauled our wardrobes, and the neatest uniforms were put ready for the boys and me, for though neither my wife nor Jenny had ever dreamed of appearing otherwise than they would have done had they been at home among civilized people in Europe, yet we, accustomed daily to rough and often even dirty work, had adopted just that costume which best suited our comfort and inclination. We should indeed have surprised the smart man-o'-war's men, had we appeared in our great, shapeless, wide-brimmed hats, our linen coats and trousers, our broad leathern belts and hairy buskins; so we next day readily donned the more becoming costumes.

At the break of that eventful morn, when we were destined once more to set our eyes upon our fellow-men, and to hear news of the outer world, from which for so many years we had been exiled, we a.s.sembled in our little breakfast room. The meal was eaten hurriedly and almost in silence, for our hearts were too full, and our minds too busily occupied, to allow of any outward display of excitement. Fritz and Jack then slipped quietly out, and presently returned from the garden with baskets of the choicest fruits in fresh and fragrant profusion, and with these, as presents for the strangers, we went on board our yacht.

The anchor was weighed, the sails set, and with the canoe in tow the little vessel, as though partaking of our hopes and joyous expectation, bounded merrily over the waters of Safety Bay, gave a wide berth to the Reef, against whose frowning rocks the sea still lashed itself to foam, and kept away for the cove where the English ship unconsciously awaited us.

The Pug-nosed Cape was reached, and, to the surprise and utter amazement of the strangers, we rounded the point and brought up within hail. Every eye on board and on sh.o.r.e was turned toward us, every gla.s.s was produced and fixed upon our motions; for of all the strange sights which the gallant crew may have looked for, such an anomaly as a pleasure yacht, manned by such a party as ours, and cruising upon this strange and inhospitable sh.o.r.e, was the farthest from their thoughts.

Fritz and I stepped into our boat and pulled for the brig. In another minute we were upon her deck. The captain, with the simple frankness of a British seaman, welcomed us cordially, and having led us into his cabin, begged us to explain to what good fortune he owed a visit from residents upon a coast generally deemed uninhabited, or the abode of the fiercest savages.

I gave him an outline of the history of the wreck, and of our sojourn upon these sh.o.r.es, and spoke to him, too, of Miss Montrose, and of the providential way in which we had been the means of rescuing her from her lonely position.

"Then," said the gallant officer, rising and grasping Fritz by the hand, "let me heartily thank you in my own name, and in that of Colonel Montrose; for it was the hope of finding some trace of that brave girl that led me to these sh.o.r.es. The disappearance of the Dorcas has been a terrible blow to the colonel, and yet, though for three years no word of her or of any of those who sailed in her has reached England, he has never entirely abandoned all hope of again hearing of his daughter. I knew this, and a few weeks ago, when I was about to leave Sydney for the Cape, I found three men who declared themselves survivors of the Dorcas and said that their boat, of four which left the wreck, was the only one which, to their knowledge, reached land in safety. From them I learned all particulars, and applying for permission to cruise in these lat.i.tudes, I sailed in hopes of finding further traces of the unfortunate crew. My efforts have been rewarded by unlooked-for success."

Fritz replied most modestly to the praises which he received, and then the captain begged to be introduced to my wife and Miss Montrose.

"And," he continued, "if it be not contrary to your rules of discipline for the whole ship's company to be absent at once, I will now send a boat for the remainder of your party."

One of the officers was accordingly dispatched to the yacht with a polite message, and the mother, Jenny, and the boys were presently on board.

Our kind host greeted them most warmly, and he and his officers vied with one another in doing us honor. They proved, indeed, most pleasant entertainers, and the time pa.s.sed rapidly away. At luncheon the captain told us that there had sailed with him from Sydney an invalid gentleman, Mr. Wolston, his wife, and two daughters; but that, though the sea voyage had been recommended on account of his health, yet it had not done Mr. Wolston so much good as had been antic.i.p.ated, and he had suffered so greatly from the effects of the storm, which had driven the Unicorn into the bay for repairs, that he had been eager to rest for a short time on land.

We were anxious to meet the family, and in the afternoon it was decided that we should pay them a visit. Tents had been pitched for their accommodation under the shady trees, and when we landed we found Mr.

Wolston seated by one of them, enjoying the cool sea breeze. He and his family were delighted to see us, and so much did we enjoy their society, that evening found us still upon the sh.o.r.e. It was too late then to return to Rockburg, and the captain kindly offered tents for the accommodation of those who would not find room in the yacht. The boys spent the night on land.

That night I had a long and serious consultation with my wife, as to whether or not we really had any well grounded reason for wishing to return to Europe. It would be childish to undertake a voyage thither simply because an opportunity offered for doing so.

Neither knew to what decision the feelings of the other inclined; each was afraid of expressing what might run counter to those feelings; but gradually it began to appear that neither entertained any strong wish to leave the peaceful island; and finally we discovered that the real wish which lay at the bottom of both our hearts was to adopt New Switzerland as thenceforward our home.

What can be more delightful than to find harmony of opinion in those we love, when a great and momentous decision has to be taken?

My dear wife a.s.sured me that she desired nothing more earnestly than to spend the rest of her days in a place to which she had become so much attached, provided I, and at least two of her sons, also wished to remain.

From the other two she would willingly part, if they chose to return to Europe, with the understanding that they must endeavor to send out emigrants of a good cla.s.s to join us, and form a prosperous colony, adding that she thought the island ought to continue to bear the name of our native country, even if inhabited in future time by colonists from England, as well as from Switzerland.

I heartily approved of this excellent idea, and we agreed to mention it, while consulting with Captain Littlestone on the subject of placing the island under the protection of Great Britain.

Then came the question as to which of our sons were best suited to remain with us, and which to go away.

This point we left undecided, thinking that in the course of a few days they would probably make a choice of their own accord, which they did, even sooner than we antic.i.p.ated.

After breakfast, it was proposed that Captain Littlestone should bring his ship round to Safety Bay, that we might receive a visit from him and his party, at Rockburg--where we invited the invalid, Mr. Wolston, and his family, in hopes that his health might benefit by a comfortable residence on sh.o.r.e.

No sooner was this plan adopted, than Fritz and Jack hurried off in the canoe to prepare for their reception, being followed in more leisurely style by the brig and our yacht.

But what words can express the amazement of our guests, when, rounding the Rocky Cape at the entrance, Safety Bay, the beautiful domain of Rockburg lay before them.

Still greater was their astonishment, as a salute of eleven guns boomed from the battery on Shark Island, where the royal standard of England was displayed and floated majestically on the morning breeze.

A glow of surprise and pleasure beamed on every countenance, and poor Wolston's spirits appeared to revive with the very idea of peace and happiness to be enjoyed in such a home.

He was carried on sh.o.r.e with the utmost care and tenderness, and comfortably established in my room, a camp-bed for Mrs. Wolston being added to the furniture there, that she might be able conveniently to attend on her husband.

Meantime the scene at the harbor and all round Rockburg was of the liveliest description; merriment and excitement prevailed in all directions, as the beauties and wonders of our residence were explored, so that a summons to dinner scarcely attracted notice.

However, as a visit to Falconhurst was projected, the company was at length induced to be seated, and to partake of our good cheer, but the spirit of restlessness soon returned, and the young people kept roaming about through our hitherto quiet lawns, avenues, and shrubberies, until I was ready to believe their number three times what it actually was.