The Three Admirals Part 13

"I am afraid that some such accident must have occurred," observed Tom.

"I guess you may not be far wrong," was the unsatisfactory remark.

On going into the cabin for breakfast they found Doctor Loc.o.c.k resting his head on his hands, with his elbows on the table.

"Poor Captain Sibley! He and those with him are gone, I fear. I would have given all I possess to save him. A kinder-hearted man never commanded a ship. His poor wife and children! And the second mate gone! Only that rough diamond in charge, without men enough to handle the ship. It will prove a very serious matter to us, I fear, young gentlemen, even should we ride out the present gale and bad weather continue."

"With our party of six we shall have no difficulty in managing the ship," observed Tom. "My eldest messmate and I are thorough navigators; and though we cannot a.s.sist in following up the object of the voyage, we shall be able to take her into a port where she can obtain another master, with more officers and men. I should propose steering for Hong-kong, where we are certain to fall in with American merchantmen, and probably a man-of-war; but, before we leave this neighbourhood, I should wish to make a thorough search for the missing boats.

Notwithstanding what the boatswain says, I am not satisfied that they are lost."

"Do you think it possible that they can have escaped?" asked the surgeon, looking up.

"I think it possible, though I dare not say it is probable," answered Tom. "They may have killed the whale and hung on under the lee of its body, or they may have run before the wind and succeeded in reaching one of the small islands to the eastward. The weather has been so thick that they might easily have pa.s.sed us without discovering our signals."

These remarks of Tom's greatly cheered the poor surgeon, who grieved for the loss of his friend the captain, and he was also naturally very anxious about his own fate.

"With any other man than Betts I should have less fear; but I know him to be an obstinate, self-opinionated, unprincipled fellow, and very ignorant at the same time," he observed. "If he were utterly ignorant of navigation there would be less danger; but he knows something about it, and has an idea that he is a first-rate navigator, and fully capable of taking charge of the ship."

"We must take our observations and keep our reckoning carefully, and we may then be able to correct his errors," said Tom.

As he spoke, a gruff voice was heard to exclaim, "What's that you say?"

and the boatswain, who had been standing at the door of the cabin, walked in, casting furious glances at the doctor and the three midshipmen.

"So you think I know nothing about navigation, do you?" exclaimed the man. "I'll soon show you what I know, and as this cabin is mine, unless you can keep civil tongues in your heads, out you shall go and find berths forward."

Tom, remembering that a soft answer turneth away wrath, replied, "We have no wish to dispute your authority, Mr Betts, and shall be glad to give you all the a.s.sistance in our power. If the captain were here, and both the mates had been lost, he would have wished us to take observations and help him navigate the ship."

"The captain was one man, and I am another. He might have liked what won't suit my fancy. So now, as I'm captain, I'll beg you to keep your hands in your pockets until you receive my orders to take them out. You understand me?" Desmond, who was not so much inclined to keep his temper as Tom, was firing up at the boatswain's impudence, when Tom put his hand on his mouth, and turning to the boatswain, said, "Very well, Mr Betts; we understand each other. But without boats, even if my people were able to help, you could not attempt to catch any more whales, and you have not even a sufficient number of men to take the ship home, so that you must put into a port to get fresh hands. If you take my advice you will, as soon as the gale is over, shape a course for Hong-kong, but before we leave this part of the ocean I would strongly urge you to make a diligent search in all directions for the boats."

"We might as well look for a needle in a bundle of hay. The boats are swamped, I'm sure of that, and don't intend to lose time by hunting for what we shall never find," answered the boatswain, as he took the captain's seat at the table.

Tom had considerable difficulty in restraining Desmond from saying anything which might irritate the man. Billy ate his breakfast in silence, stowing away an ample supply of provender to be ready for all emergencies. The doctor made no remark, fearful lest anything he might say should irritate the boatswain, whom he knew was capable of any act of tyranny.

As soon as the meal was over, Tom and Desmond went on deck.

"I wouldn't give way to that fellow," exclaimed the latter. "He'll be wanting us to take the ship round Cape Horn to Boston, and then get the credit of bringing her home himself. The best thing we can do is to clap him in irons and take command ourselves. The doctor would side with us, and so would two or three of the ship's company, if not all of them; for, depend upon it, they must be aware that he is no navigator, and would not wish to trust the craft to him."

Tom, who was averse to this proceeding, replied, "It might turn out very well if we were first to fall in with a British man-of-war; but suppose we met an American, we might be accused of running away with the ship.

Rest a.s.sured that the boatswain and some of the men would be ready to swear to anything which would suit their own purposes."

"I would risk that," said Desmond. "The doctor's word would be taken before that of the boatswain, and any American officer would at once see that our statement was the true one."

"Suppose we were to fail in our attempt to seize the boatswain, he would murder us all, or at all events clap us in irons, and accuse us of mutiny and an attempt to seize the ship."

"Arrah! now, what's come over you, Tom?" exclaimed Desmond. "You'll not persuade me that you're afraid of carrying out my plan."

"No," answered Tom, smiling. "I only want to look at both sides of the case, as Archie Gordon would have done if he were with us. I fully agree with you, that if the fellow refuses to go to Hong-kong we must compel him by some means or other; but, it would be wrong in us to seize the ship unless we are a.s.sured of the incapacity of the boatswain, by which her safety and the lives of all on board would be imperilled. In that case we should be justified in acting as you propose."

"And isn't he incompetent?" exclaimed Desmond. "The doctor says so. If he had been a good navigator he would not have been serving as boatswain."

"If he will agree to go to Hong-kong or Sydney, or even to the Sandwich Islands, and let us a.s.sist him in navigating the ship, well and good, as we can leave her at any of those places, and he can obtain a fresh crew."

Tom's remarks satisfied Desmond that they ought to wait and see how the boatswain would act. A look-out was kept in every direction for the boats, but hours went by and still they did not appear. As the day drew on the wind began to abate, and the sea proportionately to go down. The boatswain had turned into the captain's berth and gone to sleep, and no one felt inclined to awaken him. Tom, Desmond, or Billy were constantly going to the mast-head to look out for the missing boats, still hoping that they might appear. Desmond had gone into the cabin, where he heard the boatswain snoring loudly.

He returned on deck.

"Now would be our time to seize the fellow," he said to Tom. "The doctor has a brace of pistols and a fowling-piece. I found another brace in the first mate's berth. I will speak to Jerry, and he can easily let Tim and Pat know what we are doing. Peter, I am certain, would side with us by the way he looked when he saw the boatswain take the captain's seat. The rest of the men would be very easily won over; and if not, after we have clapped the boatswain in irons, we must make them prisoners. We can easily tackle the watch on deck, and then master those below as they come up."

"Your plan is a good one, and I dare say would succeed, but I hope we shall not have to carry it out," said Tom. "We have had no proof that the boatswain will not act reasonably, and I again repeat that I do not consider we should be justified in taking the ship from him until he has shown by his conduct that he is likely to endanger our lives, and the rest of those on board."

The midshipmen had the after part of the deck to themselves, while the ship was hove to. Only two of the crew could be seen; one of them was the boatswain's mats, who, with the carpenter, were the only men remaining on board capable of taking charge of a watch.

Tom and Desmond were now wishing that the boatswain would come up, in order that they might learn in what direction they were to steer. They were both indeed getting so sleepy that they could scarcely keep their eyes open, and much longed to lie down, even for a couple of hours. At last the boatswain made his appearance.

"May I ask, Mr Betts, what you intend doing?" said Tom, in as polite a tone as he could command.

"What's that to you?" asked the boatswain, gruffly. "You are only pa.s.sengers, and will have to go where the ship goes."

"I had no intention of dictating to you," replied Tom; "but because we are pa.s.sengers, we naturally wish to learn when we are likely to get on sh.o.r.e."

"That must depend upon circ.u.mstances," said the boatswain, evasively.

"I am in command of this ship, and intend to keep it, unless the captain and mate should come on board."

"We are perfectly ready to obey you, and to a.s.sist you in carrying the ship, either to Hong-kong, or Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands, or Sydney, where you may obtain fresh hands to take her home, and all I ask is that you will tell me for which of these ports you intend to steer."

"I have not made up my mind upon the matter," answered the boatswain.

"Perhaps you expect that we may still find the captain and boats crews; and if we were to work to windward during the night, and run back to-morrow over the same course, we may fall in with them, should they have kept afloat during the gale," said Tom suggestively, for he was afraid of saying that this was the course he would advise.

"Wait until you see what I do," said the boatswain. "As you may be wanted on deck, I advise you to turn in and get some sleep; the ship is hove to now, and for what I can tell, hove to she will remain for some hours longer."

Tom and Desmond agreed that they had better follow the boatswain's advice, and accordingly they went below. They found Billy Blueblazes snoring away, not troubling himself about what was likely to happen.

Throwing themselves on their beds, they were both in another minute fast asleep. They expected to have been called to keep watch; but no one arousing them, fatigued as they were, they slept on until daylight. Tom was the first to awaken; he roused up Desmond and Billy, and all three went on deck together, where they found that the wind had again freshened up from the old quarter, and that the ship was standing close hauled to the eastward. The carpenter had charge of the deck, but they could get nothing out of him. The doctor soon afterwards came up. Tom inquired whether he knew the boatswain's intentions?

"He has not thought fit to enlighten me, but I conclude from the course he is steering that he intends visiting the Sandwich Islands," was the answer.

"I wish that he had thought fit to steer in the opposite direction,"

observed Tom. "However, we may perhaps find one of our ships there, and should then have no reason to complain."

"I hope that you will keep to your intention of taking an observation every day, and ascertaining our position," said the doctor, in a low voice, so that he might not be overheard.

"You may depend upon that," answered Tom.

"I conclude that you can tell whereabouts we now are?" said the doctor.

"Not unless I can learn at what hour sail was made and we began to stand on our present course," was the reply.

When Tom inquired of the carpenter, he received an evasive answer, and on going forward to learn from Jerry, Tim, or Pat, they all said that they had gone below at night, and had not been roused up. Some of the crew replied that it was in the first watch, others that it was in the middle watch.