The Three Admirals Part 36

He persuaded them to come and live on board, as they would be more comfortable than in the hut of the chief, and he would be ready, should the wind come fair, to put to sea at any moment, without having to wait for them. The midshipmen agreed to his proposal, carrying with them several monkeys, and cages full of birds, which the hospitable chief had given them. In return for all his kindness they presented him with their own rifles, while they gave to Nick and Pipes two seamen's muskets, and such other articles as they could spare, promising to send the honest fellows more should an opportunity occur of forwarding the things from Sydney, as a reward for their fidelity. The two Papuans and their chief were highly delighted and grateful for the gifts, which they looked upon as an ample return for the services they had rendered.

The brig looked like a menagerie, with the number of creatures which the captain and crew were taking, mostly monkeys and birds, such as were not to be found in Australia.

The natives now returned with a considerable amount of produce, which the skipper received on board, promising to send the goods in payment on sh.o.r.e. In the mean time he presented, with apparent generosity, some kegs of spirits to the chief and his people.

The midshipmen, Casey, and Peter had turned in for the night, which was very dark, with the wind off sh.o.r.e. They heard the skipper go on deck, but were soon asleep again. Not long after this they were awakened by the sound of the windla.s.s.

"Why they must be weighing anchor!" exclaimed Tom.

He and Desmond dressed, and went on deck. The brig was already under way, standing out of the harbour.

"Why, Captain Stubbins, you've forgotten to send the goods on sh.o.r.e, in return for the produce which came off yesterday!"

"Bless my heart! so I have!" answered the skipper, with a hoa.r.s.e laugh.

"I'll pay the people the next time I come here; but they are too drunk by this time to know whether I have paid or not; and, knowing that you were in a hurry to get to Sydney, as the wind was fair, I could not resist the temptation of putting to sea."

Tom made no reply, but he had a very strong suspicion that the skipper had intended to cheat the poor natives, and such, indeed, he found to be the case.

When morning dawned, the _Fox_ was far beyond the possibility of pursuit by the natives, even had the chiefs been in a condition to follow her, which in all probability they were not, owing to the cunningly bestowed kegs of liquor. The breeze continued, and the _Fox_ made good way. The skipper and his mate were constantly on the look-out to avoid the rocks and shoals which so thickly dot the entrance to Torres Straits. The brig then stood to the eastward, so as to run well clear of the coral reefs which fringe the north-eastern portion of Australia. Tom and his companions were thankful at length to find themselves, after all the dangers and toils they had gone through, on their way to a place where they could hope to meet with their ship; at the same time, there was little comfort to boast of on board. Their berths were narrow recesses on either side of the little cabin, which was close in the extreme, and swarmed, moreover, with c.o.c.kroaches and other creeping things, scorpions and centipedes, which had come on board with the cargo and occasionally made their appearance.

"I don't care for the beasts, hungry as they are, but it is not pleasant to know that one may be stung at any moment by them," said Desmond, as he brought his knife down on one which had fallen on the breakfast table.

As long as their fresh provisions lasted, they fared pretty well, but when these were exhausted, they were reduced to very short commons, and, as Desmond observed, "very bad of its sort." Salt junk, which had made, perhaps, more than one voyage round the world, and mouldy biscuit, const.i.tuted the chief ingredients of their meals. The midshipmen complained, but the skipper replied that he gave them the best he had.

Billy especially declared that he should die of inanition. "Salt junk never agreed with me at the best of times, and this is more like old horse than beef," he groaned, as he turned about a piece of black-looking stuff at the end of his fork.

The men were quite as ill off--they could not be worse; but when they found their officers faring as badly as they were, they could not complain. The old brig sailed like a tub even in a breeze, and at last the wind dropped and they lay becalmed day after day with the sun striking down on their heads. They had found it hot enough very frequently in travelling through the country; it was here sometimes even hotter. On their journey they had had at all events abundance of food, refreshing fruits, and clear water, while now they had only tepid, thick, brackish liquid to drink. When they made faces as they poured it out at meal time, the skipper remarked with a grin--

"You're better off than if we had none, and if we are many weeks longer on the voyage maybe we shall be in that condition."

Tom suggested that as soon as a breeze sprang up, they should steer for Brisbane, or one of the northern Australian ports, but the skipper would not listen to any such proposal. He preferred keeping the open sea, free of the reefs which existed nearer in with the land. Tom observed that they were already much further to the eastward than was necessary, but Captain Stubbins, though he was evidently no great navigator, declared that he knew his way as well as any naval officer, and refused to lend Tom his quadrant to make an observation.

Billy looked very melancholy, and declared that should the voyage continue much longer he should give up the ghost.

"If we could catch some fish we should do better," said Tom. "Suppose you ask the skipper if he has got any hooks and lines."

"I doubt whether the old fellow will take the trouble to look them out if he has," observed Desmond.

Billy applied as was proposed, and greatly to his delight the mats produced a shark hook and several others of smaller size, with a supply of lines. In a few minutes all hands were busy with lines overboard with bits of pork and beef for bait. Several curious fish were hauled up, but the native crew p.r.o.nounced them poisonous, and declared that those who ate them would die. This was tantalising.

While they were engaged in the sport, Toby--Desmond's favourite monkey, whom he had taught all sorts of tricks--hopped on the bulwarks to see what they were about.

"Take care what you are doing, Master Toby," sang out Desmond, springing forward to catch the monkey, who was in dangerous proximity to the shark hook line. Toby, expecting to be caught, made a spring, but having no rope to take hold of, lost his balance, and over he went into the water.

Desmond, who was fond of the little animal, threw a line, calling to him to catch hold of it, but the monkey, finding itself in the water, was too much alarmed to obey his directions.

"I'll go after him," cried Desmond, and was on the point of leaping overboard, when Toby uttered a cry of agony, a black snout was seen to rise for an instant, the white of a shark's belly glanced in the water, and Toby disappeared beneath the surface.

"The horrid brute!" exclaimed Desmond; "we will pay him off for this if we can."

The fishermen persevered, and Desmond caught a good-looking fish and Tom another.

"I've got one!" cried Billy, pulling away. "Here, Desmond, come and help me haul it in--he must be a big fellow."

They hauled away at the line, which suddenly came up very rapidly, when a shark's nose appeared above the water; it was but for a moment, and the next Billy and Desmond were sprawling on the deck with the hook bitten off some way above the shank.

"Bad luck to the beast! It's the same which ate up poor Toby," cried Desmond, as he picked himself up.

"I only hope he will not run away with any more of our hooks," said Tom.

"It will be as well to haul them in before he gets hold of them."

Directly afterwards the line with the shark hook attached was seen to be pulled violently.

"Hurrah! the voracious brute has got hold of the hook intended for him,"

cried Tom. "Let's haul him in before he breaks clear."

All hands ran to the line. Casey made a bowline round the line, ready to slip over the shark's head as soon as it should appear above water.

Could it once be got round its body, its capture would be certain.

Peter, in the mean time, got another ready to slip over its tail. The mate and some of the Malays came to the a.s.sistance of the midshipmen.

Keeping a steady pull on the line, they soon brought the head of the big shark to the surface. It had bolted the hook, and was biting away at the chain secured to the shank.

"He'll be through it if we don't make haste!" cried Tom. "Quick, quick, Casey! slip the bowline round him!"

The seaman managed dexterously to do this, and the rest of the crew, hauling away, at length got its body out of the water. It was a huge creature, ten feet long. It struggled desperately, beating the water into foam alongside, so that it was some time before Peter could get a rope round its tail. That done it was a close prisoner.

"Keep all the lines taut, or he'll be wriggling through them and carry off the hook and line!" cried Tom. At last it was got up flush with the bulwarks, when down it came, knocking over poor Billy and two of the native crew. Had not Tom and Desmond rushed forward and hauled Billy out of the way, he would have been beaten into a mummy by the furious lashing of the creature's tail. For several moments it had possession of the deck, until at length Casey and Peter, having got hold of an axe apiece, rushed up and each dealt him a blow across the tail, springing back the next instant out of its way. Again and again they had to repeat their blows. It was some time before the struggles of the monster ceased.

"I shouldn't like to be in the way of that fellow's jaws," exclaimed Billy, as he examined the shark's head.

Just then the creature gave a heave, and Billy sprang back, knocking over Peter, who, in his turn, tumbling against the skipper, brought him sprawling to the deck. Captain Stubbins, getting up, furiously attacked poor Peter, as if he had tumbled against him intentionally, and, seizing a rope, began to belabour him severely. This excited Tom's and Desmond's indignation.

"You've no business to treat the poor fellow in that way," exclaimed Tom; "and I'll not allow it!"

"Who are you?" said the skipper. "This is mutiny, and I'll clap you and your companions in irons as soon as look at you."

"We are Queen's officers, and cannot allow a man under our charge to be treated as you have this poor fellow," answered Tom, in a determined tone.

The skipper, muttering a furious oath, without another word retired to his cabin, and presently re-appeared with a pistol in his hand, and another sticking out of his pocket.

Tom fixed his eye calmly upon him. "We do not fear your threats, Captain Stubbins," he said. "If you were to kill one of us, you would be guilty of murder, and would be hung to a certainty. Let me advise you, then, to take those pistols back to your cabin. We have no wish to insult you or to dispute your authority. Our messmate, who was the cause of the black's falling against you, is ready to apologise: I hope that will satisfy you."

"Really, Captain Stubbins, I am very sorry for what has happened,"

exclaimed Billy; "and I am sure the shark would be if he could speak, for he, after all, was the cause of your misfortune. Had he not given so unexpected a plunge, I should not have tumbled down nor knocked over Peter, and Peter would not have knocked over you. I promise you it shall not occur again, for I'll keep clear of him until we have a few delicately browned slices placed on the table. I never ate shark, but I'll undertake that it shall be better than the salt beef we have on board."

By the time Billy had finished his apology the skipper's anger had somewhat cooled down, but he still walked the deck with a pistol in his hand, and Tom and Desmond kept an eye upon him lest he should all of a sudden take it into his head to fire at one of them. At last, greatly to their satisfaction, he went below, and replaced the pistols in his berth.

Several other fish were caught after this, so that the midshipmen were not reduced to eat the shark. On cutting it open, poor Toby was discovered within, and served as a _bonne bouche_ to the crew, the midshipmen contenting themselves with the fish.

As long as the calm lasted, and fish could be obtained, the pa.s.sengers and crew of the _Fox_ did not fare ill; but as the midshipmen were anxious to get over a disagreeable pa.s.sage and rejoin their ship, they would gladly have gone on short commons and made a quick pa.s.sage. The water every day became worse and diminished in quant.i.ty, and they had serious apprehensions of what might be the result.