The Three Lieutenants Part 17

Jack felt that it was so, but said nothing. Suddenly the whole heavens appeared ablaze with fiery meteors, which fell in showers on every side.

"Look look! mercy--what can that be?" cried Adair.

A ma.s.s of fire, of a globular form and deep red hue, appeared high up in the sky, when downward it fell, perpendicularly, not a cable's length from the ship, it seemed, a.s.suming an elongated shape of dazzling whiteness ere it plunged, hissing, into the ocean.

"We may be thankful that ball did not strike us," observed Jack. "It would have sent us to the bottom more certainly than Fulton's torpedo, or any similar invention, could have done."

"I hope that there are no others like it ready to fall on us," said Terence.

Scarcely a minute had elapsed when the wind fell almost to a calm, its strength being scarcely sufficient to steady the ship. At the same moment the heavens seemed to open and shower down fire, so numberless and rapid were the flashes of the most vivid lightning which played between the clouds and ocean, filling the whole atmosphere with their brilliancy. The captain had put his hand to his mouth to order more sail to be set, when again the hurricane burst forth with renewed fury, howling and shrieking, as Terence declared, like ten legions of demons in the rigging, while the mountain seas, as they clashed with each other, created a roar which almost overpowered the yelling voice of the hurricane. For nearly an hour the hideous uproar continued, until, as if wearied by its last mighty effort, the storm began evidently to abate, although the darkness was even denser than before, while the seas continued tumbling and rolling in so confused a manner that any attempt to steer the ship, so as to avoid them, would have been impossible.

Daylight was looked for with anxiety by all on board, to ascertain the fate of the corvette, the captain eagerly waiting for the moment when he could venture to make sail, that he might stand towards her. Just as the cold grey dawn broke over the leaden-tinted, still tumbling ocean, the wind shifted to the southward. The light increased. The eyes of all on deck were turned towards the spot where it was supposed the corvette would be seen. In vain they looked. She was nowhere visible.

A groan of disappointment escaped their b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Jack and Adair hurried aloft with their gla.s.ses, still in the hopes of discovering her. They swept the whole horizon to the northward from east to west, and every intermediate s.p.a.ce, but not a speck on the troubled waters could they discover which might prove to be the hull of the corvette. "Poor Alick!

poor Alick!" they both again e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, and descended with sad hearts on deck.

The captain now gave the order to make sail, and under her topsails and courses the frigate began to force her way amid the still rolling billows to the northward. Mr Cherry, and several of the other officers, were speaking of the loss of the corvette as a certainty.

Jack, who could not bear the thought that Murray was indeed gone, declared that he still had some hopes of finding her above water.

"I agree with Rogers," said the captain, joining them. "We have made scarcely sufficient allowance for the distance the frigate has drifted during the hurricane. Though I allow that the corvette will have had a hard struggle for it, and that it is too probable she has foundered; yet, as I think that there is a possibility of her being still afloat, I intend to pa.s.s over every part of the sea to which she can have been driven, or any boats or rafts escaping from her can have reached."

The remarks made by the captain considerably raised the spirits of Jack and Terence. A look-out was sent to the masthead, and they themselves frequently went aloft with their telescopes, in the hopes of catching sight of the missing ship. As the day advanced the light increased, and the wind gradually fell to a moderate breeze. The captain and Mr Cherry, having been on deck during the whole night, had turned in, as had all who could do so. Jack had charge of the watch, and Terence remained with him.

"A lump of something floating away on the starboard bow," cried the look-out from aloft.

Jack kept the ship towards it. In a short time the object seen was discovered to be a tangled ma.s.s of spars and rigging, evidently belonging to the corvette. As the frigate pa.s.sed close to it the figure of a seaman was perceived in its midst floating, partly in the water and partly supported by a spar, with his face turned upwards, as if gazing at her. Several on board shouted, but no voice replied, no sign was made. Jack, notwithstanding, was about to shorten sail and heave the ship to, that a boat might be lowered to rescue the man, when the corpse--for such it was--turned slowly round and disappeared beneath the waves.

"There goes poor Bill Dawson. He was captain of the main-top aboard the _Tudor_," observed one of the men. "I knowed him well, and a better fellow never stepped!"

Jack's heart sank as he saw the wreck of the corvette's masts.

"Surely they could not have floated to any distance from her, and as she is not in sight she must have gone down," he thought.

The sea was still too rough to attempt taking any of the spars on board, so the frigate stood on as the captain had directed. Ten minutes or more pa.s.sed by, when again the look-out hailed the deck in a cheery voice,--"A sail on the port bow!"

The announcement raised the spirits of every one. Terence hurried aloft, and a midshipman was sent to call the captain, who quickly appeared.

"I thought so," he exclaimed. "Depend on it, that is the _Tudor_."

Some time pa.s.sed before Terence returned on deck. His report confirmed the captain's opinion. He could clearly make out the hull with a small sail set forward. The last reef was shaken out of the topsails, the starboard studding-sails were set, and the frigate dashed after the corvette. The news spread below, the sleepers were awakened, and all hands turned out. The frigate speedily came up with the lately trim little ship, now reduced to a mere battered hulk. From her appearance it was surprising that she should be still afloat. A mast and yard, composed of numerous pieces, had been rigged forward with a royal or some other small sail set on it. The whole of the bulwarks on one side were stove in; not a gun remained, the boats were gone. Many of the crew lay about the deck exhausted with fatigue, and scarcely able to raise themselves, and utter a faint cheer, as the frigate, now shortening sail, approached, while the remainder were labouring hard at the pumps; and by the gush of water flowing from the scuppers, it was evident that they found it a hard matter to keep the ship afloat.

"Shorten sail, Commander Babbicome, and I'll send you a.s.sistance, for I see you require it," shouted Captain Hemming, with a touch of irony in his tone, as the frigate ranged up alongside.

A hawser had been got ready and pa.s.sed aft; a long line secured to the end was hove on board the corvette, and those who just before seemed scarcely able to stand on their feet hauling on it with right good will; the hawser was pa.s.sed forward, and quickly secured. In the meantime two boats had been lowered, and fifty fresh hands sent from the frigate relieved the worn-out crew of the corvette. Adair had gone in charge of the men, and Murray was the first person he greeted on deck.

"We had given you up for lost, but, thank Heaven, you are safe!"

exclaimed Terence, as he warmly wrung his friend's hand.

"It isn't the first time either that we've had cause to be frightened about each other's safety; and for my part I intend in future, should you or Jack disappear, never to despair of seeing you turn up again alive somewhere or other."

"We have indeed been very mercifully preserved," answered Murray, gravely. "But, my dear Adair, unless we take the greatest care, I very much doubt that the ship can be kept afloat till we reach Port Royal."

And he briefly told Terence all that had occurred. There was but little time, however, for conversation. While most of the fresh hands went to the pumps the rest got up another sail, which, having been thrummed like the first, was pa.s.sed under the ship's bottom. The result was satisfactory. Though the frigate was towing the corvette at the rate of four knots an hour, instead of the leak increasing, as had been feared would be the case, the pumps rapidly gained on it. Higson, with additional hands, came on board; the hatches were taken off, and buckets being brought into play, pa.s.sed rapidly up from below by a line of men, the depth of water in the hold was sensibly decreased, the corvette in consequence towing the lighter. Poor Commander Babbicome, who looked as unhappy as a man could do, went to his cabin; and even Murray, with most of the officers, was glad to turn in and leave the ship in charge of Adair and Fligson. Happily the wind remained fair and moderate, and in three days the frigate and her battered consort came safely to an anchor in the magnificent harbour of Port Royal. Their arrival was officially notified to the admiral, living at the Pen above Kingston, and he, shortly after coming down in his barge, having inspected the ships, ordered the corvette into dock to be repaired, while he gave a gentle hint to Commander Babbicome that, as he was not a good subject for resisting an attack of yellow fever, it would be wise in him to return by the first opportunity to England.

CHAPTER NINE.

JAMAICA--MURRAY APPOINTED TO THE SUPPLEJACK BRIG--PULL UP TO KINGSTON-- PORT ROYAL JACK--JOHNNY FERONG'S STORE--VISIT TO THE BRADSHAWS--KIND RECEPTION--RETURN--THE SUPPLEJACK SAILS FOR THE SOUTHWARD.

Jamaica, a hundred and sixty miles long, by forty-five broad, is, as everybody knows, a very magnificent island; but, alas! its ancient glory has departed for a time, though it is to be hoped that one of the many panaceas proposed for its renovation may, ere long, restore it to its pristine state of prosperity. Port Royal, or Kingston Harbour, capable of holding a thousand tall ships, lies on its southern side, towards its eastern end. The harbour has for its sea boundary a low, narrow, sandy strip of land, several miles in length, called the Palisades, running from the east towards the west; at which end is seen the town of Port Royal standing a few feet above the water, and looking complacently down on its predecessor, buried eight fathoms below the surface by the earthquake of 1692. Here, too, is the Royal Naval Yard, hospital, barracks, and the works of Fort Charles defending the entrance, which is rendered still more difficult of access to an enemy by the Apostles'

Battery erected on the opposite side, with a fine range of mountains rising directly above it. Kingston, that not over delectable of sea-ports, stands on the northern sh.o.r.e of the harbour towards its eastern end, and is thus a considerable distance from Port Royal; the only communication between the two places being by water, except by a circuitous route along the burning sands of the Palisades, which adventurous mids and juvenile subs, have alone of mortals been known to attempt on horseback. The land rises rapidly beyond the flat on which Kingston stands, the Admiral's Pen being some way above it, while Up Hill Barracks appear beautifully situated very much higher up the mountain.

The frigate lay at anchor off Port Royal, the crippled corvette had just been towed into dock. Jack and Terence were walking the deck under the awning, having got ready to go on sh.o.r.e.

"Faith, now, this is a fine place!" exclaimed Terence, as he gazed over the wide expanse of the harbour, the plain of Liguania covered with plantations, and dotted with white farm-houses quivering in the beams of a tropical sun. Beyond it rose the magnificent amphitheatre of the Blue Mountains, one piled upon another, reaching to the clouds, and intersected by numerous deep, irregular valleys; one of their spurs, with Rock Fort at its base, appearing directly over the ship's port-quarter; while before the beam was seen, at the end of a narrow spit of sand, Fort Augusta, its guns ready to sweep to destruction any hostile fleet which might attempt to enter; and over the bow in the far distance could dimly be distinguished the town of Kingston, at the head of the lagoon.

"Not equal to Trinidad, though," observed Jack. "I don't know what your fair cousin Maria would say if she heard you expatiate so warmly on its beauties."

"I'd just invite her to come with me, and judge for herself," answered Terence. "But why did you speak of her now? I was beginning to fancy that I was getting the sweet creature out of my head, for it's bothering me she has been ever since we left the island. Oh, Jack! you're a hardhearted fellow. I thought that you would have fallen head over ears in love with Stella."

"I saw that Miss O'Regan was not likely to fall in love with me, and, besides, for other reasons, when I found how completely Murray was captivated by her, I soon conquered the admiration I felt," said Jack.

"I wish for his sake that they had never met. Dragged about as she is by her enthusiast of a father into all sorts of dangers, it is impossible to say what may be her fate; and it would go nigh to break his heart should her life be lost, or any other misfortune happen to her. Here comes a sh.o.r.e-boat--we'll secure her to take us to Kingston."

Jack going to the gangway met the very person they had just been speaking of.

"Why, Murray, my dear fellow, we expected to meet you on sh.o.r.e!" he exclaimed. "What brings you back?"

"To look after my traps, settle my mess accounts, bid farewell to my late shipmates, and take command of HM Brig _Supplejack_, fitting out at the Dockyard, and nearly ready for sea, I am told," answered Murray. "I don't know whether to ask you to congratulate me or not. I had hoped to make the acquaintance of some families on sh.o.r.e to whom I have letters of introduction, but as they live some way from Kingston I fear that I shall not have time to call on them. One family, the Ravens, are related to my Antigua friends, the Houghtons; and another, the Bradshaws, to Colonel O'Regan and his daughter, of whom I hoped to hear from them. I feel anxious on the subject, I confess, for there are rumours on sh.o.r.e about the character of the brig they sailed in, which I do not like. I wish that she was safe back again."

"The brig, or the young lady!" exclaimed Terence. "Ah, yes, I understand; the brig with the young lady aboard. I'd like to give her a royal salute as she comes in, which I dare say will be before long; and as to hearing about her, Jack and I will make a pilgrimage to the Ravens and Bradshaws, and bring you back all the intelligence we can collect, if you haven't time to go yourself."

"You may depend on us for that," said Jack. "But I say, Alick, you haven't told us by what good fortune you have been appointed to the _Supplejack_; for good fortune, I call it, to get an independent command, whatever you may think."

"By no unusual means; through what I suspect the invidious will call Nepotism. When I went to pay my respects to the admiral, he at once hailed me as a cousin, told me he was glad to make my acquaintance, expressed his regret at the loss of poor Archy, who was also related to him, and wound up by saying that he should be very happy to forward my interests. I was taking my leave, wishing to get on to the Bradshaws, when he stopped me, inviting me to dinner, and observing that he should by that time have something to say to me; and wished, besides, to hear about old friends in bonnie Scotland. This, of course, was equivalent to a royal command; so I wrote to Mrs Bradshaw, enclosing my letter of introduction, and expressing my intention of calling on her and Mrs Raven as soon as I was at liberty. You and Terence will, I have no doubt, be welcomed if you can ride over to Saint David's. You can explain more clearly than I could by letter how I am situated, and you will not fail to inquire what has been heard about the O'Regans. After dinner, the admiral, who spoke in the kindest way possible, said that Macleod, who he had intended should have command of the _Supplejack_ having been invalided, as the corvette could not be refitted under three or four months, he had appointed me in his stead, and that he intended to transfer thirty of the corvette's crew to the brig, with any officers I might name. Though I must consider my command but temporary, I may possibly, he hinted, be confirmed in it."

"Congratulate you! Of course I do, and though I'm not jealous, it's just the sort of command I should jump at," exclaimed Terence.

"I am not quite so certain; it is said that if a lieutenant is placed in command of a small craft, he is never likely to get anything better,"

observed Jack. "However, in your case it is different, as the admiral will look after your interests. Did he tell you how and where you are to be employed?"

"My duty will be chiefly to look after slaves and pirates, of whom a few occasionally appear sailing under the flags of some of the smaller South American States; he mentioned also, that I might probably be sent to the Spanish Main to protect British interests on that coast. My thoughts at once, I confess, flew to Colonel O'Regan and his daughter, and the possibility of meeting them; though I trust that they may have returned safely to Jamaica before I can get to the coast."

"Who knows! By my faith, I should be after wishing the contrary!"

exclaimed Terence. "What a romantic incident it would be now some morning just as day breaks, to make out away to leeward a brig which you have no doubt is the _Sarah Jane_, with a black, rakish, wicked-looking schooner close to, just opening fire. The brig fights bravely; she had, I think, a couple of two or three-pounders on board, but she will to a certainty be captured. You make all sail to her a.s.sistance, for the pirate, supposing you to be a merchantman, doesn't up stick and run for it--but the wind drops, you take to your boats, the black schooner has ranged up alongside the brig, you arrive at the moment the brig's crew have been overpowered--the colonel brought to the deck, and the pirate-captain, a huge ugly negro, is bearing off a fair lady in his arms. You cut him down, rescue the lady, drive the pirates overboard, place the colonel on his legs, blow up the schooner, and are duly rewarded for your gallantry."

"Avast, Terence, with your nonsense!" exclaimed Murray, who had before been vainly endeavouring to stop the imaginative Irishman. "You make me miserable in suggesting the bare possibility of such an occurrence. The brig may be attacked, but I might not arrive in time to save my friends."

"Now, Alick dear, you remind me mightily of Tim Doolan, the cowboy at Ballymacree," said Terence. "I found Tim, one bright morning, looking as unhappy as his twinkling eyes and c.o.c.ked-up nose would let him.

'Tim, my beauty--what's the matter?' I asked.