The Voyages of the Ranger and Crusader Part 16

"And how did it all happen, how did it all happen, Mr Charles?"

exclaimed Mrs Clagget, as soon as she thought he and his sisters had kissed and welcomed him sufficiently, as she called it. "We're dying to know how it happened, for we never expected to see you again."

"I hope soon to tell you my story," answered Charles, "but I must shake hands first with the friends who are wishing to speak to me."

Mr Paget was among the foremost to welcome Charles, the rest of the pa.s.sengers following, and expressing their pleasure at seeing him again.

"Now, Charles, you must know that I am very angry with you for jumping into that boat," exclaimed Mrs Clagget. "The only way you can make your peace with me is to tell me your story at once. I can't let you go and describe all to your sisters and other people, and allow me to have it second-hand."

Charles laughed. "I must not disappoint you, then, Mrs Clagget," he said. "But were I to give you more than the outline of my adventures, I should have to spin you too long a yarn; so you must excuse me if I somewhat curtail my story. Soon after we shoved off from the ship, we saw the lifebuoy, and Tom Bowline, the man who had fallen overboard, clinging to it, and driving away to leeward. We followed, and not without difficulty got him at last on board. We then attempted to secure the buoy, and while so doing, a heavy sea broke over us, and nearly swamped the boat. She had, we found, so slight a hold of the water that she drifted away even faster than the lifebuoy. One of the oars had been broken, and another was carried away while we were trying to haul in the lifebuoy. We thus in vain attempted to pull back to the ship, and found ourselves every instant increasing our distance from her. Sometimes, as we sank into the trough of the sea, she was hidden from our sight, and we knew, consequently, that we could not be seen from her deck; besides this, from the colour of the boat, when we were on the crest of the sea, we were well aware that she could scarcely be distinguished from the foaming water around. At length we saw the yards swung round, and then we knew that we must have been given up for lost.

To reach her was impossible. You may fancy, my dear sisters, how acutely I felt for you, knowing the grief my supposed loss must cause you. That, indeed, was the hardest thing to bear. Our hopes revived when we saw the ship wear round, and stand back again nearly across the spot where Tom had fallen overboard; but she kept too far to windward.

Though we could not row with any effect, we determined to try and sail.

Happily, Jack Ivyleaf and Tom Loftus had in the morning been reclining at their ease in the boat to smoke their cigars, and, to make themselves comfortable, had thrown in some rugs and blankets. With these we devised some sails, the broken oar was fitted as a bowsprit, and two other oars were stepped as masts. Some of the emigrants had, fortunately for us, also left a child's mattress in the boat. This, split open, formed a jib and fore-staysail We had a coil of rope, with which we fitted the stays and sheets. Our sails answered better than we expected; but we found that we could not lie sufficiently close to the wind to get up to the ship. Our disappointment was great when we saw her again standing on her course. Night was approaching, and we were by this time some five miles away; still, while the light lasted, we could clearly trace the rise and fall of her bowsprit with the swell of the sea. Bill Windy, however, did his best to keep up our spirits. 'Never fear, lads,' he exclaimed, 'we are slipping along at a good rate through the water, and we shall not be so very far astern of the old ship after all; perhaps at daylight, when the sea goes down, as it is doing fast, she will catch sight of us, and we shall be aboard again for breakfast.'

The word 'breakfast' made us think of food, for we were feeling somewhat hungry; but not a particle could be found in the boat. The mate now divided us into two watches; he was in the one, I in the other.

While one of us steered, another kept a look-out, and the rest slept.

I confess that I felt from the first that the chance of catching the ship was but small; still I hoped that we might do so, and hope kept up my spirits during that long night. Sleep I could not for thinking of you both, and what would become of you should I be lost. I knew we were a long, long way from any land, without a drop of water or a particle of food. We could scarcely, therefore, expect to survive till we should reach even the nearest point. While I sat alongside the mate, talking of the possibility of overtaking the ship, I asked him whether he really thought we could do so.

"'That depends whether during the night she carries much sail or not.

The captain believes that the boat was swamped. To tell you the truth, Mr Dicey, I don't think we shall overhaul her, however, we must not give way to despair. If the worst comes to the worst, we must try and make a little island which lies midway between the coast of South America and Africa, called Trinidada. It is a barren spot, but I have heard that water is to be procured there, and it is said that a few runaway seamen, with negro wives, manage to pick up a livelihood on it.

If so, we shall not want for food, as where they exist we can manage to support ourselves till a ship pa.s.ses within hail.' By the mate's calculation, the island he spoke of was about a hundred and twenty miles away to leeward. It was, however, but a small dot in the ocean to hit to a certainty; still he thought we should not fail to pa.s.s within sight of it. 'However,' he concluded, 'mind, I don't think that it is impossible we may, after all, be in sight of the ship at daylight.' The boat was making fine weather of it, and slipping at the rate of five or six knots an hour through the water, so that, had we possessed something to eat and drink, we should have had less cause for anxiety.

Notwithstanding this, the men kept up their spirits wonderfully, and as they were roused up one after the other to take their watch, each man had a joke on his lips. The thing they chiefly seemed to sigh for was a pipe of tobacco. Tom had had some in his pocket, he declared, when he went overboard, but it must have slipped out, and he mourned its loss more than that of his hat.

"When morning broke, you may be sure we eagerly looked out for the ship, but she was nowhere to be seen. 'Then, lads,' exclaimed the mate, in a cheerful voice, 'what we have now to do is to steer for the island I have been telling Mr Dicey about. No fear as to getting there, and we may live like Robinson Crusoe, the lords of all we survey, till some craft comes by to take us off, and then we can go or not as we have a mind to do.' 'Hurra for Trinidada,' shouted the men, inquiring of the mate what sort of a place it was. As the wind was right aft, we rigged the square-sail with the boathook as a yard, and though the sea was still running pretty heavily, we calculated that we were making a good six knots an hour. The mate advised the men to take a reef in their belts when they felt hungry. 'Ay, ay, sir,' answered Tom, laughing, 'it's the best way to keep hunger out, when there happens to be no plum-dough to stow aboard.' 'I wonder who will have ours,' exclaimed another of the men. 'I'll lay anything d.i.c.k Handspike does his best to get my share.' Thus the men joked and laughed as if we were not in the middle of the Atlantic, with a fearful probability of being starved to death. Bill Windy a.s.sured us that we should make the island by noon the following day, whispering to me, however, that he had hopes of reaching it by dawn, and we all made up our minds for another supperless night at sea. I had little notion before what were the actual sensations of thirst and hunger. I could not help thinking of your remark, Mrs Clagget, to me a short time ago, and wished that a covey of flying-fish would come on board. Some of the men had begun to sc.r.a.pe the broken pieces of the oar, and chew the wood to stop the gnawing of hunger.

Another night, we all felt, would be very trying. The day wore on, and though we had kept a bright look-out on either side, no sail had been sighted. Believing that if I could get to sleep, I might better endure the pangs of hunger, I at length threw myself down in the bottom of the boat, and had been dozing away, though still conscious of where I was, when I heard a shout of 'Sail, ahoy!' We were all sitting up in a moment, and saw, on the port bow, the topgallant sails of a ship rising above the horizon. She was standing to the northward. We bore away and rapidly neared her. As we approached, she altered her course still more for us. We were seen, and had now every hopes of getting on board. At length she hove to, and we were quickly alongside. She was an American whaler, homeward bound. The captain received us with the greatest kindness; our boat was hoisted up; and while Windy and I were entertained in the cabin, the men were hospitably treated by the crew forward. Although we were no longer in danger of starving, I could not help still thinking of the grief you, my sisters, were suffering on my account, and wishing that some aerial telegraph existed among the wonders of nature by which I could send you a message to a.s.sure you of my safety. Months might pa.s.s before I could find a ship to rejoin you in New Zealand. When the captain heard of my anxiety, he promised to keep a bright look-out for any ship bound for the Cape or the Australian colonies, on board which he might put us. The mate and I spent most of each day relieving each other at the mast-head, not willing to trust to the eyes of others.

"Near a week had pa.s.sed away, when Bill Windy, who was aloft, hailed the deck. A ship was in sight, steering southward. We stood for her, with a signal flying. She hove to. We did the same. She was bound out for the Cape. Wishing good-bye to the kind master, who would not receive even the boat which we offered him as payment for his hospitality, we went on board the other ship. We were as kindly received as before. We met with no accident, though we had a somewhat slow pa.s.sage, till, to our joy, we recognised the 'Crusader' coming out of Simon's Bay. Thus, Mrs Clagget, ends our adventures. I only wish you had heard them from my friend Windy, as he would have given them in a more graphic manner."

"Oh, I intend to get them out of him before long," said Mrs Clagget.

"There are a number of things I want to ask him about, and remember, Mr Charles, that you never go and do so foolish a thing again. You don't know how angry I have been with you."

"I am much obliged to you, Mrs Clagget, and promise to remember your advice," said Charles, laughing, as he descended with his sisters to their cabin, where they might talk of their dear home and the loved ones there. Charles greatly relieved their minds when he told them that he had written home, and that he hoped his letter would reach England as soon as that which conveyed the intelligence of his supposed loss. They had thought of remaining at the Cape, but Mrs Clagget and Captain Westerway had urged them to continue their voyage in the "Crusader."

Perhaps Mr Paget might have said something about the matter. At all events, they had determined to go on to New Zealand, thence to return home, should they find it desirable. Having recovered their brother, they had now no longer any doubts about the future, but believed--and surely that was but natural--that all would go smoothly and happily.

The ship stood to the south, till she again met with the steady westerly wind, which had already carried her so many hundred miles on her voyage.

A change, however, again came over the ocean. Dark clouds were seen hurrying across the sky; the sea, hitherto rolling in regular billows, now began to foam, and hiss, and dance wildly about, the wind carrying the spray in thick sheets from their curling summits over the deck.

Sail after sail was taken off the ship, till the topsails, closely reefed, alone remained set, the gale howling and whistling in the rigging. The waves continued to increase in height, and huge mountains of water rose up on either side, whilst others came rolling astern, as if about to break over the p.o.o.p and sweep the decks of the stout ship.

The emigrants were desired to keep below, the hatches were battened down, everything that could be washed away was secured. Lines were also stretched along the deck, by the aid of which the seamen could make their way from one end to the other. Four of the best hands, secured by ropes, were at the helm, where they stood struggling and clinging to it every now and then, in spite of all their efforts one or other being thrown on either side from the violent jerks it made. The wind increased every instant, low heavily laden clouds bounded the horizon, circ.u.mscribed to a couple of miles. Sometimes the ship sank so low in the trough of the sea that the curling summits of the waves appeared to reach above her mast-heads; now she climbed a watery height, to remain but for a moment, before she rushed down again on her impetuous course.

In vain the captain and his mates shouted to the men, their voices were drowned by the loud uproar of the waves, the howling and whistling of the wind in the rigging, the creaking of the bulk-heads, the flapping of the canvas, the complaining of the masts and spars. A fierce hurricane was blowing, such as Captain Westerway said he had never before encountered in those seas. Charles and Mr Paget frequently made their way on deck to witness the grand spectacle which the ocean presented. A close-reefed fore-topsail, and a storm-staysail were the only sails set; but even with these the masts bent as if they would go by the board, and every moment it seemed likely that the canvas would be carried out of the boltropes. Looking astern, they saw the huge waves following them, now one came rolling up, its foaming crest towering over the taffrail, while ahead appeared another, the summit of which could just be seen above the fore-topmast-crosstrees. In an instant, the ship, escaping from the watery mountain astern, rose to the crest of that before her, and thus she careered onwards, again sinking so low down, that, sheltered by the surrounding seas, the wind could not be felt on deck, though still heard whistling aloft. Directly afterwards it came with a force against which it seemed scarcely possible to withstand.

Frequently as the ship rolled, the ends of her yards flicked off the crest of the waves which rose up on either side. For several days the ship ran on, the gale in no way moderating. Emily and May longed to go on deck, to witness, with their brother and Mr Paget, the wild tumult of waters. They wisely entreated them not to make the attempt.

"No, no, young ladies," said Captain Westerway, "you had better stay where you are. We are doing our best as seamen, but we cannot tell from one moment to another what may happen. A mast may go, and one of those waves following astern might break on board, and sweep the decks, and you will be carried away like feathers without the possibility of saving you."

This reply made them very anxious whenever Charles and Mr Paget went on deck. One day they both had gone up as usual, promising to hold fast and not run any risk of the danger the Captain had pictured. Just as the ship had reached the crest of a sea a clap was heard like the sound of thunder. The fore-topsail had split. In an instant the larger portion was blown into ribbons, which, streaming out, flapped and twisted and curled themselves round the yard.

"Fore-topmen, aloft!" cried the captain, and, led by Bill Windy, several men mounted the rigging with axes in their belts. As the fragments of the sail beat wildly about, the men ran a fearful risk of being caught by them and hurled into the foaming sea. Bravely they faced the danger, and, cutting away the remainder of the sail, off it flew like a gigantic kite ahead of the ship. Now came the task of bending another sail.

Notwithstanding the difficulty, this was accomplished, the ship happily escaping being p.o.o.ped during the interval.

Several more days pa.s.sed by and still the gale gave no sign of abating.

How different was the aspect of the cabin now to what it had been during fine weather. The stern lights were closely shut in, the sky-light battened down and covered over, to prevent any sea which might come on board breaking through. A solitary lamp swung, both night and day, to and fro, casting a pale, flickering light around. Most of the pa.s.sengers kept in their cabins, seldom venturing out, even at the breakfast and dinner hour, at which time the table was partially covered with dishes, firmly secured by puddings and fiddles, as the captain told them the lines and sandbags fastened to it are called. Even Mrs Clagget's tongue was more silent than usual; sometimes, however, it could be heard amid the creaking of the bulk-heads, as she endeavoured to make Mr Jones listen to her complaints; but, though the notes of her voice were distinguishable, that much-enduring lady could but seldom catch the meaning of her words. "Terrible!" then the ship rolled and the bulk-heads creaked. "Deceitful!" and a blow on the quarter from the sea prevented the remainder of the sentence being heard. "Ought to have come another way,"--the increasing uproar drowned even her voice.

"Complain to authorities," showed that Mrs Clagget entertained strong doubts of the captain's seamanship. Now and then, when he made his appearance in the cabin, though he was but seldom off the deck, she attacked him vigorously. He, however, only smiled at her complaints, and a.s.sured her that, had he the management of the weather, he would have arranged smooth seas and steady breezes for her sake, and for that of the other fair ladies on board. "But you see, madam," he observed, "though the wind blows pretty strong, it is carrying us at a good rate on our course. In a few days we shall be at no great distance from the southern end of New Zealand; and, once under the lee of the land, we shall have, I hope, smooth water and a fair breeze to carry us into port."

The gale, however, continued longer than the captain expected; but he hoped soon to make the land which he had spoken of. This news raised the spirits of all, and many who, during the continuance of the hurricane, had shut themselves up in their cabins, now once more appeared on deck.

"Do you really tell me that the sea has greatly gone down?" said Emily, as she watched the still mountainous billows amid which the ship laboured.

"Oh, they are mere mole-hills to what they have been," answered Bill Windy, who was standing by. "The stout ship makes nothing of them.

See, we have our three topsails set again, and shall soon be shaking out the topgallant sails and letting fall the courses." The mate, however, was wrong in his prognostications. During the middle watch, while the second mate had charge of the deck, the wind suddenly chopped round.

The ship heeled to the fearful blast. In an instant her lee-yardarms were dipping in the foaming seas. Before he had time to issue any orders the main topgallant mast was carried away, dragging the fore-topmast, and with it the jibboom. Still the ship did not rise--she was on her beam-ends. Captain Westerway and Bill Windy were on deck in an instant. The watch below came hurrying up without being summoned.

Every one knew what had occurred.

"Cut away the mizen-mast, Windy," cried the captain.

The mate, with a gleaming axe in his hand, stood ready to obey the order. The shrouds were cut.

"Cut," cried the captain, and a few strokes sent the tall mast into the sea. The desired effect was not produced. The helm was put up, but the ship refused to obey it. The mate sprang to the mainmast. That, too, must go, or the ship might never rise from her dangerous position; but it was a fearful alternative; for, deprived of her masts, she might be driven at the mercy of the wind and waves, and cast helpless on some rocky sh.o.r.e of that bleak region, towards which, should the gale continue, she might be driven.

"Cut," again cried the captain. The mainmast fell into the seething water, the seamen hurrying with axes to sever the ropes which kept it still attached to the ship. With a sudden jerk the ship in another instant rose to an even keel; but so violent was the motion that the foremast, deprived of its accustomed support, went by the board, and the "Crusader" lay a helpless wreck on the wild waste of waters.

It is needless to describe the dismay and anxiety of those below, though only partly aware of the dangerous position to which the ship was reduced. Now, answering her helm, she flew before the gale. While the captain was issuing orders to clear the wreck, the carpenter appeared with a face of dismay. He had been sounding the well.

"Three feet of water in the hold, sir," he said. "It will be a hard job, with all the pumps going, to keep the leaks under."

Mr Paget heard the announcement. "I will get the emigrants to work them," he said, "and the cabin pa.s.sengers will, I feel confident, set the example."

"Rig the pumps at once, then, Mr Gimlett," said the captain. "When the gale moderates we will get up jury-masts, and do our best to save the ship. Tell the poor people not to be downhearted, Mr Paget, but to put their trust in Him who has carried us thus far on our voyage in safety."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

AN INVASION OF SEALS.

STORES LANDED--PARTY SENT TO KILL SEALS--A TENT RIGGED--WOODCUTTERS SET TO WORK--TIGER-SEALS--A MOB OF SEALS ATTACKED--PETER CHASED BY TIGER-SEAL--w.i.l.l.y RESCUES PETER FROM THE SEAL--HARRY MEDITATES ON HIS RESPONSIBILITIES--THE ENCAMPMENT AT NIGHT--A STORM THREATENS--RAIN COMES THROUGH THE HUTS--INVADED BY SEALS--SEALS DRIVEN OFF--A HURRICANE--BOATS IN DANGER--THE CUTTER HAULED UP--THE LAUNCH WRECKED--THE HUTS BLOWN DOWN.

As soon as the thirst of the long sea-tossed party was a.s.suaged, Harry called the officers and men round him.

"We have an abundance of work before us," he said. "We have but a scanty stock of provisions remaining, and must obtain more without delay. We have wood to cut for fuel, and we must get up the best shelter we can manage for the women and children before nightfall.

First, however, we must land our remaining stores, and secure them under cover. For these purposes we will form three parties."

Dr Davis volunteered at once to go in search of seals; several, it will be remembered, having been observed poking their snouts out of the water as they came up the harbour. He had hopes also of finding more on the islands or rocks within its circuit. Captain Twopenny offered to accompany him, and w.i.l.l.y and Peter Patch begged that they might go also.

Harry told them that they might take the cutter as soon as she was unloaded, with four of the men to pull. The boatswain and a large party took charge of the unloading of the boats and putting up the huts, while the remainder, armed with all the axes which could be mustered, were directed to cut down wood for fuel.

"And, please sir, what are we to do?" asked Mrs Rumbelow; "there are other hands here willing to work."

"I think the best thing you can do is to look after the children,"

answered Harry.

"Oh, sir, the ladies can do that; and they will pardon me for saying so.

I and several other women can manage to bring in the wood as the men cut it, or to carry up the stores from the water. No one among us wishes to be idle."