The White Squall Part 26

"You're a couple of brave fellows," cried Captain Miles when the two avengers climbed back in again on to the p.o.o.p bulwarks, after thus carrying the war into Egypt, routing the foes that had kept us so long prisoners, and prevented us from doing anything towards righting the ship. "Now, I think, we can make another attempt to find that axe of the carpenter's in the fo'c's'le, if you are not too tired, Jake, to go in after it again?"

"Bress you, no, Ma.s.s' Captain, me no tire' at all! Me get axe in brace ob shakes, if um dar," answered the willing fellow, laughing and showing his shining ivory teeth as he opened his mouth from ear to ear; and, almost as soon as he had uttered the words, he ran along the bulwarks towards the fore part of the ship, scrambled out into the main rigging, and dived into the sea immediately over the opening into the forecastle, at the same spot where he had previously gone down.

Once, twice, he came up to the surface again to take breath after a lengthened stay under the water; but, each time he rose with empty hands.

A third time he reappeared, still unsuccessful; and then we began to give up hope, although watching him all the while with the most intense anxiety.

None spoke a word, hardly daring to move.

Our interest in his actions was keen to intensity!

Our fate seemed trembling in the balance.

Once more he dived.

This was the fourth time he had ventured beneath the sea in his search for the coveted weapon, which was to free the ship from the c.u.mbersome masts and top-hamper that kept her down on her beam-ends.

Unless we got the axe we would never be able to right her again; and we all regarded this dive of Jake's as the last chance, although we did not exchange a syllable--our looks expressed our thoughts.

Jake now remained longer below than he had yet done, so we feared some mishap had befallen him; but, just as Jackson was preparing to dive down into the water that covered the forecastle, to see what had become of him, the plucky darkey popped up above the surface, holding something in one hand as he swam with the other towards the main rigging.

Our hearts beat high with expectation.

In another minute, Jake had mounted into the shrouds, when our suspense was quickly relieved; for, no sooner had he clambered near enough to the ship's side to get a support for his feet, than he raised himself erect.

"Golly, Ma.s.s' Cap'en," he sang out in feeble accents, being now pretty well exhausted with his repeated efforts, "I'se got him at last! I'se got him at last!"

At the same time, he lifted up whatever it was he held in his hand, and tried to wave it round his head in token of his victory.

It was Adze's axe.

"Hooray!" shouted Captain Miles at the extreme pitch of his voice, and the responsive cheer we raised in chorus might have been heard more than a mile away.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

RIGHTING THE SHIP.

"Now, men!" cried out Captain Miles, when our excitement had calmed down a little, "we've got the axe; but, the next thing we have to do is to use it, so as to release the ship as soon as we can. I think, my lads, I ought to have the first turn."

So saying, taking the axe from Jake, he made a slash at the end of the hawser which had been rigged up over the head of the foremast, when, the strands being cut through after a couple of heavy strokes, the rope parted, curling up like a whip and flying up in the air with a pretty sharp report.

"Now, Mr Marline, it's your turn," said the captain, having thus set an example in commencing the work; and then, the first mate, nothing loth, attacked the main-shrouds, severing them clear to the chain-plates, when he handed over the axe to Jackson, who also did wonders with the weapon towards clearing away the heavy rigging that had so long resisted the efforts of the men with their clasp-knives.

The sea by this time was quite calm, thus greatly facilitating our labour; but, from our not having had any food for two days, all hands were very weak, and it took them a much longer time to free the ship of all her rope hamper and cordage than they would have achieved the task in if they had possessed their proper strength. It was, therefore, quite late on in the afternoon when the rigging on the port side was all detached, although Jake had recovered the axe at noon, and we had set to work immediately afterwards.

This, however, was only a preliminary to the real labour that lay before us--that of cutting away the masts, a much more serious matter.

The ship, it must be recollected, was lying completely over on her starboard side, with all her spars extended horizontally flat along the surface of the sea, which washed up to the hatches; so that, even amidships, the water was too deep for the men to have stood on the deck, even if they could have found foothold; there. Away ahead, the bows were completely submerged right up to the fore-chains, the ocean swell washing right through the _Josephine_ fore and aft, right up to the p.o.o.p.

Luckily, however, the upper portion of the mainmast bitts projected out of the water, so, Jackson, climbing down on to these and supporting himself as well as he could by balancing his body with his feet extended outwards straddle-ways, commenced to slash away at the mast here; while the rest of the men, under Mr Marline's directions, proceeded to clear away the rigging and unreeve those ropes which they were able to reach, in order to leave the spar clear for Jackson to work upon it freely.

It was a terribly tough job, though, the young seaman having to waste a part of each blow in the water that covered the foot of the mast. This neutralised his efforts, but he could not help it, for the axe splashed in the sea before touching the wood.

After a short spell, Jackson, quite feeble from hunger and exhaustion, had to give in, when Moggridge took his place, chopping vigorously at the mast as long as he was able. Then, another sailor took a turn at it, and so on, until each had had his go; when Jackson, rested a bit and refreshed by a long drink of water, began anew, making the chips of the hard wood fly as well as the sea, which he splashed up at every stroke the spray going into his eyes and almost blinding him.

All the men worked with the greatest perseverance in spite of their weak state; and, just before sunset, when the mast was about half cut through, it gave signs of at length yielding, sundry sharp cracks being heard as its natural buoyancy forced it to rise, the different purchases that previously held it to the deck being also now severed.

"Bravo, men, one spell more all round, and we'll have the spar loose!"

cried Captain Miles, going down into the waist himself to head this last attack, and taking a longer turn with the axe than anyone.

Blow after blow was then rained upon the heel of the mast, all working with fresh courage and determination as the ponderous piece of timber gave way before their efforts, a wide gaping hole having been now made in it by the axe.

"Look out and stand clear!" shouted Jackson, catching on to the same old sling he had rove out of the topsail halliards by which he had lowered himself from the bulwarks, and swinging himself out of danger. "It's coming at last!"

At the same moment, a scrunching, wrenching sound was heard, followed by a long, loud crack; and then, up floated the mainmast cut off close to the deck, although still attached to the ship by the rigging on the starboard side--which could not be reached, of course, at present, being under water, and the sea covering it to the depth of ten or twelve feet.

The effect of this relief to the ship was at once apparent, the forward portion of the wreck sensibly rising out of the sea, and the top of the forecastle being now visible, as well as the whole of the port bulwarks up to the cat-head on that side; while the main-deck below us, and the upper portion of the p.o.o.p, became slanting at an angle towards the water on the starboard, instead of being almost perpendicular to it as before, thus showing that the centre of gravity was changed and the vessel recovering her stability.

"Bravo, men!" exclaimed Captain Miles joyously, delighted at such confirmatory proofs that his hopes of righting the _Josephine_ were not unduly sanguine. "As soon as we get the foremast clear she'll come up all standing, never fear! Can't you see how the poor thing is trying hard to free herself now?"

As the portion of the floating mast that was inboard now rose out of the water as far as the main-top, a party of the men with Moggridge scrambled on to it and began cutting away the various cross ropes, halliards, clew-lines, and so on, that held it to the fore and mizzen spars. The yards had now floated too, although the upper portion of the mainmast bearing their weight, as it slewed over, pressed on the starboard bulwarks, remaining in that position from the calmness of the sea, which had not motion enough to drift it away.

"If only a slight breeze would spring up now, so as to rouse a little more swell, we'd float clear of this wreck," observed Mr Marline.

"Half the weight of the mast still tends to keep the ship down to leeward."

"Ah, we don't want it rough yet," said the captain. "The foremast is the main thing to get rid of now; and, unless the sea keeps still, we'll never manage to cut that away, for it is still more under water than the mainmast was."

"I forgot that," replied the mate; and then, both went along the bulwarks forwards to where Jackson was beginning operations at the other spar.

If the mainmast had proved stubborn and unyielding, this was twenty times more so, the great difficulty being that there was no vantage- ground to be had, in the shape of a firm footing, from whence to ply the axe.

"It's no use, sir," said Jackson, when the captain had come abreast of the spot where he was standing, in the fore-rigging, trying vainly to reach the mast below. "I can't even touch the timber, much less make a blow at it!"

"Well, all that can be done," replied Captain Miles, "is to lighten it as much as possible. Cut away what rigging you are able to lay hands on, and if the sea gets up in the night it may work free."

"All right, sir," said Jackson; so, he and the gang with him went to work with a will, slashing here and there at the cordage connecting the mast with the port side of the ship.

Meanwhile, Jake had been very busy, proving himself quite as useful as the rest.

Swimming like a fish he had gone into the sea near the wreck of the mainmast; and, with that long knife of his, which had done so much damage to the sharks, he began cutting away the fastenings of the topgallant-yard, although leaving the lee-braces intact, so that the spar could be hauled in by and by.

Moggridge was on the mast, too, and, with his gang of men, was operating on the tressel-trees to free the lower yard; so that, before it was dark, the whole stick of the mainmast was nearly clear. Only the shrouds and stays on the starboard side now held it to the hull; and, consequently, when it felt inclined to shift its position athwart ship it could easily do so.

Jackson, and those with him forward, having now done as much as they could to cast-off the foremast gear, Captain Miles hailed them to come aft.

"I think," said he, "if we can only contrive to cut away the mizzen, and a breeze springs up, as there seems every prospect of from these clouds to windward, then, through the greater buoyancy now possessed by the ship amidships and astern, the foremast will go of its own accord. At all events, we can try it; for, as you say, there isn't any chance of our getting rid of it by any unaided efforts of our own."