Under the Meteor Flag Part 40

No sooner said than done. The poor fellows were glad of something to employ their minds and fingers upon, and went to work with avidity to carry out the suggestion.

By sunset an ordinary three-inch nail had been hammered and bent and sc.r.a.ped down to a very respectable subst.i.tute for a hook; while the other three seamen had each contrived to spin up about five fathoms of good strong line. Neither hook nor line, however, was ever used.

The breeze again freshened during the night, driving the raft along about two knots in the hour; and again uprose the sun in a cloudless sky.

We divided another of the dead fowls between us, but on this morning there was none of the cheerful chat which had accompanied the previous meal. The repulsive food was devoured in silence, due probably in part to the absence of any hopeful topic of conversation, and also, doubtless, to a great extent in consequence of the dry, sore, swollen sensation in the men's throats. For my own part my throat was in such a state that it was with the utmost difficulty I succeeded in swallowing my own allowance.

Hawsepipe, the doctor, and I struck up as lively a conversation as we could, touching the probability of our soon being picked up, and I embraced the opportunity of mentioning casually that in consequence of the great amount of easting in the wind I feared we should not reach land quite as soon as I had at first antic.i.p.ated. I was almost sorry immediately afterwards that I had mentioned it, when I saw the despairing look which came into the faces of my fellow-sufferers, and the yearning glances upward at the pitiless sky, which showed not the faintest fleece of cloud--not the remotest promise of a single drop of pure, fresh water wherewith to moisten our parched and baked tongues and throats. The thirst-agony now began to paint its effects upon us more and more palpably every hour; our lips being dry, black, and gashed with deep cracks; while our tongues were dry and swollen until they seemed too large for our mouths. The skin upon the faces of my companions was burnt, parched, and shrivelled by the sun, seamed in every direction by cracks, and peeling off in many places; while their eyes glowed and sparkled like coals of fire with the fierce fever which consumed them.

The sharks which had stuck to us with such frightful and ominous pertinacity had their number augmented this day by the arrival of three new-comers.

"Six of 'em," muttered the seaman who was steering the raft when the three new arrivals appeared; "that means as six out of us seven is doomed."

Another endless day of indescribable agony--another long night of torment; and again up rose the sun in a pitiless, cloudless sky.

Oh! how fervently I longed and prayed for an overcast sky and a pelting rain, even though it were accompanied by the wildest hurricane which ever blew; the worst that could happen to us in such a case would be drowning, the prospect of which seemed to be bliss itself compared with this slow fiery torment of thirst.

On this day Tom Miles and Ned Rodgers, two of the four seamen, suddenly sprang to their feet, and with a despairing yell plunged over the side of the raft into the sea before we were aware of or could arrest their terrible intention. There was a frightful splashing in the water astern, as the sea-monsters fought over their prey; then all was quiet again. _Two of the sharks had disappeared_.

My companions regarded this terrible tragedy almost with indifference, and the doctor, in a weak and cracked voice which was scarcely audible, muttered something to the effect that "those _two_ were happily out of their suffering." Before sunset the poor fellow had followed them, and _another shark had disappeared_.

Some time during the night I was awakened by Hawsepipe, whose trick at the helm it was. He aroused me by giving me a feeble shake on the shoulder, and, being by this time unable to speak, raised his hand and pointed skyward. I looked up and saw that the firmament was obscured by heavy ma.s.ses of cloud, which held out the promise of a speedy fall of thrice-blessed rain. I scrambled to my feet and hastened to arouse the two seamen, in order that we might take immediate measures to secure as much as possible of the priceless liquid. One of the poor fellows was in such a weak and exhausted condition that he was unable to rise; the other contrived to do so with the utmost difficulty, and we lowered down the sail, mast and all, so as to form with the canvas a receptacle for the expected blessing.

At length it came in a sudden squall of wind, with a few flashes of lightning, and for two or three minutes it poured down almost as heavily as it did on that night--oh! how many ages ago it seemed now--when the "Juanita" was destroyed. We gathered round the sail and drank greedily, recklessly, of the heaven-sent nectar; filled our hats and boots--our only receptacles--with it, and then drank and drank again as long as a drop remained in the sail. And oh! how we grudged the precious drops which poured in a stream through the thin canvas!

To describe the reviving effect which this delicious draught had upon our exhausted frames is impossible; our strength and our voices returned to us like magic, our spirits revived, and we felt like new creatures.

We re-hoisted the mast and sail into its place with comparative ease, and then, with one accord, knelt down and offered our sincere and heart- felt thanks for the mercy which had been shown us in our extremity; while the raft swept cheerily away before the rising blast at almost double her usual speed.

On the following day we were again favoured with an example of the ease with which the Almighty can supply the wants of His creatures, even in such a situation as ours; for during the forenoon a shoal of flying-fish rose out of the water alongside, and pa.s.sed directly over the raft, nearly a score being intercepted in their flight by our sail, and caught before they were able to flop off into the water again. I thought that any attempt to preserve them would be sure to end in failure by their quickly becoming unfit for human food, and therefore proposed that they should be at once eaten, which proposition, I need scarcely say, met with the cordial approval of my companions, and was immediately carried out. We took with them the remainder of the water which we had caught and preserved in our hats and boots, but found, to our consternation, that a great deal of it had leaked away, and the little that remained had become strongly brackish from the quant.i.ty of spray which had flown over us and mingled with it since the freshening of the breeze.

The wind remained fresh all that day and rose still higher during the following night, so that our speed gradually increased from a knot and a half to nearly four knots. The sea rose also in proportion, and this caused the raft to work to such an extent that I began to entertain serious fears as to whether it would hold together much longer. Most of the lashings had worked quite loose; but there were now only three of us, and our united strength was wholly inadequate to the tightening of them until the sea should go down.

Another night pa.s.sed, another day, and no more rain had fallen; and then our sufferings returned--as it seemed to us--with tenfold intensity.

Our strength went from us like water from a sieve; and when night once more closed down upon our tortured frames we abandoned ourselves, with one accord, to despair; the helm was left to itself, and the raft was allowed to steer herself as best she might. We sank down upon the hatches which formed our deck, and sought to evade in our slumbers some small portion of our horrible torments. As far as I was concerned, however, the effort was in vain; for the moment that sleep stole upon my exhausted frame visions of lakes and springs, murmuring brooks and sparkling fountains of cool, delicious, fresh water arose before me, and I suffered all the agonies of the mythical Tantalus.

At length I could endure the torment of dreaming no more, and started to my feet, went to the helm, and got the raft once more before the wind.

I had scarcely done so and turned my glances astern for a moment, when, "A sail! A sail!!" I screamed.

My two companions started to their feet and hurried to my side, eagerly questioning me as to her whereabouts. I pointed her out to them. There she was, about three miles directly astern, clearly visible in the light of the young moon, which gleamed faintly upon her canvas; but--oh, misery--she was close-hauled upon the starboard tack, dead to windward, _and sailing away from us_. We shouted until not another sound would our parched throats utter, but it was all of course of no avail; and we were far too low in the water to attract the attention of even the sharpest lookout in that feeble light; the ship swept steadily on and at length pa.s.sed out of sight below the horizon.

Then, as we sank down again in utter abandonment, how bitterly we reproached ourselves and each other for not maintaining a lookout! Had we done so, we should a.s.suredly have made her out while still to windward of her, and could have lowered our sail until she had approached near enough to enable us to run down upon her. However, it was too late now to remind each other of that; the mischief was done; and the only thing that remained was to take care that there should be no recurrence of it.

But I will dwell no longer upon the details of those endless days and interminable nights of indescribable torture. Suffice it to say that I endured two more days and nights of suffering, during which I was only dimly cognisant of my surroundings; all my faculties were engaged in the task of wrestling with and a.s.sisting my tortured frame to bear up against the terrible anguish which consumed me; at the end of that time exhausted nature could bear no more, and relief at length came with unconsciousness.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

FAREWELL.

When at length I recovered my senses, I found myself in bed, in a small, light, airy room lighted by a couple of windows, the jalousies of which were so adjusted as to admit all the air possible, while at the same time the direct rays of the sun were excluded. The bed upon which I was lying was a tolerably roomy affair for one person, and the linen, though somewhat plain in quality, was fresh and scrupulously clean. The only other furniture in the room was a small table, well-stocked with medicine-phials, etcetera, and a couple of chairs, upon one of which-- the one which stood next the head of the bed--sat a man in a white flannel sh.e.l.l-jacket and blue military trousers with a stripe of yellow braid down the seams.

The room in which I found myself was evidently, from the size and position of the windows--one in the wall at the foot of the bed, and the other in the wall on my left--a corner room in some tolerably extensive building. Looking out between the lattices of the jalousies, which were adjusted in such a way that I was able to see distinctly the various objects outside, I perceived that the building was situated in the midst of a park or grove of magnificent cotton, kennip, and other trees, the branches of which were swaying and the leaves rustling cheerily in the strong sea-breeze which rushed through them. The sunlight flashed brilliantly upon the swaying foliage, and gleamed upon the plumage of the bright-winged birds and gaudy b.u.t.terflies which flitted restlessly from tree to tree; while the long, luxuriant gra.s.s in the distance-- where I could see it--bowed and undulated beneath the strong breeze like a billowy sea; the background of clear, pure, blue sky beyond completing a picture, the joyous freshness of which seemed almost heavenly to me in my extreme weakness. The air, too, was full of the chirping of millions of insects and lizards, the lowing of distant cattle, the bleat of sheep, the rifle-like crack of waggon-drivers' whips, the voices and laughter of men close beneath my window, and a mult.i.tude of other joyous sounds.

I lay for a long time drinking in with silent ecstasy these glorious sights and sounds which fell so soothingly upon my senses, quite forgetful of self and my past suffering, and utterly indifferent to everything but the sensuous pleasure of the moment. Indeed my poor head felt so light and weak that I seemed almost incapable of the exertion of thought.

At length I turned my head toward the man in the chair by my bedside.

He had a book in his hand, and his body was turned somewhat from me in order that the light might fall more fully upon the pages.

"Where am I?" I murmured.

The man turned quickly, and rising laid his book upon the chair, face downward, while he bent over me.

"How do you find yourself now, sir?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied, scarcely realising the meaning of my own words. "Is there anything the matter?"

"You've been very ill, sir, for a long time; but you seem a great deal better this morning. If you'll excuse me for a minute, sir, I'll send for the doctor."

The man quietly left the room, was absent for a minute or two, and then as quietly returned.

"Where am I?" I again inquired.

"You're in the military hospital at Up-park camp, sir," he replied.

"But if you'll excuse me, I think you'd better not talk much just yet; the doctor will be here directly, and he'll tell you all you want to know."

Some twenty minutes elapsed, and then the door once more opened, admitting a rather tall handsome man dressed entirely in white nankeen, with white canvas shoes on his feet.

He came up to the side of the bed, and, before saying a word, put his cool fingers upon my pulse. He then laid his hand upon my forehead for a minute or two and upon the top of my head.

"Well, Mr Chester," said he, "how do you feel? You are very much better this morning, are you not?"

"I really don't know," I answered. "I don't feel as though there is much the matter with me beyond weakness; my hands seem as though they were chained down to the bed, and I have very little feeling in my limbs; but beyond that I don't think there is very much wrong. I suppose I have been ill, though. What has been the matter with me?"

"Oh! quite a complication of disorders," he returned lightly; "brain- fever among other things. Have you no recollection of falling ill?"

"None whatever," I said. "Stay, though--was it not something to do with a thunder-storm and--um--_what_ was it?"

"There, there; never mind now; it is all over and done with. Don't try to recall the circ.u.mstances just now; your brain is still too weak to be much exercised; it will all come back in good time, never fear. Do you feel at all sleepy?"

"Not so much sleepy as hungry," I replied. "I feel as though I had not yet had my breakfast."

"Neither have you," he returned with a laugh. "The fact is you were not awake at breakfast-time, and Atkins here had strict orders not to disturb you. However, it is not yet too late; I daresay we shall be able to find something for you. I will see to it myself; and when you have taken your breakfast, just try to get to sleep again. Sleep will now do you as much good as either food or medicine."

He then retired to the far end of the room, Atkins accompanying him; and after whispering to his subordinate for a minute, he turned, nodded encouragingly to me, and retired.

When he was gone I endeavoured to get a little information out of Atkins, the attendant, but he briefly informed me that his orders not to talk to me were imperative, and begged that I would not ask him to transgress them.

In a short time a basin of some kind of light broth, with a little bread crumbled into it, made its appearance, the whole of which I demolished, and soon afterwards fell into a sound sleep.