Under the Waves: Diving in Deep Waters Part 13

All having been prepared, our engineer descended with the necessary tools, and, to make a long story short, riveted a new plate over the old one in such a way as effectually to close the leak, so that thereafter it gave no further trouble or anxiety.

But for this the vessel would certainly have been lost, unless they had succeeded in beaching her before the final catastrophe, on some part of the neighbouring coast; in which case they would have run the chance of being taken by the pirates who at that time infested the China seas.

Delivered from this threatened danger, the good ship sped merrily on her course; most of the crystallised groups grew closer together--in some instances, however, they burst asunder! Musical tendencies also developed, though in some cases the sublime gave place to the ridiculous, and music actually, once or twice, became a nuisance. As the end of the voyage drew near, the hearty captain grew heartier, the bosom-friends drew closer; the shy pa.s.sengers opened up; the congenial pa.s.sengers began to grieve over the thought of parting; charades were acted; concerts were given: the mean-spirited pa.s.senger became a little less vile; the fore-cabin pa.s.senger from Edinburgh observed to her friend that the "goin's on a'boord were wonderfu';" to which the fore-cabin pa.s.senger from London replied that "they certainly was;"

flying-fish and porpoises, and sharks and albatrosses, and tropical heat, ceased to furnish topics of interest, and men and women were thrown back on their mental resources, which were, among other things, largely wid pleasantly--sometimes even hotly!--exercised on religious discussion. In short the little community, thus temporarily thrown together, became an epitome of human life. As calm and storm alternated outside the iron palace, so, inside, there was mingled joy and sorrow.

Friendships were formed and cemented. Love and folly, and hate and pride, and all the pa.s.sions, were represented--ay, and Death was also there.

In the silent night, when nothing was heard save that ceaseless music of the screw, the destroying angel came--so silently that only a few were aware of his dread presence--and took away the youth whose sole occupation seemed to have been the watching of the ever-increasing distance from that home which he was destined never again to see. It was inexpressibly sad to those left behind when his coffin was committed to the deep amid the solemn silence that once again ensued on the stoppage of the engines, while the low voice of a pastor prayed for those who wept his departure; but it was not sad for him who had been taken--he had reached the "better home," and, sitting by the side of Jesus, could doubtless afford to think, at last without longing, of the old home beyond the sea.

CHAPTER TEN.

ANXIETIES; DISASTERS; HOPES.

Standing in his accustomed place on the iron floor of the iron chamber, Edgar Berrington watched the grinding of the great crank, and pondered.

He had now been many weeks at sea, and had not once spoken a word to Aileen--had not even seen her more than half-a-dozen times in the far vista of the quarter-deck. Each Sabbath-day, indeed, dressed like his former self, he had worshipped with her in the same saloon, but on these occasions he had kept carefully in the background, had crept quietly down after the others had a.s.sembled, had kept in the shadow of the door, and had left before the worshippers had time to rise.

An event, however, was now pending, which was destined to remove his present difficulties in a very unexpected manner, and to saddle on the shoulders of Charles Hazlit, Esquire, difficulties which he had never in all his previous business calculations taken into account.

During most part of the voyage out to China Mr Hazlit's visage had presented a sea-green aspect, edged with yellow. The great Demon of the sea had seized upon and held him with unwonted avidity and perseverance.

It appeared to regard him as fair game--as one whose life had been largely devoted to ploughing up its peculiar domain--or rather, inducing others to plough there--and who was therefore worthy of special attention. At all events, the wealthy merchant did not appear above-board until the lapse of two weeks after leaving his native land.

At the end of that period something like the ghost of him crawled on deck one rather fine day, but a demoniac squall rudely sent him below, where he remained until those charming regions of the Equatorial calms were entered. Here a bad likeness--a sort of spoiled photograph--of him again made its appearance, and lay down helplessly on a mattress, or smiled with pathetic sarcasm when food was offered. But soon the calm regions were pa.s.sed; the Cape of Storms was doubled, and the fierce "south-easters" of the Indian seas were encountered, during which period Mr Hazlit pa.s.sed away, as one of the things that _had_ been, from the memory of all on board, with the exception of Aileen, the captain, the bed-room steward, and a Christian pastor, who, with his amiable wife, had done much during the voyage for their fellow-pa.s.sengers.

At last, when the sh.o.r.es of China were approached, and people began to talk earnestly about the end of the voyage, Mr Hazlit's shade once more made its appearance, with a spot of dark red on each cheek and on the point of his nose. These spots were hopefully regarded as signs of returning health. They did not appear too soon, for the shade would infallibly have vanished altogether if it had been subjected to further attenuation.

"Oh, papa dear, you look so _much_ better to-day!" said Aileen, arranging his shawls as he lay on deck--"quite rosy."

If she had said port-winy it would have been more in accordance with truth, but Aileen was rather apt to diverge from truth, unintentionally, in speaking of her father.

"I am thankful, dear," replied the shade in a faint voice, and with a fainter smile. "The captain says we shall be in port in a few days, and then we shall be all right, and--"

"Ha! Shall you?" exclaimed the Demon of the sea, giving the ship a little lurch to starboard, which cut short the merchant's remarks abruptly; "you think so, do you? Ho! We shall see!"

Following up this inaudible speech with one of those audible howls for which demons are so justly celebrated, he went off in a gust of wind, and summoned to his aid one of those simooms, or monsoons, or typhoons which are in the habit of ravaging the southern seas.

These spirits, quickly obeying the summons, sent not only Mr Hazlit but many of the other pa.s.sengers to their berths, blew into ribbons the few sails that chanced to be hoisted, boiled up the sea as if in a huge caldron, caused the blackened sky to mingle with the world of waters, rent the firmament with gleaming fire and crashing thunder, and hissed or yelled everywhere in the spirit of wildest revelry.

The _Warrior_ was a splendid steamer, and her commander an able seaman, but neither splendour of material nor power of mind can avert what is decreed.

The storm was prolonged, and raged with unwonted fury, the captain did his best, the good ship behaved n.o.bly, and things went well until the night of the third day. It was at that time so very dark that nothing could be seen farther off than a few yards beyond the bulwarks, where the white-crested waves loomed high in air in a sort of ghostly fashion as if they meant to fall on the deck unawares and sink the ship.

The pa.s.sengers had by degrees got used to the mad plunging and rolling of their iron home, and even the timid among them began to feel hopeful that after all the gale would be weathered, and the harbour gained.

What the captain thought no one could tell. He remained on the bridge night and day, clad from head to foot in oil-skin garments, facing the furious blast as if it were his native air, watching every motion of his vessel, and gazing intently into the world of ebony ahead as if trying to read his fate there.

The darkness around was almost palpable. Sometimes it seemed as if the vessel were rushing against a mighty rock, that towered high above the masts, but this was only optical illusion, or, perhaps, a denser storm-cloud than usual pa.s.sing by, for the steamer continued to plough her onward way unchecked, save, now and then, by the bursting on her bows of a monster billow, which caused her to quiver from stem to stern, and swept the decks with green seas fore and aft. One such sea had carried away part of the bulwarks, and swept overboard all the loose material on the decks. Presently, there was a slight diminution in the force of the seas. The captain noted this, and gave orders to get the lead ready to heave.

Deep in the iron chambers below, Edgar Berrington stood--not in his wonted dreamy mood, beside the great crank, but close to the steering-wheel of the engine,--alert, steady, with his hand on the wheel, his eye on the index.

Suddenly the order came, "Half-speed,"--then abruptly followed, "Stop."

These orders were obeyed instantly.

The lead was hove--the result, "no bottom at thirty fathoms."

Again Edgar was signalled--"Half-speed," then--as the captain looked into the darkness ahead, and saw, or thought he saw, it deepen horribly--came the sharp order, "Astern, full-speed!"

Full well did Edgar know that this implied imminent danger. Quick as lightning he reversed the engines.

Next moment there was an appalling crash that overturned everything in the vessel. Our hero was himself wrenched from his position, and hurled against the bulkhead of the boiler-room; the masts went over the sides as if they had been pipe-stems, and the wire-ropes snapt like pack-thread. A moment of appalling silence followed, as if the very elements had suspended their strife, then there came shriek and cry from fore and aft as the pa.s.sengers rushed frantically about, while above all yelled the escaping steam when Edgar opened the safety-valves.

The spot where they had struck was partially protected by cliffs, that rose like a wall in front. These cliffs turned off the direct force of the gale, but the general turmoil of the sea raised a surf around them which rendered the prospect of effecting a landing a very poor one, even if the vessel should hold together for any length of time. They had not struck on the sh.o.r.e of the mainland, but on a solitary islet or rock, not far from the coast, which rose abruptly out of deep water. Hence the silence of "the lead" as to its presence.

It were vain to attempt a description of the confusion that followed.

The few cool and collected men in the ship were powerless at first, but gradually they succeeded in restoring some degree of order. Then the captain explained that being hard and fast on the rocks they could not sink, and that the vessel being strong was likely to hold together, perhaps, for several hours.

"We're _not_ hard and fast, captain," said the semi-nautical pa.s.senger in an undertone, as he stood by the after-hatch, where most of the cabin pa.s.sengers were a.s.sembled.

He referred to a swinging motion of the wreck, which, however, was so very slight as to be almost imperceptible.

"I know that," replied the captain, also in an undertone, but somewhat sternly, "we _may_ slip back into deep water, but we're hard and fast _just now_, and I shall do my best to keep her so. Don't you go, sir, and raise needless alarm in the minds of the pa.s.sengers. See," he added aloud, pointing towards the east, "day is already breaking; we shall soon have light enough to commence landing. Go below, ladies, and get your bonnet-boxes packed."

The captain's mind was far enough from jesting at that moment, but he knew that a quiet joke, possessing a modic.u.m of truth in it, would do more to calm the fears of the timid than solemn advice or reasoning. He was right. Many went to their cabins to look after their most precious treasures, while the officers and men commenced active preparations for escaping to the islet, whose towering cliffs now began to loom heavily through the driving mist and foam.

From the first it was evident that only one mode of escape offered, namely, by means of a rope to the sh.o.r.e, and a running tackle. This material was easily procured and arranged, but the connecting of the rope with the sh.o.r.e was another question. As daylight increased, the island was recognised as a mere uninhabited rock, from which, therefore, no a.s.sistance could be expected, and the terrible turmoil of waters that leaped and seethed between the wreck and the cliffs, seemed to all on board, including the captain himself, to be impa.s.sable.

At last it became necessary to make an effort, for it was soon discovered that the vessel hung on the edge of a ledge, outside of which the water deepened suddenly to twenty fathoms, and a slip back into that would have been equivalent to certain and immediate death to all on board.

"My lads," said the captain to the crew, most of whom were a.s.sembled with the pa.s.sengers near the port bow, where the preparations for escaping were going on, "we must have a man to go ash.o.r.e with that line.

I cannot swim myself, else I would not ask for a volunteer. Come; who has got the heart to do a gallant deed, and save these women and children?"

He turned as he spoke, and glanced at the female pa.s.sengers and children, who crowded under the lee of the cook-house, wet, dishevelled, and terrified, Aileen and her musical friend being among them.

There was no response at first. The men turned with doubtful looks at the furious sea, in the midst of whose white surges black forbidding rocks seemed to rise and disappear, and the surface of which had by that time become much c.u.mbered with portions of wreckage.

"If I could only swim," growled the boatswain, "I'd try, but I can't float no more than a stone."

Others, who looked stout and bold enough to make the venture, seemed to think it might be better to stick to the ship until the sea should go down. Indeed one of them said as much, but the captain interrupted him, and was about to make another appeal, when there was a movement in the crowd, and one of the sub-engineers pushed towards him with the information that a volunteer was ready, and would appear immediately.

"Who is it?" asked the captain.

"Mr Berrington, sir; he's getting ready."

"The chief engineer!" exclaimed the captain. "Good; if there's a man in the ship can do it, he is the man."

Aileen, standing somewhat back in the crowd, thought she had caught a familiar sound!