The _Mermaid_ carried the south-east trade winds until she was well
south of the parallel of Rio de Janeiro; and then she ran into the
Doldrums; these being belts of calm, broken into at intervals by light
baffling airs from various directions, with occasional violent squalls,
or terrific thunderstorms, just to vary the monotony. These belts of
exasperating weather are to be met with to the north of the north-east
and the south of the south-east trade winds, interposed between the
trade winds and those outer regions where a steady breeze of some sort
may usually be reckoned upon.
And here the unfortunate crew of the brig encountered their full share--
and a little over, some of them said--of the annoyances that usually
accompany a passage across these belts; their first experience being a
calm that lasted five days on end without a break, save for the
occasional cat's-paw that came stealing from time to time over the
glassy surface of the ocean, tinging it here and there with transient
patches of delicate evanescent blue. And as these cat's-paws were all
that they could rely upon to help them across the calm belt, it was
necessary to maintain a constant watch for them, and to trim round the
yards in such a manner as to make the most of them during their brief
existence. This constant "box-hauling" of the yards was no trifling
matter, accomplished as it had to be under the fierce rays of a blazing
sun; and as it often happened that after laboriously trimming the yards
and sheets to woo a wandering zephyr, it either expired before reaching
the brig, or capriciously turned in another direction, passing her by
without causing so much as a single flap of her canvas, it is not to be
wondered at that the grumbling among all hands was both loud and deep.
At length, however, with the dawn of their sixth day of these vexatious
experiences, there appeared to be a prospect of something more helpful
than mere cat's-paws coming their way; for although the calm still
continued, the morning broke with a dark, lowering, and threatening sky
through which the rays of the sun were unable to pierce. This last was
in itself a relief to everybody; for although the heat was still so
oppressive that the slightest exertion threw one into a profuse
perspiration, the stinging bite of the sun was no longer to be reckoned
with. Furthermore, the eyes of those on board the brig, weary of
continually gazing upon a bare horizon since the day upon which the
friendly whaler had vanished from their view, were now gladdened by the
sight of another craft, a small barque, that had drifted above the
southern horizon during the night, and now lay some five miles away from
them.
As the morning wore on towards noon the aspect of the sky steadily,
though by insensible degrees, assumed a more threatening character, the
huge masses of cloud that overspread the entire dome of the visible sky
darkening in tint to such an extent that the scene became enwrapped in a
murky kind of twilight. That wind, and plenty of it, was brewing,
seemed evident from the fact that the clouds, although not drifting
across the sky, were working visibly, writhing and twisting into the
most extraordinary and fantastic shapes, as though influenced by some
powerful impulse within themselves. One of the most frequent of these
manifestations was the sudden darting forth of long sharp quivering
tongues from the bodies of the blackest and most lowering of the clouds.
With the appearance of the first of these Leslie knew what to expect,
for he had beheld the same phenomenon more than once before, and quite
understood what it portended. So he turned to Miss Trevor, who was on
deck interestedly watching the subtle changes in the aspect of the sky,
and said to her--
"Have you ever seen a waterspout, Miss Trevor? No? Then the chances
are that you will see several before you are many hours older. Have you
noticed those long, black, quivering tongues that dart out and in from
the bodies of the darkest clouds? Well, those are the forerunners of
waterspouts. See, there is one now. Do you mark how it seems to be
striving to reach down to the surface of the sea? Ah! it has shrunk
back again. But sooner or later, unless I am greatly mistaken, one of
those tongues will reach down, and down, until it begins to suck up a
column of water from the ocean; and there you will have a full-grown
waterspout."
He gazed round the sky intently; then went to the skylight and as
intently studied the barometer--or "glass" as sailors very commonly call
the instrument. The mercury in it had fallen somewhat since he had last
looked at it, though not sufficiently to cause alarm. Nevertheless,
short-handed as the brig was--such small craft are usually sent to sea
with at least two hands too few in the forecastle--he deemed it best to
err on the right side, if err he must; so as it was by this time noon he
ordered eight bells to be struck; and when the watch had come on deck he
set them to work to clew up, haul down, and stow everything save the two
topsails and the fore-topmast staysail; after which he ordered them to
go to dinner.
Dinner in the cabin was served at the same time as in the forecastle on
board the _Mermaid_; when Leslie and Miss Trevor, therefore, went below,
the deck was left in charge of one man only, namely the carpenter.
This, however, did not particularly matter, since the brig was well
snugged down, while Chips might be trusted to keep a sharp look-out and
give timely warning of the approach of anything of an alarming nature.
Nothing, however, occurred; and Leslie and his companion were allowed to
finish their meal undisturbed.
It was now Leslie's watch below, and in the ordinary course of events he
would have retired to his cabin for the purpose of securing an hour or
two of rest. But, with such a lowering and portentous sky as that
overhead, he scarcely felt justified in entrusting the carpenter with
the sole responsibility and care of the brig for so long a time; and he
accordingly accompanied Miss Trevor on deck again.
They found the aspect of the sky more gloomy than ever; the clouds had
formed themselves into heavier masses, and donned a deeper tinge of
black than they had worn during the forenoon, and they were displaying a
still greater degree of activity. Tongues of cloud were still darting
out and back again, but they seemed no nearer to the formation of
waterspouts than during the morning; and Leslie began to think that,
perhaps, for once in a way he was going to prove a false prophet.
Meanwhile, although during the whole of the morning and up to that
moment, there had not been the faintest breath of wind, the two craft--
the barque and the brig--had closed on each other to within a distance
of some three miles, in the mysterious manner characteristic of craft
becalmed within sight of each other. The barque, Leslie noticed, had
followed his own example, and stripped to precisely the same canvas as
that exposed by the brig.
The conditions were not conducive to animated conversation; and judging
from Miss Trevor's brief replies to his remarks, that she would prefer
to be left to her own thoughts for awhile, he presently left her leaning
over the rail gazing at the barque--which the swing of the brig had now
brought abeam--and seating himself upon the short bench alongside the
companion, proceeded to fill a pipe. He was lighting it with an
ordinary match, the unshielded flame of which burned as steadily as
though he had been in a hermetically scaled room, when Miss Trevor
suddenly cried out--
"Oh, look, Mr Leslie, look! Surely there is one of your waterspouts at
last!"
Leslie sprang to her side and looked in the direction toward which she
pointed, where, at a distance of some eight miles away, he beheld a
fully formed waterspout moving very slowly and majestically in a
southerly direction.
"Yes," he agreed, "that is a real, genuine waterspout, and no mistake.
But it is too far off for you to see it to advantage. Did you actually
behold it come into existence?"
"No," she answered; "I was watching the ship yonder, and only caught
sight of it accidentally, after it had become fully formed. I should
really like to witness the genesis of a waterspout."
"Then keep your eye on that cloud," he recommended her, pointing to an
especially black and heavy one that hung a few degrees from the zenith
and apparently about half a mile astern of the barque. "If I am not
greatly mistaken it is about to develop a very fine specimen in a few
minutes. Do you note that black tongue that is slowly stretching down
from it? Although it lengthens and shortens you will observe that it
does not shrink back altogether into the cloud; on the contrary, every
time that it lengthens it becomes perceptibly longer than it was before;
and observe how steadily its root--where it joins the cloud--is
swelling. Now watch, see how it continually stretches down, further and
further towards the water. Ah, and do you see that little mound forming
in the sea immediately beneath it? See how the water heaps itself up,
as though striving to reach up and join the down-stretching tongue of
cloud. Ah! there the two unite and you have the perfect waterspout.
And a very noble example of its kind it is. They will be having a
splendid view of it from yonder barque, for, see, it is moving in her
direction, and is about to pass close to her, rather too close to be
altogether pleasant, unless my eyes deceive me!"
He sprang to the companion, and seizing the telescope, applied it to his
eye.
"Why," he exclaimed excitedly, after a moment or two, with his eye still
glued to the instrument, "what are they about aboard that barque? Why
don't they fire at the thing and break it? It will be upon them in
another moment, to a dead certainty, unless it changes its course! No--
yes--yes, it is going to hit her! Heavens! look at that!"
And as he stood there gazing he saw that vast column of water sweep
steadily down upon and over the barque, completely hiding her from view
for a moment. Then it suddenly wavered in the middle and broke,
collapsing with a tremendous splash and commotion of the sea, the sound
of which came drifting down to the brig with startling distinctness some
ten or twelve seconds later. And there, in the very midst of the
tumbling circle of foaming whiteness left by the vanished waterspout
there floated the barque, no longer trim and all ataunto as she had
shown a few seconds before, but a dismasted, mangled wreck, with
bulwarks gone, boats swept from her davits, all three masts snapped
short off at the level of the deck and lying alongside with all
attached, a mere tangled mass of wreckage still fast to the hull by the
standing and running rigging.
Leslie stamped his foot upon the deck in sympathetic vexation at the
ruin thus wrought in a moment, and again applied his eye to the
telescope. The carpenter, whose watch on deck it now was, stood beside
him, eagerly impatient to discuss with him the details of the
catastrophe that they had just witnessed; while the watch, forward,
leaned over the bows alternately muttering to each other their opinions,
and glancing round in apprehension lest a waterspout should steal upon
the brig unawares and treat them as the crew of the barque had been
treated.
It was this same crew--or rather the entire absence of any sign of
them--that was now disturbing Leslie.
"I can see nothing of them," he muttered impatiently, searching the
wreck with the lenses of his telescope. "Here, Chips, take a squint,
man," he continued, thrusting the instrument into the eager hands of the
carpenter. "His decks are as bare as the back of my hand; there is not
enough bulwark left standing to make a matchbox out of--nothing but the
stumps of a few staunchions here and there. I can see the coamings of
the hatches rising above the level of the planking; I can see the
windlass; I can just make out the short stumps of the three masts, and I
can find where the poop skylight stood; but hang me if I can see
anything _living_ aboard her!"
The carpenter in turn applied his eye to the telescope, and gazed
through it long and anxiously.
"No, sir," he agreed at length, "what you says is perfekly true; there
ain't nobody a-movin' about on that there vessel's decks. Question is,
what's become of 'em? Be they down below? Or have they been swep'
overboard? Stan's to reason that when they found theirselves onable to
steer clear o' that there spout they'd go below and shut theirselves up
as best they could, knowin' as nothin' livin' could surwive a waterspout
tramplin' over 'em, as one may say; but where be them there chaps _now_?
If they was all right they'd be out on deck by this time--wouldn't
they?--lookin' roun' to see the extent o' the damage. Would the bustin'
o' the thing kill 'em, d'ye think, sir--they bein' shut up below?"
"It is difficult to say," answered Leslie, meditatively. "It would
depend almost entirely upon the strength of their defences. We can see
for ourselves what it has done to the craft herself; it has made a clean
sweep of everything on deck, and reduced her to the condition of a sheer
hulk. Hang this weather! I don't like the look of it; it is not to be
trusted! If it were only a shade or two less threatening I should feel
strongly tempted to send away a boat to see just what has happened
aboard there. There may be a number of poor fellows somewhere on that
wreck just dying for want of assistance. But--"
He paused, and again glanced anxiously round the horizon, noting that
the aspect of the sky was still as full of menace as ever.
"No," he continued, "I dare not do it; it would be risking too much.
Ha! look there; here it comes! Fore and main-topsail halliards let go,
and man your reef-tackles!" he shouted, as a long line of white foam
appeared on the western horizon, slowly widening as it advanced.
The men sprang to their stations in an instant, galvanised into sudden
and intense activity by the urgency that marked the tone of the
commands, and the next instant there was a rattling and squeaking of
blocks and parrells as the topsail-yards slid down the well-greased
topmasts and settled with a thud upon the caps. Then, as the men began,
with loud cries, to drag upon the reef-tackles, Leslie shouted--
"Call all hands, carpenter, to close-reef topsails. Look alive, lads;
if you are smart you may have time yet to get those reef-points knotted
before the squall strikes us. Well there with the reef-tackles. Belay!
Now away aloft with you all, and hurry about it. You, too," he added
to the man who had been standing by the useless wheel, "I will look
after her."
And, so saying, he mounted the wheel-grating while the whilome helmsman
slouched along the deck, and, climbing the rail, began to claw his
deliberate way up the main rigging.
It took the hands about five minutes to pass the weather and lee
earings, by which time the squall was close to the brig, its approach
being heralded by a smart shower of rain that drove Miss Trevor to the
shelter of the cabin. Then, while the men were still upon the yards,
tying the reef-points, the wind came roaring and screaming down upon the
brig--fortunately from dead astern--and, with a report like that of a
gun, her topsails filled and, with the foam all boiling and hissing
around her and her bluff bows buried deep in the brine, the _Mermaid_
gathered way and was off, heading south-south-west; which was as nearly
as possible her proper course.
The men aloft, meanwhile, although nearly jerked off the yards by the
violence and suddenness with which that first puff struck them, stuck
manfully to their work until they had tied their last reef-point, when
they leisurely descended to the deck, squared the yards, took a pull
upon and belayed the halliards, and then went below to change into dry
clothes and oilskins--an example which Leslie quickly followed as soon
as he was relieved at the wheel.
The squall lasted for a full half-hour--during which the dismasted
barque vanished in the thickness astern--and then it settled down into a
strong gale that swept them along before it to the southward for nearly
thirty hours, moderating on the following day about sunset.
The following morning dawned brilliantly fine, with a light breeze out
from the westward that was just sufficient to fan the brig along, under
everything that would draw, at a bare four knots in the hour over a
heavy westerly swell.
"Why, what is the meaning of this, Chips?" demanded Leslie, as he
emerged from the companion-way, at seven bells, clad in bathing-drawers
only, on his way forward to take his matutinal douche under the head
pump; "is this swell the forerunner of a new gale, or has it been
knocked up by something that we have just missed?"
"Well, sir," answered Chips, "I'm inclined to think as your last guess
is the proper answer. We struck the beginnin's of this here swell about
two bells this mornin', and the furder south we goes the heavier the run
seems to be gettin'--as though we was gettin', as you may say, more into
the track of a breeze that have passed along just about here. Besides,
the glass have gone up a goodish bit durin' the night, and is still
risin'!"
As the day progressed, appearances seemed to favour the correctness of
the carpenter's theory, for the weather remained fine, with less wind
rather than more; while, after a time, the swell appeared to be dropping
somewhat. It happened, that after the men had taken their dinner that
day, it being the carpenter's watch on deck from noon until four o'clock
p.m., he--acting now in the capacity of boatswain--took it into his head
to go aloft, with the object of examining the brig's upper spars and
rigging, to see how they had fared in the late blow. Taking the
foremast first, he ascended to the royal-yard, and from thence worked
his way conscientiously down to the slings and truss of the lower yard.
While on his way aloft, however, he was observed to pause suddenly in
the fore-topmast crosstrees and gaze intently ahead, or rather in the
direction of some two points on the lee bow. He remained thus for
nearly five minutes, and then proceeded in the execution of his
self-appointed duty, taking first the foremast and then the mainmast,
and subjecting everything to a most scrupulous and thorough overhaul;
with the result that everything was found satisfactory aloft, except
that certain chafing gear looked as though it would be all the better
for renewal.
Meanwhile the watch on deck, who were engaged upon sundry odd jobs which
they were able to execute on the forecastle, had noted the action of the
carpenter, and had come to the conclusion that his keen eyes had
detected some distant object of more or less interest ahead; and they
accordingly snatched a moment from their tasks, at fairly frequent
intervals, to cast an inquiring glance over the bows. And their
watchfulness was at length rewarded, just as seven bells was striking by
the sight of something that showed for a moment as it and the brig were
simultaneously hove up on the top of a swell. It bore about a point on
the lee bow; was some two miles distant; and, so far as could be judged
from the momentary glimpse they had obtained of it, appeared to be a
floating mass of wreckage. Its appearance was to them ample
justification for a general knocking-off of work to watch for its next
appearance, one of the more energetic of them even exerting himself to
the extent of ascending the fore-rigging high enough to get a view over
the fore-yard. From this elevation an uninterrupted view of the object
was to be obtained; and after long and careful scrutiny the man made it
out to be the dismasted hull of a ship that was either water-logged, or
upon the point of foundering.
"Deck ahoy!" he hailed, in approved fashion; "d'ye see that dismasted
craft out there on the lee bow?"
"Ay, Jim," growled the carpenter, "I've seen her this hour an' more. Ye
may come down an' get on wi' your work, my lad; you'll get a good enough
view of her from the deck afore long."
At eight bells the carpenter went below and called Leslie, who had been
lying down in his cabin, and at the same time reported the sighting of
the wreck, which was by this time clearly visible from the deck, except
when hidden from time to time by an intervening mound of swell. Knowing
exactly where to look, Leslie caught sight of her immediately over the
lee cathead, the instant that he stepped out on deck. She was by this
time about half a mile distant, and clearly distinguishable as a craft
of some six hundred tons register. She was submerged almost to her
covering-board, and the whole of her bulwarks being gone between her
topgallant forecastle and long full poop, the sea was making a clean
breach right over her main deck, leaving little to be seen above water
but a short length of her bows and about three times as much of her
stern. Seen through the powerful lenses of the brig's telescope, Leslie
made out that she had once been a full-rigged ship, and from the little
that showed above water he judged her to be American-built. Her three
masts were gone by the board, also her jib-booms, which were snapped
close off by the bowsprit end. There was no sign of any floating
wreckage alongside her, from which Leslie was led to surmise that her
masts must have been cut away; a circumstance that, in its turn, pointed
to the conclusion that she had been hove over on her beam-ends--probably
by a sudden squall--and had refused to right again. But what had become
of the crew? A glance at the craft's davits answered that question.
There were no boats to be seen, while the davit-tackles were overhauled
and the blocks in the water. This clearly pointed to the fact that the
boats had been lowered; the presumption therefore was that the crew had
abandoned the craft, fearing that she was about to founder.
Nevertheless, the weather being fine, and the condition of the sea such
that the craft could be boarded without much danger or difficulty,
Leslie determined to give her an overhaul; and accordingly the brig,
having by this time arrived almost directly to windward of the seeming
derelict, he gave orders to back the main-yard, and instructed the
carpenter to take the lee quarter-boat, with three hands, and go on
board.
"Well, Miss Trevor," said Leslie, as the two stood together near the
binnacle, watching the boat rising and falling like a cork over the long
hummocks of swell as she swept rapidly down toward the wreck, "what
think you of that for a sight? Is it not a very perfect picture of ruin
and desolation? A few days ago--it can scarcely be more--that craft
floated buoyantly and all ataunto, `walking the waters like a thing of
life,' her decks presenting an animated picture of busy activity, as her
crew went hither and thither about their several tasks; while yonder
poop, perchance, was gay with its company of passengers whiling away the
time with books, games, or flirtations, according to their respective
inclinations. And over all towered the three masts, lofty and
symmetrical, with all their orderly intricacy of standing and running
rigging, and their wide-spreading spaces of snow-white canvas; the whole
combining to make up as stately and beautiful a picture as a sailor's
eye need care to rest upon. And now look at her! There she lies, clean
shorn of every vestige of those spacious `white wings,' that imparted
life and grace to her every movement; her decks tenantless and
wave-swept; her hull full of water, and the relentless sea leaping at
her with merciless persistency, as though eager to drag her down and
overwhelm her! Can you conceive a more sorrowful picture?"
"I could, perhaps; although I grant you that it must be difficult to
imagine any sight more grievous than that to a _sailor's_ eye," answered
the girl, gazing upon the scene with eyes wide and brilliant with
interest and excitement. "How fearlessly that little boat seems to
dance over those huge waves! She reminds me of one of those birds--
Mother Carey's chickens, I think they are called--that one reads about
as sporting fearlessly and joyously on the tops of the wave-crests
during the height of the fiercest storms. Ah, now they have reached
her," she continued, clasping her hands on her breast unconsciously as
she watched the wild plunges of the boat compared with the deadly slow
heave of the water-logged hulk. "Oh, Mr Leslie, how could you order
those men to undertake so desperately dangerous a task? They will never
do it; they cannot; their boat will be dashed to pieces against that
great, ponderous wreck!"
"Never fear," responded Leslie, cheerfully; "Chips knows what he is
about. See, there; how keenly he watched for his chance, and how neatly
he took it when it came. He saw that rope's-end hanging over the stern
long before he came to it, you may depend; and now inboard he goes, and
there he stands on the poop without so much as a touch of the boat
against the wreck. And there goes the boat round into the sheltered lee
of the hull, where she will lie quite comfortably. And thither we will
go, too, in readiness to pick them up when they shove off again."
The brig bore up and, wearing round, came-to again quite close under the
lee of the wreck; so close, indeed, that it was quite easy to see with
the unassisted eye everything that was going on aboard her, as well as
to obtain a more comprehensive and detailed view of the havoc that had
been wrought on her by the combined effects of wind and sea.
Their attention, however, was for the moment attracted rather to what
was happening on board, than to the condition of the wreck herself; Miss
Trevor being an especially interested spectator. After all, it was not
very much: simply this, that under the lee of a hencoop on the poop,
that had somehow resisted the onslaughts of the sea, Chips had
discovered a very fine Newfoundland dog crouching--or perhaps lying
exhausted; and he was now endeavouring to induce the animal to leave his
shelter with the view of coaxing him into the boat. But for some reason
or other the brute refused to move, responding to the carpenter's
blandishments only by a feeble intermittent beating of his tail upon the
deck.
"Oh," exclaimed Miss Trevor, when she grasped the state of affairs, "I
_hope_ he will be able to rescue the poor creature! He is a beautiful
animal; and I am so fond of dogs."
"What is the matter with him, Chips? Won't he trust you?" hailed
Leslie, sending his powerful voice to windward through the palms of his
hands.
The carpenter stood up and faced about. "Seems to be pretty nigh
starved, so far as I can make out, sir," he replied. "The poor beggar's
just nothin' but skin and bone, and too weak to stand, by the looks of
'im."
"Then take him up in your arms and drop him overboard," suggested
Leslie. "And you, there, in the boat, stand by to pick him up. He'll
have sense enough to swim to you."
So said, so done; Miss Trevor watching the apparently somewhat heartless
operation with tightly clasped hands. Leslie's conjecture as to the
creature's sagacity was fully justified; for upon finding himself in the
water the dog at once began to paddle feebly toward the boat, and in
less time than it takes to tell of it a couple of men had seized him and
dragged him into the boat, in the bottom of which he lay shivering and
panting, and rolling his great trustful eyes from one to the other of
his rescuers.
After this there was little more that the carpenter could do on board.
It was impossible for him to pass along the main deck from the poop to
the forecastle, for the sea was sweeping that part of the derelict so
continuously and in such volume that, had he attempted any such thing,
he must inevitably have been washed overboard. Nor could he, for the
same reason, enter the poop cabin from the main deck; but he peered down
into it through the opening in the deck that had once formed the
skylight; and presently he swung himself down into it and disappeared
from view. Meanwhile the brig, being buoyant, was settling rapidly to
leeward, and soon drifted out of hailing distance. In about ten minutes
from the time of his disappearance the carpenter was seen to climb up
out of the cabin on to the deck and beckon to the men in the boat, who
at once paddled cautiously up alongside; when, watching the roll of the
hull and the heave of the boat alongside, Chips seized a favourable
opportunity and lightly sprang into the smaller craft. The men in her
at once shoved off and, pulling her bows round, gave way for the brig,
the carpenter carefully watching the run of the sea as he sat in the
stern-sheets and steered.
"Here they come!" exclaimed Leslie, watching them. "Lay aft here, men--
all hands of you--and stand by to sway away as soon as they have hooked
on. See that those tackles are well overhauled--give them plenty of
scope to come and go upon!"
Coming down before wind and sea, the boat took but a few minutes to
traverse the distance between the derelict and the brig; and presently,
slipping close past under the stern of the latter, she rounded-to in the
"smooth" of the brig's lee, and shot up alongside. As she did so, the
man who pulled "bow," and Chips, respectively made a lightning-like dash
for the bow and stern tackles, which they simultaneously got hold of and
hooked into the ring-bolts, flinging up their arms as a signal to those
on board to haul taut. Meanwhile the remaining two hands in the boat
laid in their oars and, rising to their feet, cleverly sprang into the
main chains as the brig gave a heavy lee-roll.
"Haul taut fore and aft, my hearties," shouted Leslie, balancing himself
on the lee rail and grasping a backstay, as he anxiously watched the
dancing boat. "Out you come, Chips, and you also, Tom. Capital! Now,
hoist away fore and aft; up with her smartly, lads, while this lee-roll
is on! Good! very neatly done! Catch a turn, now, for a moment; and
you, Chips, jump into her again, and pass out the dog. Take care that
you don't drop him overboard! Well done! Now hoist away again, men.
Well, there; two blocks; Belay! Haul taut and make fast your gripes.
Good dog, then; poor old fellow! Why you are just skin and bone, as
Chips said. Never mind, old chap, your troubles are over now, and we
will soon set you on your pins again. Here, steward, bring along some
water for this dog--not too much to start with; and give him a little
food. Now, carpenter, what were you able to make out aboard there?
Fill your main-topsail, lads, and bring her to her course."
Meanwhile, Miss Trevor was on her knees beside the dog--a magnificent
black Newfoundland--patting his head, and speaking loving words to him;
to which attentions the poor beast responded by whining pitifully as he
licked her hands and slapped the deck feebly with his tail. When the
steward brought the food and water she took them from him and herself
gave them to the dog, allowing him first to drink a little, and then to
take a mouthful or two of food; then another drink, and then more food,
and so on, until he had taken as much as she thought good for him for a
first meal.
"Well, sir," responded the carpenter, as he turned to walk aft with
Leslie, "there wasn't much to learn aboard that there hooker beyond what
you could see for yourselves from the deck of this brig. I 'low she was
hove down upon her beam-ends in a squall, some time durin' the night,
most likely; and then they had to cut away her masts to right her again.
Anyhow, her masts was cut away, that's sartin', because the lanyards of
the riggin' showed the clean cuts of the tomahawks clear enough. And I
reckon that, when she was hove over, she started butt, or somethin' o'
that sort, because she was full o' water, and it was only her cargo--
whatever it may ha' been--that kept her afloat. She'd been a fine ship
in her time, her cabin bein' fitted up most beautiful wi' lookin'
glasses and white-and-gold panels, velvet cushions to the lockers, and a
big table o' solid mahogany, to say nothin' of a most handsome sideboard
wi' silver-plated fittin' up agin' the fore bulkhead. Then, on each
side of the main cabin, there was a row of fine sleepin' berths--six on
side--and four others abaft the after bulkhead, all of 'em fitted up
good enough for a hemperor. But there weren't nobody in 'em, in course;
they and the main cabin bein' up to a man's waist in water, all loppin'
about wi' the roll o' the ship, and fine cushions and what not floatin'
about fore and aft and athwartships. I couldn't find no papers nor
nothin' worth bringin' away wi' me--unless it were the aneroid,
tell-tale, and clock what was fixed to the coamin's where the skylight
had been, and I couldn't unship none o' them without tools; but the
tell-tale and the clock bore the name o' _Flying Eagle_--Philadelpy;
that I take to be the name an' port o' registry o' the craft."
"No doubt," agreed Leslie. "And how long do you think the craft had
been as you found her?"
"Well, not so very long, sir, I should say," answered Chips.
"Everything looked fairly fresh aboard of her; the paintwork weren't
noways perished-like wi' the wash of the water, and the polish on the
mahogany was pretty nigh as good as a man could wish; but the cushions
was certingly a good bit sodden. I should say, sir, as he'd been
desarted a matter o'--well, perhaps three or four days."
"Ah," commented Leslie, speaking to himself rather than to the
carpenter, "then it could not have been the same squall that struck us.
No, certainly not, the distance is altogether too great for that. It
means, however, that there has been bad weather in these regions of
late; so we will keep our weather eyes lifting lest we should be caught
unawares by a recurrence of it. Thank you, carpenter; you have done
very well. And now, if you will keep a look-out for a few minutes, I
will go below and enter a full account of the matter in the log-book
while the particulars are fresh in my memory."
Miss Trevor had all this time been looking after the dog, petting him
and making much of him, until the animal, revived and strengthened by
the food and drink that he had taken, had struggled to his feet and was
now staggering after her along the deck, as she slowly and carefully
induced him to take a little exercise. Then, after the lapse of about
an hour, she fed him again, somewhat more liberally than at first; until
by dint of care and assiduity on her part the poor beast was once more
able to walk without much difficulty.
The sun went down in a clear sky that night, and although the breeze
held, the swell rapidly subsided, thus clearly indicating that it was
not the forerunner of an approaching gale, but the last remaining
evidence of one already past--in all probability the same gale the
initial outfly of which had worked the destruction of the _Flying
Eagle_.
The life of a sailor is usually one of almost wearisome monotony,
despite what landsmen have to say as to its excitements. True, the
individual who is fortunate enough to possess an eye for colour and
effect, and the leisure to note the ever-varying forms and tints of sea
and sky--especially if he also happens to be endowed with the skill to
transfer them to paper or canvas--need never pass an uninteresting
moment at sea. Such fortunately circumstanced people are, however, few
and far between, and it is more especially to the ordinary mariner that
reference is now made. To him there are, broadly speaking, only two
experiences, those of fine weather and of storm. Fine weather means to
him usually little more than the comfort of dry clothes, his full watch
below, and perhaps not quite such hard work; while bad weather means
sodden garments, little and broken rest, and--unless the ship be snugged
down and hove-to--incessant strenuous work. To him the constantly
changing aspects of the sky appeal in one way only, namely, as forecasts
of impending weather.
And the incidents of sea-life, apart from the changes of weather, and
the sighting of occasional ships, are few. Derelicts are not fallen in
with every day; nor is the overwhelming of a ship by a waterspout a
frequent occurrence. Yet extraordinary events--some of them marvellous
almost beyond credence--unquestionably do occur from time to time, and
nowhere more frequently than at sea. And it is quite within the bounds
of possibility for one craft to circumnavigate the globe without
encountering a single incident worth recording, while another, upon a
voyage of less than half that length, will fall in with so many and such
extraordinary adventures that there will not be space enough in her
log-book to record the half of them.
This, it would almost appear, was to be the experience of the _Mermaid_;
for upon the afternoon of the day following that of their meeting with
the _Flying Eagle_, her crew were privileged to witness a sight that a
man may follow the sea for years without beholding.