It was about one bell in the first dog-watch; the weather was fine, the
water smooth, the breeze light; and the brig, with little more than bare
steerage-way upon her, was laying her course, with squared yards, both
clews of her mainsail hauled up, and studding-sails set on both sides,
her topsails occasionally collapsing and flapping to the masts for lack
of wind to keep them "asleep." Miss Trevor was, as usual, on deck,
seated in a deck-chair, with a book on her lap and the fingers of one
hand playing abstractedly with an ear of the great dog that lay
stretched contentedly upon the deck beside her. Leslie, also with a
book in his hands, was seated right aft upon the taffrail, with his feet
upon the stern grating, in such a position that he could look past the
helmsman right forward and command the entire starboard side of the
deck, as far forward as the windlass-bitts--and, incidentally, study the
varying expressions that flitted athwart Miss Trevor's face as she read.
The carpenter, with the rest of the men, was on the forecastle, looking
after them and busying himself upon some small job that needed
attention. The stillness of the peaceful afternoon seemed to have
fallen upon the vessel; the men conversed together intermittently in
subdued tones, that barely reached aft in the form of a low mumble; and
the only sounds heard were the occasional soft rustle and flap of the
canvas aloft, with an accompanying patter of reef-points, the jar of the
rudder upon its pintles, the jerk of the wheel chains, and the soft,
scarcely audible seething of the water alongside.
Upon this reposeful quietude there suddenly broke the sound of a gentle
"wash" of water close alongside, then a long-drawn, sigh-like
respiration, and a jet of mingled vapour and water shot above the port
bulwark to a height of some ten or twelve feet, so close to the brig
that the next instant a small shower of spray came splashing down on the
deck in the wake of the main rigging.
So totally unexpected was the occurrence that it startled everybody.
Leslie sprang to his feet and looked with mild surprise down into the
water; Miss Trevor dropped her book as she shot out of her chair; the
dog, who had manifested a readiness to respond to the name of Sailor,
leaped up and rushed to the bulwarks, where he reared himself upon his
hind legs, emitting a succession of deep, alert barks; and the crew
forward shambled over to the port bulwarks, staring curiously.
"Come up here, Miss Trevor," said Leslie, extending his hand to help the
girl up on to the grating beside him. "Here is a sight that you may
never have an opportunity to behold again--at least, under such perfect
conditions as these."
The girl, closely attended by Sailor, sprang lightly upon the grating,
and following with her eyes Leslie's pointing finger, gazed down into
the blue, transparent depths, where she beheld the enormous black bulk
of a large sperm whale, lying right up alongside the brig--so close to
her, indeed, that his starboard fin was right under her bilge, about a
third of his length--from his blow-holes aft toward his tail--showing
shiny as polished ebony, some six inches above water, while his
ponderous tail stretched away some forty feet or more beyond the
taffrail, where it could be clearly seen gently rising and falling to
enable him to keep pace with the brig.
"What a veritable monster!" exclaimed Miss Trevor, gazing down with
wide-open eyes of mingled astonishment and dismay at the huge creature,
as she clung unconsciously to Leslie's supporting arm. "Is it
dangerous? I hope not, because it looks big enough and strong enough to
destroy this ship at a single blow if it chose to do so!"
"You need not be in the least alarmed," answered Leslie, reassuringly.
"He will not hurt us if we do not interfere with him. These creatures
are only dangerous if attacked; then, indeed, they have been known to
turn upon their assailants, with dire results. But ah! look there!--
there is another one!"
And sure enough, up came another of the monsters, breaking water with a
rush that showed nearly half his length, at a distance of only some
fifty yards from the brig.
"And there is another!" cried Miss Trevor, with unmistakable
trepidation, as a third came to the surface and blew close under the
brig's counter.
"Pity as we ain't a whaler, sir," remarked the helmsman. "If we was,
here 'd be a chance to get fast to two of 'em at once, without so much
as havin' to lower a boat!"
"Yes," responded Leslie, good-naturedly. "Such chances do not, however,
seem to come to whalers. Why, there blows another!" as a fourth whale
broke water about a hundred yards on the brig's starboard beam. "We
seem to have fallen in with a whole school of them!"
And so indeed it proved, for within ten minutes there were no less than
seventeen of the monsters in view at the same moment within a radius of
a quarter of a mile of the brig, which craft appeared to possess a
fascination for them; for they not only swam round and round her, but
approached her so closely and so persistently that Miss Trevor became
seriously alarmed; while even Leslie began to grow somewhat uneasy lest
the brutes, whose temper he knew to be rather uncertain, should develop
an inclination to attack the craft. To the relief, however, of all
hands, the curiosity of the creatures at length appeared to be
satisfied, and they drew off from the brig a little, still remaining
upon the surface, however. And presently the huge brutes began to
develop a playful disposition, that commenced with their chasing each
other hither and thither, first of all in a leisurely manner, then, as
their excitement grew, their rapidity of movement increased until they
were rushing through the water--and round the brig--with the speed of a
fleet of steamers. And finally they took to "breaching," that is,
throwing themselves completely out of the water, to a height of from ten
to twenty feet, coming down again with a splash, that soon set the water
boiling and foaming all round them, and creating a commotion that caused
the brig to roll and pitch as though she were in a choppy sea. This
exhibition of strength and activity lasted for a full three-quarters of
an hour, when the creatures disappeared as suddenly as they had come,
much, it must be confessed, to the relief of all hands aboard the brig.
From this time nothing of moment occurred until the _Mermaid_ arrived
off Staten Island, the eastern extremity of which she sighted at
daylight on a cold, bleak morning some ten weeks after the date when
Leslie and Miss Trevor had become members of her ship's company. The
weather had, in the interim, been fine upon the whole, with occasional
calms and contrary winds; but, taking everything into consideration,
Leslie felt that they had done by no means badly.
On this especial morning, however, appearances seemed to point to the
probability that they were about to experience an unpleasant taste of
typical Cape Horn weather. The sky was gloomy and overcast, the entire
firmament being obscured by a thick pall of cold, leaden-hued cloud
lying in horizontal layers, and presenting the appearance described by
sailors as "greasy"--an appearance that usually forebodes plenty of wind
and, not improbably, rain. The breeze was blowing fresh from the
westward, having hauled round from the north-west during the night, and
the brig was pounding through a short, lumpy sea under single-reefed
topsails. The air was damp and raw, with a nip in it that sent
everybody into their thick winter clothing, and called for a fire in the
cabin stove; and the deck, as far aft as the waist, was streaming with
water that had come in over the weather rail in the form of spray.
Everybody on deck, except Miss Trevor, had donned sea boots and
oilskins, and the only creature who appeared to enjoy the weather was
Sailor, the dog, who trotted about the deck and through the heavy
showers of spray with manifest delight. There was no hope whatever of
getting a sight of the sun that day; but this was a matter of
comparatively slight importance, since Leslie had very carefully taken
the bearings of the land, and had thus been able to verify his
reckoning.
As the day wore on the wind freshened perceptibly, while with every mile
that the brig made to the southward the sea grew longer and heavier, and
the air more bleak and nipping. At noon, when the watch was called,
Leslie seized the opportunity to take a second reef in the topsails, and
to haul up and furl the mainsail; an arrangement that was productive of
an immediate change for the better, since the brig went along almost as
fast as before, while she took the seas more easily, and was altogether
drier and more comfortable. The barometer, however, was falling
steadily; a circumstance that, combined with the look of the sky to
windward, led Leslie to the conclusion that they were booked for a
regular Cape Horn gale. All through the afternoon the weather steadily
became more unpleasant, and about one bell in the first dog-watch, it
came on to rain--a cold, heavy, persistent downpour--while the wind
piped up so fiercely that Leslie decided to haul down the third reef in
his topsails, brail up and stow the trysail, and take in the inner jib
without further delay, thus snugging the brig down for the night.
The next morning dawned dark, gloomy, and so thick with driving rain
that it was impossible to see anything beyond half a mile from the brig
in any direction. But within that radius the scene was depressing
enough, a steep, high sea of an opaque greenish-grey tint sweeping down,
foam-capped and menacing, upon the brig from to windward, while the air
was thick with spindrift and scudwater. The foresail had been taken in
during the middle watch; and the brig was now under close-reefed
topsails and fore-topmast staysail only, under which canvas she was
making a bare three knots in the hour, leaving behind her a short wake
that streamed out broad on her weather quarter. So unpleasant were the
conditions that, except for brief intervals during the fore and
afternoon, Miss Trevor remained below, whiling away the time as best she
might with a book; disregarding Sailor's importunate invitations to
accompany him on deck.
Meanwhile the gale was steadily increasing, and between five and six
bells in the afternoon watch the main-topsail suddenly split with a loud
report, and immediately blew out of the bolt-ropes; with the result
that, despite the utmost efforts of the helmsman, the brig at once fell
off into the trough of the sea. Hearing the report, and the subsequent
commotion on deck, Leslie, who had been snatching a little rest in his
cabin, dashed up on deck and, taking in the position of affairs at a
glance, gave orders for the fore topsail to be at once clewed up, and
the spanker to be set; which being done, brought the brig once more to
the wind, and extricated her from her dangerous situation. Then he
ordered a new main-topsail to be at once brought on deck and bent;
having no fancy for leaving the brig all night under such low and
ineffective canvas as the spanker--a sail that, with the heavy sea then
running, was half the time becalmed.
By the time that the remains of the burst main-topsail had been unbent,
and the new sail brought on deck, it was eight bells, and all hands were
set to work to bend the sail. This, under the existing weather
conditions--with the wind blowing at almost hurricane strength, and the
brig flung like a cork from trough to crest of the mountainous,
furious-running sea, with wild weather rolls as the seas swept away from
under her, succeeded by sickening rolls to leeward that at times laid
her almost on her beam-ends as she climbed the lee slope of the next
on-coming sea--was a long, difficult, and perilous job for the hands
aloft; and Leslie heaved a sigh of relief when at length, having bent
and close-reefed the sail, the little party laid in off the yard, and
descended to the deck to assist in sheeting it home. This delicate job
was happily accomplished without mishap; and, the trysail being brailed
in and stowed, the brig was then hove-to under close-reefed main-topsail
and fore-topmast staysail.
All through the night and the whole of the succeeding day the gale
continued to rage furiously, and although the _Mermaid_ proved herself
to be an unexpectedly good sea-boat in such exceptionally heavy weather,
riding easily the mountainous sea that was now running, she rolled with
such terrific violence that it was impossible to move anywhere on board
her, whether on deck or below, without incurring the risk of serious
injury. As for Miss Trevor, acting on Leslie's advice, she kept to her
own cabin, and passed the disagreeable time in the comparative safety of
her bunk, which she left only at meal times.
The morning of the fourth day brought with it a change. The gale broke
about the time of sunrise, and soon afterwards the sky cleared, the
canopy of cloud broke up, and drifted away to the eastward in tattered
fragments, revealing a sky of hard pallid blue, in which the sun hung
low like a ball of white fire. The sea went down somewhat, and no
longer broke so menacingly, while it changed its colour from dirty green
to steel-grey. Far away on the southern horizon a gleam of dazzling
white betrayed the presence of a small iceberg, and the air was
piercingly cold.
Gladly welcoming the change, Leslie--who had spent the whole of the
preceding night on deck--ordered the close-reefed fore topsail to be
set, as well as the foresail and main trysail; under which considerable
increase of canvas the brig was soon once more moving with comparative
rapidity through the water, and looking well up into the wind. Then,
watching for a "smooth," they wore the craft round, and brought her to
on the port tack, during the progress of which evolution the wind
shifted a couple of points to the southward, enabling them to lay a
course of north-west by west, which Leslie hoped would suffice him to
draw out clear of everything, and carry him into the Pacific Ocean.
This hope was strengthened as the day wore on, for the wind continued to
draw gradually still further round from the southward, while it steadily
decreased in force--though growing colder every hour--thus enabling
Leslie to shake out first one reef in his topsails, then a second, and
finally the last, also to set his jib and main-topmast staysail; so that
by sunset the brig, under whole topsails and main-topgallantsail, was
booming along famously, with an excellent prospect of finding herself
fairly in the Pacific in the course of the next twenty-four hours.
A disconcerting circumstance, however, that rather tended to damp
Leslie's hopes, was the fact that the barometer persistently refused to
rise, although the wind was subsiding so rapidly that it threatened to
dwindle to a calm, and as the evening faded into night the stars grew
dim and finally disappeared. Still, there was nothing that could be
called actually alarming in the aspect of the weather; and as Leslie had
been almost continuously on deck during the entire duration of the
gale--snatching a brief half-hour of rest from time to time as best he
could--and it was now his eight hours in, he decided, after deliberating
the matter until four bells in the first watch had struck, to go below
and turn in until midnight; leaving instructions with the carpenter to
instantly call him in the event of anything occurring to necessitate his
presence on deck.
It seemed to him that he had scarcely laid his head upon his pillow and
closed his eyes ere he was awakened from a profound sleep by a sudden
screaming roar of wind; the brig heeled over to port until she appeared
about to capsize; and as Leslie, dazed for the moment by his sudden
awakening, sprang from his bunk, a loud crash on deck, immediately
succeeded by a lesser one, told a tale of disaster. The brig righted as
the harassed man sprang up the companion ladder, clad only in his
pyjamas, and dashed out on deck to find everything in confusion, the
mainmast gone by the board and hammering viciously at the ship's side,
while a furious banging forward told that the fore-topmast also had
gone, and, with everything attached, was hanging to leeward by its
rigging. Moreover, a howling gale from the _northward_ was sweeping
over the brig and deluging her with showers of cutting spray.
"Where is the carpenter?" was Leslie's first cry as he emerged from the
companion and groped blindly about him in the blackness of the starless
night.
"Here I be, sir," answered Chips, close at hand. "Oh, Mr Leslie,
here's a dreadful business! And I be to blame for it, sir--"
"Never mind, just now, who is to blame," exclaimed Leslie. "Call all
hands, and let them get to work with their tomahawks upon that main
rigging. Cut everything away, Chips, and be smart about it, my man, or
we shall have the mast punching a hole in the ship's side, and there
will be an end of us all."
And so saying, without waiting for an answer, Leslie made a spring for
the rack in which the tomahawks were kept, and, seizing the first of the
small axes that he could lay hands upon, he set an example to the rest
by hacking away at the lanyards of the main shrouds. It was a
heart-breaking business, that blind hewing and chopping at the
complicated gear that held the wreck of the mainmast fast to the hull;
but it was accomplished at last, and then, the brig having paid off
almost dead before the wind, it drifted astern and went clear, with much
scraping and a final bump under the counter that made the old hooker
tremble, and must have infallibly destroyed the rudder had it chanced to
hit it. Then all hands went to work and attacked the topmast rigging,
which, being less complicated, was soon cleared away.
The harassed crew now had a moment in which to collect their energies
for fresh efforts, and take stock, as it were, of the extent of the
disaster that had befallen them. And the first matter into which Leslie
made particular inquiry--after he had gone below and got into his
clothes--was the state of the crew; it had been impressed upon him--
although he had hitherto been too busy to mention it--that some men
seemed to be missing--or rather, he had vaguely felt that there were not
so many men on deck as there ought to be.