"Muster all hands, Chips, and let the steward give them a good, generous
tot of grog; they will be all the better for it after their hard work in
the wet and cold. Moreover, I wish to satisfy myself that they are all
right; it has struck me more than once since I came on deck that some of
them are missing."
"I pray to God that you're wrong, sir," answered the carpenter; "but,
now that you comes to speak of it, the same thing have struck me too.
Here, lay aft, bullies, all of yer, and let's have a look at ye," he
continued, sending his voice forward to the forecastle, where the men
were now grouped, awaiting further orders.
They came aft, slouching along the deck after their usual manner, and
grouped themselves about the binnacle, "Why, where's the rest of ye?"
demanded the carpenter, glaring angrily from one to the other; "where's
Bill--and Jim--and Joe? Jump for'ard, one of ye, and tell 'em to lay
aft here for a tot o' grog."
"We're all here, Chips--all that's left of us, that is. Bill, and Jim,
and Joe are all missin'; ain't to be found nowheres. Anyhow, they ain't
in the fo'c's'le; I'm ready to swear to that!" answered one of the
little crowd that grouped themselves round the binnacle, their eyes
gleaming in the dim light of the binnacle lamp with that transient
horror that sailors feel at the sudden loss of a shipmate.
"Not in the fo'c's'le!" ejaculated the carpenter, staring wildly about
him, "Oh, my God! three men gone, and all of 'em in my watch!" he cried,
flinging his clenched fists above his head in his agony of
self-reproach. "You're sure that they ain't in the fo'c's'le? Then
they ain't nowhere else aboard this unlucky hooker; they're overboard--
that's where they are--went when the squall struck us and very nigh
throwed us on our beam-ends. And it's my fault--all my fault; it's _I_
that have lost them three men. Ye see, Mr Leslie, it's like this here.
I'm a man what can't do without his proper 'lowance of sleep, and this
here last gale have fair knocked me up and made me that stupid that I
haven't knowed what I've been doin' latterly. And the fact is, that in
this here last watch of mine I was fair overcome wi' want of sleep, and
I dropped off without knowin' it, and without wantin' to; and this
here's the consekence,"--flinging his right hand wildly out to indicate
the crippled state of the brig--"this an' the loss o' three good men."
"Well, Chips, it is a pity," said Leslie, soothingly and
sympathetically; "if you had but told me how completely you were knocked
up, I would have taken your watch for you, although I am pretty well
knocked up myself. The mischief, however, is done and cannot now be
helped, so it is useless to worry any more about it. We must not,
however, allow the ship to run further to leeward than we can help; so
clew up the foresail, lads; we will let her scud under bare poles until
daylight. Then we will see what can be done to mend matters. Now take
your grog, men; and when you have clewed up and furled the foresail, go
below. You, too, Chips. I have had a little rest, and can doubtless
hold out until the morning. I will look after the brig until then."
As the men shambled away forward, leaving Leslie at the wheel, the
latter dimly caught sight of something huddled up in the companion-way,
at the top of the ladder; and while he stood staring at it in an
endeavour to make out what it was, it moved; and the next moment Miss
Trevor, enveloped in a dressing-gown, stepped out on deck, and, with
teeth chattering with cold, exclaimed--
"Oh, Mr Leslie, what dreadful thing has happened? I was awakened by
the terrible noise and confusion--the crashing and thumping, the
thrashing of the sails, the howling of the wind, and the shouting of the
sailors--and I feared that the ship was sinking--for it seemed just as
bad as on the night when the _Golden Fleece_ was run into; so I wrapped
myself in this dressing-gown, and have been to and fro between the top
of the stairs and my own cabin for quite an hour, I should think. But I
would not come out on deck, for I saw at once that you were all
extremely busy; and I knew that, if I did, I should only interrupt you,
and be in your way."
"You would, indeed," answered Leslie, bluntly. "And even now," he
continued, "the deck is no place for you on this wild and bitter night;
you will get wet through and `catch your death of cold,' as they say
ashore. Therefore I beg that you will forthwith go below and turn in;
there is no further danger at present; the brig is scudding quite
comfortably, as you may see; and there is nothing that we can run up
against between this and the morning; you may therefore finish your
sleep in comfort and with an easy mind."
"But please tell me exactly what has happened," the girl persisted; "I
shall be better able to rest if you will let me know the worst."
"Well, if you insist on knowing, the brig was caught aback by a sudden
shift of wind, and we have lost our mainmast and fore-topmast," answered
Leslie, saying nothing about their further loss of three men, as he did
not wish to harrow her mind with such a distressing detail until it
became impossible any longer to conceal it, Miss Trevor was not,
however, to be so easily put off.
"But I heard the carpenter crying out that he had lost three men," she
said. "What did he mean by that?"
"Precisely what he said," answered Leslie, reluctantly. "The poor chap
was overcome with the fatigue of the last three days, and fell asleep in
his watch on deck. The result is the loss of our spars, and--worse
still--of three men, who, there can be no doubt, somehow got washed or
knocked overboard when the squall struck and dismasted us."
"Oh, how dreadful!" exclaimed the girl in tones of horror. "This is
indeed an unfortunate ship! We have met with nothing but tragedy since
we came on board. I wish now--oh, I wish most fervently!--that we had
met some other ship into which we could both have changed; we should
then have escaped all these horrors."
"Possibly," agreed Leslie. "Yet `_quien sabe_?' as the Spaniards say,
who can tell? We might have trans-shipped into some craft quite as, if
not even more, unfortunate than ourselves. In any case, it is too late
now; and even were it not so, you appear to have forgotten that we could
not _both_ have trans-shipped; _I_ at least am bound to go on to
Valparaiso in this brig. This, however, is not the moment to discuss
these matters; you are shivering and your teeth chattering with cold; I
must therefore _insist_ that you go below and turn in at once. And as
you pass through the cabin, mix yourself a good stiff glass of grog; it
will do you good. I prescribe it."
"Very, well doctor, I will obey you," answered the girl. And forthwith
she disappeared down the companion, without saying "Good night!"
somewhat to Leslie's chagrin.
The apparent discourtesy was, however, soon explained; for a minute or
two later she reappeared, bearing in her hand a tumbler of generously
stiff grog, which she handed to Leslie, saying--
"_I_ `prescribe this.' Please drink it at once; for I am certain that
you need it far more than I do. Oh yes, I will take some myself, since
you so strenuously insist upon it. There, now you will feel better," as
she received the empty tumbler from him. "And now, good night. I wish
I were a man, for then I could stay here and help you."
"God forbid!" ejaculated Leslie, fervently. "Not even to secure the
benefit of your help would I have you other than as you are. A thousand
thanks for the grog; and now good night; let me not see you again until
the morning!"
The disaster to the brig had happened shortly before midnight; and for
the rest of that wild and bitter night, until seven bells in the morning
watch, Leslie stood there alone at the wheel, keeping the brig stern-on
to the fast-rising sea. Then the carpenter and the remainder of the
crew appeared on deck, and one of them came aft to his relief. The cook
lighted the galley fire; the steward presently brought him aft a cup of
smoking hot cocoa; and then, when he had stripped to the skin, been
pumped on copiously under the head pump, rubbed down vigorously with a
rough towel, and invested in a complete change of dry garments, he felt
a new man, ready for another arduous day's work, if need be. He,
however, insisted that all hands should take a thorough good breakfast
before starting the day's work; and the wisdom of this revealed itself
immediately that the work began.
Meanwhile it is necessary to say that during those long weary hours of
Leslie's lonely vigil at the wheel, the wind, that at the first outfly
had come away from about due north, had gradually veered round until, by
sunrise, it was a point south of east, in which quarter it seemed
disposed to stick. Furthermore, with the coming of dawn it had evinced
a disposition to moderate its violence somewhat, while the sky had
cleared for a few brief minutes in the eastern quarter, revealing a
glimpse of the sun; and upon examining the barometer, Leslie had noticed
that the mercury in the tube showed a convex surface--a sign that it was
about to rise; he therefore suffered himself to indulge the hope that
with improving weather, they would ere nightfall be enabled, by good
steady hard work, to get the brig into such shape as to once more have
her under command.
Seen now, in broad daylight, the poor little brig presented a truly
pitiful sight as compared with her appearance on the previous evening.
She was then all ataunto, with every spar, rope, and sail intact; a
thing of life, obedient to her helm, responsive to the will of her
commander, and as fit as such a craft could be to cope with any and
every possible caprice of wind or weather. _Now_, she was a poor maimed
and disfigured thing; her mainmast gone, leaving nothing of itself but a
splintered stump standing some ten feet above the deck; her fore-topmast
also gone--snapped short off at the cap; and, of her normal spread of
canvas, nothing now remained save her fore-course. And her loss was not
confined to that of her spars only, although that of course was serious
enough. But, in addition to this, she had lost a complete suit of
canvas, and practically all her running and standing rigging--the latter
item being one that it would be quite impossible to replace until her
arrival at a port. Fortunately for all concerned, her owners had been
prudent enough to provide her with two complete suits of sails; and she
also carried a fairly liberal equipment of spare spars; it would
therefore be no very difficult job to extemporise a "jury rig" for her;
but the trouble would be to find the wherewithal to replace the lost
standing and running rigging, blocks, and all the other items that would
be needed to make that jury rig effective.
Needs must, however, when there is no alternative; and the British
sailor is, with all his faults, an ingenious fellow, not altogether
devoid of the inventive faculty, and possessed of a pretty turn for
adaptation; give him but the idea and he will generally find the means
to carry it out.
So while Leslie and Chips went the round of the deck immediately after
breakfast, inspecting their stock of spare spars, and the navy man
prepared a rough sketch illustrating his idea of the manner in which
those spars could be most effectively made use of, the rest of the crew
turned-to with a will to overhaul the boatswain's locker, the sail
locker, and the fore-peak, routing out therefrom and bringing up on deck
every article and thing that could conceivably be of use in the task
that lay before them. Then, when Leslie had completed his arrangements
with the carpenter, the latter brought his tools on deck; the spare
spars were cast loose and placed conveniently at hand for working upon;
and in a very short time everybody but Leslie, Miss Trevor, the cook,
and the steward, was busily engaged on the forecastle, measuring,
cutting, splicing and fitting rigging, while the carpenter trimmed the
spars and otherwise prepared them to go into their destined positions.
As for the others, the cook and steward had their usual duties to attend
to, and could not therefore be spared to lend a hand in re-rigging the
brig, even had they possessed the necessary knowledge--which they did
not; although later on, perhaps, when it came to mere pulling and
hauling, their strength would be found useful, and would be
unhesitatingly called for. Meanwhile the brig, although under her
fore-course only, and running before the wind, needed to be steered; and
this job Leslie undertook to personally attend to throughout the day,
thus sparing another man for the pressing work on the forecastle.
Luckily for everybody concerned, the half-hearted promise of finer
weather that the morning had given was more than fulfilled; for about
four bells the sky cleared, the sun shone brilliantly, and the air
became pleasantly mild, while although the wind still blew strongly from
the east, the sea grew more regular, so that the dismantled brig now
scudded quite comfortably, not shipping a drop of water, and forging
ahead, at the rate of about three knots per hour, on her proper course.
Miss Trevor had not made her appearance at the cabin table when Leslie
had been summoned below to breakfast by the steward, nor had she
responded when the former had gently knocked at her cabin door. This
circumstance, however, had not aroused any very serious alarm in the
breast of the ex-Lieutenant, who, remembering the incident of the night
before, when the young lady had come on deck after the accident to the
brig, thought it quite probable that, in consequence of her rest being
so rudely broken, she was now oversleeping herself. And in the
confidence of this belief he had ordered the steward not to attempt to
disturb her, but to prepare breakfast for her immediately upon her
appearance. And he furthermore instructed the man to notify him if she
failed to put in an appearance before four bells. As it happened, the
young lady appeared on deck, fresh and rosy as a summer morning, and
with Sailor in close attendance, a few minutes before that hour.
"What!" she exclaimed, lifting her hands in dismay as she saw Leslie
standing at the wheel, precisely as she had left him on the previous
night, "still at that dreadful wheel! Do you mean to say that you have
been standing there all this time?"
"By no means, madam," answered Leslie, cheerfully. "I have since then
had a most refreshing bath, changed my clothes, taken breakfast, and
done quite a useful amount of very necessary work. It is scarcely
needful to inquire after _your_ health, your appearance speaks for
itself; yet for form's sake let me say that I hope you are none the
worse for your very imprudent behaviour last night."
"Oh no," she answered, with a laugh and a blush that vastly became her--
so Leslie thought; "I am perfectly well, thank you. I took the grog
that you prescribed, and then went dutifully to my cabin, in obedience
to orders, where I at once fell asleep, and so remained until an hour
ago. Then I rose, dressed, and had my breakfast; and here I am, ready
and anxious to do anything I can to help."
"Help!" echoed Leslie, with a laugh. "You talked of helping last
night--and most kind it was of you to have and express the wish--but in
what possible way could a delicately nurtured girl like you help? And
yet," he continued more soberly, "you _could_ render me a little help,
once or twice a day, if you would. It is not much that I would ask of
you--merely to note the chronometer times for me when I take my
observations of the sun for the longitude. I have sometimes thought
that Chips has been a little erratic in his noting of the time; and I
have more than once had it in my mind to ask you to undertake this small
service for me."
"Why, of course I will," assented the girl, eagerly. "Why did you not
ask me before? And there is another thing that I can do for you, now--
this moment--if you will only let me. I can steer the ship for you
while you go downstairs and obtain a few hours' much-needed rest. Your
eyes are heavy and red for want of sleep; you look to be half dead with
fatigue! And if you should break down, what would become of the rest of
us? Please let me try at once, will you? I am quite sure that I could
manage it; it looks perfectly easy."
Leslie laughed. "Yes," he assented; "I have no doubt it does; because,
you see, I happen to know just how to do it. But _you_ would find it
very hard work, and would soon be terribly tired. No; you could not
possibly steer the craft in this heavy sea, especially as we are running
before the wind--which constitutes the most difficult condition for
steering. But, if you wish to learn to steer, I shall be delighted to
teach you as soon as we again get fine weather and smooth water."
And with this promise the girl had to be content, although she persisted
in believing it to be quite easy to turn the wheel a few spokes either
way, and so keep the brig sailing on a perfectly straight course.
Meanwhile, the crew got to work and rigged a pair of sheers over the
stump of the mainmast, firmly staying it with guys leading aft to the
taffrail and forward to the windlass-bitts. Then they rigged at the
apex of the sheers the strongest threefold tackle that they could
extemporise; and with the assistance of this they swayed aloft a spare
main-topmast, that had been carefully prepared by the carpenter for
fishing to the stump of the mainmast. This spar was accurately adjusted
in the precise position that it was intended it should occupy, and its
heel was then firmly secured to the stump of the mainmast by means of
strips of stout planking about eight feet long, closely arranged all
round and secured in position by a long length of chain wound tightly
round, and further tightened by driving in as many wedges as possible.
Then the spar was further secured by shrouds, stays, and backstays; thus
providing a very respectable substitute for a mainmast. The sheers were
then struck; a spare main-yard, fitted with brace-blocks and all other
necessary gear, was next swayed aloft and firmly secured to the head of
the extemporised mainmast; a spare main-course was bent and set; and by
sunset that same evening Leslie had the satisfaction of seeing the brig
once more in condition to be brought to the wind when occasion should
arise. What the crew had accomplished that day constituted a most
excellent day's work, especially taking into consideration the fact that
they were almost worn-out with fatigue, Leslie therefore resolved to
call upon them for nothing further in the shape of work that day; but he
foresaw that it would be a great help to the craft to have a fore
staysail that could be set when sailing on a wind; and a main trysail
might also prove useful; he determined therefore that the next day
should see these two sails in place, if possible. He would then have
accomplished the very utmost that lay in his power, and sufficient, he
hoped and believed, to enable him to take the brig to Valparaiso.
His observations, taken at noon and at three o'clock that day, showed
him that the _Mermaid_ was far enough to the southward and westward to
justify a shift of the helm; and accordingly at four bells in the first
dog-watch he altered the course to north-west by West, which he hoped
would enable him to just clear Desolation Island and carry him fairly
into the Pacific. It also afforded him an opportunity to test the
efficiency of his jury rig; and his satisfaction was great at finding
that with the yards braced forward the brig, under main and fore-courses
only, behaved in a thoroughly satisfactory manner; although what she
would do when hauled close on a wind still remained to be proved.
Happily for him the weather had by this time again become quite fine;
the wind had softened down to merely a fresh breeze, and the sea had
gone down considerably. He was therefore enabled to secure a few hours'
sleep--a refreshment that he now absolutely needed, for he was by this
time so completely worn-out and exhausted that he felt he could do no
more.
The next day was nearly as busy an one as that which had preceded it,
for it saw the completion of Leslie's plans, and left the brig under
fore and main-courses and fore staysail; with main trysail bent and
ready for setting when occasion should require. This achievement
brought the ex-lieutenant to the end of his resources; but, on the other
hand, he felt that the brig was now once more in reasonable trim for
facing any contingency except a recurrence of really bad weather; and
this last he hoped he would have done with when once the brig had fairly
entered the Pacific. Luckily, the weather was now as fine as he could
wish; the sky clear enough to enable him to get all his observations;
not very much sea running; and a spanking fair wind driving the brig
along upon her course at a speed of nearly five knots. Moreover, the
fine weather would enable his crew and himself to get a sufficient
amount of rest to thoroughly recuperate their exhausted energies, and
prepare themselves for future contingencies. On the following morning,
just as he had completed his forenoon observations for the longitude,
land was sighted broad on the starboard bow, that proved to be the
south-eastern extremity of Desolation Island; and at six bells in the
afternoon watch the brig had arrived in the longitude of 75 degrees
West, and was therefore at last ploughing the waters of the vast Pacific
Ocean, to Leslie's profound satisfaction. He now shifted his course
another point to the northward; and began to calculate the probable date
of their arrival in Valparaiso.
It was his intention to maintain a north-west course for the ensuing
twenty-four hours, in order to obtain a good offing, and then to haul up
to the northward; but, to his disgust, when he turned out on the
following morning he found that the wind had shifted and was blowing
strong from about north-east, and that, with her yards braced right
forward, and main trysail set, the brig would look no higher than
north-west. It was, however, comforting to reflect that although the
hooker was taking a wider offing than was at all necessary, she was
edging up to the northward, in which direction lay their port of
destination. And sooner or later they would be certain to get a
westerly slant of wind that would help them. So, being in fact unable
to do better, Leslie kept his starboard tacks abroad, and went driving
along to the north-westward. And with every mile of progress that they
now made there came an improvement in the weather; the air growing ever
softer and more balmy, the water more smooth, and the skies clearer and
more deeply and exquisitely blue.
Thus the brig drove steadily and pleasantly enough along, day after day,
until the wondering voyagers seemed to have arrived in the lotus-eaters'
region, "where it is always afternoon;" and still the wind hung
inexorably in the north-east quarter, and the brig's bows obstinately
refused to point higher than north-west, until Leslie's patience wore
thin, and he grew moody and morose with long waiting for a shift of
wind. For this condition of affairs lasted not only for days, but at
last mounted to weeks; a circumstance that was practically unique in the
history of those waters.