"The carpenter and the others left me immediately that we had got you
laid comfortably on your bed, and the lamp lighted, explaining that it
was necessary for them to be on deck to take care of the ship--as I
could readily understand; for the frightful roar of the wind and the
violent motion of the ship bore eloquent witness to the fury of the
storm that was raging outside. They accordingly retired; and I heard
them close the doors at the top of the stairs and draw over the cover--
to keep the water from coming down into the cabin, I suppose; for I
could hear it falling heavily on the deck with alarming frequency; while
the hoarse shouts and calling of the men up above were truly terrifying.
"You were quite insensible, and bleeding freely from a wound in your
head," resumed the young lady; "and my first thought, naturally, was the
medicine-chest that I had seen under the cabin table. I made my way to
this as best I could; and, finding the book of directions, turned to the
part treating of wounds, where I found full instructions how to proceed.
"Acting upon these, I carefully clipped away the hair from all around
the gash; bathed the place, washing away the blood as well as I could;
and then applied a dressing, as directed, securing it in place with
plaster, and then swathing your head with a bandage to preserve the
dressing from displacement.
"I had just completed this task, and was sitting on the box under your
lamp, trying to discover some way of restoring you to consciousness,
when the ship suddenly struck with awful violence against something, and
I heard a crash as of a falling mast on deck, accompanied by a terrible
outcry among the men. Then the ship was lifted up, to come down again
with another crash, even worse than the first; then she was thrown
violently over on her side, and I heard a fearful fall of water on the
deck, accompanied by more rending and crashing of timber. This was
continued for, I should say, quite half an hour, the shocks, however,
becoming less and less violent until they ceased altogether, and the
ship seemed to remain stationary, save for a slight rocking movement
that eventually also ceased; and I have not since then felt the
slightest movement or tremor of any kind. The gale, however, continued
to rage with unabated fury until midday yesterday, when it quickly died
away, and the sun came out.
"Meanwhile, I continued my efforts to restore you to consciousness, but
without success. And finally, when at length the gale had passed away
and the weather had again become fine, I ventured to go up on deck to
see what had happened to the ship, and what had become of the men; for,
to my great surprise and alarm, none of them had come near me, or made
any attempt to inquire after you, from the moment when they had helped
to bring you down into the cabin!"
"And what did you find?" demanded Leslie, anxiously.
"I found," answered Miss Trevor, "that the ship is lying stranded on an
immense reef of rocks, and is within about two miles of _land_--a large
island, I take it to be, for I can see the sea beyond each end of it.
But that is not the worst of it. The ship is a complete wreck, both her
masts being broken and lying in the water beside her, most of her
bulwarks broken and gone, and not one of the crew to be found!"
"I must get up; I really _must_!" insisted Leslie. "_Please_ do not
attempt to keep me here," he continued, as his companion strove to
dissuade him from his purpose. "I _must_ go on deck and take a look
round, if only for a few minutes, just to satisfy myself as to the
actualities of our situation. If I cannot do that, I shall simply lie
here and worry myself into a fever, thinking and fearing every
imaginable thing."
"Well," remarked the girl, doubtfully, "if that is to be the result of
confinement to your cabin, perhaps I had better yield to your wish and
allow you to go on deck, just for a few minutes. But you must promise
to be very good and obedient, to do exactly as I tell you, and--in
short, to leave yourself entirely in my hands. Will you?"
"Oh, of course I will," assented Leslie, with an eagerness and alacrity
that were not altogether convincing to his companion, who saw, however,
that she would have to yield somewhat to this headstrong patient of hers
if she wished to retain any control at all over him.
She accordingly assisted him first to sit up in his berth and then to
climb out of it--he still being dressed in the clothes that he was
wearing when the accident happened to him--and eventually, with very
considerable difficulty--Leslie finding himself curiously weak, and so
giddy that he could not stand without support--she contrived to get him
up the companion ladder and out on deck, where Sailor accorded them both
a boisterous and effusive welcome.
Arrived there, Leslie sank upon the short seat that ran fore and aft
alongside the companion cover, and cast his eyes about him. It was a
melancholy sight that met his view. The brig, with a list of about four
strakes to port, was hard and fast upon the inner edge of a reef that
seemed to be about a mile wide, and stretched for many miles in either
direction, ahead and astern, she lying broadside-on to the run of the
reef. The jury mainmast had snapped short off immediately above the
lashings that bound it to the stump of the original spar, and had gone
over the stern, some of its gear having evidently struck Leslie down as
the spar fell. The foremast was also over the side, having gone close
to the deck; and all the wreckage was still floating alongside attached
to the hull by the rigging. The bulwarks had all disappeared save some
ten or twelve feet on either side extending from the taffrail, forward,
and a few feet in the eyes of the ship. The decks had been swept clean
of every movable thing, including the longboat and the jolly-boat that
had been stowed on the main hatch; and both quarter-boats had also
vanished from the davits, leaving only fragments of their stem and
stern-posts hanging to the tackle blocks to show what had happened to
them.
No part of the reef showed above water, but its extent and limits were
very clearly defined by the ripples and agitation--gentle though this
last was--of the surface of the water above it. The surf was breaking
heavily on its outer margin in clouds of gleaming white that flashed and
glittered in the brilliant sunshine; and an occasional undulation of
swell came sweeping in across the reef, causing a thousand swirls and
eddies to appear as it traversed the vast barrier of submerged rock--
coral, Leslie judged it to be--but it did not affect the brig in the
least, sending not even the faintest tremor through her, by which the
sick man judged that she must have been deposited in her present
position at a moment when the level of the sea was considerably higher
than it was just then. The craft was lying so close to the inner edge
of the reef that had she been carried another fifty yards she would have
been swept right over it; in which case she would undoubtedly have at
once sunk in the deep-water that lay between this outer barrier reef and
the island some three miles away--not two miles, as Miss Trevor had
estimated the distance.
But, oh, that island! When Miss Trevor had spoken of it Leslie pictured
to himself some tiny, obscure, bare atoll of perhaps a mile in length,
and not more than a dozen feet high at its highest point--knowing from
his reckoning that, at the time of the fatal outbreak, the brig had not
been near enough _any known_ land to render wreck upon it possible. But
the land upon which he gazed with wondering eyes measured fully three
miles from one extremity to the other--with a promise of considerably
more beyond the points in sight. And instead of being only a few feet
in height above the sea-level, it rose in a gentle slope for about half
a mile from the beach of dazzlingly white sand that fringed its margin
immediately opposite where the brig lay, and then towered aloft to a
bare truncated peak that soared some six thousand feet into the
beautifully clear air. The whole island, except some two hundred feet
of its summit, appeared to be densely clad with vegetation, among which
many noble trees were to be seen, some of them being resplendent with
brilliant scarlet blossoms.
The fresh air had exercised a distinctly revivifying effect upon Leslie
who, after some quarter of an hour's rest, felt strong enough to move
about the deck, with Miss Trevor's assistance and support; and he
accordingly proceeded forward as far as the galley which, to his
profound satisfaction, he found to be undamaged and with all its
paraphernalia intact. Then he went on to the fore scuttle--the hatch of
which was on and secured. Throwing back the cover, he peered down into
the dark and evil-smelling place, and called several times, without
eliciting any reply. He would fain have investigated further, to the
extent of descending into its interior; but his companion considered
that he had by this time done quite as much as was good for him, and
flatly refused to render him the least assistance toward this further
adventure. He was perforce compelled therefore to abandon his intention
and retreat to his own end of the ship. Here, availing himself of the
support of the short remaining length of the bulwarks, he leaned over
and peered down into the clear, transparent water, through which he
could clearly see the white surface of the reef upon which the brig
rested; and its colour and the comparative smoothness of its surface
convinced him that he had been right in his conjecture that it must be
of coral formation.
"Well, sir," demanded his companion, as she carefully assisted him to
his former resting-place alongside the companion, "what think you of our
surroundings, as a whole?"
"To be perfectly candid with you," he replied, "I regard them as
decidedly promising; although I quite admit that we are in a very
distinctly awkward predicament. In the first place, I fear that we
shall have to reconcile ourselves to the prospect of a somewhat
lengthened sojourn, for unless I have made some very serious error in my
calculations--which I do not believe--we are far out of the usual tracks
of ships, and our only hope, therefore, of being seen and taken off
rests in the possibility that some wandering whaler may put in here for
water. That, however, is a prospect upon which it will be unwise for us
to reckon overmuch; and we must consequently pin our faith upon our
ability to devise a means of escape for ourselves. That, in a few
words, means that I shall have to set to work forthwith upon the task of
constructing some craft big enough and seaworthy enough to convey us to
some spot from which we can take passage home again. I see that such a
prospect appears sufficiently alarming to you, and I will not attempt to
conceal from you the fact that it means--as I just now said--a rather
lengthy stay here. But, fortunately for us, the materials for the
construction of such a craft are all here to our hand; this brig will
afford us all the timber that we require for such a purpose, with plenty
to spare; and I am not altogether ignorant of the arts of naval
architecture and ship-building. Then we shall probably find that there
is a sufficient stock of provisions still left on board here to sustain
us during the period of our detention here, to say nothing of the
resources of the island itself, which looks as though it might be
capable of affording us an ample subsistence of itself. Then there is a
beach ashore there that looks quite good enough to serve as my shipyard;
with a nice little plateau adjoining it upon which I purpose to erect a
tent for our accommodation--for I do not think it would be wise to
remain aboard here longer than may prove absolutely necessary."
"Why," exclaimed the girl, "you appear to have planned everything out
already. How fortunate I am in having you as my companion! If you had
not been hurt, I suppose you would have been on deck when this disaster
occurred, and the chances are that you would then have been drowned with
the rest of the poor fellows; and I should have been left alone here to
die miserably."
"Yes," agreed Leslie, dryly, "my accident was certainly a blessing in
disguise, from that point of view. If I can succeed in getting you
safely away from here, and putting you in the way of returning to your
friends, I shall at least have accomplished something useful before I
die."
"Oh, Mr Leslie," exclaimed the girl, "you know I did not mean that! I
simply meant--well--I mean--oh dear, how am I to express myself so that
you will understand? Surely you do not believe me to be such an utterly
selfish and heartless creature as to be glad that you have escaped the
fate of the others merely because, by so doing, you are left alive to be
my helper and protector?"
"No, indeed," answered Leslie, heartily, "I assure you, Miss Trevor--"
He paused abruptly, thought for a moment, and then resumed: "Look here,
we have been thrown together--you and I--and our fates intermingled in a
very extraordinary manner, and we are likely to remain together for some
time longer in fairly intimate association, each of us the sole
companion of the other. Do you not think that, under the circumstances,
we might as well drop the formality of `Mr' and `Miss?' My name is
Richard; but my friends call me Dick, and I should be glad if you would
do the same."
"Very well," answered his companion, "I will willingly do so, if you
really wish it; it would be only prudish to object--under the
circumstances, as you put it. And you, in your turn, may call me Flora,
if the name commends itself to your ear. And now, sir, please go on
again from where you left off."
"Let me see," mused Leslie, "what was it we were talking about? Oh yes,
I remember. You were explaining to me that you were glad I had escaped
drowning not so much because of the use I could be to--"
"Ah," interrupted his companion, "I can see that you are rapidly getting
better, because you are beginning to tease. But, seriously, Mr Les--
well, Dick, then--I want you to tell me something more of your plans.
What do you propose to do first--when you are well enough to work again,
I mean?"
"The first thing I propose to do," answered Leslie, "is to overhaul the
carpenter's chest and satisfy myself as to what tools are at my command.
That done, I shall at once begin to break up the brig, confining
myself, in the first instance, to the removal from her of just
sufficient material to admit of the construction of a raft. The next
thing will be to convey ashore such canvas, rope, and other matters as
may be needed for the erection of a comfortable and commodious tent for
our accommodation ashore; together with all necessary furniture, the
galley stove, pots and pans, and all the rest of it. I am rather
anxious to carry out this much of my plans with as little delay as
possible; because, you see, the weather is one of those things upon
which one can never depend--another gale may spring up at any moment,
and when it does the brig will most probably go to pieces. I am
therefore exceedingly anxious to get you comfortably established ashore
before this happens. Then, if all goes well, I shall at once proceed to
pull the poor old _Mermaid_ carefully to pieces, damaging the planking
as little as may be in the process, because that is the material out of
which I purpose to build my boat. I shall do this, transferring it, and
everything on board that may be likely to be of use to us, to, the shore
before I do anything else; because, should the brig break up of herself,
much valuable material is certain to be lost. Then, when I have got
everything safe ashore, I shall begin upon the boat."
"I see," remarked Flora, with animation, "that we have a kind of Crusoe
existence before us--a sort of perpetual picnic. Very well; I shall
undertake the house-keeping part of the work; keep the tent clean and
tidy; prepare nice appetising meals for you when you come home tired
from your work; keep your clothes in repair; do the washing; and
generally look after domestic affairs. Oh, you may smile as much as you
like. I dare say you think that I know nothing about such matters; but
I do; and I flatter myself that I shall astonish you."
"Yes," laughed Leslie, "I expect you will; I am fully prepared to be
astonished. No," he continued, as he saw a pout rising to his
companion's lips, "I did not quite mean that. True, I have before me a
vision of a very charming young lady, always somewhat haughty and
unapproachable, and always most elegantly costumed; who used to be the
awe and admiration of everybody aboard the _Golden Fleece_; and I have
been endeavouring--I must confess with not altogether brilliant
success--to picture her doing the cooking and washing, ashore there.
But I know--or at least I have been told--that woman's power of
adaptability surpasses belief, and I have already seen that you possess
it to a marvellous degree; therefore, despite what I said just now, I
shall be astonished at nothing you do, or prove yourself able to
achieve."
"Thank you," answered Flora, with a touch of annoyance in her tone. "I
know I was perfectly horrid in those days--oh, how far away they seem,
now--and I am afraid that I have not done much since then toward giving
you a better opinion of me; but you shall see! Oh, Dick, please do not
think badly of me! You have done so _very_ much for me, and have been
so invariably kind and considerate to me, that I cannot bear the idea
that you should think ill of me. I owe my life to you. You must
remember that I did not know you, then--"
"I know; I know," answered Dick, laying his hand reassuringly upon hers.
"You acted quite rightly in keeping us all at arm's-length; for, as you
say, you knew none of us then, and could not be expected to discriminate
between one and another. For my own part, I would not have had you act
otherwise than you did; so let us say no more about it. And now, if you
will kindly help me, I think I had better go below and lie down for
awhile. I must take care of myself for both our sakes."
So they went below again; and after Flora had dressed Leslie's wound
afresh, the latter stretched himself out on the cabin lockers and sank
into a refreshing sleep, while the girl busied herself in the
preparation of such nourishing dishes, against his awakening, as the
resources of the wreck afforded.
The following day found Leslie much stronger, and more like himself
again; so much so, indeed, that, despite his fair companion's
protestations, he set to work and got the carpenter's tool-chest on
deck, and busied himself upon the light task of sharpening chisels,
gouges, planes, adzes, axes, and so on; and generally putting everything
in good order against the time when he would want to use them. This,
with occasional periods of vest, occupied him through the whole of that
day; at the end of which he declared himself to be none the worse but
rather the better for his exertions.
The next day Leslie devoted to the task of lifting off the fore hatches
and rigging a light pair of sheers over the hatchway by means of two
pieces of the rail that he detached from the short length of bulwarks
that still remained standing abaft. It was his purpose to give this
part of the brig a thorough overhaul prior to attempting anything else;
hoping that he might find therein something that would enable him to
construct a raft without having recourse to the timber of the ship. And
in this he was successful beyond his utmost hopes; for, among other
matters, he found two stout packing-cases--measuring twenty feet long by
three feet wide by two feet deep--containing long strips of gilt
moulding, such as are used in house decoration. The moulding he
carefully stowed away again--prudent man--not knowing whether in the
future they might not, despite their gaudy appearance, come in useful
for something. Then carefully taking the packing-cases apart, he shaped
the bottom planking of each somewhat after the semblance of the bow and
run of a ship--that is to say, he pointed the two square ends of each by
sawing them to the required shape. Then he put the cases together
again, curving the sides to fit the curves of the bottom planks; and
when this was done he found himself in possession of two boat-like
boxes, or flat-bottomed boats, of very respectable shape and size.
These he next strengthened by nailing stout timbers, walings, and
stringers to the bottom and sides, inside; when a careful caulking and
paying of the seams completed them by rendering them watertight. So
pleased was he with these two contrivances of his--the firstfruits of
his labours--that although he had not originally intended to use them as
boats, either of them was quite sufficiently large to convey himself and
his companion across the tranquil waters of the lagoon that stretched
between the brig and the island; and he accordingly determined that,
before applying these structures to their ultimate purpose, he would
make use of one of them in which to effect a preliminary exploration of
the island. Accordingly he fitted the interior of one of them with a
couple of seats--one in the middle for himself, and the other near the
"stern" for Miss Trevor's accommodation; secured to each side a stout
cleat in a suitable position, and suitably bored for the reception of a
pair of rowlocks; and a length of three-inch planking sawn down the
middle and shaped with a spokeshave into a pair of paddles completed the
equipment of what turned out to be a very serviceable and handy boat.
The construction of these two "pontoons," as Leslie called them,
together with the supplementary labour of fitting up one of them to
serve as a boat, consumed nearly a week; but they were so thoroughly
satisfactory when finished that their constructor regarded his time as
well spent. The last item of his task, the making of the pair of
paddles, or short oars, was completed as the sun was sinking below the
horizon on the ninth day after the stranding of the _Mermaid_; and it
was arranged that, if the weather held fine and the barometer continued
steady, the next day should be devoted to a visit to the island.