In course of time the _Foam_, proceeding prosperously on her voyage,
reached the region of Cape Horn--the cape of storms. Here, in days of
old, Magellan and the early voyagers were fiercely buffeted by winds and
waves. In later days Cook and others met with the same reception. In
fact, the Cape is infamous for its inhospitality, nevertheless it shone
with bright smiles when the _Foam_ passed by, and a gentle fair-wind
wafted her into the great Pacific Ocean. Never, since that eventful day
when the adventurous Castilian, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, discovered this
mighty sea, did the Pacific look more peaceful than it did during the
first week in which the _Foam_ floated on its calm breast. But the calm
was deceitful. It resembled the quiet of the tiger while crouching to
make a fatal spring.
Will Osten reclined against the top of the mainmast, to which he had
ascended in order to enjoy, undisturbed, the quiet of a magnificent
evening.
The sun was setting in a world of clouds, which took the form of
mountains fringed with glittering gold and with shadows of pearly grey.
Oh what castles young Osten did build on these mountains, to be sure!
Structures so magnificent that Eastern architects, had they seen them,
would have hung their heads and confessed themselves outdone. But you
must not imagine, reader, that the magnificence of all of these depended
on their magnitude or richness. On the contrary, one of them was a mere
cottage--but then, it was a pattern cottage. It stood in a palm-wood,
on a coral island near the sea-shore, with a stream trickling at its
side, and a lake full of wild fowl behind, and the most gorgeous
tropical plants clustering round its open windows and door, while
inside, seated on a couch, was a beautiful girl of fifteen (whom Will
had often imagined, but had not yet seen), whose auburn hair shone like
gold in the sun, contrasting well with her lovely complexion, and
enhancing the sweetness of a smile which conveyed to the beholder only
one idea--love. Many other castles were built in the clouds at that
time by Will, but the cottage made the most lasting impression on his
mind.
"Sleepin'?" inquired Cupples, the mate, thrusting his head through that
orifice in the main-top which is technically called the "lubber's hole."
"No, meditating," answered Will; "I've been thinking of the coral
islands."
"Humph," ejaculated the mate contemptuously, for Cupples, although a
kind-hearted man, was somewhat cynical and had not a particle of
sentiment in his soul. Indeed he showed so little of this that Larry
was wont to say he "didn't belave he had a sowl at all, but was only a
koorious specimen of an animated body."
"It's my opinion, doctor, that you'd as well come down, for it's goin'
to blow hard."
Will looked in the direction in which the mate pointed, and saw a bank
of black clouds rising on the horizon. At the same moment the captain's
voice was heard below shouting--"Stand by there to reef topsails!" This
was followed by the command to close-reef. Then, as the squall drew
rapidly nearer, a hurried order was giving to take in all sail. The
squall was evidently a worse one than had at first been expected.
On it came, hissing and curling up the sea before it.
"Mind your helm!--port a little, port!"
"Port it is, sir," answered the man at the wheel, in the deep quiet
voice of a well-disciplined sailor, whose only concern is to do his
duty.
"Steady!" cried the captain.
The words had barely left his lips, and the men who had been furling the
sails had just gained the deck, when the squall struck them, and the
_Foam_ was laid on her beam-ends, hurling all her crew into the
scuppers. At the same time terrible darkness overspread the sky like a
pall. When the men regained their footing, some of them stood
bewildered, not knowing what to do; others, whose presence of mind never
deserted them, sprang to where the axes were kept, in order to be ready
to cut away the masts if necessary. But the order was not given.
Captain Dall and Will, who had been standing near the binnacle, seized
and clung to the wheel.
"She will right herself," said the former, as he observed that the masts
rose a little out of the sea.
Fortunately the good ship did so, and then, although there was scarcely
a rag of canvas upon her, she sprang away before the hurricane like a
sea-gull.
Terrible indeed is the situation of those who are compelled to "scud
under bare poles," when He who formed the great deep, puts forth His
mighty power, causing them to "stagger and be at their wits' end." For
hours the _Foam_ rushed wildly over the sea, now rising like a cork on
the crest of the billows, anon sinking like lead into the valleys
between. She was exposed to double danger; that of being cast upon one
of the numerous coral reefs with which the Pacific in some parts
abounds, or being "pooped" and overwhelmed by the seas which followed
her.
During this anxious period little was said or done except in reference
to the working of the ship. Men snatched sleep and food at intervals as
they best might. At length, after two days, the gale began to abate,
and the sea to go down.
"It was sharp while it lasted, captain, but it seems to have done us
little harm," said Will Osten, on the evening of the second day.
"True," said the captain heartily; "we'll soon repair damages and make
all snug.--Is there much water in the hold, Mr Cupples?"
The mate answered gloomily that there was a good deal.
It must not be supposed that Mr Cupples' gloominess arose from anxiety.
Not at all. It was simply his nature to be gloomy. If it had been his
duty to have proclaimed the approach of his own marriage, he would have
done it as sadly as if it had been the announcement of his death. His
thoughts were gloomy, and his tones were appropriate thereto. Even his
jokes were grave, and his countenance was lugubrious.
"It is gaining on us, sir," added Mr Cupples.
"Then get all the spare hands to work with buckets immediately," said
the captain, "and send the carpenter here; we must have the leak
discovered."
"Yes, sir," sighed Mr Cupples, as if he had given way to despair;
nevertheless, he went off actively to obey the order.
"A strange man that," said the captain, turning to Will; "he is a
capital seaman, and a kind-hearted, honest fellow, yet he is melancholy
enough to throw a man into the blues."
"He and I get on famously notwithstanding," said Will, with a laugh.
"See, he is running aft--with bad news I fear, for his face is longer if
possible than--"
"Leak's increasing, sir," said the mate hurriedly; "we must have started
a plank."
This seemed to be too true. All hands were now plying pumps and buckets
vigorously, and every effort was being made to discover the leak, but in
vain. Hour by hour, inch by inch, the water gained on them, and it soon
became apparent that the ship must sink.
It is difficult for those who have never been at sea to realise the
feelings of men who are thus suddenly awakened to the awful fact that
the vessel which has been their home for many weeks or months can no
longer be counted on, and that, in a few hours, they shall be left in
open boats, far from land, at the mercy of the wide and stormy sea. So
terrible was the thought to those on board the _Foam_, that every man,
from the captain to the cabin-boy, toiled for hours at the pumps in
silent desperation. At last, when it was found that the water gained on
them rapidly, and that there was no hope of saving the ship, the captain
quietly left off working and put on his coat.
"Avast pumping, my lads," said he, in a grave, earnest tone; the good
ship is doomed, and now it behoves us to bow to the will of the Lord,
and do the best we can to save our lives. Stand by to hoist out the
boats. Get up bread and water, steward, and stow in them as much as you
can with safety. Mr Cupples, see my orders carried out, and have the
provisions properly divided among the boats. I want you, doctor, to
come below, and help me to get up a few things that will be of use to
us.
The prompt energy of the captain infused confidence into the men, who
soon executed the orders given them. Ere long the boats were ready to
be launched over the side, but this was a matter of the greatest
difficulty and danger, for the sea was still running high, and the ship
rolled heavily.
And now the great evil of not being provided with proper tackling to
launch the boats became apparent. One of the quarter-boats was the
first to be lowered; it was full of men. The order was given to lower,
and it dropped on the water all right. Then the order to unhook the
tackle was given. The man at the stern tackle succeeded in unhooking,
but the man at the bow failed. The result was fatal and instantaneous.
When the ship rose on the next wave, the boat was lifted by the bow out
of the water until she hung from the davits, and a terrible cry was
uttered as all the men were thrown out of her into the sea. Next moment
the boat was plunged into the waves, the tackle snapt, and she was swept
away.
"Lower away the long-boat!" shouted the captain.
This was eagerly and quickly done, and the mate with a number of men
leaped into it. The lowering was successfully accomplished, but when
they pulled to the spot where the quarter-boat had gone down, not one of
those who had manned her could be found. All had perished.
The remaining four boats were lowered in safety, and all of them pulled
away from the sinking ship, for latterly she had been settling down so
deep that it was feared every pitch would be her last, and had she sunk
while the boats were alongside, their destruction would have been
inevitable. They were rowed, therefore, to a safe distance, and there
awaited the end.
There was something inexpressibly sad in this. It seemed like standing
at the death-bed of an old friend. The sea was still heaving violently;
the gale, although moderated, was still pretty stiff, and the sun was
setting in wild lurid clouds when the _Foam_ rose for the last time--
every spar and rope standing out sharply against the sky. Then she bent
forward slowly, as she overtopped a huge billow. Into the hollow she
rushed. Like an expert diver she went down head foremost into the deep,
and, next moment, those who had so lately trod her deck saw nothing
around them save the lowering sky and the angry waters of the Pacific
Ocean.