"Now, men!" cried out Captain Miles, when our excitement had calmed down
a little, "we've got the axe; but, the next thing we have to do is to
use it, so as to release the ship as soon as we can. I think, my lads,
I ought to have the first turn."
So saying, taking the axe from Jake, he made a slash at the end of the
hawser which had been rigged up over the head of the foremast, when, the
strands being cut through after a couple of heavy strokes, the rope
parted, curling up like a whip and flying up in the air with a pretty
sharp report.
"Now, Mr Marline, it's your turn," said the captain, having thus set an
example in commencing the work; and then, the first mate, nothing loth,
attacked the main-shrouds, severing them clear to the chain-plates, when
he handed over the axe to Jackson, who also did wonders with the weapon
towards clearing away the heavy rigging that had so long resisted the
efforts of the men with their clasp-knives.
The sea by this time was quite calm, thus greatly facilitating our
labour; but, from our not having had any food for two days, all hands
were very weak, and it took them a much longer time to free the ship of
all her rope hamper and cordage than they would have achieved the task
in if they had possessed their proper strength. It was, therefore,
quite late on in the afternoon when the rigging on the port side was all
detached, although Jake had recovered the axe at noon, and we had set to
work immediately afterwards.
This, however, was only a preliminary to the real labour that lay before
us--that of cutting away the masts, a much more serious matter.
The ship, it must be recollected, was lying completely over on her
starboard side, with all her spars extended horizontally flat along the
surface of the sea, which washed up to the hatches; so that, even
amidships, the water was too deep for the men to have stood on the deck,
even if they could have found foothold; there. Away ahead, the bows
were completely submerged right up to the fore-chains, the ocean swell
washing right through the _Josephine_ fore and aft, right up to the
poop.
Luckily, however, the upper portion of the mainmast bitts projected out
of the water, so, Jackson, climbing down on to these and supporting
himself as well as he could by balancing his body with his feet |
extended outwards straddle-ways, commenced to slash away at the mast
here; while the rest of the men, under Mr Marline's directions,
proceeded to clear away the rigging and unreeve those ropes which they
were able to reach, in order to leave the spar clear for Jackson to work
upon it freely.
It was a terribly tough job, though, the young seaman having to waste a
part of each blow in the water that covered the foot of the mast. This
neutralised his efforts, but he could not help it, for the axe splashed
in the sea before touching the wood.
After a short spell, Jackson, quite feeble from hunger and exhaustion,
had to give in, when Moggridge took his place, chopping vigorously at
the mast as long as he was able. Then, another sailor took a turn at
it, and so on, until each had had his go; when Jackson, rested a bit and
refreshed by a long drink of water, began anew, making the chips of the
hard wood fly as well as the sea, which he splashed up at every stroke
the spray going into his eyes and almost blinding him.
All the men worked with the greatest perseverance in spite of their weak
state; and, just before sunset, when the mast was about half cut
through, it gave signs of at length yielding, sundry sharp cracks being
heard as its natural buoyancy forced it to rise, the different purchases
that previously held it to the deck being also now severed.
"Bravo, men, one spell more all round, and we'll have the spar loose!"
cried Captain Miles, going down into the waist himself to head this last
attack, and taking a longer turn with the axe than anyone.
Blow after blow was then rained upon the heel of the mast, all working
with fresh courage and determination as the ponderous piece of timber
gave way before their efforts, a wide gaping hole having been now made
in it by the axe.
"Look out and stand clear!" shouted Jackson, catching on to the same old
sling he had rove out of the topsail halliards by which he had lowered
himself from the bulwarks, and swinging himself out of danger. "It's
coming at last!"
At the same moment, a scrunching, wrenching sound was heard, followed by
a long, loud crack; and then, up floated the mainmast cut off close to
the deck, although still attached to the ship by the rigging on the
starboard side--which could not be reached, of course, at present, being
under water, and the sea covering it to the depth of ten or twelve feet.
The effect of this relief to the ship was at once apparent, the forward
portion of the wreck sensibly rising out of the sea, and the top of the
forecastle being now visible, as well as the whole of the port bulwarks
up to the cat-head on that side; while the main-deck below us, and the
upper portion of the poop, became slanting at an angle towards the water
on the starboard, instead of being almost perpendicular to it as before,
thus showing that the centre of gravity was changed and the vessel
recovering her stability.
"Bravo, men!" exclaimed Captain Miles joyously, delighted at such
confirmatory proofs that his hopes of righting the _Josephine_ were not
unduly sanguine. "As soon as we get the foremast clear she'll come up
all standing, never fear! Can't you see how the poor thing is trying
hard to free herself now?"
As the portion of the floating mast that was inboard now rose out of the
water as far as the main-top, a party of the men with Moggridge
scrambled on to it and began cutting away the various cross ropes,
halliards, clew-lines, and so on, that held it to the fore and mizzen
spars. The yards had now floated too, although the upper portion of the
mainmast bearing their weight, as it slewed over, pressed on the
starboard bulwarks, remaining in that position from the calmness of the
sea, which had not motion enough to drift it away.
"If only a slight breeze would spring up now, so as to rouse a little
more swell, we'd float clear of this wreck," observed Mr Marline.
"Half the weight of the mast still tends to keep the ship down to
leeward."
"Ah, we don't want it rough yet," said the captain. "The foremast is
the main thing to get rid of now; and, unless the sea keeps still, we'll
never manage to cut that away, for it is still more under water than the
mainmast was."
"I forgot that," replied the mate; and then, both went along the
bulwarks forwards to where Jackson was beginning operations at the other
spar.
If the mainmast had proved stubborn and unyielding, this was twenty
times more so, the great difficulty being that there was no vantage-
ground to be had, in the shape of a firm footing, from whence to ply the
axe.
"It's no use, sir," said Jackson, when the captain had come abreast of
the spot where he was standing, in the fore-rigging, trying vainly to
reach the mast below. "I can't even touch the timber, much less make a
blow at it!"
"Well, all that can be done," replied Captain Miles, "is to lighten it
as much as possible. Cut away what rigging you are able to lay hands
on, and if the sea gets up in the night it may work free."
"All right, sir," said Jackson; so, he and the gang with him went to
work with a will, slashing here and there at the cordage connecting the
mast with the port side of the ship.
Meanwhile, Jake had been very busy, proving himself quite as useful as
the rest.
Swimming like a fish he had gone into the sea near the wreck of the
mainmast; and, with that long knife of his, which had done so much
damage to the sharks, he began cutting away the fastenings of the
topgallant-yard, although leaving the lee-braces intact, so that the
spar could be hauled in by and by.
Moggridge was on the mast, too, and, with his gang of men, was operating
on the tressel-trees to free the lower yard; so that, before it was
dark, the whole stick of the mainmast was nearly clear. Only the
shrouds and stays on the starboard side now held it to the hull; and,
consequently, when it felt inclined to shift its position athwart ship
it could easily do so.
Jackson, and those with him forward, having now done as much as they
could to cast-off the foremast gear, Captain Miles hailed them to come
aft.
"I think," said he, "if we can only contrive to cut away the mizzen, and
a breeze springs up, as there seems every prospect of from these clouds
to windward, then, through the greater buoyancy now possessed by the
ship amidships and astern, the foremast will go of its own accord. At
all events, we can try it; for, as you say, there isn't any chance of
our getting rid of it by any unaided efforts of our own."
The lighter spars that Jake and Moggridge had detached were now hauled
in and made into a sort of raft, upon which Jackson and the whole lot of
the crew clambered, proceeding to attack the mizzen-mast, the lower part
of which spar was just out of the water.
Slash, bang went the axe with a will, wielded by hands nerved with all
the strength of desperation, each man cutting away as long as he could,
and then another hand taking his turn. Even I was busy with a knife,
sawing away at the thick ropes, and doing what I could to help the
others.
The mizzen, being of considerably less diameter than the mainmast, took
a much less time to conquer; so, soon it gave way with a splintering
crash, the jagged heel floating up in the same way as the other, and
working about freely as the rigging was severed so that it could easily
pass overboard.
"Now, men, we may cry a spell," said Captain Miles when the task was
accomplished. "Nothing more can be done now. We must wait for a breeze
to clear away the wreck, when, I've no doubt, the ship will right
again."
"I'm sure I hope so, dear captain!" said I fervently. "Do you think she
really will?"
"Not a doubt of it, my boy," he answered. "She would have never come up
so far if she had meant to stop on her beam-ends. See, now! Why, I can
almost stand up here on the poop, the deck has risen so much already.
By the morning, I hope she'll be right end uppermost again."
"But, how about our lodging for the night?" suggested Mr Marline. "If
we lie along the bulwarks, in the same way as before, and the ship
rights suddenly in the night, we'll be all thrown in the water."
"I have thought of that," said Captain Miles. "We'll brace up this raft
of spars here close in under the bulwarks inboard, and then we'll be on
the safe side of the hedge if she comes up while we're napping! Let us
have another drink of water now, Jackson, my lad, and turn in for the
night, for I've no doubt you're all pretty tired. I'm sorry I can't
pipe down to supper."
"You are not more sorry than I am," put in Mr Marline drily. "I could
eat with the greatest gusto the skeleton of my grandmother's cat now!"
This speech of his had the very effect he wished of making the men laugh
at their privation. Judging by my own feelings, they must have felt
terribly hungry and empty; for, instead of two days, it seemed two years
since I had tasted food.