THE CUBS--VOYAGE TO THE WRECK--STORES--HORRID SIGHTS--TRYING
PREDICAMENT--PRIZES--RETURN--FRANK NEEDS ANOTHER LECTURE
Early on Monday morning Robert and Harold set out for the wreck, leaving
Sam to guard the young people, and to add another apartment to the fold,
for the accommodation of the cubs. It may be stated here, that the new
pets had eaten little or nothing since they were taken. For several
days Sam was compelled to force the food and water into their mouths;
but after they had acquired the art of feeding in a domestic way, Frank
assumed their whole care, and was indefatigable in attending to their
wants and their education. He taught them to stand on their hind feet
and beg; to make a bow by scraping their feet, like country clowns; and
many a wrestling match did he have with them, in which for a long time
he was invariably the victor. Robert named them, after the twins of
old, Castor and Pollux.
By Sam’s advice, the boys took with them on their voyage an ax, hatchet,
auger, and saw, together with some candles and a rope, and reached the
wreck about nine o’clock. They moored their raft fast to a projecting
bolt, and then, with much difficulty, succeeded in reaching the stern
windows, from which the receding tide flowed gently, bearing on its
bosom an unpleasant odour, like that of animal matter long decayed.
They peeped into the dark cavity, and receiving a full blast of its
sepulchral odours, drew back in disgust.
"I cannot go into _that_ hole," said Harold, "it is stifling. Let us
cut a passage through the side or bottom."
Clambering along the sloping side next the rudder, they selected a place
for their scuttle, and commenced to work, but the thick and well
fastened copper was so difficult to remove, that their hatchet was
nearly ruined before they reached the wood. Then, with their auger,
they made an entrance for the saw, and soon opened a hole between two of
the ribs, large enough to admit their bodies.
Harold descended first, and standing upon a hogshead, which, being on
the top of a confused pile, reached near the hole, lit a candle, and
helped Robert to descend.
They were in the hold where all the grosser articles were stowed. Some
of the hogsheads visible appeared to contain sugar, others molasses,
rum, &c. Passing towards the stern, they saw half a dozen boxes and
crates, of different sizes, one of which was filled with lemons, and
from the other, on being broken, rolled out a cocoanut. Returning from
this hasty survey towards the forward part of the hold, they discovered
a plentiful supply of flour, ship-bread, rice, hams, and beef, stowed
away in the style appropriate to each. The vessel was evidently
victualled for a long voyage.
Satisfied with this partial examination, they returned amidships, and
sought the hatchway, through which they might descend into the habitable
part of the vessel. It was choked by such a multitude of boxes and
bags, that they were a long time in finding it, and longer still in
freeing it from encumbrances. Descending by their rope, they found
themselves on the inner side of the inverted deck. The water had by
this time all run off, except a puddle in one corner; and the floor, or
rather that which had been ceiling, was wet and slimy, with deposits
from the muddy river water.
On entering the cabin the sight which greeted them was horrid. There
lay four skeletons, of a man and woman, a boy and girl, handsomely
dressed; the soiled though costly garments still adhering to the wet and
ghastly bones. The sight was more than Harold could endure; he called
to Robert, and hastened as fast as possible to the open air.
"O, horrid! horrid!" said he, pale as a sheet. "I don’t think I can
ever go back to that dreadful cabin. It made me almost faint."
"It was horrid, indeed," responded Robert. "But you will soon recover;
the trouble was more in your mind than in your body. I doubt not you
are feeling as father says he felt when going first into a dissecting
room--he fainted outright; and he said that this is no uncommon thing
with beginners, but they soon become used to it."
"I am willing enough to go through the whole vessel," said Harold, "but
not into that cabin, for a while at least."
"Poor creatures!" sighed Robert, "they appear to have been passengers;
and unless the cabin filled soon with water, they must have had a
lingering death."
"Don’t speak of it," Harold pleaded. "The bare thought makes me
shudder. And then to think of their being devoured by such slimy things
as eels and catfish, and of being pinched to pieces by crabs, as these
bodies were--it is sickening!"
Robert perceived that these reflections were exceedingly painful to his
cousin, and had been in fact the cause of his sickness; he therefore
managed adroitly to shift the conversation from point to point, until it
gradually assumed a cheerful character. Pleasant thoughts were the
medicine Harold needed, and in the course of a few minutes he himself
proposed to renew the search.
Descending between decks, they found in the side of the vessel, contrary
to custom, the cook’s room. It contained a stove, with all its
appurtenances complete. This was a real treasure; they rejoiced to
think how much labour and trouble would be saved to Mary, whose patience
and ingenuity were often put to the test for the want of suitable
utensils.
The steward’s room adjoined; and here they found crockery of all sorts,
though most of it was in fragments; knives, forks, spoons, and
candlesticks, none of which they valued, having plenty of their own; two
bottles of olives, and a case of anchovies, sound and good, and a fine
set of castors, partly broken, containing mustard, pepper, catsup and
vinegar. Upon the topmost shelf (or under what _had been_ the lowest)
were two large lockers, which they opened with difficulty, the door
being fast glued with paste, and out of which poured a deluge of musty
flour from an upturned barrel. There were also different kinds of hard
biscuit and ship bread, but they were all spoiled.
From these two rooms they passed with great difficulty to the
forecastle, having to cut their way through a thick partition. Here the
sight was more appalling than that which they had witnessed in the
cabin. Lying on the floor, partly immersed in a muddy pool, were the
skeletons of eight men and two boys; and in the midst of them they heard
such a splashing of the water that their blood ran cold, and their hair
stood on end. They started back in terror, thinking at first that the
dead had waked from sleep, and were moving before their eyes; in doing
so, Robert, who carried the candle, jostled roughly against Harold, and
instantly they were in darkness.
"O mercy! mercy!" Robert ejaculated, in an agony of alarm, and falling
upon his knees clasped his hands together, expecting every moment to be
his last. Harold, however, with that presence of mind which is the mark
of true courage, and is the best preservative in time of danger, threw
his arms around him, to prevent him from escaping, and fortunately
recovered the candle, which had dropped in the edge of the wet slime
upon the floor.
"Nothing but fishes!" said he, divining the state of Robert’s mind from
what he knew of his own. "Nothing but fishes! I saw one leap from the
water. Softly, Robert, let us light the candle."
The quieting effect of a soft, calm voice in a season of excitement is
magical. Robert’s excessive fear subsided, and though he trembled
violently, he aided Harold to re-light the candle. Fortunately the wick
was scarcely touched by the water; there was a slight spluttering from a
particle or two of damp mud, but the flame soon rose bright as ever.
Harold’s hand now began to tremble; for though in the moment of trial
his nerves had been stretched and steady as a tense wire, the re-action
was so great that he began to feel weak. Robert perceived this, and
pulling his sleeve said,
"Come, let us go."
Harold’s courage, however, was of that sturdy kind that rises with the
occasion, and he replied, "No, I mean to go through with it now. I was
driven from the cabin by a bad smell, but no one shall say that I was
scared off by a few catfish. Look, do you not see them floundering in
the water?"
A calm inspection wholly relieved Robert from his fears, and he
continued to examine the room with composure, although while looking he
beheld the startling sight of a skeleton in actual motion through the
water, a large fish having entered its cavity, and become entangled in
the adhering clothes, giving a most lifelike motion to the arms and
legs.
A glance around this room was sufficient to convince them that the
vessel was of a warlike character. Great numbers of guns, pistols,
cutlasses, and pikes, were visible on the floor, where they had fallen
into the water, or against the walls where they had been fastened. The
boys surveyed these significant appendages, exchanged glances with each
other, and simultaneously exclaimed, "A cutter, or a pirate!"
"I doubt whether it can be a cutter," said Robert; "my mind misgives me
that it is a vessel of bad character. But we can tell by going to the
captain’s room. Let us see."
They returned to the cabin, and entering the room which appeared to be
the captain’s, found it abundantly supplied with arms of various sorts,
and (though mostly injured by the sea-water) of exquisite finish. Of
papers they saw none; these were probably contained in a heavy iron
chest which was fast locked, and the key of which was nowhere to be
found. In the mate’s room, however, the evidences were more decisive.
There were flags of all nations; and among them one whose hue was jet
black, except in the middle, where were sewed the snow-white figures of
a skull and cross-bones. From the side-pocket of a coat, which lay in
the berth, they took a pocket-book, containing letters in Spanish, and a
paper signed by forty-two names, the greater part of which were marked
by a cross. These indications were satisfactory, and the boys
afterwards ascertained by circumstantial evidence, which left them no
shadow of a doubt, that not only was the vessel piratical, but that she
was overwhelmed by the same storm that had so nearly proved fatal to
Sam. The prize, therefore, they considered their own by right of first
discovery--stores, arms, magazine, money and all.
"By rights there ought to be a carpenter’s room somewhere," said Robert;
"or if not a room, there must be tools, which will help us greatly in
our work. Let us look for them."
To Harold’s mind the tools were the most valuable part of the prize,
unless indeed they could find a boat ready made. But before proceeding,
they took each a pistol from the captain’s room, loaded, and thrust it
into their bosoms, supposing that they should be more calm and
self-possessed, when conscious of having about them the means of
defence. The carpenter’s room was found, and in it a chest of splendid
tools, and an excellent grindstone.
With these discoveries the boys were content to think of returning home;
and now they began to feel hungry. Taking from the steward’s room the
bottle of olives and case of anchovies, and breaking open a barrel of
shipbread, from which they filled their pockets, they went to the open
air, taking each a lemon and cocoanut, in lieu of water and dessert.
It was time to load the raft. Taking some small bags, of which they
found a number, they filled them with sugar, coffee, rice, and flour;
they brought out six hams, and, by opening a barrel, six pieces of
mess-beef. In searching still further, they lit upon a barrel of
mackerel, a firkin of good butter, and a case of English cheese; of each
of which they took a portion, and laid all upon the most level part of
the vessel’s bottom, ready for lowering into the raft. The kegs of
biscuit they found on trial to be too large to pass through their
scuttle; they emptied them by parcels into a large bag outside.
Hitherto they had said nothing and thought little about money; for their
minds had been fixed on supplying themselves with necessaries and
comforts, together with the means of returning home. Indeed, the idea
of enriching themselves at the expense of the dead, even if they were
pirates, savoured rather of robbery, and the delicate sense of the young
explorers was offended by the thought.
"But let us at least gather whatever of this sort we may find," said
Harold, after exchanging thoughts with his cousin. "We can afterwards
ask your father to decide what use shall be made of it."
Neither their consciences nor their pockets, however, were very heavily
burdened with this new charge; for they found only a few hundred
dollars’ worth of money, chiefly in foreign gold, together with several
rich jewels, the greater part of which was discovered in consequence of
an act of kindness to Mary and Frank.
Resolving to return the next day, accompanied by the whole party, and
unwilling to have Mary’s nerves shocked as theirs had been, they
determined to remove all unsightly objects from the cabin, and to close
them up in the forecastle. A box of sperm candles enabled them to set a
light along the dark passages, and in each room; and taking a small
sail, upon which they carefully drew the skeletons, they carried them to
the forecastle, and laid them decently in one corner. From the person
of the man they took a gold watch and chain, a handsome pencil case, and
pocket-knife, a purse containing several pieces of gold, and a
pocket-book, containing papers, written apparently in Spanish, but
almost perfectly illegible. The name of this man, marked upon the
clothing, and occasionally appearing in the papers, was Manuel De Rosa.
Upon the person of the lady were found a diamond ring, hanging loosely
upon the slender bone of one finger, and on the lace cape over her bosom
a sprig breast-pin, whose leaves were emerald, and its flower of opal.
Her name, and that of the children also, was De Rosa. These valuables
were collected into a parcel, together with a lock of hair from each, as
the means of identifying them, should any clue be obtained to their
history and their home.
While removing a coarsely clothed skeleton from that corner of the
forecastle in which they wished to deposit the bones of the perished
family, they found it so much heavier than the others, as to induce a
closer examination. They found hid beneath the clothing, and belted to
the bones, a large girdle, containing fifty-four Mexican dollars, a
variety of gold pieces from different nations, and a lump of what
appeared to be gold and silver fused into one mass. The name of this
man could not be ascertained.
Their next work was to fumigate the cabin. They wrapped a little sugar
in a piece of brown paper, and setting it on fire, walked around the
room, waving it in every direction. The aromatic odour of the burnt
sugar pervaded every crack and cranny, and overwhelmed so entirely the
disgusting effluvium, that Robert snuffed at the pleasant fragrance, and
remarked, "There, now! the cabin is fit for the nose of a king. Let us
close up the forecastle, and return home."
Beside the provisions, which have been already mentioned as constituting
a part of the intended load for the raft, the boys carried out such
tools as they conceived needful for their work, consisting of adzes,
drawing-knives, augers, gimlets, chisels, planes, saws, square and
compass, and an oil-stone. They also took the box of sperm candles and
a box of soap; three cutlasses and a rapier, four pikes, four pair of
pistols, three rifles, two muskets, and flasks and pouches to suit.
Gunpowder they did not see, except what was in the flasks; they knew
there must be plenty in the magazine, which they supposed to be near the
officers’ rooms, but which they did not care then to visit.
A short but laborious tug against the tide, that set strongly up the
creek, brought them to the river, on which they floated gently home.
When within half a mile of the landing, they fired a gun, as a signal of
their approach; and long before they reached the shore, Mary and Frank
were seen running to meet them, with Mum and Fidelle scampering before,
and Sam hobbling far in the rear.
"Here, Frank, is your Christmas present," said Robert, when the raft
touched land; "and here, Sam, is yours, at least so long as we stay upon
the island."
He tossed the one a cocoanut, and handed the other a musket and cutlass.
Harold’s presents were still more acceptable; he gave Frank a nice
pocket-knife, somewhat the worse for rust, and gave Sam a large twist of
tobacco.
Frank’s eyes twinkled with pleasure at the sight of the knife; but Sam’s
expression of countenance was really ludicrous. He was a great chewer
and smoker of tobacco, and the sight of that big black twist, after so
long a privation, brought the tears to his eyes. He scraped his foot,
and tried to laugh.
"Tankee, Mas Robbut! Tousand tankee to you, Mas Harrol! Sword, gun,
tobacky! I-ee! I feel like I kin fight all de bear and panter in de
wull!"
As the work of unloading and transporting to the tent occupied only
about two hours, they had time sufficient, before dark, to construct
another and a larger raft. There was a poplar, fallen and dry, near the
water’s edge; this they cut into suitable lengths, and across the long
logs they laid a floor of short ones, so that they doubted not being
able at their next load to bring from the wreck all that they wished.