Listen, O ye who lie comfortably asleep, secure in your homes, oblivious
of danger, when the tempest is roaring overhead! Come, let us together
wing our flight to the seashore, and cast a searching glance far and
near over the strand.
On a certain Friday morning in the year 18 hundred and something, a
terrific gale broke over the east coast, and everywhere the lifeboat men
went out to watch the raging sea, knowing full well that ere long there
would be rough but glorious work for them to do. A tremendous sea ran
high on the bar at Tynemouth, and rolled with tremendous force on the
Black Middens--rocks that are black indeed, in their history as well as
their aspect. A barque was seen making for the Tyne, towed by a
steam-tug. A sudden squall struck them; the tug was forced to let the
vessel go, and she went on the rocks. A few minutes had barely passed
when another vessel was descried, a brig, which made for the harbour,
missed it, and was driven on the same fatal rocks a few yards south of
the barque. The alarm-gun was fired, and the members of the Tynemouth
_Volunteer Life Brigade_ were quickly at the scene of disaster. The
rocket apparatus was fired, and a line passed over one of the vessels;
but other anxious eyes had been on the look-out that night, and soon the
salvage boat _William_ was launched at North Shields, and the South
Shields men launched the Tynemouth lifeboat. The _Constant_ lifeboat
also put off to the rescue. It was getting dark by that time, so that
those on shore could not see the boats after they had engaged in strife
with the raging sea. Meanwhile part of the crew of the barque were
saved by the rocket apparatus, but those of the brig did not know how to
use it, and they would certainly have perished had not the _William_ got
alongside and rescued them all. While this was going on a third vessel
was driven ashore on the Battery Rock. The South Shields lifeboat made
towards her, succeeded in getting alongside, and rescued the crew.
A mile west of Folkestone Harbour a brigantine, laden with rum and
sugar, went ashore, broadside-on, near Sandgate Castle. The ever-ready
coastguardsmen turned out. A Sandgate fisherman first passed a small
grapnel on board, then the coastguard sent out a small line with a
lifebuoy attached and one by one the crew were all saved--the men of the
coastguard with ropes round their waists, standing in the surf as deep
as they dared to venture, catching the men who dropped, and holding
their heads above water until they were safe. But the gallant
coastguardsmen had other work cut out for them that night. Besides
saving life, it was their duty to protect property. The cargo was a
tempting one to many roughs who had assembled. When the tide receded,
these attempted to get on board the wreck and regale themselves. The
cutlasses of the coastguard, however, compelled them to respect the
rights of private property, and taught them the majesty of the law!
Elsewhere along the coast many vessels were wrecked, and many lives were
lost that night, while many more were saved by the gallant lifeboat
crews, the details of which, if written, would thrill many a sympathetic
breast from John o' Groat's to the Land's End; but passing by these we
turn to one particular vessel which staggered in the gale of that night,
but which, fortunately for those on board, was still at some distance
from the dangerous and dreaded shore.
It was the _Ocean Queen_. Mr Webster was seated in her cabin, his face
very pale, and his hands grasping the arms of the locker tightly to
prevent his being hurled to leeward. Annie sat beside him with her arms
round his waist. She was alarmed and looked anxious, but evidently
possessed more courage than her father. There was some reason for this,
however, for she did not know that Mr Webster's fortunes had got into
such a desperate case, that for the retrieving of them he depended very
much on the successful voyage of the _Ocean Queen_.
"Don't be so cast down, father," said Annie; "I heard the captain say
that we shall be in sight of land to-morrow."
"Heaven forbid," said Mr Webster. "Better to be in mid-ocean than near
land on such a night."
Annie was about to reply when the door opened, and the captain looked
in. He wore a sou'-wester, and was clad in oilcloth garments from head
to foot, which shone like black satin with the dripping spray.
"We're getting on famously," he said in a hearty tone, "the wind has
shifted round to the sou'-west, and if it holds--we shall--"
"Sprung a leak, sir!" cried the first mate in a deep excited voice as he
looked down the companion.
"What!" exclaimed the captain, rushing upon deck.
"Plank must have started, sir, there's three foot water in--"
His voice was drowned by distance and the roaring of the gale, but Mr
Webster and Annie had heard enough to fill them with alarm.
The _Ocean Queen_ had indeed sprung a leak, and so bad was it that when
all the pumps available were set a-going, they failed to reduce the
depth of water in the hold. Still, by constantly changing hands and
making strenuous exertions, they prevented it from increasing rapidly.
All that night and next day they wrought with unflagging energy at the
pumps. No man on board spared himself. The captain took his spell with
the rest. Even Mr Webster threw off his coat and went to work as if he
had been born and bred a coal-heaver. The work, however, was very
exhausting, and when land appeared no one seemed to have any heart to
welcome it except Annie and her old nurse Mrs Niven.
Towards evening of the next day the captain came up to Mr Webster, who
was seated on the cabin skylight with his head resting wearily on his
hands.
"We cannot make the port of Liverpool, I find," he said. "The pilot
says that if we wish to save the ship we must run for the nearest
harbour on the coast, which happens, unfortunately, to be the very small
one of Covelly."
"Then by all means run for it," said Mr Webster. "Strange," he
muttered to himself, "that fate should lead me there."
The head of the _Ocean Queen_ was at once turned towards the shore, and
as they neared it Mr Webster stood talking to Annie about the time
"long, long ago," when she had been rescued by a lifeboat there, and
remarking on the curious coincidence that she should happen to come to
the same place in distress a second time.
The gale, although somewhat more moderate, was still blowing strong, and
an "ugly sea" was rolling on the bank where the _Swordfish_ had gone
ashore many years before. This, however, mattered little, because the
direction of the wind was such that they could steer well clear of it.
But the channel leading to the harbour was very sinuous, and, as the
pilot observed, required careful steering. In one part this channel was
so crooked that it became necessary to go on the other tack a short
distance. In ordinary circumstances the captain would have thought
nothing of this, but he felt anxious just then, because some of the
stores and cordage furnished by mistake to him had been intended for the
_Ruby_. Now the _Ruby_ was one of the vessels of Webster and Company
which had been sent away with the hope, if not the intention, that it
should be wrecked! The mistake had been discovered only after the
_Ocean Queen_ had set sail.
"Ready about," cried the pilot.
The men leaped to their respective places.
"Take another pull at that fores'l sheet," said the pilot.
This was done. At sea this would not have been necessary, because the
ship was lively and answered her helm well, but in the narrow channel
things had to be done more vigorously. The extra pull was given. The
tackle of the foresail sheet had been meant for the _Ruby_. It snapped
asunder, and the ship missed stays and fell away.
Instantly all was desperate confusion. A hurried attempt was made to
wear ship, then two anchors were let go, but almost before the startled
owner was aware of what had occurred, the good ship received a shock
which made her quiver from stem to stern. She lifted with the next
wave, and in another minute was fast on the shoal which had proved fatal
to the _Swordfish_, with the waves dashing wildly over her.
Long before this occurred, our hero, Harry Boyns, had been watching the
vessel with considerable anxiety. He little knew who was on board of
her, else would his anxiety have been infinitely increased. But Harry
was one of those men who do not require the spur of self-interest to
keep them alive to duty. He had observed that the ship was in distress,
and, as the honorary secretary of the Lifeboat Branch, he summoned
together the crew of his boat. Thus all was in readiness for action
when the disaster occurred to the _Ocean Queen_.
Instantly the lifeboat was run down to the beach, where hundreds of
willing hands were ready to launch her, for the people had poured out of
the town on the first rumour of what was going on. The crew leaped into
the boat and seized the oars. The launching-ropes were manned. A loud
"Huzzah" was given, and the lifeboat shot forth on her voyage of mercy,
cutting right through the first tremendous billow that met her.
At that time Old Jacob, the coxswain of the boat, happened to be unwell;
Harry himself therefore took the steering-oar, and Bob Gaston was in the
bow. Mr Joseph Dowler chanced to be among the spectators on shore.
That fussy and conceited individual, conceiving it to be a fitting
occasion for the exercise of his tremendous powers, stood upon an
elevated rock and began a wildly enthusiastic speech to which nobody
listened, and in which he urged the lifeboatmen to do their duty in
quite a Nelsonian spirit. Fortunately a sudden gust of wind blew him
off his perch. He fell on his head so that his hat was knocked over his
eyes, and before he was thoroughly extricated from it, the lifeboat was
far from shore, and the men were doing their duty nobly, even although
Mr Dowler's appeal had failed to reach their ears!
It was a tough pull, for wind, waves, and tide combined to beat them
back, but they combined in vain. Inch by inch they advanced, slowly and
laboriously, although it was so bitterly cold that the men had little
feeling in the benumbed hands with which they pulled so gallantly.
At last they reached the vessel, pulled well to windward, cast anchor,
and eased off the cable, until they passed her stern and got under her
lee. Just then Harry looked up and felt as if he had received a shock
from electric fire, for he beheld the pale face of Annie Webster gazing
at him with glowing eyes! No longer did he feel the chilling blast.
The blood rushed wildly through his veins as he shouted--
"Look alive, Bob,--heave!"
Bob Gaston stood up in the bow, and, with a beautiful swing, cast a line
on board, by means of which the boat was hauled alongside. Just at that
moment the mainyard came down with a thundering crash upon the ship's
deck, fortunately injuring no one. At the same time a tremendous billow
broke over the stern of the _Ocean Queen_, and falling into the lifeboat
in a cataract completely sunk her. She rose like a cork, keel
uppermost, and would have righted at once, but a bight of the mainsail,
with some of the wreck, held her down. Her crew, one by one, succeeded
in clambering upon her, and Harry shouted to the men in the ship to hand
him an axe. One was thrown to him which he caught, and began therewith
to cut the wreck of cordage.
"Slit the sail with your knife, Bob Gaston," he cried, but Bob did not
reply. All the other men were there; Bob alone was missing. The
difficulty of acting in such turmoil is not to be easily estimated.
Twenty minutes elapsed before the boat was cleared. When this was
accomplished she righted at once, and Bob Gaston was found sticking to
the bottom of her, inside, having found sufficient air and space there
to keep him alive!
Another moment and Harry Boyns was on the deck of the wreck.
Perhaps the most earnest "Thank God" that ever passed his lips burst
from them when he seized Annie's hand and entreated her to go with him
at once into the boat.
"Stay! hold!" cried Mr Webster, seizing Harry wildly by the sleeve and
whispering to him in quick earnest tones, "Can nothing be done to save
the ship? _All is lost_ if she goes!"
"Hold on a minute, lads," cried Harry to the men in the boat; "are the
pumps working free,--is your ground tackle good?" he added, turning
hastily to the captain.
"Ay, but the men are used up--utterly exhausted."
"Jump aboard, lads," cried Harry to his men.
The men obeyed, leaving four of their number in the boat to keep her off
the ship's side. Under Harry's orders some of them manned the pumps,
while others went to the windlass.
"Come, boys, make one more effort to save the ship," cried Harry to the
fatigued crew; "the tide will rise for another hour, we'll save her yet
if you have pluck to try."
Thus appealed to they all set to work, and hove with such goodwill that
the ship was soon hauled off the sands--an event which was much
accelerated by the gradual abating of the gale and rising of the tide.
When it was thought safe to do this, the sails were trimmed, the cables
cut, and, finally, the _Ocean Queen_ was carried triumphantly into
port--saved by the Covelly Lifeboat.
Need we tell you, good reader, that Mr Webster and his daughter, and
Mrs Niven, spent that night under the roof of hospitable Mrs Boyns?
who--partly because of the melancholy that ever rested like a soft cloud
on her mild countenance, and partly because the cap happened to suit her
cast of features--looked a very charming widow indeed. Is it necessary
to state that Mr Webster changed his sentiments in regard to young
Captain Boyns, and that, from regarding him first with dislike and then
with indifference, he came to look upon him as one of the best fellows
that ever lived, and was rather pleased than otherwise when he saw him
go out, on the first morning after the rescue above recorded, to walk
with his daughter among the romantic cliffs of Covelly!
Surely not! It would be an insult to your understanding to suppose that
you required such information.
It may be, however, necessary to let you know that, not many weeks after
these events, widow Boyns received a letter telling her that Captain
Daniel Boyns was still alive and well, and that she might expect to see
him within a very short period of time!
On reading thus far, poor Mrs Boyns fell flat on the sofa in a dead
faint, and, being alone at the time, remained in that condition till she
recovered, when she eagerly resumed the letter, which went on to say
that, after the bottle containing the message from the sea had been cast
overboard, the pirates had put himself and his remaining companions--six
in number--into a small boat, and left them to perish on the open sea,
instead of making them walk the plank, as they had at first threatened.
That, providentially, a whale-ship had picked them up two days
afterwards, and carried them off on a three years' cruise to the South
Seas, where she was wrecked on an uninhabited island. That there they
had dwelt from that time to the present date without seeing a single
sail--the island being far out of the track of merchant vessels. That
at last a ship had been blown out of its course near the island, had
taken them on board, and, finally, that here he was, and she might even
expect to see him _in a few hours_!
This epistle was written in a curiously shaky hand, and was much
blotted, yet, strange to say, it did not seem to have travelled far, it
being quite clean and fresh!
The fact was that Captain Boyns was a considerate man. He had gone into
a public-house, not ten yards distant from his own dwelling, to pen this
letter, fearing that the shock would be too much for his wife if not
broken gradually to her. But his impatience was great. He delivered
the letter at his own door, and stood behind it just long enough, as he
thought, to give her plenty of time to read it, and then burst in upon
her just as she was recovering somewhat of her wonted self-possession.
Over the scene that followed we drop the curtain, and return to Mr
Webster, who is once again seated in the old chair in the old office,
gazing contemplatively at the portrait of his deceased wife's father.