'Tis of more worth than kingdoms! far more precious
'Than all the crimson treasures of life's fountain!
Oh let it not elude thy grasp!
COTTON
Things were in this state, the sheik and his guests communicating by
signs, in such a way as completely to mystify each other; Mr. Monday
drinking, Mr. Dodge conjecturing, and parties quitting the camp and
arriving every ten minutes, when an Arab pointed eagerly with his finger
in the direction of the wreck. The head of the foremast was slowly rising,
and the look-out in the top was clinging to the spar, which began to cant,
in order to keep himself from falling. The sheik affected to smile; but he
was evidently disturbed, and two or three messengers were sent out into
the camp. In the meanwhile, the spar began to lower, and was soon entirely
concealed beneath the bank.
It was now apparent that the Arabs thought the moment had arrived when it
was their policy to interfere. The sheik, therefore, left his guests to be
entertained by two or three others who had joined in the potations, and
making the best assurances he could by means of signs, of his continued
amity, he left the tent. Laying aside all his arms, attended by two or
three old men like himself, he went boldly to the plank, and descended
quietly to the sands, where he found Captain Truck busied in endeavouring
to get the spar into the water. The top was already afloat, and the stick
itself was cut round in the right position for rolling, when the foul but
grave-looking barbarians appeared among the workmen. As the latter had
been apprised of their approach, and of the fact of their being unarmed,
no one left his employment to receive them, with the exception of Captain
Truck himself.
"Bear a hand with the spar, Mr. Leach," he said, "while I entertain these
gentlemen. It is a good sign that they come to us without arms, and it
shall never be said that we are behind them in civility. Half an hour will
settle our affairs, when these gentry are welcome to what will be left of
the Dane.--Your servant, gentlemen; I'm glad to see you, and beg the
honour to shake hands with all of you, from the oldest to the youngest."
Although the Arabs understood nothing that was said, they permitted
Captain Truck to give each of them a hearty shake of the hand, smiling and
muttering their own compliments with as much apparent good will as was
manifested by the old seaman himself.
"God help the Danes, if they have fallen into servitude among these
blackguards!" said the captain, aloud, while he was shaking the sheik a
second time most cordially by the hand, "for a fouler set of thieves I
never laid eyes on, Leach. Mr. Monday has tried the virtue of the
_schnaps_ on them, notwithstanding, for the odour of gin is mingled with
that of grease, about the old scoundrel.--Roll away at the spar, boys!
half-a-dozen more such heaves, and you will have him in his native
element, as the newspapers call it.--I'm glad to see you, gentlemen; we
are badly off as to chairs, on this beach, but to such as we have you are
heartily welcome.--Mr. Leach, the Arab sheik;--Arab sheik, Mr. Leach.--On
the bank there!"
"Sir."
"Any movement among the Arabs?"
"About thirty have just ridden back into the desert, mounted on camels,
sir; nothing more."
"No signs of our passengers?"
Ay, ay, sir. Here comes Mr. Dodge under full sail, heading for the bank,
as straight as he can lay his course!"
"Ha!--Is he pursued?"
The men ceased their work, and glanced aside at their arms.
"Not at all, sir. Mr. Monday is calling after him, and the Arabs seem to
be laughing. Mr. Monday is just splicing the main-brace with one of
the rascals."
"Let the Atlantic ocean, then, look out for itself, for Mr. Dodge will be
certain to run over it. Heave away, my hearties, and the stick will be
afloat yet before that gentleman is fairly docked."
The men worked with good will, but their zeal was far less efficient than
that of the editor of the Active Inquirer, who now broke through the
bushes, and plunged down the bank with a velocity which, if continued,
would have carried him to Dodgeopolis itself within the month. The Arabs
started at this sudden apparition, but perceiving that those around them
laughed, they were disposed to take the interruption in good part. The
look-out now announced the approach of Mr. Monday, followed by fifty
Arabs; the latter, however, being without arms, and the former without his
hat. The moment was critical, but the steadiness of Captain Truck did not
desert him. Issuing a rapid order to the second mate, with a small party
previously selected for that duty, to stand by the arms, he urged the rest
of the people to renewed exertions. Just as this was done, Mr. Monday
appeared on the bank, with a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other,
calling aloud to Mr. Dodge to return and drink with the Arabs.
"Do not disgrace Christianity in this unmannerly way," he said; "but show
these gentlemen of the desert that we know what propriety is. Captain
Truck, I beg of you to urge Mr. Dodge to return. I was about to sing the
Arabs 'God save the King,' and in a few more minutes we should have had
'Rule Britannia,' when we should have been the best friends and companions
in the world. Captain Truck, I've the honour to drink your health."
But Captain Truck viewed the matter differently. Both his ambassadors were
now safely back, for Mr. Monday came down upon the beach, followed, it is
true, by all the Arabs, and the mast was afloat, He thought it better,
therefore, that Mr. Dodge should remain, and that the two parties should
be as quietly, but as speedily as possible, separated. He ordered the
hauling line to be fastened to the mast, and as the stick was slowly going
out through the surf, he issued the order for the men to collect their
implements, take their arms, and to assemble in a body at the rocks, where
the jolly-boat still lay.
"Be quick, men, but be steady; for there are a hundred of these rascals on
the beach already, and all the last-comers are armed. We might pick up a
few more useful things from the wreck, but the wind is coming in from the
westward, and our principal concern now will be to save what we have got.
Lead Mr. Monday along with you, Leach, for he is so full of diplomacy and
_schnaps_ just now that he forgets his safety. As for Mr. Dodge, I see he
is stowed away in the boat already, as snug as the ground-tier in a ship
loaded with molasses. Count the men off, sir, and see that no one
is missing."
By this time, the state of things on the beach had undergone material
changes. The wreck was full of Arabs, some of whom were armed and some
not; while mauls, crows hand-spikes, purchases, coils of rigging, and
marling-spikes were scattered about on the sands, just where they had been
dropped by the seamen. A party of fifty Arabs had collected around the
rocks, where, by this time, all the mariners were assembled, intermingling
with the latter, and apparently endeavouring to maintain the friendly
relations which had been established by Mr. Monday. As a portion of these
men were also armed, Captain Truck disliked their proceedings; but the
inferiority of his numbers, and the disadvantage under which he was
placed, compelled him to resort to management rather than force, in order
to extricate himself.
The Arabs now crowded around and intermingled with the seamen, thronged
the ship, and lined the bank, to the number of more than two hundred. It
became evident that their true force had been underrated, and that
additions were constantly making to it, from those who lay behind the
ridges of sand. All those who appeared last, had arms of one kind or
another, and several brought fire-arms, which they gave to the sheik, and
to those who had first descended to the beach. Still, every face seemed
amicable, and the men were scarcely permitted to execute their orders,
from the frequent interruptions to exchange tokens of friendship.
But Captain Truck fully believed that hostilities were intended, and
although he had suffered himself in some measure to be surprised, he set
about repairing his error with great judgment and admirable steadiness.
His first step was to extricate his own people from those who pressed upon
them, a thing that was effected by causing a few to take a position, that
might be defended, higher among the rocks, as they afforded a good deal of
cover, and which communicated directly with the place where they had
landed; and then ordering the remainder of the men to fall back singly. To
prevent an alarm, each man was called off by name, and in this manner the
whole party had got within the prescribed limits, before the Arabs, who
were vociferating and talking altogether, seemed to be aware of the
movement. When some of the latter attempted to follow, they were gently
repulsed by the sentinels. All this time Captain Truck maintained the
utmost cordiality towards the sheik, keeping near him, and amongst the
Arabs himself. The work of plunder, in the meantime, had begun in earnest
in the wreck, and this he thought a favourable symptom, as men thus
employed would be less likely to make a hostile attack. Still he knew that
prisoners were of great account among these barbarians, and that an
attempt to tow the raft off from the land, in open boats, where his people
would be exposed to every shot from the wreck, would subject them to he
greatest danger of defeat, were the former disposed to prevent it.
Having reflected a few minutes on his situation. Captain Truck issued his
final orders. The jolly-boat might carry a dozen men at need, though they
would be crowded and much exposed to fire; and he, therefore, caused eight
to get into her, and to pull out to the launch. Mr. Leach went with this
party, for the double purpose of directing its movements, and of being
separated from his commander, in order that one of those who were of so
much importance to the packet, might at least stand a chance of being
saved. This separation also was effected without alarming the Arabs,
though Captain Truck observed that the sheik watched the
proceeding narrowly.
As soon as Mr. Leach had reached the launch, he caused a light kedge to be
put into the jolly-boat, and coils of the lightest rigging he had were
laid on the top of it, or were made on the bows of the launch. As soon as
this was done, the boat was pulled a long distance off from the land,
paying out the ropes first from the launch, and then from the boat itself,
until no more of the latter remained. The kedge was then dropped, and the
men in the launch began to haul in upon the ropes that were attached to
it. As the jolly-boat returned immediately, and her crew joined in the
work, the line of boats, the kedge by which they had previously ridden
having been first raised, began slowly to recede from the shore.
Captain Truck had rightly conjectured the effect of this movement. It was
so unusual and so gradual, that the launch and the raft were warped up to
the kedge, before the Arabs fully comprehended its nature. The boats were
now more than a quarter of a mile from the wreck, for Mr. Leach had run
out quite two hundred fathoms of small rope, and of course, so distant as
greatly to diminish the danger from the muskets of the Arabs, though still
within reach of their range. Near an hour was passed in effecting this
point, which, as the sea and wind were both rising, could not probably
have been effected in any other manner, half as soon, if at all.
The state of the weather, and the increasing turbulence of the barbarians,
now rendered it extremely desirable to all on the rocks to be in their
boats again. A very moderate blow would compel them to abandon their
hard-earned advantages, and it began to be pretty evident, from the
manners of those around them, that amity could not much longer be
maintained. Even the old sheik retired, and, instead of going to the
wreck, he joined the party on the beach, where he was seen in earnest
conversation with several other old men, all of whom gesticulated
vehemently, as they pointed towards the boats and to the party on
the rocks.
Mr. Leach now pulled in towards the bar, with both the jolly-boats and the
cutter, having only two oars each, half his men being left in the launch.
This was done that the people might not be crowded at the critical moment,
and that, at need, there might be room to fight as well as to row; all
these precautions having been taken in consequence of Captain Truck's
previous orders. When the boats reached the rocks, the people did not
hurry into them; but a quarter of an hour was passed in preparations, as
if they were indifferent about proceeding, and even then the jolly-boat
alone took in a portion, and pulled leisurely without the bar. Here she
lay on her oars, in order to cover the passage of the other boats, if
necessary, with her fire. The cutter imitated this manoeuvre, and the boat
of the wreck went last. Captain Truck quitted the rock after all the
others, though his embarkation was made rapidly by a prompt and
sudden movement.
Not a shot was fired, however, and, contrary to his own most ardent hopes,
the captain found himself at the launch, with all his people unhurt, and
with all the spars he had so much desired to obtain. The forbearance of
the Arabs was a mystery to him, for he had fully expected hostilities
would commence, every moment, for the last two hours. Nor was he yet
absolutely out of danger, though there was time to pause and look about
him, and to take his succeeding measures more deliberately. The first
report was a scarcity of both food and water. For both these essentials
the men had depended on the wreck, and, in the eagerness to secure the
foremast, and subsequently to take care of themselves, these important
requisites had been overlooked, quite probably, too, as much from a
knowledge that the Montauk was so near, as from hurry. Still both were
extremely desirable, if not indispensable, to men who had the prospect of
many hours' hard work before them; and Captain Truck's first impulse was
to despatch a boat to the ship for supplies. This intention was
reluctantly abandoned, however, on account of the threatening appearance
of the weather.
There was no danger of a gale, but a smart sea breeze was beginning to set
in, and the surface of the ocean was, as usual, getting to be agitated.
Changing all his plans therefore, the Captain turned his immediate
attention to the safety of the all-important spars.
"We can eat to-morrow, men," he said; "but if we lose these sticks, our
chance for getting any more will indeed be small. Take a gang on the raft,
Mr. Leach, and double all the lashings, while I see that we get an offing.
If the wind rises any more, we shall need it, and even then be worse off
than we could wish."
The mate passed upon the raft, and set about securing all the spars by
additional fastenings; for the working, occasioned by the sea, already
rendered them loose, and liable to separate. While this was in train, the
two jolly-boats took in lines and kedges, of which, luckily, they had one
that was brought from the packet, besides two found in the wreck, and
pulled off into the ocean. As soon as one kedge was dropped, that by which
the launch rode was tripped, and the boats were hauled up to it, the other
jolly-boat proceeding on to renew the process. In this manner, in the
course of two more hours, the whole, raft and all, were warped broad off
from the land, and to windward, quite two miles, when the water became so
deep that Captain Truck reluctantly gave the order to cease.
"I would gladly work our way into the offing in this mode, three or four
leagues," he said, "by which means we might make a fair wind of it. As it
is, we must get all clear, and do as well as we can. Rig the masts in the
launch, Mr. Leach, and we will see what can be done with this dull craft
we have in tow."
While this order was in course of execution, the glass was used to
ascertain the manner in which the Arabs were occupied. To the surprise of
all in the boats, every soul of them had disappeared. The closest scrutiny
could not detect one near the wreck, on the beach, nor even at the spot
where the tents had so lately stood.
"They are all off, by George!" cried Captain Truck, when fully satisfied
of the fact. "Camels, tents, and Arabs! The rascals have loaded their
beasts already, and most probably have gone to hide their plunder, that
they may be back and make sure of a second haul, before any of their
precious brother vultures, up in the sands, get a scent of the carrion.
D--n the rogues; I thought at one time they had me in a category! Well,
joy be with them! Mr. Monday, I return you my hearty thanks for the manly,
frank, and diplomatic manner in which you have discharged the duties of
your mission. Without you, we might not have succeeded in getting the
foremast. Mr. Dodge, you have the high consolation of knowing that,
throughout this trying occasion, you have conducted yourself in a way no
other man of the party could have done."
Mr. Monday was sleeping off the fumes of the _schnaps_, but Mr. Dodge
bowed to the compliment, and foresaw many capital things for the journal,
and for the columns of the Active Inquirer. He even began to meditate
a book.
Now commenced much the most laborious and critical part of the service
that Captain Truck had undertaken, if we except the collision with the
Arabs--that of towing all the heavy spars of a large ship, in one raft, in
the open sea, near a coast, and with the wind blowing on shore. It is true
he was strong-handed, being able to put ten oars in the launch, and four
in all the other boats; but, after making sail, and pulling steadily for
an hour, it was discovered that all their exertions would not enable them
to reach the ship, if the wind stood, before the succeeding day. The drift
to leeward, or towards the beach, was seriously great, every heave of the
sea setting them bodily down before it; and by the time they were half a
mile to the southward, they were obliged to anchor, in order to keep clear
of the breakers, which by this time extended fully a mile from shore.
Decision was fortunately Captain Truck's leading quality. He foresaw the
length and severity of the struggle that was before them, and the men had
not been pulling ten minutes, before he ordered Mr. Leach, who was in the
cutter, to cast off his line and to come alongside the launch.
"Pull back to the wreck, sir," he said, "and bring off all you can lay
hands on, in the way of bread, water, and other comforts. We shall make a
night of it, I see. We will keep a look-out for you, and if any Arabs
heave in sight on the plain, a musket will be fired; if so many as to
render a hint to abscond necessary, two muskets will be fired, and the
mainsail of the launch will be furled for two minutes; more time than that
we cannot spare you."
Mr. Leach obeyed this order, and with great success. Luckily the cook had
left the coppers full of food, enough to last twenty-four hours, and this
had escaped the Arabs, who were ignorant where to look for it. In
addition, there was plenty of bread and water, and "a bull of Jamaica" had
been discovered, by the instinct of one of the hands, which served
admirably to keep the people in good humour. This timely supply had
arrived just as the launch anchored, and Mr. Truck welcomed it with all
his heart; for without it, he foresaw he should soon be obliged to abandon
his precious prize.
When the people were refreshed, the long and laborious process of warping
off the land was resumed, and, in the course of two hours more, the raft
was got fully a league into the offing, a shoal permitting the kedges to
be used farther out this time than before. Then sail was again made, and
the oars were once more plied. But the sea still proved their enemy,
though they had struck the current which began to set them south. Had
there been no wind and sea, the progress of the boats would now have been
comparatively easy and quick; but these two adverse powers drove them in
towards the beach so fast, that they had scarcely made two miles from the
wreck when they were compelled a second time to anchor.
No alternative remained but to keep warping off in this manner, and then
to profit by the offing they had made as well as they could, the result
bringing them at sunset nearly up with the headland that shut out the view
of their own vessel, from which Captain Truck now calculated that he was
distant a little less than two leagues. The wind had freshened, and though
it was not by any means so strong as to render the sea dangerous, it
increased the toil of the men to such a degree, that he reluctantly
determined to seek out a proper anchorage, and to give his wearied people
some rest.
It was not in the power of the seamen to carry their raft into any haven,
for to the northward of the headland, or on the side on which they were,
there was no reef, nor any bay to afford them shelter. The coast was one
continued waving line of sand-banks, and in most places, when there was a
wind, the water broke at the distance of a mile from the beach; the
precise spot where the Dane had stranded his vessel, having most probably
been chosen for that purpose, with a view to save the lives of the people.
Under these circumstances nothing remained but to warp off again to a safe
distance, and to secure the boats as well as they could for the night.
This was effected by eight o'clock, and Captain Truck gave the order to
let go two additional kedges, being determined not to strike adrift in the
darkness, if it was in his power to prevent it. When this was done, the
people had their suppers, a watch was set, and the remainder went
to sleep.
As the three passengers had been exempted from the toil, they volunteered
to look out for the safety of the boats until midnight, in order that the
men might obtain as much rest as possible; and half an hour after the crew
were lost in the deep slumber of seamen, Captain Truck and these gentlemen
were seated in the launch, holding a dialogue on the events of the day.
"You found the Arabs conversable and ready at the cup, Mr. Monday?"
observed the captain, lighting a cigar, which with him was a never-failing
sign for a gossip. "Men that, if they had been sent to school young,
taught to dance, and were otherwise civilized, might make reasonably good
ship mates, in this roving world of ours?"
"Upon my word, sir, I look upon the sheik as uncommon gentleman-like, and
altogether as a good fellow. He took his glass without any grimaces,
smiled whenever he said any thing, though I could not understand a word he
said, and answered all my remarks quite as civilly as if he spoke English.
I must say, I think Mr. Dodge manifested a want of consideration in
quitting his company with so little ceremony. The gentleman was hurt, I'll
answer for it, and he would say as much if he could only make out to
explain himself on the subject. Sir George, I regret we had not the
honour of your company on the occasion, for I have been told these Arabs
have a proper respect for the nobility and gentry. Mr. Dodge and myself
were but poor substitutes for a gentleman like yourself."
The trained humility of Mr. Monday was little to the liking of Mr. Dodge,
who by the sheer force of the workings of envy had so long been
endeavouring to persuade others that he was the equal of any and every
other man--a delusion, however, in which he could not succeed in
persuading himself to fall into--and he was not slow in exhibiting the
feeling it awakened.
"Sir George Templemore has too just a sense of the rights of nations to
make this distinction, Mr. Monday," he said. "If I left the Arab sheik a
little abruptly, it was because I disliked his ways; for I take it Africa
is a free country, and that no man is obliged to remain longer in a tent
than it suits his own convenience. Captain Truck knows that I was merely
running down the beach to inform him that the sheik intended to follow,
and he no doubt appreciates my motive."
"If not, Mr. Dodge," put in the captain, "like other patriots, you must
trust to posterity to do you justice. The joints and sinews are so
differently constructed in different men, that one never knows exactly how
to calculate on speed; but this much I will make affidavit to, if you wish
it, on reaching home, and that is, that a better messenger could not be
found than Mr. Steadfast Dodge, for a man in a hurry. Sir George
Templemore, we have had but a few of your opinions since you came out on
this expedition, and I should be gratified to hear your sentiments
concerning the Arabs, and any thing else that may suggest itself at
the moment."
"Oh, captain! I think the wretches odiously dirty, and judging from
appearances, I should say sadly deficient in comforts."
"In the way of breeches in particular; for I am inclined to think, Sir
George, you are master of more than are to be found in their whole nation.
Well, gentlemen, one must certainly travel who wishes to see the world;
but for this sheer down here upon the coast of Africa, neither of us might
have ever known how an Arab lives, and what a nimble wrecker he makes. For
my own part, if the choice lay between filling the office of Jemmy Ducks,
on board the Montauk, and that of sheik in this tribe, I should, as we say
in America, Mr. Dodge, leave it to the people, and do all in my power to
obtain the first situation. Sir George, I'm afraid all these _county
tongues_, as Mr. Dodge calls them, in the way of wind and weather, will
quite knock the buffalo hunt on the Prairies in the head, for this fall
at least."
"I beg, Captain Truck, you will not discredit my French in this way. I do
not call a disappointment '_county tongues_,' but '_contra toms_;' the
phrase probably coming from some person of the name of _tom_, who was
_contra_, or opposed to every one else."
"Perfectly explained, and as clear as bilge-water. Sir George, has Mr.
Dodge mentioned to you the manner in which these Arabs enjoy life? The
gentlemen, by way of saving; dish-water, eat half-a-dozen at a time out of
the same plate. Quite republican, and altogether without pride, Mr. Dodge,
in their notions!"
"Why, sir, many of their habits struck me as being simple and
praiseworthy, during the short time I remained in their country; and I
dare say, one who had leisure to study them might find materials for
admiration. I can readily imagine situations in which a man has no right
to appropriate a whole dish to himself."
"No doubt, and he who wishes a thing so unreasonable must be a great hog!
What a thing is sleep! Here are these fine fellows as much lost to their
dangers and toils as if at home, and tucked in by their careful and pious
mothers. Little did the good souls who nursed them, and sung pious songs
over their cradles, fancy the hardships they were bringing them up to! But
we never know our fates, or miserable dogs most of us would be. Is it not
so, Sir George?"
The baronet started at this appeal, which crossed the quaint mind of the
captain as a cloud darkens a sunny view, and he muttered a hasty
expression of hope that there was now no particular reason to expect any
more serious obstacles to their reaching the ship.
"It is not an easy thing to tow a heavy raft in light boats like these,
exactly in the direction you wish it to go," returned the captain, gaping.
"He who trusts to the winds and waves, trusts an uncertain friend, and one
who may fail him at the very moment when there is most need of their
services. Fair as things now seem, I would give a thousand dollars of a
small stock, in which no single dollar has been lightly earned, to see
these spars safely on board the Montauk, and snugly fitted to their proper
places. Sticks, gentlemen, are to a ship what limbs are to a man. Without
them she rolls and tumbles about as winds, currents, and seas will; while
with them she walks, and dances, and jumps Jim Crow; ay, almost talks. The
standing rigging are the bones and gristle; the running gear the veins in
which her life circulates; and the blocks the joints."
"And which is the heart?" asked Sir George.
"Her heart is the master. With a sufficient commander no stout ship is
ever lost, so long as she has a foot of water beneath her false keel, or a
ropeyarn left to turn to account."
"And yet the Dane had all these."
"All but the water. The best craft that was ever launched, is of less use
than a single camel, if laid high and dry on the sands of Africa. These
poor wretches truly! And yet their fate might have been ours, though I
thought little of the risk while we were in the midst of the Arabs. It is
still a mystery to me why they let us escape, especially as they so soon
deserted the wreck. They were strong-handed, too; counting all who came
and went, I think not less than several hundreds."
The captain now became silent and thoughtful, and, as the wind continued
to rise, he began to feel uneasiness about his ship. Once or twice he
expressed a half-formed determination to pull to her in one of the light
boats, in order to look after her safety in person, and then he abandoned
it, as he witnessed the rising of the sea, and the manner in which the
massive raft caused the cordage by which it was held to strain. At length
he too fell asleep, and we shall leave him and his party for awhile, and
return to the Montauk, to give an account of what occurred on board
that ship.