I don't care who the man may be, but it is a hard struggle for any one
to see two roads open to him, the first leading to life, and the second
to a horrible death, and for him to force himself to take the last one.
I'm not going to blame Sam, nor I ain't a-going to blame Bill Smith. It
was only natur's first law, when Sam says to me just one word, and give
his head a nod seaward. "Hot!" says he; and he took a header off the
ship's side, and strikes out towards the last boat. Then, "Come along,
matey," says Bill; and he takes his header, and swims arter the boat--
and that was two gone. As for Mr Tomtit, he was so taken up with his
poor birds, that he didn't seem to care a bit about hisself, till I goes
up to him and says:
"Hadn't you better try and make the last boat, sir?"
"Make the boat, my man?" he says in a puzzled sort of way. "No; I don't
think I could make a boat."
"Swim arter it, then," I says.
"No," he says mournfully; "I can't swim a stroke."
"More shame for you," I says. And then I felt so savage, that I goes up
to the fat passenger as was sitting crying on the deck of course, and I
says, says I, giving him a sharp kick:
"Get up," I says, "will you! You're always a-crying."
"O, Mr Roberts," he says, blubbering like a calf--"O, Mr Roberts, to
come to this!"
"Go overboard, then," I says savagely; "for now you've pumped all that
hot water out of your hold, you can't sink."
Now all this time the fire was roaring away, and sending a glow in all
directions for far enough round, while the sparks kept on dropping like
a shower. It was a beautiful sight in spite of the horror; and I
couldn't help looking at it a minute, till I turned round and saw Mr
Ward standing quite still, looking down upon Miss Bell, who was on her
knees by her brother's side. But as I was looking, she got up pale and
quiet, and looked first at me, and then at Mr Ward, and then she says
quickly:
"Why do you both waste time? Why do you not swim after the boat?"
"And you?" said Mr Ward in a slow husky way.
She did not answer, only turned for a moment towards where her brother
lay with his head on a cushion, and pointed to him with a sad smile, and
then, holding out her hand to me as she sank upon her knees again by her
brother's side, she said:
"God bless you, Mr Roberts! Good-bye."
I took her pretty little white hand, and kissed it, and then stood back;
for she held out her hand to Mr Ward; and he took it and kissed it, and
then sank on his knees by her side, holding her hand tightly; and when
she said once more, "Go!" he only smiled and kissed her hand again.
It was so still, in spite of the fluttering roar of the flames, that I
could hear every word he said, as he almost whispered to her: "Eady,
darling, I'll never leave you."
The next moment her face was down in her other hand, and I could see
that she was sobbing, so, feeling all wet-eyed myself, I turned away,
when if there wasn't that fat passenger blubbering away more than ever!
"Get up, will you," I says; "I never did see such a thundering swab in
my life as you are." But all he says was: "O, Mr Roberts!"
All at once I heard Miss Bell give a great cry; and, turning round, I
saw that Mr Bell had started up, and she was clinging to him: then he
held out his hand to Mr Ward; but before he could take it, the poor
fellow fell back. He was free of his trouble.
Now you know I wouldn't have cared if that there fat passenger would
only have kept out of my way; but there, the more trouble one was in,
and the more he was wanted out of the way, the more he piped his eye,
and got just where you didn't want him. He always was a nuisance from
the day he first came on board, and to make it more aggravating, he
would look just as if he was made on purpose to kick.
"Why won't you get out of the way?" I says; for all this time I'd been
turning over in my own mind a way to get out of the burning, if we
could, and there was that great fat chap a-sitting on a hencoop that I
wanted.
"O, Mr Roberts!" he whines again. And he cries: "O, look there!"
And I did look, when, if there wasn't my two poor mates just coming up
to the last boat--we could see it plainly; and if one brute didn't fire
at 'em, and another stand up with the boat-hook in his hand, ready to
shore the first one under.
"God help 'em," I says, "for I can't;" and then, Mr Ward helping me, we
got a couple of loose spars overboard, and some rope to lash with, and a
couple of hencoops; and as fast as Mr Ward, and Tomtit, and the fat
passenger, who seemed to have been warmed into life by the fire--as fast
as they lowered the stuff down, I, who was over the side, lashed it
together, to make something like a raft.
I couldn't do much; there wasn't time, for the fire gained upon us; and
now there was no one at the helm, the ship had swung round so that the
smoke and flame all came our way. I felt, too, that it was only to make
life last another day or two, for there was no getting at any prog, as
there wasn't a scrap of anything in the forksel; for I went down to see
when I first thought of the raft. However, I shouted to them to lower
down the water-breaker by the foremast, and they did, and then Mr
Tomtit came over the side, and the fat passenger rolled down somehow,
and I shook my head, for the raft went low on his side. And now there
was only Mr Ward and Miss Bell to come, and partly by coaxing, partly
by dragging, he had got the poor girl to the side, when she turned her
head to take another look, as I thought, of the poor fellow lying dead
there; and as Mr Ward stood there holding her, the pair showing out
well in the bright light of the burning ship, I could not help thinking
what a noble-looking couple they made, and then I shouts: "Lower away,
sir;" when, as if startled by my words, Miss Bell darted away from Mr
Ward, when in a moment there came a roar as of thunder, the raft heaved
and cracked under us, and beat against the side of the ship, while
something seemed to strike me down, so that I lay half-stunned upon the
grinding coops and spars.
But I contrived to get on my knees, struggling from under some heavy
weight, and then, every moment getting clearer, I understood that the
ship had blown up, and that Mr Ward must have been dashed from the
gangway, and fallen on to me.
And Miss Bell?
I dursn't ask myself the question again, but shoved the raft away, and
began to paddle with a piece of board, so as not to be drawn down when
the vessel sank. In place of being all bright light, it was now pitch
darkness, except just here and there, where pieces of burning wood
floated on the water, and then hissed and went out. From being so near,
I suppose it was, we escaped anything falling upon us; and feeling
pretty safe at last from being drawn down, I was trying to make out the
lines of the ship by the smouldering hull beginning again to show a
flame here and there, when a husky voice close by shouts out: "Help!
help!"
"Here," I cries, hailing; and the next moment we were lower still in the
water, with Bill Smith aboard, and he says, says he: "Tom, I was about
done."
"It's only put off another hour or two, Billee," I says. "And where's
old Squintums?"
"On your weather-bow," says a gruff voice, and then we went down another
two inches with Sam aboard.
Well, there was some comfort in doing one's best to the last; and I
began to feel Mr Ward about a bit; but he was coming to fast, and the
first thing he wanted to do was to paddle back to the ship; and,
thinking that we might pick up some pieces to lash to our raft, I gave
way, dangerous as it was, though a very small sight worse than our
present position. So we paddled up to the smoking mass, that I expected
would settle down every moment, and then, getting hold of the side rope,
Mr Ward and I got on deck.
It was not dark, for there was a little flame here and there, and in
some places there was the glow of a lot of sparks, but we hadn't come to
look for that; and, as we stood there forward amongst the smoke, I felt
my heart heave, as, with a groan that seemed to tear out of his chest,
Mr Ward threw himself down by the figure he was looking for.
She seemed to have ran back to throw herself upon her brother's body,
and there she was, with her arms round him, and though pieces of burning
wood lay all about, she did not seem to have been touched.
It was a sad sight, and in spite of all our troubles, I had a little
corner left for the young fellow, who had clasped her in his arms, when
he started up with a cry of joy.
"Here--water, Roberts, quick!" he cried; and almost as he spoke, Miss
Bell gave a great sigh, and we gently lowered her on to the raft, when,
getting hold of a bit of burning bulwark floating near, I squenched it
out, and managed to lash it to us, so as to ease one side. Then we
paddled slowly away, and lay by waiting for the morning, to get together
more fragments, and make a better raft.
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