As usual, Ready was the first up on the following morning, and having
greeted Juno, who followed him out of the house, he set off on his
accustomed rounds, to examine into the stock and their other
possessions. He was standing in the garden at the point. First he
thought that it would be necessary to get ready some sticks for the
peas, which were now seven or eight inches out of the ground; he had
proceeded a little farther, to where the calivances, or French haricot
beans, had been sown, and had decided upon the propriety of hoeing up
the earth round them, as they were a very valuable article of food, that
would keep, and afford many a good dish during the rainy or winter
season. He had gone on to ascertain if the cucumber seeds had shown
themselves above-ground, and was pleased to find that they were doing
well. He said to himself, "We have no vinegar, that I know of, but we
can preserve them in salt and water, as they do in Russia; it will be a
change, at all events;" and then he raised his eyes and looked out to
the offing, and, as usual, scanned the horizon. He thought he saw a
ship to the north-east, and he applied his telescope to his eye. He was
not mistaken--it was a vessel.
The old man's heart beat quick; he dropped his telescope on his arm, and
fetched some heavy breaths before he could recover from the effect of
this unexpected sight. After a minute, he again put his telescope to
his eye, and then made her out to be a brig, under top-sails and
top-gallant sails, steering directly for the island.
Ready walked to the rocky point, from which they fished, and sat down to
reflect. Could it be that the vessel had been sent after them, or that
she had by mere chance come among the islands? He decided after a short
time that it must be chance, for none could know that they were saved,
much less that they were on the island. Her steering towards the island
must then be either that she required water or something else; perhaps
she would alter her course and pass by them. "At all events," thought
the old man, "we are in the hands of God, who will, at his own time and
in his own way, do with us as he thinks fit. I will not at present say
anything to Mr and Mrs Seagrave. It would be cruel to raise hopes
which might end in disappointment. A few hours will decide. And yet I
cannot do without help--I must trust William."
Ready rose, examined the vessel with his telescope, and then walked
towards the house. William was up, and the remainder of the family were
stirring.
"William," said Ready to him, as they walked away from the house, "I
have a secret to tell you, which you will at once see the necessity of
not telling to anyone at present. A few hours will decide the
question." William readily gave his promise. "There is a vessel off
the island; she may be the means of rescuing us, or she may pass without
seeing us. It would be too cruel a disappointment to your father and
mother, if the latter were the case."
William stared at Ready, and for a moment could not speak, his
excitement was so great.
"Oh, Ready, how grateful I am! I trust that we may be taken away, for
you have no idea how my poor father suffers in silence--and so does my
mother."
"I know it, William, I know it, and it is natural; they do their best to
control their yearnings, and they can do no more. But now we must be
quick, and at work before breakfast. But stop, I will show you the
vessel."
Ready caught the vessel in the field of the telescope, which he leant
against the trunk of a cocoa-nut, and William put his eye to the glass.
"Do you see her?"
"Oh yes, Ready, and she is coming this way."
"Yes, she is steering right for the island. I will put the telescope
down here, and we will go about our work."
William and Ready went to the storehouse for the axe. Ready selected a
very slight cocoa-nut tree nearest to the beach, which he cut down, and
as soon as the top was taken off with the assistance of William he
carried it down to the point.
"Now, William, go for a shovel and dig a hole here, that we may fix it
up as a flag-staff. When all is ready, I will go for a small block and
some rope for halyards to hoist up the flags as soon as the vessel is
likely to see them. At breakfast-time, I shall propose that you and I
get the boat out of the sand and examine her, and give Mr Seagrave some
work indoors."
"But the flags, Ready; they are round my mother's bed. How shall we get
them?"
"Suppose I say that it is time that the house should be well cleaned,
and that the canvas hangings of the beds should be taken out to be aired
this fine day. Ask your father to take the direction of the work while
we dig out the boat; that will employ them all inside the house."
"Yes, that will do, Ready."
During breakfast-time, Ready observed that he intended to get the boat
out of the sand, and that William should assist him.
"And what am I to do, Ready?" said Mr Seagrave.
"Why, sir, I think, now that the rains are over, it would not be a bad
thing if we were to air bedding, as they say at sea; it is a fine, warm
day; and if all the bedding was taken out of the house and well shaken,
and then left out to air, it would be a very good job over; for you see,
sir, I have thought more than once that the house does smell a little
close."
"It will be a very good thing, Ready," observed Mrs Seagrave; "and, at
the same time, Juno and I will give the house a thorough cleaning and
sweeping."
"Had we not better have the canvas screens down, and air them too?"
"Yes," replied Ready; "we had better air everything. We will assist in
taking down the screens and flags, and spread them out to air, and then,
if Mr Seagrave has no objection, we will leave him to superintend and
assist Madam and Juno."
"With all my heart," replied Mr Seagrave. "We have done breakfast, and
will begin as soon as you please."
Ready and William took down the canvas screens and flags, and went out
of the cottage with them; they spread out the canvas at some distance
from the house, and then William went down to the beach with the flags,
while Ready procured the block and small rope to hoist them up with.
Ready's stratagem answered well. Without being perceived by those in
the cottage, the flag-staff was raised, and fixed in the ground, and the
flags all ready for hoisting; then Ready and William returned to the
fuel-stack, and each carried down as much stuff as they could hold, that
they might make a smoke to attract the notice of those on board of the
vessel. All this did not occupy much more than an hour, during which
the brig continued her course steadily towards the island. When Ready
first saw her the wind was light, but latterly the breeze had increased
very much, and at last the brig took in her top-gallant sails. The
horizon behind the vessel, which had been quite clear, was now banked up
with clouds, and the waves curled in white foam over the reefs of rocks
extending from the island.
"The breeze is getting up strong, William," said Ready, "and she will
soon be down, if she is not frightened at the reefs, which she can see
plainer now the water is rough, than she could before."
"I trust she will not be afraid," replied William. "How far do you
think she is off now?"
"About five miles; not more. The wind has hauled round more to the
southward, and it is banking up fast, I see. I fear that we shall have
another smart gale; however, it won't last long. Come, let us hoist the
flags; we must not lose a chance; the flags will blow nice and clear for
them to see them."
William and Ready hoisted up the ensign first, and below it the flag,
with the ship's name, Pacific, in large letters upon it. "Now then,"
said Ready, as he made fast the halyards, "let us strike a light and
make a smoke; that will attract their notice."
As soon as the cocoa-nut leaves were lighted, Ready and William threw
water upon them, so as to damp them and procure a heavy column of smoke.
The vessel approached rapidly, and they were watching her in silent
suspense, when they perceived Mr and Mrs Seagrave, Juno carrying
Albert, with Tommy and Caroline running down as fast as they could to
the beach. The fact was, that Tommy, tired of work, had gone out of the
house and walked towards the beach; there he perceived, first, the flags
hoisted, and then he detected the vessel off the island. He immediately
ran back to the house, crying out, "Papa! Mamma! Captain Osborn come
back--come back in a big ship." At this announcement, Mr and Mrs
Seagrave ran out of the house, perceived the vessel and the flags
flying, and ran as fast as they could down to where William and Ready
were standing by the flag-staff.
"Oh! Ready, why did you not tell us this before?" exclaimed Mr
Seagrave.
"I wish you had not known it now, sir," replied Ready; "but, however, it
can't be helped; it was done out of kindness, Mr Seagrave."
"Yes, indeed it was, papa."
Mrs Seagrave dropped down on the rock, and burst into tears. Mr
Seagrave was equally excited.
"Does she see us, Ready?" exclaimed he at last.
"No, sir, not yet, and I waited till she did, before I made it known to
you," replied Ready.
"She is altering her course, Ready," said William.
"Yes, sir, she has hauled to the wind; she is afraid of coming too near
to the reefs."
"Surely she is not leaving us!" exclaimed Mrs Seagrave.
"No, madam; but she does not see us yet."
"She does! she does!" cried William, throwing up his hat; "see, she
hoists her ensign."
"Very true, sir; she does see us. Thanks be to God!"
Mr Seagrave embraced his wife, who threw herself sobbing into his arms,
kissed his children with rapture, and wrung old Ready's hand. He was
almost frantic with joy. William was equally delighted.
As soon as they were a little more composed, Ready observed: "Mr
Seagrave, that they have seen us is certain, and what we must now do is
to get our own boat out of the sand. We know the passage through the
reefs, and they do not. I doubt if they will, however, venture to send
a boat on shore, until the wind moderates a little. You see, sir, it is
blowing up very strong just now."
"But you don't think it will blow harder, Ready?"
"I am sorry to say, sir, that I do. It looks very threatening to the
southward, and until the gale is over, they will not venture near an
island so surrounded with rocks. It would be very imprudent if they
did. However, sir, a few hours will decide."
"But, surely," said Mrs Seagrave, "even if it does blow, they will not
leave the island without taking us off. They will come after the gale
is over."
"Yes, madam, if they can, I do think they will; but God knows, some men
have hard hearts, and feel little for the misery of others."
The brig had, in the meantime, kept away again, as if she was running
in; but very soon afterwards she hauled to the wind, with her head to
the northward, and stood away from the island.
"She is leaving us," exclaimed William, mournfully.
"Hard-hearted wretches!" said Mr Seagrave, with indignation.
"You are wrong to say that, sir," replied Ready: "excuse me, Mr
Seagrave, for being so bold; but the fact is, that if I was in command
of that vessel, I should do just as they have done. The gale rises
fast, and it would be very dangerous for them to remain where they now
are. It does not at all prove that they intend to leave us; they but
consult their own safety, and, when the gale is over, we shall, I trust,
see them again."
No reply was made to Ready's judicious remarks. The Seagraves only saw
that the vessel was leaving them, and their hearts sank. They watched
her in silence, and as she gradually diminished to the view, so did
their hopes depart from them. The wind was now fierce, and a heavy
squall, with rain, obscured the offing, and the vessel was no longer to
be distinguished. Mr Seagrave turned to his wife, and mournfully
offered her his arm. They walked away from the beach without speaking;
the remainder of the party, with the exception of old Ready, followed
them. Ready remained some time with his eyes in the direction where the
vessel was last seen. At last he hauled down the ensign and flag, and,
throwing them over his shoulder, followed the disconsolate party to the
house.