Captain Willis was walking the deck, with his spy-glass in his hand,
while every now and then he stopped anxiously to scan the horizon in
every direction, in the hopes of discerning the well-known signs of the
long-wished-for breeze.
"Well, Captain Willis, when is the wind coming?" asked one of the young
ladies of the merry group I have described, as he passed them in his
walk. "We have agreed that you sailors are very idle people, not to
make your ship move faster. You do it on purpose, we are sure, to enjoy
our society."
"The temptation would be great, ladies, I own," said the captain,
bowing. "But, I assure you, it depends as much upon yourselves as upon
me and my officers; and, I think, if you were all to set to work and
whistle with a right good-will, you might soon bring the wind down upon
us."
"Oh then we will all try," exclaimed the merry girls in chorus. "We see
you want to get rid of us as soon as you can." Thereon they all began
to try and whistle, and some succeeded very well, though the chorus was
not very harmonious.
I suspect the worthy captain had long before perceived the undoubted
signs of wind on the water, for there was a quizzical look in his eye as
he spoke; and each turn he made he encouraged them to proceed, and to
whistle louder and louder, assuring them it was certain to have a good
effect.
Not many minutes had passed, during which the young ladies had tried to
whistle till their mouths ached, when the voice of Captain Willis was
heard ordering the crew to trim sails. With alacrity they flew to their
posts at the joyful sound; and those who but a minute before were so
silent and inert, were now all life and animation.
Still the ocean appeared as smooth and shining as before; but in the
distance, away to the north-east, there was a line of dark-blue, which
seemed to be gradually extending itself on either hand, and to be slowly
advancing in the direction where the ship lay. The glassy surface of
the water was every now and then slightly ruffled by gentle, scarcely
perceptible breaths of wind, such as are called by seamen "cats'-paws,"
from their having, I suppose, no more effect in disturbing the water
than would the paw of a cat. They came and went continually. Some of
the more lofty and lighter sails of the ship bulged out for an instant,
and then again flapped against the masts, and all was calm as before.
"If you please, young ladies, I must trouble you to whistle a little
longer," said Captain Willis, with one of his most polite bows, and a
merry smile lurking in his eye. "You see the good service you have
already done; but the wind seems coy, and requires a longer wooing."
They all laughed very much, and declared that they could not whistle any
more; but still they all essayed again; and sweet Ellen Barrow screwed
her pretty mouth up till her lips looked, indeed, like two ripe
cherries; and Captain Willis aiding them with his clear whistle, the
wind was not long in answering the summons. The spokes of the wheel
were seen once more to revolve in the hands of the helmsman, the sails
bulged out more regularly, and if they fell back, they quickly again
filled till every one drew steadily, and the huge ship moved slowly
through the ocean on her proper course. It was pleasant to the
passengers to hear the rippling sound of the water against the sides of
the ship, and to see it bubbling up so briskly under her bows; and still
more pleasant was it to feel the fresh air fanning the cheeks, and to
know that it was wafting them on to their yet far distant bourne. The
fresh air had a reviving effect on every one, and many who had sat
silent and melancholy began to move about, and to laugh and talk with
the rest of their companions.
About an hour after the breeze had sprung up, the captain was observed
to turn his glass several times to a point on the starboard bow. He
then handed it to his first officer.
"What do you make out of that, Mr Naylor?" he asked.
The answer was not heard.
"So I think it is," replied the captain. "Keep her two more points to
the eastward of her course--steady so."
Immediately the head of the ship was turned towards a little spot which
appeared upon the water, a long way off. The report that there was
something to be seen called every one to the side of the ship, and all
eyes were fixed on that small speck on the waste of waters. There were
many speculations as to what it was. Some said that it was a dead
whale, others a smaller fish; a few insisted that it was the hull of a
vessel, and there was one party of opinion that it was the top of a rock
in the ocean, and were congratulating themselves that they had met with
it in daylight and fine weather.
"But what do you think it is, Captain Willis?" asked Ellen Barrow.
"Why, young lady, I think it is a boat; but I am not surprised that so
many people, not accustomed to look at objects on the water, where there
is nothing to compare them with, should be mistaken. Those who fancy
that it is a whale or the hull of a vessel think it is much farther off
than it really is, while those who suppose it to be a small fish,
believe it to be much nearer than it really is. It is only by comparing
things together that we can estimate them properly."
The breeze, although sufficient to fill the sails, was still very light,
so that the ship moved but slowly through the water,--at the rate,
perhaps, of a mile and a half or two miles in the hour, or, as sailors
would say, two knots an hour. She was, therefore, a long time
approaching the object. At last, Captain Willis, who had constantly
kept his telescope turned towards it, pronounced it, without doubt, to
be a boat.
"There appears to be no one in her, however," he observed; "at least, I
see no one's head above the gunwale."
"How strange that a boat should be out there all alone!" exclaimed Ellen
Barrow.
"Oh no; she has got adrift from a vessel, or has been driven off from
some coast or other," answered Captain Willis.
"There looks to me, sir, as if there were some people in the boat,
though they don't appear to be moving," sung out the third officer from
aloft.
"Mr Simpson, man the starboard quarter-boat, and lower her as we come
up with the boat. We must have her alongside, and overhaul her, at all
events."
"Ay, ay, sir," replied the mate; and soon afterwards the boat's crew
were seen coming aft to lower her into the water.
Numerous were the conjectures as to who could be in the boat, and where
she could have come from; but of course no one could answer the
question. The ship glided on slowly, for the wind was still very light.
When she got a short distance only from the boat, the captain ordered
the sails to be clewed up, and the gig to be lowered. Mr Simpson went
away in her, and was soon alongside. He was seen to throw up his hands,
as an expression of horror, as he looked into the boat. She was then
made fast to the stern of the gig, and rapidly towed up to the ship.
"Be quick there on deck, and bring a chair," he exclaimed. "Here's a
poor creature much in want of the doctor's help, if she's not gone too
far for it already."
The side of the ship on which the boat appeared was crowded with the
passengers, eager to see what it contained. The sight which met their
eyes was indeed a sad one. In the fore part were two men lying on their
backs with their faces upwards, and, from their ghastly expression, it
was seen that they were both dead. There was another person, a
dark-skinned woman, who, it appeared, the mate considered still living.
A chair was speedily slung, and the mate having secured her into it, she
was hoisted on deck.
The doctor was in waiting, and having placed her on a mattress on deck,
he knelt down at her side to discover if any spark of life yet remained
in her emaciated frame. He felt her pulse, and then calling for a glass
of wine and water, he moistened her lips, and poured a few drops down
her throat. It had the effect of instantly reviving her; she opened her
eyes, and uttering a few strange words, she attempted to rise as if to
search for something she expected to find near. For an instant she
looked wildly around; but the effort was more than nature could bear,
and, with a deep sigh, she sank again and expired. While some of the
passengers had been witnessing this melancholy scene, others were
engaged in watching the proceedings of the mate. Directly he had placed
the poor black woman in the chair, he turned to examine the after part
of the boat, over which an awning was carefully spread. Lifting it up,
he uttered an exclamation of surprise and pleasure. Carefully placed on
a bed formed on the stern-sheets, were two children--a little boy, some
three or four years old, or perhaps five, and an infant which could
scarcely for as many months have seen the light. The little fellow had
been fast asleep. The voice of the mate awoke him, and looking up and
seeing strange faces surrounding him, he began to cry.
"That's a good sign, at all events," cried the mate. "The baby does not
seem much the worse either; send down the chair again, and we'll have
them on deck in a trice." The chair was lowered, and placing himself in
it, with the two children in his arms, he was hoisted up on deck.
Scarcely had he reached it, than all the ladies hurried forward to catch
a glimpse of the children, many of them almost quarrelling who should
take charge of them.
"Stay, ladies," said Captain Willis, good-naturedly. "The children by
right belong to me; and I must let the doctor see to them before anybody
else begins nursing them."
In the meantime, however, Mrs Clayton had taken the infant out of the
mate's arms, while the little boy was snatched away by Ellen Barrow and
the rest of the young ladies, who kept fondling him among them, and
showing that they would do their best to spoil him before the voyage was
over.
Mr Hawkins, the surgeon, finding that his services were of no avail to
the rest of those who had been in the boat, now appeared, and examined
the baby as it lay in Mrs Clayton's arms.
"It seems to have been wonderfully sustained," he observed. "I can
discover nothing the matter with it; and with some of the food our goat
can supply, I have no doubt in a few days it will have perfectly
recovered. Let me relieve you of the child, madam, and give it to one
of the women-servants to nurse."
But Mrs Clayton showed no inclination to give up her charge. There
were feelings rising in her bosom whose exquisite delight a fond mother,
as she presses her first-born to her breast, can well appreciate. The
lady gave an imploring look at her husband, which he well understood.
"Do as you wish, dearest," he whispered.
She returned him a glance full of grateful thanks.
"Captain Willis," she said, in a voice agitated with the fear that her
request might be denied, "I will, if you will allow me, take charge of
the poor deserted one, till its proper guardians can be found; and I
daresay we shall be able to learn from the little boy who they are."
"To no one would I more gladly commit the infant than to you, madam,"
returned the captain. "And pray, consider her your property till
claimed by others with greater right to her."
So it was settled; and Mrs Clayton did indeed prove an affectionate
mother to the little foundling. Captain Willis, however, was much
disappointed in not being able to obtain the information he expected
from the elder child. The little fellow could speak very rapidly, but
it was in a language neither he nor any of the young ladies could
understand, though he seemed to comprehend what was said to him in
English. They tried him with a variety of names to endeavour to
discover the one belonging to him; but to none of them did he pay any
attention.
On a sudden he began to cry to go to his Aya; but as he was kept out of
sight of the dead body, and petted by the young ladies, who tried every
means to please him, he was soon again pacified. He was then taken into
the cabin, where two or three of the married ladies, who had children of
their own, set to work to wash him and dress him in clean clothes. He
kicked about in the tub of water, and seemed highly delighted, as if it
was a luxury to which he was accustomed, while he also appeared fully to
appreciate the advantage of clean clothes. He was rather thin, as if he
had lived for a length of time on a short allowance of food; but when
some broth, which had been got ready for him, was placed before him, he
did not eat ravenously as if he had been long without food altogether.
Indeed, I may as well here remark, that the mate had discovered a small
piece of biscuit, softened by water, by his side when he took the
children out of the boat, proving that the faithful nurse had given him
the last morsel of food in her possession rather than eat it herself, in
the hope of preserving his life. When he had swallowed the broth, he
fell fast asleep in the arms of the lady who was holding him. The
little fellow's perfect confidence in those surrounding him, while it
won their hearts, showed that he had always been accustomed to kind
treatment.
Mrs Clayton had also brought her little charge below, and was nursing
it with the most tender care. It seemed, indeed, but a fragile little
blossom; and it appeared surprising that it should thus have escaped
from the hardships to which it had been exposed.
Meanwhile, on deck, Captain Willis and his officers, and some of the
gentlemen passengers, were making every possible examination of the boat
and the dead bodies, to endeavour to discover some clue, by which they
might be able to trace to what ship they had belonged, or whence they
had come. There was, unfortunately, little on their bodies to identify
them. One of the men had fastened round his neck by a lanyard a knife,
on the handle of which was roughly carved the initials J.S., and on his
arm was discovered, marked by gunpowder, among a variety of other
figures, the name of James Smith,--one, however, borne by so many
people, that it could scarcely be said to serve as a distinguishing
appellation. Sir Charles Plowden, notwithstanding, who was taking a
great interest in and superintending the investigation, made a note of
it in his pocket-book, and took charge of the knife.
There was no name on the boat, nor were there any oars in her, which
have generally the name of the ship marked on them. The boat was
pronounced not to be of English build; and the carpenter, after a long
examination, declared it to be his opinion, that it might possibly be
built by some Englishman, in a foreign place, and with foreign
assistants, and with more than one sort of wood, with which he was not
well acquainted. The canvas, which had served as the awning over the
children, was certainly English, and the seams at the joins were exactly
similar to the work of an English sail-maker. The nails used in the
boat were English; but then, as the carpenter observed, English nails
were sent into all parts of the world.
The complexion of the other seaman was very dark; a crucifix was found
round his neck, and he had on a light-blue jacket, and his other
garments were not of English make, so that there could be no doubt that
he was a foreigner. In his pocket was a purse, containing several gold
doubloons and other coins, showing how utterly valueless on some
occasions, is the money for which men risk so much. How gladly would
the poor wretch have given the whole of it for a crust of bread and a
drop of water! There was also a little silver box in his pocket,
containing the relic of a saint, equally inefficacious to preserve him,
although an inscription on a piece of paper in it stated, that it would
preserve the fortunate possessor from all dangers, either by sea or
land.
In the Englishman's pocket there was an empty tobacco-box; but there was
no paper or writing of any sort, to assist in identifying them.
The clothes of the nurse were not marked, nor was there found about her
anything to aid the investigation; but on those of the children were
found, nearly washed out, however, letters which were evidently the
initials of their names. On those of the little boy were M.S., and on
those of the baby E.S., which, with the strong resemblance in features,
left little doubt that they were brother and sister.
Sir Charles, with an exactness which should be imitated under similar
circumstances, noted down every particular--the appearance of the dead
bodies, their height and size. He directed, also, that the clothes
should be washed and carefully kept. The measurement of the boat was
also made, and parts of her plankings and all the things she contained
were taken out of her. She was herself too large to hoist in on deck.
The only thing remarkable about the children was, that round the neck of
each was a gold chain and a locket containing light auburn hair; but
there was no other inscription than the initials E.S.
Sir Charles desired that he might also take charge of these memorials.
"If the children continue to wear them, they may be lost," he observed.
"They may be valuable, as aiding to discover their friends, and should
be carefully preserved." Indeed he neglected no means by which the
important object could be obtained, of discovering, at a future period,
the family of the little foundlings.
While these matters were being arranged, the wind had dropped again
completely, and the sky had assumed a dull leaden hue, and a thick haze
to the eastward rose up and looked like a line of high land. The boat
was meantime left hanging astern, while the gig was again hoisted up on
the quarter.
Sailors have a strong aversion to having dead bodies on board; and as
there was no object to be attained by keeping those of the unfortunate
persons who had been discovered in the boat, preparations were made to
bury them that evening in the deep ocean. I will not now stop to
describe the ceremony. They were sewn up in a clean canvas, with a shot
fastened in at the feet, and a clergyman who was among the passengers,
performed the funeral service. They were then launched overboard, and
sunk for ever from the sight of men.
Scarcely had they reached the water than a low moaning sound was heard
in the rigging, and the sails flapped heavily against the mast. Captain
Willis cast a hurried glance to windward.
"Clew up--haul up--let fly everything--away aloft there--furl topgallant
sails, close reef the topsails--be smart, my lads," he exclaimed in
those sharp tones which showed that there was no time for delay. The
attentive men flew to their proper posts--some to the tacks and sheets,
the bunt-lines and clew-lines, others swarmed aloft like bees on the
yards, and with vigorous arms hauled out the earings and secured the
sails with the gaskets. They did their work manfully, for they well
knew there was no time to lose.
Scarcely, indeed, was all along made snug, and they were coming down
again, than the threatening blast struck the ship.
"Hold on for your lives, hold on!" exclaimed the captain. "Port the
helm, port!"
Away she flew before the gale, upright and unharmed. In an instant, it
seemed, the sea, before so calm and bright, became covered with a mass
of foam, and then waves rose rapidly, one towering above the other, in
quick succession. Two men were stationed at the helm, to keep the ship
before the wind, as she ran on under close-reefed fore-topsail.
So engaged had Captain Willis and his officers been in getting the ship
into proper order to encounter the gale, that they entirely forgot the
boat towing astern. Fortunately no sea had yet risen high enough to
drive her against the ship, or serious damage might have been effected.
At last Sir Charles observed her, and called the attention of the first
officer to her. In an instant his knife was out, and without waiting to
consult the captain, he was cutting away at the tow rope. He was not a
moment too soon, for some heavy black seas were seen rolling up like
mountains astern. The last strands of the rope parted with a sharp
snap, the boat was seen to rise to the top of a wave, and the next
rolled her over and over, and she disappeared beneath the waters.
"Alas!" exclaimed Sir Charles, "sad would have been the fate of the poor
children, had we not providentially come up in time to save them."
Reader, I was one of those poor children, thus providentially rescued
from destruction; the other was my sister. Truly I have a right to say,
God equally rules the calm or the tempest--equally in the one and the
other does He watch over his creatures.