"It is far more easy for them to come to us than for you to go on
board," I observed. "Let us wait patiently; perhaps as the night
advances the gale will abate."
Still the wind blew as hard as ever. At length, just as Mr Sedgwick
had gone back to the house to look after the girls and Frau Ursula, a
shout reached our ears. We hurried to the point of the rock, and there
we saw what looked like a huge piece of wreck being driven towards us.
"I am afraid the brig is breaking up," I observed. "Poor Mr Hooker!
What can we do to help him?"
We tried to pierce the gloom to ascertain who was on the wreck. By
degrees we saw that, instead of a piece of wreck, it was a small boat.
Those in her were holding on to the hawsers. Now she rose, now she
fell, as the waves passed under her. We could scarcely understand how
she could live in that tossing sea, with the weight of several people on
board. At length she seemed to stop, and turned round broadside to us.
"She must go over," shouted Roger. "Look out; help them as they come
ashore."
She was at that time near enough for us to see two persons leap
overboard; one, it seemed, holding on to the other. They approached.
Again a voice shouted "Look out!" Roger Trew ran to the point of the
rock, holding on to the rope, and stretching over into the sea. We
could now distinguish the two men. Nearer and nearer they came.
"Give me your hand, Cooky, give me your hand," cried Roger, stretching
out his arm; and then I saw that Potto Jumbo was working along the
hawser, with Mr Hooker secured by a rope to his back. The dawn was
just breaking. The cry of some sea-fowl as they passed sounded
ominously in our ears. Even then I feared that Potto Jumbo would lose
his hold, or that Mr Hooker, weak from his illness, might be torn away
by the fury of the sea. I ran forward with another rope, the end of
which Oliver held, and just as Roger caught hold of Potto Jumbo's hand,
and was dragging him up, I grasped him by the arm. Mr Hooker seemed
almost exhausted, and could not utter a word. With the help of Oliver
and Tanda we at length got them up on the rock, though not till Potto
Jumbo had severely hurt his legs against the sharp points.
"Heaven be praised, it is done! You all right soon, Mr Hooker,"
exclaimed Potto Jumbo, as he committed his charge to our hands.
The boat meantime was slowly drifting in, in spite of the efforts of two
men on board to hold her; one indeed appeared to have been hurt, and
able to exert but little strength. Who they were we could not then see,
but I hoped that my old friend Dick Tarbox had escaped.
"Is the boatswain one of them?" I asked of Potto Jumbo.
"Yes, massa, yes," answered Potto; "and t'other Mr Thudicumb. But help
dem, help dem; no mind me. I take care of Mr Hooker; Mr Thudicumb no
help himself."
It was time indeed for us to exert all our strength, for the boat was
now being driven helplessly towards the rock; and it seemed but too
probable, should she strike it, that those in her would be thrown out,
and very likely swept off by the sea: indeed, they were in a more
dangerous position than had they held on alone to the rope. There was
on one side of the rock a sort of gulf, which ran up some way towards
the beach. Should the boat strike the point, she would very likely be
dashed to pieces, but if we could manage to get hold of her as she drove
by on one side, we might, I knew, rescue our friends and save her. This
thought passed rapidly through my mind. The rest of our party saw what
was likely to happen as well as I did, and together we eagerly stood
waiting for the boat to reach us.
On she came. Mr Thudicumb managed to crawl to the helm, while Dick
Tarbox stood in the bows. Another sea came roaring in. The boatswain
held a rope in his hand. I almost shrieked with terror as I saw the
boat, as I thought, coming towards the point; but the mate, moving the
helm, she grazed by it, and the next instant Tarbox hove the rope. We
caught it, and hauling on together as we ran along, drew the boat's head
for an instant in towards us. Tarbox leaped out and seized the rope.
Potto, who had placed his burden on a secure part of the rock, joined
us. The following sea almost filled the boat, but we dragged her bows
in, though as we did so she came with a fearful crash against the rock.
Tarbox then leaping back, seized the mate, and with almost superhuman
strength dragged him out over the side on to the rock, while we hauled
the boat up half out of the water.
"You are safe, Mr Thudicumb, you are safe!" exclaimed Tarbox to the
mate, who scarcely seemed aware of what had happened.
While Oliver, Roger Trew, and Tanda attended to the boat, Potto Jumbo
again lifted up Mr Hooker, and Tarbox and I assisted Mr Thudicumb
along over the ledge towards the shore.
"Are there any others left on board?" asked Roger Trew. "If there are,
we will pull back and try to bring them on shore."
"No one, no one," answered the boatswain; "all left before we did,
more's the pity. They would not stop, in spite of all we could say to
them."
We were soon met by Mr Sedgwick, who had returned from the house. He
cordially welcomed his old friend, moved almost to tears by the
condition in which he saw him.
"Rouse up, Hooker, my dear fellow!" he exclaimed. "You will soon have a
roof over your head and a dry bed to lie in and willing hands to take
care of you."
We soon got the party up to the house, when Frau Ursula and the girls
began eagerly to busy themselves in arranging the beds for the two sick
men. Mr Thudicumb had been hurt by the falling of a spar, and our
uncle, who fortunately possessed considerable surgical knowledge, at
once attended to his injuries.
Daylight had now returned, and as the sun rose the gale began to abate.
Mr Hooker and the mate were put to bed in my uncle's room, his own
couch accommodating one, and a mattress composed of mats serving as a
bed for the other. The rest of the party were now assembled in what my
uncle called his hall.
"And now, my good Frau, you and the young ladies must go to your roost.
As you have been night-birds, you must sleep in the day, and we will
look after these good fellows, who, I daresay, will not be sorry to take
some of the remains of our feast of last night."
"No, indeed, sir, we shall not," said Dick Tarbox; "for the truth is, we
have been far too anxious to think of grub, in the first place; and it
was a hard matter to get at any, in the second."
It was amusing to see the eagerness with which the shipwrecked men set
to work upon the provisions placed before them.
"The sooner you get off those wet clothes of yours the better," observed
my uncle; "and though we are not very rich in garments here, we can
supply you with mat petticoats and a shirt apiece while your things are
drying."
In a few minutes we all appeared dressed in the costume thus furnished,
and certainly we looked more like savages than civilised people as we
sat round the board.
"Now, lads, there is one thing I think we ought to do," said Dick
Tarbox, "and that is, thank Heaven for bringing us ashore in safety, and
giving us such good quarters. If we had been driven on a coast not far
from here, I suspect we should have found very different treatment. The
chances are our heads would have been off our shoulders before we had
been many hours in the company of the natives, and very likely, instead
of enjoying a good supper like this--or a breakfast, we ought to call
it--we should have been served up as a feast to the savages."
Our meal over, Tanda brought in a further supply of mats, in which we
all wrapped ourselves, and were very soon fast asleep, I was awoke by
hearing my uncle's voice calling to Tanda, and looking up, I saw that
they were placing another meal on the table. Our clothes were then
brought to us.
"There, lads," said my uncle, "you are now more fit than you were to
appear before the ladies; and as they are on foot, I will bring them
into the hall. I am glad also to say both Mr Hooker and the mate are
very much better for their rest, and I hope in a few days they will be
themselves again."
The first few hours we spent on the island appeared to me like a dream.
I had been so tired on the night of the wreck, that scarcely was one
meal over than I was asleep again, and only woke up to see a fresh
repast prepared for us. As soon as I was somewhat recovered, I hurried
out, with Tarbox and Potto Jumbo, to the shore to see what had become of
the wreck. I gave a shout of joy when I saw that her masts were still
standing, though she had been driven so high up on the rock that it was
very evident that we should not be able to get her off again. The boat
still lay where Roger Trew and Oliver had hauled her up. We hurried
down to examine her. A hole had been torn in her bottom, rendering her
unfit for use.
"Never fear," said the boatswain, on examining her. "We may soon repair
this damage and be able to get off to the wreck in her. I hope we shall
find many things on board of use to us, even though we cannot get the
old barky afloat again."
The next thing to be done, therefore, was to repair the boat. We
hurried back to the house to see if Mr Sedgwick was able to assist us.
As soon as he heard the nature of the injury, he produced some planks
and nails exactly suited for our purpose.
"I cannot supply you with pitch," he said, "but there are several gums
in the island which will answer the object, and here are copper nails
enough, if you use them with economy."
We of course at once set to work, and quickly patched up the little
boat. At first I had a vague idea that she might enable us to get off
to some civilised place, but on seeing her once more in the water, I
felt that that would be hopeless, as she could only hold three or four
persons at the utmost in smooth water.
When Emily and Grace heard that we were going off to the vessel, they
entreated us to be cautious.
"I do so dread the sea," said Emily. "I should be very thankful if I
thought I had not again to cross it."
"But you would not like to live in this island for ever," observed Mr
Sedgwick. "You will soon be wishing yourself back in the old country,
as I have done, I can assure you, very often."
Oliver and I, with Tarbox and Roger Trew, had arranged to go off in the
boat. The oars had fortunately been thrown on shore. Although one of
them was broken, two had been preserved uninjured. I did my best to
reassure my sister and Grace, and they and the Frau came down to see us
off. Tarbox and Oliver pulled, while I steered, and away we went over
the now blue sea towards the wreck.
As we drew near we saw the fearful injuries she had received.
A coral rock had forced itself completely through her side; and had she
not been thrown high up on the reef, she must inevitably have sunk, as
the water flowed in and out with the tide. It was now fortunately low
water, and by getting on to the reef, which appeared above the surface,
having made our boat secure, we were able to scramble on board.
Everything with the exception of the masts had been swept from the deck,
while the hold was still nearly full of water. In the cabin, however,
we found a variety of useful articles, besides a good supply of
provisions. All sorts of things, however, had been thrown out of their
places, and lay scattered about the wreck. Having collected, however,
as many things as we could carry, we were about to return with them to
the boat.
"Stay," said the boatswain, "we have forgotten the arms. See, here are
four muskets against this bulkhead, and Mr Hooker's fowling-pieces. If
we could get some ammunition, we should be able to defend ourselves in
case any of the piratical fellows in this neighbourhood should find us
out and pay us a visit."
We were almost giving up the search for ammunition in despair, when we
discovered a couple of tins of powder in one of the lockers, evidently
placed there by Mr Thudicumb for immediate use. The powder,
fortunately, from having been carefully packed in tins, had escaped
injury.
We now, laden with our prizes, got back to the boat, and without much
difficulty steered clear of the surf to the shore. We were received on
landing by Frau Ursula and the two girls, who had been standing for a
long time anxiously watching the boat, afraid that some accident had
happened. They now assisted us in landing our goods, and carrying them
up to the house.
"We must not live idle lives here," said Emily, laughing; "and as we
have no fancy work, we cannot employ our time better than in making
ourselves useful."