SAVED!

While all this turmoil and confusion was going on above on deck--with

the ship labouring and straining through the heavy seas that raced after

her as she ran before the wind, one every now and then outstripping its

fellows and breaking over her quarter or stern-rail with a force that

made her quiver from end to end, and "stagger like a drunken man," as

the Psalmist has so aptly described it, the thud of the heavy waves

playing a sort of deep bass accompaniment to the shrieking treble of the

wind as it whistled and wailed through the shrouds and cordage, and the

ragged remnants of the torn topsail flapping against the yard, with the

sound of a stock-driver's whip, in a series of short, sharp reports--

those below in the cuddy were far from having a pleasant time of it;

for, they were almost in the dark, the captain having caused the

companion-hatch to be battened down, and a heavy tarpaulin thrown across

the skylight to prevent the tons of water that came over the poop at

intervals from flooding the saloon as the waves swept forward in a

cascade of foam.

This was just after Mr Zachariah Lathrope, the American passenger, had

so well illustrated Virgil's line, _facilus descensus averni_, in coming

down the stairway by the run, on the top of a "comber;" and, although

the steward had lit one of the swinging lamps over the cuddy table, it

only served, with its feeble flickering light, to "make the darkness

visible" and render the scene more sombre.

The _Nancy Bell was_ a wooden ship, clipper built and designed for the

passenger trade; but, being only of some nine hundred tons or so

burthen, she had not that wealth of accommodation below that some of the

first-class liners running to Australia and New Zealand possess,

especially in these days of high-pressure steamers and auxiliary screws,

which make the passage in half the time that the old-fashioned sailing

vessels used to occupy.

She was, however, as well fitted up as her size permitted; and, as her

list of passengers was by no means filled, there was plenty of space for

those who now had possession of the main saloon, most of whom have been

already introduced to notice. If she had had, indeed, as proportionate

an amount of cargo as she had passengers it might have been all the

better for her seaworthiness. Instead of this, however, she was, by

far, too deep in the water, having a lot of deadweight amid-ships, in

the shape of agricultural implements and other hardware, which she was

taking out to Otago, that seriously interfered with her buoyancy, making

her dip to the waves instead of rising over them, and depriving her of

that spring and elasticity which a good ship should always have.

Now, she was groaning and creaking at every timber, as if in the last

throes of mortal agony; and the manner in which she rolled when she got

into the trough of the sea, between the intervals of the following

billows, would have dispelled any idea one might have possessed as to

her proper angle of stability, and made the observer feel inclined to

treat it as "a vanishing point."

Added to this, she pitched every now and then as if she were going to

dive into the depths of the ocean; and, when she rose again in

recovering herself, it seemed as if she were going down bodily by the

stern, the surge of the sea along the line of ports in the cabin bearing

out the illusion as it swelled up above her freeboard.

With the glass and crockeryware in the steward's cabin rattling, as if

in an earthquake, and trunks and portmanteaus banging from side to side

of the saloon, or floating up and down in the water that had accumulated

from the heavy sea that had washed down the companion when Mr Zachariah

Lathrope so gracefully made his rapid descent below, the place was a

picture of discomfort and disorder such as a painter would have been

powerless to depict and words would utterly fail to describe.

Kate and Florry Meldrum had retired to their berths, having experienced

a slight suspicion of squeamishness which the unwonted movements of the

vessel had brought about. They thought in such case that "discretion

was the better part of valour," especially as they felt no alarm as to

the safety of the ship, having perfect confidence that their father

would look after them if there was any danger; but Mrs Major Negus, on

the contrary, was firmly convinced that the _Nancy Bell_ was going to

the bottom. She sat in the captain's seat at the head of the cuddy

table, tightly clutching on to the sides to preserve her equilibrium at

each roll of the ship, loudly bewailing her untimely fate; and between

the paroxysms of her grief she found time now and again to scold her son

Maurice, who was enjoying himself most delightfully amongst the floating

baggage, narrowly escaping destruction every moment from the wreck of

the debris on the cabin floor, as it banged to and fro with the swish of

the water and the roll of the ship.

During one of the lulls in the series of squalls that swept over the

vessel in rapid sequence, Mr McCarthy came below by the direction of

the captain--who, of course, could not leave the deck--to see how the

passengers were getting on, as well as to have the dead-lights put up in

the state-rooms, in case of the stern-ports being battered in by the

waves; for these had now swollen to an enormous size, and seemed

veritably mountains high, rising up far above the cross-jack yard

sometimes.

"And how are we getting on now, Mrs Meejor?" said he, good-humouredly

addressing the lady at the head of the table, as he made his way to the

aftermost end of the saloon, followed by a couple of sailors, who had

accompanied him to aid him in his task of barricading the ports.

"Sir," replied she, endeavouring to speak with as much dignity as her

insecure position and her qualmishness would allow, "I am surprised at

your asking me such a question and displaying levity when I feel as if I

am dying, and we are all going down to the bottom--stee-ured!"

"Yes, mum," said that worthy from the pantry door, to which he was

holding on, surveying the scene of desolation before him with the air of

a connoisseur.

"Bring a basin, please--oh, my!"

"Yes, mum; coming, mum."

"Maurice!"

"Yes, ma."

"Get up out of that mess there, and come to me at once!"

"What, ma?"

"Come to me here, im-mediately!"

"Sha'n't!"

"I'll--oh, Lord; oh, dear! Steward, send the stewardess to me, and help

me into my cabin. I'm dying, I know I am! Oh, gracious goodness, why

did I ever come to sea?"

"Faix, the ould lady has had to give in," said the mate to one of the

sailors with him. "I thought she wouldn't hould out much longer!"

whereat, of course, there was a general laugh from the men.

"The Major"--as everybody on board spoke of the lady, almost after a

day's acquaintance with her peculiarities and haughty airs--was just

then endeavouring to rise from the captain's chair, when the vessel,

after a deeper pitch forward than usual, settled down suddenly by the

stern, accompanying the movement by a lurch to starboard that carried

away the lashings of the chair; and, in an instant she and the steward

and stewardess, along with Master Negus, were rolling to leeward on the

floor amongst the dunnage, the whole quartette sputtering and splashing

in the sea-water, and vainly endeavouring for some time to rise, for the

"Major," first clutching one and then the other as they were scrambling

to their legs, hampered their efforts without improving her own position

in the least.

At last, by the aid of Mr McCarthy and the sailors, the good lady was

pulled up on to her feet and assisted into her cabin, where lying back

in her berth, she loudly inveighed against the conduct of everyone,

particularly selecting the Captain, in her outpour of indignation, for

putting to sea when he must have known, as she held, that a storm was

coming on; he had only done it, she was certain, in order to annoy her

and put her life in peril!

In the midst of her diatribe--which was listened to by no one, for the

mate and sailors had returned on deck after completing the job that had

brought them down in thorough ship-shape fashion, and the steward and

stewardess, now that they had got my lady to her bunk, were trying to

make matters more comfortable in the saloon--Mrs Major Negus suddenly

bethought herself of her young hopeful, of whose existence she had been

awhile oblivious while attending to her own woes.

"Maurice!" cried she, in accents whose shrillness rose above the roar of

the waves and the groaning of the ship's timbers, "Maurice, come here at

once, sir, I order you!"

But, lo and behold! no Maurice made his, appearance; nor did he respond

to his mother's heart-rending appeal. The young scamp had sneaked up

the companion, unperceived by the mate, and was now on deck in high glee

at his freedom from maternal thraldom, watching the battle of the

elements and the struggle of the ship against the supremacy of the wind

and waves, that were vying with each other to overwhelm her.

The boy stood on the lee side of the poop, and was looking over the side

at the wreck of the fore-topgallant mast, which was still attached to

the ship by the stay and braces of the yard, the men not yet having time

to cut it adrift--all hands being busy in doing what was possible to

save the main-topgallant mast, that had begun to show signs of giving

way.

Nobody knew he was there, or that he was on deck at all, till Mr

Meldrum happened suddenly to cast his eye in his direction, when he at

once motioned him to come away.

But, "the imp" took no notice of the warning, and Mr Meldrum was

hesitating whether he should leave his station by the binnacle, where he

had been doing yeoman's service in aiding the helmsman ever since the

first squall burst over the ship, when a heavy wave came over the

quarter to windward, and, dashing violently against the port bulwarks,

carried a large portion away into the sea; and, along with the broken

timber-work, away went young Master Negus!

Mr Meldrum hesitated no longer as to crossing the deck; but another was

sooner at the scene of action.

Frank Harness, the "third mate," as he was euphemistically called--a

dashing young fellow of nineteen, and just completing his sea-time as

midshipman before passing the Trinity House examination for his

certificate in seamanship--who had been aloft bearing a hand in making

the mizzen-topsail snug, the leech of the sail having blown out through

the violence of the gale, was just on his way down the rigging again to

see where he could be of use elsewhere, when he noticed the boy's peril

as quickly as the passenger; and, with one bound, he alighted on the

deck.

In a rapid eye-glance he took in the situation.

Raised on the top of a curling wave, the fragments of the broken

bulwarks and stanchions had got entangled with the wreck of the fore-

topgallant mast, some twenty yards or so to leeward of the ship; and,

clinging to the mass, Frank could see the boy holding on with a grip of

desperation and terror, drenched with his ducking and the surf that

washed over him, and with his mouth wide open as if yelling for

assistance--although never a sound reached those on board for the roar

of a giant could not have been heard against the wind.

Taking a turn of the signal halliards round his wrist, Frank Harness at

once leaped into the sea and struck out gallantly for the boy; those on

the poop cheering him as he cleaved through the foaming billows and

quickly neared the wreckage, forgetful for a moment of their own

immediate peril in the exciting scene before them, and waiting anxiously

for their turn to assist the rescuer and the rescued on board again.

In the meantime, Mrs Major Negus--alarmed at the disappearance of her

young hopeful from below, neither the steward or stewardess being able

to give any account of him after searching the cabins in vain--had

managed to scramble up the companion-way, nerved to desperation by the

divine power of a mother's love; and by some means or other she

contrived to slide back the hatch and step out on to the poop-deck,

where, holding on by the rail, she eagerly looked to the right and left

in quest of Maurice.

Seeing the group on the lee-side gazing steadfastly at the scene in the

water, she staggered towards them, clutching hold of the tarpaulin over

the skylight to steady herself.

"My boy! my boy!" she exclaimed frantically. "Where is he? Oh, he's

lost," she added with a piercing scream,--"fiends, monsters, are you

going to let him drown before your eyes?"--and she made an effort as if

to plunge overboard to where she could see the curly head of her darling

rising just above the waves.

"Hold!" cried Captain Dinks kindly, grasping her arm firmly and drawing

her back. "He's being saved, and we'll have him on board again in a

minute. There, don't you see, some one has plunged in after him and is

just gripping him; we'll have them up together as soon as he has made

fast!"

"Bless him, the brave fellow!" exclaimed the poor lady, whose

peculiarities and bad temper were now forgotten by all in sympathy with

her natural alarm and anxiety, for she spoke in a voice broken with sobs

and tears. "Who is he? I'll fall down on my knees and thank him for

saving my boy!"

"Frank Harness," said the captain; "but I'm sure the gallant fellow will

not want any thanks for doing a brave action! Look alive forward

there!" he called out to the men in the waist, "and ease off those

topgallant braces a bit and let the wreck drift alongside. So--easy

there--belay! Another minute, and we'll have them."

Frank had reached the wreckage while Maurice's mother had been speaking,

and without an instant's delay had looped the end of the signal

halliards round the boy's waist as he held on himself to the end of the

topgallant yard, to which the lee braces were attached. A quick motion

of his arm had then apprised Captain Dinks what to do, and in another

minute or two the wreckage had been floated in under the ship's quarter,

and a dozen hands were helping the brave lad and the boy whom he had

rescued up the side--Maurice, indeed, being hauled up by the bight of

the signal halliards first.

His mother almost went into hysterics when he was restored to her, as if

from the very gates of death; but her joy did not allow her to forget to

thank his rescuer, which she did far more enthusiastically than Frank

liked, with all the men looking on!

The gale continued raging with unabated force all that evening; but

towards midnight it lulled sufficiently for some sail to be set on the

ship, which was then kept more on her proper course.