TURNED ADRIFT.
FRANK looked, and was not a little surprised to find that the Tycoon,
which he had all the while supposed was following the boat, was almost
out of sight. He did not understand it at first, but a single glance at
the faces of his companions explained it all. Even Lucas, who had shown
so much courage a few minutes before, betrayed the utmost consternation
now.
"Well, Nelson," said Mr. Gale, in a tone of resignation, "Captain
Barclay has got rid of you at last."
"Why, you don't suppose that he intends to desert us!" cried Frank.
The mate shrugged his shoulders and pointed with his thumb toward the
ship, as if to say that Frank could see what she was doing as well as
he could, and might interpret her actions to suit himself.
"It can't be possible!" said Frank. "No man on earth could be guilty of
an act of treachery like this."
"A captain who will allow his men to be abused until they jump
overboard to put themselves out of his way, will do anything," returned
Mr. Gale, quietly. "Hoist the sail, Lucas; you had better bail her out,
Nelson. We must keep her afloat until she carries us two hundred miles."
"Is there any water, sir?" asked Barton.
"Yes, the keg is full, and we need a taste of it after our hard work;
but we must touch it lightly, for there is no telling when we shall get
any more. The Mangrove Islands are the nearest land, and, as I said,
they are two hundred miles away. It is lucky that I know the course."
The sail having been hoisted, the men took a refreshing drink all
around, and settled back on their seats to think over their situation.
Frank could not yet believe that Captain Barclay had sent them out
there alone, with no other object in view than to desert them. He kept
telling himself that the ship must have raised another whale and gone
in pursuit of it, and he watched her closely, expecting every moment
to see her shorten sail and come-to to wait for them; but she kept on,
with all her canvas spread, and very soon nothing but her royals were
visible above the horizon. Frank was obliged to believe it now, and
shuddered when he thought of what was yet to come. With a leaky boat
under them, not a mouthful of anything to eat, and with only a very
small supply of water to allay the raging thirst caused by their five
hours' work under a broiling sun, their situation was one calculated
to frighten anybody. But still it might have been worse, and in this
thought Frank found a little consolation. The mate knew which way
to steer to find land, and if they could only keep the boat afloat
twenty-four hours they would be safe. But suppose the boat had been
stove during the fight with the whale! Suppose he had cut it in two
with his jaw, or smashed it in pieces with his flukes, as he had tried
so hard to do, and left the crew struggling in the water: what then!
Captain Barclay would have deserted them all the same, and they would
have been left powerless. Surrounded by an army of hungry sharks (Frank
now and then caught a momentary glimpse of a sharp fin cutting the
water as one of these voracious monsters hurried toward the whale they
had just left, being attracted no doubt by the blood he had spouted
during his flurry), their sufferings would have been ended, and there
would have been none left to tell the story of the captain's treachery.
"Come, come, boys! This will never do in the world," said Mr. Gale,
suddenly breaking the silence that had reigned for the last half hour.
"Wake up, there! What's the matter with you that you look so sober? If
we were eight or nine hundred miles out at sea, we'd have something to
worry over; but if the wind holds this way, we shall be all right by
to-morrow at this time. The Tycoon is going to the Mangrove Islands for
water, and maybe we shall be lucky enough to catch her there. If we
can't stand it to do without food for that length of time we had better
jump overboard at once, for we've no business to be sailors. Come,
Lucas, begin there in the bow, and sing a song or tell a story!"
"I can't, sir!" replied the sailor.
"All right. You shan't have any water the next time it is passed
around. Go on, Barton. Sing a song or tell a story--a lively one, mind."
"Hold on a bit, sir!" exclaimed Lucas. "I'll do almost anything to get
another drink of that water."
This order soon brought about a great change in the feelings of the
men. Their minds being diverted from the dangers of their situation,
something like merriment soon began to prevail. As it was understood
that each one must do his share toward entertaining his companions,
and that the first one who failed to tell a story or sing a song when
his turn came, should forfeit his next drink of water, this trial of
memory and ingenuity was kept up until far in the night. It would seem
as though men who had spent their lives amid scenes of danger and
excitement could never be at a loss for something to talk about, but
even the oldest among the sailors ran short of stories at last, and
when this happened they did not hesitate to make up one as they went
along; and some of those they told were as ridiculous as the story
Dick Lewis told the captain of the fishing boat. Frank drew on his
experience among the mountains and in the woods, and his stories must
have been worth listening to, for when his turn came the men were all
wide awake.
At last when the crew began to show signs of drowsiness, Mr. Gale
ordered four of them to make themselves as comfortable as they could
and go to sleep, while he and Frank looked out for the boat. Mr. Gale
steered by a compass, the face being lighted up by a small lantern
with which whale-boats are always provided, and Frank talked to him
to keep him awake, and bailed out the water as fast as it ran in. He
did not learn anything encouraging during the four hours that he and
Mr. Gale kept watch. The mate said they were sure to reach the Islands
unless a storm blew them out of their course or swamped them, but he
did not like to think of the way they would fare after they got there.
The largest of the Islands was often visited by whalers, he continued,
but it was almost a land unknown. It was a good place to go to get
water and fresh meat in the shape of terrapins, but he had never yet
heard of a boat's crew, who, leaving the beach to explore the island,
had ever returned to tell what they saw there. Many a fine whale ship
which, when last spoken, had her hold nearly filled with oil and was
almost ready to set out on her return voyage, had suddenly disappeared,
leaving no trace behind. It was supposed that some of them had gone to
the Islands for water, and had either been wrecked on the treacherous
shoals and reefs with which they were surrounded, or been captured and
plundered by the natives. He had seen men who had been held captive
there for years, and had only escaped at last by smuggling themselves
on board some vessel whose crew was too strong to be successfully
attacked. But if they succeeded in getting there they would find an
abundance to eat and plenty of water to drink, and that was better
than being tossed about on the waves of the Pacific in an open boat.
Frank now began to understand Captain Barclay's plans. There was more
in them than he had at first supposed. The skipper wanted to be rid
of Frank and his friends, and the whale they had killed and deserted,
furnished him with an excuse for sending the boat away from the ship.
When he arrived in port he could say that she had been smashed in
pieces by the whale, and all her crew sent to the bottom. He took his
chances on this. If the event really happened, so much the better; but
if they came through the fight in safety, and succeeded in reaching the
Islands, the natives would detain them as prisoners. In either case he
was clear of them, and they could never appear against him in a court
of justice.
"I can understand all that," said Frank, after he had explained this to
the mate, "but there is one thing I can't quite see through: Why did he
send you off with us? You never said you would prosecute him, did you?
And there are two other men in the boat who never made any threats of
that kind. I am very sorry that the friendship you have exhibited for
me should have brought you into this trouble. I shall never be able to
repay you."
"It wasn't that at all," said the mate, in reply. "The captain has
always been afraid of me, and he was just as anxious to get me off the
vessel as he was to get you off. I'm not the sort of officer that suits
him. I have been a foremast hand myself, and I can't see the beauty of
banging men about as if they had no more feeling than so many logs of
wood. As for sending these two other men with us, he had to give the
boat a full crew, you know, and he put in those against whom he had a
grudge."
Frank and the mate talked in this way until almost daylight, and then
the former called Lucas and Barton, who steered the boat and kept her
bailed out, while Frank and Mr. Gale lay down on the thwarts and slept
until the sun grew too warm for them. It was then nine o'clock. As they
had no breakfast to serve up they took a drink of water all around,
which seemed to aggravate rather than relieve their thirst, the supply
the mate allowed them being so small; and at one o'clock by Mr. Gale's
watch, when the Mangrove Islands were in plain sight, they emptied the
keg.
Propelled by a favorable breeze the boat rapidly approached the land,
and finally the outlines of the shore and the trees on the hill-sides
could be easily distinguished. Suddenly Mr. Gale arose, and standing
erect in the stern-sheets, gazed steadily into the little bay toward
which the boat was heading. "She's there!" said he, a moment later.
"The Tycoon?" asked Frank, running his eye along the shore in the vain
effort to find the object that had attracted the officer's attention.
"Yes, the Tycoon!"
"Will we go aboard of her, Mr. Gale?" asked one of the crew.
"Certainly, just as straight as we can go. We belong to her, don't we?"
The men said nothing in reply, but their actions told what was passing
in their minds. Some seemed delighted, while others beat their open
palms with their clenched hands, and banged the oars violently down
on the thwarts. It was plain that Captain Barclay had some men in his
ship's company who would give him serious trouble if they ever found
the opportunity.
"There's something wrong with her," continued the mate, still gazing
earnestly at the ship, which Frank had at last been able to discover.
"So I was thinking," said the latter. "She's close in shore and has her
topsails aback. She can't be lying-to in there."
"No, she's aground," replied the mate, "and they are trying to work her
off."
All eyes were now turned toward the ship which came rapidly into view
as the boat approached the shore. It was plain that she was hard and
fast aground. The crew were running about the deck, pulling the yards
first one way and then the other, in the hope of getting the sails full
enough to work her off; but the breeze was not sufficiently strong,
and besides the tide was running out, so that the ship was every moment
sinking more firmly into her bed on the sand bar. Presently one of the
crew discovered the approaching boat. It was one of the Kanakas. He
gazed at it a moment, then jumped up and clapped his hands, calling
out "Galickhee!" or some such tongue-twisting name which he and his
people had bestowed upon the third officer. That brought all the crew
to the side, where they stood waving their hats and shouting out words
of welcome. Frank and the rest were astonished at this reception. Where
were Captain Barclay and his mates that they permitted the crew to act
in this way?
"O, Mr. Gale, you're just in time," cried one of the men, who answered
to the name of Boson, "only I wish you had come a little sooner. We're
up to our necks in trouble."
"Not an officer aboard--all gone--the ship a thousand miles from
water--or she might as well be, she's so hard a-ground, six men dead
and the niggers thicker than blackberries," chimed in Tully, another
of the crew, stamping about the deck and swinging his arms wildly in
the air.
The men in the whale-boat were greatly amazed. They clambered over
the side with all possible haste, each one demanding to know what was
the matter. The crew shook each of them by the hand as if they were
overjoyed to meet them once more, and then silently directed their
attention to different parts of the deck, as if telling them to see
for themselves what was the matter. Frank stood speechless while he
looked. The deck was in the greatest confusion. Harpoons, spades,
lances and handspikes were scattered about, and with them were mingled
curious weapons and ornaments that he had never seen before, and
blubber-knives, cutlasses and muskets with the bayonets attached. These
last came from the ship's armory, and their presence on deck was enough
to prove that there had been a fight, even had other indications been
wanting.
A feeble attempt had been made to clear up things a little, but the
traces that were left of the recent contest proclaimed that it had been
a severe and by no means a bloodless one. Frank ran his eye hastily
over the crew gathered about him, and saw that there were some familiar
faces missing--among them those of the captain, his two mates and his
old enemy, Calamity. What if he had been there when the fight came
off? Might not he also have been among the missing? Perhaps Captain
Barclay's attempt to get him off his vessel had been the means of
saving his life.
"What's been going on here, any how?" demanded the mate, as soon as he
could speak.
A chorus of hoarse voices arose in reply, each one trying to give his
version of the story, and to make himself heard above his companions;
but Mr. Gale, finding that there was nothing to be learned in that way,
commanded silence, and pointing to one of the crew ordered him to speak
for all. The man complied, telling his story in regular sailor lingo
which we put into English as follows:--
The Tycoon arrived at the island that morning about three o'clock,
and came to anchor two miles outside the bar. The captain, knowing
the treacherous character of the natives, kept one watch on deck
until morning, but nothing suspicious being seen, the ship stood close
in at daylight, and came to; after which the water-barrels were got
overboard, and the captain and first mate set out in their boats to tow
them ashore. No sooner had the crews touched the beach than they were
assailed by a swarm of natives, who had been lying in ambush waiting
for them. Almost at the same moment two large war canoes filled with
savages made their appearance, coming from one of the numerous little
inlets which set into the land from the bay. They headed straight for
the ship, their crews brandishing their lances and clubs, and yelling
at the top of their lungs.
The sailors on board the Tycoon, who had witnessed the massacre of
their shipmates without the power to aid them, now found themselves
called upon to provide for their own safety. The second mate, who
was in command, made an effort to bring the ship about and run out
of the bay; but she struck the bar in going around, running on with
sufficient force to knock all the crew off their feet. They could not
run, and their only chance for life was to beat off their assailants,
who outnumbered them five to one. The weapons that were left in the
arm-chest were quickly brought up, muskets, pistols and cartridges to
put into them were distributed among the crew, lances, harpoons and
spades placed about the deck in convenient nooks, so that they could
be readily seized, and by the time these preparations were completed,
their foes were upon them. They made the attack at two different
points, one canoe running under the bow and the other coming alongside
at the starboard quarter. The sailors met them at both places, and
the first assault was repulsed. The seamen, having the advantage of
position, knocked their assailants over the side as fast as they could
climb to the top of the bulwarks, but the natives persevered, and
overwhelming numbers began to tell. They succeeded in gaining a footing
on deck, and drove the sailors before them toward the waist.
Almost in the beginning of the fight the second mate had been struck
down by a lance, and as there was no one to direct the movements of the
sailors, each man fought on his own hook, and did just what he thought
best, without paying any attention to his neighbors. Boson probably
saved the day. While the sailors were retreating he caught up the
mate's revolver, which was lying on deck, and turning fiercely on his
foes fired all the barrels in quick succession, every shot striking a
native and bringing him dead or wounded to the deck. That was more than
the enemy could endure. Appalled by the havoc the six-shooter created,
they beat a hasty retreat, followed by the sailors, who thinned their
ranks very perceptibly before they could clamber over the side into
their boat. As they were about to push off, Boson and Tully added a
grand finale to the victory. The former threw a harpoon at one of the
natives, which, missing its object, passed through the bottom of the
boat, knocking a hole in her that would have caused her to sink long
before she could reach the shore, even had Tully not followed it up,
as he did, with the heavy snatch-block, which made a complete wreck of
her.
The enemy being beaten at the quarter, the sailors who defended that
part of the ship ran to the assistance of their friends in the bow; but
the fight was over there, also. The natives, failing to gain the deck,
became discouraged, and dropping back into their boat, made all haste
to reach the shore. Some succeeded, others did not. The sailors rushed
for their muskets and pistols, which they had thrown to the deck after
firing their contents at the foe, and hastily ramming down cartridges,
opened fire on the natives. Those of their companions who were not
provided with these weapons, employed themselves in clearing the deck
of the dead and wounded the savages had left behind them, tumbling them
all unceremoniously over the side, and never looking to see what became
of them afterward.
The battle being ended, the crew began to look about them and make
an estimate of their losses. They found that six of their number had
fallen beneath the war-clubs and lances of their assailants, which,
counting in the twelve that had gone ashore in the boats, made eighteen
men they had lost out of thirty-five. Greatly alarmed, disheartened by
the loss of all their officers, and afraid to risk another encounter
with their diminished numbers, they hastily committed the bodies of
their dead companions to the deep, and set to work to get the ship
afloat. They had kept hard at it for more than six hours. They had
moved her a little, but the tide began to fall just at the wrong time,
and there she was as fast as if she had been nailed to the ground.
The new-comers listened to this story with breathless attention. If any
evidence was needed to convince them of its truthfulness, they found
it in the frightened faces of the men and the disordered state of the
deck, which bore unmistakable signs of the conflict. Their assailants
had left some of their property behind them in the shape of lances,
war-clubs and head-dresses, and close alongside the ship floated the
wreck of the canoe, which was slowly moving out to sea with the tide. A
moment later additional and most unexpected evidence was produced. A
warning exclamation uttered by Lucas, under his breath, drew all eyes
toward him. Frank saw him pick up a lance that happened to be lying
near, and following the direction of his gaze, saw that it was fastened
upon a head which was slowly rising above the combings of the fore
hatch--a head covered with a mass of shaggy hair. It was one of the
natives, who had no doubt been knocked into the hold during the fight,
and was now coming up to see if the coast was clear, so that he could
make his escape. Not a man moved. Every one held his breath as Lucas
raised the long, slender whale-lance in the air and held it poised in
both hands.
The head was raised slowly, cautiously, inch by inch, above the
combings of the hatchway, and presently a dark-brown forehead and then
a pair of eyes appeared. At that instant the lance whistled through
the air. Thrown by a practised hand and flying true to its aim, its
keen point was buried in the combings exactly in range with the spot
where the head had been a second before. Its owner had seen the weapon
coming and dodged just in time, but his escape was a narrow one.
"Avast, there!" cried a voice from the hold. "Ain't you Christians
enough to give a white man a chance for life and liberty?"
The sailors stood and looked at one another without speaking.