The sun was sinking low as the doctor and his companion reached the deck
and then ascended to the bridge to have a hasty glance round before the
brief tropical evening should give place to darkness, and in that
rapidly made observation they grasped that the great steamer,
wonderfully uninjured, lay aground in comparatively shallow water,
doubtless upon the coral rocks which formed the bottom of a broad
lagoon.
Everything loose had been carried away by the waves which had swept the
decks, but the masts and funnel were standing comparatively uninjured,
and as far as they could make out, scarcely any injury had been done to
the structure of the ship.
"The mischief's all below, sir, I expect," said the old sailor. "We
shall find she's got a lot of water in her hold."
"But she lies immovable, I suppose," said the doctor.
"Quite, sir; she's fast as fast can be, and'll lie till she rusts away,
which won't be this side o' fifty year."
"Then there is no immediate danger?"
"Not a bit, sir, and it's a bad job as those boats was launched; they'd
all have been better here if the skipper could have known."
"Yes; waited till the storm had passed," assented the doctor.
"Ay, sir, but who could tell that we were going to be floated over the
reef and set down, as you may say, in dock? Besides, if the skipper
hadn't ordered the boats out when he did there'd ha' been a mutiny."
"I suppose so; the crew would have risen against their officers."
"The crew, sir? Yes, and the passengers too. There'd ha' been a panic
and a rush."
The doctor sighed, shaded his eyes, and looked out from the side where
they stood at the golden lagoon.
In the distance he could see the huge rollers breaking regularly on the
coral reef--a wonderful sight in the setting sun, the water glowing
orange and blood-red, while the spray which rose was a fiery gold.
"Magnificent," said the doctor, softly, and he turned to cross to the
other side of the deck to look out westward over a couple of hundred
yards of smooth water to a grove of cocoanut-trees, beyond which was
dense forest, and above that, hill and ravine running up glorious in the
golden sunset for hundreds of feet.
"An island--a coral island, I suppose," said the doctor.
"Nay, sir; there's coral all about here, but that's not a coral island;
it runs up too big. I daresay that's been an old volcano some time, and
when we land we shall most likely find a bit of a lake of good water up
yonder among the hills. Yes, that we shall, for look there among the
trees, flashing like in the sunshine; that's a bit of a waterfall. It's
a little river, you see, where the lake empties out."
The doctor nodded. "I think we have seen enough for this evening,
Bostock," he said, with a sigh; "everything would look so beautiful if
one did not feel so sad."
"Sad, sir?" cried the old sailor, wonderingly. "What, with young Master
Carey coming round instead o' lying dead and cold; and us safe and sound
with a well-stored ship anchored under our feet?"
"Yes, that is all good and comforting, Bostock," said the doctor; "but
what about all our companions and friends?"
"Ay, and mates too," said the old sailor. "Yes, that's bad, but there's
always a bit o' blue sky behind the clouds. Who knows, sir, but what
they may all be making for port over this smooth red sea after riding
out the storm?"
"I hope they are," said the doctor, fervently.
"Same here, sir," said the old sailor. "Perhaps they are, and mebbe
just at this here very blessed moment there's some on 'em feeling as
sorry as we are 'cause they think as the _Susan's_ gone down in the deep
sea and taken with her that there dear boy, the doctor, and poor old Bob
Bostock. Ay, sir, some of our chaps didn't much like me, because I was
hard on some o' the young ones over making 'em tackle to. But I'll be
bound to say, sir," cried the old man, chuckling till the tears stood in
his eyes, "some on 'em'll be saying among theirselves that old Bob
Bostock was as good a mate as ever stepped the deck."
"I hope so too," said the doctor, smiling; "people are very fond of
finding out a man's good qualities when he's dead."
"But I aren't dead, sir, and I don't mean to be dead as long as I can
help it. But don't you feel awful sick and faint, sir?"
"Faint?"
"Yes, sir. Human nature's human nature, you know, sir, and if you stop
its victuals it gets ravenish. I aren't had a mouthful of anything but
salt water for quite thirty hours, and I don't believe you have
neither."
"I don't believe I have, Bostock," said the doctor, smiling.
"Thought not, sir. So what do you say to going and looking up the
stooard's and the cook's quarters and seeing what we can find?"
"Yes, Bostock, the wisest thing we can do, and I must be thinking about
my patient too. I must not let him starve."