Jim Partington shows his Mettle
"Come back, lad," shouted the captain, as Jim's heels disappeared
beneath the surface of the ocean. Then he rose quickly to his feet, and,
gripping the gunwale of the rocking boat with both hands, he stared
through the gloom at the sinking ship, and at the solitary figure now
clinging to the rail amidships. Indeed the unhappy individual who had
been accidentally left on the foundering vessel showed that he was in
almost as frantic a condition as had been the Spanish workmen, when
fighting in the waist for possession of the boats. He was waving the one
arm which was uninjured vigorously, and as Jim set out in his direction
he was seen to throw one leg over the rail, to clamber with difficulty
upon it, then to sit there holding desperately, and looking as though
every movement of the ship would cast him into the water.
"She's a going! Gee! did yer see her lurch then? My, I thought she was
under!"
The deck hand who had shouted the words threw up his hands in the
direction of the steamer, and turned a pair of startled, staring eyes
upon her. There was good reason for his alarming observation, for at
that moment the foundering vessel rolled heavily from side to side, as
if she found her position irksome. Then she dipped her nose still deeper
into the ocean, kicking her stern clear of the water till ten feet of
her dripping keel were visible, and until her decks were at such a steep
angle that none but an acrobat could have retained his position on them.
Indeed the unfortunate individual clinging to the rail was swung from
his insecure seat, and, falling backwards, crashed on to the deck and
slithered down it till one of the bridge pillars arrested his progress.
"Holy poker, but dat near shave, I guess! Massa Jim, what yo doin' dat
for? Yo's mad! Yo's goin' to drown yo'self!" shouted Tom, rising to his
feet so rapidly that his huge bulk set the ship's boat rocking
dangerously.
"Drown himself! He's jest committing suicide! I tell you, he's bound to
go under," growled the captain, who, if the truth had only been known,
felt himself so strongly impelled to leap into the sea and help in this
foolhardy but gallant effort at rescue that it was only by exercising
the greatest self-control that he was able to hold himself in check.
"If I wasn't skipper I'd do it," he cried. "But it would be a fool's
game. Besides, I've got to remember that I'm in charge of this
expedition."
Meanwhile Jim's head had burst from the surface of the water, and the
plucky lad was forcing his way towards the sinking vessel with powerful
strokes. He gave no heed to the shouts and calls of those behind him,
not even when Sadie, beside herself with anxiety, rose from her seat in
the stern of the boat and shrieked to him to return instantly.
"I'll do it, or go under," he told himself grimly. "A sinking ship ain't
going to frighten me. Guess a chap couldn't float out there in safety
and see a man drowned before his eyes, especially a man that's unable to
fend for himself."
Though the water dripped into his eyes from his hair, and made seeing
difficult, he, too, had observed the terrific lurch which the foundering
vessel had just given; and if he had had any doubts as to her true
condition they were instantly set aside by the mass of her stern
elevated in such an ungainly manner into the air.
"Aboard there!" he shouted; "jump over into the water. She is going
down."
Thanks to an oil lantern which still hung amidships, below the bridge,
he could see the man for whose rescue he was striving, and as he thrust
his way strenuously through the water he watched the injured passenger
pick himself up on hand and knees and struggle towards the rail. He
wedged his feet against a stanchion supporting the latter, and as Jim
arrived within a few yards of the vessel, the man was again endeavouring
to clamber over the rail.
Then there came, of a sudden, another sluggish lurch. The ship appeared
to shiver throughout her framework, and rolled heavily from side to
side. A moment later her bows rose rapidly from the ocean in which they
had been submerged, while the stern regained almost its normal position.
It looked, in fact, as if she were making one last gallant effort to
float upon the surface. But again she rolled heavily from side to side,
till her decks were slanting at a sickening angle, greater indeed than
that to which Jim and his mates had become accustomed when cruising to
the south along the Caribbean coast.
"By de power, but dat terrific, dat 'nough to shake de life out of
anybody," muttered Tom, whose eyes all this while had been staring into
the gloom, endeavouring to follow every movement of his young American
master. Indeed, so acute was the vision of the dusky giant that details
were visible to him, and to Sam, his diminutive brother, which others
aboard the boat had no idea of. "Lummy, but Tom not like to see dat ship
shake herself so! She go down with a bust in one little moment, and
den--and den, what happen to Massa Jim?"
The very thought of the disaster which would follow drove the negro into
a condition almost of frenzy. His eyes bulged from their sockets and
looked as though they would tumble from his head. A whimper from Sadie
set Tom's honest heart throbbing and palpitating. It was real pain to
the fine fellow to know that his little mistress was in trouble. That
and his own courageous, impetuous nature made it impossible to stay any
longer inactive in the boat. Every muscle in his body trembled, while
his breath came quick and deep.
"I's goin' ter help!" he shouted. "Nebber yo fear, missie; soon hab
Massa Jim back safe and sound."
With that he floundered overboard, causing the boat to rock once more
till her gunwale dipped beneath the oily surface of the ocean, a mass of
water flooding the interior instantly. His head had hardly bobbed up in
view again when there came a sudden exclamation from Sam, and a moment
later the little fellow had slipped away to help his dusky brother in
his gallant task.
"Jemima! But if that don't take it!" bellowed one of the crew of the
boat, looking himself as if he were about to follow. "Every mother's son
of 'em'll go down. That ship'll suck 'em under sure. Ain't we going
nearer?"
In his eagerness he seized an oar, banged it into the rowlock, and
proceeded to bear upon it; but a stern order from the captain at once
arrested the movement.
"Belay there!" he cried sharply. "I ain't going to risk the lives of all
aboard for those in the water. We're too close to that ship by a long
way, much too close to my liking. Drop another oar in there, Macdougal,
and pull us away a bit. Harvey, jest get to at bailing; she's taken a
bit of water aboard. Miss Sadie, it's the right thing we're doing. It'll
help them best in the end."
But there was mutiny in the eye of Macdougal. In the excitement of the
moment the eager fellow could not in his own mind differentiate between
the safety of those aboard the boat and those who had plunged into the
water.
"What's that?" he growled. "Go farther away! Desert them as is wanting
our help! Wall, if I ain't jiggered! We calls ourselves white men,
and----"
"Stop!" commanded the skipper sternly. "Get down on that seat and pull,
Macdougal. You're a fool, I'm thinking. Jest remember that I'm your
skipper still, and taking orders from no one. I'm working in the
interest of all."
"Aye, aye, sir. Macdougal, get to at it!" growled the mate, scowling at
the sailor, and clenching a pair of brawny fists. Not that this officer
was really angry with Macdougal. In his heart of hearts he rather
admired the man; but discipline was discipline, and the skipper had many
a time proved his own courage and discretion. Still, even his persuasion
did not make of the sailor a willing man; for the moment Macdougal was
obedient, though mutiny and smouldering anger flashed from his eyes.
Meanwhile the sinking vessel had displayed another series of erratic
movements. That sickening roll from side to side had been replaced by a
gentle pitching fore and aft, and as the seconds fled swiftly by, the
pitching had become slowly and almost imperceptibly greater. Then,
suddenly, the vessel tossed her bows into the air till her watermarks
were visible to those swimming in the ocean. But it was only for a
little while. The bows came down again with a heave, which sent her
forecastle beneath the surface, till she looked as though she were in
the act of plunging to the bottom. Up she came again, displacing a huge
mass of water, and raising a wave which spread quickly across the sea
till it reached the boat hovering at a distance and rocked it. She
canted heavily to port, showing the whole of her length of deck, and
with such a violent movement that the passenger aboard was flung clear
of the rail right out into the water. Then souse went her bows once
more, raising the stern like a pinnacle into the gloom which surrounded
everything.
"Yo grip him and get away back, quick as yo can," bellowed Tom, his
mouth almost submerged, his powerful arms bearing him swiftly to help
in the rescue. "I's close behind yo, Massa Jim."
But he might have shouted to a log of wood for all the use his words
were. Jim heard not a syllable of his warning, for his eyes and all his
attention were fixed upon the injured man who had been thrown from the
vessel. He reached him in the course of a few seconds, and turning him
upon his back supported his head.
"I'm fine," he heard the man say faintly. "This arm of mine don't give
me no more than a dog's chance of swimming. You clear off, young chap.
You've the right stuff in you, there ain't a doubt; but I'm fine. Don't
you get worrying."
The last words were almost cut off by water lapping into his mouth. The
huge wave raised by the sudden lifting of the vessel caught them both,
and for a moment the two were hidden from sight by a mass of surging
green foam. Jim kicked frantically, bearing himself and the man to the
surface. Something struck hard against his chest, and, gripping at it
with the one hand he had free, he swiftly realized that fortune had been
good to him, for it was a buoy, cast loose by the injured passenger
himself but a little while before, and now swept to hand at a most
opportune moment. He looped his arm over it, and, slipping the other
deeper down, hugged the man closer, drawing his head well up on to his
own shoulder.
It was as well that he had made this hasty preparation, for, of a
sudden, the ship beside which they floated soused her bows deep again,
and slid farther beneath the surface. She seemed to hesitate, to make
one other effort. There came a loud explosion, accompanied by the sound
of splintering and rending wood. Air gushed from a mighty aperture which
had made its appearance at the point where but a little while before the
Spanish passengers had been fighting so frantically; then she plunged to
her bed in the ocean. Swift as a dart she shot beneath the surface,
leaving in her wake a swirling whirlpool, a twisting vortex into which
everything--splinters of wood, spars, and human beings--were sucked with
alarming swiftness, and with such force that none could resist it. So it
happened that Jim and the passenger once more disappeared from the ken
of those who were watching so eagerly.
How frantically Jim kicked; how desperately he clung to the buoy and to
the man at whose rescue he aimed. The swirling water bearing them both
down beneath the surface of the Caribbean in the wake of the vessel
almost tore them apart in the course of that desperate struggle.
At one moment the pull on the buoy was so intense that he felt as if his
arm would be dragged from its socket. An instant later a recoil of the
waters swept it back against his face with such violence that his jaw
was all but broken.
"Done for," he thought. "I can't stand much more of this. My lungs are
bursting, my head feels as if it will explode."
The sound of seething, gushing water deafened him at first, but when he
had been a little while immersed the thunderous notes, so distressing a
moment ago, seemed to become lessened in intensity. The buzzing was
now, if anything, rather pleasant, while his mind, acutely active but a
second before, became blissfully content, as if absorbed in paying
attention to that curious singing in his ears. But if he himself were
unconscious of other things, nature still urged him to struggle on for
existence. Jim had no idea of the frantic kicks he gave, of the grim
force with which he clung to the man and to the buoy. Then something
revived his senses and caused his wandering wits to take notice of his
surroundings. A breeze blew in his face, while someone shouted in his
ear. He opened his eyes, and in the gloom that pervaded everything made
out the grinning features of Tom.
"Yo's dere, den; yo's safe," he heard the negro exclaim. "By lummy, but
dat extra near squeak, so I tell yo! Let go ob de man. Me take him for
de moment. Yo puffed, blowin' like an engine."
Jim was exhausted; his breath was coming in quick, painful gasps. He
could not spare any for an answer, and, indeed, had so little strength
left in him that he did not even resent Tom's movement to take the
injured passenger from his care. Instead, he clung to the buoy, fighting
for air, wondering vaguely exactly what had happened.
"Yo hang dere quiet and easy," said Tom, one hand on the buoy and his
muscular arm about the half-drowned man. "Yo puffin' like a grampus now,
but in a little bit yo be better, not make such a noise, have plenty
strength again. Den take de man and swim back with him. Tom only come to
look on and see dat all well."
It was like the gallant fellow to make light of his own adventure, to
stand aside now that he was sure that Jim was safe, so as not to rob him
of the honour which would follow. Tom was indeed a very honest negro, a
man with a wide, big heart, which held a large corner for Jim and his
sister. He grinned in Jim's face, then suddenly turned and looked over
his shoulder.
"By de poker, but here someone else!" he muttered. "Who dar? We's safe
and sound. Yo hab no cause to worry."
"And I ain't worryin'," came a well-known voice through the darkness. "I
comed along here jest to see what's happenin'. Is Massa Jim right and
well?"
A growl burst from Tom's lips as he recognized the voice, and at once he
turned a pair of blazing eyes upon the culprit who had dared to follow
him.
"Dat yo, Sam?" he demanded. "Den what fo yo dare to leave de missie? Yo
get back right now, or by de poker, me knock you into twenty cocked hat!
What fo yo jump overboard and risk gettin' drowned?"
The question brought a gurgle from the jolly little Sam. He laughed
outright beneath the nose of the irate Tom, and, reaching the buoy,
clung to it for a moment or so before he deigned to reply.
"Yo's one great big donkey, yo am, Tom," he roared, shaking with
laughter. "Yo tinks yo de only man allowed to jump into de water; but
dat not so. De young massa place yo in charge of de missie, and yo no
right to leave. Me knows dat; me comes along right out here to haul yo
back. Yo one great big blackguard."
To the astonishment of Tom and Jim the little fellow burst into violent
sobs, though his words had conveyed anything but an idea of sorrow. Sam
shook from the top of his woolly head to his shoeless toes, and set the
buoy rocking. Big tears coursed down his cheeks, though the water
dripping from his hair almost cloaked them, and when he tried to speak
again he gulped at the words and failed to express them. It was, in
fact, a strange if comical procedure, and for the moment Jim's muddled
condition did not help him to arrive at the meaning. But he grasped the
truth a moment later, for Tom helped him.
"Yo--yo one little rascal, yo!" he heard the huge fellow exclaim, though
there was no anger in his voice, no resentment for the words which Sam
had hurled at him. Rather there was a strange trembling which denoted
friendly feeling, accompanied by a sudden gripping of hands between the
two darkies which seemed to say that they were perfectly agreed. Then
Jim gathered the full meaning of Sam's tears, of Tom's magnanimous
action. It was joy for his, Jim's, safety that had set Sam howling, and
the tears coursing down his cheeks. It was that same feeling which
induced Tom to overlook the high-flown language of his small brother and
grip his hand so warmly.
"You're just two great grown-up babies," he laughed across at them. "You
seem to imagine that no one can do anything without you, that I'm like a
piece of china, liable to break on the smallest occasion. See here, Tom
and Sam, shake hands. Guess you're both of you white right away through
from head to toe. I owe you both a heap for coming out after me; but
mind what I've said--I ain't a piece of china. Guess I'm old enough and
ugly enough to look after myself."
Tom grinned back at his young master and hung to the buoy for a while,
still clinging to the hand he had offered. Then he dropped it, moved to
the farther side, as if to place himself in a position of safety, and
presently made his reply.
"Sah," he said, "p'raps you old enough, as yo say, p'raps no. Ugly
'nough: yes, I tink so. Yo's ugly 'nough to do one ob de stupidest tings
as ever I seed. What fo yo jump into de sea like dat and swim toward a
ship dat was sinking? S'pose she drag yo down? S'pose yo neber come up
agin. Who den take care of missie?"
Even behind his fun there was a deal of truth. Who indeed would be left
to care for the sister? But Jim had come up again, and, feeling better,
he promptly made his presence felt.
"Jest swim back quick," he commanded Sam, "and tell 'em we're all right.
Tell 'em to come along. We'll hang to the buoy. Now, Tom, set to
splashing with your legs. There'll be sharks about here, and they're
extra fond of darkies."
Tom paled for a moment under his dark skin and looked the reverse of
comfortable. Then he laughed uproariously, shouted to Sam to hurry his
departure, and promptly did as Jim had ordered. For it was as well to be
cautious: both knew that sharks abounded in that corner of the Caribbean
Sea, and some of the brutes might very well be in the vicinity. They
kicked continuously, therefore, till the boat came up with a rush, and
they and the injured man were lifted aboard.
"Young man, you can jest give me a grip of yer hand," cried the skipper
of the foundered vessel when all were safely in the boat, stretching
across to the triumphant Jim. "I guessed when you came up alongside us
on the ship, telling me that you had fixed matters for your sister, and
were ready to help us out with the trouble those Spaniards were giving,
that you had got stuff behind you--the right sort of stuff, too. Then
you tackled the hounds in proper style, so that I knew I had a man with
me; a man, siree, not jest a boy. But this last thing's better than all.
Guess this gentleman owes you a life. Guess he'll be for ever in your
debt. Young man, I'm pleased to have met you."
It was a glowing tribute to our hero's courage, and he went crimson from
the top of his dripping head to his stockinged toes as he listened to
the words. Not that anyone could tell, for the gloom shrouded
everything. However, Sadie, sitting beside him, clinging to his arm as
if loath to part again with her protector, guessed his pleasure, while
her own courageous little heart felt as if it would burst with pride.
"I'm glad you did it, Jim," she whispered, "though I was terrified. And
Tom and Sam were really brave; they are so devoted. Can you believe, I
had the greatest difficulty to keep Ching with me? He hates swimming, as
you know, but he was very nearly following."
"Brave, honest fellows!" answered Jim with a gulp, for such devotion
touched him. "They are, indeed, true friends to us."
However, he had no time for further conversation; for now that the
captain had given his decision on events so recent, the mate and crew of
the boat were determined to make their own voices heard.
"A right proper thing to have done: wish you was my own son," declared
the former. "Shake, young man. It's a treat to meet one who's a true
American."
"One of the very right sort," growled Macdougal, still trembling with
excitement. "See here, young feller, I've nigh lost a job through you. I
was for kicking up a rumpus direct against the old man's orders. Chief,
I'm main sorry for them words and looks; but there's a time when a man
has to kick. I thought you was funking."
"Funking!" exploded the mate, though the captain sat rigidly in his
place, making no response. "Him funking! The man you and I have sailed
with these past three years and never known to fail us. You guessed that
the chief who led us against those Spaniards was funking! Gee! I've a
mind to smash your head in with this oar."
There was real anger in the voice. The mate was furious, and his huge
doubled fists showed that he was ready for anything; but the skipper
quickly quietened him.
"Belay there, Mr. Jarvis," he said in his ordinary tones. "Macdougal's a
fool, as I've already told him; and if he never knew it before he does
now. I'm not afraid of anyone's criticisms. There's a motto I'm always a
believer in. It runs: 'By their works shalt thou know them'. Guess I've
never done a thing to allow any man to think I was funking. Macdougal
was too excited to be responsible for his thoughts; it's just the man's
bluntness which has made him tell us so honestly. But take the lesson to
heart, Macdougal; keep a clear, steady head always and it'll carry you
through heaps of difficulties. Watch the men you work with, and get to
know all about them: moments of excitement aren't the times for coming
to conclusions. Now let's get on to other matters. How's that
gentleman?"
"Fine," came in shaky tones from the bows of the boat in which the
rescued passenger had been laid. "Guess I know everything. I've been
lying here these last few minutes wondering whether I was alive or dead,
and what had been happening. Is that the skipper?"
"It is, sir."
"Then allow me to say that you've as fine a crew as ever I set eyes on.
It wasn't their fault that I was left aboard the ship. The collision
knocked me silly, and guess I lay away there on the decks out of sight;
but I never reckoned you'd have men aboard ready to take such risks to
rescue a passenger. That young chap who swam out for me wellnigh went
down with the vessel. I held my breath as we went under till I thought I
should bust. And all the time I could feel him holding tighter to me and
kicking. Gee, he's a full-blooded lad! He's got pluck if you like. And
those coloured men come close after him. When I'm feeling better, guess
I'd like to take a grip of their hands."
It was evident that he considered Jim to be one of the crew, and his
gallant action undertaken in the course of duty; but the captain
undeceived him.
"That young chap's a passenger like yourself, sir," he said. "And the
darkies are ditto. I allow that you have every reason to want to thank
them; you owe them your life. But let us see to the other vessel; this
affair has taken her wellnigh out of my head."
The oars were dipped in the water, and the boat was slowly rowed in the
direction of the twinkling lights which showed the position of the other
steamer. She had sheered off to some distance, but as the boat
approached her it became clear that her condition was not so desperate
as had been imagined.
"She's listing badly to port and is down at the head. You can tell that
easily," declared the experienced captain. "We'll row right alongside
and I'll go aboard. You come too, Mr. Jarvis, and we'll take that young
man there."
He motioned to Jim, and, having put his helm over, so directing the boat
alongside the steamer, he called to one of the hands in the bows to hold
to the companion ladder which had been dropped over her side. Casting
his eyes about him, Jim was able to pierce the gloom to some extent, and
became aware of the fact that a number of small boats were also lying
off the vessel. In fact there were at least seven of them. Another
remarkable fact was the silence which pervaded everything. A little
while before there had been a deal of shouting, and some amount of
confusion, no doubt; but now everything was orderly.
"Fine discipline," remarked the skipper. "The chief of this boat got his
passengers away first of all, and then set to work to repair damages.
Guess he hadn't mad Spaniards to fight. Come along, please."
He scrambled on to the companion and ran nimbly up the steps. A tall man
met him when he reached the deck, and introduced himself as the captain.
"You're chief of the ship that's foundered?" he asked.
"I am," came the rejoinder. "We were badly holed, and there wasn't a
chance from the very first. Then we had a horde of mad Spaniards to
fight: the hounds lost their heads and struggled for the boats. After
that we found, when it was too late to go near the ship, that one
passenger had been left aboard; but we saved him, thanks to the pluck of
a passenger. Now, sir, I'm sorry for this collision. We'll not discuss
it now; the courts ashore will deal with the evidence. I've come along
to see how you fared."
"And thanks for the kind thought, sir," came the answer. "Reckon the
question of who's to blame can be dealt with as you say. I congratulate
you on the way you managed to come out of a difficulty. I'd have sent
along; but then, you see, I wasn't sure that we weren't foundering too.
There's a hole as big as three rum casks punched in our bows, and you
can see that we've shipped no end of water; but our water-tight
bulkheads were closed right away and that's saved us. We've the
carpenters at work this instant, and as soon as they've plugged the gap
with planks and oakum we'll be able to put matters a little more
shipshape. Our pumps are just holding the water now; when the gap is
plugged we shall gain on it. I reckon to have my passengers aboard in
half an hour; you'll bring yours along, and welcome."
Half an hour later, in fact, found Jim and his friends, together with
all the passengers and crew of the sunken steamer, aboard; while some
twenty-four hours later the port of Colon had been reached.
"And here we have to start right off again," said Jim, discussing
affairs with his sister. "That five hundred dollars will have to be
drawn upon for clothes and other things, seeing that we lost everything
with the ship. It'll mean I shall have to be quicker in getting a job
when we reach New York. But don't you fear, Sadie; somehow I've a notion
that our fortune is about to improve. Things are looking brighter."
They watched the steamer slowly berthed, and then made for the gangway.
Bidding farewell to the skipper and the crew, with whom they had become
most friendly, they were about to make their way ashore when the man
whom Jim had rescued accosted them.
"I've fixed rooms for you all," he said. "You'll not disappoint me, will
you? I've a house away up on the hill, and there's heaps of room."
"But--but we're going on direct for New York," cried Jim, astonished at
the proposal.
"No doubt, sir; no doubt. But then there don't happen to be a steamer
for a week, and Colon's a bad place to rest in. You'll oblige me by
coming. I ain't had a chance, so far, of thanking you and the others for
what you did. You'll surely give me a chance to get to know you better.
Come and stay for a week till the steamer puts into port."
It may be imagined that Jim eagerly accepted the invitation, and,
accompanied by Sadie, Tom, Sam, and Ching, took up his quarters with
this new friend. Not for a moment did he guess that this week's delay
would make a vast change in his future. His eye at the moment was fixed
on New York, where he hoped to make that fortune of which he had
laughingly spoken. He never imagined for one instant that the Isthmus of
Panama would detain him, and that there he would join his compatriots,
the Americans, and with them would take his share in that gigantic
undertaking, the Panama Canal.