My next sensation was that of pain--burning, stabbing, racking pain, of
so excruciating a character that I incontinently groaned aloud. Then,
as though in response to my groan, I heard--vaguely, and without any
immediate comprehension of the meaning of the words--a voice say:
"There, I think that will do, General; he is in pain, now, thank God!--
which means that he is coming round--and there is every reason to hope
that he will pull through. Thanks for your valuable assistance. I can
manage single-handed, now. You might make it known that Mr Conyers
shows signs of returning consciousness, and that I have every hope of
saving him. I fancy the intelligence will be not altogether unwelcome
to at least one of the cuddy party."
"By Gad! yes; I think I know who you mean. I'll make a point of telling
the news in her hearing," was the reply. "Are you sure there is nothing
else that I can do, doctor?"
"Nothing more, thank you--except, perhaps, that you might suggest the
value of quietness of movement on the part of anyone coming below. No
slamming of cabin-doors, or anything of that sort, you know," answered
the first voice, which I now recognised as that of the ship's doctor on
board the _City of Cawnpore_.
"All right; I'll see to it," replied the other voice, now quite familiar
to me as that of General O'Brien. A gentle click of the cabin-door
latch succeeded; and I opened my eyes languidly, to see Scudamore's
sharp-cut features bending close to mine, with an earnest, intent look
in his kindly eyes.
"Well," he exclaimed heartily, as our eyes met, "how do you feel now?"
"In horrible pain," I answered, with another involuntary groan. "What
is the matter with me, doctor? What has happened?"
"Only that you have been drowned; and that you have kept the general and
myself busy, for two mortal hours and more, practising artificial
respiration, before you would consent to come back to life. That is
all!"
Then I remembered everything, and began to wonder by what means I had
been recovered from those profound depths wherein my last conscious
moments had been spent. I put the question to Scudamore, and he
answered:
"Oh, as to that, we had no difficulty. There was a light heaving-line
attached by one end to the hawser, and in the other end you had knotted
a bowline which you passed over your shoulders and under your armpits.
We simply hauled you aboard by means of that."
"And how long did the barque live after I left her?" I asked.
"How long?" repeated the doctor, in surprise. "Why, not ten seconds!
She was in the very act of foundering, stern first, when you jumped; and
it was undoubtedly her suction that did the mischief. You must have
been dragged fathoms deep by her; and but for the line round you, you
would probably never have come to the surface again."
"And what of the French people? Are they all right?" I demanded.
"Yes; thanks to you, they are," answered Scudamore. "The man you jumped
overboard after was the worst case; but, luckily, I had succeeded in
resuscitating him before you were hauled aboard. You have saved fifteen
human lives to-day! That is something to be proud of, is it not? And
now, no more talking at present; what you require is sleep; and if you
do not mind being left alone a minute or two I will go to my cabin and
mix you a draught that will give you a good long nap, from which I have
no doubt you will awake feeling as well as ever."
So saying, the medico softly withdrew, quietly closing the cabin-door
behind him, only to return a few minutes later with a draught of
decidedly pungent taste, which, at his command, I tossed off instanter.
Whether it was due to the potency of the draught, or to exhaustion, or
to both combined, I know not, but certain it is that as I sank back upon
the pillow my eyes closed, and almost instantly I went drifting off into
the land of dreams.
When I next awoke it was well on toward evening, for the light had grown
so dim that I could only indistinctly discern the various objects about
the cabin. But there seemed to have been no abatement of the gale, for
the ship was rolling and plunging as wildly as ever; the scuttle was
frequently being dimmed by the dash of seas against the ship's side; and
the screaming of the gale through the rigging still rose high above
every other sound.
My body seemed to be bruised and aching all over; but, with this
exception, I felt little or none the worse for my morning's adventure; I
was very comfortable, but distinctly hungry; and I was lazily
endeavouring to make up my mind whether I would go to the trouble of
dressing, and hunting up a steward to find me something to eat, or
whether I would remain where I was until somebody came to me, when the
problem was solved by the opening of my cabin-door, and the entrance of
the doctor. He advanced on tiptoe to the side of my bunk, and bent
close over me, peering into my face to see whether I happened to be
awake.
"What is the time, doctor?" I asked.
"Oh, so you _are_ awake, eh?" he responded. "Well, how do you feel?"
"Sore and aching from head to foot, but otherwise all right--excepting
that I am uncommonly hungry," I answered.
"Hungry, eh?" said Scudamore. "Let me feel your pulse."
He laid his fingers upon my wrist for a few seconds, and then said:
"Well, there doesn't seem to be very much the matter with you now; you
have had a good, long, sound sleep--I have been in and out from time to
time, just to see that you were going on all right--and a good dinner
will not hurt you. Will you have it brought to you here, or would you
rather turn out and dress?"
"Oh, I will turn out, of course!" I exclaimed.
"Very well, then," said the doctor, "I will send a steward to help you
to dress--you will need a little assistance, with the ship cutting these
wild capers--and if you do not dawdle too long over your toilet you will
be just in good time for dinner. There goes the first bell," he added,
as the strident clamour suddenly pealed out from somewhere on the deck
above.
He left me, and presently my berth-room steward appeared with my
shaving-water, and I scrambled--rather more feebly than I had expected--
out of my bunk. The operation of dressing proved to be a considerably
more lengthy one than I had anticipated, for I found that I was
decidedly shaky on my legs, and I had to sit on the sofa and take a
short rest at frequent intervals, with the result that the second dinner
bell rang before I was ready to leave my cabin. I was not very late,
however, arriving in the cuddy last, it is true, but in time to see my
immediate predecessors just taking their seats. As I crossed the
threshold of the brilliantly-lighted apartment, leaning upon the arm of
the steward, the entire company rose to their feet; every eye was turned
upon me; and suddenly General O'Brien shouted, in great excitement:
"Three cheers for our gallant friend Conyers! Hip, hip, hip, hurrah!"
The three cheers thus unexpectedly called for were enthusiastically
given--even the ladies joining in--to my great confusion, and as I
passed aft between the two tables everybody within reach must needs
shake hands with me, and say something complimentary, until I felt so
uncomfortable that I began to wish I had remained below. I noticed that
Miss Onslow was on her feet, like the rest; but she appeared to have
risen rather to avoid any appearance of singularity than with the
intention of paying me a compliment; while the rest were almost
boisterously enthusiastic she remained absolutely calm and devoid of the
slightest sign of emotion, except that her cheeks and lips were
colourless; a slight curl in her beautiful upper lip seemed to indicate
a feeling of contempt for such an outburst of enthusiasm, and she
steadfastly kept her gaze turned away from me, except for one brief
fraction of a second, as I drew near to take my place beside her. Then,
for the space of a lightning-flash, our glances met; and, if anything so
inconceivable as a display of emotion on her part could be credited as
within the range of possibility, I would almost have sworn that I caught
in her eyes the flash of tears. But, the little ovation over, we all
sat down; and as she at once began talking to the skipper about the gun
mounted as a trophy in front of Government House, Calcutta, I had not an
opportunity to verify my suspicion.
As we seated ourselves I gave vent to a sigh of relief, believing that--
my fellow-travellers having expressed their approval of my behaviour of
the morning--the affair was now at an end. But scarcely were we settled
in our places when the French skipper's wife--a very charming little
woman, who, with her husband, had been received into the cuddy by Dacre
as his guests, and who had apparently failed to recognise me upon my
entrance--learning from her neighbour what all the hubbub was about,
must needs add to my confusion by rushing to me and throwing herself
upon her knees, as she poured forth her expressions of gratitude with a
mingled fervour and grace that I found particularly discomposing. Then
her husband followed suit, thanking me with manly earnestness and
heartiness for what I had done. This further act of homage, so publicly
performed, disconcerted me to such an extent that I hastened to dismiss
the embarrassingly grateful pair by assuring them that they were making
altogether too much of what I had done, which was no more than any other
man, confident of his swimming powers, would have unhesitatingly
undertaken, had I not happened to have seized the initiative; that I was
of course very glad it had fallen to me to be the means of saving their
lives; but that I most earnestly begged them to say no more about it.
When dinner was over, General O'Brien joined me on deck, as I was
smoking my pipe; and I seized the opportunity to thank him for the
assistance he had rendered in the operation of securing my
resuscitation. And I added:
"As I was recovering consciousness I heard the doctor make a remark to
you to the effect that someone--I gathered that a lady was being
referred to--seemed to be more than ordinarily concerned in the question
of my recovery; and I understood from your reply that you perfectly
understood to whom Scudamore alluded. Have you any objection to
favouring me with the name of the individual?"
"Oh, so you heard that, did you?" remarked the general. "Well, my dear
boy, it was not intended for you to hear, I am quite certain; Scudamore
would not have made the remark had he been aware that you were
sufficiently recovered to hear and understand it. As to my giving you
the lady's name--well, I do not think I should be justified in doing so.
The matter stands thus, you see. When Scudamore spoke, he and I were
of opinion that we had accidentally discovered the entirely unsuspected
existence of a more than ordinary interest in you on the part of a
certain lady; but since then I have come to the conclusion that we
mistook overpowering excitement for a more tender feeling; hence I do
not consider that I ought to enlighten you at all. If any tender
feeling exists, why, it is the girl's own secret, for her to retain or
not as she pleases; and if she has such a feeling, and is willing that
you should know it, depend upon it she will discover a method of
enlightening you; while if she has no such feeling it would be the
height of bad taste on my part to suggest that possibly she has. So
please ask me no more about it, there's a good fellow."
Of course I at once and finally let the subject drop, but somehow I
could not help thinking about it, and wondering which of my
fellow-passengers was referred to, and for the next day or two I watched
to see whether any one of them exhibited more than ordinary cordiality
to me; but it was quite unavailing; _all_ were alike exceedingly cordial
and friendly--except Miss Onslow, who still maintained her former
attitude of frigid reserve--so, as it was, after all, a matter that only
very slightly interested me, I soon forgot all about it.
From this time forward, for a full month and more, life was absolutely
uneventful on board the _City of Cawnpore_: the gale blew itself out
that same night, and we got a breeze that carried us right into the
north-east trades; then we lost five days on the Line parallels ere we
caught the south-east trades; and when they left us we were baffled for
two days more before getting a wind that would permit us to make any
easting.
We caught this fair wind early one morning in the second week of
December; and by noon it was blowing over the larboard quarter quite as
strong as we wanted it, with studding-sails abroad on both sides, from
the royals down, and every other inch of canvas that would draw. As the
afternoon waned the breeze freshened; but Murgatroyd had by this time
got preventer backstays rigged, fore and aft, with the avowed
determination of carrying on and making the very utmost of so splendid a
breeze. And making the most of it, he was, with a vengeance, for the
ship was sweeping along like a mist wreath, reeling off her seventeen
knots by the log, when the latter was hove at the end of the first
dog-watch.
When I went on deck after dinner that night the sky had banked up to
windward and astern of us, and heavy masses of cloud were sweeping
rapidly athwart the firmament, permitting an occasional brief and hasty
glimpse of the young moon and a few misty stars. It was then blowing
strong, with every promise of a windy night before us; and it seemed to
me that, with so dim and uncertain a light, it was scarcely prudent to
drive the ship at such headlong speed through the night. Indeed I
ventured to suggest as much to Dacre, but he only laughed at me.
"It is all very well for you navy men, when you are cruising, to shorten
sail at sunset, so that your people may be reasonably sure of an
undisturbed night," he said. "But with us of the red ensign it is
different; our owners expect us to pile up the profits for them; and the
only way in which we can do that is by making quick passages. But of
course, while doing our best to accomplish this, we exercise every
possible precaution. For instance, you seem to think that I am rather
reckless in driving my ship at this speed through the night; but what
have I to fear? We have all the sea-room we want; there are no rocks or
shoals in our road for us to fetch up on; and if we should happen to
fall in with any other vessels, they will be going the same way as
ourselves, so we shall see them in ample time to avoid running over
them. And, in addition to all this, we maintain a first-rate lookout,
one on each bow, two in the waist, and the officer of the watch up here
on the poop; so we need have no fear of collision. Take my word for it,
Mr Conyers; you are every bit as safe aboard here, sir, as if you were
under the pennant!"
After this, of course, there was nothing more to be said, especially as
I was well aware that, in mentioning such a matter at all to the
skipper, I had committed an almost unpardonable breach of nautical
etiquette.
Notwithstanding the strong breeze the night was quite warm, for we were
not very far south of the tropic of Capricorn, and, moreover, it was
close upon the midsummer of the Southern Hemisphere; consequently when
two bells of the first watch struck, a good many of the passengers were
on deck, most of them listening to the miners, who were congregated on
the main deck, singing. As for me, I was right aft, on the wheel
grating, smoking, and staring skyward at the racing cloud masses as they
swept scurrying athwart the face of the moon.
Suddenly a loud yell of dismay and warning arose from the topgallant
forecastle, the only words I caught being, "--_under our bows_!"
The next instant, with a shock that shot me off the grating on to the
poop, the ship was brought up all standing--not stopped dead as though
she had run into a cliff, but rather as a horse stops when pulled up and
thrown on his haunches--and then, as I lay on my back, half stunned by
the shock of my fall, and still gazing skyward, I saw the three masts
bow forward, bending like fishing-rods, when, with a dreadful rending
crash, the entire complicated mechanism of sails, spars, and rigging
went by the board, and lay fore and aft along the deck.
There was a moment's pause of utter silence, broken only by the hissing
splash and rush of water alongside, and the moaning of the wind over the
sea; and then arose the most terrific hubbub to which I had ever been
doomed to listen--shrieks, groans, and curses from those injured by the
fall of, or buried under, the wreckage from aloft; cries of "We're
sinking! we're sinking! God help us!" people calling each other's
names; and the voices of Captain Dacre and Mr Murgatroyd shouting
orders. Then, all in a moment there arose among the miners a cry of
"The boats! the boats! Let's launch the boats!" instantly followed by a
rush of the whole crowd of them on to the poop, where as many as could
swarmed into the two quarter boats hanging at the davits. These two
boats would not hold much more than a quarter of their number, and the
moment that this was discovered there arose a sanguinary fight for the
possession of the two frail craft, those who were crowded out drawing
their knives and attacking the other party. Then Murgatroyd suddenly
appeared on the poop with a brace of revolvers in his hands, which he
levelled at the fighting, surging mob.
"Come out of those boats, you cowardly blackguards; come out, I say, and
stand by to obey orders! D'ye hear, there, what I say? You there with
the red head, I'm talking to you: come out of that boat, or by God I'll
shoot! You won't? Then take that,"--his pistol flashed as he spoke.
"I'll soon see who is master here!"
The next instant the brave fellow was down on the deck, stabbed in a
dozen places from behind, and the life kicked and trampled out of him by
the fighting, panic-stricken crowd of miners, who were now simply beside
themselves with terror, and practically as irresponsible as so many wild
beasts.
At this juncture the skipper, with some half a dozen seamen to support
him, arrived upon the scene from forward--where he had apparently
rushed, at the first alarm, to investigate the condition of the ship;
and, pressing his way into the heart of the howling, struggling mob,
endeavoured to bring them to their senses by assuring them that there
were boats enough for all, but that their only chance of being saved lay
in allowing the sailors access to the tackles so that the boats might be
properly launched. But before the poor fellow could get any further,
he, too, went down and disappeared, amid shouts of "Our lives is as good
as yours! We've got the boats, and we mean to keep 'em!" and so on.
And, in the height of the confusion, someone cut the bow tackle of the
larboard quarter boat, with the result that her bow suddenly dropped
into the water while her stern still hung suspended from the davit, and
every man of the crowd who had scrambled into her was instantly
precipitated into the water.
While this was going on upon the poop, the entire crowd of cuddy
passengers appeared to be huddled together about the companion, utterly
helpless and bewildered, while a party of seamen were working
desperately down on the main deck to get the four boats off the gallows.
I could not see that anyone was doing anything to clear away the long
boat; but that was probably because she had been destroyed by the fall
of the mainmast, which appeared to have crashed right down on the top of
her.
As for me, I did nothing; for the simple reason that there was nothing
to be done; the ship was sinking fast--so fast, indeed, that she would
probably plunge head first to the bottom in less than five minutes,
which--taking into consideration the state of absolute panic that
prevailed, and the inextricable raffle of wreckage that cumbered and
filled the decks--would leave no time in which to construct even the
rudest kind of raft. No, there seemed to be nothing for it but for all
hands to go down with the ship, thanks to the terror-stricken
selfishness of the 'tween-decks passengers, who were too ignorant to do
anything useful themselves, and too obstinate and distrustful to allow
anyone else to do anything. For myself, I had made up my mind not to
give in and die so long as I could do anything to help myself; I was a
good swimmer, and when the ship went down I should look out for a piece
of wreckage, and cling to it until I was picked up by some passing ship,
or perished of hunger and thirst.
Suddenly, as I was standing close to the binnacle, watching the frantic
mob of fighting miners, a woman emerged from the after companion, close
beside me. She glanced round for a moment, in terror at the conflict
that was raging about the boats, and then, stepping quickly to my side,
laid her hand upon my arm--I could see the gleam and glitter of gems
upon it in the dim starlight--and said, in a voice which I at once
recognised as that of Miss Onslow:
"Oh, Mr Conyers, what does all this mean? What has happened? Is the
ship sinking? For pity's sake tell me?"
"Miss Onslow," said I, "summon all your courage to your aid, I beg you,
for you will need it. I have the worst possible news to tell you. The
ship is sinking fast--she will probably go down in another two or three
minutes; and I think it doubtful in the extreme whether any one of us
will survive to tell the tale!"
"O God!" she gasped. "My father--I am his only child--and this will
kill him! Well, if it _must_ be so, God's will be done!"
Not a word about herself, no outcry of natural fear at the near approach
of the King of Terrors! It was of her father, and the heart-breaking
sorrow that he would feel at her loss, that she thought at this dread
moment! As this idea presented itself to me a world of admiration for
such marvellous courage and unselfishness leapt into being within me,
and, turning to her, I grasped the hand that still unconsciously rested
upon my arm, and said:
"Miss Onslow, I have no hope to offer you; but if you are willing to
trust yourself to me I will do my utmost to save you. At the worst we
shall be no worse off than we are now."
"I _will_ trust you," she said simply. "I will do whatever you tell
me!"
There was no time to lose, for I could tell, by the feel of the ship,
that her course was all but run; so, taking my companion by the hand, I
led her right aft to the wheel grating, which we both mounted; and then
I peered over the stern at the black water. Merciful Heaven, how near
it was! it looked as though one could lean over the rail and dabble
one's hand in it. But it was clear; there was no wreckage or anything
else--so far as I could see--to hurt us, should we leap. A lifebuoy was
hanging over the taffrail, suspended by a stout lanyard; and this buoy I
hurriedly cut adrift, passing it over Miss Onslow's shoulders and up
under her armpits. Then, having thus equipped her, I assisted her to
mount the rail, and at once sprang up beside her, taking her hand in
mine as I did so.
"Now, are you ready?" I asked.
"Quite!" she answered, as steadily as though I had been about to assist
her to step ashore, instead of urging her to leap overboard in the
middle of the South Atlantic, on a dark and windy night, with scarcely a
hope that she would survive to see the next morning.
"Then jump!" I said; and at the word we both leapt together.