The brig, as she lay hove-to, rode comparatively easy and dry, requiring
no attention; all, therefore, that I had to do was to maintain a sharp
lookout, and be ready to show a light betimes in the event of another
craft heaving in sight and steering such a course as would be likely to
bring her foul of us. But while my self-imposed duty was thus a light
one, demanding only alertness on my part, the situation and condition of
the brig were such as to cause me profound anxiety, which was in no
degree lessened by the loss of the four men who had gone overboard with
the wreck of the fore-topmast. Had the ship been sound this last
circumstance would have caused me no regret whatever, for the simple
reason that their loss reduced the number of my enemies by four; but
their loss, and the casualties due to the fracas in the forecastle,
resulted in the reduction of the number of the effective crew to six, of
whom the cook and the steward were two who could be relied upon for
little or nothing more than mere pulling and hauling, while, of the
remaining four, two were still suffering from wounds sufficiently severe
to partially disable them; and this reduction, with the brig practically
a wreck, was a serious one. Moreover, the glass remained very low, and
there was no indication whatever of the speedy abatement of the gale, or
even any ground for hope that we had seen the worst of it; on the
contrary, the sky looked wilder than ever, while the gusts of wind that
frequently swept down upon us were certainly growing more savage as the
minutes dragged their slow length away.
At length, after what seemed like an eternity of watching, the lagging
dawn came slowly oozing out of the scowling east, revealing a sky of
portentous gloom, of a deep, slatey-purple tint, blotched with shreds of
flying dirty-white vapour, and a sea that was positively appalling in
its height and steepness, and the fury with which it ran. Yet, heavy as
was the sea, and swiftly as the great liquid hills came swooping down
upon the battered brig, the little craft rode them fairly well, if a
trifle languidly--which latter characteristic I attributed to the
quantity of water still present in her hull; and after studying her
behaviour by daylight for a full half-hour, I came to the conclusion
that the sooner that water should be pumped out of her, the better. So,
watching my opportunity, I rushed for'ard along the unprotected deck--
over which the water washed heavily at times--and called all hands to
turn out and pump the ship dry; and after a great deal of grumbling, and
much show of disinclination, I at length succeeded in getting them on
deck, and persuading them to man the pumps. They pumped steadily until
it was time to knock off for breakfast, when we sounded the well, and
found a depth of twenty-one inches.
Breakfast, that morning, was rather a comfortless meal, for the cook,
terrified lest he and his galley should be washed overboard together,
had not furnished a very appetising spread; while the wild movements of
the vessel, the harsh and dismal creaking of her timbers, the frequent
heavy washing of water along the decks, and the roar of the gale, all
combining together to create a concert of doleful sounds, rendered the
cabin a distinctly unpleasant place, of sojourn; I therefore made no
long tarrying at the table, merely remaining below long enough to snatch
a hasty meal, and to say a few words of comfort and encouragement to my
sweetheart, and then hurried on deck again, to see how matters were
faring there.
The scene that met my gaze as I emerged from the companion, was
depressing and discouraging in the extreme. The sky looked darker and
more threatening than ever; the wind was freshening rapidly, and
sweeping along in savage gusts that smote the seething wave-crests and
tore them into blinding, stinging showers of salt spray, that so
thickened the atmosphere as to completely veil and hide everything
beyond a distance of half a mile. The sea, mountainous as it had been
all through the night, had grown in steepness and height, and had
acquired a still more formidable and menacing run during the short time
that I had been below; while the fact was unquestionable that the brig
was labouring more heavily, and the sea washing in steadily-increasing
volume athwart that portion of her deck that lay unprotected through the
loss of her bulwarks. It appeared to me that we should do better and
ride easier if we showed a small spread of canvas--just sufficient to
steady the vessel, to cause her to turn up a good bold weather side to
the seas, and to place her under command of her helm; and I accordingly
dodged my way to the fore-scuttle, and sang out for all hands to come on
deck to make sail. They came at length, four of them, moving with that
slow and exasperating deliberation that the merchant seaman assumes when
he considers that he is being put upon; and at length, by dint of sheer
persistence, I induced them to overhaul the sail-locker, with the result
that we found a main staysail, new, and made of good stout canvas,
evidently intended for a storm sail, which, still working with the same
deliberation and show of indifference, they finally consented to bend
and set. The result was at once apparent: the brig began to move
through the water, taking the seas very much easier as she was humoured
at them with the helm, while the increased height of weather side that
she turned up had the effect of considerably lessening the amount of
water washing over the deck, and rendering the task of getting fore and
aft comparatively safe.
But I was still not satisfied; great as was the improvement effected by
the setting of the staysail, the brig yet seemed to labour more heavily
than was to be reasonably accounted for, even by the fact that she had
water in the hold; and then it occurred to me to sound the well afresh
and ascertain whether the amount of that water was increasing. I
accordingly fetched the rod, carefully dried it, and, watching until the
brig was for an instant on an even keel, lowered it down the pump
barrel. Upon withdrawing it the startling discovery was made that since
the men had last been at the pumps the depth of water in the hold had
increased by three inches! The water was draining into the hull,
somewhere, and that, too, in sufficient quantity to keep us busy. I
directed the attention of the men to the condition of the pump rod; and
with deep, bitter curses levelled at the weather, the brig--at
everything, in short, except the indifference of themselves and their
shipmates that had brought us all to this pass--they went to work afresh
at the pumps, while I made my way to the forecastle, and, as was my
daily wont, attended to the injuries of the two wounded men, Dirk and
Mike, who were confined to their bunks. With the brig leaping and
plunging so desperately my task was by no means an easy one, and upon
this occasion it occupied me so long, that ere I had quite finished, the
other men came below, still cursing and grumbling, to get their dinner.
I inquired whether they had succeeded in reducing the quantity of water
in the hold at all, and was informed--with further curses--that they had
only reduced it by about two inches, and that they were willing to be
eternally condemned if they ever laid a hand upon the pump brake again.
But about six bells in the afternoon watch, while I was at the wheel,
the man Harry came aft, sounded the well, and shouting to me "twenty-six
inches," went for'ard again; with the result that, a quarter of an hour
or so later, they all came aft once more, and continued pumping for
nearly two hours; with what effect, however, I could not say, for none
of them condescended to inform me. Nor did either of them offer to
relieve me at the wheel; but that I was not at all surprised at, as they
doubtless considered that what they had done at the pumps was quite as
much as could be expected of them. I was not forgotten, however; for
Florence, making use of the fire that I had caused to be lighted in the
cabin-stove, prepared for me a most substantial and appetising meal,
consisting of toasted rashers of ham, cabin bread--carefully cleared of
weevils--and tea, which she actually brought on deck to me, standing by
me and tending the wheel in the cleverest fashion while I hurriedly
devoured the food! Not satisfied with doing this for me, the dear girl,
knowing that I had been on deck all the previous night, actually
proposed remaining at the wheel, in the midst of all the elemental fury,
long enough to enable me to snatch a few hours' sleep! What think you
of that, shipmates, for devotion on the part of a sweetheart? But that,
of course, was going altogether beyond the utmost that I could possibly
consent to, and, thanking her heartily for her generous solicitude, I
sent her below, with strict injunctions to turn in early and secure a
good night's rest. For--although I was careful not to hint as much to
her even in the most distant fashion--I did not at all like the way that
matters were going with us; the leak and the men's aversion to the
labour of pumping, taken together, made up a bad lookout, and I foresaw
that unless a change for the better in one respect or the other soon
took place, it would speedily come to our being obliged to take to the
boats.
Throughout the whole of that wet, wild, cheerless night I stood at the
wheel, tending the ship and helping her through the seas; and it was not
until dawn was abroad that anyone came to relieve me; when Cockney Harry
made his appearance, staggering and dodging his way aft along the
flooded decks.
"Mornin', sir," he remarked as he took over the wheel from me. "You
looks dead wore out, you do. You surely ain't been at this here muckin'
wheel the whole blessed night, have ye, sir?"
"Certainly I have," said I, "seeing that the brig had to be looked
after, and neither of you men saw fit to relieve me!"
"Well," admitted the fellow, "that's a howlin' shime, and no mistike.
The fact is that we was all dead tired with sweatin' at them infernal
pumps. I _meant_ to ha' come along and took a spell at water-grindin',
but in w'itin' for them swines to all go to sleep I went to sleep
myself, and never woke up agine until five minutes ago."
"Quite so," said I drily. "But, if you really intended to have relieved
me, why have waited until the rest were asleep?"
"Well, ye see, sir, it was this way," answered the man. "When we went
below lawst night, after knockin' off pumping all hands of us was on the
growl, 'cause of the heavy work we'd had to do; and Sam up and said that
the best thing we could do 'd be to tike to the boats, as soon as the
gale broke, and let the blessed old hooker go to the bottom, rather than
have to keep all on pumpin' of her everlastin'ly until we fetched a
port. And the rest of 'em agreed with him. Then Dirk ups and asts what
was to be done with you and the lidy; and, nobody else seemin' to have a
hawnser ready, I says that I supposes you'll both have to come with us.
But Dirk, he says No; it won't never do for you to land along of us; you
knows enough to hang some of us, and he for one don't mean to take no
risks; and t'others all agreed with him; and at last 'twas settled that
if the leak don't take up when the gale breaks, we're to take to the
boats, leavin' you and the lidy aboard to go down with the brig. I
thought I'd wait and hear if anybody had anything else to say about it
afore comin' aft to relieve you; and it was while I was w'itin' that I
dropped asleep."
"Thank you, Harry, for affording me this very important item of
information," said I. "You are a good sort of fellow, and you may
depend upon it that I will not forget the service you have done me. And
so that scoundrel Dirk would leave the lady and me to drown, would he,
after all that I have done for him? Very well! Now, Harry, neither
Miss Onslow nor I will be left aboard here to drown, you may take your
oath of that. It is clear to me, now, that it must be war to the death
between the forecastle and the cabin, and I shall take my measures
accordingly. The question is: Which side--cabin or forecastle--do you
intend to be on? If you choose to join me, I will do what I can for
you; and if you elect to throw in your lot with those murderers for'ard,
I will still bear you in mind, so far as I can, consistently with the
lady's and my own safety."
"Thank'ee, sir," answered the fellow. "If I might make so bold, sir,
what do you intend to do?"
"That," said I, "I can only tell you in the event of your coming over on
my side."
"Very well, sir," returned he, "I'll think it over while you're tikin' a
rest, and let you know when you come on deck agine."
And therewith I went below and, flinging myself into my bunk, at once
fell into a profound and dreamless sleep that lasted until I was
awakened by the discordant clank of the pumps, about four bells in the
forenoon watch, when I found Miss Onslow patiently awaiting me in the
cabin, with another hot meal all ready for my delectation.
It was apparent to me, immediately upon awaking, that the gale had
broken; and when I went on deck I found that the sky had cleared to
windward, showing here and there fast--widening patches of blue sky,
while the wind had already dropped to the strength of a strong breeze;
the sea, however, showed little diminution of height, although it was no
longer so steep, nor was it now breaking dangerously; but the brig was
rolling as furiously and more sluggishly than ever; and the clear water
that gushed from the pumps told a tale that there was no mistaking. I
noticed that five men were now working at the pumps--the cook and
steward being two of them--and all hands were growling together, and
cursing both loud and deep as they toiled at the brakes.
"Well, lads," said I, approaching them, "what is the news from the
pumps? Is there any hope of getting them to suck?"
"Suck?" exclaimed one of them, in tones of ineffable disgust. "No,
they'll never suck no more in this world. There's up'ards o' three feet
o' water in the hooker, now, and she's gainin' on us at the rate o' two
inches an hour while we pumps at her. She's bound to the bottom, she
is; and I only hopes she'll keep afloat long enough to let us get the
boats afloat without smashin' of 'em to smithereens alongside.
Whereabouts is the nearest land, mister; and how fur off is it?"
"Ask me after I have taken my sights at noon--it looks as though I shall
be able to get the sun to-day--and I will tell you," said I. Then,
finding the men sulky, and quite tired of listening to their curses, I
went aft and relieved the wheel, remaining there until about a quarter
of an hour to midday, when, the sky having cleared, I sang out for
somebody to relieve me while I "shot the sun." It was Harry who came at
my call; and as he took over the wheel he remarked, just loud enough for
me to hear, and staring away to windward as he spoke:
"I've made up my mind, sir; I'm with you and the lidy. I ain't agoin'
to have no more truck with them other chaps; they're no better than
murderers; they've mide up their minds to leave you and the lidy aboard;
and there's no movin' of 'em from that."
"All right, my lad," said I. "You will find, before many hours are over
your head, that you have made a wise choice. Can you read?"
The fellow intimated that he could.
"Then," said I, "I will write out such instructions as it will be
necessary for me to give you, and you must find an opportunity to read
them over, unobserved by the rest. And you must also obey them to the
letter; for upon your obedience will depend the success or failure of my
scheme."
With which I left him, and went below for my sextant.
Upon working out the result of my meridian observation, I found that we
were close upon one hundred and forty miles from Staten Island, which
bore North by East a quarter East of us--a distance which might be
traversed in less than forty-eight hours by a properly-equipped boat, in
fine weather. But what if it should come on to blow again? It was a
contingency that I did not care to contemplate. There was one point in
our favour: the mercury was rising slowly and steadily; and, please God,
if we were able to leave the brig in good time we might succeed in
reaching shelter of some sort before the setting-in again of bad
weather. And, in any case, it was a contingency that had to be faced,
since it was perfectly clear, by this time, that the brig had been so
severely battered and strained during the late gale that nothing we
could do would avail to keep her afloat much longer.
Having pricked off the brig's position on the chart, I proceeded to
write out my instructions to the man Harry. It may perhaps be thought
that, in committing those instructions to paper, I was doing an
imprudent thing--that I was, in fact, furnishing irrefutable evidence of
my intentions, should the man choose to play me false, and show the
paper to his companions. But I had faith in the fellow; there was an
honest look in his eyes; and the fact that he had of his own free will
warned me of the other men's intentions was another point in his favour.
And, last but not least, I believed that he had wit enough to see that
he would be better serving his own interests by attaching himself to me
than by throwing in his lot with the others, and that consequently he
would have no interest in playing me false; I therefore unhesitatingly
handed him his instructions at the first opportunity, and left him to
carry them out with as little delay as possible.
Upon returning to the deck, after working out my sights, I found that
the men had knocked off pumping, but were hanging about the deck, as
though waiting for something, instead of going below to dinner. And
presently I found out what was in the wind, the man known as Sam
stepping forward to inquire whereabout my observation placed the ship.
I told him.
"Then," said he, "if we steers nothe-an'-by-east a quarter east, steady,
we're bound to fetch this here Staten Hiland, are we?"
"Certainly," said I. "And I hope that we shall make it some time the
day after to-morrow."
"The day a'ter to-morrer!" ejaculated the man. "Do ye mean with this
here brig?"
"No," said I; "I mean with the boats. The brig could never fetch it, in
her present disabled condition, except with a fair wind, even if you
could keep her afloat so long, which I do not for a moment believe."
A grim smile of satisfaction--which the fellow strove to conceal--
flickered for a moment over his rugged, sullen features, and then he
turned away, without another word, and slouched forward, followed by his
companions. As for me, I went aft and took the wheel from the man who
was tending it; and, as soon as he had disappeared, lashed it, and set
about certain preparations that I felt it was now high time to make.
These did not occupy me long, and upon their completion I went below,
where--the cook and Steward having been busy at the pumps all the
morning--Florence was awaiting me with a good, appetising dinner
prepared by herself. While we were discussing the meal together--the
steward having gone forward with the others--I told my companion that
the supreme moment was at hand when it would be necessary for us to make
a bold dash for our lives, and I warned her to prepare for it by putting
all her slender stock of clothing together in a parcel, and to be ready
to act with me at a moment's notice as soon as the boats were in the
water. She received my intelligence very quietly, and although she lost
her colour and became marble-white to the lips for perhaps a minute
while I explained my plans, her courage never faltered; and when I had
finished she put her hand in mine, with the simple remark:
"Very well, Charlie dear; you have only to tell me what you wish me to
do, and you will find me obedient in every particular."
Meanwhile, the wind, which had been blowing a strong breeze at
breakfast-time, had been dropping steadily all through the day, until
toward the close of the afternoon it had softened down to the strength
of a royal breeze, with a corresponding diminution in the height of the
sea; yet it was evident that it would not be possible to safely lower a
boat for some hours to come. But that the men were eager to be off was
also perfectly evident, for instead of manning the pumps again after
dinner, they had spent the entire afternoon hanging about the decks,
inspecting and overhauling the boats, getting provisions, water, and
other necessaries together--the cook lighting a fire in the galley, and
boiling a considerable quantity of meat in the coppers--while, at
intervals, one or another of them would sound the well, and report the
result to his comrades; their actions being marked by a curious
commingling of stealthiness and candour, as though they were quite
unable to decide whether to keep their intentions a secret from me, or
whether it would be possible to still more completely hoodwink me by a
pretence of being perfectly frank and open. At length, however, the
latter plan seemed to be the favoured one; for about sunset the man Sam
came to me with the information that they, had decided to leave the brig
at daybreak, and they'd be glad to know whether I thought the hooker 'd
keep above water until then without pumpin'. Before replying, I
inquired what depth of water there was then in the hold, and at what
rate it was making, after which a brief calculation enabled me to assure
them that she would probably last until noon next day; but that
nevertheless I would recommend them to prepare for a start the first
thing after breakfast; and that the lady and I would be ready by that
time.
From this time forward the brig--hove-to, and with her helm lashed--was
left to take care of herself, the greatly-improved condition of the
weather permitting of this, while the men proceeded, in their own slow,
deliberate fashion, with their preparations for abandoning her. As for
us aft, our preparations were of the simplest possible kind, consisting
merely of the stowing of our clothing in a bundle that could be flung
into the boat at a moment's notice--and the very careful loading of the
brace of duelling-pistols with which my unknown French friend had
presented me. These little matters attended to, I urged Florence to lie
down and endeavour to secure a few hours' sleep, following the same good
advice myself as soon as she had retired to her cabin.
I was awakened about midnight by the man Harry, who had been anxiously
awaiting the moment for the others to get to sleep, in order that he
might slip aft, unnoticed, to inform me of the progress of his own
particular share in our enterprise.
"Well, Harry," said I, "how do matters stand? Have you succeeded in
accomplishing all that I directed you to do?"
"Yes, sir," said he. "I was afride at first that I shouldn't get a
chaunce to go down into the fore-peak without bein' noticed; but `the
doctor' made that right by asting for somebody to fetch him up a bit
more coal. Which I offered to do for him. Once I was down in the peak,
the rest was easy enough; the arms-chist hadn't never been locked, so I
collared a couple of pair of pistols, and then scraped the coal away
from under the chist until the whole bag o' tricks fetched away and slid
down into the water, where nobody won't ever find it again. Then I had
a look at the magazine what poor Chips had knocked together. The door
was only fastened by a staple, so I soon had it open; and when I'd found
a couple o' packets of pistol-cartridges, I just hove everything else I
could lay hands on down a'ter the arms-chist. So, even though some of
'em has pistols, they won't have no ammunition for 'em--unless they
happened to have a few cartridges by 'em--which makes us all right."
"Capital!" exclaimed I. "And, now, as to the final arrangements of the
men; what are they?"
"Why, 'twas arranged that I was to be on deck, so's to keep a sort of
general heye on the brig and you; and to call all hands for'ard at
daybreak--or earlier if the sea flattens down enough to launch a boat
afore then. Then we're goin' to lower the gig that you had when you
picked us up--she bein' the most wholesomest boat of the two--and put
everything into her that we're goin' to tike with us--includin' plenty
o' grub and water. And at the last minute, when we're ready to shove
off, you and the lidy are to be set upon and battened down below, and
then we all jumps into the boat and makes sail."