TO THE RESCUE.
Alice flew into the saloon, with her eyes brimful of tears, and the
first person she encountered was Captain Lovell, who regarded her with
looks of the utmost concern. He was a handsome man, in the ordinary
acceptation of the term, of about thirty, the sort of man to catch the
fancy of a woman who loved her lover’s face before his spirit, but
there was no soul in the expression of his face, and no sentiment in
his disposition. Any other girl would probably have done as well for
him as Alice Leyton, had he been thrown in her society for several
weeks consecutively, but on the other hand Alice would do as well for
him as any other woman, and was happily of a temperament that would
never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. At present, she thought
Robert Lovell delightful. He never corrected her, as Jack too often
did. He was never _distrait_ when she chattered to him, or wrapped in
his own thoughts. He never gazed dreamily at the stars, or made remarks
that were utterly beyond her comprehension. And so she quite imagined
she was in love, and so, perhaps, she was. As Captain Lovell saw her
tear-stained cheeks, he begged her confidence.
‘What is the matter, Miss Leyton? Has any one dared to annoy you?’
‘Oh, no! It is nothing. Only--only--Mr Blythe teases me so. He says--’
‘I can guess it all. You need go no further. He presses you on the
subject of your engagement to him.’
‘Yes. He says he will never release me,’ replied Alice, checking a sob.
‘Alice! we must put an end to this at once. It is worrying you too
much. May I speak to your mother, dearest? Have I your leave to say
that we love each other, and ask her to consent to our marriage?’
‘If--if--she won’t tell Jack,’ whispered Alice fearfully. ‘I should be
afraid to be on the same ship with him, if he knew.’
‘My darling! Do you suppose you are not safe with _me_?--that any one
would be permitted to hurt you, whilst _I_ am by your side? However,
that is a matter for after consideration. May I go now and speak to
your mother?’
‘If you wish it,’ replied Alice, as she ran away to the shelter of her
own cabin.
The afternoon was far advanced, and the wind had freshened into a
loud, continuous blast.
In the saloon, the passengers of the _Pandora_, now quite accustomed to
her varied pranks, were seated at the long table, amusing themselves
according to their several tastes and proclivities. Some were playing
at cards, chess, or dominoes; others were reading, or trying to write
letters; whilst a few of the younger ones were gathered round the piano
to hear Miss Vere and Miss Vansittart sing.
All around them the waves tossed and tumbled; the wind howled with a
dismal monotony, like a dog baying at the moon; and the rain hissed
and spluttered on the deck, and against the closed portholes. Now and
then, far above the confusion of the elements, might be heard the
scream of a seagull, as, scared by the rapid approach of the monstrous
waves that threatened to engulf it, it flew in terror from its watery
bed, to describe terrified circles in the murky air. Falling glass,
broken china, and an occasional bump, as the vessel gave a lurch,
and some one who had not quite acquired his sea-legs came down in a
sitting position, were the order of the day, and those passengers who
had secured a comfortable seat felt it was wiser not to leave it. Mrs
Leyton, a fair, soft-looking woman, was stretched out at full length on
one of the saloon sofas, covered with wraps and shawls, and with little
Winnie (her baby) lying fast asleep by her side, as Captain Lovell made
his way up to her.
‘We are going to have a dreadful night, Captain Lovell, I am afraid,’
she said, as he paused beside her couch. ‘My poor baby is quite tired
with tumbling about, and has fallen asleep. Do you know where my Alice
is? She said she was going on deck a little while ago, but I’m sure
it is not fit weather for her to be out. She is such a careless,
thoughtless thing. Fancy! if she were blown overboard!’
‘Heaven forbid!’ cried Captain Lovell suddenly. ‘But you may feel quite
easy about her. She has just gone to her berth.’
‘Ah! I thought she would soon have enough of it; but girls are so
self-willed now-a-days. It is a great responsibility to have a grown-up
daughter. I shall be thankful when Mr Leyton can share it with me. How
terrible the wind sounds as it moans through the shrouds!’ observed Mrs
Leyton, shuddering.
‘I trust you are not frightened,’ said Captain Lovell. ‘The sound is
the worst part about it.’
‘Oh, yes, I know there is no danger; but we women are timid creatures,
and generally behave badly on such occasions.’
‘I think Miss Leyton behaves beautifully. Even in that sharp squall
we had the other day, her cheek never blanched, nor did she lose her
spirits.’
‘Ah, Alice does not know what fear is. I wish sometimes she had a more
wholesome dread of consequences. But she has always had her own way
with me, and I am quite afraid when we get to Dunedin that my husband
will say I have been too lenient.’
‘May I enlist your sympathies on my behalf before you meet Mr Leyton?’
said the captain, taking a seat beside her. ‘It is of Alice--of Miss
Leyton, I should say--that I wished to speak to you, and she has given
me permission to do so. We love each other, Mrs Leyton. Will you plead
our cause with your husband, and gain his consent to our marriage?’
Mrs Leyton sat up on the sofa in her surprise, and little Winnie gave a
fretful cry at being disturbed.
‘Alice has encouraged you to speak to me, Captain Lovell? But she
considers herself engaged to be married to Mr Vernon Blythe. It is not
a match I could ever approve of, because the young man has no settled
income, but they were much thrown together at Southsea, and settled the
matter between themselves without consulting me. I had no idea that she
had changed her mind. Are you _quite_ sure you are following her wishes
in joining her name to your own?’
‘I can only tell you that I asked her permission to address you on
this subject ten minutes ago, and that she gave it me most graciously.
The fact is, Mrs Leyton, Alice has often spoken to me of her
half-engagement to Mr Blythe with deep regret. She declares nothing
will induce her to marry him, and that--God bless her!--she has every
intention of marrying _me_, subject (of course) to the consent of her
parents.’
‘Well, I really can’t understand her, and I must decline to have
anything to do with the matter,’ replied Mrs Leyton, lying back again
upon her pillows. ‘I really don’t know what the girls are made of
now-a-days. The scenes Alice subjected me to when she first fell in
love with young Blythe were beyond conception. She was going to die,
or go mad, straight off, if she couldn’t be engaged to him. And so, to
quiet her, I gave a sort of reluctant consent. But I confess I hadn’t
the least idea the young man would come out in the same ship with us.
And now it seems she’s in love with _you_. And what excuse does she
intend to offer Mr Blythe for her conduct?’
‘I think Miss Leyton hopes that _you_ may be persuaded to manage so
delicate a matter for her, and let the young gentleman know that she
desires to be released from her engagement to him,’ said Captain Lovell
sheepishly.
‘I shall do no such thing, sir. Alice must conduct her love affairs
herself. Such a task would be altogether too much for my nerves; for
though I do not consider Vernon Blythe an eligible suitor for my
daughter, I like the young fellow excessively. So if his affections and
his pride are to be wounded through my daughter, she can do it herself.
I refuse to open my lips to him, and I must say I think he has been
treated very badly.’
‘My dear Mrs Leyton, do make some allowance for Alice’s feelings. Our
hearts are not completely under our own control, remember. Love is not
to be coerced, like any baser passion.’
‘Well, I hope you’ll bear that in mind, Captain Lovell, if you should
ever be my daughter’s husband, and catch her flirting with some other
man. And don’t make too sure she’ll stick to you. A girl that changes
once may change twice. And I don’t know that Mr Leyton will accept your
offer for her more than the other. He’s got no romance about him, and
looks high for his daughter.’
‘He could not look _too_ high for such a pearl as Alice. I shall like
him all the better for that,’ replied Captain Lovell. ‘But won’t you
be persuaded to break the news to Mr Blythe for us?’
‘No! I absolutely refuse, and it’s no use your asking me,’ returned Mrs
Leyton, who was really fond of Jack. ‘If Alice wishes him to know she’s
a jilt, she can tell him so herself.’
‘You are _too_ hard upon her,’ murmured the captain, as he withdrew
from the interview, feeling much less light hearted than he had done
at the commencement. But before the next day was over both he and
Alice had experienced a shock which made their own troubles sink into
insignificance beside it.
After a tempestuous night, a long white streak far away in the
southward proclaimed the break of dawn. The sky was clear, and the
stars flickered with waning light in the spangled heavens. The gale,
which had blown with great fury during the night, was abating with the
coming of day, and Blythe, who well knew that it would die away as
quickly as it had sprung up, hoisted the topsails as soon as it showed
signs of dropping. The storm clouds were dispersed by the sun, which
tinted the sky with orange and crimson hues, and the moon, paling
beneath the stronger light, disappeared in solemn stateliness behind
her vast curtain of cerulean drapery. The waves still leapt and growled
with impotent rage, but, deserted by the wind and beaten down with the
rain, their energy was almost expended.
The _Pandora_ laboured against the turbulent sea, like a horse
stumbling over a freshly-ploughed field. At times she took large
spoonfuls over her forechains, greatly to the annoyance of the black
cook, who had continually to clear his scupper holes with a long caul,
and to push away the cinders which choked them up and prevented the
water from escaping. Now and again the vessel dashed on to the top of
a swell, and the sea rushed from her in boiling surf; then she would
rise over a mountainous wave as if about to make another desperate
plunge, till her stern went with a rude swash into the sea, sending
thousands of bubbling whirlpools hissing in her wake, whilst the
shore-folk turned uneasily in their bunks, and wished it were time to
rise.
At eight bells the main-topgallant sail was sheeted home, and the outer
jib run up. After which the _Pandora_ behaved in a more graceful and
lady-like manner, and when the decks had been ‘squeegeed’ down, all
hands emerged from their close quarters to enjoy the invigorating air,
which the ocean had rendered still more grateful by a flavouring of
brine.
The day became warmer, the wind hauled round to the northward and
eastward, and the sun, casting off his sickly appearance, shone forth
with a cheerful warmth.
Alice Leyton, under the escort of Captain Lovell, walked the lee side
of the deck. They were discussing together the details of Lovell’s
interview with Mrs Leyton the evening before, and the girl looked both
unhappy and dismayed, as she heard the remarks her mother had made upon
her conduct.
Mr Vansittart and Godfrey Harland, who appeared by general consent to
be considered as _fiancé_ to Grace Vansittart, conversed at the foot of
the mizenmast, and a weather cloth was spread in the lower rigging for
the benefit of the ladies, who took advantage of its shelter for their
camp-stools and wicker-chairs. On the wheel-house benches were seated
two or three young officers, who were holding an animated discussion
on the probable advent of a Conservative administration, while Miss
Vere and Mr Fowler, with Harold Greenwood (who had entirely succumbed
to the charms of the fair actress) close at hand, were lounging on the
skylight.
Suddenly--in the midst of the buzz of conversation and the sound
of laughter--came a low, piteous cry, that seemed to rend the air,
and spread from one end of the ship to the other. Then a long, deep
nautical shout from the maintop bawled out the terrifying words,--‘_Man
overboard!_’ In a moment, the whole deck resembled a disturbed anthill,
and Mr Coffin ran aft to the wheel.
‘Put your helm a-port, man!’ he cried, seizing the spokes and putting
them down; and then in the same breath he shouted, ‘Cut away that
life-buoy!’
When the feeble cry was first heard, Alice and Captain Lovell ran to
the side of the vessel, whence the sound of a sudden splash had caught
their ears. Peering into the water, they saw nothing at first but a
small bundle of clothes, but in another moment a velvet cloak and a
‘granny’ bonnet to match came plainly in view--the cloak and the bonnet
of Winnie Leyton. Alice turned white and sick with horror.
‘My God!’ she cried, ‘it is our baby! She is drowning! She will die!
Will no one save her? Let me go,’ she continued, struggling violently
in the detaining grasp of Captain Lovell, who feared lest in her agony
she should jump overboard after her sister.
‘Don’t be afraid, dearest,’ he urged. ‘It will be all right. See! they
are getting out a boat. They will pick her up in a minute. Pray, _pray_
don’t do anything rash,’ he said, as he attempted to lead her away.
As she turned, she encountered Jack Blythe, who was already stripped to
his shirt and trousers.
‘Jack! save her!’ she screamed.
‘Never fear, Alice! I will bring her back to you,’ he answered. ‘D--n
it, man, stand on one side!’ he shouted to Lovell, as he clutched him
violently, and threw him against the astonished bystanders.
‘What the d--’ commenced Lovell, but in another second Jack Blythe,
girding up his muscular young figure for the effort, had sprung over
the side of the _Pandora_ to the rescue of Winifred Leyton.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]