a man of no ordinary acuteness to deal with; they realised that, though
apparently free as air to act as they pleased, an unceasing watch was
being kept upon them, and they felt that henceforth they must not place
any dependence upon the hope of help from without. They all, therefore,
individually and collectively too, so far as they had opportunity, began
to plot and scheme; in the hope of being able to hit upon some plan
which might enable them to recover possession of the ship, going even to
the perilous length of sounding the least unpromising of the crew in the
hope of finding at least a few of them open to either persuasion or
bribery. But it was all of no avail. The men proved not only
unresponsive but suspicious; and they were also wholly unsuccessful in
their efforts to communicate with Captain Blyth, of whom they could not
get so much as a sight, much less speech with him.
"It is of no use for us to try any further," at last said Gaunt, when
talking matters over with the doctor. "We have tried our best, but
Williams is too acute and too strong for us. I have noticed a certain
something in his manner within the last day or two which tells me that
we are standing on very perilous ground, and we must drop the whole
affair before worse comes of it. We must not forget that the women and
children have only us to look to for protection in this awful strait; it
will never do for us to attempt anything which might result in their
being left to the tender mercies of those ruffians forward. The only
thing we can now hope for is a speedy and safe deliverance from their
clutches by being landed somewhere; and we must pray that they will be
induced to land us on some spot where we may not only be able to make
ourselves safe, but also to secure the means of living."
Meanwhile the ship passed safely through the Straits of Sunda, along the
south coast of Borneo, and so into the Java and Flores Seas; Williams
maintaining a ceaseless and anxious watch upon Ned as the lad daily
pricked off upon the chart the position of the ship, and frequently
altering the course with the evident object of inspecting certain
islands, probably to ascertain whether they were suitable for landing
his unwelcome guests upon. Several islands were visited, but none of
them proved satisfactory. Some were found to be inhabited by savages,
whose demonstrations at sight of the ship were so unmistakably hostile
that it would have been obviously only murder thinly disguised to have
landed any white person there, whilst others seemed deficient in the
means of sustaining life. Wandering thus about the ocean a fortnight
passed away, and Williams began to grow impatient; so much so indeed
that he at length proposed landing the passengers on the next land seen,
let it be what it would. But to this the crew would not agree: they
were as yet young in crime, and were determined that, since the
passengers _must_ be got rid of, they should at least be given a fair
chance. A compromise was at length come to, by which it was agreed that
the search should be continued for three days longer, after which the
unlucky passengers were to be landed on the first land seen, there to
take their chance. This matter was decided at a council composed of the
entire crew, on the evening of a day whereon no less than three islands
had been fruitlessly visited; and at the close of the discussion Ned was
summoned and the chart consulted. At Williams' request the area already
examined was pointed out, and then, after much discussion, a course of
due east was decided upon, in order that a new tract of sea might be
explored. On this course the chart showed a clear sea for something
like three hundred miles ahead of them. Everybody was therefore much
astonished when at daybreak next morning land was descried right ahead
at a distance of only about ten miles.
The discovery was of course first reported to Williams, who seemed
greatly disconcerted by it.
"Call Ned," said he.
Ned was duly summoned, and soon made his appearance on the topgallant-
forecastle, upon which Williams had already established himself, and
from which advantageous stand-point he was watching the approach of the
ship to the land.
"What do you call that?" demanded Williams, pointing ahead, as soon as
he became conscious of Ned's presence beside him.
"Land--unmistakably land!" exclaimed Ned, shading his eyes with his hand
to get a clearer view.
"And do you know how far the ship has run during the night?" angrily
demanded the mutineer.
"Not far, I should think; perhaps fifty or sixty miles," replied Ned,
glancing aloft and away toward the horizon to note the appearance of sea
and sky.
"And did you not tell me only last night that we had a clear sea to the
eastward of us for something like three hundred miles? Yet there is the
land; and if it had happened to blow fresh during the night we should
perhaps have run upon it before making it out in the dark. How do you
account for your being so strangely out of your reckoning?" sternly
asked Williams.
"I am not out of my reckoning," hotly retorted Ned; "and I cannot
account for the appearance of that island except upon the supposition
that this particular portion of the ocean has never yet been thoroughly
examined, and that therefore the island ahead has never been observed
and set down on the chart. One thing at all events is certain, and that
is that, as I said last night, the chart shows a clear sea a long way
ahead of us."
"Bring the chart to me, and let me have another look at it," growled
Williams.
Ned produced the chart and spread it out on the deck, when Williams
kneeled down and examined it for some time with very evident suspicion,
not scrupling at last to hint pretty plainly his impression that Ned had
deliberately intended to cast away the ship. Of course Ned indignantly
repudiated any such intention, and at length apparently succeeded in
partially reassuring Williams, who finally grumbled out; "Well, if what
you say be true, the only conclusion we can come to is that yonder
island has never yet been visited by civilised beings; and if that is
the case it is all the more suitable a spot on which to land some of our
useless live lumber. So go aft and tell the passengers to pack up their
traps at once, as I am about to put them ashore. And tell the boatswain
to open the after-hatch and to pass these people's dunnage on deck all
ready for sending ashore with them. I am quite tired of running about
looking for a suitable spot for them, and will look no further. They
will have to do the best they can yonder, savages or no savages."
Ned hurried aft to the poop, on which the little group of ladies and
gentlemen was congregated, and delivered his message, adding:
"I am very glad--in some respects--that you are going, for I may now
tell you that unconsciously you have been in some sort acting as
hostages for my good behaviour, and I have been dreadfully afraid that
some involuntary slip on my part might complicate matters for you. When
once you are all safely out of the ship I shall feel more at liberty to
take a few risks, if I can see that any good is likely to arise
therefrom. I was at first in hopes that Captain Blyth and young Manners
would have been put on shore with you, in which case I would have joined
you, even if I had had to swim for it; but I am afraid Williams--the
scoundrel--intends to land them elsewhere, in which case I am sure it is
my duty to stick to the ship so long as they remain on board. But, at
all events, I will try to give you the latitude and longitude of the
island before you leave us, for, if I mistake not, you, Mr Gaunt, can
navigate?"
"Yes," said Gaunt, "I am a fairly good navigator, and not a bad seaman,
in an amateurish sort of way, you know. But do not trouble about the
position of the island. I have here," producing his watch, "an
excellent chronometer, showing Greenwich time, and books and instruments
among my luggage which, with the aid of sun, moon, and stars, will
enable me to obtain all the information I need. True, I have no charts;
but I have a capital atlas, which will serve our turn, so far as finding
our way from place to place is concerned. And now, Ned, whilst we have
the opportunity, let me say that we all thoroughly understand the
peculiar and difficult position in which you are placed on board here,
and that we consider you have conducted yourself admirably and with
remarkable discretion from the very commencement of this deplorable
business of the mutiny. And if, as is by no means improbable, you
should by and by find yourself involved by your involuntary association
with these mutineers in a situation of difficulty or peril, we shall be
most happy and willing to bear testimony to that effect, if we happen to
be in a situation to do so. We shall of course endeavour to escape from
our island prison; and should we succeed, our first act on reaching a
civilised country will be to make to the authorities a full and detailed
report of all the circumstances of the mutiny, so that a man-of-war may
be sent out in quest of the ship. But I think it will be well for _you_
to do the same, for your own sake. You can perhaps manage it by writing
an account of the transaction, sealing it up in a bottle, and throwing
the bottle overboard when you happen to be in some well-frequented ship
track; not forgetting to state in your report the position of the island
on which we are landed, as well as that of the spot on which poor
Captain Blyth and young Manners may be put on shore. And now, as we may
not have another opportunity to say it, good-bye, my dear lad, remain
honest and true to your duty, as you have been hitherto, and leave all
the rest to God, who will not allow you to suffer for the faults of
others. Good-bye, Ned, and God bless and guide and deliver you from all
evil. Amen."
Gaunt then shook Ned heartily by the hand, after which the others
stepped forward one by one and did the same, each saying a hopeful word
or two to cheer and encourage him under the pang of parting, which it
was evident enough the poor lad felt keenly. Sibylla hung back until
all the others, the poor children included, had spoken their farewell,
and then she too advanced and held out her hand. She was very pale, and
the small shapely trembling hand which Ned grasped in his was icy cold;
but however keenly she may have felt the parting under such terrible
circumstances she contrived to maintain at least a semblance of outward
composure, though there was a tremor in her voice which she found it
quite impossible to control. She murmured a few low half-inarticulate
words of farewell, gave Ned's hand a slight involuntary pressure ere she
released it, and then hastily retreated to her state-room.
As for poor Ned, on releasing Sibylla's hand he turned and staggered out
of the cabin, looking like a man who had been suddenly struck a numbing
blow, and feeling as he might have felt had the saloon been a felon's
dock in which he had just received his death-sentence. This miserable
parting, though he had been constantly expecting it any time within the
previous fortnight, and though he honestly believed--as he had said--
that he was glad of it, now seemed to have come upon him with startling
suddenness, and it had called up with it an unexpected feeling of bitter
anguish for which he was wholly unprepared, and for which he found it
difficult to account. It was not, he thought, that he had conceived for
these people an exceptionally warm friendship; he had made many friends
during his sea-going career for whom he had felt quite as strong a
regard, yet when the time for it came he had been able to say farewell
with a cheery voice and a comparatively light heart. But now it seemed
altogether a different matter; though the sun still shone brilliantly,
as of old, and the warm soft wind still roughened the sapphire sea and
caused it to laugh and sparkle as joyously as ever, the whole world
looked dark, cheerless, and gloomy to him, and he felt as though he had
suddenly become the victim of some terrible calamity. In the endeavour
to get rid of the horrible feeling of depression which had thus
unaccountably seized upon him, Ned went and hunted up the boatswain, and
delivered Williams' order respecting the removal of the passengers'
baggage from the hold; after which he mounted the poop, on which
Williams had by this time stationed himself. But, actuated by the new
and peculiar feeling which was just then so strongly asserting itself
within his breast, the lad could think only of the mysterious island
ahead, and of those who were so soon to be landed upon it; and his
imagination, powerfully stimulated as it just then was, already pictured
the little party abandoned there, and reduced to the most primitive
state of self-dependence, given over to battle for their very existence
as best they might: houseless, exposed to a thousand perils, and
destitute of even the commonest necessaries of life until such could be
provided by their own exertions. There was one--and only one--grain of
comfort to brighten the gloomy prospect as it presented itself to Ned's
mental vision, which was that Mr Gaunt seemed to be a man of infinite
resource; one of those extremely rare individuals who can never be taken
wholly by surprise, and who no sooner find themselves confronted by a
difficulty than they are ready with a remedy for it. The doctor, too,
though a singularly quiet and unassuming man, struck Ned as one who, his
work once fairly cut out for him, would go manfully through with it.
But what could two men, however resolute, do in the position they would
soon occupy, unless well provided with arms, ammunition, and tools?
And, determined to let slip no opportunity to help those in whom he was
so strongly interested, the lad turned to Williams and said:
"As I suppose you do not intend to turn these people adrift without
arms, or the tools with which to construct for themselves some sort of a
shelter, would it not be well to look up a few things for them at once,
so that the ship may not be detained in a position of danger when the
landing takes place?"
"Arms! tools!" growled Williams. "Who spoke of supplying them with
either?"
"Nobody," answered Ned; "but you cannot surely be thinking of putting
them ashore without them?"
"Now, supposing that you had the management of this job," snarled
Williams, "what would you give them?"
"Well," said Ned, "I should let them have one of those spare topsails
out of the sail-room; a couple of rifles apiece, including the women,
with plenty of ammunition, two or three axes, a hammer or two, and a few
bags of nails."
"Oh! you would, eh?" sneered Williams. "And what use do you suppose all
those things would be to them?"
"The sail," said Ned, "would serve them for a tent until they could
build a house, the tools would enable them to build the house, and the
arms would give them a chance to defend themselves if attacked, as well
as to provide themselves with food."
"Well, yes, that's true," answered Williams, rather reluctantly. "Very
well," he continued, "go and rout the things out; and let me see them
when you have got them together."
Without waiting to give the fellow a chance to change his mind, Ned
hurried off, and summoning the boatswain and his gang to his assistance,
soon had the topsail on deck; after which he procured the keys of the
arm-chest and selected not ten but a dozen rifles, fitted with bayonets,
a goodly stock of ammunition, three new axes with helves complete, a
couple of shovels, two hammers, half a dozen bags of nails, mostly
large, a coil of inch rope, an adze, and a quantity of tinware--as less
liable to breakage than crockery. And, as a suitable finish to the
whole, he topped off with a case which he routed out from the lazarette,
and which bore on its side the legend "assorted tinned meats."
Breakfast was by this time ready; and on its being announced, Williams
ordered Ned to take charge of the deck, and, in the event of anything
noteworthy occurring, to report to him at once. Ned was by no means
sorry to be thus left to himself for a short time; but, fully alive to
the exceptional nature of the responsibility laid upon him at that
particular moment, deemed his proper position just then to be in the
fore-top. And, first procuring his telescope, thither he quickly made
his way.
The ship was by this time within about five miles of the land; and the
first thing the lad noticed, on reaching his more elevated post, was
that the sea was breaking heavily all along the shore. Hailing the
boatswain, who was on deck, Ned instructed that functionary to report
this circumstance to Williams, who, in consequence, soon made his
appearance on deck again.
"Fore-top, there!" he hailed; "how far are the breakers off the shore?"
"About a mile, I should say," answered Ned.
"Do they look too heavy for a boat to go through them?" was the next
inquiry.
"Yes," answered Ned; "there is nothing but white water all along this
side of the island."
"Very well," said Williams, "stay where you are, and keep your eyes
peeled; we must try the lee side of the island, that's all. Lay aft
here, my lads, and man the lee braces. Down with your helm, there, you
sir, and let her come by the wind. Brace sharp up, my bullies; we
mustn't leave the hooker's bones on yon island if we can help it. Well,
there! belay all! How is that, Ned; shall we weather the southernmost
point, think ye?"
"Yes," answered Ned, "and plenty to spare, if there is no current to set
us to leeward."
The island was now to leeward of the ship, stretching along the horizon
on her larboard beam, the northern extremity being well on her quarter,
whilst the southern end, with an outlying reef, lay about three points
on her lee-bow. Anxious to see and learn as much as possible of the
place which was to be the--possibly life-long--abode of those who had
suddenly seemed so dear to him, Ned again had recourse to his telescope,
with which he forthwith proceeded to carefully scan the island.
It measured, from north to south, about six miles, as nearly as the lad
could estimate it; what its measurement might be in the other direction
it was not then possible to say. The land was very high, especially
toward the centre of the island; and one of the first things which
attracted Ned's attention was a remarkable cliff, apparently quite
perpendicular, which traversed the island from north to south, seemingly
about four hundred feet high, and which sprang sheer out of the ridge of
a lofty hill which appeared to form the back-bone, as it were, of the
island. This cliff seemed to Ned to divide the island into two distinct
parts; for it terminated, both to north and to south, in a terrific
precipice falling sheer down to the sea, which foamed and chafed at its
base. This gave the island a most peculiar appearance, suggesting the
idea that at some distant period of the world's history a mighty
convulsion had occurred, rending the rocks violently asunder and forcing
a portion of them--namely, that which formed the land in sight--far
above the level of the rest. To the eastward, or landward of the
remarkable cliff already referred to, Ned could see the steep conical
summit of a lofty mountain, apparently about four miles inland; but the
cliff was too high to allow of his seeing any other portion of the
island beyond it. The land was covered with wood from the base of the
cliff clear down to the inner margin of the beach, and, with the aid of
his glass, Ned could detect the feathery fronds of cocoanut and other
palms, as well as the less lofty foliage of the useful banana.
Meanwhile, the ship had by this time reached a point which enabled the
lad to make out that the long line of breakers which had first attracted
his attention inclosed a bay about a mile wide and nearly that depth,
the water of which was quite smooth and unbroken inside the inner line
of breakers. And whilst examining this bay, with the idea that a
knowledge of it might be useful to his friends, Ned's eye was arrested
by an object on the inner edge of the reef, and almost in smooth water,
which a more careful inspection showed him to be a wreck. This
discovery he determined not to report, but to communicate, if possible,
to the little party before they were landed. And, to make more certain
of being able to do so, he there and then tore a leaf out of his pocket-
book and jotted down a few notes respecting his observations, which he
thought they might be glad to have.
At length the ship handsomely weathered the most southerly extremity of
the island, this proving to be a bold projection in a vertical cliff,
the summit of which towered in some places to a height of nearly sixteen
hundred feet above the sea. This cliff extended along the whole
southern seaboard of the island, towering highest at the point where it
met the curious transverse cliff before mentioned, and gradually
becoming lower as it neared the eastern end of the island, which now
showed itself to be about eleven miles in length from east to west.
With the exception of the mountain, the conical top of which Ned had
seen over the summit of the transverse cliff, that cliff seemed to be
the highest part of the island; though the rest of it was also hilly,
gradually sloping, however, to the eastward until it terminated in a
beautiful white sandy beach, on which Ned soon saw that a landing might
be effected without difficulty.
As soon as Ned had piloted the ship into a position where she might be
hove-to with safety, Williams called him down on deck, on reaching which
he was summoned aft.
"Now then!" exclaimed Williams, "let's give this cargo"--pointing to
Ned's collection of miscellaneous articles for the passengers'
benefit--"an overhaul. You seem quite determined that they shall not
want for much, by the look of it."
"Of course not; why should they?" demanded Ned. "They are not going on
shore to please themselves, but to please you; and it is only right that
they should be supplied with everything necessary to make themselves
thoroughly comfortable. They ought not to be allowed to want for
_anything_."
Williams admitted that there was some truth in that argument; and, after
inquiring what uses certain of the articles were expected to be put to,
ordered the boat to be lowered and manned, and everything to be passed
down into her. When this came to be done, however, there proved to be,
with the luggage, too much for one boat; so, rather than incur the delay
which would be entailed by the making of a second trip, Williams, with
many expressions of dissatisfaction and impatience, ordered the second
quarter-boat to be lowered.
At length everything was pronounced to be in the boats; and nothing
remained but for the passengers themselves to pass down over the side.
They had, previously to this, asked and been refused permission to say
farewell to Captain Blyth, there was therefore nothing further to detain
them, and Mr Gaunt now advanced to the gangway, where he paused for a
moment in order to protest formally against being thus landed in a part
of the world from which there seemed little or no hope of their being
able to effect their escape. The protest was, of course, utterly
ineffectual, as they quite expected it would be--indeed it was only made
because they wished it to be clearly understood by all hands that they
were not leaving the ship of their own free-will--and when the engineer
had finished speaking, all that Williams said in reply was:
"That is all right. And now, as there is a fairish amount of swell
running, I would recommend you two gentlemen to go down into the boat
first, so as to help the ladies and children down, and to see that none
of them fall overboard."