The little half-sinking schooner dashed on amid the raging seas, now
lifted up to the summit of one surrounded by hissing foam, now sinking
down into the gloomy hollow between others which seemed as if they were
about instantly to engulf her. Again another sea struck her; and had
not every one held on tight to the rigging or bulwarks, her deck would
have been cleared, as it made a clean wash fore and aft.
"We must not run this risk again!" exclaimed Murray. "All hands go
below; one on deck is enough. I'll take the helm. No expostulation,
Adair; remember, I am commanding officer. I am determined to do it."
Adair, with a bad grace, was obliged to obey with the rest. They all
went below, and Murray battened down the hatches. Lashing himself to
the helm, he alone remained on deck through that fearful gale. The sea
roared around the little vessel, the wind whistled through the shrouds,
fierce lightnings darted from the dark heavy clouds, the thunder rattled
in deafening peals, while deluges of rain and spray flew about his head
and almost blinded him. Yet, undaunted as at the first, he stood like
some spirit of the storm at his dangerous post.
Those below tried to sleep, to pass away the time, but so fearful was
the tumult that sleep refused to visit even the seamen's eyes. Hour
after hour passed by. Still, by the noise and the movement of the
vessel, it was too evident that the gale continued. Adair calculated
that it must already be almost day. Just then the vessel became more
steady, and the noise of the storm considerably diminished. Adair was
surprised that Murray did not take off the hatches. He was anxious to
go on deck to relieve him. He knocked and knocked again on the
skylight. He called and called out again and again. There was no
answer. With frantic energy he attempted to burst open the skylight.
The dreadful idea seized him that Murray, his brave and noble friend,
had been washed overboard and lost.
He and his companions again knocked several times. Still there was no
answer. They themselves were almost stifled with the heat of the
atmosphere and the odour of the rotting tobacco and monkey-skins. "This
will never do," exclaimed Adair, becoming more and more alarmed for
Murray's safety. "We must force the hatches off, or break our way
through the skylight." They groped about and found a handspike which
had been chucked down below. "Now, lads. Heave he!" cried Adair, and
getting the end under the skylight, with a loud crash they prized it
off, and one after the other sprang on deck. There stood Murray lashed
to the helm, and looking more like a man in a trance than one awake.
"Hillo, where am I?" he exclaimed, gazing wildly around.
"On the deck of the _Venus_, old fellow," answered Terence, taking him
by the hand. "Right gallantly you steered us through the gale, and as
soon as it fell calm you dropped asleep, and small blame to you. We did
the same below, and I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you safe: we
all thought you had fallen overboard." Murray was very much surprised
to find that he had slept so long and so soundly, but he soon gave
evidence that he had not had enough rest, for Adair had a mattress
brought up and stretched under an awning on deck, and the moment he
placed his head on it he was off again as soundly as before.
"We must turn to at the pumps, sir," observed Needham, coming from
below. "If we don't bear a hand, I fear the craft will sink under us."
Such it appeared would probably be the case, but no one was daunted.
All set to work and laboured away as manfully as before. When Murray
awoke he found that the schooner was again almost cleared of water. The
last man to leave the pumps was Wasser. He was still labouring away,
when down he sank on the deck. Murray and Adair ran to lift him up. He
could scarcely open his eyes, and looked thoroughly worn out. They
lifted the poor fellow to the mattress from which Murray had just risen,
and as soon as the fire, which had gone out, could be lighted, they made
some beef broth, which they poured down his throat. They also gave him
a little rum. Alick and Terence differed as to which was the best
restorative, but, unlike doctors in general, they agreed to administer
them alternately. Paddy wanted to give them in equal proportions--that
is to say, for every cup of broth Alick gave, he wanted to give a glass
of grog; but fortunately to this arrangement Murray would not consent.
He argued that one tumbler of grog, half and half, was stronger than a
dozen basins of broth, and he would therefore allow only half a tumbler
in the day. When Wasser was at length able to speak, to Adair's
astonishment he declared in favour of the remedy of the rival
practitioner, and Murray and his broth carried the day. In spite of the
heat, Wasser had to be carried below, and all who could were glad to
take shelter there, for down came the rain with terrific force, and
continued without intermission, almost swamping the little vessel. Her
crew had work enough to do all their time in keeping her clear of the
water, which poured in through the leaks in bucketsful. For days and
nights together no one had on a dry jacket. By such observations as
they could manage to make, Murray and Adair began to suspect that all
their seamanship was set at nought; for though they at times made some
way through the water, they as quickly lost all the ground they had
gained, and thus it became evident that there was a strong current
against them.
"This is dreadfully trying," exclaimed Terence, after they had become
convinced of this disagreeable fact. "Let us try and make the land
again, and see whereabouts we are. Perhaps by hugging the shore we may
be able to get round Cape Palmas after all." Murray agreed to this
proposal, although he was not very sanguine of success. He knew that
the currents were probably as strong in-shore as where they then were,
but he hoped that they might possibly get a slant of wind off the land,
which would enable them to stem the current, and help them along round
the Cape. Murray had been making his calculations on paper.
"I could scarcely have believed that we could have been so unfortunate,"
he observed, looking calmly up. "For the last six days we have not made
good more than four or five miles--perhaps scarcely so much. _I_ have
no wish to pay another visit to Cape Coast Castle, though I dare say the
old governor would be as kind to us as before."
"I agree with you," answered Adair. "Let us stick at it. We must get
the wind in our favour some day or other It does not always blow from
the nor'ard, I suppose."
Like true British sailors they did stick at it. Such is the spirit
which has animated the numerous brave voyagers who have explored the
arctic regions, the southern seas, and the wide-spreading Pacific. At
length the land was made. It was a long way, however, to the southward,
or rather to the eastward of Cape Palmas. The wind fell soon
afterwards, and slowly they drifted in toward the shore. Their glasses
as they approached were directed at it, and they could see a number of
blacks collected on the beach and evidently watching them. The part of
the coast they were now off is called the Ivory Coast. As far as the
eye could reach it was flat and monotonous, but along its whole extent
appeared rich groves of cocoa-nut trees, extending a considerable
distance inland. Here and there, embosomed by the cocoa-nut groves,
they could see small villages and separate buildings, the cottages with
high conical roofs, thatched with palmetto leaves. To the east appeared
a long thin spit of sand, separated from the main beach by a lagoon,
into which several rivers and streams appeared to fall. As they
approached the shore a terrific surf was seen rolling in towards it, and
breaking with a loud roar on the sand.
"What will become of our little craft if we get in among those
breakers?" said Adair. "She will have hard work to swim, I suspect."
"I doubt if she will ever float through them," answered Murray. "If she
does, and we are stranded, which is the best fate we can then hope to
happen to us, I fear that those black gentry on the shore will not give
us a very friendly reception. They are flourishing their spears as if
they would like to dig them into us."
"We shall be completely in their power, and, what is the worst, we have
not the means of showing fight," said Adair, watching the people on the
shore through his glass. "They have some big canoes hauled up on the
beach, and they seem disposed to launch them, and come in chase of us,
should the rollers not send us to them."
"I wish that there was a chance of that," exclaimed Murray; "I should
have very little fear of them if they came to attack us. Ah! there's a
puff of wind off the shore. Our blacks have discovered it. They are
wetting their fingers and holding up their hands. We may yet be able to
stand off the land."
The minutes passed slowly by. They were full of the most anxious
suspense. Now the promised breeze died away, and the little vessel
floated helplessly in towards the dreaded surf. Now it came on again,
and she was able to get a little farther off, again to be left to drift
back towards the land. Then, just as her case seemed hopeless, another
puff would come, and once more her sails would fill, and all on board
hoped that she would make a good offing. Had they possessed sweeps,
with the help of the transient breeze, they might have got to a safe
distance from the land. As to anchoring, that was out of the question.
Even had there been bottom to be found with such an inset, their cable
would not have held them for an instant. When the schooner got near
enough to the shore, they saw that the natives were still watching them
eagerly, and no sooner did the breeze return, than preparations were
made to launch several of their canoes. From the gestures of the
blacks, Murray and Adair agreed that their intentions did not appear to
be friendly, and therefore it would be wise to avoid them altogether if
they could, and at all events to be prepared to receive them warmly,
should they overtake the schooner. Her progress was very slow, and
there appeared too great a prospect of their doing this. Every
preparation was therefore made for such a contingency. The wind was
light, but it appeared to be increasing, and by degrees it was evident
that the little craft was forging ahead more and more rapidly through
the smooth shining ocean. The negroes on shore must have seen that
their chance of overtaking her was every moment lessening, and they were
observed to make several strenuous efforts to launch their canoes
through the surf. The first two were capsized and sent back on the
beach, which the people in her (or rather out of her) very easily
regained, as if perfectly accustomed to that mode of proceeding. Again,
however, the canoes were righted and launched, and this time four gained
the open sea. The fifth was driven back, and probably received some
damage, for she was not again launched. Four large canoes full of
strong active negroes, completely armed according to their own fashion,
were antagonists not to be despised; still it was evident that they had
not firearms, or that if they had, they must have been rendered
completely useless from the thorough drenching they must have got.
Night was drawing on. The wind in a few minutes drew more round to the
eastward, and gave signs of once more dropping. Of course every inch of
canvas the little _Venus_ could carry was set on her, so that unless the
breeze, increased it was impossible to make her go faster than she was
doing through the water. As yet she was keeping well ahead of the
canoes. The two midshipmen anxiously watched the proceedings of the
latter. The blacks in the stern-sheets were standing up and
gesticulating, and flourishing their clubs and lances, and encouraging
their companions. The sun at length went down, and with the last gleam
of light shed by his rays they could see the canoes still in pursuit.
Darkness, however, now rapidly rose over the deep, and hid them from
their view. Murray wisely bethought him of altering the schooner's
course more to the southward for a short time. Nearly an hour passed,
and there were no signs of the canoes. They had therefore little
apprehension that they would overtake them. The schooner was hauled up
again on a wind. The night passed away, and when morning broke neither
the canoes nor the land were in sight.
"If the breeze lasts we may hope to regain the ground we lost last
night," observed Murray. But it did not; and when once more they
reached in towards the land, they found that they had made as little
progress as before. Again, too, their provisions were running short.
Though they might catch some fish, the supply was uncertain.
"We shall have to bear up again for Cape Coast Castle after all, I am
afraid," observed Adair to Murray. "And really, Alick, if I were you, I
would leave the old craft there, and let us find our way as we best can
to Sierra Leone. Yet, of course, if you resolve to continue the voyage,
I'll stick by you. You'll not think I hesitated about that point."
"I know full well that you'd not desert me, Paddy, even if things were
ten times as bad as they are," answered Murray. "But you also know me
well enough not to suppose that I would disobey my orders and abandon
the schooner while she holds together. If she gets a slight repair,
with a fresh supply of provisions, she will be as well able to perform
the voyage as she was at first. There is no use starving, though; and
as we have scarcely anything left to eat on board, we'll keep away at
once for Cape Coast Castle."
The order to put up the helm was received with no little satisfaction by
Needham and the rest, and in less than three days the schooner was
riding safely at anchor before the old fort. The Governor received the
two midshipmen with the greatest kindness.
"Well, my lads," said he, "I suppose you have had enough of this
knocking about in your rotten old tub, and will not object to leave her
this time. We shall soon have a man-of-war here, which will carry you
up to Sierra Leone, and I will bear you free from all blame with your
captain or any one else. You should no longer risk your own lives or
those of your people in such a vessel."
"I am much obliged to you, sir," said Murray. "I've made up my mind
long ago on the matter, but I am willing to let any of the people leave
me who wish it, and will try to get others in their stead."
The Governor, who really was anxious about the safety of the young
officer, whose perseverance he very much admired, the next day went on
board the schooner, hoping to persuade the crew to abandon her; and
expecting to gain his point under the belief that no other people would
be obtained to go in her. They assembled on deck. The Governor
addressed them. Murray said nothing.
"I sticks by my officers," said Needham, touching his hat and going
behind Murray. Not another word did he utter.
"So do I, sir," said White, doing the same. Wasser and the other
blacks, grinning from ear to ear, and scratching their woolly pates,
followed Needham and White. Murray felt much gratified.
"There, sir," said he to the Governor, "you see that my men will not
desert me or the ship. We are bound to continue the voyage."
"I give up all hope of preventing you," said the kind-hearted Governor,
with a sigh. "However, as go you will, we will try to make you as
comfortable as we can."
The Governor was as good as his word, and provisions and stores of all
sorts were sent on board. There was little chance of their starving
this time, though that of their going to the bottom was not much
diminished, as few means were procurable of giving anything like a
substantial repair to the little craft. Among other gifts Alick and
Terence received a couple of parrots and a monkey. The first two were
presented to Murray, the latter to Adair. The little craft was once
more pronounced ready for sea. They had been employed all day in
setting up the rigging, and in bending sails, when one of the men
proposed a swim overboard, to cool themselves after the heat to which
they had been subject. In an instant all hands were in the water
swimming about round and round the vessel. The boat was in the water on
the starboard side. Murray, intending to bathe afterwards, was alone on
deck. Suddenly he saw the ill-omened fin of a shark rising above the
water at no great distance off, and then his snout appeared, and his
wicked eyes were visible surveying the scene of action. Murray shouted
to Adair and the rest of the people to come on board. No one lost an
instant in attempting to obey the order. Wasser alone was on the port
side at the moment, and nearest to where the shark had appeared. He was
a good swimmer as he had before shown, and instead of singing out for a
rope with which to climb up on that side, he struck out to pass round
the schooner's stern. It was a fatal resolve. Murray was watching the
ominous fin. It disappeared. "Swim towards the stern! swim towards the
stern! splash about with your legs, Wasser!" he cried out, running aft,
and heaving the poor negro a rope. "Catch hold of this, my lad, catch
hold of this!" Wasser made a spring at the rope, for instinctively he
was aware what was behind him. He had half lifted himself out of the
water, when he uttered a fearful shriek. The monster shark had seized
him by the legs. In vain he struggled; in vain Murray hauled away to
drag him out of the water; the ferocious fish would not let go his hold;
the poor negro shrieked again and again. By that time Terence and
Needham had climbed on board, and, coming to Murray's assistance, they
leaned over the counter, and seizing Wasser by the arms, pulled him up
still farther out of the water, and then White, joining them with a
boat-hook, drove the point into one of the monster's eyes, when he at
length opened his jaws, and retreated to a short distance, still,
however, watching his writhing prey, as if ready to make another attack.
It would be too horrible were I to describe the dreadful condition in
which the shark had left poor Wasser's legs. One foot was entirely
gone, while the other leg was bare to the bone. A mattress was got up
on deck, and Murray and Adair, with all the skill they could command,
set to work to doctor the negro lad, while they sent off to the port for
assistance.
"No use, thank ye, massas," said Wasser, shaking his head. "Doctor no
do good. My time come. Me die happy. Once me thought fetish take me,
now me know where me go--who wait for me."
He pointed solemnly upwards as he spoke. The deathbed of that poor
black lad might well be envied by many a proud white man. Wasser's
predictions proved not unfounded. When the doctor came on board he
pronounced his case utterly hopeless, and as Wasser himself entreated
that he might not be sent on shore, he was allowed to remain where he
was. All night the two midshipmen and Needham sat up watching him, and
doing their best to relieve his pain. At daybreak they were to get
under weigh, and with the dying lad on board they once more left Cape
Coast Castle and shaped a course for Sierra Leone. The wind still
continued light, and in order to keep them from gloomy thoughts or
apprehensions, Murray set all hands to work to fish. They had plenty of
lines and bait this time, and as they sailed along the sea seemed
literally alive with fish of every description. There were bonettas,
and dolphins, and skipjacks without number, all affording sport and very
pleasant provender; while the seaman's arch-enemies, the sharks, cruised
round them as if they had made up their minds that they were to become
their prey. Poor Wasser had lingered on from day to day, it appearing
that each hour would prove his last, when, just at daybreak on the
fourth morning, after leaving harbour, he called Murray, with a faint
voice, to his side. "Me go, massa! me go up dere, good-bye," he
whispered, and with his hand pointing upwards, he fell back. His arms
dropped by his side, and Murray saw that the faithful lad was dead. A
funeral at sea is often an impressive ceremony. That of poor Wasser was
short, for though there were few in attendance it was not the less sad;
for by his gentle and obliging manners, and his coolness and courage in
danger, he had won the affection and respect of all with whom he had
sailed. The body was sewn securely up in his blankets and hammock, with
such heavy weights as could be spared fastened to the feet; and when
launched overboard, after Murray had read the funeral service, it shot
quickly out of sight.
"Well, Tom, I don't think as how Jack Shark will be able to grab the
poor fellow before he gets safely down to the bottom."
I do not know exactly what sort of a notion sailors have of the bottom
of the ocean, but I rather think they have an idea that it is a
comfortable sort of a place, where people can spend their time
pleasantly enough, if they can but once contrive to reach it without
being caught by a shark or other marine monster.
When they had got over the feelings produced by Wasser's death, the
little crew managed to amuse themselves tolerably well. Murray taught
his parrots to sing and whistle, and to talk, till they became
wonderfully tame and fond of him; while Paddy contrived to instruct his
monkey Queerface, as he called him, so well, that he fully rivalled his
old friend Quirk on board the _Racer_. Paddy used to observe that as
Queerface could act like a human being, while the parrots could talk
like one, their united talents would enable them to make a very fair
representation of a young savage; or indeed of some of his acquaintance
who considered themselves polished young gentlemen, but often acted no
better than monkeys, and scarcely knew the meaning of what they were
saying more than did the parrots. There was no fear of the parrots
flying away, so they were allowed full liberty, and in calm weather they
used to sit on the rigging, nodding their heads and cleaning their
feathers, and talking away with the greatest glee till Queerface, who
had been watching them from the deck, would take it into his head to
spring up the rigging after them and chase them from shroud to shroud,
or they would keep out of his reach by circling round and round the
vessel, completely laughing at his beard. One day a huge shark was seen
following the vessel.
"I wonder what he wants with us?" exclaimed Paddy, gravely. "If we do
not catch him, perhaps he will catch one of us."
"Such a notion is a mere superstition," observed Murray. "However, we
will try and catch him."
A bonetta had just been caught, and that, it was agreed, would serve as
a good bait for the shark. There was no hook on board large enough to
secure him, so another plan was adopted by Needham's suggestion. The
bonetta was secured to a small line, while with the end of the
peak-halyards a running bowline-knot was formed and placed over it, or
rather round it. The fish was thus in the very centre of the hoop, or
slip-knot it might be called, but a short distance before it, "We shall
have the gentleman, no fear of it," observed Paddy, as he watched the
shark dart forward towards the bait. Murray managed the line with the
bait, Paddy kept the bowline to draw it tight when the shark should get
his head well into it. Silently and cautiously the monster glided on,
his cruel green eye on the bonetta, which Murray gradually withdrew till
it was close up to the counter. Then suddenly the shark, afraid of
losing his prey, made a dart at the fish till the bowline was just
behind his two hind fins, when Paddy, giving a sudden jerk to it,
brought it tight round him. The men, when they saw this, endeavoured to
catch a turn with the rope to secure the monster, but, quick as
lightning, he gave a terrific jerk to the rope and tore it through their
hands. Out flew the rope. Unhappily, Paddy was standing in the middle
of the coil, and before he could jump out of it a half-hitch was caught
round his leg.
"Hold on! hold on, lads!" he shrieked out; "oh, Murray, help!" It was
too late. He was drawn up right over the gunwale, but just as he was
going overboard he seized hold of the peak-halyards, where they were
belayed to the side, and held on like grim death. The shark tugged and
tugged away terribly. He could hold on no longer. He felt his fingers
relaxing their grasp, and in another moment he would have been dragged
under the water with small chance of escape, when Needham seized him
firmly by the jacket. Ned, however, forgot that it would be necessary
for him to get a grasp at something; but before he had done so, he found
himself dragged over with Paddy. At that moment White sprang up, and
grasped hold of his legs just as they were disappearing over the
gunwale; and at the same time Sambo, the other black, caught hold of
White, who would inevitably otherwise have followed Needham, and thus
poor Murray saw himself in a moment about to be deprived of his brother
officer and crew. He himself now sprang to their assistance. All I
have been describing took place within a few seconds of time. With a
boat-hook, fortunately at hand, he got a hold of Paddy's jacket, which
considerably relieved Needham; and at the same moment, the shark coming
up again towards the schooner, he and Needham were hauled on board
again, his leg being happily released from the coil which had caught it
without the necessity of cutting the rope. Poor Paddy's leg was,
however, dreadfully mangled; and, unable to stand, he sank down with
pain on the deck. Queerface was all the time chattering and jumping
about in a state of the greatest excitement, evidently understanding
somewhat of his master's danger; and no sooner did Adair regain the deck
than he ran up, and, squatting down by his side, made so ludicrous a
face that in spite of his pain Terence could not help bursting out into
a fit of laughter, which, as he afterwards remarked, must wonderfully
have relieved poor Queerface's mind. The shark meantime was hauled on
board, though when they had got him thus far he flapped about and
struggled so violently that he almost took the deck from the crew.
Little mercy had he to expect from their hands. His enemies now
attacked him with anything which first came in their way, but they made
little impression on him while his head was the chief point of assault.
Queerface chattered away and skipped about, taking very good care,
however, to keep clear of him; and the parrots, Polly and Nelly, sang
and talked as vehemently as if very much interested in the scene, till
Sambo, the black cook, watching his opportunity, rushed in with his
cleaver and gave the monster a blow on the upper part of his tail, which
in an instant quieted him. Not another flap did he give with tail or
fin, his huge jaws closed, and he was dead. After all their trouble, he
was of no great use to them. They cut a few slices out of him for
frying; for seamen will often eat shark's flesh with much the same
feeling that a Fejee islander or a New Zealander a few years ago used to
eat their enemies taken in war. His skin, however, was of some value,
and that accordingly they took off and preserved.
Poor Paddy suffered very great pain from his hurt. The only remedy any
one on board could think of applying was oil, and with that they
continued to bathe it liberally, as it did just as well afterwards to
burn in the lamps. The wet season was not yet over. Day after day they
had torrents of rain, so that no one on board had a dry rag on their
backs. The schooner too grew more and more leaky and the cargo of
tobacco more and more rotten, till the odour arising from it was
scarcely bearable, and at length they were completely driven out of
their cabin. Often they wished to heave it overboard, but they dared
not; for had they done so the vessel, already somewhat crank, would
certainly have capsized. Still, whenever the two midshipmen could get a
glimpse of the sun they took their observations; and they found that
they were making progress, though slowly, to the northward.
"Can you believe it, Paddy?" exclaimed Murray, "you have been on board
here upwards of three months, and four have passed away since I was
placed in command of her. Still my motto is `persevere,' and I intend
to stick to it." Right gallantly did the little crew follow his
example.
A few days after this, on taking their observations, they found that
they had in this last twenty-four hours made good no less than forty
miles, and two days after that they went over fifty miles of ground.
This put all hands in good spirits; and Adair's leg getting better, he
was once more able to move about as before. They even began to fancy
that all their trials were over, and that they should make an easy
passage to Sierra Leone, but they were mistaken. That very evening the
sky gave signs of a change of weather. The wind began to moan in the
rigging, white crests rose on the summits of the seas, which increased
rapidly in size as they rolled tumultuously around them. All the canvas
was closely reefed, when the gale came down upon the schooner. She
stood bravely up to it on her course till it increased in strength, the
lightning darting from the clouds with a vividness, and the thunder
rattling and crashing with a fury which no one on board had ever before
experienced. Sometimes so intense was the heat of the electric fluid as
it passed round and about them, that they expected to be actually
scorched by it if they happily escaped being struck dead. The rain all
the time came down in torrents, leaking through the deck and half
filling the vessel, which was also letting in the water at every seam.
They had thus not a moment for rest, for they soon found it necessary to
keep the pumps going all the time. At length the gale ceased; but it
left them in a deplorable condition, with the leaks much increased and
their sails in tatters. All the canvas had been expended, and it seemed
impossible to repair them, till they bethought them of the monkey-skins
in the hold; and as soon as the wind fell they were lowered down, and
all hands turned to for the purpose of mending them with this novel
contrivance.
"We shall do very well now," exclaimed Adair, when once more they were
set. "But my friend Queerface does not seem quite to understand the
joke of seeing his brothers and sisters stretched out there before him,
and I should say feels remarkably uncomfortable in his own skin lest we
should some day think it necessary to make use of his hide in the same
way."
For three or four days they ran on to the northward, when down came
another gale upon them, which gave every sign of being heavier even than
the first.
"I will have no man's life exposed unnecessarily to this fearful
lightning," exclaimed Murray, as flash after flash darted vividly around
them.
Night had just come on. Between the intervals of the flashes the
darkness was such as could be felt. Adair attempted to expostulate, and
the rest would gladly have disobeyed orders; but Murray was firm, and
insisted on being left alone as before.
"Well, my dear fellow, mind you don't go to sleep," observed Adair, as
with the crew, Queerface, and the two parrots, he dived down into the
noisome little cabin.
Hour after hour Murray gallantly stood to the helm, the little schooner
dashing through the foaming seas, for he judged it better to keep her on
her course than to heave her to. Terrifically the thunder rolled.
Crash succeeded crash almost without cessation, while the lightning
darted from the sky and played with even more fearful vividness round
the little vessel than on the former night. Still Murray undaunted
stood at his post with perfect calmness. Though he scarcely expected to
escape, it was not the calmness of despair or stoicism, but that which
the most perfect trust in God's mercy and all-just government of human
affairs can alone give. "If He thinks fit to call me hence, His will be
done," he repeated to himself over and over again during that dreadful
night. Several times Adair, anxious for his safety, lifted a little
scuttle which had been contrived in the skylight, and inquired how he
got on, and at times wondered at the fearless tone in which he replied.
Still the danger of foundering was to be feared, for, what with the
torrents of rain from the skies, and the opening leaks, the little
vessel was rapidly filling with water. Dawn was at length breaking and
the wind was decreasing, when, as Murray looked around, he thought he
saw a vessel to windward bearing down upon them. Just at that instant a
cry arose from below that the schooner was sinking, and Adair and the
crew leaped on deck. The pump was instantly rigged, and they worked
away at it with a will. Still the water appeared to be gaining on them.
On came the stranger. She was a large and fine schooner. As the wind
had decreased she was making sail; rapidly she neared them. There could
be little doubt from her appearance that she was a slaver. To offer any
resistance, should she wish to capture them, would be out of the
question. Their hearts sank within them. Just then the glitter of some
gold-lace on the cap of an officer standing on the schooner's poop
caught Adair's eye. He seized his telescope, and directly afterwards a
cheer came down to them, as the schooner, shooting up into the wind,
prepared to heave-to. "Huzza! huzza!" exclaimed Adair. "It's all
right!--there can be no doubt of it!--There's Jack Rogers himself."