HALF ROUND THE WORLD.
The wind was fresh, and The Starry Flag was under easy sail when the
Caribbee was discovered. Though Levi immediately ordered the foresail
to be hoisted, he saw, with intense chagrin, that the advantage was
against him. He had hauled down the fly, and he hoped, as Dock Vincent
was not on board of the Caribbee, that her people would not recognize
the yacht. The wind was east, and the vessel was beating out, while The
Starry Flag had the wind on the beam.
Levi, trusting that his craft would not be identified, intended to
crowd the Caribbee so as to oblige her to tack, and then, while she was
in stays, to lay alongside, and board her. Mr. C. Augustus Ebénier
stood, with his revolver in his hand, ready to follow his "excellent
captain," who was similarly armed, to the deck of the chase. Three
other men were also detailed to join the party, though Levi did not
expect much, if any, resistance.
The young skipper kept out of sight himself, that he might not be
recognized before the decisive moment came. His heart bounded with
excitement. He saw Bessie standing on the deck with Dock's wife, and a
few moments more would restore her to him, and he should have the proud
satisfaction of sailing up New York Bay, and giving her back to her
father. The steward was ready to do greater wonders than ever before.
Thus far he had done all the hard fighting, and he was prepared to do
it unto the end.
The decisive moment did not come then. The quick eye of Mat Mogmore had
recognized the yacht, and the Caribbee suddenly tacked, and stood away
to the south-east. But Levi did not give up the chase. He had the
weather-gage, and his foresail was now drawing well. In spite of Dock's
brags about the speed of his vessel, the young skipper believed the
yacht would outsail her; but this was only a blind confidence.
The Caribbee was headed directly towards a shoal place called the "Oil
Spot," and as it was dead low tide, Levi thought she could not pass
over it. Farther to the southward was a ledge, with only nine feet of
water on it. But Captain Gauley knew all about the dangers of the
navigation on this part of the coast. He went just to the southward of
the Oil Spot; and, instead of gaining anything, Levi was obliged to
keep away, and lose the weather-gage, in order to avoid the shoal
himself.
He was disappointed and felt cheap after his failure. The Caribbee,
close-hauled, was standing off to the south-east, while The Starry Flag
was a quarter of a mile astern of her. Neither had the advantage, and
it was still an open question which could make the best time. Levi soon
found that the Caribbee was running away from him; but she carried a
main gaff-topsail and a staysail. Fortunately he had similar sails on
board, though he seldom used them. They were set when the two vessels
were about a mile apart.
The wind held fresh and steady, and Levi was happy when he realized
that the Caribbee was no longer gaining upon him. Hour after hour he
followed her, without any perceptible change in the distance between
them. It was plain now that the two vessels were about equally matched,
and day and night Levi held his course. On the third day out he spoke a
ship bound to New York. He knew what agony Mr. Watson was suffering,
and he wrote two letters to him, one directed to New York, and the
other to Rockport; "I shall follow the Caribbee round the world if
necessary, and I will not return without Bessie," he wrote. These
letters he sent on board of the ship, and in due time both were
received by Mr. Watson.
For weeks and weeks The Starry Flag followed the Caribbee; but the
voyage would be as tedious to the reader as it was to Bessie Watson.
From the summer time, the yacht went into the heat of the torrid zone,
and from that to the spring time of the south temperate. A week out
from New York she encountered a heavy gale, and lost sight of the
chase; but Levi, true to his promise, did not give up the pursuit,
though he did not see the Caribbee again for weeks. As the yacht was
getting short of water and provisions, he put in at the Island of St.
Helena for fresh supplies, and learned that the Caribbee had left the
port only the day before.
Again he made a harbor at Cape Town; but the chase had not been there.
With fresh provisions, he sailed again, not expecting to see the
Caribbee till he found her at Melbourne, the port for which she had
cleared; but as he went out of the harbor, he discovered her coming in.
The Caribbee went about, and stood on her course again to the eastward.
Levi was in high spirits now. He had outsailed his rival from St.
Helena. He had profited by an attentive study of the current chart, and
gained a day. Proud of this triumph over the skilful seaman who was in
charge of the chase, he persevered in the pursuit.
Bessie saw The Starry Flag from the deck of the Caribbee, and
understood why Captain Gauley put about. She was amazed at the
persistent devotion of Levi in following her so far, and hope
brightened and inspired her. Captain Gauley and Mat laughed at what
they called the folly of Levi, and assured Bessie he would never find
her.
Week after week both vessels held on their course, through sunshine and
tempest. Off the southern coast of Australia a fearful storm burst upon
them, and for the third time since leaving the Cape of Good Hope, they
parted company; but both of them weathered the tempest. One hundred and
seven days from New York, in the spring time of the southern
hemisphere, The Starry Flag was approaching Bass Straits. The
navigation was difficult and dangerous. Levi had read up his nautical
library, and carefully studied the charts he had obtained at Cape Town.
The wind was blowing a fresh gale from the southward and westward, and
the young commander was full of doubt and anxiety. The night was coming
on, with the promise of thick and heavy weather. Another day would
enable him to reach Melbourne; but it was hazardous to attempt to
thread his way among the rocks and coral reefs in the night and the
storm. Prudently, therefore, he put about, and stood away to the
southward, close-hauled, with the heavy seas washing his decks, for his
bulwarks had been stove in the tempest a week before.
"Sail, ho!" shouted the man on the lookout forward.
"Where away?" asked Levi.
"On the weather bow."
"It's the Caribbee!" exclaimed Levi to Bob Thomas, who had been made
first mate of the yacht.
"Ay, ay! It is," replied the mate.
"She went to the southward of Hammetts, while we went to the northward,
after the great storm. The southerly current has carried her off her
course, I should judge," added Levi.
The captain and the mate watched her with the most intense interest.
The Caribbee stood on her course, and it was evident that she intended
to enter the Straits, regardless of the perils before her. Levi could
not do less than follow, reckless as it seemed to him. He did follow;
but he took extraordinary precautions. He bent on his heavy anchor, and
made other preparations for trying events. But the Caribbee, instead of
entering the Straits in the darkness, stood away to the northward. All
night long the gale piped its angry notes, and The Starry Flag again
lost sight of the chase in the gloom.
The weather moderated in the morning, though the gale only partially
subsided. Again the Caribbee was discovered, hull down, in the south.
She was then entering the Straits, to the southward of King's Island,
where no prudent navigator would venture in bad weather. The yacht was
headed in that direction, and anxiously did Levi watch the chase. He
had no intention of following her through the intricacies of that
rock-bounded channel. Two hours later, the cry ran through the yacht
that the Caribbee had struck on a hidden reef!
The heart of the young skipper was in his mouth. Bessie was in great
peril, and he was almost distracted as he thought of her, perishing in
the angry waves, surrounded only by enemies. The yacht dashed madly on
towards the scene of the disaster. Trembling with anxiety, Levi went
below to consult his chart, which lay all the time on the cabin table.
He found the locality, and the ledge on which the Caribbee had struck.
There was no other peril very near it, and he stood on confidently till
The Starry Flag was within hail of the wreck, or would have been in
less tempestuous weather.
The foremast of the Caribbee had gone by the board, and the waves were
making a clean sweep over her decks. The life-boat, which swung at the
port davits of the yacht, had been cleared away, in readiness to be
lowered. Finding he had good holding-ground under him, Levi ordered the
men to let go the heavy anchor. Fortunately it brought her up; but the
other anchor was also thrown over. The sails were lowered, and the
yacht rode tolerably easy. The gale was abating, and Levi was satisfied
that the two anchors would hold her.
The life-boat was manned with four men, and Levi took his place in the
stern-sheets. It was no easy matter to board the wreck while the sea
was making a clean breach over her. She had struck her bow upon the
sharp rock, and stove in her bottom. She had filled, and her stern had
settled down, and the water was over her taffrail, while her stem
projected up into the air. Her hull had swung round a little, so that
there was a choice of sides in approaching her. The foremast had been
jammed up by the breaking of the keelson where it was set, and hung
over the side. To this the life-boat was made fast, and Levi, followed
by Bob Thomas, climbed on board.
Crouching under the lee of the camboose, the young skipper found
Bessie, Mrs. Vincent, and the two children, while the crew were
clinging to the rigging of the bowsprit to prevent being washed
overboard.
"O, Levi!" cried Bessie, when she saw the manly form of her true
friend.
In the blast and the spray, Levi clasped her hands, and both of them
wept. It was more than three months since they had parted in the house
of Mr. Watson. There was no time to think of the past, or even of the
future; the present absorbed all the energies of the young seaman. With
the assistance of Bob Thomas, Levi conveyed Bessie along the fallen
spar, and lowered her into the life-boat. Mrs. Vincent and her two
children were assisted into the boat in the same manner. Mat Mogmore
and two men--all that were left of the crew--were then permitted to
enter the boat, which pulled back to the yacht.
With much difficulty, and the exercise of no little skill, the
life-boat was kept right side up, and the rescued party were safely
placed on board of The Starry Flag, though the females had to be
hoisted up in slings over the stern.
"You are safe, Bessie," said Levi, as he conducted her to the cabin.
"Thanks to our Good Father, and to you, Levi, I am!"
"I have the inexpressible happiness of greeting you again," said Mr. C.
Augustus Ebénier, as he threw open the door of her state-room.
The gale rapidly subsided, and in the afternoon, after the wreck had
been boarded again, the yacht sailed for Melbourne.