"Where can she be?"
It was broad daylight. I jumped up and looked about me. All the party
were gazing seaward in the direction where the ship should have been.
Not a glimpse of her was to be seen! "They cannot have deserted us,"
said Mr Henley to himself, as he led the way towards the peak to which
we all instinctively directed our steps.
We hurriedly climbed to the top of it, then cast our eyes round in every
direction. There was a speck in the horizon to the southward, but only
a speck. There was no doubt that it was a sail. It might have been the
_Orion_, considering the direction of the breeze which had been blowing
all night; it was the point she would most likely have attained had she
made sail the instant darkness set in. It became too evident that we
had been intentionally deserted, for there was not the slightest
necessity for her quitting the neighbourhood of the island. Strange and
almost overwhelming were the feelings we experienced.
"What is to be done, sir?" I asked of Mr Henley. "Shall we try to
overtake her in the boat?"
"That would be utterly hopeless," he answered. "That was the reason
Grimes pressed me to take the pinnace. Her planks are rotten, and she
was scarcely fit even to pull the short distance we came in her, much
less is she capable of carrying us safely away from this."
This was very evident, for we had had constantly to bale her out on
coming from the ship to the island. The feelings of all the party can
better be imagined than described when we were convinced that we had
been thus purposely and cruelly deserted, and that until some vessel
should come off the island, or we could contrive to build one capable of
navigating the Indian seas, we should have to remain where we were.
Months or even years might pass before we could get away. Our chief
hope was that Dr Cuff would give information at Colombo of our having
been left on the island, and that a vessel might be sent for us, though,
of course, Captain Gunnel and the first mate would try to persuade him
that the boat was lost, or that we had deserted. None of the party,
however, were inclined to despair. As soon as Mr Henley had got over
his first sensations of indignation, he did his best to keep up our
spirits. Having breakfasted, the first thing we did was to haul up the
boat to examine her thoroughly.
"It will never do to venture to sea in her," said Mr Henley, and Johnny
Spratt agreed with him. "She would answer, however, to form the centre
of a raft, on which, if strongly put together, we might venture to sail
for some port in India or Ceylon."
These and similar remarks cheered us more than anything. There is
nothing like action or anticipation of active work for keeping up the
spirits. We dragged the boat still further up the beach, and covered
her completely over with branches of palm and other broad-leaved trees,
so as to save her from being yet more destroyed by the heat of the sun.
We then set to work and built ourselves two huts for sleeping in, and a
shed which served us as a mess-room, open on every side. Mr Henley and
I intended to occupy one of the huts and the crew the other. We had
found a pure, abundant stream of water, so that we were in no way badly
off.
On the possibility of the ship having merely stood off for the night,
and having been becalmed and unable to get back in the evening, we again
ascended to the peak to look for her. Curiously enough, there was the
same speck in the horizon which we had observed in the morning. There
had been all day but a slight breeze on the island, and as the sea in
the direction of the sail looked especially calm, it was very probable
that she lay becalmed where we had first seen her. If so, we might, had
we pulled off at once, very probably have got on board her. Still, we
could scarcely blame ourselves for not sailing after her; for had the
breeze again caught her, she would have gone away and left us in the
lurch. Yet it must be owned that it was very tantalising to see our
ship still in sight; for we did not suppose that, had we got up to her,
Captain Gunnel would have ventured to refuse to admit us on board. He
would probably have tried to turn the tables on us, and have abused us
for remaining so long away from the ship.
In a short time the whole party were assembled on the peak. There we
all stood, forgetful of everything else, gazing at the far distant sail.
The sun went down, and for a few minutes we could almost distinguish
the outlines of her loftier sails as they rose above the water clearly
defined against the bright sky. The darkness came rushing on with a
rapidity unknown in northern climes, and shrouded her from our sight.
Mr Henley had before this been examining a pocket compass.
"Lads," he said suddenly, "I have taken the bearings of that sail. She
may be the _Orion_ or she may not--will you make the attempt to get on
board her? I warn you that I believe there is great risk in doing so.
Our only hope will be that the calm may continue, and that we may be
able to get on board before a breeze spring up or before we are
discovered."
The men unanimously declared that they were ready to do exactly what he
wished.
"Well, then, we will make the attempt," he exclaimed. "But what is
that? What can be that red glare over where we just saw the ship?"
"She is on fire, sir," answered Spratt, after attentively watching the
point indicated. "She's not the first ship I've seen burning at sea,
and I know for certain that is one. She may be the _Orion_, or she may
be some other unfortunate craft, that I can't say."
"Whatever may be the case, we must go to her assistance," exclaimed Mr
Henley. "We may be able to save some of the poor fellows clinging on to
part of the wreck or to a raft, and we will bring them back to the
island."
"Gladly," said I; "we have no time to lose."
"No, Marsden," he answered; "I have made up my mind what to do. It will
not do to have more in the boat than is absolutely necessary, and I
intend to leave you and Tommy Bigg and your dog behind. I would leave
one of the black men, but they will not part from each other; and I wish
to have Spratt with me. It is settled; say no more about it. Believe
me, my dear Marsden, I am anxious to save you from unnecessary peril.
If I survive I will come back, and if I am lost it will be better for
you to have remained as I wish."
"I am sure that you desire what you believe to be the best for me," said
I, warmly wringing his hand. "I'll do as you order me, though I wish
that you had allowed me to go with you."
This conversation took place as we were hurriedly descending the
mountain. We had some little difficulty, in our haste, in finding our
way down to the beach. Putting some provisions and water into her,
including some of the turtle we had cooked, we once more launched her,
and then, with no small amount of sorrow and apprehension, I saw my
companions pull out towards the passage through the reef, when they were
soon lost to sight in the gloom of night. One of Mr Henley's last
charges to me had been to keep up a large fire all night, to enable him
the better to steer his course, and also to find the island again.
Indeed, that this might be done, he assured me, was another strong
reason for his wishing me and Tommy to remain on the island.
As soon as we had lost sight of the boat, Tommy and Solon and I hurried
back to the spot where it was agreed the fire should be lighted, and we
soon had a magnificent one blazing away. It was on a rock free from dry
grass, or bushes, or other combustible matter, or we should have run a
great risk of setting the island on fire. The previous night our aim
had been to collect leaves to create a smoke; now we wished to make as
bright a flame as possible. We had no difficulty in collecting an
abundance of dry sticks for this purpose. Solon looked on for some time
at our proceedings, and then, apparently discovering our object, ran
about till he found a good-sized branch, which, seizing hold of with his
mouth, he dragged up to the fire; then, wagging his tail, he came up to
me to show me what he had done. Great was his delight when I put it on
the fire, and immediately off he set and brought up another. He seemed
to consider light sticks, such as Tommy and I had been collecting, as
beneath his notice. When he found that I did not put the next stick on
the fire, he sat down to watch proceedings. When, however, I patted him
on the head, and pointing to a distance, cried, "Go fetch more," away he
went, and in a short time collected almost as much wood as Tommy and I
had each of us done, so that he was really of great use.
"Solon is coming out," said I to Tommy; "I thought he would, but
hitherto he has had few opportunities of exhibiting his sagacity and
talents."
"Well, sir, I am certain as how Solon could speak if he had a better
made tongue," observed Tommy. "Often and often I have sat by him, and I
have talked to him, and he has opened his mouth and twisted and turned
about his tongue and lips till he has all but spoke. More than once I
have thought he was going to say something, but he never has yet."
I was very much inclined to be of Tommy's opinion, and often almost
expected Solon to give expression to some wise sentiment worthy of his
name. When our fire was well made up, I retired to a distance from it
that I might look out for the burning ship. Though, from where I stood,
her topgallant masts would not have been visible above the horizon in
the day time, a bright glare, which lighted up the whole sky above where
she was, showed me that she was burning still more fiercely than when we
first discovered the fire. It made me fear that there was not a
possibility of her escape. I was afraid, too, that Mr Henley would
have his long pull to no purpose. What would become then of the
unfortunate people on board? Poor Dr Cuff! I thought of him more than
any one. He was a friend in whom I could place perfect confidence, and
had so often been my companion that I thought more of his fate than of
that of anybody else on board. While I stood witching the far-distant
conflagration, I felt a stronger puff of wind on my cheek than had for
some time been blowing. It rapidly increased, but it blew off the land.
After I had waited some time till I thought I ought to go back to
assist Tommy in keeping up the fire, the wind again fell. I had been
longer away than I supposed, and I was obliged to set to work again to
collect sticks--a more difficult task than it had first been, as we had
to go to a greater distance beyond the light of the fire to find them.
Solon now even surpassed us, for he was able to discover the dry sticks
in the dark far better than we could. I could not help thinking at
times of the risk we were running from venomous creatures, and more than
once drew back my hand under the idea that I was about to catch hold of
a snake. However, though I daresay we might have put many of them to
flight, neither of us were bitten, and at length we were able once more
to sit down before our fire and rest from our labours. We should have
preferred a cooler situation, but it was more important to have the
smoke to keep off the mosquitoes. I should have preferred a more
intellectual companion than Tommy Bigg, but there was so much honest
simplicity and good-nature about him, that I could not help feeling a
regard for him. The night passed slowly by. I could not venture to go
to sleep, though Tommy begged I would, promising to call me should our
supply of sticks run short; but I felt the importance of keeping up the
fire as long as it might serve as a beacon to our friends, and the
further they were off the larger I was anxious to make it. For some
time I had been aware that the wind was again getting up. It continued
to come in fitful gusts, but each of them grew stronger and stronger. I
feared that a regular gale was coming on; and if it did, I knew that our
boat must be exposed to very great danger. As morning approached I
began anxiously to look out for the return of the boat. I got up over
and over again, and walked to a distance to endeavour to see her through
the gloom; and frequently I shouted in case Mr Henley had landed at any
other spot, to guide him to where we were. No one replied to my shouts;
not a sign of the boat could I see.
The glow in the sky over the spot where we supposed the ship was burning
had by this time much decreased in brilliancy. I stood earnestly
watching it. Suddenly it burst out brighter than ever, extending far
round on every part of the sky. While I was looking, wondering what
next would happen, it as rapidly vanished, and not the faintest trace of
the fire remained. I immediately surmised what had happened--the deck
had been blown up, and the hull had sunk beneath the waves.
The gale now grew rapidly more and more furious, and the wind veered
about till it blew directly on the shore. I went back once more to the
fire.
"I am afraid, Tom, that Mr Henley and the rest are in great danger,"
said I, as I sat down on a stone, and employed myself in throwing the
sticks we had collected to feed the flames, and told him what I had
seen. "I do not think that they could have reached the burning ship
before the gale came; and as for those who might have escaped from her,
I fear that there is not a chance of their escaping."
"I'm afraid not, sir, if they have only themselves to trust to,"
answered Tom, quietly looking up in my face. "But you know, sir, God
can do everything."
"He can--he can," I answered warmly. "We will pray to him, Tom, and
perhaps he may think fit to preserve our friends."
"Yes, sir; but we should pray for our enemies too," said Tom.
"You are right again, boy," I answered. "We will pray for them also."
And we two knelt down on the rock looking towards the wild, troubled
sea, and offered up our humble though fervent prayers to the throne of
Heaven, that He who could calm the waters of Gennesaret would preserve
both our friends and those who had ill-treated us from the destruction
which seemed to us inevitably to await them. I could not have prayed in
the same way at home; and I little thought that the poor little
insignificant ship-boy by my side could have prayed in the way he did.
I firmly believe that earnest prayers are answered, though often in the
world we do not discover how or when they are so. Still, we may depend
on it, all that is right is done in God's own good time.