HIS FIRST GALE
A loud voice shouting in his ear, it seemed, “Seven bells; turn
out here, you sleepers,” aroused Frank to a consciousness of his
surroundings again, to his utmost astonishment, for he felt sure he had
only been asleep five minutes.
As he awoke he heard Johnson muttering, “Blowin’ a gale o’ wind now,
I should think, by the way she’s kicking about, the old beast. Here,
Frank, go an’ get the dinner an’ hurry up, it’ll be all hands directly,
I can see.”
Frank scrambled out of his bunk, dragged his cap on, and staggered out
on deck, to be met as he did so by a heavy spray which drenched him
and nearly knocked him down. He gasped and clutched at the side of the
house, but did not go back, although he felt a little bit alarmed. He
held on his way to the galley, however, and the cook handed him two tin
dishes, one with a piece of fat boiled pork in it that made his gorge
rise as he looked at it, and the other with some plain pea-soup.
Now he ought to have known better than to have attempted to carry both
dishes, having no hand left to hold on with. But he started and got
half-way towards his house, when the ship gave a combined roll and
pitch that shot him off his legs, and hurled him along the deck as
helpless as a dead thing. He landed in the scuppers at the lee side
of the vessel, which were a foaming torrent of water, and when he had
scrambled to his feet again his dishes and their contents were several
feet away.
Pursuing them was out of the question in his then condition, so he
grasped his way to the house and told Johnson of his mishap, who
bad-worded him severely, winding up by saying, “I suppose I shall have
to go an’ get it. I never saw such a fool in my life.” A common enough
expression, but one very rarely justified.
Away went Johnson, presently returning with the food, but grumbling
horribly. He made haste to eat some of the pork and pea-soup, but
Frank, although savagely hungry, was fain to stay his appetite with a
biscuit; that pork was too much for his sight, to say nothing of his
stomach.
As soon as Johnson had finished he pitched his plate into a corner, and
his knife and spoon (he had used no fork) into his bunk, and lighting
his pipe began to put on his oilskins and sea-boots, grimly warning
Frank that he had better do the same. Frank obeyed, not without a
sense of its uselessness, as he was already fairly drenched, but in
the topsy-turvy world into which he had been plunged he did not feel
at all sure that it was not the right thing to put waterproof clothes
over wet ones. He had hardly dressed himself thus and begun to realise
how utterly helpless and clumsy he felt, much worse than he had before,
when he heard a shout, “Eight bells! all hands shorten sail.”
He tumbled out on deck and looked helplessly around. But Johnson,
brushing past him, said, “Come along, you can haul aft the slack
anyhow.”
To a novice the scene was appalling. As the ship rolled, the seas
rising high above her threatened to overwhelm her; the wind roared and
howled as if full of rage and desire to destroy, great sails being
clewed up, slatted, and banged and crashed, making the vessel quiver
as if in pain, and the weird wailing cries of the sailors hauling on
the ropes added to the truly infernal din. Without the least idea of
what he was doing, or why he was doing it, Frank staggered hither and
thither, pulling at ropes and getting pushed about, trodden on and
sworn at, until at last there was a general rush of the men aloft, and
he, left alone, began mechanically to do the only thing he understood,
coil up the straggling ropes upon the belaying-pins.
He was suddenly startled by a yell from the skipper, who from the break
of the poop demanded to know why the something or other he wasn’t “up
lending a hand with that main tawpsle.” He might just as well have
asked him why he wasn’t leading the House of Commons. Frank gasped at
him uncomprehendingly, as the mate approaching the skipper made some
remark, at which the skipper gave a sarcastic laugh and turned away.
The mate suggested that it was not wise to send so obviously helpless a
lad up where he could not possibly do any good, and whence it was more
than likely that he might fall and be killed; which proves that the
mate’s bark was worse than his bite, for I have personally known brutes
who would have insisted upon a lad like that going aloft under similar
conditions to almost certain death.
Now Frank’s plight was bad enough, but his native pluck began to get
the better of his physical misery and his mental confusion, and he
actually began to think of what a fine story of adventure he would have
to tell when he got home again. He had of course not the slightest idea
what an ordinary everyday sea-experience he was sharing. He could,
however, and did, feel some admiration and envy for the sailors, who,
clinging like bats to the yards high above him, were struggling to
secure the great thrashing sails, even wished that he could do what
they were doing, for he dimly felt that their deeds were heroic, more
so than all his reading had prepared him for.
The gale increased in violence very fast, and it was well on to four
bells before she was snugged down--that is, reduced to such sail as
she could carry with safety--and the wearied men who had been on watch
since eight in the morning were able to crawl below and get something
to eat. The watch on deck had plenty to do securing spars and other
movables about the decks, and Frank watching them wondered why they did
not take more notice of the threatening waves and of the great masses
of water that were continually tumbling upon the deck of the deeply
laden ship. But by this time he had begun to learn the sailor’s first
lesson, to endure and keep doing what there is to be done with an utter
disregard of the body’s claims to attention, and had he known it, he
had made a long stride in his knowledge.
Bad weather having thus set in, lasted without intermission for several
days and nights, during the whole of which our hero never changed his
clothes, never washed, and grew not to care a bit about it, although,
had he looked at himself in a glass, which he never did, he would have
been horrified to find how begrimed and unwholesome-looking he had
become. Of course he had the example of the elder boys, who seemed
quite lost to all sense of decency both in behaviour and conversation,
from lack of any kind of supervision.
The poor little wretch Harry, from want of food and from bad air as
well as sea-sickness, was just a shadow, becoming at last so bad that
the second mate, who alone of the afterguard seemed to think at all of
the boy’s plight, taking pity on him, induced the steward to give him a
little attention, and a cup or two of beef tea and some cabin biscuits,
which revived him and probably saved his life.
It was the second mate too, who, as soon as the weather changed, so
far interested himself in the boys as to make them wash and change
their clothes and scrub their house out. But if he had been like the
mate and captain, goodness knows how they would have fared. It needs
no argument, I think, to convince most people that boys at sea should
never be left to themselves, even when they have had some previous
training, unless there are ample facilities for cleanliness and room to
stow their belongings away.
With the setting in of fine weather and a steady easterly wind, there
was a great change for the better in the boys’ condition. The second
mate’s admonitions had so good an effect that some sort of order
began to be observed in the little house, and the eldest apprentice,
Williams, took upon himself to make the two new-comers keep the place
clean after a fashion. At the best, however, it was a miserable hole,
from which comfort was entirely absent, all the minor decencies of life
being also wanting.
But on deck Frank and Harry, who picked up wonderfully quick when once
they had got over their sea-sickness, were beginning to be of some
use, could handle a broom with a certain amount of ability, and get
about without tumbling. They began to remember the names of things, and
of the various ropes and sails, also to take an intelligent interest
in the work of the ship, although of regular teaching there was none
except what the second mate gave Harry, who was in his watch, and
followed him about like a dog.
And now, in spite of the many drawbacks and the departure of his
illusions about a sea-life, Frank really began to enjoy himself. Being
perfectly healthy and robust, the change of food from the best to the
worst, and the sordid details of his surroundings below, had no power
to make him miserable.
Had the mate and skipper realised any responsibility towards the lads
under their charge, he would now have begun to learn at a very rapid
rate, for he was full of inquiries upon every subject connected with
the work of the ship and the wonders of the sea. But all his inquiries,
except those directly connected with the work given him to do, were
snubbed by the only persons he was on conversational terms with, the
two elder boys; indeed their knowledge of things he wanted to know
about, was not much greater than his own. Nevertheless he did learn
perforce to do such quite menial work as is required of seamen in
steamships, connected almost entirely with keeping the ship clean,
finding that any dirty or tiresome piece of work was given to him to
save a growl from the men.
To his great delight, however, he speedily learned to go aloft, having
strong nerves and not being giddy. At first he felt terribly alarmed
when, having climbed as high as the main-yard, he looked down at the
narrow space of deck beneath and the wide blue sea around. But before
his fellow-apprentice, Harry, had begun to climb at all he had learned
how to loose a sail, make up a gasket, and furl a staysail, and had
even accomplished the much more difficult task of greasing down, a
task that everybody on board tries to get out of if possible, because
of its dirt and its danger. For the grease must be plastered on the
after side of the upper masts with the bare hands, and consequently the
job of holding with greasy hands is a very difficult one, while the
manipulation of the grease-pot is a business that worries even the
smartest man.
Finding him willing and able, the mate put more and more of such
tasks upon him, until, besides being quite the equal of Johnson in
ability, he was in a fair way of becoming as useful as the average
seaman, except that he could not as yet perform a single piece of
“sailorising,” as it is called, meaning the various manipulations of
rope, such as splicing, knotting, serving, &c., neither could he steer.
And all this, because he was “gleg at the uptak,” as the Scotch say,
before the vessel had got down to the line. This, had he known it,
proved the wisdom of Captain Burns in selecting a small ship for him,
for in them a boy is bound to learn, there being so many things that
a boy can do if he will, and so few men to spare. It also proves the
untruth of what is so frequently alleged as to the expense of carrying
boys at sea. I have been in a great many ships, but I have never yet
been in one where the boys did not earn their pay and keep quite as
fully as any man, generally much more so, and where premium apprentices
were carried, I have often seen them in their third year doing more and
better work than any foremast hand in the ship.
There was one thing, however, that began to worry Frank more than a
little. As soon as he became used to his surroundings, and learned to
wash himself once a week in his share of half a pail of water, he also
began to change his clothes. But what to do with the dirty ones (and
they were _exceedingly_ dirty) he didn’t know. He timidly inquired of
Johnson, who said, “When it rains you can wash ’em if you like!” That
closed the inquiry, for he was ashamed to say that he had no more idea
of how to wash a shirt than of how to make a watch, so he stuffed the
foul clothes into his bunk as well as he could and lay amongst and on
top of them.
By-and-by they entered “The Doldrums”--that strip of ocean between the
Trade Winds, where it seems as if all the rain-making in the world is
carried on. The beautiful steady weather they had enjoyed was broken
up, and with it went the “caulks” or sleeps during the watch on deck.
Now it was pully hauly all night long, amid ever-recurring deluges of
rain, and even Frank could see that the ship was making very little
progress. Every one seemed to get a rough edge on their tempers,
the captain especially, whose language, never very choice, became
appalling, and his purple face took on a deeper hue and his eyes were
more bloodshot. The men cursed and swore as they hauled the big yards
first on one tack and then on the other, and there was never a laugh
heard; while ever and anon the rain came down in almost solid sheets of
water.
The men forrard found time and opportunity to wash out their miserable
bits of duds, and with the cunning of seamen managed to dry them too
in the bursts of blazing sunshine, but never a bit of washing was done
by any of the boys, while clothes that were hardly soiled but had got
thoroughly wet, hung in the house on all the nails, adding another
flavour to the many odours. At last Frank, in despair of knowing what
to do with all his wet and filthy clothing, took a short way with
them: he flung a couple of armfuls overboard at night while nobody was
looking. Quite unknown to him, Harry Carter had been doing the same,
and for the same reason, because there was no one whose business it was
to tell them or show them different.
Frank had now been a month on board, for the ship was a very slow one,
and so, although she had enjoyed fair weather, it had taken her all
that time to get down to the line. And had he been able to indulge in
retrospect he would have seen what an immense change had taken place
in himself, and how very far removed he was from the boy who came on
board the _Sealark_ in Liverpool. To say that he was enjoying the life
would not be quite true, yet he was by no means miserable, having that
happy temperament which makes the best of things, and besides, he was
rather proud of his accomplishments. He was fairly chummy with Johnson
his watch mate, who had really never imposed upon him, and the two had
many a yarn together about their previous lives and ambitions. They
were much happier than the other two boys, for Williams was a cad, and
Harry, poor chap, had no backbone, so he just degenerated into a little
loafer who skulked out of everything he could, and made the only man
who tried to befriend him, the second mate, so disgusted with him that
he gave up trying to teach him. Frank, on the contrary, was one of the
willing ones, naturally energetic and industrious, and besides, being
quite a shrewd lad, he soon noticed that everything came easier when
he went at it with a will.
But there was one thing that he secretly craved after, the ability to
steer. He felt quite a fierce envy of the men who stood nonchalantly at
the wheel for two hours at a time, keeping the ship on her course by
just twiddling at the spokes as he thought. At last this longing grew
so great that one Sunday afternoon when there was nothing else doing,
and the ship was gliding steadily along with all her sails just full
over an almost smooth sea, he took his courage in both hands and going
up to the mate said, blushing furiously as he did so, “Please, Mr.
Jenkins, may I learn to steer?”
The mate looked at him steadily for a moment, and then grumpily
replied, “Yes, I s’pose so. Hansen!” (to the man at the wheel), “show
this boy how to steer.”
Now Hansen was a young Dane, a smart seaman and a kindly fellow, and
the duty now fallen upon him was quite to his taste. Indeed most
foremast hands are willing enough to teach a boy anything they know
themselves in the way of work, if only the boy be smart.
So the lesson commenced, Frank standing on the lee side of the wheel,
and Hansen pointing out to him the little black mark on the compass
bowl in which swung the card, and explaining how his duty was to keep a
certain point on the card in line with it, said, “Ven de lubber point
moof avay from de point you steering by, you pushes de veel as if it
vas fast to de lubber point, see,” suiting the word to the action.
“But you ton’t push de veel too much, ’cause if you do, de lubber point
sving too far de oder vay, unt den you got to pull it more to get it
back, unt so de ship don’t steer steady, see.”
After a few minutes he allowed Frank to take the wheel, himself going
to the other side and explaining, helping too, so that the old man
dozing in his state-room below should not note, by the tell-tale
compass hanging there, that the ship was too much off her course.
In half-an-hour Frank could keep her fairly straight, and had learned
not only to watch the compass, but the ship’s head against the sky,
which, he was bidden to notice, gave him warning of the movement of the
vessel and of the way she wanted her helm before the compass did.
Frank was so interested that the time flew, and he felt quite sorry
when eight bells sounded. Mr. Jenkins came aft and looked at him
steering, and when he saw that the ship was going fairly steady on her
course, said, “Well, quartermaster, how d’ye get on, hey?”
Frank answered diffidently, “I think I know how to do it now, sir.”
“Oh, ye do, eh! Very well, we’ll see you get yer trick reg’lar, then.”
And that was all from the mate, but Hansen whispered as he was
relieved, “If you likes I shows you how to box de compass ven ve goes
forrut.”
Frank, entirely glad, followed Hansen down to the lee ladder and there
began an acquaintance which was of the highest possible service to
our young friend. For Hansen was, like most of his countrymen going
to sea, a well-educated man, and besides he held a Danish certificate
entitling him to take a position as chief mate as soon as he should
have served the necessary time at sea. And he was delighted to have
some one to whom he could impart his knowledge, some one like Frank,
who was not only willing but eager to learn.
From that day forward Hansen and Frank were inseparables whenever it
was possible for them to be together by night or by day, and Frank
learned with great rapidity. For he was in the proper educational
position, keen to learn and blessed with a teacher full of theoretical
and practical knowledge. Not only did Hansen teach him the theory
of navigation as far as he could absorb it, but he also taught him
practical seamanship as far as the manipulation of knots and splices in
rope and wire were concerned, and, whenever possible, gave him a lesson
in the handling of sails aloft.
Nor was this all, for Hansen found out how very much troubled the boy
was about the condition of his clothes, and he gave him practical
instruction in washing and mending, which was of the highest possible
value to him. But I want to make it quite plain that this blessing
for Frank came about quite accidentally or providentially, and that
as far as his rightful teachers were concerned he might have remained
in the position of a mere unskilled deckhand, as the other boys
undoubtedly were still. Of course much credit was also due to Frank for
his willingness to learn, without which this splendid opportunity of
instruction would have been wasted. As it was, he much begrudged the
time he was compelled to keep watch on the poop at night where Hansen
could not be with him, and when it happened that he had one wheel or
look-out and Hansen the next, a whole watch on deck at night might be
wasted, except for such mental exercises as he could perform by himself.
He could not help sometimes comparing his present educational processes
with what he remembered of his school days, where all the conditions
were of the most favourable kind, every appliance and comfort were at
his command, but the true spirit of learning, as well as of teaching,
was entirely absent. Now he had nowhere to write or cipher even, except
in his bunk; and unless willing to strain his eyes in the glare of the
tropical moonlight on the main-hatch, there was absolutely no place
where he could work in comfort.
There was another matter which gave him some trouble, the undisguised
hatred and jealousy of his housemates, who lost no opportunity of
annoying him and putting hindrances in his way, while their sneers and
jeers were incessant. Fortunately he he was one of those fine lads to
whom hindrances only act as incentives, who may be spoiled by ease,
but are stimulated by obstacles, and so he went on his way learning in
spite of all.
At last, however, he felt he must put his foot down, and the occasion
for doing so quickly arrived. Johnson, his watchmate, had, among other
petty annoyances, developed a very tyrannical spirit towards him, aided
by the other senior apprentice, Williams, and was always hindering him
in his learning in his watch below by putting all sorts of unnecessary
duties upon him, fagging him in fact.
One day Frank having made up his mind that he would have no more of
this, as soon as breakfast was over got into his bunk with his books
and began to work out some problem that Hansen had given him the night
before. He had hardly settled down before Johnson said, “Look here,
Brown, you’ve got to clean the house out this morning, you’re getting
thundering lazy, and I won’t have it.”
Frank looked up, and quietly said, “I did the house out last time,
it’s your turn now. I’ll do my share, but I won’t do yours. I’ve got
something else to do.”
At this Johnson burst into a storm of abuse, and wound up by snatching
Frank by the legs and dragging him out of his bunk. For the next few
minutes there was a fierce fight, go-as-you-please, no room for science
and boxing. Just like a pair of wild cats they struggled and tore at
each other until the second mate, passing by and hearing the uproar,
burst in and separated them. Then as they stood before him all torn
and bleeding and panting from their exertions, he sternly demanded
the reason of this behaviour. Johnson having first say, complained
that Frank wouldn’t do his share of the housework. Then Frank gave his
version, and in the upshot they were both hurried before the skipper.
Now I have hitherto left this worthy severely alone, for, indeed, as
far as the management or handling of the ship was concerned he might
as well not have been on board. He was one of a type that now, thank
Heaven, has almost disappeared from the sea, a drunken, worthless man
who by sheer lying and hypocritical professions had imposed upon the
owners and obtained a command for which he was entirely unfitted. He
was always more or less under the influence of liquor, and, having a
certain amount of cunning, left everything to the mate, who ran the
ship with a fair amount of success, although naturally she did not get
along very fast.
Now when the two lads were brought before him he sat endeavouring to
assume a judicial air, and heard the story from the second mate; but
his muddled brain could not sort the items out, and so he said in a
thick voice, “Now look here, if I have any more of this I’ll clap ye
both in irons. I’m the only fighting man ther’ is aboard this ship,
an’ if ye want t’ fight I’ll fight ye an’ beat ye too. Stoord! stop
these boys’ allowance o’ marmalade for a month. Go forrard and behave
yerselves, an’ don’t you let me hear of ye misbehaving yerselves again.”
It may be here explained that in this ship twelve ounces of butter were
allowed to each man one week, and a pound of marmalade the next week,
and so on alternately. It was not much, but the deprivation of it left
a great gap, and did not tend to make the boys feel very benevolent
towards each other or the skipper.
There was another serious annoyance threatening Frank’s advance in
learning, a peculiarity of the sailor mind, which is prone to jealousy.
The constant association of Hansen with Frank led to all sorts of
scurrilous remarks from his watchmates in the forecastle, who felt in
some dim indefinite way that he was worming himself into the confidence
of the people aft, their natural enemies. But Hansen was a sturdy soul
who was apt to go his own way without bothering his head much about
other people, and so, except for two or three rows which did not get as
far as a fight, the bad feeling made no difference to Frank. Indeed I
only mention this rather sordid detail to show how curiously difficult
it is for a keen apprentice to learn his profession at sea, how he is
beset by all sorts of hindrances undreamt of by his friends ashore,
and how easy it is for him to take the line of least resistance, and
let things slide, except where he has the good fortune to be under the
command of a conscientious captain who feels it his duty to teach the
apprentices committed to his charge their business.
And now I come to Frank’s first adventure. Hitherto, interesting as
his life had been to himself, the recital of his progress must appear
rather humdrum, especially as so much of the vessel’s progress must be
left to the imagination, since we have been largely dealing with an
individual.
Owing to his advance in the art of steering he had been made a regular
helmsman, taking his “trick” at the wheel in regular rotation, and
giving perfect satisfaction to the taciturn mate. The ship had reached
the heart of the south-east Trade Winds, and was carrying all sail to a
strong breeze, when Frank came to the wheel at two o’clock one morning.
He had been at his post about half-an-hour, and was thoroughly
enjoying the work of keeping the noble craft on her course, when he saw
a figure emerge from the companion. He knew it was not the mate, for
that officer had gone forrard some time before and had not returned,
and besides he never came up the companion unless he had previously
gone down that way. The figure stood for a moment or two at the top of
the steps as if irresolute, and then coming aft to Frank peered in his
face. It was the skipper, and his breath seemed to be almost scorching,
while his eyes glared unnaturally. Frank felt uneasy, but steered on
until the skipper said hoarsely, “Put your helm down, don’t ye see
you’ll be into her in a minute?”
Mechanically Frank obeyed, for he had already learned the seaman’s
duty of unquestioning obedience, spun the wheel hard down, and the
vessel, which was close-hauled on the starboard tack, flew up into the
wind, bringing all the sails aback and causing naturally a tremendous
commotion. The mate’s great voice was heard above the flapping of the
sails and the snapping of the gear shouting, “What the ---- so and so
is the matter?”
The skipper burst into a series of unearthly yells, almost paralysing
Frank with fright; but the latter held on to the wheel according to his
orders. The mate came rushing aft, and met the skipper in full career,
who flew at him like a tiger, and the two were immediately locked in
what appeared to be a struggle for life. The watch came rushing aft
in utter bewilderment, and flung themselves upon the combatants,
succeeding at last in separating them. There was an extraordinary mêlée
before they were both secured, no one knowing in the least what was
the matter, until the mate, finding his voice again, shouted, “Secure
the skipper, men, he’s gone mad.” It was even so. His long debauch had
culminated in a terrible attack of delirium tremens, rendering him for
the time being an appalling danger to the ship and all hands.
He was quickly secured and carried below, the steward being called and
given charge of him, while the mate and all hands, who had rushed on
deck thinking that some terrible catastrophe had taken place, were busy
for the next half-hour in restoring the ship to her normal condition
and getting her on her course again. Fortunately for them all the
breeze was not strong enough for any actual damage to be done, but it
was a terrifying experience, and there was no more sleep that night
for anybody. Below in the cabin the wretched man who was the cause of
it all was apparently suffering intolerable torments, writhing in his
lashings so severely that the lines literally cut into his flesh, yet
it was impossible to release him. It was a very serious situation for
the mate, who, however, rose to the occasion, and made it his first
duty in the morning to rummage every corner of the skipper’s state-room
and the lazaret--where the small stores are kept--and every drop of
intoxicating liquor that he found was at once hove overboard.
Frank was mightily impressed, but quite satisfied, after having been
questioned most severely by the mate, that he was in no way to blame,
for even had he known enough to disobey the insane order given him, he
would no doubt have been attacked by the madman. But he, like every one
else on board, felt that he had narrowly escaped a very great danger.
And now as the skipper lay slowly creeping towards convalescence, the
_Sealark_ began to draw downwards towards the stormy latitudes, and
the mate was in a state of perplexity as to which course he should
take, not knowing the skipper’s intentions. The first port of call
was Levuka, Fiji, and it was possible to go either east or west, the
former being the most natural and easy way. But still he hoped that the
skipper would get well and take the responsibility again, his position
being an extremely awkward one.
And in the meantime the mixed crew forward were getting very unruly,
as such crews will when there is anything wrong in the after part of
the ship. However, the skipper was very slow in his progress towards
convalescence, and so Mr. Jenkins made up his mind to run east, a
decision immediately noted and approved of by the crew, who dreaded the
passage west around Cape Horn. And gradually things settled down again
into a sort of armed neutrality, the crew grumbling and growling at
every order given, and doing as little as they possibly could.
But out of this unsatisfactory state of affairs grew one blessing; the
boys, with the exception of the weakling Harry, rose to the occasion,
sinking their differences and rallying to the aid of the two officers,
who noted the change, and signified their approval by giving the
youngsters better food and treatment, besides encouraging them to take
a more active part in the handling of the ship. Now Frank’s assiduous
study during the fine weather placed him on a footing of perfect
equality with Williams and Johnson, indeed he was their superior in
many things, if comparison had been made. They began to recognise a
community of interest, to look upon the crew as possible enemies, and
upon the officers as their natural and proper friends. Frank thought
wistfully of Hansen, who in the present state of affairs was entirely
debarred from communication with him, and was very sorry.
In this unsatisfactory condition, but with the machinery of the crew
still working almost automatically, they began to run the easting
down, to rush along that enormous stretch of ocean which embraces the
southern hemisphere of our globe. The wind increased steadily day by
day, the sky took on a permanent grimness of aspect that shut out the
blessed sun as if with an impenetrable pall of rushing cloud, and the
sea rose into mighty rolling waves that extended from one side of the
cheerless horizon to the other.
The _Sealark_ did not behave well, not that she was overloaded but
badly loaded, her general cargo being largely composed of iron, which
lay heavily in her bottom and made her dull and uneasy in a seaway. She
rolled tremendously and shipped on either side enormous quantities of
water, keeping the decks awash from end to end. Yet it was essential
to her safety that she should carry plenty of sail so as to keep well
before the ravening sea, which threatened to overwhelm her, although
it was exceedingly doubtful whether the crew were sufficiently strong,
even had they been most willing and full of ability, to handle the
sails promptly in an emergency.
It was a trying time for all, but especially for the mate, for the
skipper seemed to have lost all his manhood, and although he was fully
capable of resuming command he showed no desire to do so; he just lay
in his bunk and smoked and dozed, apparently quite oblivious of his
responsibilities.
But strangely enough he seemed to have been nursing a sense of
grievance against the mate, who had acted like a good man and a
thorough seaman, and really saved his life by depriving him of liquor.
This curious twist of the skipper’s mind, however, did not become fully
evident until he had resumed command, which he did one night in the
middle watch as suddenly as he had interfered before.
The ship was running dead before the wind with the maintopgallant
sail set, which was just as much as she could bear. The darkness was
profound, except for the unnatural glare of the foam rising high on
either side as if about to overwhelm the flying ship, while every
few minutes a furious squall came hissing along, laden with stinging
snow-particles and making sight impossible.
During these squalls the force of the gale seemed to be doubled,
yet nothing could be done but hold on and hope the gear would stand
the tremendous strain, while the helmsman needed all his ability
and strength to keep her going straight, knowing that a very small
deviation from her course at such a time would mean her “broaching to,”
or flying round suddenly into the trough of the sea and most probably
foundering at once with all hands. The mate stood near the wheel in
readiness to help the helmsman in case of any sudden jerk of the wheel
being so heavy as to overpower him; while both watched the compass with
straining eyes, at the same time keeping a knowledge of the way the
wind was coming by the sense of touch.
To them came suddenly the captain with a swagger, who blusteringly
demanded of the mate why he was not carrying more sail. The mate was
for the moment too much astonished to reply, but stood gazing at the
apparition before him, while the helmsman’s attention being diverted
from his business, allowed the ship to take a sheer which was nearly
her last.