MR. KEAR MAKES A BUSINESS DEAL
DECEMBER 5.--The day was very hot. December in latitude 16 deg. N. is a
summer month, and unless a breeze should rise to temper the burning
sun, we might expect to suffer from an oppressive heat.
The sea still remained very rough, and as the heavy waves broke over
the ship as though she were a reef, the foam flew up to the very
top-masts, and our clothes were perpetually drenched by the spray.
The Chancellor's hull is three-fourths immerged; besides the three
masts and the bowsprit, to which the whale-boat was suspended, the poop
and the forecastle are the only portions that now are visible; and as
the intervening section of the deck is quite below the water, these
appear to be connected only by the framework of the netting that runs
along the vessel's sides. Communication between the top-masts is
extremely difficult, and would be absolutely precluded, were it not
that the sailors, with practiced dexterity, manage to hoist themselves
about by means of the stays. For the passengers, cowering on their
narrow and unstable platform, the spectacle of the raging sea below was
truly terrific; every wave that dashed over the ship shook the masts
till they trembled again, and one could venture scarcely to look or to
think lest he should be tempted to cast himself into the vast abyss.
Meanwhile, the crew worked away with all their remaining vigor at the
second raft, for which the top-gallants and yards were all obliged to
be employed; the planks, too, which were continually being loosened and
broken away by the violence of the waves from the partitions of the
ship, were rescued before they had drifted out of reach, and were
brought into use. The symptoms of the ship foundering did not appear to
be immediate; so that Curtis insisted upon the raft being made with
proper care to insure its strength; we were still several hundred miles
from the coast of Guiana, and for so long a voyage it was indispensable
to have a structure of considerable solidity. The reasonableness of
this was self-apparent, and as the crew had recovered their assurance
they spared no pains to accomplish their work effectually.
Of all the number, there was but one, an Irishman, named O'Ready, who
seemed to question the utility of all their toil. He shook his head
with an oracular gravity. He is an oldish man, not less than sixty,
with his hair and beard bleached with the storms of many travels. As I
was making my way toward the poop, he came up to me and began talking.
"And why, bedad, I'd like to know, why is it that they'll all be afther
lavin' the ship?"
He turned his quid with the most serene composure, and continued:
"And isn't it me myself that's been wrecked nine times already? and
sure, poor fools are they that ever have put their trust in rafts or
boats; sure and they found a wathery grave. Nay, nay; while the ould
ship lasts, let's stick to her, says I."
Having thus unburdened his mind he relapsed into silence, and soon went
away.
About three o'clock I noticed that Mr. Kear and Silas Huntly were
holding an animated conversation in the foretop. The petroleum merchant
had evidently some difficulty in bringing the ex-captain round to his
opinion, for I saw him several times shake his head as he gave long and
scrutinizing looks at the sea and sky. In less than an hour afterward I
saw Huntly let himself down by the forestays and clamber along to the
fore-castle, where he joined the group of sailors, and I lost sight of
him.
I attached little importance to the incident, and shortly afterward
joined the party in the main-top, where we continued talking for some
hours. The heat was intense, and if it had not been for the shelter
afforded by the sail-tent, would have been unbearable. At five o'clock
we took as refreshment some dried meat and biscuit, each individual
being also allowed half a glass of water. Mrs. Kear prostrate with
fever, could not touch a mouthful; and nothing could be done by Miss
Herbey to relieve her, beyond occasionally moistening her parched lips.
The unfortunate lady suffers greatly, and sometimes I am inclined to
think that she will succumb to the exposure and privation. Not once had
her husband troubled himself about her; but when shortly afterward I
heard him hail some of the sailors on the fore-castle and ask them to
help him down from the foretop, I began to think that the selfish
fellow was coming to join his wife.
At first the sailors took no notice of his request, but on his
repeating it with the promise of paying them handsomely for their
services, two of them, Burke and Sandon, swung themselves along the
netting into the shrouds, and were soon at his side.
A long discussion ensued. The men evidently were asking more than Mr.
Kear was inclined to give, and at one time it seemed as though the
negotiation would fall through altogether. But at length the bargain
was struck, and I saw Mr. Kear take a bundle of paper dollars from his
waistcoat pocket, and hand a number of them over to one of the men. The
man counted them carefully, and from the time it took him, I should
think that he could not have pocketed anything less than a hundred
dollars.
The next business was to get Mr. Kear down from the foretop, and Burke
and Sandon proceeded to tie a rope round his waist, which they
afterward fastened to the forestay; then, in a way which provoked
shouts of laughter from their mates, they gave the unfortunate man a
shove, and sent him rolling down like a bundle of dirty clothes on to
the forecastle.
I was quite mistaken as to his object. Mr. Kear had no intention of
looking after his wife, but remained by the side of Silas Huntly until
the gathering darkness hid them both from view.
As night drew on, the wind grew calmer, but the sea remained very
rough. The moon had been up ever since four in the afternoon, though
she only appeared at rare intervals between the clouds. Some long lines
of vapor on the horizon were tinged with a rosy glare that foreboded a
strong breeze for the morrow, and all felt anxious to know from which
quarter the breeze would come, for any but a northeaster would bear the
frail raft on which we were to embark far away from land.
About eight o'clock in the evening, Curtis mounted to the main-top, but
he seemed preoccupied and anxious, and did not speak to anyone. He
remained for a quarter of an hour, then after silently pressing my
hand, he returned to his old post.
I laid myself down in the narrow space at my disposal, and tried to
sleep; but my mind was filled with strange forebodings, and sleep was
impossible. The very calmness of the atmosphere was oppressive;
scarcely a breath of air vibrated through the metal rigging, and yet
the sea rose with a heavy swell as though it felt the warnings of a
coming tempest.
All at once, at about eleven o'clock, the moon burst brightly forth
through a rift in the clouds, and the waves sparkled again as if
illuminated by a submarine glimmer. I start up and look around me. Is
it merely imagination? or do I really see a black speck floating, on
the dazzling whiteness of the waters, a speck that cannot be a rock,
because it rises and falls with the heaving motion of the billows? But
the moon once again becomes overclouded; the sea is darkened, and I
return to my uneasy couch close to the larboard shrouds.