Nothing further of importance occurred during our passage across the
Indian Ocean, which was accomplished under exceptionally pleasant
circumstances; the weather being gloriously fine, and the wind, if not
absolutely fair, always favourable enough to permit of our laying our
course.
Java Head was made just before sunset, under a clear sky, with a light
air breathing out from the north-west--so light an air, indeed, that
when the sun rose next morning the headland was still on our starboard
bow. Some two hours later, however, we got a strong breeze out from the
north-east, under the influence of which we worked up toward the mouth
of the straits in fine style, until noon--by which time we were fairly
within the straits--when the wind softened down, finally dwindling away
to nothing about an hour before sunset.
We had sighted several sail during the day, three of them being
European, bound to the westward, while the rest were country craft--
small coasters and fishing vessels for the most part. The Malays have
probably, next to the Chinese, the worst reputation in the world for
honesty; but it is only just to say that, with one solitary exception,
all the native craft we had that day fallen in with had behaved in a
manner that left no room whatever for suspicion. The exception was in
the case of a large proa that had passed us closely, running out before
the wind toward the mouth of the straits during the forenoon, but which,
having run to leeward of us for a distance of some six miles, had then
hauled her wind and stretched in toward the southern shore, on reaching
which she had lowered her canvas, thrown out her sweeps, and made her
way to windward with the aid of the latter alone. It was not so much
this circumstance, however, though it had a somewhat incomprehensible
look about it, as the fact that she pulled twelve sweeps of a side--
proving her to be heavily manned--that caused us to regard her and her
movements with a certain amount of doubt and suspicion. We were now in
waters that, from the numerous acts of piracy that have been committed
within them, have acquired a more sinister reputation than is borne by
any other spot of ocean of similar area in the whole world; and it was
therefore only natural that the fact of our being becalmed in such a
spot should have been productive of a certain uneasiness and disquiet of
mind throughout the ship.
At sunset, and for an hour or two afterwards, there was every prospect
of a fine clear night; but at about two bells in the first watch a thin
veil of vapour began to gather in the sky, gradually thickening and
blotting out the stars until they were all completely hidden, when the
darkness became profound. At this time--or rather, when we had last had
an opportunity of distinguishing distant objects--there were only some
eight or ten craft, all native, in sight, the nearest of which was fully
four miles distant; and they all, without exception, presented an
appearance of perfect honesty. Three or four of them were, like
ourselves, drifting idly, with their heads pointing in as many different
directions; the others had rigged out a sweep, or in some cases a pair,
and were slowly making their way inshore.
The baronet and I were reclining in contiguous chairs, placidly smoking
our post-prandial cigars; the ladies were below, Miss Merrivale being
seated at the piano, accompanying her sister, who--having by this time
quite recovered her health and spirits--was singing some quaint,
old-fashioned ballad in a full, rich contralto voice that could be
distinctly heard from one end of the ship to the other, and probably far
beyond. As for the chief mate, he was pacing the deck thoughtfully and
steadily to and fro with an energy that, taking the heat and closeness
of the night into consideration, seemed to bespeak an uneasy mind.
After a while he halted alongside the binnacle, gazed abstractedly into
it for about half a minute, and then, turning to the nodding helmsman,
inquired whether he knew where he was running the ship to.
"She hasn't had steerage-way on her since I came aft, at eight bells,
sir," was the reply.
"She hasn't, eh?" remarked Roberts. "Well, if that's the case, the
compass isn't of much use to you, is it? So," pulling off his jacket,
"as it's hardly worth while to proclaim our exact whereabouts to
everybody, we'll just mask the light until a breeze springs up."
Saying which, he laid his jacket very carefully over the hood of the
binnacle, completely obscuring the not very brilliant light that shone
therefrom.
"What is Roberts' idea in hiding the binnacle light in that fashion?"
asked Sir Edgar, turning to me, as the mate again walked forward,
pausing for some minutes near the head of the short poop ladder, and
apparently peering anxiously round him into the obscurity.
"Well," said I, "I think he perhaps feels a little uneasy at our being
becalmed just here, and in such an intensely dark night, too. The
Malays have the name of being born pirates, you know, and should they
happen to take it into their heads to attack us just now, it would be
rather awkward, since we could do absolutely nothing to avoid them while
this calm lasts."
"Do _you_ think there is any danger of such an occurrence, captain?" he
asked, with manifest anxiety.
"Not very much," I replied. "There were no suspicious craft visible at
nightfall. Still, an attack is by no means an impossibility, especially
on such a dark night. The circumstances are precisely those which I
imagine would be deemed highly favourable by people piratically
inclined."
"Then why, in Heaven's name, my good sir, do you not make preparation
for such an eventuality?" exclaimed my companion, excitedly.
"For the simple reason," I replied, "that all the preparation possible
could be made in five minutes; and, as a matter of fact, I was only
waiting until you had all retired, when I intended at once making them.
Two slashes of a sharp knife would suffice to release those
boarding-pikes from the boom; and you can easily calculate for yourself
the length of time it would take to serve out a brace of revolvers and a
cutlass to each of our small crew."
"Um!" ejaculated the baronet. "And have you no rifles on board?"
"I have one," said I; "but of what use would it be on such a dark night
as this?"
"True; too true," muttered Sir Edgar. "Nevertheless, I think I will go
down and put my Winchester together, upon the off chance of work being
found for it. Confound this calm, say I. If it were not for the fact
of my wife and bairns being on board there is nothing I should enjoy
more than a brush with the rascals--for my feeling is that pirates
deserve no mercy--but, as it is--" An expressive shrug eloquently
concluded the sentence; and the baronet at once rose and went below.
A minute or two later the piano became silent, and I heard the sound of
the instrument being closed, as Sir Edgar remarked, laughingly--
"Thank you, Emily. If you go on at this rate you will soon recover your
old form. I thought, just now, as I sat on deck listening to your
singing, that your voice had never sounded sweeter. But, as your chief
medical adviser, I really must forbid your using it any more to-night;
we must progress gradually, you know, and not overtax nature at the
outset (is not that the correct professional jargon?) Joking apart,
however, I think you have done enough for to-night; and--ah, there goes
four bells--ten o'clock--take my advice, `turn in,' both of you, and get
a good long night's rest."
"I think I will," replied Lady Emily; "this hot weather makes me feel
very languid and tired. And you, Edgar--what are you going to do? You
will not remain on deck very late, will you?"
"Well," hesitated Sir Edgar, "that depends on circumstances. I shall
not turn in until I feel that there is some chance of getting to sleep.
And if this calm continues I think I shall sleep on deck; it is too
insufferably hot altogether for one down here, just at present. Leave
the ports open in your cabins, both of you, so that if there is any air
stirring you will get the benefit of it. And now I think I will say
good night to you both. Good night, sweetheart, and pleasant dreams.
Good night, Agnes."
I heard the click of the latches of the cabin-doors as the two ladies
retired, and presently Sir Edgar came on deck again, with a fresh cigar
in his mouth, and seated himself once more beside me, remarking--
"There! I have packed my womankind off to bed, and have laid my rifle,
with a good supply of cartridges, in my own bunk--an act which has
somewhat relieved my mind. So now, captain, as the coast is clear down
below, there is nothing to prevent your making your preparations as soon
as you please."
"Very good," said I; "then I will set about them at once. And, by way
of a start, I think we will `blind' the skylights; as I fully agree with
Roberts that there is no especial advantage in revealing four
whereabouts to anybody to-night. Nothing but a steamer could run us
down in this weather; and, should there happen to be one coming along,
we should see her lights in ample time to give her warning of our
position."
The mate was still promenading to and fro between the break of the poop
and the binnacle; so when he next passed I requested him to have the
canvas covers put over the skylights, also to direct the steward to turn
down the lamps in the saloon and my own cabin, and to carefully draw the
curtains before all the sidelights, so that no treacherous ray might
gleam forth from the ship's side and betray our locality. This was soon
done; and the noiseless movements of the mate as he went forward and
gave the necessary orders in a whisper, instead of issuing them in
stentorian tones from the break of the poop, sufficiently indicated his
conviction of the existence of a lurking peril in our immediate
vicinity.
The one thing that we had to fear, above all others--and to guard
against--in the event of an attack, was the presence of the pirates on
our own decks. Should they succeed in boarding us, it would certainly
be in such overwhelming numbers as to render an effective resistance
impossible; our small party would be quickly overpowered, and then the
fate of everybody on board would be sealed. Our safety depended upon
our keeping the foe at arm's length. Half a dozen fathoms of water
would suffice; but the problem was how to accomplish this very desirable
end. I had been giving a good deal of thought to this, even while
chatting disconnectedly with Sir Edgar in the earlier part of the
evening, and had at length hit upon a plan that I thought might be
successful. We had on board a small fire engine, mounted on wheels,
with a hose and jet attached, and a tank capable of containing some
fifty gallons. This engine I now ordered to be uncovered, and prepared
for action by securely lashing a small loose mop-head of oakum round the
nozzle of the hose, taking especial care that the aperture of the jet
should be left perfectly free. Roberts, who seemed at once to divine
and understand my plan even before I had explained it to him, undertook
this part of the work in person; and in about ten minutes he reported
that all was ready, and invited me to inspect his workmanship.
It was by this time "five bells;" and the night was, without exception,
the darkest, I think, that I had ever experienced. So dark, indeed, was
it, that, well as we knew the ship, we had to feel our way along the
deck with hands and feet, for it was absolutely impossible to see
anything a foot beyond the end of one's nose. With such intense
darkness as this it was evident that the heavens must be obscured by
exceptionally heavy masses of cloud; which, with the hot, breathless
condition of the atmosphere, led me to anticipate and hope for a
thunderstorm, which would at least afford us sufficient light to inspect
our surroundings, and so put an end to a state of suspense that was
growing wearisome. And not only was the night intensely dark; it was
also oppressively silent; for, the water being perfectly smooth, there
was no life or motion in the ship to give rise to those sounds--such as
the flapping of canvas, the creaking of timbers and bulkheads, etcetera,
etcetera--that usually make a calm so irritating to people who happen to
be troubled with nerves. All was silent as death itself; our own
movements being hushed, in harmony with the prevailing stillness, so
that we spoke under our breath, and moved about on tiptoe.
In this silent, groping way I followed Roberts forward to inspect the
fire engine; and it was while thus engaged with the aid of a carefully
shielded lantern, that the mate exclaimed, in a hoarse whisper, as he
held up his hand, and bent his head in a listening attitude--
"Hark! did you hear that, sir?"
"No," said I, "I heard nothing. What was it?"
"Why," answered Roberts, "it sounded to me like the noise of an oar, or
a sweep, creaking in a rowlock; and it seemed to come from away
yonder,"--pointing, as he spoke, in the direction of the larboard bow.
We both listened intently, for fully a minute, without detecting any
sound whatever confirmatory of Roberts' evident suspicions; and at
length I said, turning once more to the examination of the fire engine--
"Tush, man, you were mistaken; you heard nothing. The fact is, Mr
Roberts, you are not quite yourself to-night. You seem nervous, and
fidgety, and anxious. The heat of to-day has upset you; and I think you
had better let me give you a good stiff dose of quinine when you go
below, at eight bells."
"Thank you, sir, no," answered Roberts; "I don't need any quinine, or
anything else in the shape of medicine to brace me up. There's nothing
the matter with me, bodily; but, to be perfectly candid, I _do_ feel a
little bit off my mental balance, as it were, to-night. The fact is--I
know you'll laugh at me, sir, but I can't help that, and it don't
matter, but I've got the feeling strong upon me that something's going
to happen to me to-night. For three nights running--that is to say,
last night, and the night before, and the night before that again--I've
started up out of a sound sleep with the idea that my dear wife was
calling me; ay, and with the very sound and tone of her sweet voice in
my ears. Now, sir, do you think that is only a coincidence, as they say
ashore; or isn't it more likely to be a sign that something is going to
happen to me?"
"Why, what nonsense is this for a sensible, educated man like yourself
to be talking!" I exclaimed half angrily. "Let me feel your pulse."
He held out his hand to me, and I laid my fingers upon his wrist.
Contrary to what I had expected, I found the skin to be cool and moist,
and the pulse beneath it beating with the steadiness and regularity of a
machine.
"Umph! there doesn't seem to be very much wrong there," I admitted.
"But I didn't know you were a married man, Roberts; I understood you
once to say that you were quite alone in the world--not a soul belonging
to you."
"Quite right, sir; that's the exact truth," returned the mate. "But I
had a wife once, sir; as sweet, true, and tender-hearted a little woman
as you ever met, I'll be bound. And pretty, she was, too. My little
Nellie--I only had her six months, sir.
"We were spliced early in the spring; and I stayed ashore and spent the
whole summer and well into the autumn with her; six months--six blessed,
happy, joyous months with the sweetest woman that ever lived. We were
all by ourselves, excepting for one servant maid, in a pretty little
house on the outskirts of Teignmouth. Ah! that was a time for a man to
look back upon for the rest of his life. Then by-and-by, when the
autumn days began to grow short, the cash began to grow short, too; and
I had to go to sea again to earn more. I'm not a particularly
soft-hearted man, as a rule, Captain Saint Leger, but I tell you, sir,
that that parting from Nellie was just as much as I could stand up
against: to be obliged to untwine her loving, clinging arms from about
my neck, and to deliberately turn away and leave her standing there by
the gate, crying her dear eyes out, was cruel work, sir; it was like
tearing my very heartstrings asunder. But it had to be done.
"Of course when we arrived at Durban--for it was while I was in the
Natal trade, in this same little barque--there were a couple of letters
waiting for me that had passed us on the road out; and every mail that
arrived while we were lying in the harbour brought me another, each more
cheerful than the last, because the time was passing away and bringing
our reunion nearer.
"And when at last I got home again, sir, all that they had to show me
was my darling's new-made grave. She had taken typhoid fever, died, and
was carried out of the house in her coffin at the moment that the
telegram announcing my arrival in England was handed in."
Something very like a sob seemed to rise in Roberts's throat and choke
him at this point in his story; but before I had time to frame and
arrange the words of sympathy that struggled to my lips--for I am not a
quick man with my tongue--he resumed--
"I hope, Captain Saint Leger, that if my manner has seemed to you a
little curious to-night, you will not put it down to timorousness, or
faintheartedness, or anything of that sort. I _do_ feel very queer, I
admit; not ill, you understand, but _strange_; a kind of--well, it's
more than a presentiment; I might say it's an absolute certainty that
I'm going to die to-night, coupled with another absolute certainty that
those treacherous fiends of Malays are gathering round us out there in
the darkness. But if my presentiment should prove true, and it comes to
a fight, have no fears on my account. I'll not fail you, sir, in the
moment of need and danger. Danger has long ceased to be an enemy of
mine, and Death lost all his terrors for me when I stood for the first
time beside my Nellie's grave. I am quite ready to die whenever it may
please the Almighty to call me; and if I can do so in defence of those
dear, helpless women and children down below, it will suit me well
enough."
"Thank you, Roberts; thank you, my friend," said I, grasping the hand he
held out to me. "Yours is a very sad, pathetic story, and you have my
hearty sympathy. As to doubting your courage, my good fellow, no such
thought ever entered my head. But I am certain, despite all you say to
the contrary, that you are not quite yourself to-night. Therefore, if
you will not take any medicine, at least go below and try to get a
little sleep; that perhaps will do you as much good as anything. I will
keep the remainder of your watch for you; and should anything occur to
confirm your suspicions as to the Malays, you may reckon on my calling
you in good time."
The man was, however, obstinate--or, at least, so he seemed to me to
be--resolutely declining to accede to either of my suggestions; so,
leaving him to complete the few remaining preparations I deemed
necessary to meet an attack, should anything of the sort be attempted, I
returned aft to the poop, somewhat vexed that so thoroughly sensible a
man as Roberts had hitherto proved should suffer himself to be so
completely mastered, as I had seen him to be, by a morbid feeling of
melancholy that was doubtless due in part to overmuch dwelling of late
upon the death of his wife but which I firmly believed was to be still
more directly traced to some slight derangement of the system that could
easily be put right by the administration of a dose of medicine, could
the fellow but be induced to take it. No doubt, too, the fact of our
being becalmed, and therefore to a great extent helpless, in a spot
notoriously haunted by a people, every mother's son of whom was but too
ready to participate in any act of piracy that seemed to offer a
reasonable prospect of success, had a large influence in producing the
presentiment of death in the mate's mind; but that, I felt sure, would
pass away with the impenetrable and oppressive darkness by which we were
enveloped, or with the advent of a breeze of wind. While, therefore, I
sincerely pitied the poor fellow for his disagreeable state of mind, I
thought that perhaps it would be wisest to treat it as a matter of no
importance, and to leave him to himself until the fit of depression
should have passed away.
On groping my way back to the chair I had previously occupied, I found
that Sir Edgar was still occupying the chair beside my own, meditatively
pulling away at a cigar, the glowing spark of which would probably have
still further increased Roberts's perturbation, had he seen it. As I
seated myself beside him the baronet made a half-jesting inquiry as to
whether our preparations had had the effect of reassuring the mate; so,
to while away the time, and for want of something more interesting to
talk about, I told him Roberts's story, and also described to him the
peculiar state of mind under which the poor fellow was labouring. Sir
Edgar fully agreed with me that the latter was simply the result of some
slight and probably temporary derangement, and was proceeding to discuss
the subject of presentiments in general, and the extreme rarity of
really well-authenticated cases of verification, when the atmosphere
became for an instant faintly luminous with the evanescent, quivering
glimmer of the silent, summer lightning. The flash trembled but for a
moment in the sky, and was gone again; but in that moment I saw that the
firmament was packed with vast masses of dense, heavy, threatening,
highly, charged electric cloud, the weird, contorted shapes of which
clearly indicated that they were being powerfully acted upon by the
mighty antagonistic forces that they carried within their bosoms, and
gave unmistakable warning that an elemental strife was impending, for
which it would be well to prepare. Beneath this louring canopy the
surface of the water shone with the unwrinkled smoothness of polished
glass, faithfully reflecting every detail, even to the most minute, of
form and colour exhibited by the writhing cloud-shapes that overhung it;
and also faithfully reflecting the shapes of four large proas that, in a
somewhat scattered fleet, were revealed at a distance of some three
miles to the northward and eastward of the spot occupied by ourselves.
The barque happened at the moment to be lying with her head pointing
about south-east; these proas were therefore broad upon our larboard
beam, and they were the first objects that met my sight. Some, if not
all, of these craft were working their sweeps; for, with the momentary
quiver of the lightning, I had caught the glint of reflected light from
wet oar-blades projecting from the dark, shadowy mass of the hull; and
they were all heading up or down the straits--I could not tell which in
the unexpected glimpse I had caught of them--for they all showed end-on,
or nearly so, to us.
Meanwhile, Roberts had completed his task, and was in the act of
mounting to the poop--for I caught sight of his figure out of the corner
of my eye--when the flash came. As the opaque darkness once more
enveloped us I heard his voice exclaiming sharply, and, as it seemed to
me, with a note of exultation in it, as though proud at the prospect of
at least one half of his presentiment being verified--
"Did you see that, sir?"
I rose from my chair and joined him, so that our voices might not
disturb the sleepers below in the saloon, near the open skylight of
which I had been seated.
"You mean the proas, I suppose," said I. "Yes, I saw them. But there
are only four of them, thank goodness. And we are not sure that they
are not heading _up_ the straits, instead of toward us. If so, it was
no doubt from one of them that the sound emanated that startled you a
little while ago, as they must have passed us at no great distance."
"_Four_ of them?" exclaimed Roberts; "I only saw _three_; and two of
them were heading the same way as ourselves. They were all close
together; not more than--"
At this moment the tremulous greenish glare of the sheet lightning once
more lit up the scene, this time much more strongly than on the first
occasion, and in the midst of the quivering radiance there was a single
sudden, vivid gleam, like the instantaneous flash of a gigantic lantern
behind the dense masses of cloud lying piled along the western horizon,
the light being so brilliant as to be quite dazzling after the Cimmerian
darkness to which our eyes had become accustomed. But, despite the
dazzling brilliancy of the sudden illumination, the retina of my eyes
caught and retained the vision of three large proas broad on our
_starboard quarter_, about two miles distant, situated precisely as
Roberts had described them; and that this vision was no illusion of my
senses was instantly demonstrated by the mate, who interrupted himself
to quickly exclaim--
"There they are again, sir."
"Yes, I saw them," said I. "And there are four more about three miles
up the straits, on our port beam. That makes seven craft in our
neighbourhood that were certainly not there when the darkness closed
down upon us. Now, in order to get where they are they must have been
using their sweeps; which, I must confess, has, to my mind, rather a bad
look; as, from what I have heard of the Malays, they are not so fond of
hard work as to resort to it for mere pastime. However, we shall soon
know what they are after; if they are looking for us, that last flash
has most probably enabled them to discover our whereabouts; and if they
mean mischief they will all be heading for us when next we see them.
Meanwhile, Mr Roberts, it is evident that we are about to be treated to
a heavy thunderstorm; and as it may bring a violent wind-squall with it,
we will make provision for the possibility by stowing all our light
canvas. Ah!"--as another and still brighter flash burst forth, followed
this time by the low muttering of distant thunder--"there they come; the
rascals are certainly after us! Call all hands at once, if you please,
Mr Roberts; there will be time to shorten sail, and to prepare a
reception for the Malays before they can get alongside."
"All hands shorten sail!" shouted the mate, scrambling off the poop, and
groping his way forward. "Clew up and furl the royals and to'ga'nts'ls;
and see that you stow them in such a way that they won't blow adrift if
a squall happens to strike us. Let go the main-royal and to'gallant and
the mizzen-topmast staysail halliards, and man the downhauls; then you
can stow the sails, as you work your way down. Is that you, Mr Forbes?
Just see that the main and fore tops'l-halliards are all clear for
letting run, will ye? And when your lads come on deck we will haul down
and stow the flying-jib and get in the gaff-tops'l and mizzen. That's
your sort, my bullies; now, away aloft and stow everything as quickly as
you can."
The men, fearful that the anticipated squall might burst upon the ship
before we were prepared for it, worked with a will, their efforts being
greatly facilitated by the lightning that was now quivering and flashing
all round the horizon with momentarily increasing splendour, and at such
brief intervals that the illumination might almost be said to be
continuous; while the deep, hollow rumble of the thunder might very well
have been mistaken for the booming of a distant cannonade. The effect
of the incessant flicker of the lightning was very weird; the tremulous
greenish-blue glare illuminating the ponderous masses and contorted
shapes of the black clouds overhead, the surface of the ink-black sea
around us, the distant proas, and the hull, spars, sails, and rigging of
the barque, with the moving figures aloft and at the jib-boom end, and
suffusing everything with so baleful and unearthly a light that only the
slightest effort of the imagination was needed to fancy ourselves a
phantom ship, manned by ghosts of the unquiet dead, floating upon the
sooty flood of the Styx, with the adamantine foundations of the world
arching ponderously and menacingly over our heads and reflecting from
their rugged surfaces the flashing of the flames of Phlegethon.