Our meal over, the three remaining prisoners were released, and offered
their choice between being landed on the island to join the other men,
and returning to duty. I reminded them that their conduct in having
aided and abetted the more active among the mutineers to seize the ship
rendered them guilty of the crime of piracy--a crime punishable with
death--and that it still remained with me to clap them in irons, if I
pleased, and keep them prisoners until an opportunity should arrive to
hand them over to justice, charged with that offence. I added that as
it appeared, however, that they, the three men in question, seemed only
to have passively consented to the deed of the others, I had no desire
to be severe with them; I was anxious rather to give them an opportunity
of retrieving their character; and would willingly do so could I but
feel assured that, separated as they would be from their more guilty
comrades, they would henceforward serve me faithfully, I said that if
they were prepared to do this, I, on my part, was willing to forgive
them their share in the mutiny, and to treat them as though the incident
had never occurred. I warned them, however, that unless they were fully
prepared, not only to solemnly pledge themselves to fidelity, but also
to faithfully fulfil that pledge, it would be infinitely better for them
to elect to be landed on the island to take their chance with the rest;
for I assured them that, should they take the pledge of fidelity, and
afterwards break it, I would, upon the first symptom of insubordination,
clap them in irons and hand them over to the authorities, as pirates, at
the first port we might happen to touch. This address had precisely the
effect upon the fellows that I desired; the mention of the word
"piracy," and the reminder of the penalty due to that crime, thoroughly
frightened them; while my promise, on the other hand, of forgiveness as
the reward for faithful service in the future, had all the reassuring
influence that I intended it to have; and upon the conclusion of my
lecture, they with one accord begged my pardon for what had already
happened, and most fervently promised that I should have no cause of
complaint against them in the future.
This important matter settled thus far to my satisfaction, I sent Barr
and Christianssen aloft to loose the fore-topsail and topgallantsail,
while Joe and the negro performed a similar duty on the mainmast, both
parties receiving instructions to cast off the lashings from the
staysails on their way down. While this was doing, Forbes lay out upon
the jib-boom and loosed the jib and fore-topmast staysail, I busying
myself, meanwhile, in casting loose the mizzen. Presently, Joe hailed
from aloft that the men on shore had made their appearance on the beach;
and, upon looking in that direction, I saw the whole party of them
gathered there, close to the water's edge, intently watching our
movements. Just then Sir Edgar made his appearance on deck, and, with a
cheery "good morning," laughingly declared that he intended to ship for
the voyage to the nearest port as an "honorary seaman," and was ready to
enter upon his duties at once. I, of course, thanked him for this kind
proffer of his services, assuring him that, short-handed as we were, it
would be in his power to render us invaluable assistance; and, the hands
at that moment coming down from aloft, we sheeted home the topsails, and
got the yards to the mastheads.
Nothing now remained but to loose our hold upon the ground, and make a
start. This we could, of course, at once do by simply slipping the
cable; but an anchor is altogether too useful an article to be
needlessly thrown away. Many a good ship has driven ashore and gone to
pieces for want of an anchor that has been slipped and not replaced; I
was, therefore, very much averse to slipping in the present instance
without at least _trying_ to get the anchor. On putting the question to
the others, Forbes had no doubt of our ability to do it, while the rest
expressed their perfect readiness to try; we accordingly manned the
windlass, and--San Domingo starting a lively "shanty"--walked the barque
up to her anchor almost without an effort. Having got the cable "up and
down," we next ran up the fore-topmast staysail, and then went to the
fore-braces and trimmed the head-yards for casting the ship to
starboard. Just then, and in the very nick of time, Miss Merrivale came
on deck, looking as bright and radiant as the morning itself; and I at
once impressed her as helmswoman, stationing her at the wheel, and
briefly explaining how she was to act upon the receipt of certain
signals from me. She seemed quite proud at the idea that she could be
really useful, and took her station at the wheel with a heightened
colour and sparkling eyes, which, with her spotless white dress, trimmed
with dainty lace and light-blue ribbons, her broad-brimmed hat set
jauntily upon the heavy coils of her dusky golden hair, and casting a
delicate shadow upon her lovely face, her hands and arms encased in long
loose gloves, and her delicate feet shod in small brown shoes, made her,
to my mind, the sweetest, loveliest picture that my eyes had ever rested
upon. So irresistibly charming, indeed, did she look, that I with
difficulty forebore from telling her so, plump and plain; and so, to
avoid the committal of such an impertinence, was constrained to rush
for'ard and add my weight to that of the others at the windlass handles
in their efforts to break out the anchor. Fortunately for us, our
windlass was an exceptionally good and powerful one; but, on the other
hand, the holding-ground proved to be exceptionally tenacious; and, for
a long five minutes, the cable stood straight up and down, rigid as a
solid bar, defying our utmost efforts to get so much as a single
additional pawl. Then an opportune puff, with a little more weight in
it than the soft breathing off the land that had hitherto reached us,
struck the broad expanses of our topsails, and, with a sudden jerk, the
ground broke away and the anchor came home.
"Hurrah, lads! she's away; heave, for your lives; heave, and raise the
dead!" vociferated Forbes.
The windlass pawls clanked merrily, the chain came rattling in through
the hawse-pipe, and the ship, gathering stern-way, began to pay off with
her head to seaward. At the right moment I signed to Miss Merrivale to
put the wheel hard up, while Forbes and I sprang aft to the braces and
swung the yards; the ship halted, hung stationary for a moment, and
then, gathering headway, gradually swept round until we had brought the
island upon our starboard beam and were gliding along under the lee of
its western shore. Our new voyage had begun.
The marooned men had all this time been intently watching our movements
from the beach; and, from their excited actions and the way in which
they closed up in a circle when they saw our canvas drop from the yards,
it was apparent that they were engaged in a heated discussion of some
kind. Presently, when they saw us man the windlass and heard the clink
of its pawls, I observed O'Connor break from the conclave, dash his cap
down upon the sand, and somewhat hesitatingly enter the water, as though
about attempting to swim off to us. Whereupon, I sprang upon the rail,
and, putting the whole power of my lungs into the shout, hailed him to
go back, as there were sharks in the bay. I had to repeat this warning
two or three times, however, before he seemed willing to heed it; and it
was not in fact until the anchor was broken out of the ground and the
ship was seen to be canting to seaward that he turned back and rejoined
his companions. When we last saw them they were still standing upon the
beach, watching our departure, and shouting to us with gestures that
were eloquent of threats and curses, though we were too far distant to
catch the words that they hurled after us.
Meanwhile, during the progress of these operations I had been taking
counsel with myself as to the most desirable course to pursue under the
circumstances in which we found ourselves. My original intention had
been to proceed to Valparaiso in quest of a crew, but that intention had
been arrived at under the impression that it would be necessary only to
leave three or four men behind us on the island. Joe's opinion upon the
matter had, however, altered all this, and had necessitated our going to
sea with a crew of only seven men, including Sir Edgar, whose assistance
I felt we could only claim under circumstances of exceptional necessity.
This reduced us to two watches of three men each, who might indeed
suffice to handle the ship under easy canvas and during fine weather,
but who could do very little with her should we happen to fall in with a
heavy gale, or, still worse, a downright Pacific hurricane. Then, too,
the prevailing winds in that part of the world are easterly; which
placed Valparaiso well to windward, and rendered it even more difficult
to fetch than San Francisco. The latter port, however, I had no desire
whatever to visit under the circumstances, with such a precious cargo on
board, and three men at least whose tongues it would be impossible to
bridle. By the time, therefore, that the ship was fairly under way, I
had come to the conclusion that my best plan would be to make for the
Sandwich Islands, which were only some sixteen hundred and fifty miles
distant, in a north-westerly direction, and might therefore be easily
reached in a fortnight, if all went well with us. An important
advantage attaching to this plan was that Honolulu, if it did not lie
directly in my road to China, was nearer it than any other port, and I
still considered it very essential that, in order to avoid inconvenient
questions, I should take home a cargo of some sort, which might as well
be tea as anything else; and although I had never visited the Sandwich
Islands, I thought it probable I should there be able to pick up at
least a sufficient number of men to carry us comfortably to the Canton
river. As soon, therefore, as we were fairly clear of the island I set
the course for the island of Oahu; the wind being at the time a
four-knot breeze, well over the starboard quarter. This done, I
relieved Miss Merrivale at the wheel, leaving Forbes and the other four
men to continue at leisure the operation of making sail.
Meanwhile the question had arisen, "How was the cooking to be done?" and
the natural reply to this seemed to be, "Set the darkie to do it." This
would have been all very well but for my passengers, who, it occurred to
me, might possibly have a prejudice against having their food handled by
a black man. I therefore laid the matter before Sir Edgar, who
immediately consulted with his wife; and the ultimate result was that
one of the maids very good-naturedly undertook the work, with San
Domingo as cook's mate, to do all the dirty work, while the other maid
volunteered as steward. I was greatly distressed in my mind lest all
these inconveniences should prove a serious annoyance to my good friends
in the saloon; but on mentioning the matter to Lady Emily, she quickly
and kindly reassured me by declaring that they looked upon the whole
thing in the light of an adventure or experience of a novel kind to be
made the most of.
"Besides," she added, "a little inconvenience and privation will do us
good by teaching us to appreciate our comforts more nearly at their
proper value when we get them again."
The weather looked fine, and the barometer stood high; I therefore had
no hesitation whatever about packing sail upon the ship; and as
everybody worked with a will, it came to pass that by noon we had not
only got our anchor secured, but had also clothed the ship with every
stitch of plain sail, from the royals down. Forbes was not satisfied
even with that, and would have gone on to studding-sails; but I
considered enough to be as good as a feast. Studding-sails are rather
ungainly things to handle in a quickly freshening breeze, if one happens
to be at all short-handed. I therefore determined to have nothing to do
with them--the more resolutely that, as we drew away from the island,
the breeze strengthened until we were reeling off our nine knots by the
log.
This exceedingly satisfactory state of affairs prevailed for exactly
forty hours from noon of the day upon which we left the island; the
breeze remaining so steady and true that we were not called upon to
touch tack, sheet, or halliard during the whole time. There was
nothing, in fact, to do but simply to steer the ship; and we were
already beginning to flatter ourselves that we were not only to be
favoured with a pleasant passage, but that we were going to accomplish
it in about half the time that I had allotted to it. Such a magnificent
opportunity was not to be wasted; and I accordingly took advantage of it
to have the ballast cleared away right in midships, and the gold and
silver stowed there equally on each side of the keelson, and carefully
concealed with matting and a quantity of dunnage; after which the
ballast was trimmed back over it and everything left shipshape against
the time of our arrival in port.
In hoping for a sufficiently long continuance of fine weather to carry
us without break or interruption to Honolulu, however, we were reckoning
without our host; for about four o'clock in the morning of our second
day out, the wind began to fail us, and by eight o'clock it had fallen
to a stark, glassy calm. There had been but a moderate amount of sea
running, and this soon went down, leaving only a long, oily swell, upon
which the ship rolled with a quick, jerky, uneasy movement. The sun
rose clear and brilliant, with every promise of a fine and scorchingly
hot day; but when I went on deck after breakfast to take my sights for
the longitude, I noticed that the sky had lost much of its brilliant
colouring, while the sun hung in it a white, shapeless blotch, instead
of the dazzling orb that had risen a few hours before. This, of course,
might mean nothing worse than heat; but when I went below shortly
afterwards to work out my sights, I saw that the mercury had fallen a
little. This, too, might only mean heat, with possibly a smart
thunderstorm a little later on in the day; but, short-handed as we were,
I deemed it best to be on the safe side; and accordingly, having worked
out my sights, I returned to the deck, and all hands of us went to work
upon the canvas, clewing up and hauling down all our lighter sails,
until we had stripped the ship to topsails, courses, fore-topmast
staysail, jib, and mizzen. At this stage of the proceedings another
glance at the barometer showed that the mercury was still shrinking in
the tube, while the atmosphere had assumed a hazy appearance that
rendered it difficult to distinguish the horizon. There could no longer
be any doubt that a change of weather was impending, although there was
nothing at present to indicate very precisely what the character of the
change was to be. We therefore went aloft, three of us on the foremast,
and three on the main, and beginning with the royals and working
downward, snugly stowed everything that we had previously hauled down.
It was whilst we were thus engaged that an increasing uneasiness in the
motion of the ship first became apparent; and looking about us for the
cause, we became aware of the fact that a cross swell had begun to
gather, and was slowly creeping down to us from the north-west--the sure
precursor, Forbes affirmed, of a stiff blow from that quarter. In this
opinion I fully agreed; still there was at that moment nothing of a
menacing character in the aspect of the sky, beyond an increasing
thickness of the atmosphere; and I was therefore hopeful that we should
have a sufficiency of time given us to complete our preparations for the
worst that could happen, before it came upon us.
The furling of the light canvas was neither a very long nor a very
laborious job, and in less than an hour we were all once more on deck.
The north-westerly swell had by this time gathered sufficient weight to
render itself distinctly perceptible even to the eye, and, the ship
having swung round broadside-on to it, she was rolling in a fashion that
set all the trusses, parrels, and bulkheads creaking, the yards jerking,
the patent block-sheaves squeaking, the heavy canvas flapping, the
reef-points pattering, the cabin-doors rattling, and the wheel-chains
clanking, so that, with the heavy wash of water along the bends and
under the counter, and an occasional clatter of crockery in the pantry,
quite a small Babel of sound was raised about us. The motion of the
ship, however, though more violent, was not so awkward and uncomfortable
as it had been, doubtless in consequence of the young swell killing the
old; and still there was no sign whatever of an immediate breeze. But
another look at the barometer showed that the mercury was still falling,
and now at a more rapid rate. Fully convinced, therefore, that
something rather more serious than a mere thunder-squall was brewing, we
now went to work with a will, and, having first furled the mizzen,
hauled up the courses and stowed them, leaving the ship with nothing
showing but her two topsails and the fore-topmast staysail, which--as
our topsails were patent-reefing--left us practically prepared for
almost anything that might happen.
The haze had by this time thickened overhead to such an extent that the
sun showed in it as a mere white, rayless disc, the light of which
seemed to be gradually dying out; and by the time that noon had arrived
the atmosphere had become so obscure that the horizon was no longer
distinguishable, and I, therefore, lost my observation for the latitude.
At one o'clock, when our neat stewardess summoned me below to luncheon,
the mercury was still sinking, which, with the slow progress of the
change that was taking place, assured me that when the outburst came, it
would be something a little out of the common. Luckily, we had plenty
of sea-room, and a thoroughly staunch little ship under our feet; I
therefore looked forward to the impending conflict with tolerable
equanimity.
At length, just as I had completed my hasty lunch, there occurred a
sudden but perceptible darkening of the atmosphere which seemed to
indicate that the expected change was now imminent, and, springing up
the companion-way to the deck, I found a most extraordinary scene
awaiting me. The thickness that had hitherto pervaded the atmosphere
had vanished, as if by magic, leaving the air astonishingly clear and
transparent right to the boundary of the horizon, and revealing a vast
expanse of dense, livid, purple-grey cloud, which had overspread the
north-western half of the heavens, and was at the precise moment passing
over and shutting out the sun from view. The edge of the cloud was as
straight and sharply defined as though it had been trimmed with a knife,
and it divided the firmament into two almost equal portions, the larger
of which was a beautiful expanse of clear, serene, unclouded blue; while
the other hung livid and threatening above us, with the promise of a
raving tornado lurking within its black bosom. Immediately overhead the
colour of this immense cloud curtain was a cold, slaty blue, from
whence, as the eye travelled down its expanse toward the north-western
horizon, the hue became darker until where it met the water it was as
black as night; while, underneath it, the sea undulated restlessly, with
the writhings of an angry serpent, showing a surface as lustreless and
of the same colour as molten lead. Low down in the bosom of the cloud
could be seen occasional palpitating quiverings, as though the fires
within it were striving to burst their way through, and presently, quite
at the horizon, a flash of lightning sparked vividly out of it.
"Are the topsail halliards all ready for running, Mr Forbes?" said I.
"All ready, sir," was the reply; and, turning away, the mate walked
quietly forward, throwing the falls off the pins on his way.
A minute later I heard him telling Joe to stand by the fore-topsail
halliards, and the rest of the men to lay aft to the braces, following
them along the deck and stationing himself at the main-topsail halliards
in readiness to let them run. At this moment Sir Edgar, with the two
ladies and the children, came on deck and looked round with startled
eyes upon the portentous scene; but, upon my earnest recommendation, the
youngsters were at once sent below again, the ladies holding themselves
in readiness to follow at a moment's notice. Sir Edgar, however,
announced his determination to remain on deck, upon the chance of his
becoming useful; upon which, Lady Emily, without saying a word, went
below and brought up on deck not only her husband's, but also my own
mackintosh coat--a little piece of thoughtful consideration for which I
was deeply grateful, since the aspect of the weather was now such that I
dared not leave the deck for a single instant.
Slowly the great cloud worked its insidious way athwart the heavens
until nearly three-fourths of the firmament was obscured, yet still
there was not air enough to have extinguished a burning match. Then,
while the barque was lying helpless, with her head pointing directly
toward the quarter from which we expected the outfly, a white mist
suddenly appeared ahead, sweeping down upon us with the speed of an
express train, its course along the water indicated by a long line of
continuous white.
"Here comes the rain, at last!" exclaimed Forbes, turning to me and
pointing ahead with one hand, as he grasped the fall of the main-topsail
halliards with the other.
"Ay, and the wind with it," I answered him, as I sprang to the wheel and
whirled it hard over.
"Let go your topsail halliards! Away below, ladies, for your lives; the
gale will be upon us in less than a minute. Lay aft here, some of you,
and round-in upon the larboard fore-braces! Mr Forbes, get the
starboard fore-topmast staysail sheets aft and well belayed, if you
please. Whew! here it is; hold on, everybody!"
The rain seemed to reach us a single instant ahead of the wind, dashing
vertically down upon us, for just that brief period, not in drops, but
in an overwhelming deluge that I verily believe must have drowned us had
it lasted; then, as the hurricane reached us in a deafening medley of
sound, the sheets of water were caught and swept horizontally along with
a force that it was literally impossible to face without the risk of
being blinded, while the barque gathered stern-way until the water was
piled up level with her taffrail, and for a few breathless seconds I was
firmly convinced that it would end in our foundering, stern-foremost.
The good little ship was paying off all the time, however, and presently
she had swept round until we had it fairly abeam, when she laid down to
it until her lee lower yardarms were dipping in the water. Then,
signing to the men at the braces to haul round the head-yards, I waited
until she had lost her stern-way, when I shifted the helm, putting it
hard up, and she began to draw slowly ahead. The danger was now
practically over, for the ship continued to pay off, and presently she
righted with a sudden jerk, and went foaming away before it, with the
white froth level with her hawse-pipes.
The rain was by this time over, and while all was still thick as a hedge
ahead and to leeward of us, the atmosphere astern was clear, save for
the spindrift and scud-water with which it was heavily loaded along the
water surface. The first mad fury of the outfly was past; but, even so,
it was blowing harder than I had ever seen it blow before; so hard,
indeed, that I wondered at the brave way in which the close-reefed
topsails withstood the tremendous strain and drag of the ship upon them.
So great was this strain that I began to entertain very serious fears
for the masts; and, now that it was too late, deeply regretted that I
had not stripped the ship entirely bare and faced the outfly under bare
poles; and it would have been a positive relief to me to have seen both
topsails go flying out of the boltropes. They still held on, however;
and a little later, when Forbes, having at my request gone the round of
the chain-plates, and subjected them to a careful examination, reported
that he could see no sign of any of the bolts drawing, I began to hope
that, after all, we might pull through without any very serious damage,
especially as Joe almost immediately afterwards sounded the pumps and
reported that everything was right below.
We had been scudding for about an hour when the sea began to rise, and
by five o'clock in the afternoon there was a very high, steep sea
following us, which I foresaw would soon become dangerous. I therefore
determined to watch for an opportunity, and, if possible, heave the ship
to before dark. As a preliminary to this manoeuvre. I ordered the
fore-topmast staysail to be hauled down; and this having been
accomplished without damage to the sail, two of the men--Barr and the
Swede--lay out upon the bowsprit to stow it, under the direction of the
mate. This, at the moment that the order was given, seemed a perfectly
simple affair, and entirely free from danger; it unfortunately happened,
however--just at the moment when the sail had been made secure and the
men were on the point of laying in again, as Forbes subsequently
informed me--that an unusually heavy sea overtook us and, catching the
barque under her counter, raised her stern high in the air, slightly
pooping us, while it buried her bows and bowsprit deep in the water.
Standing at the wheel, I saw what was about to happen, and was in the
very act of shouting a warning to the men to hold on, when the sea
curled in over the taffrail, completely burying me for the moment; and
when, a few seconds later, I was able to clear my eyes of water, both
men _had vanished_, and Forbes was running aft, crying out to me that
they were overboard. I looked astern, but could see nothing of either
of them; nor, in the increasingly perilous situation of the ship, dared
I leave the wheel even for the brief space of time requisite to cut
adrift and throw overboard a life-buoy. Forbes, however, dashed aft and
did this with most commendable promptitude; after which he, with the
assistance of Joe and San Domingo, lost not a moment in counter-bracing
the yards, when we successfully brought the ship to on the larboard
tack, with her fore-topsail aback. This done, and with Joe at the
wheel, Forbes and I clambered into the maintop and peered long into the
fast gathering gloom, in the faint hope that even yet we might catch
sight of one or both of the missing men, and be able to do something to
save them; but we never saw either of them again.