"All right; I know what that means, without turning up the numbers,"
said the skipper quickly. "It means, `Send away boats to ship in
distress.' So have the goodness to pipe away the pinnace and first and
second cutters, if you please, Mr Annesley."
In another moment the boatswain's shrill pipe was sounding throughout
the ship; the boats, which were hanging at the boom, were brought
alongside, manned, placed in charge of a midshipman to each boat, and
despatched with all speed to the assistance of the unlucky "Proselyte,"
from which, by this time, dense clouds of dark smoke were issuing.
Meanwhile the boats from the rest of the fleet were also pushing off
with the same object as ourselves; and an exciting race ensued. We were
among the last to arrive alongside, having had a longer distance to pull
than any of the other boats; and when we reached the doomed craft, the
flames were bursting out through her ports, roaring fiercely up through
her hatchways, and soaring aloft by means of her rigging like fiery
serpents. Some of her guns were already nearly red-hot. Part of her
main-deck had fallen in; and her main and mizzen-masts were so far burnt
through at the foot that they threatened momentarily to fall.
Although the flames were blazing so fiercely, and had obtained such a
complete hold upon the ship that the magazine was expected to explode at
any moment, and although the enemy, taking full advantage of the
disaster, was concentrating a terrific fire upon that part of the ship
where her crew were mustered, awaiting their turn to go down over the
side into the boats which were waiting to receive them, there was not a
trace of hurry or confusion. Commander Serocold, who had been given the
command of the unfortunate craft, stood on the rail and personally
directed the process of trans-shipping; sending down first the injured,
then the younger and rawer portion of the crew, then the veterans--the
sturdy old bronzed and weather-beaten salts, whose nerves were
thoroughly proof against the worst terrors of battle, fire, or flood,--
next the officers, and finally, when he was quite satisfied that no
living being but himself remained on board, he raised his uniform cap as
if in salute, slipped down the side, and gave the order to "give way."
"Stretch out to your work, lads," he exclaimed, as the oars dashed into
the water; "throw your whole hearts into it; the fire must be close to
the magazine, and--"
A terrific concussion, a dull heavy roar, and the poor old "Proselyte"
was rent to pieces, as a broad sheet of flame flashed up from her hull
skyward. A wall of water some five feet high leapt up just under our
stern, and immediately afterwards curled over upon us, completely
swamping the boat. Fragments of planks and beams, heavy bolts, spars,
and other wreckage whizzed through the air all around us; and one of the
guns, still mounted on its carriage, and with its shattered tackles
streaming in the air, was hurled outwards and fell into the water with a
tremendous splash, within six feet of where we were all left struggling
in the water. Then a great cloud of black smoke shot up into the air;
and the blackened remains of the hull, collapsing amidships, sank out of
sight, creating a great seething whirl, which dragged us all helplessly
into its vortex, and sucked us ruthlessly down, down deep into the
darkening bosom of the ocean.
Stunned, and almost insensible from the violence of the shock, I still
had presence of mind left to close my nostrils with the fingers of one
hand, and to hold my breath, as I was helplessly whirled hither and
thither; and at last, just as my powers of endurance had reached the
point of exhaustion, I rose again to the surface, and beheld once more
the welcome sight of the bright sunlight flashing upon the dancing
billows.
The water all round me was thickly strewn with wreckage; and a few
pieces were still falling here and there, showing the height to which
the fragments had been projected. A dozen or so of human heads appeared
on the surface of the water at no great distance from me; and others
were momentarily popping up above the waves; the owners, one and all,
immediately striking out, more or less scientifically, for the nearest
floating object.
Looking round me, I soon had the satisfaction of discovering the gallant
commander of the ill-fated "Proselyte," clinging to the keel of our
boat, which was floating bottom-up at no great distance from me. Seeing
that all hands appeared pretty well able to take care of themselves, I
at once struck out and joined him.
"Ah! Mr Chester," he exclaimed, as I ranged alongside, "glad to see
that you have weathered it so well. It was a very narrow squeak; and we
have come out of it a good deal better than I dared expect. I have been
trying to count heads, and I make out thirty-eight, all told; how many
men had you with you?"
"Twelve," I answered.
"Twelve?" he repeated, "then that brings us out all right, for I counted
twenty-four of my people as they passed down into the boat, and I make
twenty-five, which, with you and your dozen, brings up the complement.
Here come the boats to pick us up. I have no doubt the explosion has
frightened all the sharks within a dozen miles of us, and started them
off to seaward under a heavy press of sail; otherwise I should not feel
quite so easy in my mind about those poor fellows. Some of them are
clinging to very small pieces of wreckage, and would have no chance if
attacked."
I remarked that I thought there was not very much danger; an opinion
which soon received singular confirmation; for while we were still
speaking, immense numbers of fish of all sizes and descriptions, some
killed, and others merely stunned by the violence of the explosion,
floated up to the surface; and shortly afterwards, when the boats had
picked us all up, and we were pulling out toward the fleet, we fell in
with an enormous shark, floating helplessly on his back, in an
apparently paralysed condition. A running bowline was promptly slipped
over his tail and drawn taut; and he was triumphantly and unresistingly
towed alongside the "Victory," and hoisted inboard.