We had for some time very fine weather, which confirmed Bob Hunt in his
opinion that the cat, Duchess, was as wise as he had at first believed.
"She knowed it," he observed, looking sagaciously at Dick Nailor, who
was sitting on the capstan with his arms folded across his broad chest,
looking out ahead, "she knowed it, and she'll stick by this craft till
we get safe into Port Jackson, you'll see that."
"As to that, I see that the cat is there, and that our little craft is
afloat, and every prospect of remaining so!" answered Dick. It was
seldom he uttered so long an expression. "You don't even say that the
cat has had any hand in keeping her afloat; and to my mind, it's just
this: she found the craft tight and wholesome, she was fond of us, and
she saw that we didn't leave her, and so she didn't. No, no, Bob, the
old Duchess had nothing to do with the matter. There's one aloft who
took care of us, and if the cat had fallen overboard, or gone ashore and
been left behind, it would have made no manner of difference."
"Then, I suppose you mean to say that there is no such person as the
Flying Dutchman?" observed Bob; "everybody who has rounded the Cape has
heard of him."
"There might have been some villain of a Dutchman who swore that he'd
beat about the seas till the Day of Judgment; but depend on it, if he
ever did utter such an oath, he's gone to answer for it long ago--far
away from this world," said Dick Nailor, solemnly. "I've heard many,
many men talk of the Flying Dutchman, but I never yet met with one who
had seen him."
Neither had Bob Hunt, and so he had nothing to answer to this--indeed,
talkative as he was, he always had to knock under to Dick's sturdy,
matter-of-fact arguments, or to his pertinacious silence, if no argument
was forthcoming.
The quaint fellow would fold his arms, sit down, and look a picture of
stolidity.
I have not said much about how my children passed their time during the
voyage. The boys were generally employed in sailing the vessel, or
about the rigging; for my object was not only to keep the vessel in good
order during the voyage, but to take her into Port Jackson looking as
fresh as I could. However, the boys had time to practice writing and to
study their books, and both Peter and Charles White were able to help
them. The girls had plenty of work to do, as my wife had laid in a
store of all sorts of things to make up. They also were not idle with
regard to their books; and they had several pleasant ones to read. I
found also that Charley White was very happy to help them forward in
their studies, and Susan took it into her head that she should very much
like to learn navigation. She, however, gave up that idea, and took to
singing, as Charley, who knew something about music, thought he could
help her, and it was likely to prove a more amusing study, and quite as
useful to her. I may safely say that no one was idle on board; and what
is more, that not a real quarrel, and scarcely a dispute of any sort
occurred among the inhabitants of our little world. If one differed in
opinion from another, it was always good naturedly, and all discussions
were finished amicably. People in families on shore would always be
able to do the same if they kept a watch over their tempers, and did not
allow envy, jealousy, and pride to spring up and hold dominion in their
hearts.
Our tempers were occasionally tried. When within a week's sail of the
western shores of Australia the wind fell to a dead calm. The sea was
smooth as glass, and the hot sun came down with fearful force on our
heads, while the reflection of his rays from the glittering sea almost
blinded our eyes. Long as I had ploughed the salt ocean, I had never
felt the heat greater. For two or three days it was endurable, but
after that every one began to complain; even Duchess looked out for a
shady place, under the sail or bulwarks, to lie down in, and poor
Steadfast went panting about the deck with his tongue out, the fowls
hung down their heads, and the merry robins and sparrows ceased to
chirp. If a chip or a feather was thrown overboard, it lay motionless
alongside, though the schooner herself kept moving round, with her head
towards all the points of the compass.
The heat created a violent thirst: everybody was thirsty--the men, my
children, my wife and I, and the poor animals; they required water more
than we did, for they got no moisture out of the packed hay. We gave
them as much as we dared, and, as soon as the sun was down, had them on
deck to give them fresh air.
We were not alone in our misfortunes, however, for when the sun rose, on
the first morning of the calm, his rays fell on the white canvas of a
ship, just rising out of the western horizon. After some time she
disappeared, either because her sails had been clewed up, or that she
was too far off to be seen unless the sun was shining directly on them.
We had many discussions as to what she was. I need scarcely say that
she caused us no little uneasiness.
Still the calm continued. Day after day the sun went down in the calm
ocean, and rose again to cast a ruddy glow over its mirror-like surface,
and there in the distance lay the stranger, though only sharp eyes could
have detected her.
I began to be very anxious about the sheep. The success of the
undertaking depended in a great measure on their being kept alive,
still, we had to put them on an allowance, as we had ourselves. Little
Margaret and Tommy couldn't understand why they shouldn't have as much
water as they wanted, when there was plenty alongside. They could not
understand that salt water was worse than no water at all; nor could the
poor sheep, probably, when they were brought up on deck, and gazed out
on the glittering ocean around them.
When matters had come to this pass, I began for the first time to lose
heart. I was sitting with my head bowed down, resting on my hand, when
my boy Peter said to me--"Father I have an idea--I have heard that fresh
water may be got out of salt, and I think I can manage it, if you do not
mind expending our fuel."
These words restored my spirits. We had laid in a large supply of fuel
at the Cape; water was of more consequence than anything else. It would
be better to break up all the spare cases, and even the bulkheads and
cabin furniture, than to go without it. Peter soon explained his plan;
I agreed to try it. We, after a search among the cargo, found two large
camp kettles. Soldering down their lids, we bored a hole in the top of
one and in the side of the other, and joined the two with a piece of
piping, three feet long. The one with a hole in the top we placed on
the fire. We fitted a funnel to the spout, through which we poured in
water; the other kettle was fixed on a stand, and we soldered a small
pipe in at the bottom. Above the outside kettle we slung a bucket full
of water also, with a small pipe in it, and the top of the kettle we
covered over with cloths, which, by the means of the bucket, were kept
constantly wet. The kettle on the fire was filled, the fire blazed up,
and, as the water boiled, we watched with anxiety the result of the
process. Some drops at length fell from the lower kettle, and a jug was
ready to catch them. Peter eagerly poured the water into a mug, and,
putting it to his lips, with a triumphant smile passed it round to us
all. It was deliciously cool and perfectly sweet. It now came pouring
out quickly, and we got up an empty cask to contain it. We all knelt
down and thanked God that we had obtained the means for sustaining life,
should our supply of water altogether fail. It took a long time, and
used up a large quantity of fuel to produce even a gallon of fresh
water, yet a gallon was sufficient liquid for everybody on board for a
couple of days, and we might thus give a larger share to the sheep.
You might not think so, but the gale off the Cape did not cause me as
much anxiety as this long calm. I ought, I confess, to have remembered
that in both instances God was watching over us. In the one, I trusted
to my stout little craft and my seamanship; in the other, my seamanship
was of no avail--the stoutest ship would not have prevented all on board
dying a frightful death had the calm continued. Here was my human
folly: on both occasions, had I thrown all my care on God, I should have
saved myself from all the anxiety I had suffered. This was increased by
the uncertainty I felt as to the character of the sail we saw in the
distance. I was in my own mind persuaded that she was a French
privateer, and if we were discovered, her boats would probably pay us a
visit, even if she did not.
We were all seated languidly about on the deck, under an awning rigged
to give us some shade, when Peter started up, exclaiming, "There comes
the breeze." Some downy feathers, fastened by a silk thread to the
after backstay, had, he thought, moved for a moment though the vane
quickly dropped again. We were speedily on foot, but the first glance
at the glowing, tranquil ocean, like some huge mirror on which we were
resting, made me fear that my son had been mistaken. I shook my head,
and a sigh escaped from several of our party, as they sank down again on
their seats. Just then, however, I caught sight of a light cat's-paw
skimming over the water in the distance, and Peter, springing at the
same moment into the rigging and pointing westward, exclaimed, "Here it
comes, father, no mistake about it now." I followed him up the rigging,
and saw in the far west a wide-extending dark blue line moving quickly
on towards us. Peter and I sprang back on deck, got the awning stowed,
the head sails set, and the big square-sail ready for hoisting. The
cat's-paws came thicker and thicker, the dark blue line increasing in
width, till in a short time we were staggering away before as brisk a
breeze as the little craft could desire. All languor quickly vanished,
and we served out an additional supply of water to our poor sheep. My
anxiety, however, did not cease, for just afterwards, as I was sweeping
the horizon with my telescope, I saw, rising above it, the royals of a
square-rigged ship, the same, I concluded, which I had seen at the
commencement of the calm. She might be a friend, or an English ship,
and be ready to supply us with any necessaries we might require: but I
had taken it into my head that she was an enemy, and I could not tell to
what treatment we might be subjected. Sometimes French officers behaved
very kindly to passengers captured by them, but during the republican
period many of those in command were brutal men, who outraged all the
laws of humanity when they got the crews and passengers of an English
ship into their power. I, of course, said nothing of this to my wife or
children. I, however consulted with Charley White and Peter, and we
agreed that it would be more prudent to alter our course to the
northward for a few hours, so as to allow the ship to pass us during the
night. Though we were not now visible to her, when the sun came to set
in the west she would have got so far nearer to us that his rays falling
on our canvas, we should be probably seen from her tops.
This plan we followed. Charley White had become even more anxious than
I was, and he was constantly going aloft to watch the stranger. Half an
hour before sunset, we could see half way down her topsails from the
deck. Though they looked no bigger than a small pocket handkerchief,
the sharp eyes of my girls caught sight of them, and seemed much
surprised that we were not eager to speak with the stranger. I was very
glad when darkness hid us, as I hoped, from her. We arranged, however,
to keep a bright look out all night, and to furl everything, should she
pass near us, so as to escape observation. Charley and Peter kept a
watch together. They insisted on my turning in after my first watch was
over, and in truth I could leave the vessel in their care with as much
confidence as if I had her myself.