When, shortly before eight bells, I was called by the wardroom steward,
I at once became aware that a change of some sort had occurred in the
weather. For, on the one hand, the list of the ship to starboard seemed
to be no longer so heavy as it had been when I turned in; while, on the
other, the motion was far and away greater--so violent indeed was it
that, seasoned as I was to the movements of a heaving deck, I
experienced the greatest difficulty in maintaining my balance. When
presently I went on deck, my previous impressions were fully confirmed;
for although it was still blowing a whole gale, the maniacal fury of the
hurricane was past, while the sea, no longer flattened down and kept
practically level by the irresistible strength of the tempest, had risen
rapidly and was now an almost terrifying sight to behold. Especially
was this the case when the ship settled into the trough, with one great
foaming liquid mountain rushing away to leeward of her, while another
enormous grey-back, towering above us as high as our lower mast-heads,
came swooping down upon us from to windward with hissing angry crest,
threatening to hurl itself bodily down upon our decks and sink us out of
hand.
Yet that threat was never fulfilled, for the yacht was behaving
magnificently. She came to in most perfect style as she climbed the
breast of each oncoming comber, heeling steeply to it the while and
turning up a bold weather bow to meet its onslaught. Then, as the crest
curled in over her turtle-back topgallant forecastle, smothering it in
whirling and blowing foam and spray, she would swing upright and, with a
lift of her stern and an easy weather roll, go sliding down into the
trough beyond, her head paying off as she did so. And although she was
still under bare poles, with her head yards aback, I could see, upon
looking over the side, that she was forging ahead at a speed of about a
knot and a half.
But although the wind was no longer blowing with hurricane force it
still had the strength of a heavy gale, and while a reference to the
barometer showed that the mercury had begun to rise, there was no other
sign of improvement in the weather. The sky was almost as black and
threatening in its aspect as ever, with innumerable shreds and tatters
of dirty whitish-grey cloud sweeping athwart at a speed that made one
giddy to look at; while there could be no question that the sea was
gathering height, weight, and volume with the passage of every minute.
The air was still heavily charged with flying spume and spindrift,
necessitating the use of oilskins and sou'westers, and keeping our
spars, rigging, and decks streaming; but we could see with tolerable
clearness for at least a mile in every direction.
Yet although the general feeling out on deck was one of dampness and
discomfort, we had not the added misery of cold to deal with. On the
contrary, it was so warm that shortly after I went on deck, having
breakfasted, I felt my long oilskin coat and sea boots so uncomfortably
warm that I presently slipped below again for a moment, and, removing
them and my socks, donned a short oilskin jacket and returned to the
deck barefooted, for the sake of the greater comfort. I took it for
granted that Miss Anthea would never dream of turning out in such
weather, while I felt sure that Mrs Vansittart would excuse me, under
the circumstances, the more so as she had often before come on deck
while we were paddling about, barelegged, washing decks. And indeed
when, shortly afterward, she emerged through the companion way, encased
in a thin mackintosh reaching to the hem of her dress, and with a light
sou'-wester on her head which in nowise detracted from her good looks,
she at once set me at my ease by laughingly complimenting me upon the
sensible character of my attire. Then, in a very different tone of
voice, she thanked me for having come to her rescue on the previous
night when, overcome by the terrific buffeting of the hurricane, she had
swooned while lashed to the mast.
We--that is to say, Mrs Vansittart, Kennedy, and I--were still standing
together under the lee of the wheelhouse, discussing the weather
generally, and the probable duration of the gale in particular, when the
boy Julius came up from below, emerging from the companion way at the
precise moment when the ship, with a terrific lee roll, was climbing to
the summit of an exceptionally heavy sea. Precisely how it happened I
could not possibly say, it occurred so suddenly, and moreover I only saw
the last part of it; but I imagine that the lad must have lost, or
inadvertently released, his hold upon the side of the companion at the
critical moment when the velocity of the ship's roll was at its highest.
Be that as it may, Julius no sooner stepped out on deck than he went
with a run straight to the lee rail of the poop, fetched up against it
with a force that must have knocked the breath out of him, and then--
although the rail was breast-high to him--in some inconceivable fashion
seemed to lurch forward upon it, turn a complete somersault over it, and
plunge headlong into the sea. It was Mrs Vansittart's shriek of
"Julius!" and her look of petrified horror, that caused me to wheel
round, and I was just in time to see the lad go whirling over the rail.
One's thoughts move with lightning-like rapidity in moments of
emergency, and as I saw the boy going I thought, "Kennedy is no good;
those heavy sea boots of his would drag him down and sink him in a few
seconds; I must go myself!" And as the thought flashed through my brain
I tore off my oilskin jacket and, shouting to Kennedy, "Lifebuoy--bend
to signal halyards!" made a dash for the rail, while Mrs Vansittart's
shrieks lent wings to my feet.
As I reached the rail the ship topped the surge, which went rushing and
roaring away beneath her and to leeward in a tremendous boil of foam, in
the rear of which there was a space of almost glass-smooth
indigo-coloured water, down through which I thought I saw something that
might be the boy's body. Without hesitating an instant I vaulted the
rail, landing upon the curved turtle-back outboard, flung my hands above
my head, and plunged straight for the spot where, a moment before, I
thought I had seen the lad's body.
I went deep, kicking and striking out vigorously as I felt the water
close about me, for the thought occurred to me that if the boy had
really hurt himself badly when colliding with the rail, he would
probably not rise to the surface at all, but would slowly sink. As I
forced my way downward I looked about me, and presently saw a glimmering
white something far below which might be the object of my quest, for the
boy was dressed entirely in white. Desperately I urged myself downward,
the gloom increasing with every stroke; and at length, when I felt as
though my lungs would burst and I could not retain my breath another
second, I grabbed something, I scarcely knew what, and turning, struck
upward toward the blue glimmer of light far overhead.
How I managed to hold my breath during that seemingly endless climb to
the surface I cannot say, but I did it somehow, my head emerging from
the water at the very instant when the air escaped from my lungs in one
long gasp. I quickly filled them again, looked to see what I had
brought to the surface with me, and found that, as I expected, it was
the apparently lifeless form of Master Julius. I had grabbed the lad by
his ankle, so that he hung head downward in my grasp. That would never
do; so, treading water vigorously, I shifted the position of the body
until I had the head resting upon my shoulder; and at that moment I felt
myself being hove up, up, up, and the next instant a very mountain of
water went hissing and roaring over my head, plunging me helplessly
hither and thither and momentarily threatening to tear my prize from my
hold.
As soon as I had again got my breath, I looked round for the yacht. She
was nowhere in sight; but presently, as I began to wonder what had
become of her, I saw her topmast-heads swing into view beyond the head
of the comber that had just swept past me, and then up she swept until
the whole of her hull was visible. I saw a crowd of people gathered aft
by the taffrail, and others in the rigging, all peering out under the
sharp of their hands in various directions. Then, as the craft
surmounted the grey-back and came sliding down its weather slope,
rolling to windward until I could see nearly half her main-deck, one of
the figures suddenly pointed toward me, and in an instant every face
turned my way, while one man, whom I presently recognised as Kennedy,
put one hand to the side of his mouth, as though shouting, while he
pointed with the other.
Not a word could I hear, however, for my ears were still full of water,
while such sound as entered them was merely the hiss and roar of the
sea. But I guessed what the mate was pointing at, the more readily as I
saw one man paying out a thin line over the rail; so I looked eagerly
about me, and presently saw, some thirty fathoms away, a white lifebuoy
floating in the midst of a wide surface of foam, the ship at this time
being perhaps twice as far from me as the lifebuoy. But just as I
started to strike out for the buoy, another heavy sea swept over me,
treating me pretty much as the first had done, and all but suffocating
me into the bargain.
I thought that, hampered as I was with the boy's inert body, I should
never reach the buoy, for I seemed utterly unable to make so much as an
inch of progress in that frightful sea; and once, after I had been
overwhelmed about a dozen times, the thought came to me that if I wanted
to save myself I must give up the idea of saving the body, which after
all would be a useless task, since I felt certain that the lad was dead.
But no; I could not return to the ship and face the lad's mother
empty-handed. I could picture her despair under such circumstances, for
Julius was Mrs Vansittart's only son, and, spoiled as he was, I
believed that she loved him more than her husband, more than her
daughter, more than her own life. No, it was not to be thought of; I
had undertaken the task and I must execute it. I had raised her hopes,
and I would not disappoint them if God would only give me strength to
reach that buoy.
At length, after what seemed like a century of effort, I did reach it,
and, laying my hand upon its nearest rim, tilted it over my head and
under my armpits, at the very moment--as I afterward learned--when those
aboard had paid out four sets of signal halyards to the bare end of the
fourth set!
And now came the delicate and difficult task of hauling me alongside in
the shortest possible space of time, without parting the halyards on the
one hand or drowning me on the other. But Kennedy was the man for the
job. Even as I vaulted the rail and plunged into the water his active
mind, aided by past experience, had enabled him not only to grasp the
full import of my hasty words concerning the lifebuoy and the signal
halyards, but also to foresee exactly what must inevitably happen. And
while he was in the very act of unreeving the peak ensign halyards,
preparatory to bending them on to the lifebuoy which his ready knife had
slashed off the taffrail, he was shouting for somebody to pass the word
for Mackenzie, the engineer.
When Mac, already issuing from his cabin to learn what all the sudden
outcry was about, received the message and came rushing aft in response
to the call, he in turn was fully prepared for the order which Kennedy
gave him, to go below and set his engine going dead easy astern. Thus
by the time that I reached and got into the buoy, the ship's way through
the water was stopped, and, highly dangerous though such a proceeding
undoubtedly was, under the circumstances, they were able to haul me
gradually alongside and up under the counter without mishap, the engine
of course being stopped again at the right moment. And when once they
had got me under the lee quarter of the ship all the rest was of course
comparatively easy. Two of the hands standing by hove me a couple of
standing bowlines on ropes' ends, one of which I slipped over the
inanimate Julius's head and under his armpits; and when I saw that they
had got the body safely in over the rail I slipped into the other
myself, and was hauled aboard amid the triumphant yells of the crew--to
swoon as my feet touched the deck.
But there was nothing much the matter with me. I had swooned simply
through over-exertion, coupled perhaps with the reaction at finding
myself once more safely aboard the yacht; and Harper, the surgeon,
having had the foresight to order someone to stand by with brandy as a
restorative, in case of need, they soon brought me round again. By
Kennedy's orders I was helped below to my cabin, to turn in and rest for
a bit, learning, as I went, that Harper and the boy's mother had taken
charge of the lad the moment that he was hauled aboard, and had carried
him below to his cabin. I afterward heard, however, that before she
quitted the deck, Mrs Vansittart had given orders that she was to be
informed, at the earliest possible opportunity, how things were going
with me; and I further learned that, upon being told I was doing well,
she fell upon her knees by the side of her boy's bed and, bursting into
tears, sobbed forth audible thanks to God for my preservation.
As for me, after vomiting a considerable quantity of salt water, I was
helped to undress, given a vigorous towelling, and put into my bunk,
where, having swallowed a tumblerful of hot brandy and water, I quickly
dropped off to sleep, and remained asleep until after four bells of the
afternoon watch had struck. Then, feeling pretty much my former self,
although a bit shaky on my pins, and very sore about the chest, I turned
out, donned a dry suit of clothes, and sallied forth to the wardroom,
with the twofold object of ascertaining if there was any news as to
Master Julius's fate and getting something to eat.
Upon entering the wardroom I found Kennedy, Mackenzie, Grimwood the
purser, and, somewhat to my astonishment, the doctor, present and
chatting animatedly. Moreover, I gathered that they were talking about
me, for as I passed through the open doorway Kennedy looked up and
exclaimed:
"And begorra here's himself, no less! Talk of the--Here, bring yourself
to an anchor on the sofa, lad, and let's have a look at ye! Faith! but
your morning's experience has taken it out of ye, by the looks of ut.
But never ye mind that, me bhoy, ye'll weather it all right, and ye'll
always have the memory of havin' done a gallant thing, whatever happens.
By the Piper, lad, we're all proud of ye, from the skipper downward."
They all came crowding round me as I sank upon the sofa, and insisted
upon shaking hands with me, saying so many nice and complimentary things
to me that I presently began to feel quite abashed. Then Harper
interfered authoritatively.
"There!" he exclaimed, waving the crowd away, "that will do, you chaps.
Let up upon the youngster a bit and give him a chance. What you want,"
he continued, turning to me and laying his fingers upon my pulse, "is a
meal first--not a heavy meal, but something good and nourishing, and
then another spell of sleep. Mac, have the goodness to press the button
for the steward, and I'll give him an order. How is your appetite, my
British hero?"
"Why," said I, "to confess the truth I turned out because I felt hungry,
and came in here with the hope of getting something to eat. But,
Doctor, I want to know about the boy. I did the best I could for him,
and was determined to bring him back with me if I was fortunate enough
to fetch the ship again; but I felt certain there was no life left in
him, even before I got hold of the buoy."
"And that is just where you were mistaken, young man. Oh! here you are,
steward," as that individual entered in response to the summons of the
bell. "I want you to go to the cook and tell him--from me, you
understand--to give you a good big basin of that chicken broth I
instructed him to prepare, and bring it here for Mr Leigh, with a slice
of bread from a loaf baked yesterday, if anything of the sort remains.
Then, when you have brought the broth, go to Mr Marsh and ask him to
give you a small bottle of Mumm, and bring it along here. Now get a
move on, and let me have those things quick."
"Well, Doctor, what about Master Julius?" I prompted, as the steward
retired.
"Why, as it happened, he was not dead when we hauled him aboard,"
replied Harper, "though he was so near to it that it cost me two solid
hours or more of strenuous work to restore animation. But I believe I
shall pull him through now, with luck. He dropped off to sleep about
half an hour ago, and I left him in charge of his mother and the chief
stewardess, with instructions to send for me upon the instant of his
waking. How do you like your broth?"
"It is delicious," I replied, "and I am enjoying it; although I feel a
bit mean in taking it, for I suppose it was prepared for Julius, wasn't
it?"
"Don't you trouble about that, young un," returned the doctor. "The
cook has my orders; and if he has attended to them--as I have no doubt
he has--there will be plenty for the pair of you. Will you have some
more?"
But I declined; I had had quite sufficient, I said. Thereupon Harper
opened the half-bottle of wine which the steward had brought, poured the
contents into a tumbler, and ordered me to toss it off and then go back
to my bunk and get another sleep.
"Sleep just as long as you care to," he said, "and don't worry about
watches until I give you leave. A night in ought to fix you up again, I
think; but we will see what you look like when you turn out for
breakfast to-morrow."
I was soon asleep again, but the first bugle call for dinner awakened
me, and, feeling a good deal better, I turned out and dressed, noticing,
as I did so, that the ship's movements were very much easier and more
rhythmical than when I had lain down. Indeed, I had the feeling that
she was sailing again; and, glancing through my porthole, I found that
this was so, and that the weather had cleared. The sea, now a deep
sapphire blue, had gone down very considerably, the sky was clear of
clouds, and upon looking more closely at the water I was able to detect
the shadow of the ship upon it, and thereby determine that she was under
her three topsails, courses, fore-topmast staysail, and spanker. And by
the swirl of yeast past my port I estimated that she must be reeling off
about eight knots.
While I was still engaged in dressing there came a gentle tap at my
door, to which I answered "Come!" whereupon the door opened and Harper
entered.
"So you are turning out again," he said, after standing and looking at
me a moment. "How do you find yourself?"
"Oh! ever so much better," I replied; "indeed, I think I may say that I
am practically all right again. The soreness of my chest is all but
gone, and--"
"Let me feel your pulse," he commanded; and I stretched out my arm to
him.
He laid his finger on my pulse and kept it there for about half a
minute.
"Yes," he said, "you'll do; nothing very much the matter with you. Now,
look here, boy, Mrs Vansittart has instructed me to come and see how
you are getting on, and to say that if you feel equal to it, she would
like you to join the saloon party at dinner to-night--just themselves,
you and I, you know, alone. The fact is that they are all eager to tell
you what they feel about your exploit of this morning, and they will not
be happy until they have done so. Do you feel equal to the ordeal; or
shall I go back and say that they must excuse you for a little while
longer? I think you can stand it, you know. What say you?"
"Oh, yes!" I replied, "I dare say I can stand it. I suppose it will
have to come sometime, so I might as well get it over and done with.
But, I say, Doctor, just give them a hint to go easy with their thanks,
will you, there's a good fellow. If there is one thing I hate more than
anything else, it is being made a fuss of. You understand me?"
"Why, of course I _do_, my dear chap," was the reply. "It is
frightfully trying, I know; but you mustn't grudge them the satisfaction
of expressing their gratitude to you--see? I'll take care that they
shall not carry the thing too far. I'll tell 'em that you're not in
condition to stand very much excitement just yet. Well, then, so long.
See you again later."
As soon as I had finished dressing I seated myself in the very
comfortable revolving chair in front of my writing desk, to await the
second bugle call to dinner; but I had scarcely done so when a steward
came along to my cabin, bearing a medicine glass containing a draught
which he said the doctor had sent me, with instructions that I was to
take it at once. I accordingly tossed it off; and a few minutes later
the second dinner call sounded, and I made my way aft and up the
companion way to the drawing-room, where I found Mrs Vansittart, her
daughter, Monroe, and the doctor already assembled.
As one of the stewards flung open the door and announced me, Mrs
Vansittart came forward, seized my hands in both of hers, and looked up
into my face with eyes that were swimming with tears. For a moment her
lips quivered, speechless; then, recovering command of herself, she
said:
"Welcome--a thousand welcomes, Mr Leigh! Doctor Harper has explained
to us that it is only by making a great effort you find yourself able to
meet us to-night and give us a chance to express our lifelong gratitude
to you for your noble, gallant deed." Again her emotion overcame her;
and presently, after a brave but ineffectual struggle to be formal and
restrained, she suddenly let herself go, and, bursting into tears,
exclaimed:
"Oh! you dear, dear boy, Walter, how can I ever thank you enough? I am
a happy, grateful woman to-night, for the doctor has just assured me
that Julius will certainly recover; whereas, but for you, he would--
would--have been--" She could get no further; so in lieu of words the
dear lady lifted my hands to her lips and kissed them repeatedly. Then,
to my intense relief, Harper stepped forward, and, gently taking her by
the arm, led her to a seat, saying:
"Now, my dear lady, this will never do, you know. You must pull
yourself together, or I shall have another case upon my sick list. If I
had suspected that this was going to happen I would not have allowed
Leigh to come to you so soon. This has been a very trying day for you,
I know, but--"
"Yes, it has, Doctor," she sobbed, "and of course it has upset me a bit;
but just leave me alone for a minute or two, and I shall be all right
again."
While she was saying this, Miss Anthea came forward, and, frankly
extending her hand, expressed her own thanks to me for having saved her
brother's life. "And, Mr Leigh," she continued in a low voice, "I take
back every one of those horrid things that I've said about Englishmen in
your hearing. I am downright ashamed of myself. Will you forgive me?"
"Why, of course I will, very freely and willingly," I said. "Please
forget all about them, as I shall."
"Thank you!" she said. "My brother--"
But at this moment Marsh flung open the door, and, in his most
impressive manner, announced that dinner was served, thus putting an end
to what I felt to be a most embarrassing situation.
"You are to take me down to dinner, if you please, Mr Leigh," said Miss
Anthea, linking her arm in mine. "I insisted upon it," she explained,
"because I want to make you understand how sorry and ashamed I am at the
way I have behaved to you all through the voyage--"
"But," I said, "I thought it was agreed that that should be all
forgotten."
"So it shall be," she said, "since you are so generous as to wish it.
But before we entirely relegate the matter to oblivion, I want to
explain that my stupid prejudice against Englishmen is not at all
founded upon experience, for the few Englishmen whom I have met--true,
they have been very few--have all been unexceptionable. I don't know
why it is, but it seems to be the fashion for us Americans to speak and
think of Englishmen as being of a different clay from ourselves,
something infinitely inferior to us in every respect--effete, and all
that sort of thing; and so much is this the case that a good many of us
really come to believe it at last. There! I have made my confession,
cried _peccavi_, and have been forgiven; and I feel ever so much
happier. Now, please tell me about yourself. I want to know whether
you have quite recovered from the effect of your dreadful exertions this
morning. My! I don't believe I shall ever forget how I felt when I
rushed up on deck to find out what all the confusion was about, and saw
you swimming in the water, ever so far away, with Julius hanging over
your shoulder."