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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Castaways, by Harry Collingwood
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Castaways
Author: Harry Collingwood
Illustrator: T.C. Dugdale
Release Date: November 15, 2007 [EBook #23491]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CASTAWAYS ***
Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
The Castaways, by Harry Collingwood.
________________________________________________________________________
A very nice book by this prolific writer of adventures at sea. Not too
long, and fully recommended.
As usual with this author, this book makes a nice audiobook.
I just wonder what made him use this title, as there are so many books
with the same title, and I would not have said that there were any
castaway situations in this book, but perhaps this is because the book
didn't go in quite the direction that the author intended when he
started to write it!
________________________________________________________________________
THE CASTAWAYS, BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD.
CHAPTER ONE.
MISS ONSLOW.
It was on a wet, dreary, dismal afternoon, toward the end of October
18--, that I found myself _en route_ for Gravesend, to join the clipper
ship _City of Cawnpore_, in the capacity of cuddy passenger, bound for
Calcutta.
The wind was blowing strong from the south-east, and came sweeping
along, charged with frequent heavy rain squalls that dashed fiercely
against the carriage windows, while the atmosphere was a mere dingy,
brownish grey expanse of shapeless vapour, so all-pervading that it shut
out not only the entire firmament but also a very considerable portion
of the landscape.
There had been a time, not so very long ago--while I was hunting slavers
on the West Coast, grilling under a scorching African sun day after day
and month after month, with pitiless monotony--when the mere
recollection of such weather as this had made me long for a taste of it
as a priceless luxury; but now, after some five months' experience of
the execrable British climate, I folded my cloak more closely about me,
as I gazed through the carriage windows at the rain-blurred landscape,
and blessed the physician who was sending me southward in search of
warmth and sunshine and the strong salt breeze once more.
For it was in pursuit of renewed health and strength that I was about to
undertake the voyage; a spell of over two years of hard, uninterrupted
service upon the Coast--during which a more than average allowance of
wounds and fever had fallen to my share--had compelled me to invalid
home; and now, with my wounds healed, the fever banished from my system,
and in possession of a snug little, recently-acquired competence that
rendered it unnecessary for me to follow the sea as a profession, I--
Charles Conyers, R.N., aged twenty-seven--was, by the fiat of my medical
adviser, about to seek, on the broad ocean, that life-giving tonic which
is unobtainable elsewhere, and which was all that I now needed to
entirely reinvigorate my constitution and complete my restoration to
perfect health.
Upon my arrival at Gravesend I was glad to find that the rain had
ceased, for the moment, although the sky still looked full of it. I
therefore lost no time in making my way down to the river, where I
forthwith engaged a waterman to convey me, and the few light articles I
had brought with me, off to the ship.
The _City of Cawnpore_ was a brand-new iron ship, of some twelve hundred
tons register, modelled like a frigate, full-rigged, and as handsome a
craft in every respect as I had ever seen. I had seen her before, of
course, in the Docks, when I had gone down to inspect her and choose my
cabin; but she was then less than half loaded; her decks were dirty and
lumbered up with bales and cases of cargo; her jib-booms were rigged in,
and her topgallant-masts down on deck; and altogether she was looking
her worst; while now, lying well out toward the middle of the stream as
she was, she looked a perfect picture, as she lay with her bows pointing
down-stream, straining lightly at her cable upon the last of the
flood-tide, loaded down just sufficiently, as it seemed, to put her into
perfect sailing trim, her black hull with its painted ports showing up
in strong contrast to the peasoup-coloured flood upon which she rode,
her lofty masts stayed to a hair, and all accurately parallel, gleaming
like ruddy gold against the dingy murk of the wild-looking sky. Her
yards were all squared with the nicest precision, and the new
cream-white canvas snugly furled upon them and the booms; the red ensign
streamed from the gaff-end; and the burgee, or house flag--a red star in
a white diamond upon a blue field--cut with a swallow tail in the
present instance to indicate that her skipper was the commodore of the
fleet--fluttered at the main-royal-masthead.
"She's a pretty ship, sir; a very pretty ship; as handsome a vessel as
I've ever see'd a lyin' off this here town," remarked the waterman who
was pulling me off to her, noting perhaps the admiration in my gaze.
"And she's a good staunch ship, too; well built, well found, and well
manned--the owners of them `red star' liners won't have nothin' less
than the very best of everything in their ships and aboard of 'em--and I
hopes your honour'll have a very pleasant voyage, I'm sure. You ought
to, for there's some uncommon nice people goin' out in her; I took three
of 'em off myself in this here very same boat 'bout a hour ago. And one
of 'em--ah, she _is_ a beauty, she is, and no mistake! handsome as a
hangel; and such eyes--why, sir, they're that bright and they sparkles
to that extent that you won't want no stars not so long as she's on
deck."
"Indeed," answered I, with languid interest, yet glad nevertheless to
learn that there was to be at least one individual of agreeable
personality on board. Then, as we drew up toward the accommodation
ladder, I continued: "Back your starboard oar; pull port; way enough!
Lay in your oars and look out for the line that they are about to heave
to you!"
"Ay, ay, sir," answered the fellow, as he proceeded with slow
deliberation but a great show of alacrity to obey my injunctions. "Dash
my buttons," he continued, "if I didn't think as you'd seen a ship afore
to-day, and knowed the stem from the starn of her. Says I to myself,
when I seen the way that you took hold of them yoke-lines, and the
knowin' cock of your heye as you runned it over this here vessel's hull
and spars and her riggin'--`this here gent as I've a got hold of is a
sailor, he is, and as sich he'll know what a hard life of it we pore
watermen has; and I shouldn't wonder but what--knowin' the hardness of
the life--he'll'--thank'ee, sir; I wishes you a wery pleasant voyage,
with all my 'eart, sir. Take hold, steward; these is all the things the
gent has brought along of 'im."
I was received at the gangway by a fine sailorly-looking man, some
thirty-five years of age, and of about middle height, sturdily built,
and with a frank, alert, pleasant expression of face, who introduced
himself to me as the chief mate--Murgatroyd by name--following up his
self-introduction with the information that Captain Dacre had not yet
come down from town, but might be expected on board in time for dinner.
It was just beginning to rain rather sharply again, or I should have
been disposed to remain on deck for a while and improve my acquaintance
with this genial-looking sailor; as it was, I merely paused beside him
long enough to note that the deck between the foremast and the mainmast
seemed to be crowded with rough, round-backed, awkward-looking men,
having the appearance of navvies or something of that kind; also that
the main hatch was partially closed by a grating through an aperture in
which, at the after port angle of the hatchway, other men of a like sort
were passing up and down by means of a ladder. The mate caught my
inquiring glance as it wandered over the rough-looking crowd, and
replied to it by remarking:
"Miners, and such-like--a hundred and twenty of 'em--going out to
develop a new mine somewhere up among the Himalayas, so I'm told.
Rather a tough lot, by the look of 'em, Mr Conyers; but I'll take care
that they don't annoy the cuddy passengers; and they'll soon shake down
when once we're at sea."
"No doubt," I replied. "Poor fellows! they appear to be indifferent
enough to the idea of leaving their native land; but how many of them, I
wonder, will live to return to it. Steward," I continued, as I turned
away to follow the man who was carrying my hand baggage below for me,
"is there anyone in the same cabin with me?"
"No, sir; you've got it all to yourself, sir," was the reply. "There
was a young gent," he continued--"one of a family of six as was goin'
out with us--who was to have been put in along with you, sir; but the
father have been took suddenly ill, so they're none of 'em going.
Consequence is that we've only got thirty cuddy passengers aboard,
instead of thirty-six, which is our full complement. Your trunks is
under the bottom berth, sir, and I've unstrapped 'em. Anything more I
can do for you, sir?"
I replied in the negative, thanking the man for his attention; and then,
as he closed the cabin-door behind him, I seated myself upon a sofa and
looked round at the snug and roomy apartment which, if all went well, I
was to occupy during the voyage of the ship to India and back.
The room was some ten feet long, by eight feet wide, and seven feet high
to the underside of the beams. It was set athwartships, instead of fore
and aft as was at that period more frequently the fashion; and it was
furnished with two bunks, or beds, one over the other, built against the
bulkhead that divided the cabin from that next it. The lower bunk was
"made up" with bed, bedding, and pillows complete, ready for occupation;
but the upper bunk, not being required, had been denuded of its bedding,
leaving only the open framework of the bottom, which was folded back and
secured against the bulkhead, out of the way, thus leaving plenty of air
space above me when I should be turned in. At the foot of the bunks
there was a nice deep, double chest of drawers, surmounted by an
ornamental rack-work arrangement containing a brace of water-bottles,
with tumblers to match, together with vacant spaces for the reception of
such matters as brushes and combs, razor-cases, and other odds and ends.
Then there was a wash-stand, with a toilet-glass above it, and a
cupboard beneath the basin containing two large metal ewers of fresh
water; and alongside the wash-stand hung a couple of large, soft towels.
There was a fine big bull's eye in the deck overhead, and a circular
port in the ship's side, big enough for me to have crept through with
some effort, had I so wished, the copper frame of which was glazed with
plate glass a full inch thick. Beneath this port was the short sofa,
upholstered in black horsehair, upon which I sat; and, screwed to the
ship's side in such a position as to be well out of the way, yet capable
of pretty completely illuminating the cabin, was a handsome little
silver-plated lamp, already lighted, hung in gimbals and surmounted by a
frosted glass globe very prettily chased with a pattern of flowers and
leaves and birds. The bulkheads were painted a dainty cream colour,
with gilt mouldings; a heavy curtain of rich material screened the door;
and the deck of the cabin was covered with a thick, handsome carpet.
"What a contrast," thought I, "to my miserable, stuffy little dog-hole
of a cabin aboard the old _Hebe_!" And I sat there so long, meditating
upon the times that were gone, and the scenes of the past, that I lost
all consciousness of my surroundings, and was only awakened from my
brown study--or was it a quiet little nap?--by the loud clanging of the
first dinner bell. Thus admonished, I went to work with a will to get
into my dress clothes--for those were the days when such garments were
_de rigueur_ aboard all liners of any pretensions--and was quite ready
to make my way to the saloon when the second and final summons to dinner
pealed forth.
The cuddy, or main saloon of the ship, was on deck, under the full poop,
while the sleeping accommodation was below; consequently by the time
that I had reached the vestibule upon which the cuddy doors opened, I
found myself in the midst of quite a little crowd of more or less
well-dressed people who were jostling each other in a gentle, well-bred
sort of way in their eagerness to get into the saloon. They were mostly
silent, as is the way of the English among strangers, but a few, here
and there, who seemed to have already made each other's acquaintance,
passed the usual inane remarks about the absurdly inconvenient
arrangements generally of the ship. Some half a dozen stewards were
showing the passengers to their places at table, as they passed in
through the doorways; and upon my entrance I was at once pounced upon by
one of the aforesaid stewards, who, in semi-confidential tones,
remarked:
"This way, if you please, sir. It's Cap'n Dacre's orders that you was
to be seated close alongside of him."
As I followed the man down the length of the roomy, handsome apartment,
I could scarcely realise that it was the same that I had seen when the
ship lay loading in the dock. Then, the deck (or floor, as a landsman
would call it) was carpetless, the tables, chairs, sofas, lamps, and
walls of the cabin were draped in brown holland, to protect them from
the all-penetrating dust and dirt that is always flying about, more or
less, during the handling of cargo, and the room was lighted only by the
skylights; now, I found myself in a scene as brilliant, after its own
fashion, as that afforded by the dining-room of a first-class hotel.
The saloon was of the full width of the ship, and some forty feet long
by about eight feet high; the sides and the ceiling were panelled, and
painted in cream, light blue, and gold; and it was furnished with three
tables--one on either side of the cabin, running fore-and-aft, with a
good wide gangway between, and one athwartships and abaft the other two,
with seats on the after side of it only, so that no one was called upon
to turn his or her back upon those sitting at the other two tables. The
tables were gleaming with snow-white napery, crystal, and silver; and
were further adorned with handsome flowering plants in painted china
bowls, placed at frequent intervals; the deck was covered with a carpet
in which one's feet sank ankle deep; the sofas were upholstered in
stamped purple velvet; and the whole scene was illuminated by the soft
yet brilliant light of three clusters of three lamps each suspended over
the centres of the several tables. Abaft the aftermost table I caught a
glimpse of a piano, open, with some sheets of music upon it, as though
someone had already been trying the tone of the instrument.
Conducted by the steward, I presently found myself installed in a chair,
between two ladies, one of whom was seated alongside the skipper, on his
right. This lady was young--apparently about twenty-one or twenty-two
years of age, above medium height--if one could form a correct judgment
of her stature as she sat at the table--a rich and brilliant brunette,
crowned with a wealth of most beautiful and luxuriant golden-chestnut
hair, and altogether the most perfectly lovely creature that I had ever
beheld. I felt certain, the moment my eyes rested upon her, that she
must certainly be the subject of my friend the waterman's enthusiastic
eulogies. The other lady--she who occupied the seat on my right--was
stout, elderly, grey-haired, and very richly attired in brocade and
lace, with a profusion of jewellery about her. She was also
loud-voiced, for as I passed behind her toward my seat she shouted to
the elderly, military-looking man on her right:
"Now, Pat, don't ye attempt to argue wid me; I shall be ill to-morrow,
no matther what I ait, or don't ait; so I shall take a good dinner and
injoy mesilf while I can!"
Captain Dacre--a very fine-looking, handsome, whitehaired man, attired
in a fairly close imitation of a naval captain's uniform, and looking a
thorough sailor all over--was already seated; but upon seeing me he
rose, stretched out his hand, and remarked:
"Lieutenant Conyers, I presume? Welcome, sir, aboard the _City of
Cawnpore_; and I hope that when next you see Gravesend you will have
fully recovered the health and strength you are going to sea to look
for. It is not often, Mr Conyers, that I have a brother sailor upon my
passenger list, so when I am so fortunate I make the most of him by
providing him--as in your case--with a berth at the table as nearly
alongside me as possible. Allow me to make you known to your
neighbours. Miss Onslow, permit me to introduce Lieutenant Conyers of
our Royal Navy. Lady O'Brien--General Sir Patrick O'Brien--Lieutenant
Conyers."
Miss Onslow--the beauty on my left--acknowledged the introduction with a
very queenly and distant bow; Lady O'Brien looked me keenly in the eyes
for an instant, and then shook hands with me very heartily; and the
general murmured something about being glad to make my acquaintance, and
forthwith addressed himself with avidity to the plate of soup which one
of the stewards placed before him.
Presently, having finished his soup, the general leaned forward and
stared hard at me for a moment. Then he remarked:
"Excuse me, Conyers--it is no use being formal, when we are about to be
cooped up together on board ship for the next two months, is it?--are
you the man that got so shockingly hacked about at the capture of that
piratical slaver, the--the--hang it all, I've forgotten her name now?"
"If you refer to the _Preciosa_, I must plead guilty to the soft
impeachment," answered I.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, "hang me if I didn't think so when I heard your
name, and saw that scar across your forehead. Wonderfully plucky thing
to do, sir; as plucky a thing, I think, as I ever heard of! I must get
you to tell me all about it, some time or another--here, steward, hang
it all, man, this sherry is corked! Bring me another bottle!"
I am rather a shy man, and this sudden identification of me in
connection with an affair that I had already grown heartily tired of
hearing referred to, and that I fondly hoped would now be speedily
forgotten by my friends, was distinctly disconcerting; I therefore
seized upon the opportunity afforded me by the mishap to the general's
sherry to divert the conversation into another channel, by turning to my
lovely left-hand neighbour with the inquiry:
"Is this your first experience of shipboard, Miss Onslow?"
"This will be my third voyage to India, Mr Conyers," she answered, with
an air of surprise at my temerity in addressing her, and such proud,
stately dignity and lofty condescension that I caught myself thinking:
"Hillo, Charley, my lad, what sort of craft is this you are exchanging
salutes with? You will have to take care what you are about with her,
my fine fellow, or you will be finding that some of her guns are
shotted!"
But I was not to be deterred from making an effort to render myself
agreeable, simply because the manner of the young lady was almost
chillingly distant, so I returned:
"Indeed! then you are quite a seasoned traveller. And how does the sea
use you? Does it treat you kindly?"
"If you mean Am I ill at sea? I am glad to say that I am _not_!" she
replied. "I _love_ the sea; but I hate voyaging upon it."
"That sounds somewhat paradoxical, does it not?" I ventured to
insinuate.
"Possibly it does," she admitted. "What I mean is that, while I never
enjoy such perfect health anywhere as I do when at sea, and while I
passionately admire the ever-changing beauty and poetry of the ocean and
sky in their varying moods, I find it distinctly irksome and unpleasant
to be pent up for months within the narrow confines of a ship, with no
possibility of escape from my surroundings however unpleasant they may
be. There is no privacy, and no change on board a ship; one is
compelled to meet the same people day after day, and to be brought into
more or less intimate contact with them, whether one wishes it or not."
"That is undoubtedly true," I acknowledged, "so far, at least, as
meeting the same people day after day is concerned. But surely one need
not necessarily be brought into intimate contact with them, unless so
minded; it is not difficult to make the average person understand that
anything approaching to intimacy is unwelcome."
"Is it not?" she retorted drily. "Then I am afraid that my experience
has been more unfortunate than yours. I have more than once been
obliged to be actually rude to people before. I could succeed in
convincing them that I would prefer not to be on intimate terms with
them."
And therewith Miss Onslow ever so slightly turned herself away from me,
and addressed herself to the contents of her plate with a manner that
seemed indicative of a desire to terminate the conversation.
I thought that I already began to understand this very charming and
interesting young lady. I had not the remotest idea who or what she
was, beyond the bare fact that her name was Onslow, but her style and
her manners--despite her singular hauteur--stamped her unmistakably as
one accustomed to move in a high plane of society; that she was
inordinately proud and intensely exclusive was clear, but I had an idea
that this fault--if such it could be considered--was due rather to
training than to any innate imperfection of character; and I could
conceive that--the barrier of her exclusiveness once passed--she might
prove to be winsome and fascinating beyond the power of words to
express. But I had a suspicion that the man who should be bold enough
to attempt the passage of that barrier would have to face many a rebuff,
as well as the very strong probability of ultimate ignominious,
irretrievable defeat; and as I was then--and still am, for that matter--
a rather sensitive individual, I quickly determined that I at least
would not dare such a fate. Moreover, I seemed to find in the drift of
what she had said--and more particularly in her manner of saying it--a
hint that possibly I might be one of those with whom she would prefer
not to be on terms of intimacy.
"Well," thought I, "if that is her wish, it shall certainly be
gratified; she is a surpassingly beautiful creature, but I can admire
and enjoy the contemplation of her beauty, as I would that of some rare
and exquisite picture, without obtruding myself offensively upon her
attention; and although she has all the appearance of being clever,
refined, and possessed of a brilliant intellect, those qualities will
have no irresistible attraction for me if she intends to hide them
behind a cold, haughty, repellant manner." And therewith I dismissed
her from my mind, and addressed myself to the skipper, "This new ship of
yours is a magnificent craft, Captain," said I. "I fell incontinently
in love with her as the waterman was pulling me off alongside. She is
far and away the most handsome ship I have ever set eyes on."
"Ay," answered Dacre heartily, his whole face kindling with enthusiasm,
"she is a beauty, and no mistake. You have some fine, handsome frigates
in the service, Mr Conyers, but I doubt whether the best of them will
compare with the _City of Cawnpore_ for beauty, speed, or seagoing
qualities. My word, sir, but it would have done you good to have seen
her before she was put into the water. Shapely? shapely is not the word
for it, she is absolutely beautiful! She is to other craft what,"--here
his eye rested upon Miss Onslow's unconscious face for an instant--"a
perfectly lovely woman is to a fat old dowdy. There _is_ only one fault
I have to find with her, and that is only a fault in my eyes; there are
many who regard it as a positive and important merit."
"And pray what may that be?" I inquired. And, as I asked the question,
several of the passengers who had overheard the skipper's remark craned
forward over the table in eager anticipation of his reply.
"Why, sir," answered Dacre, "she is built of iron instead of good,
sound, wholesome heart of oak; that's the fault I find with her. I have
never been shipmates with iron before, and I confess I don't like it.
Of course," he continued--judging, perhaps, from some of the passengers'
looks that he had said something a trifle indiscreet--"it is only
prejudice on my part; I can't explain my objection to iron; everybody
who ought to know anything about the matter declares that iron is
immensely strong compared with wood, and I sincerely believe them;
still, there the feeling is, and I expect it will take me a month or two
to get over it. You see, I have been brought up and have spent upwards
of forty years of my life in wooden ships, and I suppose I am growing a
trifle too old to readily take up newfangled notions."
"Ah, Captain, I have met with men of your sort before," remarked the
general; "you are by no means the first person with a prejudice. But
you'll get over it, my dear fellow; you'll get over it. And when you
have done so you'll acknowledge that there's nothing like iron for
shipbuilding. _Apropos_ of seafaring matters, what sort of a voyage do
you think we shall have?"
The skipper shrugged his shoulders.
"Who can tell?" he answered. "Everything depends upon the weather; and
what is more fickle than that?--outside the limits of the trade-winds
and the monsoons, I mean, of course. If we are unlucky enough to meet
with a long spell of calms on the Line--well, that means a long passage.
But give me as much wind as I can show all plain sail to, and no
farther for'ard than abeam, and I'll undertake to land you all at
Calcutta within sixty days from to-day."
We were still discussing the probability of the skipper being able to
fulfil his promise, when a howling squall swept through the taut rigging
and between the masts of the ship, causing the whole fabric to vibrate
with a barely perceptible tremor, while the swish and patter of heavy
rain resounded upon the glass of the skylights.
"Whew!" ejaculated the general, "what a lively prospect for to-night!
What are we to do after dinner to amuse ourselves; and where are we men
to go for our smoke?"
"I think," said I, "we shall find a very comfortable place for a smoke
under the overhang of the poop. The tide is ebbing strong by this time,
so the ship will be riding more or less stern-on to the wind, and we
shall find a very satisfactory lee and shelter at the spot that I have
named."
"Ay," assented the skipper. "And when you have finished smoking, what
can you wish for better than this fine saloon, in which to play cards,
or read, or even to organise an impromptu concert? There is a capital
piano abaft there; and I am sure that among so distinguished a company
there must be plenty of good musicians."
And so indeed it proved; for when, having finished our smoke, the
general and some half a dozen more of us returned to the cuddy, we found
that several of the younger ladies of the party had already produced
their music, and were doing their best to make the evening pass
pleasantly for themselves and others. Miss Onslow was one of the
exceptions; she had not produced any music, nor, apparently, did she
intend to take anything more than a passive part in the entertainment;
indeed it is going almost too far to say even so much as that, for it
appeared doubtful whether she even condescended so far as to regard
herself as one of the audience; she had provided herself with a book,
and had curled herself up comfortably in the corner most distant from
the piano, and was reading with an air of absorption and interest so
pronounced as really to be almost offensive to the performers. In
almost anyone else the manifestation of so profound an indifference to
the efforts of others to please would have been regarded as an
indication of ill-breeding; but in her case--well, she was so regally
and entrancingly lovely that somehow one felt as though her beauty
justified everything, and that it was an act of condescension and a
favour that she graced the cuddy with her presence at all. And indeed I
was very much disposed to think that this was her own view of the
matter. Be that as it may, we all spent an exceedingly pleasant
evening; and when I turned into my bunk that night I felt very well
satisfied with the prospects of the voyage before me.
CHAPTER TWO.
AT SEA--A WRECK IN SIGHT.
I was awakened at six o'clock the next morning by the men chorussing at
the windlass, and the quick clank of the pawls that showed how
thoroughly Jack was putting his heart into his work, and how quickly he
was walking the ship up to her anchor. I scrambled out of my bunk, and
took a peep through the port in the ship's side, to see what the weather
was like; it was scarcely daylight yet; the glass of the port was
blurred with the quick splashing of rain, and the sky was simply a blot
of scurrying, dirty grey vapour. I made a quick mental reference to the
condition of the tide, deducting therefrom the direction of the ship's
head, and thus arrived at the fact that the wind still hung in the same
quarter as yesterday, or about south-east; after which I turned in
again, the weather being altogether too dismal to tempt me out on deck
at so early an hour. As I did so there was a loud cry or command, the
chorussing at the windlass abruptly ceased, and in the silence that
temporarily ensued I caught the muffled sound of the steam blowing-off
from the tug's waste-pipe, mingled with the faint sound of hailing from
somewhere ahead, answered in the stentorian tones of Mr Murgatroyd's
voice. Then the windlass was manned once more, and the pawls clanked
slowly, sullenly, irregularly, for a time, growing slower and slower
still until there ensued a long pause, during which I heard the mate
encouraging the crew to a special effort by shouting: "Heave, boys!
heave and raise the dead! break him out! another pawl! heave!" and so
on; then there occurred a sudden wrenching jerk, followed by a shout of
triumph from the crew, the windlass pawls resumed their clanking at a
rapid rate for a few minutes longer when they finally ceased, and I knew
that our anchor was a-trip and that we had started on our long journey.
Everybody appeared at breakfast that morning, naturally; there was
nothing to prevent them, for we were still in the river, in smooth
water, and the ship glided along so steadily that some of us were
actually ignorant of the fact of our being under way until made aware of
it by certain remarks passed at the breakfast-table. After breakfast,
the weather being as "dirty" as ever, I donned my mackintosh and a pair
of sea boots with which I had provided myself in anticipation of such
occasions as this, and went on deck to look round and smoke a pipe. A
few other men followed my example, among others the general, who
presently joined me in my perambulation of the poop; and I soon found
that, despite a certain peremptoriness and dictatorial assertiveness of
manner, which I attributed to his profession, and his position in it, he
was a very fine fellow, and a most agreeable companion, with an
apparently inexhaustible fund of anecdote and reminiscence.
Incidentally I learned from him that Miss Onslow was the daughter of Sir
Philip Onslow, an Indian judge and a friend of Sir Patrick O'Brien, and
that she was proceeding to Calcutta under the chaperonage of Lady
Kathleen, the general's wife. While we were still chatting together,
the young lady herself came on deck, well wrapped up in a long tweed
cloak that reached to her ankles, and the general, with an apology to me
for his desertion, stepped forward and gallantly offered his arm, which
she accepted. And she remained on deck the whole of the morning, with
the wind blustering about her and the rain dashing in her face every
time that she faced it in her passage from the wheel grating to the
break of the poop, to the great benefit of her complexion. She was the
only lady who ventured on deck that day--for the weather was so thick
that there was nothing to see, beyond an occasional buoy marking out the
position of a sandbank, a grimy Geordie, loaded down to her
covering-board, driving along up the river under a brace of patched and
sooty topsails, or an inward-bound south-spainer in tow of a tug; but
this fact of her being the only representative of her sex on deck
appeared to disconcert Miss Onslow not at all; she was as absolutely
self-possessed as though she and the general had been in sole possession
of the deck, as indeed they were, so far as she was concerned, for she
calmly and utterly ignored the presence of the rest of us, excepting the
skipper, with whom and with the general she conversed with much
vivacity. By the arrival of tiffin-time we had drawn far enough down
the river to be just meeting the first of the sea knocked up by the
strong breeze, and I noticed that already a few of the seats at table
that had been occupied at breakfast-time were vacant--among them that of
Lady O'Brien--but my left-hand neighbour exhibited a thoroughly healthy
appetite--due in part, probably, to her long promenade on deck in the
wind and the rain. She was still as stately and distant in manner as
ever, however, when I attempted to enter into conversation with her, and
I met with such scant encouragement that ere the meal was half over I
desisted, leaving to the skipper the task of further entertaining her.
By six o'clock that night we were abreast of the buoy which marks
Longnose Ledge, when the pilot shifted his helm for the Elbow, and we
began to feel in earnest the influence of the short, choppy sea, into
which the _City of Cawnpore_ was soon plunging her sharp stem to the
height of the hawse pipes, to the rapidly-increasing discomfort of many
of the passengers. By seven o'clock--which was the dinner-hour--we were
well round the Elbow, and heading to pass inside the Goodwin and through
the Downs, with most of our fore-and-aft canvas set; and now we had not
only a pitching but also a rolling motion to contend with; and although
the latter was as yet comparatively slight, it was still sufficient to
induce a further number of our cuddy party to seek the seclusion of
their cabins, with the result that when we sat down to dinner we did not
muster quite a dozen, all told. But among those present was my
left-hand neighbour, Miss Onslow, faultlessly attired, and to all
appearance as completely at her ease as though she were dining ashore.
The general made a gallant effort to occupy his accustomed seat, but the
soup proved too much for him, and he was compelled to retreat, muttering
something apologetic and not very intelligible about his liver. We
remained in tow until the tug had dragged us down abreast the South
Foreland, where she left us, taking the pilot with her; and half an hour
later we were heading down Channel under all plain sail to our
topgallant-sails.
When I went on deck to get my after-dinner smoke the prospect was as
dreary and dismal as it could well be. It was dark as a wolf's mouth;
for the moon was well advanced in her last quarter--which is as good as
saying that there was no moon at all--and the thickness overhead not
only obliterated the stars but also rendered it impossible for any of
their light to reach us; one consequence of which was that when standing
at the break of the poop it taxed one's eyesight to the utmost to see as
far as the bows of the ship; the wind was freshening, with frequent rain
squalls that, combined with the intense darkness, circumscribed the
visible horizon to a radius of about half a cable's length on either
hand; and through this all but opaque blackness the ship was thrashing
along at a speed of fully ten knots, with a continuous crying and
storming of wind aloft through the rigging and in the hollows of the
straining canvas, and a deep hissing and sobbing sound of water along
the bends, to which was added the rhythmical thunderous roaring of the
bow wave, and a frequent grape-shot pattering of spray on the fore deck
as the fabric plunged with irresistible momentum into the hollows of the
short, snappy Channel seas. It was black and blusterous, and everything
was dripping wet; I was heartily thankful, therefore, that it was my
privilege to go below and turn in just when I pleased, instead of having
to stand a watch and strain my eyeballs to bursting point in the
endeavour to avoid running foul of some of the numerous craft that were
knocking about in the Channel on that blind and dismal night.
When my berth steward brought me my coffee next morning he informed me,
in reply to my inquiries, that the weather had improved somewhat during
the night, and that, in his opinion, the temperature on deck was mild
enough for me to take a salt-water bath in the ship's head, if I
pleased. I accordingly jumped out of my bunk and, hastily donning my
bathing togs, made my way on deck. I was no sooner on my feet, however,
than I became aware that the ship was particularly lively. She was on
the port tack, and was heeling over considerably, so much so indeed
that, when she rolled to leeward, to keep my footing without holding on
to something was pretty nearly as much as I could well manage. Then
there was a continuous vibrant thrill pervading the entire fabric,
suggestive of the idea that her blood was roused and that she was
quivering with eager excitement, which, to the initiated, is an
unfailing sign that the ship is travelling fast through the water. Upon
reaching the deck I found the watch engaged in the task of washing decks
and polishing the brasswork, while Mr Murgatroyd, as officer of the
watch, paced to and fro athwart the fore end of the poop, pausing every
time he reached the weather side of the deck to fling a quick, keen
glance to windward, and another aloft at the bending topmasts and
straining rigging.
For Mr Murgatroyd was "carrying on" and driving the ship quite as much
as was consistent with prudence; the wind, it is true, had moderated
slightly from its boisterous character of the previous day, and was now
steady; but it was still blowing strong, and had hauled round a point or
two until it was square abeam; yet, although the lower yards were braced
well forward, the ship was under all three royals, and fore and
main-topgallant and topmast studding-sails, with a lower studding-sail
upon the foremast! She was lying down to it like a racing yacht, with
the foam seething and hissing and brimming to her rail at every lee
roll, and the lee scuppers all afloat, while she swept along with the
eager, headlong, impetuous speed of a sentient creature flying for its
life. The wailing and crying of the wind aloft--especially when the
ship rolled to windward--was loud enough and weird enough to fill the
heart of a novice with dismay, but to the ear of the seaman it sang a
song of wild, hilarious sea music, fittingly accompanied by the deep,
intermittent thunder of the bow wave as it leapt and roared, glassy
smooth, in a curling snow-crowned breaker from the sharp, shearing stem
at every wild plunge of it into the heart of an on-rushing wave. I ran
up the poop ladder, and stood to windward, a fathom back from the break
of the poop, where I could obtain the best possible view of the ship;
and I thought I had never before beheld so magnificent and perfect a
picture as she presented of triumphant, domineering strength and power,
and of reckless, breathless, yet untiring speed.
"Morning, Mr Conyers," shouted Murgatroyd, halting alongside me as I
stood gazing at the pallid blue sky across which great masses of cloud
were rapidly sweeping--to be outpaced by the low-flying shreds and
tatters of steamy scud--the opaque, muddy green waste of foaming,
leaping waters, and the flying ship swaying her broad spaces of
damp-darkened canvas, her tapering and buckling spars, and her
tautly-strained rigging in long arcs athwart the scurrying clouds as she
leapt and plunged and sheared her irresistible way onward in the midst
of a wild chaos and dizzying swirl and hurry of foaming spume: "what
think you of this for a grand morning, eh, sir? Is this breeze good
enough for you? And what's your opinion of the _City of Cawnpore_, now,
sir?"
"It is a magnificent morning for sailing, Mr Murgatroyd," I replied; "a
magnificent morning--that would be none the worse for an occasional
glint of sunshine, which, however, may come by and by; and, as for the
ship, she is a wonder, a perfect flyer--why, she must be reeling off her
thirteen knots at the least."
"You've hit it, sir, pretty closely; she was going thirteen and a half
when we hove the log at four bells, and she hasn't eased up anything
since," was the reply.
"Ah," said I, "that is grand sailing--with the wind where it is. But
you are driving her rather hard, aren't you? stretching the kinks out of
your new rigging, eh?"
"Well, perhaps we are," admitted the mate, with a short laugh, as he
glanced at the slender upper spars, that were whipping about like
fishing-rods. "But you know, Mr Conyers, we're _obliged_ to do it;
there is so much opposition nowadays, and people are in such a deuce of
a hurry always to get to the place that they are bound to, that the line
owning the fastest ships gets the most patronage; and there's the whole
thing in a nutshell."
"Just so; and it is all well enough, in its way--if you don't happen to
get dismasted. But I find the morning air rather nipping, so I will get
my bath and go below again. Will you kindly allow one of your men to
play upon me with the head-pump, Mr Murgatroyd?"
"Certainly, Mr Conyers, with pleasure, sir," answered the mate.
"Bosun, just tell off a man to pump for Mr Conyers, will ye!"
The ship was by this time so lively that I was not at all surprised to
meet but a meagre muster at the breakfast-table. Yet, of the few
present, Miss Onslow was one, and the soaring and plunging and the wild
lee rolls of the ship appeared to affect her no more than if she were
sitting at home in her own breakfast-room. She was silent, as usual,
but her rich colour, and the evident relish with which she partook of
the food placed before her, bore witness to the fact that her silence
was due to inclination alone. About an hour after breakfast the young
lady made her appearance upon the poop, well wrapped up, and began to
pace to and fro with an assured footing and an easy, graceful poise of
her body to the movements of the deck beneath her that was, to my mind
at least, the very poetry of motion. The skipper and I happened to be
walking together, at the moment of her appearance, and of course we both
with one accord sprang forward and, cap in hand, proffered the support
of our arms. She accepted that of the skipper with a graciousness of
manner that was to be paralleled only by the frigid dignity with which
she declined mine.
The breeze held strong all that day, and for the five days following,
gradually hauling round, however, and heading us, until, with our yards
braced hard in against the lee rigging, and the three royals and mizzen
topgallant-sail stowed, we went thrashing away to the westward against a
heavy head-sea that kept our decks streaming as far aft as the mainmast,
instead of bowling away across the Bay under studding-sails, as we had
hoped. Then we fell in with light weather for nearly a week, that
enabled all hands in the cuddy to find their sea legs and a good hearty
appetite once more, the ship slowly traversing her way to the southward,
meanwhile; and finally we got a westerly wind that, beginning gently
enough to permit of our showing skysails to it, ended in a regular North
Atlantic gale that compelled us to heave-to for forty-two hours before
it blew itself out.
The gale was at its height, blowing with almost hurricane fury, with a
terrific sea running, about twenty hours after its development, and we
in the cuddy were, with about half a dozen exceptions, seated at
breakfast when, above the howling of the wind, I faintly caught the
notes of a hail that seemed to proceed from somewhere aloft.
"Where away?" sharply responded the voice of the chief mate from the
poop overhead.
I heard the reply given, but the noises of the ship, the shriek of the
gale through the rigging, and the resounding shock of a sea that smote
us upon the weather bow at the moment, prevented my catching the words;
I had no difficulty, however, in gathering, from Mr Murgatroyd's
inquiry, that something had drifted within our sphere of vision,
probably another vessel, hove-to like ourselves. A minute or two later,
however, Mr Fletcher, the third mate, presented himself at the cuddy
door and said, addressing himself to the skipper:
"Mr Murgatroyd's respects, sir; and there's a partially dismasted
barque, that appears to be in a sinking condition, and with a signal of
distress flying, about eight miles away, broad on the lee bow. And Mr
Murgatroyd would be glad to know, sir, if it's your wish that we should
edge down towards her?"
"Yes, certainly," answered Captain Dacre. "Request Mr Murgatroyd to do
what is necessary; and say that I will be on deck myself, shortly."
The intelligence that a real, genuine wreck was in sight, with the
probability that her crew were in a situation of extreme peril, sent
quite a thrill of excitement pulsating through the cuddy; with the
result that breakfast was more or less hurriedly despatched; and within
a few minutes the skipper, Miss Onslow, and myself were all that
remained seated at the table, the rest having hurried on deck to catch
the earliest possible glimpse of so novel a sight as Mr Murgatroyd's
message promised them.
As for Dacre and myself, we were far too thoroughly seasoned hands to
hurry--the ship was hastening to the assistance of the stranger, and
nothing more could be done for the present; and it was perfectly evident
that Miss Onslow had no intention of descending to so undignified an act
as that of joining in the general rush on deck. But that she was not
unsympathetic was evidenced by the earnestness with which she turned to
the skipper and inquired:
"Do you think, Captain, that there are any people on that wreck?"
"Any people?" reiterated the skipper. "Why, yes, my dear young lady,
I'm very much afraid that there are."
"You are _afraid_!" returned Miss Onslow. "Why do you use that word?
If there are any people there, you will rescue them, will you not?"
"Of course--_if we can_!" answered the skipper. "But that is just the
point: _can_ we rescue them? Mr Murgatroyd's message stated that the
wreck appears to be in a sinking condition. Now, if that surmise of the
mate's turns out to be correct, the question is: Will she remain afloat
until the gale moderates and the sea goes down sufficiently to admit of
boats being lowered? If not, it may turn out to be a very bad job for
the poor souls; eh, Mr Conyers?"
"It may indeed," I answered, "for it is certain that no boat of ours
could live for five minutes in the sea that is now running. And if that
barometer,"--pointing to a very fine instrument that hung, facing us, in
the skylight--"is to be believed, the gale is not going to break just
_yet_."
"Oh dear, but that is dreadful!" the girl exclaimed, clasping her hands
tightly together in her agitation--and one could see, by the whitening
of her lips and the horror expressed in her widely-opened eyes, that her
emotion was not simulated; it was thoroughly real and genuine. "I never
thought of that! Do I understand you to mean, then, Captain, that even
when we reach the wreck it may be impossible to help those on board?"
"Yes," answered Dacre; "you may understand that, Miss Onslow. Of course
we shall stand by them until the gale breaks; and if, when we get
alongside, we find that their condition is very critical, some special
effort to rescue them will have to be made. But, while doing all that
may be possible, I must take care not to unduly risk my own ship, and
the lives which have been intrusted to my charge; and, keeping that
point in view, it may prove impossible to do anything to help them."
"And you think there is no hope that the gale will soon abate?" she
demanded.
"I see no prospect of it, as yet," answered the skipper. "The barometer
is the surest guide a sailor has, in respect of the weather; and, as Mr
Conyers just now remarked, ours affords not a particle of hope."
"Oh, how cruel--how relentlessly cruel--the wind and the sea are!"
exclaimed this girl whose pride I had hitherto deemed superior to any
other emotion. "I _hope_--oh, Captain, I _most fervently hope_ that you
will be able to save those poor creatures, who must now be suffering all
the protracted horrors of a lingering death!"
"You may trust me, my dear young lady," answered the skipper heartily.
"Whatever it may prove possible to do, I will do for them. If they are
to be drowned it shall be through no lack of effort on my part to save
them. And now, if you will excuse me, I will leave Mr Conyers to
entertain you, while I go on deck and see how things look."
The girl instantly froze again. "I will not inflict myself upon Mr
Conyers--who is doubtless dying for his after-breakfast smoke," she
answered, with a complete return of all her former hauteur of manner.
"I have finished breakfast, and shall join Lady O'Brien on deck."
And therewith she rose from her seat and, despite the wild movements of
the ship, made her way with perfect steadiness and an assured footing
toward the ladder or stairs that led downward to the sleeping-rooms, on
her way to her cabin.
"A queer girl, by George!" exclaimed Dacre, as she disappeared. "She
seems quite determined to keep everybody at a properly respectful
distance--especially _you_. Have you offended her?"
"Certainly not--so far as I am aware," I answered. "It is pride,
skipper; nothing but pride. She simply deems herself of far too fine a
clay to associate with ordinary human pots and pans. Well, she may be
as distant as she pleases, so far as I am concerned; for, thank God, I
am not in love with her, despite her surpassing beauty!"
And forthwith I seized my cap, and followed the captain up the companion
ladder to the poop.
Upon my arrival on deck I found that we were under way once more, Mr
Murgatroyd having set the fore-topmast staysail and swung the head
yards; and now, with the mate in the weather mizen rigging to con the
ship through the terrific sea that was running, we were "jilling" along
down toward the wreck, which, from the height of the poop, now showed on
the horizon line whenever we both happened to top a surge at the same
moment. The entire cuddy party were by this time assembled on the poop,
and every eye was intently fixed upon the small, misty image that at
irregular intervals reared itself sharply upon the jagged and undulating
line of the horizon, and I believe that every telescope and opera-glass
in the ship was brought to bear upon it. After studying her carefully
through my own powerful instrument for about ten minutes I made her out
to be a small barque, of about five hundred tons register, with her
foremast gone at a height of about twenty feet from the deck, her
main-topmast gone just above the level of the lower-mast-head, and her
mizenmast intact. I noticed that she appeared to be floating very deep
in the water, and that most of the seas that met her seemed to be
sweeping her fore and aft; and I believed I could detect the presence of
a small group of people huddled up together abaft the skylight upon her
short poop. An ensign of some sort was stopped half-way up the mizen
rigging, as a signal of distress; and after a while I made it out to be
the tricolour.
"Johnny Crapaud--a Frenchman!" I exclaimed to the skipper, who was
standing near me, working away at her with the ship's telescope.
"A Frenchman, eh!" responded the skipper. "Can you make out the colours
of that ensign from here? If so, that must be an uncommonly good glass
of yours, Mr Conyers."
"Take it, and test it for yourself," I answered, handing him the
instrument.
He took it, and applied it to his eye, the other end of the tube swaying
wildly to the rolling and plunging of the ship.
"Ay," he said presently, handing the glass back to me, "French she is,
and no mistake! Now that is rather a nuisance, for I am ashamed to say
that I don't know French nearly well enough to communicate with her.
How the dickens are we to understand one another when it comes to making
arrangements?"
"Well, if you can find no better way, I shall be very pleased to act as
interpreter for you," I said. "My knowledge of the French language is
quite sufficient for that."
"Thank you, Mr Conyers; I am infinitely obliged to you. I will
thankfully avail myself of all the assistance you can give me," answered
the skipper.
The sea being rather in our favour than otherwise, we drove down toward
the wreck at a fairly rapid pace, despite the extremely short sail that
we were under; and as we approached her the first thing we made out with
any distinctness was that the barque was lying head to wind, evidently
held in that position by the wreck of the foremast, which, with all
attached, was under the bows, still connected with the hull by the
standing and running rigging. This was so far satisfactory, in that it
acted as a sort of floating anchor, to which the unfortunate craft rode,
and which prevented her falling off into the trough of the sea. It
would also, probably, to some extent facilitate any efforts that we
might be able to make to get alongside her to take her people off.
To get alongside! Ay; but how was it to be done in that wild sea? The
aspect of the ocean had been awe-inspiring enough before this forlorn
and dying barque had drifted within our ken; but now that she was there
to serve as a scale by which to measure the height of the surges, and to
bring home to us a realising sense of their tremendous and irresistible
power by showing how fearfully and savagely they flung and battered
about the poor maimed fabric, it became absolutely terrifying, as was to
be seen by the blanched faces and quailing, cowering figures of the
crowd on the poop who, stood watching the craft in her death throes.
Hitherto the violence of the sea had been productive in them of nothing
worse than a condition of more or less discomfort; but now that they had
before their eyes an exemplification of what old ocean could do with man
and man's handiwork, if it once succeeded in getting the upper hand,
they were badly frightened; frightened for themselves, and still more
frightened for the poor wretches yonder who had been conquered in their
battle with the elements, and were now being done to death by their
triumphant foe. And it was no reproach to them that they were so; for
the sight upon which they were gazing, and which was now momentarily
growing plainer to the view, was well calculated to excite a feeling of
awe and terror in the heart of the bravest there, having in mind the
fact that we were looking upon a drama that might at any moment become a
tragedy involving the destruction of nearly or quite a dozen fellow
beings. Even I, seasoned hand as I was, found myself moved to a feeling
of horrible anxiety as I watched the wreck through my telescope.
For the feeling was growing upon me that we were going to be too late,
and that we were doomed to see that little crouching, huddling knot of
humanity perish miserably, without the power to help them. We were by
this time about a mile distant from the wreck; and another seven or
eight minutes would carry us alongside. But what might not happen in
those few minutes? Why, the barque might founder at any moment, and
carry all hands down with her. For we could by this time see that the
hull was submerged to the channels; and so deadly languid and sluggish
were her movements that almost every sea made a clean sweep over her,
fore and aft, rendering her main deck untenable, and her poop but a
meagre and precarious place of refuge.
And even if she continued to float until we reached her, and for some
time afterward, how were her unfortunate people to be transferred from
her deck to our own? One had only to note the wild rush of the surges,
their height, and the fierceness with which they broke as they swept
down upon our own ship, and the headlong reeling and plunging of her as
she met their assault, to realise the absolute impossibility of lowering
a boat from her without involving the frail craft and her crew in
instant destruction; and how otherwise were those poor, half-drowned
wretches to be got at and saved. Something might perhaps be done by
means of a hawser, if its end could by any means be put on board the