Part 1 (2/2)
This conviction caused the toiling pair to cease from their labours for a moment and glance about them anxiously, in the hope that the twilight might reveal to them some craft to which they might signal for a.s.sistance. To their great relief, they perceived that there was indeed such a craft within a short two miles to the eastward of them; moreover she was outward-bound, and was heading in such a direction that she would probably pa.s.s within half a mile of the waterlogged lugger.
”Thanks be!” devoutly exclaimed Stukely, as his eyes fell upon her. ”If we can but attract her attention before the boat founders, we shall escape, after all. Go on with your baling, d.i.c.k, while I wave my coat.
The thing to do is to catch the eye of somebody aboard that s.h.i.+p and make it understood that we are in distress; then, since we can both swim, it will not greatly matter if the lugger should go down before yonder s.h.i.+p reaches us.”
d.i.c.k obediently did as he was told, while Stukely, whipping off his coat, sprang upon the mast thwart and, with his left arm flung round the splintered stump to steady himself, proceeded to wave his coat energetically. Luckily for the pair in distress, they were to the westward of the approaching s.h.i.+p, with the evening sky, in which still lingered a pale primrose glow, behind them, and against this background their figures and that of the boat stood out black as silhouettes cut in ebony. It is possible that, even with this advantage, they might have escaped notice, had not Phil thought of waving his coat; but the figure of him standing there, apparently upon nothing--for it was only now and then that a small portion of the hull became visible--waving frantically something big enough to show up strongly, soon attracted attention on board the approaching s.h.i.+p, and Stukely had scarcely been ten minutes engaged on his waving operations when he had the gratification of seeing a flag float out over the rail and go soaring up to the main truck, while the stranger's helm was slightly s.h.i.+fted and she swerved perceptibly toward them.
”Glory be! they have seen us, and are bearing away for us, so it matters little now whether the lugger sinks or swims,” exclaimed Stukely, as he sprang off the thwart and resumed his task of baling with renewed zest.
”Nevertheless,” he continued, ”it will be well to keep her afloat as long as we may, since she affords a bigger mark to steer for than would the heads of us two afloat upon the darkling water.”
The stranger--a tall and stately s.h.i.+p of some two hundred and forty tons measurement--was now close aboard of the dismasted lugger; and well was it for the occupants of the latter that such was the case; for as the s.h.i.+p cleverly rounded-to, with her topsails lowered, alongside and to windward of the boat, so near was the latter to foundering that the bow wave of the rescuing craft completed the disaster by surging in over the gunwale in sufficient volume to fill her; and down she went, at the precise moment when some half a dozen ropes, hurled by the sailors above, came whirling down about the shoulders of d.i.c.k and Stukely.
”Haul away!” shouted the two, with one accord, each grasping the rope's end that came first to hand as they felt the lugger sinking and themselves going down with her; and the next moment they were dragged, dripping wet, up the lee side of the s.h.i.+p and in over her high bulwarks.
”Better late than never; iss, fegs!” exclaimed a stout, burly man of middle height, clad in a crimson doublet of slashed silk, and trunk hose, with a crimson velvet cap, in front of which was stuck a feather of the same hue, secured by a gold brooch, set jauntily upon his head.
”But by my faith, my masters, we were only just in time. Mr Bas...o...b.. put up your helm, and hoist away your topsails again. And now, gentles both, who be ye; and how came ye to be in so awkward a sc.r.a.pe as that from which we have just rescued ye?”
This was evidently the captain of the s.h.i.+p; so Stukely, taking the lead as usual, explained in a few brief words the particulars of their mishap, thanked the unknown for his kindness in taking the trouble to pick them up, and concluded by expressing the hope that the individual to whom he was speaking would have the great goodness to stand insh.o.r.e and land them on the nearest point that he could conveniently fetch.
The captain--for such he proved to be, introducing himself as John Marshall, captain of the good s.h.i.+p _Adventure_ of Topsham, westward bound to the Indies in quest of Spanish booty--shook his head good-naturedly but firmly.
”Nay, friend, that I cannot and will not do, for here have we spent the whole of last night and to-day working down channel as far as this, and now that we have at last caught a fair slant of wind I will make the most thereof, not risking the loss of it to land any man, yea, even though he were my own brother! The utmost that I can promise is, that if we should fall in with a coaster, or other s.h.i.+p, bound up-channel, or should sight a fis.h.i.+ng boat, I will delay my voyage just long enough to put ye on board, but not a minute longer. And if so be we do not encounter another craft, you will e'en both have to join us, for we have here no room for idlers. And now, hie you both away into the cabin, and take off your wet clothes; Mr Bas...o...b.. the master, will furnish you with dry clothing from the slop chest--though I mis...o...b.. me,” he continued, running his eye dubiously over Chichester's stalwart frame, ”whether he will find any ample enough to clothe your friend withal.
And when ye have changed, sup with us in the cabin, and we will talk further together.”
Marshall then beckoned to Bas...o...b.. and gave the latter instructions to open the slop chest and do his best to provide the newcomers with dry clothes; whereupon the master, in turn, beckoned to Philip and d.i.c.k to follow him below, where in due time both were provided with a change of clothing, the resources of the slop chest happily proving fully equal to the strain upon its resources imposed by Chichester's bulky proportions.
The change was effected in good time to allow the two friends to join the occupants of the p.o.o.p cabin at supper, where Captain Marshall made them duly acquainted with his fellow adventurers. These were five in number, consisting respectively of Mr George Lumley and Mr Thomas Winter, Marshall's lieutenants, Mr Walter Dyer and Mr Edmund Harvey, gentlemen adventurers who, with Marshall, had provided the wherewithal for the fitting out of the expedition, and Mr William Bas...o...b.. the master aforesaid. They were all fellow Devonians, a genial and hearty company, in the best of good spirits at the prospect of stirring times before them, with the chance of returning home made men. It is true that--not to put too fine a point upon it--they were pirates, of a sort; but so were Grenvile, Drake, Hawkins, and the rest of their ill.u.s.trious contemporaries; and piracy was at that time regarded as a quite honourable profession--provided that the piracies were perpetrated solely against the hated Spaniard.
It was by this time dark enough to render necessary the lighting of the great cabin lamp which swung in the skylight; and the apartment, with its long table draped with snowy napery and abundantly furnished with smoking viands flanked with great flagons of foaming ale, presented a particularly cosy and inviting appearance as d.i.c.k and Phil, having been introduced in due form to the others, took their seats; the more so, perhaps, from the fact that both of them, having been too eager for their sail to wait for a meal at the conclusion of their day's labours, had tasted neither bite nor sup since midday, and were now each in possession of a truly voracious appet.i.te. Then, the conversation as the meal progressed--the wonderful, almost incredible, stories of past adventure related by Marshall and Bas...o...b.. both of whom had already once visited the Indies, and the confidence with which all antic.i.p.ated their return to England laden with wealth unimaginable--exercised an almost irresistible fascination over the two newcomers, one at least of whom-- Philip Stukely to wit--began to feel, before the meal was over, that he cared not a jot though he should be compelled by force of circ.u.mstances to join those daredevil adventurers who made it clearly understood that, so far as the outside world was concerned, they intended to be a law unto themselves. Marshall's and Bas...o...b..s talk, especially, of cloudless skies of richest blue, out of which the sun darted his flaming rays by day, and in which the stars blazed like jewels at night; of tranquil seas of sapphire in which creatures of strange forms and brilliant hues disported themselves; of tropic sh.o.r.es, coral fringed and clothed with graceful feathery palms backed by n.o.ble forest trees of precious woods, made glorious by flowers of every conceivable hue and shape, amid which hovered birds of such gorgeous plumage that they gleamed and shone in the sun like living gems; of rich and luscious fruits to be had for the mere trouble of plucking; of fireflies spangling the velvet darkness with their fairy lamps; and of the gentle Indians who--at least when not brought under the malign influence of the cruel Spaniard--regarded white men as G.o.ds; all these appealed with singular force and fascination to Stukely, who sat listening breathlessly and with glowing eyes to everything that the two sailors said about these wonders.
For, singularly enough, although the man had never until now been out of sight of English soil, and although he had never read about them, all these things seemed strangely familiar to him. Times without number, as he had sat meditating over the fire on a winter's night, or had sprawled among the hay or upon the sandy beach on a summer evening, had visions of just such lands and just such enchanting scenes as Marshall and Bas...o...b..described come floating to him like vague and distant but cherished memories.
He awoke, as from a delightful dream, when, the meal being finished, Marshall arose from his chair and invited his guests to accompany him out on deck. It was quite dark when they emerged from the cabin; so dark indeed that for a moment, their eyes being still dazzled by the bright light of the cabin lamp, they groped their way like blind men, and were fain to stand still, clinging to whatsoever their hands happened to find. Then, their sight coming to them again, they followed Marshall up the p.o.o.p ladder, and stood, staring out upon a night of bl.u.s.terous wind and faintly phosph.o.r.escent, foam-capped sea; of flying clouds amid which the stars twinkled mistily and vanished, to re-appear presently with the tall spars and swelling canvas of the s.h.i.+p swaying dizzily and black among them; a night full of unaccustomed sounds of creaking and groaning timbers, of the splas.h.i.+ng and roaring of water under the s.h.i.+p's bows, along her bends, and about her rudder; of strange sighings and moanings aloft; and of the low murmur of men's voices as the watch cl.u.s.tered under the shelter of the towering forecastle, discussing, mayhap, like their superiors aft, the prospects of the voyage.
The Captain peered about him on either side of the s.h.i.+p, anon stooping to send his glances forward into the darkness beyond the heaving bows; then he hailed the lookouts upon the forecastle, demanding in sharp, imperative tones whether there were sail of any kind in sight. The answer was in the negative.
”Well, my masters,” said he, turning to Stukely and Chichester, ”you see how it is; there is nothing in sight; and every mile that we travel lessens your chance of our falling in with anything into which we can transfer you. If this good breeze holds--as I trust in G.o.d that it will--we shall be off Falmouth shortly after midnight, but much too far out to render it at all likely that we shall sight any of its fis.h.i.+ng craft; and, once to the westward of Falmouth, your last chance of getting ash.o.r.e will be gone. Now, what say ye? Will ye, without more ado, up and join us? I talked the matter over with my partners while you were changing your duds before supper, and I can find room in the s.h.i.+p for both of you. We have no surgeon with us, so that berth will fit you finely, Mr Stukely; while, as for you, my young son of Anak,”
turning to Chichester, ”a lad of your thews and sinews can always earn his keep aboard s.h.i.+p. But I can offer ye something better than the berth of s.h.i.+p's boy; we have but one carpenter among us, and I will gladly take you on with the rating of carpenter's mate, if that will suit ye. Iss, fegs, that I will! Now, what say ye? Shall us call it a bargain, and have done wi' it?”
”So far as I am concerned, you certainly may--if d.i.c.k will join, too,”
answered Stukely. ”I will not let him go ash.o.r.e alone to answer for the loss of the boat; for the accident which caused the plight in which you found us was at least as much my fault as his. But I do not believe that we are going to have the chance to get ash.o.r.e, therefore--what say you, d.i.c.k, shall we accept Captain Marshall's very generous offer, and so settle the matter?”
”I am not thinking of the boat--Gramfer Heard is rich enough to bear the loss of her without feeling it--but it is my uncle that I'm troubling about. I am afraid that he will be greatly distressed at my sudden and unaccountable disappearance,” answered d.i.c.k.
”True,” a.s.sented Stukely; ”doubtless he will. But what about thy aunt, d.i.c.k? Will not she rejoice that your worthy uncle's exchequer is relieved of the cost of your maintenance? I have heard that she keeps a tight hold upon her husband's purse strings; and it has been whispered that she begrudges every tester that the good man spends upon thee.
Believe me, she will soon find words to console him for thy loss.”
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