Part 14 (2/2)
The reasonableness of this argument satisfied even Sibylla's sensitive conscience, and she made no further demur to Ned's proposed arrangements.
An hour and a half later they reached the s.h.i.+p, just as the sun was setting, and found her still deserted, though the men could be seen mustering on the beaches and preparing to return on board. Advantage was taken of this circ.u.mstance by Sibylla to stow away in her own boxes, at Ned's request, all the jewels brought on board, thus leaving that young gentleman free to meet Williams on his return to the s.h.i.+p and to make such a report of his explorations as he might deem fit. Half an hour later all the men had returned on board, and though they were thoroughly f.a.gged out by their unwonted exercise they had evidently enjoyed the day just as much as though they had been so many schoolboys.
On the following morning work was begun in earnest, part of the men being engaged in unbending sails and sending down the upper spars, whilst a contingent under Williams landed and proceeded to cut down trees for the purpose of building stores, a dwelling-house, a kitchen, and so on, on sh.o.r.e. Williams' plans comprised no less than the entire stripping of the s.h.i.+p down to a gantline; the thorough overhauling of her hull, inside and out, including cleaning and scrubbing; and a number of petty alterations in her rigging, which he thought would have the effect of disguising the vessel. And in addition to this he also proposed to construct on sh.o.r.e permanent buildings for the storage of his booty, as well as for the residence of a small contingent of men to guard it. This of course was not only a work of considerable time, but it also involved the complete evacuation of the s.h.i.+p, a circ.u.mstance which Ned foresaw would cause very serious inconvenience to Sibylla.
This, however, was at length happily surmounted by his obtaining the very reluctant consent of Williams to employ some of the men in the construction of a hut for her sole accommodation, he at the same time locating himself in a small tent, which was pitched close at hand, so that he might always be able to watch over her safety.
Meanwhile the _Southern Cross_ duly arrived at Melbourne after an excellent pa.s.sage; and Captain Spence was intensely gratified when he found that nothing had been heard of the _Flying Cloud_. A week later the _Southern Cross_ was lying with an empty hold, waiting for her homeward cargo to come alongside, and still the _Flying Cloud_ had not put in an appearance. Knowing what he did of the latter vessel's sailing powers, Captain Spence could only conclude that after the _Flying Cloud_ had parted company with him in the Atlantic, she must have met with a streak of foul wind or light airs which his own s.h.i.+p had happily avoided; but when a week later still, the _Flying Cloud_ had not arrived, the exultation which the honest skipper had at first experienced was converted into a feeling of incipient anxiety, which increased as time went on without any appearance of his rival. The _Southern Cross's_ cargo was slow in coming alongside; but, nevertheless when she was loaded, and her hatches put on, and she finally went to sea on her homeward voyage, the _Flying Cloud_ was still numbered among the non-arrivals. And when, after a long pa.s.sage home, the _Southern Cross_ arrived in London, and Captain Spence had time to inquire after his old friend, Blyth, he was not only surprised, but deeply grieved to hear that no intelligence of his arrival in Melbourne had up to that date been received.
But there were others even more interested than Captain Spence in the fate of the _Flying Cloud_, and these were by this time anxiously watching the columns of the ”s.h.i.+pping Gazette” for tidings of the s.h.i.+p.
They came at last, in the shape of the following paragraph:--
MISSING VESSEL.
”The following vessel, previously referred to as overdue, was on Wednesday posted at Lloyd's as missing:--
”The s.h.i.+p _Flying Cloud_ (Blyth, master), which left London for Melbourne on ---, and which afterwards picked up the derelict barque _Umhloti_, of Aberdeen, and sent her into port.”
CHAPTER TWELVE.
MR. GAUNT GOES ON AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
It is now time to return to the little party of pa.s.sengers, who, it will be remembered, were left in a situation which was certainly the reverse of pleasant.
Mr Gaunt, whose profession peculiarly adapted him to cope with such difficulties as those which now environed the party, at once naturally took the lead and a.s.sumed the direction of affairs--a position which Dr Henderson most willingly accorded him, counting himself indeed fortunate in being thus a.s.sociated with a man of such infinite resource as the engineer. In their present state, the first thing to be done was to provide a shelter for the helpless women and children of the party; and no sooner was the boat's cargo discharged upon the beach and conveyed in safety above high-water-mark than was this task commenced. A suitable position for the tent, which Gaunt proposed to put up, was soon found among the trees, which grew thickly in clumps on the gentle slopes just beyond the sandy beach. Two cocoanut-trees, growing at a convenient distance apart, were selected as uprights; and a young sapling was then cut down and lashed horizontally from trunk to trunk, at a height of about nine feet from the ground, to serve as a ridge-pole. The sail was next hauled over this sapling and secured to the ground on each side, in such a form as to make an A shaped tent about twelve feet long by eight feet wide, the spare canvas being so split that it fell down at the rear and front end of the tent in such a way as to enable the little shelter to be completely closed when necessary. And, this done, the bedding, as well as such articles as it was important to protect from the weather, were at once placed under shelter, and the interior of the tent made as comfortable as circ.u.mstances would permit; thus completing the first portion of their task. The next thing was to construct a shelter for the powder--and in fact their little all, in the shape of worldly possessions, which they thought it undesirable to put into the tent.
Two more cocoanut-trees were selected; another stout sapling was cut and secured between them, as in the case of the tent, though not quite so high from the ground, and then a quant.i.ty of other and somewhat lighter saplings were procured to form a roof, which by sunset next day they had succeeded in covering with a good serviceable thatch, quite impenetrable to the weather. But before this was accomplished they were unexpectedly reinforced by the sudden appearance of Nicholls, whose presence upon the island up to that moment had been quite unsuspected by them. This individual had been so anxious to avoid all possibility of recapture that he spent the night in the woods, presenting himself to the little party as they sat at breakfast next morning. His sudden appearance created quite a sensation for the moment; but he was almost instantly recognised.
”Why, Nicholls!” exclaimed Gaunt, ”what is the meaning of this? What are you doing here? I thought you and the rest of the mutineers were far enough away by this time.”
”Well, sir,” said Nicholls, twisting his cap nervously in his hands as he spoke, ”I hopes the rest of the mutineers are, as you say, far enough away by this time, but I am _here_, and here I intends to remain--with your good leave, sir. The fact is, Mr Gaunt, I've cut and run! That fellow Williams--as, perhaps, you may know, sir--is a rare good 'un to talk, and he managed to talk me, as well as the rest of the hands, quite into the idee that pirating was just the best thing a poor down-trodden seaman could turn his hand to. Lord bless you, Mr Gaunt, if you had heard that man I'm blessed if I don't think he would have persuaded _you_ into the same idee! But after I had agreed to jine them I began to think matters over a bit, and the more I thought about it the less I liked it; and at last I made up my mind that I'd slip my moorings aboard the _Cloud_ the first chance as ever I got. And when I got to hear that Williams was going to turn you two gentlemen and your respected families ash.o.r.e here, I says to myself, '_Now's_ your time, Tom!' And so I managed to get told off for service in one of the boats, and, watching my chance, I sort of strolled up among the trees and then took to my heels, quite determined not to show up again until the _Cloud's_ to'ga'nts'ls had sunk below the horizon. And now, here I am, sir, ready and willing to s.h.i.+p with you. I'm nothing but a poor ignorant man--a blacksmith, rightly, by trade--but mayhap I may be able to make myself useful enough to earn my bread and cheese.”
”Well, Nicholls,” said Mr Gaunt, ”I am heartily glad to see you, my man. And, as to your earning your bread and cheese, a stout, handy fellow like you, and a blacksmith to boot, will be a considerable acquisition to us in our present circ.u.mstances. I have no doubt that Williams managed to make his plans very attractive to you poor fellows in the forecastle; but wait and see how they will all end. We know not what is before us. We shall, doubtless, have to endure much hards.h.i.+p and be exposed to countless perils before we once more reach the sh.o.r.es of old England--if ever we are fortunate enough to do so. But, whatever hards.h.i.+p or peril may fall to our lot, I feel confident that in the end you will be better off with us than you would have been with Williams and his piratical crew. But sit down man; sit down and take some breakfast. You must be nearly famished by this time, if, as I suppose, you have eaten nothing since you left the s.h.i.+p yesterday.”
Nicholls, nothing loath, at once seated himself, and was served with breakfast, which he devoured with an eagerness that at least spoke well for the tonic properties of the air he had lately been breathing.
”I should like,” said Mr Gaunt, ”before we go any further, to say a word or two, whilst we are all present here, upon our future plans. I suppose you have all been thinking more or less upon this subject, and, as for myself, I may safely say that since we landed upon the beach yesterday my thoughts have dwelt upon nothing else. I do not know how it may be with you, Henderson; but, delightful as is the climate of this island, and fertile as its soil appears to be, I have no fancy for adopting it as my permanent home. I am anxious to return to civilisation at as early a date as possible. What are your ideas upon the subject?”
”Precisely similar to your own,” answered the doctor. ”My tastes and inclinations are, by no means, pastoral; and if they were I do not think I should particularly care about indulging them in this lonesome spot.
With all its failings, civilisation has certain advantages which I must say have a peculiar value in my eyes, not the least of which is the ability to live a quiet and peaceable life, free from all possible attacks by savages or the semi-civilised marauders which I have understood infest these Eastern Seas. So, whatever may be your plans for returning to civilisation, you may depend upon me, Gaunt, in aiding you in every way I possibly can.”
”Very well,” said Gaunt. ”Then I will now tell you in as few words as possible what my ideas are upon the subject, and I shall be glad of any suggestions which either of you may afterwards have to offer. When we were in the act of leaving the s.h.i.+p yesterday, that n.o.ble fellow Ned slipped into my hand a strip of paper, in which he had noted not only the position of this island but also the important fact that he had detected the presence of what he believed to be a wreck on the reef on the western side of the island. About this wreck I shall have more to say presently. The position of the island, as given by Ned, places us at no very great distance from land; but that land is inhabited by people who would not scruple for an instant to cut our throats if they thought it would suit their purpose to do so; it is useless, therefore, for us to think of making for a nearer port than either Hong-Kong, Singapore, or one of the ports of Western Australia. At first sight it would seem a simple matter enough to build a boat and make our way in her to one or another of the places I have named; for we have wood in abundance here, and apparently of many kinds, and Ned has, I see, provided us with a stock of nails which, carefully used, might suffice us for the purpose. But our island is, unfortunately for us, situated in a sea which is swept at times by the most destructive hurricanes; and it would be madness for us to think of leaving this place in anything but a craft capable of living through the very worst of weather. I have not the slightest doubt of my ability to design such a vessel; but, let her be as small as we dare to make her, her construction will still be a work of exceeding difficulty for our small party, and it will also be a work of time. During that time we must all be housed, and clothed, and fed. And I therefore propose that our first task shall be a thorough examination of the entire island, for the purpose of ascertaining the most suitable spot as a base for our operations; and, that discovered, I think we should next go to work to construct for ourselves such a dwelling as shall bid defiance to an a.s.sault by anything but civilised troops; stock it abundantly with provisions, so that, if besieged, we may not have famine to contend with; and, that done, I think we shall then be free to begin our operations upon the boat. With regard to this boat--for, in dimensions, she will not be much more--I think that, in addition to being of a capacity sufficient to conveniently carry us all, she should be fully decked and modelled upon such lines as will not only make her a good sailer, but also a first-rate sea boat.”
The doctor in his present situation found himself so utterly strange, that, if left to himself, he would scarcely have known what to set about first, and he was therefore only too glad to find that Gaunt was not only so willing, but also so thoroughly able to grapple with the difficulty. He said as much; and when Nicholls was asked his opinion it turned out that, like a great many more of his cla.s.s, he was quite unable to advance one, but was perfectly willing to follow the lead of his superiors, let them go where they would.
The next matter for consideration was that of the exploration of the island, which Gaunt proposed to undertake alone. His idea was to advance cautiously inland for a mile or so, and then, if he saw no sign of their territory being inhabited, to make a push for the mountain at about the centre of the island, and from thence onward to its western side. It was, of course, rather hard upon Mrs Gaunt that he should be left, as it were, alone in this way while the disagreeable novelty of her position was still fresh upon her; but there was no help for it, so the brave little woman plucked up her courage, and when her husband was ready to start bade him a cheery farewell.
Gaunt thought it only prudent to start upon this expedition thoroughly well armed, and in addition to his repeating rifle, and the revolvers and hunting-knife which he wore in his belt, he carried an axe, which he thought might be useful in a variety of ways. He hoped to return to camp that evening, but foreseeing that he might meet with delays on the way he cautioned them not to feel in the least anxious on his account should he be absent that night and the whole of the next day.
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