Part 10 (1/2)
She careened over so that her lee channels were under the water; and when pressed by a sea, the lee side of the quarter-deck and gangway were afloat. She now reminded me of a goaded and fiery horse, mad with the stimulus applied; not rising as before, but forcing herself through whole seas, and dividing the waves, which poured in one continual torrent from the forecastle down upon the decks below. Four men were secured to the wheel--the sailors were obliged to cling, to prevent being washed away--the ropes were thrown in confusion to leeward--the shot rolled out of the lockers, and every eye was fixed aloft, watching the masts, which were expected every moment to go over the side. A heavy sea struck us on the broadside, and it was some moments before the s.h.i.+p appeared to recover herself; she reeled, trembled, and stopped her way, as if it had stupefied her. The first lieutenant looked at the captain as if to say, ”This will not do.”
”It is our only chance,” answered the captain to the appeal. That the s.h.i.+p went faster through the water, and held a better wind, was certain; but just before we arrived at the point, the gale increased in force.
”If any thing starts, we are lost, sir,” observed the first lieutenant again.
”I am perfectly aware of it,” replied the captain, in a calm tone; ”but, as I said before, and you must now be aware, it is our only chance. The consequence of any carelessness or neglect in the fitting and securing of the rigging, will be felt now; and this danger, if we escape it, ought to remind us how much we have to answer for if we neglect our duty. The lives of a whole s.h.i.+p's company may be sacrificed by the neglect or incompetence of an officer when in harbour.”
The s.h.i.+p was now within two cables' lengths of the rocky point; some few of the men I observed to clasp their hands, but most of them were silently taking off their jackets, and kicking off their shoes, that they might not lose a chance of escape provided the s.h.i.+p struck.
”'Twill be touch and go indeed, Falcon,” observed the captain (for I had clung to the belaying pins, close to them for the last half-hour that the mainsail had been set). ”Come aft, you and I must take the helm.
We shall want _nerve_ there, and only there, now.”
The captain and first lieutenant went aft, and took the forespokes of the wheel, and O'Brien, at a sign made by the captain, laid hold of the spokes behind him. An old quarter-master kept his station at the fourth. The roaring of the sea on the rocks, with the howling of the wind, were dreadful; but the sight was more dreadful than the noise.
For a few moments I shut my eyes, but anxiety forced me to open them again. As near as I could judge, we were not twenty yards from the rocks, at the time that the s.h.i.+p pa.s.sed abreast of them. We were in the midst of the foam, which boiled around us; and as the s.h.i.+p was driven nearer to them, and careened with the wave, I thought that our main yard-arm would have touched the rock; and at this moment a gust of wind came on which laid the s.h.i.+p on her beam-ends, and checked her progress through the water, while the acc.u.mulated noise was deafening. A few moments more the s.h.i.+p dragged on, another wave dashed over her and spent itself upon the rocks, while the spray was dashed back from them, and returned upon the decks. The main rock was within ten yards of her counter, when another gust of wind laid us on our beam-ends; the foresail and mainsail split, and were blown clean out of the bolt-ropes--the s.h.i.+p righted, trembling fore and aft. I looked astern:--the rocks were to windward on our quarter, and we were safe. I thought at the time, that the s.h.i.+p, relieved of her courses, and again lifting over the waves, was not a bad similitude of the relief felt by us all at that moment; and, like her, we trembled as we panted with the sudden reaction, and felt the removal of the intense anxiety which oppressed our b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
The captain resigned the helm, and walked aft to look at the point, which was now broad on the weather quarter. In a minute or two, he desired Mr Falcon to get new sails up and bend them, and then went below to his cabin. I am sure it was to thank G.o.d for our deliverance: I did most fervently, not only then, but when I went to my hammock at night. We were now comparatively safe--in a few hours completely so: for, strange to say, immediately after we had weathered the rocks, the gale abated, and before morning we had a reef out of the topsails.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
NEWS FROM HOME--A ”FATIGUE” PARTY EMPLOYED AT GIBRALTAR--MORE PARTICULARS IN THE LIFE OF MR. CHUCKS--A BRUSH WITH THE ENEMY--A COURT-MARTIAL AND A LASTING IMPRESSION.
A few days afterwards, a cutter joined us from Plymouth with orders for the frigate to proceed forthwith to Gibraltar, where we should learn our destination. We were all very glad of this: for we had had quite enough of cruising in the Bay of Biscay; and, as we understood that we were to be stationed in the Mediterranean, we hoped to exchange gales of wind and severe weather for fine breezes and a bright sky. The cutter brought out our letters and newspapers. I never felt more happy than I did when I found one put into my hands. It is necessary to be far from home and friends, to feel the real delight of receiving a letter. I went down into the most solitary place in the steerage, that I might enjoy it without interruption. I cried with pleasure before I opened it; but I cried a great deal more with grief, after I had read the contents--for my eldest brother Tom was dead of a typhus fever. Poor Tom. When I called to mind what tricks he used to play me--how he used to borrow my money and never pay me--and how he used to thrash me and make me obey him, because he was my elder brother--I shed a torrent of tears at his loss; and then I reflected how miserable my poor mother must be, and I cried still more.
I was very melancholy for a few days; but it was so delightful running down the Portuguese and Spanish coasts, the weather was so warm, and the sea so smooth, that I am afraid I forgot my brother's death sooner than I ought to have done; but my spirits were cheered up, and the novelty of the scene prevented me from thinking. Every one, too, was so gay and happy, that I could not well be otherwise. In a fortnight, we anch.o.r.ed in Gibraltar Bay, and the s.h.i.+p was stripped to refit. There was so much duty to be done, that I did not like to go on sh.o.r.e. Indeed, Mr Falcon had refused some of my messmates, and I thought it better not to ask, although I was very anxious to see a place which was considered so extraordinary. One afternoon, I was looking over the gangway as the people were at supper, and Mr Falcon came up to me and said, ”Well, Mr Simple, what are you thinking of?” I replied, touching my hat, that I was wondering how they had cut out the solid rocks into galleries, and that they must be very curious.
”That is to say, that you are very curious to see them. Well, then, since you have been very attentive to your duty, and have not asked to go on sh.o.r.e, I will give you leave to go to-morrow morning and stay till gun-fire.”
I was very much pleased at this, as the officers had a general invitation to dine with the mess, and all who could obtain leave being requested to come, I was enabled to join the party. The first lieutenant had excused himself on the plea of there being so much to attend to on board; but most of the gun-room officers and some of the mids.h.i.+pmen obtained leave. We walked about the town and fortifications until dinner-time, and then we proceeded to the barracks. The dinner was very good, and we were all very merry; but after the dessert had been brought in, I slipped away with a young ensign, who took me all over the galleries and explained everything to me, which was a much better way of employing my time than doing as the others did, which the reader will acknowledge. I was at the sally-port before gun-fire--the boat was there, but no officers made their appearance. The gun fired, the drawbridge was hauled up, and I was afraid that I should be blamed; but the boat was not ordered to shove off, as it was waiting for commissioned officers. About an hour afterwards, when it was quite dark, the sentry pointed his arms and challenged a person advancing with, ”Who comes there?”--”Naval officer, drunk on a wheelbarrow,” was the reply, in a loud singing voice. Upon which, the sentry recovered his arms, singing in return, ”Pa.s.s, naval officer, drunk on a wheelbarrow--and all's well!” and then appeared a soldier in his fatigue dress, wheeling down the third lieutenant in a wheelbarrow so tipsy that he could not stand or speak. Then the sentry challenged again, and the answer was, ”Another naval officer, drunk on a wheelbarrow:” upon which the sentry replied as before, ”Pa.s.s, another naval officer, drunk on a wheelbarrow--and all's well.” This was my friend O'Brien, almost as bad as the third lieutenant; and so they continued for ten minutes, challenging and pa.s.sing, until they wheeled down the remainder of the party, with the exception of the second lieutenant, who walked arm-in-arm with the officer who brought down the order for lowering the drawbridge. They were all safely put into the boat, and I am glad to say the first lieutenant was in bed and did not see them.
The s.h.i.+p remained at Gibraltar Bay about three weeks, during which time we had refitted the rigging fore and aft, restowed and cleaned the hold, and painted the outside. She never looked more beautiful than she did when, in obedience to our orders, we made sail to join the admiral. We had very light winds, and a day or two afterwards we were off Valencia, nearly becalmed. I was on the gangway, looking through a telescope at the houses and gardens round the city, when Mr Chucks, the boatswain, came up to me. ”Mr Simple, oblige me with that gla.s.s a moment; I wish to see if a building remains there, which I have some reason to remember.”
”What, were you ever on sh.o.r.e there?”
”Yes, I was, Mr Simple, and nearly _stranded_, but I got off again without much damage.”
”How do you mean--were you wrecked then?”
”Not my s.h.i.+p, Mr Simple, but my peace of mind was for some time; but it's many years ago, when I was first made boatswain of a corvette”
(during this conversation he was looking through the telescope); ”yes, there it is,” said he; ”I have it in the field. Look, Mr Simple, do you see a small church, with a spire of glazed tiles, s.h.i.+ning like a needle?”
”Yes, I do.”
”Well, then, just above it, a little to the right, there is a long white house, with four small windows--below the grove of orange-trees.”
”I see it,” replied I; ”but what about that house, Mr Chucks?”
”Why, thereby hangs a tale,” replied he, giving a sigh, which raised and then lowered the frill of his s.h.i.+rt at least six inches.
”Why, what is the mystery, Mr Chucks?”