Part 21 (1/2)
”'Better that he should eat that than us, Paddy,' said Mr Rogers; 'don't let's fret about it, for, to say the truth, it was rather too high to be pleasant.' He was right as to that; for the bits he put into my mouth had a very curious taste; but it wasn't a time to be particular, so I had taken what was given me, and said nothing. I was thankful when I saw that the three lads had safely lashed themselves to the starboard shrouds as before. The day was wearing on, and I was beginning to feel that I'd rather not have to stand on my legs much longer, though the hope that the hurricane would quickly blow itself out kept me up. At last, I calculated about seven bells in the afternoon watch, it fell almost a dead calm, though we happily kept steerage way on the craft, for the sea tumbled about almost as madly as before, and it was a difficult job to prevent its breaking aboard. However we managed to set the mainsail, and I hoped we should soon have smoother water.
”One never can tell what tricks the wind will play. Suddenly, as you may see sometimes a hulking giant knock down a little chap with a blow of his fist, a sea struck the drogher on the starboard beam; and before a sheet could be let fly over she went. It was a mercy that the three young gentlemen were holding on at the time to the weather rigging.
They all scrambled in a moment on to the chains, where I, making my way along the bulwarks, quickly joined them. I can't say that they were frightened exactly, but they didn't like it, which was but natural; no more did I.
”'What's going to happen next?' asked Mr Rogers quite calmly.
”'The hatches being on, the craft won't fill, and maybe when the squall has pa.s.sed over another sea may right her,' I answered, as I saw that there was a chance of that happening.
”The squall didn't last ten minutes, and directly afterwards there was a flat calm, and the sea went down wonderfully fast. Still the drogher lay over on her side and gave no signs of righting. Mr Desmond proposed cutting away the mast.
”'That mightn't help us,' I answered; 'I've an idea that the ballast has s.h.i.+fted over to port, and that with the water in her keeps the craft down. We must wait till the sea is smooth, and then we'll get the companion hatch off and have a look below; we may be able to bale the water out, and s.h.i.+ft enough of the ballast to right her; but as long as the sea is running it's safer to trust to Providence, and to hold on with hands and teeth where we are, and--
”'Poor Spider, I'm afraid he'll have an uncomfortable time of it, left all alone in the dark below, and not knowing what can have happened to the vessel,' said Mr Rogers, as if he thought the monkey more to be pitied than himself or us.
”The poor brute had been made fast below, to keep him out of mischief, when they went on sh.o.r.e, and had remained there since. I had an idea that he was very likely drowned if he was over on the lee side, but I didn't say so for fear of grieving his young masters. Thinks I to myself, if we are hard up for grub, whether dead or alive, he'll serve us for a meal or two at all events.
”Having no longer the steering of the craft to attend to, as evening drew on I began to feel very drowsy, and it made me fear that the youngsters, who would be getting sleepy, likewise, to a certainty might drop off into the water and be drowned, or be grabbed by a shark. The thought had no sooner come into my head than I saw one of the brutes swimming by and casting his two wicked eyes up at us. I roused myself up in a moment, and getting hold of some las.h.i.+ngs, pointed him out to the young gentlemen. When I told them what I feared, they did not object to my making them all fast to the chains with their legs along the shrouds. I afterwards secured myself close to them on the bulwarks.
I hadn't been there many minutes before I went off into a sort of sleep, though it wasn't exactly sleep, because I knew where I was, and never forgot what had happened. I could hear, too, the voices of my young companions, trying by talking to keep each other awake, though it was a hard job for them, poor lads. The seas, do ye see, had been was.h.i.+ng over us all the time, and even now, though they broke less heavily than before, pretty often nearly smothered us, but even they could not make me keep my eyes open. Darkness soon came down upon the ocean, but it was growing calmer and calmer, and I could feel that the vessel was no longer tossed and tumbled about, while the voices of the mids.h.i.+pmen ceased to sound in my ears. I tried to rouse myself up.
That was, however, more than I could do, and at last I dropped off into a real sound sleep. When I awoke the vessel lay as quietly as in a mill-pond, and not a sound was to be heard except the soft lap of the water against the hull. I couldn't even hear the breathing of the mids.h.i.+pmen, and for a moment the dreadful thought came to me that they were dead, or had got loose somehow or other, and had slipped into the sea. I lifted myself up so that I could reach the shrouds. There they were safe enough, and all as fast asleep as they could have been in their hammocks. I wouldn't awake them, as I thought the sleep would do them good. I myself had no wish to go to sleep again, so I sat up watching the bright stars s.h.i.+ning out of the clear sky, and thinking whether it would be possible to get the vessel righted; and if not, what chance there was if we could form a raft of reaching one of the islands, or falling in with a pa.s.sing vessel. To my mind a man's a coward who cries die while there's life in him, and I determined, with the help of Him who I knew right well looks after poor Jack, to do my best to save myself and the young mids.h.i.+pmen. These things gave me enough to think about for the rest of that long night. At last the light of day came back, the stars grew dim, and presently the sun, like a huge ball of fire, with a blaze of red all around him over the sky, rose out of the gla.s.s-like sea. I knew that it was going to be blazing hot, and that we should feel it terribly. The mids.h.i.+pmen awaking, were much surprised to find that it was light again already, and couldn't believe that they had slept through the night. Having cast off their las.h.i.+ngs they began to move about to stretch their cramped limbs, not that there was much s.p.a.ce for that.
”'Now, messmates,' said Mr Rogers, 'there's one thing we ought to do before we think of anything else, and that is, to thank G.o.d for having preserved us through the night, and to pray to Him to protect us, and to take us ash.o.r.e in safety. Needham, you'll join us, I know.'
”'Of course, I will, sir,' says I, and well pleased I was to hear the youngster speak in that way without any shamefacedness. It was just what I'd been thinking, for if a man dare not ask G.o.d to help him, he must be in a bad way indeed.
”Without another word we all knelt on the side of the vessel, and a right good honest prayer did Mr Rogers offer up. No parson or bishop either could have prayed a better, though he might have put more words into it. The young gentleman, do ye see, knew exactly what we all wanted, and that's just what he asked G.o.d to give us, and no more.
”'And now, Needham, what do you consider is the first thing we ought to do?' said Mr Rogers, as soon as he had finished.
”'Let us try and get some water,' sang out Mr Desmond. 'I'm terribly thirsty, I could drink a bucketful if I had it.
”'So could I, for my thrapple is as dry as a dustbin,' added Mr Gordon.
”'As to that, I am not better than either of you,' says Mr Rogers, 'but I thought that I'd try to hold out as long as I could.'
”'Well,' says I, 'I'll make my way below and see what I can bring up.
Water will be better than wine or spirits, and if I can find any you shall have it.'
”'No, no, Needham, you stay where you are,' says Mr Rogers. 'Just pa.s.s a rope aft and I'll make it fast round my waist till I can get the hatch off. The water is pretty well up to the coamings already, and my weight won't make the difference which yours might.'
”He seemed to think that there was more danger than I did--that the weight of a single man might capsize the craft altogether. I believed that if we had all gone below together it wouldn't have mattered.
However, I did as he ordered me. It was a sliding-hatch, you remember, and he soon got it off far enough to let himself down into the cabin.
We all sat watching for him to come back again. At last I heard his voice singing out to me to hoist away. Looking down I saw him seated on the companion hatch with Master Spider, the monkey clinging to his neck while he was making fast the end of the rope to a basket full of all sorts of things which he had collected below. I hauled it up, and he followed with Spider.
”'Water! water!' cried the others.
”'I couldn't find a drop,' he answered, 'but I've brought some oranges and a bottle of wine. It's the last in the locker, so we must take care how we use it.' There was just one orange apiece, and for my part I'd have given a five-pound note for mine rather than go without it. As to the wine we couldn't touch it, though we were glad of some before long.
The only solid food we had was biscuit, for the fish and venison had gone bad, and we were not sharp set enough to eat it; but then we had, besides the oranges, several sorts of fruit; their outlandish names I never can remember. Though they didn't put much strength into us they were what we wanted, seeing that we had no water to moisten our throats.
Still, while they and the biscuits lasted, and the monkey Spider to fall back on, I wasn't afraid of starving, though I didn't say anything to the young gentlemen about him, as I knew they wouldn't like the thoughts of feeding on their pet. When we had finished our breakfasts we began to talk of what we had best do. We had the choice of three things, to try and right the drogher, to make a raft out of her spars and upper works, or to sit quietly where we were till some vessel should come by and take us off. At last I got leave from Mr Rogers to go below, and judge what chance there was of righting the craft. I soon saw that without buckets we should never be able to bale her out. There wasn't one to be found, nor would the pump work, while, as I had guessed, the ballast had s.h.i.+fted over to the port side, so till we could free her of water we couldn't reach that; besides, it would have been a difficult matter to get it back to its place. As I was groping about in the hold I came upon two water-casks. Here is a prize I thought, but the bungs were out, and the only water in them was salt. At last I went back with my report.