Part 71 (2/2)
”My G.o.d, Jim!” said he,--”I have had such an awful dream! I dreamed that those fellows in the boat were carrying off Alice, and I stood by and saw it, and could not move hand or foot. I am terribly frightened.
That was something more than a dream, Jim.”
”You ate too much of that pie at dinner,” said Jim, ”and you've had the nightmare,--that's what is the matter with you. Lord bless you, I often have the nightmare when I have eaten too much at supper, and lie on my back. Why, I dreamed the other night that the devil had got me under the wool-press, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g me down as hard as he could, and singing the Hundredth Psalm all the time. That was a much worse dream than yours.”
Sam was obliged to confess that it was. ”But still,” said he, ”I think mine was something more than a dream. I'm frightened still.”
”Oh, nonsense; lie down again. You are pulling all the clothes off me.”
They lay down, and Jim was soon asleep, but not so Sam. His dream had taken such hold of his imagination, that he lay awake, listening to the storm howling around the house. Now and then he could hear the unearthly scream of some curlew piercing the din, and, above all, he could hear the continuous earth-shaking thunder of the surf upon the beach. Soon after daylight, getting Halbert to accompany him, he went out to have a look at the sh.o.r.e, and, forcing their way against the driving, cutting rain, they looked over the low cliff at the furious waste of waters beneath them, and saw mountain after mountain of water hurl itself, in a cloud of spray, upon the sh.o.r.e.
”What terrible waves, now!” said Sam.
”Yes,” replied Halbert; ”there's no land to windward for six thousand miles or more. I never saw heavier seas than those. I enjoy this, Sam.
It reminds me of a good roaring winter's day in old Cornwall.”
”I like it, too,” said Sam. ”It freshens you up. How calm the water is to the leeward of the Cape!”
”Yes; a capital harbour of refuge that. Let us go home to breakfast.”
He turned to go, but was recalled by a wild shout from Sam.
”A s.h.i.+p! A s.h.i.+p!”
He ran back and looked over into the seething h.e.l.l of waters helow. Was it only a thicker spot in the driving mist, or was it really a s.h.i.+p? If so, G.o.d help her.
Small time to deliberate. Ere he could think twice about it, a full-rigged s.h.i.+p, about five hundred tons, with a close-reefed topsail and a rag of a foresail upon her, came rus.h.i.+ng, rolling, diving, and plunging on, apparently heading for the deadly white line of breakers which stretched into the sea at the end of the promontory.
”A Queen's s.h.i.+p, Sam! a Queen's s.h.i.+p! The Tartar, for a thousand pounds! Oh, what a pity; what a terrible pity!”
”Only a merchant s.h.i.+p, surely,” said Sam.
”Did you ever see a merchant s.h.i.+p with six such guns as those on her upper deck, and a hundred blue-jackets at quarters? That is the Tartar, Sam, and in three minutes there will be no Tartar.”
They had run in their excitement out to the very end of the Cape, and now the s.h.i.+p was almost under their feet, an awful sight to see. She was rolling fearfully, going dead before the wind. Now and then she would slop tons of water on her deck, and her mainyard would almost touch the water. But still the dark cl.u.s.ters of men along her bulwarks held steadfast, and the s.h.i.+p's head never veered half a point. Now it became apparent that she would clear the reef by a hundred yards or more, and Halbert, waving his hat, cried out,--
”Well done, Blockstrop! Bravely done, indeed! He is running under the lee of the Cape for shelter. Her Majesty has one more s.h.i.+p-of-war than I thought she would have had five minutes ago.”
As he spoke, she had pa.s.sed the reef. The yards, as if by magic, swung round, and, for a moment, she was broadside on to the sea. One wave broke over her, and nought but her masts appeared above a sheet of white foam; but, ere the water had well done pouring from her open deck ports, she was in smooth water, her anchor was down, and the topsail yard was black with men.
”Let us come down, Sam,” said Halbert: ”very likely they will send a boat ash.o.r.e.”
As they were scrambling down the leeward side of the cliff, they saw a boat put off from the s.h.i.+p, and gained the beach in time to meet a mids.h.i.+pman coming towards them. He, seeing two well-dressed gentlemen before him, bowed, and said,--
”Good morning; very rough weather.”
”Very, indeed,” said Halbert. ”Is that the Tartar, pray?”
<script>