Part 48 (2/2)
The French been less tiratitude to Rayner for having saved him
”Mais, ma foi! those poltroons who ran off, afraid that the sea would s them up, should be asharatitude,off my brother officer and the seaman from the wreck,” answered Rayner ”I fear that she will not hold together many hours, and unless they are soon rescued they may lose their lives”
”I will try and persuade them to act like men,” answered Jacques ”You have twice savedthis, Jacques, who had been assisted on his legs by To to the hihost?” he cried out, ”Colish to the that they declared nothing would induce them to return to the wreck; that the boat, they knew, could no longer float, and that there was no otheroff; that if they remained on the shore they should be starved, and that they ht, which was fast approaching
”Then we must see e can do by ourselves,” said Rayner ”We cannot allow Mr Crofton and Peek to perish while we have anyto their assistance I must first see if we can patch up the boat so as to enable her to keep afloat”
On exa her, however, it was discovered that several of the planks on one side were stove in, and that they could not repair her sufficiently to keep out the water At first Rayner thought ofa raft out of the materials of the boat; but he soon came to the conclusion that he should never be able to paddle it against the seas which ca in
”It must be done,” he said to himself ”I have swuth will be givenan effort to save ht perhaps swi would induce him to leave a shi+pmate alone to perish”
All this ti on to the stanchions to save the washed away by the seas which, occasionally breaking over her side, poured down upon them
It of course occurred to Rayner that if Oliver could e to float a cask, or even a piece of plank secured to the end of a rope, a coht be established between the wreck and the shore; but as far as he could see, the running rigging and all the ropes had gone overboard with the ht in the boat
”Go off again I must,” he said; ”and I want you, my lads, to promise me, should I perish, that you will use every exertion to save the people on the wreck Fletcher, you know our object in coo to the authorities and explain that we had no hostile intentions--that our as to land the Frenchmen whose lives we had saved; and if you explain this, I hope that you will all be well treated”
Even Tohtfulness; and he and hisnow committed himself to the care of Heaven, prepared to swi, and would be ready to help hi until a sea had broken on the beach, he followed it out, and darting through the next which rolled forward, he was soon a long way from the shore He found he could swim much better than before, now that he had no rope to carry
Boldly he struck forward Happily he did not recollect that those seas swarain, as a sea rushed over the reef, he was thrown back, but exerting all his strength, he struggled forward He was nearing the wreck, and could see that Oliver, as eagerly watching hith of rope, hich he stood ready to heave when he should be near enough But he felt his own strength failing It seemed almost beyond his power to reach the wreck Still, it was not in his nature to give in, andwaters, he clutched the rope which Oliver hove-to hi hith, Oliver grasping hihtly with one hand, while he held to the stanchion with the other
”I knew you would not desert us, Rayner,” he said ”But now you have coet this poor fellow to the shore? I could not leave him, or I would not have allowed you to risk your life by returning on board We ether sufficient to carry Peek, and you and I will swih to hold us all three There's no tih”
Providentially the wind had by this ti fallen, the seas struck with less fury against the wreck, and enabled the two midshi+pmen to work far more effectually than they could otherwise have done
Jack begged that hewhere he was, lest a sea should carry hiain the wreck
Fortunately the two axes had been preserved, and going below, they found several lengths of rope, though not of sufficient strength to form a safe communication with the shore They would serve, however, for lashi+ng the raft together
They quickly cutaway some of the bulkheads They also discovered below several spars and a grating By lashi+ng these together they in a short time formed a raft of sufficient size to carry all three They next uide the raft They were very rough, but they would serve their purpose It was almost dark by the time the raft was finished
”I say, I feel desperately hungry, and I daresay so do you, Rayner, after all you have gone through,” said Oliver ”I propose that we should have some of the contents of the basket we packed I left it in the steward's pantry on the weather side”
”A very good idea,” answered Rayner ”Pray get it up Soood, and enable us all to exert ourselves I'll finish this lashi+ng in thesoes and bread which Oliver produced
”I feel much more hearty, sir,” said Jack, when he had sed the food ”I don't fancy there's soand back do feel somewhat curious”
”Come,” said Rayner, ”we must make the attempt, for we cannot tell what sort of weather we shall have during the night”
With forethought, they had fixed sos to the raft hich to secure both Jack and themselves It floated with sufficient quietness to enable theet the food, though,” said Oliver