Part 23 (1/2)
”Is supper ready?”
”Very nearly, sir.”
”Well, tell Seth to come, and Magnus.”
”Ho! ho!” said McBain, ”that's it, is it?”
”What a comfort on a night like this,” Allan remarked, ”it is to be s.h.i.+pmates with two such fellows as Ray and Row, the epicure and the poet--the one to cater for the corporeal, the other for the mental man.”
The s.h.i.+p was pitching angrily, dipping her bows deep down under the solid seas and raising them quickly again, but not neglecting to s.h.i.+p tons of water every time, which found its way aft, so that down in the saloon they could hear it was.h.i.+ng about overhead and pouring past the ports into the sea.
”Steady, sir, steady,” cried Magnus, entering the saloon. He was speaking to Seth, who had preceded him. He didn't walk in, he came in head first, and was now lying all his length on the saloon floor.
But Rory and Allan lifted him tenderly up again and seated him on the couch, amid such remarks as, ”No bones broken, I do hope,” ”Gently does it, Seth, old man,” ”Have you really left your sea-legs forward?” ”Call the steward,” the last remark being the c.o.c.katoo's.
”I reckon,” said the old trapper, rubbing his elbows and knees, ”there ain't any bones given way this time, but that same is more chance than good management.”
After supper--which was of Ralph's own choosing, I need not say more--a general adjournment was made to the after-cabin, or snuggery, and here every one adopted att.i.tudes of comfort around the blazing stove, in easy-chairs, on sofas, or on rugs and skins on the deck; there they sat, or lounged, or lay. The elders had their pipes, the youngsters coffee.
But with the pitching and rolling of the s.h.i.+p it was not very easy either to sit, or lounge, or lie, nor was it advisable to leave the coffee in the cup for any length of time; nevertheless everybody was happy, for wondrous little care had they on their minds. Oh! how wild and tempestuous the night was, and how madly the seas leapt and tossed around them! But they had a s.h.i.+p they could trust, and, better by far, a Power above them which they had learned to put confidence in.
Seth, to-night, was in what Ralph called fine form. His stories of adventure, told in his dry, droll, inimitable way, were irresistible.
De Vere's face never once lacked a smile on it; he loved to listen though he could not talk.
Old Magnus also had some queer tales to tell, his relation of them affording Seth breathing s.p.a.ce. Several times during the evening Rory played, and the doctor tooted, as he called it.
Thus merrily and pleasantly sped the time--every one doing his best to amuse his neighbours--until eight bells rang out, then all retired.
It is on such a night as this that the soundest sleep visits the pillow of your thorough sailor--the roar of the wind overhead, the rocking of the s.h.i.+p, and the sound of the waves close by the ear, all conduce to sweetest slumber.
There was little if any improvement in the weather next day, nor for several days; but cold and stormy though it was, to be on the bridge, holding on--figuratively speaking--by the eyelids, was a glorious treat for our sailor heroes. The masts bent like fis.h.i.+ng-rods beneath the force of the gale. At times the good s.h.i.+p heeled until her yard-ends ploughed the waves, and if a sea struck her then, the spray leapt higher than the main-truck, and the green water made a clean breach over her.
On the second day the clouds were all blown away, but the wind retained its force, and the waves their power and magnitude. Every wave threatened to come inboard, and about one out of ten did. Those that didn't went singing astern, or got in under the _Arrandoon_, and tossed her all they could. The frost was intense, and in some way or other, I think, accounted for the strange singing noise emitted by those waves that went past without breaking. But it was when one great sea followed swiftly on the heels of another that the good s.h.i.+p suffered most, because she would probably be down by the head when she received salute number two. It was thus she had her bulwarks smashed, and one good boat rent into matchwood and cast away.
It was no easy task to reach the bridge, nor to rush therefrom and regain the saloon companion. You had to watch the seas, and were generally pretty safe if you made use of arms and legs just after one or two big waves had done their worst; but Allan once, and Rory three times, were washed into the scuppers, and more bruised than they cared to own. Ralph seldom came on deck, and the doctor just once got his head above the companion; for this piece of daring he received a sea in the teeth, which he declared nearly cut his head off. He went down below to change his clothes, and never came up again.
On the third day, in the dog-watch, the wind fell, and the sea went down considerably. Had the gale blown from the east, the sea would have been in no such hurry to go down, but it had continued all the time to blow steadily from off the ice. What a strange sight the _Arrandoon_ now presented! She was a s.h.i.+p of gla.s.s and snow. Funnel, masts, and rigging were, or seemed to be, composed of frosted crystal. The funnel, Rory declared, looked like a stalact.i.te from ”the cave of a thousand winters.” Her bows were lumbered with ice feet thick, and from stem to stern there was no more liveliness in the good _Arrandoon_ than there is in a Dutch collier.
As soon as the wind fell a man was sent up aloft, and the order was given,--
”All hands clear s.h.i.+p of ice.”
But hark! there is a shout from the crow's-nest.
”Large s.h.i.+p down to leeward, sir, apparently in distress.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE STORM--THE ”CANNY SCOTIA” IN DISTRESS--RUM, MUTINY, ANARCHY, AND DEATH--SAVED--ADVENTURE WITH A SHE-BEAR--CAPTURE OF THE YOUNG.
Has it not been said that the greatest pleasure on earth is felt on the sudden surcease of severe pain? I am inclined, though, to doubt the truth of this statement, and I think that nothing can equal the feeling of quiet, calm joy that is instilled into the heart on the instant one is plucked from the jaws of impending death. When the King of Terrors comes speedily, while the blood is up and the heart beating high, as he does to those who fall in the field of battle, his approach does not seem anything like so terrible as when he lags in his march towards his victim. One needs to have a hope that leads his thoughts beyond this world, to be brave and calm at such a moment.