Part 49 (2/2)

”Think of your wounded;” whispered the free-trader, with a steadiness no danger could disturb. ”We stand on a raging volcano!”

”I have ordered the gunner to drown the magazine.”

”He was too late. The hold of the s.h.i.+p is a fiery furnace. I heard him fall among the store-rooms, and it surpa.s.sed the power of man to give the wretch succor. The grenade has fallen near some combustibles, and, painful as it is to part with a s.h.i.+p so loved Ludlow, thou wilt meet the loss like a man! Think of thy wounded; my boats are still hanging at the stern.”

Ludlow reluctantly, but firmly, gave the order to bear the wounded to the boats. This was an arduous and delicate duty. The smallest boy in the s.h.i.+p knew the whole extent of the danger, and that a moment, by the explosion of the powder, might precipitate them all into eternity. The deck forward was getting too hot to be endured, and there were places even in which the beams had given symptoms of yielding.

But the p.o.o.p, elevated still above the fire, offered a momentary refuge.

Thither all retired, while the weak and wounded were lowered, with the caution circ.u.mstances would permit, into the whale-boats of the smugglers.

Ludlow stood at one ladder and the free-trader at the other, in order to be certain that none proved recreant in so trying a moment. Near them were Alida, Seadrift, and the Alderman, with the attendants of the former.

It seemed an age, before this humane and tender duty was performed. At length the cry of ”all in!” was uttered, in a manner to betray the extent of the self-command that had been necessary to effect it.

”Now, Alida, we may think of thee!” said Ludlow, turning to the spot occupied by the silent heiress.

”And you!” she said, hesitating to move.

”Duty demands that I should be the last--”

A sharp explosion beneath, and fragments of fire flying upwards through a hatch, interrupted his words. Plunges into the sea, and a rush of the people to the boats, followed. All order and authority were completely lost, in the instinct of life. In vain did Ludlow call on his men to be cool, and to wait for those who were still above. His words were lost, in the uproar of clamorous voices. For a moment, it seemed, however, as if the Skimmer of the Seas would overcome the confusion. Throwing himself on a ladder, he glided into the bows of one of the boats, and, holding by the ropes with a vigorous arm, he resisted the efforts of all the oars and boat-hooks, while he denounced destruction on him who dared to quit the s.h.i.+p. Had not the two crews been mingled, the high authority and determined mien of the free-trader would have prevailed; but while some were disposed to obey, others raised the cry of ”throw the dealer in witchcraft into the sea!”--Boat-hooks were already pointed at his breast, and the horrors of the fearful moment were about to be increased by the violence of a mutinous contention, when a second explosion nerved the arms of the rowers to madness. With a common and desperate effort, they overcame all resistance. Swinging off upon the ladder, the furious seaman saw the boat glide from his grasp, and depart. The execration that was uttered, beneath the stern of the Coquette, was deep and powerful; but, in another moment, the Skimmer stood on the p.o.o.p, calm and undejected, in the centre of the deserted group.

”The explosion of a few of the officers' pistols has frightened the miscreants;” he said, cheerfully ”But hope is not yet lost!--they linger in the distance, and may return!”

The sight of the helpless party on the p.o.o.p, and the consciousness of being less exposed themselves, had indeed arrested the progress of the fugitives. Still, selfishness predominated; and while most regretted their danger, none but the young and unheeded mids.h.i.+pmen, who were neither of an age nor of a rank to wield sufficient authority, proposed to return.

There was little argument necessary to show that the perils increased at each moment; and, finding that no other expedient remained, the gallant youths encouraged the men to pull towards the land; intending themselves to return instantly to the a.s.sistance of their commander and his friends.

The oars dashed into the water again, and the retiring boats were soon lost to view in the body of darkness.

While the fire had been raging within, another element, without, had aided to lessen hope for those who were abandoned. The wind from the land had continued to rise, and, during the time lost in useless exertion, the s.h.i.+p had been permitted to run nearly before it. When hope was gone, the helm had been deserted, and as all the lower sails had been hauled up to avoid the flames, the vessel had drifted, many minutes, nearly dead to leeward.

The mistaken youths, who had not attended to these circ.u.mstances, were already miles from that beach they hoped to reach so soon; and ere the boats had separated from the s.h.i.+p five minutes, they were hopelessly asunder. Ludlow had early thought of the expedient of stranding the vessel, as the means of saving her people; but his better knowledge of their position, soon showed him the utter futility of the attempt.

Of the progress of the flames beneath, the mariners could only judge by circ.u.mstances. The Skimmer glanced his eye about him, on regaining the p.o.o.p, and appeared to scan the amount and quality of the physical force that was still at their disposal. He saw that the Alderman, the faithful Francois, and two of his own seamen, with four of the petty officers of the s.h.i.+p, remained. The six latter, even in that moment of desperation, had calmly refused to desert their officers.

”The flames are in the state-rooms!” he whispered to Ludlow.

”Not further aft, I think, than the berths of the mids.h.i.+pmen--else we should hear more pistols.”

”True--they are fearful signals to let us know the progress of the fire!--our resource is a raft.”

Ludlow looked as if he despaired of the means but, concealing the discouraging fear, he answered cheerfully in the affirmative. The orders were instantly given, and all on board gave themselves to the task, heart and hand. The danger was one that admitted of no ordinary or half-conceived expedients; but, in such an emergency, it required all the readiness of their art, and even the greatness of that conception which is the property of genius. All distinctions of rank and authority had ceased, except as deference was paid to natural qualities and the intelligence of experience. Under such circ.u.mstances, the 'Skimmer of the Seas' took the lead; and though Ludlow caught his ideas with professional quickness, it was the mind of the free-trader that controlled, throughout, the succeeding exertions of that fearful night.

The cheek of Alida was blanched to a deadly paleness; but there rested about the bright and wild eyes of Seadrift, an expression of supernatural resolution.

When the crew abandoned the hope of extinguis.h.i.+ng the flames, they had closed all the hatches, to r.e.t.a.r.d the crisis as much as possible. Here and there, however, little torch-like lights were beginning to show themselves through the planks, and the whole deck, forward of the main-mast, was already in a critical and sinking state. One or two of the beams had failed, but, as yet, the form of the construction was preserved. Still the seamen distrusted the treacherous footing, and, had the heat permitted the experiment, they would have shrunk from a risk which at any unexpected moment might commit them to the fiery furnace beneath.

The smoke ceased, and a clear, powerful light illuminated the s.h.i.+p to her trucks. In consequence of the care and exertions of her people, the sails and masts were yet untouched; and as the graceful canvas swelled with the breeze, it still urged the blazing hull through the water.

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