Part 55 (1/2)
”You may say what ye plaise, but before a sail could be thrummed an'
passed under her keel, she'll be many fathoms down into the depths of the ocean An' supposin' we did fall in with a shi+p, sure, how could we get aboard of her with this sea runnin'? Then, as to reaching land-- where's the land to reach? I niver heard speak of any land away to the south'ard, except the icy pole, an' that we should niver see if ished it ever so much”
”Dat may be de case; I nebber could make out de meanin' ob a chart, but wheneber I hab been in de Pacific, me find many islands, and tink dere mus' be some here'bout Why you so down-hearted?”
”Down-hearted is it, sure? I'm not down-hearted, Pater; but I'll tell ye, I dreaale caone to glory these six years--came and stood by me side, an' I saw her face as clearly as I see yours, an' says she, 'Tim, me son, I've come to wake you;' then says I, 'Mither, what's that for?' Says she, 'I can wake ye well, although I cannot give ye dacent burial' Upon that she sit up such a howlin' I thought it would be heard all along the deck Says I, 'Mither, just hold fast there, or you'll be afther disturbin' the whole watch below' But she wouldn't, an' still howled on, jist as I ain I sung out, 'Mither, if ye love me, hold your peace
I don't want to be waked just now,' and as I uttered the words I heard the boatswain pipe all hands on deck, when sure if the asn't shrieking, an' the blocks rattling, an' the , showin' that a dacent hurricane was blowin' Me mither vanished immediately, an' I tumbled up on deck, ood soul had been saying to , and both in a brief ti All efforts to discover the leak had been hitherto in vain Peter went to the chief engineer
”Pardon, sir, et drowned, easily find better lad if you do, Peter, for I suspect if the leak is not found we shall all be drowned together,” said the engineer ”What do you propose doing?”
”Jus' dive down under de water, wid rope round hio down You see, sir, lantern no burn under de water, or ht possibly succeed; but I fear you will lose your life,”
answered the engineer ”But you shall try if you like”
”All right, ear,” said Peter, ”ineer reported to the captain the offer of the black Adair allowed hi several blue-lights, as well as a dozen shi+p's lanterns, and he, with his first lieutenant, the chief engineer, the gunner, and boatswain, and three men to hold the rope, went belohere Peter stood prepared for his undertaking The hatches overhead were taken off to allow the fuhts to escape
”Now,” cried Peter, ” into the water, he disappeared beneath it A blue-light was instantly ignited, the bright glare of which must, it was hoped, penetrate to the very botto by that Peter could exist beneath the black fluid which surged over hi to them almost like a minute The doctor, who had come down, kept his watch in his hand Adair expected hi up the man
”The poor felloill be drowned if he stays any longer,” observed Adair
”He will endure it for twenty-five seconds more,” answered the doctor
”We must have him up by that time, if he does not return”
”Haul hier”
Just as he spoke, the black's head appeared above the water
”Me find it next ti a deep breath In a couple of ain to descend Another blue-light was burned, irradiating the depths below As before, the doctor watched the time Peter was under the water Two minutes had passed, when Adair ordered the man to be hauled up It was not a moment too soon At first, from his appearance, all supposed he was drowned, and the doctor began to prepare to resuscitate hiht!” he exclaih”
Peter, as soon as he had regained his strength, showed the exact spot where the hole existed, through which the water was spouting as through a hose Adair was satisfied that the black was right The question was no to stop it The carpenter had got plugs ready, but Peter averred that no human power could force them in, unless the pressure of water was first taken off fro a thruested that an iron plate should be screwed on, but the difficulty was to screw it in the proper position He then proposed fixing an iron bar to the plate and securing the other end to a beaested, but though it prevented the water spouting upwards as it had before done, it found an entrance notwithstanding, between the plate and the shi+p's bottoave orders to have a sail thrummed The operation is as follows: A sail is stretched out and ive it the appearance of a large rug of great thickness
Strong ropes are secured to the four corners; it is then dragged under the shi+p's botto in, it is sucked into the leak, and although soreatly to i it the ropes were got over the shi+p's bows, and dragged on until the part where the leak existed was reached, when the thrummed sail was hauled under the bottom, and firmly secured
A hundred more hands were now told off to bale at the different hatchith canvas buckets, which the sail to supplement the iron ones Adair anxiously watched the result of their labours
”If the weather improves we shall do well yet,” observed Green to the first lieutenant
”One does not see much prospect of that,” was the answer
The sky indeed was as gloomy as ever, the wind blew a perfect hurricane, while the thick mist and spray which flew over the deck wetted every one to the skin As the hours went by there was no relaxation for the hard-worked crew The seaineers, and stokers, as well as the officers, laboured aith but short intervals for rest
No sooner were the men relieved, than, overcome by their exertions, they threw theain The carpenter reported the water diot more out of the shi+p by this time than we have,” he observed ”To my mind, there must be another leak soht, and Peter, hearing his opinion, volunteered again to do down and grope about until he could discover it The same precautions were taken to save him from destruction
He persevered until he was so utterly exhausted that the doctor declared hih he had not succeeded, Adair thanked hiallant conduct, and promised that it should not be overlooked