CHAPTER IV.
A VOICE FROM THE SEA.
The small crew of the Bonita were weary almost to the verge ofexhaustion. Excitement and grief had fatigued them even more than thelong pull in the Sally; therefore all three slept as soundly as if theyhad been snugly tucked-up in bed at home, and when the sun came from hisbath in the sea they were yet unconscious that another day had dawned.
When Jim, who was the first to awaken, opened his eyes, he rose suddenlyto a sitting posture with a misty idea that his slumbers had beendisturbed by the sound of a human voice.
It was several seconds before he fully realized where he was; but thedeserted deck of the brig and the Sally upturned on the main hatch soonbrought back to his mind all the strange occurrences of the previousday, after which he began to speculate whether it was in a dream that heheard a low, feeble hail of "Brig ahoy!"
Harry and Walter were both asleep, consequently neither of them hadspoken. Rising to his feet he gazed eagerly over the placid ocean, butwithout seeing the ardently-longed-for sail.
"I reckon I was dreaming," he said to himself, and then the thought oftheir lonely position drove everything else from his mind. "We must beout of the track of vessels or one would be in sight by this time; andwhen the next storm comes up it'll be good-by all hands, for we can'tmanage a craft like this in a gale. I ain't sure, but----"
"Brig ahoy! ahoy!"
This time there was no mistake. It was a hail hardly more than awhisper, but yet so distinct as to prevent any possibility that it was atrick of the imagination. One would have said it came from the seadirectly beneath the brig's stern, and Jim's face grew pale with fear ashe looked quickly around without seeing so much as a floating timber.
"There's something wrong about this craft," he muttered, "Sailors don'trun away from a sound vessel without a pretty good reason, an' I reckonshe's haunted!"
"Brig ahoy! Help a dying man! Ahoy on board!"
The words were spoken more feebly than before, and Jim, thoroughlyconvinced he had heard something supernatural, awakened his companionsby shaking them nervously.
"Get up quick!" he said in a hoarse whisper. "This brig has been hailedthree times, an' there isn't even a fly in sight!"
Harry and Walter were on their feet in an instant gazing around inbewilderment; but seeing nothing, and after Jim had told his story, heasked in a voice trembling with fear:
"What shall we do? I'd rather take my chances on the Sally, even if weare out of sight of land, than stay here another minute. This brig hasgot ghosts aboard!"
"I don't hear anything," Harry said, the bright sun and sparkling waterinvesting the vessel with a sense of life and animation directly atvariance with any supposed supernatural visitations. "You're mistaken,Jim, that's all."
"Wait a little while," Jim replied, shaking his head gravely as if thesubject was too serious to admit of any discussion.
The boys were destined to be skeptical but a few seconds longer. Beforeanother moment had passed a low groan was heard as if coming frombeneath their feet, and all three instinctively ran across the deck tothe starboard rail, to put the greatest possible distance betweenthemselves and the unearthly sound.
This short flight was the one thing needed to reveal the seemingmystery; for as Jim leaped into the main rigging with the intention ofgoing aloft, if the ghostly voice was heard again, he involuntarilyglanced downward.
"Look! Look there!" he cried excitedly, pointing toward the water; and,following with their eyes the direction indicated by his trembling hand,the boys saw a Whitehall-built boat about twenty feet long made fast tothe main-chains. An oar lashed to one of the thwarts served as a mast,and fastened to this was a small piece of canvas.
All these details were not at first remarked, for in the bottom, lyingface downward as if dead, was a man. His outstretched hands looked likeclaws, so tightly was the skin drawn over the bones, and even thoughcovered with clothing it could be seen that his body was wasted almostto a skeleton.
Unaccustomed though Harry and Walter were to such sights, it was notnecessary for Jim to explain that the occupant of the boat was ashipwrecked sailor in the last stages of starvation. The night had beencalm, and he probably propelled his craft with oars after the wind diedaway, making her fast to the main-chains as he uttered the cry whichawakened Jim, and ceasing his appeal for help only when consciousnessdeserted him.
It was several moments that the boys stood gazing at these muteevidences of agony without making any effort to relieve the sufferer,and then Harry asked:
"Can't we do something to help him? Perhaps instead of being dead he hasonly fainted."
"I ought to be kicked for standin' here like a fool!" Jim exclaimed ashe clambered over the side, and an instant later he was lifting the manto a sitting posture, crying, meanwhile: "Bring some water quick!"
Walter ran into the cabin, all fear of the place having been banished bythe desire to aid the sufferer, and in a few seconds passed a pitcher ofwater into the boat.
Jim was an awkward nurse; but his patient had more vitality than wasapparent at the first glance, and before the boy could bathe his facethoroughly he had revived sufficiently to grasp the pitcher with bothhands, drinking most greedily.
"Don't let him have all he wants!" Harry cried. "I've heard that peoplewho have been almost starved shouldn't have too much at a time."
Jim tried to wrest the pitcher from the man's desperate clutch, but heswallowed the liquid more eagerly, and the boy was forced to exert allhis strength in order to accomplish his purpose.
"Wait a bit," he said as he held the vessel behind him. "You can drinktill you bu'st, after a spell, but I reckon Harry's right about takin'too much just now."
The man looked fiercely at Jim for an instant as if about to spring uponhim and thus obtain that which would quench his burning thirst, andthen, controlling himself with an effort, he asked in a whisper:
"Where are the crew?"
"There ain't any on board. Us three boys are alone. Have you gotstrength enough to climb over the rail?"
Instead of answering the question the man attempted to rise to his feet,but his limbs refused to obey the will, and he sank back on the thwartas if about to relapse into unconsciousness again.
"Here, drink some more water," Jim cried quickly; and when the suffererhad swallowed half a dozen mouthfuls eagerly, he shouted to the others:"Lean over the rail and try to get hold of him!"
At the same moment he lifted the emaciated form--he had often raisedheavier burdens--until those above could seize him under the arms, afterwhich the remainder of the task was easy of accomplishment.
Harry and Walter carried the sailor to the mattress on the port side,lying him upon it tenderly; and while they were thus occupied, Jimclimbed on deck once more, running directly to the pantry.
A case of canned soup was among the stores, and without waiting toselect any particular kind he seized one of the tins and carried it tothe galley.
To build so much of a fire as would be sufficient to heat the soup wasbut the work of a few moments, and then he carried a bowl full of thenourishing food aft, saying, as he handed it to the starving man:
"I don't reckon it'll do you any harm to eat this. I'll get a spoon, an'one of us fellers will feed you."
There was no necessity for any such preparation. The sailor still hadstrength enough to raise the bowl to his lips, and in the shortestpossible space of time it had been drained of its contents.
"I s'pose you could pump two or three gallons into him before he'd knowthere was anything inside," Jim said in a low tone to Harry as thesufferer laid back on the pillows with closed eyes. "What'll we do? Givehim some more?"
"Hold on a few minutes and see if he asks for it. I think he's going tosleep."
Jim went forward again, where he could be alone while thinking overthis addition to their number, and instead of finding relief in thecoming of the stranger it seemed to him as if the matter had grown morecomplicated.
"It was toug
h enough for us before," he said as he went into the galley;"but what we're goin' to do with a sick man on our hands beats me."
He was not in so much despair as to forget that as yet they had notbreakfasted, however, and he at once set about preparing a reasonablyelaborate meal.
The wind was not sufficient to lift the narrow thread of blue which hungfrom the mast-head. The brig rose and fell on the lazy swell, swingingher bow from one point of the compass to another under the influence ofocean currents or eddies, and there was nothing to claim Jim's attentionsave the culinary duties he had thus voluntarily assumed.
Before breakfast was ready Harry came into the galley for more soup,explaining that the stranger had awakened and asked for food; and by thetime the invalid was fed again Jim called his companions to partake ofthe result of his labors.
The boys talked of little else, while they were eating, save regardingthe man who slumbered on the mattress aft. His coming had temporarilydriven from their minds the sorrow caused by the enforced absence fromhome, and in this respect, at least, it was productive of good.
"There's one thing about it," Jim said, when the conversation was endedwith the meal, and they had failed to realize that the shipwrecked manmight be of great assistance in the future, "his boat is a long waysahead of the Sally, an' I wouldn't be afraid to sail anywhere in her.She ought to be hoisted inboard, an' if he's asleep now we'd better tryto hook her on the davit-falls."
The man was asleep, and before washing the breakfast dishes Jim madepreparations for securing the boat, which he rightly believed would beso valuable when the time came to abandon the Bonita.
This work was by no means easy of accomplishment, even though there wasneither sea nor wind to interfere with the laborers; but it was finallyfinished successfully, and the young captain had no slight satisfactionin the thought that he and his crew were now well prepared for theworst.
It was two hours past noon before the rescued man awakened again, andJim had more soup heated, this time allowing his patient to eat anddrink all he wished.
"Go ahead," he said as he served the food aft, placing a number ofdishes on the house, "for there's plenty aboard to fill up a man twiceyour size. Call on us for what you want an' I reckon we can find it."
The sailor was greatly refreshed by this third meal, and when it wasconcluded the ghastly look on his face had given place to what appearedvery much like evidence of returning strength.
"Tell me how you boys happen to be on board here alone?" he asked; andJim began at once to relate their misadventures, which commenced withthe cruise in the Sally.
"We don't feel very much like stayin' on this vessel, for of coursethere's something wrong about her or the crew wouldn't 'a' lefteverything behind!" he said in conclusion; "but we couldn't start awayin the Sally, 'cause she leaks so bad. Now that we've got your boat, wecan say good-by to the brig as soon as you're well."
"What's the use of abandonin' a good craft like this?"
"'Cause we can't manage her, an'--an'--Well, to tell the truth, I'mkinder afraid."
The stranger smiled as if he thought Jim's fears very foolish; but atthe same time he could give no reasonable guess as to why the Bonita hadbeen abandoned.