CHAPTER V.
BOB BRACE'S STORY.
As a matter of course the boys were eager to hear the sailor's story;but no one asked any questions, believing he would relate theparticulars of what was evidently a disaster when he had recovered hisstrength sufficiently to spin a lengthy yarn.
And in this they were not mistaken.
Before sunset he was able to sit up, and greatly to the satisfaction ofhis companions he volunteered the information they were so impatient togain.
"Most likely you're wantin' to know how Bob Brace, able seaman, gotpulled down to a reg'lar bag of bones like this?" he said toward theclose of the afternoon while the boys were gathered around him.
"I reckon you've been wrecked," Jim replied, "an' we'd like to knowabout it, but don't want you to talk till you're feelin' all right."
"A sailorman picks up mighty quick after he's where he can get hold of awell-filled mess-kid, an' when its cabin grub that's poured inter himthe rarity of the thing helps out amazin'. I reckon I'm the only one ofthe Trade Wind's crew that's alive. We sailed from New York for Cardifffive weeks ago, an' had the best kind of weather for twenty days when areg'lar nor'-easter struck us the afternoon of Thursday, nine days pastas near as I can figger. There was time to get in the royals an'to'gallant sails before night; but the gale kept growin' worse so thespanker was downed, the main course hauled up an' furled, an' she wasput fair before the wind, which had been workin' around to the east'ard.By the next mornin' we was snugged down with nothin' but themain-topsail, foresail an' fore-stays'l showin', an' the old hookerduffin' into it mighty hard.
"It looked as if she'd weather it all right till eight bells on Fridaymornin', when every thread of canvas was blown off the spars, leavin' uswallowin' in a chop sea that stove the bulwarks an' swept the decksclean before we could heave her to on the port tack by settin' the lowermain-tops'l. By this time the fo'castle was drownded out, an' all handsbunked in the cabin till Saturday, when there was no more watches below,for she was takin' water so fast that everybody up to the captain had tostand by the pump. We managed to keep the old barkey afloat till Sunday,when the long-boat an' yawl--the gig had been stove--were launched.
"There ain't much use to tell the rest, for it's like what you must 'a'heard many times. We in the yawl had six gallons of water, an' them inthe long-boat had a bag of bread. Before we could divide the stores thebark went down, one of her spars striking the long-boat, an' we neversaw a soul of 'em ag'in. I reckon pretty nigh every one was killed bythe ruffle. The yawl held six, all told, an' I'm the last. The lack offood wasn't so bad till the water give out, an' then the weakest wentfirst. Yesterday I threw the last body overboard, an' this mornin' afterit fell calm your craft hove in sight.
"I didn't believe I could lift an oar; but it was life or death forsure, an' I managed to do it, losin' my head entirely after makin' fastto the main-chains an' not gettin' any answer to the hail. That's thewhole of the story. It ain't very much in the tellin'; but, lads, thelivin' of it was somethin' a man don't like to think about very long ata time. The question to be settled now is, where are we, an' what's thecourse to the nearest port? Did you find anything below that looked likea log-book?"
"We didn't hunt round in the cabin very much, but if it'll do any goodwe'll overhaul things now," Jim replied, the sense of companionshipwhich had come when Bob Brace revived sufficiently to tell his storycausing him to lose a certain portion of his fear at going below.
"The log-book would tell us where the brig was when the crew abandonedher, an' from that we might shape some kind of a course. Help me over tothe wheel, an' I can manage to hold her steady while you boys arerummagin'."
The knowledge that immediate action was necessary to save their lives,as well as what might prove to be a valuable cargo, had a beneficialeffect on Brace, and Harry fancied he could see him growing strongereach moment. With but little aid he seated himself near the wheel, afterwhich the boys went below to make a thorough search of the saloon andstate-rooms.
The approach of night had already filled the cabin with gloom, and todispel this Jim lighted the swinging lamps, thus giving to the interiora less sinister appearance. The sword still remained on the floor,however, and all felt that this reminder of what had possibly been adeadly encounter must be removed before the place could be divested ofits horrors.
"It ain't anything but a piece of steel, no matter what's been done withit," Jim said by way of reassuring himself; and then, lifting the weaponvery gingerly, he threw it under the berth in one of the state-rooms,closing and locking the door quickly, as if fearing that by somesupernatural agency it might spring upon him.
This horror of an inanimate object may sound foolish when read in printwith nothing in one's surroundings to inspire terror; but if thesituation of these three boys be taken into consideration, together withthe mystery attending the abandonment of the brig, very many excuses canbe found for their superstitious fears.
The search was made thoroughly, but no log could be found. The slate, onwhich the brig's position had been partially worked out, was the onlyarticle which might have thrown any light on the matter, and this BobBrace could not understand.
"You see I ain't much of a navigator at the best, an' this bit offiggerin' beats me," he said when the boys returned with the fruit oftheir labor. "If we can't get any idee of our true position we'll haveto make a guess at it. How far do you reckon this 'ere brig has sailedsince you come aboard?"
Jim frankly confessed that he was ignorant on that point. He describedthe position of the canvas when they found the Bonita, and the probabletime she had been under shortened sail; but this was not very valuableinformation. The statement was hardly concluded when Bob interrupted himby asking angrily, as his gaze fell upon some object forward:
"Wasn't you in trouble enough when the brig carried you off but that itmust be made worse by turnin' that hatch over?"
"We didn't do it," Harry replied quickly. "It was in that position whenwe came aboard."
"Then it's no wonder the crew took to the boats," and Bob wiped hisforehead with the sleeve of his coat, apparently as much disturbed bythis trifling matter as the boys had been at the sight of the sword.
"Why?" Jim asked, disturbed in no slight degree by the look of fear onthe old sailor's face. "How can a little thing like that do any harm?"
"If you'd seen as much as I have you wouldn't call it a little thing,"Bob replied in a solemn tone. "I had a messmate in the old Sea Queenwhat shipped on a English bark, an' the second day out one of the greenhands turned the main hatch bottom up. What happened? Why, in less'n amonth the bark turned turtle on 'em, an' all but four went to DavyJones' Locker. It's a bad sign, lads, an' one that I never knew tofail!"
"What is it a sign of?" Harry asked impatiently.
"Didn't I jes' tell you? It's a sign that this 'ere craft will turnbottom up afore reachin' port, an' we're in big luck to have the TradeWind's yawl hangin' at the davits."
"Well, we'll fix that mighty sudden!" And Jim ran forward as he spoke;but the heavy hatch was more than he could lift unaided.
"It won't do any good to turn it now, for the mischief has been done,"Bob said in a lugubrious tone; "but you boys had better go for'ard an'help him set it ship-shape."
Harry and Walter did as was suggested; but they did not move withalacrity, for the old sailor's superstitious fears had plunged themagain into deepest despair.
"Don't act as if you'd lost your best friend," Jim said in a whisperwhen the two came forward. "It's only a mess of sailor's nonsense."
"But he says the sign always comes true!" Walter replied mournfully.
"That don't make it so. If every fore-hatch what got turned upside downsunk a ship there wouldn't be many vessels afloat. He's all in a heapthrough bein' starved so long, an' most likely doesn't know more'n halfof what he's talkin' about."
The boys refused to be comforted. It was but natural that they shouldbelieve the eldest member of the party, and he an old sailor, rathertha
n the youngest, more especially as the ominous prediction seemed tobe in keeping with all that had happened since they boarded the brig.
It was a mournful-looking group which clustered around the wheel whenthe sun descended behind the waste of waters, for even Jim could notappear cheerful while his companions were so gloomy; and as the darknesssettled down over brig and sea Bob repeated the story of his sufferingsin the open boat, until the sighing of the light wind through therigging sounded in their ears like the moaning of some unearthlyvisitant.
"What are you goin' to do about standin' watch?" Jim asked, in order tochange the dismal current of thought.
"You and I'll have to take the most of it," replied Bob. "I don't knowas we can do any better than keep her steady as she goes till some kindof a course is figgered out, for we ain't makin' much headway with thiswind. I'll take Harry in my watch an' give you Walter; then if we shouldhave luck enough to sight a craft, a flare can be started without thehelmsman's leavin' the wheel. Hunt in the pantry for alcohol--you'llfind some there; get a basin outer the galley, an' a bunch of oakum fromthe fo'castle. We'll have everything ready to signal, an' if a ship doesheave in sight there won't be any time lost."
Jim didn't fancy searching through the deserted forecastle and cabin inthe night; but it was necessary some one should set an example ofcourage to Harry and Walter, and he went below without a show ofhesitation, returning a short time later with the materials Bob desired.
When the flare was arranged to the old sailor's satisfaction, heproposed that Jim should stand the first watch, and with a few words ofadvice relative to the method of using the signal, in case it shouldbecome necessary, he and Harry went below, leaving the other two soleoccupants of the deck.