CHAPTER SIX.
THE MERMAID'S CREW WITNESS A CATASTROPHE.
The _Mermaid_ carried the south-east trade winds until she was wellsouth of the parallel of Rio de Janeiro; and then she ran into theDoldrums; these being belts of calm, broken into at intervals by lightbaffling airs from various directions, with occasional violent squalls,or terrific thunderstorms, just to vary the monotony. These belts ofexasperating weather are to be met with to the north of the north-eastand the south of the south-east trade winds, interposed between thetrade winds and those outer regions where a steady breeze of some sortmay usually be reckoned upon.
And here the unfortunate crew of the brig encountered their full share--and a little over, some of them said--of the annoyances that usuallyaccompany a passage across these belts; their first experience being acalm that lasted five days on end without a break, save for theoccasional cat's-paw that came stealing from time to time over theglassy surface of the ocean, tinging it here and there with transientpatches of delicate evanescent blue. And as these cat's-paws were allthat they could rely upon to help them across the calm belt, it wasnecessary to maintain a constant watch for them, and to trim round theyards in such a manner as to make the most of them during their briefexistence. This constant "box-hauling" of the yards was no triflingmatter, accomplished as it had to be under the fierce rays of a blazingsun; and as it often happened that after laboriously trimming the yardsand sheets to woo a wandering zephyr, it either expired before reachingthe brig, or capriciously turned in another direction, passing her bywithout causing so much as a single flap of her canvas, it is not to bewondered at that the grumbling among all hands was both loud and deep.
At length, however, with the dawn of their sixth day of these vexatiousexperiences, there appeared to be a prospect of something more helpfulthan mere cat's-paws coming their way; for although the calm stillcontinued, the morning broke with a dark, lowering, and threatening skythrough which the rays of the sun were unable to pierce. This last wasin itself a relief to everybody; for although the heat was still sooppressive that the slightest exertion threw one into a profuseperspiration, the stinging bite of the sun was no longer to be reckonedwith. Furthermore, the eyes of those on board the brig, weary ofcontinually gazing upon a bare horizon since the day upon which thefriendly whaler had vanished from their view, were now gladdened by thesight of another craft, a small barque, that had drifted above thesouthern horizon during the night, and now lay some five miles away fromthem.
As the morning wore on towards noon the aspect of the sky steadily,though by insensible degrees, assumed a more threatening character, thehuge masses of cloud that overspread the entire dome of the visible skydarkening in tint to such an extent that the scene became enwrapped in amurky kind of twilight. That wind, and plenty of it, was brewing,seemed evident from the fact that the clouds, although not driftingacross the sky, were working visibly, writhing and twisting into themost extraordinary and fantastic shapes, as though influenced by somepowerful impulse within themselves. One of the most frequent of thesemanifestations was the sudden darting forth of long sharp quiveringtongues from the bodies of the blackest and most lowering of the clouds.With the appearance of the first of these Leslie knew what to expect,for he had beheld the same phenomenon more than once before, and quiteunderstood what it portended. So he turned to Miss Trevor, who was ondeck interestedly watching the subtle changes in the aspect of the sky,and said to her--
"Have you ever seen a waterspout, Miss Trevor? No? Then the chancesare that you will see several before you are many hours older. Have younoticed those long, black, quivering tongues that dart out and in fromthe bodies of the darkest clouds? Well, those are the forerunners ofwaterspouts. See, there is one now. Do you mark how it seems to bestriving to reach down to the surface of the sea? Ah! it has shrunkback again. But sooner or later, unless I am greatly mistaken, one ofthose tongues will reach down, and down, until it begins to suck up acolumn of water from the ocean; and there you will have a full-grownwaterspout."
He gazed round the sky intently; then went to the skylight and asintently studied the barometer--or "glass" as sailors very commonly callthe instrument. The mercury in it had fallen somewhat since he had lastlooked at it, though not sufficiently to cause alarm. Nevertheless,short-handed as the brig was--such small craft are usually sent to seawith at least two hands too few in the forecastle--he deemed it best toerr on the right side, if err he must; so as it was by this time noon heordered eight bells to be struck; and when the watch had come on deck heset them to work to clew up, haul down, and stow everything save the twotopsails and the fore-topmast staysail; after which he ordered them togo to dinner.
Dinner in the cabin was served at the same time as in the forecastle onboard the _Mermaid_; when Leslie and Miss Trevor, therefore, went below,the deck was left in charge of one man only, namely the carpenter.This, however, did not particularly matter, since the brig was wellsnugged down, while Chips might be trusted to keep a sharp look-out andgive timely warning of the approach of anything of an alarming nature.Nothing, however, occurred; and Leslie and his companion were allowed tofinish their meal undisturbed.
It was now Leslie's watch below, and in the ordinary course of events hewould have retired to his cabin for the purpose of securing an hour ortwo of rest. But, with such a lowering and portentous sky as thatoverhead, he scarcely felt justified in entrusting the carpenter withthe sole responsibility and care of the brig for so long a time; and heaccordingly accompanied Miss Trevor on deck again.
They found the aspect of the sky more gloomy than ever; the clouds hadformed themselves into heavier masses, and donned a deeper tinge ofblack than they had worn during the forenoon, and they were displaying astill greater degree of activity. Tongues of cloud were still dartingout and back again, but they seemed no nearer to the formation ofwaterspouts than during the morning; and Leslie began to think that,perhaps, for once in a way he was going to prove a false prophet.Meanwhile, although during the whole of the morning and up to thatmoment, there had not been the faintest breath of wind, the two craft--the barque and the brig--had closed on each other to within a distanceof some three miles, in the mysterious manner characteristic of craftbecalmed within sight of each other. The barque, Leslie noticed, hadfollowed his own example, and stripped to precisely the same canvas asthat exposed by the brig.
The conditions were not conducive to animated conversation; and judgingfrom Miss Trevor's brief replies to his remarks, that she would preferto be left to her own thoughts for awhile, he presently left her leaningover the rail gazing at the barque--which the swing of the brig had nowbrought abeam--and seating himself upon the short bench alongside thecompanion, proceeded to fill a pipe. He was lighting it with anordinary match, the unshielded flame of which burned as steadily asthough he had been in a hermetically scaled room, when Miss Trevorsuddenly cried out--
"Oh, look, Mr Leslie, look! Surely there is one of your waterspouts atlast!"
Leslie sprang to her side and looked in the direction toward which shepointed, where, at a distance of some eight miles away, he beheld afully formed waterspout moving very slowly and majestically in asoutherly direction.
"Yes," he agreed, "that is a real, genuine waterspout, and no mistake.But it is too far off for you to see it to advantage. Did you actuallybehold it come into existence?"
"No," she answered; "I was watching the ship yonder, and only caughtsight of it accidentally, after it had become fully formed. I shouldreally like to witness the genesis of a waterspout."
"Then keep your eye on that cloud," he recommended her, pointing to anespecially black and heavy one that hung a few degrees from the zenithand apparently about half a mile astern of the barque. "If I am notgreatly mistaken it is about to develop a very fine specimen in a fewminutes. Do you note that black tongue that is slowly stretching downfrom it? Although it lengthens and shortens you will observe that itdoes not shrink back altogether into the cloud; on the contrary, ever
ytime that it lengthens it becomes perceptibly longer than it was before;and observe how steadily its root--where it joins the cloud--isswelling. Now watch, see how it continually stretches down, further andfurther towards the water. Ah, and do you see that little mound formingin the sea immediately beneath it? See how the water heaps itself up,as though striving to reach up and join the down-stretching tongue ofcloud. Ah! there the two unite and you have the perfect waterspout.And a very noble example of its kind it is. They will be having asplendid view of it from yonder barque, for, see, it is moving in herdirection, and is about to pass close to her, rather too close to bealtogether pleasant, unless my eyes deceive me!"
He sprang to the companion, and seizing the telescope, applied it to hiseye.
"Why," he exclaimed excitedly, after a moment or two, with his eye stillglued to the instrument, "what are they about aboard that barque? Whydon't they fire at the thing and break it? It will be upon them inanother moment, to a dead certainty, unless it changes its course! No--yes--yes, it is going to hit her! Heavens! look at that!"
And as he stood there gazing he saw that vast column of water sweepsteadily down upon and over the barque, completely hiding her from viewfor a moment. Then it suddenly wavered in the middle and broke,collapsing with a tremendous splash and commotion of the sea, the soundof which came drifting down to the brig with startling distinctness someten or twelve seconds later. And there, in the very midst of thetumbling circle of foaming whiteness left by the vanished waterspoutthere floated the barque, no longer trim and all ataunto as she hadshown a few seconds before, but a dismasted, mangled wreck, withbulwarks gone, boats swept from her davits, all three masts snappedshort off at the level of the deck and lying alongside with allattached, a mere tangled mass of wreckage still fast to the hull by thestanding and running rigging.
Leslie stamped his foot upon the deck in sympathetic vexation at theruin thus wrought in a moment, and again applied his eye to thetelescope. The carpenter, whose watch on deck it now was, stood besidehim, eagerly impatient to discuss with him the details of thecatastrophe that they had just witnessed; while the watch, forward,leaned over the bows alternately muttering to each other their opinions,and glancing round in apprehension lest a waterspout should steal uponthe brig unawares and treat them as the crew of the barque had beentreated.
It was this same crew--or rather the entire absence of any sign ofthem--that was now disturbing Leslie.
"I can see nothing of them," he muttered impatiently, searching thewreck with the lenses of his telescope. "Here, Chips, take a squint,man," he continued, thrusting the instrument into the eager hands of thecarpenter. "His decks are as bare as the back of my hand; there is notenough bulwark left standing to make a matchbox out of--nothing but thestumps of a few staunchions here and there. I can see the coamings ofthe hatches rising above the level of the planking; I can see thewindlass; I can just make out the short stumps of the three masts, and Ican find where the poop skylight stood; but hang me if I can seeanything _living_ aboard her!"
The carpenter in turn applied his eye to the telescope, and gazedthrough it long and anxiously.
"No, sir," he agreed at length, "what you says is perfekly true; thereain't nobody a-movin' about on that there vessel's decks. Question is,what's become of 'em? Be they down below? Or have they been swep'overboard? Stan's to reason that when they found theirselves onable tosteer clear o' that there spout they'd go below and shut theirselves upas best they could, knowin' as nothin' livin' could surwive a waterspouttramplin' over 'em, as one may say; but where be them there chaps _now_?If they was all right they'd be out on deck by this time--wouldn'tthey?--lookin' roun' to see the extent o' the damage. Would the bustin'o' the thing kill 'em, d'ye think, sir--they bein' shut up below?"
"It is difficult to say," answered Leslie, meditatively. "It woulddepend almost entirely upon the strength of their defences. We can seefor ourselves what it has done to the craft herself; it has made a cleansweep of everything on deck, and reduced her to the condition of a sheerhulk. Hang this weather! I don't like the look of it; it is not to betrusted! If it were only a shade or two less threatening I should feelstrongly tempted to send away a boat to see just what has happenedaboard there. There may be a number of poor fellows somewhere on thatwreck just dying for want of assistance. But--"
He paused, and again glanced anxiously round the horizon, noting thatthe aspect of the sky was still as full of menace as ever.
"No," he continued, "I dare not do it; it would be risking too much.Ha! look there; here it comes! Fore and main-topsail halliards let go,and man your reef-tackles!" he shouted, as a long line of white foamappeared on the western horizon, slowly widening as it advanced.
The men sprang to their stations in an instant, galvanised into suddenand intense activity by the urgency that marked the tone of thecommands, and the next instant there was a rattling and squeaking ofblocks and parrells as the topsail-yards slid down the well-greasedtopmasts and settled with a thud upon the caps. Then, as the men began,with loud cries, to drag upon the reef-tackles, Leslie shouted--
"Call all hands, carpenter, to close-reef topsails. Look alive, lads;if you are smart you may have time yet to get those reef-points knottedbefore the squall strikes us. Well there with the reef-tackles. Belay!Now away aloft with you all, and hurry about it. You, too," he addedto the man who had been standing by the useless wheel, "I will lookafter her."
And, so saying, he mounted the wheel-grating while the whilome helmsmanslouched along the deck, and, climbing the rail, began to claw hisdeliberate way up the main rigging.
It took the hands about five minutes to pass the weather and leeearings, by which time the squall was close to the brig, its approachbeing heralded by a smart shower of rain that drove Miss Trevor to theshelter of the cabin. Then, while the men were still upon the yards,tying the reef-points, the wind came roaring and screaming down upon thebrig--fortunately from dead astern--and, with a report like that of agun, her topsails filled and, with the foam all boiling and hissingaround her and her bluff bows buried deep in the brine, the _Mermaid_gathered way and was off, heading south-south-west; which was as nearlyas possible her proper course.
The men aloft, meanwhile, although nearly jerked off the yards by theviolence and suddenness with which that first puff struck them, stuckmanfully to their work until they had tied their last reef-point, whenthey leisurely descended to the deck, squared the yards, took a pullupon and belayed the halliards, and then went below to change into dryclothes and oilskins--an example which Leslie quickly followed as soonas he was relieved at the wheel.
The squall lasted for a full half-hour--during which the dismastedbarque vanished in the thickness astern--and then it settled down into astrong gale that swept them along before it to the southward for nearlythirty hours, moderating on the following day about sunset.
The following morning dawned brilliantly fine, with a light breeze outfrom the westward that was just sufficient to fan the brig along, undereverything that would draw, at a bare four knots in the hour over aheavy westerly swell.
"Why, what is the meaning of this, Chips?" demanded Leslie, as heemerged from the companion-way, at seven bells, clad in bathing-drawersonly, on his way forward to take his matutinal douche under the headpump; "is this swell the forerunner of a new gale, or has it beenknocked up by something that we have just missed?"
"Well, sir," answered Chips, "I'm inclined to think as your last guessis the proper answer. We struck the beginnin's of this here swell abouttwo bells this mornin', and the furder south we goes the heavier the runseems to be gettin'--as though we was gettin', as you may say, more intothe track of a breeze that have passed along just about here. Besides,the glass have gone up a goodish bit durin' the night, and is stillrisin'!"
As the day progressed, appearances seemed to favour the correctness ofthe carpenter's theory, for the weather remained fine, with less windrather than more; while, after a time, the swell appeared to be dro
ppingsomewhat. It happened, that after the men had taken their dinner thatday, it being the carpenter's watch on deck from noon until four o'clockp.m., he--acting now in the capacity of boatswain--took it into his headto go aloft, with the object of examining the brig's upper spars andrigging, to see how they had fared in the late blow. Taking theforemast first, he ascended to the royal-yard, and from thence workedhis way conscientiously down to the slings and truss of the lower yard.While on his way aloft, however, he was observed to pause suddenly inthe fore-topmast crosstrees and gaze intently ahead, or rather in thedirection of some two points on the lee bow. He remained thus fornearly five minutes, and then proceeded in the execution of hisself-appointed duty, taking first the foremast and then the mainmast,and subjecting everything to a most scrupulous and thorough overhaul;with the result that everything was found satisfactory aloft, exceptthat certain chafing gear looked as though it would be all the betterfor renewal.
Meanwhile the watch on deck, who were engaged upon sundry odd jobs whichthey were able to execute on the forecastle, had noted the action of thecarpenter, and had come to the conclusion that his keen eyes haddetected some distant object of more or less interest ahead; and theyaccordingly snatched a moment from their tasks, at fairly frequentintervals, to cast an inquiring glance over the bows. And theirwatchfulness was at length rewarded, just as seven bells was striking bythe sight of something that showed for a moment as it and the brig weresimultaneously hove up on the top of a swell. It bore about a point onthe lee bow; was some two miles distant; and, so far as could be judgedfrom the momentary glimpse they had obtained of it, appeared to be afloating mass of wreckage. Its appearance was to them amplejustification for a general knocking-off of work to watch for its nextappearance, one of the more energetic of them even exerting himself tothe extent of ascending the fore-rigging high enough to get a view overthe fore-yard. From this elevation an uninterrupted view of the objectwas to be obtained; and after long and careful scrutiny the man made itout to be the dismasted hull of a ship that was either water-logged, orupon the point of foundering.
"Deck ahoy!" he hailed, in approved fashion; "d'ye see that dismastedcraft out there on the lee bow?"
"Ay, Jim," growled the carpenter, "I've seen her this hour an' more. Yemay come down an' get on wi' your work, my lad; you'll get a good enoughview of her from the deck afore long."
At eight bells the carpenter went below and called Leslie, who had beenlying down in his cabin, and at the same time reported the sighting ofthe wreck, which was by this time clearly visible from the deck, exceptwhen hidden from time to time by an intervening mound of swell. Knowingexactly where to look, Leslie caught sight of her immediately over thelee cathead, the instant that he stepped out on deck. She was by thistime about half a mile distant, and clearly distinguishable as a craftof some six hundred tons register. She was submerged almost to hercovering-board, and the whole of her bulwarks being gone between hertopgallant forecastle and long full poop, the sea was making a cleanbreach right over her main deck, leaving little to be seen above waterbut a short length of her bows and about three times as much of herstern. Seen through the powerful lenses of the brig's telescope, Lesliemade out that she had once been a full-rigged ship, and from the littlethat showed above water he judged her to be American-built. Her threemasts were gone by the board, also her jib-booms, which were snappedclose off by the bowsprit end. There was no sign of any floatingwreckage alongside her, from which Leslie was led to surmise that hermasts must have been cut away; a circumstance that, in its turn, pointedto the conclusion that she had been hove over on her beam-ends--probablyby a sudden squall--and had refused to right again. But what had becomeof the crew? A glance at the craft's davits answered that question.There were no boats to be seen, while the davit-tackles were overhauledand the blocks in the water. This clearly pointed to the fact that theboats had been lowered; the presumption therefore was that the crew hadabandoned the craft, fearing that she was about to founder.Nevertheless, the weather being fine, and the condition of the sea suchthat the craft could be boarded without much danger or difficulty,Leslie determined to give her an overhaul; and accordingly the brig,having by this time arrived almost directly to windward of the seemingderelict, he gave orders to back the main-yard, and instructed thecarpenter to take the lee quarter-boat, with three hands, and go onboard.
"Well, Miss Trevor," said Leslie, as the two stood together near thebinnacle, watching the boat rising and falling like a cork over the longhummocks of swell as she swept rapidly down toward the wreck, "whatthink you of that for a sight? Is it not a very perfect picture of ruinand desolation? A few days ago--it can scarcely be more--that craftfloated buoyantly and all ataunto, `walking the waters like a thing oflife,' her decks presenting an animated picture of busy activity, as hercrew went hither and thither about their several tasks; while yonderpoop, perchance, was gay with its company of passengers whiling away thetime with books, games, or flirtations, according to their respectiveinclinations. And over all towered the three masts, lofty andsymmetrical, with all their orderly intricacy of standing and runningrigging, and their wide-spreading spaces of snow-white canvas; the wholecombining to make up as stately and beautiful a picture as a sailor'seye need care to rest upon. And now look at her! There she lies, cleanshorn of every vestige of those spacious `white wings,' that impartedlife and grace to her every movement; her decks tenantless andwave-swept; her hull full of water, and the relentless sea leaping ather with merciless persistency, as though eager to drag her down andoverwhelm her! Can you conceive a more sorrowful picture?"
"I could, perhaps; although I grant you that it must be difficult toimagine any sight more grievous than that to a _sailor's_ eye," answeredthe girl, gazing upon the scene with eyes wide and brilliant withinterest and excitement. "How fearlessly that little boat seems todance over those huge waves! She reminds me of one of those birds--Mother Carey's chickens, I think they are called--that one reads aboutas sporting fearlessly and joyously on the tops of the wave-crestsduring the height of the fiercest storms. Ah, now they have reachedher," she continued, clasping her hands on her breast unconsciously asshe watched the wild plunges of the boat compared with the deadly slowheave of the water-logged hulk. "Oh, Mr Leslie, how could you orderthose men to undertake so desperately dangerous a task? They will neverdo it; they cannot; their boat will be dashed to pieces against thatgreat, ponderous wreck!"
"Never fear," responded Leslie, cheerfully; "Chips knows what he isabout. See, there; how keenly he watched for his chance, and how neatlyhe took it when it came. He saw that rope's-end hanging over the sternlong before he came to it, you may depend; and now inboard he goes, andthere he stands on the poop without so much as a touch of the boatagainst the wreck. And there goes the boat round into the sheltered leeof the hull, where she will lie quite comfortably. And thither we willgo, too, in readiness to pick them up when they shove off again."
The brig bore up and, wearing round, came-to again quite close under thelee of the wreck; so close, indeed, that it was quite easy to see withthe unassisted eye everything that was going on aboard her, as well asto obtain a more comprehensive and detailed view of the havoc that hadbeen wrought on her by the combined effects of wind and sea.
Their attention, however, was for the moment attracted rather to whatwas happening on board, than to the condition of the wreck herself; MissTrevor being an especially interested spectator. After all, it was notvery much: simply this, that under the lee of a hencoop on the poop,that had somehow resisted the onslaughts of the sea, Chips haddiscovered a very fine Newfoundland dog crouching--or perhaps lyingexhausted; and he was now endeavouring to induce the animal to leave hisshelter with the view of coaxing him into the boat. But for some reasonor other the brute refused to move, responding to the carpenter'sblandishments only by a feeble intermittent beating of his tail upon thedeck.
"Oh," exclaimed Miss Trevor, when she grasped the state of affairs, "I_hope_ he will be able to rescue
the poor creature! He is a beautifulanimal; and I am so fond of dogs."
"What is the matter with him, Chips? Won't he trust you?" hailedLeslie, sending his powerful voice to windward through the palms of hishands.
The carpenter stood up and faced about. "Seems to be pretty nighstarved, so far as I can make out, sir," he replied. "The poor beggar'sjust nothin' but skin and bone, and too weak to stand, by the looks of'im."
"Then take him up in your arms and drop him overboard," suggestedLeslie. "And you, there, in the boat, stand by to pick him up. He'llhave sense enough to swim to you."
So said, so done; Miss Trevor watching the apparently somewhat heartlessoperation with tightly clasped hands. Leslie's conjecture as to thecreature's sagacity was fully justified; for upon finding himself in thewater the dog at once began to paddle feebly toward the boat, and inless time than it takes to tell of it a couple of men had seized him anddragged him into the boat, in the bottom of which he lay shivering andpanting, and rolling his great trustful eyes from one to the other ofhis rescuers.
After this there was little more that the carpenter could do on board.It was impossible for him to pass along the main deck from the poop tothe forecastle, for the sea was sweeping that part of the derelict socontinuously and in such volume that, had he attempted any such thing,he must inevitably have been washed overboard. Nor could he, for thesame reason, enter the poop cabin from the main deck; but he peered downinto it through the opening in the deck that had once formed theskylight; and presently he swung himself down into it and disappearedfrom view. Meanwhile the brig, being buoyant, was settling rapidly toleeward, and soon drifted out of hailing distance. In about ten minutesfrom the time of his disappearance the carpenter was seen to climb upout of the cabin on to the deck and beckon to the men in the boat, whoat once paddled cautiously up alongside; when, watching the roll of thehull and the heave of the boat alongside, Chips seized a favourableopportunity and lightly sprang into the smaller craft. The men in herat once shoved off and, pulling her bows round, gave way for the brig,the carpenter carefully watching the run of the sea as he sat in thestern-sheets and steered.
"Here they come!" exclaimed Leslie, watching them. "Lay aft here, men--all hands of you--and stand by to sway away as soon as they have hookedon. See that those tackles are well overhauled--give them plenty ofscope to come and go upon!"
Coming down before wind and sea, the boat took but a few minutes totraverse the distance between the derelict and the brig; and presently,slipping close past under the stern of the latter, she rounded-to in the"smooth" of the brig's lee, and shot up alongside. As she did so, theman who pulled "bow," and Chips, respectively made a lightning-like dashfor the bow and stern tackles, which they simultaneously got hold of andhooked into the ring-bolts, flinging up their arms as a signal to thoseon board to haul taut. Meanwhile the remaining two hands in the boatlaid in their oars and, rising to their feet, cleverly sprang into themain chains as the brig gave a heavy lee-roll.
"Haul taut fore and aft, my hearties," shouted Leslie, balancing himselfon the lee rail and grasping a backstay, as he anxiously watched thedancing boat. "Out you come, Chips, and you also, Tom. Capital! Now,hoist away fore and aft; up with her smartly, lads, while this lee-rollis on! Good! very neatly done! Catch a turn, now, for a moment; andyou, Chips, jump into her again, and pass out the dog. Take care thatyou don't drop him overboard! Well done! Now hoist away again, men.Well, there; two blocks; Belay! Haul taut and make fast your gripes.Good dog, then; poor old fellow! Why you are just skin and bone, asChips said. Never mind, old chap, your troubles are over now, and wewill soon set you on your pins again. Here, steward, bring along somewater for this dog--not too much to start with; and give him a littlefood. Now, carpenter, what were you able to make out aboard there?Fill your main-topsail, lads, and bring her to her course."
Meanwhile, Miss Trevor was on her knees beside the dog--a magnificentblack Newfoundland--patting his head, and speaking loving words to him;to which attentions the poor beast responded by whining pitifully as helicked her hands and slapped the deck feebly with his tail. When thesteward brought the food and water she took them from him and herselfgave them to the dog, allowing him first to drink a little, and then totake a mouthful or two of food; then another drink, and then more food,and so on, until he had taken as much as she thought good for him for afirst meal.
"Well, sir," responded the carpenter, as he turned to walk aft withLeslie, "there wasn't much to learn aboard that there hooker beyond whatyou could see for yourselves from the deck of this brig. I 'low she washove down upon her beam-ends in a squall, some time durin' the night,most likely; and then they had to cut away her masts to right her again.Anyhow, her masts was cut away, that's sartin', because the lanyards ofthe riggin' showed the clean cuts of the tomahawks clear enough. And Ireckon that, when she was hove over, she started butt, or somethin' o'that sort, because she was full o' water, and it was only her cargo--whatever it may ha' been--that kept her afloat. She'd been a fine shipin her time, her cabin bein' fitted up most beautiful wi' lookin'glasses and white-and-gold panels, velvet cushions to the lockers, and abig table o' solid mahogany, to say nothin' of a most handsome sideboardwi' silver-plated fittin' up agin' the fore bulkhead. Then, on eachside of the main cabin, there was a row of fine sleepin' berths--six onside--and four others abaft the after bulkhead, all of 'em fitted upgood enough for a hemperor. But there weren't nobody in 'em, in course;they and the main cabin bein' up to a man's waist in water, all loppin'about wi' the roll o' the ship, and fine cushions and what not floatin'about fore and aft and athwartships. I couldn't find no papers nornothin' worth bringin' away wi' me--unless it were the aneroid,tell-tale, and clock what was fixed to the coamin's where the skylighthad been, and I couldn't unship none o' them without tools; but thetell-tale and the clock bore the name o' _Flying Eagle_--Philadelpy;that I take to be the name an' port o' registry o' the craft."
"No doubt," agreed Leslie. "And how long do you think the craft hadbeen as you found her?"
"Well, not so very long, sir, I should say," answered Chips."Everything looked fairly fresh aboard of her; the paintwork weren'tnoways perished-like wi' the wash of the water, and the polish on themahogany was pretty nigh as good as a man could wish; but the cushionswas certingly a good bit sodden. I should say, sir, as he'd beendesarted a matter o'--well, perhaps three or four days."
"Ah," commented Leslie, speaking to himself rather than to thecarpenter, "then it could not have been the same squall that struck us.No, certainly not, the distance is altogether too great for that. Itmeans, however, that there has been bad weather in these regions oflate; so we will keep our weather eyes lifting lest we should be caughtunawares by a recurrence of it. Thank you, carpenter; you have donevery well. And now, if you will keep a look-out for a few minutes, Iwill go below and enter a full account of the matter in the log-bookwhile the particulars are fresh in my memory."
Miss Trevor had all this time been looking after the dog, petting himand making much of him, until the animal, revived and strengthened bythe food and drink that he had taken, had struggled to his feet and wasnow staggering after her along the deck, as she slowly and carefullyinduced him to take a little exercise. Then, after the lapse of aboutan hour, she fed him again, somewhat more liberally than at first; untilby dint of care and assiduity on her part the poor beast was once moreable to walk without much difficulty.
The sun went down in a clear sky that night, and although the breezeheld, the swell rapidly subsided, thus clearly indicating that it wasnot the forerunner of an approaching gale, but the last remainingevidence of one already past--in all probability the same gale theinitial outfly of which had worked the destruction of the _FlyingEagle_.
The life of a sailor is usually one of almost wearisome monotony,despite what landsmen have to say as to its excitements. True, theindividual who is fortunate enough to possess an eye for colour andeffect, and the leisure to note the ever-varying forms and
tints of seaand sky--especially if he also happens to be endowed with the skill totransfer them to paper or canvas--need never pass an uninterestingmoment at sea. Such fortunately circumstanced people are, however, fewand far between, and it is more especially to the ordinary mariner thatreference is now made. To him there are, broadly speaking, only twoexperiences, those of fine weather and of storm. Fine weather means tohim usually little more than the comfort of dry clothes, his full watchbelow, and perhaps not quite such hard work; while bad weather meanssodden garments, little and broken rest, and--unless the ship be snuggeddown and hove-to--incessant strenuous work. To him the constantlychanging aspects of the sky appeal in one way only, namely, as forecastsof impending weather.
And the incidents of sea-life, apart from the changes of weather, andthe sighting of occasional ships, are few. Derelicts are not fallen inwith every day; nor is the overwhelming of a ship by a waterspout afrequent occurrence. Yet extraordinary events--some of them marvellousalmost beyond credence--unquestionably do occur from time to time, andnowhere more frequently than at sea. And it is quite within the boundsof possibility for one craft to circumnavigate the globe withoutencountering a single incident worth recording, while another, upon avoyage of less than half that length, will fall in with so many and suchextraordinary adventures that there will not be space enough in herlog-book to record the half of them.
This, it would almost appear, was to be the experience of the _Mermaid_;for upon the afternoon of the day following that of their meeting withthe _Flying Eagle_, her crew were privileged to witness a sight that aman may follow the sea for years without beholding.