CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
HOW THE ADVENTURE TERMINATED.
The silence of despair again settled upon the three remainingtravellers; they had lost one of their party, and were a second timeleft stranded upon that terrible mountain top, from which it now beganto appear that there was no possibility of escape. One thing at leastwas certain, which was, that on their side of the mountain there was nomeans of further descent; the pinnacle of rock upon which they thenstood was the lowest accessible point; there was no possible way even ofreaching poor Sir Reginald's body, and the way downward, if indeed suchexisted, must be sought elsewhere.
They crouched where they were, in helpless bewilderment, watching theship until she slowly drifted out of sight round a projecting bluff; andthen, in a dazed, halfhearted way, and with nerves all unstrung bydisappointment and the dreadful accident which had befallen the baronet,they began to slowly retrace their steps, in the faint hope of stumblingupon some means of escape.
Led this time by the colonel, Mildmay bringing up the rear, the littleparty at last made their way back to the narrow ledge where they hadpreviously paused to rest, and here they again made a momentary halt,afterwards following the ledge in the other direction until itterminated abruptly in an almost perpendicular wall of smooth rock.Another ledge was here discovered, about eighteen feet further down, butit was certainly not more than a foot wide, with apparently a verticalfall of several hundred feet beyond. This ledge extended right and leftbeyond their range of vision, and had evidently been traversed by themin their original ascent, for their footprints were plainly visible inthe snow with which it was covered; if, therefore, they could reach it,it would at least be possible to return to their original starting-point, which would certainly be something gained. But how to get downto it was the question. They had grown bewildered in their gropingsround about the summit, and knew not in which direction to go to regainthe lost path. They might, of course, go on climbing until they wereonce more at the very top of the mountain, and commence their descentafresh, but this was a task so full of difficulty and peril as not to bethought of, save as a last resort. Besides, the day was already on thewane, and it was of the utmost importance that they should reach someplace of comparative safety before nightfall. At length Mildmay hitupon a bold though terribly dangerous mode of mastering the difficulty.
"Look here," he said, "it is no use hesitating here; we shall never doany good at this rate. Let me offer a suggestion. I will lower myselfdown over the ledge until I hang from it by my hands alone; then you,Lethbridge, must climb down over me, using my body as a ladder (or arope, rather), and when you are hanging at arm's-length from my feetthere will only remain a very trifling drop to the lower ledge, whichyou can surely accomplish in safety. That done you must stand by tosteady me and prevent me, if possible, from going backward over theprecipice; and, with us two safely on the ledge, we are surely menenough to catch the professor when he makes the drop. What say you tothe plan?"
"It is frightfully dangerous, but it is perhaps worth trying--if youthink you have the strength for it. What say you, professor? Have younerve enough to make the drop, trusting to us to catch you?"
"Anything is better than this," answered the professor. "Your own andMildmay's are the most difficult portions of the task. If you are equalto your parts I will perform mine; but my strength is not sufficient tojustify my offering to change places with either of you."
"Then let us try it," exclaimed the colonel decisively. "Will you gofirst, Mildmay, or shall I?"
"You go first," answered Mildmay. "I am pretty strong in the arms, andthink the method I have proposed the safest, on the whole."
"All right, then. I am ready whenever you are."
"Stand firm, then, and let me steady myself down over the ledge by yourleg--we shall be down, one way or another, all the sooner. Now, lookout, I am going!"
The colonel braced himself as firmly as possible against the strain, andMildmay lowered himself cautiously down until he hung from the ledge byboth hands. Then, without wasting a moment, Lethbridge carefully placedhimself in position, got down on his knees, lowered one foot until itrested on Mildmay's shoulder, then the other; firmly grasped the ledgewith both hands, outside Mildmay's; got his knees down on Mildmay'sshoulders, and then, warning the lieutenant to hold firm, grasped him byboth wrists and proceeded as rapidly and carefully as possible to slidedown his body until he hung to him by a firm hand-grasp round theankles. The muscles of poor Mildmay's hands and arms quivered andfairly cracked with the terrible strain thrown upon them during thelatter part of this manoeuvre; but he set his teeth hard, rememberingthat the lives of the whole party depended upon him just then, and hungon. It was not for long. The colonel paused only for a moment to giveone downward glance at the spot upon which he was about to drop, andthen let go. He pitched fairly on the ledge, slipped, staggered for amoment, _almost_ went over, but recovered himself and stood firm. Thenmoving a little to one side he prepared to receive Mildmay, and gave himthe word to drop. It came none too soon, for the lieutenant's quiveringmuscles were already failing him, his nerveless fingers were alreadyrelaxing their grasp, and he felt that he must let go, whether or not,in another moment. At the cry from Lethbridge he released his hold, andnext moment, with the colonel's arm thrown firmly round his waist, stoodsafely on the ledge.
It was next the professor's turn; but now that the critical moment hadarrived for him too to drop from one ledge to another, the unwelcomediscovery was made that his nerves were unequal to the task, and forsome time persuasion, cajolery, entreaties, and threats proved equallyunavailing to tempt him to the enterprise. At length, however, in a fitof desperation he essayed the task, hurried over it, missed his hold,and went whirling outward from the face of the cliff. In anotherinstant he would have been over the precipice, and plunging headlongdownward to the death which awaited him thousands of feet below, butmost fortunately both Mildmay and the colonel saw the mishap, and made asimultaneous snatch at him; the former succeeded in grasping him by thearm, and, before either of the trio had time to fully realise what hadactually happened, poor von Schalckenberg was dragged--pale, breathless,and completely unnerved--in upon the ledge.
A few minutes were allowed the unhappy professor in which to recover hispresence of mind, and then the little party cautiously worked their waydownward along the ledge, finally arriving half an hour later on thenarrow platform of ice which was now all that remained of the plateauwhereon the _Flying Fish_ had been grounded.
It had been the intention of the unfortunate adventurers to make atemporary halt here, for the purpose of recruiting their exhaustedenergies so far as it might be done by taking a few minutes' rest, butthe ice was so shivered by the shock of its recent rupture as to presenta very insecure appearance, and they were therefore constrained to keepmoving notwithstanding their fatigue. Very fortunately the breakingaway of the snow-bank had, in one place, laid bare the surface of therock, which here was very jagged and uneven (which would probablyaccount for the original accumulation of the snow in that spot), andthese irregularities were promptly utilised as a means of furtherdescent. By their aid an additional two hundred feet of downwardmovement was slowly and painfully accomplished, and then Mildmay (whowas now leading the way) found himself within a foot or two of the loweredge of an almost perpendicular slope overhanging an awful abyss ofunfathomable depth, his further progress downward being barred by thefact that beneath him the rock sloped _inwards_! A single downwardglance sufficed not only to reveal to him his appalling situation, butalso to wring from his lips such a piercing cry of horror as effectuallywarned his friends from following him any further. Then he pressed hisbody close to the face of the rock, and clung there convulsively withfeet and hands to the trifling irregularities of surface which aloneafforded him a hold, his blood curdling and his brain reeling at thethought of the horrible deadly danger which menaced him. A single slipof hand or foot, a momentary failure of a muscle, the slightest seizur
eof cramp or vertigo, and he would go whirling headlong downward at leastfive hundred feet sheer through the air before reaching the groundbelow. He was so unnerved that he was actually incapable of replying tothe colonel's anxious hail as to what was the matter.
It was whilst he stood thus vainly striving to recover his self-control--a growing conviction of the impossibility of escape meanwhileforcing itself with momentarily increasing intensity upon him--that ahuge moving mass suddenly swung into view round a projection on hisleft, and a simultaneous cry of surprise from his two waiting andwondering companions told that they too had caught sight of it. It wasthe _Flying Fish_ slowly drifting round the mountain, stern on, and thattoo so closely that her propeller actually touched the rocky projection,some thirty feet off, as she passed it. The force of the contact,though very gentle, was sufficient to give her a slight outward impulse;and though she continued to drift round toward the rock to which theadventurers were clinging, it appeared as though she would pass it atsuch a distance as would _just_ preclude the possibility of theirreaching her.
"We must shout," exclaimed Mildmay, finding his voice all at once; "wemust shout to George. Perhaps our cries may reach him and bring him ondeck, in which event we shall be able to tell him what to do."
And shout they did, simultaneously, and at the full power of theirlungs; but it was of no avail--George and the cook were both at thatmoment in the innermost recesses of the ship busily engaged on theirrespective avocations, and in all likelihood profoundly ignorant of thestate of affairs. At all events there was no response, and the shipwent drifting slowly past. She was floating almost level with thelittle party clinging there desperately to the face of the naked rock,the boss of her propeller being at just about the same height as thecolonel's head. As she drove almost imperceptibly along it seemed toMildmay that she was also being drawn inward toward the face of therock; and he began to ask himself whether an active man might not, afterall, be able to overleap the intervening space and grasp one of thepropeller-blades. The craft was so tantalisingly close that it seemedto him almost a cowardly thing to let this chance pass; yet, when heglanced downward at the darkening abyss over which he hung, heshudderingly confessed to himself that the leap was an impossibility,and that they must retreat upward with all speed to gain somecomparatively secure spot upon which to pass the night now gatheringabout them. He was about to put this thought into words, and to proposean immediate upward movement, when he turned to take (as he believed) alast parting glance at the _Flying Fish_, now immediately behind him.In doing so his fingers slipped and lost their grip upon the rock, andbefore he could recover his hold he found himself going over backwards.He felt that he was lost; but, with the instinct of self-preservation,turned quickly on his feet, and as they too were slipping off the minuteprojections on which he had been supporting himself, he made a vigorousdesperate spring outward from the face of the rock, reaching forwardinto space toward the curved end of the propeller-blade which he saw infront of him. Despair must have leant him extra strength when makingthat last awful leap, for, though the distance was fully twenty feet, heactually reached and succeeded in grasping the end of the blade. Toswing himself up astride upon it was the work of a moment; and then hepaused to rest and recover from this last shock to his nervous system.Not for long, however; he knew that his companions must be nearlyexhausted, and that their lives now probably depended solely on hisactivity and the celerity with which he might be able to go to theirrescue; so he pulled himself together, shouted to them the encouragingnews of his success, and then devoted himself in earnest to thedifficult and perilous task of reaching the deck of the ship. He hadhardly begun this task before he realised that it was one which wouldtax his strength, energy, and ingenuity to their utmost extent. Thepropeller-blade upon which he was perched happened to be at the verylowest point of its revolution; and his first task must be to reach theboss, which was about seventeen feet above his head. The peculiar shapeof the blades rendered it impossible for him to achieve this by climbingup the edge of any one of them; his only chance consisted in working hisway from one to the other. The blade to his right seemed to him themost easily accessible, and he forthwith set about the work of reachingit. To do this he had to climb about ten feet up the fore _edge_ of theblade upon which he was perched, and to anyone but a sailor this wouldhave been an impossibility. Even to Mildmay it proved a most difficultas well as hazardous feat; but after a couple of failures successcrowned his efforts, and he found himself high enough to reach the pointof the next blade. This was so far away, however, that he could onlytouch it with his finger-tips, and in order to grasp it--even with _one_hand--he found that he would be obliged to overbalance himself so muchthat, if he missed, a fall must inevitably result. The risk had to betaken, however; and he took it, fortunately with success. This left himswinging by _one_ hand from the point of the propeller-blade; but inanother second he had grasped it with his other hand, and, after astruggle or two, managed to get fairly astride the edge. His next taskwas to work himself in along the edge until he was abreast the afteredge of the blade he had just left, when he had to reach over to theutmost stretch of his arms, grasp the blade, and in that awkwardposition scramble to his feet. This he also managed, when a furthercomparatively easy climb enabled him to reach the boss. He now foundhimself standing on the boss and leaning against the smooth ellipticalstern of the vessel. His next task was to climb up over this smoothrounded surface and so make his way along the upper surface of the hullto the superstructure, when he would soon find means to reach the deck.This also, though a task of immense difficulty, he actuallyaccomplished; finally reaching the deck in so prostrate a condition thathe fell insensible before he could gain the pilot-house.
His fit of insensibility, however, did not last long--the latentconsciousness of responsibility effectually prevented that; and he wassoon able to rise and stagger to the pilot-house. Once there, heforthwith made his way below and availed himself of the stimulusafforded by a glass of neat brandy, after which he felt equal to thetask which yet lay before him. Having swallowed the brandy, he at oncereturned to the deck and shifted the rope-ladder over to the larboardgangway. He then looked about him to ascertain the whereabouts of theship, which he found to be about half a mile distant from the spot wherehe had left his friends, and gradually drifting further away under theinfluence of a gentle night-breeze which had just sprung up--thusproving indubitably that, had he not reached the craft when he did, shewould probably have been lost to them all for ever. Having attached theladder securely, Mildmay next entered the pilot-house, and--night havingby this time completely fallen--turned on the electric lights; afterwhich he set the engines in motion and returned to the side of themountain in search of the two companions he had left clinging in sodangerous a situation. These were found just as he had left them, andwere speedily taken on board--they too being completely overcome by therevulsion of feeling following upon their rescue.
A glass of brandy each quickly revived them, however, and then theydevoted their united energies to a search for the baronet. With somelittle difficulty the scene of the accident was discovered; and a minuteor two later Sir Reginald was observed, not dead, as they had feared tofind him, but sitting up on the snow-bank upon which he had fallen, aprisoner to the spot, from the fact that there was no possible way ofretreat from it either upward or downward; but in other respects verylittle the worse for his terrible fall, the snow, happily, proving sodeep that it served as a cushion or buffer, allowing the baronet toescape with only a few somewhat severe bruises. The adventure beingthus happily terminated, the ship was quickly navigated to the berth shehad occupied on the preceding night; and the party then sat down todinner, over which meal they came to the conclusion that they had hadenough mountain-climbing that day to suffice them for the remainder oftheir lives.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
THE FOUNDERING OF THE "MERCURY."
The nerves of the adventurers were so shaken by the vicissitudes of
their day's adventure that they found it impossible to obtain sound andrefreshing sleep that night, notwithstanding their terrible fatigue;their slumbers were broken by horrible dreams, and further disturbed bythe cries of wild beasts of various descriptions which kept the forestin a perfect uproar the whole night long. So great, indeed, was thedisturbance from the latter cause, that, on comparing notes over thebreakfast table next morning, the party came to the conclusion that theymust be in a district literally swarming with big game, and that itmight be worth their while to spend a few days there hunting. This theydid; with such success that their stay was prolonged for nearly a month,by which time they had collected such a quantity of skins, horns, tusks,skulls, and other trophies of the chase that even they, inveteratesportsmen as they were, acknowledged themselves satisfied. Theprofessor, meanwhile, had devoted himself enthusiastically to theforming of a collection of rare birds, beetles, and butterflies, inwhich pursuit he had been fully as successful as his companions intheirs; so that when the time came for them to leave this delightfulspot they did so in the highest possible state of health and spirits;the remembrance of their ugly adventure on Everest disturbing them nomore than would the memory of a troublesome dream.
Their next destination was the island of Borneo; and they arranged theirdeparture so as to pass over Calcutta and enter the Bay of Bengal duringthe hours of darkness, their intention being to make the latter part ofthe trip by water rather than by air.
They descended to the surface of the sea at daylight, the land being atthat time invisible from the elevation of ten thousand feet at whichthey had been travelling during the night. Not a sail of anydescription was in sight; the sparkling sea was only moderately ruffledby the north-east monsoon; and appearances seemed to warrant a beliefthat the passage would be a thoroughly pleasant one. The travellerswere in no hurry whatever, and they were, moreover, longing for a sniffof the good wholesome sea-breeze; the _Flying Fish_ therefore proceededvery leisurely on her course, her engines revolving dead slow, whichgave her a speed of about sixteen knots through the water.
They proceeded thus during the whole of that day and the succeedingnight, finding themselves at daybreak next morning within sight of oneof the lesser islands of the Andaman group. And at this point of theirjourney a gradual fall of the mercury in their barometers warned themthat they were about to experience a change of weather. The atmosphericindications remained unchanged, however, until about two o'clock in theafternoon, when the wind lulled, the mercury experienced a suddenfurther fall, and a great mass of murky cloud began to bank up in thesouth-western quarter. This rapidly overspread the sky, until the wholeof the visible heavens became obscured by a thick curtain of flyingscud. The sea, inky black, suddenly became agitated, and formed itselfinto a confusion of irregular waves without any "run," but which rearedthemselves tremblingly aloft, and then subsided again, only to beinstantly succeeded by others. The wind fell away to a dead calm, whichcontinued for about a quarter of an hour, during which an alarminglyrapid fall of the mercury, combined with a low weird moaning in theatmosphere, seemed to forebode the approach of some dire disaster. Thiswas followed by a sudden blast of wind from the eastward--which came andwas gone again in an instant--and which preceded a brief but terrificdownpour of rain. This lasted for perhaps three minutes, when it ceasedas suddenly as it had commenced.
"Now, look out for the wind," exclaimed Mildmay. "Ah! here it comes--aregular hurricane! Thank Heaven, there is no sail to shorten on boardthe _Flying Fish_!"
He might well say so; for sore indeed would be the plight of the unwaryseaman who should find himself under similar circumstances, unprepared.A long line of white foam suddenly appeared on their starboard bow,racing down toward them and spreading out right and left with frightfulrapidity, until the whole horizon, from some four points on the larboardbow right round to broad on their starboard beam, was marked by acontinuous line of flying foam and spindrift. They watched with eagercuriosity this remarkable phenomenon, noticed the astounding rapiditywith which it travelled, and saw that the sea on their starboard hand,ay, and even well on their starboard quarter, was lashed into a perfectfrenzy by the hurricane before it reached the ship. Then, with a wildrush and a deafening roar, the gale struck them, and the _Flying Fish_--stout ship as she was--fairly shuddered under the force of the blow. Inan instant the air became so thick with the driving scud-water thatevery window in the pilot-house had to be closed to prevent the inmatesbeing drenched to the skin. In less than five minutes the deck was wetfore and aft with the flying spray; and before a quarter of an hour hadelapsed the _Flying Fish_ was pitching her fore-deck clean under water.
At its commencement the gale blew from about south-east, or dead intheir teeth; and the revolutions of the engines were increased to a ratewhich, under ordinary circumstances, would have given the ship a speedof some twenty-five knots, but which now drove her ahead at the rate ofonly some fifteen knots against the gale. As the afternoon wore on, thewind gradually "backed," until, at four p.m., it was blowing from duesouth. This confirmed Mildmay in his suspicion that they had fallen inwith one of those most terrible of storms--_a cyclone_!
At half-past four o'clock--at which time the gale was raging withhurricane force--a sail was made out, bearing about one point on the_Flying Fish's_ port bow, and about four miles distant. As well ascould be made out, she appeared to be barque-rigged; and, on approachingher more closely, this proved to be the case. She was a vessel of somefour hundred tons register, pretty deep in the water; and--though shewas hove-to under close-reefed fore and main topsails--was makingfrightfully bad weather of it, the seas sweeping clear and clean overher, fore and aft, every time she met them.
The moment that the stranger was first sighted, Mildmay opened one ofthe windows--at the risk of getting drenched to the skin--and brought atelescope to bear upon her. He had scarcely brought her within thefield of vision when he exclaimed agitatedly:
"Good Heavens! what is the man about? He has hove-to his ship _on theport tack_; does he not know he is in a cyclone?"
"What does it matter which tack the vessel is hove-to upon?" asked SirReginald with a smile at Mildmay's excitement.
"All the difference in the world, my dear sir," was the reply. "We arein the Northern Hemisphere; in which--as you have already had anopportunity of observing--cyclones _invariably_ revolve _against_ theapparent course of the sun. A knowledge of this fact teaches the waryseaman to heave-to on the _starboard_ tack; by doing which his shipdodges _away from_ the fatal centre or `eye' of the storm. This fellow,however, by heaving-to on the port tack, is steadily nearing the centre,which must eventually pass over him, when his ship will be suddenlybecalmed, only to be struck aback a few moments later, when she will--almost to a dead certainty--founder with all hands. For Heaven's sakelet us bear down upon him and warn him ere it be too late. And we haveno time to lose about it either; for, if I may judge from the fury ofthe gale, the centre of the storm is not far off."
The speed of the _Flying Fish_ was promptly increased, her course beingat the same time so far altered as to admit of her intercepting thebarque, and a few minutes later she passed under the stranger's sternand hauled close up on her weather quarter, the travellers thus havingan opportunity of ascertaining the name of the vessel, which proved tobe the _Mercury_ of Bristol. They were now also able to realise morefully than they had yet the tremendous strength of the gale and power ofthe sea; the unfortunate barque careening gunwale-to under the pressureof the wind upon her scanty canvas, whilst the sea deluged her decksfore and aft; the whole of her lee and a considerable portion of herweather bulwarks having already been carried away, together with herspare spars; whilst every sea which broke on board her swept somethingor other off the deck and into the sea to leeward. The long-boat andpinnace, stowed over the main hatchway, were stove and renderedunserviceable; and, even as the _Flying Fish_ ranged up alongside, theirdestruction was completed and their shattered planks and timbers tornout of the "gripes."
The crew of the ship had, for safety's sake,assembled aft on the full poop; and among them could be seen a femalefigure crouching down under the meagre shelter of the cabin skylightevidently in a state of extreme terror.
"You go out and hail them, Mildmay; you know what to say," remarked SirReginald, as he steered the _Flying Fish_ into a favourable position forcommunicating.
The lieutenant needed no second bidding; he felt that the crisis wasimminent; and, stepping out on deck, where he had to cling tightly tothe lee guard-rail to escape being washed overboard, he hailed:
"Barque ahoy! do you know that you are in a cyclone, and hove-to on thewrong tack? I would very strongly advise you to wear round at once andget the ship on the starboard tack. If the eye of the storm catches youyou will surely founder."
To his intense astonishment an answer came back--from a great black-bearded savage-looking fellow--couched in the words, as nearly as hecould make them out for the howling of the wind and the rush of the sea:
"You mind your own business! Nobody on board this ship wants youradvice."
"But I am giving it you for your own safety's sake, and that of theship," persisted Mildmay.
The answer was unintelligible, but, as it was accompanied by animpatient wave of the hand and a turning of the speaker's back upon him,Mildmay rightly concluded that the individual was one of thoseobstinate, pig-headed people, who, having once made a mistake, willpersist in it at all hazards rather than take advice, and so admit thepossibility of their having done wrong; he accordingly turned awaysomewhat disgusted, and made his way back to the shelter of the pilot-house.
The lieutenant was in the act of describing to his companions theunsatisfactory nature of the foregoing brief colloquy, whensuddenly--_instantaneously_--there occurred an awful pause in the furyof the hurricane; the wind lulled at once to a dead calm; the aircleared; the sea, no longer thrashed down by the gale, reared itselfaloft as though it would scale the very heavens; and the canvas of thebarque flapped with a single loud thunderous report as she rolledheavily to windward.
"Now, look out!" gasped Mildmay. And, even as the words escaped hislips, down came the hurricane again in a sudden mad burst of relentlessfury; but _now_ the wind blew from the _northward_, the point of thecompass exactly opposite that from which it had been blowing a minutebefore.
The _Flying Fish_, having neither sails nor spars exposed to the blast,received this second stroke of the gale with impunity; but with thedevoted barque it was, alas, very different. She was struck flat abackand borne irresistibly over on her beam-ends, gathering stern-way at thesame time. The crew, at last fully alive to the extreme peril of theirsituation, scrambled along the deck and made their way to the braces ina futile attempt to haul round the yards, the helmsman at the same timejamming the wheel hard down that the ship might have a chance to payoff. The yards, however, were jammed fast against the weather rigging,and could not be moved; neither would the ship's head pay off;meanwhile, her stern-way was rapidly increasing, the sea already foamingup level with her taffrail; and presently it curled in over her leequarter, sweeping in a steadily increasing volume along her deck. Thecatastrophe which followed took place with startling rapidity. Thestern of the barque, now buried beneath the surge, seemed at once tolose all its buoyancy, and, powerfully depressed by the leverage of thetopsails on the masts, plunged at once deeply below the surface of thehungrily leaping sea, the rest of the hull following so quickly that,before the horrified spectators in the _Flying Fish's_ pilot-house fullyrealised what was happening, the entire hull had disappeared, the masts,yards, and top-hamper generally only remaining in sight a moment longer,as though to impress upon them unmistakably the fact that a ship wasfoundering before their eyes.
"Come back and close the door!" thundered Sir Reginald to Mildmay,laying his hand upon certain valve-handles as the lieutenant sprang outon deck, urged by some indefinite purpose of rendering help where helpwas obviously no longer possible.
Mildmay stood for a moment, as one in a dream, watching the submergenceof the ill-fated _Mercury's_ jib-boom end and fore-topgallant mast-head(the last of her spars to disappear) beneath the swirl where her hullhad just vanished, and then, dazedly, he obeyed the baronet's sharplyreiterated command.
No sooner did the door clang to than Sir Reginald rapidly threw open allthe valves of the water chambers, and the _Flying Fish_ at once began tofollow the barque to the bottom. In less than five seconds thetravellers found themselves clear of all the wild commotion raging onthe surface, and descending silently, rapidly, yet steadily deeper anddeeper into the recesses of the cool twilight which prevailed aroundthem, deepest blue below and an ever-darkening green above. Theyquickly overtook the _Mercury_ and continued the descent almost side byside with her, watching, with awe-struck curiosity yet overwhelming pityand horror, the death-struggles of those who were being helplesslydragged down with her. They observed, with a feeling of intense relief,that the struggle for life ceased, in almost every case, in less than aminute, the expression of horror on the dying men's faces passing awaystill earlier and giving place to one of profound peace and contentment;thus confirming, to a great extent the current belief that death bydrowning is a painless mode of dissolution.
The crew had, without exception, at the moment of the barque'sfoundering, grasped some rope or other portion of the vessel'sequipment, the death-clutch upon which was in no single instancerelaxed; hence they were, one and all, dragged hopelessly to the bottomwith the wreck. With the female, however, it was different. She hadbeen crouching in a kneeling attitude upon the deck, under the imperfectshelter of the cabin skylight, and when the poop deck became submergedshe was swept forward, still in the same attitude, with her handsclasped as in prayer, until her body was washed clear of the poop rail,when the suction of the sinking ship dragged her below the surface. Asthe hull of the barque settled down it gradually recovered its balanceand assumed an almost level position, due, to some extent, no doubt, tothe pressure of the water upon the sails; and, with every fathom ofdescent, the downward motion grew increasingly slower. The wreck hadsunk to a depth of perhaps twenty or five-and-twenty fathoms, when theabsorbed spectators in the _Flying Fish's_ pilot-house were startled byobserving a sudden convulsive motion in the body of the female. Herhands were unclasped, her arms were flung wildly out above her head, andher body was slowly straightened out. At the same moment the spacebetween her and the sinking wreck widened; the vessel was sinking morerapidly than the body. The descent of the _Flying Fish_ was instantlychecked, and in another moment it became apparent that the body _wasrising to the surface_.
In eager, breathless anxiety the watchers noted the steady downwardprogress of the _Mercury's_ spars and cordage past the now strugglingform of the woman, victims of alternate dismay and hope as they saw thebody now fouled by some portion of the complicated net-work of standingand running gear between the main and mizzen masts, and anon driftingclear of it again. A few seconds, which to the quartette in the pilot-house seemed spun out to the duration of ages, and the last of theseperils was evaded, upon which the body, still feebly struggling, resumedits upward journey.
With a great sigh of intense relief, echoed by each of his companions,Sir Reginald swiftly backed the _Flying Fish_ astern, causing her at thesame time, by a movement of the tiller, to swerve with her bow directlytoward the body, now some five or six feet above the level of the deck.Then, quick as thought, the ship was sent ahead until her deck wasimmediately beneath the body, when, the valves of the air and waterchambers being simultaneously thrown open, she rushed upward to thesurface, overtaking the drowning woman and carrying her upward also.
In another instant, a vacuum having been created in the air-chambers,the _Flying Fish_ broke water with a tremendous rush and swirl, and,without a moment's pause, rose into the air, the senseless body on deckbeing prevented from washing off again only by the guard-rail whichstood in place of bulwarks.
"Take charge, please, and do not rise too high," hurriedly e
xclaimed thebaronet to Mildmay, springing, as he spoke, for the door of the pilot-house, which he flung open, rushing out on deck and seizing the body asthough fearful that it might yet be snatched away from him.
Gently raising it in his arms he turned and bore the slender form to theshelter of the pilot-house, at the door of which he was met by theprofessor, who felt that his medical skill might yet perhaps serve theunfortunate girl in good stead. Together they conveyed her below to oneof the state-rooms, and, without a moment's loss of time, the mostapproved methods of resuscitation were vigorously resorted to. Forfully half an hour their utmost efforts proved all unavailing; but vonSchalckenberg so positively asserted life was not extinct that theypersevered, and at length a slight return of warmth to the body andcolour to the lips, followed by a fluttering sigh, assured them thatsuccess was about to reward their endeavours. Another minute, and apair of glorious brown eyes were disclosed by their opening lids, afaint moan escaped the quivering lips, the head moved uneasily upon thepillow, and the sufferer murmured a few inarticulate words.
"Thank God, we have saved her, I believe," ejaculated Sir Reginald, in awhisper, to the professor. "Now, doctor, I will retire and leave you tocomplete her restoration, so that the poor girl may be sparedembarrassment as far as possible on the full recovery of consciousness.But I shall establish myself outside the door of the state-room, withineasy reach of your voice should you need anything; and do not forgetthat the whole resources of the ship are at your absolute disposal."
"All right," answered the professor. "Now go, for the patient is comingto herself rapidly."
Half an hour later von Schalckenberg crept out on tiptoe, his kindlyface beaming and his eyes sparkling with exultation.
"It is all right," he whispered in his broadest German-English. "I havefully restored the circulation, and the young patient is now in a soundsleep, from which she must not be disturbed on any account. I shallkeep watch by her side, and when she awakes you shall all be dulyinformed of the circumstance. You may now go about your business, mygood friend, your services are no longer required here."
The worthy professor kept sedulous watch over his patient untilsatisfied that she was completely out of danger, presenting her to hiscompanions only when they assembled in the saloon for dinner some four-and-twenty hours after the catastrophe which had thrown her into theirsociety.
The colonel and Mildmay were stricken absolutely, though onlytemporarily, dumb with astonishment and admiration at the vision ofremarkable beauty which met their gaze as the saloon door opened, andvon Schalckenberg, stepping hastily forward with a most courtly bow, metthe fair stranger at the threshold, taking her hand and leading herforward into the apartment preliminary to the ceremony of introduction.Even Sir Reginald, though he had not failed to notice the beauty of thepale and apparently lifeless girl he had raised from the wet deck andborne so carefully below on the preceding evening, was startled at herradiant loveliness as she, somewhat shrinkingly and with a momentaryvivid blush, responded to the introductions and congratulatory greetingswhich immediately followed. All night long, and throughout the day, shehad been haunted by the dreamy recollection of another face than that ofthe kindly professor who had so assiduously nursed her back to life--abronzed handsome face, with tender pitiful blue eyes, close-cut auburnhair clustering wavily about the small shapely head, and luxuriantauburn moustache and beard, bending anxiously over her as she lay weak,helpless, suffering, and with the feebly-returning consciousness ofhaving recently experienced some terrible calamity; of having passedthrough some awful and harrowing ordeal; and now, as she gave her handto Sir Reginald, and shyly glanced up into his handsome face and readthe tender sympathy for her expressed by the kindly blue eyes, sherecognised the embodiment of the vision which had haunted her sopersistently, and knew that she had not been merely dreaming. Thecircumstances in which she thus found herself placed were certainlysomewhat embarrassing; but, with the tact of a true gentleman, SirReginald at once led the conversation into a channel which soon made thepoor girl forget her embarrassment, and almost immediately afterwardsthe party sat down to dinner.
During the progress of this meal--which, however, their guest scarcelytasted--the gentlemen were made aware of the circumstances which led tothis lovely girl being thrown, helpless and friendless, into theirsociety and upon their hospitality.
Her name, she informed them, was Olivia D'Arcy. She was an orphan. Herbrother, formerly a lieutenant in the royal navy, had been compelled bystraitened circumstances to quit the service and enter the mercantilemarine, in which he had without much difficulty succeeded in securing acommand. By practising the most rigid economy he had contrived tomaintain his only sister, Olivia, and educate her at a first-classschool, and on her education being completed he had decided, as thesimplest way out of many difficulties, financial and otherwise, to takeher to sea with him. This had been her first voyage with him, as it hadbeen his first in command of the _Mercury_. The ship had been toManilla, and at the time of her loss was homeward-bound, withinstructions to call at Madras _en route_. The voyage had been anunfortunate one in many respects, even from its commencement, and Oliviathought the climax had been reached when, a week before her wreck, the_Mercury_ had been attacked by pirates in the Straits of Malacca, andher brother slain by the pirates' last shot, as they retired defeated.The cruel shot, she declared in a burst of uncontrollable grief, hadrobbed her, in her brother, of her sole relative; and whilst she wasdeeply grateful to those she addressed for preserving her life, she feltthat it would perhaps have been better for her had she been allowed toperish.
Such a story was calculated to excite the deepest sympathy andcommiseration in the breasts of those who listened to it; and it did; inSir Reginald's case, indeed, the feeling was even warmer than either ofthose mentioned, especially when he learned, upon further inquiry, thatOlivia's brother had been none other than the George D'Arcy who, in thedays of their mutual boyhood, had fought many a battle on his behalf atEton when certain first-form bullies had shown a disposition totyrannise over the then delicate curly-headed "Miss Reggie" (asElphinstone was dubbed when he first entered the school), and thesorrowing girl was assured that, so far from being friendless, she wouldfind in her then companions four men upon whom she might always rely forthe warmest sympathy, the most kindly counsel, and the most substantialhelp so long as their lives might last.
The accession of such a guest as Olivia D'Arcy to the little party onboard the _Flying Fish_ occasioned, it will readily be understood, acomplete and immediate change in all their plans. In the first momentthat they gave to the consideration of the matter they saw that it wouldnever do for a young, beautiful, and unprotected girl to accompany themhither and thither in their wanderings, even were she willing to do so,which they felt well assured she would not be. Two alternatives thenpresented themselves to the choice of the party: the one being to landher at the nearest port, and, furnishing her with the necessary means,leave her to make her way to England alone and unprotected as best shecould; the other alternative involving the temporary abandonment oftheir further projects and the immediate return of the _Flying Fish_ toEngland. The first project was named only to be abruptly andunanimously rejected by the entire party, the second being gladlyadopted by Sir Reginald upon his receiving from his three friends theassurance of their hearty approval and acquiescence.
This decision was arrived at shortly before midnight on the eveningfollowing Olivia's formal introduction by the professor to the remainingmembers of the party, and thereupon--the _Flying Fish_ being at the timeafloat and making her way leisurely southward toward the Straits ofMalacca--an ascent to the upper regions of the atmosphere was at oncemade, and the ship's head pointed homeward. The distance to betraversed was considerable, but it was calculated that by travelling atthe ship's utmost speed along the arc of a great circle (the shortestpossible route between any two places on the earth's surface), thejourney might be accomplished in about forty-five hours, which, allowingfor the
difference of longitude in time between their then position andthe English Channel, would enable them to reach the latter place atabout two o'clock in the afternoon of the day but one following. Thiswas rather an awkward time, if they still intended to maintain theirsecrecy of movement and avoid observation, but under the circumstancesthey resolved to risk it. Soaring, therefore, to a height of tenthousand feet--the elevation which experience had taught them to be mostsuitable for the performance of long-distance journeys--the _FlyingFish_ was put to her utmost speed, and, with the gentlemen keeping watchby turns in the pilot-house, the journey was commenced.
Swiftly the wonderful fabric sped forward upon her homeward way, and,without incident of any kind worthy of mention, and almost at the veryminute calculated upon, the waters of the English Channel were sighted;an unobserved descent being effected some twenty miles seaward of thelittle town of Saint Valery on the French coast. A course was nowshaped for the Isle of Wight, and, a few hours later, one of the boatsbelonging to the _Flying Fish_ quietly glided into Portsmouth harbour incharge of Lieutenant Mildmay. Three passengers--Olivia D'Arcy, theprofessor, and Colonel Lethbridge--landed from her without attractingany attention, and found themselves just in good time to take the Londonexpress, which they did, Mildmay making his solitary way out of theharbour again immediately.
In accordance with arrangements previously made by Sir Reginald, MissD'Arcy was escorted by her two cavaliers straight to the town residenceof a certain aunt of the baronet's, and handed over to the care andprotection of the old lady, with whom (to make short of a long story)for the ensuing twelve months she found a most comfortable and happyhome; Sir Reginald and Mildmay turning up in town two days later ladenwith their African spoils, the equitable division of which, and theirultimate disposal, occupied the party for several months.
Thus ended the cruise of the _Flying Fish_. What remains to be told maybe said in a very few words. Will the sagacious reader be very muchsurprised to learn that Sir Reginald Elphinstone suddenly discovered, inthe aunt who had kindly taken Olivia D'Arcy under her protection, an oldlady whose good graces were worth the most assiduous cultivation? Such,at all events, was the fact, and, this much having been stated, theaforesaid sagacious reader will perhaps be not altogether unprepared tolearn that, about a year after the return of the _Flying Fish_ toEngland, a wedding took place from that old lady's house; in whichceremony Olivia enacted most charmingly the part of bride, with SirReginald as bridegroom, supported by the three staunch friends who hadshared with him so many perils.
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And what about the _Flying Fish_, does somebody ask? When last heard ofshe was--where she probably still is--lying safe and unsuspected at thebottom of the "Hurd Deep," in the identical spot where she made herfirst descent into the waters of the English Channel.
Whether she will ever again be put into commission--and, if so, underwhat circumstances--time alone will show.
THE END.
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