CHAPTER XXIX
Homeward Bound
For the rest of that fateful day the greatest despondency prevailedamongst our crew. The fate of their devoted comrades, whose liveshad been thrown away in a useless attempt to save a worthless lot ofmutineers, weighed heavily on their minds. Even the thought of thetreasure being safe in our possession hardly asserted itself.
But with the morning there came a change. The storm, short andfierce, had blown itself out, and once more the tropical sun pouredits scorching rays upon the gently heaving waters. Not only had the_Neptune_ disappeared from view, but the gale had swept away the fewremaining fragments of the pirate ship _Black Arrow_, so thatanother link with the adventurous past had been severed.
Seamen, from their constant exposure and peril, are ever ready torise above their misfortunes, though these are not easily forgotten;and so it was with the crew of the _Golden Hope_. The dejected mienso observable on the preceding day gave place to a bustle ofactivity, for much had to be done ere we were ready to weigh anchorand set sail on our homeward voyage.
The brig had to be careened, so that as much as possible of thethick deposit of weeds and barnacles 'neath the waterline could bescraped off; while ashore great cauldrons of pitch bubbled over thefires, for much paying and caulking of seams had to be done ere the_Golden Hope_ could be deemed sufficiently seaworthy for her longvoyage.
While the work was in progress Captain Jeremy ordered a party of mento remove the false landmark, and to place in the former position ofthe clump of trees a tall pole, surmounted by a large triangleconspicuously painted black and white. Without this mark it would bewell-nigh impossible to get our correct bearings, and the _GoldenHope_ would doubtless share the fate of the ill-starred _Neptune_unless we took the narrow channel by which the _Antelope_ hadarrived. But this course would be impracticable with the windsprevailing at this time of the year, hence the importance of thenewly erected pole.
At length the scraping and pitching of the brig's hull wascompleted, and the _Golden Hope_ rode once more on an even keel. Thework of transporting the treasure from the stockade was now carriedout in earnest, and without mishap the whole of the precious stuffwas safely stowed in the _Golden Hope's_ strong room, under the poopdeck.
This done, it was thought prudent to dismantle and evacuate thestockade.
The ordnance was removed and taken aboard the brig; the powder, ofwhich we had a considerable reserve, was carefully stowed in hermagazines. Silas Touchstone had proposed to destroy the stockade andthe buildings within it by fire, but to this proposal Captain Jeremyrefused to give his consent, observing that they might be useful toany castaways who might have the misfortune to land on the island.
The small craft that had been taken from the buccaneers after theirrout by Silas Touchstone were beached as far as possible in the mostsecluded part of the harbour. Though the wind and the sun would erelong reduce them to mere wrecks, Captain Jeremy, in his humanity,thought they might also be of service to others.
Then, having watered the ship, filling all the available barricoesin addition to the tanks, for we knew not whether to make straightfor home or to put into Port Royal, we prepared to spend our lastnight in the harbour of Treasure Island. Accordingly, having, as wethought, finally severed our connection with the shore, we hoistedin our boats, preparatory to making a start at dawn.
About an hour after sunset I was pacing the deck, when I heard ahail from shore: "_Golden Hope_, ahoy!"
Several of the watch on deck also caught the cry, but, tooastonished to reply, they crowded to the bulwarks and listened withawestruck feelings for a repetition of the hail.
Again the shout, "_Golden Hope_, ahoy!" pierced the darkness.
"Who can it be?" muttered one of the men. "All hands are aboard, forthey were mustered just before eight bells."
"I like it not," replied another, with a shudder. "'Tis the ghostsof the slain men. We'll never reach home after this."
"Run and tell the Cap'n," suggested a third, with more good sensethan his comrades.
Just as Captain Jeremy came on deck the hail was again repeated.
"Who are ye, and what d'ye want?" shouted our Captain. He, too, waspuzzled by the mysterious cry. Something was shouted in reply, butthe words were unintelligible.
"Lower away a boat," ordered Captain Jeremy curtly.
The men moved aft to obey, obviously with reluctance.
"What are ye afraid of?" demanded our commander. "I'll go ashore inher. Take arms and a lantern, and we'll soon sift this business."
The boat was lowered and the falls cleared, and the men, tumblinginto her, brought her round to the gangway. Here Captain Jeremystepped into the stern sheets, whither I followed, eager to solvethe mystery.
When within twenty yards of the shore the boat was turned till herstern pointed landwards. Captain Jeremy stood up, striving by theaid of the lantern that one of the men held behind him to penetratethe darkness. I could distinguish a knot of men close to the water'sedge.
"Who are ye, and what d'ye want?" repeated Captain Jeremy.
"We've come back," replied a voice that I failed to recognize. Then,after a pause, it continued: "Tom Cherry and the long-boat's crew."
"Run her ashore, men," shouted Captain Jeremy excitedly, and as theboat's forepart grounded on the shingle our men jumped out towelcome those who we thought were dead.
They were all present, nine all told, but with what a change intheir appearance! Even the yellow light of the lantern failed todisguise the pale, gaunt features of Tom Cherry and his men. Theirclothes were in rags, and shoes they had none, though most of thepoor fellows had their feet bound with strips of cloth.
"The boat's safe enow, sir," exclaimed Cherry feebly, as he raisedhis hand to the salute with an effort. "She's----"
"Never mind that," replied our Captain. "Get aboard as fast as youcan, and don't say another word till you are fed and rested."
'Twas easy to order the men to hasten aboard the boat, but so weakwere they that they had to be assisted over the gunwale, while, toget them over the side of the _Golden Hope_, a bos'n's chair had tobe rigged. At length they were safely aboard, where it was painfulto see the poor wretches devour the food that was given them. Hadthey had their will, they would assuredly have killed themselves bytheir ravenousness; but having supplied them with small quantitiesof broth, Captain Jeremy ordered them to be placed in their hammocksand fed again in an hour's time.
The return of Cherry and the long-boat's crew prevented our sailingat the appointed time, for since their craft was, according to thegallant coxswain, "safe and sound", Captain Jeremy decided to bringit back to the ship, as it was the most useful boat we carried.
The sufferers recovered sufficiently by the morning to tell us oftheir hazardous adventures. When caught by the squall they wereswept to leeward of the _Neptune_ just as she disappeared, but wereunable to save any of the mutineers. Every moment they expected tofind themselves struggling in the water, for the boat was beingcarried right over the shoals, on which the breakers were fallingheavily. But for the presence of mind of Tom Cherry, who ordered themast and sail to be lashed to the grass rope and thrown overboard,so that the boat's head was kept to the crested waves, the long-boatwould not have kept afloat. As it was, this floating anchor acted asa kind of breakwater, much of the force of the waves being expendedere they passed under the boat. Even then several seas broke overit, necessitating continuous bailing.
Ere the rain squall ceased they had been carried past thesouth-western extremity of the island, where, being more under thelee of the land, and the sea being deeper, the waves did not run sohigh. Nevertheless, in their exhausted condition, they could notmake headway, and when two oars broke they were compelled to letthemselves drift, riding in comparative safety to their sea anchor.
During the night the wind dropped and the sea subsided, but beingwithout a compass and unable to see the island in the darkness, theyhad to drift about till nearly two hours after midnight. Then, thesk
y becoming clear, they were enabled to take a rough bearing by thestars. Dawn found them with the island nearly below the horizon, butafter five hours' hard and laborious pulling they managed to land ata little cove at the south end.
Here they found a path leading northwards, and after several hours'walk, during which time they made a sorry meal of berries and water,they recognized their road as being the same as we had taken when werecovered the treasure. After great privations, and filled withfears that the _Golden Hope_ had sailed, they managed to strugglethrough the forest by the path we had made during our firstexpedition into the interior, and arrived at the shore, having losttheir way more than once in the intense darkness.
During the day one of our boats was dispatched to bring back thelong-boat. As Cherry had reported, she was practically undamaged,and with a favourable breeze both craft were alongside the brig wellbefore sunset.
At daybreak on the following morning the welcome order to weigh wasgiven, and as the capstan revolved to the cheery song of the seamenthe anchor came home, after an acquaintance of nearly two years withthe bed of the bay.
The wind had again backed, and blew lightly from the north'ard, sothat it was unwise to attempt to beat through the shorter and morerecently discovered channel that passed inside the shoal on which Ihad had such a hazardous adventure.
Nevertheless, we negotiated the bends of the other passage insafety, thanks to the replacement of the navigation mark on shore,though everyone was anxious till the lead gave a depth of fortyfathoms.
An hour later the highest peak of Treasure Island had vanished'neath the horizon. We were homeward bound.