CHAPTER III.
THE WRECK.
Major Maunsell gave a great gasp of relief when the brig righted.
"Keep tight hold of your rope, Eric," he cried encouragingly. "PleaseGod, we may reach shore alive yet."
Drenched to the skin and shivering with cold, Eric held tightly on tothe rope with his right hand and to Prince's collar with his left.Prince had crouched close to the foot of the mast, and the waves sweptby him as though he had been carved in stone.
"All right, sir," Eric replied, as bravely as he could. "It's prettyhard work, but I'll not let go."
Rearing and plunging amid the froth and foam, the _Francis_ charged atthe second bar, struck full upon it with a force that would havecrushed in the bow of a less sturdy craft, hung there for a few minuteswhile the breakers, as if greedy for their prey, swept exultantly overher, and then, responding to the impulse of another towering wave,leaped over the bar into the deeper water beyond.
But she could not stand much more of such buffeting, for she was fastbecoming a mere hulk. Both masts had gone by the board at the lastshock, and poor little Eric certainly would have gone overboard withthe main-mast but for his prompt rescue by the major from theentangling rigging.
"You had a narrow escape that time, Eric," said the major, as hedragged the boy round to the other side of the mast, where he was inless danger.
The passage over the bars having thus been effected, the few who werestill left on board the _Francis_ began to cherish hopes of yetreaching the shore alive.
Between the bars and the main body of the island was a heavy cross-sea,in which the brig pitched and tossed like a bit of cork. Somewherebeyond this wild confusion of waters was the surf which broke upon thebeach itself, and in that surf the final struggle would take place.Whether or not a single one of the soaked, shivering beings clinging tothe deck would survive it, God alone knew. The chances of their escapewere as one in a thousand--and yet they hoped.
There were not many left now. Captain Sterling was gone, andLieutenants Mercer and Sutton. Besides the major and Eric, onlyLieutenants Roebuck and Moore of the cabin passengers were still to beseen. Of the soldiers and crew, almost all had been swept away; butCaptain Reefwell still held to his post upon the quarter-deck bykeeping tight hold to a belaying-pin.
The distance between the bars and the beach was soon crossed, and thelong line of foaming billows became distinct through the driving mist.
"Don't lose your grip on Prince, my boy," called the major to Eric."We'll strike in a second, and then--"
But before he could finish the sentence the ship struck the beach withfearful force, and was instantly buried under a vast mountain of waterthat hurled itself upon her as though it had long been waiting for thechance to destroy her. When the billow had spent its force, the deckswere clear. Not a human form was visible where a moment before morethan a score of men had been clinging for dear life. Hissing andseething like things of life, and sending their spray and spume highinto the mist-laden air, the merciless breakers bore their victims offto cast them contemptuously upon the beach. Then, ere they couldscramble ashore, they would be caught up again and carried off by therecoil of the wave, to be once more dashed back as though they were theplaythings of the water.
The major and Eric were separated in the wild confusion; but Eric wasnot parted from Prince. About his brawny neck the mastiff wore a stoutleathern collar, and to this Eric clung with a grip that not even theawful violence of the breakers could unloose. Rather did it make hissturdy fingers but close the tighter upon the leathern band.
Into the boiling flood the boy and dog were plunged together, andbravely they battled to make the shore. The struggle would be atremendous one for them, and the issue only too doubtful. The slope ofthe beach was very gradual, and there was a long distance between wherethe brig struck and the dry land. Wholly blinded and half-choked bythe driving spray, Eric could do nothing to direct his course. But hecould have had no better pilot than the great dog, whose unerringinstinct pointed him straight to the shore.
How long they struggled with the surf Eric could not tell. But hisstrength had failed, and his senses were fast leaving him, when hisfeet touched something firmer than tossing waves, and presently he andPrince were lifted up, and then hurled violently upon the sand. Had hebeen alone, the recoil of the wave would certainly have carried himback again into the surge; but the dog dug his big paws into the softbeach, and forced his way up, dragging his master with him.
Dizzy, bewildered, and faint, Eric staggered to his feet, looked abouthim in hope of finding the major near, and then, seeing nobody, fellforward upon the sand in a dead faint.
How long he lay unconscious upon the beach Eric had no idea; but whenhe at length came to himself, he found a big, bushy-bearded man bendingover him with a half-pitying, half-puzzled look, while beside him,ready for a spring, was faithful Prince, regarding him with a look thatsaid as plainly as words,--
"Attempt to do my master any harm and I will be at your throat."
But the big man seemed to have no evil intent. He had evidently beenwaiting for Eric to gain consciousness, and as soon as the boy openedhis eyes, said in a gruff but not unkind voice,---
"So you're not dead after all, my hearty. More's the pity, maybe. OldEvil-Eye'll be wanting to make a clean job of it, as usual."
Eric did not at all take in the meaning of the stranger's words; hissenses had not yet fully returned. He felt a terrible pain in his headand a distressing nausea, and when he tried to get upon his feet hefound the effort too much for him. He fell back with a cry of painthat made the affectionate mastiff run up to him and gently lick hisface, as though to say,--
"What's the matter, dear master? Can I do anything for you?"
The man then seemed, for the first time, to take notice of the dog, andputting forth a huge, horny hand, he patted him warily, muttering underhis beard,--
"Sink me straight, but it's a fine beast. I'll have him for my share,if I have to take the boy along with him."
Perceiving by some subtle instinct the policy of being civil, Princepermitted himself to be patted by the stranger, and then lay down againbeside him in a manner that betokened, "When wanted, I'm ready."
Eric was eager to hear about Major Maunsell and the others who had beenon board the _Francis_. Were it not for his weakness he would berunning up and down the beach in search of them. But the terriblestruggle with the surf, following upon the long exposure to the storm,had completely exhausted him, and he was sorely bruised besides.Turning his face up to the strange man, who seemed to have nothingfurther to say on his own account, he asked him anxiously,--
"Where's Major Maunsell? Is he all right?"
Instead of answering, the man looked away from Eric, and there was anexpression on his face that somehow sent a chill of dread to the boy'sheart.
"Please tell me what has happened. Oh, take me to him, won't you?He's looking after me, you know," he pleaded earnestly, the tearsbeginning to well from his eyes.
Still the big man kept silence. Then as Eric pressed him withentreaty, he suddenly wheeled about and spoke in gruffer tones than hehad so far used,--
"You'd best be still and keep quiet. You'll never see Major Maunsell,as you call him, or any of the rest of them again, and you might justas well know it first as last."
At these dreadful words Eric raised himself by a great effort to asitting posture, gazed into the man's face as though hoping to findsome sign of his not being in earnest, and then with a cry of franticgrief flung himself back and buried his face in his hands, while hiswhole frame shook with the violence of his sobbing.
The man stood watching him in silence, although his face, hard andstern as it was, gave evidence of his being moved to sympathy with theboy. He seemed to be thinking deeply, and to be in much doubt as towhat he should do. He was just about to stoop down and lift Eric up,when a harsh, grating voice called out,--
"Hallo, Ben! What have you got there?"