CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
THE ROCCA ISLETS.
The night had grown somewhat darker within the last hour, a few lightclouds having come up to windward, spreading themselves over the sky andobscuring a good many of the stars; so that by the time we had been awayfrom the ship about a quarter of an hour it was impossible to seeanything of her except the light which twinkled at her gaff-end, andwhich might easily have been mistaken for a star.
We rounded the south-west angle of the island; and soon afterwardsfound ourselves pulling up a narrow channel between the island and thereefs, in perfectly smooth water, save for the slight undulations of theground-swell. We reckoned that the strangers were now about two milesdistant, so with muffled oars, and in the strictest silence, we paddledgently on, Mr Flinn leading in the launch. After about half an hour ofthis work, the launch ceased pulling, the other boats following suit;and the word was passed for the gig--in which I had been bringing up therear--to pass ahead. We did so, and in another minute were alongsidethe leading boat.
"We can't be far off them now, Ralph," said Paddy in a loud whisper, "sojust go aisy ahead, me darlint, and see what you can find out. Anddon't be a month of Sundays about it, aither, you spalpeen, for we'llsoon be havin' the daylight upon us; indade it looks to me as if the skyis lightin' up to the east'ard already, so we've no time to spare."
"Never fear," said I, "I'll not be a moment longer than I can help.Give way, gigs, and pass the word for the bow oar to lay in and keep abright lookout ahead."
We swept silently away, the stroke oar having orders to keep his eye onthe boats as long as it was possible to see them; and he was justreporting to me in a whisper that he had lost sight of them when the bowman gave the word "oars," and said he could see something broad on ourport bow. The boat's head was sheered to port, and at the same moment Icaught sight of the brigantine's spars showing up black and indistinctagainst the dark sky. She was not above fifty yards away from us, and Ihad just given the word to paddle quietly ahead when a voice hailed usin Spanish, ordering us to keep off or they would fire. Before we couldreply, _crash_ came a volley of musketry at us, tearing up the water allround the boat, and one poor fellow dropped his oar and fell forward offhis seat.
"Give way, men!" I shouted. "Dash at her and get alongside before theyhave time to load again. The other boats will be here to support us ina moment."
The men required no second bidding, but, bending to their oars until thestout ash bent like fishing-rods and the water flashed from the bladesin luminous foam, they sent the boat like an arrow in under the mainchains, dropping their oars and seizing their cutlasses as we sheeredalongside, and springing like grey-hounds slipped from the leash at thecraft's low bulwarks.
But we had been reckoning without our hosts. Instead of finding thecrew all below comfortably asleep in their hammocks, there they were atquarters, with guns loaded and run out, boarding-nettings triced up, andin fact everything ready to repel an attack, and it was only ourextremely cautious approach which had saved us from a broadside or twoof grape. Our people cut and slashed at the netting in a vain attemptto hew a passage through it, and were either shot down or thrust backwith boarding-pikes; those who attempted to creep in at the portsreceiving similar treatment. And all the time the small-arm men wereplaying briskly upon us with their muskets; so that at the end of fiveminutes I found myself with all hands beaten back into the boat, andevery one of us, fore and aft, suffering from wounds more or lesssevere.
"Come, lads!" I exclaimed; "take another slap at them; we _must_ get ondeck somehow. You Jones, give me a hoist up on your shoulders; I thinkI can see a hole in the netting; here--a foot farther aft--so, that'swell. Now, _heave_."
And up I went, clear above the craft's gunwale and neatly in through thehole which I had espied. I should have fallen on the deck on my head,and probably dislocated my neck had not a brawny Spaniard happened to beimmediately beneath me. Taken by surprise at my abrupt appearance, hehad not time to get out of my way or even to strike at me, and before hecould recover himself my pistol was at his temple and he staggeredbackward, shot through the head. In his fall, he forced back two orthree of those nearest him, creating a momentary confusion. One of thegigs was at that instant struggling to get in through the open port nearme, and I bent down, seized him by the collar, and lugged him in ondeck, recovering myself just in time to ward off a savage cutlass-blow.
Jones--who happened to be the man I had dragged inboard--was on his feetin an instant, and, placing himself alongside me, we both pressed alittle forward, so as to leave room for the rest of the gigs to followby the same entrance while we covered them.
At the same moment a ringing cheer was heard forward; there was a rushof many feet, and Flinn with his party poured aft, having come quietlyin over the bows while the crew were engaged with us aft.
"Launches to the rescue!" he shouted; "Hurroo, me bhoys! lay it on thickand heavy. Don't give them time to recover themselves; if the naygurswon't go below or throw down their arrums, just haive them overboard."
The onslaught of the three other boats' crews--which, having stolenquietly up in the confusion and slipped in over the bows withoutmolestation, were perfectly fresh--was irresistible. The brigantine'screw were forced in a body right aft to the taffrail, when, to avoidbeing cut down where they stood, or driven overboard, they threw downtheir arms and begged for quarter.
Lights were procured; the prisoners were passed below and secured; andwe then had time to turn our attention to the other craft. Where wasshe? During the skirmish I had caught a momentary glimpse of her atabout a cable's length on our port beam through the glancing of thepistol-flashes on her spars and rigging, but now she was nowhere to beseen.
"Matthews," said Mr Flinn, "take a blue-light from the launch into thefore-top and burn it."
In less than a minute the glare of the blue-light illumined the scenewith a ghastly radiance; and there, about a quarter of a mile distant,was the ship under way, standing to the northward and westward under jiband spanker, with her topsails just let fall ready for sheeting home.
"Oh, ho! Is it that you're afther thin, me foine fellow?" exclaimedFlinn, who always dropped into his native brogue under the influence ofexcitement. "By the powers but we'll soon sthop that little game.Fore-top there! That'll do with the blue-light. Jump on the topsail-yard and cast off the gaskets. Lay out and loose the jib and fore-topmast-staysail, some of you; and Mr Chester, kindly get this mainsailset at once, if you please."
"All ready with the topsail, sir," sang out the man aloft.
"Then let fall, and come down, casting loose the foresail as you do so.Sheet home the topsail, lads; that's well! man the halliards and up withthe yard. Hoist away the jib and staysail; fore-sheets over tostarboard. One hand to the wheel and put it hard-a-port. Cut thecable, forward there. Round-in upon the starboard braces--ease off yourmainsheet, slack it away and let the boom go well out. Now she hasstern-way upon her. Capital. Now fill your topsail--smartly, lads!--and haul aft your lee head sheets. Steady your helm. Now she drawsahead. Hard up with the helm. There she pays off! Square the fore-yard; gently with your weather-braces--don't round-in upon them tooquickly. Well there; belay!"
All this had passed almost as quickly as the description can be read,and we were now under way and steering directly after the ship, whichhad only succeeded in getting her topsails sheeted home and the fore-topsail partially hoisted.
"Is that gun ready forward, Mr Vining?" asked Flinn.
"All ready, sir," answered Vining.
"Then burn another blue-light and throw a shot over him."
Up flared once more the ghostly light; the ship, like a vast phantom,loomed out against the black sky directly ahead, and after a momentarypause the sharp report of the brass nine-pounder rang out forward, theflash lighting up the chase for an instant, and bringing every rope,spar, and sail into clear relief, while the sound was repeated right andleft by the echoing cliffs of the island
astern, and the startled sea-birds wheeled screaming all round us.
No notice was taken by the ship of our polite request that she shouldheave-to; on the contrary, every effort seemed to be put forth to getthe canvas set as speedily as possible.
But the brigantine was slipping through the water three feet to theirone, under the influence of the light baffling breeze which came down tous from over the lofty cliffs astern, and we were soon within hailingdistance.
"Mr Martin, are the starboard guns loaded?" asked Mr Flinn.
"Yes, sir," was the reply. "Loaded with round and grape."
"Then elevate the muzzles of the guns as much as possible, if youplease. I am going to range up alongside on the ship's port quarter,when we will pour in our broadside and board in the smoke. If we arenot smart, both ships will be ashore on the reefs. Mr Vining, kindlytake charge of the brigantine, with four hands; the rest prepare tofollow me on board the ship."
We were by this time close to the chase, on board which all was dark andsilent as the grave.
"Stand by to heave the grapplings, fore and aft. Now port your helm, myman--Jones, isn't it? That's right, hard-a-port and run her alongside.This way, lads, our cat-head is your best chance. Hurroo! boardersaway!" shouted Flinn, and away went the whole party swarming over theship's lofty bulwarks helter-skelter, like a parcel of school-boys atplay, our entire starboard broadside going off with a rattling crash atthe same instant.
And then uprose from the deck of the ship an infernal chorus of shrieks,groans, yells, and curses from those of her crew who had been mown downby our shot, mingling horribly with the cheers of our people, the oathsof those who opposed us, the popping of pistols, and the clash of steel.There were about forty men on board, chiefly Spanish desperadoes, whofought like incarnate fiends; but they had no chance when once we wereon board, and after contesting every inch of the deck until they, likethe crew of their consort, had been driven aft to the taffrail, in whichobstinate resistance they lost more than half their number, thesurvivors sullenly flung down their arms and surrendered.
The next business was to attend to the safety of both vessels, whichwere now perilously near the reefs ahead. Half a dozen men were sent onboard the brigantine to assist those already there in working her, whenthe grapplings were cast off, the brigantine starboarded her helm whilewe ported ours, and the two ships separated, to haul up on oppositetacks.
The ship's sails were not above half set, so as soon as we had hauledher to the wind the halliards were manned and the topsail-yards gotchock up to their sheaves, the courses let fall, tacks boarded, andsheets hauled aft, when we eased the helm down and threw her in stays.
Day was by this time beginning to break. The sky overhead was lightingup, the stars paling out and fading away, while surrounding objectsbegan to loom ghost-like and indistinct in the first grey of the earlydawn. The brigantine was just visible about half a mile ahead andinshore of us, apparently hove-to. As we drew up abreast of her shefilled her topsail and stood on in company, the ship by this time underevery stitch of canvas, up to topgallantsails, while the brigantine drewahead of us under mainsail, topsail, and jib, and was obliged to shiverher topsail every now and then in order to avoid running away from us.
In twenty minutes more we rounded the point, and there lay the"Astarte," a couple of miles off, rolling heavily upon the ground-swell.On reaching her, both our prizes were hove-to as close to the frigateand to each other as was consistent with safety, and Mr Flinn and Ijumped into the gig and went on board to report.
"Well, Mr Flinn," said the skipper, meeting us at the gangway, "glad tosee you back safe and sound; you too, Mr Chester," shaking hands withus both. "But how is this? Are you hurt, Ralph?" as on my facing tothe eastward the light fell upon my face, and he saw blood upon it.
"A broken skull, sir;" I replied, "nothing _very_ serious though, Ibelieve."
"And what's the news?" continued the skipper. "I see you have broughtboth vessels out with you. What are they?"
"To tell you the truth, sir," answered Flinn, "we have had no time yetto find out _what_ they are. They are both Spaniards, however, and, ifI am not greatly mistaken, we shall find that the brigantine is littlebetter than a pirate."
"Um!" said the skipper, "likely enough; she has all the look of it. Andnow, what about casualties? have you suffered much?"
"Rather severely, sir, I am sorry to say. Five killed, and eighteen--orrather, nineteen with Mr Chester--wounded; eight of them severely. Iam afraid we shall lose little Fisher, sir."
"Lose little Fisher!" exclaimed the skipper. "Why, whoever wasthoughtless enough to let that poor child go upon so dangerous anexpedition?"
Flinn looked at me, and I at him; but neither of us could plead guilty,so the matter dropped for the time.
The surgeon and his assistant now trundled down over the side, withtheir tools under their arms, and went on board the prizes to attend tothe poor fellows who were wounded, Mr Flinn returning with them toarrange the prize crews, and to anchor the prizes, the skipper havingcome to the determination to remain in smooth water until the woundedhad all been attended to and placed comfortably in their own hammocks onboard the frigate.
In the mean time I trundled down into the midshipmen's berth, bathed mywound--a scalp-wound about six inches long--in cold water, clapped on aquarter of a yard of diachylon plaster, a sheet of which I always tookthe precaution to keep in my own chest, snatched a mouthful or so ofbiscuit and cold meat, and then returned to the deck to see if I couldbe of use.
"Oh! I've been looking for you, sir," said the captain's steward, as Iput my head above the coamings. "The captain wishes to see you in hiscabin at once, if you please, sir."
"Is he there now, Polson? All right, then, I'll go down to himforthwith," and away I went.
"Come in!" said the deep, musical voice of the skipper, in answer to myknock. I entered.
"Oh! It's you, Ralph. Come in and sit down. I see you have been doinga little patching up on your own account. Is it very bad?"
"Thank you, no; a mere breaking of the skin," I replied. "I shall be asgood as new in a day or two, I hope."
"That's well. Still you had better let Mr Oxley look at it when he isat leisure. Very trifling wounds turn out badly sometimes in this hotclimate. And now--I want to speak to you about that poor lad Fisher. Iam told he was in the gig with you."
"In the gig with me!" I echoed taken thoroughly by surprise. "I assureyou, Captain Annesley, I was quite unaware of it, then. Indeed, I wasnot aware that he had left the ship until Mr Flinn spoke of him asbeing wounded. I haven't even seen him throughout the affair."
"I am glad to hear that," said the skipper, his brow clearing. "To tellyou the whole truth, Ralph, I have been feeling very angry with you; forwhen I heard that the poor boy had gone in your boat, I quite thought itmust have been with your connivance. And I need scarcely point out toyou that I could not approve of such a child as that being allowed totake part in an expedition of so dangerous a character, where he wouldonly be in the way, and could be of no possible assistance. However,since you say that you know nothing about it, I suppose he must haveslipped down into the boat surreptitiously and stowed himself away.Now, as there is nothing particular for you to do, you may as well--"
At this moment Mr Flinn entered.
"Sit down, Mr Flinn, sit down, man," said the skipper. "Well, how arethings looking on board the prizes by this time?"
"Capitally, sir, I am happy to say," replied Flinn, with a beaming phiz."The wounded have nearly all been attended to, and we may begin totransfer them at once. Little Fisher seems in a somewhat more promisingcondition now that his wounds have been dressed, and the others are alsodoing well. As to the prizes, the brigantine has such a heterogeneousassortment of goods in her hold that her cargo alone, which is veryvaluable, is sufficient to betray her character. Her skipper waskilled--by you, Ralph, if I understand them rightly--early in theattack, but the mate, or lieutenant as he calls
himself, swears she is aprivateer. However, as he cannot produce anything like a commission, Iam very glad I am not in his shoes. The craft is called the `Juanita,'and the mate says they were bound from Cumana to Cartagena, but hispapers look to me remarkably like forgeries. The ship is the `SanNicolas,' bound from La Guayra to Cadiz, with a general cargo and--twolarge boxes of silver bricks, which we found stowed away down in therun. _Her_ papers are all perfectly correct, and she is evidently aprize to the brigantine. The rascals on board her profess to be herregular crew, and disown all acquaintance with the crew of the`Juanita,' but there are twice as many men on board as are entered inthe ship's books, and altogether their tale is far too flimsy to holdwater. I have no doubt they are a prize crew from the `Juanita,' andthat the ship's crew have all been murdered. So that we have done avery good-night's work, I think."
"Capital," said the skipper. "Couldn't well be better, except for ourlosses in killed and wounded. Let the poor fellows be transferred atonce, if you please, Mr Flinn. When they are all stowed comfortablyaway, we will shift the silver into the frigate also; then there willnot be much fear of its recapture. And lastly, we will shift theprisoners over to the frigate; then the prizes will not require suchlarge prize crews."
We then went on deck together, and I went away in the launch to effectthe transfer of our killed and wounded. This was a long and painfulbusiness, some of the wounded requiring the most careful handling; butit was done at last, and by the end of the afternoon watch everythingwas ready for us to weigh and proceed to sea again, which we at oncedid; the prizes being ordered to rendezvous at Barbadoes.
Mr Vining, the third lieutenant, had charge of the "San Nicolas," whilethe "Juanita" was entrusted to Carter, the master's-mate, who had strictinjunctions to stick close to and protect the ship.
We weighed in a body, and stood away to the southward, close-hauled onthe larboard tack; the frigate cracking on, and leaving her prizes tofollow at their best pace. Vining also carried on upon the "SanNicolas," giving her every stitch of canvas she could show, while Carterhad to haul down a couple of reefs in his mainsail and topsail, reef hisforesail, and stow his flying-jib and fore-topmast-staysail in order tomoderate his speed to that of his consort.
At two bells in the first dog-watch, the crew were mustered, the menhaving cleaned and shifted their rig for the occasion, while theofficers appeared in full-dress, sail was shortened, and the ship hove-to. The bodies of the five poor fellows who had fallen in the attack ofthe previous night were placed in the lee gangway, sewn up in theirhammocks, each with an eighteen-pound shot at his feet, and the ensignspread over them as a pall. The skipper stationed himself at theirheads with the prayer-book in his hand, and, having looked along thedeck fore and aft to satisfy himself that everything was as it shouldbe, took off his cocked hat, the rest of us uncovering at his example.
"I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord. He that believethin Me, though he were _dead_, yet shall he live; and whosoever livethand believeth in Me shall _never_ die."
The words, in all their solemn beauty of promise, uttered in a voicewhich quivered slightly with emotion, fell clearly and distinctly fromthe captain's lips, and went straight to the hearts of the throng ofocean warriors who had gathered to bid a last long, sad farewell totheir fallen comrades, and to consign them with all honour to a sailor'sgrave. The bronzed and bearded faces of the listeners wore anexpression of gravity well suited to the most solemn ceremonial of theChristian faith, and as the impressive service proceeded, more than oneof the stalwart seamen, who had a few hours before fought side by sidewith those who now lay at their feet wrapped cold and stark in theirbloody shrouds, dashed with a hasty and furtive hand the unwonted tearsaway.
Nor were the externals of the scene altogether inappropriate to theoccasion. The frigate, pausing in her rapid flight, swayed slowly andmajestically upon the bosom of the surges which would soon receive thebodies of her dead heroes, and hung, as if in sentient grief, over thespot which was to be their tomb. Her graceful hull, lofty spars, andsnowy canvas gleamed refulgent in the last rays of the setting sun as hesank to his rest through a bank of rainbow-tinted clouds, and the risingwind sobbed and moaned dirge-like through her taut rigging.
At length the glorious luminary touched the horizon, staining the bosomof the waters to a deep rosy hue, and flinging a broad pathway ofglittering molten gold from the ocean's rim across the restless billowsclear up to the frigate's side. Slowly sank the broad disk behind thepurple horizon, as the solemn ceremony drew to an end. The ensign, thatmeteor flag, beneath whose folds so many heroes have fought and died,was gently raised, and at the words "Forasmuch as it hath pleasedAlmighty God of His great mercy to take unto Himself the souls of ourdear brothers here departed, we therefore commit their bodies to thedeep,"--the inner ends of the gratings upon which the dead lay wereslowly elevated, the sullen plunge of the bodies smote upon the ear, andthe last ray of the departing sun flashed upon the swirling eddies wherethey had disappeared, dyeing them deep in crimson and gold.
The ocean suddenly darkened, the gorgeous cloud-tints faded into tendergrey, and, as the service came to a conclusion, a gun boomed thefrigate's farewell to her lost ones; the main-yard was swung; and thedead were left to their last long sleep deep within the sheltering bosomof the ocean they had loved in life so well.
We stood on until midnight, when we tacked to the northward; in whichdirection we steered during the whole of next day and the followingnight, when we deemed ourselves far enough to windward to enable us topass between the Islands of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and fetchBarbadoes on the other tack.
In the meantime all the wounded were doing well except poor littleFisher. His injuries were of a very serious nature, a cutlass-blowhaving cloven his right shoulder until it had nearly severed the armfrom the body, and his right lung was penetrated by a pike-thrust. Theskipper had ordered a cot to be slung for the little fellow in his owncabin, and thither I went as often as I could, to sit beside him, helphim to the cooling drinks which our kind-hearted medico had concoctedfor him, and cheer him up when his spirits drooped, as they too oftendid. Exhausted by loss of blood and severe physical suffering, hisnervous system appeared to have completely broken down, and theincessant heave and roll of the ship distressed him almost beyond hispowers of endurance.
"Oh! Chester," he said to me one day, "if I could but be on shore, Ibelieve I should get better. It tires me out to lie here, hour afterhour, watching the sway of the ship. And then it is so dreadfully hothere, although the stern-ports are always open. What I should like isto be on shore, in a nice large room, with the windows open and the sea-breeze rushing in, laden with the odour of flowers, and to lie andlisten to the rustle of leaves, and watch the branches of the treesswaying in the wind, with the birds and butterflies glancing to and fro,and the sunlight glittering upon the water. I can't sleep now, with thetramping of feet overhead, the creaking of the bulkheads, and theeverlasting wash of the sea sounding in my ears, but I believe I _could_sleep then; and if I could sleep I feel that I should get better."
A day or two after he had said this, I went down to see him towardevening, and at the cabin-door I met the doctor just coming out.
"How is he this evening, doctor?" I inquired.
"Worse; very much worse. I am beginning to despair of him now. He islight-headed, and I question if he will recognise you," was thediscouraging reply.
I went in and found the skipper himself standing by the cot, holding onedry burning hand in his, listening to the incoherent ramblings of thepoor lad, and endeavouring to soothe him. Home scenes and incidents ofschool-days seemed to be uppermost in his mind at the moment that Ientered, but soon afterwards his thoughts wandered away to the night ofthe attack.
"I must go, I _must_ go," he exclaimed in anxious tones; "if it be onlyto prove whether I _am_ a coward or no. Chester spoke _very_ kindly tome, but I believe he thinks I am afraid. It will be dreadful, I know--the flashing cutlasses,
the fierce thrust of pikes, and perhaps the fireof grape and canister. And there will be gaping wounds, and blood--blood everywhere; and oh! the suffering there will be; I have read of itall--the burning, unquenchable thirst, the throbbing and quivering ofagonised limbs, and the upturned glance of unendurable torture. How canI possibly bear to look upon it all? And perhaps _I_ may be one of thewounded--or the slain. And if I am, what then? I do not care aboutpain for myself, I can bear it; but it is the sufferings of others thatI dread to see. And if I am killed--why, I shall die doing my duty, andI am not afraid of death; I have never done anything that I need beashamed of; I never did anything mean or dishonourable; I have alwaystried to be kind to every one; and I have read the Bible regularly whichmy poor dear mother gave me."
He paused a little. Then the tears welled slowly up into his eyes. "Iam dying--I know it, though none of them have said so. I wonder whethermy father will be sorry. He is a proud man and stern--very stern; Icannot remember that he ever kissed me, and I have never been able totell whether he cares for me or no. But I believe he does--I _hope_ hedoes; and at all events, he need not be ashamed of me, for I have provedthat I am no coward. My mother will grieve for me, though; it willbreak her heart and--oh!"
Here a violent flood of tears came to the poor boy's relief, and hesobbed as though his heart would break.
"Phew!" exclaimed the skipper. "This will _never_ do; he is too weak tobear this, I am sure. Run for Oxley, and tell him to come at once,Ralph; we must stop this at any cost."
I rushed out of the cabin, and returned in another minute with thedoctor.
The poor boy was still sobbing occasionally, but he was crying morequietly now, and lying quite still in his hammock, instead of moving hislimbs restlessly about as he had been.
The doctor leaned over the cot, felt his pulse, and laid his hand uponhis patient's forehead.
"It is a dreadful tax upon his already exhausted strength," said themedico, "but I believe in the present case it has done good rather thanharm. However, it will not do to risk a repetition of this sort ofthing, so I will give him a mild opiate, although I would much rathernot, in his present exhausted condition."
He leaned over the cot once more with his finger on the lad's pulse, andgazed long and anxiously in the pale, upturned face, as though revolvingin his mind some weighty problem. Then, turning abruptly away, he leftthe cabin, beckoning me to follow.
As he was mixing the draught in the dispensary, he remarked,--
"If he can only last out until we reach Barbadoes, I believe we mightsave him yet; but it is this constant motion which is irritating hiswound, and sapping his life. When do you think we shall get in?"
"To-morrow morning, if the breeze holds," I replied.
"Too late, I am afraid," said my companion, shaking his head. "Thepatient is in such a critical state that a few hours more or less maymake all the difference between life and death to him. However, I willnot give him up without a fight. Mr Stuart and I will watch himthrough the night, and perhaps you could arrange to stay with himthrough the dog-watches, could you?"
"Assuredly," I replied. "I will speak to Mr Flinn about it, and I amsure he will excuse me."
"Very well, then; that's arranged," said the doctor. "Now run away withthat draught. If the poor boy is still agitated, give it him at once;if not, keep it by you for the present."
I returned to the cabin, and found that little Six-foot had stoppedcrying, and seemed disposed to sleep, so I put the bottle in a place ofsafety, and whispered to the skipper the doctor's arrangement.
"All right," he returned. "You remain here. I must go on deck now; andI will mention to Flinn that you will not be on deck during the dog-watch."
He stole out on tiptoe, and I was alone with my patient. I settledmyself in a low chair near the cot, and looked out through the stern-port. The sun was just setting, and the western sky glowed with thesame gorgeous colouring which it had worn on the evening of the funeral.The sight reminded me of the sad incident, and I wondered whether wewere to have a sadder one yet. I sat for some time lost in mournfulthought, when there was a slight stir in the cot, and I heard littleFisher's voice say weakly--
"Is that you, Ralph, sitting there? It is so dark I can scarcely makeyou out."
"Yes, it is I," I answered cheerfully. "How are you now, Six-foot? Youhave had a bit of a snooze, have you not?"
"I believe I _have_ been dozing," he replied. "I seem _very_ weak,Ralph, and I have scarcely any feeling left in my legs. I fancy I shallnot last many hours longer."
"Oh, nonsense!" I returned. "What has put that idea into your head?Why, we shall be in Carlisle Bay by sun-rise to-morrow; and then, if youare strong enough to bear removal, you can have your wish as to going onshore, you know. And once there, you will _soon_ pull round, oldfellow. No more rolling and knocking about then, Harry; no moregroaning bulkheads; but the quiet and coolness that you have beenlonging for, with the sea-breeze, and trees, the birds and butterflies,and tender women to nurse and pet and make much of you, instead of usclumsy people. Only think of it! Why, by this time to-morrow you willfeel so much better for the change that you will be wanting to sit up inbed--or even to turn out, perhaps."
"Oh, no, no," he replied. "I am far worse than you seem to think,Ralph. Still, I believe I _might_ pull round even yet, if I could butget ashore."
"Well, look here," said I. "If you are to be moved to-morrow, it is ofthe greatest importance that you should have a _good_ night's rest to-night, so try, like a dear good fellow, to get to sleep again, will you?Do you feel thirsty?"
"Rather," he replied. "But I seem to want something different from thatstuff that the doctor has mixed for me. If I could only get a littlefruit now--a bit of one of those pines you brought on board at Kingston,for instance--I believe it would refresh me more than anything else."
"Would it?" said I; "then you shall have it; that is, if the doctor willallow it; for now that you speak of it, I know the skipper has one ortwo pines left, and I am certain you will be heartily welcome to them.Do you mind being by yourself for a minute or two, while I run to thedoctor, and speak to him about it? All right; I will be back in asecond."
The doctor saw no objection, so we soon had a splendid pine sliced up,and I held a thin piece to the poor little sufferer's lips. Itrefreshed him greatly, and after another draught of the acid mixture hesettled down more comfortably than he had been at all. When I turnedhim over to the doctor at last and left the cabin, there seemed to besome slight improvement in his condition.
In the early dawn of the following morning we anchored in Carlisle Bay,Barbadoes, and by noon poor little Fisher had been safely conveyed onshore and lodged in the colonel's residence near Needham Point, where hewould have all the ladies belonging to the garrison to nurse him, and beconveniently situated for frequent visits from the staff-surgeon.