CHAPTER TEN.
ANXIETIES; DISASTERS; HOPES.
Standing in his accustomed place on the iron floor of the iron chamber,Edgar Berrington watched the grinding of the great crank, and pondered.
He had now been many weeks at sea, and had not once spoken a word toAileen--had not even seen her more than half-a-dozen times in the farvista of the quarter-deck. Each Sabbath-day, indeed, dressed like hisformer self, he had worshipped with her in the same saloon, but on theseoccasions he had kept carefully in the background, had crept quietlydown after the others had assembled, had kept in the shadow of the door,and had left before the worshippers had time to rise.
An event, however, was now pending, which was destined to remove hispresent difficulties in a very unexpected manner, and to saddle on theshoulders of Charles Hazlit, Esquire, difficulties which he had never inall his previous business calculations taken into account.
During most part of the voyage out to China Mr Hazlit's visage hadpresented a sea-green aspect, edged with yellow. The great Demon of thesea had seized upon and held him with unwonted avidity and perseverance.It appeared to regard him as fair game--as one whose life had beenlargely devoted to ploughing up its peculiar domain--or rather, inducingothers to plough there--and who was therefore worthy of specialattention. At all events, the wealthy merchant did not appearabove-board until the lapse of two weeks after leaving his native land.At the end of that period something like the ghost of him crawled ondeck one rather fine day, but a demoniac squall rudely sent him below,where he remained until those charming regions of the Equatorial calmswere entered. Here a bad likeness--a sort of spoiled photograph--of himagain made its appearance, and lay down helplessly on a mattress, orsmiled with pathetic sarcasm when food was offered. But soon the calmregions were passed; the Cape of Storms was doubled, and the fierce"south-easters" of the Indian seas were encountered, during which periodMr Hazlit passed away, as one of the things that _had_ been, from thememory of all on board, with the exception of Aileen, the captain, thebed-room steward, and a Christian pastor, who, with his amiable wife,had done much during the voyage for their fellow-passengers.
At last, when the shores of China were approached, and people began totalk earnestly about the end of the voyage, Mr Hazlit's shade once moremade its appearance, with a spot of dark red on each cheek and on thepoint of his nose. These spots were hopefully regarded as signs ofreturning health. They did not appear too soon, for the shade wouldinfallibly have vanished altogether if it had been subjected to furtherattenuation.
"Oh, papa dear, you look so _much_ better to-day!" said Aileen,arranging his shawls as he lay on deck--"quite rosy."
If she had said port-winy it would have been more in accordance withtruth, but Aileen was rather apt to diverge from truth, unintentionally,in speaking of her father.
"I am thankful, dear," replied the shade in a faint voice, and with afainter smile. "The captain says we shall be in port in a few days, andthen we shall be all right, and--"
"Ha! Shall you?" exclaimed the Demon of the sea, giving the ship alittle lurch to starboard, which cut short the merchant's remarksabruptly; "you think so, do you? Ho! We shall see!"
Following up this inaudible speech with one of those audible howls forwhich demons are so justly celebrated, he went off in a gust of wind,and summoned to his aid one of those simooms, or monsoons, or typhoonswhich are in the habit of ravaging the southern seas.
These spirits, quickly obeying the summons, sent not only Mr Hazlit butmany of the other passengers to their berths, blew into ribbons the fewsails that chanced to be hoisted, boiled up the sea as if in a hugecaldron, caused the blackened sky to mingle with the world of waters,rent the firmament with gleaming fire and crashing thunder, and hissedor yelled everywhere in the spirit of wildest revelry.
The _Warrior_ was a splendid steamer, and her commander an able seaman,but neither splendour of material nor power of mind can avert what isdecreed.
The storm was prolonged, and raged with unwonted fury, the captain didhis best, the good ship behaved nobly, and things went well until thenight of the third day. It was at that time so very dark that nothingcould be seen farther off than a few yards beyond the bulwarks, wherethe white-crested waves loomed high in air in a sort of ghostly fashionas if they meant to fall on the deck unawares and sink the ship.
The passengers had by degrees got used to the mad plunging and rollingof their iron home, and even the timid among them began to feel hopefulthat after all the gale would be weathered, and the harbour gained.
What the captain thought no one could tell. He remained on the bridgenight and day, clad from head to foot in oil-skin garments, facing thefurious blast as if it were his native air, watching every motion of hisvessel, and gazing intently into the world of ebony ahead as if tryingto read his fate there.
The darkness around was almost palpable. Sometimes it seemed as if thevessel were rushing against a mighty rock, that towered high above themasts, but this was only optical illusion, or, perhaps, a denserstorm-cloud than usual passing by, for the steamer continued to ploughher onward way unchecked, save, now and then, by the bursting on herbows of a monster billow, which caused her to quiver from stem to stern,and swept the decks with green seas fore and aft. One such sea hadcarried away part of the bulwarks, and swept overboard all the loosematerial on the decks. Presently, there was a slight diminution in theforce of the seas. The captain noted this, and gave orders to get thelead ready to heave.
Deep in the iron chambers below, Edgar Berrington stood--not in hiswonted dreamy mood, beside the great crank, but close to thesteering-wheel of the engine,--alert, steady, with his hand on thewheel, his eye on the index.
Suddenly the order came, "Half-speed,"--then abruptly followed, "Stop."
These orders were obeyed instantly.
The lead was hove--the result, "no bottom at thirty fathoms."
Again Edgar was signalled--"Half-speed," then--as the captain lookedinto the darkness ahead, and saw, or thought he saw, it deepenhorribly--came the sharp order, "Astern, full-speed!"
Full well did Edgar know that this implied imminent danger. Quick aslightning he reversed the engines.
Next moment there was an appalling crash that overturned everything inthe vessel. Our hero was himself wrenched from his position, and hurledagainst the bulkhead of the boiler-room; the masts went over the sidesas if they had been pipe-stems, and the wire-ropes snapt likepack-thread. A moment of appalling silence followed, as if the veryelements had suspended their strife, then there came shriek and cry fromfore and aft as the passengers rushed frantically about, while above allyelled the escaping steam when Edgar opened the safety-valves.
The spot where they had struck was partially protected by cliffs, thatrose like a wall in front. These cliffs turned off the direct force ofthe gale, but the general turmoil of the sea raised a surf around themwhich rendered the prospect of effecting a landing a very poor one, evenif the vessel should hold together for any length of time. They had notstruck on the shore of the mainland, but on a solitary islet or rock,not far from the coast, which rose abruptly out of deep water. Hencethe silence of "the lead" as to its presence.
It were vain to attempt a description of the confusion that followed.The few cool and collected men in the ship were powerless at first, butgradually they succeeded in restoring some degree of order. Then thecaptain explained that being hard and fast on the rocks they could notsink, and that the vessel being strong was likely to hold together,perhaps, for several hours.
"We're _not_ hard and fast, captain," said the semi-nautical passengerin an undertone, as he stood by the after-hatch, where most of the cabinpassengers were assembled.
He referred to a swinging motion of the wreck, which, however, was sovery slight as to be almost imperceptible.
"I know that," replied the captain, also in an undertone, but somewhatsternly, "we _may_ slip back into deep water, but we're hard and fast_just now_, and I shall do my best to ke
ep her so. Don't you go, sir,and raise needless alarm in the minds of the passengers. See," he addedaloud, pointing towards the east, "day is already breaking; we shallsoon have light enough to commence landing. Go below, ladies, and getyour bonnet-boxes packed."
The captain's mind was far enough from jesting at that moment, but heknew that a quiet joke, possessing a modicum of truth in it, would domore to calm the fears of the timid than solemn advice or reasoning. Hewas right. Many went to their cabins to look after their most precioustreasures, while the officers and men commenced active preparations forescaping to the islet, whose towering cliffs now began to loom heavilythrough the driving mist and foam.
From the first it was evident that only one mode of escape offered,namely, by means of a rope to the shore, and a running tackle. Thismaterial was easily procured and arranged, but the connecting of therope with the shore was another question. As daylight increased, theisland was recognised as a mere uninhabited rock, from which, therefore,no assistance could be expected, and the terrible turmoil of waters thatleaped and seethed between the wreck and the cliffs, seemed to all onboard, including the captain himself, to be impassable.
At last it became necessary to make an effort, for it was soondiscovered that the vessel hung on the edge of a ledge, outside of whichthe water deepened suddenly to twenty fathoms, and a slip back into thatwould have been equivalent to certain and immediate death to all onboard.
"My lads," said the captain to the crew, most of whom were assembledwith the passengers near the port bow, where the preparations forescaping were going on, "we must have a man to go ashore with that line.I cannot swim myself, else I would not ask for a volunteer. Come; whohas got the heart to do a gallant deed, and save these women andchildren?"
He turned as he spoke, and glanced at the female passengers andchildren, who crowded under the lee of the cook-house, wet, dishevelled,and terrified, Aileen and her musical friend being among them.
There was no response at first. The men turned with doubtful looks atthe furious sea, in the midst of whose white surges black forbiddingrocks seemed to rise and disappear, and the surface of which had by thattime become much cumbered with portions of wreckage.
"If I could only swim," growled the boatswain, "I'd try, but I can'tfloat no more than a stone."
Others, who looked stout and bold enough to make the venture, seemed tothink it might be better to stick to the ship until the sea should godown. Indeed one of them said as much, but the captain interrupted him,and was about to make another appeal, when there was a movement in thecrowd, and one of the sub-engineers pushed towards him with theinformation that a volunteer was ready, and would appear immediately.
"Who is it?" asked the captain.
"Mr Berrington, sir; he's getting ready."
"The chief engineer!" exclaimed the captain. "Good; if there's a man inthe ship can do it, he is the man."
Aileen, standing somewhat back in the crowd, thought she had caught afamiliar sound!
"Who is going to make the venture?" she inquired of a man near her.
"The chief engineer, Miss, I believe."
At the moment the crowd opened and our hero came forward, clothed onlyin a shirt and duck trousers. His face was not streaked withprofessional paint on _this_ occasion. It beamed with the flush and thelatent fire of one who feels that he has made up his mind deliberatelyto face death.
"Oh! It's the man with the handsome figure," gasped Lintie, with a wildlook of surprise.
Aileen did not now require to be told who it was. Unlike heroines, sheneither screamed nor fainted, but through the wonder which shone in hereyes she shot forth another look,--one of proud confidence,--which Edgarcaught in passing, and it rendered his power and purpose irresistible.The stern work before him, however, was not compatible with softemotions. Seizing the end of the light line which was ready, he tied itfirmly round his waist and leaped into the raging sea, while anenthusiastic cheer burst from the crew.
At first it seemed as if the youth had been endowed with superhumanpowers, so vigorously and with such ease did he push through the surfand spurn aside the pieces of wreck that came in his way; but as hisdistance from the vessel increased, and the surging foam bore him inamong the rocks, he received several blows from a piece of the floatingbulwarks. Once also he was launched with terrible violence against arock. This checked him a little. Still, however, he swam on,apparently unhurt, while the people on board the wreck gazed after himwith inexpressible eagerness. They not only thought of the imminentdanger of the gallant youth, but fully realised the probability that hisfailure would be the sealing of their own doom.
As he drew near to the rocks on shore, a mass of wreck was seen to riseon the crest of the surf close to the swimmer's side and fall on him.An irresistible cry of despair burst from those in the ship. Some oneshouted to haul on the line and pull him on board, and several seamensprang to do so, but the captain checked them, for through his glass hecould see Edgar struggling to free himself from the wreck. In a fewminutes he succeeded, and the next wave hurled him on the rocky shore,to which he clung until the retreating water had lost its power. Thenhe rose, and struggling upwards, gained a ledge of rock where he wassafe from the violence of the waves.
It need scarcely be said that his success was hailed with threetremendous cheers, and not a few deep and fervent exclamations of "ThankGod" from some who regarded the young engineer's safety as a foretasteof their own. Some there were, however, who knew that the work whichyet remained to be done was fraught with danger as well as difficulty.This work was commenced without delay.
By means of the light line which he had carried ashore, Edgar hauled thetwo ends of a stouter line or small rope from the wreck. These two endshe quickly spliced together, thus making the rope an endless one, or, asseamen have it, an endless fall. The other loop, or bight, of thisendless double-rope was retained on the wreck, having been previouslyrove through a block or pulley which was attached to the brokenfore-mast about ten feet above the deck--in accordance with our "rocketapparatus" directions. In fact, the whole contrivance, got up sohastily at this time, was just an extemporised rocket apparatus withoutthe rocket--Edgar having already performed the duty of that projectile,which is to effect communication between wreck and shore.
By means of the endless fall our hero now hauled a heavy rope or cablefrom the wreck, the end of which he fastened round a large boulder.This rope, being hauled taut, remained suspended between the wreck andthe cliffs some feet above the sea. Previous to fixing it a large blockhad been run upon it, and to this block was suspended one of thosecircular cork life-preservers which one usually sees attached to thebulwarks of ships. It was made into a sort of bag by means of a pieceof canvas. The endless fall was then attached to this bag so that itcould travel with its block backwards and forwards on the thick cable.
The first who passed from the wreck to the shore by means of thiscontrivance was a stout seaman with two very small children in charge.The man was sent partly to give the passengers confidence in the safetyof the mode of transit, and partly that he might aid Edgar in theworking of the tackle. The next who passed was the mother of thechildren. Then followed Aileen, and after her the sweet singer. Thus,one by one, all the females and children on board were borne in safetyto land.
After these the male passengers commenced to go ashore. A few of theolder men were sent first. Among them was Mr Hazlit.
The unfortunate merchant was so weak as to be scarcely equal to theexertion of getting over the side into the life-buoy or bag, and he wasso tall that, despite the efforts he made to double himself together,there was so much of him above the machine that he had a tendency totopple over. This would have mattered nothing if he had possessed evena moderate degree of power to hold on, but his hands were as weak asthose of a child. However, the case being desperate, he made theattempt, and was sent away from the wreck with many earnest cautions to"hold on tight and keep cool."
You may be sure that
his progress was watched with intense anxiety byAileen, who stood close to Edgar as he hauled in the rope carefully.
"Oh! He will fall out," she cried in an agony as the rope dipped alittle, and let him just touch the roaring surf, when he was somewhatmore than half way over.
Edgar saw that her fears were not unlikely to be realised. He thereforegave the rope to the seaman who had first come ashore, with orders tohaul steadily.
Owing to its position and the dipping of the life-buoy with its burden,the cable formed a pretty steep slope from the shore. Throwing himselfon the cable, Edgar slid swiftly down this incline until stopped by thebuoy. The effect of course was to sink the machine deeper than ever,insomuch that poor Mr Hazlit, unable any longer to withstand thebuffeting, threw up his arms with a cry of despair. Edgar caught him ashe was falling over.
"Here, put your arms round my neck," he cried, struggling violently tofix himself firmly to the life-buoy.
The merchant obeyed instantly, giving the youth an embrace such as hehad never expected to receive at his hands! Even in that moment ofdanger and anxiety, Edgar could not help smiling at the gaze ofunutterable wonder which Mr Hazlit cast on him through the salt water--if not tears--that filled his eyes, for he had not seen the youth whenhe jumped overboard.
"Haul away!" shouted our hero; but the words were stifled by a sea whichat the moment overwhelmed them.
The man at the line, however, knew what to do. He and some of thepassengers hauled steadily but swiftly on the line, and in a few secondsthe buoy, with its double freight, was brought safe to land. Mr Hazlitwas carried at once by his rescuer to a recess in the cliffs which waspartially protected from the storm, and Edgar, after doing what he couldto place him comfortably on the ground, left him to the care of hisdaughter.
On his return to the beach he found the passengers who had been saved ina state of great alarm because of the slipping backwards of the wreck,which strained the cable so much that it had become as rigid as a bar ofiron. He began, therefore, to ply the means of rescue with redoubledenergy, for there were still some of the passengers and all the crew onboard; but suddenly, while the buoy was being sent out for anotherfreight, the cable snapt, the wreck slid off the shelf or ledge on whichit had hung so long, and sank in deep water, leaving nothing save amomentary whirlpool in the surf to tell where the splendid ocean palacehad gone down.
The horror that filled the minds of those who witnessed the catastrophecannot be described. A feeling of dreary desolation and helplessnessfollowed the sudden cessation of violent energy and hopeful toil inwhich most of them had been previously engaged. This was in some degreechanged, if not relieved, by the necessity which lay on all to lace thevicissitudes of their new position.
That these were neither few nor light soon became apparent, for Edgarand the seaman, after an hour's investigation, returned to their friendswith the information that they had been cast on a small rocky islet,which was uninhabited, and contained not a vestige of wood or ofanything that could sustain the life of man. Thus they were leftwithout shelter or food, or the means of quitting the inhospitablespot--not, however, without hope, for one of the seamen said that heknew it to be an isle lying not very far from the mainland, and that itwas almost certain to be passed ere long by ships or native boats.
On further search, too, a spring of fresh water was discovered, withsufficient grass growing near it to make comfortable beds for the womenand children. The grass was spread under the shelter of an overhangingcliff, and as the weather was warm, though stormy, the feelings ofdespair that had at first overwhelmed young and old soon began to abate.During the day the gale decreased and a hot sun came out at intervals,enabling them to dry their soaking garments.
That night, taking Edgar aside, Mr Hazlit thanked him warmly forpreserving his life.
"But," said he, seriously, "forgive me if I at once broach a painfulsubject, and point out that our positions are not changed by thisdisaster. Much though I love my life I love my daughter's happinessmore, and I would rather die than allow her to marry--excuse me, MrBerrington--a penniless man. Of course," continued the merchant, with asad smile as he looked around him, "it would be ridiculous as well asungrateful were I to forbid your holding ordinary converse with her_here_, but I trust to your honour that nothing more than _ordinary_converse shall pass between you."
"My dear sir," replied the youth, "you greatly mistake my spirit if youimagine that I would for one moment take advantage of the position inwhich I am now placed. I thank God for having permitted me to be themeans of rendering aid to you and Ai--your daughter. Depend upon it Iwill not give you reason to regret having trusted my honour. But," (hehesitated here) "you have referred to my position. If, in time andthrough God's goodness, I succeed in improving my position; in gainingby industry a sufficiency of this world's pelf to maintain Aileen in acondition of comfort approaching in some degree that in which she hasbeen brought up, may I hope--may I--"
Mr Hazlit took the young man's hand and said, "You may;" but he said itsadly, and with a look that seemed to imply that he had no expectationof Edgar ever attaining to the required position.
Satisfied with the shake of the hand, our hero turned abruptly away, andwent off to ruminate by the sea-shore. At first he was filled withhope; then, as he thought of his being penniless and without influentialfriends, and of the immense amount of money that would have to be madein order to meet the wealthy merchant's idea of comfort, he began todespair. Presently the words came to his mind--"Commit thy way unto theLord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." This revivedhim, and he began to run over in his mind all sorts of wild plans ofmaking a huge fortune quickly! Again a word came to him--"Make nothaste to be rich."
"But what _is_ making haste?" he thought, and his conscience at oncereplied, "Taking illegitimate courses--venturesome speculation withoutmeans--devotion of the soul and body to business in such a way as todemoralise the one and deteriorate the other--engaging in the pursuit ofwealth hastily and with eager anxieties, which imply that you doubtGod's promise to direct and prosper all works committed to Him."
"My plan, then," thought Edgar, "is to maintain a calm and trustingmind; to be diligent in fulfilling _present_ duty, whatever that may be;to look about for the direction that is promised, and take promptadvantage of any clear opportunity that offers. God helping me, I'lltry."
Strong in his resolves, but, happily, stronger in his trust, he returnedto the cavern in which his companions in misfortune had already laidthem down to rest, and throwing himself on a bed of grass near theentrance, quickly fell into that profound slumber which is theperquisite of those who unite a healthy mind to a sound body.