Wild Adventures round the Pole
Page 28
they caredto own. Ralph seldom came on deck, and the doctor just once got hishead above the companion; for this piece of daring he received a sea inthe teeth, which he declared nearly cut his head off. He went downbelow to change his clothes, and never came up again.
On the third day, in the dog-watch, the wind fell, and the sea went downconsiderably. Had the gale blown from the east, the sea would have beenin no such hurry to go down, but it had continued all the time to blowsteadily from off the ice. What a strange sight the _Arrandoon_ nowpresented! She was a ship of glass and snow. Funnel, masts, andrigging were, or seemed to be, composed of frosted crystal. The funnel,Rory declared, looked like a stalactite from "the cave of a thousandwinters." Her bows were lumbered with ice feet thick, and from stem tostern there was no more liveliness in the good _Arrandoon_ than there isin a Dutch collier.
As soon as the wind fell a man was sent up aloft, and the order wasgiven,--
"All hands clear ship of ice."
But hark! there is a shout from the crow's-nest.
"Large ship down to leeward, sir, apparently in distress."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE STORM--THE "CANNY SCOTIA" IN DISTRESS--RUM, MUTINY, ANARCHY, ANDDEATH--SAVED--ADVENTURE WITH A SHE-BEAR--CAPTURE OF THE YOUNG.
Has it not been said that the greatest pleasure on earth is felt on thesudden surcease of severe pain? I am inclined, though, to doubt thetruth of this statement, and I think that nothing can equal the feelingof quiet, calm joy that is instilled into the heart on the instant oneis plucked from the jaws of impending death. When the King of Terrorscomes speedily, while the blood is up and the heart beating high, as hedoes to those who fall in the field of battle, his approach does notseem anything like so terrible as when he lags in his march towards hisvictim. One needs to have a hope that leads his thoughts beyond thisworld, to be brave and calm at such a moment.
When the _Canny Scotia_ slipped her ice-anchors and was driven out tosea, to encounter all the fury of the gale that had so suddenly sprungup, she had not the advantages of the _Arrandoon_. She had no steampower, nor was she so well manned. She could therefore only scud underbare poles, or lie to with about as much canvas spread as would make amason's apron.
Silas didn't mean to be caught napping, however, and, as quickly as hecould, he got the tarpaulins down over the hatches, took in all sparecanvas, and did all he could for the best. Alas! the best was bad. The_Scotia_ made fearful weather, and twenty-four hours after it had comeon to blow, she had not a topmast standing, two of her best boats hadbeen carried away, her bulwarks looked like a badly-built farmer'spaling, and, worse than all, she was stove amidships on the weather-sideand under the water-line. When this last disaster was reported to SilasGrig, he called all hands to "make good repairs," and stem the flow ofthe water, which was rushing inboard like a mill-stream through the uglyhole in the vessel's side. Had it been calm weather, this might havebeen done effectually enough, but, under the circumstances, it wassimply an impossibility. Everything was done, however, that could bedone, but still the seas poured in at every lurch to windward.
Then it was "All hands to the pumps." The men worked in relays, andcheerily, too, and for a time the water was sent overboard faster thanit came in, albeit there were times when the green seas poured over theship like mountain cataracts. But after some hours, either through themen flagging, or from the hole in the ship's side getting larger, thewater in the hold began to gain rapidly on them.
"Bring up black-jack!" cried the skipper to the steward, "and we'llsplice the main-brace."
"Now hurrah! lads!" he exclaimed, addressing the men after a liberalallowance of rum had been handed round. "Hurrah! heave round again.The storm has about spent itself and the sea is going down. We can keepher afloat if we try. Hurrah then, hurrah!"
"Hurrah!" echoed the men in response, and, flushed with artificialstrength, they once more set themselves with redoubled energy to keepthe water under. There was no danger now from ice. The piece that hadwrought them so much mischief was about the last they had seen. So fora time all went well, and if the water did not decrease it certainly didnot rise. An hour went by, then a deputation came aft to beg for morerum, and the fate of this vessel, like that of many another lost at sea,seemed sealed by the awful drink curse.
"It's hardly judicious," said Silas to his mate, "but I suppose theymust have it."
Ah! Silas Grig, it was not judicious to serve them with the firstallowance. When hard work is over and finished, and men are worn outand tired, then is the time, if ever, to splice the main-brace; but whenwork has to be done that needs clear heads, and when danger is allaround a ship, the farther away the rum is the better.
They had it, though, and presently they were singing as they pumped--singing, but not working half so hard as before. Then even the singingitself ceased; they were getting tired and drowsy, and yet anotherallowance of rum was asked and granted.
The water rose higher in the hold.
When the men heard this report they would work no more. With one accordthey desisted from their labours, and a deputation of the boldest foundtheir way aft.
"It is no use, Captain Silas Grig," they said, addressing their skipper;"the ship is going down, and we mean to die jolly. Bring up the rum."
"This is mutiny," cried the captain, pulling out a revolver. "I'llshoot the first man dead that dares go down that cabin staircase."
"Captain," said one of the men, stepping forward, "will you let me speakto you? I've nothing but friendly feelings towards you."
"Well," replied the skipper, "what have you to say?"
"This," said the man; "let us have no murder. Put up yourshooting-irons. It is all in vain. The men _will_ have rum. Hark!d'ye hear that?"
"I heard a knocking below," said the skipper. "What does it mean?"
Before the man could reply there was a wild shout from the half-deck.
"It means," replied the man, "that the men have broken through the cabinbulkheads and supplied themselves."
"Then Heaven help us!" said poor bewildered Silas.
He staggered to the seat beside the skylight and sat down, holding on bythe brass glass-guards.
A moment after the mate joined him.
"You haven't been drinking, matie," said Silas, glancing gloomilyupwards, "have you?"
"No, sir, nor the second mate, nor the steward, nor the spectioneer,"was the mate's reply. "Give us your hand, sir. We've had wordstogether often; let us forgive each other now. God bless you, sir, andif die together we must, we won't die like pigs, at all events."
There was anarchy forward, anarchy and wild revelry, and cruel brawlsand fighting, but the five men aft stuck together, and tried to comforteach other, though there was hardly a hope in their hearts that theirvessel would be saved. A long evening wore away, a kind ofsemi-darkness settled over the sea, but this short night soon gave placeonce more to-day. Then down forward all was quiet; the revellers weresleeping the stertorous sleep of the drunkard.
But the wind had fallen considerably, and the seas had gone down; thebroken waves no longer sung in the frosty air, but the ship rolled likea half-dead thing in the trough of the sea. She was water-logged.
With infinite difficulty the mates, with the steward's assistance,stretched more canvas, while the captain took the helm. She heeled overto it, and looked as if she hardly cared to right again. But thisbrought the hole in her side into view. Then they got heavy blanketsup, and, working as they had never worked before, they managed in anhour and a half to staunch the leak from the outside.
Hope began to rise in their hearts, and, at the bidding of the skipper,the steward went below and brought up a large tin of preserved soup.
"Ah! men," said poor Silas, "this is better than all the rum in theworld."
And it was, for it gave them strength and heart. They went away downbelow next to the galley and half-deck, and tried to rouse some of themen. They found five of them stark and stiff, and from the oth
ers camenothing but groans and oaths.
So they went to the pumps themselves, and worked away for hours for dearlife itself.
Oh! what a joyful sight it was for them when, in answer to their signalof distress, they saw the good ship _Arrandoon_ coming steaming downtowards them.
Then the grim raven Death, who had been hovering over the seeminglydoomed ship, flapped his ragged wings and flew slowly away.
They were saved!
Oil was pumped upon the water between the _Arrandoon_ and _Scotia_, toround off the curling, comb-like peaks of the waves, and a boat waslowered from the steamer and sent to the assistance of the distressedvessel.
The ship was pumped out, and next day, the weather becoming once morefine, she was towed towards