CHAPTER EIGHT.
AT THE MERCY OF WIND AND WAVE.
The silence which followed the disappearance of the _Galatea_ was brokenby a plaintive wail from little May, who sobbed out that she was "Oh! sosorry that poor papa's beautiful ship was all burned up."
Her sorrows, however, were speedily charmed away by the representationmade to her by her mother that if the ship had not been burnt they wouldprobably never have thought of going for a delightful sail in the boats,as they now were; and soon afterwards the poor overtired child fell intoa deep dreamless sleep in her mother's arms.
As everything had been made ready in the launch before she left theship's side, the ladies had now nothing to do but make themselvesthoroughly comfortable for the night on and among the blankets and skinrugs which had been arranged for them in the stern-sheets.
A cosy enough little cabin, of necessarily very limited dimensions, wasalso arranged in the bows of the boat for the gentlemen; and to this,upon Captain Staunton's assurance that their services would certainlynot be needed for at least some hours, Rex and Lance betook themselves,accompanied by Bob and young Neville, the former of whom was to keepwatch alternately with the skipper.
The night now being so far advanced, Captain Staunton announced to theoccupants of the other boats his intention to wait for daylight beforemaking sail; and, the tired crews at once composing themselves toslumber, silence soon fell upon the little fleet of boats which laythere riding lightly over the majestic slowly-heaving swell of thePacific under the solemn starlight.
The hours of night passed peacefully away; and the watchers on board theseveral boats at length saw the velvety darkness in the eastern quarterpaling before the approaching day. The stars, which but a short timebefore had risen into view over the dark rim of the horizon, dwindledinto lustreless insignificance and finally disappeared; the sky grewmomentarily paler and bluer in tint, the light sweeping imperceptiblyhigher and wider over the ethereal vault; then suddenly above theeastern horizon appeared a faint delicate rosy flush, followed by abrilliant golden pencilling of the lower edges of a few flecks of cloudinvisible before: long shafts of golden light sprang radiating upwardfrom a point below the horizon; and in another moment the upper edge ofa great golden disc rose into view, flooding the laughing waves withshimmering radiance, and transforming in a moment the hitherto silentand sombre scene into one of joyousness and life. Sea birds hoveredscreaming high in the air, on the look-out for breakfast; flying-fishsparkled like glittering gems out of the bosom of the heaving deep;dolphins leaped and darted here and there; a school of porpoises rotatedlazily past, heading to the westward; and away upon the very verge ofthe horizon a large school of whales appeared spouting and playing.
It was day again.
Bob at once, in accordance with his instructions, called CaptainStaunton, who had lain down an hour or two before to snatch a littlerest. The skipper, who had turned-in "all standing," that is to say,without undressing, soon made his appearance; and, first glancing keenlyall round the horizon in the vain hope of discovering a sail, at oncehailed the other boats, ordering them to make sail and to proceed upon anorth-easterly course, extending themselves in line to the right andleft, and to maintain as great a distance apart during the day as wouldbe compatible with an easy interchange of communication by signal; tokeep a sharp look-out all day; and to close in again upon the launch atnightfall.
The order was promptly obeyed, and in five minutes afterwards the littlefleet were dancing gaily along over the low liquid hills of the Pacificswell, tossing tiny showers of spray out on each side from their bows,and leaving a long glistening wake of miniature whirlpools behind them.
The slight bustle of making sail on the boats, combined with the noveltyof their situation, was sufficient to rouse all hands; and a few minutesafter the boats were fairly under weigh, the ladies and little Mayemerged from their quarters in the stern-sheets of the launch. Theexcitement of the previous night had been completely overcome by thefatigue of preparation to desert the ship, and the lateness of the hourof retirement had secured for these, our heroines, a few hours of soundrepose, so that when they made their appearance aft, refreshed by sleepand exhilarated by the pure bracing morning breeze, they looked and feltas little like castaways as one can well imagine. Indeed, they appearedmore disposed to regard the adventure as a pleasantly exciting escapadethan anything else--a state of feeling which the gentlemen of the partywere careful to foster and encourage by every means in their power,judging it highly probable that there would be enough and more thanenough to damp their high spirits before this singular boat-voyage, justcommenced, should be over.
On board the launch, the fortunes of which we propose to follow for thepresent, all was pleasant activity. Even the skipper, whose reflectionsmust necessarily have been of a somewhat sombre character, glad toobserve such a prevalence of good spirits among his fellow voyagers,resolutely put all disagreeable thoughts behind him, and chimed in withthe others, feeling the importance of prolonging to its utmost extent sofavourable and pleasant a state of affairs.
Lance, whose experiences in the Australian bush had evidently made himfertile of resource, now rummaged out from among his baggage adiminutive but effective cooking apparatus, the fuel for which wassupplied from a goodly jar of spirit stowed away in the eyes of theboat; and, initiating the steward into the peculiarities of itsmanagement and explaining to him its capabilities, an appetisingbreakfast of coffee and fried chops, cut from the carcass of a sheephastily slaughtered the previous night, was soon served out to theoccupants of the boat. Fishing-lines were afterwards produced, and, ifthe sport was meagre and the amount of fish captured but small, theexpedient had at least the good effect of providing occupation andamusement for the ladies during the greater part of the day. As theweather continued fine, and there was absolutely nothing to do but tosteer the boat upon a given course and keep a bright look-out, CaptainStaunton seized the opportunity to take a good long spell of sleep, notonly to make up for that lost on the previous night, but also to lay ina stock, as it were, against the time when probably many long and wearyhours would have to be passed without it. Lance and Rex took the helmin turns throughout the day, while the ladies tended the fishing-lines,chatted with their male companions, or played with little May, as thehumour took them. About an hour before sunset a small red flag washoisted on board the launch as a signal for the other boats to close,the signal being repeated by each boat as soon as it was observed andkept flying until the most distant craft had answered it by bearing upor hauling to the wind as the case might be; and by the time that thestars were fairly out the little fleet was once more sailing along in aclose and compact body.
So ended the first day in the boats.
This pleasant and satisfactory state of affairs lasted for five days,and then came a change. On the afternoon of the fifth day light fleecyvapours began to gather in the sky, growing thicker as the afternoonwaned, until by sunset the entire canopy of heaven was veiled by hugemasses of dense slate-coloured cloud, which swept heavily across thefirmament from the eastward. The aneroid which Captain Staunton hadordered to be put oh board the launch indicated a considerable decreaseof atmospheric pressure, which, coupled with the appearance of the sky,led the skipper to believe that bad weather was at hand; accordingly,when the other boats closed in upon the launch at sundown, word waspassed along the line to keep a sharp look-out and to be prepared forany change which might occur.
About nine p.m. the wind died almost completely away; and shortlyafterwards a few heavy drops of rain fell, speedily followed by adrenching shower. This killed the remaining light air of wind, and theboats lay idly upon the water, their saturated canvas flapping heavilyagainst the masts. But not for long; the sails were speedily lowereddown and spread across from gunwale to gunwale to catch the preciousmoisture, and so heavy was the downpour that in the quarter of an hourduring which the shower lasted the voyagers were enabled to almostentirely refill their breakers, the contents of
which had by this timevery materially diminished.
The rain ceased suddenly, and a few minutes afterwards a puff of wind,hot as the breath of a furnace, swept over the boats from the north-east, and passed away, leaving a breathless calm as before. This wasrepeated twice or thrice; and then with a heavier puff than before astiff breeze set in from the north-east, breaking off the boats fromtheir course, and necessitating their hauling close upon a wind on theport tack.
By midnight the wind had increased so much that it became necessary toreef; the launch and pinnace double-reefing their canvas in order thatthey might not run away from the other boats. The sea now began to riserapidly, and when day at length broke it revealed a dismal picture ofdark tempestuous sky, leaden-grey ocean, its surface broken up intohigh, racing, foam-capped seas, and the little fleet of boats tossingwildly upon the angry surges, the launch leading, the pinnace next, andthe others so far astern that it took Captain Staunton quite ten minutesto satisfy himself that they were all still in sight.
It was by this time blowing a moderate gale, and appearances seemed toindicate that downright bad weather was not far off; the captaindecided, therefore, to heave-to at once, as it would be quite impossiblein any other way to keep the little fleet together. The canvas on boardthe launch was accordingly still further reduced, the jib-sheet hauledover to windward, and the boat left to fight it out as best she could.The pinnace soon afterwards joined company and followed suit, theremainder of the boats doing the same as they came up.
As the day wore on the gale increased in strength, the sea risingproportionally and flinging the boats about like corks upon its angrysurface. So violent was the motion that it was only with the utmostdifficulty the steward succeeded in preparing a hot meal at mid-day, andwhen evening came our adventurers were obliged to content themselveswith what Lance laughingly called "a cold collation." The day wasindeed a wretched one; there was no temptation whatever to leave suchslight shelter as the tiny cabins afforded, for the launch, and indeedall the other boats as well, were constantly enveloped in spray blownfrom the caps of the seas by the wind, while, cooped up below, it wasunpleasantly warm, and the motion of the boat was so violent that heroccupants were compelled to wedge themselves firmly in one position toavoid being dashed against their companions.
If the day was one of discomfort, the night which followed wasinfinitely worse. The gale continued steadily to increase; the sea roseto a tremendous height, breaking heavily; the spray flew continuouslyover the launch in drenching showers; the little craft, under the merestshred of canvas, was careened gunwale-to by the force of the wind everytime she rose upon the crest of a sea, and the most watchful care of theskipper, who had stationed himself at the helm, was sometimesinsufficient to prevent a more than ordinarily heavy sea from breakingon board. The increasing frequency of these occurrences at lengthnecessitated the maintenance of one hand continually at the baler inorder to keep the boat free of water, and in spite of all the ladieswere unable to escape a thorough wetting. Nor was this the worstmishap. The water rose so high in the interior of the boat on one ortwo occasions that it got at the provisions, so seriously damaging someof them that there was little hope of their being rendered again fit forconsumption. It was a most fortunate circumstance for those in thelaunch that, thanks to the captain's foresight, she had been fitted witha partial deck, otherwise she must inevitably have been swamped. How itfared with the other boats it was impossible to say; the darkness wastoo profound to permit of their being seen, if they still remainedafloat; but the manner in which the launch suffered caused the skipperto entertain the gravest apprehensions for the rest of the fleet, and healmost dreaded the return of daylight lest it should reveal to him therealisation of his worst fears.
It seemed to the occupants of the launch as though that miserable nightwould never end. The tardy dawn, however, made its appearance at last,reluctantly, as it seemed to those drenched and weary watchers, and themoment that there was light enough to enable him to see distinctlyCaptain Staunton staggered to his feet, and steadying himself bygrasping the boat's main-mast, took a long anxious look all round thehorizon. At first he could distinguish nothing save the wildly rushingfoam-capped seas, and the scurrying shreds of cloud which swept rapidlyathwart the black and stormy sky; but after some minutes of painfullyanxious scrutiny he descried, about three miles away to leeward, a tinydark object, appearing at intervals against the leaden-grey of thehorizon, which his seaman's eye told him was the pinnace.
_The remainder of the fleet had disappeared_.
It was no more than a realisation of his forebodings; but CaptainStaunton possessed far too feeling a heart not to be powerfully affectedby the loss of the two boats and the thirteen brave fellows who mannedthem. He ran over their names mentally, and recalled that no less thannine of the thirteen had arranged for half their pay to be handed overto their families at home; and he pictured to himself the bitter griefand distress there would be in those nine families when it came to beknown that the husband, the father, the bread-winner was gone,overwhelmed and swallowed up by the remorseless ocean which knows _no_pity, not even for the wife and the helpless children.
With a powerful effort the captain dismissed these painful reflectionsfrom his mind, and turned his attention to matters nearer home. He hadalready searchingly scrutinised the aspect of the weather with mostunsatisfactory results. As far as his experience went there was everyprospect of a continuance--nay more, an increase--of the gale. The skyto windward looked wilder and more threatening than ever; while that thesea was still rising was a fact about which there could be no mistake.He dived into the little cabin or shelter aft, and took a long look atthe aneroid, to find that it still manifested a downward tendency. Itwas evidently hopeless to expect a favourable change in the weather forsome hours at least, and to attempt any longer to maintain the boat'sposition, in the face of an increasing gale, was to expose her and thosein her to imminent risk of destruction; he therefore decided to watchhis opportunity and seize the first favourable moment for bearing up andrunning before it.
Bob and his fellow apprentices, together with Lance and Rex, were soonsummoned, and preparations made for bearing up. It was an anxiousmoment, for should the boat be caught broadside-on by a breaking sea shewould to a dead certainty be turned bottom-up, when nothing could saveher occupants.
Captain Staunton stood at the tiller, intently watching the onward rushof the mountainous seas as they came swooping down with uprearedthreatening crests upon the launch. Presently, as the boat fell off atrifle from the wind and the main-sail filled, he gave the order to "letdraw the jib-sheet." The weather sheet was let go and the lee onehauled in like lightning, and the boat began to forge ahead. A sea cameswooping down upon the little craft, but it was not a dangerous one; theskipper sent the boat manfully at it, and with a wild bound she roseover the crest and plunged into the liquid valley beyond. The next seawas a much more formidable one, but by luffing the boat just in the nickof time she went through and over it, with no worse consequences thanthe shipping of a dozen or so buckets of water, a mishap to which theywere by this time growing quite accustomed, and then there occurred avery decided "smooth."
"Brail up the main-sail, boys," shouted the skipper cheerily, and in asecond it was done; the helm was put up, the boat's head fell off, andaway she went with a rush, broadside-on to the sea. With a sickeningheave she rose into the air as the next sea lifted her, and this timetoo a little water came on board, but nothing to speak of; and by thetime the next wave caught her, her quarter was fairly turned to it, andshe was rushing away before the wind. The fore-sail was then set andthe main-sail stowed, and everybody sat down to watch the result.
The change was certainly for the better; for though a sea stilloccasionally broke on board it did so with less violence than before,and most of it now flowed off the deck and overboard again, instead offalling into the body of the boat as before.
As soon as the fore-sail was set, Captain Staunton steered
for thepinnace, with the intention of ordering her also to bear up, as well asto inquire whether they had seen either of the other boats.
Suddenly, Bob, who was watching the little speck in the distance whichshowed against the horizon when both launch and pinnace happened to beon the summit of a wave together, caught sight for a single instant ofwhat appeared to him to be an attempt at a signal made on board thelatter.
"Hillo!" he exclaimed, "What's wrong with the pinnace? They're wavingto us, sir."
"Indeed!" said the skipper in a tone of concern. "Are you sure, Bob?Here, take the tiller for a moment and let me have a look. Keep her_dead_ before it."
"Ay, ay, sir," responded Bob, as he changed places with his superior;the latter going forward and steadying himself by the fore-mast as hewatched for the reappearance of the pinnace.
Presently he caught sight of her, and caught sight too, mostunmistakably, of a flag--or something doing duty therefor--being veryenergetically waved on board.
"You are right, Bob," he sharply exclaimed, "they _are_ signalling us.I fervently hope there is nothing wrong with them. Starboard a little;there, steady so. Keep her at that as long as you can, and only run heroff when it is absolutely necessary in order to avoid a breaking sea."
In about twenty minutes the launch had reached the pinnace. As the twoboats closed, it was seen that all hands on board her were busy baling;and she appeared to be low in the water. When the launch was nearenough for a hail to be heard, Mr Bowles stood up and, placing his twohands together at his mouth, so as to form an impromptu speakingtrumpet, shouted--
"Can you make room for us on board the launch, Captain Staunton? We arestove and sinking."
"Ay, ay," responded the skipper. "We'll round-to and come alongside."
He then sprang aft to the tiller, which he seized, shouting at the sametime, "To your stations, lads! In with the fore-sail, smartly now."
The sail was speedily taken in; the close-reefed main-sail was set; andthe moment that the sheet was hauled aft the helm was jammed hard downand the boat brought to the wind, without wasting a moment to watch fora favourable opportunity. The launch was flying swiftly away from thepinnace, and the latter was sinking; there was therefore no time forwatching for opportunities; by the frantic way in which Mr Bowlesresumed his task of baling the instant that he had communicated hismomentous tidings Captain Staunton saw that the danger on board thepinnace was imminent; and the boat was at once rounded-to, shipping inthe operation a sea which half-filled her.
"Man the buckets, every man of you," shouted the skipper as the launch,now close-hauled, began slowly to forge ahead in the direction of thedevoted pinnace. The seas broke heavily against the bows of the boat asthey swept furiously down upon her; but Bob and his comrades baled likemadmen, while the skipper handled the little craft like the consummateseaman he was; and between them all, they managed to keep her abovewater.
"Drop your bucket, Bob, and stand by to heave them a line," presentlyshouted the captain. Bob sprang forward, and seized the end of the longpainter which was neatly coiled-up and stopped with a ropeyarn or two.Whipping open his knife he quickly severed the stops, and was justarranging the coil in his hand when Captain Staunton cried sharply--
"Heave with a will, Bob. There she goes!"
Bob glanced at the pinnace, now some twenty feet distant, just in timeto see a heavy sea break fairly on board the water-logged boat andliterally bury her. There was a wild cry from her occupants, as theyfelt the boat sinking under them, and in another instant they were leftstruggling for their lives in the furious sea.
Bob hove the line with all his strength, and with unerring aim into themidst of the little crowd of drowning human beings, and then called forassistance. Some of them he saw had seized it; and he at once began tohaul in. The other apprentices with Lance and Rex sprang to his aid,and presently hauled on board Brook and one of the seamen.
By this time the launch had crept up to the spot where the pinnace haddisappeared; and by reaching out their hands those on board were able toseize and drag inboard three more of the drowning men.
Mr Bowles' body, however, was seen floating face downwards some five-and-twenty feet away; and, close to it, Mr Forester Dale strugglingdesperately, and uttering wild screams which were every moment changedto choking sobs as the pitiless sea broke relentlessly over his head.
It was Bob who first caught sight of these two; and without an instant'spause or hesitation he sprang headlong from the launch's gunwale, andwith a few powerful strokes reached the struggler. Mr Dale promptlyflung both arms and legs round his would-be deliverer, clasping Bob likea vice, and pinioning him so completely that he was unable to move handor foot. The result was that both instantly sank beneath the surface.Poor Bob thought for a second or two that his last hour was come; andthere, in the depths of that wildly-raging sea, he lifted up his wholeheart to God in a momentary but earnest prayer for mercy andforgiveness. Doubtless that swift prayer was heard, for as it flashedfrom his heart he felt his companion's grip relaxing, and in anotherinstant he had wrenched himself free and was striking strongly upward,with one hand firmly grasping Mr Forester Dale by the collar of hiscoat.
Bob rose to the surface within a few feet of Mr Bowles' still floatingbody; and with a violent effort he soon succeeded in reaching it,knowing that, encumbered as he was, he would have to trust the launch tocome to him, he could never reach her. As he seized his staunch friendand superior officer by the hair and twisted him over on his back heheard a wild cheer, instantly followed by a cheery shout of "Look outfor the line, Bob!"
As the sound reached him the rope came flying over him, striking himsharply in the face. He seized it with his teeth; and then heard theskipper's voice say--
"Haul in handsomely now, and take care you don't jerk; he has gripped itwith his teeth."
A very few seconds afterwards, which, however appeared an age to Bob,and he found himself floating alongside the launch, where he wasspeedily relieved of his two inanimate charges, and finally dragged onboard himself, half-drowned, with about ten feet of water in his hold ashe expressed it, but full of pluck as ever.
The first business claiming attention was of course that of endeavouringto restore consciousness to the inanimate bodies of Mr Dale and thechief mate; and this was at length achieved. Mr Dale was the first tocome round; and as soon as he was so far recovered as to be able tospeak he was stowed away in the men's sleeping berth forward, and madeas comfortable as circumstances would permit. He lay there, warmlywrapped up, bemoaning for a time his hard fate in ever having come tosea, but at length the spirits which had been liberally poured down histhroat took effect, and he dropped off to sleep.
Mr Bowles' case was somewhat more serious, he having received a violentblow on the head from some of the floating wreckage, just after thefoundering of the pinnace. The blow had inflicted a long scalp-woundfrom which the blood flowed freely; and when he at length revived heseemed quite dazed and light-headed, so that it was impossible to get acoherent reply to any of the questions put to him. He too was at laststowed away forward; and Bob, who was somewhat exhausted by hisexertions in the water, and scarcely fit for other work, was detailed towatch by and attend to the two invalids.
The launch had in the meantime been once more got before the wind, andwas again flying to leeward under jib and fore-sail, the mountain-seaspursuing her and necessitating the utmost watchfulness on the part ofthe helmsman to prevent her from being broached-to.
As soon as the two invalids had been satisfactorily disposed of, theorder for breakfast was given; and after a vast amount of trouble themeal, consisting of biscuits, fried rashers of bacon, and hot coffee,was served. The company were indebted to the efforts of Rex and Lancefor the cooking; they having taken counsel together and come to theconclusion that after a night of such great discomfort it was absolutelynecessary that the females at least should be served with a goodsubstantial hot meal; and they had accordingly joined forces in thepreparation of
the same, Lance seating himself coolly in the bottom ofthe boat, with the water washing all round him, and balancing thecooking apparatus carefully on his knees while Rex knelt before himenacting the part of chief cook.
This meal, unromantic as it may sound to say so, was inexpressiblycomforting to those weak women and poor little May, all of them havingpassed a wretched sleepless night, cooped up in the close confinedcovered-in space in the stern of the launch, which, for want of a moreappropriate name has been termed a cabin, with the water in the bottomof the boat surging up round them and wetting them to the skin as theboat tossed on the angry surges, while the continuous breaking of theseas on board filled their souls with dread that the boat could notpossibly outlive the gale much longer.
When all hands were fairly settled down to the discussion of breakfast,Captain Staunton turned to the carpenter, who had established himselfclose beside the skipper, and said--
"Now, Chips, let us hear how the mishap came about whereby you lost thepinnace this morning;--but, before you answer me that question, tell medo you know anything about the other boats?"
"Well, sir," responded Chips, "I can't say as I do, rightly. But whenday broke this mornin' an' we first missed 'em, Mister Bowles, he jumpedup and took a good look round, and the first thing he made out were thelaunch away to wind'ard, hove-to. Then he had another good look allround, and presently I see him put his hand up to his eyes and standlooking away down to leeward. `Do you see anythink, sir?' says I. Andhe says--still with his hand up shadin' his eyes--`I don't know, Chips,'says he, `but I'm most certain,' says he, `that one of them boats isthereaway,' pointin' with his finger away down to leeward. `It's toodark and thick down there to see werry distinctly,' he says, `but everynow and then I keeps fancyin' I can see a small dark spot like a boat'ssail showin' up in the middle of the haze,' says he. And I don't doubt,sir," continued Chips, "but what he _did_ see one of them boats; MrBowles has a eye, as we all knows, sir, what ain't very often deceived."
"In which case," remarks the skipper, thinking aloud rather thanaddressing the carpenter, "there can be no doubt that the officer incharge, finding it impossible to face the gale any longer in safety,bore up like ourselves, only a little earlier. And if one of the boatsdid so, why not the other? And why should they not both be safelyscudding before it at this moment, some ten miles or so ahead of us?"
"Very true, sir; I don't doubt but it's just as you say, sir," respondedthe carpenter, who was in some uncertainty as to whether he was expectedto reply to the skipper's remark or not.
"We will hope so at all events, Chips," cheerily returned the skipper."And now tell me how you managed to get the pinnace stove?"
"Well, sir, the fact is, it were just the doin' of that miserablecreatur, Mister Dale. Our water were gettin' low; and yesterday MrBowles ups and puts us on 'lowance--a pint a day for each man. Well, Is'pose it weren't enough for this here Mister Dale; he got thirstydurin' the night, and made his way to the water-breakers to get a drinkon the quiet. And he was that sly over it that nobody noticed him.Hows'ever, like the lubber he is--axing your pardon humbly, sir, forspeakin' disrespectable of one of your passengers, sir--he lets thedipper slip in between the breakers; and in tryin' to get it out againhe managed to cast off the lashin's; two of the breakers struck adrift;and before we could do anything with 'em they had started three of theplanks, makin' the boat leak that bad that, as you saw yourself, sir, itwere all we could do to keep her above water until you reached us."
Captain Staunton made no comment upon this communication, though it isprobable that he thought all the more. The loss of the pinnace was,particularly at this juncture, a most serious misfortune. For at thevery time when, in consequence of the bad weather with which she had tocontend, it was of the utmost importance that the launch should be inthe best possible trim, she was suddenly encumbered with the additionalweight of seven extra men, which, with the twelve persons previously onboard, raised her complement to nineteen, and caused her to beinconveniently crowded. Then these additional seven men had to be fedout of the rapidly diminishing stores belonging to the launch, for notan ounce of anything had been saved from the pinnace. This rendered itimperatively necessary that all hands should at once be put upon a veryshort allowance of food and water; a hardship trying enough to the menof the party, but doubly so to the women and poor little May. However,no one murmured or offered the slightest objection to the arrangement,when at mid-day Captain Staunton explained the state of affairs and laidbefore the party his proposal. Except Mr Dale. That individual, onhearing the proposition, promptly crawled out of his snug shelter, andhastened to remind the skipper that he, the speaker, was an invalid;that his health, already undermined by the privations and exposure whichhe had been lately called upon to suffer, had been completely broken up,and his nervous system shattered by his recent immersion; that whatmight be perfectly right and proper treatment for people in a state ofrobust health--as everybody in the boat, excepting himself, appeared tobe--would be followed by the most disastrous consequences if applied tohimself; and that, finally, he begged to remind Captain Staunton that hehad duly paid his passage-money, and, ill or well, should expect to befully supplied with everything necessary for his comfort. CaptainStaunton looked at the objector for some moments in dead silence, beingpositively stricken dumb with amazement. Then in accents of thebitterest scorn he burst out with--
"You despicable wretch! Is it actually possible, sir, that you have_no_ sense whatever of shame?--that you are so full of selfishness thatthere is no room in you for any other feeling? Are you forgetful of thefact, Mr Dale, that it is to your greed and clumsiness we are indebtedfor the greatly increased hardships of our situation? But for you, sir,the pinnace would probably have been still afloat; yet _you_ are the onewho presumes to murmur at the privations of which you are the directcause. I wish to Heaven I had never seen your face; you positively makeme feel ashamed of my sex and of my species."
"That's all very well," sneeringly retorted this contemptible creature,"but I didn't come to sea to be bullied by you, so I shall withdraw fromyour exceedingly objectionable neighbourhood; and if ever we reachEngland I'll make you smart for your barbarous treatment of me, my goodfellow."
Saying which, he slunk away back in no very dignified fashion to themost comfortable spot he could find in the bows of the boat, and rolledhimself snugly up once more in the shawls and blankets which the womenhad eagerly given up for his benefit when he was first fished out of thewater.
The Pirate Island: A Story of the South Pacific Page 8
