began to be crowded. When about half of the sailors had left theship the captain suddenly cried out, "Ho! Ben Block, we've forgot amast and sail. Run below with a couple of hands and fetch one as fastas you can." Just at that moment the ship gave a heavy plunge, theropes broke, and the raft floated slowly away, leaving the men who wereyet in the ship in a state of despair. One or two of them jumped intothe sea and tried to swim to the raft; but the first man who did so wasnearly drowned, and the others got back to the ship with greatdifficulty. It was a terrible sight to witness the misery of the poorcaptain, as he beheld his wife, standing with her arms stretched outtowards him, and the raft drifting slowly away, until at length itappeared like a small black spot far off upon the sea.
"Oh, my poor wife!" he cried, "I shall never see you more."
The tears were rolling down Ben Block's weatherbeaten face as he went upto the captain and took him by the hand.
"Never fear, sir," said he; "the Almighty can save her."
"Thank you, Ben, for saying that," replied the captain; "but the shipwon't float long. My wife may indeed be saved, but we are sure to belost."
"I don't know that," cried Ben, trying to look cheerful. "When you sentme down below, sir, to look for a mast and sail, I observed that thewater in the hold had ceased rising. If we can only keep her afloat alittle longer, we may manage to make another raft." The captain smiledsadly and shook his head, and Davy, who had been standing beside him allthe time, felt his heart sink again.
To add to the horror of the scene, night came on, and the water was sohigh in the cabin that the captain and men who had been left in thewreck had to try to sleep on the wet decks the best way they could.Next morning the wind was still blowing pretty hard, and they now sawthat they were drawing near to a wild shore, where there seemed to bemany large rocks in the water near the beach. The crew of the _FairNancy_ looked anxiously towards the land, hoping to see people there whomight help them when the ship struck on the rocks; but they saw no one.In about an hour afterwards the ship struck, and the shock was so greatthat Davy's heart seemed to leap into his throat. The shore was linedwith great dark cliffs and precipices, at the foot of which the wavesroared furiously. While the men stood looking helplessly at the landanother wave lifted the ship, carried her forward a long way, and dashedher down on the rocks, where she stuck fast, with a sharp rock quitethrough her hull, and the water foaming round her. What made theirsituation more dreadful was, that a great deal of snow had fallen duringthe night. It covered the decks of the ship, and made the land lookcold and dreary.
"We must swim for it now," said the captain, as he looked sorrowfully atthe boiling surf and immense waves which swept over the rocks, andbursting like thunder on the cliffs, were flung back upon the ship inspray.
"No one can swim in such a surf as that," said one of the sailorsgloomily.
"Surf" is the name given to the white foam which is formed by the waveswhen they dash upon the shore. It is very difficult, sometimes quiteimpossible, to swim in the surf of the sea, and many poor sailors havebeen hurled on the rocks by it and dashed in pieces while attempting toswim from their wrecked vessels to the land.
Every time a wave came it lifted the _Fair Nancy_, and, as it passed,let her fall heavily on the sharp rocks, so that she began to break up.Still the men were afraid to venture into the sea, and they clung to thebulwarks, quite uncertain what to do. At last Ben Block turned to thecaptain and said--
"I'm a good swimmer, captain, and I think I could swim to the shore wellenough perhaps; but there are some o' the men who can't swim, and poorDavy, there, could never do it; so I'll just throw a rope round myshoulders and make for the shore. If I land I'll fix the rope to thecliffs, and you'll all be able to get ashore easy enough. If I shouldbe drowned,--it'll only be a little sooner, that's all, and it's wellworth risking my life to save my shipmates."
"You're a brave fellow, Ben," said the captain. "Go and do it if youcan."
Ben Block went down below and soon returned with a stout rope. On theend of this he made a loop, which he passed round his shoulders, andthen, raising his eyes to heaven with an imploring look, he leapt intothe sea. At first he swam vigorously, and the sailors looked on inanxious hope. But a large wave came. It fell,--and Ben Blockdisappeared, while a cry of fear rose from the deck of the ship. In afew seconds, however, they saw him rise again and struggle manfully withthe raging billows. The next wave that came lifted Ben up and threw himon the beach, to which he clung with all his power; but as the waveretired it swept him back into the sea, for he could not hold on to theloose sand. He now rolled over and over quite exhausted, and thesailors thought he was dead. But a man's life is dear to him, and hedoes not soon cease to struggle. Another wave approached. It liftedBen up and threw him again on the beach. This time he made a desperateeffort to hold on, and, fortunately, he observed a large rock close towhere he lay. With a sudden spring he caught hold of it and held ontill the wave went back; then he ran forward a few steps and caught holdof another rock a little higher up, so that when the next wave brokeover him it had not power to draw him back. Another run--and he wassafe!
The men gave a loud cheer when they saw him land. After he had rested alittle, Ben fastened the end of the rope to a mass of rock. The sailorshauled it tight and fixed the other end in the ship; and then, one byone, they slowly crept along the rope and reached the shore in safety.Here they all fell on their knees and thanked God for their deliverance.
But now they found that the land was not inhabited, and they walkedalong that dreary coast for several days, almost starved to death withhunger and cold, for they had only a few biscuits among them, and theirclothes were never dry. Little Davy was the best walker among them, andhelped to keep up their spirits greatly by his cheerful conversation asthey toiled along. At last they arrived at a little village, where thepeople were exceedingly kind to them; gave them food and dry clothes,and, after they became stronger, sent them to the great city of Quebec.Here they were kindly treated, and finding a ship bound for England,they all returned home.
You may imagine the delight of the poor captain when he arrived andfound his wife safe and sound. She and all the people on the raft hadbeen picked up by a homeward-bound vessel the day after they lost sightof their ship, and were brought safe back to England. And you may fancythe joy of little Davy's parents when their son opened the cottage doorone day and rushed into his mother's arms.
Davy never went to sea again, but continued for many years after to helphis poor father to fish. And the _Fair Nancy_--that beautiful ship,which Davy had watched so long, which he had seen launched, and whichhad sailed so gallantly from her native shores, with her snowy sailsglancing in the sun like the white wings of a seagull--alas! alas! shelay a total wreck now, on the rocky shores of a foreign land.
The Life of a Ship Page 4
