CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
LIFE ON THE RAFT.
To awake "all at sea"--in other words, ignorant of one's locality--is arather common experience, but to awaken both at and in the sea, in asimilar state of oblivion, is not so common.
It was the fortune of Robin Wright to do so on the first morning afterthe day of the wreck.
At first, when he opened his eyes, he fancied, from the sound of waterin his ears, that it must have come on to rain very heavily, but, beingregardless of rain, he tried to fall asleep again. Then he felt as ifthere must be a leak in his berth somewhere, he was so wet; but, beingsleepy, he shut his eyes, and tried to shut his senses against moisture.Not succeeding, he resolved to turn on his other side, but experienceda strange resistance to that effort. Waxing testy, he wrenched himselfround, and in so doing kicked out somewhat impatiently. This, ofcourse, woke him up to the real state of the case. It also awoke Slagg,who received the kick on his shins. He, delivering a cry of painstraight into Sam Shipton's ear, caused that youth to fling out hisfist, which fell on Stumps's nose, and thus in rapid succession were thesleepers roused effectually to a full sense of their condition.
"It's cold," remarked Stumps, with chattering teeth.
"You should be thankful that you're alive to feel the cold, youungrateful creetur," said Slagg.
"I _am_ thankful, Jim," returned the other humbly, as he sought to undothe rope that held him fast; "but you know a feller can scarcely expressthanks or--or--otherwise half asleep, an' his teeth goin' like a pair o'nut-crackers."
"The wind is evidently down," remarked Sam, who had already undone hislashings. "Here, Robin, help me to untie this corner of the sail. Ihad no idea that sleeping with one's side in a pool of water would makeone so cold and stiff."
"If it had bin a pool, Mr Shipton," said Slagg, "it wouldn't have madeyou cold; 'cause why? you'd have made it warm. But it was the seawashin' out and in fresh that kep' the temperater low--d'ee see?"
"What a cargo o' rheumatiz we've been a-layin' in this night for oldage," said Stumps ruefully, as he rubbed his left shoulder.
Throwing off the sail, Sam stood up and looked round, while anexclamation of surprise and pleasure broke from him. The contrastbetween the night and morning was more than usually striking. Not onlyhad darkness vanished and the wind gone down, but there was a dead calmwhich had changed the sea into a sheet of undulating glass, and the sunhad just risen, flooding the sky with rosy light, and tipping the summitof each swell with gleaming gold. The gentle, noiseless heaving of thelong swell, so far from breaking the rest of nature, rather deepened itby suggesting the soft breathings of slumber. There were a few gullsfloating each on its own image, as if asleep, and one great albatrosssoared slowly in the bright sky, as if acting the part of sentinel overthe resting sea.
"How glorious!" exclaimed Robin, as, with flashing eyes, he gazed roundthe scarce perceptible horizon.
"How hard to believe," said Sam, in a low voice, "that we may have beenbrought here to die."
"But surely you do not think our case so desperate?" said Robin.
"I hope it is not, but it may be so."
"God forbid," responded Robin earnestly.
As he spoke his arm pressed the little bible which he had rescued fromthe wreck. Thrusting his hand into his bosom he drew it out.
"Darling mother!" he said, "when she gave me this she told me to consultit daily, but especially in times of trouble or danger. I'll look intoit now, Sam."
He opened the book, and, selecting the verse that first met his eye,read: "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of hispresence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; andhe bare them and carried them all the days of old."
"That's a grand word for us, isn't it?--from Isaiah," said Robin.
"Well, what do you make of it?" asked Sam, whose religious education hadnot been attended to as well as that of his friend.
"That our God is full of love, and pity, and sympathy, so that we havenothing to fear," said Robin.
"But surely you can't regard that as a message to us when you know thatyou turned to it by mere chance," said Sam.
"I do regard it as a special message to us," returned Robin withdecision.
"And what if you had turned up an entirely unsuitable or inapplicableverse?" said Sam.
"Then I should have concluded that God had no _special_ message for usjust now, but left us to that general comfort and instruction containedthroughout the whole word. When, however, special comfort is sought andfound, it seems to me ungrateful to refuse it."
"But I don't refuse it, Robin," returned Sam; "I merely doubt whether itis sent to us or not."
"Why, Sam, _all_ the bible was sent to us for comfort and instruction."
"True--true. I have not thought much on that subject, Robin, but I'lltry to believe at present that you are right, for we stand much in needof strong hope at all events. Here we are, none of us knows how farfrom the nearest land, with little food and less water, on a thing thatthe first stiff breeze may knock to pieces, without shelter and withoutcompass!"
"Without shelter and compass, Mr Shipton!" said Jim Slagg, who hadhitherto listened in silence to the conversation; "why, what d'ye callthis?" (taking hold of the sail). "Ain't that shelter enough, andwon't the sun guide us by day and the stars by night. It seems to methat you are too despondin', Mr Shipton."
"Don't `mister' me any more, Slagg. It was all very well aboard shipwhere we had our relative positions, but now we are comrades indistress, and must be on an equal footing."
"Very good," replied Slagg, looking round in his comrades' faces, andraising his voice as if making a speech. "Bein' equal, as you say, Itakes the liberty o' callin' a general meetin' o' this free and--if Imay be allowed the expression--easy Republic. Moreover, I move myselfinto the chair and second the motion, which, nobody objectin', iscarried unanimously. Gentlemen, the business of this here meetin' is toappoint a commander to this here ship, an' what could be more inaccordance with the rule o' three--not to mention the rules o' four andcommon sense--than a Shipton takin' command. Who's goin' to make thefirst reslootion?"
Entering into the spirit of the thing, Robin moved that Samuel Shiptonbe appointed to command the ship and the party, with the title ofcaptain.
"And without pay," suggested Slagg.
"And _I_ move," said Stumps, who was just beginning to understand thejoke, though a little puzzled by the fact that it was done in earnest,"I move that Robin Wright be first leftenant."
"Brayvo, Stumps!" cried Slagg, "your intellec' _is_ growin'. It on'yremains to appoint you ship's monkey and maid-of-all-work--speciallydirty work--and, then, with a hearty vote o' thanks to myself for myconduct in the chair, to vacate the same an' dissolve the meetin'."
These matters having been satisfactorily settled, the castawaysproceeded to prepare breakfast, and while this was being done therecently appointed captain looked once more anxiously round in the hopeof seeing the large raft with their late shipmates on it, but it was notto be seen. Neither raft, ship, nor any other sign of man wos visibleon all the glittering sea.
Breakfast was not a tempting meal. The biscuits were, indeed, as goodas ship's biscuits ever are, and when moistened with sea water formed acomparatively pleasant as well as strengthening food; but the barrel ofpork was raw; they had no means of cooking it, and had not yetexperienced those pangs of hunger which induce men to luxuriate inanything that will allay the craving. They therefore breakfastedchiefly on biscuit, merely making an attempt, with wry faces, to swallowa little pork.
Observing this, Sam said, in a half-jocular manner:--
"Now, my lads, it is quite clear to me that in taking command of thisship, my first duty is to point out the evils that will flow fromunrestrained appetite for biscuit;--also to insist on the cultivation ofa love for raw pork. You have no notion how good it is when fairlybelieved in. Anyhow you'll have to try, for it won't do to eat up allthe biscuit, and hav
e to feed at last on pure pork."
"I calls it impure pork," said Slagg; "hows'-ever, capting, you've on'yto give the word and we obey. P'r'aps the best way'll be to put us onallowance."
This suggestion was at once acted on, and a considerable part of thatbright day was spent by Sam and Robin in calculating how much porkshould go to a biscuit, so that they should diminish in an equal ratio,and how much of both it would be safe to allow to each man per diem,seeing that they might be many days, perhaps even weeks, at sea. Whilethe "officers" were thus engaged, Slagg and his friend Stumps busiedthemselves in making a mast and yard out of one of the planks--split intwo for the purpose--and fitting part of their sail to the same.
Evening found them with the work done, a small sail hoisted on the rudemast, the remaining part of the canvas fitted more securely as acovering, and the apportioned meal before them. But the sail hung idlyfrom its yard and flapped gently to and fro as the little ark rose andsank on the swell, for the calm still prevailed and the gorgeous sunset,with its golden clouds and bright blue sky, was so faithfully reflectedin the sea, that they seemed to be floating in the centre of a crystalball which had been dipped in the rainbow.
When night descended, the scene was, if possible, still more impressive,for although the bright colours had vanished, the castaways stillfloated in the centre of a dark crystal universe, whose unutterabledepths were radiant with stars of varied size and hue.
Long they sat and gazed in solemn admiration at the scene, talking insubdued tones of past, present, and future, until their eyes refused todo their office and the heavy lids began to droop. Then, reluctantly,they crept beneath the sail-cloth covering and lay down to rest.
The planks were hard, no doubt, but our castaways were hardy; besides, afew folds of the superfluous portions of the large sail helped to softenthe planks here and there.
"Now, boys," said Slagg, as he settled himself with a long-drawn sigh,"the on'y thing we wants to make us perfectly happy is a submarinetelegraph cable 'tween this an' England, to let us say good-night to ourfriend, ashore, an' hope they won't be long in sending out to search forus."
It is sad to be obliged to record that, Slagg's companions being alreadyasleep, this tremendous and original piece of pleasantry was literallycast upon the waters, where it probably made no impression whatever onthe inhabitants of the slumbering sea.
The Battery and the Boiler: Adventures in Laying of Submarine Electric Cables Page 15
