CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
OUR ESCAPE AND RESCUE.
The brig, as she lay hove-to, rode comparatively easy and dry, requiringno attention; all, therefore, that I had to do was to maintain a sharplookout, and be ready to show a light betimes in the event of anothercraft heaving in sight and steering such a course as would be likely tobring her foul of us. But while my self-imposed duty was thus a lightone, demanding only alertness on my part, the situation and condition ofthe brig were such as to cause me profound anxiety, which was in nodegree lessened by the loss of the four men who had gone overboard withthe wreck of the fore-topmast. Had the ship been sound this lastcircumstance would have caused me no regret whatever, for the simplereason that their loss reduced the number of my enemies by four; buttheir loss, and the casualties due to the fracas in the forecastle,resulted in the reduction of the number of the effective crew to six, ofwhom the cook and the steward were two who could be relied upon forlittle or nothing more than mere pulling and hauling, while, of theremaining four, two were still suffering from wounds sufficiently severeto partially disable them; and this reduction, with the brig practicallya wreck, was a serious one. Moreover, the glass remained very low, andthere was no indication whatever of the speedy abatement of the gale, oreven any ground for hope that we had seen the worst of it; on thecontrary, the sky looked wilder than ever, while the gusts of wind thatfrequently swept down upon us were certainly growing more savage as theminutes dragged their slow length away.
At length, after what seemed like an eternity of watching, the laggingdawn came slowly oozing out of the scowling east, revealing a sky ofportentous gloom, of a deep, slatey-purple tint, blotched with shreds offlying dirty-white vapour, and a sea that was positively appalling inits height and steepness, and the fury with which it ran. Yet, heavy aswas the sea, and swiftly as the great liquid hills came swooping downupon the battered brig, the little craft rode them fairly well, if atrifle languidly--which latter characteristic I attributed to thequantity of water still present in her hull; and after studying herbehaviour by daylight for a full half-hour, I came to the conclusionthat the sooner that water should be pumped out of her, the better. So,watching my opportunity, I rushed for'ard along the unprotected deck--over which the water washed heavily at times--and called all hands toturn out and pump the ship dry; and after a great deal of grumbling, andmuch show of disinclination, I at length succeeded in getting them ondeck, and persuading them to man the pumps. They pumped steadily untilit was time to knock off for breakfast, when we sounded the well, andfound a depth of twenty-one inches.
Breakfast, that morning, was rather a comfortless meal, for the cook,terrified lest he and his galley should be washed overboard together,had not furnished a very appetising spread; while the wild movements ofthe vessel, the harsh and dismal creaking of her timbers, the frequentheavy washing of water along the decks, and the roar of the gale, allcombining together to create a concert of doleful sounds, rendered thecabin a distinctly unpleasant place, of sojourn; I therefore made nolong tarrying at the table, merely remaining below long enough to snatcha hasty meal, and to say a few words of comfort and encouragement to mysweetheart, and then hurried on deck again, to see how matters werefaring there.
The scene that met my gaze as I emerged from the companion, wasdepressing and discouraging in the extreme. The sky looked darker andmore threatening than ever; the wind was freshening rapidly, andsweeping along in savage gusts that smote the seething wave-crests andtore them into blinding, stinging showers of salt spray, that sothickened the atmosphere as to completely veil and hide everythingbeyond a distance of half a mile. The sea, mountainous as it had beenall through the night, had grown in steepness and height, and hadacquired a still more formidable and menacing run during the short timethat I had been below; while the fact was unquestionable that the brigwas labouring more heavily, and the sea washing in steadily-increasingvolume athwart that portion of her deck that lay unprotected through theloss of her bulwarks. It appeared to me that we should do better andride easier if we showed a small spread of canvas--just sufficient tosteady the vessel, to cause her to turn up a good bold weather side tothe seas, and to place her under command of her helm; and I accordinglydodged my way to the fore-scuttle, and sang out for all hands to come ondeck to make sail. They came at length, four of them, moving with thatslow and exasperating deliberation that the merchant seaman assumes whenhe considers that he is being put upon; and at length, by dint of sheerpersistence, I induced them to overhaul the sail-locker, with the resultthat we found a main staysail, new, and made of good stout canvas,evidently intended for a storm sail, which, still working with the samedeliberation and show of indifference, they finally consented to bendand set. The result was at once apparent: the brig began to movethrough the water, taking the seas very much easier as she was humouredat them with the helm, while the increased height of weather side thatshe turned up had the effect of considerably lessening the amount ofwater washing over the deck, and rendering the task of getting fore andaft comparatively safe.
But I was still not satisfied; great as was the improvement effected bythe setting of the staysail, the brig yet seemed to labour more heavilythan was to be reasonably accounted for, even by the fact that she hadwater in the hold; and then it occurred to me to sound the well afreshand ascertain whether the amount of that water was increasing. Iaccordingly fetched the rod, carefully dried it, and, watching until thebrig was for an instant on an even keel, lowered it down the pumpbarrel. Upon withdrawing it the startling discovery was made that sincethe men had last been at the pumps the depth of water in the hold hadincreased by three inches! The water was draining into the hull,somewhere, and that, too, in sufficient quantity to keep us busy. Idirected the attention of the men to the condition of the pump rod; andwith deep, bitter curses levelled at the weather, the brig--ateverything, in short, except the indifference of themselves and theirshipmates that had brought us all to this pass--they went to work afreshat the pumps, while I made my way to the forecastle, and, as was mydaily wont, attended to the injuries of the two wounded men, Dirk andMike, who were confined to their bunks. With the brig leaping andplunging so desperately my task was by no means an easy one, and uponthis occasion it occupied me so long, that ere I had quite finished, theother men came below, still cursing and grumbling, to get their dinner.I inquired whether they had succeeded in reducing the quantity of waterin the hold at all, and was informed--with further curses--that they hadonly reduced it by about two inches, and that they were willing to beeternally condemned if they ever laid a hand upon the pump brake again.But about six bells in the afternoon watch, while I was at the wheel,the man Harry came aft, sounded the well, and shouting to me "twenty-sixinches," went for'ard again; with the result that, a quarter of an houror so later, they all came aft once more, and continued pumping fornearly two hours; with what effect, however, I could not say, for noneof them condescended to inform me. Nor did either of them offer torelieve me at the wheel; but that I was not at all surprised at, as theydoubtless considered that what they had done at the pumps was quite asmuch as could be expected of them. I was not forgotten, however; forFlorence, making use of the fire that I had caused to be lighted in thecabin-stove, prepared for me a most substantial and appetising meal,consisting of toasted rashers of ham, cabin bread--carefully cleared ofweevils--and tea, which she actually brought on deck to me, standing byme and tending the wheel in the cleverest fashion while I hurriedlydevoured the food! Not satisfied with doing this for me, the dear girl,knowing that I had been on deck all the previous night, actuallyproposed remaining at the wheel, in the midst of all the elemental fury,long enough to enable me to snatch a few hours' sleep! What think youof that, shipmates, for devotion on the part of a sweetheart? But that,of course, was going altogether beyond the utmost that I could possiblyconsent to, and, thanking her heartily for her generous solicitude, Isent her below, with strict injunctions to turn in early and secure agood night's rest. For--although I was
careful not to hint as much toher even in the most distant fashion--I did not at all like the way thatmatters were going with us; the leak and the men's aversion to thelabour of pumping, taken together, made up a bad lookout, and I foresawthat unless a change for the better in one respect or the other soontook place, it would speedily come to our being obliged to take to theboats.
Throughout the whole of that wet, wild, cheerless night I stood at thewheel, tending the ship and helping her through the seas; and it was notuntil dawn was abroad that anyone came to relieve me; when Cockney Harrymade his appearance, staggering and dodging his way aft along theflooded decks.
"Mornin', sir," he remarked as he took over the wheel from me. "Youlooks dead wore out, you do. You surely ain't been at this here muckin'wheel the whole blessed night, have ye, sir?"
"Certainly I have," said I, "seeing that the brig had to be lookedafter, and neither of you men saw fit to relieve me!"
"Well," admitted the fellow, "that's a howlin' shime, and no mistike.The fact is that we was all dead tired with sweatin' at them infernalpumps. I _meant_ to ha' come along and took a spell at water-grindin',but in w'itin' for them swines to all go to sleep I went to sleepmyself, and never woke up agine until five minutes ago."
"Quite so," said I drily. "But, if you really intended to have relievedme, why have waited until the rest were asleep?"
"Well, ye see, sir, it was this way," answered the man. "When we wentbelow lawst night, after knockin' off pumping all hands of us was on thegrowl, 'cause of the heavy work we'd had to do; and Sam up and said thatthe best thing we could do 'd be to tike to the boats, as soon as thegale broke, and let the blessed old hooker go to the bottom, rather thanhave to keep all on pumpin' of her everlastin'ly until we fetched aport. And the rest of 'em agreed with him. Then Dirk ups and asts whatwas to be done with you and the lidy; and, nobody else seemin' to have ahawnser ready, I says that I supposes you'll both have to come with us.But Dirk, he says No; it won't never do for you to land along of us; youknows enough to hang some of us, and he for one don't mean to take norisks; and t'others all agreed with him; and at last 'twas settled thatif the leak don't take up when the gale breaks, we're to take to theboats, leavin' you and the lidy aboard to go down with the brig. Ithought I'd wait and hear if anybody had anything else to say about itafore comin' aft to relieve you; and it was while I was w'itin' that Idropped asleep."
"Thank you, Harry, for affording me this very important item ofinformation," said I. "You are a good sort of fellow, and you maydepend upon it that I will not forget the service you have done me. Andso that scoundrel Dirk would leave the lady and me to drown, would he,after all that I have done for him? Very well! Now, Harry, neitherMiss Onslow nor I will be left aboard here to drown, you may take youroath of that. It is clear to me, now, that it must be war to the deathbetween the forecastle and the cabin, and I shall take my measuresaccordingly. The question is: Which side--cabin or forecastle--do youintend to be on? If you choose to join me, I will do what I can foryou; and if you elect to throw in your lot with those murderers for'ard,I will still bear you in mind, so far as I can, consistently with thelady's and my own safety."
"Thank'ee, sir," answered the fellow. "If I might make so bold, sir,what do you intend to do?"
"That," said I, "I can only tell you in the event of your coming over onmy side."
"Very well, sir," returned he, "I'll think it over while you're tikin' arest, and let you know when you come on deck agine."
And therewith I went below and, flinging myself into my bunk, at oncefell into a profound and dreamless sleep that lasted until I wasawakened by the discordant clank of the pumps, about four bells in theforenoon watch, when I found Miss Onslow patiently awaiting me in thecabin, with another hot meal all ready for my delectation.
It was apparent to me, immediately upon awaking, that the gale hadbroken; and when I went on deck I found that the sky had cleared towindward, showing here and there fast--widening patches of blue sky,while the wind had already dropped to the strength of a strong breeze;the sea, however, showed little diminution of height, although it was nolonger so steep, nor was it now breaking dangerously; but the brig wasrolling as furiously and more sluggishly than ever; and the clear waterthat gushed from the pumps told a tale that there was no mistaking. Inoticed that five men were now working at the pumps--the cook andsteward being two of them--and all hands were growling together, andcursing both loud and deep as they toiled at the brakes.
"Well, lads," said I, approaching them, "what is the news from thepumps? Is there any hope of getting them to suck?"
"Suck?" exclaimed one of them, in tones of ineffable disgust. "No,they'll never suck no more in this world. There's up'ards o' three feeto' water in the hooker, now, and she's gainin' on us at the rate o' twoinches an hour while we pumps at her. She's bound to the bottom, sheis; and I only hopes she'll keep afloat long enough to let us get theboats afloat without smashin' of 'em to smithereens alongside.Whereabouts is the nearest land, mister; and how fur off is it?"
"Ask me after I have taken my sights at noon--it looks as though I shallbe able to get the sun to-day--and I will tell you," said I. Then,finding the men sulky, and quite tired of listening to their curses, Iwent aft and relieved the wheel, remaining there until about a quarterof an hour to midday, when, the sky having cleared, I sang out forsomebody to relieve me while I "shot the sun." It was Harry who came atmy call; and as he took over the wheel he remarked, just loud enough forme to hear, and staring away to windward as he spoke:
"I've made up my mind, sir; I'm with you and the lidy. I ain't agoin'to have no more truck with them other chaps; they're no better thanmurderers; they've mide up their minds to leave you and the lidy aboard;and there's no movin' of 'em from that."
"All right, my lad," said I. "You will find, before many hours are overyour head, that you have made a wise choice. Can you read?"
The fellow intimated that he could.
"Then," said I, "I will write out such instructions as it will benecessary for me to give you, and you must find an opportunity to readthem over, unobserved by the rest. And you must also obey them to theletter; for upon your obedience will depend the success or failure of myscheme."
With which I left him, and went below for my sextant.
Upon working out the result of my meridian observation, I found that wewere close upon one hundred and forty miles from Staten Island, whichbore North by East a quarter East of us--a distance which might betraversed in less than forty-eight hours by a properly-equipped boat, infine weather. But what if it should come on to blow again? It was acontingency that I did not care to contemplate. There was one point inour favour: the mercury was rising slowly and steadily; and, please God,if we were able to leave the brig in good time we might succeed inreaching shelter of some sort before the setting-in again of badweather. And, in any case, it was a contingency that had to be faced,since it was perfectly clear, by this time, that the brig had been soseverely battered and strained during the late gale that nothing wecould do would avail to keep her afloat much longer.
Having pricked off the brig's position on the chart, I proceeded towrite out my instructions to the man Harry. It may perhaps be thoughtthat, in committing those instructions to paper, I was doing animprudent thing--that I was, in fact, furnishing irrefutable evidence ofmy intentions, should the man choose to play me false, and show thepaper to his companions. But I had faith in the fellow; there was anhonest look in his eyes; and the fact that he had of his own free willwarned me of the other men's intentions was another point in his favour.And, last but not least, I believed that he had wit enough to see thathe would be better serving his own interests by attaching himself to methan by throwing in his lot with the others, and that consequently hewould have no interest in playing me false; I therefore unhesitatinglyhanded him his instructions at the first opportunity, and left him tocarry them out with as little delay as possible.
Upon returning to the deck, after
working out my sights, I found thatthe men had knocked off pumping, but were hanging about the deck, asthough waiting for something, instead of going below to dinner. Andpresently I found out what was in the wind, the man known as Samstepping forward to inquire whereabout my observation placed the ship.I told him.
"Then," said he, "if we steers nothe-an'-by-east a quarter east, steady,we're bound to fetch this here Staten Hiland, are we?"
"Certainly," said I. "And I hope that we shall make it some time theday after to-morrow."
"The day a'ter to-morrer!" ejaculated the man. "Do ye mean with thishere brig?"
"No," said I; "I mean with the boats. The brig could never fetch it, inher present disabled condition, except with a fair wind, even if youcould keep her afloat so long, which I do not for a moment believe."
A grim smile of satisfaction--which the fellow strove to conceal--flickered for a moment over his rugged, sullen features, and then heturned away, without another word, and slouched forward, followed by hiscompanions. As for me, I went aft and took the wheel from the man whowas tending it; and, as soon as he had disappeared, lashed it, and setabout certain preparations that I felt it was now high time to make.These did not occupy me long, and upon their completion I went below,where--the cook and Steward having been busy at the pumps all themorning--Florence was awaiting me with a good, appetising dinnerprepared by herself. While we were discussing the meal together--thesteward having gone forward with the others--I told my companion thatthe supreme moment was at hand when it would be necessary for us to makea bold dash for our lives, and I warned her to prepare for it by puttingall her slender stock of clothing together in a parcel, and to be readyto act with me at a moment's notice as soon as the boats were in thewater. She received my intelligence very quietly, and although she losther colour and became marble-white to the lips for perhaps a minutewhile I explained my plans, her courage never faltered; and when I hadfinished she put her hand in mine, with the simple remark:
"Very well, Charlie dear; you have only to tell me what you wish me todo, and you will find me obedient in every particular."
Meanwhile, the wind, which had been blowing a strong breeze atbreakfast-time, had been dropping steadily all through the day, untiltoward the close of the afternoon it had softened down to the strengthof a royal breeze, with a corresponding diminution in the height of thesea; yet it was evident that it would not be possible to safely lower aboat for some hours to come. But that the men were eager to be off wasalso perfectly evident, for instead of manning the pumps again afterdinner, they had spent the entire afternoon hanging about the decks,inspecting and overhauling the boats, getting provisions, water, andother necessaries together--the cook lighting a fire in the galley, andboiling a considerable quantity of meat in the coppers--while, atintervals, one or another of them would sound the well, and report theresult to his comrades; their actions being marked by a curiouscommingling of stealthiness and candour, as though they were quiteunable to decide whether to keep their intentions a secret from me, orwhether it would be possible to still more completely hoodwink me by apretence of being perfectly frank and open. At length, however, thelatter plan seemed to be the favoured one; for about sunset the man Samcame to me with the information that they, had decided to leave the brigat daybreak, and they'd be glad to know whether I thought the hooker 'dkeep above water until then without pumpin'. Before replying, Iinquired what depth of water there was then in the hold, and at whatrate it was making, after which a brief calculation enabled me to assurethem that she would probably last until noon next day; but thatnevertheless I would recommend them to prepare for a start the firstthing after breakfast; and that the lady and I would be ready by thattime.
From this time forward the brig--hove-to, and with her helm lashed--wasleft to take care of herself, the greatly-improved condition of theweather permitting of this, while the men proceeded, in their own slow,deliberate fashion, with their preparations for abandoning her. As forus aft, our preparations were of the simplest possible kind, consistingmerely of the stowing of our clothing in a bundle that could be flunginto the boat at a moment's notice--and the very careful loading of thebrace of duelling-pistols with which my unknown French friend hadpresented me. These little matters attended to, I urged Florence to liedown and endeavour to secure a few hours' sleep, following the same goodadvice myself as soon as she had retired to her cabin.
I was awakened about midnight by the man Harry, who had been anxiouslyawaiting the moment for the others to get to sleep, in order that hemight slip aft, unnoticed, to inform me of the progress of his ownparticular share in our enterprise.
"Well, Harry," said I, "how do matters stand? Have you succeeded inaccomplishing all that I directed you to do?"
"Yes, sir," said he. "I was afride at first that I shouldn't get achaunce to go down into the fore-peak without bein' noticed; but `thedoctor' made that right by asting for somebody to fetch him up a bitmore coal. Which I offered to do for him. Once I was down in the peak,the rest was easy enough; the arms-chist hadn't never been locked, so Icollared a couple of pair of pistols, and then scraped the coal awayfrom under the chist until the whole bag o' tricks fetched away and sliddown into the water, where nobody won't ever find it again. Then I hada look at the magazine what poor Chips had knocked together. The doorwas only fastened by a staple, so I soon had it open; and when I'd founda couple o' packets of pistol-cartridges, I just hove everything else Icould lay hands on down a'ter the arms-chist. So, even though some of'em has pistols, they won't have no ammunition for 'em--unless theyhappened to have a few cartridges by 'em--which makes us all right."
"Capital!" exclaimed I. "And, now, as to the final arrangements of themen; what are they?"
"Why, 'twas arranged that I was to be on deck, so's to keep a sort ofgeneral heye on the brig and you; and to call all hands for'ard atdaybreak--or earlier if the sea flattens down enough to launch a boatafore then. Then we're goin' to lower the gig that you had when youpicked us up--she bein' the most wholesomest boat of the two--and puteverything into her that we're goin' to tike with us--includin' plentyo' grub and water. And at the last minute, when we're ready to shoveoff, you and the lidy are to be set upon and battened down below, andthen we all jumps into the boat and makes sail."
I considered a while, and then said, reflectively:
"It is just questionable whether it would not, after all, be the bestplan to let the scoundrels get right away, and then launch the Frenchboat."
"That's no good," interrupted Harry; "the French boat is stove. Samthought of that last night; says he: `If we don't mind our weather heye,that there feller aft may break his way out from below a'ter we're gone,and get away in t'other boat.' And Dirk, he says: `Tike the "doctor's"coal hammer and smash in a bottom plank. That'll stop any sich littlegime as you speaks of, Sam.' And a'ter a little more talk, Sam ups anddoes it while you was below, asleep."
"The scoundrels!" ejaculated I fiercely. "So they are absolutelydetermined to murder us, are they? Very well; their blood be on theirown heads! Now listen to me, Harry." And therewith I unfolded my finalplans, and gave him a few last instructions; after which Harry went ondeck again, to be there in the event of any of the others taking it intotheir heads to go on deck and have a look round.
Anxious to get as much rest as possible, I flung myself down upon one ofthe sofa-lockers; but my nerves were just then rather too tautly strung,and all my senses too keenly on the alert, to admit of anything likesound sleep, and I simply dozed, hearing Harry's every movement on deck,until the grey light of dawn began to ooze down through the skylight,when I went to my berth, soused my head in a basin of cold water, had agood refreshing wash, and then went on deck to look round; the peopleforward appearing on deck at the precise moment when I emerged from thecompanion. They seemed to be rather disconcerted at seeing me, but Ifeigned not to have noticed it, devoting my immediate attention to theweather. It was quite fine now, with a nice little royal breeze fromabout due east; t
he sea had gone down wonderfully during the night, andthere was very little more than the heavy swell to contend with, whileeven that looked a great deal more formidable than it really was. Asfor the brig, she was much more buoyant than I had expected to find her;I gave her fully six hours longer to live--quite long enough to enablethe wretches who meditated my destruction to repair and launch the boatthat they had wilfully damaged, while the job would occupy them longenough to enable me to gain a good start and get clear away from them.
The cook went to his galley, and lighted his fire, quite in the ordinaryway, and set about preparing breakfast, while the rest, going to the_City of Cawnpore's_ gig, looked into her, talking together in lowtones. Then they cast off the gripes and tackle falls, and lowered heruntil her gunwale was just level with the rail, when they began to passinto her and stow the kegs of water, provisions, and other matters thatthey intended taking with them; and by the extreme care that each manbestowed upon the storage of his own particular bundle of "dunnage," Ifelt tolerably certain that their respective parcels of gems wereconcealed therein. Seeing them thus employed, I slipped down below,gave Miss Onslow a call, and then returned to the deck with her and myown bundle, together with the chronometer and sextant, all of which, inan easy, off-hand manner, I placed in the stern-sheets. As I did so,the man Sam looked up, and exclaimed savagely:
"Here, what the--" but was instantly interrupted by one of his mates,who murmured a few words in his ear.
"What is the matter?" demanded I, with a great affectation of innocence;"surely there is room in the boat for the few things belonging to thelady and myself?"
"Oh, ay," he growled surlily; "there's room enough--or, if there ain't,we'll _make_ room, so's you and the lady shall have plenty o' clothesfor your trip--eh, mates?"
The others responded with a sinister laugh at the grim humour of thejoke; but without taking any notice, I looked on at the work with justthat amount of interest that I might be reasonably expected to take,until the steward called me to say that breakfast was ready. Then, witha glance of intelligence at Harry--to which he responded--I turned awayand went below.
The breakfast was a very good one--just the substantial, appetising kindthat one would wish to sit down to upon such an occasion; and I didample justice to it. At length, at what I judged to be the rightmoment, I signed to Miss Onslow to go on deck, and then rose to my feetas though to follow her; but instead of springing up the companionladder I turned to the steward, seized him by the throat, and flung himviolently to the deck. The shock stunned him; and before he recoveredconsciousness I had got him lashed arms and legs together, like atrussed fowl, with a gag in his mouth that I had already prepared forthe purpose. Making sure that he was quite secure, and could notpossibly release himself, or cry out, I dashed up the companion ladder,and drew over the slide, securing it and the doors with wedges. Harrywas sitting on the windlass barrel, taking his breakfast _al fresco_,and acting as lookout generally while the others breakfasted below; anddirectly he saw me throw up my hand as a signal to him, he slid off thewindlass, crept softly to the fore-scuttle, and swiftly closed thehatch, securing it by thrusting a wooden pin through the staple. Therewas an immediate outcry from below, quickly followed by savage bangsupon the underside of the hatch; but, taking no notice of thesemanifestations, the fellow rushed aft and at once assisted me to placeMiss Onslow in the gig. Then, springing to the tackle falls, we loweredthe boat smartly the short remaining distance to the water, and,springing into her, unhooked the tackles and shoved clear of the brig.Then, still working for our lives, we stepped the mast, set the sails,and headed the boat to the northward. Nor were we much too quick; forwe had scarcely placed a cable's length between us and the brig when weheard a crash aboard her, and the next instant we saw the fellows risingout of the forecastle and rushing aft. Of course they at once caughtsight of us, and promptly blazed away with their pistols at us; but noneof the bullets came anywhere near. Then they began to shoutimprecations at us, and prayers to us to return; but we remained equallydeaf to both, and in a few minutes--the boat slipping nimbly alongthrough the water--we were out of hearing of them, and congratulatingourselves and each other upon our good luck in having succeeded in soneatly effecting our escape without being obliged to fight for thepossession of the boat.
I headed north, with the intention of making Staten Island if possible;but we had scarcely been under way two hours when Harry, who wasforward, keeping a lookout, sighted a sail dead to windward, heading ourway, and we at once so manoeuvred the boat as to intercept her. Shecame bowling down toward us, hand over hand, and when she was withinabout three miles of us I made her out to be a frigate. She was comingso directly for us that it was impossible for us to miss each other, andwithin half an hour of the moment when we first discovered her I had thesupreme satisfaction of assisting Florence up the side of Her BritannicMajesty's ship _Ariadne_, commanded by my former shipmate and very goodfriend Harry Curtis; while half an hour later the five men whom I hadleft aboard the brig were taken off her, and safely lodged in irons onthe _Ariadne's_ lower deck. Of the excitement that ensued upon ourrescue I have no space to dwell; suffice it to say that the _MarieRenaud_ had duly arrived in Table Bay, and had there reported the act ofpiracy of which she had been the victim, my letter being at the sametime placed in the hands of the authorities, who, after a proper amountof deliberation, had despatched the _Ariadne_ in search of the piraticalbrig.
Is there anything else to tell? I think not, except it be to mentionthat Miss Onslow was the heroine of the ship, and every man, fore andaft, her devoted slave during our passage to the Cape, where the sixsurvivors of O'Gorman's gang were duly put upon their trial for piracyupon the high seas. The man Harry, acting upon my advice, offered toturn Queen's Evidence; and the favourable report that I was able to makeof his conduct caused his offer to be accepted, with the result that hereceived a free pardon, while Dirk the Dutchman was sentenced to death,and the other four to penal servitude for life; the Dutchman, however,cheated the gallows by _dying_ in prison of his wounds, after lingeringfor so long a time that it seemed as though he would after all recover.
"And the gems that were the prime cause of so much of your trouble--whatbecame of them?" I fancy I hear some fair reader exclaim.
Well, there proved to be such insuperable difficulties in the way ofestablishing their rightful ownership that the Home Government verykindly undertook the charge of them until the man who couldsatisfactorily prove his right to them should put in an appearance. Itwas a marvellously curious circumstance, however, that I should havehappened to anticipate this precise difficulty and its probablesolution, almost at the moment when I first identified the distant_Ariadne_ as a man-o'-war; with the result that--well, there is no needto be _too_ explicit, is there? it will perhaps suffice if I say thatthe seaman Harry is to-day living very comfortably indeed as anindependent gentleman of considerable means; while the four magnificentsuites of jewellery--rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and pearls--that MrsCharles Conyers, _nee_ Florence Onslow, sports from time to time are theeternal envy and admiration of all who get the opportunity to see them.
THE END.
The Castaways Page 15
