The Young Marooners on the Florida Coast

by John Henry Goldfrap

  CHAPTER XXXIII

  THE CUBS--VOYAGE TO THE WRECK--STORES--HORRID SIGHTS--TRYINGPREDICAMENT--PRIZES--RETURN--FRANK NEEDS ANOTHER LECTURE

  Early on Monday morning Robert and Harold set out for the wreck, leavingSam to guard the young people, and to add another apartment to the fold,for the accommodation of the cubs. It may be stated here, that the newpets had eaten little or nothing since they were taken. For severaldays Sam was compelled to force the food and water into their mouths;but after they had acquired the art of feeding in a domestic way, Frankassumed their whole care, and was indefatigable in attending to theirwants and their education. He taught them to stand on their hind feetand beg; to make a bow by scraping their feet, like country clowns; andmany a wrestling match did he have with them, in which for a long timehe was invariably the victor. Robert named them, after the twins ofold, Castor and Pollux.

  By Sam's advice, the boys took with them on their voyage an ax, hatchet,auger, and saw, together with some candles and a rope, and reached thewreck about nine o'clock. They moored their raft fast to a projectingbolt, and then, with much difficulty, succeeded in reaching the sternwindows, from which the receding tide flowed gently, bearing on itsbosom an unpleasant odour, like that of animal matter long decayed.They peeped into the dark cavity, and receiving a full blast of itssepulchral odours, drew back in disgust.

  "I cannot go into _that_ hole," said Harold, "it is stifling. Let uscut a passage through the side or bottom."

  Clambering along the sloping side next the rudder, they selected a placefor their scuttle, and commenced to work, but the thick and wellfastened copper was so difficult to remove, that their hatchet wasnearly ruined before they reached the wood. Then, with their auger,they made an entrance for the saw, and soon opened a hole between two ofthe ribs, large enough to admit their bodies.

  Harold descended first, and standing upon a hogshead, which, being onthe top of a confused pile, reached near the hole, lit a candle, andhelped Robert to descend.

  They were in the hold where all the grosser articles were stowed. Someof the hogsheads visible appeared to contain sugar, others molasses,rum, &c. Passing towards the stern, they saw half a dozen boxes andcrates, of different sizes, one of which was filled with lemons, andfrom the other, on being broken, rolled out a cocoanut. Returning fromthis hasty survey towards the forward part of the hold, they discovereda plentiful supply of flour, ship-bread, rice, hams, and beef, stowedaway in the style appropriate to each. The vessel was evidentlyvictualled for a long voyage.

  Satisfied with this partial examination, they returned amidships, andsought the hatchway, through which they might descend into the habitablepart of the vessel. It was choked by such a multitude of boxes andbags, that they were a long time in finding it, and longer still infreeing it from encumbrances. Descending by their rope, they foundthemselves on the inner side of the inverted deck. The water had bythis time all run off, except a puddle in one corner; and the floor, orrather that which had been ceiling, was wet and slimy, with depositsfrom the muddy river water.

  On entering the cabin the sight which greeted them was horrid. Therelay four skeletons, of a man and woman, a boy and girl, handsomelydressed; the soiled though costly garments still adhering to the wet andghastly bones. The sight was more than Harold could endure; he calledto Robert, and hastened as fast as possible to the open air.

  "O, horrid! horrid!" said he, pale as a sheet. "I don't think I canever go back to that dreadful cabin. It made me almost faint."

  "It was horrid, indeed," responded Robert. "But you will soon recover;the trouble was more in your mind than in your body. I doubt not youare feeling as father says he felt when going first into a dissectingroom--he fainted outright; and he said that this is no uncommon thingwith beginners, but they soon become used to it."

  "I am willing enough to go through the whole vessel," said Harold, "butnot into that cabin, for a while at least."

  "Poor creatures!" sighed Robert, "they appear to have been passengers;and unless the cabin filled soon with water, they must have had alingering death."

  "Don't speak of it," Harold pleaded. "The bare thought makes meshudder. And then to think of their being devoured by such slimy thingsas eels and catfish, and of being pinched to pieces by crabs, as thesebodies were--it is sickening!"

  Robert perceived that these reflections were exceedingly painful to hiscousin, and had been in fact the cause of his sickness; he thereforemanaged adroitly to shift the conversation from point to point, until itgradually assumed a cheerful character. Pleasant thoughts were themedicine Harold needed, and in the course of a few minutes he himselfproposed to renew the search.

  Descending between decks, they found in the side of the vessel, contraryto custom, the cook's room. It contained a stove, with all itsappurtenances complete. This was a real treasure; they rejoiced tothink how much labour and trouble would be saved to Mary, whose patienceand ingenuity were often put to the test for the want of suitableutensils.

  The steward's room adjoined; and here they found crockery of all sorts,though most of it was in fragments; knives, forks, spoons, andcandlesticks, none of which they valued, having plenty of their own; twobottles of olives, and a case of anchovies, sound and good, and a fineset of castors, partly broken, containing mustard, pepper, catsup andvinegar. Upon the topmost shelf (or under what _had been_ the lowest)were two large lockers, which they opened with difficulty, the doorbeing fast glued with paste, and out of which poured a deluge of mustyflour from an upturned barrel. There were also different kinds of hardbiscuit and ship bread, but they were all spoiled.

  From these two rooms they passed with great difficulty to theforecastle, having to cut their way through a thick partition. Here thesight was more appalling than that which they had witnessed in thecabin. Lying on the floor, partly immersed in a muddy pool, were theskeletons of eight men and two boys; and in the midst of them they heardsuch a splashing of the water that their blood ran cold, and their hairstood on end. They started back in terror, thinking at first that thedead had waked from sleep, and were moving before their eyes; in doingso, Robert, who carried the candle, jostled roughly against Harold, andinstantly they were in darkness.

  "O mercy! mercy!" Robert ejaculated, in an agony of alarm, and fallingupon his knees clasped his hands together, expecting every moment to behis last. Harold, however, with that presence of mind which is the markof true courage, and is the best preservative in time of danger, threwhis arms around him, to prevent him from escaping, and fortunatelyrecovered the candle, which had dropped in the edge of the wet slimeupon the floor.

  "Nothing but fishes!" said he, divining the state of Robert's mind fromwhat he knew of his own. "Nothing but fishes! I saw one leap from thewater. Softly, Robert, let us light the candle."

  The quieting effect of a soft, calm voice in a season of excitement ismagical. Robert's excessive fear subsided, and though he trembledviolently, he aided Harold to re-light the candle. Fortunately the wickwas scarcely touched by the water; there was a slight spluttering from aparticle or two of damp mud, but the flame soon rose bright as ever.Harold's hand now began to tremble; for though in the moment of trialhis nerves had been stretched and steady as a tense wire, the re-actionwas so great that he began to feel weak. Robert perceived this, andpulling his sleeve said,

  "Come, let us go."

  Harold's courage, however, was of that sturdy kind that rises with theoccasion, and he replied, "No, I mean to go through with it now. I wasdriven from the cabin by a bad smell, but no one shall say that I wasscared off by a few catfish. Look, do you not see them floundering inthe water?"

  A calm inspection wholly relieved Robert from his fears, and hecontinued to examine the room with composure, although while looking hebeheld the startling sight of a skeleton in actual motion through thewater, a large fish having entered its cavity, and become entangled inthe adhering clothes, giving a most lifelike motion to the arms andlegs.
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br />   A glance around this room was sufficient to convince them that thevessel was of a warlike character. Great numbers of guns, pistols,cutlasses, and pikes, were visible on the floor, where they had falleninto the water, or against the walls where they had been fastened. Theboys surveyed these significant appendages, exchanged glances with eachother, and simultaneously exclaimed, "A cutter, or a pirate!"

  "I doubt whether it can be a cutter," said Robert; "my mind misgives methat it is a vessel of bad character. But we can tell by going to thecaptain's room. Let us see."

  They returned to the cabin, and entering the room which appeared to bethe captain's, found it abundantly supplied with arms of various sorts,and (though mostly injured by the sea-water) of exquisite finish. Ofpapers they saw none; these were probably contained in a heavy ironchest which was fast locked, and the key of which was nowhere to befound. In the mate's room, however, the evidences were more decisive.There were flags of all nations; and among them one whose hue was jetblack, except in the middle, where were sewed the snow-white figures ofa skull and cross-bones. From the side-pocket of a coat, which lay inthe berth, they took a pocket-book, containing letters in Spanish, and apaper signed by forty-two names, the greater part of which were markedby a cross. These indications were satisfactory, and the boysafterwards ascertained by circumstantial evidence, which left them noshadow of a doubt, that not only was the vessel piratical, but that shewas overwhelmed by the same storm that had so nearly proved fatal toSam. The prize, therefore, they considered their own by right of firstdiscovery--stores, arms, magazine, money and all.

  "By rights there ought to be a carpenter's room somewhere," said Robert;"or if not a room, there must be tools, which will help us greatly inour work. Let us look for them."

  To Harold's mind the tools were the most valuable part of the prize,unless indeed they could find a boat ready made. But before proceeding,they took each a pistol from the captain's room, loaded, and thrust itinto their bosoms, supposing that they should be more calm andself-possessed, when conscious of having about them the means ofdefence. The carpenter's room was found, and in it a chest of splendidtools, and an excellent grindstone.

  With these discoveries the boys were content to think of returning home;and now they began to feel hungry. Taking from the steward's room thebottle of olives and case of anchovies, and breaking open a barrel ofshipbread, from which they filled their pockets, they went to the openair, taking each a lemon and cocoanut, in lieu of water and dessert.

  It was time to load the raft. Taking some small bags, of which theyfound a number, they filled them with sugar, coffee, rice, and flour;they brought out six hams, and, by opening a barrel, six pieces ofmess-beef. In searching still further, they lit upon a barrel ofmackerel, a firkin of good butter, and a case of English cheese; of eachof which they took a portion, and laid all upon the most level part ofthe vessel's bottom, ready for lowering into the raft. The kegs ofbiscuit they found on trial to be too large to pass through theirscuttle; they emptied them by parcels into a large bag outside.

  Hitherto they had said nothing and thought little about money; for theirminds had been fixed on supplying themselves with necessaries andcomforts, together with the means of returning home. Indeed, the ideaof enriching themselves at the expense of the dead, even if they werepirates, savoured rather of robbery, and the delicate sense of the youngexplorers was offended by the thought.

  "But let us at least gather whatever of this sort we may find," saidHarold, after exchanging thoughts with his cousin. "We can afterwardsask your father to decide what use shall be made of it."

  Neither their consciences nor their pockets, however, were very heavilyburdened with this new charge; for they found only a few hundreddollars' worth of money, chiefly in foreign gold, together with severalrich jewels, the greater part of which was discovered in consequence ofan act of kindness to Mary and Frank.

  Resolving to return the next day, accompanied by the whole party, andunwilling to have Mary's nerves shocked as theirs had been, theydetermined to remove all unsightly objects from the cabin, and to closethem up in the forecastle. A box of sperm candles enabled them to set alight along the dark passages, and in each room; and taking a smallsail, upon which they carefully drew the skeletons, they carried them tothe forecastle, and laid them decently in one corner. From the personof the man they took a gold watch and chain, a handsome pencil case, andpocket-knife, a purse containing several pieces of gold, and apocket-book, containing papers, written apparently in Spanish, butalmost perfectly illegible. The name of this man, marked upon theclothing, and occasionally appearing in the papers, was Manuel De Rosa.Upon the person of the lady were found a diamond ring, hanging looselyupon the slender bone of one finger, and on the lace cape over her bosoma sprig breast-pin, whose leaves were emerald, and its flower of opal.Her name, and that of the children also, was De Rosa. These valuableswere collected into a parcel, together with a lock of hair from each, asthe means of identifying them, should any clue be obtained to theirhistory and their home.

  While removing a coarsely clothed skeleton from that corner of theforecastle in which they wished to deposit the bones of the perishedfamily, they found it so much heavier than the others, as to induce acloser examination. They found hid beneath the clothing, and belted tothe bones, a large girdle, containing fifty-four Mexican dollars, avariety of gold pieces from different nations, and a lump of whatappeared to be gold and silver fused into one mass. The name of thisman could not be ascertained.

  Their next work was to fumigate the cabin. They wrapped a little sugarin a piece of brown paper, and setting it on fire, walked around theroom, waving it in every direction. The aromatic odour of the burntsugar pervaded every crack and cranny, and overwhelmed so entirely thedisgusting effluvium, that Robert snuffed at the pleasant fragrance, andremarked, "There, now! the cabin is fit for the nose of a king. Let usclose up the forecastle, and return home."

  Beside the provisions, which have been already mentioned as constitutinga part of the intended load for the raft, the boys carried out suchtools as they conceived needful for their work, consisting of adzes,drawing-knives, augers, gimlets, chisels, planes, saws, square andcompass, and an oil-stone. They also took the box of sperm candles anda box of soap; three cutlasses and a rapier, four pikes, four pair ofpistols, three rifles, two muskets, and flasks and pouches to suit.Gunpowder they did not see, except what was in the flasks; they knewthere must be plenty in the magazine, which they supposed to be near theofficers' rooms, but which they did not care then to visit.

  A short but laborious tug against the tide, that set strongly up thecreek, brought them to the river, on which they floated gently home.When within half a mile of the landing, they fired a gun, as a signal oftheir approach; and long before they reached the shore, Mary and Frankwere seen running to meet them, with Mum and Fidelle scampering before,and Sam hobbling far in the rear.

  "Here, Frank, is your Christmas present," said Robert, when the rafttouched land; "and here, Sam, is yours, at least so long as we stay uponthe island."

  He tossed the one a cocoanut, and handed the other a musket and cutlass.Harold's presents were still more acceptable; he gave Frank a nicepocket-knife, somewhat the worse for rust, and gave Sam a large twist oftobacco.

  Frank's eyes twinkled with pleasure at the sight of the knife; but Sam'sexpression of countenance was really ludicrous. He was a great chewerand smoker of tobacco, and the sight of that big black twist, after solong a privation, brought the tears to his eyes. He scraped his foot,and tried to laugh.

  "Tankee, Mas Robbut! Tousand tankee to you, Mas Harrol! Sword, gun,tobacky! I-ee! I feel like I kin fight all de bear and panter in dewull!"

  As the work of unloading and transporting to the tent occupied onlyabout two hours, they had time sufficient, before dark, to constructanother and a larger raft. There was a poplar, fallen and dry, near thewater's edge; this they cut into suitable lengths, and across the longlogs they laid a floor of sh
ort ones, so that they doubted not beingable at their next load to bring from the wreck all that they wished.