CHAPTER II.
_Shallow._ Did her grandsire leave her seven hundred pound?
_Evans._ Ay, and her father is make her a petter penny.
_Shallow._ I know the young gentlewoman; she has good gifts.
_Evans._ Seven hundred pounds, and possibilities, is good gifts.
Shakspeare.
As for Spike, he had no intention of going to the southward of theFlorida Reef again until his business called him there. The lost bag ofdoubloons was still gleaming before his imagination, and no sooner didthe Poughkeepsie bear up, than he shortened sail, standing back andforth in his narrow and crooked channel, rather losing ground thangaining, though he took great pains not to let his artifice be seen.When the Poughkeepsie was so far to the northward as to render it safe,he took in everything but one or two of his lowest sails, and followedeasily in the same direction. As the sloop-of-war carried her lightand loftier sails, she remained visible to the people of the Swashlong after the Swash had ceased to be visible to her. Profiting by thiscircumstance, Spike entered the main channel again some time before itwas dark, and selected a safe anchorage there that was well known tohim; a spot where sufficient sand had collected on the coral to makegood holding ground, and where a vessel would be nearly embayed, thoughalways to windward of her channel going out, by the formation of thereef. Here he anchored, in order to wait until morning ere he venturedfurther north. During the whole of that dreadful day, Rose had remainedin her cabin, disconsolate, nearly unable, as she was absolutelyunwilling to converse. Now it was that she felt the total insufficiencyof a mind feeble as that of her aunt’s to administer consolation tomisery like her own. Nevertheless, the affectionate solicitude of Mrs.Budd, as well as that of the faithful creature, Biddy, brought somerelief, and reason and resignation began slowly to resume theirinfluence. Yet was the horrible picture of Harry, dying by inches,deserted in the midst of the waters on his solitary rock, ever presentto her thoughts, until, once or twice, her feelings verged on madness.Prayer brought its customary relief, however; and we do not think thatwe much exaggerate the fact, when we say that Rose passed fully one-halfof that terrible afternoon on her knees.
As for Jack Tier, he was received on board the brig much as if nothinghad happened. Spike passed and repassed him fifty times, without even anangry look, or a word of abuse; and the deputy-steward dropped quietlyinto the duties of his office, without meeting with either reproachor hindrance. The only allusion, indeed, that was made to his recentadventures, took place in a conversation that was held on the subject inthe galley, the interlocutors being Jack himself, Josh, the steward, andSimon, the cook.
“Where you been scullin’ to, ‘bout on dat reef, Jack, wid dem’ erewomen, I won’er now?” demanded Josh, after tasting the cabin soup, inorder to ascertain how near it was to being done. “It’ink it no greatfun to dodge ‘bout among dem rock in a boat, for anudder hurricane mightcome when a body least expeck him.”
“Oh,” said Jack, cavalierly, “two hurricanes no more come in one month,than two shot in the same hole. We’ve been turtlin’, that’s all. I wishwe had in your coppers, cook, some of the critturs that we fell in within our cruise.”
“Wish’e had, master steward, wid all my heart,” answered the fat,glistening potentate of the galley. “But, hark’ee, Jack; what became ofour young mate, can ‘e tell? Some say he get kill at’e Dry Tortugas, andsome say he war’ scullin’ round in dat boat you hab, wid’e young woman,eh?”
“Ah, boys,” answered Jack, mournfully, “sure enough, what _has_ becomeof him?”
“You know, why can’t you tell? What good to hab secret among friend.”
“_Are_ ye his friends, lads? Do you really feel as if you could give apoor soul in its agony a helpin’ hand?”
“Why not?” said Josh, in a reproachful way. “Misser Mulford’e bess matedis brig ebber get; and I don’t see why Cap’in Spike-want to be rid ofhim.”
“Because he’s a willian!” returned Jack between his grated teeth. “D’yeknow what that means in English, master Josh; and can you and cookhere, both of whom have sailed with the man years in and years out, saywhether my words be true or not?”
“Dat as a body understand ‘em. Accordin’ to some rule, Stephen Spikenot a werry honest man; but accordin’ to ‘nudder some, he as good as anybody else.”
“Yes, dat just be upshot of de matter,” put in Simon, approvingly. “Dewhole case lie in dat meanin’.”
“D’ye call it right to leave a human being to starve, or to suffer forwater, on a naked rock, in the midst of the ocean?”
“Who do dat?”
“The willian who is captain of this brig; and all because he thinksyoung eyes and bloomin’ cheeks prefar young eyes and bloomin’ cheeks tohis own grizzly beard and old look-outs.”
“Dat bad; dat werry bad,” said Josh, shaking his head, a way of denotingdissatisfaction, in which Simon joined him; for no crime appearedsufficiently grave in the eyes of these two sleek and well-fed officialsto justify such a punishment. “Dat mons’ous bad, and cap’in ought toknow better dan do _dat_. I nebber starves a mouse, if I catches him inde bread-locker. Now, dat a sort of reason’ble punishment, too; but Inebber does it. If mouse eat my bread, it do seem right to tell mousedat he hab enough, and dat he must not eat any more for a week, or amont’, but it too cruel for me, and I nebber does it; no, I t’rows delittle debil overboard, and lets him drown like a gentle’em.”
“Y-e-s,” drawled out Simon, in a philanthropical tone of voice, “dat’ebest way. What good it do to torment a fellow critter? If Misser Mulfordrun, why put him down run, and let him go, I say, on’y mulk his wages;but what good it do anybody to starve him? Now dis is my opinion,gentle’em, and dat is, dat starwation be wuss dan choleric. Cholerickill, I knows, and so does starwation kill; but of de two, gib me decholeric fuss; if I gets well of dat, den try starwation if you can.”
“I’m glad to hear you talk in this manner, my hearties,” put in Jack;“and I hope I may find you accommodatin’ in a plan I’ve got to help thematy out of this difficulty. As a friend of Stephen Spike’s I would doit; for it must be a terrible thing to die with such a murder on one’ssoul. Here’s the boat that we pick’d up at the light-house, yonder,in tow of the brig at this minute; and there’s everything in hercomfortable for a good long run, as I know from having sailed in her;and what I mean is this: as we left Mr. Mulford, I took the bearings anddistance of the rock he was on, d’ye understand, and think I could findmy way back to it. You see the brig is travelin’ slowly north ag’in, andafore long we shall be in the neighbourhood of that very rock. We, cookand stewards, will be called on to keep an anchor-watch, if the brigfetches up, as I heard the captain tell the Spanish gentleman he thoughtshe would; and then we can take the boat that’s in the water and go andhave a hunt for the maty.”
The two blacks looked at Tier earnestly; then they turned their heads tolook at each other. The idea struck each as bold and novel, but eachsaw serious difficulties in it. At length Josh, as became his superiorstation, took on himself the office of expressing the objections thatoccurred to his mind.
“Dat nebber do!” exclaimed the steward. “We be’s quite willin’ tosarve’e mate, who’s a good gentle’em, and as nice a young man as eversung out, ‘hard a-lee,’ but we must t’ink little bit of number one; or,for dat matter, of number two, as Simon would be implercated as well asmyself. If Cap’in Spike once knew we’ve lent a hand in sich a job, he’dnever overlook it. I knows him, _well;_ and that is sayin’ as muchas need be said of any man’s character. You nebber catch _me_ runnin’myself into his jaws; would rather fight a shark widout any knife. No,no--I knows him _well_. Den comes anudder werry unanswerable objecsh’un,and dat is, dat’e brig owe bot’ Simon and I money. Fifty dollars, eachon us, if she owe one cent. Now, do you t’ink in cander, Jack, dat twocolour’ gentle’em, like us, can t’row away our fortins like two sons ofa York merchant dat has inherited a hundred t’ousand dollar tudde
r day?”
“There is no occasion for running at all, or for losing your wages.”
“How you get’e mate off, den? Can he walk away on de water? If so, lethim go widout us. A werry good gentle’em is Misser Mulford, but not goodenough to mulk Simon and me out of fifty dollar each.”
“You will not hear my project, Josh, and so will never know what I wouldbe at.”
“Well, come, tell him jest as you surposes him. Now listen, Simon, sodat not a word be loss.”
“My plan is to take the boat, if we anchor, as anchor I know we shall,and go and find the rock and bring Mr. Mulford off; then we can comeback to the brig, and get on board ourselves, and let the mate sail awayin the boat by himself. On this plan nobody will run, and no wages bemulcted.”
“But dat take time and an anchor-watch last but two hour, surposin’ evendat’ey puts all t’ree of us in de same watch.”
“Spike usually does that, you know. ‘Let the cook and the stewards keepthe midnight watch,’ he commonly says, ‘and that will give the foremosthands a better snooze.”’
“Yes, he do say _dat,_ Josh,” put in Simon, “most ebbery time wecomes-to.”
“I know he does, and surposes he will say it to-night, if he comes-toto-night. But a two hour watch may not be long enough to do all youwants; and den, jest t’ink for a moment, should ‘e cap’in come on deckand hail’e forecastle, and find us all gone, I wouldn’t be in your skin,Jack, for dis brig, in sich a kerlamity. I knows Cap’in Spike well;t’ree time I endebber to run myself, and each time he bring me up wida round turn; so, now-a-days, I nebber t’inks of sich a projeck anylonger.”
“But I do not intend to leave the forecastle without some one on it toanswer a hail. No, all I want is a companion; for I do not like to goout on the reef at midnight, all alone. If one of you will go with me,the other can stay and answer the captain’s hail, should he really comeon deck in our watch--a thing very little likely to happen. When oncehis head is on his pillow, a’ter a hard day’s work, it’s not very aptto be lifted ag’in without a call, or a squall. If you do know StephenSpike _well,_ Josh, I know him better.”
“Well, Jack, dis here is a new idee, d’ye see, and a body must take timeto consider on it. If Simon and I do ship for dis v’y’ge, ‘t will be forlub of Mr. Mulford, and not for _his_ money or _your’n”_.
This was all the encouragement of his project Jack Tier could obtain, onthat occasion, from either his brother steward, or from the cook. Theseblacks were well enough disposed to rescue an innocent and unoffendingman from the atrocious death to which Spike had condemned his mate, butneither lost sight of his own security and interest. They promised Tiernot to betray him, however; and he had the fullest confidence in theirpledges. They who live together in common, usually understand thefeeling that prevails, on any given point, in their own set; and Jackfelt pretty certain that Harry was a greater favourite in and about thecamboose than the captain. On that feeling he relied, and he was fain towait the course of events, ere he came to any absolute conclusion as tohis own course.
The interview in the galley took place about half an hour before thebrig anchored for the night. Tier, who often assisted on such occasions,went aloft to help secure the royal, one of the gaskets of which had gotloose, and from the yard he had an excellent opportunity to take a lookat the reef, the situation of the vessel, and the probable bearings ofthe rock on which poor Mulford had been devoted to a miserable death.This opportunity was much increased by Spike’s hailing him, while on theyard, and ordering him to take a good look at the sloop-of-war, and atthe same time to ascertain if any boats were “prowlin’ about, in orderto make a set upon us in the night.” On receiving this welcome order,Jack answered with a cheerful “Ay, ay, sir,” and standing up on theyard, he placed an arm around the mast, and remained for a long timemaking his observations. The command to look-out for boats would havebeen a sufficient excuse had he continued on the yard as long as it waslight.
Jack had no difficulty in finding the Poughkeepsie, which was alreadythrough the passage, and no longer visible from the deck. She appearedto be standing to the northward and westward, under easy canvas, like acraft that was in no hurry. This fact was communicated to Spike inthe usual way. The latter seemed pleased, and he answered in a heartymanner, just as if no difficulty had ever occurred between him and thesteward’s assistant.
“Very well, Jack! bravo, Jack!--now take a good look for boats; you’llhave light enough for that this half hour,” cried the captain. “If anyare out, you’ll find them pulling down the channel, or maybe they’ll tryto shorten the cut, by attempting to pull athwart the reef. Take a goodand steady look for them, my man.”
“Ay, ay, sir; I’ll do all I can with naked eyes,” answered Jack, “butI could do better, sir, if they would only send me up a glass by thesehere signal-halyards. With a glass, a fellow might speak with somesartainty.”
Spike seemed struck with the truth of this suggestion; and he soon senta glass aloft by the signal-halyards. Thus provided, Jack descended aslow as the cross-trees, where he took his seat, and began a survey athis leisure. While thus employed, the brig was secured for the night,her decks were cleared, and the people were ordered to get theirsuppers, previously to setting an anchor-watch, and turning-in for thenight. No one heeded the movements of Tier,--for Spike had gone intohis own state-room,--with the exception of Josh and Simon. Those twoworthies were still in the galley, conversing on the subject of Jack’srecent communications; and ever and anon one of them would stick hishead out of the door and look aloft, withdrawing it, and shaking itsignificantly, as soon as his observations were ended.
As for Tier, he was seated quite at his ease; and having slung his glassto one of the shrouds, in a way to admit of its being turned as on apivot, he had every opportunity for observing accurately, and at hisleisure. The first thing Jack did, was to examine the channel veryclosely, in order to make sure that no boats were in it, after whichhe turned the glass with great eagerness toward the reef, in the almosthopeless office of ascertaining something concerning Mulford. In pointof fact, the brig had anchored quite three leagues from the solitaryrock of the deserted mate, and, favoured as he was by his elevation,Jack could hardly expect to discern so small and low an object as thatrock at so great a distance. Nevertheless, the glass was much betterthan common. It had been a present to Spike from one who was careful inhis selections of such objects, and who had accidentally been undera serious obligation to the captain. Knowing the importance of agood look, as regards the boats, Spike had brought this particularinstrument, of which, in common, he was very chary, from his ownstate-room, and sent it aloft, in order that Jack might have everyavailable opportunity of ascertaining his facts. It was this glass,then, which was the means of the important discoveries the littlefellow, who was thus perched on the fore-topmast cross-trees of theSwash, did actually succeed in making.
Jack actually started, when he first ascertained how distinctly and nearthe glass he was using brought distant objects. The gulls that sailedacross its disk, though a league off, appeared as if near enough to betouched by the hand, and even their feathers gave out not only theirhues, but their forms. Thus, too, was it with the surface of the ocean,of which the little waves that agitated the water of the reef, mightbe seen tossing up and down, at more than twice the range of thePoughkeepsie’s heaviest gun. Naked rocks, low and subdued as they werein colour, too, were to be noted, scattered up and down in the panorama.At length Tier fancied his glass covered a field that he recognized. Itwas distant, but might be seen from his present elevation. A second looksatisfied him he was right; and he next clearly traced the last channelin which they had endeavoured to escape from Spike, or that in which theboat had been taken. Following it along, by slowly moving the glass,he actually hit the rock on which Mulford had been deserted. It waspeculiar in shape, size, and elevation above the water, and connectedwith the circumstance of the channel, which was easily enough seen bythe colour of the water, and more easily from
his height than if he hadbeen in it, he could not be mistaken. The little fellow’s heart beatquick as he made the glass move slowly over its surface, anxiouslysearching for the form of the mate. It was not to be seen. A second,and a more careful sweep of the glass, made it certain that the rock wasdeserted.
Although a little reflection might have satisfied any one Mulford wasnot to be sought in that particular spot, so long after he had been leftthere, Jack Tier felt grievously disappointed when he was first madecertain of the accuracy of his observations. A minute later he began toreason on the matter, and he felt more encouraged. The rock on which themate had been abandoned was smooth, and could not hold any fresh waterthat might have been left by the late showers. Jack also remembered thatit had neither sea-weed nor shell-fish. In short, the utmost malice ofSpike could not have selected, for the immolation of his victim, a moresuitable place. Now Tier had heard Harry’s explanation to Rose, touchingthe manner in which he had waded and swum about the reef that verymorning, and it at once occurred to him that the young man had too muchenergy and spirit to remain helpless and inactive to perish on anaked rock, when there might be a possibility of at least prolongingexistence, if not of saving it. This induced the steward to turn theglass slowly over the water, and along all the ranges of visible rockthat he could find in that vicinity. For a long time the search wasuseless, the distance rendering such an examination not only difficultbut painful. At length Jack, about to give up the matter in despair,took one sweep with the glass nearer to the brig, as much to obtain ageneral idea of the boat-channels of the reef, as in any hope of findingMulford, when an object moving in the water came within the field of theglass. He saw it but for an instant, as the glass swept slowly past,but it struck him it was something that had life, and was in motion.Carefully going over the same ground again, after a long search, heagain found what he so anxiously sought. A good look satisfied him thathe was right. It was certainly a man wading along the shallow water ofthe reef, immersed to his waist--and it must be Mulford.
So excited was Jack Tier by this discovery that he trembled like a leaf.A minute or two elapsed before he could again use the glass; and when hedid, a long and anxious search was necessary before so small an objectcould be once more found. Find it he did, however, and then he got itsrange by the vessel, in a way to make sure of it. Yes, it was a man, andit was Mulford.
Circumstances conspired to aid Jack in the investigation that succeeded.The sun was near setting, but a stream of golden light gleamed overthe waters, particularly illuminating the portion which came withinthe field of the glass. It appeared then that Harry, in his efforts toescape from the rock, and to get nearer to the edge of the main channel,where his chances of being seen and rescued would be ten-fold what theywere on his rock, had moved south, by following the naked reef and theshallow places, and was actually more than a league nearer to the brigthan he would have been had he remained stationary. There had been hoursin which to make this change, and the young man had probably improvedthem to the utmost.
Jack watched the form that was wading slowly along with an interesthe had never before felt in the movements of any human being. WhetherMulford saw the brig or not, it was difficult to say. She was quite twoleagues from him, and, now that her sails were furled, she offered butlittle for the eye to rest on at that distance. At first, Jack thoughtthe young man was actually endeavouring to get nearer to her, though itmust have been a forlorn hope that should again place him in the handsof Spike. It was, however, a more probable conjecture that the young manwas endeavouring to reach the margin of the passage, where a good dealof rock was above water, and near to which he had already managed toreach. At one time Jack saw that the mate was obliged to swim, and heactually lost sight of him for a time. His form, however, reappeared,and then it slowly emerged from the water, and stood erect on a barerock of some extent. Jack breathed freer at this; for Mulford was now onthe very margin of the channel, and might be easily reached by the boat,should he prevail on Josh, or Simon, to attempt the rescue.
At first, Jack Tier fancied that Mulford had knelt to return thankson his arrival at a place of comparative safety; but a second looksatisfied him that Harry was drinking from one of the little pools offresh water left by the late shower. When he rose from drinking, theyoung man walked about the place, occasionally stooping, signs thathe was picking up shell-fish for his supper. Suddenly, Mulford dartedforward, and passed beyond the field of the glass. When Jack found himagain, he was in the act of turning a small turtle, using his knifeon the animal immediately after. Had Jack been in danger of starvationhimself, and found a source of food as ample and as grateful as this,he could scarcely have been more delighted. The light now began to waneperceptibly, still Harry’s movements could be discerned. The turtle waskilled and dressed, sufficiently at least for the mate’s purposes, andthe latter was seen collecting sea-weed, and bits of plank, boards, andsticks of wood, of which more or less, in drifting past, had lodgedupon the rocks. “Is it possible,” thought Jack, “that he is so werrypartic’lar he can’t eat his turtle raw! Will he, indeed, venture tolight a fire, or has he the means?” Mulford was so particular, however,he did venture to light a fire, and he had the means. This may be saidto be the age of matches--not in a connubial, though in an inflammatorysense--and the mate had a small stock in a tight box that he habituallycarried on his person. Tier saw him at work over a little pile he hadmade for a long time, the beams of day departing now so fast as to makehim fearful he should soon lose his object in the increasing obscurityof twilight. Suddenly a light gleamed, and the pile sent forth a clearflame. Mulford went to and fro, collecting materials to feed hisfire, and was soon busied in cooking his turtle. All this Tier saw andunderstood, the light of the flames coming in proper time to supply thevacuum left by the departure of that of day.
In a minute Tier had no difficulty in seeing the fire that Mulford hadlighted on his low and insulated domains with the naked eye. It gleamedbrightly in that solitary place; and the steward was much afraid itwould be seen by some one on deck, get to be reported to Spike, and leadto Harry’s destruction after all. The mate appeared to be insensible tohis danger, however, occasionally casting piles of dry sea-weed on hisfire, in a way to cause the flames to flash up, as if kindled anewby gunpowder. It now occurred to Tier that the young man had a doubleobject in lighting this fire, which would answer not only the purposesof his cookery, but as a signal of distress to anything passingnear. The sloop-of-war, though more distant than the brig, was in hisneighbourhood; and she might possibly yet send relief. Such was thestate of things when Jack was startled by a sudden hail from below. Itwas Spike’s voice, and came up to him short and quick.
“Fore-topmast cross-trees, there! What are ye about all this time,Master Jack Tier, in them fore-topmast cross-trees, I say?” demandedSpike.
“Keeping a look-out for boats from the sloop-of-war, as you bade me,sir,” answered Jack, coolly.
“D’ye see any, my man? Is the water clear ahead of us, or not?”
“It’s getting to be so dark, sir, I can see no longer. While there wasday-light, no boat was to be seen.”
“Come down, man--come down; I’ve business for you below. The sloop isfar enough to the nor’ard, and we shall neither see nor hear from herto-night. Come down, I say, Jack--come down.”
Jack obeyed, and securing the glass, he began to descend the rigging.He was soon as low as the top, when he paused a moment to take anotherlook. The fire was still visible, shining like a torch on the surfaceof the water, casting its beams abroad like “a good deed in a naughtyworld.” Jack was sorry to see it, though he once more took its bearingfrom the brig, in order that he might know where to find the spot, inthe event of a search for it. When on the stretcher of the fore-rigging,Jack stopped and again looked for his beacon. It had disappeared, havingsunk below the circular formation of the earth. By ascending two orthree ratlins, it came into view, and by going down as low as thestretcher again, it disappeared. Trusting that no one, at th
at hour,would have occasion to go aloft, Jack now descended to the deck, andwent aft with the spy-glass.
Spike and the Señor Montefalderon were under the coach-house, no oneelse appearing on any part of the quarter-deck. The people were eatingtheir suppers, and Josh and Simon were busy in the galley. As for thefemales, they chose to remain in their own cabin, where Spike was wellpleased to leave them.
“Come this way, Jack,” said the captain, in his best-humoured tone ofvoice, “I’ve a word to say to you. Put the glass in at my state-roomwindow, and come hither.”
Tier did as ordered.
“So you can make out no boats to the nor’ard, ha, Jack! nothing to beseen thereaway?”
“Nothing in the way of a boat, sir.”
“Ay, ay, I dare say there’s plenty of water, and some rock. The FloridaReef has no scarcity of either, to them that knows where to look forone, and to steer clear of the other. Hark’e, Jack; so you got theschooner under way from the Dry Tortugas, and undertook to beat her upto Key West, when she fancied herself a turtle, and over she went withyou--is that it, my man?”
“The schooner turned turtle with us, sure enough, sir; and we all camenear drowning on her bottom.”
“No sharks in that latitude and longitude, eh Jack?”
“Plenty on ‘em, sir; and I thought they would have got us all, at onetime. More than twenty set of fins were in sight at once, for severalhours.”
“You could hardly have supplied the gentlemen with a leg, or an arm,each. But where was the boat all this time--you had the light-house boatin tow, I suppose?”
“She had been in tow, sir; but Madam Budd talked so much dictionary tothe painter, that it got adrift.”
“Yet I found you all in it.”
“Very true, sir. Mr. Mulford swam quite a mile to reach the rocks, andfound the boat aground on one on ‘em. As soon as he got the boat, hemade sail, and came and took us off. We had reason to thank God he coulddo so.”
Spike looked dark and thoughtful. He muttered the words “swam,” and“rocks,” but was too cautious to allow any expressions to escape him,that might betray to the Mexican officer that which was uppermost in hismind. He was silent, however, for quite a minute, and Jack saw that hehad awakened a dangerous source of distrust in the captain’s breast.
“Well, Jack,” resumed Spike, after the pause, “can you tell us anythingof the doubloons? I nat’rally expected to find them in the boat, butthere were none to be seen. You scarcely pumped the schooner out,without overhauling her lockers, and falling in with them doubloons.”
“We found them, sure enough, and had them ashore with us, in the tent,down to the moment when we sailed.”
“When you took them off to the schooner, eh? My life for it, the goldwas not forgotten.”
“It was not, sure enough, sir; but we took it off with us to theschooner, and it went down in her when she finally sunk.”
Another pause, during which Señor Montefalderon and Captain Spike lookedsignificantly at each other.
“Do you think, Jack, you could find the spot where the schooner wentdown?”
“I could come pretty near it, sir, though not on the very spot itself.Water leaves no mark over the grave of a sunken ship.”
“If you can take us within a reasonable distance, we might find itby sweeping for it. Them doubloons are worth some trouble; and theirrecovery would be better than a long v’y’ge to us, any day.”
“They would, indeed, Don Esteban,” observed the Mexican; “and my poorcountry is not in a condition to bear heavy losses. If Señor Jack Tiercan find the wreck, and we regain the money, ten of those doubloonsshall be his reward, though I take them from my own share, muchdiminished as it will be.”
“You hear, Jack--here is a chance to make your fortune! You say yousailed with me in old times--and old times were good times with thisbrig, though times has changed; but if you sailed with me, in _old_times, you must remember that whatever the Swash touched she turned togold.”
“I hope you do n’t doubt, Captain Spike, my having sailed in the brig,not only in old times, but in her best times.”
Jack seemed hurt as he put this question, and Spike appeared in doubt.The latter gazed at the little, rotund, queer-looking figure before him,as if endeavouring to recognise him; and when he had done, he passed hishand over his brow, like one who endeavoured to recall past objects byexcluding those that are present.
“You will then show us the spot where my unfortunate schooner did sink,Señor Jack Tier?” put in the Mexican.
“With all my heart, señor, if it is to be found. I think I could takeyou within a cable’s length of the place, though hunger, and thirst, andsharks, and the fear of drowning, will keep a fellow from having a verybright look-out for such a matter.”
“In what water do you suppose the craft to lie, Jack?” demanded thecaptain.
“You know as much of that as I do myself, sir. She went down about acable’s length from the reef, toward which she was a settin’ at thetime; and had she kept afloat an hour longer, she might have grounded onthe rocks.”
“She ‘s better where she is, if we can only find her by sweeping. On therocks we could do nothing with her but break her up, and ten to one thedoubloons would be lost. By the way, Jack, do you happen to know wherethat scoundrel of a mate of mine stowed the money?”
“When we left the island, I carried it down to the boat myself--and agood lift I had of it. As sure as you are there, señor, I was obliged totake it on a shoulder. When it came out of the boat, Mr. Mulford carriedit below; and I heard him tell Miss Rose, a’terwards that he had thrownit into a bread-locker.”
“Where we shall find it, Don Wan, notwithstanding all this veering andhauling. The old brig has luck when, doubloons are in question, and everhas had since I’ve commanded her. Jack, we shall have to call on thecook and stewards for an anchor-watch to-night. The people are a gooddeal fagged with boxing about this reef so much, and I shall want ‘emall as fresh to-morrow as they can be got. You idlers had better takethe middle watches, which will give the fore-castle chaps longer naps.”
“Ay, ay, sir; we’ll manage that for ‘em. Josh and Simon can go on attwelve, and I will take the watch at two, which will give the men allthe rest they want, as I can hold out for four hours full. I’m as goodfor an anchor-watch as any man in the brig, Captain Spike.”
“That you are, Jack, and better than some on ‘em. Take you all round,and round it is, you ‘re a rum ‘un, my lad--the queerest little jiggerthat ever lay out on a royal-yard.”
Jack might have been a little offended at Spike’s compliments, but hewas certainly not sorry to find him so good-natured, after all that hadpassed. He now left the captain, and his Mexican companion, seemingly inclose conference together, while he went below himself, and droppedas naturally into the routine of his duty, as if he had never left thebrig. In the cabin he found the females, of course. Rose scarce raisingher face from the shawl which lay on the bed of her own berth. Jackbusied himself in a locker near this berth, until an opportunityoccurred to touch Rose, unseen by her aunt or Biddy. The poorheart-stricken girl raised her face, from which all the colourhad departed, and looked almost vacantly at Jack, as if to askan explanation. Hope is truly, by a most benevolent provision ofProvidence, one of the very last blessings to abandon us. It is probablethat we are thus gifted, in order to encourage us to rely on the greatatonement to the last moment, since, without this natural endowment tocling to hope, despair might well be the fate of millions, who, there isreason to think, reap the benefit of that act of divine mercy. It wouldhardly do to say that anything like hope was blended with the look Rosenow cast on Jack, but it was anxious and inquiring.
The steward bent his head to the locker, bringing his face quite nearto that of Rose, and whispered--“There is hope, Miss Rose--but do notbetray me.”
These were blessed words for our heroine to hear, and they producedan immediate and great revolution in her feelings. Commanding herself,however, she looked
her questions, instead of trusting even to awhisper. Jack did not say any more, just then; but, shortly after, hecalled Rose, whose eyes were now never off him, into the main cabin,which was empty. It was so much pleasanter to sleep in an airystate-room on deck, that Señor Montefalderon, indeed, had given up theuse of this cabin, in a great measure, seldom appearing in it, exceptat meals, having taken possession of the deserted apartment of Mulford.Josh was in the galley, where he spent most of his time, and Rose andJack had no one to disturb their conference.
“He is safe, Miss Rose--God be praised!” whispered Jack. “Safe for thepresent, at least; with food, and water, and fire to keep him warm atnight.”
It was impossible for Rose not to understand to whom there was allusion,though her head became dizzy under the painful confusion that prevailedin it. She pressed her temples with both hands, and asked a thousandquestions with her eyes. Jack considerately handed her a glass of waterbefore he proceeded. As soon as he found her a little more composed, herelated the facts connected with his discovery of Mulford, precisely asthey had occurred.
“He is now on a large rock--a little island, indeed--where he is safefrom the ocean unless it comes on to blow a hurricane,” concluded Jack,“has fresh water and fresh turtle in the bargain. A man might live amonth on one such turtle as I saw Mr. Mulford cutting up this evening.”
“Is there no way of rescuing him from the situation you have mentioned,Jack? In a year or two I shall be my own mistress, and have money to doas I please with; put me only in the way of taking Mr. Mulford from thatrock, and I will share all I am worth on earth with you, dear Jack.”
“Ay, so it is with the whole sex,” muttered Tier; “let them only oncegive up their affections to a man, and he becomes dearer to them thanpearls and rubies! But you know me, Miss Rose, and know _why_ and _howwell_ I would sarve you. My story and my feelin’s are as much yoursecret, as your story and your feelin’s is mine. We shall pull together,if we do n’t pull so very strong. Now, hearken to me, Miss Rose, andI will let you into the secret of my plan to help Mr. Mulford make alaunch.”
Jack then communicated to his companion his whole project for the night.Spike had, of his own accord, given to him and his two associates, Simonand Josh, the care of the brig between midnight and morning. If he couldprevail on either of these men to accompany him, it was his intention totake the light-house boat, which was riding by its painter astern of thebrig, and proceed as fast as they could to the spot whither Mulford hadfound his way. By his calculations, if the wind stood as it then was,little more than an hour would be necessary to reach the rock, and aboutas much more to return. Should the breeze lull, of which there was nogreat danger, since the easterly trades were again blowing, Jack thoughthe and Josh might go over the distance with the oars in about double thetime. Should both Josh and Simon refuse to accompany him, he thoughthe should attempt the rescue of the mate alone, did the wind stand,trusting to Mulford’s assistance, should he need it, in getting back tothe brig.
“You surely would not come back here with Harry, did you once get himsafe from off that rock!” exclaimed Rose.
“Why, you know how it is with me, Miss Rose,” answered Jack. “_My_business is here, on board the Swash, and I must attend to it. Nothingshall tempt me to give up the brig so long as she floats, and sartainfolk float in her, unless it might be some such matter as that whichhappened on the bit of an island at the Dry Tortugas. Ah! he’s awillian! But if I do come back, it will be only to get into my ownproper berth ag’in, and not to bring Mr. Mulford into the lion’s jaws.He will only have to put me back on board the Molly here, when he canmake the best of his own way to Key West. Half an hour would place himout of harm’s way; especially as I happen to know the course Spike meansto steer in the morning.”
“I will go with you, Jack,” said Rose, mildly, but with great firmness.
“You, Miss Rose! But why should I show surprise! It’s like all the sex,when they have given away their affections. Yes, woman will be woman,put her on a naked rock, or put her in silks and satins in her parlourat home. How different is it with men! They dote for a little while, andturn to a new face. It must be said, men’s willians!”
“Not Mulford, Jack--no, not Harry Mulford! A truer or a nobler heartnever beat in a human breast; and you and I will drown together, ratherthan he should not be taken from that rock.”
“It shall be as you say,” answered Jack, a little thoughtfully. “Perhapsit would be best that you should quit the brig altogether. Spike isgetting desperate, and you will be safer with the young mate than withso great an old willian. Yes, you shall go with me, Miss Rose; and ifJosh and Simon both refuse, we will go alone.”
“With you, Jack, but not with Mr. Mulford. I cannot desert my aunt, norcan I quit the Swash alone in company with her mate. As for Spike, Idespise him too much to fear him. He must soon go into port somewhere,and at the first place where he touches we shall quit him. He dare notdetain us--nay, he _cannot_--and I do not fear him. We will save Harry,but I shall remain with my aunt.”
“We’ll see, Miss Rose, we’ll see,” said Tier, smiling. “Perhapsa handsome young man, like Mr. Mulford, will have better luck inpersuading you than an old fellow like me. If he should fail, ‘t will behis own fault.”
So thought Jack Tier, judging of women as he had found them, but so didnot think Rose Budd. The conversation ended here, however, each keepingin view its purport, and the serious business that was before them.
The duty of the vessel went on as usual. The night promised to beclouded, but not very dark, as there was a moon. When Spike ordered theanchor-watches, he had great care to spare his crew as much as possible,for the next day was likely to be one of great toil to them. He intendedto get the schooner up again, if possible; and though he might notactually pump her out so as to cause her to float, enough water was tobe removed to enable him to get at the doubloons. The situation of thebread-locker was known, and as soon as the cabin was sufficiently freedfrom water to enable one to move about in it, Spike did not doubt hisbeing able to get at the gold. With his resources and ingenuity,the matter in his own mind was reduced to one of toil and time.Eight-and-forty hours, and some hard labour, he doubted not would effectall he cared for.
In setting the anchor-watches for the night, therefore, Stephen Spikebethought him as much of the morrow as of the present moment. Don Juanoffered to remain on deck until midnight, and as he was as capable ofgiving an alarm as any one else, the offer was accepted. Josh and Simonwere to succeed the Mexican, and to hold the lookout for two hours, whenJack was to relieve them, and to continue on deck until light returned,when he was to give the captain a call. This arrangement made, Tierturned in at once, desiring the cook to call him half an hour before theproper period of his watch commenced. That half hour Jack intended toemploy in exercising his eloquence in endeavouring to persuade eitherJosh or Simon to be of his party. By eight o’clock the vessel lay in aprofound quiet, Señor Montefalderon pacing the quarterdeck alone, whilethe deep breathing of Spike was to be heard issuing through the openwindow of his state-room; a window which it may be well to say to theuninitiated, opened in-board, or toward the deck, and not outboard, ortoward the sea.
For four solitary hours did the Mexican pace the deck of the stranger,resting himself for a few minutes at a time only, when wearied withwalking. Does the reader fancy that a man so situated had not plenty ofoccupation for his thoughts? Don Juan Montefalderon was a soldier and agallant cavalier; and love of country had alone induced him to engagein his present duties. Not that patriotism which looks to politicalpreferment through a popularity purchased by the valgar acclamationwhich attends success in arms, even when undeserved, or that patriotismwhich induces men of fallen characters to endeavour to retrieve formeroffences by the shortest and most reckless mode, or that patriotismwhich shouts “our country right or wrong,” regardless alike of God andhis eternal laws, that are never to be forgotten with impunity; but thepatriotism which would defend his home and fire-side, h
is altars and thegraves of his fathers, from the ruthless steps of the invader. We shallnot pretend to say how far this gentleman entered into the merits of thequarrel between the two republics, which no arts of European jealousycan ever conceal from the judgment of truth, for, with him, mattershad gone beyond the point when men feel the necessity of reasoning, andwhen, perhaps, if such a condition of the mind is ever to be defended,he found his perfect justification in feeling. He had travelled, andknew life by observation, and not through traditions and books. Hehad never believed, therefore, that his countrymen could march toWashington, or even to the Sabine; but he had hoped for better thingsthan had since occurred. The warlike qualities of the Americans of theNorth, as he was accustomed to call those who term themselves, _parexcellence,_ Americans, a name they are fated to retain, and to raisehigh on the scale of national power and national pre-eminence, unlessthey fall by their own hands, had taken him by surprise, as they havetaken all but those who knew the country well, and who understood itspeople. Little had he imagined that the small, widely-spread body ofregulars, that figured in the blue books, almanacs and army-registers ofAmerica, as some six or seven thousand men, scattered along frontiersof a thousand leagues in extent, could, at the beck of the government,swell into legions of invaders, men able to carry war to the capitalsof his own states, thousands of miles from their doors, and formidablealike for their energy, their bravery, their readiness in the useof arms, and their numbers. He saw what is perhaps justly called theboasting of the American character, vindicated by their exploits; andmarches, conquests and victories that, if sober truth were alone tocover the pages of history, would far outdo in real labour and dangerthe boasted passage of the Alps under Napoleon, and the exploits thatsucceeded it.
Don Juan Montefalderon was a grave and thoughtful man, of pure Iberianblood. He might have had about him a little of the exaltation of theSpanish character; the overflowings of a generous chivalry at thebottom; and, under its influence, he may have set too high an estimateon Mexico and her sons, but he was not one to shut his eyes to thetruth. He saw plainly that the northern neighbours of his country were arace formidable and enterprising, and that of all the calumnies that hadbeen heaped upon them by rivalries and European superciliousness, thatof their not being military by temperament was, perhaps, the most absurdof all. On the contrary, he had himself, though anticipating evil, beenastounded by the suddenness and magnitude of their conquests, which ina few short months after the breaking out of hostilities, had overrunregions larger in extent than many ancient empires. All this had beendone, too, not by disorderly and barbarous hordes, seeking in otherlands the abundance that was wanting at home; but with system andregularity, by men who had turned the ploughshare into the sword for theoccasion, quitting abundance to encounter fatigue, famine, and danger.In a word, the Señor Montefalderon saw all the evils that environed hisown land, and foresaw others, of a still graver character that menacedthe future. On matters such as these did he brood in his walk, andbitter did he find the minutes of that sad and lonely watch. Although aMexican, he could feel; although an avowed foe of this good republicof ours, he had his principles, his affections, and his sense of right.Whatever may be the merits of the quarrel, and we are not disposed todeny that our provocation has been great, a sense of right shouldteach every man that what may be patriotic in an American, would notbe exactly the same thing in a Mexican, and that we ought to respect inothers sentiments that are so much vaunted among ourselves. Midnight atlength arrived, and, calling the cook and steward, the unhappy gentlemanwas relieved, and went to his berth to dream, in sorrow, over the samepictures of national misfortunes, on which, while waking, he had broodedin such deep melancholy.
The watch of Josh and Simon was tranquil, meeting with no interruptionuntil it was time to summon Jack. One thing these men had done, however,that was of some moment to Tier, under a pledge given by Josh, and whichhad been taken in return for a dollar in hand. They had managed to haulthe light-house boat alongside, from its position astern, and this sonoiselessly as not to give the alarm to any one. There it lay, when Jackappeared, ready at the main-rigging, to receive him at any moment hemight choose to enter it.
A few minutes after Jack appeared on deck, Rose and Biddy camestealthily out of the cabin, the latter carrying a basket filled withbread and broken meat, and not wanting in sundry little delicacies, suchas woman’s hands prepare, and, in this instance, woman’s tenderness hadprovided. The whole party met at the galley, a place so far removedfrom the state-rooms aft as to be out of ear-shot. Here Jack renewedhis endeavours to persuade either Josh or Simon to go in the boat, butwithout success. The negroes had talked the matter over in their watch,and had come to the conclusion the enterprise was too hazardous.
“I tell you, Jack, you does n’t know Cap’in Spike as well as I does,” Josh said, in continuance of the discourse. “No, you does n’t know himat all as well as I does. If he finds out that anybody has quit dis brigdis werry night, woful will come! It no good to try to run; I run t’reetime, an’ Simon here run twice. What good it all do? We got cotched,and here we is, just as fast as ever. I knows Cap’in Spike, and does n’twant to fall in athwart his hawse any more.”
“Y-e-s, dat my judgment too,” put in the cook. “We wishes you well,Jack, and we wishes Miss Rose well, and Mr. Mulford well, but we can’t,no how, run ath’art hawse, as Josh says. Dat is my judgment, too.”
“Well, if your minds are made up to this, my darkies, I s’pose there’llbe no changing them,” said Jack. “At all ewents you’ll lend us a hand,by answering any hail that may come from aft, in my watch, and inkeepin’ our secret. There’s another thing you can do for us, which maybe of service. Should Captain Spike miss the boat, and lay any trap tocatch us, you can just light this here bit of lantern and hang it overthe brig’s bows, where he’ll not be likely to see it, that we may knowmatters are going wrong, and give the craft a wide berth.”
“Sartain,” said Josh, who entered heartily into the affair, so far asgood wishes for its success were concerned, at the very moment when hehad a most salutary care of his own back. “Sartain; we do all dat,and no t’ank asked. It no great matter to answer a hail, or to light alantern and sling him over de bows; and if Captain Spike want to knowwho did it, let him find out.”
Here both negroes laughed heartily, manifesting so little care tosuppress their mirth, that Rose trembled lest their noise should awakenSpike. Accustomed sounds, however, seldom produce this effect on theears of the sleeper, and the heavy breathing from the state-room,succeeded the merriment of the blacks, as soon as the latter ceased.Jack now announced his readiness to depart. Some little care andmanagement were necessary to get into the boat noiselessly, moreespecially with Biddy. It was done however, with the assistance of theblacks, who cast off the painter, when Jack gave the boat a shove toclear the brig, and suffered it to drift astern for a considerabledistance before he ventured to cast loose the sail.
“I know Spike well,” said Jack, in answer to a remonstrance from theimpatient Rose concerning his delay: “A single flap of that canvas wouldwake him up, with the brig anchored, while he would sleep through asalute of heavy guns if it came in regular course. Quick ears has oldStephen, and it’s best to humour them. In a minute more we’ll set ourcanvas and be off.”
All was done as Jack desired, and the boat got away from the brigunheard and undetected. It was blowing a good breeze, and Jack Tier hadno sooner got the sail on the boat, than away it started at a speed thatwould have soon distanced Spike in his yawl, and with his best oarsmen.The main point was to keep the course, though the direction of the windwas a great assistant. By keeping the wind abeam, Jack thought he shouldbe going toward the rock of Mulford. In one hour, or even in less time,he expected to reach it, and he was guided by time, in his calculations,as much as by any other criterion. Previously to quitting the brig, hehad gone up a few ratlins of the fore-rigging to take the bearings ofthe fire on Mulford’s rock, but the light was no longer visible. Asno st
ar was to be seen, the course was a little vague, but Jack wasnavigator enough to understand that by keeping on the weather sideof the channel he was in the right road, and that his great danger ofmissing his object was in over-running it.
So much of the reef was above water, that it was not difficult to steera boat along its margin. The darkness, to be sure, rendered it a littleuncertain how near they were running to the rocks, but, on the whole,Jack assured Rose he had no great difficulty in getting along.
“These trades are almost as good as compasses,” he said, “and the rocksare better, if we can keep close aboard them without going on to them. Ido not know the exact distance of the spot we seek from the brig, butI judged it to be about two leagues, as I looked at it from aloft. Now,this boat will travel them two leagues in an hour, with this breeze andin smooth water.”
“I wish you had seen the fire again before we left the brig,” said Rose,too anxious for the result not to feel uneasiness on some account orother.
“The mate is asleep, and the fire has burned down; that’s theexplanation. Besides, fuel is not too plenty on a place like that Mr.Mulford inhabits just now. As we get near the spot, I shall look out forembers, which may sarve as a light-house, or beacon, to guide us intoport.”
“Mr. Mulford will be charmed to see us, now that we take him wather!” exclaimed Biddy. “Wather is a blessed thing, and it’s hard will be theheart that does not fale gratitude for a planty of swate wather.”
“The maty has plenty of food and water where he is,” said Jack. “I’llanswer for both them sarcumstances. I saw him turn a turtle as plainas if I had been at his elbow, and I saw him drinking at a hole in therock, as heartily as a boy ever pulled at a gimblet-hole in a molasseshogs-head.”
“But the distance was so great, Jack, I should hardly think you couldhave distinguished objects so small.”
“I went by the motions altogether. I saw the man, and I saw themovements, and I knowed what the last meant. It’s true I couldn’t swearto the turtle, though I saw something on the rock that I knowed, by theway in which it was handled, _must_ be a turtle. Then I saw the matekneel, and put his head low, and then I knowed he was drinking.”
“Perhaps he prayed,” said Rose, solemnly.
“Not he. Sailors isn’t so apt to pray, Miss Rose; not as apt as theyought to be. Women for prayers, and men for work. Mr. Mulford is noworse than many others, but I doubt if he be much given to _that_.”
To this Rose made no answer, but Biddy took the matter up, and, as theboat went briskly ahead, she pursued the subject.
“Then more is the shame for him,” said the Irish woman, “and Miss Rose,and missus, and even I prayin’ _for_ him, all as if he was our ownbrudder. It’s seldom I ask anything for a heretic, but I could notforget a fine young man like Mr. Mulford, and Miss Rose so partial tohim, and he in so bad a way. He ought to be ashamed to make his bragsthat he is too proud to pray.”
“Harry has made no such wicked boast,” put in Rose, mildly; “nor do weknow that he has not prayed for us, as well as for himself. It may allbe a mistake of Jack’s, you know.”
“Yes,” added Jack, coolly, “it _may_ be a mistake, a’ter all, for I waslookin’ at the maty six miles off, and through a spy-glass. No one canbe sure of anything at such a distance. So overlook the matter, my goodBiddy, and carry Mr. Mulford the nice things you’ve mustered in thatbasket, all the same as if he was pope.”
“This is a subject we had better drop,” Rose quietly observed.
“Anything to oblige you, Miss Rose, though religion is a matter it woulddo me no harm to talk about once and awhile. It’s many a long year sinceI’ve had time and opportunity to bring my thoughts to dwell on holythings. Ever since I left my mother’s side, I’ve been a wanderer in mymind, as much as in my body.”
“Poor Jack! I understand and feel for your sufferings; but a better timewill come, when you may return to the habits of your youth, and to theobservances of your church.”
“I do n’t know that, Miss Rose; I do n’t know that,” answered Tier,placing the elbow of his short arm on the seemingly shorter leg, andbending his head so low as to lean his face on the palm of the hand,an attitude in which he appeared to be suffering keenly through hisrecollections. “Childhood and innocence never come back to us in thisworld. What the grave may do, we shall all learn in time.”
“Innocence can return to all with repentance, Jack; and the heart thatprompts you to do acts as generous as this you are now engaged in, mustcontain some good seed yet.”
“If Jack will go to a praste and just confess, when he can find afather, it will do his sowl good,” said Biddy, who was touched by themental suffering of the strange little being at her side.
But the necessity of managing the boat soon compelled its coxswain toraise his head, and to attend to his duty. The wind sometimes camein puffs, and at such moments Jack saw that the large sail of thelight-house boat required watching, a circumstance that induced himto shake off his melancholy, and give his mind more exclusively to thebusiness before him. As for Rose, she sympathised deeply with Jack Tier,for she knew his history, his origin, the story of his youth, and thewell-grounded causes of his contrition and regrets. From her, Jack hadconcealed nothing, the gentle commiseration of one like Rose being abalm to wounds that had bled for long and bitter years. The great poetof our language, and the greatest that ever lived, perhaps, short of theinspired writers of the Old Testament, and old Homer and Dante, has wellreminded us that the “little beetle,” in yielding its breath, can “feela pang as great as when a giant dies.” Thus is it, too, in morals.Abasement, and misery, and poverty, and sin, may, and all do, contributeto lower the tone of our moral existence; but the principle that hasbeen planted by nature, can be eradicated by nature only. It existsas long as we exist; and if dormant for a time, under the pressure ofcircumstances, it merely lies, in the moral system, like the acorn, orthe chestnut, in the ground, waiting its time and season to sprout, andbud, and blossom. Should that time never arrive, it is not because theseed is not there, but because it is neglected. Thus was it with thesingular being of whose feelings we have just spoken. The germ ofgoodness had been implanted early in him, and was nursed with tendernessand care, until, self-willed, and governed by passion; he had thrown offthe connections of youth and childhood, to connect himself with Spike--aconnection that had left him what he was. Before closing our legend, weshall have occasion to explain it.
“We have run our hour; Miss Rose,” resumed Jack, breaking a continuedsilence, during which the boat had passed through a long line of water;“we have run our hour, and ought to be near the rock we are in searchof. But the morning is so dark that I fear we shall have difficulty infinding it. It will never do to run past it, and we must haul closerinto the reef, and shorten sail, that we may be sartain to make no suchmistake.”
Rose begged her companion to omit no precaution, as it would be dreadfulto fail in their search, after incurring so much risk in their ownpersons.
“Harry may be sleeping on the sea-weed of which you spoke,” she added,“and the danger of passing him will be much increased in such a case.What a gloomy and frightful spot is this, in which to abandon a humanbeing! I fear, Jack, that we have come faster than we have supposed, andmay already have passed the rock.”
“I hope not, Miss Rose--it seemed to me a good two leagues to the placewhere I saw him, and the boat is fast that will run two leagues in anhour.”
“We do not know the time, Jack, and are obliged to guess at that as wellas at the distance. How very dark it is!”
Dark, in one sense, it was not, though Rose’s apprehensions, doubtless,induced her to magnify every evil. The clouds certainly lessened thelight of the moon; but there was still enough of the last to enable oneto see surrounding objects; and most especially to render distinct thecharacter of the solitude that reigned over the place.
The proximity of the reef, which formed a weather shore to the boat,prevented anything like a swell on the water,
notwithstanding thesteadiness and strength of the breeze, which had now blown for neartwenty-four hours. The same wind, in open water, would have raised seaenough to cause a ship to pitch, or roll; whereas, the light-house boat,placed where she was, scarce rose and fell under the undulations of thechannel through which she was glancing.
“This is a good boat, and a fast boat too,” observed Jack Tier, after hehad luffed up several minutes, in order to make sure of his proximityto the reef; “and it might carry us all safe enough to Key West, orcertainly back to the Dry Tortugas, was we inclined to try our hands ateither.”
“I cannot quit my aunt,” said Rose, quickly, “so we will not even thinkof any such thing.”
“No, ‘t would never do to abandon the missus,” said Biddy, “and she onthe wrack wid us, and falin’ the want of wather as much as ourselves.”
“We three have sartainly gone through much in company,” returned Jack,“and it ought to make us friends for life.”
“I trust it will, Jack; I hope, when we return to New York, to see youamong us, anchored, as you would call it, for the rest of your daysunder my aunt’s roof, or under my own, should I ever have one.”
“No, Miss Rose, my business is with the Swash and her captain. I shallstick by both, now I’ve found ‘em again, until they once more desart me.A man’s duty is _his_ duty, and a woman’s duty is _her_ duty.”
“You same to like the brig and her captain, Jack Tier,” observed Biddy,“and there’s no use in gainsaying such a likin’. What _will_ cometo pass, must come to pass. Captain Spike is a mighty great sailor,anyway.”
“He’s a willian!” muttered Jack.
“There!” cried Rose, almost breathless, “there is a rock above thewater, surely. Do not fly by it so swiftly, Jack, but let us stop andexamine it.”
“There is a rock, sure enough, and a large piece it is,” answered Tier.“We will go alongside of it, and see what it is made of. Biddy shall beboat-keeper, while you and I, Miss Rose, explore.”
Jack had thrown the boat into the wind, and was shooting close alongsideof the reef, even while speaking. The party found no difficultyin landing; the margin of the rock admitting the boat to lie closealongside of it, and its surface being even and dry. Jack had brailedthe sail, and he brought the painter ashore, and fastened it securely toa fragment of stone, that made a very sufficient anchor. In addition tothis precaution, a lazy painter was put into Biddy’s hands, and she wasdirected not to let go of it while her companions were absent. Thesearrangements concluded, Rose and Jack commenced a hurried examination ofthe spot.
A few minutes sufficed to give our adventurers a tolerably accuratenotion of the general features of the place on which they had landed. Itwas a considerable portion of the reef that was usually above water, andwhich had even some fragments of soil, or sand, on which was a stintedgrowth of bushes. Of these last, however, there were very few, nor werethere many spots of the sand. Drift-wood and sea-weed were lodged inconsiderable quantities about its margin, and, in places, piles of bothhad been tossed upon the rock itself, by the billows of former gales ofwind. Nor was it long before Jack discovered a turtle that had been upto a hillock of sand, probably to deposit its eggs. There was enough ofthe sportsman in Jack, notwithstanding the business he was on, to turnthis animal; though with what object, he might have been puzzled himselfto say. This exploit effected, Jack followed Rose as fast as his shortlegs would permit, our heroine pressing forward eagerly, though almostwithout hope, in order to assertain if Mulford were there.
“I am afraid this is not the rock,” said Rose, nearly breathless withher own haste, when Jack had overtaken her. “I see nothing of him, andwe have passed over most of the place.”
“Very true, Miss Rose,” answered her companion, who was in a good humouron account of his capture of the turtle; “but there are other rocksbesides this. Ha! what was that, yonder,” pointing with a finger, “here,more toward the brig. As I’m a sinner, there was a flashing, as offire.”
“If a fire, it must be that made by Harry. Let us go to the spot atonce.”
Jack led the way, and, sure enough, he soon reached a place where theembers of what had been a considerable body of fire, were smouldering onthe rock. The wind had probably caused some brand to kindle momentarily,which was the object that had caught Tier’s eye. No doubt any longerremained of their having found the very place where the mate had cookedhis supper, and lighted his beacon, though he himself was not near it.Around these embers were all the signs of Mulford’s having made themeal, of which Jack had seen the preparations. A portion of the turtle,much the greater part of it, indeed, lay in its shell; and piles of woodand sea-weed, both dry, had been placed at hand, ready for use. A ship’stopgallant-yard, with most of its rope attached, lay with a charred endnear the fire, of where the fire had been, the wood having burned untilthe flames went out for want of contact with other fuel. There were manypieces of boards of pitch-pine in the adjacent heap, and two or threebeautiful planks of the same wood, entire. In short, from the characterand quantity of the materials of this nature that had thus been heapedtogether, Jack gave it as his opinion that some vessel, freighted withlumber, had been wrecked to windward, and that the adjacent rockshad been receiving the tribute of her cargo. Wrecks are of very, veryfrequent occurrence on the Florida Reef; and there are always momentswhen such gleanings are to be made in some part of it or other.
“I see no better way to give a call to the mate, Miss Rose, than tothrow some of this dry weed, and some of this lumber on the fire,” said Jack, after he had rummaged about the place sufficiently to becomemaster of its condition. “There is plenty of amunition, and here goesfor a broadside.”
Jack had no great difficulty in effecting his object. In a few minuteshe succeeded in obtaining a flame, and then he fed it with suchfragments of the brands and boards as were best adapted to his purpose.The flames extended gradually, and by the time Tier had dragged thetopgallant-yard over the pile, and placed several planks, on theiredges, alongside of it, the whole was ready to burst into a blaze.The light was shed athwart the rock for a long distance, and the wholeplace, which was lately so gloomy and obscure, now became gay, under thebright radiance of a blazing fire.
“There is a beacon-light that might almost be seen on board!” said Jack,exulting in his success. “If the mate is anywhere in this latitude, hewill soon turn up.”
“I see nothing of him,” answered Rose, in a melancholy voice. “Surely,surely, Jack, he cannot have left the rock just as we have come torescue him!”
Rose and her companion had turned their faces from the fire to look inan opposite direction in quest of him they sought. Unseen by them, ahuman form advanced swiftly toward the fire, from a point on its otherside. It advanced nearer, then hesitated, afterward rushed forward witha tread that caused the two to turn, and at the next moment, Rose wasclasped to the heart of Mulford.
Jack Tier; Or, The Florida Reef Page 10
