Jack Tier; Or, The Florida Reef

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER V.

  The gull has found her place on shore; The sun gone down again to rest; And all is still but ocean’s roar; There stands the man unbless’d. But see, he moves--he turns, as asking where His mates? Why looks he with that piteous stare?

  Dana.

  Superstition would seem to be a consequence of a state of being, inwhich so much is shadowed forth, while so little is accurately known.Our far-reaching thoughts range over the vast fields of created things,without penetrating to the secret cause of the existence of even ablade of grass. We can analyze all substances that are brought into ourcrucibles, tell their combinations and tendencies, give a scientifichistory of their formation, so far as it is connected with secondaryfacts, their properties, and their uses; but in each and all, there is alatent natural cause, that baffles all our inquiries, and tells us thatwe are merely men. This is just as true in morals, as in physics--no manliving being equal to attaining the very faith that is necessary to hissalvation, without the special aid of the spirit of the godhead; andeven with that mighty support, trusting implicitly for all that isconnected with a future that we are taught to believe is eternal,to “the substance of things _hoped_ for, and the evidence of things_unseen_.” In a word, this earthly probation of ours, was intended forfinite beings, in the sense of our present existence, leaving far moreto be conjectured, than is understood.

  Ignorance and superstition ever bear a close, and even a mathematicalrelation to each other. The degrees of the one, are regulated by thedegrees of the other. He who knows the least believes the most; while hewho has seen the most, without the intelligence to comprehend that whichhe has seen, feels, perhaps, the strongest inclination to refer thosethings which to him are mysteries, to the supernatural and marvellous.Sailors have been, from time immemorial, more disposed than men oftheir class on the land, to indulge in this weakness, which is probablyheightened by the circumstance of their living constantly and vividly inthe presence of powers that menace equally their lives and their means,without being in any manner subject to their control.

  Spike, for a seaman of his degree of education, was not particularlyaddicted to the weakness to which we have just alluded. Nevertheless, hewas not altogether free from it; and recent circumstances contributed todispose him so much the more to admit a feeling which, like sin itself,is ever the most apt to insinuate itself at moments of extraordinarymoral imbecility, and through the openings left by previoustransgression. As his brig stood off from the light, the captain pacedthe deck, greatly disturbed by what had just passed, and unable toaccount for it. The boat of the Poughkeepsie was entirely concealed bythe islet, and there existing no obvious motive for wishing to return,in order to come at the truth, not a thought to that effect, for onemoment, crossed the mind of the smuggler. So far from this, indeed, werehis wishes, that the Molly did not seem to him to go half as fast asusual, in his keen desire to get further and further from a spot wheresuch strange incidents had occurred.

  As for the men forward, no argument was wanting to make _them_ believethat something supernatural had just passed before their eyes. It wasknown to them all, that Mulford had been left on a naked rock, somethirty miles from that spot; and it was not easy to understand how hecould now be at the Dry Tortugas, planted, as it might be, on purposeto show himself to the brig, against the tower, in the bright moonlight,“like a pictur’ hung up for his old shipmates to look at.”

  Sombre were the tales that were related that night among them, many ofwhich related to the sufferings of men abandoned on desert islands;and all of which bordered, more or less, on the supernatural. The crewconnected the disappearance of the boat with Mulford’s apparition,though the logical inference would have been, that the body whichrequired planks to transport it, could scarcely be classed with anythingof the world of spirits. The links in arguments, however, are seldomrespected by the illiterate and vulgar, who jump to their conclusions,in cases of the marvellous, much as politicians find an expression ofthe common mind in the prepared opinions of the few who speak for them,totally disregarding the dissenting silence of the million. While themen were first comparing their opinions on that which, to them, seemedto be so extraordinary, the Señor Montefalderon joined the captain inhis walk, and dropped into a discourse touching the events which hadattended their departure from the haven of the Dry Tortugas. In thisconversation, Don Juan most admirably preserved his countenance, aswell as his self-command, effectually preventing the suspicion of anyknowledge on his part, that was not common to them both.

  “You did leave the port with the salutes observed,” the Mexicancommenced, with the slightest accent of a foreigner, or just enough toshow that he was not speaking in his mother tongue; “salutes paid andreturned.”

  “Do you call that saluting, Don Wan? To me, that infernal shot soundedmore like an echo, than anything else.”

  “And to what do _you_ ascribe it, Don Esteban?”

  “I wish I could answer that question. Sometimes I begin to wish I hadnot left my mate on that naked rock.”

  “There is still time to repair the last wrong; we shall go within a fewmiles of the place where the Señor Enrique was left; and I can take theyawl, with two men, and go in search of him, while you are at work onthe wreck.”

  “Do you believe it possible that he can be still there?” demanded Spike,looking suddenly and intently at his companion, while his mind wasstrangely agitated between hatred and dread. “If he is there, whoand what was _he_ that we all saw so plainly at the foot of thelight-house?”

  “How should he have left the rock? He was without food or water; and noman, in all his vigour, could swim this distance. I see no means of hisgetting here.”

  “Unless some wrecker, or turtler, fell in with him, and took him off.Ay, ay, Don Wan; I left him that much of a chance, at least. No man cansay I _murdered_ my mate.”

  “I am not aware, Don Esteban, that any one _has_ said so hard a thing ofyou. Still, we have seen neither wrecker nor turtler since we have beenhere; and that lessens the excellent chance you left Don Enrique.”

  “There is no occasion, señor, to be so particular,” growled Spike, alittle sullenly, in reply. “The chance, I say, was a _good_ one, whenyou consider how many of them devils of wreckers hang about these reefs.Let this brig only get fast on a rock, and they would turn up, likesharks, all around us, each with his maw open for salvage. But this isneither here nor there; what puzzles me, was what we saw at the light,half an hour since, and the musket that was fired back at us! I _know_that the figure at the foot of the tower did not fire, for my eye wason him from first to last; and he had no arms. You were on the islanda good bit, and must have known if the light-house keeper was there ornot, Don Wan?”

  “The light-house keeper _was_ there, Don Esteban--but he was in his_grave_.”

  “Ay, ay, one, I know, was drowned, and buried with the rest of them;there might, however, have been more than one. You saw none of thepeople that had gone to Key West, in or about the house, Don Wan?”

  “None. If any persons have left the Tortugas to go to Key West, within afew days, not one of them has yet returned.”

  “So I supposed. No, it can be none of _them_. Then I saw his face asplainly as ever I saw it by moon-light, from aft, for’ard. What is youropinion about seeing the dead walk on the ‘arth, Don Wan?”

  “That I have never seen any such thing myself, Don Esteban, andconsequently know nothing about it.”

  “So I supposed; I find it hard to believe it, I do. It may be a warningto keep us from-coming any more to the Dry Tortugas; and I must say Ihave little heart for returning to this place, after all that has fellout here. We can go to the wreck, fish up the doubloons, and be off forYucatan. Once in one of your ports, I make no question that the meritsof the Molly will make themselves understood, and that we shall soonagree on a price.”

  “What use could we put the brig to, Don Esteban, if we had her all readyfor sea?”

  “That is a strange question to ask in
time of war! Give _me_ such acraft as the Molly, with sixty or eighty men on board her, in a war likethis, and her ‘arnin’s should not fall short of half a million within atwelvemonth.”

  “Could we engage you to take charge of her, Don Esteban?”

  “That would be ticklish work, Don Wan. But we can see. No one knows whathe will do until he is tried. In for a penny, in for a pound. A fellownever knows! Ha! ha! ha! Don Wan, we live in a strange world--yes, in astrange world.”

  “We live in strange _times,_ Don Esteban, as the situation of my poorcountry proves. But let us talk this matter over a little more inconfidence.”

  And they did thus discuss the subject. It was a singular spectacle tosee an honourable man, one full of zeal of the purest nature in behalfof his own country, sounding a traitor as to the terms on which hemight be induced to do all the harm he could, to those who claimedhis allegiance. Such sights, however, are often seen; our own especialobjects too frequently blinding us to the obligations that we owemorality, so far as not to be instrumental in effecting even whatwe conceive to be good, by questionable agencies. But the SeñorMontefalderon kept in view, principally, his desire to be useful toMexico, blended a little too strongly, perhaps, with the wishes of a manwho was born near the sun, to avenge his wrongs, real or fancied.

  While this dialogue was going on between Spike and his passenger, asthey paced the quarter-deck, one quite as characteristic occurred inthe galley, within twenty feet of them--Simon, the cook, and Josh, thesteward, being the interlocutors. As they talked secrets, they conferredtogether with closed doors, though few were ever disposed to encounterthe smoke, grease, and fumes of their narrow domains, unless calledthither by hunger.

  “What _you_ t’ink of dis matter Josh?” demanded Simon, whose skullhaving the well-known density of his race, did not let internal ideasout, or external ideas in as readily as most men’s. “Our young mate_was_ at de light-house beyond all controwersy; and how can he be den ondat rock over yonder, too?”

  “Dat is imposserbul,” answered Josh; “derefore I says it is n’t true.I surposes you know dat what is imposserbul is n’t true, Simon. Nobodycan’t be out yonder and down here at de same time. Dat is imposserble,Simon. But what I wants to intermate to you, will explain all disdifficulty; and it do show de raal super’ority of a coloured man overde white poperlation. Now, you mark my words, cook, and be full ofadmiration! Jack Tier came back along wid de Mexican gentle’em, in myanchor-watch, dis very night! You see, in de first place, ebbery t’ingcome to pass in nigger’s watch.”

  Here the two dark-skinned worthies haw-haw’d to their heart’s content;laughing very much as a magistrate or a minister of the gospel mightbe fancied to laugh, the first time he saw a clown at a circus. Themerriment of a negro will have its course, in spite of ghosts, or ofanything else; and neither the cook nor the steward dreamed of putting inanother syllable, until their laugh was fairly and duly ended. Then thecook made his remarks.

  “How Jack Tier comin’ back explain der differculty, Josh?” asked Simon.

  “Did n’t Jack go away wid Miss Rose and de mate, in de boat dat gotadrift, you know, in Jack’s watch on deck?”

  Here the negroes laughed again, their imaginations happening to pictureto each, at the same instant, the mystification about the boat; Biddyhaving told Josh in confidence, the manner in which the party hadreturned to the brig, while he and Simon were asleep; which fact thesteward had already communicated to the cook. To these two beings, of anorder in nature different from all around them, and of a simplicity andof habits that scarce placed them on a level with the intelligence ofthe humblest white man, all these circumstances had a sort of mysteriousconnection, out of which peeped much the most conspicuously to theirfaculties, the absurdity of the captain’s imagining that a boat hadgot adrift, which had, in truth, been taken away by human hands.Accordingly, they laughed it out; and when they had done laughing, theyreturned again to the matter before them with renewed interest in thesubject.

  “Well, how all dat explain dis differculty?” repeated Simon.

  “In dis wery manner, cook,” returned the steward, with a little dignityin his manner. “Ebbery t’ing depend on understandin’, I s’pose you know.If Mr. Mulford got taken off dat rock by Miss Rose and Jack Tier, widde boat, and den dey comes here altogedder; and den Jack Tier, he geton board and tell Biddy all dis matter, and den Biddy tell Josh, and denJosh tell de cook--what for you surprise, you black debbil, one bit?”

  “Dat all!” exclaimed Simon.

  “Dat just all--dat ebbery bit of it, do n’t I say.”

  Here Simon burst into such a fit of loud laughter, that it induced Spikehimself to shove aside the galley-door, and thrust his own frowningvisage into the dark hole within, to inquire the cause.

  “What’s the meaning of this uproar?” demanded the captain, all the moreexcited because he felt that things had reached a pass that would notpermit him to laugh himself. “Do you fancy yourself on the Hook, or atthe Five Points?”

  The Hook and the Five Points are two pieces of tabooed territorywithin the limits of the good town of Manhattan, that are getting to berenowned for their rascality and orgies. They probably want nothingbut the proclamation of a governor in vindication of their principles,annexed to a pardon of some of their unfortunate children, to renderboth classical. If we continue to make much further progress inpolitical logic, and in the same direction as that in which we havealready proceeded so far, neither will probably long be in want of thisillustration. Votes can be given by the virtuous citizens of boththese purlieus, as well as by the virtuous citizens of the anti-rentdistricts, and votes contain the essence of all such principles, as wellas of their glorification.

  “Do you fancy yourselves on the Hook, or at the Five Points?” demandedSpike, angrily.

  “Lor’, no sir!” answered Simon, laughing at each pause with all hisheart. “Only laughs a little at _ghost_--dat all, sir.”

  “Laugh at ghost! Is that a subject to laugh at? Have a care, you blackrascal, or he will visit you in your galley here, when you will leastwant to see him.”

  “No care much for _him,_ sir,” returned Simon, laughing away as hard asever. “_Sich_ a ghost ought n’t to skear little baby.”

  “_Such_ a ghost? And what do you know of _this_ ghost more than anyother?”

  “Well, I seed him, Cap’in Spike; and what a body sees, he is acquaintedwid.”

  “You saw an image that looked as much like Mr. Mulford, my late mate, asone timber-head in this brig is like another.”

  “Yes, sir, he like enough--must say _dat_--so wery like, could n’t seeany difference.”

  As Simon concluded this remark, he burst out into another fit oflaughter, in which Josh joined him, heart and soul, as it might be. Theuninitiated reader is not to imagine the laughter of those blacks to bevery noisy, or to be raised on a sharp, high key. They _could_ make thewelkin ring, in sudden bursts of merriment, on occasion; but, at a timelike this, they rather caused their diversion to be developed by soundsthat came from the depths of their chests. A gleam of suspicion thatthese blacks were acquainted with some fact that it might be well forhim to know, shot across the mind of Spike; but he was turned fromfurther inquiry by a remark of Don Juan, who intimated that the mirth ofsuch persons never had much meaning to it, expressing at the same time adesire to pursue the more important subject in which they were engaged.Admonishing the blacks to be more guarded in their manifestations ofmerriment, the captain closed the door on them, and resumed his walkup and down the quarter-deck. As soon as left to themselves, the blacksbroke out afresh, though in a way so guarded, as to confine their mirthto the galley.

  “Cap’in Spike t’ink _dat_ a ghost!” exclaimed Simon, with contempt.

  “Guess if he see _raal_ ghost, he find ‘e difference,” answered Josh.“One look at raal sperit wort’ two at dis object.”

  Simon’s eyes now opened like two saucers, and they gleamed, by the lightof the lamp they had, like dark balls of cond
ensed curiosity, blendedwith awe, on his companion.

  “You ebber see him, Josh?” he asked, glancing over each shoulderhurriedly, as it might be, to make sure that he could not see “him,” too.

  “How you t’ink I get so far down the wale of life, Simon, and nebber seesich a t’ing? I seed t’ree of the crew of the ‘Maria Sheffington,’ thatwas drowned by deir boat’s cap-sizin’, when we lay at Gibraltar, jest asplain as I see you now. Then--”

  But it is unnecessary to repeat Josh’s experiences in this way,with which he continued to entertain and terrify Simon for the nexthalf-hour. This is just the difference between ignorance and knowledge.While Spike himself, and every man in his brig who belonged forward,had strong misgivings as to the earthly character of the figure theyhad seen at the foot of the light-house, these negroes laughed at theirdelusion, because they happened to be in the secret of Mulford’s escapefrom the rock, and of that of his actual presence at the Tortugas.When, however, the same superstitious feeling was brought to bear oncircumstances that lay _without_ the sphere of their exact information,they became just as dependent and helpless as all around them; more so,indeed, inasmuch as their previous habits and opinions disposed them toa more profound credulity.

  It was midnight before any of the crew of the Swash sought their restthat night. The captain had to remind them that a day of extraordinarytoil was before them, ere he could get one even to quit the deck; andwhen they did go below, it was to continue to discuss the subject ofwhat they had seen at the Dry Tortugas. It appeared to be the prevalentopinion among the people, that the late event foreboded evil to theSwash, and long as most of these men had served in the brig, and muchas they had become attached to her, had she gone into port that night,nearly every man forward would have run before morning. But fatigue andwonder, at length, produced their effect, and the vessel was silent aswas usual at that hour. Spike himself lay down in his clothes, as he haddone ever since Mulford had left him; and the brig continued to tossthe spray from her bows, as she bore gallantly up against the trades,working her way to windward. The light was found to be of great service,as it indicated the position of the reef, though it gradually sunk inthe western horizon, until near morning it fell entirely below it.

  At this hour Spike appeared on deck again, where, for the first timesince their interview on the morning of Harry’s and Rose’s escape,he laid his eyes on Jack Tier. The little dumpling-looking fellowwas standing in the waist, with his arms folded sailor-fashion, ascomposedly as if nothing had occurred to render his meeting with thecaptain any way of a doubtful character. Spike approached near theperson of the steward, whom he surveyed from head to foot, with a sortof contemptuous superiority, ere he spoke.

  “So, Master Tier,” at length the captain commenced, “you have deigned toturn out at last, have you? I hope the day’s duty you’ve forgotten, willhelp to pay for the light-house boat, that I understand you’ve lost forme, also.”

  “What signifies a great clumsy boat that the brig could n’t hoist in nortow,” answered Jack, coolly, turning short round at the same time,but not condescending to “uncoil” his arms as he did so, a mark ofindifference that would probably have helped to mystify the captain, hadhe even actually suspected that anything was wrong beyond the supposedaccident to the boat in question. “If you had had the boat astarn,Captain Spike, an order would have been given to cut it adrift the firsttime the brig made sail on the wind.”

  “Nobody knows, Jack; that boat would have been very useful to us whileat work about the wreck. You never even turned out this morning to letme know where that craft lay, as you promised to do, but left us to findit out by our wits.”

  “There was no occasion for my tellin’ you anything about it, sir, whenthe mast-heads was to be seen above water. As soon as I heard that them‘ere mast-heads was out of water, I turned over and went to sleep uponit. A man can’t be on the doctor’s list and on duty at the same time.”

  Spike looked hard at the little steward, but he made no further allusionto his being off duty, or to his failing to stand pilot to the brig asshe came through the passage in quest of the schooner’s remains. Thefact was, that he had discovered the mast-heads himself, just as he wason the point of ordering Jack to be called, having allowed him to remainin his berth to the last moment after his watch, according to a speciesof implied faith that is seldom disregarded among seamen. Once busiedon the wreck, Jack was forgotten, having little to do in common with anyone on board, but that which the captain termed the “women’s mess.”

  “Come aft, Jack,” resumed Spike, after a considerable pause, during thewhole of which he had stood regarding the little steward as if studyinghis person, and through that his character. “Come aft to the trunk; Iwish to catechise you a bit.”

  “Catechise!” repeated Tier, in an under tone, as he followed the captainto the place mentioned. “It’s a long time since I’ve done anything at_that!_”

  “Ay, come hither,” resumed Spike, seating himself at his ease on thetrunk, while Jack stood near by, his arms still folded, and his rotundlittle form as immovable, under the plunges that the lively brig madeinto the head-seas that she was obliged to meet, as if a timber-headin the vessel itself. “You keep your sea-legs well, Jack, short as theyare.”

  “No wonder for that, Captain Spike; for the last twenty years I’vescarce passed a twelvemonth ashore; and what I did before that, no onecan better tell than yourself, since we was ten good years shipmates.”

  “So you say, Jack, though I do not remember _you_ as well as you seem toremember _me_. Do you not make the time too long?”

  “Not a day, sir. Ten good and happy years did we sail together, CaptainSpike; and all that time in this very--”

  “Hush--h-u-s-h, man, hush! There is no need of telling the Molly’sage to everybody. I may wish to sell her some day, and then her greatexperience will be no recommendation. You should recollect that theMolly is a female, and the ladies do not like to hear of their agesafter five-and-twenty.”

  Jack made no answer, but he dropped his arms to their natural position,seeming to wait the captain’s communication, first referring to histobacco-box and taking a fresh quid.

  “If you was with me in the brig, Jack, at the time you mention,” continued Spike, after another long and thoughtful pause, “you mustremember many little things that I do n’t wish to have known; especiallywhile Mrs. Budd and her handsome niece is aboard here.”

  “I understand you, Captain Spike. The ladies shall l’arn no more from methan they know already.”

  “Thank ‘e for that Jack--thank ‘e with all my heart Shipmates of ourstanding ought to be fast friends; and so you’ll find me, if you’ll onlysail under the true colours, my man.”

  At that moment Jack longed to let the captain know how strenuously hehad insisted that very night on rejoining his vessel; and this at atime, too, when the brig was falling into disrepute. But this he couldnot do, without betraying the secret of the lovers--so he chose to saynothing.

  “There is no use in blabbing all a man knows, and the galley is a sadplace for talking. Galley news is poor news, I suppose you know, Jack.”

  “I’ve hear’n say as much on board o’ man-of-war. It’s a great place forthe officers to meet and talk, and smoke, in Uncle Sam’s crafts; andwhat a body hears in such places, is pretty much newspaper stuff, I dosuppose.”

  “Ay, ay, that’s it; not to be thought of half-an-hour after it has beenspoken. Here’s a doubloon for you, Jack; and all for the sake of oldtimes. Now, tell me, my little fellow, how do the ladies come on? Doesn’t Miss Rose get over her mourning on account of the mate? Ar’ n’t weto have the pleasure of seein’ her on deck soon?”

  “I can’t answer for the minds and fancies of young women, Captain Spike.They are difficult to understand; and I would rather not meddle withwhat I can’t understand.”

  “Poh, poh, man; you must get over that. You might be of great use to me,Jack, in a very delicate affair--for you know how it is with women; th
eymust be handled as a man would handle this brig among breakers; Rose, inpartic’lar, is as skittish as a colt.”

  “Stephen Spike,” said Jack, solemnly, but on so low a key that itentirely changed his usually harsh and cracked voice to one that soundedsoft, if not absolutely pleasant, “do you never think of hereafter? Yourdays are almost run; a very few years, in your calling it may be a veryfew weeks, or a few hours, and time will be done with you, and etarnitywill commence.--Do you never think of a hereafter?”

  Spike started to his feet, gazing at Jack intently; then he wipedthe perspiration from his face, and began to pace the deck rapidly,muttering to himself--“this has been a most accursed night! First themate, and now _this!_ Blast me, but I thought it was a voice from thegrave! Graves! can’t they keep those that belong to them, or have rocksand waves no graves?”

  What more passed through the mind of the captain must remain a secret,for he kept it to himself; nor did he take any further notice of hiscompanion. Jack, finding that he was unobserved, passed quietlybelow, and took the place in his berth, which he had only temporarilyabandoned.

  Just as the day dawned, the Swash reached the vicinity of the wreckagain. Sail was shortened, and the brig stood in until near enoughfor the purpose of her commander, when she was hove-to, so near themast-heads that, by lowering the yawl, a line was sent out to thefore-mast, and the brig was hauled close alongside. The direction ofthe reef at that point formed a lee; and the vessel lay in watersufficiently smooth for her object.

  This was done soon after the sun had risen, and Spike now ordered allhands called, and began his operations in earnest. By sounding carefullyaround the schooner when last here, he had ascertained her situation tohis entire satisfaction. She had settled on a shelf of the reef, in sucha position that her bows lay in a sort of cradle, while her stern wasseveral feet nearer to the surface than the opposite extremity. Thislast fact was apparent, indeed, by the masts themselves, the lower mastaft being several feet out of water, while the fore-mast was entirelyburied, leaving nothing but the fore-topmast exposed. On these greatpremises Spike had laid the foundation of the practical problem heintended to solve.

  No expectation existed of ever getting the schooner afloat again. Allthat Spike and the Señor Montefalderon now aimed at, was to obtain thedoubloons, which the former thought could be got at in the followingmanner. He knew that it would be much easier handling the wreck, so faras its gravity was concerned, while the hull continued submerged. Healso knew that one end could be raised with a comparatively triflingeffort, so long as the other rested on the rock. Under thesecircumstances, therefore, he proposed merely to get slings around theafter body of the schooner, as near her stern-post, indeed, as would besafe, and to raise that extremity of the vessel to the surface, leavingmost of the weight of the craft to rest on the bows. The differencebetween the power necessary to effect this much, and that which would berequired to raise the whole wreck, would be like the difference in powernecessary to turn over a log with one end resting on the ground, andturning the same log by lifting it bodily in the arms, and turning itin the air. With the stern once above water, it would be easy to come atthe bag of doubloons, which Jack Tier had placed in a locker above thetransoms.

  The first thing was to secure the brig properly, in order that she mightbear the necessary strain. This was done very much as has been describedalready, in the account of the manner in which she was secured andsupported in order to raise the schooner at the Dry Tortugas. An anchorwas laid abreast and to windward, and purchases were brought to themasts, as before. Then the bight of the chain brought from the Tortugas,was brought under the schooner’s keel, and counter-purchases, leadingfrom both the fore-mast and main-mast of the brig, were brought to it,and set taut. Spike now carefully examined all his fastenings, lookingto his cables as well as his mechanical power aloft, heaving in uponthis, and veering out upon that, in order to bring the Molly squareto her work; after which he ordered the people to knock-off for theirdinners. By that time, it was high noon.

  While Stephen Spike was thus employed on the wreck, matters and thingswere not neglected at the Tortugas. The Poughkeepsie had no sooneranchored, than Wallace went on board and made his report. Capt. Mullthen sent for Mulford, with whom he had a long personal conference. Thisofficer was getting grey, and consequently he had acquired experience.It was evident to Harry, at first, that he was regarded as one who hadbeen willingly engaged in an unlawful pursuit, but who had abandoned itto push dearer interests in another quarter. It was some time beforethe commander of the sloop-of-war could divest himself of this opinion,though it gradually gave way before the frankness of the mate’s manner,and the manliness, simplicity, and justice of his sentiments. PerhapsRose had some influence also in bringing about this favourable change.

  Wallace did not fail to let it be known that turtle-soup was to behad ashore; and many was the guest our heroine had to supply withthat agreeable compound, in the course of the morning. Jack Tier hadmanifested so much skill in the preparation of the dish, that itsreputation soon extended to the cabin, and the captain was induced toland, in order to ascertain how far rumour was or was not a liar, onthis interesting occasion. So ample was the custom, indeed, that Wallacehad the consideration to send one of the ward-room servants to thelight-house, in order to relieve Rose from a duty that was getting tobe a little irksome. She was “seeing company” as a bride, in a novel andrather unpleasant manner; and it was in consequence of a suggestion ofthe “ship’s gentleman,” that the remains of the turtle were transferredto the vessel, and were put into the coppers, _secundum artem,_ by theregular cooks.

  It was after tickling his palate with a bowl of the soup, and enjoying ahalf-hour’s conversation with Rose, that Capt. Mull summoned Harry to afinal consultation on the subject of their future proceedings. By thistime the commander of the Poughkeepsie was in a better humour with hisnew acquaintance, more disposed to believe him, and infinitely moreinclined to listen to his suggestions and advice, than he had beenin their previous interviews. Wallace was present in his character of“ship’s gentleman,” or, as having nothing to do, while his senior, thefirst lieutenant, was working like a horse on board the vessel, in theexecution of his round of daily duties.

  At this consultation, the parties came into a right understanding ofeach other’s views and characters. Capt. Mull was slow to yield hisconfidence, but when he did bestow it, he bestowed it sailor-fashion, orwith all his heart. Satisfied at last that he had to do with a young manof honour, and one who was true to the flag, he consulted freely withour mate, asked his advice, and was greatly influenced in the formationof his final decision by the opinions that Harry modestly advanced,maintaining them, however, with solid arguments, and reasons that everyseaman could comprehend.

  Mulford knew the plans of Spike by means of his own communications withthe Señor Montefalderon. Once acquainted with the projects of his oldcommander, it was easy for him to calculate the time it would require toput them in execution, with the means that were to be found on board theSwash. “It will take the brig until near morning,” he said, “to beat upto the place where the wreck lies. Spike will wait for light to commenceoperations, and several hours will be necessary to moor the brig, andget out the anchors with which he will think it necessary to stay hismasts. Then he will hook on, and he may partly raise the hull beforenight return. More than this he can never do; and it would not surpriseme were he merely to get everything ready for heaving on his purchasesto-morrow, and suspend further proceedings until the next day, inpreference to having so heavy a strain on his spars all night. He hasnot the force, however, to carry on such duty to a very late hour; andyou may count with perfect security, Captain Mull, on his being foundalongside of the wreck at sunrise the next day after to-morrow, in allprobability with his anchors down, and fast to the wreck. By timing yourown arrival well, nothing will be easier than to get him fairly underyour guns, and once under your guns, the brig must give up. When youchased her out of this very port, a few
days since, you would havebrought her up could you have kept her within range of those terribleshells ten minutes longer.”

  “You would then advise my not sailing from this place immediately,” saidMull.

  “It will be quite time enough to get under way late in the afternoon,and then under short canvas. Ten hours will be ample time for this shipto beat up to that passage in, and it will be imprudent to arrive toosoon; nor do I suppose you will wish to be playing round the reef in thedark.”

  To the justice of all this Capt. Mull assented; and the plan ofproceedings was deliberately and intelligently formed. As it wasnecessary for Mulford to go in the ship, in order to act as pilot, noone else on board knowing exactly where to find the wreck, the commanderof the Poughkeepsie had the civility to offer the young couple thehospitalities of his own cabin, with one of his state-rooms. This offerHarry gratefully accepted, it being understood that the ship would landthem at Key West, as soon as the contemplated duty was executed. Rosefelt so much anxiety about her aunt, that any other arrangement wouldscarcely have pacified her fears.

  In consequence of these arrangements, the Poughkeepsie lay quietly ather anchors until near sunset. In the interval her boats were out in alldirections, parties of the officers visiting the islet where the powderhad exploded, and the islet where the tent, erected for the use of thefemales, was still standing. As for the light-house island, an order ofCapt. Mull’s prevented it from being crowded in a manner unpleasant toRose, as might otherwise have been the case. The few officers who didland there, however, appeared much struck with the ingenuous simplicityand beauty of the bride, and a manly interest in her welfare was createdamong them all, principally by means of the representations of thesecond lieutenant and the chaplain. About five o’clock she went off tothe ship, accompanied by Harry, and was hoisted on board in the mannerusually practised by vessels of war which have no accommodation-ladderrigged. Rose was immediately installed in her state-room, whereshe found every convenience necessary to a comfortable though smallapartment.

  It was quite late in the afternoon, when the boatswain and his matepiped “all hands up anchor!” Harry hastened into the state-room for hischarming bride, anxious to show her the movements of a vessel of war onsuch an occasion. Much as she had seen of the ocean, and of a vessel,within the last few weeks, Rose now found that she had yet a great dealto learn, and that a ship of war had many points to distinguish her froma vessel engaged in commerce.

  The Poughkeepsie was only a sloop-of-war, or a corvette, inconstruction, number of her guns, and rate; but she was a ship of thedimensions of an old-fashioned frigate, measuring about one thousandtons. The frigates of which we read half a century since, were seldomever as large as this, though they were differently built in havinga regular gun-deck, or one armed deck that was entirely covered, withanother above it; and on the quarter-deck and forecastle of the last ofwhich were also batteries of lighter guns. To the contrary of all this,the Poughkeepsie had but one armed deck, and on that only twentyguns. These pieces, however, were of unusually heavy calibre,throwing thirty-two pound shot, with the exception of the Paixhans, orColumbiads, which throw shot of even twice that weight. The vessel had acrew of two hundred souls, all told; and she had the spars, anchors, andother equipments of a light frigate.

  In another great particular did the Poughkeepsie differ from thecorvette-built vessels that were so much in favour at the beginningof the century; a species of craft obtained from the French, who havetaught the world so much in connection with naval science, and who,after building some of the best vessels that ever floated, havefailed in knowing how to handle them, though not always in that. ThePoughkeepsie, while she had no spar, or upper deck, properly speaking,had a poop and a topgallant-forecastle. Within the last were thecabins and other accommodations of the captain; an arrangement thatwas necessary for a craft of her construction, that carried so manyofficers, and so large a crew. Without it, sufficient space would not behad for the uses of the last. One gun of a side was in the main cabin,there being a very neat and amply spacious after-cabin between thestate-rooms, as is ordinarily the case in all vessels from the size offrigates up to that of three-deckers. It may be well to explain here,while on this subject of construction, that in naval parlance, a ship iscalled a single-decked vessel; a _two-_decker, or a _three-_ decker, notfrom the number of decks she actually possesses, but from the numberof _gun-_decks that she has, or of those that are _fully_ armed. Thusa frigate has four decks, the spar, gun, berth, and orlop (or haul-up)decks; but she is called a “single-decked ship,” from the circumstancethat only one of these four decks has a complete range of batteries.The two-decker has two of these fully armed decks, and the three-deckersthree; though, in fact, the two-decker has five, and the three-deckersix decks. Asking pardon for this little digression, which we trust willbe found useful to a portion of our readers, we return to the narrative.

  Harry conducted Rose to the poop of the Poughkeepsie, where she mightenjoy the best view of the operation of getting so large a craft underway, man-of-war fashion. The details were mysteries, of course, andRose knew no more of the process by which the chain was brought to thecapstan, by the intervention of what is called a messenger, than ifshe had not been present. She saw two hundred men distributed about thevessel, some at the capstan, some on the forecastle, some in the tops,and others in the waist, and she heard the order to “heave round.” Thenthe shrill fife commenced the lively air of “the girl I left behind me,” rather more from a habit in the fifer, than from any great regrets forthe girls left at the Dry Tortugas, as was betrayed to Mulford by thesmiles of the officers, and the glances they cast at Rose. As for thelatter, she knew nothing of the air, and was quite unconscious ofthe sort of parody that the gentlemen of the quarter-deck fancied itconveyed on her own situation.

  Rose was principally struck with the quiet that prevailed in the ship,Captain Mull being a silent man himself, and insisting on having a quietvessel. The first lieutenant was not a noisy officer, and from thesetwo, everybody else on board received their cues. A simple “all ready,sir,” uttered by the first to the captain, in a common tone of voice,answered by a “very well, sir, get your anchor,” in the same tone, seteverything in motion. “Stamp and go,” soon followed, and taking thewhole scene together, Rose felt a strange excitement come over her.There were the shrill, animating music of the fife; the stamping timeof the men at the bars; the perceptible motion of the ship, as she drewahead to her anchor, and now and then the call between Wallace, whostood between the knight-heads, as commander-in-chief on the forecastle,(the second lieutenant’s station when the captain does not take thetrumpet, as very rarely happens,) and the “executive officer” aft, was“carrying on duty,” all conspiring to produce this effect. At length,and it was but a minute or two from the time when the “stamp and go” commenced, Wallace called out “a short stay-peak, sir.” “Heave andpull,” followed, and the men left their bars.

  The process of making sail succeeded. There was no “letting fall” a fore-topsail here, as on board a merchant-man, but all the canvasdropped from the yards, into festoons, at the same instant. Then thethree topsails were sheeted home and hoisted, all at once, and all ina single minute of time; the yards were counter-braced, and thecapstan-bars were again manned. In two more minutes it was “heave andshe’s up and down.” Then “heave and in sight,” and “heave and pullagain.” The cat-fall was ready, and it was “hook on,” when the fifeseemed to turn its attention to another subject as the men catted theanchor. Literally, all this was done in less time than we have takento write it down in, and in very little more time than the reader haswasted in perusing what we have here written.

  The Poughkeepsie was now “free of bottom,” as it is called, with heranchor catted and fished, and her position maintained in the basin whereshe lay, by the counter-bracing of her yards, and the counteractingforce of the wind on her sails. It only remained to “fill away,” by bracing her head-yards sharp up, when the vast mass overcame itsinert
ia, and began to move through the water. As this was done, the jiband spanker were set. The two most beautiful things with which we areacquainted, are a graceful and high-bred woman entering or quitting adrawing-room, more particularly the last, and a man-of-war leaving heranchorage in a moderate breeze, and when not hurried for time. On thepresent occasion, Captain Mull was in no haste, and the ship passedout to windward of the light, as the Swash had done the previous night,under her three topsails, spanker and jib, with the light sails looseand flowing, and the courses hanging in the brails.

  A great deal is said concerning the defective construction of the lightcruisers of the navy, of late years, and complaints are made that theywill not sail, as American cruisers ought to sail, and were wont to sailin old times. That there has been some ground for these complaints,we believe; though the evil has been greatly exaggerated, and someexplanation may be given, we think, even in the cases in which thestrictures are not altogether without justification. The trim of alight, sharp vessel is easily deranged; and officers, in their desire tocommand as much as possible, often get their vessels of this classtoo deep. They are, generally, for the sort of cruiser, over-sparred,over-manned, and over-provisioned; consequently, too deep. We recollecta case in which one of these delicate craft, a half-rigged brig, wasmuch abused for “having lost her sailing.” She did, indeed, lose herfore-yard, and, after that, she sailed like a witch, until she got anew one! If the facts were inquired into, in the spirit which oughtto govern such inquiries, it would be found that even most of themuch-abused “ten sloops” proved to be better vessels than common. TheSt. Louis, the Vincennes, the Concord, the Fairfield, the Boston, andthe Falmouth, are instances of what we mean. In behalf of the Warren,and the Lexington, we believe no discreet man was ever heard to utterone syllable, except as wholesome crafts. But the Poughkeepsie was avery different sort of vessel from any of the “ten sloops.” She wasevery way a good ship, and, as Jack expressed it, was “a good goer.” Themost severe nautical critic could scarcely have found a fault in her, asshe passed out between the islets, on the evening of the day mentioned,in the sort of undress we have described. The whole scene, indeed, wasimpressive, and of singular maritime characteristics.

  The little islets scattered about, low, sandy, and untenanted, werethe only land in sight--all else was the boundless waste of waters. Thesolitary light rose like an aquatic monument, as if purposely to giveits character to the view. Captain Mull had caused its lamps to betrimmed and lighted for the very reason that had induced Spike to dothe same thing, and the dim star they presented was just struggling intoexistence, as it might be, as the brilliance left by the setting sun wasgradually diminished, and finally disappeared. As for the ship, the hullappeared dark, glossy, and graceful, as is usual with a vessel of war.Her sails were in soft contrast to the colour of the hull, and theyoffered the variety and divergence from straight lines which are thoughtnecessary to perfect beauty. Those that were set, presented the symmetryin their trim, the flatness in their hoist, and the breadth thatdistinguish a man-of-war; while those that were loose, floated in theair in every wave and cloud-like swell, that we so often see in lightcanvas that is released from the yards in a fresh breeze. The ship hadan undress look from this circumstance, but it was such an undressas denotes the man or woman of the world. This undress appearance wasincreased by the piping down of the hammocks, which left the nettingsloose, and with a negligent but still knowing look about them.

  When half a mile from the islets, the main-yard was braced aback, andthe maintopsail was laid to the mast. As soon as the ship had losther way, two or three boats that had been towing astern, each withits boat-sitter, or keeper, in it, were hauled up alongside, or to thequarters, were “hooked on,” and “run up” to the whistling of the call.All was done at once, and all was done in a couple of minutes. As soonas effected, the maintopsail was again filled, and away the ship glided.

  Captain Mull was not in the habit of holding many consultations with hisofficers. If there be wisdom in a “multitude of counsellors,” he was ofopinion it was not on board a man-of-war. Napoleon is reported to havesaid that _one_ bad general was better than _two_ good ones; meaningthat one head to an army, though of inferior quality, is better than ahydra of Solomons, or Cæsars. Captain Mull was much of the same way ofthinking, seldom troubling his subordinates with anything but orders. Heinterfered very little with “working Willy,” though he saw effectuallythat he did his duty. “The ship’s gentleman” might enjoy his jokeas much as he pleased, so long as he chose his time and place withdiscretion, but in the captain’s presence joking was not tolerated,unless it were after dinner, at his own table, and in his own cabin.Even there it was not precisely such joking as took place daily, not tosay hourly, in the midshipmen’s messes.

  In making up his mind as to the mode of proceeding on the presentoccasion, therefore, Captain Mull, while he had heard all that Mulfordhad to tell him, and had even encouraged Wallace to give his opinions,made up his decision for himself. After learning all that Harry had tocommunicate, he made his own calculations as to time and distance, andquietly determined to carry whole sail on the ship for the next fourhours. This he did as the wisest course of making sure of getting towindward while he could, and knowing that the vessel could be broughtunder short canvas at any moment when it might be deemed necessary. Thelight was a beacon to let him know his distance with almost mathematicalprecision. It could be seen so many miles at sea, each mile beingestimated by so many feet of elevation, and having taken that elevation,he was sure of his distance from the glittering object, so long as itcould be seen from his own poop. It was also of use by letting him knowthe range of the reef, though Captain Mull, unlike Spike, had determinedto make one leg off to the northward and eastward until he had broughtthe light nearly to the horizon, and then to make another to thesouthward and eastward, believing that the last stretch would bringhim to the reef, almost as far to windward as he desired to be. Infurtherance of this plan, the sheets of the different sails were drawnhome, as soon as the boats were in, and the Poughkeepsie, bending alittle to the breeze, gallantly dashed the waves aside, as she wentthrough and over them, at a rate of not less than ten good knots in thehour. As soon as all these arrangements were made, the watch went below,and from that time throughout the night, the ship offered nothingbut the quiet manner in which ordinary duty is carried on in awell-regulated vessel of war at sea, between the hours of sun and sun.Leaving the good craft to pursue her way with speed and certainty, wemust now return to the Swash.

  Captain Spike had found the mooring of his brig a much more difficulttask, on this occasion, than on that of his former attempt to raise theschooner. Then he had to lift the wreck bodily, and he knew that layingthe Swash a few feet further ahead or astern, could be of no greatmoment, inasmuch as the moment the schooner was off the bottom, shewould swing in perpendicularly to the purchases. But now one end of theschooner, her bows, was to remain fast, and it became of importanceto be certain that the purchases were so placed as to bring the leaststrain on the masts while they acted most directly on the after body ofthe vessel to be lifted. This point gave Spike more trouble than he hadanticipated. Fully one half of the remainder of the day, even after hehad begun to heave upon his purchases, was spent in rectifying mistakesin connection with this matter, and in getting up additional securitiesto his masts.

  In one respect Spike had, from the first, made a good disposition. Themasts of the brig raked materially, and by bringing the head of theSwash in the direction of the schooner, he converted this fact, whichmight otherwise have been of great disadvantage, into a circumstancethat was favourable. In consequence of the brig’s having been thusmoored, the strain, which necessarily led forward, came nearly in aline with the masts, and the latter were much better able to support it.Notwithstanding this advantage, however, it was found expedient to getup preventer-stays, and to give the spars all the additional supportcould be conveniently bestowed. Hours were passed in making thesepreliminary, or it might
be better to say, secondary arrangements.

  It was past five in the afternoon when the people of the Swash began toheave on their purchases as finally disposed. After much creaking, andthe settling of straps and lashings into their places, it was found thateverything stood, and the work went on. In ten minutes Spike foundhe had the weight of the schooner, so far as he should be obliged tosustain it at all, until the stern rose above the surface; and he feltreasonably secure of the doubloons. Further than this he did not intendto make any experiment on her, the Señor Montefalderon having abandonedall idea of recovering the vessel itself, now so much of the cargo waslost. The powder was mostly consumed, and that which remained in thehull must, by this time, be injured by dampness, if not ruined. Soreasoned Don Juan at least.

  As the utmost care was necessary, the capstan and wind-lass were made todo their several duties with great caution. As inch by inch was gained,the extra supports of the masts were examined, and it was found thata much heavier strain now came on the masts than when the schooner wasraised before. This was altogether owing to the direction in which itcame, and to the fact that the anchor planted off abeam was not of asmuch use as on the former occasion, in consequence of its not lying somuch in a straight line with the direction of the purchases. Spike beganto have misgivings on account of his masts, and this so much the morebecause the wind appeared to haul a little further to the northward, andthe weather to look unsettled. Should a swell roll into the bight of thereef where the brig lay, by raising the hull a little too rudely, therewould be the imminent danger of at least springing, if not of absolutelycarrying away both the principal spars. It was therefore necessary toresort to extraordinary precautions, in order to obviate this danger.

  The captain was indebted to his boatswain, who was now in fact actingas his mate, for the suggestion of the plan next adopted. Two of thelargest spare spars of the brig were got out, with their heads securelylashed to the links of the chain by which the wreck was suspended, oneon each side of the schooner. Pig-iron and shot were lashed to the heelsof these spars, which carried them to the bottom. As the spars were ofa greater length than was necessary to reach the rock, they necessarilylay at an inclination, which was lessened every inch the after body ofthe wreck was raised, thus forming props to the hull of the schooner.

  Spike was delighted with the success of this scheme, of which he wasassured by a single experiment in heaving. After getting the spars wellplanted at their heels, he even ordered the men to slacken the purchasesa little, and found that he could actually relieve the brig from thestrain, by causing the wreck to be supported altogether by these shores.This was a vast relief from the cares of the approaching night, andindeed alone prevented the necessity of the work’s going on withoutinterruption, or rest, until the end was obtained.

  The people of the Swash were just assured of the comfortable factrelated, as the Poughkeepsie was passing out from among the islets ofthe Dry Tortugas. They imagined themselves happy in having thus made asufficient provision against the most formidable of all the dangersthat beset them, at the very moment when the best laid plan for theirdestruction was on the point of being executed. In this respect, theyresembled millions of others of their fellows, who hang suspended overthe vast abyss of eternity, totally unconscious of the irretrievablecharacter of the fall that is so soon to occur. Spike, as has been juststated, was highly pleased with his own expedient, and he pointed it outwith exultation to the Señor Montefalderon, as soon as it was completed.

  “A nicer fit was never made by a Lunnun leg-maker, Don Wan,” thecaptain cried, after going over the explanations connected with theshores--“there she stands, at an angle of fifty, with two as good limbsunder her as a body could wish. I could now cast off everything, andleave the wreck in what they call ‘_statu quo,_’ which, I suppose, meanson its pins, like a statue. The tafferel is not six inches below thesurface of the water, and half an hour of heaving will bring the starnin sight.”

  “Your work seems ingeniously contrived to get up one extremity of thevessel, Don Esteban,” returned the Mexican; “but are you quite certainthat the doubloons are in her?”

  This question was put because the functionary of a government in whichmoney was very apt to stick in passing from hand to hand was naturallysuspicious, and he found it difficult to believe that Mulford, JackTier, and even Biddy, under all the circumstances, had not paid specialattention to their own interests.

  “The bag was placed in one of the transom-lockers before the schoonercapsized,” returned the captain, “as Jack Tier informs me; if so, itremains there still. Even the sharks will not touch gold, Don Wan.”

  “Would it not be well to call Jack, and hear his account of the matteronce more, now we appear to be so near the Eldorado of our wishes?”

  Spike assented, and Jack was summoned to the quarter-deck. The littlefellow had scarce showed himself throughout the day, and he now made hisappearance with a slow step, and reluctantly.

  “You’ve made no mistake about them ‘ere doubloons, I take it, MasterTier?” said Spike, in a very nautical sort of style of addressing aninferior. “You _know_ them to be in one of the transom-lockers?”

  Jack mounted on the breech of one of the guns, and looked over thebulwarks at the dispositions that had been made about the wreck. Thetafferel of the schooner actually came in sight, when a little swellpassed over it, leaving it for an instant in the trough. The stewardthus caught a glimpse again of the craft on board which he had seen somuch hazard, and he shook his head and seemed to be thinking of anythingbut the question which had just been put to him.

  “Well, about that gold?” asked Spike, impatiently.

  “The sight of that craft has brought other thoughts than gold into mymind, Captain Spike,” answered Jack, gravely, “and it would be well forall us mariners, if we thought less of gold and more of the dangers werun. For hours and hours did I stand over etarnity, on the bottom ofthat schooner, Don Wan, holdin’ my life, as it might be, at the marcy ofa few bubbles of air.”

  “What has all that to do with the gold? Have you deceived me about thatlocker, little rascal?”

  “No, sir, I’ve _not_ deceived you--no, Captain Spike, _no_. The bag isin the upper transom-locker, on the starboard side. There I put itwith my own hands, and a good lift it was; and there you’ll find it, ifyou’ll cut through the quarter-deck at the spot I can p’int out to you.”

  This information seemed to give a renewed energy to all the nativecupidity of the captain, who called the men from their suppers, andordered them to commence heaving anew. The word was passed to thecrew that “it was now for doubloons,” and they went to the bars andhandspikes, notwithstanding the sun had set, cheerfully and cheering.

  All Spike’s expedients admirably answered the intended purposes. Thestern of the schooner rose gradually, and at each lift the heels of theshores dropped in more perpendicularly, carried by the weights attachedto them, and the spars stood as firm props to secure all that wasgained. In a quarter of an hour, most of that part of the stern whichwas within five or six feet of the tafferel, rose above the water,coming fairly in view.

  Spike now shouted to the men to “pall!” then he directed the falls tobe very gradually eased off, in order to ascertain if the shores wouldstill do their duty. The experiment was successful, and presently thewreck stood in its upright position, sustained entirely by the twospars. As the last were now nearly perpendicular, they were capable ofbearing a very heavy weight, and Spike was so anxious to relieve his ownbrig from the strain she had been enduring, that he ordered the lashingsof the blocks to be loosened, trusting to his shores to do their duty.Against this confidence the boatswain ventured a remonstrance, but thegold was too near to allow the captain to listen or reply. The carpenterwas ordered over on the wreck with his tools, while Spike, the SeñorMontefalderon, and two men to row the boat and keep it steady, went inthe yawl to watch the progress of the work. Jack Tier was ordered tostand in the chains, and to point out, as nearly as possible, the placew
here the carpenter was to cut.

  When all was ready, Spike gave the word, and the chips began to fly.By the use of the saw and the axe, a hole large enough to admit two orthree men at a time, was soon made in the deck, and the sounding for themuch-coveted locker commenced. By this time, it was quite dark; anda lantern was passed down from the brig, in order to enable those whosearched for the locker to see. Spike had breasted the yawl close up tothe hole, where it was held by the men, while the captain himself passedthe lantern and his own head into the opening to reconnoitre.

  “Ay, it’s all right!” cried the voice of the captain from within hiscell-like cavity. “I can just see the lid of the locker that Jack means,and we shall soon have what we are a’ter. Carpenter, you may as wellslip off your clothes at once, and go inside; I will point out to youthe place where to find the locker. You’re certain, Jack, it was thestarboard locker?”

  “Ay, ay, sir, the starboard locker, and no other.”

  The carpenter had soon got into the hole, as naked as when he was born.It was a gloomy-looking place for a man to descend into at that hour,the light from the lantern being no great matter, and half the time itwas shaded by the manner in which Spike was compelled to hold it.

  “Take care and get a good footing, carpenter,” said the captain, ina kinder tone than common, “before you let go with your hands; but Isuppose you can swim, as a matter of course?”

  “No, sir, not a stroke--I never could make out in the water at all.”

  “Have the more ‘care, then. Had I known as much, I would have sentanother hand down; but mind your footing. More to the left, man--more tothe left. That is the lid of the locker--your hand is on it; why do younot open it?”

  “It is swelled by the water, sir, and will need a chisel, or some toolof that sort. Just call out to one of the men, sir, if you please, topass me a chisel from my tool-chest. A good stout one will be best.”

  This order was given, and, during the delay it caused, Spike encouragedthe carpenter to be cool, and above all to mind his footing. His owneagerness to get at the gold was so great that he kept his head in atthe hole, completely cutting off the man within from all communicationwith the outer world.

  “What’s the matter with you?” demanded Spike, a little sternly. “Youshiver, and yet the water cannot be cold in this latitude. No, my handmakes it just the right warmth to be pleasant.”

  “It’s not the water, Captain Spike--I wish they would come with thechisel. Did you hear nothing, sir? I’m certain I did!”

  “Hear!--what is there here to be heard, unless there may be some fishinside, thrashing about to get out of the vessel’s hold?”

  “I am sure I heard something like a groan, Captain Spike. I wish youwould let me come out, sir, and I’ll go for the chisel myself; them menwill never find it.”

  “Stay where you are, coward! are you afraid of dead men standing againstwalls? Stay where you are. Ah! here is the chisel--now let us see whatyou can do with it.”

  “I am certain I heard another groan, Captain Spike. I cannot work, sir.I’m of no use here--_do_ let me come out, sir, and send a hand down thatcan swim.”

  Spike uttered a terrible malediction on the miserable carpenter, one wedo not care to repeat; then he cast the light of the lantern full inthe man’s face. The quivering flesh, the pallid face, and the wholecountenance wrought up almost to a frenzy of terror, astonished, as wellas alarmed him.

  “What ails you, man?” said the captain in a voice of thunder. “Clap inthe chisel, or I’ll hurl you off into the water. There is nothing here,dead or alive, to harm ye!”

  “The groan, sir--I hear it again! _Do_ let me come out, Captain Spike.”

  Spike himself, this time, heard what even _he_ took for a groan. It camefrom the depths of the vessel, apparently, and was sufficiently distinctand audible. Astonished, yet appalled, he thrust his shoulders into theaperture, as if to dare the demon that tormented him, and was met bythe carpenter endeavouring to escape. In the struggle that ensued, thelantern was dropped into the water, leaving the half-frenzied combatantscontending in the dark. The groan was renewed, when the truth flashed onthe minds of both.

  “The shores! the shores!” exclaimed the carpenter from within. “Theshores!” repeated Spike, throwing himself back into the boat, andshouting to his men to “see all clear of the wreck!” The grating of oneof the shores on the coral beneath was now heard plainer than ever,and the lower extremity slipped outward, not astern, as had beenapprehended, letting the wreck slowly settle to the bottom again. Onepiercing shriek arose from the narrow cavity within; then the gurglingof water into the aperture was heard, when naught of sound could bedistinguished but the sullen and steady wash of the waves of the gulfover the rocks of the reef.

  The impression made by this accident was most profound. A fatalityappeared to attend the brig; and most of the men connected the sadoccurrence of this night with the strange appearance of the previousevening. Even the Señor Montefalderon was disposed to abandon thedoubloons, and he urged Spike to make the best of his way for Yucatan,to seek a friendly harbour. The captain wavered, but avarice was toostrong a passion in him to be easily diverted from its object, and herefused to give up his purpose.

  As the wreck was entirely free from the brig when it went down for thethird time, no injury was sustained by the last on this occasion. Byrenewing the lashings, everything would be ready to begin the workanew--and this, Spike was resolved to attempt in the morning. The menwere too much fatigued, and it was too dark to think of pushing mattersany further that night; and it was very questionable whether they couldhave been got to work. Orders were consequently given for all handsto turn in, the captain, relieved by Don Juan and Jack Tier, havingarranged to keep the watches of the night.

  “This is a sad accident, Don Esteban,” observed the Mexican, as he andSpike paced the quarter-deck together, just before the last turnedin; “a sad accident! My miserable schooner seems to be deserted by itspatron saint. Then your poor carpenter!”

  “Yes, he was a good fellow enough with a saw, or an adze,” answeredSpike, yawning. “But we get used to such things at sea. It’s neithermore nor less than a carpenter expended. Good night, Señor Don Wan; inthe morning we’ll be at that gold ag’in.”