The Phantom Ship

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

  The Utrecht sailed from Gambroon, touched at Ceylon, and proceeded onher voyage in the Eastern seas. Schriften still remained on board; butsince his last conversation with Amine he had kept aloof, and appearedto avoid both her and Philip; still there was not, as before, anyattempt to make the ship's company disaffected, nor did he indulge inhis usual taunts and sneers. The communication he had made to Amine hadalso its effect upon her and Philip; they were more pensive andthoughtful; each attempted to conceal their gloom from the other; andwhen they embraced, it was with the mournful feeling that perhaps it wasan indulgence they would soon be deprived of: at the same time, theysteeled their hearts to endurance and prepared to meet the worst.Krantz wondered at the change, but of course could not account for it.The Utrecht was not far from the Andaman Isles, when Krantz, who hadwatched the barometer, came in early one morning and called Philip.

  "We have every prospect of a typhoon, sir," said Krantz; "the glass andthe weather are both threatening."

  "Then we must make all snug. Send down top-gallant yards and smallsails directly. We will strike top-gallant masts. I will be out in aminute."

  Philip hastened on deck. The sea was smooth, but already the moaning ofthe wind gave notice of the approaching storm. The vacuum in the airwas about to be filled up, and the convulsion would be terrible; a whitehaze gathered fast, thicker and thicker; the men were turned up,everything of weight was sent below, and the guns were secured. Nowcame a blast of wind which careened the ship, passed over, and in aminute she righted as before; then another and another, fiercer andfiercer still. The sea, although smooth, at last appeared white as asheet with foam, as the typhoon swept along in its impetuous career; itburst upon the vessel, which bowed down to her gunnel and thereremained; in a quarter of an hour the hurricane had passed over, and thevessel was relieved, but the sea had risen, and the wind was strong. Inanother hour the blast again came, more wild, more furious than thefirst, the waves were dashed into their faces, torrents of raindescended, the ship was thrown on her beam ends, and thus remained tillthe wild blast had passed away, to sweep destruction far beyond them,leaving behind it a tumultuous angry sea.

  "It is nearly over, I believe, sir," said Krantz. "It is clearing up alittle to windward."

  "We have had the worst of it, I believe," said Philip.

  "No! there is worse to come," said a low voice near to Philip. It wasSchriften who spoke.

  "A vessel to windward scudding before the gale," cried Krantz.

  Philip looked to windward, and in the spot where the horizon wasclearest, he saw a vessel under topsails and foresail, standing rightdown. "She is a large vessel; bring me my glass." The telescope wasbrought from the cabin, but before Philip could use it, a haze had againgathered up to windward, and the vessel was not to be seen.

  "Thick again," observed Philip, as he shut in his telescope; "we mustlook out for that vessel, that she does not run too close to us."

  "She has seen us, no doubt, sir," said Krantz.

  After a few minutes the typhoon again raged, and the atmosphere was of amurky gloom. It seemed as if some heavy fog had been hurled along bythe furious wind; nothing was to be distinguished except the white foamof the sea, and that not the distance of half a cable's length, where itwas lost in one dark grey mist. The storm-stay-sail, yielding to theforce of the wind, was rent into strips and flogged and cracked with anoise even louder than the gale. The furious blast again blew over, andthe mist cleared up a little.

  "Ship on the weather beam close aboard of us," cried one of the men.

  Krantz and Philip sprang upon the gunwale, and beheld the large shipbearing right down upon them, not three cables' length distant.

  "Helm up! she does not see us, and she will be aboard of us!" criedPhilip. "Helm up, I say, hard up, quick!"

  The helm was put up, as the men, perceiving their imminent danger,climbed upon the guns to look if the vessel altered her course; but no--down she came, and the head-sails of the Utrecht having been carriedaway, to their horror they perceived that she would not answer her helm,and pay off as they required.

  "Ship ahoy!" roared Philip through his trumpet--but the gale drove thesound back.

  "Ship ahoy!" cried Krantz on the gunwale, waving his hat. It wasuseless--down she came, with the waters foaming under her bows, and wasnow within pistol-shot of the Utrecht.

  "Ship ahoy!" roared all the sailors, with a shout that must have beenheard: it was not attended to: down came the vessel upon them, and nowher cutwater was within ten yards of the Utrecht. The men of theUtrecht, who expected that their vessel would be severed in half by theconcussion, climbed upon the weather gunwale, all ready to catch at theropes of the other vessel, and climb on board of her. Amine, who hadbeen surprised at the noise on deck, had come out, and had taken Philipby the arm.

  "Trust to me--the shock--," said Philip. He said no more; the cutwaterof the stranger touched their sides; one general cry was raised by thesailors of the Utrecht,--they sprang to catch at the rigging of theother vessel's bowsprit, which was now pointed between their masts--theycaught at nothing--nothing--there was no shock--no concussion of the twovessels--the stranger appeared to cleave through them--her hull passedalong in silence--no cracking of timbers--no falling of masts--theforeyard passed through their mainsail, yet the canvas was unrent--thewhole vessel appeared to cut through the Utrecht, yet left no trace ofinjury--not fast, but slowly, as if she were really sawing through herby the heaving and tossing of the sea with her sharp prow. Thestranger's forechains had passed their gunwale before Philip couldrecover himself. "Amine," cried he at last, "the Phantom Ship!--myfather!"

  The seamen of the Utrecht, more astounded by the marvellous result thanby their former danger, threw themselves down upon deck; some hastenedbelow, some prayed, others were dumb with astonishment and fear. Amineappeared more calm than any, not excepting Philip; she surveyed thevessel as it slowly forced its way through; she beheld the seamen onboard of her coolly leaning over the gunwale, as if deriding thedestruction they had occasioned; she looked for Vanderdecken himself,and on the poop of the vessel, with his trumpet under his arm she beheldthe image of her Philip--the same hardy, strong build--the samefeatures--about the same age apparently--there could be no doubt it wasthe _doomed_ Vanderdecken.

  "See, Philip," said she, "see your father!"

  "Even so--Merciful Heaven! It is--it is!" and Philip, overpowered byhis feelings, sank upon deck.

  The vessel had now passed over the Utrecht; the form of the elderVanderdecken was seen to walk aft and look over the taffrail; Amineperceived it to start and turn away suddenly--she looked down, and sawSchriften shaking his fist in defiance at the supernatural being! Againthe Phantom Ship flew to leeward before the gale, and was soon lost inthe mist but, before that, Amine had turned and perceived the situationof Philip. No one but herself and Schriften appeared able to act ormove. She caught the pilot's eye, beckoned to him, and with hisassistance Philip was led into the cabin.