The Phantom Ship

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

  "I have then seen him," said Philip, after he had lain down on the sofain the cabin for some minutes to recover himself while Amine bent overhim. "I have at last seen him, Amine! Can you doubt now?"

  "No, Philip, I have now no doubt," replied Amine, mournfully; "but takecourage, Philip."

  "For myself, I want not courage--but for you, Amine--you know that hisappearance portends a mischief that will surely come."

  "Let it come," replied Amine, calmly; "I have long been prepared for it,and so have you."

  "Yes, for my self; but not for you."

  "You have been wrecked often, and have been saved--then why should notI?"

  "But the sufferings!"

  "Those suffer least who have most courage to bear up against them. I ambut a woman weak and frail in body, but I trust I have that within mewhich will not make you feel ashamed of Amine. No, Philip, you willhave no wailing; no expression of despair from Amine's lips; if she canconsole you she will; if she can assist you she will; but come what may,if she cannot serve you, at least she will prove no burden to you."

  "Your presence in misfortune would unnerve me, Amine."

  "It shall not; it shall add to your resolution. Let fate do its worst."

  "Depend upon it, Amine, that will be ere long."

  "Be it so," replied Amine; "but Philip, it were as well you showedyourself on deck; the men are frightened, and your absence will beobserved."

  "You are right," said Philip; and rising and embracing her, he left thecabin.

  "It is but too true, then," thought Amine. "Now to prepare for disasterand death; the warning has come. I would I could know more. Oh!mother, mother, look down upon thy child, and in a dream reveal themystic arts which I have forgotten,--then should I know more; but I havepromised Philip, that unless separated--yes, that idea is worse thandeath, and I have a sad foreboding; my courage fails me only when Ithink of that!"

  Philip, on his return to the deck, found the crew of the vessel in greatconsternation. Krantz himself appeared bewildered--he had not forgottenthe appearance of the Phantom Ship off Desolation Harbour, and thevessels following her their destruction. This second appearance, moreawful than the former, quite unmanned him; and when Philip came out ofthe cabin he was leaning in gloomy silence against the weather-bulkhead.

  "We shall never reach port again, sir," said he to Philip, as he came upto him.

  "Silence, silence; the men may hear you."

  "It matters not; they think the same," replied Krantz.

  "But they are wrong," replied Philip, turning to the seamen. "My lads!that some disaster may happen to us, after the appearance of this vesselis most probable; I have seen her before more than once, and disastersdid then happen; but here I am, alive and well, therefore it does notprove that we cannot escape as I have before done. We must do our best,and trust in Heaven. The gale is breaking fast, and in a few hours weshall have fine weather. I have met this Phantom Ship before, and carenot how often I meet it again. Mr Krantz, get up the spirits--the menhave had hard work, and must be fatigued."

  The very prospect of obtaining liquor appeared to give courage to themen; they hastened to obey the order, and the quantity served out wassufficient to give courage to the most tearful, and induce others todefy old Vanderdecken and his whole crew of imps. The next morning theweather was fine, the sea smooth, and the Utrecht went gaily on hervoyage.

  Many days of gentle breezes and favouring winds gradually wore off thepanic occasioned by the supernatural appearance; and, if not forgotten,it was referred to either in jest or with indifference, he now had runthrough the straits of Malacca, and entered the Polynesian archipelago.Philip's orders were to refresh and call for instructions at the smallisland of Boton, then in possession of the Dutch. They arrived there insafety, and after remaining two days, again sailed on their voyage,intending to make their passage between the Celebes and the island ofGalago. The weather was still clear and the wind light; they proceededcautiously, on account of the reefs and currents, and with a carefulwatch for the piratical vessels, which have for centuries infested thoseseas; but they were not molested, and had gained well up among theislands to the north of Galago, when it fell calm, and the vessel wasborne to the eastward of it by the current. The calm lasted severaldays, and they could procure no anchorage; at last they found themselvesamong the cluster of islands near to the northern coast of New Guinea.

  The anchor was dropped, and the sails furled for the night; a drizzlingsmall rain came on, the weather was thick, and watches were stationed inevery part of the ship, that they might not be surprised by the pirateproas, for the current ran past the ship at the rate of eight or ninemiles per hour, and these vessels, if hid among the islands, might sweepdown upon them unperceived.

  It was twelve o'clock at night, when Philip, who was in bed, wasawakened by a shock; he thought it might be a proa running alongside,and he started from his bed and ran out. He found Krantz, who had beenawakened by the same cause, running up undressed. Another shocksucceeded, and the ship careened to port. Philip then knew that theship was on shore.

  The thickness of the night prevented them from ascertaining where thewere, but the lead was thrown over the side, and they found that theywere lying on shore on a sandbank, with not more than fourteen feetwater on the deepest side, and that they were broadside on with a strongcurrent pressing them further up on the bank; indeed the current ranlike a mill-race, and each minute they were swept into shallow water.

  On examination they found that the ship had dragged her anchor which,with the cable, was still taut from the starboard bow, but this did notappear to prevent the vessel from being swept further up on the bank.It was supposed that the anchor had parted at the shank, and anotheranchor was let go.

  Nothing more could be done till daybreak, and impatiently did they waittill the next morning. As the sun rose, the mist cleared away, and theydiscovered that they were on shore on a sandbank, a small portion ofwhich was above water, and round which the current ran with greatimpetuosity. About three miles from them was a cluster of small islandswith cocoa-trees growing on them, but with no appearance of inhabitants.

  "I fear we have little chance," observed Krantz to Philip. "If welighten the vessel the anchor may not hold, and we shall be sweptfurther on, and it is impossible to lay out an anchor against the forceof this current."

  "At all events we must try; but I grant that our situation is anythingbut satisfactory. Send all the hands aft."

  The men came aft, gloomy and dispirited.

  "My lads!" said Philip, "why are you disheartened?"

  "We are doomed, sir; we knew it would be so."

  "I thought it probable that the ship would be lost--I told you so; butthe loss of the ship does not involve that of the ship's company--nay,it does not follow that the ship is to be lost, although she may be ingreat difficulty, as she is at present. What fear is there for us, mymen?--the water is smooth--we have plenty of time before us--we can makea raft and take to our boats--it never blows among these islands, and wehave land close under our lee. Let us first try what we can do with theship; if we fail we must then take care of ourselves."

  The men caught at the idea and went to work willingly; the water-caskswere started, the pumps set going, and everything that could be sparedwas thrown over to lighten the ship; but the anchor still dragged, fromthe strength of the current and bad holding-ground; and Philip andKrantz perceived that they were swept further on the bank.

  Night came on before they quitted their toil, and then a fresh breezesprung up and created a swell, which occasioned the vessel to heat onthe hard sand; thus did they continue until the next morning. Atdaylight the men resumed their labours, and the pumps were again mannedto clear the vessel of the water which had been started, but after atime they pumped up sand. This told them that a plank had started andthat their labours were useless; the men left their work, but Philipagain encouraged them and pointed out that t
hey could easily savethemselves, and all that they had to do was to construct a raft whichwould hold provisions for them, and receive that portion of the crew whocould not be taken into the boats.

  After some repose the men again set to work; the top-sails were struck,the yards lowered down, and the raft was commenced under the lee of thevessel, where the strong current was checked. Philip, recollecting hisformer disaster took great pains in the construction of this raft, andaware that as the water and provisions were expended there would be nooccasion to tow so heavy a mass, he constructed it in two parts, whichmight easily be severed, and thus the boats would have less to tow, assoon as circumstances would enable them to part with one of them.

  Night again terminated their labours, and the men retired to rest theweather continuing fine, with very little wind. By noon the next daythe raft was complete; water and provisions were safely stowed on board;a secure and dry place was fitted up for Amine in the centre of oneportion; spare robes, sails, and everything which could prove useful incase of their being forced on shore, were put in. Muskets andammunition were also provided, and everything was ready, when the mencame aft and pointed out to Philip that there was plenty of money onboard, which it was folly to leave, and that they wished to carry asmuch as they could away with them. As this intimation was given in away that made it evident they intended that it should be complied with,Philip did not refuse; but resolved, in his own mind, that when theyarrived at a place where he could exercise his authority, the moneyshould be reclaimed for the Company to whom it belonged. The men wentdown below, and while Philip was making arrangements with Amine, handedthe casks of dollars out of the hold, broke them open and helpedthemselves--quarrelling with each other for the first possession, aseach cask was opened. At last every man had obtained as much as hecould carry, and had placed his spoil on the raft with his baggage, orin the boat to which he had been appointed. All was now ready--Aminewas lowered down, and took her station--the boats took in tow the raftwhich was cast off from the vessel, and away they went with the current,pulling with all their strength to avoid being stranded upon that partof the sandbank which appeared above water. This was the great dangerwhich they had to encounter, and which they very narrowly escaped.

  They numbered eighty-six souls in all: in the boats there werethirty-two; the rest were on the raft, which, being well-built and fullof timber, floated high out of the water, now that the sea was sosmooth. It had been agreed upon by Philip and Krantz, that one of themshould remain on the raft and the other in one of the boats; but at thetime the raft quitted the ship, they were both on the raft, as theywished to consult, as soon as they discovered the direction of thecurrent, which would be the most advisable course for them to pursue.It appeared, that as soon as the current had passed the bank, it took amore southerly direction towards New Guinea. It was then debatedbetween them whether they should or should not land on that island, thenatives of which were known to be pusillanimous, yet treacherous. Along debate ensued, which ended, however, in their resolve not to decideas yet, but wait and see what might occur. In the mean time, the boatspulled to the westward, while the current set them fast down in asoutherly direction.

  Night came on and the boats dropped the grapnels with which they hadbeen provided; and Philip was glad to find that the current was not nearso strong, and the grapnels held both boats and raft. Coveringthemselves up with the spare sails with which they had providedthemselves, and setting a watch, the tired seamen were soon fast asleep.

  "Had I not better remain in one of the boats?" observed Krantz."Suppose, to save themselves, the boats were to leave the raft."

  "I have thought of that," replied Philip, "and have, therefore, notallowed any provisions or water in the boats; they will not leave us forthat reason."

  "True, I had forgotten that."

  Krantz remained on watch, and Philip retired to the repose which he somuch needed. Amine met him with open arms.

  "I have no fear, Philip," said she; "I rather like this wild,adventurous change. We will go on shore and build our hut beneath thecocoa-trees, and I shall repine when the day comes which brings succour,and releases us from our desert isle. What do I require but you?"

  "We are in the hands of One above, dear, who will act with us as Hepleases. We have to be thankful that it is no worse," replied Philip."But now to rest, for I shall soon be obliged to watch."

  The morning dawned with a smooth sea and a bright blue sky; the raft hadbeen borne to leeward of the cluster of uninhabited islands of which wespoke, and was now without hopes of reaching them; but to the westwardwere to be seen on the horizon the refracted heads and trunks ofcocoa-nut trees, and in that direction it was resolved that they shouldtow the raft. The breakfast had been served out, and the men had takento the oars, when they discovered a proa, full of men, sweeping afterthem from one of the islands to windward. That it was a pirate vesselthere could be no doubt; but Philip and Krantz considered that theirforce was more than sufficient to repel them, should an attack be made.This was pointed out to the men; arms were distributed to all in theboats, as well as to those on the raft; and that the seamen might not befatigued, they were ordered to lie on their oars, and await the comingup of the vessel.

  As soon as the pirate was within range, having reconnoitred herantagonists, she ceased pulling, and commenced firing from a small pieceof cannon, which was mounted on her bows. The grape and langridge whichshe poured upon, them wounded several of the men, although Philip hadordered them to lie down flat on the raft and in the boats. The pirateadvanced nearer, and her fire became more destructive, without anyopportunity of returning it by the Utrecht's people. At last it wasproposed, as the only chance of escape, that the boats should attack thepirate. This was agreed to by Philip; more men were sent in the boats;Krantz took the command; the raft was cast off, and the boats pulledaway. But scarcely had they cleared the raft, when, as by one suddenthought, they turned round, and pulled away in the opposite direction.Krantz's voice was heard by Philip, and his sword was seen to sashthrough the air; a moment afterwards he lunged into the sea, and swam tothe raft. It appeared that the people in the boats, anxious to preservethe money which they had possession of, had agreed among themselves topull away and leave the raft to its fate. The proposal for attackingthe pirate had been suggested with that view, and as soon as they wereclear of the raft, they put their intentions into execution. In vainhad Krantz expostulated and threatened; they would have taken his life;and when he found that his efforts were of no avail he leaped from theboat. "Then are we lost, I fear," said Philip. "Our numbers are soreduced, that we cannot hope to hold out long. What think you,Schriften?" ventured Philip addressing the pilot who stood near to him.

  "Lost--but not lost by the pirates--no harm there! He! he!"

  The remark of Schriften was correct. The pirates, imagining that intaking to their boats the people had carried with them everything thatwas valuable, instead of firing at the raft immediately gave chase tothe boats. The sweeps were now out and the proa flew over the smoothwater, like a sea-bird, passed the raft, and was at first evidentlygaining on the boats but their speed soon slackened, and as the daypassed, the boats and then the pirate vessel disappeared in thesouthward; the distance between them being apparently much the same asat the commencement of the chase.

  The raft being now at the mercy of the wind and waves Philip and Krantzcollected the carpenter's tools which had been brought from the ship,and selecting two spars from the raft, they made every preparation forstepping a mast and setting sail by the next morning.

  The morning dawned, and the first objects that met their view were theboats pulling back towards the raft, followed closely by the pirate.The men had pulled the whole night, and were worn out with fatigue Itwas presumed that a consultation had been held, in which it was agreedthat they should make a sweep, so as to return to the raft, as, if theygained it, they would be able to defend themselves, and moreover obtainprovisions and water, which they had no
t on board at the time of theirdesertion. But it was fated otherwise; gradually the men dropped fromtheir oars, exhausted, into the bottom of the boat and the pirate vesselfollowed them with renewed ardour. The boats were captured one by one;the booty found was more than the pirates anticipated, and it hardlyneed be said that not one man was spared. All this took place withinthree miles of the raft, and Philip anticipated that the next movementof the vessel would be towards them, but he was mistaken. Satisfiedwith their booty, and imagining that there could be no more on the raft,the pirate pulled away to the eastward, towards the islands from amongstwhich she had first made her appearance. Thus were those who expectedto escape, and who had deserted their companions, deservedly punished;whilst those who anticipated every disaster from this desertiondiscovered that it was the cause of their being saved.

  The remaining people on board the raft amounted to about forty-five;Philip, Krantz, Schriften, Amine, the two mates, sixteen seamen, andtwenty-four soldiers, who had been embarked at Amsterdam. Of provisionsthey had sufficient for three or four weeks; but of water they were veryshort, already not having sufficient for more than three days at theusual allowance. As soon as the mast had been stepped and rigged, andthe sails set (although there was hardly a breath of wind), Philipexplained to the men the necessity of reducing the quantity of water,and it was agreed that it should be served out so as to extend thesupply to twelve days, the allowance being reduced to half a pint perday.

  There was a debate at this time, as the raft was in two parts, whetherit would not be better to cast off the smaller one and put all thepeople on board the other; but this proposal was overruled, as, in thefirst place, although the boats had deserted them, the number on theraft had not much diminished, and moreover, the raft would steer muchbetter under sail, now that it had length, than it would do if theyreduced its dimensions and altered its shape to a square mass offloating wood.

  For three days it was a calm, the sun poured down his hot beams uponthem, and the want of water was severely felt; those who continued todrink spirits suffered the most.

  On the fourth day the breeze sprung up favourably, and the sail wasfilled; it was a relief to their burning brows and blistered backs; andas the raft sailed on at the rate of four miles an hour, the men weregay and full of hope. The land below the cocoa-nut trees was nowdistinguishable, and they anticipated that the next day they could landand procure the water which they now so craved for. All night theycarried sail, but the next morning they discovered that the current wasstrong against them, and that what they gained when the breeze wasfresh, they lost from the adverse current as soon as it went down; thebreeze was always fresh in Use morning, but it fell calm in the evening.Thus did they continue for four days more, every noon being not tenmiles from the land, but the next morning swept away to a distance, andhaving their ground to retrace. Eight days had now passed, and the men,worn out with the exposure to the burning sun, became discontented andmutinous. At one time they insisted that the raft should be divided,that they might gain the land with the other half; at another, that theprovisions which they could no longer eat should be thrown overboard tolighten the raft. The difficulty under which they lay was the having noanchor or grapnel to the raft, the boats having carried away with themall that had been taken from the ship. Philip then proposed to the menthat, as everyone of them had such a quantity of dollars, the moneyshould be sewed up in canvas bags, each man's property separate; andthat with this weight to the ropes they would probably be enabled tohold the raft against the current for one night, when they would be ablethe next day to gain shore; but this was refused--they would not risktheir money. No, no--fools! they would sooner part with their lives bythe most miserable of all deaths. Again and again was this proposed tothem by Philip and Krantz, but without success.

  In the mean time Amine had kept up her courage and her spirits, provingto Philip a valuable adviser and a comforter in his misfortunes. "Cheerup, Philip," would she say; "we shall yet build our cottage under theshade of those cocoa-nut trees, and pass a portion, if not the remainderof our lives in peace; for who indeed is there who would think to findus in these desolate and untrodden regions?"

  Schriften was quiet and well-behaved; talked much with Amine, but withnobody else. Indeed, he appeared to have a stronger feeling in favourof Amine than he had ever shown before. He watched over her andattended her; and Amine would often look up after being silent andperceive Schriften's face wear an air of pity and melancholy which shehad believed it impossible that he could have exhibited.

  Another day passed; again they neared the land, and again did the breezedie away, and they were swept back by the current. The men now arose,and in spite of the endeavours of Philip and Krantz, they rolled intothe sea all the provisions and stores, everything but one cask ofspirits and the remaining stock of water; they then sat down at theupper end of the raft with gloomy, threatening looks and in closeconsultation.

  Another night closed in; Philip was full of anxiety. Again he urgedthem to anchor with their money, but in vain; they ordered him away, andhe returned to the after part of the raft, upon which Amine's secureretreat had been erected; he leant on it in deep thought and melancholy,for he imagined that Amine was asleep.

  "What disturbs you, Philip?"

  "What disturbs me? The avarice and folly of these men. They will die,rather than risk their hateful money. They have the means of savingthemselves and us, and they will not. There is weight enough in bullionon the fore part of the raft to hold a dozen floating masses such asthis, yet they will not risk it. Cursed love of gold, it makes menfools, madmen, villains! We have now but two days' water--doled out asit is drop by drop. Look at their emaciated, broken-down, wasted forms,and yet see how they cling to money, which probably they will never haveoccasion for, even if they gain the land. I am distracted!"

  "You suffer, Philip, you suffer from privation, but I have been careful;I thought that this would come; I have saved both water and biscuit--Ihave here four bottles;--drink, Philip, and it will relieve you."

  Philip drank; it did relieve him, for the excitement of the day hadpressed heavily on him.

  "Thanks, Amine--thanks, dearest! I feel better now.--Good Heaven! arethey such fools as to value the dross of metal above one drop of waterin a time of suffering and privation such as this?"

  The night closed in as before; the stars shone bright, but there was nomoon. Philip had risen at midnight to relieve Krantz from the steerageof the raft. Usually the men had lain about in every part of the raft,but this night the majority of them remained forward. Philip wascommuning with his own bitter thoughts, when he heard a scuffle forward?and the voice of Krantz crying out to him for help, he quitted the helm,and seizing his cutlass ran forward, where he found Krantz down, and themen securing him. He fought his way to him, but was himself seized anddisarmed. "Cut away--cut away," was called out by those who held him;and, in a few seconds, Philip had the misery to behold the after part ofthe raft, with Amine upon it, drifted apart from the one on which hestood.

  "For mercy's sake! my wife--my Amine--for Heaven's sake, save her!"cried Philip, struggling in vain to disengage himself. Amine also, whohad run to the side of the raft held out her arms--it was in vain--theywere separated more than a cable's length. Philip made one moredesperate struggle, and then fell down deprived of sense and motion.