Masterman Ready; Or, The Wreck of the Pacific

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER FIVE.

  Sailors are never discouraged by danger as long as they have any chanceof relieving themselves by their own exertions. The loss of theirshipmates, so instantaneously summoned away,--the wrecked state of thevessel,--the wild surges burying them beneath their angry waters,--thehowling of the wind, the dazzling of the lightning, and the pealing ofthe thunder, did not prevent them from doing what their necessitydemanded. Mackintosh, the first mate, rallied the men, and contrived tofix a block and strap to the still smoking stump of the foremast; a ropewas rove through the block, and the main-topgallant sail hoisted, sothat the vessel might run faster before the gale, and answer her helmbetter than she did.

  The ship was again before the wind, and comparatively safe,notwithstanding the heavy blows she now received from the pursuingwaves. Night again came on, but there was no repose, and the men wereworn out with exposure and fatigue.

  The third day of the gale dawned, but the appearances were as alarmingas ever: the continual breaking of the seas over the stern had washedaway the binnacles, and it was impossible now to be certain of thecourse the ship had been steered, or the distance which had been run;the leaky state of the vessel proved how much she had already sufferedfrom the violent shocks which she had received, and the certainty wasapparent, that if the weather did not abate, she could not possiblywithstand the force of the waves much longer.

  The countenance of Captain Osborn showed great anxiety: he had a heavyresponsibility on his shoulders--he might lose a valuable ship, andstill more valuable cargo, even if they did not all lose their lives;for they were now approaching where the sea was studded with low coralislands, upon which they might be thrown by the waves and wind, withouthaving the slightest power to prevent it in their present disabledcondition.

  Ready was standing by him when Captain Osborn said--

  "I don't much like this, Ready; we are now running on danger and have nohelp for it."

  "That's true enough," replied Ready: "we have no help for it; it isGod's will, sir, and His will be done."

  "Amen!" replied Captain Osborn solemnly; and then he continued, after apause, "There were many captains who envied me when I obtained commandof this fine ship,--would they change with me now?"

  "I should rather think not, Captain Osborn, but you never know what theday may bring forth. You sailed with this vessel, full of hope--younow, not without reason, feel something approaching to despair; but whoknows? it may please the Almighty to rebuke those angry winds and waves,and to-morrow we may again hope for the best; at all events you havedone your duty--no man can do more."

  "You are right," replied Captain Osborn; "but hold hard, Ready, thatsea's aboard of us."

  Ready had just time to cling with both hands to the belaying-pins whenthe sea poured over the vessel, with a volume of water which for sometime swept them off their legs: they clung on firmly, and at lastrecovered their feet.

  "She started a timber or two with that blow, I rather think," saidReady.

  "I'm afraid so; the best vessel ever built could not stand such shockslong," replied Captain Osborn; "and at present, with our weak crew, I donot see that we can get more sail upon her."

  All that night the ship flew in darkness before the gale. At daybreakthe wind abated, and the sea went down: the ship was, however, stillkept before the wind, for she had suffered too much to venture to puther broadside to the sea. Preparations were now made for getting upjury-masts; and the worn-out seamen were busily employed, under thedirection of Captain Osborn and his two mates, when Mr Seagrave andWilliam came upon deck.

  William stared about him: he perceived, to his astonishment, that thetall masts, with all their rigging and sails, had disappeared, and thatthe whole deck was in a state of confusion and disorder.

  "See, my child," said Mr Seagrave, "the wreck and devastation which arehere. See how the pride of man is humbled before the elements of thegreat Jehovah."

  "Ay, Master Willy," said old Ready, "look around you, as you well may.Do you remember the verses in the Bible?--if not, I remember them well,for I have often read them, and have often felt the truth of them: `Theythat go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters,these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.'"

  "But, father," said Willy, after a pause, "how shall we ever get toSydney without masts or sails?"

  "Why, William," replied Ready, "we must do what we can: we sailors arenever much at a loss, and I dare say before night you will find us undersome sort of sail again. We have lost our great masts, so we must putup jury-masts, as we call them; that is, little ones, and little sailsupon them; and, if it pleases God, we shall see Sydney yet. How isMadam, sir?" continued Ready to Mr Seagrave. "Is she better?"

  "I fear she is very weak and ill," replied Mr Seagrave; "nothing butfine weather will do her any good. Do you think that it will be finenow?"

  "Why, sir, to tell you the truth, I fear we shall have more of it yet: Ihave not given my thoughts to the captain, as I might be mistaken; butstill I think so--I've not been fifty years at sea without learningsomething. I don't like the gathering of that bank there, Mr Seagrave,and I shouldn't wonder if it were to blow again from the very samequarter, and that before dark."

  "God's will be done," replied Mr Seagrave, "but I am very fearful aboutmy poor wife, who is worn to a shadow."

  "I shouldn't think so much about that, sir, as I really never knew ofpeople dying that way, although they suffer much. William, do you knowthat we have lost some of our men since you were down below?"

  "No--I heard the steward say something outside about the foremast."

  "We have lost five of our smartest and best men--Wilson was washedoverboard, Fennings and Masters struck dead with the lightning, andJones and Emery crushed by the fall of the foremast. You are young,Master Willy, but you cannot think too early of your Maker, or call tomind what they say in the burial service,--`In the midst of life we arein death.'"

  "Thank you, Ready, for the lesson you have given my son," said MrSeagrave; "and, William, treasure it up in your memory."

  "Yes, William, they are the words of an old man who has seen many andmany a one who was full of youth and spirits called away before him, andwho is grateful to God that he has been pleased to preserve his life,and allow him to amend his ways."

  "I have been thinking," said Mr Seagrave, after a silence of a minuteor two, "that a sailor has no right to marry."

  "I've always thought so, sir," replied Ready; "and I dare say many apoor deserted sailor's wife, when she has listened to the wind and rainin her lonely bed, has thought the same."

  "With my permission," continued Mr Seagrave, "my boys shall never go tosea if there is any other profession to be found for them."

  "Well, Mr Seagrave, they do say that it's no use baulking a lad if hewishes to go to sea, and that if he is determined, he must go: now Ithink otherwise--I think a parent has a right to say no, if he pleases,upon that point; for you see, sir, a lad, at the early age at which hegoes to sea, does not know his own mind. Every high-spirited boy wishesto go to sea--it's quite natural; but if the most of them were to speakthe truth, it is not that they so much want to go to sea, as that theywant to go from school or from home, where they are under the control oftheir masters or their parents."

  "Very true, Ready; they wish to be, as they consider they will be,independent."

  "And a pretty mistake they make of it, sir. Why, there is not a greaterslave in the world than a boy who goes to sea, for the first few yearsafter his shipping: for once they are corrected on shore, they arepunished ten times at sea, and they never again meet with the love andaffection they have left behind them. It is a hard life, and there havebeen but few who have not bitterly repented it, and who would not havereturned, like the prodigal son, and cast themselves at their fathers'feet, only that they have been ashamed."

  "That's the truth, Ready, and it is on that account that I consider thata parent is justified in refusing his consent to his s
on going to sea,if he can properly provide for him in any other profession. There neverwill be any want of sailors, for there always will be plenty of poorlads whose friends can do no better for them; and in that case theseafaring life is a good one to choose, as it requires no other capitalfor their advancement than activity and courage."