The First Mate: The Story of a Strange Cruise

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER NINE.

  WRECKED!

  How long I slept I have no means of knowing. All I can remember is thatfrom a sound, dreamless sleep, I was startled into sudden wakefulness byexperiencing a shock of such tremendous violence that my first realconsciousness of anything being amiss was caused by me finding myselfhurled headlong out of my bunk to the deck of my cabin. I fell soawkwardly that I seemed to land fair upon my right temple, and, after aninstant of sharp pain, I forthwith lost all consciousness for a lengthof time that must have been considerable, although I never had the meansto guess it even approximately. But I remember one thing distinctly.Even as I was in the very act of falling, a terrific rending crashsounded in my ears, and the thought flashed through my brain: "There gothe masts by the board!"

  The return of consciousness manifested itself in a hazy and quitedetached perception that I was being violently shaken by the shoulder;while a voice, pitched in aggrieved and petulant tones--which Ipresently recognised as those of the lad, Julius--exhorted me to "Wakeup!" At first these exhortations produced no particular effect upon me.I was aware of them, but that was all; they had no definite meaning sofar as I was concerned. I did not even trouble to ask myself why Ishould wake up. Then after a period of silence, during which I perhapsslipped back into unconsciousness, I became aware that water was beingvigorously dashed in my face, while Julius's voice resumed its petulantappeal.

  "Oh, I say, dash it all! do wake up, Leigh," I heard the boy exclaim."Wake up, I tell you! Momma's blocked into her cabin, and Sis and Ican't get her out. And you're the only one of the crew left!"

  I suppose my wits must have been reasserting themselves by that time,for these words conveyed some sort of definite meaning to me, especiallythat last statement: "You're the only one of the crew left." The onlyone of the crew! What crew? Why, of course, the crew of the _StellaMaris_, in which I had some recollection of having spent a very pleasanttime. Then, as memory began to work, I recalled the tremendous shockwhich had hurled me, scarcely awake, out of my bunk, and the jarring,rending crash that had reached my ears in the very act of falling. Whatdid these things mean? I asked myself, and the answer came without muchgroping for. What could they mean, except that some disaster hadovertaken the yacht?

  I opened my eyes, and by the light of a rapidly growing dawn perceived,first, that I was still in my own cabin, and secondly, that Julius wasbending over me with a water jug in one hand and a tumbler in the other,from the latter of which he had just dashed a quantity of water in myface. Also I was conscious of a splitting headache, and a burning,smarting sensation in the right temple. I put up my hand, passed itover the seat of the pain, and was immediately conscious of an increasedsmart. As I lowered my hand I looked at it stupidly: it was smearedwith blood.

  "Oh, that's nothing!" commented the boy, as I looked questioningly atthe ruddy stain; "you've cut your forehead a bit, that's all. Thankgoodness, you've woke up at last! I thought at first you'd handed inyour checks. Now, I say, just get up and come with me to thedrawing-room. Momma's somehow pinned in her cabin, and I want you toget her out."

  "All right!" I said; "I'll come. But what has happened to the ship?She seems to be--"

  "I dunno," replied the boy. "She's wrecked, that's all that I can tellyou. Her three masts are broken; and, exceptin' Momma, 'Thea, and I,you're the only person left."

  "The only person left!" I ejaculated, as I staggered to my feet. "GoodHeavens, boy, what do you mean?"

  "Just exactly what I say," returned Master Julius. "And see here, you,"he continued aggressively, "don't you dare to call me `boy' again. Idon't like it, and I won't have it. See?"

  "Certainly," I replied, with a smile at the lad's astonishing touchinessat such a moment; "I both see and hear. All right! I apologise. Andnow, what is this you say about your mother? She is jammed in her cabinand can't get out? I will go and attend to her first; and when she hasbeen released I must look into that other matter of the missing crew."

  "I guess the first thing you'll do after you've got Momma out of hercabin will be to get my breakfast ready, and don't you forget it!"retorted the boy.

  While we talked I had been hastily dressing, and until I had finished Isaid nothing. I suppose it was the blow on the head that I hadreceived, coupled with the growing consciousness that some disaster, farmore frightful than I had thus far dreamed of, had befallen us, thatmade me suddenly irritable and short-tempered then. Anyhow, the lad'smanner jarred upon me at the moment to such an extent that, as I wasabout to lead the way through the doorway of my cabin, I halted andturned upon the youngster.

  "Look here, my lad," I said. "If what you say is true, that only yourmother, your sister, you and I are left aboard this ship, somebody willhave to take charge of things, and that somebody will be myself. Therewill be a multitude of things to be done, and you will have to lend ahand. And I will see that you do so. Henceforth it will be I who willgive orders; and--understand me, my young friend--if I give you anorder, you will execute it, or I'll know the reason why. Hitherto, itseems to me, you have been spoiled by too much indulgence; but if thisship proves to be a wreck, as I more than suspect is the case, therewill be no more spoiling for you, and I'll see if I cannot makesomething like a man of you. Now, just turn that saying over in yourmind, and don't let me have any more of your nonsense. Now we will goand see what can be done for your mother. Come along!"

  For a moment I really thought that the boy meant to strike me, but Ikept my eyes steadily staring into his, and presently I saw that I hadmastered him, for the moment at all events. The gleam of mingled angerand defiance faded out of his eyes, and he muttered: "All right! let'sgo."

  As we wended our way from my cabin to the drawing-room, abaft which MrsVansittart's cabin was situate, I had time to note several matters. Thefirst of these was that the ship was evidently hard and fast aground;for although she rolled slightly from time to time the motion was notcontinuous like that of a floating ship, but intermittent, withintervals when she did not move at all, but lay motionless with a listto starboard. Also, when she moved, there was a gritty, grinding sound,which at once suggested to me that she was lying upon a bed of coral.There was also another sound, a bumping sound, accompanied by aperceptible jar of the hull, recurring at frequent and pretty regularintervals, which I set down to the bumping of wreckage alongside. Thenext thing I observed was that the lee side of the deck was about a footor more deep in water, showing that a very considerable quantity musthave come below, the greater part of it probably through the hatchways,although some had no doubt come in through the open ports.

  Then I went up the hatchway ladder to the main-deck. Heavens! what apicture of wreck and ruin I there beheld! The three hollow steel mastswere snapped off close to the deck, and now, with all attached, wereover the starboard side, still fast to the hull by the standing andrunning gear, which lay, a confused raffle of wire and hemp, across thedeck. The mizenmast, heel upward, leaned against the side of the poopin a slanting position, showing that it had fallen forward as well assideways; and immediately to leeward, in the water that heaved andseethed round us, rose and fell a tangle of wrecked spars, sails, andrigging. Every inch of the bulwarks, from poop to topgallant forecastleon both sides, had disappeared, leaving only the bent and broken steelstanchions standing here and there. The deckhouses were gone, as wereevery one of the boats except the motor launch, and even she wasrepresented only by a shattered, fragmentary skeleton. Four of the sixmain-deck guns in the starboard battery were either smashed or missingaltogether; and, in short, the whole appearance of the main-deck wassuch as to suggest that the ship had been repeatedly swept from end toend by a succession of tremendously heavy seas.

  All these things I observed during my brief passage from the afterhatchway to the face of the poop. I also observed that no land was insight from the main-deck; therefore, if we had hit an unknown atollduring the night, it must be so small as to be entirely hidden by thepoop.


  Followed submissively enough by the boy, who now seemed tongue-tied, Ipassed through the cabin into the drawing-room; and it gave me quite asharp pain to see the dreadful havoc that had been wrought in thatsplendid apartment since I had left it only a few hours before. For notonly had all the ports been left open during the night, for the sake ofcoolness, but the skylight and companion had both been swept away, and,from the appearance of things, tons of water must have flooded theplace. Even now, when it had had time to drain away to a small extent,the lee side of the room was flooded to the depth of fully four feet,and chairs, ottomans, table, grand piano, organ--the latter capsized--infact, everything movable had settled away to leeward, and now lay in aconfused heap in the water. The rich carpet was everywhere sodden,several of the electric-light shades were smashed, two or three of thepictures had fallen; in short, the destruction was practically complete.And there, in the midst of all the ruin, stood poor little Anthea, amost forlorn and pathetic-looking object.

  I hastened toward her with the idea of saying something comforting,though what I could have said I am sure I don't know. Happily, sheforestalled me by coming to meet me with outstretched hands.

  "Oh! Mr Leigh," she exclaimed, "isn't this just awful! I am so gladyou are here, for Momma is in her cabin and can't get out; and Jule andI haven't been strong enough to help her. She says that the wardrobehas fallen across her door, and she cannot move it."

  "All right!" I said; "I will see what I can do to help her;" and Imoved toward the door in question.

  "But don't you think you had better get some of the men to help you?"demanded the girl. "I guess that wardrobe is a pretty heavy piece offurniture and--But what are you looking at me like that for? And whathave you done to your head?"

  "Hasn't Julius told you?" I asked, ignoring the last question.

  "Told me what?" returned Anthea. Then, without waiting for a reply, shecontinued. "No, he hasn't told me a thing. In fact, I haven't seen himsince he left me nearly an hour ago to get help. Of course I know thatwe're wrecked, and goodness knows that's bad enough. There's nothingworse than that to tell, is there?"

  "I don't know for certain," I said, "but I fear so. Julius says that wethree and your mother are all that remain of the entire ship's company;but I pray Heaven that he may be mistaken. However, we will free yourmother; and then I will take a good look round. I have scarcely had achance to see anything yet."

  I walked up to the closed door of Mrs Vansittart's cabin, Anthea andJulius accompanying me, and knocked.

  "It is Walter Leigh," I cried. "Julius tells me that you are blockadedin your room, madam, and cannot force your way out. May I see what Ican do?"

  "Pray do, if you please," was the response. "I have been shut up herefor hours, terrified and half-drowned, and I want to get out. Have youanybody there to help you?"

  "Only Julius," I replied. "But I daresay we can manage, between us."

  "I don't believe you can," retorted Mrs Vansittart. "There is awardrobe right across the door, and it is so heavy that I cannot moveit. Still, you may try."

  "Right!" I replied. "Stand clear, if you please. Now, Julius, putyour shoulder to the door, close to the frame, and throw your wholeweight upon it. I will help you."

  But the door would not move, strive as we might, and soon I realisedthat the lad was a hindrance rather than a help. So I told him to standaside, and was then able to bring my whole weight and strength to bear.Presently I felt the door move, ever so little; I had started it, andafter some minutes of strenuous heaving I managed to force it so faropen that, with a little tight squeezing, I might push myself throughthe aperture. This I did, having first asked permission; and, onceinside the room, I managed to shift the blockading wardrobe without verymuch difficulty, and so to release the imprisoned lady.

  When I had hooked back the door, so that the way was open, MrsVansittart turned to me and said:

  "Thank you, ever so much, Walter! And now, tell me, what dreadful thinghas happened? We are stranded, are we not, and--What is the matter withyour head? You are bleeding! Tell me the worst, Walter! Whatever itis, I believe I can bear it."

  "To confess the truth, madam," I said, "I scarcely know yet what is thefull extent of our misfortune. That the ship is ashore--on a coralreef, as I believe--and totally dismasted, is certain; and I fear thatthat is not the worst of it. Julius tells me that we four are the onlysurvivors of the entire ship's company, but I can hardly believe that.There must be some of the crew left somewhere in the ship, although Isaw no sign of them when I came here from my cabin. Probably I shouldnot have been here now but for the fact that when the ship struck I washurled out of my bunk with such violence that I was stunned; and it wasJulius who found and revived me. With your permission, I will now takea thorough look round, and then return to you with my report."

  "Please do so," assented Mrs Vansittart. "Search the ship thoroughlyfrom end to end, and then let me know exactly how matters stand. I amsure it cannot be anything like so bad as you say. Some of the poorfellows may have been, indeed probably were, swept away by those awfulseas that broke over the ship when she first struck; but all of them!Oh, no, it cannot be so bad as that; it would be too terrible!"

  "I will go at once," I said. "But I beg that you will prepare yourselffor bad news; for, from what I saw on deck just now, on my way here, Iam afraid my report will be a very distressing one."

  Therewith I hurried away, for I saw that the poor lady was quiteoverwhelmed, and would probably be relieved to find herself alone for atime. I searched the ship thoroughly, penetrating to every part of herin which it was possible for a man to hide himself, but found nobody,until at length I made my way to the stewardesses' quarters. There,huddled up in the cabin which they shared between them, I discovered thechief and assistant stewardess, quite unhurt but half-crazy withterror--so frightened, indeed, that it was only with the greatestdifficulty I at length succeeded in persuading them that all danger wasover for the present, and induced them to join their mistress in thedrawing-room.

  Then I proceeded to investigate the condition of the wreck. The yachthad been constructed like a liner, with a double bottom; and theconclusion at which I arrived was that the actual bottom of the ship wasso seriously damaged that she would never float again, but that theinner skin was intact; and that the water in her interior, of whichthere was a very considerable quantity, had all come in through thehatchways and ports.

  With regard to the loss of the crew, I believed I could understandexactly how it had come about; for, wherever I went, whether to themen's berthage in the 'tween decks or to the officers' cabins, theindications were the same, and pointed to the conviction that when theship struck, every man below leaped out of his bunk or hammock anddashed up on deck in something of a panic, where they were washedoverboard, with the watch already on deck, by the terrific seas thatmust at once have swept the ship from stem to stern, their awful powerbeing sufficiently evidenced by the scene of destruction presented bythe decks.

  Having completed my investigation below, I ascended to the poop,shinning up by one of the port mizen shrouds, which trailed across thedeck and hung down over the face of the poop, both ladders beingmissing; and when I got up there and was able to see all round the ship,I thought I began to understand a little more clearly what had happenedduring the darkness of the preceding night.

  I found that the ship had piled herself up on a small atoll, some twomiles in diameter, only a very small portion of which--less than ahundred yards in length--showed above water. This portion, consistingof a low bank of sand, the highest point of which could not, Iestimated, be more than three feet above the level of the ocean'ssurface, lay directly astern of the ship, distant about half a mile.From the position which the wreck then occupied I surmised that in thedarkness of the preceding night we must have rushed headlong upon theweathermost portion of the reef, and beaten through the terrific surfthat everlastingly broke upon it. Our decks had been swept ofeverything animat
e and inanimate in the process, until the vessel hadsettled down on the top of the reef in the comparatively smooth waterthat then surrounded us, which, though it boiled and seethed all roundthe wreck, had power only to cause her to stir gently and at intervalsupon her coral bed when an extra heavy swell swept across the reef.

  Of course the wreck ought not to have occurred; but Parker, theboatswain, who was in charge of the ship when she piled herself up,unfortunately happened to overhear Mrs Vansittart remark, only the daybefore the disaster, that we were then in a part of the ocean which wasnot only very sparsely used, but, according to the charts, was supposedto be absolutely void of dangers. Hence I imagine he must not only havegrown careless himself, but must also have permitted the look-outs tobecome so also; with the result that, on such a pitch-dark night as thepreceding one had been, the ship would be absolutely on top of thedanger, and escape from it impossible, before its existence wasdiscovered.

  Well, our plight, although bad enough in all conscience, might easilyhave been a good deal worse. For if the ship had remained afloat a fewminutes longer than she actually did, she would have driven completelyacross the reef and sunk in the lagoon, when probably the whole of uswho happened to be below would have gone down with her, and the disasterwould have been complete. As it was, there were half a dozen of us whohad escaped drowning, although our prospects for the future wereanything but brilliant. To start with, the diminutive sandbank asternof the wreck was impossible as a place of prolonged residence, though wemight, perhaps, if driven to it, contrive to exist for a few days uponthe shellfish which no doubt might be collected along the margin of theinner beach, assisted, perhaps, by a few sea-birds' eggs. But there wasno fresh water, so far as I could discover with the aid of the ship'stelescope, nor was there so much as a blade of grass in the way ofshelter.

  Therefore it was perfectly evident that we must stick to the wreck untilsomething came along to take us off, or until I could put togethersomething in the nature of a craft or raft capable of being handledunder sail and of making a voyage to the nearest civilised land. That,as anyone who has used the sea will know, was a pretty tall order for ayoung fellow like myself, with such assistance only as four women and aboy could afford me. Of course there was the possibility that the wreckmight break up during the next gale. But I hardly thought she would,because she must have driven to her present berth while last night'sbreeze was at its height, and from the look of things generally Idoubted whether a sea heavy enough to destroy her would ever reach uswhere we then lay. The reef would break it up and render it practicallyharmless before it could get so far as the spot which we occupied.

  Still, I realised that it would not be wise to trust too much to thatbelief; and I determined to get to work upon some sort of craft at theearliest moment possible. Meanwhile, however, since under the mostfavourable circumstances the wreck must obviously be our home for sometime to come, unless indeed we should be lucky enough to be seen andtaken off, the first thing to be done was to clear the ship of water andget the cabins dry again as speedily as possible; and I determined thatI would make that my first job.

  Having now decided upon something in the nature of a plan of campaign, Ireturned to the drawing-room, descending to it by way of the companion--the stairway of which was still intact--with the object of making myreport to Mrs Vansittart and submitting my plans for her approval. Butwhen I reached the apartment I found the occupants in the very act ofdescending to the dining-room, in order to partake of breakfast. Thishad been prepared by the two stewardesses, the senior of whom--the youngFrenchwoman, Lizette Charpentier, who also acted as Mrs Vansittart'smaid--had just made her appearance with the information that the mealwas ready. I therefore decided to postpone what I had to say untilafter breakfast, believing that everybody would be the better able tolisten to bad news if they were first fortified with a good meal.