werelowered, and the huge anchor let go.
"The craft will ride it out after all, I believe," said Mr. Hanson,watching to ascertain whether the junk was driving.
"That's more than any other ship will do," observed Ned Rawlings,pointing to the vessels in the distance, many of which were now drivingaway furiously before the wind; and already the sea was covered with thewrecks of native vessels, to which numerous persons--both men and womenand children--were clinging desperately, as they drove onward before thewind.
Fearful must have been the destruction of life and property in thatcrowded harbour. However, we had to think about ourselves. The typhoonwas increasing in fury; it seemed to be working itself up like a mangetting into a rage. A blast ten times stronger than the first nowstruck us.
"She has parted, sir," cried Ned Rawlings.
Away we drove before the wind. At first we went sideways, and it seemedas if every instant we should be blown over. The helm however, was putup, and away we drifted right before the gale; the farther we got fromthe shore the higher the seas became, and the stronger the wind. Mr.Hanson looked grave; there was good reason for his so doing, for thejunk began to pitch and roll in the most furious manner, while the seasdanced up round her, seeming determined to come on board. At times, itseemed scarcely possible that we could hold on to her deck; we feltsomewhat like peas on a drum--jumping up and down, with the prospect ofbeing jerked overboard every instant. As to setting sail, that wasimpossible; for even had a foot of the bamboo-matting been presented tothe wind it would have been blown away. The junk, flimsy as she lookedoutside, was strongly built, so that there was less risk of her going topieces than might have been supposed. I asked Rawlings what he thoughtabout the matter.
"Well, Jack," he said, "if we can keep the open sea the old tea-chestmay float; but if we get the coast under our lee we shall drive ashoreand go to pieces."
More than once Mr. Hanson looked astern.
"Perhaps he hopes that the _Fawn_ will come after us," I observed toRawlings.
"That's not likely," was the answer. "It would not do to risk the lossof the schooner on the chance of helping us; and, to my mind, there'slittle help any vessel can give us."
Had, indeed, the schooner been following, we might not have seen her;for, so thick was the spray which drove over us, that we could scarcelysee many yards beyond the junk, all the time the wind howling andshrieking, and the water hissing and foaming around us. We could donothing to help ourselves; indeed, it took all our strength just to holdon to the side. Every now and then a huge sea would come rolling up,and seem about to break on board, but the buoyant junk rose to the topof it, and then again down we plunged into the deep trough below.
Mr. Hanson and two of the men stood at the helm, trying to steer thelumbering craft, and not without difficulty could they prevent her frombroaching-to. Dicky Plumb had done his best to keep his legs, but,finding that impossible, at length sat down on the deck, holding on, andendeavouring to look as unconcerned and cool as possible. As we lookedout we could see fragments of wreck floating by, showing us what would,too probably, be our fate. We passed one large junk almost under water,to which several people were clinging; they held out their hands to us,asking for assistance, but we could give them none, and soon we droveby, when they were hid from our sight by the driving spray. On we went.
"Breakers ahead!" shouted Ned Rawlings, who had been looking out.
There appeared, right before us, a line of coast--to weather it, seemedimpossible; and yet, if we could not do so, our destruction wasinevitable. At length we made out a point of land on the port bow--wewere driving towards it--Mr. Hanson put the helm as much as he could tostarboard.
"If we can get to the other side of that," he observed to Mr. Plumb, "wemay escape with our lives; if not, there's not a chance for us."
"It cannot be helped," answered Mr. Dicky, quite composedly. "We havedone our best, and can do no more."
Closer and closer we drew to the wild rocks at the end of the point; thesurf was breaking furiously over them. I know I held my breath, and Icannot exactly say how I felt; only I kept wishing something was over.There were the rocks, and there was the fearful surf roaring over them.In another instant we were in the midst of the surf; I expected to heara crash, and to find the vessel going to pieces. The water came rushingover our decks; the masses of spray blinded us. On we flew, and inanother moment the point was passed; and though the sea broke heavily onthe shore, still there was a possibility of our landing on it. We hadno anchors remaining, so we could not bring up, even could any anchorhave held; shipwreck was certain. The only doubt was where we shouldstrike--that was settled in another minute--lifted high on a roller wewere hurled towards the shore; then suddenly down we came with atremendous crash; the masts instantly fell; the upper works were washedaway; with difficulty could we hold on to the wreck.
"Now, Jack, let's see what you can do," exclaimed Ned Rawlings."There's not a better swimmer on board!"
I understood what was wanted. Ned got hold of a rope, which I fastenedround my waist.
"I'll carry it ashore," I cried out.
"Let me go, too," cried Dicky Plumb, forgetting that he could not swim.
There was no time for thought. I dashed overboard, and struck out forthe shore; I ran a great risk of being knocked on the head by pieces ofthe wreck; I knew that several passed close to me. Now the sea cameroaring up, and, passing over the vessel, sent me some way towards theshore; as it receded, however, it carried me back again almost to thejunk; still I struggled on; the next sea which came up took me stillnearer, and, though I went back again, still I had gained some distance;at last, I felt my feet touch the ground, then I seemed about to beswept back again, but I struggled on, and with a wild spring, clutchingthe sand with my hands, I resisted the receding water, which camehissing and foaming around me; then with a few more desperate strugglesI found myself out of the reach of the sea. Near me was a pointed rock;round it I securely fastened the rope. In the meantime, three or fourmen had thrown themselves into the water; one poor fellow was swept out,his dying shriek reaching my ear just as I landed; another was holdingon desperately to a piece of the wreck; two more came on shore, butgreatly exhausted. I saw Rawlings making signals to me to haul in therope; I began to haul away, but the rope he had secured to the light oneI took on shore was so heavy that I could not accomplish the task; justthen I was joined by my two shipmates, and all three of us pulling awayat the rope, we got it on shore; the end was secured, as the lighter onehad been, round the rock; and the first person who tried it wasRawlings. I found that he had secured a couple of travellers to therope.
"I will go back," he said, "and bring Mr. Plumb. Mr. Hanson will notleave the vessel till all are on shore, I know."
Master Dicky, however, was for coming entirely by himself; still, Ithink he would have been washed off had not Rawlings gone to hisassistance. Little Joss, the Chinese boy, clambered along as activelyas a monkey. There was more difficulty in getting Mr. Hanson on shore,as he had scarcely quite recovered from his wounds. Not a moment afterhe left the junk a sea came roaring up, and in an instant she split intoa thousand fragments; not a particle of her remained holding together onthe rock on which she struck; the same sea tore the poor fellow who hadbeen clinging to a piece of the wreck from his hold, and he was washedaway, no more to be seen. The remainder of us clambered up away fromthe beach, where we sat down to consult what was best to be done. Itwas now growing dark; not a house or shelter of any sort could we see.
"We shall all perish if we spend the night exposed to this bitterblast," said Mr. Hanson. "Lads, we must look out for some place orother for shelter," and saying this, he led the way further inland,where a lofty cliff appeared before us.
Searching about, we found an opening in the rock, down the centre ofwhich a stream flowed, running on towards the sea. Here we weresomewhat sheltered from the wind, but it was open at the top, so thatthe air even here felt very cold.
> CHAPTER NINE.
CAPTURED BY THE CELESTIALS.
The night passed slowly by. We were very hungry and very cold. I hadthe satisfaction of having my praises sung by my commander.
"Indeed, Junker, I am ready to confess that we owe our lives to you,"said Mr. Hanson. "It required no little courage to carry the rope onshore in the way you did."
I made a suitable, and, I hope, modest reply.
There was no room to lie down, so we all had to sit up and do our bestto keep our feet out of the stream. As the morning broke the typhoonsubsided, and at last we went out of our resting-place to look about us.The whole shore was lined with pieces of wreck. One of the poorfellows who had been drowned had been thrown up, but the bodies of theothers could not be seen. We most of us had become desperately hungry:I know I was.
Off to Sea: The Adventures of Jovial Jack Junker on his Road to Fame Page 13
