It was with difficulty that we could distinguish Land"s End from the neighbouring headlands, Cape Cornwall, to the northward, apparently approaching further into the ocean.
As we looked at that fearful Wolf Rock, we thought of the number of vessels, out of their reckoning, homeward-bound, or coming round from the North Sea, intending to proceed up the Irish Channel, which must have run against it in days gone by. But now the red and white "flashes" which follow each other at half-minute intervals all through the night, enable mariners to steer clear of the danger.
Papa remarked: "I wish that every Christian man would remember that he is bound to be a lighthouse, and to warn his fellows of the peril into which they are running. How many human beings would thus be saved from shipwreck, if all thus understood their duty and acted accordingly!
Remember the text--"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.""
Papa told us it was the opinion of geologists that the surrounding rocks, as well as the Scilly Isles, were once connected with England.
Indeed, of that there can be no doubt. Tradition declares that articles have been fished up proving that cities once stood on spots over which the tides now ebb and flow; but then tradition is the most uncertain of all uncertain things. Although an iron kettle may have been fished up from the bottom of the sea, it might only show that it had been thrown overboard, or washed out of a sunken vessel.
As we had determined not to be defeated, we continued beating backwards and forwards until we saw the coast of Cornwall, and the bright beams of Saint Agnes" Lighthouse appeared on our port-bow; while those from the light-vessel moored off the Seven Stones were seen on the other.
We hailed the Dolphin, which pa.s.sed us on the opposite tack; and papa agreed to lead in; "The sooner we are in the harbour the better," he observed; "I don"t quite like the look of the weather."
Clouds had, indeed, been thickly gathering in the south-west; and the stars, which had hitherto shone brightly, were totally obscured. The wind also, which had been steady, now began to blow in strong squalls, compelling us to shorten sail. First, two reefs were taken down in the mainsail; it was then closely-reefed, while the foresail was hauled down, and the storm jib set. Still, it was as much as the cutter could do to look up to it. Heavy seas now began to roll in from the Atlantic, tumbling the cutter about. Now she rose to the summit of a foam-crested wave, now she sank down into the hollow.
"Will she ever come up again?" exclaimed d.i.c.k, who was clinging on to the companion hatch. "Oh, dear--oh, dear! I thought the sea was always going to remain as smooth as it has been since we sailed."
Presently, up we rose again, and d.i.c.k drew a long breath. Papa, however, advised him to go below.
"We will look after the craft in the meantime, my boy," he said. "There is nothing to fear, though it is possible that one of these seas may break on board, and if you are not on the look-out, may carry you away."
A flash of lightning which now burst forth from a dark cloud, accompanied by a heavy squall, causing the cutter to heel over until her lee bulwarks were almost under water, revealed d.i.c.k"s terrified countenance. As may be supposed, he clung on the harder to the companion hatch; and papa had to repeat his advice and help him down the ladder.
"You"d better go too, Harry," he said. "I can"t answer for a sea not coming on board; and it might tear even you from your hold. Those who remain on deck will secure themselves with lashings; and as the craft is as light as a cork, we shall weather out the gale, even should it come on to blow twice as hard as it now does."
I begged to be allowed to remain.
"Well, it will be but a summer gale. You may stay on deck; but here, make yourself fast with this rope;" and papa secured one round my body, which he fastened to the companion hatch.
He now gave the word to set the trysail; and the mainsail being stowed, it was hoisted in its stead. Still we had as much sail as the cutter could carry. The night had become very dark, except when the flashes of lightning dashed from the black clouds. Papa had resolved to heave the vessel to, when we caught sight of a white sail a short distance ahead of us.
"That must be the schooner," shouted Truck; "she is taking a wise course, and is intending to run under Cape Cornwall, or maybe to get into Saint Ives Bay, in case the gale should continue."
"We may as well do the same," observed papa; and the helm being put up, away we ran before the wind.
Though the cutter behaved very well, still there was a chance of our being p.o.o.ped. A strong current was setting us in the direction of the Longships light, which now appeared broad on the starboard bow. We ran on, following, as we supposed, the Dolphin; but she was going faster than we were, and we soon lost sight of her. We knew our exact position, for, although we had got beyond the gleam of Saint Agnes"
Lighthouse, we could still see on our port-bow the two lights on board the light-vessel off the Seven Stones. I own I wished that we were safe back in port, though papa appeared so cool that I could not suppose there was any real danger; still, as the seas came rolling up on either quarter, high above our deck, it seemed impossible that the vessel could escape being swamped.
At last papa peremptorily ordered me to go below, and coming to where I was standing, lifted up the hatch and literally pushed me down, closing it again over me. I groped my way into the cabin, where I found d.i.c.k holding on to one of the sofas. The cabin lamp had not been lighted, so that we were in perfect darkness.
"Oh! where are we? Where are we going? What"s about to happen?" he exclaimed, in a weak voice, which I could barely hear amid the uproar caused by the seas dashing against the vessel"s sides and deck, the creaking of the bulk-heads, the whistling of the wind, and other sounds.
"Papa says there is no danger; so you need not be alarmed, d.i.c.k," I observed. At the same time I confess that I felt far from comfortable myself. Poor d.i.c.k was dreadfully sick. I had to a.s.sist him as best I could; but I need not enter into particulars. His sickness overcame his terror. Every now and then, however, he cried out, "Oh, I wish I was on sh.o.r.e! couldn"t your papa land me? If he cannot, please ask him to throw me overboard. Oh, how miserable I am! Oh dear, oh dear!" and then for certain reasons he could not utter a word.
Having to attend to him made me think perhaps less of our situation; but I know that I was not at all happy. All sorts of dreadful thoughts came into my mind. Every instant I expected to hear a tremendous sea come rushing over our deck, and perhaps to find that papa or some of the men had been washed away. I was most anxious about papa. If he was lost, I believed that the vessel would be lost too; but then I remembered what a good sailor he was; and as he had been to sea all his life, he was sure to manage the vessel properly; and, as he had often said, she was such a tight little sea-boat she would go through anything. Still, we were in a part of the ocean where the tide runs with great force, and when meeting the wind a very awkward sea is beaten up. This made the cutter tumble about in a way I had never known her do before. Everything in the cabin had been securely lashed except a few books and charts. First one came flying out as the vessel rolled over, and hit poor d.i.c.k on the head.
"What a shame of you to be heaving books at me, Harry!" he cried out.
I a.s.sured him that I was innocent of anything of the sort; and presently another flew out, and nearly knocked me over. I tried to reach the books, to secure the remainder: but the whole lot came tumbling out, and sent me sprawling on the cabin floor. I picked myself up, and crawled back to a.s.sist d.i.c.k, who just then greatly required my support.
I cannot describe more of that fearful night. Finding that d.i.c.k was tolerably quiet, advising him to hold fast to the sofa, I lay down at the opposite end, where I clung on like grim death; and, in spite of the tossing and tumbling the vessel was undergoing, I at length fell asleep.
I cannot say I was very fast asleep, for I was conscious all the time that something very unpleasant was taking place.
Occasionally I fancied that I was being tossed in a blanket by my schoolfellows, who were jeering round me as I entreated to be let down; then that a wild bull was throwing me up in the air, and was about to catch me on his horns. Then that I was on a raft danced up and down by the foaming waters. Now, that I was on deck, and was pitched overboard, and left to struggle alone amid the raging seas. My voice--as I shouted out for help--awoke me; and to my infinite satisfaction I found that the vessel was much steadier than she had hitherto been. In a short time daylight gleamed through the bull"s eyes on deck, and getting up, I made my way to the companion hatch. Just before I reached it, it was lifted up, and papa put his head down.
"All right, my lads," he said; "we are under the lee of the land, and the wind has greatly moderated. In a short time, if it continues to be fine, we shall be able to haul up and beat back to Scilly. How is d.i.c.k?"
"He has been very ill; but he is now fast asleep; and it would be a pity to awaken him," I answered as I got up on deck.
I looked round, and could see the land on the starboard side bearing south and east. The Longships Lighthouse was no longer in view. I could make out a cape, which papa said was Cape Cornwall, to the southward. I looked out for the Dolphin, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"I am rather puzzled about her," said papa; "she could scarcely have run us out of sight. Perhaps the vessel we saw last night was a stranger bound up the Bristol Channel; still, she was closer in sh.o.r.e than was advisable. Possibly the Dolphin remained hove-to, or if not, perhaps she bore up before we did, and is already safe at anchor in Saint Ives Bay. We must make the best of our way there. Hand me the gla.s.s."
I took the telescope from the bracket on which it hung inside the companion hatch, and gave it to him. He looked earnestly for a minute towards some high rocks which were at some distance from the land.
"I feared so," he observed; "there"s a vessel on the rocks, with her masts gone; but she"s much too high for the Dolphin, or I should have supposed it was that. We will stand in closer and have a look at her; we shall find less sea there, and the wind has gone down so much and the weather is so evidently improving, that we shall run no unnecessary danger. What do you think, Truck?"
Papa had handed the gla.s.s to Truck, who was looking through it.
"If anybody is left alive, we may have a chance of taking them off,"
answered Truck. "As the wreck lies, she is not likely to be seen from the sh.o.r.e, and the people may perish before they can receive a.s.sistance."
As soon as it was settled that we should do so, the trysail was lowered, and the mainsail, with a couple of reefs down, was set, with a bigger jib and foresail. We now stood in towards the rocks. As we drew nearer, we saw that the wreck was that of a large vessel, and that she so lay as to be partially sheltered from the heavier seas, which must have been raging when she struck. The depth of water, however, would prevent us anchoring. Papa proposed to heave the cutter to while the boat pulled in under the lee side of the rock, whence he hoped to be able to communicate by means of lines with the people on board, should any still remain alive.
As we drew still nearer, I took the gla.s.s, and turning it towards the wreck, I could distinguish a number of people on the fore part, which was the least battered, from having been more protected than the stern.
I spied out a man who had climbed to the upper part of the bulwarks, and was waving a handkerchief or towel.
"She went on sh.o.r.e at high-water, and the tide left her where she is.
When it returns it will wellnigh cover her; and as those poor people will be washed off, there is no time to be lost," observed Truck.
Papa agreed with him. We had a long way to beat back to where the wreck was lying. Those on board probably knew their danger. How anxiously must they have looked out for our coming!
It was a question whether we could get near the vessel. Papa ordered all the spare rope we possessed to be coiled away in the boat, and he had one of our round life-buoys, slung by four ropes, fastened to a block--the largest we had on board. This formed a cradle, by which, if necessary, we could haul the people from the wreck to the boat, could we once get close enough to pa.s.s a rope on board.
At length, getting sufficiently near to leeward of the rock, we hove-to, when, greatly to my satisfaction, papa allowed me to go and steer, while he, with two hands, went in the boat, leaving Truck and d.i.c.k to manage the vessel. We first pulled round to where the wreck lay; but papa was soon convinced that we could not approach her on the weather-side without great risk of being swamped. Papa hailed, and made signs that we were going round on the lee side of the rock; we there found a little cove, or bay, into which we could pull and remain without risk by securing the boat with a grapnel.
Carrying the line and the cradle, we made our way over the rock until we got abreast of where the vessel lay. The distance was considerable, and the water whirled and surged round and round in a way which would make swimming difficult; still I had often swum much further.
"Let me carry a line," I said to papa. "I think I can do it, if no one on board will undertake to swim to the rock."
We shouted to the people, who, strange to say, did not hear us; nor had they seen us come over the rock, for they had all been looking seaward.
Two or three of the men at length appeared on the side nearest us; but when we called on them to swim on sh.o.r.e, they shook their heads, evidently not liking to make the attempt. The tide was now flowing fast, and their position was every instant becoming more perilous. It, however, made the pa.s.sage less dangerous, as even in a few minutes the water became smoother than it had hitherto been.
The people on board threw an oar, with a line fastened to it, into the water; but it was carried sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other, and did not approach the rock.
"I am sure I can do it, papa," I said, at length. "Just fasten a line round me, and I shall be able to get hold of that oar. You can soon haul me back."
Papa no longer refused my request, and having stripped, and fastened a rope round my waist, I plunged in, and struggled hard to make way through the hissing water. Sometimes I found myself carried onwards towards the stern of the vessel, but another sea brought me back again; and in a few minutes, greatly to my satisfaction, I clutched hold of the oar, when, securing the end of the rope which held me round it, I sung out to papa and the men to haul away. In a short time I was brought back close to the rock. My chief danger was in landing, as the sea at times beat violently against it; but papa, quickly seizing me, hauled me up.