"Won"t you wait and have breakfast before you go," he asked her, as she reached the top of the rail; but she refused, and decided that her father"s strange whim to stay aboard his sinking ship deserved first consideration.
"In that case I shall have to go along also, for you may be very much exhausted before getting back."
Just what good he could do in such a case he did not stop to explain, but climbed over the side, and after lowering her aboard, took his place beside her in the stern sheets. Then he gave orders to get clear, and the boat shot away, while I made shift to get my men something to eat before taking the long pull.
In fifteen minutes we were ready to start. Chips wanted to go along to see if anything could be done to help stop the leak in case Captain Sackett still insisted staying aboard. Johnson, the little sailor with the thin legs set wide apart, showing daylight between clear to his waist, Hans, the heavy-shouldered Swede, and Phillippi, a squat Dago, made up the rest of the boat"s crew. Trunnell had come on deck while we were eating from the mess-kids, and met the skipper on the p.o.o.p, where he stopped to talk over some important matter. This importance appeared to increase in a moment, for the skipper swore harshly and pointed forward just as my men were coming aft to go over the side.
"Rolling," he cried, "hold on with that boat a minute, and lay aft here,"
I came to the edge of the p.o.o.p.
"Get that ruffian Andrews ready and put him aboard the _Sovereign_. The men here are tired of his ways, and fair exchange is no robbery. We"ll take their men, they"ll take one of ours, hey? Do you rise to that?"
I understood. The men had made it apparent they did not wish to have the fellow aboard since he persisted in his murderous ways. The skipper had been importuned by Jim to turn back and put him ash.o.r.e. This he would not think of doing, but to propitiate them he had struck upon this new method of getting rid of his charge.
I called Jim, the young landsman, to lend a hand getting the fellow ready. Andrews cursed us all around and demanded to know what we were going to do with him. No attention was paid to him, however, and he was bundled into the boat, handcuffed, with his legs free.
"Tell Captain Sackett I say he"s welcome to him," drawled out Thompson, over the p.o.o.p rail. "Good luck to you, Andrews," he continued; "you"ll have a pleasant voyage with no enemies to rip and cut. So long!"
This drew forth a volley of oaths from Andrews, but the skipper smiled, and we were soon out of earshot.
"What do you make of the weather, sir?" asked Jim, who pulled stroke oar.
I looked over the smooth, heaving surface of the quiet ocean, and there was not the first sign of a breeze anywhere. The sun was partly obscured in a thick haze which seemed to come from everywhere and fill the entire atmosphere. The first boat was almost aboard the wreck, and we could see her looking like a black speck in the distance.
"It looks as though it might come on thick," I answered Jim, "but there"s no danger of our parting company with the _Pirate_ yet. There isn"t enough wind to move her a knot an hour."
It was a long, hard pull to the _Sovereign_ and when we arrived her captain was on deck with his daughter. She had finished trying to persuade him to leave his fortune, and stood near our third officer, who was ready to start back with the remainder of the crew. All but four men had insisted on leaving. These were the steward, two quartermasters, and a sailor.
"If there is any valuable stuff in the way of currency or spices, you can turn them over to me, and our captain will give you his receipt for them," I said, as I came over the side.
The little Englishman looked slowly up and down my six feet and more of length as I stood on the rail, and I fancied he smiled slightly. He was a florid-faced, bearded man, with clear blue eyes which had no sign of fear in them.
"I reckon we"ll risk taking in what we have," said he; "at the same time I want to thank your captain for standing by and taking the men he has already. You don"t think he could spare a few volunteers to help me in, do you? I"ll give a hundred pounds to every man who"ll stand by and run the risk."
"Well," I stammered, "I"m second mate myself, and therefore can"t very well leave; but he"s sent you one extra hand. The fellow is a good enough sailor, but he"s in irons for fighting. He wants you to take him in exchange for the men you"ve sent."
The florid face of the English captain grew redder. His blue eyes seemed to draw to small points that p.r.i.c.ked my inner consciousness. I suppose I showed some of my embarra.s.sment, for he spoke in a gentler tone than I expected.
"Sir. I keep no one in peril against his wish. Neither do I run a convict ship. You may take your desperado back to your captain with the compliments of Captain Sackett, once of Her Majesty"s Naval Reserve, and tell him the laws of his country are sufficient to deal with all persons."
"If I did," I answered, "you would have your men forced back into your wrecked vessel." And I pointed to the main deck, upon which the sea rolled and swashed in little foamy waves through the side ports, which were now below the heave of the swell. She was clear under amidships, and only the topgallant forecastle and p.o.o.p were out of water, which was now nearly level with the floor in the after cabin. Everything showed wreck and ruin, from the splintered spars and tangled rigging to the yellow-white gaps in her bulwarks where the masts had crashed through.
"The will of the Lord is not to be set aside," he went on, with solemn and pious cheerfulness. "I would not risk so many lives for a man in irons. If, however, he will recognize the laws of the Almighty, I shall turn him adrift and trust that my mercy will not meet with ingrat.i.tude.
You had better get my men ready, and if you can, take the trunks and cabin fixings in a boat. They might come to wrong here. My daughter will show where the things are I should like saved. As for myself, I shall stay where duty calls me, and will take this ship into some port and save her cargo, or go down in her. If I lose her, I lose my all, and with a wife and family I had better be gone with it. The Lord will temper the wind to the shorn lambs."
I called to Hans and Johnson to pa.s.s up the prisoner, and he soon stood on the _Sovereign"s_ p.o.o.p, where he glared around him and made some inaudible remarks. The third mate, who stood near by, was about to speak to him when Captain Sackett stepped forward.
"My man," said he, "your captain has asked me to keep you here and help me work this ship in. You"ve been a master yourself, they tell me, so you will appreciate my difficulty. The Lord, however, always helps those who help themselves, and with his help we will land this vessel safe in port."
Andrews looked at the stout skipper sourly for a moment. Then he gave a deep snort and spat vulgarly upon the deck at his host"s feet.
"What kind o" d.a.m.n fool have I run up ag"in now, hey?" he mused in a low tone, as though speaking to himself, while he looked the skipper over.
"Am I dreamin", or do I eternally run up ag"in nautical loonatic asylums?
That"s the question."
"My dear fellow, you don"t seem to relish the fact that you must serve aboard here," said Sackett. "There"s nothing irrational in trying to save a vessel when it"s your plain duty to do so. The Lord sometimes dismasts us to try us. We must not give up our duty because we have hardships to encounter. Your captain cannot take care of so many people, probably, and wishes you to stay here with me. If you will pa.s.s your word to do your share of the work, as I believe you will, I shall cast off those irons this instant and put you second in command. There will then be five of us, all able-bodied men, to get her in to the Cape."
"Of all the slumgullion I ever had stick in my craw, this beats me,"
observed the prisoner, in his even tone, without taking his eyes off Sackett. "I pa.s.s my word, an" you turn me loose to do my duty. Well--say, old man, can you tell me of a miracle you reads out o" your Bible? I wants to make a comparison." Here he gave a loud snort and grinned.
"There"s an old sayin" that any port is good in a storm," he went on, "an" likewise any ship in a calm. I rise to it, old man. I"ll be your mate; for, if things ain"t all gone wrong, I"ll sail straight inter Heaven with ye. Cast me loose."
"It shall be done at once," said Sackett. "I shall request, sir," said he, turning to me, "that the irons be stricken off your man."
I told Chips to go ahead and cut them, and then followed Miss Sackett and the third mate below, to get what belongings they wanted sent aboard the _Pirate_ to be kept clear of water.
"It"s a pity papa will do this absurd thing," said Miss Sackett, impetuously, as she landed upon the cabin deck. I was following close behind her on the companion and hastened to cheer her.
"There"s not much danger," I said; "for the vessel can"t possibly sink with all the oil and wood in her. He will probably bring her in all right and save many thousands of dollars. Maybe the carpenter can find the leak and plug it. In that case she"ll be as sound as a dollar and safe as a house, when they get her pumped."
"I don"t know about it," she answered; "I feel that papa is going to his death, and I know that if mamma finds out he won"t leave, she"ll come back aboard. Here is one trunk. That chest under the berth is to go also.
I"ll get what clothes I can gather up, and bring them along in a bundle.
Goodness! hear the water slapping about under the deck; it is perfectly dreadful to think of any one staying aboard a ship half sunk like this."
The steward, a very clever-looking young man with a brown mustache, helped us get the things on deck, where they were taken in charge by the rest of the men, seven in number, who were going with us.
While we were below, Chips, after cutting Andrews adrift, tried to find out where the leak was located. The vessel"s hold was so full of water, however, that he gave up the search. Only a survey of her bilge outside would help clear up matters, and allow work upon it.
Captain Sackett had taken an observation and had figured himself out to be within six hundred miles of Cape Town. He was very thankful for our kindness and stood near by, wishing us all kinds of good luck, while the things were being lowered over the ship"s low side. In a few minutes all hands were called to get into the _Pirate"s_ boat, the one of the _Sovereign_ being left for the safety of those on board. Miss Sackett took a tearful farewell of her father, and was placed aft. Then we shoved off, and were soon leaving the half-sunken ship astern.
"Cap"n," said Jenks, who sat aft near me, "what d"ye make o" that?"
He pointed to a white bank of vapor which had rolled up from the southward, and suddenly enveloped the _Sovereign_ while we were still two cable lengths distant. I looked and saw the white mist, which we had not noticed before to be so dense, rolling in long white clouds upon the calm surface of the ocean. In a moment it had enveloped us, and all around us was a white wall, the _Pirate_ disappearing ahead. The swell also appeared to be getting a cross roll to it, and a light air now blew in our faces.
I made no answer to the leather-faced sailor, but tried to keep the boat"s head before a heavier roll of the sea, and the wake as much like a straight line as possible. There was no compa.s.s in the craft, and it would take some nice guesswork to find a ship three miles away.
XI
We went along in silence for some time, the fog seeming to fall like a pall upon the spirits of the men. The wash of the oars and the gurgle of the bow-wave were the only sounds that were audible. After half an hour of this I arose and sent a hail through the bank of mist, which I thought would reach a vessel within half a mile. There was no sound of an answer, the dank vapor appearing to deaden my hail and swallow up all noise a short distance beyond the boat. It was uncanny to feel how weak that yell appeared. I saw Jim looking at me with a strange light in his eyes as though he felt danger in the air.
After an hour more of it, the faces of the men plainly showed their anxiety. Phillippi, the Dago, was chewing the corner of his dank mustache, and his eyes wandered aft and then forward. Jenks, with his large wrinkled face gray with the vapor, sat staring ahead, straining his ears for the slightest sound that would locate the vessel. I put both hands to my mouth again, and strained away my hardest. There was no response, the sound falling flat and dull in the wall of mist. Then I knew we were in danger, and gave the order to stop rowing.
The silence around us was now oppressive. We were all waiting to hear some sound that would locate either one or the other of the vessels. The breeze carried the ma.s.ses of vapor in cool spurts into our faces, and I felt sure the _Pirate_ would soon change her bearings under its influence. We had been running away from the main heave of the sea, as I supposed, but now there appeared to be a sidelong motion running with the swell and at an angle to its general direction.
""Tis no manner av use tryin" to keep along as we are, d"ye think so?"
suggested Chips. "We must have pa.s.sed her."