"That would be utterly hopeless," he answered. "That was the reason Grimes pressed me to take the pinnace. Her planks are rotten, and she was scarcely fit even to pull the short distance we came in her, much less is she capable of carrying us safely away from this."
This was very evident, for we had had constantly to bale her out on coming from the ship to the island. The feelings of all the party can better be imagined than described when we were convinced that we had been thus purposely and cruelly deserted, and that until some vessel should come off the island, or we could contrive to build one capable of navigating the Indian seas, we should have to remain where we were.
Months or even years might pa.s.s before we could get away. Our chief hope was that Dr Cuff would give information at Colombo of our having been left on the island, and that a vessel might be sent for us, though, of course, Captain Gunnel and the first mate would try to persuade him that the boat was lost, or that we had deserted. None of the party, however, were inclined to despair. As soon as Mr Henley had got over his first sensations of indignation, he did his best to keep up our spirits. Having breakfasted, the first thing we did was to haul up the boat to examine her thoroughly.
"It will never do to venture to sea in her," said Mr Henley, and Johnny Spratt agreed with him. "She would answer, however, to form the centre of a raft, on which, if strongly put together, we might venture to sail for some port in India or Ceylon."
These and similar remarks cheered us more than anything. There is nothing like action or antic.i.p.ation of active work for keeping up the spirits. We dragged the boat still further up the beach, and covered her completely over with branches of palm and other broad-leaved trees, so as to save her from being yet more destroyed by the heat of the sun.
We then set to work and built ourselves two huts for sleeping in, and a shed which served us as a mess-room, open on every side. Mr Henley and I intended to occupy one of the huts and the crew the other. We had found a pure, abundant stream of water, so that we were in no way badly off.
On the possibility of the ship having merely stood off for the night, and having been becalmed and unable to get back in the evening, we again ascended to the peak to look for her. Curiously enough, there was the same speck in the horizon which we had observed in the morning. There had been all day but a slight breeze on the island, and as the sea in the direction of the sail looked especially calm, it was very probable that she lay becalmed where we had first seen her. If so, we might, had we pulled off at once, very probably have got on board her. Still, we could scarcely blame ourselves for not sailing after her; for had the breeze again caught her, she would have gone away and left us in the lurch. Yet it must be owned that it was very tantalising to see our ship still in sight; for we did not suppose that, had we got up to her, Captain Gunnel would have ventured to refuse to admit us on board. He would probably have tried to turn the tables on us, and have abused us for remaining so long away from the ship.
In a short time the whole party were a.s.sembled on the peak. There we all stood, forgetful of everything else, gazing at the far distant sail.
The sun went down, and for a few minutes we could almost distinguish the outlines of her loftier sails as they rose above the water clearly defined against the bright sky. The darkness came rushing on with a rapidity unknown in northern climes, and shrouded her from our sight.
Mr Henley had before this been examining a pocket compa.s.s.
"Lads," he said suddenly, "I have taken the bearings of that sail. She may be the _Orion_ or she may not--will you make the attempt to get on board her? I warn you that I believe there is great risk in doing so.
Our only hope will be that the calm may continue, and that we may be able to get on board before a breeze spring up or before we are discovered."
The men unanimously declared that they were ready to do exactly what he wished.
"Well, then, we will make the attempt," he exclaimed. "But what is that? What can be that red glare over where we just saw the ship?"
"She is on fire, sir," answered Spratt, after attentively watching the point indicated. "She"s not the first ship I"ve seen burning at sea, and I know for certain that is one. She may be the _Orion_, or she may be some other unfortunate craft, that I can"t say."
"Whatever may be the case, we must go to her a.s.sistance," exclaimed Mr Henley. "We may be able to save some of the poor fellows clinging on to part of the wreck or to a raft, and we will bring them back to the island."
"Gladly," said I; "we have no time to lose."
"No, Marsden," he answered; "I have made up my mind what to do. It will not do to have more in the boat than is absolutely necessary, and I intend to leave you and Tommy Bigg and your dog behind. I would leave one of the black men, but they will not part from each other; and I wish to have Spratt with me. It is settled; say no more about it. Believe me, my dear Marsden, I am anxious to save you from unnecessary peril.
If I survive I will come back, and if I am lost it will be better for you to have remained as I wish."
"I am sure that you desire what you believe to be the best for me," said I, warmly wringing his hand. "I"ll do as you order me, though I wish that you had allowed me to go with you."
This conversation took place as we were hurriedly descending the mountain. We had some little difficulty, in our haste, in finding our way down to the beach. Putting some provisions and water into her, including some of the turtle we had cooked, we once more launched her, and then, with no small amount of sorrow and apprehension, I saw my companions pull out towards the pa.s.sage through the reef, when they were soon lost to sight in the gloom of night. One of Mr Henley"s last charges to me had been to keep up a large fire all night, to enable him the better to steer his course, and also to find the island again.
Indeed, that this might be done, he a.s.sured me, was another strong reason for his wishing me and Tommy to remain on the island.
As soon as we had lost sight of the boat, Tommy and Solon and I hurried back to the spot where it was agreed the fire should be lighted, and we soon had a magnificent one blazing away. It was on a rock free from dry gra.s.s, or bushes, or other combustible matter, or we should have run a great risk of setting the island on fire. The previous night our aim had been to collect leaves to create a smoke; now we wished to make as bright a flame as possible. We had no difficulty in collecting an abundance of dry sticks for this purpose. Solon looked on for some time at our proceedings, and then, apparently discovering our object, ran about till he found a good-sized branch, which, seizing hold of with his mouth, he dragged up to the fire; then, wagging his tail, he came up to me to show me what he had done. Great was his delight when I put it on the fire, and immediately off he set and brought up another. He seemed to consider light sticks, such as Tommy and I had been collecting, as beneath his notice. When he found that I did not put the next stick on the fire, he sat down to watch proceedings. When, however, I patted him on the head, and pointing to a distance, cried, "Go fetch more," away he went, and in a short time collected almost as much wood as Tommy and I had each of us done, so that he was really of great use.
"Solon is coming out," said I to Tommy; "I thought he would, but hitherto he has had few opportunities of exhibiting his sagacity and talents."
"Well, sir, I am certain as how Solon could speak if he had a better made tongue," observed Tommy. "Often and often I have sat by him, and I have talked to him, and he has opened his mouth and twisted and turned about his tongue and lips till he has all but spoke. More than once I have thought he was going to say something, but he never has yet."
I was very much inclined to be of Tommy"s opinion, and often almost expected Solon to give expression to some wise sentiment worthy of his name. When our fire was well made up, I retired to a distance from it that I might look out for the burning ship. Though, from where I stood, her topgallant masts would not have been visible above the horizon in the day time, a bright glare, which lighted up the whole sky above where she was, showed me that she was burning still more fiercely than when we first discovered the fire. It made me fear that there was not a possibility of her escape. I was afraid, too, that Mr Henley would have his long pull to no purpose. What would become then of the unfortunate people on board? Poor Dr Cuff! I thought of him more than any one. He was a friend in whom I could place perfect confidence, and had so often been my companion that I thought more of his fate than of that of anybody else on board. While I stood witching the far-distant conflagration, I felt a stronger puff of wind on my cheek than had for some time been blowing. It rapidly increased, but it blew off the land.
After I had waited some time till I thought I ought to go back to a.s.sist Tommy in keeping up the fire, the wind again fell. I had been longer away than I supposed, and I was obliged to set to work again to collect sticks--a more difficult task than it had first been, as we had to go to a greater distance beyond the light of the fire to find them.
Solon now even surpa.s.sed us, for he was able to discover the dry sticks in the dark far better than we could. I could not help thinking at times of the risk we were running from venomous creatures, and more than once drew back my hand under the idea that I was about to catch hold of a snake. However, though I daresay we might have put many of them to flight, neither of us were bitten, and at length we were able once more to sit down before our fire and rest from our labours. We should have preferred a cooler situation, but it was more important to have the smoke to keep off the mosquitoes. I should have preferred a more intellectual companion than Tommy Bigg, but there was so much honest simplicity and good-nature about him, that I could not help feeling a regard for him. The night pa.s.sed slowly by. I could not venture to go to sleep, though Tommy begged I would, promising to call me should our supply of sticks run short; but I felt the importance of keeping up the fire as long as it might serve as a beacon to our friends, and the further they were off the larger I was anxious to make it. For some time I had been aware that the wind was again getting up. It continued to come in fitful gusts, but each of them grew stronger and stronger. I feared that a regular gale was coming on; and if it did, I knew that our boat must be exposed to very great danger. As morning approached I began anxiously to look out for the return of the boat. I got up over and over again, and walked to a distance to endeavour to see her through the gloom; and frequently I shouted in case Mr Henley had landed at any other spot, to guide him to where we were. No one replied to my shouts; not a sign of the boat could I see.
The glow in the sky over the spot where we supposed the ship was burning had by this time much decreased in brilliancy. I stood earnestly watching it. Suddenly it burst out brighter than ever, extending far round on every part of the sky. While I was looking, wondering what next would happen, it as rapidly vanished, and not the faintest trace of the fire remained. I immediately surmised what had happened--the deck had been blown up, and the hull had sunk beneath the waves.
The gale now grew rapidly more and more furious, and the wind veered about till it blew directly on the sh.o.r.e. I went back once more to the fire.
"I am afraid, Tom, that Mr Henley and the rest are in great danger,"
said I, as I sat down on a stone, and employed myself in throwing the sticks we had collected to feed the flames, and told him what I had seen. "I do not think that they could have reached the burning ship before the gale came; and as for those who might have escaped from her, I fear that there is not a chance of their escaping."
"I"m afraid not, sir, if they have only themselves to trust to,"
answered Tom, quietly looking up in my face. "But you know, sir, G.o.d can do everything."
"He can--he can," I answered warmly. "We will pray to him, Tom, and perhaps he may think fit to preserve our friends."
"Yes, sir; but we should pray for our enemies too," said Tom.
"You are right again, boy," I answered. "We will pray for them also."
And we two knelt down on the rock looking towards the wild, troubled sea, and offered up our humble though fervent prayers to the throne of Heaven, that He who could calm the waters of Gennesaret would preserve both our friends and those who had ill-treated us from the destruction which seemed to us inevitably to await them. I could not have prayed in the same way at home; and I little thought that the poor little insignificant ship-boy by my side could have prayed in the way he did.
I firmly believe that earnest prayers are answered, though often in the world we do not discover how or when they are so. Still, we may depend on it, all that is right is done in G.o.d"s own good time.
CHAPTER NINE.
THE GALE INCREASES--FEARS FOR MR. HENLEY"S SAFETY--A BOAT IN SIGHT-- SOLON AIDS IN RESCUING THE DROWNING MEN--THE DOCTOR SAVED--HIS ILLNESS-- A SAIL IN SIGHT--VISIT OF A SLAVER--DESERTED BY OUR COMPANIONS--DEATH OF THE DOCTOR--TOM AND SOLON ON THE ISLAND--OUR COMFORT AND CONSOLATION.
The morning came at last, wild and tempestuous as had been the night.
As soon as the beacon-fire no longer required our attention, Tom and I, accompanied by Solon, set off to the peak to take a look round, that we might discover if Mr Henley"s boat was returning, or if any other boat or a raft might have escaped from the burning ship. In vain we cast our eyes on every side; a thick mist, caused by the driving spray, hung over the ocean, and had any floating thing been on it, would have completely hid it from our sight. Sad, indeed, we felt as we two stood on that high solitary peak rising up amid the Indian Ocean.
"I am afraid that they are all gone in," said Tommy after a long silence.
"I do not despair, Tom," I answered. "A raft would take a long time driving from where the ship was burned to the island. We will wait and see what happens. Perhaps we may get a better view from a lower point."
Accordingly we went down the hill, and walked along the high ground above the beach, looking out from every spot among the trees where we could get a clear sight of the sea. As the sun rose his rays penetrated through the mist, but still no boat could we see; there was nothing before us but dark, leaden waves, with white crests and sheets of foam blown like driving snow from off them. We returned, therefore, with sad hearts to the embers of the fire, where we cooked some turtle and drank some cocoa-nut milk for breakfast. Our hearts, I believe, were grateful that we had been preserved from the destruction which we believed had overtaken our companions. After recruiting our strength, we again climbed up to a high point in the neighbourhood, where we sat for a long time without speaking, watching the foaming ocean, with Solon crouching at our feet. Suddenly Solon sprung up, and looked seaward with his head and neck stretched out to the utmost. Tom and I gazed eagerly in the same direction. After looking for a little time I caught sight of a black spot amid the white crests of the waves. It seemed like a mere speck. I should have thought that it was merely a man"s head or hat, or nothing larger than a cask. After searching about for some time I brought my gla.s.s to bear on it. It was a boat, and a large one; it seemed full of men. I could scarcely hope that it was Mr Henley"s. On she came. Some of the men appeared to be rowing, but there was a small sail set--a mere table-napkin it seemed. Still we had a prospect of having companions, and if the boat was as large as I fancied, we might be able to get away in her from the island. We hurried down to the beach. If Mr Henley was in the boat he would make, we knew, for the opening in the reef; but if there were only strangers to the place we could not tell where they might steer for. We did our best, therefore, to make signs to them to keep for the opening, but our telegraphing was not, we feared, received or understood, for the boat ran on directly towards a part of the reef over which the sea was breaking with especial fury. We waved, we shouted, we made every sign we could possibly think of to warn the unhappy people of their danger. They could scarcely have seen us, much less could they have heard our voices amidst the wild turmoil of waters.
"O Tom, how dreadful!" I exclaimed. Now the boat was lifted up by the seas, now she was hid among the foaming surf. I scarcely think that those on board were aware of their danger.
In an instant more we saw that they would be on the reef. Down we rushed to the wreck. It was scarcely possible that the boat could wash over it. We reached the edge of the calmer water of the lagoon inside the reef, but even there the waves came rolling up with considerable force, sufficient, at all events, to carry us off our legs had we ventured within their power. We looked eagerly for the hapless boat.
She might still be concealed by the ma.s.ses of white surf which flew high up in the air. We looked in vain. At last we saw some dark objects tossed up and down among the breakers. Now one, now another was cast over the reef, but whether they were human beings or merely fragments of the wreck we could not at first tell. We watched--now we saw an arm lifted up, then a head emerged from the foam--there could be no longer any doubt about the matter. At last we could almost see the features of the unfortunate wretches. Had it even been smoother in the lagoon we had no means of going out to the a.s.sistance of our drowning fellow-creatures. Oh, how dreadful it was to see people thus perishing before our eyes and to be unable to a.s.sist them! Still we could not withdraw our gaze from the spot where we had last seen the boat.
Presently a larger wave than any of the previous ones came rolling in.
As it broke several pieces of the wreck seemed as it were to fall out of it. To one of them a human form was by some means secured, but whether it was that of a living or a dead person we could not tell. He appeared, at all events, to be making no effort to save himself. He was at first washed some way across the lagoon, and then carried swiftly back again. It became soon evident that if not already drowned he very soon would be, when Solon, who had been earnestly watching what was taking place, uttering a loud bark, plunged fearlessly into the waves, and swam boldly out towards him. The next wave again set him in. Solon with wonderful sagacity at that moment seized his arm, and directing his course towards the sh.o.r.e, brought him within our reach before the force of the wave had time to force him out again. Tom and I rushed in, and grasping his clothes, ran with him with all our might up the beach, and placed him beyond the power of the waves before the next rolled in on us.
"Why, it is Dr Cuff!" exclaimed Tom.
So it was, indeed, but till that moment I had not observed the man"s features. Now, as I looked at his pallid countenance, with a blue tinge over it, and saw that his eyes were closed and teeth clenched, I feared that he was indeed gone. We took off his neckcloth, and I bethought me of putting some of the hot white sand round his feet, and some on his stomach, which I rubbed gently, while Tom brought some gra.s.s and leaves, which we placed under his head. While we were thus employed Solon dashed again into the water, and we saw that he had seized another person who was clinging to an oar. We discovered a third also struggling in the waves. We waited till Solon had brought the person of whom he had now got hold within our reach, and then, leaving Dr Cuff for a moment, we rushed down to his a.s.sistance. Solon, the moment he had given him into our charge, darted off to the relief of the other drowning men. We at once recognised the man he had now rescued as one of the crew of the _Orion_. We dragged him up out of the reach of the sea, and hurried back to resume our efforts to resuscitate Dr Cuff, for the sailor, though unconscious, gave evident signs of life. While we were rubbing away at the doctor"s body, every now and then looking to see if an eyelid moved, and feeling if his heart beat, we kept watching Solon"s proceedings. Wearied by his previous exertions, he swam out to the struggling person, who was further off than the other two had been, and, waiting till he had ceased to fling his arms about, he seized him by the collar, and swam on towards the beach. The man seemed to float much lighter than had either of the other two, and the cause of this we discovered, when we got hold of him, to be owing to a life-buoy round his waist. He would, however, notwithstanding this, have been drowned, had not Solon gone to his a.s.sistance, and had we not been ready to drag him up the beach, for he was quite unconscious when we got hold of him, and unable to help himself. On looking at his face I discovered that he was my messmate Sills. Believing that he would soon recover without our help, we again returned to the doctor. We rubbed and rubbed away with the greatest energy, till Tom said he felt that there was some warmth coming back into the body. I felt the same, and this encouraged us to persevere, till at length, to our great joy, the doctor partly opened his eyes and looked up at us.
"He"s alive! he"s alive!" cried Tom, clapping his hands.
At last he sat up and looked about him, trying to recover his power of thinking, and to ascertain what had happened.
"Thank you, lads, thank you," were the first words he uttered; "I see what you have done for me. Now go and help those other two who have been saved. They will want your aid. I will come presently and a.s.sist you, when I am a little stronger. But, lads, where is Mr Henley and the others who were left here with you?"
I did not like to agitate him by telling him that I feared they were lost, so I said that they were not on that part of the island.