"Oh, how cruel--how relentlessly cruel--the wind and the sea are!"
exclaimed this girl whose pride I had hitherto deemed superior to any other emotion. "I _hope_--oh, Captain, I _most fervently hope_ that you will be able to save those poor creatures, who must now be suffering all the protracted horrors of a lingering death!"
"You may trust me, my dear young lady," answered the skipper heartily.
"Whatever it may prove possible to do, I will do for them. If they are to be drowned it shall be through no lack of effort on my part to save them. And now, if you will excuse me, I will leave Mr Conyers to entertain you, while I go on deck and see how things look."
The girl instantly froze again. "I will not inflict myself upon Mr Conyers--who is doubtless dying for his after-breakfast smoke," she answered, with a complete return of all her former hauteur of manner.
"I have finished breakfast, and shall join Lady O"Brien on deck."
And therewith she rose from her seat and, despite the wild movements of the ship, made her way with perfect steadiness and an a.s.sured footing toward the ladder or stairs that led downward to the sleeping-rooms, on her way to her cabin.
"A queer girl, by George!" exclaimed Dacre, as she disappeared. "She seems quite determined to keep everybody at a properly respectful distance--especially _you_. Have you offended her?"
"Certainly not--so far as I am aware," I answered. "It is pride, skipper; nothing but pride. She simply deems herself of far too fine a clay to a.s.sociate with ordinary human pots and pans. Well, she may be as distant as she pleases, so far as I am concerned; for, thank G.o.d, I am not in love with her, despite her surpa.s.sing beauty!"
And forthwith I seized my cap, and followed the captain up the companion ladder to the p.o.o.p.
Upon my arrival on deck I found that we were under way once more, Mr Murgatroyd having set the fore-topmast staysail and swung the head yards; and now, with the mate in the weather mizen rigging to con the ship through the terrific sea that was running, we were "jilling" along down toward the wreck, which, from the height of the p.o.o.p, now showed on the horizon line whenever we both happened to top a surge at the same moment. The entire cuddy party were by this time a.s.sembled on the p.o.o.p, and every eye was intently fixed upon the small, misty image that at irregular intervals reared itself sharply upon the jagged and undulating line of the horizon, and I believe that every telescope and opera-gla.s.s in the ship was brought to bear upon it. After studying her carefully through my own powerful instrument for about ten minutes I made her out to be a small barque, of about five hundred tons register, with her foremast gone at a height of about twenty feet from the deck, her main-topmast gone just above the level of the lower-mast-head, and her mizenmast intact. I noticed that she appeared to be floating very deep in the water, and that most of the seas that met her seemed to be sweeping her fore and aft; and I believed I could detect the presence of a small group of people huddled up together abaft the skylight upon her short p.o.o.p. An ensign of some sort was stopped half-way up the mizen rigging, as a signal of distress; and after a while I made it out to be the tricolour.
"Johnny c.r.a.paud--a Frenchman!" I exclaimed to the skipper, who was standing near me, working away at her with the ship"s telescope.
"A Frenchman, eh!" responded the skipper. "Can you make out the colours of that ensign from here? If so, that must be an uncommonly good gla.s.s of yours, Mr Conyers."
"Take it, and test it for yourself," I answered, handing him the instrument.
He took it, and applied it to his eye, the other end of the tube swaying wildly to the rolling and plunging of the ship.
"Ay," he said presently, handing the gla.s.s back to me, "French she is, and no mistake! Now that is rather a nuisance, for I am ashamed to say that I don"t know French nearly well enough to communicate with her.
How the d.i.c.kens are we to understand one another when it comes to making arrangements?"
"Well, if you can find no better way, I shall be very pleased to act as interpreter for you," I said. "My knowledge of the French language is quite sufficient for that."
"Thank you, Mr Conyers; I am infinitely obliged to you. I will thankfully avail myself of all the a.s.sistance you can give me," answered the skipper.
The sea being rather in our favour than otherwise, we drove down toward the wreck at a fairly rapid pace, despite the extremely short sail that we were under; and as we approached her the first thing we made out with any distinctness was that the barque was lying head to wind, evidently held in that position by the wreck of the foremast, which, with all attached, was under the bows, still connected with the hull by the standing and running rigging. This was so far satisfactory, in that it acted as a sort of floating anchor, to which the unfortunate craft rode, and which prevented her falling off into the trough of the sea. It would also, probably, to some extent facilitate any efforts that we might be able to make to get alongside her to take her people off.
To get alongside! Ay; but how was it to be done in that wild sea? The aspect of the ocean had been awe-inspiring enough before this forlorn and dying barque had drifted within our ken; but now that she was there to serve as a scale by which to measure the height of the surges, and to bring home to us a realising sense of their tremendous and irresistible power by showing how fearfully and savagely they flung and battered about the poor maimed fabric, it became absolutely terrifying, as was to be seen by the blanched faces and quailing, cowering figures of the crowd on the p.o.o.p who, stood watching the craft in her death throes.
Hitherto the violence of the sea had been productive in them of nothing worse than a condition of more or less discomfort; but now that they had before their eyes an exemplification of what old ocean could do with man and man"s handiwork, if it once succeeded in getting the upper hand, they were badly frightened; frightened for themselves, and still more frightened for the poor wretches yonder who had been conquered in their battle with the elements, and were now being done to death by their triumphant foe. And it was no reproach to them that they were so; for the sight upon which they were gazing, and which was now momentarily growing plainer to the view, was well calculated to excite a feeling of awe and terror in the heart of the bravest there, having in mind the fact that we were looking upon a drama that might at any moment become a tragedy involving the destruction of nearly or quite a dozen fellow beings. Even I, seasoned hand as I was, found myself moved to a feeling of horrible anxiety as I watched the wreck through my telescope.
For the feeling was growing upon me that we were going to be too late, and that we were doomed to see that little crouching, huddling knot of humanity perish miserably, without the power to help them. We were by this time about a mile distant from the wreck; and another seven or eight minutes would carry us alongside. But what might not happen in those few minutes? Why, the barque might founder at any moment, and carry all hands down with her. For we could by this time see that the hull was submerged to the channels; and so deadly languid and sluggish were her movements that almost every sea made a clean sweep over her, fore and aft, rendering her main deck untenable, and her p.o.o.p but a meagre and precarious place of refuge.
And even if she continued to float until we reached her, and for some time afterward, how were her unfortunate people to be transferred from her deck to our own? One had only to note the wild rush of the surges, their height, and the fierceness with which they broke as they swept down upon our own ship, and the headlong reeling and plunging of her as she met their a.s.sault, to realise the absolute impossibility of lowering a boat from her without involving the frail craft and her crew in instant destruction; and how otherwise were those poor, half-drowned wretches to be got at and saved. Something might perhaps be done by means of a hawser, if its end could by any means be put on board the sinking craft; but here again the difficulties were such as to render the plan to all appearance impracticable. Yet it seemed to offer the only imaginable solution of the problem; for presently, as we continued to roll and stagger down toward the doomed barque, Captain Dacre turned to me and said:
"There is only one way to do this job, Mr Conyers; and that is for the Frenchmen to float the end of a heaving-line down to us, by which we may be able to send them a hawser with a bosun"s chair and hauling lines attached. If it is not troubling you too much, perhaps you will kindly hail them and explain my intentions, presently. I shall shave athwart her stern, as closely as I dare, with my main-topsail aback, so that you may have plenty of time to tell them what, our plans are, and what we want them to do."
"Very well," said I; "I will undertake the hailing part of the business with pleasure. Have you a speaking-trumpet?"
"Of course," answered the skipper. "Here, boy,"--to one of the apprentices who happened to be standing near--"jump below and fetch the speaking-trumpet for Mr Conyers. You will find it slung from one of the deck beams in my cabin."
Dacre then took charge of the ship in person, conning her from the weather mizen rigging, and sending Murgatroyd for"ard with instructions to clear away the towing-hawser, and to fit it with a traveller, bosun"s chair, and hauling-lines, blocks, etcetera, all ready for sending the end aboard the barque when communication should have been established with her. And at the same time, the boy having brought the speaking-trumpet on deck, and handed it to me, I stationed myself in the mizen rigging, alongside the skipper, for convenience of communication between him and myself.
CHAPTER THREE.
WE RESCUE THE CREW OF A FRENCH BARQUE.
We were now drawing close down upon the barque, steering a course that, if persisted in, would have resulted in our striking her fair amidships on her starboard broadside, but which, by attention to the helm at the proper moment, with a due allowance for our own heavy lee drift, was intended to take us close enough to the sinking craft to enable us to speak her. Presently, at a word from the skipper, the third mate--who was acting as the captain"s _aide_--sang out for some men to lay aft and back the main-topsail; and at the same moment the helm was eased gently up, with the result that our bows fell off just sufficiently to clear the barque"s starboard quarter.
I shall never forget the sight that the unfortunate craft presented at that moment. Her foremast and jib-boom were under the bows, with all attached, and were hanging, a tangled ma.s.s of raffle, by the shrouds and stays, leaving about twenty feet of naked, jagged, and splintered stump of the lower-mast standing above the deck; and her main-topmast was also gone; but the wreckage of this had been cut away and had gone adrift, leaving only the heel in the cap, and the ragged ends of the topmast shrouds streaming from the rim of the top. She had been a very smart-looking little vessel in her time, painted black with false ports, and under her bowsprit she sported a handsomely-carved half-length figure of a crowned woman, elaborately painted and gilded. She carried a short topgallant forecastle forward, and a full p.o.o.p aft, reaching to within about twenty-five feet from the mainmast; and between these two structures the bulwarks had been completely swept away, leaving only a jagged stump of a stanchion here and there protruding above the covering-board. She was sunk so low in the water that her channels were buried; and the water that was in her, making its way slowly and with difficulty through the interstices of her cargo, had at this time collected forward, and was pinning her head down to such an extent that her bows were unable to lift to the "scend of the sea, with the result that every sea broke, hissing white, over her topgallant forecastle, and swept right aft to the p.o.o.p, against the front of which it dashed itself, as against the vertical face of a rock, throwing blinding and drenching clouds of spray over the little group of cowering people who crouched as closely as they could huddle behind the meagre and inadequate shelter of the skylight.
I counted fourteen of these poor souls, and in the midst of them, occupying the most sheltered spot on the whole deck, I noticed what at first looked like a bundle of tarpaulin, but as we swept up on the barque"s starboard quarter I saw one of the men gently pull a corner of the tarpaulin aside with one hand, while he pointed at the _City of Cawnpore_ with the other, and, to my amazement, the head and face of a woman--a young woman--looked out at us with an expression of mingled hope and despair that was dreadful to see.
"Good G.o.d, there"s a woman among them!" exclaimed Dacre. "We must save her--we must save them all, if we can; but it looks as if we shall not be given much time to do it in. I suppose they want to be taken off?
They"ll never be mad enough to wish to stick to that wreck, eh? Hail them, Mr Conyers; you know what to say!"
"Barque ahoy!" I hailed, in French, as, with main-topsail aback, we surged and wallowed slowly athwart the stern of the stranger, "do you wish to be taken off?"
At the first sound of my voice, the man who had pointed us out to the woman rose stiffly to his feet and staggered aft to the taffrail, with his hand to his ear.
"But yes," he shouted back, in the same language; "our ship is sinking, and--"
"All right," I interrupted--for time was precious--"we will endeavour to get the end of a hawser aboard you. Have you any light heaving-line that you can veer down to us by means of a float? If so, get it ready, and we will try to pick it up on our return. We are now about to stand on and take room to wear, when we will come back and endeavour to establish a connection between the two craft. Have the line ready and veered well away to leeward at once."
"But, monsieur," replied the man, wringing his hands, "we have _no_ line--no anything--you see all that we have,"--indicating the bare p.o.o.p with a frantic gesture.
"You have a lot of small stuff among the gear upon your mizenmast," I retorted; but although I pointed to the mast in question, and the man glanced aloft as I did so, I very much doubted whether he comprehended my meaning, for our lee drift was so rapid that we were by this time almost beyond hailing distance.
"Fill the main-topsail," shouted the skipper. "What have you arranged?"
he demanded, turning to me.
I told him. He stamped on the rail with impatience. "It is clear that it will not do to trust overmuch to them for help; we shall have to do everything ourselves. Mr Murgatroyd!" he shouted.
The mate came aft.
"Is that hawser nearly ready?" demanded the skipper.
"All but, sir," answered the mate. "Another five minutes will do it."
"Then," said the skipper, "your next job, sir, will be to muster all the light line you can lay your hands upon, and range it along the larboard rail--which will be our weather rail, presently, when we have got the ship round--and station half a dozen men, or more, all along the weather rail, each with a coil, and let them stand by to heave as we cross the barque"s stern. My object is to get a line aboard her as quickly as possible, by means of which we may send the hawser to them. For they appear to be a pretty helpless lot aboard there, and, if they are to be saved, there is very little time to lose."
"Ay, ay, sir," responded Murgatroyd; and away he went to perform this additional duty.
Captain Dacre now showed the stuff of which he was made, handling his ship with the most consummate skill and judgment, wearing her round upon the port tack the moment that he could do so with the certainty of again fetching the barque, and ranging up under her stern as closely as he dared approach. Eight of the strongest and most skilful seamen in the ship were ranged along the weather rail, and as we drew up on the barque"s starboard quarter--with our main-topsail once more thrown aback--man after man hurled his coil of light, pliant line with all his strength, in the endeavour to get the end of it aboard the barque. But such was the strength of the gale that line after line fell short-- checked as effectually in its career as though it had been dashed against a solid wall--and although, after his first failure, each man hauled in his line and, re-coiling it with the utmost rapidity, attempted another cast, all were unsuccessful, and we had the mortification of feeling that at least twenty minutes of priceless time had been expended to no purpose. And what made it all the worse was that during that twenty minutes absolutely nothing had been done by the Frenchmen toward the preparation of a line to veer down to us. Within three minutes of the moment when the first line had been hove we were once more out of hailing distance, and the main yards were again being swung.
"We will have another try," said the skipper; "but if we fail again it will be all up with them--if, indeed, it is not already too late. That barque cannot possibly live another half-hour!"
There seemed to be no room to regard this otherwise than as a plain, literal statement of an incontrovertible fact; we were all agreed that the unfortunate craft had settled perceptibly in the water since we had first sighted her; and at the same rate another half-hour would suffice to annihilate the very small margin of buoyancy that appeared to be still remaining to her, even if she escaped being earlier sunk out of hand by some more than usually heavy sea. But this seemed to have been temporarily lost sight of by the little crowd of onlookers that cl.u.s.tered closely round us on the p.o.o.p, in the absorbing interest attendant upon our endeavours to get a line on board the barque, and was only recalled to them--and that, too, in a very abrupt and startling manner--by the significance of the skipper"s last remark. The imminence and deadly nature of the Frenchmen"s peril was brought home to them anew; and now they seemed to realise, for the first time, the possibility that they might be called upon to witness at close quarters the appalling spectacle not only of a foundering ship but also of the drowning of all her people. Instantly quite a little hubbub arose among the excited pa.s.sengers, General O"Brien and some half a dozen other men among them pressing about poor Dacre with suggestions and proposals of the most impossible character. And in the midst of it all I heard Miss Onslow"s clear, rich voice exclaiming bitterly: