"It"s down there," exclaimed Andy, pointing to a battened-down hatchway.
"There"s no harm in opening it now," replied his companion, casting off the lashings and unbolting the heavy iron slide. "Now, then, down you go."
Andy, holding the lantern well behind his head, slowly descended, but at two steps from the bottom of the ladder his feet encountered water.
At the same time a deafening bellow echoed in the confined s.p.a.ce.
"Great snakes!" he exclaimed, "it"s an ox!"
"Poor brute, it"s nearly drowned, and half starved into the bargain.
And here is a pen full of sheep. I wonder where they keep the fodder?"
"Here"s some pressed hay," announced Andy after a short examination.
"And I don"t think the salt water has touched it."
"Throw some down in that corner," continued his companion, pointing to a part of the flat that the sea, by reason of the ship"s list, had not reached. "We"ll let the brutes loose; they can"t do much damage."
"Now set to, lads," exclaimed Mr. McKay, when they returned to the saloon, and found Terence with a regular store of provisions--the loot of the steward"s pantry. "Make a good meal, for our future movements are uncertain."
"It will be light in another hour," remarked Andy.
"And the sea"s going down," chimed in the apprentice.
"And our spirits are rising," added Terence.
"You speak for yourself, Terry, my boy," replied Andy, laughing. "Your spirits were low enough a few days ago."
All hands set to with a will, for even Quexo had recovered his former appet.i.te.
"This storm has lasted longer than usual," remarked Mr. McKay. "It was of more than ordinary severity. Still, I"ve known similar instances, and within three hours of the height of the hurricane the wind has died away to a flat calm."
"Then we shall be able to take to the boat almost immediately after daylight."
"Is there one left?"
"Two. I think one is stove in, but the other seems sound."
"A long voyage in an open boat on the ocean is no light matter,"
replied Mr. McKay. "If we were in the lat.i.tude of the Trades the task would be easier; but here we are, I imagine, in a zone of calms alternating with violent hurricanes. The best thing we can do is to land on the island--if we are near one, as I firmly believe is the case--and bring ash.o.r.e as many of the ship"s stores as we can. Then, if not sighted by any pa.s.sing craft, we can set to work and deck in one of the boats, provision her, and shape a course for the nearest trading station. By the time the boat is ready I trust I shall be firmer on my feet."
"Do you hear that, Quexo?" asked Andy. "You may be ash.o.r.e in a few hours."
Quexo grinned approvingly. He had had enough of the sea.
"Don"t build up his hopes too high," continued Mr. McKay. "Even if the weather continues fine, it may be days before we can effect a landing."
"Why?"
"Because after these hurricanes, although the open sea is comparatively calm, a heavy ground swell sets in on sh.o.r.e. A boat would certainly be capsized, unless there happens to be a shelter formed by a barrier reef of coral. But now, up on deck. It will be daylight in less than ten minutes."
Eagerly the lads ran up the companion, and what a sight met their gaze as the tropical day quickly mastered the long hours of darkness!
The _San Martin_ lay on the outer edge of a long, level reef of coral, against which the surf still hammered, throwing up clouds of white spray.
Less than fifty yards from the port quarter was a gap in the barrier, giving entrance to the lagoon. The doomed ship had missed the opening by half her own length.
She lay with her bows pointed diagonally towards the reef. Her funnel and foremast had gone by the board, while she showed unmistakable signs of breaking in two, for her bow and stern had "sagged" till amidships her port side was flush with the water, while, correspondingly, her starboard side, owing to the ship"s list, was but five feet higher.
But it was neither the ship nor the reef that attracted the castaways"
attention. Barely a quarter of a mile away was an island, rugged and precipitous, the highest point towering a thousand feet above the level of the ocean.
In several places the ground sloped towards the sea, the valley being thickly covered with luxuriant foliage, while for a distance of nearly a mile was a strand of dazzling whiteness, upon which the sheltered waters of the lagoon lapped as gently as the ripples of a mill pond in a summer"s breeze. Elsewhere, so far as could be seen, the rocks rose sheer from the sea.
"Any sign of the boat?" asked Andy.
"No; but I"ll get a gla.s.s," replied Ellerton, and swarming up the stanchion of the bridge--for the ladder had been swept away--he gained the chart-house.
From his elevated position he swept the sh.o.r.e with the telescope, but no trace of the boat was to be seen. Neither, so far as he could judge, was the island inhabited.
On rejoining his comrades, the young apprentice next directed his attention to the two remaining boats. One, a gig, was, as he had surmised, stove in, three of the planks being shattered. For the time being she was useless, though, he reflected, she might be patched up at some future date.
The other, a 23-ft. cutter, was still secured to the boat-booms, and was practically uninjured. Her size and weight would, he knew, be a severe drawback when the time came to hoist her outboard.
"I vote we bring your pater up on deck, Andy," said he. "We must have him out of the saloon sooner or later. The sooner the better, I think, because he can, if we place him on a pile of cushions close to the break of the p.o.o.p, direct operations."
It was a long and tedious task. Mr. McKay was no featherweight, and his injured limb had to be carefully handled. Moreover, the companion ladder was steep and narrow.
At length Ellerton solved the difficulty by procuring one of the men"s mess tables, nailing a strut to one end, against which the victim steadied himself by his sound leg while he was stretched at full length on the board. On this improvised sleigh four pairs of strong arms dragged the patient up the steep stairway and on to the p.o.o.p deck.
"What do you think of that, sir?" asked Ellerton, pointing to the island of refuge. "Isn"t it superb?"
"It is," a.s.sented Mr. McKay. "I hope we"ll find it so, for we will have to throw ourselves upon its hospitality for a few weeks."
"Do you know its name, sir?" continued the apprentice.
"No; has it one?" was the astonished reply.
"The Nameless Island," announced Ellerton. "Now, lads, three cheers for the Nameless Island!"
CHAPTER IV
THE LANDING
This burst of high spirits showed how light-hearted the castaways were in the face of difficulties, for what lay before them and how they were to reach the island required all their powers of thought and action.
"How do you propose to get the cutter over the side?" asked Mr. McKay.