The Three Admirals.
by W.H.G. Kingston.
CHAPTER ONE.
THE DRAGON OFF THE BONINS--A CONVERSATION BETWEEN TOM ROGERS AND ARCHIE GORDON--GERALD DESMOND ON THE SICK-LIST--THREATENINGS OF A TYPHOON--IT STRIKES THE SHIP--SHE RUNS BEFORE IT--THE SHIP HOVE TO--THE BOWSPRIT CARRIED AWAY--A MARINE WILL-O"-THE-WISP--ENTER A BAY IN ONE OF THE BONIN ISLANDS--TOM, GERALD, AND BILLY GET LEAVE TO VISIT THE Sh.o.r.e--A BEAUTIFUL CAVERN--LAND ON THE ISLAND--THEIR DISCOVERIES--FISHING-- INTERRUPTED BY SHARKS--A PICNIC--BOAT DRIFTS AWAY FROM THE Sh.o.r.e--TOM SWIMS OFF--NARROW ESCAPE FROM A SHARK--SEE THE SHIP IN THE OFFING--PULL AFTER HER--A HURRICANE COMING ON--FEARFUL DANGER WHEN RE-ENTERING THE HARBOUR.
Her Majesty"s corvette _Dragon_, lately commanded by our old friend Jack Rogers, who had been superseded by Commander Rawson, was on her pa.s.sage across the wide Pacific, bound for Esquimault harbour, Vancouver"s Island, from j.a.pan, to which she had been sent with despatches.
The wind being fair, the screw was at rest, and she was under all sail, looking as trim and taunt a little man-of-war as a sailor"s heart could desire. Her stay in j.a.pan had been short, so that no leave had been granted, and even the officers had seen little of the country and people; though, as they hoped to return before long, that did not much matter. As it was of no great importance that the _Dragon_ should soon get back to Vancouver"s Island, Commander Rawson had received directions to visit the Ladrone Islands, somewhat to the southward of his course, in order to obtain particulars of an outrage, said to have been committed on an English subject by some of the mongrel inhabitants of those islands, which have for some centuries belonged to Spain.
The smooth sea shone brightly in the rays of the sun, undimmed by cloud or mist. In all directions the snowy wings of sea fowl could be seen, now dipping towards the ocean, now rising into the blue ether, showing that land was at no great distance. As the wind was from the northward, the air was cool, though the shady side of the ship was generally sought for by the watch on deck, except by a few whose heads seemed impervious to the hot rays of a tropical sun.
Two midshipmen were slowly pacing the port side of the quarter-deck, where a few feet of shade afforded them shelter from the heat. The one, a somewhat short, well-knit lad, with open countenance, well tanned, and blue laughing eyes, his whole appearance giving promise of strength and activity; the other, a tall youth with sandy hair, and pleasant features well freckled. Though tall, he was too well built to be called lanky, and showed that he possessed both strength and activity.
"I say, Archie, I do envy those fellows of the _Eolus_ going on to China; they will see all sorts of fun, for the Celestials are sure not to give in in a hurry. The _Eoluses_ will have the same sort of work that my brother Jack and your cousin Murray went through in the last Chinese war, when they were midshipmen."
The speaker was Tom Rogers, the youngest brother of Captain Jack Rogers; his companion was Archie Gordon, Captain Alick Murray"s cousin.
"Gerald was dreadfully cut up at not being able to remain on board the _Eolus_, and having instead to come back with us to return home; but Captain Adair"s letter was peremptory, and, as the newspapers say, I hope that he will hear of something to his advantage. Gerald would have been better pleased had his uncle let him know why he was sent for."
"He has no great cause to complain, seeing that the climate of China is none of the most delectable, and he would have run the risk of being shot into the bargain," observed Archie. "I wish that I had the chance of going home, and finding myself the possessor of a tidy fortune with a t.i.tle."
"But then there"s the honour and glory, and the fun, and the pig-tails to be captured, and the loot, and the chance of serving in a naval brigade and seeing some work on sh.o.r.e, just as the _Shannon"s_ people did in India, with a fair prospect of promotion at the end of it."
"If a body happens not to be shot, ye ken," observed Archie, who, though every bit as eager as Tom for the sort of work he described, took a pleasure in differing in opinion from him whenever he could.
"We will not, however, bother poor Desmond about the subject until he is well again," said Tom. "I really believe that he fell sick through vexation, though he was happy enough to be with us once more."
"He is much better to-day," remarked Archie, "and I hope by to-morrow that the doctor will let him come on deck again, although he may not be fit for duty for a day or two more."
Mr Mildmay, the first lieutenant, who was officer of the watch, paced the deck, spygla.s.s in hand, now and then going on to the bridge and sweeping the horizon with his gla.s.s, while he frequently called to the look-outs on the forecastle and fore-yardarm to keep their eyes open.
Jos Green, the master, was also continually there, or else consulting the chart in his cabin, for that part of the ocean was comparatively little known, and cruel reefs might exist, not marked down.
"The first lieutenant and the master seem very fidgety," remarked Tom.
"So would we be, I suspect, if the responsibility of navigating the ship rested with us," answered Archie. "After all, no one suffers by being sufficiently careful; that"s the rule my cousin gave me when I first came to sea."
"And a very good rule it is, too, no doubt about that," observed Tom.
"My brother Jack is as careful of his ship, and everything connected with her, as an old lady is of her best silk gown on a Sunday morning, though any one, to hear him talk, would suppose that he was the most harum-scarum fellow alive, always excepting his old shipmate, Captain Adair. He is, however, staid and steady enough in reality. I was very glad to hear that he got his post rank at the same time as my brother Jack did; and now the three old messmates, as they delight to call themselves, are post-captains, and will some day, I hope, be admirals.
I wish, however, that they had not to wait so long. Your grave cousin Murray is as fit to be an admiral now as he will be twenty years hence, and, unless not a few fine fellows die off, it will take the best part of that time for any of them to get their flag."
"It is encouragement for us, though," observed Archie; "for if they have all been posted without any great amount of interest, we may hope to get promoted in consequence of our good conduct."
"Yes, but then remember that they have seen a great deal of service, and should the piping times of peace return, we may find it a hard matter to get employed and be able to exhibit our good conduct."
"Weel, mon, we"ll hope for the best, and may be some other nation will kindly think fit to come to fisticuffs with old England, and give us something to do," said Archie.
"There"s every chance of that, I should think," said Tom. Just then seven bells struck in the afternoon watch. "I"ll go and see how Gerald is getting on, before I have to come on deck again; it"s dull work for him lying all by himself."
Tom found his old messmate, whose cot was slung a little way outside the berth, so that he might have the advantage of the air coming down the after-hatchway, sucking l.u.s.tily at an orange which he grasped in one hand, while he held a book in the other. He was so absorbed in its perusal that he did not notice Tom. Suddenly he burst into a loud fit of laughter.
"Capital fun; I should have liked to have seen it!" he exclaimed; "soused over head and ears a second time. Ah, ah, ah!"
"What"s the joke?" asked Tom.
"I"ve just got to where old Peregrine Wiffle tumbles into the water a second time, when he is showing how he saw the small fish playing under the wharf, and was picked up with a boat-hook." Tom and Gerald had a good laugh together.
"You don"t seem very bad," observed Tom.
"No; the fever, or whatever it was, that had got hold of me, has cut its stick, though I don"t feel quite as nimble as I ought to be," answered Gerald. "I believe that the disappointment of not going to China, and the thinking over what my uncle Terence can want me home for, had more to do with it than the climate, the hot sun, or anything else, and I intend to ask the doctor to let me go on deck to-morrow, by which time I shall have finished my book, and I want to have a look at any of the islands we may happen to pa.s.s. There are some curious shaped ones, I am told."
"Yes; we have sighted some. One seemed to rise three or four hundred feet in a pointed peak, right out of the water, and it was not, I should say, an eighth of a mile in circ.u.mference. It is marked on the chart as Lot"s wife. A solitary existence she must lead all by herself."
"Whereabouts are we?" asked Desmond.
"At noon, when we were pa.s.sing that curious rock, our lat.i.tude was 29 degrees north, and our longitude 14 degrees east. We shall next sight the Bonin Islands, or Rosario, which is another lofty island, little more than a rock, standing up out of the sea."
"Do ask the doctor if I may get up, Tom; I should be sorry to pa.s.s these places without having a look at them," exclaimed Desmond. "I can finish my book by-and-by."
Just then the officer spoken of, Mr Hussey, came out from the gun-room.
He was a short, somewhat stout gentleman, with a good-natured expression of countenance, and a merry twinkle in the eye, which showed that he could enjoy a joke, and was likely to utter many a one himself.
His naturally florid complexion was deepened into a still more ruddy hue by exposure to the hot suns of the tropics.
"Do, doctor, let me get up; your physic has done me an immense deal of good, and I feel quite well already," said Desmond.
The doctor felt his pulse. "You get up!" he exclaimed. "What do you think yourself made of?" trying to look grave.
"Arrah, shure, sugar and spice and all that"s nice! that"s what midshipmen are made of. But shure, doctor dear, you will not keep me here, stewing by myself, when I might be enjoying the pure air of heaven?--for I really am well, doctor."
"You mean to say that you have finished your book, and have got tired of lying in bed," was the reply. "Well, if you promise to be a good boy and keep in the shade, you may dress and go on deck, but I cannot undertake to scratch you off the sick-list yet."
"Thank you, sir," said Desmond; "I will do everything you tell me, and take as much medicine as you think fit to prescribe. I do not want to do duty yet, as I"ve got a hundred pages more of "Tom Cringle"s Log" to read, and I cannot gallop over a book as some people do."
"Well, well, possibly the ship may manage to take care of itself without you," said the doctor, as he pa.s.sed on.
Whereupon Desmond began to put on his clothes, a task which he accomplished with Tom"s a.s.sistance. He felt himself, however, much weaker than he had expected, as he made his way upon deck, though he tried hard to show that he was himself again. He received a friendly greeting from his messmates, and Mr Mildmay congratulated him on being able once more to make his appearance.
There was plenty to amuse those who had a taste for natural history even when no land was in sight, and the doctor, who was a great naturalist, was constantly on the _qui vive_, for the sea teemed with squid, medusae, polypi, and flying-fish. Several of the latter came through the ports, when there was a general scramble for them, the midshipmen, who were on the watch and the most active, coming in for the largest share. A short time afterwards the unhappy fish made an appearance, well fried, on their mess-table. Whales, too, were sporting in all directions, tempted to the locality by the abundance of food which the before-named creatures afforded. Several old whalers among the crew could scarcely restrain their impatience, and, could they have obtained leave, would have gone off with such gear as they could have prepared to attack the monsters of the deep.
Since the _Dragon_ had left j.a.pan, the weather had been remarkably fine, with calms and light winds. But the calms lasted scarcely long enough to have the fires lighted before the ship was again under sail. That evening, however, a long heavy swell began to come from the north-east; the undulations rapidly increasing in size, making the ship roll from side to side, until her chains touched the water. Desmond, in common with two or three of his messmates, and most of the ship"s boys and marines, began to feel very uncomfortable.
"What"s going to happen?" he asked; "I"m mighty quare about the region of the stomach."
"I suppose we are going to have a gale of wind, as a change," answered Tom, who had never been ill since he first came to sea. "We shall have to shorten sail, I"ve a notion, before long, to be prepared for bl.u.s.tering Boreas, when he thinks fit to visit us."
The whole appearance of the sky and sea quickly changed. The wildfowl, which had been hovering around the ship, winged their flight to the nearest islands where shelter could be found. The atmosphere was pervaded with a peculiar glare by the rays of the sun coming through the clouds of a dull ochreous red, giving the ocean, the ship, her canvas and sides, the same unnatural tint.