"Aye, aye," was the answer.
And he thankfully heard the order given to shorten sail and bring the ship to the wind. Rushing aft, he found a party of men preparing to lower a boat. He begged to go in her. Before she was in the water Jerry joined him, and, together with three other hands, they shoved off.
He then saw that she was a whaleboat. One of the men, an officer he concluded, took the steering oar.
"Desmond! Tim!" he shouted out.
No answer came. The boat must have gone down, but they could both swim well.
"Do you know the bearings?" he asked of the mate.
"Aye, aye! I guess I do," was the answer. "We will give them another hail presently."
The boat pulled on. Then Tom, standing up again, halloed, the rest of the party joining him. An answer came from right ahead. Tom recognised Desmond"s voice. With renewed zeal they pulled on and looked around.
Tom could distinguish the boat through the gloom, just above the water.
"Bear a hand," shouted Desmond again, and they were up to the boat.
She had gone almost over, her side being only above water. Desmond was clinging to it.
"Here, take him off first," he said; and the crew of the whaleboat lifted Tim on board. Desmond sprang after him. Scarcely had they got clear of the wreck of the boat than she went down.
"Thank Heaven, you are safe," exclaimed Tom, as he rung Desmond"s hand, as if they had been long parted. "Did you not hear our first hail?"
"No; I suppose it was when I was dragging poor Tim up. He got a blow on the head, I think, and was very nearly slipping off. As the boat broke clear of the ship I was on the point of hauling myself up, but I could not bear to desert him."
"Just like you," said Tom. "I hope he will recover."
"No fear of that. We Irishmen have good hard heads. If there is a doctor on board he will soon bring him round."
"Have you a doctor on board?" asked Tom of the mate.
"I guess we have; a smart man he is, too," answered the mate. "Are there any more of you to pick up?"
"No, thank you," replied Tom; "all the officers and ship"s company of our craft have been rescued."
"What craft was she?" asked the mate.
"The jolly-boat of her Majesty"s ship _Dragon_," answered Tom.
"And how did you happen to be out here?" Tom explained that they had lost their ship, and that they were steering for Guam, where they expected to find her.
"I guess you"ll not do that, for we put in there a week ago, and there was no British man-of-war there at that time."
This was unsatisfactory news. The mate had not time to ask many more questions before the boat was alongside. Tom and Desmond, on reaching the deck, found the master, who informed him that he was Captain Paul Sibley--that the ship by which the boat had been run down was the whaler _Columbia_, of Boston. "I am very sorry for the accident," he added, "but I do not see that any one was to blame. It could not be helped.
We could not see you, and you could not see us, and of course the weakest went to the wall, or rather to the bottom. However, now you are on board, you are welcome to remain until we can put you on board your ship, or set you on sh.o.r.e wherever you wish to land. I guess it won"t be on any of the Solomon Islands of New Hebrides, where they have an ugly fancy for eating their visitors."
"Thank you," answered Tom. "If our ship is not at Guam, where we expect to find her, we must consider at what other place it would be best to land, so that as soon as possible we may get on board a ship of war."
"Well, well, there, is no hurry," answered the captain. "And just now, the best thing you can do is to get off your wet clothes and turn in. I will have some shakedowns made up for you young gentlemen in my state cabin, while your three men can go forward, and the doctor will look after the one with the broken head."
Tom, Gerald, and Billy thanked the good-natured captain for his kind offer, but hinted that, as they had had nothing but mashed yams and oil for the last two days, they should be thankful for something to eat.
"Not very pleasant fare. It"s an ill wind that blows n.o.body good; so, though I ran you down, you are better off than you would have been starving on such food as that, I guess. Here, Peter, light the galley fire, and get some food as quick as possible. Hot tea in the mean time; and look after the men forward--they want food as much as their officers."
The black steward, who had been asleep, came out rubbing his eyes, and hurried to obey the orders he had received; while the captain ushered his guests into the cabin, and soon produced three blankets.
"There, strip off your wet duds, and wrap yourselves in these," he said, "while I make up your beds."
The three midshipmen, weary and hungry as they were, indulged in a laugh, as they sat with the blankets over them, like three Indian squaws looking at each other, while the kind captain completed the arrangements he had promised.
The steward quickly returned with a pot of hot tea, and the captain produced a box of American crackers, which soon took off the edge of their appet.i.tes.
"There, lie down now, until Peter is able to bring you mere substantial fare," said the captain.
They followed his advice, Billy carrying a handful of crackers with him, munching which he soon fell fast asleep. They were roused up, it seemed to them, a moment afterwards by the steward, who announced that supper was on the table; when they again, not _unwillingly_, wrapped in their blankets, sat down to discuss some basins of hot soup and slices of cold beef, which, as Billy observed, "was a great improvement on the raw salt junk, which had so long been their only substantial fare."
At length the captain, observing that all three were nodding over the table, advised them to return to their beds; and scarcely had they put their heads on their pillows, than they were fast asleep.
CHAPTER FOUR.
KINDLY TREATED ON BOARD THE AMERICAN WHALER--LOOKING OUT FOR WHALES--A WHALE KILLED--CUTTING IN AND TRYING OUT--THE MASTER GOES OFF IN CHASE-- THE SECOND MATE LOST OVERBOARD--SANDWICH ISLANDER ENDEAVOURS TO SAVE HIM--THE BOATS DISAPPEAR--NO APPEARANCE OF THE MASTER AND FIRST MATE--A GALE--THE BOATSWAIN a.s.sUMES COMMAND AND PLAYS THE TYRANT--WILL NOT SEARCH FOR THE CAPTAIN--HIDES THE NAUTICAL INSTRUMENTS--THE BOATSWAIN DASHES TOM"S QUADRANT TO THE DECK--NIGHT--THE MIDSHIPMEN TURN IN--THE SHIP STRIKES--BOATSWAIN AND CREW PUT OFF--LEAVE TOM AND HIS COMPANIONS ON THE WRECK--WEATHER MODERATES--LAND SEEN--THEY BUILD A RAFT--VOYAGE TO THE Sh.o.r.e--SEE A SAVAGE ON IT--TURNS OUT TO BE PAT CASEY--NIGHT ON Sh.o.r.e.
When Tom Rogers at length awoke, he found the captain, Doctor Loc.o.c.k (the surgeon), and the first mate seated at dinner.
"Well, young gentlemen, do you find yourselves well enough to join us?"
asked the former.
"Yes, sir," said Tom, slipping into his clothes, which he found perfectly dried by his side. He aroused his companions, and they were all three soon seated at table, where plates had been laid for them.
They were thankful to hear from the doctor that Tim, though still in his hammock, was in a fair way of recovery, and would be on deck in a day or two.
They now gave a fuller account of their adventures than they had done on the previous night. The possible loss of the _Dragon_ was discussed, and from the captain and mate"s observations the midshipmen"s hopes were somewhat raised that she might have escaped shipwreck. Their opinion was that, as her machinery was damaged, she would have run to Hong-kong, the nearest place at which it could be repaired; and that it would take several weeks before she could get back to the Bonins to look for them.
That their captain would return they felt sure, unless he was convinced that they were lost.
"At all events, as we are about to fish off there, we will take a look round the neighbouring islands on the chance of discovering the wreck, and rescuing any of her people who may have escaped," said the master.
"If we fail in that, we may fall in with a British man-of-war, and you shall be put on board. If not, we will land you at Yokohama or Kagoshima, from whence you can without difficulty get to Hong-kong."
Tom, as spokesman, thanked the captain for his kindness, adding, "I feel sure that the British consul at any place at which you may land us will reimburse you for the expense to which you may be put on our account."
"We won"t talk about that, my young friend," answered the American captain. "We will set off the loss of your boat against that; and I am only too happy to have saved your lives, and to have rendered any service in my power to British officers in distress, for I tell you it is my belief that you would all have starved before you got to Guam, or any other island at which you could have landed in the Ladrones."
"I guess that they don"t value midshipmen at a long figure in your service," observed the mate, as if he doubted that the _Dragon_ would return to look for them.
"That depends on the sort of midshipmen they happen to be," answered Tom, putting on a modest air. "We flatter ourselves that we are not likely to be neglected. Now, if we happened to have all been like Billy Blueblazes there, who, from the quant.i.ty of beef he consumes, is undoubtedly a heavy cost to her Majesty, our captain might have considered it his duty to leave us to find our own grub for the future, and thus save our beloved country a heavy expense."
"I see," said the mate with a wink, discovering that Tom was not a person out of whom he could take much change. "And pray may I ask if that young gentleman"s name is really Billy Blueblazes? It"s a curious sounding one, at all events."
"It"s the name by which he is known among us, at all events," answered Tom. "The captain may in his supreme wisdom call him Mr William Blewitt, or when he is gazetted, on obtaining his lieutenancy, he may possibly be designated by the last-mentioned appellation; but Billy Blueblazes he will be called by his messmates while he remains afloat."