They toiled thus for an hour, by which time they had excavated a hole some three feet deep in the centre, and I had actually, with great reluctance, given the word to knock off, when Barr, driving his pick deep into the ground, where he intended to leave it that night, struck upon something harder than soil.

"Hurrah, boys," he exclaimed, "here's something at last! Stick to it, and let's see what it is before we leave it."

At it again they accordingly went, with such desperate vigour that the perspiration literally poured off their arms and down their necks, and in a few minutes they succeeded in laying bare the top of a solid timber chest, strongly bound with iron. They were very anxious to get this chest out of the ground, there and then; but on attempting to clear the earth away from round about it, it was found that the chest was only one of several others all packed closely together, so that it would be necessary to reach one of the outer chests before any of them could be conveniently moved. We were consequently compelled to content ourselves that night with the knowledge that we had found something, and to wait until the next morning to ascertain the value of our discovery.

The following sunrise found us once more en route for the shore, this time provided with a couple of spare studding-sail booms to act as sheers for the more convenient hoisting out of the chests, together with such rope, blocks, etcetera, as we should require for the purpose. The size of the chests, however, was such as would probably tax the strength of the entire party to handle them, and I was therefore reluctantly compelled to call in the assistance of Rogers and his party.

Even thus reinforced, it soon became apparent that a heavy task lay before us, and it was not until the boatswain was piping to breakfast that the first chest was successfully broken out and raised to the surface.

Breakfast was soon over that morning, and then the question arose, how were such ponderous chests to be conveyed to the ship? They measured, roughly, about two and a half feet square, and were so heavy that eight men—all who could conveniently get round one of them—could not raise the weight from the ground, much less carry it along a narrow path cumbered with stumps and prostrate trunks of trees. Greatly as I disliked such a proceeding, it seemed that there was no alternative but to break open each chest, and convey its contents piecemeal to the boats; and this course was therefore perforce adopted.

The task of merely breaking open the chests proved to be one of no ordinary difficulty; for they were constructed of solid oak, nearly three inches thick, so well made, and so strongly bound with iron, that I could not help surmising that they must have been the chests in which the Spaniards had originally stowed the treasure, and specially made for the purpose. They were black with age; but the timber was perfectly sound, while the iron bands, though more than half eaten away with rust, were still stout enough to give us an immense amount of trouble.

At length, however, the first chest was broken open, and was found to contain sixty-four bricks or ingots of solid silver! They were arranged in four tiers of sixteen bricks each, exactly fitting the chest, and each brick weighed about a quarter of a hundredweight. Each chest, therefore, if all contained the same precious metal, would represent the value of sixteen hundredweight of silver. How many chests there were we did not yet know; but it was evident that there were several. Some said there were eight or nine, but I thought there must be more, judging by the way in which they were arranged in the ground.

The men were now divided into two working parties, one of which, under my supervision, carried the silver to one of the boats, while the other, under Forbes, proceeded to break out and open another chest. The contents of one chest I considered a sufficient load for the gig, and accordingly, as soon as this amount had been placed in her, we shoved off for the ship; my crew consisting of Joe, the Norwegian, the negro, and an American named Barr. On arriving alongside the silver was simply passed up the side and pitched down the after-hatchway upon the ballast, for the present.

The ladies, who had elected to remain on board this day on account of the heat, were so filled with excitement and delight at the sight of the silver and the news of our find, that they could no longer remain quietly where they were; they must needs go ashore once more and see all this wealth brought out of the ground; and accordingly, upon our return passage, they went with us, taking the maids and children with them.

On our arrival at the islet we found the second gig awaiting us, with her cargo in her, which the other party had just finished loading; so we left the one boat, and took the other, treating this cargo as we had the last; and so the work went merrily on until the men's dinner-time, by which time we had raised and transported eight boxes of silver. And it had by this time been ascertained that there were eight more still to be dealt with!

A hurried meal was snatched, and the work was resumed, three more of the chests being disposed of by three o'clock in the afternoon. Then another surprise met us. The next chest contained gold instead of silver; the ingots being only nine in number, somewhat larger than the silver ingots, and weighing, as nearly as we could estimate, about one hundredweight each. Each of these gold ingots was neatly wrapped and sewn into a covering of hide. On our return from the ship, after conveying this precious cargo on board, we were met with the news that two other chests, since opened, also contained gold; and, not to detain the reader necessarily, it eventually proved that the remaining cases, two in number, likewise contained the same precious metal. The total find thus consisted of eleven chests containing seven hundred and four ingots of silver, and five chests containing one hundred and thirty-five ingots of gold.

All through the long, hot afternoon the work went on with unremitting energy, for it soon became apparent that darkness would be upon us before the last of the treasure could be moved. I was just completing the transfer of the third chest of gold to the ship when the sun sank in a perfect blaze of splendour below the horizon, and a few of the brighter stars were already twinkling in the zenith when we ranged up alongside the other boat at the landing-place upon the islet.

As I stepped out of the light boat into the loaded one, and directed my crew to follow, one of the men—an Irishman, named O'Connor—touched his forehead in the approved shell-back style, and observed—

"Av ye plaise, sor, Misther Forbes was sayin' would ye be so kind as to sthep along to the houle afore ye makes your next thrip to the ship? He's afther wantin' to shpake to ye."

"Oh, very good," said I; and, stepping ashore, I directed Joe to go across to the other side of the basin to fetch the ladies and children, who had crossed earlier in the afternoon, and now stood waiting to be conveyed back to the ship, and then went groping my way along the dark, uneven path toward the hole. The man O'Connor and somebody else—who it was I could not distinguish in the gloom—were stumbling along in front of me, and making very poor headway, I thought, for I quickly overtook them. They were in my way, working along as they were, two abreast, for the path was very narrow; so I said to them—"Here, let me pass, you two; I am in a hurry!" They stepped aside without a word, one to one side of the pathway and one to the other; and as I passed between them one of them cried, "Now!" and, before I could even so much as think, they both flung themselves upon me and bore me to the ground, one of them springing upon me from behind, with his arms round my neck and his knee into the small of my back, while the other dashed himself upon his knees on my chest, and gripped me by the throat by one hand, as he pressed the cold muzzle of a revolver to my temple with the other.

"A single worrud or a movement, and I'll pull the thrigger on ye, as sure as death!" ejaculated O'Connor, between his set teeth, as he tightened his grip upon my throat. "Now, Bill, feel ov his pockets and take his barkers away, av he has anny, while I hould him. Now, listen to what I'm tellin' ye. The others—that's Misther Forbes and the gintleman—is already tuk, so ye needn't be expectin' any help from thim; and as we've got such a hape of goold and silver out ov this houle, we're goin' to be contint wid it, and intind to take the thriflin' liberty of borryin' the ship to carry it away wid us; you can have the rest yourselves, and much good may it do ye. Ah, that's right, Bill," as the latter extracted a brace of loaded revolvers from my jacket pocket; "just feel, while ye're about it, av he has a knife, and take that from him, too. Now, are ye sure that's all?" as the other man—who now proved to be Rogers—took my knife away also. "Very well. Now, captin dear, ye may get upon your feet; but—understand me—av ye attimpts to lay hands upon either ov us, the other'll shoot ye through the head widout waitin' to say, 'By your lave.' Arrah, now, it's kilt he is, I do belave!" as the fellow rose from my prostrate body and saw that I made no movement—for all this time he had kept so tight a hold upon my throat that he fairly strangled me, and, though I still, in a dreamy way, heard him speaking, my strength had entirely left me, and I was scarcely conscious of my surroundings.

"I'll fire a shot to let the others know that it's all right, and then we'll have to carry him as far as the boats," remarked Rogers. "Perhaps a dip in the water may bring him round."

Such extreme measures, however, proved unnecessary; for, my throat once released, my senses began to come back to me, and by the time that we had reached the shore of the islet I was once more able to stand.

Arrived here, I was compelled to enter the empty gig, and was carried across to the opposite shore of the creek, where the ladies still remained; my order to bring them across having been countermanded in a whisper by one of the men, the moment that I had turned my back. On reaching the other side I was ordered out of the boat, a loaded revolver being exhibited as a hint to me to hasten my movements; but, as I stumbled forward over the thwarts, Joe offered me the support of his arm, murmuring in my ear, as I stepped out on the sand—

"Cheer up, cap'n! This here's a most unexpected move, and no mistake; but the ship ain't gone yet; and, from what I heard passin' among the others, just now, afore you come up, I ain't by no means sure as they'll leave to-night. Some of 'em is that greedy that they wants to stop and have a shy at the other treasure; and if they does, there's no knowin' what may happen betwixt now and then. And if they makes up their minds to go, I don't go with 'em. I'll slip overboard, and swim ashore, if there's no other way of joinin' you."

I had only time to murmur a word of thanks for this expression of sympathy, when he left me and returned to the boat, which immediately shoved off for the islet.

The ladies—who, with the nursemaids and children, still stood waiting to be conveyed to the ship—saw, by the actions of the men, that there was something amiss, and now approached me, inquiring anxiously what was the matter. Of course, I had no alternative but to explain to them that the men had risen in mutiny, and had seized the ship; and, although I made as light of it as I could, it was a sorry tale at best that I had to tell them. I was still in the midst of my story when the phosphorescent flash of oars became visible in the black shadow of the islet, and presently the outline of the boat, telling dark upon the starlit surface of the still water, was seen approaching. As she drew near, the voice of Rogers came pealing across the water—

"Shore ahoy! just walk a bit farther back from the water's edge, there, or we shall be obliged to fire. We're about to land Sir Edgar; and if there's any sign of a rush at the boat, we shall shoot to kill. So if you don't want to be hurt, you'd better stand well back."

"Hold on there a moment," I answered back, disregarding the threat. "Surely, men, you do not intend to abandon us here, unarmed; without a shelter from the weather, and with only the clothes we stand up in?"

"Oh, you'll do well enough, I don't doubt," replied Rogers, brutally. "You don't want arms, because there's nobody nor nothing here that'll hurt you; you don't need clothes, because the climate's so warm that you can do without 'em; and, as to a shelter, why, we've left all the axes and shovels ashore; you're welcome to them, and if you can't build a house with such tools as that, you deserves to go without. There's plenty of fruit, and plenty of good water, so you won't starve; and, lastly, there's a chance for you to get all the treasure that's in that other hole—if we decides that we don't want it ourselves."

"What?" I exclaimed, indignantly, "after stealing my ship and my treasure from me, will you not go to the small trouble of passing the ladies' and children's clothing into a boat, and sending it—"

"Well, if you won't stand back, take that!" interrupted Rogers; and as the word left his lips there was a flash, a sharp report, and a bullet went singing close past my ear.

At the same moment I felt my arm seized by a white figure that unexpectedly appeared at my side, and Miss Merrivale's voice, rendered almost inarticulate by scorn and anger, exclaimed—

"Leave the cowardly brutes alone. You shall not humiliate yourself further by stooping to ask a favour from them, even on our behalf; nor shall you wantonly expose yourself to the risk of being murdered in cold blood. I will not have it!"

With which, she dragged me unresistingly to the spot where her sister and the children stood, and then, without a word of warning, flung herself prone upon the sand and burst into a perfect passion of tears.

"Nay, do not give way thus, I pray you," I said, as I knelt beside her and raised her prostrate form in my arms. "Our plight is bad enough, I grant you, though not so bad that it might not easily be very much worse. And if you will only try to be brave and patient we will soon arrange matters so that you shall not be altogether destitute of comfort and—"

"Do you think I care for my own comfort?" she interrupted me, passionately. "No! as that wretch said, we are not likely to starve; and I suppose you and Edgar will be able to build such a shelter as will suffice to protect us from the sun and rain. It is not that; it is—oh, the base, ungrateful, contemptible creatures, to treat you like this! I am sure they will be punished for it."

"Ay, that they will!" exclaimed Sir Edgar, cheerily, as he joined the group. "Well, Emmie darling—and you, chicks—will it be a very dreadful hardship for you all to sleep on this beautiful, soft, white sand to-night? To-morrow we shall have light enough to work by, and I have no doubt that before the end of the day Saint Leger and I will have contrived to stick up a hut or something to cover you. Why, children, this is a regular genuine picnic, in which we shall have everything to do for ourselves, and you will be able to help, too. It will be glorious fun for you, will it not?"

And so on. Never in all my life before had I seen a man take a heavy, bitter blow so bravely as this gallant gentleman did. He knew—for he had already had time to fully realise it—all that so cruel an abandonment meant to him and his; yet his courage never faltered for a moment; not the faintest glimpse did he allow to appear of the anguish that must have at that moment been wringing his heart. No; his voice, his manner, and his whole bearing were inflexibly dominated by the determination to cheer and encourage the dear ones who were now absolutely dependent upon him, and him alone, for support and encouragement to meet and face this sudden, dreadful reverse of fortune. As I looked at and listened to him in astonishment and admiration I felt ashamed at my own despondency—at the condition—temporary only though I believed it to be—of complete helplessness to which the blow had reduced me; and in contemplating such indomitable courage I not only learned a lesson that I trust has benefited and toned my whole life since then, but I also gathered fresh courage and resolution to face the responsibilities and demands of the immediate present.



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

THE RECAPTURE OF THE BARQUE.

Under the soothing influence of her brother-in-law's admirable manner, Miss Merrivale soon recovered her wonted serenity of manner; while Lady Emily seemed never to have lost hers, so absolute was her trust and confidence in her husband, and his power to strengthen and reassure her. In less than half an hour, therefore, after the departure of the boat we were all sitting in a circle upon the sandy beach of the basin, regaling ourselves upon some of the fruit that the ladies had gathered earlier in the day, and discussing, meanwhile, the possibilities of our situation.

Notwithstanding the brutally callous behaviour of Rogers, I still hoped, and Sir Edgar fully believed, that a majority of the men on board would be sufficiently swayed by motives of humanity to insist upon bringing us ashore our clothing, and at least a few of the more obvious necessities of life, such as a spare sail, a coil or two of line, a few nails, a hammer, a saw, a trifle of crockery, some cooking utensils, and, above all, our fowling-pieces and some ammunition. Miss Merrivale, however, was positive that they would not; and as the time dragged slowly by without any sign of the reappearance of the boat, I began at last to fear that she would prove to be right.

A brightening in the sky to the eastward, over the crest of the lofty heights that towered above us in that direction, at length announced the rising of the moon, and, at the same time, made us aware that some four hours had elapsed since sunset. As the mild radiance of the silver luminary met my gaze I started to my feet, and said—

"There is the moon rising, and we shall soon have light enough to make our final dispositions for the night. Meanwhile, as you are all perfectly safe here, I will endeavour to make my way round to the beach abreast of the ship, and see what they are about on board. If they intend to go to sea to-night they will soon be making a move to get under way; and if they do not, there may yet be a chance for us to do something, with Martin's assistance."

"What!" exclaimed Sir Edgar, "do you still believe in that fellow's fidelity?"

"Yes," said I, stoutly. "Do not you?"

"Well," answered Sir Edgar, "I did, most implicitly. But since the shameful business of this evening I must confess that I have begun to entertain doubts of him. All your plans and precautions, you see, have been framed upon the information with which he has supplied you; and if he really were in the men's confidence, and anxious to serve you, how came it that he was not aware of the coup which the men have so successfully executed, or, if aware of their intentions, why did he not make an opportunity to warn us? I confess that, to me, it appears very much as though the men had all along feared some suspicion on your part, and had employed him to throw you off your guard."

"No," said I, meditatively, "no; I cannot think that. There are certainly one or two circumstances connected with his behaviour that I cannot at present fully understand, and perhaps we shall now never know whether he was really faithful or not; but I still believe him to be so, and I feel confident that, if he cannot help us in any other way, he and Forbes between them will devise some means for procuring our speedy rescue. Now, I am off for the beach. You, I suppose, will remain here; you can scarcely do better to-night, and it is desirable that I should know exactly where to find you again without difficulty, should any unforeseen contingency arise."

While I was speaking, Miss Merrivale had risen to her feet impetuously, with all the eager, determined look in her face of one who is about to say or do something of a very decisive character; but if such was her intention she checked herself, seemingly, at the moment when the words were about to escape her lips, and contented herself by saying instead—

"Pray be very careful what you do, captain; remember that we are all now utterly dependent upon you!"

I assured her that she might depend absolutely upon my discretion— smiling, rather bitterly, meanwhile, at the reflection that, throughout this business at least, my discretion had been by no means brilliantly conspicuous—and so, with a bow, left the little party clustered together upon the white sand; a curious, yet pretty, picture to any one who could have been suddenly transported from the surroundings of civilisation to that lonely island of the Pacific.

Making my way rapidly along the margin of the basin, close to the water's edge, where the sand was firm and the walking consequently easy, I soon reached the projecting point that marked the junction of the creek with the river, and bent my steps along the narrow beach toward the estuary. For some distance in this direction the only sound to break the silence of the night was the loud, continuous, indescribable chirr of the countless myriads of insects that haunted the recesses of the jungle; but at length, on rounding a bend in the river, I caught sight of the barque, still at anchor, and at the same moment became conscious of a new sound that, as I progressed toward the mouth of the river, gradually resolved itself into the tones of human voices uplifted in an attempt at melody. The thought that struck me, as this sound first met my ear, was that the men had decided to go to sea forthwith, and were now heaving short the cable—an impression that at once determined me to push on and watch the departure of the sweet little craft. But as I worked my way cautiously along toward the open beach, keeping well within the shadow of the trees, in order that my movements might not attract attention—for the moon, somewhat past the full, now rode high enough in the cloudless sky to render the most minute objects distinctly visible—I bethought me that the mutineers could not be getting their anchor, or I should by this time hear the sharp clank of the windlass pawls mingling with their song; moreover, I was now near enough to distinguish that the singing was not the wailing, monotonous chant and rousing chorus of a "shanty," but a confused medley of sound, as though all hands were singing at once, and every man a different tune; and I at once came to the conclusion that the fellows had secured some liquor and were indulging in a carouse. Should this be indeed the case—and I fervently hoped that it was—they would probably not desist until every man had become helplessly intoxicated, as they had doubtless secured Forbes so effectually that there would be no possibility of his recovering his freedom until some one chose to release him; while they would scarcely deign to give a thought to us on shore, with the knowledge that the ship was distant at least half a mile from the nearest point of the beach, and that both gigs were securely swinging at the davits.

As this conviction dawned upon me a feeling of renewed hope and fierce exultation leapt up in my heart, and my brain at once became busy with plans for the recovery of the ship. For one of my few accomplishments was that I was a fast and tireless swimmer, and—provided that there were no sharks in the neighbourhood—the half-mile of water that intervened between me and the Esmeralda was no more formidable an obstacle than had it consisted of firm, level roadway. Judging, however, by the present vigorous character of the singing that came pealing across to me from the ship, the opportune moment for such an attempt as I meditated was yet a good hour distant, and I therefore determined to stroll leisurely back to the party at the creek, and acquaint them with the new phase of affairs.

When at length I rejoined the group, I found that during my absence Sir Edgar had so far completed his arrangements for the night that the maids and the children were comfortably bestowed upon the warm, yielding sand, fast asleep, with their heads and faces well shielded from the rays of the moon by a small tent-like structure, consisting of a shawl stretched over an arrangement of sticks cunningly bound together with tough, pliant monkey-rope, while Lady Emily slumbered peacefully by her husband's side, with his arm about her waist, while her head rested upon his shoulder. Miss Merrivale, however, and Sir Edgar were still awake, and as I approached them the former started to her feet and, with her finger upon her lips as she pointed to the little group of sleepers, murmured softly—

"How long you have been! And what an eager, glad look there is in your face! What has happened? I am sure you have good news to tell us."

"Good, thus far," I admitted, "that the ship has not yet gone to sea; and I believe that she will not now go until to-morrow. The men appear to have obtained possession of some liquor, and are indulging in a royal carouse—if one may judge by the singing and noise that I heard going on aboard when I was down at the beach—and I am not without the hope that ere the night be much older the fellows will have drunk themselves into a helpless state of intoxication. Now, if upon my return presently to my late post of observation I should have reason to believe that such a thing has happened, I shall swim quietly off to the ship, and endeavour to get on board her without disturbing anybody; and should I be able to manage this, my next task will be to discover and liberate the mate. This once accomplished, it shall go hard with us if we do not succeed in retaking the ship from the drunken rascals, and repaying them in their own coin."

"By Jove, Saint Leger, you are 'grit all through,' as the Yankees say. It is a bold scheme, and I believe you will succeed," exclaimed Sir Edgar, admiringly. "I would that I could accompany you," he added wistfully, "for in such an undertaking every additional man on your side is of incalculable value. But, unfortunately, my swimming powers are not equal to anything like such a stretch of water as that between the shore and the ship, and I should only be an embarrassment instead of a help to you, unless, indeed, I could contrive to do the distance with the aid of a log to float me."

"No," said I; "I am infinitely grateful to you, Sir Edgar, for your readiness to assist in this undertaking; but it is not to be thought of. Your place is manifestly here, by the side of your family, so that, should events turn out awkwardly, they may not be left on the island without a defender. We will not, however, contemplate any such unfortunate ending as that to the adventure; on the contrary, let us rather look forward hopefully to the prospect of your all breakfasting on board as usual, to-morrow morning. You understand, of course, that should I succeed, my first act, after securing the mutineers, will be to come ashore in a boat for you."

"Do you suppose we do not know that?" exclaimed Miss Merrivale, impetuously. "But it is a desperately dangerous enterprise; and if—oh, why is it that women are such shamefully useless creatures in crises like these? If our strength were only equal to our courage—"

"You could not, even then, be more absolutely irresistible than you now are," I interrupted, with a low bow, and a poor attempt at gallantry. "Your turn will come, however, be assured of that," I continued; "for, whichever way this project of mine turns, you will have ample opportunity for the display of both courage and helpfulness. Should we ever succeed in recapturing the ship it is more than probable that I shall sometimes be compelled to call upon you all to afford help in such matters as the steering of her, and so on. But it is full early yet to talk like this."

"So far as I am concerned, your call shall not be in vain!" exclaimed the spirited girl, with a flash of her eyes that thrilled through me like an electric shock. "If I have not the physical strength of a man, I have at least as resolute a will, which is no mean substitute for it. And now, good-bye; for I see that you are longing to get away. You will be careful, though, will you not? and not run any unnecessary risks?"

I took the hand that was so frankly extended to me, and gave it a hearty squeeze; gazed for an instant into the eyes that dwelt so anxiously upon mine; and, immeasurably cheered and encouraged by the interest and sympathy that I read there, turned away quickly and stepped briskly out toward the mouth of the creek once more.

The time I had taken to walk to and from the basin appeared to have sufficed the carousers to drink themselves well on toward a condition of oblivion; for when I again reached the beach opposite the ship, the singing had subsided into an occasional maudlin howl that, in its turn, soon afterwards yielded to the stupefying effects of the liquor, and a dead silence fell upon the ship.

I did not wait, however, for this final stage of insensibility to arrive among the mutineers; but kicked off my shoes, and laying them, with my hat and jacket, upon the sand, immediately upon my arrival at my former post of observation, at once entered the water and started to swim with long, steady, deliberate strokes toward the ship. The water was perfectly calm and smooth, as well as deliciously warm; so that, despite the leisurely character of my exertions, I made excellent progress, and, in a shorter time than I had thought possible, found myself within the deep shadow of the ship's hull. Everything was by this time as silent as death on board, save for the slight jerk of the wheel-chains and the sob of the water along the bends and about the rudder as the ship swung gently upon the long, low ground-swell, the edge of which just caught her as it crept up from the westward across the mouth of the small estuary where she lay at anchor. So still and silent was the breathless night that the volume of sound raised by the insects on shore rang in my ears almost as distinctly out here as it had done when I stood upon the beach; it was, however, so far mellowed and softened by the intervening distance that it was possible to hear other sounds distinctly through it, even when they were so faint as the slight, almost imperceptible creak of the yard-parrels aloft, and the light flap of a coiled-up rope striking against the bulwarks with the slight, easy roll of the ship. I was therefore particularly careful not to make the faintest splash, as I drew up alongside, lest the unaccustomed sound should reach the ear of and startle some individual not yet completely overpowered by the drink he had swallowed. Fortunately for me, the gangway ladder had not been hauled up, and I was consequently free to board the ship well aft, thus greatly lessening the risk of detection; I had, therefore, only to wait until the roll of the ship brought the ladder within my grasp, seize it, and draw myself noiselessly out of the water. This was precisely the course that I followed; and I had already drawn myself up clear of the water when there occurred a rush and swirl immediately beneath me, and I received so smart a blow that I narrowly escaped being knocked off the ladder, as a large shark sprang half his length out of the water after me and fell back with a terrific splash, loud enough, I am sure, to have been distinctly heard on shore, had there been any one on the beach to hear it. The brute had evidently been lurking under the ship's bottom—attracted there, doubtless, by the refuse thrown overboard from time to time by the cook—and had only become aware of my presence just in time to make a rapid, ill-directed rush that had very narrowly missed me. Oh, how fervently I thanked Heaven, as I sprang up the side beyond the reach of a possible second rush, that the necessity for a cautious approach to the ship had rendered my movements so noiseless that the great fish had not discovered me until too late!

That the sudden and violent disturbance alongside had, however, not passed unnoticed on deck was immediately apparent by the appearance of a human head over the rail by the fore-rigging, only to disappear instantly, however, and make its reappearance at the gangway. As it did so, a voice that I instantly recognised as Joe's murmured, in low, cautious tones—

"Is that you, cap'n?"

"Yes, Joe," I replied, with equal caution, as I paused with my eyes on a level with the rail. "How is it on board? Have the rascals drunk themselves stupid?"

"Ay! that's just exactly what they have done," answered Joe; "and I was just creepin' quietly aft to cast Mr Forbes loose, by way of a start, when I heard the row alongside. How did it happen, sir? Did you slip and fall back'ards?"

"No," I returned; "it was a shark that rose at me from under the ship's bottom, and a narrow escape I have had of it; the brute struck me with his snout, as he sprang out of the water, and all but knocked me off the ladder."

"A shark?" ejaculated Joe, in dismay. "My word, sir, you have had a narrer squeak, and no mistake! You stop where you are, sir, out of sight, for a minute, while I goes for'ard and just sees whether the rumpus have roused any of 'em. I'll be back in a brace of shakes."

So saying, Joe sauntered carelessly away forward again; loitered aimlessly about the foredeck for a few minutes; sauntered quietly aft again past the larboard gangway, and so round abaft the mainmast and capstan until he rejoined me again.

"All right, sir," he whispered. "They ain't all asleep; but every mother's son of 'em is that helplessly drunk we can do anything we likes with 'em. Now, sir," as I stepped in on deck, "if you likes to go to your cabin and shift into dry clothes, I'll go and cut poor Mr Forbes adrift. I am afraid he ain't none too comfortable, for it seemed to me as the beggars was passin' the seizings pretty taut when they lashed him up to-night."

"Is that so?" said I, indignantly. "Then we will go and cut him adrift before doing anything else, Joe. He may be enduring cruel torments all this time. Where is he?"

"Locked in his own berth, sir," answered Joe. "And that reminds me, I don't know who's got the key."

"They may have left it in the door," I hazarded. "Who locked him in?"

"Rogers and Moore, sir. They are the two ringleaders in this here business."

We had by this time reached the mate's cabin; but found the door locked, and the key missing. As I tried the door-handle I thought I heard a groan from the interior; so, without wasting time to search about for the key, I set my back against the bulkhead of the passage and my foot against the door by the lock, and the next moment we had the door open. A shapeless object upon the floor of the cabin, indistinctly seen in the semi-darkness which pervaded the place, proved to be the mate, lying just as he had been carelessly flung in there, hours before, with his wrists and heels lashed together behind his back. The poor fellow was in a dreadful state, having lain there all those hours in excruciating agony from the cruel pressure of the lashings about his limbs, which, with brutal carelessness, had been drawn so tight as to have completely stopped the circulation of the blood in his extremities. His limbs were now swollen almost out of recognition; he had bitten his lower lip right through in the extremity of his torment; his beard was drenched with bloody foam; and our efforts to release him occasioned him such exquisite agony that he fainted under our hands. A sharp knife, however, speedily freed him from his bonds, after which Joe and I gently chafed his swollen wrists and ankles until the circulation of the blood was restored; but it was nearly an hour before the poor fellow was able to move with any degree of freedom.

At length, however, he pronounced himself ready for action; when, going on deck, and arming ourselves with a heavy brass belaying-pin each, the three of us proceeded forward, resolutely determined to stand no nonsense whatever from anybody who should presume to interfere with us.

It was, therefore, a distinctly unfortunate circumstance for Rogers that he should, a moment or two previously, have awakened from his drunken sleep and staggered to his feet with, apparently, some confused notion of taking a look round the ship and assuring himself that all was right; for, coming face to face with Forbes and Joe as they rounded the corner of the galley, he was promptly felled by the latter with a blow from a belaying-pin that must have caused him discomfort for many a day afterwards, while its immediate effect was to stretch him out upon the deck senseless and bleeding. The sound of his fall disturbed one or two of the rest—all of whom were sprawled out inertly upon the foredeck, in the midst of empty and overturned bottles and pannikins—just sufficiently to cause them to raise their heads and grumble out a few unintelligible words; but we had no difficulty whatever with them, and in less than half an hour we had the whole of them securely bound, hand and foot, and lying at our mercy. Having reduced them to this condition, and disarmed them, we distributed them about the deck fore and aft, lashing each man separately to a ringbolt, cleat, or other convenient mooring in such a way that no man might be within another's reach—for I had heard before now of men releasing each other by working at the lashings with their teeth—and then left them to recover their sober senses at their leisure, while we busied ourselves about other matters.

Our first act was to lower the port quarter-boat, get into her, and pull ashore to the creek, where we found Sir Edgar and his party pretty much as I had left them; he and Miss Merrivale being the only two still awake. Our arrival was greeted with a shout of delight from the baronet that effectually awoke the sleepers; and the whole party quickly tumbled into the boat, Sir Edgar and Lady Emily vying with each other in the heartiness of their congratulations at our success and the eagerness with which they asked for details of the adventure. Miss Merrivale, on the contrary, was strangely silent, contenting herself with a warm clasp of the hand at the moment of our reunion; and presently, when we had shoved off again for the ship, I noticed that she was furtively crying. I concluded that the reaction from the long hours of suspense that she had just passed through had proved rather too much for her nerves, and so prudently appeared to take no notice whatever of her little break-down. We soon reached the ship, and, upon my solemn assurance that they might do so with absolute safety, the rescued party at once retired below to their respective cabins; Miss Merrivale only lingering behind for a moment to say—

"I have no words to express how glad and thankful I am that you have been successful in your hazardous enterprise. You are a brave man, as well as a—But,"—with a sudden, merry smile, "I will not say more, lest I make you vain. Good night!"

I was beginning to feel a bit puzzled at this young lady's manner, which seemed to have undergone a subtle, indescribable change within the last twelve hours that was as incomprehensible as it was pleasant. It was just then, however, scarcely a suitable moment for speculation upon such an inscrutable subject as the deportment of a lovely and charming woman to a simple sailor like myself; so I dismissed the matter from my mind and turned to the consideration of other subjects, less agreeable, but calling more imperatively for my immediate attention.

The first thing was to summon Forbes and Joe to a council of war for discussion of the question what was to be done with the mutineers. There were some of them that it would be obviously impossible to retain on board the ship with the least chance of safety to ourselves; but I scarcely believed they could all be equally bad, and I was in hopes that, upon consultation with Joe, I should learn that we might trust a sufficient number of them to enable us to make the voyage to Valparaiso in safety, where I thought it probable I might be able to pick up an entire new crew, without very much difficulty. On submitting the question to him, however, Joe gave it as his very decided opinion that there were only three out of the eleven mutineers whom it would be in the least degree prudent to trust; those three being the negro, the Swede, and Barr, one of the Americans. These three we accordingly gave the benefit of the doubt, for the moment; and, that point settled, we next proceeded to draw up a list of such articles as we deemed absolutely necessary to the welfare of the men whose conduct had rendered it imperative that we should maroon them.

After some consideration, the contents of this list resolved themselves into: each man's personal effects in their entirety, including weapons and ammunition, the latter, however, to be securely screwed up in a stout wooden case, so that it might not be got at and used against us whilst effecting the transfer of the mutineers to the shore; a saw, hammer, chisel, and an assortment of nails; half a dozen barrels of beef, and the same of bread; a half-chest of tea, a few pounds of coffee, and some sugar; a cock and three hens; some cooking utensils; a little crockery; matches; and an old main-course; which, with the axes, shovels, picks, rope, blocks, and spars used in securing the treasure, and which still remained on shore, ought, we considered, to furnish them with the means to make themselves fairly comfortable until they should be taken off. This important matter decided, the next thing was to get everything up and passed into the boat—a task which fully occupied us until daylight; by which time the effects of the carouse showed signs of passing off, and the men began to awake in a measure to a consciousness of their situation. A few of them—Rogers, Moore, and O'Connor especially—gave vent to their indignation and disgust in a continuous flood of the vilest language, mingled with blood-curdling threats of the vengeance that they would wreak upon us some time in the future; but the rest accepted their impending fate with sullen stoicism. We, meanwhile, comfortably conscious that, for the present at least, they were utterly powerless to fulfil any of their threats, or otherwise work us any evil, went composedly on with our work; first conveying to and landing all the baggage on the sandy beach of the creek, and then ferrying the marooned men ashore, with their hands securely lashed behind them. We had determined to land only eight of them; and when this had been done, and we were all ready to leave them, we cut the bonds of the last man ashore, and left him to free his companions at leisure, thus effectually insuring ourselves against any trouble from the marooned party at the last moment. Then, having shouted to them a parting promise that we would make known the fact of their presence on the island to the first British man-o'-war we met with, together with the cause of their being left there, we paddled quietly on board again, and set to work to provide ourselves with a much-needed breakfast.



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

A PACIFIC HURRICANE.

Our meal over, the three remaining prisoners were released, and offered their choice between being landed on the island to join the other men, and returning to duty. I reminded them that their conduct in having aided and abetted the more active among the mutineers to seize the ship rendered them guilty of the crime of piracy—a crime punishable with death—and that it still remained with me to clap them in irons, if I pleased, and keep them prisoners until an opportunity should arrive to hand them over to justice, charged with that offence. I added that as it appeared, however, that they, the three men in question, seemed only to have passively consented to the deed of the others, I had no desire to be severe with them; I was anxious rather to give them an opportunity of retrieving their character; and would willingly do so could I but feel assured that, separated as they would be from their more guilty comrades, they would henceforward serve me faithfully, I said that if they were prepared to do this, I, on my part, was willing to forgive them their share in the mutiny, and to treat them as though the incident had never occurred. I warned them, however, that unless they were fully prepared, not only to solemnly pledge themselves to fidelity, but also to faithfully fulfil that pledge, it would be infinitely better for them to elect to be landed on the island to take their chance with the rest; for I assured them that, should they take the pledge of fidelity, and afterwards break it, I would, upon the first symptom of insubordination, clap them in irons and hand them over to the authorities, as pirates, at the first port we might happen to touch. This address had precisely the effect upon the fellows that I desired; the mention of the word "piracy," and the reminder of the penalty due to that crime, thoroughly frightened them; while my promise, on the other hand, of forgiveness as the reward for faithful service in the future, had all the reassuring influence that I intended it to have; and upon the conclusion of my lecture, they with one accord begged my pardon for what had already happened, and most fervently promised that I should have no cause of complaint against them in the future.

This important matter settled thus far to my satisfaction, I sent Barr and Christianssen aloft to loose the fore-topsail and topgallantsail, while Joe and the negro performed a similar duty on the mainmast, both parties receiving instructions to cast off the lashings from the staysails on their way down. While this was doing, Forbes lay out upon the jib-boom and loosed the jib and fore-topmast staysail, I busying myself, meanwhile, in casting loose the mizzen. Presently, Joe hailed from aloft that the men on shore had made their appearance on the beach; and, upon looking in that direction, I saw the whole party of them gathered there, close to the water's edge, intently watching our movements. Just then Sir Edgar made his appearance on deck, and, with a cheery "good morning," laughingly declared that he intended to ship for the voyage to the nearest port as an "honorary seaman," and was ready to enter upon his duties at once. I, of course, thanked him for this kind proffer of his services, assuring him that, short-handed as we were, it would be in his power to render us invaluable assistance; and, the hands at that moment coming down from aloft, we sheeted home the topsails, and got the yards to the mastheads.

Nothing now remained but to loose our hold upon the ground, and make a start. This we could, of course, at once do by simply slipping the cable; but an anchor is altogether too useful an article to be needlessly thrown away. Many a good ship has driven ashore and gone to pieces for want of an anchor that has been slipped and not replaced; I was, therefore, very much averse to slipping in the present instance without at least trying to get the anchor. On putting the question to the others, Forbes had no doubt of our ability to do it, while the rest expressed their perfect readiness to try; we accordingly manned the windlass, and—San Domingo starting a lively "shanty"—walked the barque up to her anchor almost without an effort. Having got the cable "up and down," we next ran up the fore-topmast staysail, and then went to the fore-braces and trimmed the head-yards for casting the ship to starboard. Just then, and in the very nick of time, Miss Merrivale came on deck, looking as bright and radiant as the morning itself; and I at once impressed her as helmswoman, stationing her at the wheel, and briefly explaining how she was to act upon the receipt of certain signals from me. She seemed quite proud at the idea that she could be really useful, and took her station at the wheel with a heightened colour and sparkling eyes, which, with her spotless white dress, trimmed with dainty lace and light-blue ribbons, her broad-brimmed hat set jauntily upon the heavy coils of her dusky golden hair, and casting a delicate shadow upon her lovely face, her hands and arms encased in long loose gloves, and her delicate feet shod in small brown shoes, made her, to my mind, the sweetest, loveliest picture that my eyes had ever rested upon. So irresistibly charming, indeed, did she look, that I with difficulty forebore from telling her so, plump and plain; and so, to avoid the committal of such an impertinence, was constrained to rush for'ard and add my weight to that of the others at the windlass handles in their efforts to break out the anchor. Fortunately for us, our windlass was an exceptionally good and powerful one; but, on the other hand, the holding-ground proved to be exceptionally tenacious; and, for a long five minutes, the cable stood straight up and down, rigid as a solid bar, defying our utmost efforts to get so much as a single additional pawl. Then an opportune puff, with a little more weight in it than the soft breathing off the land that had hitherto reached us, struck the broad expanses of our topsails, and, with a sudden jerk, the ground broke away and the anchor came home.

"Hurrah, lads! she's away; heave, for your lives; heave, and raise the dead!" vociferated Forbes.

The windlass pawls clanked merrily, the chain came rattling in through the hawse-pipe, and the ship, gathering stern-way, began to pay off with her head to seaward. At the right moment I signed to Miss Merrivale to put the wheel hard up, while Forbes and I sprang aft to the braces and swung the yards; the ship halted, hung stationary for a moment, and then, gathering headway, gradually swept round until we had brought the island upon our starboard beam and were gliding along under the lee of its western shore. Our new voyage had begun.

The marooned men had all this time been intently watching our movements from the beach; and, from their excited actions and the way in which they closed up in a circle when they saw our canvas drop from the yards, it was apparent that they were engaged in a heated discussion of some kind. Presently, when they saw us man the windlass and heard the clink of its pawls, I observed O'Connor break from the conclave, dash his cap down upon the sand, and somewhat hesitatingly enter the water, as though about attempting to swim off to us. Whereupon, I sprang upon the rail, and, putting the whole power of my lungs into the shout, hailed him to go back, as there were sharks in the bay. I had to repeat this warning two or three times, however, before he seemed willing to heed it; and it was not in fact until the anchor was broken out of the ground and the ship was seen to be canting to seaward that he turned back and rejoined his companions. When we last saw them they were still standing upon the beach, watching our departure, and shouting to us with gestures that were eloquent of threats and curses, though we were too far distant to catch the words that they hurled after us.

Meanwhile, during the progress of these operations I had been taking counsel with myself as to the most desirable course to pursue under the circumstances in which we found ourselves. My original intention had been to proceed to Valparaiso in quest of a crew, but that intention had been arrived at under the impression that it would be necessary only to leave three or four men behind us on the island. Joe's opinion upon the matter had, however, altered all this, and had necessitated our going to sea with a crew of only seven men, including Sir Edgar, whose assistance I felt we could only claim under circumstances of exceptional necessity. This reduced us to two watches of three men each, who might indeed suffice to handle the ship under easy canvas and during fine weather, but who could do very little with her should we happen to fall in with a heavy gale, or, still worse, a downright Pacific hurricane. Then, too, the prevailing winds in that part of the world are easterly; which placed Valparaiso well to windward, and rendered it even more difficult to fetch than San Francisco. The latter port, however, I had no desire whatever to visit under the circumstances, with such a precious cargo on board, and three men at least whose tongues it would be impossible to bridle. By the time, therefore, that the ship was fairly under way, I had come to the conclusion that my best plan would be to make for the Sandwich Islands, which were only some sixteen hundred and fifty miles distant, in a north-westerly direction, and might therefore be easily reached in a fortnight, if all went well with us. An important advantage attaching to this plan was that Honolulu, if it did not lie directly in my road to China, was nearer it than any other port, and I still considered it very essential that, in order to avoid inconvenient questions, I should take home a cargo of some sort, which might as well be tea as anything else; and although I had never visited the Sandwich Islands, I thought it probable I should there be able to pick up at least a sufficient number of men to carry us comfortably to the Canton river. As soon, therefore, as we were fairly clear of the island I set the course for the island of Oahu; the wind being at the time a four-knot breeze, well over the starboard quarter. This done, I relieved Miss Merrivale at the wheel, leaving Forbes and the other four men to continue at leisure the operation of making sail.

Meanwhile the question had arisen, "How was the cooking to be done?" and the natural reply to this seemed to be, "Set the darkie to do it." This would have been all very well but for my passengers, who, it occurred to me, might possibly have a prejudice against having their food handled by a black man. I therefore laid the matter before Sir Edgar, who immediately consulted with his wife; and the ultimate result was that one of the maids very good-naturedly undertook the work, with San Domingo as cook's mate, to do all the dirty work, while the other maid volunteered as steward. I was greatly distressed in my mind lest all these inconveniences should prove a serious annoyance to my good friends in the saloon; but on mentioning the matter to Lady Emily, she quickly and kindly reassured me by declaring that they looked upon the whole thing in the light of an adventure or experience of a novel kind to be made the most of.

"Besides," she added, "a little inconvenience and privation will do us good by teaching us to appreciate our comforts more nearly at their proper value when we get them again."

The weather looked fine, and the barometer stood high; I therefore had no hesitation whatever about packing sail upon the ship; and as everybody worked with a will, it came to pass that by noon we had not only got our anchor secured, but had also clothed the ship with every stitch of plain sail, from the royals down. Forbes was not satisfied even with that, and would have gone on to studding-sails; but I considered enough to be as good as a feast. Studding-sails are rather ungainly things to handle in a quickly freshening breeze, if one happens to be at all short-handed. I therefore determined to have nothing to do with them—the more resolutely that, as we drew away from the island, the breeze strengthened until we were reeling off our nine knots by the log.

This exceedingly satisfactory state of affairs prevailed for exactly forty hours from noon of the day upon which we left the island; the breeze remaining so steady and true that we were not called upon to touch tack, sheet, or halliard during the whole time. There was nothing, in fact, to do but simply to steer the ship; and we were already beginning to flatter ourselves that we were not only to be favoured with a pleasant passage, but that we were going to accomplish it in about half the time that I had allotted to it. Such a magnificent opportunity was not to be wasted; and I accordingly took advantage of it to have the ballast cleared away right in midships, and the gold and silver stowed there equally on each side of the keelson, and carefully concealed with matting and a quantity of dunnage; after which the ballast was trimmed back over it and everything left shipshape against the time of our arrival in port.

In hoping for a sufficiently long continuance of fine weather to carry us without break or interruption to Honolulu, however, we were reckoning without our host; for about four o'clock in the morning of our second day out, the wind began to fail us, and by eight o'clock it had fallen to a stark, glassy calm. There had been but a moderate amount of sea running, and this soon went down, leaving only a long, oily swell, upon which the ship rolled with a quick, jerky, uneasy movement. The sun rose clear and brilliant, with every promise of a fine and scorchingly hot day; but when I went on deck after breakfast to take my sights for the longitude, I noticed that the sky had lost much of its brilliant colouring, while the sun hung in it a white, shapeless blotch, instead of the dazzling orb that had risen a few hours before. This, of course, might mean nothing worse than heat; but when I went below shortly afterwards to work out my sights, I saw that the mercury had fallen a little. This, too, might only mean heat, with possibly a smart thunderstorm a little later on in the day; but, short-handed as we were, I deemed it best to be on the safe side; and accordingly, having worked out my sights, I returned to the deck, and all hands of us went to work upon the canvas, clewing up and hauling down all our lighter sails, until we had stripped the ship to topsails, courses, fore-topmast staysail, jib, and mizzen. At this stage of the proceedings another glance at the barometer showed that the mercury was still shrinking in the tube, while the atmosphere had assumed a hazy appearance that rendered it difficult to distinguish the horizon. There could no longer be any doubt that a change of weather was impending, although there was nothing at present to indicate very precisely what the character of the change was to be. We therefore went aloft, three of us on the foremast, and three on the main, and beginning with the royals and working downward, snugly stowed everything that we had previously hauled down. It was whilst we were thus engaged that an increasing uneasiness in the motion of the ship first became apparent; and looking about us for the cause, we became aware of the fact that a cross swell had begun to gather, and was slowly creeping down to us from the north-west—the sure precursor, Forbes affirmed, of a stiff blow from that quarter. In this opinion I fully agreed; still there was at that moment nothing of a menacing character in the aspect of the sky, beyond an increasing thickness of the atmosphere; and I was therefore hopeful that we should have a sufficiency of time given us to complete our preparations for the worst that could happen, before it came upon us.

The furling of the light canvas was neither a very long nor a very laborious job, and in less than an hour we were all once more on deck. The north-westerly swell had by this time gathered sufficient weight to render itself distinctly perceptible even to the eye, and, the ship having swung round broadside-on to it, she was rolling in a fashion that set all the trusses, parrels, and bulkheads creaking, the yards jerking, the patent block-sheaves squeaking, the heavy canvas flapping, the reef-points pattering, the cabin-doors rattling, and the wheel-chains clanking, so that, with the heavy wash of water along the bends and under the counter, and an occasional clatter of crockery in the pantry, quite a small Babel of sound was raised about us. The motion of the ship, however, though more violent, was not so awkward and uncomfortable as it had been, doubtless in consequence of the young swell killing the old; and still there was no sign whatever of an immediate breeze. But another look at the barometer showed that the mercury was still falling, and now at a more rapid rate. Fully convinced, therefore, that something rather more serious than a mere thunder-squall was brewing, we now went to work with a will, and, having first furled the mizzen, hauled up the courses and stowed them, leaving the ship with nothing showing but her two topsails and the fore-topmast staysail, which—as our topsails were patent-reefing—left us practically prepared for almost anything that might happen.

The haze had by this time thickened overhead to such an extent that the sun showed in it as a mere white, rayless disc, the light of which seemed to be gradually dying out; and by the time that noon had arrived the atmosphere had become so obscure that the horizon was no longer distinguishable, and I, therefore, lost my observation for the latitude. At one o'clock, when our neat stewardess summoned me below to luncheon, the mercury was still sinking, which, with the slow progress of the change that was taking place, assured me that when the outburst came, it would be something a little out of the common. Luckily, we had plenty of sea-room, and a thoroughly staunch little ship under our feet; I therefore looked forward to the impending conflict with tolerable equanimity.

At length, just as I had completed my hasty lunch, there occurred a sudden but perceptible darkening of the atmosphere which seemed to indicate that the expected change was now imminent, and, springing up the companion-way to the deck, I found a most extraordinary scene awaiting me. The thickness that had hitherto pervaded the atmosphere had vanished, as if by magic, leaving the air astonishingly clear and transparent right to the boundary of the horizon, and revealing a vast expanse of dense, livid, purple-grey cloud, which had overspread the north-western half of the heavens, and was at the precise moment passing over and shutting out the sun from view. The edge of the cloud was as straight and sharply defined as though it had been trimmed with a knife, and it divided the firmament into two almost equal portions, the larger of which was a beautiful expanse of clear, serene, unclouded blue; while the other hung livid and threatening above us, with the promise of a raving tornado lurking within its black bosom. Immediately overhead the colour of this immense cloud curtain was a cold, slaty blue, from whence, as the eye travelled down its expanse toward the north-western horizon, the hue became darker until where it met the water it was as black as night; while, underneath it, the sea undulated restlessly, with the writhings of an angry serpent, showing a surface as lustreless and of the same colour as molten lead. Low down in the bosom of the cloud could be seen occasional palpitating quiverings, as though the fires within it were striving to burst their way through, and presently, quite at the horizon, a flash of lightning sparked vividly out of it.

"Are the topsail halliards all ready for running, Mr Forbes?" said I.

"All ready, sir," was the reply; and, turning away, the mate walked quietly forward, throwing the falls off the pins on his way.

A minute later I heard him telling Joe to stand by the fore-topsail halliards, and the rest of the men to lay aft to the braces, following them along the deck and stationing himself at the main-topsail halliards in readiness to let them run. At this moment Sir Edgar, with the two ladies and the children, came on deck and looked round with startled eyes upon the portentous scene; but, upon my earnest recommendation, the youngsters were at once sent below again, the ladies holding themselves in readiness to follow at a moment's notice. Sir Edgar, however, announced his determination to remain on deck, upon the chance of his becoming useful; upon which, Lady Emily, without saying a word, went below and brought up on deck not only her husband's, but also my own mackintosh coat—a little piece of thoughtful consideration for which I was deeply grateful, since the aspect of the weather was now such that I dared not leave the deck for a single instant.

Slowly the great cloud worked its insidious way athwart the heavens until nearly three-fourths of the firmament was obscured, yet still there was not air enough to have extinguished a burning match. Then, while the barque was lying helpless, with her head pointing directly toward the quarter from which we expected the outfly, a white mist suddenly appeared ahead, sweeping down upon us with the speed of an express train, its course along the water indicated by a long line of continuous white.

"Here comes the rain, at last!" exclaimed Forbes, turning to me and pointing ahead with one hand, as he grasped the fall of the main-topsail halliards with the other.

"Ay, and the wind with it," I answered him, as I sprang to the wheel and whirled it hard over.

"Let go your topsail halliards! Away below, ladies, for your lives; the gale will be upon us in less than a minute. Lay aft here, some of you, and round-in upon the larboard fore-braces! Mr Forbes, get the starboard fore-topmast staysail sheets aft and well belayed, if you please. Whew! here it is; hold on, everybody!"

The rain seemed to reach us a single instant ahead of the wind, dashing vertically down upon us, for just that brief period, not in drops, but in an overwhelming deluge that I verily believe must have drowned us had it lasted; then, as the hurricane reached us in a deafening medley of sound, the sheets of water were caught and swept horizontally along with a force that it was literally impossible to face without the risk of being blinded, while the barque gathered stern-way until the water was piled up level with her taffrail, and for a few breathless seconds I was firmly convinced that it would end in our foundering, stern-foremost. The good little ship was paying off all the time, however, and presently she had swept round until we had it fairly abeam, when she laid down to it until her lee lower yardarms were dipping in the water. Then, signing to the men at the braces to haul round the head-yards, I waited until she had lost her stern-way, when I shifted the helm, putting it hard up, and she began to draw slowly ahead. The danger was now practically over, for the ship continued to pay off, and presently she righted with a sudden jerk, and went foaming away before it, with the white froth level with her hawse-pipes.

The rain was by this time over, and while all was still thick as a hedge ahead and to leeward of us, the atmosphere astern was clear, save for the spindrift and scud-water with which it was heavily loaded along the water surface. The first mad fury of the outfly was past; but, even so, it was blowing harder than I had ever seen it blow before; so hard, indeed, that I wondered at the brave way in which the close-reefed topsails withstood the tremendous strain and drag of the ship upon them. So great was this strain that I began to entertain very serious fears for the masts; and, now that it was too late, deeply regretted that I had not stripped the ship entirely bare and faced the outfly under bare poles; and it would have been a positive relief to me to have seen both topsails go flying out of the boltropes. They still held on, however; and a little later, when Forbes, having at my request gone the round of the chain-plates, and subjected them to a careful examination, reported that he could see no sign of any of the bolts drawing, I began to hope that, after all, we might pull through without any very serious damage, especially as Joe almost immediately afterwards sounded the pumps and reported that everything was right below.

We had been scudding for about an hour when the sea began to rise, and by five o'clock in the afternoon there was a very high, steep sea following us, which I foresaw would soon become dangerous. I therefore determined to watch for an opportunity, and, if possible, heave the ship to before dark. As a preliminary to this manoeuvre. I ordered the fore-topmast staysail to be hauled down; and this having been accomplished without damage to the sail, two of the men—Barr and the Swede—lay out upon the bowsprit to stow it, under the direction of the mate. This, at the moment that the order was given, seemed a perfectly simple affair, and entirely free from danger; it unfortunately happened, however—just at the moment when the sail had been made secure and the men were on the point of laying in again, as Forbes subsequently informed me—that an unusually heavy sea overtook us and, catching the barque under her counter, raised her stern high in the air, slightly pooping us, while it buried her bows and bowsprit deep in the water. Standing at the wheel, I saw what was about to happen, and was in the very act of shouting a warning to the men to hold on, when the sea curled in over the taffrail, completely burying me for the moment; and when, a few seconds later, I was able to clear my eyes of water, both men had vanished, and Forbes was running aft, crying out to me that they were overboard. I looked astern, but could see nothing of either of them; nor, in the increasingly perilous situation of the ship, dared I leave the wheel even for the brief space of time requisite to cut adrift and throw overboard a life-buoy. Forbes, however, dashed aft and did this with most commendable promptitude; after which he, with the assistance of Joe and San Domingo, lost not a moment in counter-bracing the yards, when we successfully brought the ship to on the larboard tack, with her fore-topsail aback. This done, and with Joe at the wheel, Forbes and I clambered into the maintop and peered long into the fast gathering gloom, in the faint hope that even yet we might catch sight of one or both of the missing men, and be able to do something to save them; but we never saw either of them again.



CHAPTER NINETEEN.

IN DIRE EXTREMITY.

The sudden loss of these two men was not only a terrible shock to us all, it was also a cruel misfortune; for, exclusive of Sir Edgar, it left only four of us to handle the ship. It is true that we were now as snug as it was possible to be, and in a condition to face almost anything that might befall us in the shape of weather; but when it again came to a question of making sail, or, still worse, being obliged to once more shorten sail, perhaps in a hurry, there would be a good deal of heavy labour, all to be done by four, or at most five men. It was, however, one of those deplorable accidents that are incidental to the life of a seaman; and, having in the mean time done all that was possible for the safety of the ship, it was useless to meet our troubles half way, and I therefore arranged that during the continuance of the gale, while there would be really nothing to do but to keep an eye upon the ship, the regular watches should be taken by the four of us in rotation, one at a time, which would thus allow the others plenty of time for rest against the moment when the utmost exertions of all would be once more demanded.

It was now drawing on toward six o'clock, and the aspect of the coming night was very threatening. The sky was completely overspread with a vast unbroken curtain of inky cloud, torn and shredded into a countless host of ragged, fantastic shapes that came rushing up from the northward and westward at headlong speed before the breath of the raving gale, while the air was thick and salt with the ceaseless pelting of the brine torn from the wave-crests, and swept along in a drenching, pitiless rain by the mad fury of the wind. The sea was rising fast, and already presented a formidable and threatening aspect as the towering liquid hills swept successively down upon the ship, froth-laced, and each capped by a hissing, roaring crest of milky foam that reared itself nearly to the height of our foretop over the weather-bow—so steep was it—ere the barque rose to and surmounted it in a smothering deluge of spray. Yet we were doing well; for although, under the tremendous pressure of the wind upon her two close-reefed topsails, the ship was heeled to her covering-board, while in some of her wild lee rolls she careened until her topgallant rail was awash and it became impossible to maintain one's footing on the deck without holding on to something, she looked well up into the wind, and rode the boiling fury of the sea as buoyantly as a cork. Her foredeck, it is true, from the knight-heads to well abaft the galley, was streaming with the water that incessantly poured over her weather-bow in a torrent of spray; but abaft that the decks would have been dry but for the drenching spindrift.

The darkness fell upon us with a suddenness that was almost startling. I had been for some time—ever since we had hove-to, in fact—narrowly watching the ship to see how she met the seas; but at length, finding that she was taking care of herself, I ordered Joe to lash the wheel, and gave him permission to go below and join the others at supper in the forecastle. Before finally releasing him, however, and assuming my solitary watch, I thought I would have another look at the mercury. I accordingly went below into the saloon, where the lamps were already lighted, glanced at the barometer and saw that the mercury was now stationary, chatted for a minute or two with the occupants of the apartment, and then went on deck again. When I left the deck a few minutes before, the horizon and the forms of the flying clouds were clearly distinguishable; but now, when I returned to it again, the blackness of impenetrable darkness was all round about me, relieved only by the ghostly light of the pale seafire in the foaming wave-crests, and in the tiny stars of phosphorescent light that went careering to leeward across the deck with every lee roll of the ship. It was a weird and awe-inspiring sensation to stand there in the blackness upon the wildly heaving deck, and watch the irresistible, menacing onrush upon the ship of those furious mountain surges, capped with ghostly green fire, with the deafening shriek and din of the gale in the unseen rigging overhead resounding in one's ears—a sensation well calculated to bring home to a man his own nothingness in presence of the power and majesty of Him Who causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who maketh lightnings for the rain; Who bringeth forth the wind out of His treasuries; Who hath His way in the whirlwind and the storm; Who holdeth the sea in the hollow of His hand. And this feeling was in nowise lessened—nay, it was rather intensified—by the thrill of exultation I experienced at the reflection that man, puny as is his strength compared with the mighty forces of Nature, has been endowed by his Creator with an intellect capable of devising and framing a structure so subtly moulded and so strongly put together, that it is able to face and triumphantly survive such a mad fury of wind and sea as then raged around me.

Throughout the greater part of that night the gale continued to blow with unabated fury; but about three o'clock on the following morning a rapid rise of the barometer commenced, and some two hours later a single star twinkling brightly for a moment through a small rift in the hitherto unbroken cloud-rack overhead gave welcome assurance that the worst of the weather was now over—an assurance which was shortly afterward strengthened by a slight but unmistakable decrease in the violence of the wind. Then a few more stars beamed mildly down upon us for brief but lengthening intervals; and finally, about half an hour before the time of sunrise, the great pall of cloud broke up into squadrons of tattered streamers speeding swiftly athwart the sky, which, away down in the eastern quarter, was rapidly paling before the dawn. Anon the pallor became tinged with a chilly hue of yellow, against which the mountainous sea reared itself in vast sharply defined ridges of blackest indigo, paling, as the eye travelled round the horizon toward the western quarter, into a deep blue-grey, capped with lofty, curling crests of pallid foam. Quickly the cold yellow along the eastern horizon became flushed with streaks of angry red; the flying squadrons of rent grey cloud became fringed along their lower edges with dyes of purple and crimson; and presently the upper rim of the sun's disc, copper-hued and fiery, gleamed through the flying rack low down upon the horizon, flashing a cheerless ray of angry orange across the mountain waste of waters, changing it into a heaving, turbulent surface of sickly olive-green.

It was as dreary, cheerless a sunrise, I think, as I had ever seen. The air, still full of spindrift, was, despite our position only a few degrees north of the Line, chill enough to set one shuddering; the maindeck was all awash with the water that flew incessantly over the weather-bow and poured aft with the heaving of the ship, breaking into miniature cascades among the booms lashed in the waist, and over the lengths of cable stretched along the decks from the windlass to the chain-locker, swirling round the pumps and the foot of the mainmast, and gurgling and sobbing in the lee scuppers; the weather bulwarks were streaming with water; even the topsails were dark with wet: miniature showers were blowing away to leeward off the top of the galley and forward deck-house; and the few dry spots that were to be found here and there about the decks in sheltered places were white with encrusted salt. It was still blowing heavily; the ship was plunging furiously, and rolling so wildly that it was impossible to maintain one's footing without clinging to something; the continuous raving of the wind among the maze of spars and rigging, especially when the ship rolled to windward, was most depressing to listen to; and the appalling proportions of the vast liquid mountain ranges that, with dreary, persistent, remorseless monotony, came sweeping down upon us from the northward and westward, piling their hissing crests high around us, completed a picture which, for dreary sublimity, I had never seen equalled.

I was tired, and wet, and cold; for, notwithstanding our arrangement of the watches, I had been on deck, off and on, the whole night. I was not sorry, therefore, when Forbes came on deck to relieve me at eight o'clock, thus affording me an opportunity to shift into dry clothes before sitting down to breakfast. We were rather a small company that morning, Sir Edgar and Miss Merrivale being the only members of the saloon party who felt equal to the putting in of an appearance; and after breakfast I was obliged—rather unwillingly, I confess—to go on deck again to secure an observation of the sun, which observation, when worked out, showed that we were nearly thirty miles to the eastward of our proper position. This ascertained, I retired to my cabin, and, flinging myself upon the bunk, "all standing," instantly sank into a dreamless, refreshing sleep.

It appeared to me that I had not been in my berth more than five minutes when, about a quarter of an hour before noon, Forbes called me in order that we might together take the meridian altitude of the sun; and I was no sooner on my feet than it became apparent that the ship's motion was by no means so violent as it had been when I lay down; which was sufficiently accounted for by the information imparted to me by the mate that the gale had broken, and that in another hour or two the weather would probably have moderated sufficiently to permit of our filling away upon our course. This news was fully confirmed by the general aspect of affairs when I reached the deck; for the sun was now shining brilliantly in a cloudless sky, and the air was genially warm; while the wind, though still blowing heavily enough to justify us in retaining the close reefs in the topsails, had abated its violence so far that it now blew steadily, instead of beating upon the ship in gusts of headlong fury. The sea, moreover, though it still seemed to run as high as ever, was no longer so steep as it had been; the great mountains of water moving more slowly, and carrying a good wholesome slope on their lee sides, that enabled the ship to ride them easily and comfortably without the provocation of a constantly recurring feeling that each great menacing wall of water was about to overwhelm her.

We had taken the sun, and made it eight bells, and I was on the point of leaving the deck again to work out the sights in my own cabin, when, while exchanging some remarks with Forbes, I thought I caught a momentary glimpse of something—what, I knew not—as the ship hung poised for an instant upon the crest of an unusually heavy wave. It was but the barest, most fleeting glimpse; for before I could direct Forbes's attention to it by so much as a word, we were plunging headlong down the weather slope of the wave, with our horizon on either hand bounded by a hissing crest that was rearing itself as high as our maintop, and the barque taking a weather roll of such portentous extent that both of us instinctively made a dash for the mizzen shrouds and clung to them for dear life in anticipation of the coming—and correspondingly abnormal—lee roll; while the roar of the bow wave and the wind aloft created such a din that I could not have made myself heard even had I been foolish enough to have attempted it. But I was confident that I had seen something; and when the ship reached the bottom of the abyss, where we on deck were becalmed, and the roar of the surge under our bows had died away, I mentioned the matter to the mate; so that when we were swung aloft again both of us were eagerly on the lookout for the object. As almost invariably happens, however, after the passage of an usually heavy wave, the two or three that now succeeded were only of moderate height, and higher crests each time intervened between us and the spot where the object was last seen; it was also probable enough that the object, whatever it might be, would be sunk in the trough of the sea just at the moment when we happened to be hanging on a wave-crest; and it thus happened that several minutes elapsed without my again catching sight of it. To cut the matter short, therefore, I handed Forbes my sextant to hold; and, seizing a favourable opportunity, sprang into the weather main rigging and swarmed aloft as far as the maintop, from which elevation I knew that I should soon sight it if it were still above water.

It was not until I was halfway up the shrouds that I fully realised how heavily it was still blowing, or how violent still was the motion of the ship. With every lee roll that we took I was involuntarily forced to cling with all my strength to the rigging, for it seemed to me that unless I did so I should infallibly be pitched head-foremost into the top; while when the ship rolled to windward the pressure of the air upon my body was so great that I was literally jammed hard and fast against the rigging, unable to move hand or foot. This was even more apparent when I reached the futtock-shrouds and was surmounting the edge of the top, the wind sustaining me so completely that I am confident I might have relaxed my hand-grasp for several seconds without the slightest danger of falling. However, I gained my lofty perch at last, and, lying prone in the top in order that I might see under the foot of the fore-topsail, soon again caught sight of the object.

It was distant about seven miles from the ship, bearing about north-north-east by compass, and floated very low in the water; a circumstance which, from the thick mist still overspreading the surface of the water, rendered it impossible at that distance to determine precisely what it was. It looked as much like a dead whale as anything else, and had I felt quite certain that it was really this, I should of course have troubled no more about it. But there were moments when, probably from some slight change in its position with regard to us, the resemblance I have mentioned ceased, and the conviction forced itself upon me that, whatever it might be, it was not a whale, living or dead; and at length, to set the matter at rest, I determined to fill upon the ship and get a nearer look at it. I accordingly descended to the deck, and, Forbes rousing out Joe and San Domingo, we all went to work, and, with some difficulty, succeeded in setting the fore-topmast staysail without splitting it, after which we filled the fore-topsail and headed the ship for the mysterious object.

We were now close-hauled upon the larboard tack, with the object a bare three points upon the lee bow, and it soon became apparent that, as we were making fully that amount of leeway, it would require some rather fine steering to fetch it without breaking tacks—an operation which I was particularly anxious to avoid, short-handed as we were. Forbes, however, was at the wheel, and as he was a splendid helmsman, it was pretty certain that if the thing could be done he would do it.

When luncheon was announced we had drawn up to within about four miles of the object; but so heavily was the sea still running that, even at that distance, it was only occasionally that we could catch sight of it, presenting now, as looked at through the ship's telescope, the appearance of a large fragment of floating wreck.

The news which I took to the luncheon table, that a mysterious floating something of considerable size had been sighted ahead, and that we were making for it, had a very stimulating effect upon the occupants of the saloon, who, enveloping themselves in mackintoshes, followed me on deck when I rose from the table, with an eagerness born of the longing for some occurrence to break the monotony of and make them forget for a time the wearisome pitching and rolling of the ship, the monotonous, unceasing clank and jar of the cabin-doors on their hooks, the continuous creaking of the bulkheads, the thump of the wheel-chains on the deck, the never-ending wash of the water, and the howling of the wind in the rigging. And, despite the merciless buffeting of the wind, and the ceaseless drenching showers of spray that flew over us, the change from the saloon to the deck was unanimously voted an improvement; for it involved a transition from a close, oppressive atmosphere to an exhilarating breeze, redolent of the strong salt odour of the brine, and bracing by reason of its very violence; while the brilliant sunshine, sparkling upon the deep, windy blue of the vast mountain surges that surrounded us, and converting every spray-shower, into a gorgeous rainbow, constituted an ever-changing picture of rich and splendid colour and wild, tumultuous movement that was not to be easily forgotten. I thought Miss Merrivale had never looked so lovely as she did then, enveloped in a thin, soft, silky-looking mackintosh, with a dainty little, close-fitting hat upon her head, her beautiful hair all blown adrift and streaming, a long golden web of ringlets, in the fiery breeze, her cheeks flushed to a delicate pink with the rude buffeting of wind and sea, and her eyes fairly blazing with excitement and exhilaration at the wild scene around her.

Our first glances were naturally directed ahead in search of the mysterious object for which we were steering, and it was quickly discovered about two miles distant, and a good point on the lee bow. To the unaided eye its character still remained uncertain, but a single glance through the ship's telescope now sufficed to satisfy us that it was a wreck, or a portion of one. It had all the appearance of a small craft, capsized; for the telescope enabled one to see a small strip of wet, black side showing above water, with a considerably greater expanse of copper-sheathed planking. But, even now that we had so greatly decreased the distance between us and it, there was still great difficulty in determining its precise character; for it was only when we and it happened to be upon the top of a sea at the same moment that it came within our ken, and those moments were comparatively rare.