Chapter Thirty Seven.“Now,” whispered Mr Brymer, “utter silence, please. Not a word must be spoken. Shake hands with us all, Dale, and God bless and speed you in your gallant attempt.”I shook hands all round, Mr Brymer whispering—“Don’t talk to him, gentlemen. Let him make his attempt on his own basis. He will act according to circumstances, and will know what is best to do. There, Dale. Now off! Go right forward into the bows, and send Hampton aft. He shall put an oar over the stern and scull you right in under the bowsprit. Then we shall go on round to the stern and wait. If you do not hear or see us, act all the same. It is intensely dark, and we shall be there. Off!”It was like being started on a school race, and my breath came short as if I were running. I crept forward as silently as possible to where Bob Hampton was seated, and it was so dark that I had to feel for him.“Go aft and take an oar with you,” I whispered. “Don’t speak, and don’t make a sound.”Then I crept right into the bows, and stood there gazing at the faint lights on board the ship, and trying to think of nothing but the task I had in hand.“I’ve got it to do,” I said to myself, “and I will do it for Miss Denning’s and her brother’s sake.”Then I shivered, but I made a fresh effort to be firm, and said half laughingly—but oh! what a sham it was!—“It’s only like going in for a game of hide-and-seek. There’ll be no one on deck but Jarette.”I stopped short there, for I thought of his pistol and Walters’ wound.“Hang his pistol!” I exclaimed mentally, “perhaps it isn’t loaded again, and he couldn’t hit me in the dark.—But he hit Walters and poor old Neb Dumlow,” something within me argued.“Well,” I replied to the imaginary arguer, “if my wound when it comes is no worse than poor old Neb’s, I shan’t much mind.”And all the while I could feel that we were moving toward the ship, for though I could not hear a splash aft nor a ripple of the sea against the bows, the boat rolled slightly, so that I had to spread my legs apart to keep my balance.Oh, how dark it was that night! And how thankful I felt! For saving that the lights in the cabin shone out, there was no trace of the ship; nothing ahead but intense blackness, and not a star to be seen.“I can’t see it,” I thought. “I hope Bob won’t run us bump up against the hull, and give the alarm.”Then I hugged myself and felt encouraged, for if I could not see the great ship with her towering masts, and rigging, and sails hanging, waiting for the breeze which must succeed the long calm, it was not likely that the keenest-eyed watcher would see our small boat.“But he may hear it coming,” I argued. And then. “Not likely, for I can’t hear a sound myself.”On we went with the round dim light in the ship’s side showing a little plainer; but I noticed, as I stood there buttoning up my jacket tightly, that the light appeared a little more to my right, which of course meant that Bob Hampton was steering for the left to where lay the ship’s bows.I tried to make out her outlines, but I could see nothing. I could hear, though, for from where I guessed the forecastle to be came a song sung in a very tipsy voice as a man struck up. It sounded dull and half-smothered, but I heard “Moon on the ocean,” and “standing toast,” and “Lass that loves a sailor.” Then there was a chorus badly sung, and I started, for away to the right where the cabin-light was, I heard a sound like an angry ejaculation or an oath muttered in the stillness of the dark night.“Jarette,” I said softly. “Hurrah! He won’t hear me climb the stay, and I can get on deck safely.”Another minute of the slowest possible movement, and I was thinking whether I ought not after all to take off my jacket; but I felt I was right in keeping it on, for my shirt-sleeves would have shown light perhaps if I had been anywhere near a lantern. Then I had something else to think of, for looming up before me, blacker than the night, was the hull of the ship, and directly after, as I looked up, there, just dimly-seen like the faintest of shadows against the sky, was the big anchor beneath which we were gliding so slowly that we hardly seemed to stir.“How well Bob is sculling us!” I thought; and then I looked up, strained over, made a snatch and touched a great wire rope reaching from the ship’s prow below the water to the bowsprit, to hold it down, flung up my other hand, gave the boat a good thrust with my feet as I got both hands well round the rope, and swung my legs up and round the stay, from which I hung like a monkey on a stick, my head screwed round as I tried to see my companions, and just dimly seeing a shadow apparently glide by, leaving me hanging there alone, with the water beneath me, and a shuddering feeling coming over me for a few moments as I thought of the consequences that would ensue if I let go.As I hung there from that taut rope, I felt that if I let go I should be plunged in the sea, go down ever so far into the terrible black water, and rise again half-suffocated, my nerve gone, and I should be drowned, for the occupants of the boat would be out of hearing, and I should never be able to swim and overtake them, since they would make a long détour before reaching the stern-windows.But then I had no occasion to let go. Why should I? And as I climbed I was ready to laugh at my fears. For I was strong for my age, and active enough to climb that stay, and I did; halting at last by the spritsail-yard to listen before mounting to the bowsprit, getting my feet upon the ropes beneath, and then travelling slowly sideways, till I was able to rest by the figure-head and look over on to the forepart of the dark deck.I was as silent as I possibly could be for fear of encountering a man on the look-out, but there was no one, and hesitating no longer, I climbed over and stood upon the deck, thinking how easily the rest might have reached it too; when there would have been a chance for us to close the forecastle-hatch once more. For there it was open, a dim light rising from it to form a very faint halo around; and the men seemed to be all there, for I could hear the talking, and then an uproarious burst of laughter, caused by one of them beginning to sing in a drunken tone, and breaking down at the end of a couple of lines.There was nothing to fear there, I thought, and after listening I began to creep along, step by step, close to the starboard bulwark, keeping my hands thereon for a few paces, till becoming bolder I stepped out more, but stumbled directly over something big and soft, and went sprawling on the deck.I felt that all was over, as I went down noisily, and springing up, hesitated as to what I should do, but not for long. The fore-shrouds were close at hand, and feeling for them I drew myself up, ascending higher and higher as I heard some one coming rapidly from aft till he was close beneath me, and catching his foot in the same obstacle as had thrown me, he too went down heavily, and scrambled up, cursing.My heart throbbed more heavily than before as the voice told me it was Jarette, though for the moment I did not grasp the fact that his fall had been my safety. For naturally attributing the noise he had heard to the object over which he had fallen, he began to kick and abuse and call the obstacle, in a low tone, all the drunken idiots and dogs he could lay his tongue to.“And I run all these risks for such a brute as you,” he snarled; “but wait a little, my dear friend, and you shall see.”I was in hopes he was going away, but he only went to the forecastle-hatch, where to my horror he called down to the men carousing below to bring a lantern; and feeling that my only chance was to climb higher, I crept up step by step, ratline by ratline, till the light appeared and four men stumbled out on to the deck. Then I stood still, hugging the ropes and looking down, certain, as everything below was so plain, that in a few moments I must be seen, perhaps to become a target for Jarette’s bullets.There on the deck lay the tipsy sailor over whom I had fallen, and about ten feet away there was another.“Haul these brutes down below!” said Jarette, fiercely; and in a slow surly way first one and then the other was dragged to the hatchway and lowered down, with scant attention to any injuries which might accrue.So intent was every one upon the task in hand that not an eye was cast upwards, and it was with a devout feeling of thankfulness that I saw the man who carried the lantern follow his comrades, the last rays of the light falling upon Jarette’s features as he stood by the hatchway.“Now then,” he said savagely, “no more drinking to-night. There’ll be wind before morning, and you’ll have to make sail.”“All right, skipper,” said the man with a half-laugh, and he and his lantern disappeared, while I clung there listening and wondering why Jarette did not go aft. Could he see me?Just when I felt as if I could bear the suspense no longer, I heard him move off, whistling softly, and as soon as I dared I descended and followed, creeping along step by step, and listening with all my ears for the faint whistling sound to which he gave vent from time to time.There it was plainly enough, just abaft the main-mast, and he seemed to have stopped there and to be looking over the bulwark—I merely guessed as much, for the sound had stopped, and of course I stopped too.To my intense satisfaction I found that I was right, for the faint sibillation began again, and was continued along the deck, till, as I followed, it paused again, grew louder, and I knew that the scoundrel was coming back.But he altered his mind again, turned and went aft—into the saloon, I thought for a few moments, for the faint whistling ceased, and then began again high up.There was no mistaking that. He had mounted to the poop-deck, and was walking towards the wheel. Young as I was then, I grasped the fact that the man was restless and worried lest some attempt should be made to recover the ship, and unable to trust one of his men, he was traversing the deck uneasily, keeping strict watch himself.This was bad for my purpose, for it was too dark to see him, and at any moment I felt he might come upon me, and my attempt be defeated.But here was an opportunity I had hardly dared to reckon upon, and the minute his steps died out I hurried to the companion-way, entered, and saw that there was a dim light in the captain’s cabin at the end of the saloon.This seemed to prove that my ideas were right, and that Jarette had taken possession of this cabin now for his own use, and at all hazards I was about to hurry there, when I caught sight of another faint light on my right—a mere line of light which came from beneath the cabin-door, and told me plainly enough that this was the one in which Miss Denning was kept a prisoner. Whether her brother was there too I could not tell, for there was not a sound.I hesitated and stopped, for the inclination was terribly strong upon me to tap and whisper a word or two about help being at hand. It was not a minute, but long enough to deprive me of the chance of finding out whether there were arms in the cabin, for as I hesitated I heard a light step overhead, and knew that Jarette was returning from his uneasy round.The probability was that he would now come into the saloon.Where should I go! There was not a moment to lose, and my first impulse was to dart forward into the captain’s cabin—a mad idea, for the chances were that Jarette would come right through the saloon and enter it. So darting to the side, I felt along it in the dark for the first cabin-door that would yield, found one directly, and had hardly entered and drawn to the door when I heard Jarette’s step at the companion-way; and as it happened he came in and along my side of the table, so that at one moment, as I listened by the drawn-to door, he passed within a few inches of where I was hiding.The next minute there was a creaking sound, and the saloon was dimly lit-up, telling me that our enemy had opened the cabin-door and gone in. But he did not stay. I heard the clink of a glass, and then a repetition of the creaking sound, the saloon darkened again, and as I listened I heard his step returning. This time, though, he did not come back on my side, but on the other, stopping for a few moments evidently to listen at the door where his prisoners were confined.For a moment I thought he meant to go in, but I heard his footsteps commence again, pass on to the companion, and there they ceased.This was terrible; for aught I knew he might be standing there listening as he kept his uneasy watch, and for some minutes I dared not stir.At last though, to my great delight, I heard a step overhead, and now without farther hesitation I stepped out, hurried to the cabin at the end, guided by the light which came through the nearly closed door, entered, and shut it behind me before looking round.A lamp hung from the ceiling, there was spirit in a flask, and the remains of some food upon the table; but what most delighted me was the sight of three guns lying on a locker near to the cabin-window, which was wide open, and I felt that I should only have to show myself for the boat to be rowed beneath.My first want was a rope or line, my next a supply of ammunition for the guns, and there was neither.I felt ready to stamp, with vexation, for I might easily have brought a line wrapped round me, but neither Mr Brymer nor the others had thought of this, and unless I could find a fishing-line in one of the lockers, I felt that I should have to go back on deck.At that moment I remembered that Captain Berriman had a number of small flags in one of the lockers—that beneath the window. Four or five of those tied together would answer my purpose for lowering the guns, and if tied to the window they would be strong enough for me to slide down.I lifted the locker-lid, and there they were, quite a bed of them in the bottom of the great convenient store of objects not in everyday use.That got over one difficulty, but there was that of the ammunition, and turning to the locker on my left I looked in that, to find plenty of odds and ends of provisions, for it had become quite a store-room, but no cartridges.“Where can they be?” I muttered, as I stood holding the locker-lid and gazing round the cabin for a likely spot for Jarette to have stowed them ready for an emergency, when I heard his step so suddenly overhead that I started in alarm to leave for my place of concealment, when the lid of the locker slipped from my hand and fell with a smart rap.I felt that I was lost—that it would be impossible for me to get to the cabin and hide before he reached the companion-way, alarmed as he would be by the sound, and looking frantically round I was for leaping into the cot and drawing the curtains, but another thought struck me just as I heard his step, and lifting the lid of the locker beneath the window, I slipped in upon the flags, and let the cover down and shut me in.The moment I was lying there in the darkness, the place just seeming big enough to hold me lying upon my back with my knees drawn up, I felt that I had done a mad thing, for Jarette would immediately come to the conclusion that it was the shutting down of a locker which made the sound, and come straight to the one I was in, open it, and drag me out. It was too hot, and I could feel that in a few minutes I should be suffocated if he did not find me. That he had entered the cabin I had ample proof, for I heard him move something on the table quite plainly, while directly he came to the locker where I was, and I heard a noise. It was the thump, thump made by his knees as he got upon the lid to kneel upon it and look out of the window.My heart gave a bound; he did not know then that I was hiding there. But the next moment I was in despair, for the heat was intense, my breath was coming short and painful, and Jarette made no sign of leaving what promised to be my tomb.
“Now,” whispered Mr Brymer, “utter silence, please. Not a word must be spoken. Shake hands with us all, Dale, and God bless and speed you in your gallant attempt.”
I shook hands all round, Mr Brymer whispering—
“Don’t talk to him, gentlemen. Let him make his attempt on his own basis. He will act according to circumstances, and will know what is best to do. There, Dale. Now off! Go right forward into the bows, and send Hampton aft. He shall put an oar over the stern and scull you right in under the bowsprit. Then we shall go on round to the stern and wait. If you do not hear or see us, act all the same. It is intensely dark, and we shall be there. Off!”
It was like being started on a school race, and my breath came short as if I were running. I crept forward as silently as possible to where Bob Hampton was seated, and it was so dark that I had to feel for him.
“Go aft and take an oar with you,” I whispered. “Don’t speak, and don’t make a sound.”
Then I crept right into the bows, and stood there gazing at the faint lights on board the ship, and trying to think of nothing but the task I had in hand.
“I’ve got it to do,” I said to myself, “and I will do it for Miss Denning’s and her brother’s sake.”
Then I shivered, but I made a fresh effort to be firm, and said half laughingly—but oh! what a sham it was!—“It’s only like going in for a game of hide-and-seek. There’ll be no one on deck but Jarette.”
I stopped short there, for I thought of his pistol and Walters’ wound.
“Hang his pistol!” I exclaimed mentally, “perhaps it isn’t loaded again, and he couldn’t hit me in the dark.—But he hit Walters and poor old Neb Dumlow,” something within me argued.
“Well,” I replied to the imaginary arguer, “if my wound when it comes is no worse than poor old Neb’s, I shan’t much mind.”
And all the while I could feel that we were moving toward the ship, for though I could not hear a splash aft nor a ripple of the sea against the bows, the boat rolled slightly, so that I had to spread my legs apart to keep my balance.
Oh, how dark it was that night! And how thankful I felt! For saving that the lights in the cabin shone out, there was no trace of the ship; nothing ahead but intense blackness, and not a star to be seen.
“I can’t see it,” I thought. “I hope Bob won’t run us bump up against the hull, and give the alarm.”
Then I hugged myself and felt encouraged, for if I could not see the great ship with her towering masts, and rigging, and sails hanging, waiting for the breeze which must succeed the long calm, it was not likely that the keenest-eyed watcher would see our small boat.
“But he may hear it coming,” I argued. And then. “Not likely, for I can’t hear a sound myself.”
On we went with the round dim light in the ship’s side showing a little plainer; but I noticed, as I stood there buttoning up my jacket tightly, that the light appeared a little more to my right, which of course meant that Bob Hampton was steering for the left to where lay the ship’s bows.
I tried to make out her outlines, but I could see nothing. I could hear, though, for from where I guessed the forecastle to be came a song sung in a very tipsy voice as a man struck up. It sounded dull and half-smothered, but I heard “Moon on the ocean,” and “standing toast,” and “Lass that loves a sailor.” Then there was a chorus badly sung, and I started, for away to the right where the cabin-light was, I heard a sound like an angry ejaculation or an oath muttered in the stillness of the dark night.
“Jarette,” I said softly. “Hurrah! He won’t hear me climb the stay, and I can get on deck safely.”
Another minute of the slowest possible movement, and I was thinking whether I ought not after all to take off my jacket; but I felt I was right in keeping it on, for my shirt-sleeves would have shown light perhaps if I had been anywhere near a lantern. Then I had something else to think of, for looming up before me, blacker than the night, was the hull of the ship, and directly after, as I looked up, there, just dimly-seen like the faintest of shadows against the sky, was the big anchor beneath which we were gliding so slowly that we hardly seemed to stir.
“How well Bob is sculling us!” I thought; and then I looked up, strained over, made a snatch and touched a great wire rope reaching from the ship’s prow below the water to the bowsprit, to hold it down, flung up my other hand, gave the boat a good thrust with my feet as I got both hands well round the rope, and swung my legs up and round the stay, from which I hung like a monkey on a stick, my head screwed round as I tried to see my companions, and just dimly seeing a shadow apparently glide by, leaving me hanging there alone, with the water beneath me, and a shuddering feeling coming over me for a few moments as I thought of the consequences that would ensue if I let go.
As I hung there from that taut rope, I felt that if I let go I should be plunged in the sea, go down ever so far into the terrible black water, and rise again half-suffocated, my nerve gone, and I should be drowned, for the occupants of the boat would be out of hearing, and I should never be able to swim and overtake them, since they would make a long détour before reaching the stern-windows.
But then I had no occasion to let go. Why should I? And as I climbed I was ready to laugh at my fears. For I was strong for my age, and active enough to climb that stay, and I did; halting at last by the spritsail-yard to listen before mounting to the bowsprit, getting my feet upon the ropes beneath, and then travelling slowly sideways, till I was able to rest by the figure-head and look over on to the forepart of the dark deck.
I was as silent as I possibly could be for fear of encountering a man on the look-out, but there was no one, and hesitating no longer, I climbed over and stood upon the deck, thinking how easily the rest might have reached it too; when there would have been a chance for us to close the forecastle-hatch once more. For there it was open, a dim light rising from it to form a very faint halo around; and the men seemed to be all there, for I could hear the talking, and then an uproarious burst of laughter, caused by one of them beginning to sing in a drunken tone, and breaking down at the end of a couple of lines.
There was nothing to fear there, I thought, and after listening I began to creep along, step by step, close to the starboard bulwark, keeping my hands thereon for a few paces, till becoming bolder I stepped out more, but stumbled directly over something big and soft, and went sprawling on the deck.
I felt that all was over, as I went down noisily, and springing up, hesitated as to what I should do, but not for long. The fore-shrouds were close at hand, and feeling for them I drew myself up, ascending higher and higher as I heard some one coming rapidly from aft till he was close beneath me, and catching his foot in the same obstacle as had thrown me, he too went down heavily, and scrambled up, cursing.
My heart throbbed more heavily than before as the voice told me it was Jarette, though for the moment I did not grasp the fact that his fall had been my safety. For naturally attributing the noise he had heard to the object over which he had fallen, he began to kick and abuse and call the obstacle, in a low tone, all the drunken idiots and dogs he could lay his tongue to.
“And I run all these risks for such a brute as you,” he snarled; “but wait a little, my dear friend, and you shall see.”
I was in hopes he was going away, but he only went to the forecastle-hatch, where to my horror he called down to the men carousing below to bring a lantern; and feeling that my only chance was to climb higher, I crept up step by step, ratline by ratline, till the light appeared and four men stumbled out on to the deck. Then I stood still, hugging the ropes and looking down, certain, as everything below was so plain, that in a few moments I must be seen, perhaps to become a target for Jarette’s bullets.
There on the deck lay the tipsy sailor over whom I had fallen, and about ten feet away there was another.
“Haul these brutes down below!” said Jarette, fiercely; and in a slow surly way first one and then the other was dragged to the hatchway and lowered down, with scant attention to any injuries which might accrue.
So intent was every one upon the task in hand that not an eye was cast upwards, and it was with a devout feeling of thankfulness that I saw the man who carried the lantern follow his comrades, the last rays of the light falling upon Jarette’s features as he stood by the hatchway.
“Now then,” he said savagely, “no more drinking to-night. There’ll be wind before morning, and you’ll have to make sail.”
“All right, skipper,” said the man with a half-laugh, and he and his lantern disappeared, while I clung there listening and wondering why Jarette did not go aft. Could he see me?
Just when I felt as if I could bear the suspense no longer, I heard him move off, whistling softly, and as soon as I dared I descended and followed, creeping along step by step, and listening with all my ears for the faint whistling sound to which he gave vent from time to time.
There it was plainly enough, just abaft the main-mast, and he seemed to have stopped there and to be looking over the bulwark—I merely guessed as much, for the sound had stopped, and of course I stopped too.
To my intense satisfaction I found that I was right, for the faint sibillation began again, and was continued along the deck, till, as I followed, it paused again, grew louder, and I knew that the scoundrel was coming back.
But he altered his mind again, turned and went aft—into the saloon, I thought for a few moments, for the faint whistling ceased, and then began again high up.
There was no mistaking that. He had mounted to the poop-deck, and was walking towards the wheel. Young as I was then, I grasped the fact that the man was restless and worried lest some attempt should be made to recover the ship, and unable to trust one of his men, he was traversing the deck uneasily, keeping strict watch himself.
This was bad for my purpose, for it was too dark to see him, and at any moment I felt he might come upon me, and my attempt be defeated.
But here was an opportunity I had hardly dared to reckon upon, and the minute his steps died out I hurried to the companion-way, entered, and saw that there was a dim light in the captain’s cabin at the end of the saloon.
This seemed to prove that my ideas were right, and that Jarette had taken possession of this cabin now for his own use, and at all hazards I was about to hurry there, when I caught sight of another faint light on my right—a mere line of light which came from beneath the cabin-door, and told me plainly enough that this was the one in which Miss Denning was kept a prisoner. Whether her brother was there too I could not tell, for there was not a sound.
I hesitated and stopped, for the inclination was terribly strong upon me to tap and whisper a word or two about help being at hand. It was not a minute, but long enough to deprive me of the chance of finding out whether there were arms in the cabin, for as I hesitated I heard a light step overhead, and knew that Jarette was returning from his uneasy round.
The probability was that he would now come into the saloon.
Where should I go! There was not a moment to lose, and my first impulse was to dart forward into the captain’s cabin—a mad idea, for the chances were that Jarette would come right through the saloon and enter it. So darting to the side, I felt along it in the dark for the first cabin-door that would yield, found one directly, and had hardly entered and drawn to the door when I heard Jarette’s step at the companion-way; and as it happened he came in and along my side of the table, so that at one moment, as I listened by the drawn-to door, he passed within a few inches of where I was hiding.
The next minute there was a creaking sound, and the saloon was dimly lit-up, telling me that our enemy had opened the cabin-door and gone in. But he did not stay. I heard the clink of a glass, and then a repetition of the creaking sound, the saloon darkened again, and as I listened I heard his step returning. This time, though, he did not come back on my side, but on the other, stopping for a few moments evidently to listen at the door where his prisoners were confined.
For a moment I thought he meant to go in, but I heard his footsteps commence again, pass on to the companion, and there they ceased.
This was terrible; for aught I knew he might be standing there listening as he kept his uneasy watch, and for some minutes I dared not stir.
At last though, to my great delight, I heard a step overhead, and now without farther hesitation I stepped out, hurried to the cabin at the end, guided by the light which came through the nearly closed door, entered, and shut it behind me before looking round.
A lamp hung from the ceiling, there was spirit in a flask, and the remains of some food upon the table; but what most delighted me was the sight of three guns lying on a locker near to the cabin-window, which was wide open, and I felt that I should only have to show myself for the boat to be rowed beneath.
My first want was a rope or line, my next a supply of ammunition for the guns, and there was neither.
I felt ready to stamp, with vexation, for I might easily have brought a line wrapped round me, but neither Mr Brymer nor the others had thought of this, and unless I could find a fishing-line in one of the lockers, I felt that I should have to go back on deck.
At that moment I remembered that Captain Berriman had a number of small flags in one of the lockers—that beneath the window. Four or five of those tied together would answer my purpose for lowering the guns, and if tied to the window they would be strong enough for me to slide down.
I lifted the locker-lid, and there they were, quite a bed of them in the bottom of the great convenient store of objects not in everyday use.
That got over one difficulty, but there was that of the ammunition, and turning to the locker on my left I looked in that, to find plenty of odds and ends of provisions, for it had become quite a store-room, but no cartridges.
“Where can they be?” I muttered, as I stood holding the locker-lid and gazing round the cabin for a likely spot for Jarette to have stowed them ready for an emergency, when I heard his step so suddenly overhead that I started in alarm to leave for my place of concealment, when the lid of the locker slipped from my hand and fell with a smart rap.
I felt that I was lost—that it would be impossible for me to get to the cabin and hide before he reached the companion-way, alarmed as he would be by the sound, and looking frantically round I was for leaping into the cot and drawing the curtains, but another thought struck me just as I heard his step, and lifting the lid of the locker beneath the window, I slipped in upon the flags, and let the cover down and shut me in.
The moment I was lying there in the darkness, the place just seeming big enough to hold me lying upon my back with my knees drawn up, I felt that I had done a mad thing, for Jarette would immediately come to the conclusion that it was the shutting down of a locker which made the sound, and come straight to the one I was in, open it, and drag me out. It was too hot, and I could feel that in a few minutes I should be suffocated if he did not find me. That he had entered the cabin I had ample proof, for I heard him move something on the table quite plainly, while directly he came to the locker where I was, and I heard a noise. It was the thump, thump made by his knees as he got upon the lid to kneel upon it and look out of the window.
My heart gave a bound; he did not know then that I was hiding there. But the next moment I was in despair, for the heat was intense, my breath was coming short and painful, and Jarette made no sign of leaving what promised to be my tomb.
Chapter Thirty Eight.I bore it as long as I could, and then I was on the point of shrieking out and striking at the lid of the locker, when I heard a movement over my head, Jarette stepped down, and I forced the lid open a little way, and drew a long deep breath.I don’t believe that the air was any better, but there was the idea of its being purer, and the horror of suffocation which had nearly driven me frantic was gone.I have often wondered since that he did not hear or see the movement of the lid, but his attention was probably taken up by something else, and I heard him go out into the saloon, and then on through the companion-way to the deck.I opened the lid a little more and peered out, breathing freely now as I kept the locker open with my head; and to my horror I saw that he had left the door wide open, so that with the lamp burning it was impossible for me to get out without the risk of being seen.But I felt relieved, for I could breathe freely now, and I lay still with the lid raised, listening for Jarette’s uneasy step as he came and went, and thinking of how easy it was to make plans, and how difficult to carry them out. I knew that if we were going to try and obtain the mastery once more we must act at once, for a fresh breeze would separate us at once, and the chance be gone. But how could we do it without weapons?How I lay puzzling my brains as to where the cartridges could be! I recalled how Walters had stolen them, and he must have carried them forward, where the main portion would be stowed somewhere; but all the same I felt that Jarette would, for certain, have some in this or one of the other cabins, ready for use in case of emergency. But where?I tried very hard, but I could not think it out, and at last lay there quite despondent and feeling in no hurry to stir, for it only meant going back to the boat to say that I had failed.There was Walters, of course, but he was insensible, and it was not likely that I could get any information from him. No; the case was hopeless. I had failed, and all my hopes of our gallant little party storming the deck and carrying all before them were crushed.By degrees, though, the mental wind changed the course of that peculiar weathercock, one’s mind, and I felt better.Violence would not do, so why not try cunning?How?Well, I thought, if I could so easily steal on board, and get actually into the cabin, it must surely be possible for Mr Brymer, Mr Frewen, and two of the men to get up, wait their opportunity, and, in spite of his pistols, seize and master Jarette.“That’s it,” I said to myself; “the only chance. How could I be so stupid as not to think of it before?”All excitement again, I was now eager to get back to the boat, so that my friends might take advantage of the darkness, and carry out my plans before morning came. For another night would perhaps prove to be too clear.I raised the lid a little higher and looked out, but the table was too much in the way for me to see more than the top of the other door-way, and this encouraged me, for that worked two ways—if I could not see out into the saloon, Jarette could not see the locker. But all the same I was afraid to get out. It was so light in the cabin, and everywhere else was so dark, that if he were on deck, and looking in my direction, he would be sure to see what took place.Then I concluded that I could do nothing till the door was closed, and as soon as an opportunity offered itself, I determined to creep out, and at all risks draw that door to, trusting to Jarette thinking that the closing was caused by the motion of the ship as it gently rocked upon the swell.At last as I lay there, for minutes which seemed to be hours, I heard my enemy talking loudly, and I knew that he must be speaking to the men in the forecastle.That would do. He could see nothing now, for between us there were the main and foremasts, and plenty besides—the galley and water-cask, and the long cabin-like range upon the top of which our boat had lain in the chocks.I crept over the side after propping up the lid, went upon hands and knees to the door, readied out and touched it. That was sufficient: it swung upon its hinges so that Jarette could easily imagine that the motion of the ship had caused the change.The next minute, still keeping the locker open ready to form a retreat for me in case of necessity, I leaned right out as far as I could, and bending down, strained my eyes, trying to cut the darkness as I whispered sharply—“Are you there?”“Yes; got them?” came from the boat, though to me the voice came out of the black darkness.“No cartridges,” I whispered. “Come closer. No—keep back.”I said that, not that I knew anything, but I had a kind of impression that Jarette was returning, and dropping down into the locker once more, I lowered the lid, but this time not quite close, for I thrust in a bit of one of the flags, so that there was room for a little air to get in, and that and possibly the idea that I could not be suffocated, made me more at my ease.I waited some little time, and then began to grow impatient; feeling sure that I had fancied his coming and taken alarm at nothing, I determined to lift the lid and get some fresh air, but I did not stir just then, only lay still, finding my position terribly irksome. I could not hear well either, and at last I began to move cautiously to peer out, when to my horror there was a sharp blow delivered on the lid of the locker, and then another probably given with the butt of a revolver, and Jarette exclaimed fiercely—“Hang the rats!”I lay back, breathless, expecting that he would hear the dull heavy throb of my pulses, while I trembled violently, thinking that all was over, and that he was trifling with me, and knew all the while that I was lying there. But by degrees I grew calmer. There were rats enough in the hold. I had heard them, and why should he not have attributed the slight rustling noise I made to one of the mischievous little animals?At last, to satisfy my doubts, I heard him come and kneel upon the locker again, as if looking out of the cabin-window.He stayed some minutes, and I began to think that he must see the boat; but I soon set that idea aside and felt that it was absurd, for if he had seen the boat he certainly would either have shouted to warn its occupants away, or fired at them.“He feels that he is not safe,” I said to myself at last, and to my great relief he got down, muttering to himself, and I could tell by the sound that he was at the table, for I heard a clink of glass, the gurgling of liquor out of a bottle, and then quite plainly the noise he made in drinking before he set down the glass and uttered a loud “Hah!”Just then I heard voices from forward, loud laughing and talking.“Curse them, what are they doing now?” exclaimed Jarette, loudly. “Oh, if I had only one man I could trust!”He hurried out of the cabin, and I did not flinch now from opening the lid and looking out, to find that the door had swung to as soon as he had passed through.The noise was so boisterous forward that I crept out, pushed the door, and stood in the dark saloon, where I could still see the line of light at the bottom of Miss Denning’s cabin as I crept to the companion, and, excited by curiosity, slipped aside to where I could shelter under the bulwark and see what was going on.There were lanterns now by the big hatch in front of the main-mast, and I could see quite a group of men at whom Jarette was storming.It was a curious weird-looking scene there in the darkness, for the men’s faces stood out in the lantern-light, and in spite of their fear of their leader they were laughing boisterously.“You dogs,” he roared; “not a drop more. Go back to your kennel.”“Mus’ have little drop more, skipper,” cried one of the men.“No,” he roared, “not a drop, and it shall be allowances from this night.”“But there’s heaps o’ good stuff spoiling, skipper.”“I’ll spoil you, you dog,” snarled Jarette, and I saw him snatch a lantern from one of the men and lean down, holding the light over the open hold. “Hi! below there,” he roared; “leave that spirit-keg alone, and come up.”In the silence which ensued I heard a muffled muttering come from below, and Jarette dropped upon his knees to hold the lantern right down in the open hold, while the light struck up and made his face and his actions plain from where I stood watching.“Once more, do you hear? Come up and leave that spirit, or I’ll fetch you with a bullet.”“Better come up, mate,” shouted one of the men.“You hold your tongue,” snarled Jarette to the speaker. “Now then, will you come, or am I to fire?”There was no reply, and Jarette spoke once more in quite a calm, gentle, persuasive voice.“I say, will you leave that spirit-keg alone and come up?”Still no answer, and Jarette turned his head to the group of men.“That’s a fresh keg broached. Who did it?” he said slowly. “I said no more was to be taken. I say—who broached that keg?”“Oh, well, it was all on us, skipper. You see we couldn’t do nothing in this calm,” said the man who had before spoken, and who seemed to be the most sensible of the group.“Then you all broke my orders,” cried Jarette, hastily now, “and you shall all see how I punish a man for breaking my orders.”I looked on as if spellbound, forgetting the boat and my mission as I crouched there in the dark, feeling that a tragedy was at hand, though I could not grasp all and divine that this was the crowning-point of the mutiny.For Jarette bent right down over the open hold, lowering the lantern, whose light played upon the barrel of a pistol.“Now,” he cried, “once more, will you come up and leave that spirit-barrel, or am I to fire?”“Fire away,” came up in muffled tones, but quite defiantly, and as the last word reached my ear there was the sharp report of the pistol, whose flash shone out brighter than the lantern. Then a horrible cry came from below, and for a few moments I could see nothing for the smoke which hung in the air. But from out of it came an excited burst of talking and yelling.“Stand back,” roared Jarette. “I have five more shots ready, and you see I can hit. Serve the scoundrel right.”“But look, look!” shouted the man who had spoken before; and as the smoke dispersed, I saw him pointing down into the hold, while the other men, sobered now, stood huddled together in alarm.Then with a wild yell of horror one of them threw up his hands, shouting “Fire, fire!” ran forward, while a fearful figure suddenly appeared at the mouth of the hold, climbed on deck, and then shrieking horribly, also ran forward with Jarette and the others in full pursuit.
I bore it as long as I could, and then I was on the point of shrieking out and striking at the lid of the locker, when I heard a movement over my head, Jarette stepped down, and I forced the lid open a little way, and drew a long deep breath.
I don’t believe that the air was any better, but there was the idea of its being purer, and the horror of suffocation which had nearly driven me frantic was gone.
I have often wondered since that he did not hear or see the movement of the lid, but his attention was probably taken up by something else, and I heard him go out into the saloon, and then on through the companion-way to the deck.
I opened the lid a little more and peered out, breathing freely now as I kept the locker open with my head; and to my horror I saw that he had left the door wide open, so that with the lamp burning it was impossible for me to get out without the risk of being seen.
But I felt relieved, for I could breathe freely now, and I lay still with the lid raised, listening for Jarette’s uneasy step as he came and went, and thinking of how easy it was to make plans, and how difficult to carry them out. I knew that if we were going to try and obtain the mastery once more we must act at once, for a fresh breeze would separate us at once, and the chance be gone. But how could we do it without weapons?
How I lay puzzling my brains as to where the cartridges could be! I recalled how Walters had stolen them, and he must have carried them forward, where the main portion would be stowed somewhere; but all the same I felt that Jarette would, for certain, have some in this or one of the other cabins, ready for use in case of emergency. But where?
I tried very hard, but I could not think it out, and at last lay there quite despondent and feeling in no hurry to stir, for it only meant going back to the boat to say that I had failed.
There was Walters, of course, but he was insensible, and it was not likely that I could get any information from him. No; the case was hopeless. I had failed, and all my hopes of our gallant little party storming the deck and carrying all before them were crushed.
By degrees, though, the mental wind changed the course of that peculiar weathercock, one’s mind, and I felt better.
Violence would not do, so why not try cunning?
How?
Well, I thought, if I could so easily steal on board, and get actually into the cabin, it must surely be possible for Mr Brymer, Mr Frewen, and two of the men to get up, wait their opportunity, and, in spite of his pistols, seize and master Jarette.
“That’s it,” I said to myself; “the only chance. How could I be so stupid as not to think of it before?”
All excitement again, I was now eager to get back to the boat, so that my friends might take advantage of the darkness, and carry out my plans before morning came. For another night would perhaps prove to be too clear.
I raised the lid a little higher and looked out, but the table was too much in the way for me to see more than the top of the other door-way, and this encouraged me, for that worked two ways—if I could not see out into the saloon, Jarette could not see the locker. But all the same I was afraid to get out. It was so light in the cabin, and everywhere else was so dark, that if he were on deck, and looking in my direction, he would be sure to see what took place.
Then I concluded that I could do nothing till the door was closed, and as soon as an opportunity offered itself, I determined to creep out, and at all risks draw that door to, trusting to Jarette thinking that the closing was caused by the motion of the ship as it gently rocked upon the swell.
At last as I lay there, for minutes which seemed to be hours, I heard my enemy talking loudly, and I knew that he must be speaking to the men in the forecastle.
That would do. He could see nothing now, for between us there were the main and foremasts, and plenty besides—the galley and water-cask, and the long cabin-like range upon the top of which our boat had lain in the chocks.
I crept over the side after propping up the lid, went upon hands and knees to the door, readied out and touched it. That was sufficient: it swung upon its hinges so that Jarette could easily imagine that the motion of the ship had caused the change.
The next minute, still keeping the locker open ready to form a retreat for me in case of necessity, I leaned right out as far as I could, and bending down, strained my eyes, trying to cut the darkness as I whispered sharply—
“Are you there?”
“Yes; got them?” came from the boat, though to me the voice came out of the black darkness.
“No cartridges,” I whispered. “Come closer. No—keep back.”
I said that, not that I knew anything, but I had a kind of impression that Jarette was returning, and dropping down into the locker once more, I lowered the lid, but this time not quite close, for I thrust in a bit of one of the flags, so that there was room for a little air to get in, and that and possibly the idea that I could not be suffocated, made me more at my ease.
I waited some little time, and then began to grow impatient; feeling sure that I had fancied his coming and taken alarm at nothing, I determined to lift the lid and get some fresh air, but I did not stir just then, only lay still, finding my position terribly irksome. I could not hear well either, and at last I began to move cautiously to peer out, when to my horror there was a sharp blow delivered on the lid of the locker, and then another probably given with the butt of a revolver, and Jarette exclaimed fiercely—
“Hang the rats!”
I lay back, breathless, expecting that he would hear the dull heavy throb of my pulses, while I trembled violently, thinking that all was over, and that he was trifling with me, and knew all the while that I was lying there. But by degrees I grew calmer. There were rats enough in the hold. I had heard them, and why should he not have attributed the slight rustling noise I made to one of the mischievous little animals?
At last, to satisfy my doubts, I heard him come and kneel upon the locker again, as if looking out of the cabin-window.
He stayed some minutes, and I began to think that he must see the boat; but I soon set that idea aside and felt that it was absurd, for if he had seen the boat he certainly would either have shouted to warn its occupants away, or fired at them.
“He feels that he is not safe,” I said to myself at last, and to my great relief he got down, muttering to himself, and I could tell by the sound that he was at the table, for I heard a clink of glass, the gurgling of liquor out of a bottle, and then quite plainly the noise he made in drinking before he set down the glass and uttered a loud “Hah!”
Just then I heard voices from forward, loud laughing and talking.
“Curse them, what are they doing now?” exclaimed Jarette, loudly. “Oh, if I had only one man I could trust!”
He hurried out of the cabin, and I did not flinch now from opening the lid and looking out, to find that the door had swung to as soon as he had passed through.
The noise was so boisterous forward that I crept out, pushed the door, and stood in the dark saloon, where I could still see the line of light at the bottom of Miss Denning’s cabin as I crept to the companion, and, excited by curiosity, slipped aside to where I could shelter under the bulwark and see what was going on.
There were lanterns now by the big hatch in front of the main-mast, and I could see quite a group of men at whom Jarette was storming.
It was a curious weird-looking scene there in the darkness, for the men’s faces stood out in the lantern-light, and in spite of their fear of their leader they were laughing boisterously.
“You dogs,” he roared; “not a drop more. Go back to your kennel.”
“Mus’ have little drop more, skipper,” cried one of the men.
“No,” he roared, “not a drop, and it shall be allowances from this night.”
“But there’s heaps o’ good stuff spoiling, skipper.”
“I’ll spoil you, you dog,” snarled Jarette, and I saw him snatch a lantern from one of the men and lean down, holding the light over the open hold. “Hi! below there,” he roared; “leave that spirit-keg alone, and come up.”
In the silence which ensued I heard a muffled muttering come from below, and Jarette dropped upon his knees to hold the lantern right down in the open hold, while the light struck up and made his face and his actions plain from where I stood watching.
“Once more, do you hear? Come up and leave that spirit, or I’ll fetch you with a bullet.”
“Better come up, mate,” shouted one of the men.
“You hold your tongue,” snarled Jarette to the speaker. “Now then, will you come, or am I to fire?”
There was no reply, and Jarette spoke once more in quite a calm, gentle, persuasive voice.
“I say, will you leave that spirit-keg alone and come up?”
Still no answer, and Jarette turned his head to the group of men.
“That’s a fresh keg broached. Who did it?” he said slowly. “I said no more was to be taken. I say—who broached that keg?”
“Oh, well, it was all on us, skipper. You see we couldn’t do nothing in this calm,” said the man who had before spoken, and who seemed to be the most sensible of the group.
“Then you all broke my orders,” cried Jarette, hastily now, “and you shall all see how I punish a man for breaking my orders.”
I looked on as if spellbound, forgetting the boat and my mission as I crouched there in the dark, feeling that a tragedy was at hand, though I could not grasp all and divine that this was the crowning-point of the mutiny.
For Jarette bent right down over the open hold, lowering the lantern, whose light played upon the barrel of a pistol.
“Now,” he cried, “once more, will you come up and leave that spirit-barrel, or am I to fire?”
“Fire away,” came up in muffled tones, but quite defiantly, and as the last word reached my ear there was the sharp report of the pistol, whose flash shone out brighter than the lantern. Then a horrible cry came from below, and for a few moments I could see nothing for the smoke which hung in the air. But from out of it came an excited burst of talking and yelling.
“Stand back,” roared Jarette. “I have five more shots ready, and you see I can hit. Serve the scoundrel right.”
“But look, look!” shouted the man who had spoken before; and as the smoke dispersed, I saw him pointing down into the hold, while the other men, sobered now, stood huddled together in alarm.
Then with a wild yell of horror one of them threw up his hands, shouting “Fire, fire!” ran forward, while a fearful figure suddenly appeared at the mouth of the hold, climbed on deck, and then shrieking horribly, also ran forward with Jarette and the others in full pursuit.
Chapter Thirty Nine.It was a horrible sight, one which made me cling to the bulwarks absolutely paralysed, for the man who had climbed on deck was one mass of blue and yellow flames, which flickered and danced from foot to shoulder, and in those brief moments I realised that he must have fallen and overset the spirit-keg when Jarette fired, saturated his garments, and no doubt the fallen lantern had set all instantaneously in a blaze.It was impossible to stir. My legs trembled, and every shriek uttered by the poor wretch, as he ran wildly here and there, thrilled me through and through. One moment it seemed as if he were coming headlong toward me, and I felt that discovery was inevitable; but before he reached the open hold, he dashed across the deck to the starboard bulwark, turned and ran forward again shrieking more loudly than ever, while the rapid motion through the air made the flames burn more furiously, and I could distinctly hear them flatter and roar.His messmates, headed by Jarette, were not idle; they shouted to him to stop; they chased him, and some tried to cut him off here and there; but as if the idea of being stopped maddened him, the poor wretch shifted, dodged, and avoided them in the most wonderful manner, shrieking more wildly than ever, as a man who had been below suddenly confronted him with a tarpaulin to fling round him and smother the flames.At last, with the sharp tongues of fire rising above his head, he made one maddened rush forward, and the whole of the party in pursuit; while his cries, and the sight of the man dashing on like a living torch through the darkness of that awful night, made me long to close my eyes and stop my ears. But I could not—it was impossible. I could only cling helplessly to that bulwark, praying for the power to help, but unable to stir.It takes long to describe all this, but it was only a matter of a minute or two, before, with the flames rushing up to a point above his head and streaming behind him, he rushed for the bows.I grasped in an instant what he intended to do, and felt that at last I could act. For, seeing that he meant to leap overboard, I made a start to run back to the cabin and shout to those in the boat to pick him up, when he caught his foot in a rope, and fell upon the deck with a heavy thud; and before he could rise, the man with the oilskin overcoat flung it over him, rolled him over and over in it, and extinguished the flames.In the midst of the loud talking which followed, I heard Jarette’s voice above all the rest.“It was his own fault,” he cried. “Here, carry him below. I shall not take the blame.”“But you shot at and hit him,” growled a man angrily.“As I will at you, you dog,” roared Jarette, “if you disobey my orders. Quick!—get him below.”I saw Jarette bend down to the moaning man, for two of the crew held lanterns over him; and then, as they were all crowding down the hatchway, I hurried into the cabin, closed the door after me, and going to the window, I leaned out, and called in a whisper to Mr Brymer, but there was no answer.I called again and again, raising my voice till, had any one been on deck, there must have been an alarm raised; but still there was no reply from the boat, and feeling at last that my companions must have rowed along by the ship to try and find out what was the matter, I was about to go back and run along till I could hail them and implore the doctor to come on board to try and save the poor wretch’s life, when, all at once, there was the faint splash of an oar, and Mr Brymer exclaimed—“Ah, at last! I was afraid you were being hunted. What were they doing? What was the meaning of those cries, and the torches they were rushing about the deck with?”I explained in few words, and, saying I would fetch a rope, implored Mr Frewen to come up and help the poor creature.“Come? Of course I will, Dale,” he said; “but it seems curious work to do—help the men who have sent us adrift on the ocean in an open boat.”“Yes,” I cried excitedly; “but wait while I get a rope.”“Yes; quick, my lad,” said Mr Brymer. “It is our only opportunity.”I made no attempt now at concealment, but ran through the saloon, and out on the deck, to secure the first coil of rope I could find.I got hold of one directly, not neatly coiled, but tumbled down anyhow; and then, looking forward to see if any one was on deck, I was conscious of a dull bluish glow, which I attributed to the lights by the forecastle-hatch, from which I could hear a low muttering of voices dominated by Jarette’s sharp angry snapping.Then grasping the fact that there appeared to be no one on deck, I ran back into the dark saloon, tapped smartly on the door of Miss Denning’s cabin, cried, “Help coming!” and darted through the door, closing it after me.“Got a rope?” came from below; and my answer was to lower it down as quickly as I could before passing it twice round the legs of the fixed table.Then came a sharp whisper—“All fast?”“Yes; all right,” I said; and the next moment Bob Hampton was climbing in.“Sent me to help you, my lad. Hooroar! the ship’s our own again.”In another minute Barney was up alongside, and he was followed by Mr Frewen and Mr Brymer. These all seized guns.“They’re not loaded,” I said sadly.“Never mind, my lad; appearances go a long way,” said Mr Brymer. “The scoundrels will not know. Now then, pick up something for a weapon, Dale, if it’s only the cabin poker.”“Are you going to fight?” I said in a low tone. “I thought you were going to help that poor wretch.”“I can attend him as well when he is our prisoner, Dale, as if we were Jarette’s.”“Of course,” I said excitedly. “But hadn’t you better have Dumlow too?”“Can’t climb up, my lad,” said Bob Hampton, in a husky whisper; “and Mr Preddle’s too fat.”“Ready?” said Mr Brymer.“Ay, ay,” came from the men, and “Yes” from Mr Frewen.“Then come on.”The mate threw open the door to lead the way, and then hesitated for a moment or two, for the saloon was flooded by a pale bluish light.“I hoped we should have darkness on our side,” he said, “but—”“Look, look!” I cried wildly; “the ship’s on fire.”We all ran to the companion together, three on one side of the saloon-table, two on the other; while I could hardly believe my eyes as I saw flooding up from beyond the main-mast great soft waves of bluish fire.“It is the casks of spirits in the hold,” cried Mr Brymer, excitedly. “They’ve done for it at last. But come on quickly: we can pass that without getting much harm; and as soon as we have secured the scoundrels, we must try the pump and hose.”We tried to go along the starboard side, but the flames came out in such strong pulsations there, that we were obliged to cross to the port side, where there seemed to be about ten feet clear.“Now then,” cried Mr Brymer; “they’re all below, and have not taken the alarm. A quick rush, and we have them.”He was half-way along the clear pathway formed along the deck between the flames floating up from the hold and the port bulwark, and his figure stood up strangely unreal against the bluish light, when there was a heavy report below in the hold, and a rush of flame which extended from side to side of the ship. But after the report there was no roar or crackling sound of burning, for the blue and orange flames came pulsing up in great waves silent and strange, the quiet mastery they had attained being appalling.The explosion—that of a spirit-cask, one of the many in the hold—brought up the men from the forecastle, wild with excitement; but we only saw them for, a moment, and then they were screened from us by the fire, which was singularly clear from smoke, and rose steadily upward and away from the main-mast, whose sails hung down motionless in the calm.We all stood motionless, unable to grasp the extent of this new calamity, and listened to the yelling and shouting of the frightened men, who now broke loose entirely from the slight control Jarette had held principally by means of his revolver. For death in a more horrible form threatened them than that from the pistol which had held them in subjugation, and with one consent they all began to shout the word “Boats!”Just then there was the report of a pistol, and Jarette’s voice rose loud and clear.“Silence—idiots—fools!” he shouted. “It is your own doing, and now you want to run away and leave a good ship and all its valuable cargo—ours, do you hear?—all ours—to burn. Bah!”“The boats, quick!—the boats!” shouted one of the men.“Throw that fool overboard, some of you,” cried Jarette, contemptuously; “he has not the spirit of amouche. Bah! what is it? A cask or two of spirit in the hold. Come along, brave lads. The pumps and buckets; we will soon make grog of the spirits, and it will cease to burn.”“No, no! The boats!” cried two or three. “We are all lost!”“Yes, if you do not obey,” cried Jarette, speaking slowly through his teeth, and with a very marked French accent, as he did when greatly excited. “I go not to lose our great prize, for which I have fought and won. Every man now a bucket, and you four to the pump and hose.”“Draw back a little,” whispered Mr Brymer; “they have not seen us.”“Shall we get buckets, sir?” said Bob Hampton in a gruff whisper.“No; it is useless. There are nearly fifty of those casks of strong spirits there below, and no efforts of ours could stop that fire.”“But you will not let it burn without an effort?” whispered Mr Frewen.“I shall let it burn, sir, without an effort,” said Mr Brymer, drawing back, and leading Mr Frewen toward the companion, I being so close that I could hear every word, which was only intended for the doctor’s ears. “I’ll tell you why,” he said. “As those casks burst, the spirit will run through the cargo in all directions, the flame will glide along the surface, and as the spirit heats, the hold will be full of inflammable gas, which will keep on exploding.”“Yes,” said Mr Frewen, angrily; “but an abundance of water—”“Would not stop the flashing of that spirit here and there, doctor, till, sooner or later, it reaches the blasting-powder. That must be reached, and then the ship will be rent open.”“Great heaven!” cried Mr Frewen.“And the fire will be extinguished then. My good sir, with a well-trained crew, working calmly, we might perhaps reach the powder and cast it overboard; but, situated as we are now, any efforts of ours would be worse than folly.”“Then—the boat!”“Yes, but don’t hurry or grow excited; the vessel may burn a day or two before the final calamity comes. We have plenty of time to do our duty.”“Yes, I understand,” said Mr Frewen, and he hurried towards the saloon.“Aren’t we going to try and put out the fire, Mr Brymer, sir?” said Bob Hampton.“No, my lad; we’ll leave that to Jarette and his gang. Come and help.”By this time we had reached the cabin-door, from beneath which the faint light shone, and Mr Frewen exclaimed—“Are you there, Miss Denning?”“Yes, yes,” she cried eagerly. “Pray, pray help us.”“Yes. One minute; is the door locked on the inside?”“Yes,” came from within, in company with a sharp snapping sound which was repeated, while the doctor felt outside, and convinced himself that it was secured there too, and that we had no means of unfastening it.“Stand back from the door, right to the other side of the cabin,” said Mr Frewen, and, drawing back some distance, he ran at the panel, raised his foot, struck it just above the handle, and it was driven right off, and he saw Miss Denning standing there, pale and large-eyed, holding a little taper in her hand, while in the bed-place lay her brother, gazing at us wildly, but for his countenance to change and become restful and calm as he saw that he was in the presence of friends.“I told you they would not desert us, Lena,” he said faintly; and then his head sank back as if he were too weak to raise it from the pillow.Mr Frewen stepped close up to the bed-place as I joined Mr Denning and laid my hand in his, for his eyes had seemed to invite me to come to him. Then, as if I had not been there, he whispered quickly to the invalid—“Denning, you don’t like me, but we are in a perilous strait. Believe me, I will do everything man can for you and your sister now. Will you trust me?”“Yes.”Mr Frewen turned to Miss Denning, and said firmly—“Dress quickly, as if for a long journey.” She looked at him wonderingly. “Yes,” he said, and his voice sounded almost harsh. “In five minutes or less you must both be down in the boat. Hat, cloak, waterproof, and any necessary that you think may be useful. Nothing more. You understand?”She bowed, and began hurriedly to collect the few things she required, while, without waiting to be told, I dragged pillow and blankets from the cot, and ran out with them to the stern-window, beneath which I could plainly see the boat now.“Mr Preddle—Dumlow,” I cried, “stow these aft;” and I threw down the articles I had brought, and went to fetch others from the cabin, passing Bob Hampton and Barney, who were collecting everything they could find in the way of provisions, tins, bottles, bags, from the captain’s stores, and throwing them down.By the time I was back, Miss Denning was ready, and she was about to help her brother, but he hung back.“No, no,” he said. “Take her first, Frewen.”She would have resisted, but I said quickly—“The ship is on fire; we must not lose a moment. Pray come.”She put her hand in mine, and I led her through the saloon, now full of a lurid light, and into the captain’s cabin, where the rope still hung down.“Be ready to help, Mr Preddle,” I said, as I hauled it up, and handed the end to Bob Hampton, who came in loaded.“Make a loop, Bob, and help lower Miss Denning down.”“That I will, my dear lad,” he said, shooting his load on one of the lockers. “Don’t you be skeart, but just you trust to me. That’s your sort,” he cried, as he passed the rope round her, and knotted it. “Now then, you’ll just take a tight grip of the rope there with both hands, and trust to me, just as if I was going to give you a swing.”“I’ll trust you, Hampton,” she said, with a quiet smile.“That’s right, miss; you’ll be like a baby in my arms. Now, Barney, boy, lay hold of the rope. Nay, you needn’t, she’s light as a feather. Give way to me, my dear, just as if I was your father, and I’ll lower you right enough.”I could not help thinking how pretty and gentle and brave she looked as she left herself in Bob’s hands, while he knelt on the locker, lifted her up, passed her out of the cabin-window, held for a moment or two by the knot, and then gently lowered her down.“Done lovely,” said Bob. “Better let Neb Dumlow cast off the rope, Mr Preddle, sir. You can hand the lady into the starn arter-wards. That’s your sort, sir,” as he hauled up. “Why, some gals would ha’ kicked and squealed and made no end o’ fuss. Want this for Mr Denning, shan’t us?”“Yes,” I said, and at that moment, supporting the poor fellow below the arms, Mr Frewen and the mate helped Mr Denning into the cabin, panting heavily even from that little exertion.“I’ll be—as quick—as I can,” he sighed. “There is no hurry,” said Mr Brymer, quietly; “we have a wall of fire between us and our enemies.”“Go on heaving down that there prog, Barney,” whispered Bob from behind his hand. “I don’t hold with running short out in a hopen boat.”Barney grunted, and while Bob passed the rope round Mr Denning so that he could sit in the bight, and then made a hitch round his breast so as to secure him in case his weak hold with his hands gave way, the sailor kept various articles of food in tins flying down to Neb Dumlow, who caught them deftly and stowed them rapidly forward in the bottom of the boat.The next minute Mr Denning was tenderly lifted by Bob Hampton and Mr Frewen, and his legs were passed out from the window, the rope was tightened, then he swung to and fro, and a minute later Dumlow had left the catching and stowing to cast off the rope which was now left hanging, so as to afford us a ready means of retreat in case it should be necessary.With the help of Mr Preddle and the sailor, Mr Denning was soon lying back in the stern, and now the mate leaned out to give a few directions to Dumlow.“Have you got that painter fast to the ring-bolt so that you can cast off directly?”“Ay, ay, sir. Hear the pumps going?”“Yes; go on stowing the stores sent down as well as you can. Mr Preddle will help you.”“There, doctor,” he said the next minute, “now we can cast off at a moment’s notice if there’s danger.”“From the explosion?”“It would not hurt us,” said Mr Brymer, coolly, for now that Miss Denning and her brother were safe, he did not seem to mind. “When the powder goes off it will be amidships, and strike up. We shall only hear the noise, and perhaps have a few bits of burning wood come down near. What I fear is Jarette and his party when they take to the boats. But I think we can out-sail them.”“Then what are we going to do now?”“Collect everything that I think may be of use, so work away, Dale, my lad, and help me. Hampton, Blane, get another breaker of water. Take the one on the poop-deck, and lower it down over the stern.”Bob Hampton grunted, and after seeing to a few more things being lowered into the boat, we three went quietly toward where the fire was hissing furiously, and a great cloud of steam rose now from the hold. But the blaze was as great as ever, and as we looked, and I wondered that the main-mast and its sails had not caught fire, we heard the clanking of the pumps cease, and Jarette’s voice rise above the noise and confusion.“Boats,” he said laconically. “But no hurry, my lads. Water and stores in first. We’re all right for hours yet.”It was curious to be there, behind the main-mast, listening to all that was going on forward, and yet seeing nothing for the fiery curtain at which we gazed, and which cast a lurid reflection on either side, and brightened the sea till it looked like gold. And it appeared the more strange that the men had not the slightest idea of our being on board, as we could tell by the orders shouted from time to time.“There,” said Mr Brymer at last, in answer to Mr Frewen’s uneasy looks, “the lads have got that breaker of fresh water down by now, so we’ll just take the captain’s little compass and chronometer, and a few more things from the store, and be off. Ah, here they are.”For just then the two men came down coolly enough from the poop-deck, reported the water on board, and then eagerly set to work, carrying more stores, blankets, and all else we could by any possibility want, till the mate cried hold, enough.“We’ve got all we can stow, I’m sure,” he said.“Then pray let us get away before it is too late,” whispered Mr Frewen.“Afraid, doctor?”“Yes—for those poor shivering people below, sir—and, well, yes, I am alarmed too, knowing that at any time the deck may be rent up beneath our feet and the vessel sink.”“Yes; it is unpleasant to think about, and there is the danger of those scoundrels lowering one of the boats and coming round here for stores that they have none of there. Ah, there goes one of them down.”For plainly enough came the chirruping of the falls as the boat was lowered from the davits.“Now then, down with you, Frewen. You next, my lads; I don’t think I can remember anything else. You after the men, Dale, and I come last, as I’m captain for the time.”We all obeyed with alacrity, and I breathed more freely as I sat down in the boat. Then Mr Brymer slid down, and threw the rope back through the cabin-window.The next minute the painter was withdrawn from the ring-bolt, and Bob Hampton sent the boat away with a tremendous thrust; oars were got out, and we rowed out into the darkness to lie-to about three hundred yards from the ship, just as a dark object came along from forward, and we saw that, as the mate had expected, the boat which had been lowered had come round to the stern-windows for the men to mount, if they could, in search of stores.“None too soon. Dale,” said the mate, coolly, and a deep breath of relief escaped my lips as I replied in his words—“No, sir; none too soon.”
It was a horrible sight, one which made me cling to the bulwarks absolutely paralysed, for the man who had climbed on deck was one mass of blue and yellow flames, which flickered and danced from foot to shoulder, and in those brief moments I realised that he must have fallen and overset the spirit-keg when Jarette fired, saturated his garments, and no doubt the fallen lantern had set all instantaneously in a blaze.
It was impossible to stir. My legs trembled, and every shriek uttered by the poor wretch, as he ran wildly here and there, thrilled me through and through. One moment it seemed as if he were coming headlong toward me, and I felt that discovery was inevitable; but before he reached the open hold, he dashed across the deck to the starboard bulwark, turned and ran forward again shrieking more loudly than ever, while the rapid motion through the air made the flames burn more furiously, and I could distinctly hear them flatter and roar.
His messmates, headed by Jarette, were not idle; they shouted to him to stop; they chased him, and some tried to cut him off here and there; but as if the idea of being stopped maddened him, the poor wretch shifted, dodged, and avoided them in the most wonderful manner, shrieking more wildly than ever, as a man who had been below suddenly confronted him with a tarpaulin to fling round him and smother the flames.
At last, with the sharp tongues of fire rising above his head, he made one maddened rush forward, and the whole of the party in pursuit; while his cries, and the sight of the man dashing on like a living torch through the darkness of that awful night, made me long to close my eyes and stop my ears. But I could not—it was impossible. I could only cling helplessly to that bulwark, praying for the power to help, but unable to stir.
It takes long to describe all this, but it was only a matter of a minute or two, before, with the flames rushing up to a point above his head and streaming behind him, he rushed for the bows.
I grasped in an instant what he intended to do, and felt that at last I could act. For, seeing that he meant to leap overboard, I made a start to run back to the cabin and shout to those in the boat to pick him up, when he caught his foot in a rope, and fell upon the deck with a heavy thud; and before he could rise, the man with the oilskin overcoat flung it over him, rolled him over and over in it, and extinguished the flames.
In the midst of the loud talking which followed, I heard Jarette’s voice above all the rest.
“It was his own fault,” he cried. “Here, carry him below. I shall not take the blame.”
“But you shot at and hit him,” growled a man angrily.
“As I will at you, you dog,” roared Jarette, “if you disobey my orders. Quick!—get him below.”
I saw Jarette bend down to the moaning man, for two of the crew held lanterns over him; and then, as they were all crowding down the hatchway, I hurried into the cabin, closed the door after me, and going to the window, I leaned out, and called in a whisper to Mr Brymer, but there was no answer.
I called again and again, raising my voice till, had any one been on deck, there must have been an alarm raised; but still there was no reply from the boat, and feeling at last that my companions must have rowed along by the ship to try and find out what was the matter, I was about to go back and run along till I could hail them and implore the doctor to come on board to try and save the poor wretch’s life, when, all at once, there was the faint splash of an oar, and Mr Brymer exclaimed—
“Ah, at last! I was afraid you were being hunted. What were they doing? What was the meaning of those cries, and the torches they were rushing about the deck with?”
I explained in few words, and, saying I would fetch a rope, implored Mr Frewen to come up and help the poor creature.
“Come? Of course I will, Dale,” he said; “but it seems curious work to do—help the men who have sent us adrift on the ocean in an open boat.”
“Yes,” I cried excitedly; “but wait while I get a rope.”
“Yes; quick, my lad,” said Mr Brymer. “It is our only opportunity.”
I made no attempt now at concealment, but ran through the saloon, and out on the deck, to secure the first coil of rope I could find.
I got hold of one directly, not neatly coiled, but tumbled down anyhow; and then, looking forward to see if any one was on deck, I was conscious of a dull bluish glow, which I attributed to the lights by the forecastle-hatch, from which I could hear a low muttering of voices dominated by Jarette’s sharp angry snapping.
Then grasping the fact that there appeared to be no one on deck, I ran back into the dark saloon, tapped smartly on the door of Miss Denning’s cabin, cried, “Help coming!” and darted through the door, closing it after me.
“Got a rope?” came from below; and my answer was to lower it down as quickly as I could before passing it twice round the legs of the fixed table.
Then came a sharp whisper—
“All fast?”
“Yes; all right,” I said; and the next moment Bob Hampton was climbing in.
“Sent me to help you, my lad. Hooroar! the ship’s our own again.”
In another minute Barney was up alongside, and he was followed by Mr Frewen and Mr Brymer. These all seized guns.
“They’re not loaded,” I said sadly.
“Never mind, my lad; appearances go a long way,” said Mr Brymer. “The scoundrels will not know. Now then, pick up something for a weapon, Dale, if it’s only the cabin poker.”
“Are you going to fight?” I said in a low tone. “I thought you were going to help that poor wretch.”
“I can attend him as well when he is our prisoner, Dale, as if we were Jarette’s.”
“Of course,” I said excitedly. “But hadn’t you better have Dumlow too?”
“Can’t climb up, my lad,” said Bob Hampton, in a husky whisper; “and Mr Preddle’s too fat.”
“Ready?” said Mr Brymer.
“Ay, ay,” came from the men, and “Yes” from Mr Frewen.
“Then come on.”
The mate threw open the door to lead the way, and then hesitated for a moment or two, for the saloon was flooded by a pale bluish light.
“I hoped we should have darkness on our side,” he said, “but—”
“Look, look!” I cried wildly; “the ship’s on fire.”
We all ran to the companion together, three on one side of the saloon-table, two on the other; while I could hardly believe my eyes as I saw flooding up from beyond the main-mast great soft waves of bluish fire.
“It is the casks of spirits in the hold,” cried Mr Brymer, excitedly. “They’ve done for it at last. But come on quickly: we can pass that without getting much harm; and as soon as we have secured the scoundrels, we must try the pump and hose.”
We tried to go along the starboard side, but the flames came out in such strong pulsations there, that we were obliged to cross to the port side, where there seemed to be about ten feet clear.
“Now then,” cried Mr Brymer; “they’re all below, and have not taken the alarm. A quick rush, and we have them.”
He was half-way along the clear pathway formed along the deck between the flames floating up from the hold and the port bulwark, and his figure stood up strangely unreal against the bluish light, when there was a heavy report below in the hold, and a rush of flame which extended from side to side of the ship. But after the report there was no roar or crackling sound of burning, for the blue and orange flames came pulsing up in great waves silent and strange, the quiet mastery they had attained being appalling.
The explosion—that of a spirit-cask, one of the many in the hold—brought up the men from the forecastle, wild with excitement; but we only saw them for, a moment, and then they were screened from us by the fire, which was singularly clear from smoke, and rose steadily upward and away from the main-mast, whose sails hung down motionless in the calm.
We all stood motionless, unable to grasp the extent of this new calamity, and listened to the yelling and shouting of the frightened men, who now broke loose entirely from the slight control Jarette had held principally by means of his revolver. For death in a more horrible form threatened them than that from the pistol which had held them in subjugation, and with one consent they all began to shout the word “Boats!”
Just then there was the report of a pistol, and Jarette’s voice rose loud and clear.
“Silence—idiots—fools!” he shouted. “It is your own doing, and now you want to run away and leave a good ship and all its valuable cargo—ours, do you hear?—all ours—to burn. Bah!”
“The boats, quick!—the boats!” shouted one of the men.
“Throw that fool overboard, some of you,” cried Jarette, contemptuously; “he has not the spirit of amouche. Bah! what is it? A cask or two of spirit in the hold. Come along, brave lads. The pumps and buckets; we will soon make grog of the spirits, and it will cease to burn.”
“No, no! The boats!” cried two or three. “We are all lost!”
“Yes, if you do not obey,” cried Jarette, speaking slowly through his teeth, and with a very marked French accent, as he did when greatly excited. “I go not to lose our great prize, for which I have fought and won. Every man now a bucket, and you four to the pump and hose.”
“Draw back a little,” whispered Mr Brymer; “they have not seen us.”
“Shall we get buckets, sir?” said Bob Hampton in a gruff whisper.
“No; it is useless. There are nearly fifty of those casks of strong spirits there below, and no efforts of ours could stop that fire.”
“But you will not let it burn without an effort?” whispered Mr Frewen.
“I shall let it burn, sir, without an effort,” said Mr Brymer, drawing back, and leading Mr Frewen toward the companion, I being so close that I could hear every word, which was only intended for the doctor’s ears. “I’ll tell you why,” he said. “As those casks burst, the spirit will run through the cargo in all directions, the flame will glide along the surface, and as the spirit heats, the hold will be full of inflammable gas, which will keep on exploding.”
“Yes,” said Mr Frewen, angrily; “but an abundance of water—”
“Would not stop the flashing of that spirit here and there, doctor, till, sooner or later, it reaches the blasting-powder. That must be reached, and then the ship will be rent open.”
“Great heaven!” cried Mr Frewen.
“And the fire will be extinguished then. My good sir, with a well-trained crew, working calmly, we might perhaps reach the powder and cast it overboard; but, situated as we are now, any efforts of ours would be worse than folly.”
“Then—the boat!”
“Yes, but don’t hurry or grow excited; the vessel may burn a day or two before the final calamity comes. We have plenty of time to do our duty.”
“Yes, I understand,” said Mr Frewen, and he hurried towards the saloon.
“Aren’t we going to try and put out the fire, Mr Brymer, sir?” said Bob Hampton.
“No, my lad; we’ll leave that to Jarette and his gang. Come and help.”
By this time we had reached the cabin-door, from beneath which the faint light shone, and Mr Frewen exclaimed—
“Are you there, Miss Denning?”
“Yes, yes,” she cried eagerly. “Pray, pray help us.”
“Yes. One minute; is the door locked on the inside?”
“Yes,” came from within, in company with a sharp snapping sound which was repeated, while the doctor felt outside, and convinced himself that it was secured there too, and that we had no means of unfastening it.
“Stand back from the door, right to the other side of the cabin,” said Mr Frewen, and, drawing back some distance, he ran at the panel, raised his foot, struck it just above the handle, and it was driven right off, and he saw Miss Denning standing there, pale and large-eyed, holding a little taper in her hand, while in the bed-place lay her brother, gazing at us wildly, but for his countenance to change and become restful and calm as he saw that he was in the presence of friends.
“I told you they would not desert us, Lena,” he said faintly; and then his head sank back as if he were too weak to raise it from the pillow.
Mr Frewen stepped close up to the bed-place as I joined Mr Denning and laid my hand in his, for his eyes had seemed to invite me to come to him. Then, as if I had not been there, he whispered quickly to the invalid—
“Denning, you don’t like me, but we are in a perilous strait. Believe me, I will do everything man can for you and your sister now. Will you trust me?”
“Yes.”
Mr Frewen turned to Miss Denning, and said firmly—
“Dress quickly, as if for a long journey.” She looked at him wonderingly. “Yes,” he said, and his voice sounded almost harsh. “In five minutes or less you must both be down in the boat. Hat, cloak, waterproof, and any necessary that you think may be useful. Nothing more. You understand?”
She bowed, and began hurriedly to collect the few things she required, while, without waiting to be told, I dragged pillow and blankets from the cot, and ran out with them to the stern-window, beneath which I could plainly see the boat now.
“Mr Preddle—Dumlow,” I cried, “stow these aft;” and I threw down the articles I had brought, and went to fetch others from the cabin, passing Bob Hampton and Barney, who were collecting everything they could find in the way of provisions, tins, bottles, bags, from the captain’s stores, and throwing them down.
By the time I was back, Miss Denning was ready, and she was about to help her brother, but he hung back.
“No, no,” he said. “Take her first, Frewen.”
She would have resisted, but I said quickly—“The ship is on fire; we must not lose a moment. Pray come.”
She put her hand in mine, and I led her through the saloon, now full of a lurid light, and into the captain’s cabin, where the rope still hung down.
“Be ready to help, Mr Preddle,” I said, as I hauled it up, and handed the end to Bob Hampton, who came in loaded.
“Make a loop, Bob, and help lower Miss Denning down.”
“That I will, my dear lad,” he said, shooting his load on one of the lockers. “Don’t you be skeart, but just you trust to me. That’s your sort,” he cried, as he passed the rope round her, and knotted it. “Now then, you’ll just take a tight grip of the rope there with both hands, and trust to me, just as if I was going to give you a swing.”
“I’ll trust you, Hampton,” she said, with a quiet smile.
“That’s right, miss; you’ll be like a baby in my arms. Now, Barney, boy, lay hold of the rope. Nay, you needn’t, she’s light as a feather. Give way to me, my dear, just as if I was your father, and I’ll lower you right enough.”
I could not help thinking how pretty and gentle and brave she looked as she left herself in Bob’s hands, while he knelt on the locker, lifted her up, passed her out of the cabin-window, held for a moment or two by the knot, and then gently lowered her down.
“Done lovely,” said Bob. “Better let Neb Dumlow cast off the rope, Mr Preddle, sir. You can hand the lady into the starn arter-wards. That’s your sort, sir,” as he hauled up. “Why, some gals would ha’ kicked and squealed and made no end o’ fuss. Want this for Mr Denning, shan’t us?”
“Yes,” I said, and at that moment, supporting the poor fellow below the arms, Mr Frewen and the mate helped Mr Denning into the cabin, panting heavily even from that little exertion.
“I’ll be—as quick—as I can,” he sighed. “There is no hurry,” said Mr Brymer, quietly; “we have a wall of fire between us and our enemies.”
“Go on heaving down that there prog, Barney,” whispered Bob from behind his hand. “I don’t hold with running short out in a hopen boat.”
Barney grunted, and while Bob passed the rope round Mr Denning so that he could sit in the bight, and then made a hitch round his breast so as to secure him in case his weak hold with his hands gave way, the sailor kept various articles of food in tins flying down to Neb Dumlow, who caught them deftly and stowed them rapidly forward in the bottom of the boat.
The next minute Mr Denning was tenderly lifted by Bob Hampton and Mr Frewen, and his legs were passed out from the window, the rope was tightened, then he swung to and fro, and a minute later Dumlow had left the catching and stowing to cast off the rope which was now left hanging, so as to afford us a ready means of retreat in case it should be necessary.
With the help of Mr Preddle and the sailor, Mr Denning was soon lying back in the stern, and now the mate leaned out to give a few directions to Dumlow.
“Have you got that painter fast to the ring-bolt so that you can cast off directly?”
“Ay, ay, sir. Hear the pumps going?”
“Yes; go on stowing the stores sent down as well as you can. Mr Preddle will help you.”
“There, doctor,” he said the next minute, “now we can cast off at a moment’s notice if there’s danger.”
“From the explosion?”
“It would not hurt us,” said Mr Brymer, coolly, for now that Miss Denning and her brother were safe, he did not seem to mind. “When the powder goes off it will be amidships, and strike up. We shall only hear the noise, and perhaps have a few bits of burning wood come down near. What I fear is Jarette and his party when they take to the boats. But I think we can out-sail them.”
“Then what are we going to do now?”
“Collect everything that I think may be of use, so work away, Dale, my lad, and help me. Hampton, Blane, get another breaker of water. Take the one on the poop-deck, and lower it down over the stern.”
Bob Hampton grunted, and after seeing to a few more things being lowered into the boat, we three went quietly toward where the fire was hissing furiously, and a great cloud of steam rose now from the hold. But the blaze was as great as ever, and as we looked, and I wondered that the main-mast and its sails had not caught fire, we heard the clanking of the pumps cease, and Jarette’s voice rise above the noise and confusion.
“Boats,” he said laconically. “But no hurry, my lads. Water and stores in first. We’re all right for hours yet.”
It was curious to be there, behind the main-mast, listening to all that was going on forward, and yet seeing nothing for the fiery curtain at which we gazed, and which cast a lurid reflection on either side, and brightened the sea till it looked like gold. And it appeared the more strange that the men had not the slightest idea of our being on board, as we could tell by the orders shouted from time to time.
“There,” said Mr Brymer at last, in answer to Mr Frewen’s uneasy looks, “the lads have got that breaker of fresh water down by now, so we’ll just take the captain’s little compass and chronometer, and a few more things from the store, and be off. Ah, here they are.”
For just then the two men came down coolly enough from the poop-deck, reported the water on board, and then eagerly set to work, carrying more stores, blankets, and all else we could by any possibility want, till the mate cried hold, enough.
“We’ve got all we can stow, I’m sure,” he said.
“Then pray let us get away before it is too late,” whispered Mr Frewen.
“Afraid, doctor?”
“Yes—for those poor shivering people below, sir—and, well, yes, I am alarmed too, knowing that at any time the deck may be rent up beneath our feet and the vessel sink.”
“Yes; it is unpleasant to think about, and there is the danger of those scoundrels lowering one of the boats and coming round here for stores that they have none of there. Ah, there goes one of them down.”
For plainly enough came the chirruping of the falls as the boat was lowered from the davits.
“Now then, down with you, Frewen. You next, my lads; I don’t think I can remember anything else. You after the men, Dale, and I come last, as I’m captain for the time.”
We all obeyed with alacrity, and I breathed more freely as I sat down in the boat. Then Mr Brymer slid down, and threw the rope back through the cabin-window.
The next minute the painter was withdrawn from the ring-bolt, and Bob Hampton sent the boat away with a tremendous thrust; oars were got out, and we rowed out into the darkness to lie-to about three hundred yards from the ship, just as a dark object came along from forward, and we saw that, as the mate had expected, the boat which had been lowered had come round to the stern-windows for the men to mount, if they could, in search of stores.
“None too soon. Dale,” said the mate, coolly, and a deep breath of relief escaped my lips as I replied in his words—
“No, sir; none too soon.”
Chapter Forty.As we lay there in our boat, only a short distance from the burning ship, it seemed to me impossible that it could be long before Jarette and his men discovered us, and came in pursuit. For I felt sure that they would give us the credit of having been beforehand with them, when they saw how the stores had been put under contribution; and knowing how much more easy it would be for them to remove the things from one boat to another than to obtain them from the ship, we should, if overtaken, be absolutely stripped. Something to this effect I whispered to Bob Hampton, but he shook his head.“Not they, my lad; they’re in too much of a scare. Don’t suppose they’ve got any room in their heads to think about anything just now. They know fast enough that the poor old ship will soon blow up, and what they want to do is to get some more prog, and then row off soon as they can.”I was going to say more, but I had a warning from the mate to be silent, and I sat there watching the men make a good many tries before they reached the cabin-window; but how they did it at last I couldn’t quite make out, for they were in the shadow, while all around them spread the lurid glare cast by the flames which rose from the burning hold.These seemed to have reached their greatest height soon after the fire first broke out, and directly the first cask of spirits had burst. Then the fire went steadily on till it began to wane slightly, when another cask would explode, and flames rush up again—those great waves of fire which lapped and leaped, and floated up out of the hold, appearing from where we lay to lick the sails hanging from the fore and main-masts. But these never caught, the golden and bluish waves rising steadily and spreading to starboard and port, and every now and then sending out detached waves to float on the black night air for a moment or two before they died out.It was very terrible and yet beautiful to see the great bursts of flame gliding up so softly and silently, almost without a sound; there was every mast and stay glistening in the light, and the sails that were hanging from the yards transparent, or half darkened on the main and mizzen-masts, while those on the fore-mast beyond the fire shone like gold.I wondered how it was that the sides of the deck did not begin to burn, crackling, splitting, and sending up clouds of black smoke dotted with brilliant sparks, as I had once seen at the burning of a coal brig in Falmouth harbour; but they did not, and the utter stillness of the night, in that hot calm, which had on and off lasted for days, had so far saved the masts.But as I watched, I felt that their turn must come, and that sooner or later I should be watching them turned into pyramids—all brilliant glow—till they fell with a crash, hissing and steaming, into the sea.I pictured all that clearly enough in my mind’s eye, feeling in my expectancy a sensation of awe as the conflagration went on—this gradual burning of the spirits in the casks, which kept on exploding one by one with a singular regularity.And all the time, as I watched, there in the shadow at the stern were the crew, busily throwing out such stores and necessaries as they could find.I said that I could not tell how they managed to reach the cabin-window, but I suppose they spliced two oars together, and leaned them pole-like from the boat up toward the cabin-lights, and then one of the most active must have climbed.There was a great deal of shouting and talking, and the light in the cabin enabled us to see them going and coming to the window loaded, and heaving things down.By-and-by another boat came into sight, gliding along over the golden water, and we could see the faces of the men shining in the light as they gazed at the burning ship, and every now and then we could make out all they said, Jarette’s abuse and orders being quite distinct as they worked more busily than ever. But still they did not see us, though whenever they stirred we could plainly make out their actions, and at times even could distinguish the objects that were brought to the window and thrown down.This was more especially the case after the second boat had come from forward, for several more men had ascended by the rope they had lowered, and the second cabin-door was opened, so that both the stern-windows were now illuminated; and as the bigger waves of light floated upward, every now and then quite a glare struck through the companion-way, lighting up the saloon, showing the men hurrying here and there, and then making for the windows to throw something down to their companions in the boats.All at once I felt a hot breath on my cheek, and then Bob Hampton’s lips close to my ear.“They’re a-getting a whole jorum o’ things, my lad, as won’t be much use to ’em. I’d rather have a cask o’ fresh water than one o’ them boat-loads o’ odds and ends.”I nodded and watched for a time, and then turned to look aft at the faces of my companions, all intent upon the strange scene before them, wondering why Mr Brymer did not give orders for the men to row away before we were discovered.But he did not open his lips, and by degrees the reason came. For no doubt the slightest splash of an oar would have made the water flash, and drawn Jarette’s attention to us where we lay at the edge of the circle of light shed by the burning ship.I can give no account of the time occupied by the various events of that night, for some things are strangely jumbled up in my mind consequent upon my excited state; but, oddly enough, others stand out bright and clear as if lit-up by the blaze, and there were moments when the silent burning and the floating away of those waves of light beyond the busy black and gold figures at the cabin-window seemed to be part of some strange dream.All at once, as the men were hurrying to and fro, one of the spirit-casks exploded so loudly that I saw them all dash for the windows. Then came another and another report in such quick succession, that it was almost like one. There was a tremendous burst of flame, which floated high up, and I felt that the masts must catch now, and then the cabin-lights stood cut clear without a figure visible; a burst of talking, and then a roar of laughter telling that all had safely reached the boats.The next minute the Frenchman’s voice came clearly to us as he ordered the men to mount again, and this was answered by a confused clamour.“You miserable gang of cowards!” shouted Jarette, sharply; and his words were so clear coming across the water that they might have been spoken a dozen yards away.“Why don’t you go up yourself?” cried one of the men, evidently from the next boat.“Because I order you,” he shouted.“And because you are afraid.”I did not catch what he said, but there was a little stir in one of the boats, and directly after I saw a figure appear at the window of Captain Berriman’s cabin and begin to climb in.“There he is,” whispered Bob Hampton. “Sarve him right if the boys rowed away and left him.”I was too much interested in the scene before me to pay much heed to Bob Hampton’s words, and sat watching Jarette, as he turned from the window and disappeared. Then, directly after, I heard him shout and shout again, something which sounded familiar, but I could not quite make it out even when I heard him calling again, but nobody in the boats seemed to stir.Bob Hampton grasped the fact though, for he laid his hand on my knee, and whispered excitedly—“Why, Mr Dale, sir, he’s gone up to fetch Mr and Miss Denning, and he can’t find ’em.”To endorse his words Jarette appeared the next minute at the stern-windows and cried—“Did any of you see those passengers?” There was of course a chorus of Noes, and the man ran back again shouting Mr Denning’s name, and we could hear the banging of cabin-doors. Then I saw the man’s shadow as he came back into the captain’s cabin to fetch the lamp, with which he went back, and, as I judged, ran from cabin to cabin. The next minute he appeared upon the poop-deck, his figure thrown up by the light and plainly seen as he ran here and there, and then disappeared, to be seen at the stern-window.“They’re nowhere about,” he cried.“How rum now, aren’t it?” muttered Bob Hampton. “Now I do call that strange.”“Didn’t either of you see them?” shouted Jarette.“No.”“Did you go into their cabin?”“No, no.”“They must be somewhere.”“All right then,” shouted a voice. “You go and find ’em. We’re off.”Jarette was back at the window in an instant.“Stop!” he cried, in his clear sharp voice.“Pull away, my lads, we’ve had enough of this,” cried the same voice. “We don’t want to be blowed to bits.”We heard every word clearly, and the hurried splashing of the oars.“I told you to stop,” cried Jarette, authoritatively.“Pull, lads! She’ll bust up directly, and suck us down. Pull!”“Stop!” roared Jarette again, as the oars, splashed rapidly, and the boats’ heads both appeared in the light, as they left the ship.“Why, we shall have to save him ourselves,” I thought in horror, as something seemed to rise in my throat, so enraged was I with the cowardly crew.There was a sharp report, a wild cry, and a man who was standing upright in the bows of the first boat toppled over and fell into the sea with a splash of golden water.The men ceased rowing.“One,” cried Jarette sharply. “I can hit eleven more without reloading, for I never miss. There, go on, my lads. I don’t ask you to come back.”A low murmuring sound arose, and we saw that instead of the boats going on forward they were returning into the shadow once again, as Jarette shouted aloud mockingly—“One less to row. Why didn’t you pick him up?”Again the low murmuring growl arose, and my mouth felt hot and dry, as with eager eyes I vainly searched the surface of the water, just where there was the plain demarcation between black shadow and the golden light.“The wretch!” I thought. “Why don’t they rise against him?” But a fresh current of thought arose, and in a confused way I could not help thinking that it was fair retaliation. The man who had been shot and fell into the sea was evidently the one who had incited the two boats’ crews to leave Jarette to a horrible death. Was he not justified in what he did?Then as with a strange contraction at my heart I realised the fact that Jarette’s victim had not risen to struggle on the surface of the water, I could not help feeling what power that man had over his companions, and what a leader he might have proved had he devoted himself to some good cause.By this time the boats were right under the stern, and as I watched the lighted-up window one moment, the glistening, motionless water the next, I saw Jarette climb out, rope in hand, and glide down into the darkness.“How horrible!” I thought, as the cold perspiration gathered on my face—“only a minute or two, and one of these men living, the next—dead.”And then I leaped up in the boat and fell back, for from the ship a terrific rush of flame sprang up skyward, mounting higher and higher, far above the tops of the masts as it appeared to me; and then, as the fire curved over in every direction, there was a terrible concussion, and all instantaneously a short sharp roar as of one tremendous clap of thunder, cut short before it had had time to roll.
As we lay there in our boat, only a short distance from the burning ship, it seemed to me impossible that it could be long before Jarette and his men discovered us, and came in pursuit. For I felt sure that they would give us the credit of having been beforehand with them, when they saw how the stores had been put under contribution; and knowing how much more easy it would be for them to remove the things from one boat to another than to obtain them from the ship, we should, if overtaken, be absolutely stripped. Something to this effect I whispered to Bob Hampton, but he shook his head.
“Not they, my lad; they’re in too much of a scare. Don’t suppose they’ve got any room in their heads to think about anything just now. They know fast enough that the poor old ship will soon blow up, and what they want to do is to get some more prog, and then row off soon as they can.”
I was going to say more, but I had a warning from the mate to be silent, and I sat there watching the men make a good many tries before they reached the cabin-window; but how they did it at last I couldn’t quite make out, for they were in the shadow, while all around them spread the lurid glare cast by the flames which rose from the burning hold.
These seemed to have reached their greatest height soon after the fire first broke out, and directly the first cask of spirits had burst. Then the fire went steadily on till it began to wane slightly, when another cask would explode, and flames rush up again—those great waves of fire which lapped and leaped, and floated up out of the hold, appearing from where we lay to lick the sails hanging from the fore and main-masts. But these never caught, the golden and bluish waves rising steadily and spreading to starboard and port, and every now and then sending out detached waves to float on the black night air for a moment or two before they died out.
It was very terrible and yet beautiful to see the great bursts of flame gliding up so softly and silently, almost without a sound; there was every mast and stay glistening in the light, and the sails that were hanging from the yards transparent, or half darkened on the main and mizzen-masts, while those on the fore-mast beyond the fire shone like gold.
I wondered how it was that the sides of the deck did not begin to burn, crackling, splitting, and sending up clouds of black smoke dotted with brilliant sparks, as I had once seen at the burning of a coal brig in Falmouth harbour; but they did not, and the utter stillness of the night, in that hot calm, which had on and off lasted for days, had so far saved the masts.
But as I watched, I felt that their turn must come, and that sooner or later I should be watching them turned into pyramids—all brilliant glow—till they fell with a crash, hissing and steaming, into the sea.
I pictured all that clearly enough in my mind’s eye, feeling in my expectancy a sensation of awe as the conflagration went on—this gradual burning of the spirits in the casks, which kept on exploding one by one with a singular regularity.
And all the time, as I watched, there in the shadow at the stern were the crew, busily throwing out such stores and necessaries as they could find.
I said that I could not tell how they managed to reach the cabin-window, but I suppose they spliced two oars together, and leaned them pole-like from the boat up toward the cabin-lights, and then one of the most active must have climbed.
There was a great deal of shouting and talking, and the light in the cabin enabled us to see them going and coming to the window loaded, and heaving things down.
By-and-by another boat came into sight, gliding along over the golden water, and we could see the faces of the men shining in the light as they gazed at the burning ship, and every now and then we could make out all they said, Jarette’s abuse and orders being quite distinct as they worked more busily than ever. But still they did not see us, though whenever they stirred we could plainly make out their actions, and at times even could distinguish the objects that were brought to the window and thrown down.
This was more especially the case after the second boat had come from forward, for several more men had ascended by the rope they had lowered, and the second cabin-door was opened, so that both the stern-windows were now illuminated; and as the bigger waves of light floated upward, every now and then quite a glare struck through the companion-way, lighting up the saloon, showing the men hurrying here and there, and then making for the windows to throw something down to their companions in the boats.
All at once I felt a hot breath on my cheek, and then Bob Hampton’s lips close to my ear.
“They’re a-getting a whole jorum o’ things, my lad, as won’t be much use to ’em. I’d rather have a cask o’ fresh water than one o’ them boat-loads o’ odds and ends.”
I nodded and watched for a time, and then turned to look aft at the faces of my companions, all intent upon the strange scene before them, wondering why Mr Brymer did not give orders for the men to row away before we were discovered.
But he did not open his lips, and by degrees the reason came. For no doubt the slightest splash of an oar would have made the water flash, and drawn Jarette’s attention to us where we lay at the edge of the circle of light shed by the burning ship.
I can give no account of the time occupied by the various events of that night, for some things are strangely jumbled up in my mind consequent upon my excited state; but, oddly enough, others stand out bright and clear as if lit-up by the blaze, and there were moments when the silent burning and the floating away of those waves of light beyond the busy black and gold figures at the cabin-window seemed to be part of some strange dream.
All at once, as the men were hurrying to and fro, one of the spirit-casks exploded so loudly that I saw them all dash for the windows. Then came another and another report in such quick succession, that it was almost like one. There was a tremendous burst of flame, which floated high up, and I felt that the masts must catch now, and then the cabin-lights stood cut clear without a figure visible; a burst of talking, and then a roar of laughter telling that all had safely reached the boats.
The next minute the Frenchman’s voice came clearly to us as he ordered the men to mount again, and this was answered by a confused clamour.
“You miserable gang of cowards!” shouted Jarette, sharply; and his words were so clear coming across the water that they might have been spoken a dozen yards away.
“Why don’t you go up yourself?” cried one of the men, evidently from the next boat.
“Because I order you,” he shouted.
“And because you are afraid.”
I did not catch what he said, but there was a little stir in one of the boats, and directly after I saw a figure appear at the window of Captain Berriman’s cabin and begin to climb in.
“There he is,” whispered Bob Hampton. “Sarve him right if the boys rowed away and left him.”
I was too much interested in the scene before me to pay much heed to Bob Hampton’s words, and sat watching Jarette, as he turned from the window and disappeared. Then, directly after, I heard him shout and shout again, something which sounded familiar, but I could not quite make it out even when I heard him calling again, but nobody in the boats seemed to stir.
Bob Hampton grasped the fact though, for he laid his hand on my knee, and whispered excitedly—
“Why, Mr Dale, sir, he’s gone up to fetch Mr and Miss Denning, and he can’t find ’em.”
To endorse his words Jarette appeared the next minute at the stern-windows and cried—
“Did any of you see those passengers?” There was of course a chorus of Noes, and the man ran back again shouting Mr Denning’s name, and we could hear the banging of cabin-doors. Then I saw the man’s shadow as he came back into the captain’s cabin to fetch the lamp, with which he went back, and, as I judged, ran from cabin to cabin. The next minute he appeared upon the poop-deck, his figure thrown up by the light and plainly seen as he ran here and there, and then disappeared, to be seen at the stern-window.
“They’re nowhere about,” he cried.
“How rum now, aren’t it?” muttered Bob Hampton. “Now I do call that strange.”
“Didn’t either of you see them?” shouted Jarette.
“No.”
“Did you go into their cabin?”
“No, no.”
“They must be somewhere.”
“All right then,” shouted a voice. “You go and find ’em. We’re off.”
Jarette was back at the window in an instant.
“Stop!” he cried, in his clear sharp voice.
“Pull away, my lads, we’ve had enough of this,” cried the same voice. “We don’t want to be blowed to bits.”
We heard every word clearly, and the hurried splashing of the oars.
“I told you to stop,” cried Jarette, authoritatively.
“Pull, lads! She’ll bust up directly, and suck us down. Pull!”
“Stop!” roared Jarette again, as the oars, splashed rapidly, and the boats’ heads both appeared in the light, as they left the ship.
“Why, we shall have to save him ourselves,” I thought in horror, as something seemed to rise in my throat, so enraged was I with the cowardly crew.
There was a sharp report, a wild cry, and a man who was standing upright in the bows of the first boat toppled over and fell into the sea with a splash of golden water.
The men ceased rowing.
“One,” cried Jarette sharply. “I can hit eleven more without reloading, for I never miss. There, go on, my lads. I don’t ask you to come back.”
A low murmuring sound arose, and we saw that instead of the boats going on forward they were returning into the shadow once again, as Jarette shouted aloud mockingly—
“One less to row. Why didn’t you pick him up?”
Again the low murmuring growl arose, and my mouth felt hot and dry, as with eager eyes I vainly searched the surface of the water, just where there was the plain demarcation between black shadow and the golden light.
“The wretch!” I thought. “Why don’t they rise against him?” But a fresh current of thought arose, and in a confused way I could not help thinking that it was fair retaliation. The man who had been shot and fell into the sea was evidently the one who had incited the two boats’ crews to leave Jarette to a horrible death. Was he not justified in what he did?
Then as with a strange contraction at my heart I realised the fact that Jarette’s victim had not risen to struggle on the surface of the water, I could not help feeling what power that man had over his companions, and what a leader he might have proved had he devoted himself to some good cause.
By this time the boats were right under the stern, and as I watched the lighted-up window one moment, the glistening, motionless water the next, I saw Jarette climb out, rope in hand, and glide down into the darkness.
“How horrible!” I thought, as the cold perspiration gathered on my face—“only a minute or two, and one of these men living, the next—dead.”
And then I leaped up in the boat and fell back, for from the ship a terrific rush of flame sprang up skyward, mounting higher and higher, far above the tops of the masts as it appeared to me; and then, as the fire curved over in every direction, there was a terrible concussion, and all instantaneously a short sharp roar as of one tremendous clap of thunder, cut short before it had had time to roll.