A Pirate of the Caribbees, Page 2

  CHAPTER TWO.

  THE ALTHEA FOUNDERS.

  The French having ceased firing, and manifesting an unmistakable anxietyto withdraw from our proximity, we bestowed but little further attentionon them, for it quickly became clear to us that our own condition wasquite sufficiently serious to tax our energies to the utmost. The firsttask demanding the attention of the carpenter and his mates was ofcourse the stoppage of our leaks, and a very difficult task indeed itproved to be, owing to the rapidity with which the water was rising inthe hold; by manning the pumps, however, and employing the entireavailable remainder of the crew in baling, we succeeded in plugging allthe shot-holes and clearing the hold of water by noon, when the men wereknocked off to go to their well-earned dinner. Then, indeed, we foundtime to look around us and to ask ourselves and each other where theFrench were and what they were doing. There was no difficulty infurnishing a reply to either question, for our antagonists were only abare four miles off, and close together. But bad as our own plight was,theirs was very much worse; for we now saw that the frigate which we hadraked so unmercifully was in a sinking condition, having settled so lowin the water indeed that the sills of her main-deck ports were awash anddipping with every sluggish heave of her upon the low and almostimperceptible swell, while her own boats and those of her consort werebusily engaged in taking off her crew. With the aid of my telescope Icould distinctly see all that was going on, and I saw also that the endof the gallant craft was so near as to render her disappearance a matterof but a few minutes. Hungry, therefore, as I was, I determined toremain on deck and see the last of her. Nor had I long to wait; I hadscarcely arrived at the decision that I would do so, when, as I watchedher through my glass, I saw the boats that hung around her shoving offhurriedly one after the other, until one only remained. Presently thatone also shoved off, and, loaded down to her gunwale, pulled, as hastilyas her overloaded condition would permit, toward the other frigate. Shehad scarcely placed half a dozen fathoms between herself and the sinkingship before the latter rolled heavily to port, slowly recovered herself,and then rolled still more heavily to starboard, completely burying thewhole tier of her starboard ports as she did so. She hung thus forperhaps half a minute, settling visibly all the time; finally she_staggered_, as it were, once more to an even keel, but with her sterndipping deeper and deeper every second until her taffrail was buried,while her battered bows lifted slowly into the air, when, theinclination of her decks rapidly growing steeper, she suddenly took asternward plunge and vanished from sight in the midst of a sudden swirlof water that was distinctly visible through the lenses of thetelescope. The occupants of the boat that had so recently left her sawtheir danger and put forth herculean efforts to avoid it; they were toonear, however, to escape, and despite all their exertions the boat wascaught and dragged back into the vortex created by the sinking ship,into which she too disappeared. But a few seconds afterwards I sawheads popping up above the water again, here and there, while a coupleof boats that had just discharged their cargo of passengers dashed awayto the rescue and were soon paddling hither and thither among the littleblack spots that kept popping into view all round them. I waited untilall had seemingly been picked up, and then went below to secure whatdinner might be remaining for me.

  When, after a hurried meal, I again went on deck, the horizon away tothe northward and eastward was darkening to a light air from thatquarter, that came gently stealing along the glassy surface of theocean, first in cat's-paws, then as a gentle breathing that caused thepolished undulations to break into a tremor of laughing ripples, andfinally into a light breeze, before which the surviving French frigatebore up with squared yards, leaving us unmolested.

  Meanwhile the crew, having dined, turned to again for a busy afternoon'swork, which consisted chiefly in clearing away the wreck of our fallenspars, and saving as many of them and as much of our canvas and runninggear as would be likely to be of use to us in fitting the ship with ajury-rig. And so well did the men work, that by sunset we were enabledto cut adrift from the wreck of our lower masts, and to bear up in thewake of the Frenchman, who by this time had run us out of sight in thesouth-western quarter.

  But, tired as the men were, there was no rest for them that night, forit was felt to be imperatively necessary to get the ship under canvasagain without a moment's delay; moreover, despite the fact that theshot-holes had all been plugged, it was found that the battered hull wasstill leaking so seriously as to necessitate a quarter of an hour'sspell at the pumps every two hours. The hands were therefore kept atwork, watch and watch, all through the night, with the result that whenday broke next morning we had a pair of sheers rigged and on end, readyto rear into position the spars that had been prepared and fitted aslower masts. The end of that day found us once more under sail, after afashion, and heading on our course to the southward and westward.

  For the following two days all went well with us, save that the shipcontinued to make water so freely as to necessitate the use of the pumpsat the middle and end of every watch, a fair breeze driving us alongunder our jury-canvas at the rate of five to six knots per hour. Towardevening, however, on the second day, signs of a change of weather beganto manifest themselves, the sky to windward losing its rich tint of blueand becoming pallid and hard, streaked with mares' tails and fleckedwith small, smoky-looking, swift-flying clouds, while the setting sun,as he neared the horizon, lost his radiance and became a mere shapelessblotch of angry red that finally seemed to dissolve and disappear in abroad bank of slate-hued vapour. The sea too changed its colour, fromthe clear steel-blue that it had hitherto worn to the hue of indigosmirched with black. Moreover, I heard the captain remark to Mr Dawsonthat the mercury was falling and that he feared we were in for a dirtynight.

  And, indeed, so it seemed; for about the middle of the second dog-watchthe wind lulled perceptibly and we had a sharp rain-squall, soon afterwhich it breezed up again, the wind coming first of all in gusts andthen in a strong breeze that, as the night wore on, steadily increaseduntil it was blowing half a gale, with every indication of worse tocome. The sea, too, rose rapidly, and came rushing down upon ourstarboard quarter, high, steep, and foam-crested, causing the frigate toroll and tumble about most unpleasantly under her jury-rig and shortcanvas. Altogether, the prospects for the night were so exceedinglyunpromising that I must plead guilty to having experienced a selfish joyat the reflection that it was my eight hours in.

  When I went on deck at midnight that night, I found that the wind hadincreased to a whole gale, with a very high and confused sea running,over which the poor maimed _Althea_ was wallowing along at a speed ofabout eight and a half knots, with a dismal groaning of timbers thatharmonised lugubriously with the clank of the chain pumps and the swashof water washing nearly knee-deep about the decks--for the hookerlaboured so heavily that she was leaking like a basket, necessitatingthe unremitting use of the pumps throughout the watch. And--worst ofall--Keene whispered to me that, even with the pumps going constantly,the water was slowly but distinctly gaining. And thus it continued allthrough the middle watch.

  It was hoped that the gale would not be of long duration, but at eightbells next morning the news was that the mercury was still falling,while the wind, instead of evincing a disposition to moderate, blewharder than ever. And oh, what a dreary outlook it was when, swathed inoilskins, I passed through the hatchway and stepped out on deck! Thesky was entirely veiled by an unbroken mass of dark, purplish, slate-coloured cloud that was almost black in its deeper shadows, with long,tattered streamers of dirty whitish vapour scurrying wildly athwart it;a heavy, leaden-hued, white-crested, foam-flecked sea was running, andin the midst of the picture was the poor crippled frigate, rolling andlabouring and staggering onward like a wounded sea-bird under her jury-spars and spray-darkened canvas, with a miniature ocean washing hitherand thither athwart her heaving deck, and a crowd of panting, straining,half-naked men clustering about her pumps, while others were as busilyemployed in passing buckets up and do
wn through the hatchways; the wholeset to the dismal harmony of howling wind, hissing spray, the wearisomeand incessant wash of water, and the groaning and complaining sounds ofthe labouring hull. The skipper and the first luff were pacing theweather side of the poop together in earnest converse, and at each turnin their walk they both paused for an instant, as by mutual consent, tocast a look of anxious inquiry to windward.

  Presently I saw the carpenter coming along the deck with the sounding-rod in his hand. I intercepted him just by the foot of the poop ladderand remarked--

  "Well, Chips, what is the best news you have to tell us?"

  "The best news?" echoed Chips, with a solemn shake of the head; "thereain't _no_ best, Mr Courtenay, it's all worst, sir; there's over fourfoot of water in the hold now, and it's gainin' on us at the rate offive inches an hour; and if this here gale don't break pretty quick Iwon't answer for the consequences!"

  And up he went to make his report to the skipper.

  This was bad news indeed, especially for the unfortunate men who werecompelled by dire necessity to toil unceasingly at the back-breakinglabour of working the pumps; but I felt no apprehension as to ourultimate safety. Five inches of water per hour was a formidable gainfor a leak to make in spite of all the pumping and baling that could beaccomplished, yet it would take so many hours at that rate to reduce thefrigate to a water-logged condition that ere the arrival of that momentthe gale would certainly blow itself out, the labouring and straining ofthe ship would cease, the leak would be got under control again, and allwould be well.

  But when, at noon that day,--the gale showing no symptoms whatever ofabatement,--the captain gave orders for the upper-deck guns to belaunched overboard, I began to realise that our condition was such asmight easily become critical. And when, about half an hour beforesunset, orders were given to throw the _main-deck_ guns overboard, itbecame borne in upon me that matters were becoming mighty serious withus.

  With the approach of night the gale seemed rather to increase instrength than otherwise, while the sea was certainly considerablyheavier; and the worst of it was that there was no indication of anapproaching change for the better. As for the poor _Althea_, shecertainly did not labour quite so heavily now that she was relieved ofthe weight of her guns, but the water in the hold still gained steadilyupon the pumps, and the more experienced hands among us were beginningto hint at the possibility of our being compelled to leave her and taketo the boats. And these hints received something of confirmation when,shortly after the commencement of the first watch, the carpenter and hismates were seen going the rounds of the boats and examining into theircondition with the aid of lanterns. Nevertheless, and despite theseomens, the men stuck resolutely to the pumps and the baling all throughthe night, the captain and the first lieutenant animating andencouraging them by their presence throughout the long, dismal, drearyhours of darkness.

  About three bells in the morning watch the welcome news spreadthroughout the ship that the mercury had at length begun to rise again;and with the approach of dawn it became apparent that the gale wasbreaking, the sky to windward gave signs of clearing, and hope once moresprang up within our breasts. But the men, although still willing andeven eager to continue the heart-breaking work of pumping and baling,were by this time utterly worn out; the water in the hold steadily andrelentlessly gained upon them, despite their most desperate efforts, andby the arrival of breakfast-time it had become perfectly apparent toeverybody that the poor old _Althea_ was a doomed ship!

  If, however, there was any doubt as to this in the minds of any of us,it was quickly dispelled, for after breakfast the order was passed toknock off baling; and the men thus relieved were at once set to workunder the first and second lieutenants, the one party to prepare a seaanchor, and the other to attend to the provisioning of the boats and getthem ready for launching. I was attached to the first lieutenant'sparty, or that which undertook the preparation of the sea anchor; and asthe idea impressed me as being rather ingenious, I will describe it forthe benefit of those who may feel interested in such matters, prefacingmy description with the explanation that, in consequence of thespringing up of the gale so soon after our action with the Frenchmen,our jury-rig was of a very primitive and incomplete character, such aswould enable us to run fairly well before the wind, but not such aswould permit of our lying-to; hence the need for a sea anchor, now thatthe necessity had arisen for us to launch our boats in heavy weather.

  The sea anchor was the offspring of the first lieutenant'sinventiveness, and it consisted of an old fore-topsail bent to a coupleof booms of suitable length and stoutness. The head of the sail wasbent to one of the booms with seizings, in much the same manner as itwould have been bent to a topsail yard, while the clews were securelylashed to the extremities of the other boom. Then to the boom whichrepresented the topsail yard was attached, a crow-foot made of two spansof stout hawser, having an eye in the centre of them to which to bendthe cable. The lower boom was well weighted by the attachment to it ofa number of pigs of iron ballast, as well as our stream anchor; afterwhich the starboard cable was paid out and passed along aft, outside thefore rigging, the end being then brought inboard and bent on to thecrow-foot. The whole was then made up as compactly as possible withlashings, after which, by means of tackles aloft, it was hoisted clearof the bulwarks and lowered down over the side; the lashings were thencut and the sail dropped into the water, opening out as it did so, when,the lower boom sinking with the weight attached to it, a broad surfacewas exposed, acting as a very efficient sea anchor. At the moment wheneverything was ready to let go, the ship's helm was put hard over,bringing her broad-side-on to the sea, when, as she drove away toleeward, she brought a strain upon her cable that at once fetched her uphead to wind. This part of the process having been successfullyaccomplished, it was an easy matter to bend a spring on to the cable andheave the ship round broadside-on to the sea once more, in whichposition she afforded an excellent lee under the shelter of which tolaunch our boats, which, but for this contrivance, must have inevitablybeen swamped.

  By the time that all this was done the boats were ready for launching,and the captain gave orders for this to be at once proceeded with,beginning with the launch; this being the heaviest boat in the ship, andthe most difficult to get into the water. I felt exceedingly doubtfulas to the ability of our jury-spars to support the weight of so heavy acraft, but, by staying them well, the delicate task was at lengthsuccessfully accomplished, when the worst cases among the wounded werebrought on deck and carefully lowered over the side into the boatbeneath, the doctor, with his instruments and medicine-chest, beingalready there to receive them. And as soon as she had received hercomplement, the launch was veered away to leeward at the end of a longline--but still under the shelter of the ship's hull--to make room forthe first cutter. The rest of the boats followed in succession--the menpreserving to the very last moment the most admirable order anddiscipline--until only the captain's gig, of which I was placed incommand, remained. The proper complement of this boat was six men, inaddition to the coxswain; but in order that the wounded--who were placedin the launch and the first and second cutters--might be as littlecrowded as possible, the remainder of the boats received rather morethan their full complement, in consequence of which my crew numberedten, all told, instead of seven. We were the last boat to leave theship, the skipper having gone below to his cabin for some purpose at thelast minute; and I assure you that, the bustle and excitement of gettingthe men out of the ship being now all over, I found it rather nervousand trying work to stand there in the gangway, waiting for thereappearance of the captain on deck. For the ship was by this time in asinking condition and liable to go down under our feet at any moment,having settled so low in the water that she rolled her closed main-deckports completely under with every sickly lurch of her upon the stillheavy sea that was now continuously breaking over her, while the watercould be distinctly heard washing about down below.

  At length the skipper came out of hi
s cabin, bearing in his hand a largejapanned tin box.

  "Jump down, Mr Courtenay, and stand by to take this box from me," hecried; and down the side I went, needing no second bidding. The box wascarefully passed down to me, and I stowed it away in the stern-sheets.When I had done so, and looked up at the ship, Captain Harrison wasstanding in the gangway with his hat in his hand, looking wistfully andsorrowfully along the deserted decks and aloft at the jury-spars that,with their rigging, so pathetically expressed the idea of a mortallywounded creature gallantly but hopelessly struggling against the deaththat was inexorably drawing near. Some such fancy perhaps suggesteditself to him, for I distinctly saw him dash his hand across his eyesmore than once. At length he turned, descended the side-ladder, and,watching his opportunity, sprang lightly into the boat.

  "Shove off, Mr Courtenay!" he ordered, as he wrapped himself in hisboat cloak.

  "Shove off!" I reiterated in turn, and forthwith away we went, the mennothing loath, as I could clearly see, for the ship was now liable tofounder at any moment; indeed the wonder to me was that she remainedafloat so long, for she had by this time sunk so deep that her channelswere completely buried, only showing when she rolled heavily away fromus. Poor old barkie! what a desolate and forlorn object she looked aswe pulled away from her, with little more than her bulwarks showingabove water, with the seas making a clean breach over her bowscontinually, as she rolled and plunged with sickening sluggishness tothe great ridges of steel-grey water that incessantly swooped down uponher and into which her bows, pinned down by the weight of water withinher hull, occasionally bored, as though, tired of the hopeless strugglefor existence, she had at length summoned resolution to take the finalplunge and so end it all. Again and again I thought she was gone, butagain and yet again she emerged wearily and heavily out of the delugesof water that sought to overwhelm her; but at length an unusually heavysea caught her with her bows pinned down after a plunge into the trough;clear, green, and unbroken it brimmed to her figure-head and poured in afoaming cataract over her bows, sweeping the whole length of her fromstem to stern until her hull was completely buried. As the wave lefther it was seen that her bows were still submerged, and a moment laterit became apparent that the end had come and she was taking her finalplunge.

  "There she goes!" shouted one of the men; and as the fellow uttered thewords the captain rose to his feet in the stern-sheets and doffed hishat, as though he had been standing beside the grave of a dear friend,watching the dear old barkie as, with her stern gradually rising high,she slid slowly and solemnly out of sight, the occupants of the boatsgiving her a parting cheer as she vanished. The captain stoodmotionless until the swirl that marked her grave had disappeared, thenhe replaced his hat, resumed his seat, and remarked--

  "Give way, men! Mr Courtenay, be good enough to put me aboard thelaunch, if you please."