Chapter 9. Saved And Wrecked

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_ CHAPTER NINE. SAVED AND WRECKED

Well might the unhappy fugitives have despaired. The larger portion of their provisions had been washed overboard; the remainder were almost exhausted; their boat was battered and leaky, the seamen were apparently dying, and unable to determine in what direction to seek for land. For weeks they might sail on and not find it. Still the missionary and his companions placed their trust in Him who is able to save them.

A light breeze once more sent the boat through the water. They were gliding on when Harry observed that old Tom's eye was intently gazing towards the south-west, yet he did not speak. Harry looked in the same direction.

"What do you see, lad?" asked old Tom.

Harry rubbed his eyes.

"Yes, it is. A sail! a sail!" he exclaimed.

"I thought so, but feared that my hopes might have deceived me," said old Tom. "She is standing this way, and is close-hauled."

The boat was steered so as to intercept the stranger. Harry kept his gaze fixed on her. She was evidently a whaler.

"Can she be the _Steadfast_?" exclaimed Dickey, who was also earnestly looking at her.

"I was in hopes that she might be," exclaimed Harry.

"The _Steadfast_ would be deeper in the water, and has a new cloth on her foretopsail, and that ship has not," observed old Tom.

"We should be thankful, whatever she is," said Mr Hart. "Let us return thanks to God for sending her to rescue us."

The men roused up on hearing that a ship was approaching, and managed even to get their oars out to pull alongside her.

As they drew near they saw clearly that she was not the _Steadfast_.

The stranger hove to. A person, whom they supposed to be the captain, asked whence they had come and what they wanted.

"We are escaping from savages, and entreat you to receive us on board, for we are almost starved," answered Mr Hart.

"You may come on deck, then," said the captain; but that was more than any one in the boat unassisted could do. Even old Tom, the strongest of the party, could not manage to clamber up the side. A ladder was therefore let down, and two seamen descending carried up Mrs Hart and then her husband. The boys followed, old Tom being the last to leave the boat, which was then hoisted up, but almost fell to pieces in the operation.

"You people have had a narrow escape," observed the captain, as he examined the boat. "You and your wife can have a cabin, though I am not fond of missionaries, I tell you," he observed, turning to Mr Hart. "The rest can manage to shift for'ard among the men."

"I shall be grateful for any accommodation you will afford my wife and me," said Mr Hart. "You see how much she requires attention;" and he pointed to his wife, who was seated on a hencoop almost fainting. "I would ask you, too, to allow those two young gentlemen to live in the cabin; one is a captain's son, the other an apprentice."

"Oh, they can shift for themselves well enough forward," answered the captain, gruffly. "We are bound for the Sandwich Islands, which I hope to make in the course of a couple of weeks, and we shall then part company, as you will then be able to find a vessel to carry you wherever you may wish to go. I cannot undertake charge of you for a longer time."

"All I can say is that we shall be grateful to you for preserving our lives; for I believe, humanly speaking, we should have perished before many days had elapsed," said Mr Hart. "I do not at present see how we can repay you, but if I have the power be assured I will gladly do so."

The crew, though rough in appearance and rough spoken, paid every attention in their power to old Tom and his companions, and put them into their berths, where they all in a few minutes fell fast asleep.

Next day Harry and Bass, having somewhat recovered, crawled on deck. They learned that the ship was the _Swordfish_; that Captain Boucher, the master, was an odd-tempered man, and that, as she had been out more than a year and caught but few whales, and had of late had nothing but ill-luck, he was in an especial bad humour. The captain was walking up and down, abusing the officers, who behaved in the same way towards the men, while the latter growled in return and performed their work in a sulky way.

Harry was afraid that poor Mr and Mrs Hart would be neglected, and, waiting till the captain was quiet, humbly asked leave to be allowed to go down and pay them a visit.

"What do you want with them?" asked the captain.

"They are my friends," said Harry, "and I wish to see if they require anything."

"If you go below you shall wait upon them and on me too, youngster. My cabin-boy fell overboard the other day, and I want another."

"While I remain on board I will do as you wish," answered Harry, glad to have the means of being of service to his friends.

He found them in a small cabin--poor Mrs Hart still very weak and ill, and Mr Hart seated by her side, though much requiring rest himself.

One of the men who had taken in the captain's breakfast had brought them some, but they had received no other attention, while they had heard the captain abusing missionaries as a useless, idle set who never did any good.

Harry set about the duty he had undertaken with alacrity, though for some days he had great difficulty in moving about. He said nothing when the captain abused him as an idle young dog, but did his best to do as he was required. He spread the table as he had seen it arranged on board the _Steadfast_, and tried to keep the cabin in good order. He was constant in his attendance on Mr and Mrs Hart, though he had often a difficulty in obtaining proper food for them from the cook.

Dickey was anxious to assist him, and proposed to ask the captain's leave.

"I am sure he would not grant it," said Harry; "he would only say that one boy is more than enough, and that we should be playing tricks together."

Harry could not help acknowledging that he had an uncomfortable life of it; but he willingly bore all the captain's abuse for the sake of his friends, and his chief consolation was to remain in their cabin and to listen to Mr Hart's conversation. The captain, however, who at length one day found he was there, ordered him on deck.

"What are you and that man plotting about?" he asked, abusing him as an idle young dog. "I'll give you work to do;" and Harry was sent to assist Bass in blacking down the rigging.

After that the captain kept him constantly employed in the dirtiest work about the ship.

Harry bore this treatment without murmuring.

"I only wish that the voyage was over," he remarked to Bass. "Still, whatever he does, we should be thankful to him for saving our lives."

"I am not so certain that he will let us go free, even when we reach the Sandwich Islands," answered Bass. "The men say he will swear we are apprentices, and keep us on board."

"Don't let him suppose that you think so. If we have our wits about us we may make our escape," said Harry.

Day after day the wind continued light, and the voyage was prolonged. The captain treated the boys in the same tyrannical way as at first. Harry could only exchange a few words with his friends when he took them their meals; he was thankful that the captain had not deprived him of the opportunity of doing so.

"It is our duty, my dear Harry, to bear with ill-treatment," observed Mr Hart. "It is hard to do so, but let us pray for grace, and we shall not seek it in vain."

At length the Island of Oahu, in which the capital Honolulu is situated, was sighted. As the ship approached the harbour, and Harry and Bass were congratulating themselves that their emancipation drew near, the captain ordered them to go down into the cabin. When there they found themselves suddenly seized by two of the mates, who thrust them into a small side cabin.

"You will remain there; and take care that you make no noise," said one of the mates. "When we are at sea again you will be let out." The poor boys expostulated in vain. The door was locked upon them, and they were left in almost total darkness.

"I told you so," said Bass. "I was sure he meant us mischief."

"I am very sure that Mr Hart will make every effort to obtain our release," observed Harry. "So will old Tom; and I should think the captain would scarcely venture to detain him."

In a short time they heard the anchor let go, and they knew that the ship had entered the harbour. They waited in the hope that Mr Hart would discover where they were and come at least to speak to them, but night came on and they were left alone. They had to coil themselves up and go to sleep.

Next morning the first mate opened the door and put in some breakfast, saying that it would be worse for them if they made any noise.

Several days passed by and they were thus kept in durance. They heard at different times voices in the cabin; but not knowing who the speakers were, they were afraid of crying out. At last they knew by the movements of the ship that she was once more under way; and shortly afterwards the mate came to the door and told them that they might go on deck to attend to their duty. Greatly to their satisfaction, they saw old Tom. He made a sign to them not to speak to him and turned away.

They waited till it was dark. He then came up to them as they were standing together.

"I discovered that the captain had shut you up," he said; "and I did all I could to get him to allow you to go on shore, but he said that he had a right to detain you, and I of course would not leave the ship without you. We must therefore watch for an opportunity of getting on shore at some place where English authority is established, and we can make complaints of the way you have been treated."

"I would rather land among savages than remain on board," said Harry.

"And so would I," exclaimed Bass. "And if you will come with us we will try to escape at the first place we touch at."

"We must learn what sort of a place it is first," said old Tom, "or we may be worse off than we are on board."

"We will talk about that by-and-by," said Harry. "I am very anxious to know what has become of Mr and Mrs Hart."

"I am thankful to say they are among friends," answered old Tom. "Missionaries have been for some time settled in these islands, and the king and a considerable number of his people have become Christians. Mr Hart did not forget you either, and he came on board to try and learn what had become of you. The captain must have deceived him, and persuaded him that you were no longer in the ship. He was coming off again just as we were getting under way, and the captain would not then allow him to come up the side."

"I am thankful, at all events, to hear that our friends are safe," said Harry; "and we must try to make the best of it."

"That's a wise resolution, Harry," said Tom. "Even though the captain should continue to ill-treat you, behave as you have hitherto done, and even his hard heart may be softened. However, we must not be found talking together, so now go and turn into your berths, and try and get a better night's rest than you could have had in that close cabin."

Harry and Bass followed old Tom's advice; and next morning when they came on deck they found that the ship was off the magnificent coast of the large island of Hawaii, with the two lofty mountains, Mouna Kea and Mouna Roa, rising far off.

The weather looked threatening, and in a short time a heavy gale began to blow. The wind increased in fury till it became a perfect hurricane. The sails were closely reefed. The captain endeavoured to beat out to sea, as there was no port under his lee into which he could run. Notwithstanding all the efforts made to keep off the land, the ship drove closer and closer to it. A terrific line of breakers could be seen dashing on the shore. Should the ship be driven among them, her destruction would be certain; and there was little hope of an anchor a holding to save her from her impending fate. To avoid this, sail was kept on the ship, though, under any other circumstances, with an open sea before her, she would have been running under bare poles.

Harry and Bass were standing together.

"What do you think of it, Tom?" asked Harry, as the old man came up to them.

"Badly enough, as far as this world is concerned," answered old Tom. "Happy are those who are prepared to enter another world, as I know you are, and I hope Mr Bass is too. He who died for us is ready to welcome us there, if we are trusting to Him alone down here, and not to our own strength and doings, however good our fellow-men may think us. That's my comfort, whatever happens, though for your sakes, and that of the poor fellows aboard, I pray we may escape. I cannot say, however, that I see much prospect of it. If the worst comes, do you boys stick by me, and I will do my best to save your lives."

The ship drifted nearer and nearer the shore. The captain and mates, hardy and bold as they were, looked pale and anxious, now gazing up at the bending masts, now at the shore under their lee.

"If we get a slant of wind we may do it yet," said the captain.

"But if not?" observed the first mate.

"We must let go our anchors, and cut away the masts. There is nothing else to be done," was the answer.

The hoped-for change of wind did not come.

"Let go the best bower," shouted the captain. "Stand by with the axes."

The order was obeyed. The ship for a moment rode head to wind. At the same instant the men, with gleaming axes in their hands, were seen cutting away at the masts.

Tom led his young friends under shelter of the poop deck.

Down came the masts with a crash. Not a hundred fathoms astern the sea in wild masses was breaking furiously. The next instant the anchor parted; another was let go, but it scarcely held for a moment; and then the ship drove broadside into the midst of the wild, raging tumult of waters. Now she rose for a moment on the summit of a huge wave, now borne onwards she sank into a hollow between the waves. The next sea swept her decks, carrying many of the hapless crew overboard, and washing away the caboose and a large portion of the bulwarks.

By Tom's advice Harry and Bass clung to a stanchion near which they had taken their post. Tom held on to another near them.

Another sea struck the devoted ship, and threw her with tremendous force on the coral rocks, crushing in her bottom and sides. Others of the crew were carried off as the seas continued to strike her. Now portions of her bows, now the remainder of her bulwarks, were swept away, while on each occasion the fearful crashing and rending of timbers showed that she was rapidly breaking up.

"What had we best do?" asked Bass.

"Hold on to the last," answered Harry; "perhaps the gale may abate, and we may yet reach the shore."

There seemed, however, but little hope of their doing this. Every instant larger portions of the wreck were carried away. It was evident that in a short time she would break up completely. Tom handed to each of the boys a length of rope.

"Make yourselves fast to any piece of timber you can get hold of," he said; "it will give you the best chance of safety."

Few of the people had by this time escaped, and every sea which broke over the wreck carried one or more away.

At length another tremendous sea came rolling towards them. A fearful crash followed. Harry and Bass found themselves floating together amid the boiling waters, with pieces of wreck tossed to and fro near them, a blow from which would have proved fatal, but not one struck them. Not far off they caught sight of Tom clinging to a portion of the poop deck. A sea carried them towards him. He hauled them up, and they made themselves fast to some ring-bolts. Though the seas washed over them, and they felt as if the breath would be knocked out of their bodies, they were not carried off; and they found that their raft was being driven rapidly towards the shore, now scarcely a quarter of a mile from them. Every instant they expected the raft to be turned over and over, but it floated as before, and, now lifted high on the summit of a breaker, and now sunk down into the hollow of the sea, went on and on till they felt it ground on the beach.

Tom told them to cast themselves adrift, when, seizing each by the arm, he dragged them forward, and in another instant they were on dry ground.

"Praise God for His mercy! We are safe!" cried Tom. "But now, boys, let us see if we can help any of our shipmates."

They looked along the beach on either hand, but for some minutes they could discover no one.

"There is a man!" at length cried Tom. "I caught sight of his head and hand among the foam."

They ran in the direction Tom pointed, waiting anxiously, in the hope of dragging the man out of the surf as it broke on the shore. Tom rushed in and seized him, as for an instant he was thrown on the beach, or the receding waves would have carried him back. The boys assisted Tom. They recognised the features of the captain, but the hue of death was on his face. His arms fell down as they placed him on the ground.

"He has gone!" cried Tom.

They did what they could to revive him, but life was extinct.

Two other bodies were washed up, but not a human being besides themselves reached the shore alive. They looked around them. The whole bay into which they had been thrown presented a scene of barren wildness and grandeur. A valley opened up from it, and in the distance rose the summit of a lofty volcano, the stream of lava from which had caused the desolation they saw around.

"I am glad we have got ashore alive; but I am afraid we shall die of hunger if we cannot manage to get out of this soon," said Bass.

"He who brought us on shore will take care of us," observed Tom. "But we must do our best. The sooner we set off to look for some natives the better."

"If there are any Christians about here, we are sure, if we can find them, to be treated kindly."

Having examined the coast as far as they could see on either hand, they agreed to move to the east, in which direction some green shrubs and trees were distinguishable. As they all felt weak and exhausted, there was no time to be lost.

"Won't it be well to get hold of something to defend ourselves if we are attacked?" said Bass. "I should like to have a club to fight with."

"It would be no use, Mr Bass," answered Tom. "We must try to make friends with the natives; I have no fear about the matter."

"Nor have I," said Harry.

Tom and the two boys made their way along the shore. Sometimes they had to climb over rocks, sometimes to wade through black sand. At length they reached a firmer beach, and got on better than at first.

The day was wearing on. They had had nothing to eat or drink since the previous evening. They all felt faint and hungry.

At length they caught sight of a stream of sparkling water trickling down the rocks. How eagerly they drank of it! It revived them, and they pushed on. They were anxious to fall in with natives before dark who might give them food and shelter.

The appearance of the country rapidly improved. At last, after climbing some rocks, they found themselves looking down into a beautiful bay, on the shore of which a number of women and girls were collected, who, from the way they were employed in combing their dark hair or dressing their heads with flowers, had apparently just come out of the water.

On seeing the three strangers several of the girls shrieked out. Among them was a tall, dignified-looking person, who, on observing Tom and the boys approaching, rose from the ground on which she had been seated and advanced towards them. To their surprise, she addressed them in broken English.

"Who you? where you come from?" she asked.

Tom replied that they were English, and had escaped from their ship, which had been wrecked some way along the coast.

"And, please, marm," he added, "we are very hungry, especially these two boys, and shall be thankful if you will give us some food as soon as possible."

"We are not more hungry than he is," said Harry; "but he always thinks more of us than of himself."

The lady smiled and made signs to them to accompany her, evidently understanding what they said, though she herself had soon apparently exhausted her stock of English words. She led the way, followed by her maidens.

Climbing the rocks, which were easily surmounted, they found themselves in a level country with trees growing luxuriantly, while plantations of various descriptions were seen in every direction. At a little distance was a cottage, which, though built after the native fashion, was of considerable size.

"There is my house," said the lady, pointing to it. "You welcome food, plenty sleep till to-morrow, and praise Jehovah."

"What! marm, if I may make so bold to ask, are you a Christian?" exclaimed Tom.

The lady nodded and smiled.

"You Christian too, I hope?" she said.

"That I am, marm, and so are these boys," answered Tom.

"I told you all would be right, Harry," he added. "You see we could not have fallen into better hands."

On reaching the house, the girls, by the directions of their mistress, hurried to prepare food, and several dishes of fish and fruits were soon placed on mats on the floor. Before bidding her guests to eat, the lady, who had been sitting, rose and said a grace in her own language, adding a few words of English. Tom and the boys uttered "Amen," at which she seemed pleased, and she then served each of them with her own hands.

As soon as she saw that her guests had eaten enough, she assembled her family and attendants, who seated themselves before her; she read to them the Bible in her own language, and then offered up a prayer. After this, she leading, the rest joined in singing a hymn, the tune of which Tom recognised, though the words were strange to him. The evening's devotions being thus concluded, she led them to a part of the house screened off by mats, and bidding them enter, pointed to three beds, also covered with matting, which her maidens had in the meantime prepared for them.

Their clothes had been thoroughly dried during their journey. She showed that she had thought of their comfort by presenting each of them with some cotton garments, and making them understand that their own clothes, saturated with the salt water, should be washed and ready for them the next day.

"We have indeed fallen into good hands, as you say, Mr Hayes," observed Harry, after they had all three knelt down and said their prayers.

"No doubt about that," answered old Tom. "We shall find that a missionary has been here; and I hope by his means to gain tidings of our friends and be able to rejoin them."

With this pleasant thought they lay down to rest. Harry hoped not only to meet Mr and Mrs Hart again, but to be able to find a ship returning to England. He longed once more to be with his dear mother and sister, and to comfort them in their affliction. _

Read next: Chapter 10. Kapoiolani

Read previous: Chapter 8. Attack And Flight

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