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Mother Carey's Chicken: Her Voyage to the Unknown Isle, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 20. How They Fell In With Greater Peril |
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_ CHAPTER TWENTY. HOW THEY FELL IN WITH GREATER PERIL The peril was still great, and there was the risk that at any moment another inadvertent movement on the part of the boat, such as that made by Mr Gregory in his ignorance of the side on which the enemy lay, might result in discovery, for the sea glowed in the intense light shed by the burning vessel, and the faces of all in the gig stood out so plainly that it seemed to be only a question of moments before they were seen. But the mate carefully manoeuvred his steering oar; the men pulled a slow, silent, and steady stroke; and fortunately for all, the Malays were so intent upon the fire that they did not alter the positions of their vessels. For a very short time the boat was in the black shadow cast by the stern; then they were floating as it were on golden waters; and the same feeling animated every breast, though it remained an unspoken thought: This is all in vain; we must be seen and brought back. "A little more room there; sit close; move steadily," said the first-mate hoarsely. "Now two more oars." These were laid in the rowlocks silently, and with four men pulling in place of two the heavily-laden boat made more rapid progress, so that before long there was a space of several hundred yards between the fugitives and the flaming ship, and they could look at the two praus lying a short distance away without so much fear of being seen. "Steady, my lads! pull!" said the mate, whose was the only face turned from the ship, and as he stood in the stern his shadow was cast upon the water. "Were you hurt, father?" said Mark. "No, my lad, not much," said the captain. "The explosion struck us both down. That was all." Nothing more was said, for everyone was too much intent upon the sight before them, one which was grand in the extreme, and lit up the ocean far and wide. The main and fore-masts were blazing right to the very trucks, and as the fugitives watched the mizzen-mast caught, and they could see the flames leap from spar to spar, running along ropes with quite a rapid motion, while great burning drops seemed to keep falling toward the deck. By rapid degrees the burning ship now assumed the aspect of a pyramid of fire, sails, yards, cordage, and masts being all involved, while from the blazing cone a steady burst of great golden sparks rose toward a huge purple canopy, all folds and wreathing volumes edged with orange and gold, the cloud of smoke that floated lazily in the heated air. By degrees the sparks became invisible, and the flames were merged, many tongues in one, as the distance was increased; while the praus, out of whose sight it was no longer necessary to keep, looked comparatively small, with their sides still glistening in the light. "There is no occasion to keep silence now," said the captain quietly. "We are far out of hearing." "What caused that explosion there?" said the mate, as he seated himself now, but continued to steer. "We cannot tell for certain," said the captain. "No," said the major; "but there seems to me to be no doubt that it was a powder-keg which the Malays had brought on board, I should say to blow open the cabin-door. And it did," he added grimly, "and I hope they liked it." "What do you propose doing, captain?" said Mr Gregory at last, and the answer was eagerly listened for. "We are heavily-laden and ought to make land." "Yes, but it must not be in the sight of the praus. It is early in the night yet, and we are evidently in a sharp current." "Yes, a strong current," said the mate. "Then row steadily till daybreak, and by then we shall be well out of sight, and can make for one of the islands to the south, or try and get in the route of the China ships." "Right!" said the mate. "Give way, my lads; a slow easy stroke, and we'll all relieve you in turn." This was done all through the rest of the night, but with great caution, for the gig was very low in the water; and while they rowed in turn those who were not at the oars sat gazing at the burning ship, and the wounded men sometimes slept. But wounded or no, all took a turn at the oars, from the captain downward; and towards morning, when all were utterly exhausted, fair progress was still made in the boat as she was pulled by the two ladies, and Mary O'Halloran and Mark. The night had not been without incidents, for when they were about a couple of miles from the ship the mainmast fell over the side with a rush of flame, and lay burning on the surface of the water; to be followed almost directly by the fore-mast; and the mizen alone remained standing like a pillar of light for about another hour before it fell in the opposite direction. This altered the shape of the fire, but the ship blazed on, the size of the conflagration seeming less as the distance increased, but still flaming plainly on the horizon, till just at daybreak a low cloud seemed to come sweeping over the sea, borne on a sighing breeze, which faintly rippled the surface, and as this enveloped them the glow astern was blotted out and a soft rain began to fall. As it grew lighter the rain became more heavy, and at last it came down in a perfect deluge, increasing so in violence that before long one of the men was set to work with the baler emptying the water out that collected under the thwarts. It was a depressing time, for as the hours passed on, the rain never ceased for a moment, but kept on in a regular tropic deluge; while, in spite of food and stimulants, exhaustion and suffering from their wounds told more and more, till one by one the men gave up, and the boat at last drifted with the swift current into which they had been drawn. A short consultation was held between the heads, and failing observations, it was decided that it would be better to make for the island off which the ship had been becalmed; but even that desperate resolve had now to be given up, for the strength of all seemed gone, and the current set in, as far as they could judge, the opposite direction. "We can do nothing, major," said the captain at last; "nothing now but trust in God and hope for the best." "Amen!" said the major quietly, and he calmly took his turn at the baling, which had now become the one task undertaken, so as to keep the boat clear of water. Night came slowly as they drifted on, but it came at last--a densely dark night, with the rain still falling; and in spite of their being in the tropics, the cold and suffering, as they all sat in their saturated garments wishing for the cessation of the rain, was terrible; and how those hours next passed none seemed to know, for they were utterly stupefied with weariness and exhaustion. Morning at last, and with the break of day the rain partially ceased, for its violence was not so great, but it kept falling; and now to add to their peril a gusty wind came from astern as the sun began to rise. It was plain to all on board that if the surface became rough their boat must sink. For she was so heavily-laden that the space of side above the water was small indeed. Under the circumstances Captain Strong decided to raise the little lug-sail neatly rolled round its mast, and this latter being stepped, the sail was unfurled, and in a few minutes they were gliding rapidly on, shipping a little water from time to time, but no more than could be easily mastered and kept down. Where to steer was not in their choice. All that could be done was to keep the gig afloat, and to this the captain and mate directed all their energies. Food was distributed, and of water they felt no want, their saturated garments having quenched all thirst; but matters seemed to grow worse. Mr Morgan was delirious, and one of the men lay rambling on about some place in London where he meant to have called. Morning, noon, evening, and the gig rushing on through the broken water with a thick misty rain all around and no chance of making out their whereabouts. "Shall we be saved?" said Mrs Strong at last in a whisper as, utterly worn out, the captain came at last and sat down between his wife and son. "Don't ask, my dear," he said calmly. "We have done, and are doing, all that men can do. The rest must be left." Night came, a night that was even blacker than that which had passed, but the rain did not cease nor the sky clear. Everything a hundred yards away seemed to be so much solid darkness; but, on the other hand, the sea grew no rougher, and the wind sent the boat rapidly along. It must have been about midnight that, as nearly everyone in the gig were plunged in a stupor-like sleep, the first-mate was steering, the boat gliding swiftly through the broken waves. The major sat on one side and Mark on the other talking from time to time in a low voice. A calm feeling of despair had settled down among them, and when they did speak it was about some indifferent matter, all shrinking from anything concerning their approaching fate, when Mark, who was stooping to pat the poor wounded dog at his feet, where he lay curled in company with shivering Jack, suddenly laid his hand upon Mr Gregory's arm. "What's that?" he said in a whisper. "What? I heard nothing," said the major. "Silence!" cried the mate sternly; and he listened intently to a low roaring noise. "Breakers!" he said suddenly. "We are near land." "Land?" cried Mark. "Yes, my boy. Oh, if it were day!" The mate changed the course of the boat directly so as to run off to the left, but at the end of five minutes he altered the course again. "Breakers there too," he said. "We are between them." "Well, then, quick!" said the major. "Go about and let's turn back." "My dear Major O'Halloran," said the mate calmly, "if I attempt to go about, the boat will fill instantly and sink. Our only chance is in keeping on." As he spoke he resumed the course they had been just taking, and now, rapidly increasing in power, the sound of the waves breaking on rocks could be heard to right and left. "But you don't know where you are going," said the major. "No, sir. But it is all I can do. Mark Strong, rouse your father; and, major, be prepared to swim right ahead if anything happens." "What's the good?" said the major calmly. And then, "Shall I wake them, or let them meet it asleep? I'll wake them," he said; and he crept cautiously to arouse Mrs and Mary O'Halloran, as Mark was rousing his father, his mother waking too. "Breakers?" said the captain. "Well, I have been expecting it for hours. Can you make anything out, Gregory!" "No, captain. All's like pitch ahead." The captain uttered a sigh, and as the rest were roused, and realised what was taking place, they received it all with a dull quiet resignation, as if death would be almost welcome now. The moments passed, and right and left the breakers roared, seeming so near that they fancied they saw them, and then as they rode on all at once there was a roar of breaking water right ahead. But it was impossible to change the boat's course, and sitting stern and with his teeth set, Mr Gregory bent at the tough ash oar, as the boat refused to swerve a little to the right, where he thought the roar of breakers was less loud. Then, with a shock which seemed to electrify all on board, the keel struck upon a rock, there was a crushing grating sound, a roar of waters, a wave leaped in, deluging all afresh, and the gig rose high in the air, and then plunged down as if into the depths of the ocean never to rise again. _ |
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