Antony Waymouth Part 13

"Hold, hold, Master Hagger," he cried out, interposing his own weapon.

"Our surgeon speaks the truth. We, any one of us, may want doctoring ere an hour be over, and who's to doctor us an' we trust to Tim Rosemerry, who swears he knows the whole art, from having served an apprentices.h.i.+p for six mouths to a foreign leech in the city of Westminster? I put it, mates, are we to have a doctor who knows nothing, or a friend who has set many of us on his legs when we thought that we were never to walk again?"

"Let the doctor live! let the doctor live!" exclaimed all the men, surrounding the boatswain, who dropped the point of his weapon.

"Thanks, friends. I accept my life, for I have no wish to lose it,"

said Ap Reece, rising to his feet. "The sick I will doctor as before; but remember, I will sanction no act of violence or cruelty while I remain with you."

"Oh, we are all honourable men here," cried several of the men in a derisive tone, to which remark the surgeon thought it imprudent to reply.

While this scene was acting, d.i.c.k Lizard and his companions were exchanging blows with the rest of the mutineers; but overwhelmed by numbers, two were killed, and d.i.c.k and another were brought to the deck badly wounded. d.i.c.k had been a general favourite; and although the mutineers were exasperated with him for the attack he had made on them, and for the unmeasured abuse he now heaped on their heads, they agreed he was too good a fellow to be put out of the way, and that if he would keep a civil tongue in his head, he should live. This was a somewhat difficult task for honest d.i.c.k, though, when his life was offered, like a wise man he accepted it without thinking it necessary to make any stipulations.

The mutineers had now decidedly gained the day; the officers were forced at the sword's point to go below, and each was confined in his own cabin. The threatening state of the weather made Hagger anxious to arrange matters. There was no wind, but an ominous swell had got up which made the s.h.i.+p roll heavily, and loud claps of thunder rattled through the sky, while vivid flashes of forked lightning darted from the clouds, hissing like fiery serpents along the surface of the ocean, or playing round the masts and threatening the Lion with destruction.

Waymouth lay in his cabin, feeling like a chained beast of the forest eager to be loose, indignant at the treachery practised on him, and feeling also the probability that the ignorant men who had been guilty of this act of atrocity would wreck the s.h.i.+p, and involve both themselves and him and his officers in a common destruction. He knew that they were totally unaware of the intricacies of the navigation through which the Lion had got so far to the eastward, and that it would be impossible for them unaided to retrace their course. He had perhaps a grim satisfaction in contemplating this, though all his own prospects of wealth would vanish, and life itself be lost. At length, however, the very intensity of his feelings overcame him, and he fell asleep.

His sleep was far from refres.h.i.+ng, and his dreams were strangely troubled. Yet on he slept for some time, he believed. Whenever he felt himself waking, he forced himself to doze off again rather than awake to the disagreeable realities of his position. At length, however, the violent rolling and pitching of the s.h.i.+p roused him completely up. The roar of the sea, the howling of the wind, the das.h.i.+ng of the waves on the side of the s.h.i.+p, the rattling of blocks and ropes, and the tramp and shouts of men overhead, convinced him that the long-expected strife of the elements had begun. The rolling and pitching and jerking of the s.h.i.+p became more and more violent, the was.h.i.+ng of the water up the sides and over the deck showed him that the sea was running high, and the way in which the s.h.i.+p occasionally heeled over showed him that the gale was blowing furiously. The sounds which reached him from the deck told him also that efforts were being made to shorten sail.

"The mutinous varlets! Now is the occasion to prove their seamans.h.i.+p, if they have any," he muttered to himself. "What the idiots will do it is hard to say, except let the good s.h.i.+p drive on the rocks. What are they about now? There's not one of them can stow the mainsail properly but Hagger in a gale like this. They'll capsize the stout s.h.i.+p, or send the masts over the sides--the idiots!"

Thus he spoke, or rather thought, for some time. The s.h.i.+p plunged on through the mountainous seas, her timbers creaking and groaning as if they were about to be torn asunder. The cabin was in obscurity, for all the hatches were battened down, and not without good reason, for the foaming seas often broke so completely over the s.h.i.+p that without this precaution she might have filled and gone bodily down. Waymouth believed that the day was advancing from the sensations of hunger which he was beginning to experience. In vain he tried to release himself from the ropes which bound him. The more he struggled the tighter they became. Nor could he manage to get his mouth down to any part of the rope, or he would have tried to gnaw it asunder with his teeth. He shouted over and over again to his friends in captivity; but though the sound of his voice reached them, he could not, from the noises in the interior of the s.h.i.+p, make out what they said in return. They were evidently as securely bound as he was, and also confined in their cabins.

"Patience is a virtue, I doubt not, but it is sore difficult to exercise it just now," he said to himself, with a mocking laugh.

Suddenly the s.h.i.+p heeled over more than ever--there was a loud crash-- the sea seemed with fierce roars to be was.h.i.+ng over her--shrieks and cries of distress reached his ears even where he lay. Again she righted, and seemed to go tearing on through the ocean as before.

"One or more of our masts have gone," muttered Waymouth. "Well, let them go; it is but the beginning of the end. The sooner those scoundrels find out their folly the better. Had we shortened sail as I was about to do, this disaster would have been avoided."

On, on went the s.h.i.+p, plunging down, again to be lifted up, truly reeling to and fro like a drunken man. Once more she was pressed down; another fearful crash followed, and there were piercing shrieks and cries. Waymouth believed fully that the s.h.i.+p was foundering; but no, she rose again, and rushed on still more unsteadily than before. On, on she went. Time was pressing. A hatch was removed for an instant, and a gleam of light penetrated into the cabin. Again it was obscured, and a lantern was lighted; three or four men descended. Waymouth heard them go to his lieutenant's cabin. They were offering him the command, if he would help them out of their difficulties. An indignant refusal was the reply.

"Scoundrels that you are, you may all sink with us before I'll take charge of the s.h.i.+p while the rightful commander remains alive," said Carlingford.

They then applied to Raymond, who was known to be a good navigator. His reply was of the same nature. None of the temptations the mutineers could hold out would induce an officer of any rank acquainted with navigation to take command. A consultation was then held, and after some time the mutineers approached the cabin where Waymouth lay. The light of a lantern flashed on his eyes, and, the door opening, Hagger, Soper, and other mutineers stood before him.

"What is your pleasure with me, knaves?" he asked in a haughty, undaunted tone.

"An' please your honour, the s.h.i.+p is driving we know not where, and is like to strike on some strange rock or island, if she go not down first," said Hagger, holding his hat in his hand.

"Maybe: it is what I expected," answered Waymouth calmly. "When fools take the helm, they are certain to steer to destruction."

"An' please your honour, we wish to know whether you will please to take charge of the s.h.i.+p, and save her and all on board," said Soper humbly.

"Likely enough--to have my throat cut, and the throats of the gentlemen with me, by you mutinous varlets, when you find the s.h.i.+p in safety,"

answered Waymouth. "No, knaves; you have brought yourselves into this strait, and you may get out of it as best you may."

"If your honour will take command and save the s.h.i.+p, and overlook our conduct, we will be obedient in future," said Soper, who acted as spokesman.

"Seize that man, then, and put him in irons first," answered Waymouth, casting his glance on Hagger, who clapped his hand on his hanger, as if about to defend himself, but the rest threw themselves on him, and bore him in spite of his great strength to the deck.

"Now haste and release my officers, and beg them to come here,"

continued Waymouth, addressing one of the men who was not required to hold the chief mutineer.

Raymond, Carlingford, Master Walker, Ap Reece, and the other officers quickly made their appearance, surprised at the turn matters had taken.

In their presence he made the mutineers cast off his fetters, and ordering Hagger to be bound and secured in a place of safety, he exclaimed, "Follow me, gentlemen!" and sprang with an elastic step on deck. The scene which met his eye was, however, far from encouraging.

Two of the masts had gone by the board, and now hung with a ma.s.s of rigging and shattered spars over the sides. Part of the foremast only was standing, on which the foresail was set, driving the s.h.i.+p on furiously through the water, while the seas, foaming up on either hand, threatened to overwhelm her, and sent the masts and spars das.h.i.+ng like battering-rams against the sides as if about to stave them in. All the boats were gone or knocked to pieces, and booms and caboose--indeed, the sea had made a clean sweep of every thing movable on deck. Fearfully, too, was the number of the crew diminished--not a dozen mutineers remained alive; the rest had been carried away when the masts fell, or had been swept off the decks by the raging seas which had broken on board. The officers and men who had remained faithful outnumbered the mutineers. It appeared, however, that human skill and courage would be but of little avail, and that the gallant s.h.i.+p was doomed to destruction.

"The scoundrels have summoned us too late," said Waymouth to Miles Carlingford, a sigh, unheard amid the howling of the tempest, for the first time escaping his bosom. "Howbeit, we'll do what men can do to save the s.h.i.+p. Summon all hands with axes to clear the wreck of the masts."

In an instant every man, accustomed to the commanding voice of his chief, was actively employed. Ropes and broken spars were quickly severed, and the shattered masts and their heavy rigging were soon floating away astern. The huge foresail, which had hitherto threatened to tear the mast out of the s.h.i.+p, was skilfully reefed, and with somewhat diminished speed the Lion plunged onward through the foaming ocean. Still the rate at which she drove was far too great for safety, yet all had been done that could be done, and Waymouth and his followers resigned themselves like brave believing men to the rule of Him who rules the universe, and without whose will not a sparrow falls to the ground. As they tore on, the masts of a tall s.h.i.+p appeared ahead. Her more lofty spars and masts were snugly housed, and with the little sail she carried, evenly balanced, she rode hove to nearly head to wind. On, on drove the Lion. It was feared that she might strike the stranger.

With difficulty this was avoided. People were seen on the stranger's deck, but no a.s.sistance could be expected from them. No flag flew from her peak. Her nation could not be ascertained; she might be a Hollander or a Portugal--scarcely English, from the appearance of the people and her build; certainly not one of Admiral Wood's squadron. The people on board waved and shouted, but their voices were unheard. A board was shown, but ere what was written on it could be deciphered the Lion had driven a long way by. Soon the stranger was lost to sight; no aid could be hoped for from her. On, on drove the once-gallant Lion, now, a helpless wreck on the waste of waters. Far from abating, the fury of the storm increased. Another damage was discovered; the wreck of the mast had struck the rudder, and now a sea carried it away. Dreadfully the battered s.h.i.+p laboured through the foaming seas. The well was sounded. Aghast, the carpenters declared that there were seven feet of water in the hold.

"To the pumps! to the pumps!" was the cry.

The diminished crew began to labour at the pumps, but weakened by disease they could hardly gain on the water. Buckets were employed, and those who could not work at the pumps pa.s.sed them from hand to hand from below, but even thus but little progress was made in freeing the s.h.i.+p.

All hands must work. The arch-mutineer Hagger was released from his shackles, and came to take his spell at the pumps. Without remonstrance he obeyed, though somewhat sulkily. The sick came from below, but soon sank overcome with the exertion. Others, too, who had hitherto escaped were struck by the fever. Those whom the sea had spared disease now grasped, and the numbers of the crew of the ill-fated Lion began again fearfully to diminish. Still the gale blew, and still the s.h.i.+p drove on. At last, the almost unknown Pacific was entered. What land would bring them up no one could tell.

They had no chart to guide--no knowledge of the unmeasured ocean across which they were driving. Thus the Lion helplessly pursued her course, the sport of the raging tempest, and vanished, as it were, into obscurity.

CHAPTER NINE.

We left Antony Waymouth and his companions in misfortune on board the ill-starred Lion, which was driving at furious speed across the wide Pacific. For many days no observation had been taken, for neither sun nor stars had been visible. One compa.s.s alone remained uninjured, and that told them that their course was still easterly, and some began to a.s.sert that they would meet with no land till they struck on the vast continent of America. Would their crazy, battered bark float as long?

Would their provisions and water hold out till they could reach some hospitable sh.o.r.e? No longer was the once docile s.h.i.+p under control; the rudder had been carried away, and with the scant materials at their disposal they could not construct a new one, nor while the sea ran so high could they attempt to rig it. The foresail still stood and dragged the s.h.i.+p forward, nor could it with safety be lowered, for without it she might have broached to, and all on board have been swept from the decks. By constant bailing and labouring at the pumps the leaks could with difficulty be kept under. Yet hope in the bosoms of Waymouth, Raymond, Ap Reece, and some of the braver spirits, was not extinct. The more ignorant men, however, began to despair, and would, had not strict watch been kept, have broken into the spirit-room and drunk till they became unconscious of all that was occurring around.

The fever caught at Bantam had not yet left the crew, and many still lay struck down by it in their berths, while one or more continued every day to be added to the list of victims. Not a day pa.s.sed that one was not carried off. No one knew who would next be called away. Seldom that more than one died in the day, yet that circ.u.mstance seemed to create greater terror than had several died together. "Who has gone to-night?"

was the question asked by the survivors as each morning they met on deck after their troubled rest below. Thus gradually the crew diminished in numbers. How valueless appeared the wealth they had with so much toil and danger collected! Of the officers, Waymouth, Raymond, Carlingford, and Ap Reece, with Master Walker and the two young cabin-boys, were the only ones who had hitherto escaped. All the rest whose names have not been mentioned in this chronicle had sunk under the fell disease.

Honest d.i.c.k Lizard was among the survivors, and so likewise were Hagger and Soper, and several of the mutineers. Including them, of seamen, soldiers, and idlers or landsmen not a score and a half still lived.

Master Walker had not exhorted in vain, and, abashed and confounded, many of the mutineers believed that they had by their crime brought down the vengeance of Heaven on their heads.

Still Hagger and others clung to the idea of possessing the gold, and, hoping that the s.h.i.+p would escape foundering, waited for an opportunity to make off with it, though not knowing whither they could go. They had set their hearts on the gold, though, like the miser gloating over his h.o.a.rd, they did not recollect how utterly without value it would be unless it could be exchanged for objects they might require.

For many days the storm had continued without abating. With short intervals of rest, every one on board had laboured at the pumps, and the full, clear streams which flowed from the scuppers as the s.h.i.+p rolled from side to side showed the quant.i.ty of water which found an entrance between the planks. Now, as on she drove amidst mist and spray, dim outlines might be seen of land, or seeming land, often high as if composed of mountain-ranges, at other times low, like banks just rising above the water. Some, however, deemed the forms but those of clouds either floating high in the sky or resting on the ocean, and that could they have approached the spots where they were supposed to be, they would have vanished from the sight.

For several days no such appearances were observed; then, again, more were seen, and once more the s.h.i.+p drove on without a break in the circle of the horizon. At length the storm gave signs of breaking--the seas began to lessen in height, and the wind to howl less shrilly through the rigging of the remaining masts. Almost as suddenly as it had commenced, the tempest ceased, and the sea, no longer stirred by its power, went rapidly down.

Next day, as the sun rose brilliantly over the waste of waters, the wind fell altogether. Not a ripple broke the gla.s.s-like surface of the ocean; there was a perfect calm. Slowly at first the huge s.h.i.+p rolled from side to side, and then by degrees all movement ceased, and she lay like a log on the watery waste. No longer tossed to and fro, the planks between which the sea had found an entrance closed, and the pumps gained triumphantly on the leak. Waymouth, with his few surviving officers and friends, stood on the deck of the shattered bark; the crew lay or sat grouped about forward.

It was evident to the officers that no longer had they power to guide their s.h.i.+p, and it was proposed to build a boat and in her seek some island where at all events they might find food and water, and no longer be the sport of the elements.

Waymouth shook his head.

"I in no wise object, gentlemen and dear friends, to build a boat," he observed. "By her means we may guide our s.h.i.+p into a port; but while a plank of her holds together, I, her captain, can by no means desert her.

Others may do as they judge convenient--I will not counsel; but my maxim has ever been to stay by the s.h.i.+p to the last."

"And I, dear friend, will stay by you!" exclaimed Raymond, stepping forward and grasping Waymouth's hand. "We are in the power of Providence, and if it is thought fit that we die on some foreign strand why should we complain? Or, if not, the means will be found by which once more we may visit our native sh.o.r.es."

"Well spoken and truly," said Master Walker. "I, too, will abide with our brave captain and share his fortunes."

"I never thought of doing otherwise," cried Ap Reece, "for, to say the truth, I was sure that the knaves who would have deserted him would not be worth caring for."