The First Mate: The Story of a Strange Cruise Page 4

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  I SAVE JULIUS'S LIFE.

  When, shortly before eight bells, I was called by the wardroom steward,I at once became aware that a change of some sort had occurred in theweather. For, on the one hand, the list of the ship to starboard seemedto be no longer so heavy as it had been when I turned in; while, on theother, the motion was far and away greater--so violent indeed was itthat, seasoned as I was to the movements of a heaving deck, Iexperienced the greatest difficulty in maintaining my balance. Whenpresently I went on deck, my previous impressions were fully confirmed;for although it was still blowing a whole gale, the maniacal fury of thehurricane was past, while the sea, no longer flattened down and keptpractically level by the irresistible strength of the tempest, had risenrapidly and was now an almost terrifying sight to behold. Especiallywas this the case when the ship settled into the trough, with one greatfoaming liquid mountain rushing away to leeward of her, while anotherenormous grey-back, towering above us as high as our lower mast-heads,came swooping down upon us from to windward with hissing angry crest,threatening to hurl itself bodily down upon our decks and sink us out ofhand.

  Yet that threat was never fulfilled, for the yacht was behavingmagnificently. She came to in most perfect style as she climbed thebreast of each oncoming comber, heeling steeply to it the while andturning up a bold weather bow to meet its onslaught. Then, as the crestcurled in over her turtle-back topgallant forecastle, smothering it inwhirling and blowing foam and spray, she would swing upright and, with alift of her stern and an easy weather roll, go sliding down into thetrough beyond, her head paying off as she did so. And although she wasstill under bare poles, with her head yards aback, I could see, uponlooking over the side, that she was forging ahead at a speed of about aknot and a half.

  But although the wind was no longer blowing with hurricane force itstill had the strength of a heavy gale, and while a reference to thebarometer showed that the mercury had begun to rise, there was no othersign of improvement in the weather. The sky was almost as black andthreatening in its aspect as ever, with innumerable shreds and tattersof dirty whitish-grey cloud sweeping athwart at a speed that made onegiddy to look at; while there could be no question that the sea wasgathering height, weight, and volume with the passage of every minute.The air was still heavily charged with flying spume and spindrift,necessitating the use of oilskins and sou'westers, and keeping ourspars, rigging, and decks streaming; but we could see with tolerableclearness for at least a mile in every direction.

  Yet although the general feeling out on deck was one of dampness anddiscomfort, we had not the added misery of cold to deal with. On thecontrary, it was so warm that shortly after I went on deck, havingbreakfasted, I felt my long oilskin coat and sea boots so uncomfortablywarm that I presently slipped below again for a moment, and, removingthem and my socks, donned a short oilskin jacket and returned to thedeck barefooted, for the sake of the greater comfort. I took it forgranted that Miss Anthea would never dream of turning out in suchweather, while I felt sure that Mrs Vansittart would excuse me, underthe circumstances, the more so as she had often before come on deckwhile we were paddling about, barelegged, washing decks. And indeedwhen, shortly afterward, she emerged through the companion way, encasedin a thin mackintosh reaching to the hem of her dress, and with a lightsou'-wester on her head which in nowise detracted from her good looks,she at once set me at my ease by laughingly complimenting me upon thesensible character of my attire. Then, in a very different tone ofvoice, she thanked me for having come to her rescue on the previousnight when, overcome by the terrific buffeting of the hurricane, she hadswooned while lashed to the mast.

  We--that is to say, Mrs Vansittart, Kennedy, and I--were still standingtogether under the lee of the wheelhouse, discussing the weathergenerally, and the probable duration of the gale in particular, when theboy Julius came up from below, emerging from the companion way at theprecise moment when the ship, with a terrific lee roll, was climbing tothe summit of an exceptionally heavy sea. Precisely how it happened Icould not possibly say, it occurred so suddenly, and moreover I only sawthe last part of it; but I imagine that the lad must have lost, orinadvertently released, his hold upon the side of the companion at thecritical moment when the velocity of the ship's roll was at its highest.Be that as it may, Julius no sooner stepped out on deck than he wentwith a run straight to the lee rail of the poop, fetched up against itwith a force that must have knocked the breath out of him, and then--although the rail was breast-high to him--in some inconceivable fashionseemed to lurch forward upon it, turn a complete somersault over it, andplunge headlong into the sea. It was Mrs Vansittart's shriek of"Julius!" and her look of petrified horror, that caused me to wheelround, and I was just in time to see the lad go whirling over the rail.

  One's thoughts move with lightning-like rapidity in moments ofemergency, and as I saw the boy going I thought, "Kennedy is no good;those heavy sea boots of his would drag him down and sink him in a fewseconds; I must go myself!" And as the thought flashed through my brainI tore off my oilskin jacket and, shouting to Kennedy, "Lifebuoy--bendto signal halyards!" made a dash for the rail, while Mrs Vansittart'sshrieks lent wings to my feet.

  As I reached the rail the ship topped the surge, which went rushing androaring away beneath her and to leeward in a tremendous boil of foam, inthe rear of which there was a space of almost glass-smoothindigo-coloured water, down through which I thought I saw something thatmight be the boy's body. Without hesitating an instant I vaulted therail, landing upon the curved turtle-back outboard, flung my hands abovemy head, and plunged straight for the spot where, a moment before, Ithought I had seen the lad's body.

  I went deep, kicking and striking out vigorously as I felt the waterclose about me, for the thought occurred to me that if the boy hadreally hurt himself badly when colliding with the rail, he wouldprobably not rise to the surface at all, but would slowly sink. As Iforced my way downward I looked about me, and presently saw a glimmeringwhite something far below which might be the object of my quest, for theboy was dressed entirely in white. Desperately I urged myself downward,the gloom increasing with every stroke; and at length, when I felt asthough my lungs would burst and I could not retain my breath anothersecond, I grabbed something, I scarcely knew what, and turning, struckupward toward the blue glimmer of light far overhead.

  How I managed to hold my breath during that seemingly endless climb tothe surface I cannot say, but I did it somehow, my head emerging fromthe water at the very instant when the air escaped from my lungs in onelong gasp. I quickly filled them again, looked to see what I hadbrought to the surface with me, and found that, as I expected, it wasthe apparently lifeless form of Master Julius. I had grabbed the lad byhis ankle, so that he hung head downward in my grasp. That would neverdo; so, treading water vigorously, I shifted the position of the bodyuntil I had the head resting upon my shoulder; and at that moment I feltmyself being hove up, up, up, and the next instant a very mountain ofwater went hissing and roaring over my head, plunging me helplesslyhither and thither and momentarily threatening to tear my prize from myhold.

  As soon as I had again got my breath, I looked round for the yacht. Shewas nowhere in sight; but presently, as I began to wonder what hadbecome of her, I saw her topmast-heads swing into view beyond the headof the comber that had just swept past me, and then up she swept untilthe whole of her hull was visible. I saw a crowd of people gathered aftby the taffrail, and others in the rigging, all peering out under thesharp of their hands in various directions. Then, as the craftsurmounted the grey-back and came sliding down its weather slope,rolling to windward until I could see nearly half her main-deck, one ofthe figures suddenly pointed toward me, and in an instant every faceturned my way, while one man, whom I presently recognised as Kennedy,put one hand to the side of his mouth, as though shouting, while hepointed with the other.

  Not a word could I hear, however, for my ears were still full of water,while such sound as entered them was me
rely the hiss and roar of thesea. But I guessed what the mate was pointing at, the more readily as Isaw one man paying out a thin line over the rail; so I looked eagerlyabout me, and presently saw, some thirty fathoms away, a white lifebuoyfloating in the midst of a wide surface of foam, the ship at this timebeing perhaps twice as far from me as the lifebuoy. But just as Istarted to strike out for the buoy, another heavy sea swept over me,treating me pretty much as the first had done, and all but suffocatingme into the bargain.

  I thought that, hampered as I was with the boy's inert body, I shouldnever reach the buoy, for I seemed utterly unable to make so much as aninch of progress in that frightful sea; and once, after I had beenoverwhelmed about a dozen times, the thought came to me that if I wantedto save myself I must give up the idea of saving the body, which afterall would be a useless task, since I felt certain that the lad was dead.But no; I could not return to the ship and face the lad's motherempty-handed. I could picture her despair under such circumstances, forJulius was Mrs Vansittart's only son, and, spoiled as he was, Ibelieved that she loved him more than her husband, more than herdaughter, more than her own life. No, it was not to be thought of; Ihad undertaken the task and I must execute it. I had raised her hopes,and I would not disappoint them if God would only give me strength toreach that buoy.

  At length, after what seemed like a century of effort, I did reach it,and, laying my hand upon its nearest rim, tilted it over my head andunder my armpits, at the very moment--as I afterward learned--when thoseaboard had paid out four sets of signal halyards to the bare end of thefourth set!

  And now came the delicate and difficult task of hauling me alongside inthe shortest possible space of time, without parting the halyards on theone hand or drowning me on the other. But Kennedy was the man for thejob. Even as I vaulted the rail and plunged into the water his activemind, aided by past experience, had enabled him not only to grasp thefull import of my hasty words concerning the lifebuoy and the signalhalyards, but also to foresee exactly what must inevitably happen. Andwhile he was in the very act of unreeving the peak ensign halyards,preparatory to bending them on to the lifebuoy which his ready knife hadslashed off the taffrail, he was shouting for somebody to pass the wordfor Mackenzie, the engineer.

  When Mac, already issuing from his cabin to learn what all the suddenoutcry was about, received the message and came rushing aft in responseto the call, he in turn was fully prepared for the order which Kennedygave him, to go below and set his engine going dead easy astern. Thusby the time that I reached and got into the buoy, the ship's way throughthe water was stopped, and, highly dangerous though such a proceedingundoubtedly was, under the circumstances, they were able to haul megradually alongside and up under the counter without mishap, the engineof course being stopped again at the right moment. And when once theyhad got me under the lee quarter of the ship all the rest was of coursecomparatively easy. Two of the hands standing by hove me a couple ofstanding bowlines on ropes' ends, one of which I slipped over theinanimate Julius's head and under his armpits; and when I saw that theyhad got the body safely in over the rail I slipped into the othermyself, and was hauled aboard amid the triumphant yells of the crew--toswoon as my feet touched the deck.

  But there was nothing much the matter with me. I had swooned simplythrough over-exertion, coupled perhaps with the reaction at findingmyself once more safely aboard the yacht; and Harper, the surgeon,having had the foresight to order someone to stand by with brandy as arestorative, in case of need, they soon brought me round again. ByKennedy's orders I was helped below to my cabin, to turn in and rest fora bit, learning, as I went, that Harper and the boy's mother had takencharge of the lad the moment that he was hauled aboard, and had carriedhim below to his cabin. I afterward heard, however, that before shequitted the deck, Mrs Vansittart had given orders that she was to beinformed, at the earliest possible opportunity, how things were goingwith me; and I further learned that, upon being told I was doing well,she fell upon her knees by the side of her boy's bed and, bursting intotears, sobbed forth audible thanks to God for my preservation.

  As for me, after vomiting a considerable quantity of salt water, I washelped to undress, given a vigorous towelling, and put into my bunk,where, having swallowed a tumblerful of hot brandy and water, I quicklydropped off to sleep, and remained asleep until after four bells of theafternoon watch had struck. Then, feeling pretty much my former self,although a bit shaky on my pins, and very sore about the chest, I turnedout, donned a dry suit of clothes, and sallied forth to the wardroom,with the twofold object of ascertaining if there was any news as toMaster Julius's fate and getting something to eat.

  Upon entering the wardroom I found Kennedy, Mackenzie, Grimwood thepurser, and, somewhat to my astonishment, the doctor, present andchatting animatedly. Moreover, I gathered that they were talking aboutme, for as I passed through the open doorway Kennedy looked up andexclaimed:

  "And begorra here's himself, no less! Talk of the--Here, bring yourselfto an anchor on the sofa, lad, and let's have a look at ye! Faith! butyour morning's experience has taken it out of ye, by the looks of ut.But never ye mind that, me bhoy, ye'll weather it all right, and ye'llalways have the memory of havin' done a gallant thing, whatever happens.By the Piper, lad, we're all proud of ye, from the skipper downward."

  They all came crowding round me as I sank upon the sofa, and insistedupon shaking hands with me, saying so many nice and complimentary thingsto me that I presently began to feel quite abashed. Then Harperinterfered authoritatively.

  "There!" he exclaimed, waving the crowd away, "that will do, you chaps.Let up upon the youngster a bit and give him a chance. What you want,"he continued, turning to me and laying his fingers upon my pulse, "is ameal first--not a heavy meal, but something good and nourishing, andthen another spell of sleep. Mac, have the goodness to press the buttonfor the steward, and I'll give him an order. How is your appetite, myBritish hero?"

  "Why," said I, "to confess the truth I turned out because I felt hungry,and came in here with the hope of getting something to eat. But,Doctor, I want to know about the boy. I did the best I could for him,and was determined to bring him back with me if I was fortunate enoughto fetch the ship again; but I felt certain there was no life left inhim, even before I got hold of the buoy."

  "And that is just where you were mistaken, young man. Oh! here you are,steward," as that individual entered in response to the summons of thebell. "I want you to go to the cook and tell him--from me, youunderstand--to give you a good big basin of that chicken broth Iinstructed him to prepare, and bring it here for Mr Leigh, with a sliceof bread from a loaf baked yesterday, if anything of the sort remains.Then, when you have brought the broth, go to Mr Marsh and ask him togive you a small bottle of Mumm, and bring it along here. Now get amove on, and let me have those things quick."

  "Well, Doctor, what about Master Julius?" I prompted, as the stewardretired.

  "Why, as it happened, he was not dead when we hauled him aboard,"replied Harper, "though he was so near to it that it cost me two solidhours or more of strenuous work to restore animation. But I believe Ishall pull him through now, with luck. He dropped off to sleep abouthalf an hour ago, and I left him in charge of his mother and the chiefstewardess, with instructions to send for me upon the instant of hiswaking. How do you like your broth?"

  "It is delicious," I replied, "and I am enjoying it; although I feel abit mean in taking it, for I suppose it was prepared for Julius, wasn'tit?"

  "Don't you trouble about that, young un," returned the doctor. "Thecook has my orders; and if he has attended to them--as I have no doubthe has--there will be plenty for the pair of you. Will you have somemore?"

  But I declined; I had had quite sufficient, I said. Thereupon Harperopened the half-bottle of wine which the steward had brought, poured thecontents into a tumbler, and ordered me to toss it off and then go backto my bunk and get another sleep.

  "Sleep just as long as you care to," he said, "and don't
worry aboutwatches until I give you leave. A night in ought to fix you up again, Ithink; but we will see what you look like when you turn out forbreakfast to-morrow."

  I was soon asleep again, but the first bugle call for dinner awakenedme, and, feeling a good deal better, I turned out and dressed, noticing,as I did so, that the ship's movements were very much easier and morerhythmical than when I had lain down. Indeed, I had the feeling thatshe was sailing again; and, glancing through my porthole, I found thatthis was so, and that the weather had cleared. The sea, now a deepsapphire blue, had gone down very considerably, the sky was clear ofclouds, and upon looking more closely at the water I was able to detectthe shadow of the ship upon it, and thereby determine that she was underher three topsails, courses, fore-topmast staysail, and spanker. And bythe swirl of yeast past my port I estimated that she must be reeling offabout eight knots.

  While I was still engaged in dressing there came a gentle tap at mydoor, to which I answered "Come!" whereupon the door opened and Harperentered.

  "So you are turning out again," he said, after standing and looking atme a moment. "How do you find yourself?"

  "Oh! ever so much better," I replied; "indeed, I think I may say that Iam practically all right again. The soreness of my chest is all butgone, and--"

  "Let me feel your pulse," he commanded; and I stretched out my arm tohim.

  He laid his finger on my pulse and kept it there for about half aminute.

  "Yes," he said, "you'll do; nothing very much the matter with you. Now,look here, boy, Mrs Vansittart has instructed me to come and see howyou are getting on, and to say that if you feel equal to it, she wouldlike you to join the saloon party at dinner to-night--just themselves,you and I, you know, alone. The fact is that they are all eager to tellyou what they feel about your exploit of this morning, and they will notbe happy until they have done so. Do you feel equal to the ordeal; orshall I go back and say that they must excuse you for a little whilelonger? I think you can stand it, you know. What say you?"

  "Oh, yes!" I replied, "I dare say I can stand it. I suppose it willhave to come sometime, so I might as well get it over and done with.But, I say, Doctor, just give them a hint to go easy with their thanks,will you, there's a good fellow. If there is one thing I hate more thananything else, it is being made a fuss of. You understand me?"

  "Why, of course I _do_, my dear chap," was the reply. "It isfrightfully trying, I know; but you mustn't grudge them the satisfactionof expressing their gratitude to you--see? I'll take care that theyshall not carry the thing too far. I'll tell 'em that you're not incondition to stand very much excitement just yet. Well, then, so long.See you again later."

  As soon as I had finished dressing I seated myself in the verycomfortable revolving chair in front of my writing desk, to await thesecond bugle call to dinner; but I had scarcely done so when a stewardcame along to my cabin, bearing a medicine glass containing a draughtwhich he said the doctor had sent me, with instructions that I was totake it at once. I accordingly tossed it off; and a few minutes laterthe second dinner call sounded, and I made my way aft and up thecompanion way to the drawing-room, where I found Mrs Vansittart, herdaughter, Monroe, and the doctor already assembled.

  As one of the stewards flung open the door and announced me, MrsVansittart came forward, seized my hands in both of hers, and looked upinto my face with eyes that were swimming with tears. For a moment herlips quivered, speechless; then, recovering command of herself, shesaid:

  "Welcome--a thousand welcomes, Mr Leigh! Doctor Harper has explainedto us that it is only by making a great effort you find yourself able tomeet us to-night and give us a chance to express our lifelong gratitudeto you for your noble, gallant deed." Again her emotion overcame her;and presently, after a brave but ineffectual struggle to be formal andrestrained, she suddenly let herself go, and, bursting into tears,exclaimed:

  "Oh! you dear, dear boy, Walter, how can I ever thank you enough? I ama happy, grateful woman to-night, for the doctor has just assured methat Julius will certainly recover; whereas, but for you, he would--would--have been--" She could get no further; so in lieu of words thedear lady lifted my hands to her lips and kissed them repeatedly. Then,to my intense relief, Harper stepped forward, and, gently taking her bythe arm, led her to a seat, saying:

  "Now, my dear lady, this will never do, you know. You must pullyourself together, or I shall have another case upon my sick list. If Ihad suspected that this was going to happen I would not have allowedLeigh to come to you so soon. This has been a very trying day for you,I know, but--"

  "Yes, it has, Doctor," she sobbed, "and of course it has upset me a bit;but just leave me alone for a minute or two, and I shall be all rightagain."

  While she was saying this, Miss Anthea came forward, and, franklyextending her hand, expressed her own thanks to me for having saved herbrother's life. "And, Mr Leigh," she continued in a low voice, "I takeback every one of those horrid things that I've said about Englishmen inyour hearing. I am downright ashamed of myself. Will you forgive me?"

  "Why, of course I will, very freely and willingly," I said. "Pleaseforget all about them, as I shall."

  "Thank you!" she said. "My brother--"

  But at this moment Marsh flung open the door, and, in his mostimpressive manner, announced that dinner was served, thus putting an endto what I felt to be a most embarrassing situation.

  "You are to take me down to dinner, if you please, Mr Leigh," said MissAnthea, linking her arm in mine. "I insisted upon it," she explained,"because I want to make you understand how sorry and ashamed I am at theway I have behaved to you all through the voyage--"

  "But," I said, "I thought it was agreed that that should be allforgotten."

  "So it shall be," she said, "since you are so generous as to wish it.But before we entirely relegate the matter to oblivion, I want toexplain that my stupid prejudice against Englishmen is not at allfounded upon experience, for the few Englishmen whom I have met--true,they have been very few--have all been unexceptionable. I don't knowwhy it is, but it seems to be the fashion for us Americans to speak andthink of Englishmen as being of a different clay from ourselves,something infinitely inferior to us in every respect--effete, and allthat sort of thing; and so much is this the case that a good many of usreally come to believe it at last. There! I have made my confession,cried _peccavi_, and have been forgiven; and I feel ever so muchhappier. Now, please tell me about yourself. I want to know whetheryou have quite recovered from the effect of your dreadful exertions thismorning. My! I don't believe I shall ever forget how I felt when Irushed up on deck to find out what all the confusion was about, and sawyou swimming in the water, ever so far away, with Julius hanging overyour shoulder."