The Life of a Ship
Page 3
loose sails, now and then, against the masts.
"Have you had breakfast, youngster?" inquired the captain of the ship,laying his hand on Davy's head.
"No, sir, not yet," answered the boy.
"Run below, then, and get it, and after you've done come to me. We mustput you to work now, lad, and make a sailor of you."
The steward soon gave Davy as much food as he could eat; then he sprangup the companion ladder, and, running to the poop where the captain was,touched his cap, saying--
"I'm ready, sir."
"Very good, my lad," said the captain, sitting down on the skylight, orwindow on the deck, which gives light to the cabin below. "Do you seethat little thing on top of the mainmast like a button?"
"Do you mean the truck?" said Davy.
"Oh, you know its name, do you? well, do you think you could climb up toit?"
"I'll try," cried Davy, springing towards the mast.
"Stay!" shouted the captain; "not so fast, boy. You'd tumble down andbreak your neck if you tried to climb to the truck the first time youever went up the mast. But you may go to the `maintop.' That's whereyou see the lower mast joined to the top mast. Climb up by those ropeladders--the `shrouds,' we call them." Away went Davy, and was soonhalfway up the shrouds; but he went too fast, and had to stop forbreath. Then he came to the mass of woodwork and ropes at the head ofthe lower mast. Here he had great difficulty in getting on; but, beinga fearless boy, he soon succeeded. The captain then called to him to goout to the end of the "yardarm."
Yards are the huge cross beams fastened to the masts to which the sailsare fixed. The "main-yard" is the largest. The mainsail is attached toit.
Davy soon crept out nearly to the end, but when he got there the yardbecame so small and the ropes upon it were so few and slack, that thepoor boy's courage began to fail. He looked down at the water, whichseemed to be terribly far below him. At that moment the ship made alurch or plunge, Davy lost his hold, and with a loud cry fell headlongfrom the yard into the sea. In a moment Ben Block, who had beenwatching him, jumped overboard; a boat was lowered, and in less than tenminutes Ben was picked up with Davy clinging to him.
Not long after this they drew near the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and werebeginning to think of the end of their voyage. But one night while Davylay sound asleep in his warm hammock, he was startled by a cry on deck,which was followed by a loud order for "all hands" to tumble up andshorten sail. The sailors are usually called "hands" at sea. In amoment Davy was on deck, with only his trousers and shirt on. But hecould not see anything, the night was so dark, and he could scarcelyhear anything except the howling of the wind.
"Take in all sail!" roared the captain. The men rushed to obey, andDavy was so well accustomed to the work that he too climbed to his usualplace on the main topsail yard and began to haul in the sail. He couldbarely see the man next to him, and it was with difficulty he kept hishold of the yard, while the ship tossed and plunged in the waves. Whennearly all sail was taken in the ship went easier, and the men assembledon the deck to await further orders. The gale increased, and suddenlythe small bit of the fore-topsail that was hoisted burst into shredswith a clap like thunder, and carried away the fore-topmast with all itsyards and rigging, part of the bowsprit, and the top of the mainmast."Clear away the wreck!" shouted the captain. Some of the men ran foraxes, and began to cut the ropes that fastened the broken masts to theship, for there was a danger of the ship striking against them andknocking a hole in her side while she plunged. Still the galeincreased, and the mizzen topmast went overboard. The "mizzen" is themast nearest to the stern. It is the smallest of the three. Thelightning now began to flash, and the thunder to roar, while the crew ofthe _Fair Nancy_ stood on her deck clinging to the bulwarks, lest theyshould be washed overboard! Little Davy looked at the man next him, andsaw that it was Ben Block. "Oh, Ben!" said he, "what an awful night itis! Do you think we shall be lost?"
Ben shook his head. "I don't know, lad; but the Lord can save us, if itbe His will. Pray to Him, boy."
"My poor mother!" murmured Davy, as the tears rose to his eyes, while heprayed to God in his heart that he might be spared to see her again. Atthat moment there came a wave so big and black that Davy thought the seawas going to turn upside down. It came on like a great dark mountain,high above the ship. "Hold on for your lives!" cried some of the men,as the wave fell with a fearful crash and turned the ship over on herside--or on her "beam-ends," as sailors call it. They were in awfuldanger now, as the sea began to pour down into the cabins, and the mastsand sails being in the water the ship could not "right," or becomestraight again. "Cut away the masts!" roared the captain. The deck wasnow standing up like a wall, so that the men could not walk on it, butthey managed with great difficulty to reach the mizzenmast, which a fewstrokes of the axe sent overboard. Still the ship lay on her beam-ends."Cut away the mainmast!" cried the captain. The order was obeyed, andwith a loud report, like a cannon shot, it went overboard too.Immediately after the fall of the mainmast there came another wave, fromwhich they never expected to rise again. It dashed down on the sternand drove in the cabin windows; but the worst of it was, that it sweptaway all the boats belonging to the ship. They had been securelyfastened to the deck; but this wave carried them all away, so that now,if the ship sank, their only chance of escape was gone. The same wavesnapped the foremast across near the deck. This was fortunate, becauseit enabled the ship to "right" herself, and once more the men were ableto stand on the deck. The storm continued to rage still, however, andsome of the men were sent to work the pumps, for there was a great dealof water in the ship now; so much, indeed, that she could hardly float.Another party were ordered to fit up a small mast, which they tied tothe stump of the foremast. This new one was called a "jury-mast;" andas they could not sail without a mast of some kind or other, they werevery glad when they saw it up and a sail hoisted on it. During thenight, however, another heavy wave broke this mast away also; so theywere again left to toss like a log on the stormy waters.
All this time the men were working hard at the pumps, but, although theyworked for many hours without stopping, the water continued to increasein the hold, and they saw that the ship had sprung "a leak;" that is tosay, some of the planks had started, or the seams had opened, and thewater was pouring into it so fast that it was evident she would soonsink. This was very awful indeed. Some of the men began to cry to Godfor mercy, others tore their hair and ran about like madmen, while somesat down and silently prepared to die!
The morning light came at last. But what a sad sight it rose upon. Theonce noble ship now lay a wreck upon the water, with the masts and sailsgone and her shattered hull ready to sink. The captain, who seemed tohave lost all hope when the jury-mast broke, was standing on the poop,looking anxiously round the horizon in hopes of seeing a sail--but invain. Davy stood beside him, and looking up in his face, said, "Please,sir, could we not make a raft?"
"Right, boy, right," replied the captain; "you're the best `man' amongstus. We're no better than girls to be giving way to despair in this way.Hallo! lads, rouse up there; get all the spare yards and spars you can,and make a raft. Look sharp now!"
The captain said this in such a quick, commanding tone that all thesailors jumped to obey him, and in five minutes they were busily at workon the raft. First, they collected all the broken yards and bits ofmasts that were still floating alongside, dragging by the ropes thatfastened them to the sides of the ship. These they arranged side byside, and tied them firmly together with ropes. Then they collected allthe spare timbers that were in the ship, and putting these above theothers, fastened them with ropes too. After that they tore off some ofthe planks from the decks and bulwarks, with which they made a kind offloor to the raft. All this, although it takes a short time to tell,took a long, long time to do; for it was hard work moving such heavytimbers, and the poor men were very tired, having been up in the stormall night. Besides this, although the wind had ceased, the waves
werestill high and would not let them work quietly. However, they finishedit at last, and after it was done, they put a number of barrels ofbiscuit and some casks of water and wine on board. Then they put a fewblankets and a compass--that useful little machine that points always tothe north, and shows the sailor which way to go, so that he sails in thedark night as surely as in the broad day.
"Now," said the captain, "I think that there is a chance of escape yet.Get on board, lads, as fast as you can. I fear the ship won't floatlong." All the men now hastened on board. The captain's wife, who wasthe only female in the ship, was the first to step on the raft, and itsoon