by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XIV.
ALL HANDS, REEF TOPSAILS!
Augustus Pelham, the fourth lieutenant of the Young America, was almostthe only malcontent among the officers; the only one who persistentlydeclined to be reconciled to the new regulation. Others objected to it;others criticised it, and even regarded the act as tyrannical; but thegood offices of Paul Kendall, who argued the question with them, as hedid with Shuffles, had in a measure conciliated them, and they were atleast disposed to submit gracefully to the order. But Pelham was not ofthis number He was above the average age, and, like the chiefconspirator on board, expecting to leave the ship at the end of thefirst year, had not exerted himself to the extent of his ability. He hadbeen first lieutenant and had now fallen to fourth. He was older thanthe captain, and it galled him to be subject to one younger thanhimself.
He was dissatisfied with his rank, and this had a tendency to make him agrumbler. It needed only an appearance of tyranny or injustice to arrayhim in spirit against the authorities of the ship. Shuffles knew hisstate of mind, and was prepared to take advantage of it, hoping throughhim to gain other discontented spirits in the cabin.
When the first part of the port watch was relieved, the "Chain"consisted of five links, and the conspirators were well satisfied withthe present success of the enterprise. Each of the new members of theLeague was commissioned to obtain a recruit, whose name was given tohim, and he was required to report upon the case, to Shuffles, beforeeight bells in the afternoon watch. As a measure of precaution, it wasrequired that no meetings should be held; that not more than threemembers should assemble for business at any one time. The utmost careand circumspection were urged, and it was agreed that not a word shouldbe said in the steerage, where it was possible for any of the professorsto overhear it.
The second part of the port watch, with Pelham as officer of the deck,went on duty at ten o'clock. The wind had been freshening for the lasttwo hours, and it was now necessary to reduce sail. The royals werefirst taken in, and then the top-gallant sails.
"We can't lay this course, sir," said Burchmore, the quartermaster, whowas conning the helm. "The wind is hauling to the eastward."
"Make the course east by north then," replied Pelham, without taking thetrouble to consult the captain or Mr. Fluxion, both of whom were ondeck.
"The wind is north-north-east, sir," reported the quartermaster, a shorttime afterwards.
"Keep her east then."
At six bells the wind was north-east, and coming heavier and heavierevery moment. The ship was headed east-south-east, and it was evidentthat she still had on more sail than she could easily carry.
"What's the course, Mr. Pelham?" asked Captain Gordon.
"East-south-east, sir," replied Pelham.
"The course given out was east-north-east."
"I have changed it three times within the last hour," answered thefourth lieutenant, in rather surly tones.
"By whose order?" demanded the captain.
"By no one's order, sir."
"You know the regulation for the officer of the deck. He is notpermitted to alter the course of the ship, unless to avoid some suddendanger, without informing the captain."
"I had to alter the course, or have the topsails thrown aback," repliedPelham.
"Very likely it was proper to alter the course; but it was also properto inform me, especially when I was on deck."
"Very well, Captain Gordon. I will not alter the course again withoutyour order," added the fourth lieutenant, stiffly.
"The regulation is not mine, Mr. Pelham," continued the captain,sternly.
As the wind increased, sail was reduced to topsails and courses, jib andspanker; but at seven bells even these were found to be too much forher.
"Captain Gordon, it is coming heavier," said Mr. Fluxion. "I think itwill be necessary to reef."
"I was thinking of that, sir. The wind is north-east, and blowing agale."
"You had better call all hands, and do it at once."
"Mr. Pelham, you will call all hands to reef topsails!"
"All hands, sir?"
"Certainly, Mr. Pelham; that was my order," replied the captain, moresharply than usual, for there was something in the manner of the officerof the deck which he did not like, and he found it necessary to maintainthe dignity of his position.
Pelham touched his cap; he felt the weight of authority upon him heavierthan ever before. Until recently he had always performed his dutycheerfully, and was considered a first-rate officer. Since the newregulation had been put in force, and he had been compelled to deliverup ten sovereigns in his possession he had been rather disagreeable. Inthe cabin he had used some language reflecting upon the principal, andhe was now regarded as a malcontent by the captain, and by those whostill sustained the discipline of the ship.
"Morrison," called he, as he went forward to the waist.
"Here, sir," replied the boatswain, who belonged in this quarter watch;and there was a boatswain's mate in each of the others.
"Call all hands to reef topsails."
The shrill pipe of the boatswain's whistle soon rang above the howlingwinds, which now sounded gloomily through the rigging. The call wasrepeated in the steerage, and at the door of the after cabin, where itcould be heard by the officers, for no one on board is exempted when allhands are called. This was the first taste of the hardships of aseaman's life to which the students had been invited. It is notpleasant, to say the least, to be turned out of a warm bed in a gale,when the wind comes cold and furious, laden with the spray of the ocean,and be sent aloft in the rigging of the ship, when she is rolling andpitching, jumping and jerking, in the mad waves. But there is no excuseat such a time, and nothing but positive physical disability can exemptofficer or seaman from duty.
It was the first time the boys had seen a gale at sea, and though it wasnot yet what would be called a strong gale, it was sufficiently terrificto produce a deep impression upon them. The ship was still close-hauled,under topsails and courses, with jib and spanker. The wind came in heavyblasts, and when they struck the sails, the Young America heeled over,until her lee yard-arm seemed to be dipping the waves. Huge billows cameroaring down from the windward, crowned with white foam, and presentingan awful aspect in the night, striking the ship, lifting her bow high inthe air, and breaking over the rail, pouring tons of water on the deck.
Before the whole crew had been called, every opening in the deck hadbeen secured, and the plank guards placed over the glass in theskylights. Life lines had been stretched along the decks, and theswinging ports, through which the water that came over the rail escaped,were crossed with whale line by Peaks, to prevent any unlucky boy frombeing washed through, if he happened to be thrown off his feet by a rushof water to the scuppers.
The scene was wild and startling; it was even terrible to those who hadnever seen anything of the kind before, though the old sailors regardedit quite as a matter of course. Peaks had never been known to be sojolly and excited since he came on board. He was full of jokes and wittysayings; he seemed to be in his element now, and all his powers of bodyand mind were in the keenest state of excitement.
The students were disposed to look upon it as a rough time, anddoubtless some of them thought the ship was in great peril. Not a few ofthem pretended to enjoy the scene, and talked amazingly salt, as thoughthey had been used to this kind of thing all their lives. Mr. Lowingtoncame on deck, when all hands were called; and though, to his experiencedeye, there was no danger while the ship was well managed, he wasexceedingly anxious, for it was a time when accidents were prone tohappen, and the loss of a boy at such an hour, would endanger thesuccess of his great experiment. On deck, the students could not getoverboard without the grossest carelessness; but it was perilous to sendthem aloft in the gloom of the howling tempest. He had hoped that hemight be permitted to meet the onslaught of the first gale the shipencountered in the daytime; but as the "clerk of the weather" otherwiseordained it, he was compelled to make the best of the circumst
ances.
Before the manoeuvre of reefing, in the gale, was begun, Mr. Fluxion wassent forward. Bitts was placed in the fore rigging, Peaks in the main,and Leach in the mizzen, to see that the young tars did not needlesslyexpose themselves, and that they used all proper precautions to avoidan accident. All the officers were at their stations.
"Man the topsail clewlines, and buntlines, and the weather topsailbraces," shouted Haven, the first lieutenant who always handled the shipwhen all hands were called. "Stand by the lee braces, bowlines, andhalyards."
The clewlines are ropes fastened to the corners of the topsail, passingthrough blocks on the topsail yard, and leading down to the deck throughthe lubber's hole. They are used in hauling the corners of the sail upwhen they are to be reefed or furled.
The buntlines are two ropes attached to cringles, or eyes, in the bottomof the sail, which are used for hauling up the middle, or bunt, of thetopsail.
The braces are the ropes secured to the ends of the yards, leading downto the deck, directly, or to a mast first, and thence below, by whichthe yards and the sails attached to them are hauled round so as to takethe wind. They are distinguished by the terms "weather" and "lee," theformer being those on the side from which the wind comes, the latter onthe opposite side. They also have their specific names, as the "weatherfore-top-gallant brace," the "lee main brace."
The bowlines are ropes attached to the leeches of square sails to drawthe edge forward, so that they may take the wind better. They arefastened to the bridles, which are loops like those of a kite, two orthree of them extending from the side of the sail.
The halyards are the ropes by which any sail is hoisted. For squaresails they are secured to the yards, which, with the exception of thelower one on each mast slide up and down.
"Clear away the bowlines," said the first lieutenant when all hands werereported ready for the manoeuvre which had been ordered.
At this command the bowlines on the topsails and courses wereunfastened.
"All clear, sir," reported the officers from their stations.
"Round in the weather braces, ease off the lee braces!" was the nextorder. "Settle away the topsail halyards! Clew down!"
To round in the weather braces was simply to haul them up as the leebraces were slacked, so that the yard was squared. As the command wasexecuted, the sail was "spilled," or the wind thrown out of it.
"Haul out the reef tackles! Haul up the buntlines!" continued theexecutive officer.
To reef a sail is to tie up a portion of it, so as to present lesssurface of canvas to the force of the wind. Topsails are reefed in theupper part; a portion of the sail nearest to the yard from which it issuspended being rolled up and secured by strings to the yard. Fore andaft sails, like the spanker, the fore and main spencers, or the mainsailof a schooner, are reefed at the foot, the lower part being tied down tothe boom.
The topsails of the Young America had three reef bands, or strips ofcanvas sewed crosswise over them, in which were the reef points, orstrings by which the sail is tied up when reefed. When the first orhighest row of reef points was used, the sail was single reefed; whenthe second was used, it was double reefed; and when the third row wasused, it was close reefed. On each side of the sail, at the end of eachreef band, was a cringle, or eye, in which the reef pendent wasfastened. The reef tackle consists of a rope passing from the eye, atthe end of the reef band, through a block at the extremity of the yard,thence to the mast, and down to the deck. Hauling on this rope draws therequired portion of the sail up to the yard in readiness to be reefed.
The reef tackles were hauled out, and the buntlines hauled up to bringthe sail where it could be easily handled. When the sail is to bereefed, the seamen have to a "lay out" on the yards, and tie up thesail. To enable them to do this with safety, there are horses, orfoot-ropes, extending from the slings, or middle of the spar, to theyard-arms. This rope hangs below the yard, the middle parts beingsupported by stirrups. When a man is to "lay out," he throws his breastacross the yard with his feet on the horse. The man at the "weatherearing," or eye for the reef pendent, has to sit astride the yard, andpull the sail towards him.
The foot-rope sometimes slips through the eyes in the stirrups when onlyone hand goes out upon it, which does, or may, place him in a dangerousposition. During the preceding day, when the barometer indicated achange of weather, Mr. Lowington had sent the old boatswain aloft to"mouse the horses," in anticipation of the manoeuvre which the boys werenow compelled to perform at midnight, in a gale of wind. Mousing thehorses was merely fastening the foot-ropes to the eyes of the stirrups,so that they could not slip through, and thus throw the entire slack ofthe horse under one boy, by which he sank down so low that his neck waseven with the spar.
At the foot of each mast there is a contrivance for securing ropes,called the fife-rail. It is full of belaying pins, to which are securedthe sheets, halyards, buntlines, clewlines, lifts, braces, reef tackle,and other ropes leading down from aloft. Looking at the mast, it seemsto be surrounded by a perfect wilderness of ropes, without order orarrangement, whose uses no ordinary mortal could comprehend. There wereother ropes leading down from aloft, which were fastened at thesheer-poles and under the rail. Now, it is necessary that every sailorshould be able to put his hand on the right rope in the darkest night;and when the order to haul out the buntlines was given in the gloom andthe gale, those to whom this duty was assigned could have closed theireyes and found the right lines.
"Aloft, topman!" continued the first lieutenant, when the topsails werein readiness for reefing.
At this order thirty of the young tars ran up the shrouds, over thecat-harpings, and up the rigging, till they reached the fore, main, andmizzen topsail yards. Twelve of them were stationed on the main, ten onthe fore, and eight on the mizzen topsail yard. The first, second, andthird midshipmen were aloft to superintend the work, and when thestudding-sail booms had been triced up, they gave the order to lay out,and take two reefs.
When the hands were at their stations on the yard, the first lieutenantordered the quartermaster to "luff up;" that is, to put the helm downso as to throw the ship up into the wind and spill the sail, or get thewind out of it, that the young tars might handle it with the more ease.
The boys had been frequently trained in the manoeuvre which they werenow executing under trying circumstances, and all of them knew theirduty. If any one trembled as the mast swayed over when the ship rolled,he was afraid to mention the fact, or to exhibit any signs of alarm.Perhaps most of them would have been willing to acknowledge that it wasrather "ticklish" business to lay out on a topsail yard at midnight in agale of wind; and if their anxious mothers could have seen the boys atthat moment, some of them might have fainted, and all wished them in asafer place.
The boom tricing-lines were manned again, and the studding-sail boomsrestored to their places.
"Lay down from aloft!" shouted Haven, when the midshipman in chargealoft had reported the work done; and he was obliged to roar at the topof his lungs through the speaking trumpet, in order to be heard abovethe piping of the gale and the dashing of the sea. "Man the topsailhalyards! stand by the braces."
"All ready, sir," reported the fourth lieutenant, after the others.
"Hoist away the topsails!"
The hands on deck walked away with the halyards, until the topsails werehauled up to a taut leech.
The same operation was repeated on the fore and main course; the yardswere trimmed; the bowlines attached and hauled out, and then the shipwas under double-reefed topsails and courses.
"Boatswain, pipe down!" said the executive officer when the work wasdone.
But the crew did not care to pipe down, just then. This was the firsttime they had ever seen a gale at sea, and there was something grand andsublime in the heaving ocean, and the wild winds that danced madly overthe white-crested waves. It was now after midnight, eight bells havingstruck before the courses were reefed, and the first part of thestarboard watch were to have the deck. Mr. Lo
wington insisted that allothers should go below and turn in, assuring them that they would seeenough of the gale in the morning, or as soon as their quarter watcheswere called.
The principal and Mr. Fluxion were earnest in their commendation of thebehavior of the Young America. She was not only a stiff and weatherlyship, but she behaved most admirably, keeping well up to the wind, andminding her helm. The four boys at the wheel handled it with perfectease.
The ship did not labor in the gale as she had before the sails werereefed; and though she jumped, plunged, and rolled, making a terrificroar as she went along, everything was ship-shape about her, and theboys soon became accustomed to the exciting scene. She was making butlittle headway, but she still kept within three points of her generalcourse. Mr. Lowington remained on deck the rest of the night, anxiouslywatching the ship and her crew in the trying experience of the hour.
Augustus Pelham, the discontented lieutenant, went below when hisquarter watch was relieved. The little incident, before all hands werecalled, between himself and the captain, had disturbed him more than hewould have been willing to acknowledge. He thought it was harsh of thecaptain to say anything to him, though he had broken one of the rules ofthe ship; and he regarded the gentle reproof he had received as a verygreat indignity.
He went to his state room. The ship was rolling fearfully, and he couldnot stand up without holding on at the front of his berth. Goodwin, thethird lieutenant who was his room-mate, had already turned in; but itwas impossible for him to sleep. Pelham took a match from his pocket andlighted the lamp, which swung on gimbals in the room.
"What are you doing, Pelham?" demanded Goodwin "It is against the ruleto light a lamp after ten o'clock."
"I know it; but I'm not going to blunder round here, and have my brainsknocked out in the dark," growled Pelham.
"Put the light out; you will get into trouble," remonstrated hisroom-mate.
"I won't do it."
"What are you going to do?"
"Go to sleep, Goodwin, and don't bother me."
"What's the matter, Pelham? What ails you? I never knew you to think ofbreaking one of the rules before."
"I should like to break them all, as Moses did the ten commandments. Ihave been insulted."
"Who insulted you?"
"The captain."
"Gordon?" asked Goodwin, in astonishment
"Yes."
"I never knew him to do such a thing as that. I think you didn'tunderstand him; or he must have been excited by the gale."
"It was before it came on to blow very hard," replied Pelham, seatinghimself on a stool, and bracing his feet against the front of the berthto prevent being thrown down.
"What did he do?"
"He snubbed me, told me I knew the rule, and was as overbearing asthough I had been his servant, instead of an officer of the ship."
"But what did you do? He wouldn't have done anything of the kind if youhadn't given him some provocation."
"I told the quartermaster, when the wind was heading off the ship, toalter the course."
"Didn't you tell the captain beforehand?"
"Not I."
"Then I don't blame him for snubbing you. What's the use of beingcaptain if the officers don't obey you?"
"If he had anything to say to me, he might have been a little moregentle about it."
Pelham neglected to say that he was not particularly gentle himself.
"Put that light out, Pelham, for my sake, if not for your own," saidGoodwin, when he found that his companion was too much out of sorts tobe reasonable.
"Neither for yours nor my own will I put it out," replied Pelham, as hetook a cigar from its hiding-place, under the lower berth.
"What are you going to do, Pelham?" demanded Goodwin, filled withastonishment, as he observed the conduct of his fellow-officer.
"I'm going to have a smoke."
"But you know that smoking is positively prohibited either on ship orshore."
"I haven't had a smoke since vacation," replied Pelham, as he lightedthe cigar.
"See here, Pelham; I won't stand this!" exclaimed the third lieutenant,rising up in his bed, in which act he was nearly pitched out of hisberth by a heavy roll of the ship. "The companion-way is closed."
"That's the very reason why I'm going to smoke," replied the malcontent,coolly.
"But I shall be stifled here."
"Can't help it."
"I can," retorted Goodwin, as he leaped out on the floor.
"What are you going to do?"
"I am going to inform Mr. Lowington what you are doing."
"Are you such a fellow as that?" asked Pelham, indignantly.
"I am, if you are such a fellow as to attempt to stifle me with cigarsmoke in my own room. It would make me as sick as a horse in fiveminutes."
"Seasick, you mean," sneered Pelham. "I'm going to have my smoke, ifthere is a row about it."
Goodwin put on his pea-jacket, and left the room.