CHAPTER TEN.
ON A REEF--FATE OF THE FRENCH CREW--THE ISLAND--THE SHIPWRECKED PEOPLE--THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT L'HIRONDELLE.
It is scarcely necessary to relate that Captain Rymer was on his way, onboard the _Cerberus_, West Indian merchantman, to take the command towhich he had been appointed when he was captured by the privateer. Hehad been too much accustomed to the ups and downs of a sailor's life tobe disheartened at what had occurred, though it was a great trial itmust be owned. He had cause also to be grateful that he and hiscompanions had not received that ill-usage to which passengers were toooften subjected when their vessel was taken by a privateer. It mighthave been very different had the French captain himself remained onboard. He had now, however, great cause for apprehension, inconsequence of the increasing violence of the hurricane. The_Cerberus_, he knew, was a stout, strong-built ship, but many a stoutship had gone down in a West Indian hurricane; not long before, severalline-of-battle ships with all their gallant crews had been lost. Thingson deck looked as bad as they well could do. He was a Christian man,and put his trust in One who is all-able to save. Thus he could imparthope and confidence to his companions. Hitherto the ship had not sprunga leak, and, as far as he could judge, they were at some distance fromany land. The French had, however, become alarmed. Some, like truemen, stayed at their posts on deck, but the greater number had gonebelow and stowed themselves away in the berths. A few had endeavouredto break open the spirit-room, but the French officers, suspecting theirintentions, had been in time to prevent them, and threatened to shootthe first man, whether Frenchman or Englishman, who would again make theattempt. Order was thus kept on board. No human power was longer ofany avail in guiding the ship. The hatches were battened down in timeto prevent the seas, which now began to break on board, from washingbelow. On she drove before the hurricane. The caboose and spars werefirst washed away; then two of the quarter-boats shared the same fate.The seas were making a clean sweep over the decks; still on she drove.Now part of the bulwarks were knocked to pieces, and it seemed that in ashort time everything on deck would follow; still the masts stood andthe ship floated. There was hope, but it grew fainter and fainter; eventhe stoutest hearts had cause to fear. Several fearful hours followed.The hurricane howled more loudly and fiercely around the ship, and theraging seas seemed to have gained her as their prey.
"Do you really think she will live through it?" asked David of Harry.
"Yes, I do think so; we've gone through so many dangers, that I can'tfancy that we're to be lost at last," was Harry's reply.
Another and another hour passed away. "Surely the hurricane must cometo an end at last," said David. "Did you ever know one last so long,Captain Rymer?" he inquired.
"They seldom last more than twelve or fifteen hours, and this gives mehope that we shall escape," answered their friend. "I see a gleam ofdaylight coming through a scuttle. Depend upon it, before long the windwill begin to fall."
While they were speaking loud cries arose from those on deck. "Breakersahead!" shouted the English crew. Directly afterwards there was afearful crash.
"We're cast upon a reef!" exclaimed Harry; "perhaps, after all, our lastday is come."
Captain Rymer set an example of coolness to his companions. "Remaintogether," he said to Mary and the other ladies, "I will go on deck andascertain the state of affairs, and return for you, if there is aprospect of your reaching the shore. We are in God's hands, and thoughwe may be unable to help ourselves, let us feel that He will care forus."
While he was thus speaking, the ship seemed to be lifted by the seas,and then down she came again with another crash. Just as Captain Rymerreached the deck, followed by David and Harry, the masts were seen to goby the board; the ship had struck upon a reef, over which the sea wasdriving her, and inside of it the waters seemed comparatively calm.
"Why, men," shouted Captain Rymer to the crew, "I believe if we remainby the ship we shall all be able to gain the shore in safety." TheFrenchmen, however, did not understand him, and were engaged inlaunching the remaining boats. He felt sure that in the raging seaswhich surrounded the ship no boats would live.
"Whatever happens, we will remain on board," he said to Harry and David."The ship I know is strong, and will hold together till the storm isabated. Those who attempt to embark now will, I fear, lose theirlives."
In vain he urged the Frenchmen to remain. The English captain alone,with one of his officers, agreed that he was right. The boats werelowered and the infatuated men leaped into them. Pierre Lamont hadcourageously remained on deck during the hurricane, but he now seemedinclined to follow his countrymen into the boats. Harry and David sawhim, and shouted to him not to go. Hearing them he turned back, but oneof the Frenchmen seized him by the arms, and before he could disengagehimself, had dragged him into the boat. Scarcely, however, had theboats shoved off, crowded with human beings, than first one, then theother, was capsized, and all were thrown into the water. In vain theshrieking wretches attempted to regain the ship; some clung to theboats; a few who could swim struggled for some time amid the foamingwaves. Captain Rymer had before this gone below, but Captain Williamsand those who remained on deck, got ropes ready to throw to any whomight be washed near the ship. None were so fortunate, and one by onethey were carried far away, and disappeared amid the foaming breakers.
"Is there not one who can be saved?" exclaimed David, who had stoodwatching the scene with horror.
"Yes, yes, I see one clinging to the wreck of our masts," answeredHarry; "I must go and try to rescue him. I do believe that it isPierre!"
"Oh, let me go then," said David; "I can swim better than you, youknow."
"This is a case for scrambling rather than for swimming," answeredHarry; "I'll fasten a rope round my waist, and we'll have him quickly onboard."
Harry, before David could offer another objection, did as he proposed.It was an undertaking, however, of the greatest danger, and the utmostactivity and vigilance could alone have saved him from being struck bythe broken spars which were dashed here and there by the seas.
At length Harry reached the object of his search. Pierre looked up athim eagerly. "Oh, save me, save me! I cannot hold on longer," heexclaimed.
Harry sprang forward and grasped the French boy by the collar just ashis hands relaxed their hold. He dragged him up on the mast. To returnwith him was even more difficult than the first part of the undertaking.Undaunted, however, Harry persevered, and, though more than once almostlosing his footing, succeeded at length in bringing young Pierre onboard. "Brave garcon!" exclaimed Jacques, as he helped him up; "oh, Iwould die for you! I will be ever your friend."
Except the lieutenant in command, and honest Jacques Rossillion, noFrenchman remained on board, and the ship was once more, therefore, inpossession of the English. Scarcely had this fearful catastropheoccurred than the weather gave evident signs of improving. CaptainWilliams, the English commander, accompanied by Captain Rymer, wentround the ship below and brought back a satisfactory report that sheappeared to have suffered very little damage by the blows she hadreceived. The shore was, however, not particularly inviting; a fewgroups of cocoa-nut trees and other tropical plants were alone to beseen. It was an island scarcely more than two miles in circumference,one of those spots known as keys in the West Indies; still, should theship break up, it would afford them shelter, and they could not helplonging to be able to reach the beach. As the boats and all had beenlost, this could not be done till a raft had been built. The gentlemenimmediately set about constructing one. As the spars had all beenwashed away, it was necessary first to get those which floated alongsidefrom the rigging. There were planks also below; these were got up, withall the empty casks which could be collected. By knocking away some ofthe bulwarks, and by bringing on deck a few of the seamen's chests, theysoon had materials for constructing a raft large enough for carrying thewhole party. All hands worked with a will. The French lieutenant wasvery active, and seemed
in no way put out by having the tables socompletely turned upon him. He was probably grateful, as he ought tohave been, for having escaped with his life. By the time the raft wasfinished, the sea had so completely gone down that there was littledifficulty in launching it. The bulwarks having been already completelywashed away, all that was necessary was to let it slip quietlyoverboard. Its constructors gave a cheer as they saw it floating calmlyalongside; they had still, however, to rig the mast and sail, as well asto fit some oars to guide it towards the shore.
When this was done, the captains invited all the passengers up on deck.It was agreed that it would be safer to convey only half at a time.Harry and David begged that they might accompany Captain Rymer and Mary.Captain Rymer agreed to let Captain Williams conduct the first party,saying that he should be content to remain on board till the return ofthe raft. Before the raft left the side, a supply of provisions werelowered down upon it; and, with the prayers of those who remained onboard for its safe voyage, the raft shoved off from the side of theship. Its progress was slow, for there was very little wind, and thereseemed to be a current sweeping round the island which took it out ofits direct course. At length, however, it reached the beach, and thoseon it leaped out and ran eagerly up on to the dry land. The men had,however, to return for the provisions, which were landed in safety.Then Captain Williams, and two seamen who accompanied him, had to returnto the ship; they were a considerable time, and it seemed doubtfulindeed, in consequence of the current which had to be encountered,whether they would regain her. They succeeded, however, at last.
Captain Rymer, with those who had remained on board, had employed theirtime in getting up provisions, and their first care was to load her withas large a supply as she could safely carry; this done, the remainder ofthose on board now made for the shore, which by some exertion theysafely reached. The first care of the shipwrecked party on reaching theshore was to send out some of their number in search for water. CaptainRymer had brought some from the wreck, but this was only sufficient tolast for a short time, and their lives might depend upon their obtaininga supply. Only those who have felt the want of water know how toappreciate its value. Others, in the meantime, employed themselves ingetting up a tent for the ladies; for which purpose they had broughtsome spare sails and ropes. In a short time the party which had goneout in search of water returned with the report that none was to befound. This rendered it important to economise their slender store, andto procure a future supply from the ship as soon as possible.
All this time no one seemed to have thought of the French privateer.She had not been seen since the commencement of the hurricane, fromwhich, if she had escaped, it was too probable she would come and lookfor her prize. This was a source of anxiety to Captain Rymer, for,though of course anxious to escape from their present position, he hadno wish at all to fall again into the hands of the French.
The men of the party found ample occupation for the rest of the day, inputting up shelter for themselves, for hot as is the climate of the WestIndies, it is dangerous to sleep exposed to the night dews.
Pierre seemed anxious to make himself useful, and begged that he mightbe allowed to attend on the ladies. Jacques offered to undertake theoffice of cook, the duties of which he was far better able to performthan any of the English. The French lieutenant seemed the mostcast-down of any of the party. He sat by himself not speaking to anyone, and with an air of discontent, put away the food which was broughtto him.
"The poor lieutenant mourns and seems very unhappy," said David toPierre.
"Yes," answered Pierre, "he is often thus morose when anything annoyshim; the poor man has no religion."
"Is he not a Roman Catholic?" asked David.
"Oh, no; a large number of my countrymen threw off all religion at theRevolution, and many, like him, have not taken to any since. He, I amafraid, does not believe in God, or in any future state, but that whenhe dies he will become just like a dog or a pig; so, you see, he has nohope, and nothing to keep him up."
"But what are you, Pierre? are you not a Roman Catholic?" asked David.
"Oh, no, I am a Protestant," answered Pierre; "there are a great manyProtestants in France, and though some few at the Revolution becameinfidels, by far the greater number remained firm to the true faith."
"I didn't know there were any Protestants in France," said Harry, who,like many boys at that time, fancied that the English were the onlyProtestant people in Europe.
"Oh, yes, there are a great number who are known as Huguenots, and whofought bravely for the Protestant faith," said Pierre. "My father wasof a Huguenot family, and many of his ancestors lost their lives for thelove they bore the Bible."
"Ah! that was a noble cause to die for," remarked David. "How sad tothink that people should reject the truths it contains."
This conversation took place as the boys were sitting together in frontof the tent. Darkness now came rapidly on, but from the look of theweather there seemed every prospect of their having the blessing of aquiet night. The sea had gone completely down, and the moon shone forthover the calm waters, the light just falling upon the spot where thewreck lay, so that any object could be seen approaching it. CaptainRymer and Captain Williams agreed, however to keep watch for theprotection of their charges. Three English seamen, with the mate,wisely remained by their captain. There were, besides Captain Rymer,four gentlemen passengers, West Indian planters, going out to theirproperty. They were not men of much individual character, evidentlymore accustomed to look after their own creature comforts than totrouble them selves about their fellow-beings. There was one subject inwhich they were all agreed, that the emancipation of the negroes wouldruin them, and all persons concerned. It was a doubtful matter whethernegroes had souls, and that to attempt to educate them was a work of thegreatest folly. In this matter Captain Rymer did not agree with them,and the discussion of the subject afforded them abundant supply ofconversation at all times.
The night passed quietly away. As soon as it was dawn, Captain Rymerurged Captain Williams to return at once to the wreck, and bring onshore a further supply of provisions and water.
"We cannot tell what may occur," he observed. "The hurricane season isnot yet over, and should another hurricane come on, and the vessel go topieces, we might be starved, and die for want of water."
The wisdom of this advice was so evident, that the raft was immediatelydespatched, under the captain's charge, to bring off the cargo. In ashort time it returned, and a message was delivered from the captain,that he thought it would be wiser to build another raft, in order morerapidly to get the stores on shore. This work occupied the men thewhole of the day. Jacques alone remained on shore to cook theprovisions, with the help of Pierre, while David and Harry begged thatthey might be allowed to go off to the wreck, where they thought thatthey could make themselves useful.
"I vote that we make a small raft for ourselves," said Harry; "and Ithink that we can paddle her backwards and forwards several times, whilethe big raft is only making one voyage."
With the experience they had already attained, they soon carried theirplan into execution, and in a short time conveyed a considerablequantity of the stores on shore. During their last trip, however, Harryobserved close alongside the raft a black fin, and a wicked pair of eyesglancing up at him.
"There's a brute of a shark," he exclaimed; "he thinks he's going to geta meal off one of us, I suspect."
Still they kept paddling on, and the shark did not attempt to comenearer them. They were not sorry, however, when they reached the shore,and Captain Rymer told them that he considered they had done enough forthe day. It must be owned it was far pleasanter to sit near Mary, andlisten to the account of all their friends at home. She did not tellthem how completely they had been given up, for she knew it would makeHarry especially melancholy to think of the sorrow his supposed loss hadcaused his mother, nor did she tell him how very sorry she herself hadbeen. Indeed, she could say truly that many of their fr
iends fullyexpected that they would turn up at last.
"Doesn't this put you in mind of our picnic?" said Harry, looking up ather, "though to be sure we are somewhat changed since then," lookingdown on his tarred and dirty dress. "I really think the next time I goon board the wreck I must try and find a new suit of clothes."
"You do look rather disreputable," said Mary, laughing, "for an officerin His Majesty's service. Here comes Jacques with the dinner. ReallyJacques must be a first-rate cook, and we ought to be thankful that heescaped."
None of the party seemed inclined to be out of spirits, except thelieutenant, who sat as usual by himself, and refused to take the foodPierre offered him. Had it even been otherwise, the good well-cookeddinner provided by Jacques might have put them in good humour, whilethere was no lack of wine, of which the West Indian planters had laid ina good store. In the evening a further supply of provisions and waterwas obtained from the wreck. The next day was wisely occupied in thesame way, till a sufficient supply of food was landed to last for acouple of months or more. More than once it was discussed whether itcould be possible to get the wreck off, but it was agreed that withoutmore strength than they possessed it would be impossible, though, as faras could be ascertained, she had suffered no material damage. Some ofthe party thought they took a great deal of trouble for little purpose,and that it would be more easy to get the stores on shore as they wererequired.
"They will see the wisdom of what we have done should a hurricane comeon," said Captain Rymer, "and I am not at all sure, from the appearanceof the weather, that we shall escape one."
The next morning the heat was intense. The sun rose surrounded by amass of ruddy hue, but was hidden ere long in a thick canopy of cloud.Not a breath of wind stirred the calm waters. In the distance a sailwas seen, which had approached the island during the night. CaptainRymer had been watching her for some time through his glass. The Frenchlieutenant, on observing her, sprang to his feet, and eagerly asked thecaptain to let him look through the glass.
"It is the _Hirondelle_!" he exclaimed. "Then she did not go down inthe last hurricane. My captain guessed rightly that the prize was castaway on some island in this direction. He is a sagacious man."
"I wish his sagacity had not led him to discover us," said CaptainRymer. "If he lands here he may after all succeed in getting off theship."
This announcement caused, as may be supposed, a considerable amount ofanxiety among those on the island. While they were watching, two boatswere seen to leave the schooner. Hitherto it had been so calm that afeather held up would have fallen to the ground. Suddenly, however,there came a low moaning sound, and the leaves of the palm trees beganto rustle strangely. In an instant afterwards the blast swept over theisland, snapping off the tops of many of the tallest trees. The tentswere blown down, and it was with difficulty that those on the islandcould avoid being carried away. The sea, hitherto so calm, came dashingin huge foaming billows against the weather side, and breaking over thewreck with tremendous force, and it seemed scarcely possible that shecould resist the blows that she was receiving. Now one sea and nowanother dashed against her, till she seemed to be completely coveredwith a mass of foam. They looked out for the schooner, she was nowhereto be seen. Either she had gone down, or had been driven far away bythe hurricane. The hurricane continued blowing without cessation; nowcoming from one quarter, and now from another.
Evening was approaching, and an unusual darkness overspread the ocean.It was fearful to contemplate what might be the fate of many of thosewho floated on that stormy sea. It was impossible to put up any shelterfor the ladies, but Mary felt that she had her father to protect her,who sat by her side, sheltering her as well as he could, aided by Harryand David. Thus the night passed away, the whole party sitting groupedtogether for mutual protection. "What could have become of theschooner?" was a question often asked and answered. The morning brokeat length. The _Cerberus_ had disappeared, but still further off, atthe end of the reef, an object was seen. It was part of a wreck; therewere human beings clinging to it. "Whether Englishmen or Frenchman wemust endeavour to save them," said Captain Rymer.
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