Mr. Midshipman Easy

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

  IN WHICH OUR HERO SETS OFF ON ANOTHER CRUISE, IN WHICH HE IS NOT BLOWNOFF SHORE.

  Gascoigne and our hero were neither of them in uniform, and theyhastened to Nix Mangare stairs where they soon picked up the padrone ofa speronare. They went with him into a wine-shop, and with theassistance of a little English from a Maltese boy, whose shirt hung outof his trousers, they made a bargain, by which it was agreed that, forthe consideration of two doubloons, he would sail that evening and landthem at Gergenti or some other town in Sicily, providing them withsomething to eat and gregos to sleep upon.

  Our two midshipmen then went back to the tavern from which they had setoff to fight the duel, and ordering a good dinner to be served in a backroom, they amused themselves with killing flies, as they talked over theevents of the day, and waited for their dinner.

  As Mr Tallboys did not himself think proper to go on board till theevening, and Mr Biggs also wished it to be dark before he went up theship's side, the events of the duel did not transpire till the nextmorning. Even then it was not known from the boatswain or gunner, butby a hospital mate coming on board to inform the surgeon that there wasone of their men wounded under their charge, but that he was doing verywell.

  Mr Biggs had ascended the side with his face bound up.

  "Confound that Jack Easy," said he, "I have only been on leave twicesince I sailed from Portsmouth--once I was obliged to come up the sidewithout my trousers, and show my bare stern to the whole ship's company,and now I am coming up, and dare not show my figure-head." He reportedhimself to the officer of the watch, and hasting to his cabin, went tobed, and lay the whole night awake from pain, thinking what excuse hecould possibly make for not coming on deck next morning to his duty.

  He was, however, saved this trouble, for Mr Jolliffe brought the letterof Gascoigne up to Mr Sawbridge, and the captain had received that ofour hero.

  Captain Wilson came on board, and found that Mr Sawbridge couldcommunicate all the particulars of which he had not been acquainted byJack; and after they had read over Gascoigne's letter in the cabin, andinterrogated Mr Tallboys, who was sent down under an arrest, they gavefree vent to their mirth.

  "Upon my soul, there's no end to Mr Easy's adventures," said thecaptain. "I could laugh at the duel, for after all, it is nothing--andhe would have been let off with a severe reprimand; but the foolish boyshave set off in a speronare to Sicily, and how the devil are we to getthem back again?"

  "They'll come back, sir," replied Sawbridge, "when all their money'sgone."

  "Yes, if they do not get into any more scrapes--that young scampGascoigne is as bad as Easy, and now they are together there's no sayingwhat may happen. I dine at the Governor's to-day; how he will laughwhen I tell him of this new way of fighting a duel!"

  "Yes, sir, it is just the thing that will tickle old Tom."

  "We must find out if they have got off the island, Sawbridge, which maynot be the case."

  But it was the case. Jack and Gascoigne had eaten a very good dinner,sent for the monkey to amuse them till it was dark, and there had waitedtill the padrone came to them.

  "What shall we do with the pistols, Easy?"

  "Take them with us, and load them before we go--we may want them: whoknows but there may be a mutiny on board of the speronare?--I wish wehad Mesty with us."

  They loaded the pistols, took a pair each and put them in their waists,concealed under their clothes--divided the ammunition between them, andsoon afterwards the padrone came to tell them all was ready.

  Whereupon Messrs. Gascoigne and Easy paid their bill and rose to depart,but the padrone informed them that he should like to see the colour oftheir money before they went on board. Jack, very indignant at theinsinuation that he had not sufficient cash, pulled out a handful ofdoubloons, and tossing two to the padrone, asked him if he wassatisfied.

  The padrone untied his sash, put in the money, and with many thanks andprotestations of service, begged our young gentlemen to accompany him:they did so, and in a few minutes were clear of Nix Mangare stairs, and,passing close to his Majesty's ship _Harpy, _were soon out of theharbour of Vallette.

  Of all the varieties of vessels which float upon the wave, there is not,perhaps, one that bounds over the water so gracefully or so lightly as asperonare, or any one so picturesque and beautiful to the eye of thosewho watch its progress.

  The night was clear, and the stars shone out brilliantly as the lightcraft skimmed over the water, and a fragment of a descending and waningmoon threw its soft beams upon the snow-white sail. The vessel, whichhad no neck, was full of baskets, which had contained grapes and variousfruits brought from the ancient granary of Rome, still as fertile and asluxuriant as ever. The crew consisted of the padrone, two men and aboy; the three latter, with their gregos, or night greatcoats withhoods, sitting forward before the sail, with their eyes fixed on theland as they flew past point after point, thinking perhaps of theirwives, or perhaps of their sweethearts, or perhaps not thinking at all.

  The padrone remained aft at the helm, offering every politeness to ourtwo young gentlemen, who only wished to be left alone. At last theyrequested the padrone to give them gregos to lie down upon, as theywished to go to sleep. He called the boy to take the helm, procuredthem all they required, and then went forward. And our two midshipmenlaid down looking at the stars above them, for some minutes, withoutexchanging a word. At last Jack commenced.

  "I have been thinking, Gascoigne, that this is very delightful. Myheart bounds with the vessel, and it almost appears to me as if thevessel herself was rejoicing in her liberty. Here she is capering overthe waves instead of being tied by the nose with a cable and anchor."

  "That's a touch of the sentimental, Jack," replied Gascoigne; "but sheis no more free than she was when at anchor, for she now is forced toact in obedience to her steersman, and go just where he pleases. Youmay just as well say that a horse, if taken out of the stable, is free,with the curb and his rider on his back."

  "That's a touch of the rational, Ned, which destroys the illusion.Never mind, we are free, at all events. What machines we are on boardof a man-of-war! We walk, talk, eat, drink, sleep, and get up, justlike clock-work; we are wound up to go the twenty-four hours, and thenwound up again; just like old Smallsole does the chronometers."

  "Very true, Jack; but it does not appear to me, that, hitherto, you havekept very good time: you require a little more regulating," saidGascoigne.

  "How can you expect any piece of machinery to go well, so damnablyknocked about as a midshipman is?" replied our hero.

  "Very true, Jack; but sometimes you don't keep any time, for you don'tkeep any watch. Mr Asper don't wind you up. You don't go at all."

  "No; because he allows me to go _down; _but still I do _go, _Ned."

  "Yes, to your hammock--but it's _no go_ with old Smallsole, if I want abit of _caulk_. But, Jack, what do you say--shall we keep watchto-night?"

  "Why, to tell you the truth, I have been thinking the same thing--Idon't much like the looks of the padrone--he squints."

  "That's no proof of anything, Jack, except that his eyes are notstraight; but if you do not like the look of him, I can tell you that hevery much liked the look of your doubloons--I saw him start, and hiseyes twinkled, and I thought at the time it was a pity you had not paidhim in dollars."

  "It was very foolish in me; but at all events he has not seen all."

  "He saw quite enough, Ned."

  "Very true, but you should have let him see the pistols, and not havelet him see the doubloons."

  "Well, if he wishes to take what he has seen, he shall receive what hehas not seen--why, there are only four of them?"

  "Oh, I have no fear of them, only it may be as well to sleep with oneeye open."

  "When shall we make the land?"

  "To-morrow evening with this wind, and it appears to be steady. Supposewe keep watch and watch, and have our pistols out ready, with thegreatcoats just turned over t
hem, to keep them out of sight?"

  "Agreed--it's about twelve o'clock now--who shall keep the middlewatch?"

  "I will, Jack, if you like it."

  "Well, then, mind you kick me hard, for I sleep devilish sound. Good--night, and keep a sharp lookout."

  Jack was fast asleep in less than ten minutes; and Gascoigne, with hispistols lying by him all ready for each hand, sat up at the bottom ofthe boat.

  There certainly is a peculiar providence in favour of midshipmencompared with the rest of mankind; they have more lives than a cat--always in the greatest danger, but always escaping from it.

  The padrone of the vessel had been captivated with the doubloons whichJack had so foolishly exposed to his view, and he had, moreover,resolved to obtain them. At the very time that our two lads wereconversing aft, the padrone was talking the matter over with his two menforward, and it was agreed that they should murder, rifle, and thenthrow them overboard.

  About two o'clock in the morning, the padrone came aft to see if theywere asleep, but found Gascoigne watching. He returned aft again andagain; but found the young man still sitting up. Tired of waiting,anxious to possess the money, and supposing that the lads were armed, hewent once more forward and spoke to the men. Gascoigne had watched hismotions; he thought it singular that, with three men in the vessel, thehelm should be confided to the boy--and at last he saw them draw theirknives. He pushed our hero, who woke immediately Gascoigne put his handover Jack's mouth, that he might not speak, and then he whispered hissuspicions. Jack seized his pistols--they both cocked them withoutnoise, and then waited in silence, Jack still lying down while Gascoignecontinued to sit up at the bottom of the boat. At last Gascoigne sawthe three men coming aft--he dropped one of his pistols for a second togive Jack a squeeze of the hand, which was returned, and as Gascoignewatched them making their way through the piles of empty baskets heleaned back as if he was slumbering. The padrone, followed by the twomen, was at last aft--they paused a moment before they stepped over thestrengthening plank, which ran from side to side of the boat betweenthem and the midshipmen, and as neither of them stirred they imaginedthat both were asleep--advanced and raised their knives, when Gascoigneand Jack, almost at the same moment, each discharged their pistols intothe breast of the padrone and one of the men, who was with him inadvance, who both fell with the send aft of the boat, so as to encumberthe midshipmen with the weight of their bodies. The third man startedback. Jack, who could not rise, from the padrone lying across his legs,took a steady aim with his second pistol, and the third man fell. Theboy at the helm, who, it appeared, either was aware of what was to bedone, or seeing the men advance with their knives, had acted upon whathe saw, also drew his knife and struck at Gascoigne from behind. Theknife fortunately, after slightly wounding Gascoigne on the shoulder,had shut on the boy's hand--Gascoigne sprang up with his other pistol,the boy started back at the sight of it, lost his balance, and felloverboard.

  Our two midshipmen took a few seconds to breathe.

  "I say, Jack," said Gascoigne at last, "did you ever--"

  "No, I never--" replied Jack.

  "What's to be done now?"

  "Why, as we've got possession, Ned, we had better put a man at thehelm--for the speronare is having it all her own way."

  "Very true," replied Gascoigne; "and as I can steer better than you, Isuppose it must be me."

  Gascoigne went to the helm, brought the boat up to the wind, and thenthey resumed their conversation.

  "That rascal of a boy gave me a devil of a lick on the shoulder; I don'tknow whether he has hurt me--at all events it's my left shoulder, so Ican steer just as well. I wonder whether the fellows are dead."

  "The padrone is, at all events," replied Jack. "It was as much as Icould do to get my legs from under him--but we'll wait till daylightbefore we see to that--in the meantime, I'll load the pistols again."

  "The day is breaking now--it will be light in half an hour or less.What a devil of a spree, Jack!"

  "Yes, but how can one help it? We ran away because two men arewounded--and now we are obliged to kill four in self-defence."

  "Yes, but that is not the end of it; when we get to Sicily what are weto do? we shall be imprisoned by the authorities--perhaps hung."

  "We'll argue that point with them," replied Jack.

  "We had better argue the point between ourselves, Jack, and see whatwill be the best plan to get out of our scrape."

  "I think that we just have got out of it--never fear but we'll get outof the next. Do you know, Gascoigne, it appears to me very odd, but Ican do nothing but there's a bobbery at the bottom of it."

  "You certainly have a great talent that way, Jack. Don't I hear one ofthese poor fellows groan?"

  "I should think that not impossible."

  "What shall we do with them?"

  "We will argue that point, Ned--we must either keep their bodies or wemust throw them overboard. Either tell the whole story or say nothingabout it."

  "That's very evident; in short, we must do something, for your argumentgoes no further. But now let us take up one of your propositions."

  "Well then, suppose we keep the bodies on board, run into a seaport, goto the authorities, and state all the facts, what then?"

  "We shall prove, beyond all doubt, that we have killed three men, if notfour; but we shall not prove that we were obliged so to do, Jack. Andthen we are heretics--we shall be put in prison till they are satisfiedof our innocence, which we never can prove, and there we shall remainuntil we have written to Malta, and a man-of-war comes to redeem us, ifwe are not stabbed, or something else in the meantime."

  "That will not be a very pleasant cruise," replied Jack. "Now let'sargue the point on the other side."

  "There is some difficulty there--suppose we throw their bodiesoverboard, toss the baskets after them, wash the boat clean, and makefor the first port. We may chance to hit upon the very spot from whichthey sailed, and then there will be a pack of wives and children, and apopulace with knives, asking us what has become of the men of the boat."

  "I don't much like the idea of that," said Jack.

  "And if we don't have such bad luck, still we shall be interrogated asto who we are, and how we were adrift by ourselves."

  "There will be a difficulty about that again--we must swear that it is aparty of pleasure, and that we are gentlemen yachting."

  "Without a crew or provisions--yachts don't sail with a clean-swepthold, or gentlemen without a spare shirt--we have nothing but twogallons of water and two pairs of pistols."

  "I have it," said Jack--"we are two young gentlemen in our own boat whowent out to Gozo with pistols to shoot sea-mews, were caught in a gale,and blown down to Sicily--that will excite interest."

  "That's the best idea yet, as it will account for our having nothing inthe boat. Well then, at all events, we will get rid of the bodies; butsuppose they are not dead--we cannot throw them overboard alive--thatwill be murder."

  "Very true," replied Jack; "then we must shoot them first, and toss themoverboard afterwards."

  "Upon my soul, Easy, you are an odd fellow: however, go and examine themen, and we'll decide that point by-and-bye--you had better keep yourpistol ready cocked for they may be shamming."

  "Devil a bit of sham here, anyhow," replied Jack, pulling at the body ofthe padrone, "and as for this fellow you shot, you might put your fistinto his chest. Now for the third," continued Jack, stepping over thestrengthening piece--"he's all among the baskets. I say, my cock, areyou dead?" and Jack enforced his question with a kick in the ribs. Theman groaned. "That's unlucky, Gascoigne, but, however, I'll soon settlehim," said Jack, pointing his pistol.

  "Stop, Jack," cried Gascoigne, "it really will be murder."

  "No such thing, Ned; I'll just blow his brains out, and then I'll comeaft and argue the point with you."

  "Now do oblige me by coming aft and arguing the point first. Do, Jack,I beg of you--I entreat you."

  "With all my
heart," replied Jack, resuming his seat by Gascoigne; "Iassert, that in this instance killing's no murder. You will observe,Ned, that by the laws of society, any one who attempts the life ofanother has forfeited his own; at the same time, as it is necessary thatthe fact should be clearly proved and justice be duly administered, theparties are tried, convicted, and then are sentenced to the punishment."

  "I grant all that."

  "In this instance the attempt has been clearly proved; we are thewitnesses, and are the judges and jury, and society in general, for thebest of all possible reasons, because there is nobody else. These men'slives being therefore forfeited to society, belong to us; and it doesnot follow because they were not all killed in the attempt, thattherefore they are not now to be brought out for punishment. And asthere is no common hangman here, we, of course, must do this duty aswell as every other. I have now clearly proved that I am justified inwhat I am about to do. But the argument does not stop there--self-preservation is the first law of nature, and if we do not get ridof this man, what is the consequence?--that we shall have to account forhis being wounded, and then, instead of judges, we shall immediately beplaced in the position of culprits, and have to defend ourselves withoutwitnesses. We therefore risk our lives from a misplaced lenity towardsa wretch unworthy to live."

  "Your last argument is strong, Easy, but I cannot consent to your doingwhat may occasion you uneasiness hereafter when you think of it."

  "Pooh! nonsense--I am a philosopher."

  "Of what school, Jack? Oh, I presume you are a disciple of Mesty's. Ido not mean to say that you are wrong, but still hear my proposition.Let us lower down the sail, and then I can leave the helm to assist you.We will clear the vessel of everything except the man who is stillalive. At all events, we may wait a little, and if at last there is nohelp for it, I will then agree with you to launch him overboard, even ifhe is not quite dead."

  "Agreed; even by your own making out, it will be no great sin. He ishalf dead already--I only do _half _the work of tossing him over, so itwill be only _quarter _murder on my part, and he would have shown noquarter on his." Here Jack left off arguing and punning, and wentforward and lowered down the sail. "I've half a mind to take mydoubloons back," said Jack, as they launched over the body of thepadrone, "but he may have them--I wonder whether they'll ever turn upagain?"

  "Not in our time, Jack," replied Gascoigne.

  The other body, and all the basket lumber, etcetera, were then tossedover, and the boat was cleared of all but the man who was not yet dead.

  "Now let's examine the fellow, and see if he has any chance ofrecovery," said Gascoigne.

  The man lay on his side; Gascoigne turned him over, and found that hewas dead.

  "Over with him, quick," said Jack, "before he comes to life again."

  The body disappeared under the wave--they again hoisted the sail,Gascoigne took the helm, and our hero proceeded to draw water and washaway the stains of blood; he then cleared the boat of vine-leaves andrubbish, with which it was strewed, swept it clean fore and aft, andresumed his seat by his comrade.

  "There," said Jack, "now we've swept the decks, we may pipe to dinner.I wonder whether there is anything to eat in the locker?"

  Jack opened it, and found some bread, garlic, sausages, a bottle ofaquadente, and a jar of wine.

  "So the padrone did keep his promise, after all."

  "Yes, and had you not tempted him with the sight of so much gold, mightnow have been alive."

  "To which I reply, that if you had not advised our going off in asperonare, he would now have been alive."

  "And if you had not fought a duel, I should not have given the advice."

  "And if the boatswain had not been obliged to come on board without histrousers, at Gibraltar, I should not have fought a duel."

  "And if you had not joined the ship, the boatswain would have had histrousers on."

  "And if my father had not been a philosopher, I should not have gone tosea; so that it is all my father's fault, and he has killed four men offthe coast of Sicily, without knowing it--cause and effect. After all,there's nothing like argument; so having settled that point, let us goto dinner."

  Having finished their meal, Jack went forward and observed the landahead; they steered the same course for three or four hours.

  "We must haul our wind more," said Gascoigne; "it will not do to putinto any small town: we have now to choose, whether we shall land on thecoast and sink the speronare, or land at some large town."

  "We must argue that point," replied Jack.

  "In the meantime, do you take the helm, for my arm is quite tired,"replied Gascoigne: "you can steer well enough; by-the-bye, I may as welllook at my shoulder, for it is quite stiff." Gascoigne pulled off hiscoat, and found his shirt bloody and sticking to the wound, which, as webefore observed, was slight. He again took the helm, while Jack washedit clean and then bathed it with aquadente.

  "Now take the helm again," said Gascoigne; "I'm on the sick list."

  "And as surgeon--I'm an idler," replied Jack; "but what shall we do?"continued he; "abandon the speronare at night and sink her, or run infor a town?"

  "We shall fall in with plenty of boats and vessels if we coast it up toPalermo, and they may overhaul us."

  "We shall fall in with plenty of people if we go on shore, and they willoverhaul us."

  "Do you know, Jack, that I wish we were back and alongside of the_Harpy; _I've had cruising enough."

  "My cruises are so unfortunate," replied Jack; "they are too full ofadventure; but then, I have never yet had a cruise on shore. Now, if wecould only get to Palermo, we should be out of all our difficulties."

  "The breeze freshens, Jack," replied Gascoigne; "and it begins to lookvery dirty to windward. I think we shall have a gale."

  "Pleasant--I know what it is to be short-handed in a gale; however,there's one comfort, we shall not be blown _off shore _this time."

  "No, but we may be wrecked on a lee shore. She cannot carry her wholesail, Easy; we must lower it down, and take in a reef; the sooner thebetter, for it will be dark in an hour. Go forward and lower it down,and then I'll help you."

  Jack did so, but the sail went into the water, and he could not drag itin.

  "Avast heaving," said Gascoigne, "till I throw her up and take the windout of it."

  This was done; they reefed the sail, but could not hoist it up: ifGascoigne left the helm to help Jack, the sail filled; if he went to thehelm and took the wind out of the sail, Jack was not strong enough tohoist it. The wind increased rapidly, and the sea got up; the sun wentdown, and with the sail half hoisted, they could not keep to the wind,but were obliged to run right for the land. The speronare flew, risingon the crest of the waves with half her keel clear of the water: themoon was already up, and gave them light enough to perceive that theywere not five miles from the coast, which was lined with foam.

  "At all events, they can't accuse us of running away with the boat,"observed Jack; "for she's running away with us."

  "Yes," replied Gascoigne, dragging at the tiller with all his strength;"she has taken the bit between her teeth."

  "I wouldn't care if I had a bit between mine," replied Jack; "for I feeldevilish hungry again. What do you say, Ned?"

  "With all my heart," replied Gascoigne; "but, do you know, Easy, it maybe the last meal we ever make."

  "Then I vote it's a good one--but why so, Ned?"

  "In half an hour, or thereabouts, we shall be on shore."

  "Well, that's where we want to go."

  "Yes, but the sea runs high, and the boat may be dashed to pieces on therocks."

  "Then we shall be asked no questions about her or the men."

  "Very true, but a lee shore is no joke; we may be knocked to pieces, aswell as the boat--even swimming may not help us. If we could find acove or sandy beach, we might, perhaps, manage to get on shore."

  "Well," replied Jack, "I have not been long at sea, and, of course,cannot know much about th
ese things. I have been blown off shore, but Inever have been blown on. It may be as you say, but I do not see thegreat danger--let's run her right up on the beach at once."

  "That's what I shall try to do," replied Gascoigne, who had been fouryears at sea, and knew very well what he was about.

  Jack handed him a huge piece of bread and sausage.

  "Thank ye, I cannot eat."

  "I can," replied Jack, with his mouth full.

  Jack ate while Gascoigne steered; and the rapidity with which thesperonare rushed to the beach was almost frightful. She darted like anarrow from wave to wave, and appeared as if mocking their attempts asthey curled their summits almost over her narrow stern. They werewithin a mile of the beach, when Jack, who had finished his supper, andwas looking at the foam boiling on the coast, exclaimed:

  "That's very fine--very beautiful, upon my soul!"

  "He cares for nothing," thought Gascoigne; "he appears to have no ideaof danger."

  "Now, my dear fellow," said Gascoigne, "in a few minutes we shall be onthe rocks. I must continue at the helm, for the higher she is forced upthe better chance for us; but we may not meet again, so if we do not,good-bye, and God bless you."

  "Gascoigne," said Jack, "you are hurt and I am not; your shoulder isstiff, and you can hardly move your left arm. Now I can steer for therocks as well as you. Do you go to the bow, and there you will have abetter chance. By-the-bye," continued he, picking up his pistols, andsticking them into his waist, "I won't leave them, they've served us toogood a turn already. Gascoigne, give me the helm."

  "No, no, Easy."

  "I say yes," replied Jack, in a loud, authoritative tone, "and what'smore, I will be obeyed, Gascoigne. I have nerve, if I haven'tknowledge, and at all events I can steer for the beach. I tell you,give me the helm. Well, then, if you won't--I must take it."

  Easy wrested the tiller from Gascoigne's hand, and gave him a shoveforward.

  "Now do you look out ahead, and tell me how to steer."

  Whatever may have been Gascoigne's feelings at this behaviour of ourhero's, it immediately occurred to him that he could not do better thanto run the speronare to the safest point, and that therefore he wasprobably more advantageously employed than if he were at the helm. Hewent forward and looked at the rocks, covered at one moment with thetumultuous waters, and then pouring down cascades from their sides asthe waves recoiled. He perceived a chasm right ahead, and he thought ifthe boat was steered for that, she must be thrown up so as to enablethem to get clear of her, for at every other part escape appearedimpossible.

  "Starboard a little--that'll do. Steady--port it is--port. Steersmall, for your life, Easy. Steady now--mind the yard don't hit yourhead--hold on."

  The speronare was at this moment thrown into a large cleft in a rock,the sides of which were nearly perpendicular; nothing else could havesaved them, as, had they struck the rock outside, the boat would havebeen dashed to pieces, and its fragments have disappeared in theundertow. As it was, the cleft was not four feet more than the width ofthe boat, and as the waves hurled her up into it, the yard of thesperonare was thrown fore and aft with great violence, and had not Jackbeen warned, he would have been struck overboard without a chance ofbeing saved; but he crouched down and it passed over him. As the waterreceded, the boat struck, and was nearly dry between the rocks, butanother wave followed, dashing the boat farther up, but, at the sametime, filling it with water. The bow of the boat was now several feethigher than the stern, where Jack held on; and the weight of the waterin her, with the force of the returning waves, separated her rightacross abaft the mast. Jack perceived that the after-part of the boatwas going out again with the wave; he caught hold of the yard which hadswung fore and aft, and as he clung to it, the part of the boat on whichhe had stood disappeared from under him, and was swept away by thereturning current.

  Jack required the utmost of his strength to maintain his position untilanother wave floated him, and dashed him higher up: but he knew his lifedepended on holding on to the yard, which he did, although under water,and advanced several feet. When the wave receded, he found footing onthe rock, and still clinging, he walked till he had gained the fore-partof the boat, which was wedged firmly into a narrow part of the cleft.The next wave was not very large, and he had gained so much that it didnot throw him off his legs. He reached the rock, and as he climbed upthe side of the chasm to gain the ledge above, he perceived Gascoignestanding above him, and holding out his hand to his assistance.

  "Well," says Jack, shaking himself to get rid of the water, "here weare, ashore at last--I had no idea of anything like this. The rush backof the water was so strong that it has almost torn my arms out of theirsockets. How very lucky I sent you forward with your disabled shoulder.By-the-bye, now that it's all over, and you must see that I was right,I beg to apologise for my rudeness."

  "There needs no apology for saving my life, Easy," replied Gascoigne,trembling with the cold; "and no one but you would ever have thought ofmaking one at such a moment."

  "I wonder whether the ammunition's dry," said Jack; "I put it all in myhat."

  Jack took off his hat, and found the cartridges had not suffered.

  "Now then, Gascoigne, what shall we do?"

  "I hardly know," replied Gascoigne.

  "Suppose, then, we sit down and argue the point."

  "No, I thank you, there will be too much cold water thrown upon ourarguments--I'm half dead; let us walk on."

  "With all my heart," said Jack, "it's devilish steep, but I can argue uphill or down hill, wet or dry--I'm used to it--for, as I told youbefore, Ned, my father is a philosopher, and so am I."

  "By the Lord! _you are_," replied Gascoigne, as he walked on.