The First Mate: The Story of a Strange Cruise

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  THE GALE.

  Another week elapsed before I could convince Mrs Vansittart that I wasstrong enough to be permitted to rise from my bunk and sit in a chairfor a short time; but after that my recovery was rapid. My wound healednicely, my strength returned, and five days later I was able to dressand, with assistance, make my way up on to the main-deck, where Julius,helped by the others--with a forethought for which I should certainlynever have given him credit--had rigged up a sort of makeshift awningfor my especial benefit. I learned, with the utmost satisfaction, thatsince the memorable morning of the junk's appearance the boy had behavedwith almost unbelievable goodness. The talking-to which he had receivedfrom his sister seemed to have awakened his better nature, and now theyassured me that--as indeed it seemed--he was everything that could bedesired. Of one thing at least there could be no possible mistake: hisstrange antipathy to me had entirely vanished, and he now seemed anxiousto be as friendly and agreeable as before he had been objectionable.

  It was nearly six weeks after the appearance of the junk when at lengthI felt strong enough to resume my boat-building operations, and eventhen I was only able at first to do such comparatively light work asshaping and planing planks. Gradually, however, I got back again to theheavier work which came from time to time when it was necessary to shiftthe framework of the hull while working upon it. Every day witnessed acertain amount of progress, until at length the open shell was finishedand caulked. Then by our combined efforts we placed the boat inposition ready for launching, bows first, off our sloping deck, sinceshe was now so heavy that no further lifting would be possible. Thisbrought the time on to five months and a few days from the date of thewreck, during the whole of which period we had been favoured withglorious weather, except for a few days of calms, accompanied by heavyrain, about the time when I was emerging from my state of delirium.

  But a few days after we had completed the shell of the boat, and while Iwas preparing the planking with which to lay her deck, there occurredsigns of a change. The wind, which usually blew a moderate breeze fromthe eastward, died away to a calm, and the sky became veiled by a thinfilm of haze that gradually thickened until the sun was completelyblotted out. The atmosphere grew almost unbearably sultry, so that weseemed to breathe only with the utmost difficulty, while work, even thelightest, became almost impossible. The barometer fell so rapidly thateven the veriest tyro in weather lore could not have mistaken the signs;and that night, or rather in the small hours of morning, a thunderstormbroke over us, the like of which for violence and duration I had neverseen.

  It started dry, and for four hours the heavens were incessantly ablazewith lightnings, the vividness and alarming character of which it isquite impossible to describe, while the continuous crash of thunder,immediately overhead as it seemed, was terrific, causing the very wreckherself to tremble with its vibrations. As I left my cabin and went upon deck to watch it, I felt that sooner or later the wreck mustinevitably be struck; and indeed I frequently thought she actually hadbeen, for the lightning seemed to be playing all about her. But Isuppose she escaped somehow; or at least, if she was struck, no apparentdamage was done.

  Then, about the time when daylight was beginning to make itselfapparent, it suddenly began to rain, the warm fresh water from theclouds pelting down in a perfect deluge and totally obscuring everythingbeyond a hundred yards' radius. The water poured off the decks incataracts, while from the poop it gushed through a scupper whichdischarged on to the main-deck as though flowing from the spout of apump. In ten minutes the decks were as effectually cleansed as thoughthey had been scrubbed with soap and water. Thinking it a pity that somuch delicious fresh water should be permitted to run to waste, I wentbelow and brought up several small breakers and proceeded to fill them,one after the other, until I had the lot, numbering about twenty,brimming full. And all this time the thunderstorm continued to ragewith unabated fury.

  The filling of the breakers during the continuance of that terrificdeluge naturally resulted in my getting wet through to the skin. Uponthe completion of my task, therefore, I retired to my cabin and effecteda complete change of garments; and I had barely finished my toilet whenI heard the sound of the gong summoning the party to breakfast.

  While I was discarding my drenched garments and donning dry ones, Ibecame aware of the fact that the thunderstorm was at last easing up alittle. The lightning flashes were no longer a continuous blaze; thethunder no longer was one continuous, uninterrupted crash and crackleand boom, like the firing of two enormous fleets engaged in fighting afiercely-contested action, but each peal was separate and distinct, withmomentarily increasing intervals between the peals. Thus when wepresently met and sat down to breakfast, conversation of a sort waspossible, although by no means easy. The topic of the moment was ofcourse the storm, and I was not at all surprised to learn that theentire party had been thoroughly terrified, and were by no meansreassured even now, when if was indisputable that the storm was passing.

  We were all rather inclined to be silent at that meal. Mrs Vansittartand her daughter both confessed to the possession of distractingheadaches, the result, no doubt, of their terror, and even Julius was ina distinctly subdued mood; nobody but myself ate at all heartily, and Ithink they were all glad when I laid down my knife and fork and made itpossible for them to rise from the table. The ladies and Juliusannounced their intention to retire to their respective cabins in thehope of obtaining relief in slumber; and as work on deck was quite outof the question so long as the rain continued, I decided to follow theirexample, having myself lost some hours of sleep. I accordingly carriedout my resolution, and soon sank into a condition of semi-oblivion,during which I was only partially conscious of the fact that, althoughthe rain was still sluicing in torrents, the thunder and lightning haddwindled away to a few distant rumblings and occasional flashes.Finally this consciousness also passed and I fell sound asleep.

  When I awoke rather more than an hour later, I at once became aware thatboth the rain and the thunder had entirely ceased. It was still so darkthat until I referred to my watch I had the impression that I must haveoverslept myself, and that the night was coming on. Then I flung openthe port of my cabin, which had been closed to exclude the rain, and,poking my head out, saw that the sky was still overcast with enormousmasses of blackish, lurid-looking cloud which, as I watched, I saw wereworking slowly in a strange writhing fashion, as though agitated byseveral conflicting internal forces.

  I went up on deck, and observed that the overcast condition of the sky,of which I had obtained a partial view from my cabin port, extended inevery direction, right down to the horizon. A visit to the chart-houserevealed the fact that the barometer still stood alarmingly low; and itwas this fact, perhaps, in conjunction with the disquieting aspect ofthe sky, that subconsciously awakened in me a sudden anxiety to hastenmy work upon the craft which, for want of a better name, I have spokenof as a boat.

  Be that as it may, I remember that I flung off the light jacket which,for appearance' sake, I wore at meal times and when otherwise in thecompany of the ladies, and set to work as though my very life dependedupon it. As I have already mentioned, the shell of the boat wasfinished, caulked, and placed in position ready for launching; and inaddition to this the beams upon which the deck was to be laid werefitted and fixed, and the planking planed up and roughly cut to shape.My next task, therefore, was to complete the fitting of the planks andthe nailing of them in position, which I at once proceeded to do, withthe fixed determination to finish the job before dark. Thisdetermination I carried out, although it necessitated my working for anhour by lantern light; and when at length I knocked off, I had thesatisfaction of leaving the boat completely decked with the exception ofthe cockpit, the coaming of which I also insisted on fixing before Icould persuade myself to lay down my tools.

  The day had been one of lowering, breathless calm, with an insufferablyclose atmosphere that rendered hard work exceedingly trying, and t
heblack, working canopy of cloud that overhung us continued to writhe andtwist itself into the most extraordinary shapes, while it showed no signof dispersing. This state of affairs continued until about four o'clockin the afternoon, when a light, puffy, southerly breeze sprang up whichgradually freshened until, when at length I ceased work for the day, itwas blowing quite gustily, while a sea came rolling in over the reefthat soon caused the wreck occasionally to rock lightly upon her coralbed.

  I was very tired after my strenuous labours that day; moreover, I hadnot yet fully recovered the strength that I had lost during my illness;therefore, under ordinary circumstances, I should have gone to my cabinand turned in soon after dinner. But as it was, I felt uneasy. I didnot at all like the look of the weather; I felt convinced that we werebooked for a blow, possibly a heavy one; and a further reference to thebarometer fully confirmed me in that conviction. If my forebodingshould prove to be correct, what would be the probable result? Shouldthe wreck but remain where she was, we would no doubt be all right, andnothing worse would befall us than possibly an unpleasant and anxiousnight. But if she did not, what then? She would gradually bump her wayover the few yards of the inner edge of the reef and then reach thelagoon, in which she would probably founder, unless, indeed, sheremained afloat long enough to drive across it and fetch up again on theopposite reef.

  That was a possibility that I had long since recognised; but now, as Ilooked out into the night and dimly saw the breakers thundering in uponthe outer end of the reef, shattering themselves into a wall ofmadly-leaping water thirty feet high, and then continuing their courseacross the reef in the form of foam-flecked waves, the power of whichwas rapidly dissipated as they swept inward toward the wreck, I began todoubt whether the _Stella Maris_ would ever again shift her berth. Itis true that those waves, as they swirled and foamed about her, hadpower enough to cause the hull to rock a little now and again; but as tolifting her bodily and throwing her into the lagoon--well, I thought itunlikely. I reflected that when, in the first instance, she piledherself up, there was a strong breeze blowing and a heavy sea running,and that she had hit the reef stem-on under a heavy press of sail; yetshe had not then been flung right across the reef. The seas had broughther so far, and then their power had failed to move her an inch farther.Why should not that be the case now?

  There was something comforting, almost reassuring, about this line ofargument; yet at the back of my mind there was another something thatseemed to tell me I must not take my data too much for granted--thatthere was another possibility of which I must not permit myself quite tolose sight. I therefore set myself to answer the question, in the eventof that other possibility happening, How were we to meet it? There wasbut one answer--with the boat; and unfinished and destitute of equipmentas she was, we should undoubtedly be obliged to trust ourselves to herif the worst came to the worst.

  This point settled, the next question I asked myself was: What should werequire to take with us, supposing that it should come to our beingobliged to take to the boat in a hurry--that night, in fact? Provisionsand water, of course, in such abundance as the boat's capacity wouldpermit; a pair of oars, a coil of line, a baler, a bucket, a few tools;say, half a dozen rifles, and a good supply of ammunition for same. Butwhy tools? I may be asked. Because if once we were compelled to trustourselves to a boat without mast or sails, we should be compelled to gopractically wherever the wind chose to drive us, and that might be to anuninhabited island, where tools would be worth their weight in gold.

  The carpenter's chest stood on the deck close by the boat--I had beenusing the tools only a few hours earlier--and the thought came to methat they might as well be in as out of her. I therefore emptied thechest, since it was too heavy for me to lift full, and, having decidedupon the most suitable spot for it, I stowed it inside the boat, andthen proceeded carefully to replace its contents. This done, I huntedup a pair of twelve-foot oars and put them aboard; found a pair ofrowlocks, and then, remembering that I had as yet made no provision forshipping them, proceeded to cut out a good stout pair of cleats, which Ifirmly secured to the gunwale of the boat. There was plenty of ropelying about the deck, neatly done up in coils--the salvage of therunning gear; and from this I selected the mizen topgallant halyard asof suitable size, putting it into the boat, unstopping it, and bendingone end to a hole in the stem head which I bored for the purpose.

  Having gone so far, I decided that I would complete my preparations, sothat in the event of our being driven to the last extremity, we might beready. I considered a little as to what I would next put into the boat,and fixed upon a case of ammunition, which I would stow alongside thecarpenter's chest, it being desirable, in order to secure stability,that the heaviest articles should be at the bottom. Accordingly I divedbelow to the magazine. Now, our Remington-rifle cartridges were done upin small tin boxes of one hundred each, sealed up in air-tight tincases, which were in turn stowed in stout wooden chests each containingone hundred tins; consequently each chest contained ten thousand rounds.This was a large quantity, yet not too large, I decided, consideringthe uncertainties of our position; I therefore emptied a case--which,apart from its contents, was fairly heavy to drag up on deck--carried itup to the boat, stowed it in position, and then returned for the smalltin cases.

  The transport and stowage of these occupied some time, involving severaljourneys up and down between the deck and the magazine, and when I hadfinished this job I was distinctly tired. Nevertheless I brought up sixRemingtons, a cutlass, a brace of automatic pistols, and a box ofcartridges for the latter, and stowed them all in the boat beforeknocking off for a rest. The work had given me an appetite, and sinceit was now close upon midnight, I went below and routed out a goodsubstantial cold meal, which I consumed while I rested. Then--whyattempt to conceal the truth?--overcome, I suppose, by my unusual andprotracted exertions, I fell asleep as I sat.

  I remember that as I slept I dreamed that we were away back there at theentrance to the Straits of Malacca, where we lost the blades of ourpropeller. I felt again the shock of our collision with the supposedwreckage to which we attributed the loss, and the start I gave awoke me.I instantly became aware that it was blowing heavily, for the howl andwhoop of the gale came distinctly to my ears; also the wreck was rollingheavily from side to side, and for a moment I thought she was afloat,until her harsh grinding upon the coral reached me above the tumultuouscrying of the wind. I staggered to my feet, for I realised that matterswere becoming serious. At that instant I felt the hull lift as thewreck heeled over, and come down again with a jar that all but jolted meoff my feet; also, unless I was greatly mistaken, I caught, among theother sounds, the thud of water falling heavily on deck.

  I made a spring for the ladder, and in a couple of seconds was out ondeck, to find myself in the midst of a living gale. Coming up out of alighted room, I found the night intensely dark; yet as I stood there bythe open hatchway, clinging to the main fife-rail, I presently becamedimly aware of my more immediate surroundings. As it chanced, it wasabout the time of full moon, and although the planet herself wascompletely hidden by the dense masses of cloud that drove wildly athwartthe firmament, her light filtered through. Presently I was able to seeas far as the outer edge of the reef, where the surf, brilliantlyphosphorescent, plunged madly down upon it and burst into leapingfountains of spray that came driving over the wreck like heavy rain,though I knew it was not rain by the bitter, salt taste of it on mylips. The surface of the water all round the wreck and on either hand--in fact, over the whole of the weather portion of the reef--was a massof swirling, phosphorescent foam, which rose and fell as the rollerscame sweeping across the reef. It was these rollers that were causingthe ship to roll on her bed of coral, while occasionally one heavierthan the others would lift her bodily, break furiously over her, andshift her a foot or more toward the inner edge of the reef, as I judgedby the feel of her, before it dashed her down again.

  Instinctively my glances flew to where the boat should lie.
Yes, thankGod! she was still where I had left her, held down mainly, I believed,by the weight of the things that I had put in her, for when a sea brokeover the deck the water surged past her to leeward with quite weightenough to wash her off had she been empty. I rushed at her, snatchedthe rope which I had bent to her stem head, led it across the deck tothe stump of a stanchion, and made it fast with a clove hitch, thusensuring that the boat should not be washed off the deck so long as therope held. Then I stood for a minute or two, looking about me andtaking careful note of all the details of the situation.

  It was in all essentials the complete realisation of the fear which hadhaunted me ever since the wreck, and which, but a short time before, Ihad been inclined to deride as highly improbable--the gale, the heavysea sweeping in across the reef, and the only question whether the wreckwould be battered to pieces where she lay or be washed off to founder inthe deeper water of the lagoon. A heavier sea than any that hadpreceded it, surging in at that moment and making a clean breach overthe wreck, washed me off my feet, and would have swept me overboard hadI not chanced to have in my hand the rope by which I had secured theboat. It lifted the wreck, slued her nearly half round, and swept her agood fathom nearer that danger point, the inner edge of the reef; and Ibegan to realise that the peril was imminent, and momentarily growingmore so, and that immediate action was necessary.

  Without pausing to consider further, I rushed below and hammered at thecabin doors of Anthea and Julius, which were contiguous; and uponreceiving a reply, shouted to them to dress at once and join me with allspeed in the drawing-room. Then I sped to the stewardesses' quarters,roused them, and finally made my way to Mrs Vansittart's cabin, where Imet the lady, fully dressed, just emerging.

  She must have read in my countenance that there was trouble ahead, forshe came forward at once with outstretched hands, exclaiming:

  "What is it, Walter? Does this dreadful gale mean danger to us?"

  "It does indeed, madam, I greatly fear," I replied; and I proceeded toexplain the situation rapidly to her. While I was doing so, Anthea andher brother made their appearance.

  Naturally, they were all greatly discomposed at my statement of theimminence of our danger, but never for a moment did they flinch. On thecontrary, the women appeared to be a good deal more calm and composedthan I was. They asked what they were to do, and when I told them, setto work quietly but expeditiously collecting a quantity of food ofvarious kinds in tins, being assisted in this by the two stewardesses,who now came upon the scene.

  Meanwhile, the wreck had been bumping more and more heavily as we stoodand hurriedly conversed; sea after sea had broken over her, withever-increasing violence, and I was now in a very fever of anxietytouching the safety of the boat. As soon, therefore, as I had startedmy little crew to work, I rushed out on deck again, to see how matterswere going there.

  I was no sooner in the open than I perceived that, even during my shortabsence from the deck, the conditions had changed very materially forthe worse. The wind was now blowing with hurricane force, and evidentlypiling up the water on the reef, for the seas that now swept across itwere momentarily gaining in power and weight, almost every one thatreached the wreck lifting her bodily and shifting her a fathom or so,ever in the fatal direction of the edge of the reef. But the worstfeature of the case, after all, was that, while shifting the wreck, theseas had canted her, so that she now lay fair and square broadside on tothem, and every one that struck her made a clean breach over her, andthreatened either to destroy or to sweep away our boat. This, even as Istood, was lifted, and would have been washed away but for the restraintof the rope by which I had secured her. I could see plainly, however,that the rope would not bear the strain much longer than a few minutes,or perhaps even seconds, and that if we should lose the boat our doomwould be sealed. I therefore rushed back to the drawing-room, calledthe little party together, bade them take as much as they could carry,and, watching their chance, make a dash for the boat. I set the exampleby gathering in my arms as many tins and bottles as my hands and armswould hold, rushed out on deck, just missed being washed overboard, andhurriedly tumbled my load into the cockpit anyhow. Then I suddenlyremembered that as yet there was no water in the boat, and I dashed aftto where I had left the water breakers which I had filled with rainwater, passing the other members of the party on my way.

  "Do not attempt to return for another load," I shouted to them as Ipassed; "get into the boat and stow yourselves under her deck; yourweight will be more useful there than anywhere else. I will attend tothe rest." Seizing one of the breakers, I proceeded to roll it quicklyalong the deck until, after a hazardous and adventurous journey, Iarrived at the boat, into which, with Julius's assistance, I lifted it.We both got into the cockpit to stow the breaker securely--the womenhaving already entered and stowed themselves away--when, just as matterswere satisfactorily arranged and I was in the very act of leaving theboat to secure another armful of provisions, a tremendous sea struck thewreck, heeling her over until her starboard waterway was buried. Thebreaking sea swept the deck like a cataract, lifting the boat clean offit, just as I sprang back into the cockpit; there was a little jerk anda twang as the rope parted, and in an instant we were afloat and drivingrapidly away to leeward across the lagoon.