Un capitaine de quinze ans. English Page 11

  CHAPTER X.

  THE NEW CREW.

  Dick Sands, captain of the "Pilgrim," would not lose a moment ingetting his ship under sail. His prime object was to land hispassengers safely at Valparaiso or some other American port, and toaccomplish his purpose it was in the first place necessary that heshould ascertain the schooner's rate of speed and the direction thatshe was taking. This information was to be obtained readily enough bymeans of the log and compass, and the result of each day's observationswould be entered regularly on the chart.

  The log on board was a patent log, with a dial-plate and screw, bymeans of which the distance that is travelled can be measuredaccurately for any definite time; it was an instrument so simple thatthe negroes were very soon taught its use. The slight error in thereckoning caused by the action of the currents could only be rectifiedby astronomical observations, which, as already has been stated, werebeyond Dick's attainments to make.

  The idea more than once crossed Dick's mind whether he would not takethe "Pilgrim" back again to New Zealand; the distance was considerablyless than it was to America, and had the wind remained in the quarterwhence it had been blowing so long, it is more than likely he wouldhave determined to retrace his course. But as the wind had now veeredto the north-west, and there was every probability that it was settledfor a time, he came to the conclusion that he had better take advantageof it and persevere in making his way towards the east. Accordingly helost no time in putting his ship before the wind.

  On a schooner the fore-mast usually carries four square sails; on thelower mast a fore-sail; on the top-mast a top-sail; on the top-gallanta top-gallant-sail and a royal. The main-mast carries only a main-sailand a top-sail. Between the masts upon the fore-stays can be hoisted atriple tier of triangular sails; while the bowsprit with its jib-boomwill carry the three jibs.

  The jibs, the main-sail, the main-top-sail and the staysails are allmanaged with comparative ease, because they can be hoisted from thedeck without the necessity of ascending the mast to let fly therobbins, by which they are fastened to the yards. With the sails on thefore-mast it is altogether a more difficult business. In order eitherto unfurl them, to take them in, or to reef them, it is necessary for aman to clamber up by the shrouds, either to the fore-top, or to thetop-gallant cross-trees, and thence mounting by loose ropes, extendedbelow the yards, to hold on by one hand whilst he does his work withthe other. The operation requires alike the head and arm of anexperienced mariner; and when a fresh breeze has been blowing, it is acasualty far from uncommon that a sailor, confused by the flapping ofthe canvas and the pitching of the vessel, should be blown overboard inthe act. For the unpractised negroes the danger would necessarily bevery great. However, the wind at present was very moderate, and theship ploughed her way over the waves without any violent oscillations.

  At the time when Dick Sands, in obedience to the signal he receivedfrom Captain Hull, proceeded to make his way to the scene of thedisaster, the "Pilgrim," as she lay to, was carrying only her jibs,main-sail, fore-sail, and fore-top-sail. In order, therefore, to puther as near as possible to the wind, it had been merely necessary tocounter-brace the fore-sail yard, a manoeuvre in which the negroes hadrendered all the assistance that was necessary. It was requisite now todo something more. To enable him to get straight before the wind Dickwanted to increase his sail, and was desirous of hoisting thetop-gallant, the royal, the main-top-sail, and the stay-sails.

  He was himself standing at the wheel.

  "Now, my men," he shouted to the negroes; "I want your help. Do exactlyas I tell you. Bear away, Tom!"

  Tom looked puzzled.

  "Bear away! unfasten that rope, I mean. And, Bat, come along; do thesame as Tom."

  The men did what they were bidden.

  "That's right!" continued Dick, and calling to Hercules, said,--

  "Now, Hercules; a good strong pull!"

  To give such a direction to Hercules was somewhat imprudent; therigging creaked again under his giant strength.

  "Gently, gently, my good fellow!" said Dick, laughing; "you will havethe mast down."

  "I declare I hardly touched the rope," answered Hercules.

  "Well, next time, you must only pretend to touch it," said Dick; and,continuing his orders, shouted, "Now slacken! let fly! make fast! nowbrace in the yards! all right! that's capital!"

  The yards were loosened, the foresails turned slowly round, and,catching the breeze, gave a slight impetus to the ship. Dick's nextorders were for the jib-sheets to be set free, and then he called themen to the stern.

  "Now," said he; "we must look to the main-mast; but take care,Hercules, not to have it down."

  "I will be as careful as possible, Mr. Dick," submissively repliedHercules, as though he were afraid to commit himself to any rashpromise.

  The manoeuvre was simple enough. The main-sheet was graduallyslackened, the great sail took the wind and added its powerful actionto that of the fore-sails. The main-top-sail was next brought to bear;it was only clewed up, so that there was nothing to do except to pullthe halyards, haul it aboard the tack, and unfurl it. But in pulling atthe halyards the muscular energy of Hercules, which was supplemented bythat of Actaeon, not to forget little Jack, who had volunteered hisassistance, proved to be overpowering, and the rope snapped in two. Allthree of them, of course, fell flat upon the deck; but fortunatelyneither of them was hurt, and Jack laughed heartily at his tumble as anexcellent joke.

  "Up with you!" cried Captain Dick; "there's no harm done; splice therope, and haul away more gently next time."

  It took but a few minutes to execute the order, and the "Pilgrim" wassoon sailing away rapidly with her head to the east.

  "Well done, my friends!" said Dick, who had not left his post at thehelm; "you will be first-rate sailors before the end of the voyage."

  "We shall do our best, I promise you, Captain Sands," replied Tom,making it a point to give the young commander his proper title.

  Mrs. Weldon also congratulated the new crew upon the success of theirfirst attempt.

  "I believe it was Master Jack who broke that rope," said Hercules, witha sly twinkle in his eye; "he is very strong, I can tell you."

  Jack looked as though he thoroughly appreciated the compliment, andevidenced his satisfaction by giving his huge friend a hearty shake ofthe hand.

  There were still several sails that were not yet set. Running wellbefore the wind as the "Pilgrim" was, Dick nevertheless felt that thegallant, royal, and stay-sails, if brought into service, wouldmaterially assist her progress, and he determined not to dispense withtheir help. The stay-sails could be hoisted from below, but to bringthe gallant and royal into play demanded more experience than any ofhis crew had had. Knowing that he could not entrust the task to them,and yet resolved not to be baulked of his wish to set them, heundertook the task himself. He first put Tom to the helm, showing himhow to keep the schooner's head in the right direction, and havingplaced the other four at the royal and top-gallant halyards, proceededto mount the foremast.

  All three of them fell flat upon the deck.]

  To clamber up the foreshrouds and the top-shrouds on to the cross-treeswas mere child's play to the active apprentice. In a few minutes he hadunfurled the top-gallant-sail, mounted to the royal-yard, unfurled theroyal, again reached the cross-trees, and having caught hold of one ofthe starboard backstays, had descended to the deck; there he gave thenecessary directions, and the two sails were made fast, and both yardsbraced.

  Nor did this content him. The stay-sails were set between the masts,and thus the "Pilgrim" was running along, crowded to the full, with allher canvas. The only additional sails which Dick could possibly haveemployed would have been some studding-sails to larboard, but as thesetting of these was a matter of some difficulty, and they were notalways readily struck in the case of a sudden squall, he contentedhimself without them.

  Again he took his place at the helm. The breeze was manifestlyfreshening, and the "Pilgrim," almost imperceptibly heeling tostarboard, glided rapidly along the surface of the water, leavingbehind her a wake, smooth and clean, that bore plain witness to thetrue adjustment of her water-line.

  "This is good progress, Mrs. Weldon," he said; "may Heaven grant thewind and weather may continue thus favourable!"

  The lady, in silence, shook the boy's hand; and then, worn-out with theexcitement of the past hours, went to her cabin, where she lay down andfell into a troubled doze.

  The new crew remained on watch. They were stationed on the forecastle,in readiness to make any alteration which the sails might require, butthe wind was so steady and unshifting that no need arose for theirservices.

  And Cousin Benedict? all this time, where was he? and what had he beendoing?

  He was sitting in his cabin; he had a magnifying-glass in his hand andwas studying an articulata of the order orthoptera, an insect of theBlattidae family; its characteristics are a roundish body, rather longwings, flat elytra, and a head hidden by the prothorax. He had been ondeck at the time of the calamity; the ill-fated captain with the crewhad been drowned before his very eyes; but he said nothing; not that hewas unmoved; to think that he was not struck with horror would be tolibel his kind and pitying nature. His sympathy was aroused, especiallyfor his cousin; he pressed her hand warmly as if he would assure her ofhis truest commiseration; but he said nothing; he hurried off towardshis cabin; and who shall deny that it was to devise some wonderfullyenergetic measures that he would take in consequence of this melancholyevent?

  Passing the kitchen, however, he caught sight of Negoro in the act ofcrushing a blatta, an American species of cockroach. He broke out intoa storm of invective, and in tones of indignation demanded thesurrender of the insect, which Negoro made with cool contempt. In amoment Captain Hull and his
partners in death were all forgotten; theenthusiast had secured a prize with which he hastened to his own littlecompartment, where he was soon absorbed in proving to his ownsatisfaction, in opposition to the opinion of other entomologists, thatthe blattae of the phoraspous species, which are remarkable for theircolours, differ in their habits from blattae of the ordinary sort.

  For the remainder of the day perfect order reigned on board the"Pilgrim." Though they were unable to shake off the sickening feelingof horror roused by the frightful disaster, and felt that they hadsustained a startling shock, all the passengers seemed mechanically tofall into their usual routine. Dick Sands, though avowedly at thewheel, seemed to be everywhere, with an eye for every thing, and hisamateur crew obeyed him readily, and with the promptness of a willingactivity.

  Negoro made no further overt attempt to question the young captain'sauthority, but remained shut up in his kitchen. Dick made no secret ofhis determination to place the cook in close confinement if heexhibited any future sign of insubordination. Hercules was ready tocarry him off bodily to the hold, and old Nan was equally ready to takehis place in the cooking department. Probably Negoro was aware of allthis; at any rate he did not seem disposed to give any further cause ofoffence at present.

  Jack evidenced his satisfaction by giving his hugefriend a hearty shake of the hand.]

  As the day advanced the wind continued to freshen; but no shifting ofthe sails seemed necessary. The "Pilgrim" was running well. There wasno need to diminish her spread of canvas. Masts as solid and rigging asstrong as hers could stand a far heavier breeze.

  As a general rule, it is deemed prudent in case of a squall to shortensail at night, and especially to take in gallants and royal; but theweather prospects now were all so promising and satisfactory that Dickpersuaded himself he was under no necessity to take this precaution; herather felt himself bound to take the strongest measures he could toexpedite his reaching less unfrequented waters. He made up his mind,however, not to leave the deck at all that night.

  The young captain made every effort to get an approximate reckoning ofthe schooner's progress. He heaved the log every half-hour and dulyregistered the result of each successive examination. There were twocompasses on board; one in the binnacle, close under the eye of thehelmsman, the other, an inverted compass, being attached to the raftersof the captain's cabin, so that without leaving his berth he could seewhether the man in charge of the wheel was holding a proper course.

  Every vessel that is duly furnished for a lengthened voyage has alwaysnot only two compasses but two chronometers, one to correct the other.The "Pilgrim" was not deficient in this respect, and Dick Sands made astrong point of admonishing his crew that they should take especialcare of the compasses, which under their present circumstances were ofsuch supreme importance.

  A misfortune, however, was in store for them. On the night of the 12th,while Dick was on watch, the compass in the cabin became detached fromits fastening and fell on the floor. The accident was not discovereduntil the following morning. Whether the metal ferule that had attachedthe instrument to the rafters had become rusty, or whether it had beenworn away by additional friction it seemed impossible to settle. Allthat could be said was that the compass was broken beyond repair. Dickwas extremely grieved at the loss; but he did not consider that any onewas to be blamed for the mishap, and could only resolve for the futureto take extra care of the compass in the binnacle.

  With the exception of this _contretemps_, everything appeared to go onsatisfactorily on board. Mrs. Weldon, reassured by Dick's confidence,had regained much of her wonted calmness, and was besides eversupported by a sincere religious spirit. She and Dick had many a longconversation together. The ingenuous lad was always ready to take thekind and intelligent lady into his counsel, and day by day would pointout to her on the chart the registers he made as the result of his deadreckoning; he would then try and satisfy her that under the prevailingwind there could be no doubt they must arrive at the coast of SouthAmerica: moreover, he said that, unless he was much mistaken, theyshould sight the land at no great distance from Valparaiso.

  Mrs. Weldon had, in truth, no reason to question the correctness ofDick's representations; she owned that provided the wind remained inthe same favourable quarter, there was every prospect of their reachingland in safety; nevertheless at times she could not resist themisgiving that would arise when she contemplated what might be theresult of a change of wind or a breaking of the weather.

  With the light-heartedness that belonged to his age, Jack soon fellback into his accustomed pursuits, and was to be seen merrily runningover the deck or romping with Dingo. At times, it is true, he missedthe companionship of Dick; but his mother made him comprehend that nowthat Dick, was captain, his time was too much occupied to allow him;any leisure for play, and the child quite understood that he must notinterrupt his old friend in his new duties.

  A light shadow glided stealthily along the deck.]

  The negroes performed their work with intelligence, and seemed to makerapid progress in the art of seamanship. Tom had been unanimouslyappointed boatswain, and took one watch with Bat and Austin, thealternate watch being discharged by Dick himself with Hercules andActaeon. One of them steered so that the other two were free to watch atthe bows. As a general rule Dick Sands managed to remain at the wheelall night; five or six hours' sleep in the daytime sufficed for him,and during the time when he was lying down he entrusted the wheel toTom or Bat, who under his instructions had become very fair helmsmen.Although in these unfrequented waters there was little chance ofrunning foul of any other vessel, Dick invariably took the precautionof lighting his signals, carrying a green light to starboard and a redlight to port. His exertions, however, were a great strain upon him,and sometimes during the night his fatigue would induce a heavydrowsiness, and he steered, as it were, by instinct more than byattention.

  On the night of the 13th, he was so utterly worn-out that he wasobliged to ask Tom to relieve him at the helm whilst he went down for afew hours' rest. Actaeon and Hercules remained on watch on theforecastle.

  The night was very dark; the sky was covered with heavy clouds that hadformed in the chill evening air, and the sails on the top-masts werelost in the obscurity. At the stern, the lamps on either side of thebinnacle cast a faint reflection on the metal mountings of the wheel,leaving the deck generally in complete darkness.

  Towards three o'clock in the morning Tom was getting so heavy withsleepiness that he was almost unconscious. His eye, long fixed steadilyon the compass, lost its power of vision, and he fell into a doze fromwhich it would require more than a slight disturbance to arouse him.

  Meantime a light shadow glided stealthily along the deck. Creepinggradually up to the binnacle, Negoro put down something heavy that hehad brought in his hand. He stole a keen and rapid glance at the dialof the compass, and made his way back, unseen and unheard as he hadcome.

  Almost immediately afterwards, Tom awakened from his slumber. His eyefell instinctively on the compass, and he saw in a moment that the shipwas out of her proper course. By a turn of the helm he brought her headto what he supposed to be the east. But he was mistaken. During hisbrief interval of unconsciousness a piece of iron had been depositedbeneath the magnetic needle, which by this means had been divertedthirty degrees to the right, and, instead of pointing due north,inclined far towards north-east.

  Consequently it came to pass that the "Pilgrim," supposed by her youngcommander to be making good headway due east, was in reality, under thebrisk north-west breeze, speeding along towards the south-east.