The Ghost Ship

by John Conran Hutcheson________________________________________________________________This book intentionally veers in and out of the supernatural, as thetitle implies. The officers get more and more bewildered as theywork out their position, and yet again encounter the same vesselgoing in an impossible direction. 

Having warned you of this, I must say that it is a well-written bookabout life aboard an ocean-going steamer at about the end of thenineteenth century. 

You will find it worth listening to, or reading, and I recommend it. N. H. ________________________________________________________________THE GHOST SHIP

BY JOHN CONRAN HUTCHESON

CHAPTER ONE. 

THE STAR OF THE NORTH. 

The sun sank below the horizon that evening in a blaze of ruby and gold. 

It flooded the whole ocean to the westward, right up to the very zenith, with a wealth of opalescent light that transformed sea and sky alikeinto a living glory, so grand and glorious was the glowing harmony ofkaleidoscopic colouring which lit up the arc of heaven and the widewaste of water beneath, stretching out and afar beyond ken. Aye, and acolouring, too, that changed its hue each instant with marvellousrapidity, tint alternating with tint, and tone melting into tone inendless succession and variety!

Throughout the day the weather had looked more than threatening. Froman early hour of the morning the wind had been constantly veering andshifting, showing a strong inclination to back; and now the sea wasgetting up and the white horses of Neptune had already begun to gambolover the crests of the swelling billows, which heaved up and down asthey rolled onward with a heavy moaning sound, like one long, deep-drawnsigh!

It looked as if the old monarch below, angered by the teasing of thefrolicsome zephyrs, was gradually working himself up into a passion, which would vent itself, most probably, ere long in a much more tellingfashion than by this melancholy moan, so different to the sea-god'susual voice of thunder!

Yes, it looked threatening enough in all conscience!

A brisk breeze had been blowing from the nor'-east before breakfast, butthis had subsequently shifted to the nor'ard at noon, veering backagain, first to the nor'-east and then to due east in the afternoon. The wind freshened as the hours wore on, being now accompanied towardssunset by frequent sharp gusts, a sign betokening plainly enough to aseaman's eye that something stiffer was brewing up for us by-and-by. 

Glancing over the side, I noticed that our brave vessel, the _Star ofthe North_, was becoming very uneasy. 

She was running under her jib and foresail, with fore-topsail and fore-topgallantsail, being only square rigged forwards, like most oceansteamers; but, in order to save coals and ease the engines, the skipperhad set the fore and main trysails with gaff-topsails and staysails aswell, piling on every rag he could spread. 

With this press of canvas topping her unaccustomed hull, the poor oldbarquey heeled over more and more as the violent gusts caught herbroadside-on at intervals, rolling, too, a bit on the wind fetchinground aft; while, her stern lifting as some bigger roller than usualpassed under her keel, the screw would whiz round aimlessly in mid air, from missing its grip of the water, "racing, " as sailors say in theirlingo, with a harsh grating jar that set my teeth on edge, and seemed tovibrate through my very spinal marrow as I stood for a moment on theline of deck immediately over the revolving shaft. 

At the same time also that the afterpart of the vessel rose up on thebreast of one billowy mountain, her forefoot in turn would come downwith a resonant "thwack" into the valley intervening between this rollerand the next, the buoyant old barquey dipping her bows under and givingthe star-crowned maiden with golden ringlets, that did duty for herfigurehead, an impromptu shower bath as she parted the indignant waveswith her glistening black hull, sending them off on either hand with acontemptuous "swish" on their trying in mad desperation to leap onboard, first to port and then to starboard, as the ship listed in herroll. 

It was, however, but a vain task for these mad myrmidons of Neptune toattempt, strive as recklessly as they might in their wrath, for the goodship spurned them with her forefoot and the star-crowned maiden bowedmockingly to them from her perch above the bobstay, laughing in her gleeas she rode over them triumphantly and sailed along onward; and so thebaffled roysterers were forced to fall back discomforted from their rashonslaught, swirling away in circling eddies aft, where, anon, the cruelpropeller tossed and tore them anew with its pitiless blades--everwhirling round with painful iteration to the music of their monotonousrefrain, "Thump-thump, Thump-thump, " and ever churning up the alreadyseething sea into a mass of boiling, brawling, bubbling foam that spreadout astern of us in a broad shimmering wake in the shape of a lady'sfan, stretching backward on our track as far as the eye could see andflashing out sparks of fire as it glittered away into the dim distance, like an ever-widening belt of diamonds fringed with pearls. 

The SS _Star of the North_ was a large schooner-rigged cargo steamer, strongly built of iron in watertight compartments, and of nearly twothousand horsepower, but working up, under pressure, of nearly half asmuch again on a pinch, having been originally intended for the passengertrade. 

She belonged to one of the great ocean lines that run between Liverpooland New York, and was now on her last outward trip for the year andrapidly nearing her western goal--the Fastnet light--and, according toour reckoning when we took the sun at noon, in latitude 42° 35 minutesNorth, and longitude 50° 10 minutes West, that is, just below the banksof Newfoundland, our course to our American port having been a littlemore southerly than usual for the season. This was in consequence ofCaptain Applegarth, our skipper, wishing, as I said before, to takeadvantage of the varying winds of the northern ocean as much aspossible, so as to economise his steam-power and limit our consumptionof fuel; for freights "across the herring-pond, " as the Yankees call it, are at a very low ebb nowadays, and it is naturally a seriousconsideration with shipowners how to make a profit out of the carryingtrade without landing themselves in the bankruptcy court. So, they haveto cut down their working expenses to the lowest point practicable withefficiency, where "full speed" all the way is not a vital necessity--asin the case of the mail steamers and first-class passenger ships ofenormous steam-power and corresponding speed, which, of course, run up aheavy coal bill, for they always "carry on" all they can to and froacross the Atlantic, accomplishing the passage now between Queenstownand Sandy Hook, veritable greyhounds of the ocean that they are, withinthe six days, all told, from land to land. Aye, and even this "record"promises to be beaten in the near future. 

Prior to our leaving Liverpool on this voyage, the very day before wesailed, in fact, greatly to my surprise and satisfaction, as may beimagined, I was made fourth officer, the owners having unexpectedlypromoted me from the position of "apprentice, " which I had filled up toour last run home without any thought of so speedy a "rise. " Of courseI had to thank my old friend Captain Applegarth for my good fortune, though why the skipper thus spoke up for me I'm sure I cannot say, for Iwas very young to hold such a subordinate post, having only just turnedmy seventeenth year, besides being boyish enough in all conscience, andbeardless, too, at that! But, be that as it may, fourth officer I wasat the time of which I write. 

I recollect the evening well enough. 

It was on the seventh of November, the anniversary of my birthday, acircumstance which would alone suffice to imprint the date on my memorywere I at all disposed to forget it. But that is not very likely. 

No, I can assure you. 

It would be impossible for me to do that, as you will readily believewhen you come to know my story; for, on this eventful evening therehappened something which, somehow or other, thenceforth, whether owingto what visionary folk term "Destiny, " or from its arising through somecurious conjuncture of things beyond the limits of mere chance, appearedto exercise a mysterious influence on my life, affecting the whole tenorand course of my subsequent career. 

I had better tell you, however, what occurred, and then you will be ableto judge for yourself. 

CHAPTER TWO. 

"SAIL HO!"

Away forward, I remember, the ship's bell under the break of theforecastle, or "fo'c's'le, " as it is pronounced in nautical fashion, wasjust striking "two bells" in the first day watch. 

In other words, more suited to a landsman's comprehension, it was fiveo'clock in the afternoon when I came on deck from my spell of leisurebelow, to relieve Mr Spokeshave, the third officer, then on duty, andthe sight I caught of the heavens, across the gangway, was so beautifulthat I paused a moment or two to look at the sunset before going up onthe bridge, where Mr Spokeshave, I had no doubt, was anxiously awaitingme and, equally certainly, grumbling at my detaining him from his "tea!"

This gentleman, however, was not too particular as to time in relievingothers when off watch, and I did not concern myself at all about Master"Conky, " as all of us called him aboard, on account of a very prominent, and, so to speak, striking feature of his countenance. 

Otherwise, he was an insignificant-looking little chap, as thin asthreadpaper and barely five feet high; but he was always swellinghimself out, and trying to look a bigger personage than he was, with theexception that is, of his nose, which was thoroughly Napoleonic in sizeand contour. Altogether, what with the airs he gave himself and hisselfish disposition and nasty cantankerous temper, Master Spokeshave wasnot a general favourite on board, although we did not quarrel openlywith the little beggar or call him by his nickname when he was present, albeit he was very hard to bear with sometimes!

Well, not thinking of him or his tea or that it was time for me to go onwatch, but awed by the majesty of God's handiwork in the wonderfulcolouring, of the afterglow, which no mortal artist could have painted, no, none but He who limns the rainbow, I stood there so long by thegangway, gazing at the glorious panorama outspread before me, that Ideclare I clean forgot Spokeshave's very existence, all-important thoughhe considered himself, and I was only recalled to myself by the voice ofMr Fosset, our first officer, who had approached without my seeing him, speaking close beside me. 

Ah, he was a very different sort of fellow to little Spokeshave, being anice, jolly, good-natured chap, chubby and brown-bearded, and liked byevery one from the skipper down to the cabin boy. He was a bitobstinate, though, was Mr Fosset; and "as pigheaded as a Scotchbarber, " as Captain Applegarth would say sometimes when he was arguingwith him, for the first mate would always stick to his own opinion, nomatter if he were right or wrong, nothing said on the other side everconvincing him to the contrary and making him change his mind. 

He had caught sight of me now leaning against the bulwarks and lookingover the side amidships, just abaft the engine-room hatch, as he passedalong the gangway towards the bridge which he was about to mount to havea look at the standard compass and see what course the helmsman wassteering, on his way from the poop, where I had noticed him talking withthe skipper as I came up the booby-hatch from below. "Hullo, Haldane!"he cried, shouting almost in my ear, and giving me a playful dig in theribs at the same time; this nearly knocked all the breath out of mybody. "Is that you, my boy?"

"Aye, aye, sir, " I replied, hesitating, for I was startled, alike by hisrather too demonstrative greeting as well as his unexpected approach. "I--I--mean, yes, sir. "

Mr Fosset laughed; a jolly, catching laugh it was--that of a man whohad just dined comfortably and enjoyed his dinner, and did not have, apparently, a care in the world. "Why, what's the matter with you, youngster?" said he in his chaffing way. "Been having a caulk on thesly and dreaming of home, I bet?"

"No, sir, " I answered gravely; "I've not been to sleep. "

"But you look quite dazed, my boy. "

I made no reply to this observation, and Mr Fosset then dropped hisbantering manner. 

"Tell me, " said he kindly, "is there anything wrong with you below? Hasthat cross-grained little shrimp, Spokeshave, hang him! been bullyingyou again, like he did the other day?"

"Oh no, sir; he's on the bridge now, and I ought to have relieved himbefore this, " I replied, only thinking of poor "Conky" and his tea thenfor the first time. "I wasn't even dreaming of him; I'm sure I beg hispardon!"

"Well, you were dreaming of some one perhaps `nearer and dearer' thanSpokeshave, " rejoined Mr Fosset, with another genial laugh. "You werequite in a brown study when I gave you that dig in the ribs. What's thematter, my boy?"

"I was looking at that, sir, " said I simply, in response to hisquestion, pointing upwards to the glory in the heavens. "Isn't itgrand? Isn't it glorious?"

This was a poser; for the first mate, though good-natured and good-humoured enough, and probably a thinking man, too, in his way, was toomatter-of-fact a person to indulge in "dreamy sentimentalities, " as hewould have styled my deeper thoughts! A sunset to him was only asunset, saving in so far as it served to denote any change of weather, which aspect his seaman's eye readily took note of without any pointingout on my part; so he rather chilled my enthusiasm by his reply now tome. 

"Oh, yes, it's very fine and all that, youngster, " he observed in anoff-hand manner that grated on my feelings, making me wish I had notspoken so gushingly. "I think that sky shows signs of a blow before thenight is over, which will give you something better to do than star-gazing!"

"I can't very well do that now, sir, " said I slily, with a grin atcatching him tripping. "Why, the stars aren't out yet. "

"That may be, Master Impudence, " replied Mr Fosset, all genial againand laughing too; "but they'll soon be popping out overhead. "

"But, sir, it is quite light still, " I persisted. "See, it is as brightas day all round, just as at noontide!"

"Aye, but it'll be precious dark soon! It grows dusk in less than ajiffey after the sun dips in these latitudes at this time o' year, " saidhe. "Hullo! I say, though, that reminds me, Haldane--"

"Of what, sir?" I asked as he stopped abruptly at this point. "Anything I can do for you, Mr Fosset?"

"No, my boy, nothing, " he replied reflectively, and looking for themoment to be in as deep a brown study as he accused me of being justnow. "Stop, though, I tell you what you can do. Run forwards and seewhat that lazy lubber of a lamp-trimmer is about. He's always half anhour or so behind time, and seems to get later every day. Wake him upand make him hoist our masthead lantern and fix the side lights inposition, for it'll soon be dark, I bet 'ee, in spite of all that flare-up aloft over there, and we're now getting in the track of the homeward-bounders crossing the Banks, and have to keep a sharp look-out and let'em know where we are, to avoid any chance of collision. "

"Aye, aye, sir, " I cried, making my way along the gangway by the side ofthe deckhouse towards the fo'c's'le, which was still lit up by theafterglow as if on fire. "I'll see to it all right, and get our steamlights rigged up at once, sir. "

So saying, in another minute or so, scrambling over a lot of empty coalsacks and other loose gear that littered the deck, besides gettingtripped up by the tackle of the ash hoist, which I did not see in timefrom the glare of the sky coming right in my eyes, I gained the lee sideof the cook's galley at the forward end of the deckhouse. Here, as Iconjectured, I found old Greazer, our lamp-trimmer. This worthy, whowas quite a character in his way, was a superannuated fireman belongingto the line, whom age and long years of toil had unfitted for therougher and more arduous duties of his vocation in the stoke-hold, andwho now, instead of trimming coals in the furnaces below, trimmed wicksand attended to the lamps about the ship, on deck and elsewhere. Hemanaged, I may add, to make his face so dirty in the carrying out of thelighter duties, to which he was now called, probably in fondrecollection of his byegone grimy task in the engine-room, that hissomewhat personal cognomen was very appropriate, his countenance beingoily and smutty to a degree!

He was a very lazy old chap, however; and, in lieu of attending to hiswork, was generally to be found confabulating with our mulatto cook, Accra Prout, as I discovered him now, more bent on worming out an extralot of grog from the chef of the galley in exchange for a lump of "hard"tobacco, than thinking of masthead lanterns or the ship's side lights, green and red. 

"What are you about, lamp-trimmer?" I called out sharply on catchingsight of him palavering there with the mulatto, the artful beggarfurtively slipping the tin pannikin out of which he had been drinkinginto the bosom of his jumper. "Here's two bells struck and no lightsup!"

"Two bells, sir?"

"Aye, two bells, " I repeated, taking no notice of his affected air ofsurprise. "There's the ship's bell right over your head where youstand, and you must have heard it strike not five minutes ago. "

"Lor', Master Dick, may I die a foul death ashore if I ever heard astroke, " he replied as innocently as you please. "Howsomdever, thelamps is all right, sir. I ain't 'ave forgot 'em. "

"That's all right, then, Greazer, " I said, not being too hard on him, and excusing the sly wink he gave to Prout as he told his barefacedbanger about not hearing the bell, in memory of his past services. "Come along now and rig them up smart, or you'll have Mr Fosset afteryou. "

Making him hoist our masthead light on the foremast, twenty feet abovethe deck, according to the usual Board of Trade regulations for steamersunder way at sea, I then marched him before me along the deck and sawhim place our side lights in their proper position, the green one tostarboard and the red on our port hand. 

Old Greazer then mounted the bridge-ladder, in advance of me, with thebinnacle lamp in his hand to put that in its place, and, as I followedslowly in his slow footsteps, for the ex-fireman was not now quick ofmovement, an accident in the stoke-hold having crippled him years ago, Ihalf-turned round as I ascended the laddering to have a look again atthe horizon to leeward over our port quarters, when I fancied, whenadvancing a foot with the lamp-trimmer, I had seen something to thesouthward. 

In another instant my fancy became a certainty. 

Yes, there, in the distance, sailing at an angle to our course, rightbefore the wind, was a large full-rigged ship. Everything, though, wasnot right with her, as I noted the moment I made her out, with her whitecanvas all crimson from a last expiring gleam of the afterglow; for Icould see that her sails were tattered and torn, with the ragged endsblowing out loose from the boltropes in the most untidy fashion, unkempt, uncared for!

Besides, she was flying a signal of distress, patent to every sailorthat has ever crossed the seas. 

Her flag was hoisted half-mast high from the peak halliards. Half-masthigh!

I did not wait, nor did I want, to see anything further. No, that wasenough for me; and, springing on to the bridge with a bound that nearlyknocked poor old Greazer down on his marrowbones as he stopped to putthe lantern into the binnacle, I shouted out in a ringing voice thatechoed fore and aft, startling everybody aboard, even myself, "Sail ho!A ship in distress! Sail ho!"

CHAPTER THREE. 

DID I DREAM IT?

"Where away, Haldane?" cried Mr Fosset, the first to notice my shout, catching up a telescope that lay handy on the top of the wheel-house ofthe bridge; and, in his hurry, eagerly scanning every portion of thehorizon but the right one. "I don't see her!"

"There she is, sir, away to the right!" said I, equally flurried, pointing over the lee rail in the direction where I had observed theship only a second before as I mounted the bridge-ladder, although Icould not actually make her out distinctly at the moment now, on accountof the smoke from our funnels, which, just then, came belching forth ina thick, black cloud that streamed away to leeward, athwart ourstarboard beam, obscuring the outlook. 

"There away, sir; out there!"

"Well, I can't see anything!" ejaculated Mr Fosset impatiently, risingto his feet after stooping down to the level of the bridge cloth, tryingto get a sight of the strange vessel as best he could under the cloud ofsmoke, which was now trailing out along the horizon, blown far away toleeward by the strong wind across our beam. "I'm sure I can't seeanything over there, youngster; you must have dreamt it!"

"Yes, when you were lolling about in the waist below there, just now, "put in my friend, Master Spokeshave, who had been pretending to look-outfrom his end of the bridge because he thought he ought to do so as MrFosset was there, although he really couldn't possibly see anything aftfrom that position on the port side, on account of the wheel-house andfunnel, which were of course abaft the bridge, blocking the view. Thecantankerous little beggar sniffed his beak of a nose in the air as iftrying to look down on me, though he was half a head shorter, and spokein that nasty sneering way of his that always made me mad. He did enjoygrowling at any one when he had the chance; and so he went on snarlingnow, like a cat behind an area railing at a dog which couldn't get at itto stop its venomous spitting. "I saw you, my joker, star-gazing downthere, instead of coming up here to relieve me at the proper time! Ibelieve you only sang out about the ship to cover your laziness and takea rise out of us!"

"I did nothing of the sort, Mr Spokeshave, " I answered indignantly, forthe little beast sniggered away and grinned at Mr Fosset as if he hadsaid something uncommonly smart at my expense. I saw, however, wherethe shoe pinched. He was angry at my having kept him waiting for histea, and hence his spiteful allusion to my being late coming on watch;so I was just going to give him a sharp rejoinder, referring to his lovefor his little stomach, a weak point with him and a common joke with usall below at meal-times, when, ere I could get a word out of thescathing rebuke I intended for him, the smoke trail suddenly lifted abit to leeward and leaving the horizon clear, I caught sight again ofthe ship I had seen over the rail. This, of course, at once changed thecurrent of my thoughts; and so, without troubling my head any furtherabout "Conky, " I sang out as eagerly as before to the first mate, allthe more anxious now to prove that I had been right in the firstinstance, "There she is, Mr Fosset, there she is!"

"Where on earth are you squinting now, boy?" said he, a bit huffy at notmaking her out and apparently inclined to Spokeshave's opinion that Ihad not really seen her at all. "Where away?"

"There, sir, away to leeward, " cried I, almost jumping over the bridgerail in my excitement. "She's nearly abreast of our mizzen chains andnot a mile off. She seems coming up on the port tack, sir!"

For, strangely enough, although we were going ten knots good by the aidof the wind that had worked round more abeam, so that all our fore andaft sail drew, while the ship, which, when I saw her before, seemed tobe running with the nor'-easter and sailing at a tangent to our courseso that she ought really to have increased her distance from us, now, onthe contrary, appeared ever so much nearer, as if she had either alteredher helm or drifted closer by the aid of some ocean current in theinterim; albeit, barely five minutes at the best, if that, had onlyelapsed since I first sighted her. 

But, stranger still, Mr Fosset could not see her, when there she was asplain as the sun setting in the west awhile ago--at least to my eyes;and, as she approached nearer yet in some unaccountable way, for herbows were pointed from us and the wind, of course, was blowing in theopposite direction, she being on our lee, I declare I could distinctlysee a female figure, like that of a young girl with long hair, on thedeck aft; and beside her I also noticed a large black dog, jumping upand down!

"I'm sure I can't see any ship, youngster, " said Mr Fosset at themoment. Even while he was actually speaking, I observed the sailingvessel to yaw in her course, her ragged canvas flattening against themasts as if she were coming about, although from the way her head veeredabout, she did not seem to be under any control. "There's nothing insight, Haldane, I tell you. What you perhaps thought was a ship is thatbig black cloud rising to the southward. It looks like one of thosenasty sea fogs working up, and we'll have to keep a precious sharp look-out to-night, I know. "

"There's no ship there, " echoed my friend "Conky, " tapping his foreheadin a very offensive way to intimate that I had "a screw loose in theupper storey, " as the saying goes, grinning the while as I could seevery well in the dim light and poking his long nose up in the air insupreme contempt. "The boy is either mad, or drunk, or dreaming, as yousay, sir. It is all a cock and a bull yarn about his sighting a vessel, and he only wants to brave it out. There's no ship there!"

"Can you see anything, Atkins?" asked Mr Fosset of the man steering. "There away to leeward, I mean. "

"No, sir, " answered the sailor; "not a speck, sir. "

"Do you see anything, lamp-trimmer?"

"No; can't say I does, sir, " replied old Greazer, after a long squintover our lee in the direction pointed out, "Not a sight of a sail, nor alight, nor nothink!"

It was curious. 

For, at that very moment, when the first mate and Spokeshave and thehelmsman and lamp-trimmer, standing on the bridge beside me, one and allsaid they could see nothing, I declare to you I saw not only the shipand the figures on her deck, but I noticed that the girl on the poopwaved a scarf or handkerchief, as if imploring our assistance; and, atthe same time, the dog near her bounded up against the bulwarks, and Ican solemnly assert from the evidence of my ears that I heard the animaldistinctly bark, giving out that joyous sort of bark with which a well-dispositioned dog invariably greets a friend of his master or mistress. 

I could not make it out at all. 

It was most mysterious. 

"Look, look, Mr Fosset!" I cried excitedly. "There she is now! Thereshe is, coming up on our lee quarter! Why, you must be all blind! Ican not only see the ship distinctly, but also right down on to herdeck!"

"Nonsense, boy; you'd better go below!" said the first mate brusquely, while Spokeshave sniggered and whispered something to the lamp-trimmerand man at the wheel that made them both laugh out right. "There'ssomething wrong with you to-night, Haldane, for you seem quite off yourchump, so you'd better go below and sleep it off. There's no ship nearus, I tell you! What you imagined to be a sailing vessel is that darkcloud there, coming up from the leeward, which is fast shutting out thehorizon from view. It's a sea fog, such as are frequently met withhereabouts below the Banks, as we are now!"

It was true enough about the cloud, or mist, or fog, or whatever it was;for, as Mr Fosset spoke, the darkness closed in around us like a walland the ship that I swear I had seen the moment before vanished, sky andsea and everything else disappearing also at the same instant, leavingus, as it were, isolated in space, the veil of vapour beingimpenetrable!

CHAPTER FOUR. 

A CONFLICT OF AUTHORITY. 

Just then Captain Applegarth appeared on the scene. 

He had gone down by the companion-way into the saloon below, after MrFosset had left the poop, to look at the barometer in his cabin, and nowcame along the upper deck and on to the bridge amidships, startling uswith his sudden presence. 

The skipper had a sharp eye, which was so trained by observation in allsorts of weather that he could see in the dark, like a cat, almost aswell as he could by daylight. 

Looking round and scanning our faces as well as he could in theprevailing gloom, he soon perceived that something was wrong. 

"Huh!" he exclaimed. "What's the row about?"

"There's no row, sir, " explained the first mate in an off-hand tone ofbravado, which he tried to give a jocular ring to, but could not verysuccessfully. "This youngster Haldane here swears he saw a full-riggedship on our lee quarter awhile ago, flying a signal of distress; butneither Mr Spokeshave, who was on the watch, nor myself, could make herout where Haldane said he saw her. "

"Indeed?"

"No, sir, " continued Mr Fosset; "nor could the helmsman or old Greazerhere, who came up with the binnacle lamp at the time. Not one of uscould see this wonderful ship of Haldane's, though it was pretty clearall round then, and we all looked in the direction to which he pointed. "

"That's strange, " said Captain Applegarth, "very strange. "

"Quite so, sir, just what we all think, sir, " chimed in MasterSpokeshave, putting in his oar. "Not a soul here on the bridge, sir, observed anything of any ship of any sort, leastways one flying a signalof distress, such as Dick Haldane said he saw. "

"Humph!" ejaculated the skipper, as if turning the matter over in hismind for the moment; and then addressing me point blank he asked meoutright, "Do you really believe you saw this ship, Haldane?"

"Yes, sir, " I answered as directly as he had questioned me; "I'll swearI did. "

"No, I don't want you to do that; I'll take your word for it without anyswearing, Haldane, " said the skipper to this, speaking to me quietly andas kindly as if he had been my father. "But listen to me, my boy. I donot doubt your good faith for a moment, mind that. Still, are you surethat what you believe you saw might not have been some optical illusionproceeding from the effects of the afterglow at sunset? It was verybright and vivid, you know, and the reflection of a passing cloud abovethe horizon or its shadow just before the sun dipped might have causedthat very appearance which you took to be a ship under sail. I havemyself been often mistaken in the same way under similar atmosphericsurroundings and that is why I put it to you like this, to learn whetheryou are quite certain you might not be mistaken?"

"Quite so, " shoved in Spokeshave again in his parrot fashion; "quite so, sir. "

"I didn't ask your opinion, " growled the skipper, shutting him up in atwinkling; and then, turning to me again, he looked at me inquiringly. "Well, Haldane, have you thought it out?"

"Yes, captain, I have, " I replied firmly, though respectfully, the ill-timed interference of the objectionable Mr Spokeshave having made me asobstinate as Mr Fosset. "It was no optical illusion or imagination onmy part, sir, or anything of that sort, I assure you, sir. I am tellingyou the truth, sir, and no lie. I saw that ship, sir, to leeward of usjust now as clearly as I can see you at this moment; aye, clearer, sir!"

"Then that settles the matter. I've never had occasion to doubt yourword before during the years you've sailed with me, my boy, and I am notgoing to doubt it now. "

So saying, Captain Applegarth, putting his arm on my shoulder, facedround towards the first mate and Spokeshave, as if challenging them bothto question my veracity after this testimony on his part in my favour. 

"This ship, you say, Haldane, " then continued the skipper, proceeding tointerrogate me as to the facts of the case, now that my credulity hadbeen established, in his sharp, sailor-like way, "was flying a signal ofdistress, eh?"

"Yes, sir, " I answered with zest, all animation and excitement again athis encouragement. "She had her flag, the French tricolour, I think, sir, hoisted half-mast at her peak; and she appeared, sir, a good dealbattered about, as if she had been in bad weather and had made the worstof it. Besides, cappen--"

I hesitated. 

"Besides what, my boy?" he asked, on my pausing here, almost afraid tomention the sight I had noticed on the deck of the ill-fated ship in thepresence of two such sceptical listeners as Mr Fosset and my moreimmediate superior, the third officer, Spokeshave. "You need not beafraid of saying anything you like before me. _I'm_ captain of thisship. "

"Well, sir, " said I, speaking out, "just before that mass of clouds orfog bank came down on the wind, shutting out the ship from view, sheyawed a bit off her course, and I saw somebody on her deck aft. "

"What!" cried the skipper, interrupting me. "Was she so close as that?"

"Yes, sir, " said I. "She did not seem to be a hundred yards away at themoment, if that. "

"And you saw somebody on the deck?"

"Yes, cap'en, " I answered; "a woman. "

He again interrupted me, all agog at the news. 

"A woman?"

"Yes, sir, " said I. "A woman, or rather, perhaps a girl, for she had alot of long hair streaming over her shoulders, all flying about in thewind. "

"What was she doing?"

"She appeared to be waving a white handkerchief or something like that, as if to attract our attention--asking us to help her, like. "

The skipper drew himself up to his full height on my telling this andturned round on Mr Fosset, his face blazing with passion. 

"A ship in distress, a woman on board imploring our aid, " he exclaimedin keen, cold, cutting tones that pierced one like a knife, "and youpassed her by without rendering any assistance, --a foreigner too, ofall. We Englishmen, who pride ourselves on our humanity above all othernations. What will they think of us?"

"I tell you, sir, we could not see any ship at all!" retorted the firstmate hotly, in reply to this reproach, which he felt as keenly as it wasuttered. "And if we couldn't see the ship, how could we know there wasa woman or anybody aboard?"

"Quite so, " echoed Spokeshave, emphasising Mr Fosset's logical argumentin his own defence. "That's exactly what I say, sir. "

"I would not have had it happen for worlds. We flying the old Unionjack, too, that boasts of never passing either friend or foe when indanger and asking aid. "

He spoke still more bitterly, as if he had not heard their excuses. 

"But hang it, cap'en, " cried Mr Fosset, "I tell you--"

Captain Applegarth waved him aside. 

"Where did you last sight the ship, Haldane?" he said, turning roundabruptly to me. "How was she heading?"

"She bore about two points off our port quarter, " I replied aslaconically. "I think, sir, she was running before the wind likeourselves, though steering a little more to the southwards. "

The skipper looked at the standard compass in front of the wheel-houseon the bridge, and then addressed the helmsman. 

"How are we steering now, quartermaster? The same course as I set atnoon, eh?"

"Aye, aye, sir, " replied Atkins, who still stood by the steam steeringgear singlehanded. If it had been the ordinary wheel, unaided by steam-power, it would have required four men to move the rudder and keep thevessel steady in such a sea as was now running. "We've kept her prettystraight, sir, since eight bells on the same course, west by south, sir, half south. "

"Very good, quartermaster. Haldane, are you there?"

"Yes, sir, " said I, stepping up to him again, having moved away into theshadow under the lee of the wheel-house whilst he was speaking toAtkins. "Here I am, sir. "

"Was that vessel dropping us when we passed her, or were we going aheadof her?"

"She was running before the wind, sir, at a tangent to our course, andmore to the southwards, moving through the water quicker than we were, until she luffed up just before that mist or fog bank shut her out fromview. But--"

"Well?"

"I think, sir, " I continued, "that was done merely to speak us; and ifshe bore away again, as she was probably forced to do, being at themercy of the gale, she must be scudding even more to the southwards, almost due south, I should fancy, as the wind has backed again more tothe nor'ard since this. "

"I fancy the same, my boy. I see you have a sailor's eye and have gotyour wits about you. Quartermaster?"

"Aye, aye, sir?"

"Let her off a point or two gradually until you bring her head aboutsou'-sou'-west, and keep her so. "

"Aye, aye, sir, " responded Atkins, easing her off as required. "Sou'-sou'-west it shall be, sir, in a minute. "

"That will bring us across her, I think, " said the skipper to me. "Butwe must go a little faster if we want to overtake her. What are wedoing now, eh?"

"I don't quite know, sir, " I answered to this question. "I was onlyjust coming up on the bridge to relieve Mr Spokeshave when I sightedthe ship and have not had time to look at the indicator. I shouldthink, though, we're going eight or nine knots. "

This didn't satisfy the skipper, so he turned to the first mate, who hadremained moodily aloof with Spokeshave at the end of the bridge. 

"Mr Fosset, " he sang out abruptly, "what are the engines doing?"

"About thirty revolutions, sir; half speed, as nearly as possible. "

"How much are we going altogether?"

"Ten knots, with our sails, " replied the other. "The wind isfreshening, too. "

"So I see, " said Captain Applegarth laconically. 

"And it'll freshen still more by-and-bye if I'm not mistaken!"

"Yes, it looks as if we're going to have a bit of a blow. The scud isflying all over us now that we are running before the wind. I reallythink we ought to ease down, sir, for the screw races fearfully as shedips and I'm afraid of the shaft. "

"I'm responsible for that, Mr Fosset, " answered the skipper as, movingthe handle of the gong on the bridge communicating with the engine-room, he directed those in charge below to put on full speed ahead. "I neveryet abandoned a ship in distress, and I'm not going to do so now. We'reon the right course to overhaul her, now, I think, eh, Haldane?"

"Yes, sir, " I replied. "I hope, though, we won't pass her in the fog, sir, or run into her, perhaps. "

"No fear of that, my boy: The fog is lifting now and the night will soonbe as clear as a bell, for the wind is driving all the mists away. Besides, we'll take precautions against any accident happening. MrFosset?"

"Aye, aye, sir?"

"Put a couple of lookouts on the fo'c's'le. "

"Aye, aye, sir. "

"Perhaps, too, we'd better send up a rocket to let 'em know we're about. Mr Spokeshave? Mr Spokeshave?"

No answer came this time, however, from my friend, Master "Conky, "though he had been ready enough just now with his aggravating "quiteso. "

"I think, sir, " said I, "Mr Spokeshave has gone below to his tea. "

"Very likely, " replied the skipper drily; "he's precious fond of hisbreadbasket, that young gentleman. I don't think he'll ever starvewhere there's any grub knocking about. Fancy a fellow, calling himselfa man, thinking of his belly at such a moment! Go, Haldane, and callhim up again and tell him I want him. "

I started to obey Captain Applegarth's order, but I had hardly got threesteps down the ladder when Spokeshave saved me further trouble by comingup on the bridge again of his own accord, without waiting to besummoned. 

The skipper, therefore, gave him instructions to let off, every quarterof an hour, a couple of signal rockets and burn a blue light or two overour port and starboard quarter alternately as we proceeded towards theobject of our quest. 

"All right, sir; quite so!" said "Conky, " as well as he couldarticulate, his mouth being full of something he had hurriedly snatchedfrom the steward's pantry when he had gone below, and brought up withhim to eat on deck, knowing that the skipper would be sure to sing outfor him if he remained long away at so critical a juncture. "All right, sir; quite so!"

The skipper laughed as he went down again to get the rockets and bluelights which were kept in a spare cabin aft for safety. 

"He's a rum chap, that little beggar, " he observed to Mr Fosset, whohad been forward to set the look-out men on the forecastle and hadreturned to the bridge. "I think if you told him he was the laziestloafer that ever ate lobscouse, he couldn't help saying `Quite so!'"

"You're about right, sir. I think, though, he can't help it; he's gotso used to the phrase, " replied the other, joining in the skipper'slaugh. "But, hullo, here comes old Stokes, panting and puffing alongthe gangway. I hope nothing's wrong in the engine-room. "

"I hope not, " said the skipper. "We want to go all we can just now, tooverhaul that ship Haldane saw. "

"_If_ he saw it, " muttered the first officer, under his breath andglowering at me. "A pack of sheer nonsense, I call it, this going outof our course on a wild-goose chase and tearing away full speed on awild night like this, in a howling sea, with a gale, too, astern; andall because an ass of a youngster fancies he saw the _Flying Dutchman_!"

I daresay the captain heard him, but the appearance just then of MrStokes, our chief engineer, who had now reached the bridge, panting andpuffing at every step, as Mr Fosset had said, he being corpulent ofhabit and short-winded, stopped any further controversy on the point asto whether I had seen, or had not seen, the mysterious ship. 

"Cap'en, Cap'en Applegarth!" cried out the chief engineer asthmaticallyas soon as he got within hail, speaking in a tearful voice and almostcrying in his excitement. "Are you there, sir?"

"Aye, here I am, Mr Stokes, as large as life, though not quite so big aman as you, " answered the skipper jocularly. 

"I am here on the bridge, quite at your service. "

Mr Stokes, however, was in no jocular mood. 

"Cap'en Applegarth, " said he solemnly, "did you really mean to ring uson full speed ahead?"

"I did, " replied the skipper promptly. "What of that?"

"What of that?" repeated the old engineer, dumbfounded by this returnshot. "Why, sir, the engines can't stand it. That is all, if you musthave it!"

"Can't stand what?"

"They can't stand all this driving and racing, with the propeller bladeshalf out of water every second revolution of the shaft. No enginescould stand it, with such a heavy sea on and the ship rolling andpitching all the time like a merry-go-round at Barnet Fair. Thegovernor is no good; and, though Grummet or Links have their grip on thethrottle valve all the while to check the steam, and I've every stokerand oiler on duty, the bearings are getting that heated that I'm afraidof the shaft breaking at any moment. Full speed, sir? Why, we can't doit, sir, we can't do it!"

"Nonsense, Stokes, " said the skipper good-humouredly. "You must do it, old fellow. "

"But, I tell you, Cap'en Applegarth, the engines can't stand it withoutbreaking down, and then where will you be, I'd like to know?"

"I'll risk that. "

"No, cap'en, " snorted the old chief, doggedly. "I'm responsible to theowners for the engines, and if anything happened to the machinery they'dblame me. I can't do it. "

The skipper flew up to white heat at this. 

"But, Mr Stokes, recollect I am responsible for the ship, engines andall, sir. The greater includes the less, and, as captain of this ship, I intend to have my orders carried out by every man-jack on board. Doyou hear that?"

"Yes, sir, I hear, " replied Mr Stokes grumblingly as he backed towardsthe bridge-ladder. "But, sir--"

The skipper would not give him time to get out another word. 

"You heard what I said, " he roared out in a voice that made the oldchief jump down half a dozen steps at once. "I ordered you to go fullspeed ahead and I mean to go full speed ahead whether the boilers burst, or the propeller races, or the screw shaft carries away; for I won'tabandon a ship in distress for all the engineers and half-heartedmollicoddles in the world!"

"A ship in distress?" gasped old Mr Stokes from the bottom rung of theladder. "I didn't hear about that before. "

"Well, you hear it now, " snapped out the skipper viciously, storming upand down the bridge in a state of great wrath. "But whether it's a shipin distress or not, I'll have you to know, Mr Stokes, once for all thatif I order full speed or half speed or any speed, I intend my orders tobe obeyed; and if you don't like it you can lump it. I'm captain ofthis ship!"

CHAPTER FIVE. 

THE GALE FRESHENS. 

Presently a cloud of thick black smoke again pouring forth from thefunnels showed that Mr Stokes had set the engine-room staff vigorouslyto work to carry out the skipper's orders; while the vibration of theupper deck below our feet afforded proof, were such needed, that themachinery was being driven to its utmost capacity, the regular throbbingmotion caused by the revolving shaft being distinctly perceptible abovethe rolling of the vessel and the jar of the opposing waves against herbow plates when she pitched more deeply than usual and met the sea fullbutt-end on. 

The surface fog, or mist, which had lately obscured the view, risingfrom the water immediately after the last gleams of the sunset haddisappeared from the western sky, had now cleared away, giving place tothe pale spectral light of night, an occasional star twinkling here andthere in the dark vault overhead, like a sign-post in the immensity ofspace, making the wild billowy waste, through which we tore with all thepower of wind and steam, seem all the wilder from contrast. 

We had carried on like this for about an hour, steering steadily to thesouthwards, without catching sight again of the strange ship, thoughSpokeshave and I had continued to let off signal rockets and burn bluelights at intervals, the gale increasing in force each instant, and thewaves growing bigger and bigger, so that they rose over the topsail aswe raced along, when, all at once, a great green sea broke amidships, coming aboard of us just abaft of the engine-room hatchway, flooding allthe waist on either side of the deckhouse and rolling down below in aregular cataract of tumid water, sweeping everything before it. 

"That's pretty lively, " exclaimed Captain Applegarth, clutching hold ofthe rail to preserve his balance as he turned to the quartermaster atthe wheel. "Steady there, my man! Keep her full and by!"

"Aye, aye, sir, " answered Atkins. "But she do yaw so, when she buriesher bows. She's got too much sail on her, sir. "

"I know that, " said the skipper. "But I'm going to carry on as long asI can, all the same, my man. "

Even as he spoke, however, a second sea followed the first, nearlywashing us all off the bridge, and smashing the glass of the skylightover the engine-room, besides doing other damage. 

By Captain Applegarth's directions, a piece of heavy tarpaulin waslashed over the broken skylight, securing the ends to ringbolts in thedeck; but hardly had the covering been made fast ere we could see thechief engineer picking his way towards us, struggling through the waterthat still lay a foot deep in the waist and looking as pale as death. 

"Hullo, Mr Stokes, " cried the skipper, when the old chief with greatdifficulty had gained the vantage of the bridge-ladder. "What's thematter now, old fellow?"

He was too much exhausted at first to reply. 

"What's the matter?" he echoed ironically when able at last to speak. "Oh, nothing at all worth mentioning; nothing at all. I told you how itwould be, sir, if you insisted on going ahead full speed in such weatheras we're having! Why, Cap'en Applegarth, the stoke-hold's full of waterand the bilgepump's choked, that's all; and the fires, I expect, will bedrowned out in another minute or two. That's what's the matter, sir, believe me or not!"

With that the poor old chap, who was quite overcome with the exertionshe had gone through and his pent-up emotion, broke down utterly, bursting into a regular boohoo. 

"Dear me, Mr Stokes; Mr Stokes, don't give way like that, " said theskipper soothingly, patting him on the back to calm him down, being avery good-hearted man at bottom, in spite of his strict discipline andinsistence on being "captain of his own ship, " as he termed it. "Don'tgive way like that, old friend! Things will come all right by-and-bye. "

"O-o-h, will they?" snivelled the old chap, refusing to be comforted, like a veritable Rachel mourning for her children. "We may possibly getrid of the water below, but the crosshead bearings are working loose, and I'd like to know who's going to give me a new gudgeon pin?"

"Hang your gudgeon pin!" cried the skipper irascibly, not perhaps forthe moment attaching the importance it demanded to this small butessential part of the engines, uniting the connecting rod of the crankshaft with the piston which he thus irreverently anathematised; andthen, struck by the comic aspect of the situation, with the wavesbreaking over us and the elements in mad turmoil around us, while thefat old chief was blubbering there like a boy about his gudgeon pin asif bewailing some toy that had been taken from him, that he burst outwith a roar of laughter, which was so contagious that, in spite of thegloomy outlook and our perilous surroundings, Mr Fosset and all of uson the bridge joined in, even the quartermaster not being able toprevent a grin from stealing over his crusty weatherbeaten face, thoughthe man at the wheel on board ship, when on duty, is technicallysupposed to be incapable of expressing any emotion beyond such as may beconnected with the compass card and the coursing of the ship. "Wha--wha--what's the matter with that now, old chap? One would think it wasa whale and not a gudgeon, you make such a fuss about it. "

Of course the captain's joke set us all off cackling again; MrSpokeshave's "he-he-he" sounding out, high in the treble, above thegeneral cachination. 

This exasperated Mr Stokes, making the old fellow quite furious. 

"This is no laughing matter, Cap'en Applegarth, " said he with greatdignity, standing up as erectly as he could and puffing his corpulentfigure out to such an extent that I thought he would burst. "I'll haveye to know that, sir. Nor did I come on deck, sir, at the peril of mylife almost, to be made a jeer block of, though I'm only the chiefengineer of the ship and you're the ca'p'en. "

He spoke with so stately an air that I confess I felt sorry I had givenaway to any merriment at his expense, while the others grew serious in amoment; and as for Atkins, his whilom grinning face seemed now to becarved out of some species of wood of a particularly hard and fibrousnature. 

"Now, don't get angry, Stokes, old fellow, " cried the skipper shovingout his fist and gripping that of the chief in the very nick of time, for the vessel gave a lurch just then and, still "standing on hisdignity, " as the poor old chap was, without holding on to anything, hewould have been precipitated over the rail to the deck below, but forthe skipper's friendly aid. "Don't be angry with me, old chum. I'msorry I laughed; but you and I have been shipmates too long together forus to fall out now. Why, what the devil has got over you, Stokes?You've never been so huffy since I first sailed with you, and I shouldhave thought you one of the last in the world to take offence at alittle bit of harmless chaff. "

"Well, well, Cap'en Applegarth, let it bide, let it bide, " replied theold chief, coming round at once, his rage calming down as quickly as ithad risen. "I don't mind your laughing at me if you have a mind too. Idaresay it all seemed very funny to you, my being anxious about myengines, but I'm hanged if I can see the fun myself. "

"But it was funny, Stokes; deuced funny, I tell you, `ho-ho-ho!'"rejoined the skipper, bursting out into a regular roar again at therecollection of the scene, his jolly laugh causing even the cause of itto smile against his will. "However, there's an end of it, gudgeon pinand all. Now, about that stoke-hold of yours. It's flooded, you say?"

"Aye; there's eighteen inches of water there now, right up to thefootplates, " said the engineer with a grave air. "The bilge-pumps won'tact, and all my staff of stokers are so busy keeping up the steam that Ican't spare a man to see to clearing out the suctions, though if thewater rises any higher, it will soon be up to the furnace bars and putout the fires. "

"Humph, that's serious, " answered the skipper meditatively. "I'll seewhat I can do to help you. I say, Fosset?"

"Aye, aye, sir! Want me?"

"Yes, " replied the skipper. "Mr Stokes is shorthanded below and saysthe bilge-pumps are choked. Can you spare him a man or two to helpclear the suctions? I daresay there's a lot of stray dunnage washingabout under the stoke-hold plates. You might go down and bear a handyourself, as I won't leave the bridge. "

"Certainly, sir; I'll go at once with Mr Stokes and take some of thestarboard watch with me. It's close on seven bells and they'd soon haveto turn out, anyway, to relieve the men now on deck. "

"That'll do very well, Fosset, " said the skipper, and, raising hisvoice, he shouted over the rail forwards--

"Bosun, call the watch!"

Bill Masters, who had been waiting handy on the deck amidships, immediately below the bridge, expecting some such order with the need, as he thought, of the skipper reducing sail, at once stuck his shrillboatswain's pipe to his lips and gave the customary call: Whee-ee-oo-oo--whee-ee-ee. 

"Starboard watch, ahoy!"

The men came tumbling out of the fo'c's'le at the sound of the whistleand the old seadog's stentorian hail; whereupon the first mate, selecting six of the lot to accompany him, he followed Mr Stokestowards the engine-room hatchway. 

Before disappearing below, however, the engineer made a last appeal tothe skipper. 

"I say, cap'en, " he sang out, stopping half-way as he toddled aft, somewhat disconsolately in spite of the assistance given him, "now won'tyou ease down, sir, just to oblige me? The engines won't stand it, sir;and it's my duty to tell you so, sir. "

"All right, Stokes; you've told me, and may consider that you've doneyour duty in doing so, " replied the skipper, grimly laconic. "But I'mnot going to ease down till seven bells, my hearty, unless we run acrossDick Haldane's ship before, when we'll go as slow as you like and bearup again on our course to the westwards. "

"Very good, sir, " answered the old chief as he lifted his podgy legsover the coaming of the hatchway, prior to burying himself in thecimmerian darkness of the opening, wherein Mr Fosset and his men hadalready vanished. 

"I'll make things all snug below, sir, and bank the fires as soon as yougive the signal. "

With that, he, too, was lost to sight. 

The skipper, I could see, was not very easy in his mind when left alone;for he paced jerkily to and fro between the wheel-house and the weatherend of the bridge as well as he was able, the vessel being veryunsteady, rolling about among the big rollers like a huge grampus andpitching almost bows under water sometimes, though the old barquey wasbuoyant enough, notwithstanding the lot of deadweight she carried in herbowels, rising up after each plunge as frisky as a cork, when she wouldshake herself with a movement that made her tremble all over, as if toget rid of the loose spray and spindrift that hung on to her shiningblack head, and which the wind swept before it like flecks of snow intothe rigging, spattering and spattering against the almost red-hotfunnels up which the steam blast was rushing mingled with the flare ofthe funnels below. 

After continuing his restless walk for a minute or two, the skipperstopped by the binnacle, looking at the compass card, which moved aboutas restlessly as the old barquey and himself, oscillating in everydirection. 

"We ought to have come up with her by now, Haldane, " he said, addressingme, as I stood with Spokeshave on the other side of the wheel-house. "Don't you think so from the course she was going when you sighted her?"

"Yes, sir, " I answered, "if she hasn't gone down!"

"I hope not, my boy, " said he; "but I'm very much afraid she has, orelse we've passed ahead of her. "

"That's not likely, sir, " I replied. "She looked as if crossing ourtrack when I last saw her; and, though we were going slower then, wemust be gaining on her now, I should think. "

"We ought to be, " said he. "We must be going seventeen knots at theleast with wind and steam. "

"Aye, aye, sir, all that, " corroborated old Masters, the boatswain, whohad come up on the bridge unnoticed. "Beg pardon, sir, but we can'tcarry on much longer with all that sail forrad. The fore-topmast is a-complainin' like anythink, I can tell ye, sir. Chirvell, the carpenter, and me's examinin' it and we thinks it's got sprung at the cap, sir. "

"If that's the case, my man, " said Captain Applegarth to this, "we'dbetter take in sail at once. It's a pity, too, with such a fine wind. I was just going to spare the engines and ease down for a bit, trustingto our sails alone, but if there's any risk of the spars going, as yousay, wrong, we must reduce our canvas instead. "

"There's no help for it, sir, " returned the boatswain quickly. "Eitherone or t'other must go! Shall I pass the word, sir, to take in sail?"

"Aye, take in the rags!"

"Fo'c's'le, ahoy there!" yelled Masters instantly, taking advantage ofthe long-desired permission. "All hands take in sail!"

We had hauled the trysails and other fore and aft canvas, which wascomparatively useless to a steamer when running before the wind at thetime we had altered course towards the south, in quest of the ship indistress, the _Star of the North_ speeding along with only her fore-topsail and fore-topgallantsail set in addition to her fore-topmaststaysail and mizzen staysail and jib. 

The gale, however, had increased so much, the wind freshening as itshifted more and more to the north that this sail was too much for her, the canvas bellying out, and the upper spars "buckling" as the vessellaboured in the heavy sea, the stays taut as fiddle-strings andeverything at the utmost tension. 

The skipper perceived this now, when almost too late. 

"Let go your topgallant bowline, and lee sheet and halliards, " he roaredout, holding on with both hands to the rail and bending over the bridgecloth as he shouted to the men forward who had tumbled out of theforecastle on the boatswain's warning hail. "Stand by your clewlinesand by your boat lines!"

The men sprang to the ropes with a will, but ere they had begun to castthem off from the cleats an ominous sound was heard from aloft, and, splitting from clew to earring, our poor topgallantsail blew clean outof the boltropes with a loud crack as if a gun had been fired off, thefragments floating away ahead of us, borne on the wings of the wind likea huge kite, until it disappeared in the dark _chiaraoscura_ of thedistant horizon, where heaven and sea met amid the shadows of night. 

Just then a most wonderful thing happened to startle us further!

While all of us gazed at the wreck aloft, expecting the topsail tofollow suit before it could be pulled, though the hands were racing uprigging for the purpose, the halliards having been at once let go andthe yard lowered, a strange light over the topsail made us look aft, when we saw a huge ball of fire pass slowly across the zenith from theeast to the west, illuminating not only the northern arc of the sky, butthe surface of the water also, immediately beneath its path, and makingthe faces of the men in the rigging and indeed any object on board, stand out in relief, shining with that corpse-like glare or reflectionproduced by the electric light, the effect being weird and unearthly inthe extreme!

At the same instant one of the lookouts in the bows who had stillremained at his post and had probably been awakened from a quiet "caulk"by the awful portent, suddenly shouted out in a ringing voice, thatthrilled through every heart on board--

"Sail ho!"

Captain Applegarth and the rest of us on the bridge faced round again atonce. 

"Where away, where away, my man?" cried the skipper excitedly. "Whereaway?"

"Right ahead of us, sir, " replied the man in an equally eager tone. "And not half a cable's length away!"

"My God!" exclaimed old Masters, the boatswain, whose grey hair seemedto stand on end with terror as we all now looked in the new directionindicated and saw a queer ghost-like craft gliding along mysteriously inthe same direction as ourselves, and so close alongside that I couldhave chucked a biscuit aboard her without any difficulty. "That therebe no mortal vessel that ever sailed the seas. Mark my words, Cap'enApplegarth, that there craft be either _The Flying Dutchman_, as I'veoften heard tell on, but never seen meself, or a ghost-ship; and--Lordhelp us--we be all doomed men!"

CHAPTER SIX. 

A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. 

"Nonsense, man!" cried Captain Applegarth. "Don't make such an ass ofyourself! _Flying Dutchman_ indeed! Why, that cock and bull yarn wasexploded years ago, and I didn't think there was a sailor afloat in thepresent day ass enough to believe in this story!"

"I may be a hass, sir; I know I am sometimes, " retorted old Masters, evidently aggrieved by the skipper speaking to him like this before themen. "But, sir, seein' is believin'. There's this ship an' there'sthat there craft a-sailin' alongside in the teeth o' the gale. Hass orno hass, I sees that, captain!"

"Hang it all, man, can't you see that it is only the mirage orreflection of our own vessel, produced by the light of the meteorthrowing her shadow on to the mass of cloud leeward? Look, there areour two old sticks and the funnels between, with the smoke rushing outof them! Aye, and there, too, you can see this very bridge here we'restanding on, and all of us, as large as life. Why, bo'sun, you can seeyour own ugly mug reflected now opposite us, just as it would be in alooking glass. Look, man!"

"Aye, I sees, sir, plain enuff, though I'm a hass, " said Masters atlength. "But it ain't nat'rel, sir, anyhow; an' I misdoubts sich skearythings. I ain't been to sea forty years for nothin', CaptainApplegarth, an' I fears sich a sight as that betokens some danger aheadas 'ill happen to us some time or other this voyage. Even started on aFriday, sir, as you knows on, sir!"

"Rubbish!" cried the skipper, angry at his obstinacy. "See, the miragehas disappeared now that the meteor light has become dispersed. Looksmart there, aloft, and furl that topsail! It's just seven bells andI'm going to ease down the engines and bear up on our course again. Upwith you, men, and lay out on the yard!"

The hands who had stopped half-way up the fore-rigging, spell-bound atthe sight of the mirage, now bestirred themselves, shaking off theirsuperstitious fears; old Masters, in the presence of something to bedone, also working, and soon the sail was furled, the bunt stowed, andthe gaskets passed. 

"It's no use our keeping on any longer after that ship of yours, Haldane, " observed the skipper, turning to me when the men had all comein from the topsail yard and scrambled down on deck again after makingeverything snug aloft. "If she were still afloat we must haveoverhauled her before this. I really think, youngster, she must havebeen only a sort of will-o'-the-wisp, like that we saw just now--anoptical illusion, as I told you at the time, recollect, caused by somecross light from the afterglow of the sunset thrown upon the white mistwhich we noticed subsequently rising off the water. Eh, my boy?"

"Ah, no, captain, " I replied earnestly. "The ship I saw presented avery different appearance to that reflection of ours! _She_ was full-rigged, I told you, sir, and though her canvas was torn and she looked abit knocked about in the matter of her tophamper, she was as unlike ourold _Star of the North_ as a sailing vessel is unlike a steamer!"

"She might have been a derelict. "

"I saw a girl on her deck aft, sir, with a dog beside her, as distinctlyas I see you, sir, now!"

"Well, well, be that as it may, my lad, though I'm very sorry for thepoor young thing, if she is still in the land of the living, I can'tcarry on like this for ever! If she were anywhere in sight it would bequite another matter; but, as it is, not knowing whether we're on herright track or not, we might scud on to the Equator without runningacross her again. No, no; it wouldn't be fair to the owners or toourselves, indeed, to risk the ship as well as the lives of all on boardby continuing any longer on such a wild-goose chase. "

"Very good, sir, " said I, on his pausing here, as if waiting for me tosay something. "We've tried our best to come up with her, at any rate. "

"We have that, and I daresay a good many would call us foolhardy forcarrying on as we've done so long. However, I'm going to abandon thechase now and bear up again on our proper course, my boy, and the devilof a job that will be, I know, in the teeth of this gale!"

So saying, the skipper, grasping the handle of the engine-roomtelegraph, which led up through a tube at the end of the bridge, signalled to those in charge below to slow down to half speed. 

"Down with the helm, quartermaster!" he cried to the man at the wheel, and, at the same moment holding up his hand to attract the attention ofold Masters, who had returned to his station on the fo'c's'le, greatlyexercised in his mind by what had recently occurred, he sang out in avoice of thunder that reached the knightheads and made the boatswainskip: "Haul in your jib sheet and flatten those staysails sharp! I wantto bring her round to the wind handsomely, to prevent taking in anotherof those green seas aboard when we get broadside-on. Look smart, bo'sun, and keep your eye on her. Keep your eye on her, d'you hear?It's ticklish work, you know. Look-out sharp or she'll broach to!"

Far as the eye could reach, the storm-tossed surface of the deep waswhite with foam, white as a snowfield, and boiling with rage and fury. 

The bank of blue-black cloud that had rested along the horizon toleeward had now melted away in some mysterious fashion or other, and thesky became as clear as a bell, only some wind-driven scrap of semi-transparent white vapour sweeping occasionally across the face of thepale, sickly-looking moon that looked down on the weird scene in a sortof menacing way; while, in lieu of the two or three odd sentinels thathad previously peeped out from the firmament, all the galaxies of heavenwere, at this moment, in their myriads above, spangling the empyreanfrom zenith to pole. 

But the gale!

While running before the wind, the wind, although it had ballooned oursails out to bursting point, brushing us along at a wild, mad-cap rate, and buffeting the boisterous billows on either hand, scooping them upfrom the depths of the ocean and piling them in immense waves of angrywater that rolled after us, striving to overwhelm us, we could hardly, even while taking advantage of it, appreciate its awful and tremendousforce. 

On coming about, however, and facing it, the case was vastly different, the wind increasing tenfold in its intensity. 

Where it had sung through the rigging it now shrieked and howled, as ifthe air were peopled with demons, while the waves, lashed into fury, dashed against our bows like battering rams, rising almost to the levelof our masthead where their towering crests met overhead. 

Round came the old barquey's head slowly, and more slowly still as shestaggered against the heavy sea, until, all at once, she stopped instays, unable apparently, though struggling all she could, to face herremorseless foe. 

"Luff up, quartermaster!" roared the skipper to the top of his voice anddancing up and down the bridge in his excitement. "Luff, you beggar, luff!"

"I can't, sir, " yelled the man in desperation--a fresh hand who had comeon duty to relieve Atkins at six bells. "The steam steering gear hasbroken-down, sir, and I can't make her move. "

"By Jingo, that's a bad job, " cried the skipper, but he was not long ata nonplus. "Run aft, Haldane, and you too, Spokeshave. Loosen the buntof the mizzen-trysail and haul at the clew. That'll bring her up to thewind fast enough, if the sail only stands it!"

To hear was to obey, and both Spokeshave and I scuttled down the bridge-ladder as quickly as we could and away along the waist of the ship aft, the urgency of our errand hastening our movements if we had needed anyspur beyond the skipper's sharp, imperative mandate. 

But, speedily as we had hurried, on mounting the poop-ladder and rushingtowards the bitts at the foot of the mizzenmast to cast off the bunt-lines and clewlines of the trysail we found we had been alreadyforestalled by an earlier arrival on the scene of action. 

This was Mr O'Neil, the second officer, whom I had left below asleep inhis cabin when I came up at two bells from the saloon, he having been onduty all the afternoon and his services not being required again untilnight, when he would have to go on the bridge to take the first watchfrom eight to midnight. 

Feeling the bucketing-about we were having in the trough of the sea whenwe came about, and probably awakened by the change of motion, just as amiller is supposed to be instantaneously roused by his mill stopping, though he may be able to sleep through all the noise of its grindingwhen at work, Garry O'Neil had at once shoved himself into his boots andmonkey jacket and rushed up on the poop through the companion and booby-hatch that led up directly on deck from the saloon. 

Arrived here, he had evidently noted the vessel's insecurity, and, seamanlike, had hit upon the very same way out of the difficulty thathad suggested itself to the skipper, having, ere we reached his side, cast off the ropes confining the folds of the trysail and tryingsinglehanded to haul out the clew. 

"Begorrah, me bhoys, ye've come in the very nick o' time!" he exclaimedon seeing us. "Here, Spoke, me darlint, hang on to the end of thissheet and you, Dick, step on to the tail of it, whilst I take a turn ofthe slack round that bollard! Faith, it's blo'in' like the dievle, andwe'll have our work cut out for us, me bhoys, to git a purchase on itanyhow. Now, all together, yo-heave-ho! Pull baker, pull dievle!"

With that, bending our backs to it, we all hauled away at the sheet, succeeding by a great endeavour in stretching the clew of the sail tothe end of the boom, which we then secured amidships as best we could, though the spar and sail combined jerked to such an extent that itseemed as if the mizzenmast would be wrenched out of the ship eachinstant, the heavy fold of the canvas that hung loosely under the jawsof the gaff shaking and banging about with a noise like thunder. 

Even the small amount of canvas exposed to the wind, however, wassufficient to supply the additional leverage required aft; and theengines working at half speed, with the headsails flattened, the ship'sbows were presently brought up to the wind, when we lay-to under easysteam. 

"Well done, my lads!" sang out the skipper from the bridge, when theship's head was round and the peril of her broaching-to in the heavyseaway been fortunately averted; the wind was blowing aft, of course, and bringing his voice to us as if he stood by, and shouting in our veryears, "Now look sharp and come here under the bridge; I want you to castoff the lashings of the big wheel amidships and see that the yolk linesrun clear. We shall have to manhandle the helm and steer from below, asthe steam gear up here in the wheel-house is hopelessly jammed and willtake a month of Sundays to get right!"

"Aye, aye, sir, " we made answer, under his nose, having been scurryingforwards while he was speaking, the Irish mate adding in his nativevernacular, "Begorrah, we'll rig up the whole, sir, in the twinkling ofa bedpost, sure!"

"Hullo!" exclaimed the skipper, "is that you, O'Neil?"

"Faith, all that's lift of me, sir!"

"How's that?--I was just going to send down to your cabin to rouse youout. "

"Begorrah, its moighty little rousin' I want, sor! The ould barquey'sthat lively that she'd wake a man who'd been d'id for a wake, sure!I've been so rowled about in me burth and banged agin' the bulkheadsthat my bones fell loike jelly and I'm blue-mouldy all over. But whatd'ye want, cap'en? Sure, I'm helping the youngster with this whalehere. "

"By jingo!" cried the skipper, "you're the right man in the rightplace!"

"Faith, that's what the gaolor s'id to the burghlor, sor, when he fixedhim up noicely on the treadmill!"

The skipper laughed. 

"Well, you fix up your job all right, and you'll be as good as yourfriend the gaoler, " he said. "When we have the helm all alaunto again, we can bear up on our course and jog along comfortably. I think we arelucky to have got off so lightly, considering the wind and sea, withthis steering gear breaking down at such an awkward moment!"

"Ah, we ain't seed the worse on it yet, and you'd better not holler tillye're out o' the wood!" muttered old Masters under his breath, in replyto this expression of opinion of the skipper, the boatswain having cometo our assistance with all the hands he could muster, so as to get thewheel below the bridge in working order as soon as possible. "I knowedthat this ghost-ship meant sumkin' and we ain't come to the end o' thelog yet!"

Almost as he uttered the words, Mr Fosset came up the engine-roomhatchway and made his way hurriedly towards us. 

"By jingo, Fosset, here you are at last!" exclaimed the skipper onseeing him. "I thought you were never coming up again, finding it sojolly warm and comfortable below! Are things all right there now, andare the bilge-pumps working?"

Captain Applegarth spoke jocosely enough, everything being pretty easyon deck and the ship breasting the gale like a duck, but Mr Fosset'sface, I noticed, looked grave and he answered the other in a moreserious fashion than his general wont, his mouth working nervously inthe pale moonlight that lent him a more pallid air as the words droppedfrom his lips, making his countenance, indeed, almost like that of acorpse. 

"But what, man!" exclaimed the skipper impatiently, interrupting hisslow speech before Mr Fosset could get any further. "Anything wrong, eh?"

"Yes, sir, I'm sorry to say something is very wrong, I fear--very wrongbelow, " replied the other sadly. "There has been a sad accident in thestoke-hole!"

Old Masters, whose ears had been wide open to the conversation, herenudged me with his elbow as I stood beside him, and at the same timegiving forth a grunt of deep and heartfelt significance. 

"I knowed summet 'ud happen, " he whispered in a sepulchral voice thatsounded all the more gruesome from the attendant circumstances, theshrieking wind tearing through the riggings, the melancholy wash of thewaves alongside, the moaning and groaning of the poor old barquey'stimbers as if she were in grievous pain, while at that very moment thebell under the break of the fo'c's'le struck eight bells slowly, as iftolling for a passing soul. "_You_ seed the ghost-ship, Mr Haldane, the same as me, for _I_ saw it, that I did!"

CHAPTER SEVEN. 

DISASTER ON DISASTER. 

"Accident in the stoke-hold!" repeated the skipper, who of course didnot overhear the old boatswain's aside to me. "Accident in the stoke-hold!" again repeated the skipper; "anybody hurt?"

"Yes, sir, " replied the first mate in the same grave tone of voice. "Mr Stokes and two of the firemen. "

"Seriously?"

"Not all, sir, " said the other, glancing round as if looking for someone specially. "The chief engineer has one of his arms broken and a fewscratches, but the firemen are both injured, and one so badly hurt thatI fear he won't get over it, for his ribs have been crushed in and hislower extremities seem paralysed!"

"Good heavens!" exclaimed the skipper. "How did the accident happen?"

"They were searching under the stoke-hold plates to get out some cottonwaste that had got entangled about the rosebox of the suctions, which, as we found out, prevented the bilge-pumps from acting, when, all in amoment, just when all the stray dunnage had been cleared out, the shipgave a lurch and the plates buckled up, catching the lot of them, MrStokes and all, in a sort of rat trap. Mr Stokes tumbled forwards onhis face in the water and was nearly drowned before Stoddart and I couldpull him out, the poor old chap was so heavy to lift, and he nearlysquashed Blanchard, the stoker, by falling on top of him as we weretrying to raise him up, cutting his head open besides, against the firebars. Poor Jackson, however, the other fireman, was gripped tightbetween two of the plates and it was all we could do to release him, Stoddart having to use a jack-saw to force the edges of the platesback. "

"My God! horrible, horrible!" ejaculated the skipper, terribly upset andconcerned. "Poor fellows; Jackson, too, was the best hand Stokes hadbelow!"

"Aye, sir, and as good a mechanic, too, I've heard them say, as any ofthe engineers, " agreed Mr Fosset, with equal feeling. "But, sir, I'mlosing time talking like this! I only came up for assistance for thepoor fellows and the others who are wounded. Where's Garry O'Neil?"

"Why, he was here under the bridge a moment ago, " cried the skippereagerly. "Hullo, O'Neil? Pass the word up, men, for Mr O'Neil. He'swanted at once! Sharp, look alive!"

Our second officer, it should be explained, was not only a sailor but asurgeon as well. He had run away to sea as a boy, and, after workinghis way up before the mast until he had acquired sufficient seamanshipto obtain a mate's certificate, he had, at his mother's entreaty, shehaving a holy horror of salt water, abandoned his native element andstudied for the medical profession at Trinity College, Dublin. Here, after four years' practice in walking the hospitals, he graduated withfull honours, much to his mother's delight. The old lady, however, dying some little time after, he, feeling no longer bound by any tie athome, and having indeed sacrificed his own wishes for her sake, incontinently gave up his newly-fledged dignity of "Doctor" GarryO'Neil, returning to his old love and embracing once more a sea-faringlife, which he has stuck to ever since. He had sailed with us in the_Star of the North_ now for over a twelvemonth, in the first instance asthird officer and for the last two voyages as second mate, the fact ofhis being a qualified surgeon standing him in good stead and making himeven a more important personage on board than his position warranted, cargo steamers not being in the habit of carrying a medical man likepassenger ships, and sailorly qualities and surgical skillinterchangeable characteristics!

Hitherto we had been fortunate enough to have no necessity for availingourselves of his professional services, but now they came in handyenough in good sooth. 

"Mr O'Neil?" sang out the men on the lower deck, passing on his name inobedience to the skipper's orders from hand to hand, till the hailreached the after hatchway, down which Spokeshave roared with all thepower of his lungs, being anxious on his own account to be heard and soreleased from his watch so that he could go below. "Mr O'Neil?" heagain yelled out. 

Spokeshave must have shouted down the Irishman's throat, for the nextinstant he poked his head up the hatchway. 

"Here I am, bedad!" he exclaimed, shoving past Master "Conky, " to whomhe had a strong dislike, though "Garry, " as we all called him, wasfriendly with every one with whom he was brought in contact, and was, himself, a great favourite with all the hands on board. Now, as he madehis way towards the bridge, where some of the men were still singing outhis name, he cried out, "Who wants me, sure? Now, don't ye be allspaking at once; one at a time, me darlints, as we all came into thewurrld!"

"Why, where did you get to, man?" said the skipper, somewhat crossly. "We've been hunting all over the ship for you!"

"Sure, I wint down into the stowage to say if the yolklines and chainsfor the wheel were all clear, and to disconnect the shtame stayrin'gear, " replied our friend Garry. "But you'll find it all right now, with the helm amidships, and you can steer her wheriver you like; onlyyou'll want four hands at least to hauld the spokes steady if she breaksoff, as I fear she will, in this say!"

"That's all right, " cried the skipper, appeased at once, for heevidently thought that Garry had gone back to his cabin and left us inthe lurch. "But I've bad news, and sorry to say, O'Neil, we want yourservices as a doctor now. There's been a bad accident in the stoke-holdand some of the poor fellows are sadly hurt. "

"Indade, now!" ejaculated the other, all attention. "What's the matter?Any one scalded by the shtame, sure?"

"No, not that, " said Mr Fosset, taking up the tale. "Mr Stokes hashad his arm broken and another poor fellow been almost crushed to death. He's now insensible, or was when I came on deck so you'd better takesome stimulant as well as splints with you. "

"Faith, I understand all right and will follow your advice in a brace ofshakes, " replied the second mate, as he rushed off towards the saloon. "You'd better go on ahead, Fosset, and say I'm coming!"

With these parting words both he and the first officer disappeared fromview, the latter hastening back to the engine-room, while the captainslowly mounted the bridge-ladder again and resumed his post there by thebinnacle, after placing four of the best hands at the wheel amidshipswith old Masters, the boatswain, in charge. 

"Ah, what d'ye think o' that now?" observed the latter to me, as I stoodthere awaiting my orders from the skipper, or to hear anything he mighthave to say to me. "I said as how summut was sure to happen. Thatthere ship--the ghost-ship--didn't come athwart our hawser for nothink, I knowed!"

Just then there was a call up the voicepipe communicating between thewheel-house on the bridge and the engine-room. 

The skipper bent his ear to the pipe, listening to what those below hadto say, and then came to the top of the ladder. 

"Below there!" he sang out. "Is Mr Spokeshave anywhere about?"

"No, sir, " I answered. "He went off duty at eight bells. "

"The devil he did, and me in such a plight, too, with that awfulaccident below!" cried Captain Applegarth angrily. "I suppose he'sthinking of his belly again, the gourmandising little beast! He isn'thalf a sailor or worth a purser's parings! I'll make him pay for hisskulking presently, by Jingo! However, I can't waste the time now tosend after him, and you'll do as well, Haldane--better, indeed, Ithink!"

"All right, sir, " said I, eager for action. "I'm ready to do anything. "

"That's a willing lad, " cried the skipper. "Now run down into GarryO'Neil's cabin and get some lint bandages he says he forgot to take withhim in his hurry, leaving them on the top of his bunk by the doorway;and tell Weston, the steward, to have a couple of spare bunks ready forthe injured men--in one of the state rooms aft will be best. "

"All right, sir, " said I, adding, as he seemed to hesitate, "anythingelse, sir?"

"Yes, my boy; take down a loose hammock with you, and some lashings, soas to make a sort of net with which to lift and carry poor Jackson. He's the only chap badly hurt and unable to shift for himself, so O'Neilsays. Look sharp, Haldane, there's no time to lose; the poor fellow'sin a very ticklish state and they want to get him up on deck in order toexamine his injuries better than they can below in the stoke-hold!"

"Aye, aye, sir!" I answered, darting aft immediately, to avoid furtherdebation, towards the saloon door under the poop. "I'm _off_, sir, atonce!"

Here I soon got what the Irishman had asked for out of his cabin, and, giving Weston his order about the state room, unslinging the while myown hammock from its hooks and rolling it up, blankets and all, in aroll, I kicked it before me as I made my way down the engine-roomhatchway as quickly as I could. 

The machinery, I noticed when passing through the flat to the stoke-hold, which was, of course, on a still lower level, was working awaypretty easily, the piston in the cylinder moving steadily up and down, and the eccentric, which always appeared to me as a sort of bandy-leggedgiant, executing its extraordinary double-shuffle in a more gracefulfashion than when we were going at full speed, as it performed itsallotted task of curvetting the up-and-down motion of the piston into acircular one, thus making the shaft revolve; while Grummet, the thirdengineer, who was still watching the throttle valve, hand on lever, hada far easier job than previously, when we were running with full powerbefore wind and sea, and rolling and pitching at every angle everyminute. 

But even in the fleeting glance I had passing by, the screw still wentround in a dangerous way when the stern of the vessel lifted, as somebig wave passed under her keel, in spite of all Grummet's precautions inturning off steam and I could not help wondering how long the engineswould stand the strain, which was all the more perilous from beingintermittent. 

On reaching my destination below, however, all thought of the machineryand any possible damage to the ship was instantly banished from my mindby the sight that met my gaze. 

In the narrow stoke-hold, lit up by the ruddy glare of the furnacefires, the light from which enabled me to see the brackish bilge waterwashing about beneath the hole in the flooring and gurgling up throughthe broken portplates there, I saw that a group of half-naked firemen, and others, were bending over a pile of empty coal sacks heaped upagainst the further bulkhead, dividing the occupied apartments from themain hold, as far away as possible from the blazing fires, on which oneof the stokers on duty pitched occasionally a shovelful of fuel, orsmoothed the surface of the glowing embers with a long-toothed rake. 

I couldn't distinguish at first any one in particular, the backs of allbeing towards me as I came down the slippery steel ladder, carrying thehammock, for I had taken the precaution of hoisting it on my shoulderson leaving the engine-flat above, in order to prevent its getting wet, while the noise of the machinery overhead and the roar of the furnaces, coupled with the washing of the water, prevented my hearing any distantsound. 

Presently however, I recognised Garry O'Neil's voice above the generaldin. 

"Clear off, ye murthorin' divvles!" he cried, waving his arms above theheads of the crowd of onlookers, as I could now see. "The poor chapwants air, and ye're stayling the viry br'ith out of his nosshrils!Away wid ye all, ye spalpeens! or by the powers, it's a-pizening thehowl batch of ye I'll be doin' the next toime ye comes to me for pill orpowdher!"

The men clustering round him spread out, moving nearer to me; and theylaughed at his comical threat--which sounded all the more humorous fromthe Irishman's racy brogue, which became all the more prominent whenGarry was at all excited. God knows, though, their merriment, untimelyas it might have sounded to outside ears, betrayed no want of sympathywith their comrade. They laughed, as sailors will do sometimes, holdingtheir lives in their hands, as is the practice of those who have tobrave the manifold dangers of the deep below and aloft on shipboard, even when standing on the brink of eternity. 

As they moved away, the fierce light from one of the open furnace doorswas beating on their bare bodies and making them look, indeed, the verydevils to whom the Irishman had jocularly likened them; the latterlooked up quickly, saw me, and beckoned me to approach nearer. 

"Arrah, come along, man, with those bandages!" he said. "Sure ye moighthave made 'em in the toime since I called up to the skipper. Where arethey now, me darlint?"

I produced the roll of lint at once from the pocket of my monkey jacket. 

"Hullo!" said he as he took and deftly proceeded to unroll the bundle ofbandages, "what's that you've got on your shoulders--a rick?"

"A hammock, sir, " I replied. "Cap'en Applegarth told me to bring onedown for lifting the poor chap who's so hurt, and so I took my own, which had blankets already in it, thinking it would be warmer for him, sir. "

"Begorrah, the skipper's got his head screwed on straight, and you thesame, too, Haldane, " said he approvingly, with a sagacious nod as hebent over the pile of sacks in the corner. "Come and see the poorfellow, me bhoy. There doesn't seem much loife lift in him, sure, hay?"

There certainly did not; to me he looked already dead. 

Stretched out on the pile of dirty sacking, in a half-sitting, half-reclining position, lay the recumbent figure, or rather form, of theunfortunate fireman Jackson, his face as ghastly as that of a corpse, while his rigid limbs and the absence of all appearance of respirationtended to confirm the belief that the spark of life had fled. 

Stoddart, the second engineer, was kneeling beside the poor fellow, rubbing his hands and holding every now and then to his nose what seemedto me a bottle of ammonia or some very pungent restorative, the powerfulfumes of which overcame the foetid atmosphere of the stoke-hold, MrStokes, looking almost as pale as the unconscious man, assisting withhis unwounded arm, with which he lifted Jackson's head, his broken onebeing already set in splints by our doctor-mate. 

Blanchard, the other sufferer from the accident, was sitting down on abench near by, evidently recovering from the shock he had experienced, which really was not so serious as at first anticipated, a rather stiffglass of brandy and water which Garry had given him, having pretty soonbrought him to himself. 

All our attention, therefore, concentrated on Jackson, who, as yet, madeno sign of amendment, in spite of every remedy tried by O'Neil. 

"By George!" exclaimed Mr Stokes, a few minutes later when we all beganto despair of ever bringing him back to life again. "I'm sure I felthis head move then!"

"Aye, sir, " corroborated Stoddart, pressing his hand gently on Jackson'schest, to feel his heart, where a slight convulsive movement becameperceptible, at first feeble and uncertain enough, as you may suppose, but then more and more sustained and regular, as if the lungs weregetting to work again. "Look alive! he's beginning to breathe again--and--yes--his heart beats, I declare, quite plain!"

"Hurray!" shouted Garry O'Neil, hastily putting to his patient's lips amedicine glass, into which he dropped something out of a small vial, filling up the glass with water. "I've got something here shtrangenough, begorrah, to make a dead man spake!"

The effect of the drug, whatever it was, seemed magical. In an instantthe previously motionless figure moved about uneasily, the pulsation ofhis chest grew more rapid and pronounced, and then, stretching out hisclenched hands with a jerk, as if he were suddenly galvanised into life, thereby displaying the magnificent proportions of his torso, he beingstripped to the waist, Jackson opened his eyes, drawing a deep breaththe while, a breath something between a sob and a sigh!

"Where--where am I?" he said, looking round with a sort of far-away, dreamy stare, but meeting Mr Stokes' sympathetic gaze, he at onceseemed to recover his consciousness. "Ah, I know, sir. I found outwhat was the matter with the suction before that plate buckled andgripped me. I have cleared the rose box, too, sir, and you can connectthe bilge-pumps again as soon as you like, sir. "

Of course all this took him some time to get out. 

"All right, my man, " answered the old chief, greatly overcome at thefact of the old sailor, wounded to the death, thinking of his duty inthe first moment of his recovery. "Never mind that, man! How do youfeel now, my poor fellow--better, I trust?"

"Why, just a little pain here, sir, " said Jackson, pressing his hand tohis right side. "I'm thankful, though, my legs escaped, sir. I've nopain there. "

Garry O'Neil looked grave and shook his head at this, and looking too ashe cast down his eyes over the lower part of the unfortunate man's body, I saw that the cruel edges of the iron plates had torn away part of hiscanvas overalls from the thigh to the knee of one leg, peeling off withthe covering, the flesh from the bone; while the foot of the other--bootand all--was crushed into a shapeless bloody mass horrible to behold, the sight making one feel sick. 

"It's a bad sign his having no fayling there, Haldane, " whispered theIrishman to me very low, so that Jackson could not hear. "It's jostwhat I thought, sure. God may help him, but I can't. He'll niverrecover, do what we moight for him, niver in this worruld. The poormisfortunate fellow has his spoine injured, and he can't live forty-eight hours, if as long as that, sure!"

He did not tell him this, however; nor did he lead any of the others tounderstand, either, that Jackson's case was hopeless!

On the contrary, when he spoke aloud, as he did immediately afterwards, he seemed in the best of spirits, as if everything was going on as wellas possible, though I noticed a tear in his eye and a quiver in hisvoice that touched me to the heart, making me turn away my head. 

"Now you mustn't talk now, old fellow, for we want you to husband allyour strength to get up the hatchway to a foine cabin of yer own on theupper deck, where we're goin' to nurse ye, me darlint, till ye're allroight, sure!" he said cheerfully. "Here, now, just dhrink another dropof the craythur, me bhoy, to kape yer spirits up, and you, MasterHaldane, jist hand over that hammock ye've got storved away on yeshulder, so that we can fix up Jackson comfortable like for his trip tothe upper reggins!"

So saying, the good-hearted Irishman busied himself, with the help ofStoddart, who was equally gentle in handling the poor fellow, gettinghim ready for removal; and when he had been carefully placed in thehammock and covered with the blanket, the two of them, both being strongand powerful men, they lifted their burden with the utmost tendernessand carried him upward to the main deck, where he was put into a berthin one of the state rooms that the steward had prepared, and everyattention paid him. 

Mr Fosset and I helped up Blanchard, the other fireman, he, luckily, not requiring to be carried; and we then went down for Mr Stokes, whohad refused to leave the stoke-hold until his men had been attended to. 

Propping up the stout old chap behind so that he could not slip backdown the slippery steel ladder, as he only had the one arm now to holdon by, the three of us reached the level of the engine-room all right, the chief, resting here a moment to give a look round and a word toGrummet, who of course was still in charge, telling him to slow downstill further and use all his spare steam for clearing the bilge, as thesluice valves had been opened to prevent the fires being flooded out, and the pumps were in good working order again. 

Grummet promised to attend carefully to these directions, and a host ofothers I cannot now recollect, poor Mr Stokes being as fussy andfidgetty as he was fat, and in the habit of unintentionally worrying hissubordinates a good deal in this way, and the three of us again startedon our way upwards, the old chief leading, as before, and Mr Fosset andI bringing up the rear very slowly, so as to prevent accident, when allat once there was a fearful crash that echoed through my brain, followedby a violent concussion of the air which nearly threw us all down theengine-room ladder, though Mr Fosset and I were both hanging on to itlike grim death and supporting the whole weight of Mr Stokes betweenus. 

At the same instant, too, the crank shaft stopped revolving, all motionof the machinery ceased, and the hatchway, with all the space around us, was filled by a dense cloud of hot steam!

CHAPTER EIGHT. 

ANCHORED. 

Nor was this the worst, for hardly had we begun to draw breath again inthe stifling vapour-bath-like atmosphere surrounding us, ere we couldutter a cry, indeed, or exchange a word of speech with reference to whathad just occurred, there arose a sudden and violent oscillation of thevessel, which pitched and rolled, and then heeled over suddenly to port, while an avalanche of water came thundering down the hatchway on top ofour heads. 

"Good Lord, we're lost!" gulped out Mr Stokes as we all flounderedtogether on the grating forming the floor of the engine-room, wherefortunately the flood had washed us, instead of hustling us down thestoke-hold below, where all three of us would most inevitably have beenkilled by the fall. "A boiler's burst and the ship broached-to!"

"Not quite so bad as that, sir, " sang out the voice of Grummet in thedistance, the thick vapour lending it a far-away sound. "The vessel isrecovering herself again, and the cylinder cover's blown off, sir--that's all!"

"_All_, indeed!" exclaimed the old chief in a despairing tone as hestaggered to his feet, enabling Mr Fosset and myself to rise up too--animpossibility before, as he was right on top of us, and had served usout worse than the water had done. "Quite enough damage for me, and allof us, I think!"

"How's your arm, Mr Stokes?" asked Mr Fosset as the atmosphere cleareda little and the engine-room lights glimmered through the misty darknessthat now enveloped the place. "I hope it hasn't been hurt by yourtumble?"

"Oh, damn my arm!" cried the other impatiently, evidently more anxiousabout the machinery than his arm. "Have you shut off the steam?"

"Yes, sir, " replied his subordinate calmly. "I closed all the stopvalves up here the moment I knew what had happened; and the men below inthe stoke-hold have cut off the supply from the main pipe, while MrLinks has gone into the screw well to disconnect the propeller. "

"Very good, Grummet. So they be all right down below?"

"All right, sir. "

"Thank God for that! How about the fires?"

"Drowned out, sir, all but the one under the fire boiler on thestarboard side. "

"You'd better look after that, to keep the bilge-pumps going, or elseit'll be all drowned out, with this lot of water coming down thehatchway every time the ship rolls! I do hope the skipper will lie-toand keep her head to sea until we can get the engines going again, though I'm afraid that'll be a long job!"

Before Grummet could reply to this, Stoddart, the second officer, orrather engineer, came scrambling down from the saloon, where he had beenassisting Garry O'Neil in making poor Jackson comfortable, the escape ofthe steam having evidently told its own tale to an expert like himself. 

Although a younger man than Mr Stokes, his brains were considerablysharper and he was a better mechanic in every way; so now, when, afterexamining the damage done to the cylinder, he made light of theaccident, instead of groaning over it like the old chief. Mr Fosset, Icould see, and with him myself also, who shared his belief, saw that theinjury was not irreparable and that it might certainly have been worse. 

"Of course it can't be done in a day!" Stoddart said; "still it can bepatched up. "

"That's all very well, " interposed Mr Stokes, holding to his despondentview of the situation. "But I'd like to know how you're going to getthat cracked cover off the cylinder with the vessel rolling like this!"

"Oh, I'll manage that easy enough, " said the energetic fellow in hisconfident way. "I've done worse jobs than that in a heavy sea. Why, I'll lash myself to the cylinder if it comes to the worse and unscrewthe cover nut by nut, shifting my berth round till I have it off. Thenif Grummet will see to getting the portable forge ready, and some oldsheet iron or boiler plates for working and making into a patch, and ifLinks will turn out some new bolts and screws with the lathe, we'll haveeverything in working order before we know where we are!"

"Bravo, my hearty!" cried Mr Fosset, lending Stoddart a hand to lashhimself to the cylinder, while Grummet held a screw-wrench and othertools up to him. "You ought to be a sailor, you're so smart!"

"I prefer my own billet, " retorted the other with an air of consciouspower. "I am an engineer!"

Mr Fosset laughed. 

"All right!" said he good-humouredly. "Every one to his trade!"

"Humph!" groaned Mr Stokes, who was leaning against the bulkhead, "looking very white about the gills, " as Grummet whispered to me. Thesteam gradually dispersing and the lights burning more brightly, enabledus to see his face better. "I suppose there's nothing I can do?"

"No, nothing, sir, " answered Stoddart, busy at the moment with the firstnut of the cylinder cover. "You can very safely leave matters toGrummet and me! And Mr O'Neil told me as I left the maindeck that youought to go to your cabin and lie down, so as to rest your arm, or itmight mortify, he says, when he would not answer for the consequences, you understand, sir?"

"Ah, that settles the matter; I won't give our amateur sawbones a chanceof lopping it off, as I daresay he'd like!" said poor Mr Stokes, with afeeble attempt at a joke. "Yes, I'd better go to my cabin, for I seeI'm not wanted here; and, to tell the truth, I've an aching all over me, and feel rather tired and faint. "

"Then off you go to the doctor at once, " cried Mr Fosset, catching holdof him by his uninjured arm and leading him towards the hatchway again, the ship being pretty steady for the moment. 

"You and I, too, Haldane, ought to be on deck helping the skipper andthe rest, instead of stopping here, hindering these smart fellows attheir work. Come along with me, my lad!"

Leaving Mr Stokes at the door of the saloon in charge of Weston, thesteward, the first mate and I proceeded along the waist to the bridge, where we found Captain Applegarth pacing up and down in his customaryjerky, impatient way, like the Polar bear in the Zoological Gardens, asI always thought. 

"Well, " he said to Mr Fosset, bringing himself up short in front of therail on our approach, "how are matters getting on below--badly, I'mafraid?"

The first mate explained. Spokeshave, who was at the other end of thebridge, coming up to listen, as usual, to the conversation. 

"That's good news, indeed!" said the skipper on hearing how Stoddart hadset to work to repair the damage. "I thought the engines werecompletely broken-down. If it weren't for poor Jackson, who, O'Neiltold me just now, was in a bad way, I think we'd got out of the scrapepretty well, for the old barquey is comfortable enough now, and, thoughthere's a heavy sea running and it is still blowing stiff from thenorth'ard and the west'ard, the sky is clearer than it was, and I fancywe've seen the worst of the gale, eh?"

"I'm sure I hope so, sir, " replied Mr Fosset, not committing himself toany definite expression of opinion in the matter. "It has given us arare good doing all round while it was about it, at an rate!"

"Aye, it has that, " said the skipper. "The old barquey, though, hascome through it better than any one would have supposed, with all thatdeadweight amidships, considering that she broached-to awhile ago andgot caught in the trough of the sea the very moment the machinery belowgave out. By George, Fosset, we had a narrow squeak then, I can tellyou!"

"I can quite believe that, sir, " said the other, looking round about andaloft, sailor-like, as he spoke. "For my part I feared the worst, I'msure. However, all's well that ends well, and the old barquey looksfirst rate, as you say, sir, in spite of all she's gone through. Sherides like a cork. "

She certainly was a capital seaboat and lay-to now as easily as if shewere at anchor in the Mersey, though the wind was whistling through therigging and the ocean far and wide white with foam, bowing and scrapingto the big waves that rolled in after her like an old dowager duchess ina ball room, curtseying to her partner. 

During the long time the first mate and I had been down below in thestoke-hold, the skipper had lowered the upper yards and housed her top-masts, getting her also under snugger canvas, the fore and mizzentopsails being set "scandalised, " as we call it aboard ship, that is, with the heads of the sails hauled up, and their sheets flattened tautas boards, so as to expose as little surface as possible to the wind, only just sufficient to keep the vessel with her head to sea, like astag at bay. 

Opportunity had also been taken, I noticed, to secure the broken engine-room skylight in a more substantial way than formerly, and so preventany more green seas from flooding the hold, the opening having beenplanked over by the carpenter, and heavy bars of railroad iron, whichformed part of our cargo, laid across, instead of the tarpaulin that wasdeemed good enough before and had given way when Mr Stokes--poor man--and the first mate and myself got washed down the hatchway by a wavethat came over the side, crumpling the flimsy covering as if it weretissue paper. 

Altogether, the outlook was more reassuring than when I had gone below;for although a fierce northerly gale was howling over the deep, makingit heave and fret and lashing it up into wild mountainous billows, theheaven overhead was clear of all cloud, and the complaisant moon, whichwas at the full, but shining with a pale, peaceful light, while numerousstars were twinkling everywhere in the endless expanse of the firmamentabove, gazing down serenely at the riot of the elements below. 

It was now close on midnight and Garry O'Neil came on deck to take themiddle watch, it being his turn of duty. 

"Well, doctor, " said the skipper, anxious to hear something about theinvalids, "how're your patients?"

"Both going on capitally; Jackson sleeping quietly, sir, though he can'tlast out long, poor fellow!"

"And Mr Stokes?"

"Faith, he's drivin' his pigs to market in foine stoil; you should onlyhear him, cap'en!" answered the Irishman, looking out to windward. "Begorrah, ain't it blowin', though, sir! Sure, as we used to say atould Trinity, _de gustibus non est disputandum_, which means, MisterSpokeshave, as yo're cockin' up your nose to hear what I'm after sayin', it's moighty gusty, an' there's no denyin' it!"

The skipper laughed, as he generally did at Garry's nonsensical, queersayings. 

"By George, O'Neil! I must go down and have a glass of grog to wash thetaste of that awful pun out of my mouth!" he cried, turning to leave thebridge for the first time since he had come up there at sunset. "Youcan call me if anything happens or should it come to blow worse, but Ishall be up and down all night to see how you're getting on. "

"Och! the divvle dout ye!" muttered the Irishman in his quizzing way, asthe skipper went down the ladder, giving a word to the boatswain and manat the wheel below as he passed them on his way up. "Ye niver give achap the cridit of keeping a watch to himself!"

Soon after this I, too, left the deck and turned in, Garry O'Neiltelling me he did not want me on the bridge and that I had better sleepwhile I could, a permission I readily availed myself of, tired out withall I had gone through and the various exciting episodes of the evening. 

There was no change in the weather the following morning, the wind evenblowing with greater force and the sea such as I had never seen itbefore, and such a sea as I hope never to experience again; so, in orderthat the ship might ride the more easily and those below in the engine-room better able to go on with the repair of the cylinder than theycould with the old barquey pitching her bows under and then kicking upher heels sky high, varying her performances by rolling side to sideviolently, like a pendulum gone mad, the skipper had all our spare sparslashed together, and attaching a stout steel wire hawser to them, launched the lot overboard through a hole in the bulwarks, where one ofthe waves had made a convenient clean sweep, veering the hawser aheadwith this "jetsam" to serve as a floating anchor for us, and moor theship. 

By this means we all had a more comfortable time of it, the old barqueyno longer shipping water in any considerable quantity and there beingless work below in the way of clearing it, all of the bilge-pumps, fortunately for us all, Stoddart and the engine-room staff were able tokeep going; otherwise we must have foundered long since!

The gale continued without abatement all that day and the next, thesecond since our mishap, when, late in the afternoon the wind began togo down, veering from the north-west to the north, and so on, back tothe eastern quadrant. 

Soon after this, just before it got dark, an English man-of-war hove insight, and, seeing our disabled condition, signalled to ask whether werequired any assistance. 

Through the clumsiness of Mr Spokeshave, who had charge of our signaldepartment and showed his cleverness by hoisting the very numbers of theflags giving the skipper's reply, that, though our engines weretemporarily broken-down, they were fast being repaired, the captain ofthe man-of-war could not understand him; and so, fearing the worst, ranged up under our stern to see what help he could render, in what heevidently considered, from Spokeshave's "hoist, " to be a pressingemergency. 

"Ship ahoy!" he shouted through a speaking trumpet from his quarter-deckaft, which was on a level with our bridge, the vessel, a splendidcruiser of the first-class, towering over the comparatively punydimensions of the poor, broken-down _Star of the North_. "Shall I senda boat aboard with assistance?"

"No, thank you very much, " replied our skipper, taking off his cap andreturning the greeting of the naval officer. "We've got over the worstof it now, sir, and will be soon under weigh again, as the weather isbreaking. "

"Glad to hear it, " returned the other, who could read our name astern asshe lay athwart us. "Where are you bound to?"

"New York, sir, " sang out the skipper. "Twelve days out from England. We've been disabled forty-eight hours. "

"Hope your engines will soon be in working order, " sang out the handsomeofficer from the deck of the man-of-war, giving some other order at thesame minute, for I heard the shrill sound of a boatswain's pipe and therattle of feet along her deck. "Please report us when you reach yourdestination. "

"What name, sir?"

"Her Majesty's ship _Aurora_, on passage from Bermuda to Halifax. "

With that he waved his hand, and her white ensign, whose blood-red crossof Saint George stood out in bold relief, dipped in parting salute toour vessel, which reciprocated the compliment as the man-of-war boreaway on her course to the northward, a group of officers rollickinground their captain on her deck aft and gazing at us as she moved offrapidly under a full pressure of steam, evidently admiring our skipper'swonderful sea anchor. 

As the noble ship glided away through the still tempestuous sea againsta strong headwind, a thing of beauty and of might--such a contrast to uslying there, almost at the mercy of the seas--I could not help thinkingof the wondrous power of mind over matter displayed in our grand oceansteamers, and what a responsibility rests upon their engineers!

How little do the thousands of passengers who yearly go to and froacross the Atlantic know, or, indeed, care to know, that their comfortand the rate at which they travel through the water--they who talk soglibly of making the passage in such and such a time, be the sea smoothor rough, and the wind fine or contrary--that all this depends on theunceasing vigilance of the officers in charge of the vessel, in whichthey voyage!

Do they even think, I wondered, that while they are sleeping, eating, enjoying themselves and doing what they please on board, even grumblingat some little petty defect or shortcoming which they think might beprevented, the engineers below, in an atmosphere in which _they_ couldnot breathe, are incessantly watching the movements of the machinery andoiling each part at almost every instant of time, moving this slide andthat, adjusting a valve here and tightening a nut there, ever coolingthe bearings and raking at the furnaces and putting on fresh coal, thisbeing done every hour of the day and night through the passage from landto land? Have any of them realised the fact that these same engineersand their able assistants, the firemen and oilmen and trimmers, thewhole stoke-hold staff, so to speak, run a greater risk of their lives, in the event of an accident happening, than any one else in the ship, as, should a boiler or cylinder burst they may be scalded to deathbefore the noise of the explosion could reach those above? Or again, should the vessel strike on a rock, the compartment below in whichperforce they are compelled to work deep down in the vessel's bowelswill fill, from the very weight of the engines, quicker than any otherpart of the ship, most probably, when those confined below mustnecessarily be liable to be drowned, like rats in a hole, without thechances of escape possessed by the passengers and hands on board. 

"No, I don't suppose any one even thinks of such things, " said I tomyself as I left the bridge and went towards the saloon to ask how poorJackson was, uttering my thoughts unconsciously aloud as I reflected, and now that I considered their responsibility, thought how much poorold Mr Stokes, with his broken arm, and Stoddart and the others musthave on their minds! "Hullo, who is that?"

It was Weston, the steward, who spoke. 

"I wish you'd come and look at Jackson, sir, " he said. "The poor chapwore all right when Mr O'Neil comed down jist now, and a sleepin' stillas when you seed him awhile ago. But all of a suddink he starts up ashe hears you a comin' down the companion-way, sir, and is jabbering awaylike anythink!"

"Oh, but, " I exclaimed, "why did you leave him?"

"I wor afeard he'd jump overboard, or try to do somethink awful!"

"Nonsense! the very thing you are there for to prevent, " said I, goinginto the cabin, where I saw the poor fellow trying to get out of thecot. Turning angrily to Weston I repeated again, "You shouldn't haveleft him for one moment in this state!"

"But, sir, I wanted to hail Mr O'Neil or somebody; I thought I oughter'ave summun by to 'elp me, in case he becomed desperate-like, and Icouldn't make no one hear on deck, and that's why I comed when I knowedyou was a-passing along, sir. "

This was unanswerable logic, though Weston always had an answer foranything and everything. 

Poor Jackson, though, did not look as if he would be "desperate" againin any shape or form. 

That he was delirious I could see at a glance, for his eyes, great wildeyes, were wide open, staring at vacancy, fixed on the bulkhead thatdivided the cabin from the captain's, which was just beyond; and he wasvery much excited, sitting up in the cot and, gesticulating violentlywith both his hands, and waving his arms about as he repeated someunintelligible gibberish over and over again, that I could not make out. 

Presently he looked at me very straight as if he recognised me, andafterwards spoke a little more coherently. 

"Ah, yes, sir, I recollect now, " he said at last. "You're Mr Haldane, I know; but--where's the little girl and the--the--dog?"

"Why, Jackson, old man, " I said, speaking soothingly to him, "what's thematter with you? There's no girl or dog, you know, here. Don't youknow where you are, my poor fellow?"

He got quite savage at this. There's no reason in delirium!

"Of course I know where I am, " he screamed out, making a grab at Weston, as he writhed in torture from the internal and violent inflammationwhich must have set up. "I'm in--hell. I--can--feel--I--am--I am--burning--all over--inside me--here. And you? Oh, yes--I know you!"

This paroxysm left him again after a moment, and he lay back on hispillows, only to sit up the next minute again, however. 

He now pointed his finger in the direction of the sea through theporthole, gazing earnestly as if he saw something there. 

"The ship has come for me again--as--it did t'other night--you know--youknow?" he said in agonised whispers. "There--there, --can't you see itnow? sailing--along--as--Mister--Haldane--said, --there with a--a--signal--of--distress--flying--the--flag--half-mast high! Why, --there itis, --now, as plain as--plain--can be; and, see--see they're--lowering--a--boat, --look, --for me, --to take me aboard. Lend us a hand, --mate. Iwants to halloo--to 'em and I--feels so bad--and--I can't, I can't--movemyself. Hi, --there!--Ship ahoy! Wait--a--minute--can't you? Shipahoy!--I'm--coming--I'm--comi-ing. I'm--"

Then, raising his eyes to heaven, and drawing a long deep breath, something between a sob and a sigh, a breath that was his last, poorJackson fell back on the pile of pillows behind him, stone dead!

CHAPTER NINE. 

WE SIGHT THE STRANGE CRAFT AGAIN. 

"That's number one!" said old Masters, the boatswain, meeting me at thedoor of the saloon as I came out on deck, Weston having already told himthe sad news. "Master Stokes'll foller next, and then you or hi, MasterHaldane, for we be all doomed men, I know, arter seein' that thereghost-ship!"

I made no reply to the superstitious old seaman's ominous prediction, but as I made my way forward to the bridge, to inform Captain Applegarthand the others of what had happened, I could not help thinking howstrange it was that poor Jackson should have recalled, at the verymoment the spirit was quitting his crippled body, the fact of mysighting the ship in distress, and the account I had given the skipperof what I had seen on board that mysterious craft!

Mr Fosset, or some of the hands who accompanied him, must have takendown the yarn to the stoke-hold, only just before the unfortunate manmet with his terrible accident, though I had no doubt that he must haveseen the man-of-war through the port hole of the cabin, which was rightopposite his bunk, as she brought up under our stern to speak to usearlier in the afternoon, and the sight of _HMS Aurora_ had, somehow orother, amid the wanderings of his unconscious brain, got mixed up withthe remembrance of what he had previously heard concerning the vessel Ihad seen at sunset the two days prior. 

It was now getting dark, the evening closing in quickly, and, what withthe dying man's queer talk and the boatswain harping on the same themeimmediately afterwards, I confess I felt far from comfortable, my nervesbeing in a state of constant tension from the painful scene in the cabinthat I had just witnessed, while the gloomy shades of the night thatwere fast enwrapping us, the dull roar of the ever-breaking sea and thegroaning of the ship as she rolled, like a living creature in pain, allworked on my overtried fancy and made me almost afraid of my own shadowas I slipped and stumbled along the sloppy deck, my mind being in acomplete whirl till I reached my goal--the bridge. 

"What's the matther, me bhoy?" asked Garry O'Neil, who was speaking tothe skipper, the two examining a chart in the wheel-house, the lightfrom the doorway of which fell on my face. "Faith, ye look quiteskeared, Haldane, jist as if ye'd sane a ghoast, sure!"

I mentioned what had happened, however, and he at once dropped hischaffing manner, looking as grave as a judge. 

"Begorrah, it's moighty sorry I am to hear that, now!" said he in a moreserious tone. "Sure, and he was a foine, h'ilthy man entirely, barrin'that accident, bad cess to it! He moight have lived till a hundred, an'then aunly died of auld age; for he'd the constitution of an illiphent. Faith, I never saw such a chist and thorax on a chap in me loifebefore!"

"Poor fellow!" observed the skipper. "He seems to have gone off awfullysudden at the last. I thought you said he was getting on well when youwent down to see him awhile ago?"

"Bedad, I did that, sir; father's no denyin' it, " answered the Irishman, off-hand. "But I niver s'id he'd git over it, cap'en. I tuld ye fromthe first he couldn't reciver, for he was paralysed, poor craytur', fromthe waist downwards, and had a lot of internal injury besides. It wasaunly bekase he was sich a shtrang man that he's lasted so long, sir. Any one else would have died directly outright afther the accident, forhe was pretty well smashed to pieces!"

"Strange!" muttered Captain Applegarth, who, although hasty of tempersometimes, was a man of deep feeling. "Sunday night again and that mandead! Only a week ago, this very evening, he came up to me here as Iwas standing by the binnacle to ask about some carpenter's stores thatwere wanted in the engine-room. He and I then got talking, I recollect, it being Sunday, I suppose, of religious matters. He imagined himself--poor chap--a `materialist, ' as they call themselves, but his argumentson the point were very weak. He argued that there was no hereafter, nofuture state; the heaven and hell spoken of in Scripture, he suggested, being the happiness or punishment we meet with below here, while living, in accordance with our own lives. "

"Faith!" said Garry O'Neil, who was not a deep thinker, not troublinghimself much about anything beyond the present. "That's a puzzlingquestion; but I, for one, wouldn't care to be of that way of thinkin', sure, sir. "

"That question however, poor Jackson has solved, long ere this!"

As Captain Applegarth uttered these words, solemnly enough, thefireman's ravings, when in the agonies of death, came back to me, and Ithought that, if confident in his materialism when in health andstrength, his creed had not altogether eased his mind at the last, whenI saw him raise his eyes, for a few minutes, to heaven in prayer. 

That night the gale, which had moderated considerably during theafternoon, assailed us again with renewed vigour, as if old Boreas hadput a fresh hand to the bellows, as sailor folk say. 

It began in the middle watch, when the wind suddenly veered to thesouthwards, and it came on to blow great guns, causing the skipper theutmost uneasiness, as he feared we would break away from our sparanchor, when, disabled as we were, a steamer in a storm without the useof the engines being no better off than a baby in arms deprived of itsnurse, it seemed almost impossible to prevent the vessel from broaching-to, in which case she would more than likely founder with all hands. 

Consequently, not a soul turned in the livelong night, the port andstarboard watches both remaining on duty, with Captain Applegarth andMr Fosset on the bridge, while Garry O'Neil relieved the boatswain, whonow had eight men under him in charge of the wheel, where the utmostcaution and the greatest vigilance were necessary to keep the oldbarquey's head to the sea. I had fearfully hard work, too, for the bigwaves ever and anon leapt up over her bows, burying the fo'c's'le inclouds of spray and spent water that came pouring down into the waistand rushing aft, flooding the whole deck almost up to the gunwhalestaking everything movable overboard, the boats being lifted off thechocks amidships even and swept away, and the cook's galley in theforward part of the deckhouse got badly damaged. 

This was in the height of the storm, just before daybreak, about twobells in the morning watch, or five o'clock AM. 

Our poor old barquey then rolled so much that the skipper thought thewire hawser attached to the spars had parted and that we were at thevery mercy of the tempest. So certain, indeed, was he, that he yelledout for all hands to make sail, with the idea of trying one lastdesperate venture and beard the winds with our puny canvas. 

Fortunately, however, there was no need for us to essay this futileexpedient, breaking the force of the billows as they reared up in theircolossal grandeur to annihilate us and keeping us steadily facing theirattack; and presently, shortly after six bells, when we reallyexperienced pretty nearly the worst of it, there was a muttered growl ofthunder, accompanied by a lightning flash that illuminated the whole ofthe heavens from pole to pole, and then rain came down in a deluge, thewind dropping, as suddenly, with a wild, weird shrill shriek ofdisappointed rage that wailed and whistled through the rigging, and thenquietly died away. 

Of course the sea did not quiet down all at once, old Neptune not beingeasily pacified after being stirred up to so great an extent, and thewaves ran high most of the day, while the sky was overcast and the oceanof a dull leaden colour; but towards evening it cleared up and, thewater being a bit calmer, the captain thought it a fitting time to burypoor Jackson. 

All the hands were mustered on deck, the engineers and stokers stoppingtheir busy repairing work below, which they had kept at night and daywithout intermission ever since our breakdown, and coming up with therest of the crew to pay the last tribute of respect to their departedcomrade, even Mr Stokes, though he was still in a very weak state ofhealth and had his head and broken arm bandaged up, insisting on beingpresent, Garry O'Neil and Stoddart supporting him between them for thepurpose. 

Then the body of the unfortunate fireman, enclosed in a hammock coveredby the ship's ensign and having a pig of ballast tied to the feet toensure its submersion, was brought up from the cabin where he had died, and placed on a plank by the gangway where the waves had washed away ourbulwarks, leaving a wide open space. 

Captain Applegarth read over the remains the beautiful prayers of theChurch Service appointed for the burial of those who die at sea, all ofus standing bareheaded around. 

A faint gleam of light from the setting sun, away on our port bow, shonethrough a mist of cloud that obscured the horizon to windward; and, asthis disappeared, the skipper came to the end of the viaticum, when, ata signal from the boatswain, the plank was tipped and poor Jackson'sbody was committed to the deep with a sigh of regret at his untimelyend, and the devout hope that though his earthly voyage had been cutshort, he might yet reach that haven where there are no accidents norshipwrecks, and where seas swallow not up, or stormy winds blow!

Some little while after this a slight breeze sprang up from thesouthward and westward, bringing a cool feeling with it, and I shiveredas I stood on the bridge looking out over the dark waste of waters, feeling rather melancholy, if the truth be told. 

"That's a bad sign, Master Haldane, " said old Masters close to my ear, making me jump, for I did not know he was there. "They say that when aship chap shivers like that there, it be meaning that somebody or summitbe a-walking over his grave!"

"Stave that, bo'sun!" I cried impatiently. "You're a regular oldJonah, and enough to give a fellow the creeps!"

"Ah, you may try to laugh it off, Mister Haldane, " he retorted in hislugubrious way. "But, as I says to ye last night, says I, when thatpoor chap kicked the bucket as we've just been a-burying on, we ain'tseen the end on it yet. I misdoubts the weather, too, sir. There's agreat bank of cloud now rising up to win'ard, and I fancies I heard jistnow the sound o' thunder ag'in. "

"Thunder?" I exclaimed. "Nonsense!"

"No, Mister Haldane, it ain't no nonsense, " said the old fellowsolemnly. "You ain't known me to croak afore without re'sin, and Itells ye I don't likes the look o' things to-night. There's summit a-brewin' up over there, or I'm a Dutchman!"

"What's that, bo'sun?" cried the skipper, coming up on the bridge at themoment to look for the chart of the North Atlantic, which he had left inthe wheel-house the night before, and overheard the old growler'sremark. "Got the _Flying Dutchman_ on the brain again?"

"No, sir, I weren't talking o' that, " replied Masters. "I was a-sayingto Master Haldane that it were precious misty and thick to win'ard and Ifeared thunder over there. "

"Thunder! thunder your grandmother!" cried the skipper testily. "I'vepretty sharp ears, bo'sun, and I have heard none to-night. Have you, Haldane?"

"N-n-o, sir, not thunder, " I answered, listening attentively for amoment. "Stay, sir, though. I do hear something now, but the soundseems more like firing in the distance. "

"What, guns?"

"No sir, more like rifle shots, or the discharge of a revolver firingquickly at intervals. "

Captain Applegarth thereupon listened attentively, too, in his turn, while Masters went out to the end of the bridge and peered out over theside to windward with rapt gaze. 

"By George, yes, you're right, boy!" cried the skipper the next moment. "I can hear the shots quite plainly, I do believe. Hullo, there! Whatthe deuce is going on over there, I wonder?"

There was reason for exclamation. 

At that instant the dark mass of cloud on the horizon, towards which wewere all looking, was rent by a flash, and we could see, standingagainst the black background in vivid relief, the masts and spars of alarge full-rigged ship. 

She was evidently burning a "flare-up" to attract attention, and, erethe light waned, I noticed that her yards were all a cock-bill and hersails and rigging torn and disordered; while, stranger still, she hadher flag astern hoisted half-mast high--the French tricolour, too!

Both the boatswain and I, simultaneously, involuntarily, uttered a cryof dismay. 

The vessel in sight was the very identical ship I had seen three nightsbefore, flying the same signal of distress; and here she was now, sailing, as then, four points off our weather bows and eight before thewind, which was, as I've already said, blowing a light breeze from thesouthward and westward. 

What new calamity did this second appearance of the "ghost-ship, " as theold boatswain called her, portend to all of us?

Aye, what, indeed!

Time alone could tell. 

CHAPTER TEN. 

MYSTIFICATION. 

Old Masters turned his face towards me as the fleeting vision becameswallowed up in the darkness that now obscured the sky to the westwards, and I saw that he looked horror-struck, staring into space spell-bound. 

As for me, I cannot express what I felt, because I am unable to describeit fully. 

"There, there!" I exclaimed, clutching Captain Applegarth's arm innervous horror. "There she is again!"

But the skipper, although startled by the sudden appearance of themysterious vessel in the first instance, as his ejaculation on catchingsight of her showed, evidently did not regard her in the same light asthe boatswain and myself. 

"Why, Haldane, what's the matter with you, my lad?" he said in a jokingway, "You seem all of a tremble; and, by George, you grip tight!"

"I beg your pardon, sir, I'm sure, " I stammered out, trying to pullmyself together as I released his arm. "But--but--did you--did you--seeher, sir?"

"See that ship just now? Yes, of course I did. I suppose she sightedus lying here like a log and wanted us to report her or something, though why they lit that flare-up over her stern I am sure I can'timagine. They couldn't expect us to read her name at that distance. She must have been close on five miles off!"

"But, sir, " I cried out quickly. "She's the same!"

"The same what, Haldane?"

"Why, the ship in distress, sir, that I sighted at sunset on Fridaynight just before our breakdown. "

Captain Applegarth whistled through his teeth. 

"My good lad, " he said incredulously, "that's simply impossible!"

"Well, sir, you may not believe me, " I urged, rather nettled that heshould put me down in this way, "but I declare to you she is theidentical vessel I saw that evening, as I told you at the time, and ofwhich we went in chase till the gale stopped us and our machinery gaveout! I cannot doubt the evidence of my own eyes, sir. "

"My dear boy, " replied the skipper, in kinder tones than I expected tothis outburst, for he was a hot-tempered man generally, and dislikedanything like argument from his officers when he had once said his say, being of the opinion that his word should be last. "Just reflect amoment and let your own natural good sense decide the point. How can itbe likely that the vessel you asserted you saw on Friday night, hundredsof miles away from here, should come across us now under preciselysimilar circumstances, considering all that has happened since?"

"She's the same ship, sir, nevertheless, " I maintained stubbornly, though I was a bit puzzled on my own account, mind, by his putting thecase so strongly. "The vessel I saw on Friday night was a full-riggedship, with her sails knocked about and had her ensign hoisted half-masthigh at the peak, and this one seemed the same in every particular. Idid not notice all that when she burnt the flare-up just now. The lightonly lasted an instant. "

"There is something in that, certainly, Haldane, " answered the skipper, wavering a little, I thought, in his ideas. "Still, when one isinclined to believe in a thing, the imagination is often a great aid inturning a wish into a certainty. "

"Besides, sir, " I continued, wishing to clench my argument, "if we weredriven out of our course by the gale, she might have been similarlyaffected, and the winds and currents might have brought us togetheragain. "

"That's possible, but not probable, " he rejoined. "I've known twobottles of the same weight dropped overboard from the same ship at thesame hour, and--"

"Well, sir?"

"One was found landed on the Lofoden Isles, off the coast of Norway: theother came ashore at Sandy Point, in the Straits of Magellan!"

He laughed when he said this, apparently thinking he had utterly settledthe matter, but I checkmated him with his own theory. 

"The very uncertainty of the action of the currents of the Atlanticwhich you instance, sir, " I said, "shows that what you think impossiblemight be very possible, and the strange, weird vessel that I saw threenights ago might have come within sight of us again. "

"That's one for you, Haldane, " acknowledged the skipper very good-naturedly, for he was a fair man when anything was laid clearly beforehim. "But, recollect, no one saw this ship distinctly but yourself. Icouldn't say of my own knowledge what rig she was, and I certainlydidn't see any flag or sign of distress. I only saw something thatlooked like a ship burning a flare-up in the distance--that's all. "

"Beg pardon, sir, " whispered old Masters, stepping up and touching hiscap ere he addressed the skipper, "but I seed the ghost-ship, too, sir, the same as Master Haldane, sir. "

The skipper wheeled round and stared at him. 

"Ghost-ship, man! What do you mean?"

"I means that there ghost-ship that hove in sight jist now and whichhave passed us afore, sir. She be sent as a warning to us, I knows, andas a Christian man, Cap'en Applegarth, I takes it as sich!"

The old seaman spoke so earnestly that the skipper, although he had hardwork to keep himself in, answered him without ridiculing hisextraordinary delusion, as he held it to be. 

"I am a Christian man, too, I hope, bo'sun, " he said. "I believe in adivine power above, and put my trust in a merciful providence; but Ican't believe in any of your queer supernatural visitations, whether aswarnings or what not!"

"Not if you seed the same blessed thing three times?"

"No; not if I saw it a hundred times!" he roared out impatiently. 

"Ah, seein' is believin', I says, " whined old Masters, not a whit shakenon the point, in spite of the skipper's scepticism. "Master Haldaneseed it, and I seed it, and poor Jackson seed it. "

"Indeed?" cried the skipper. "I did not know he had been on deck beforethe accident. "

"It wore arter that, sir, that he seed the ghost-ship, " said the oldboatswain in reply to the implied question. "It were jist afore hedied. "

"Just before he died!" repeated Captain Applegarth indignantly, as if hethought he was being made a fool of. "Why, man, the poor fellow was outof his mind then, and besides, never stirred out of his cabin!"

"Ah, but he had the warnin' jist the same, for Weston, it was, told meas how Jackson seed the ship and cried out when he lay there a-dyin'. Bulkheads can't keep sperrits out, sir. "

"Nor in, either, as I know to my cost, " returned the skipper drily. "Your friend Weston is pretty familiar with them, if they come in hisway, I fancy! Stuff and nonsense, bo'sun; how can you believe suchrubbish? The other night you imagined the reflection of our own vessel, when that meteor came by, to be a ghost-ship, as you call it in yourabsurd folly; and to-night, when that craft to win'rd passed and lit aflare-up, hanged if you aren't at it again with your ghost-ship! ByGeorge, it makes me sick, Masters, to think that a grown man and a goodseaman like yourself should be such a confounded ass!"

"Hass or no hass, there she wer', " said the old fellow doggedly. "Buthere comes Mr Fosset, sir. He were on the poop aft when that vesselpassed as I speaks on. Ax him what he thinks of her and if she weren'tthe same full-rigged ship as Master Haldane and all of us seed?"

"I will, " replied Captain Applegarth promptly; and on the first mateapproaching nearer, he hailed him. "I say, Fosset, what did you thinkof that ship just now?"

The other's answer, however, bewildered the skipper more than Mastersand I had done previously. 

"Ship!" said the first mate. "What ship?"

"That vessel that lit the flare-up awhile ago. "

"I didn't see any flare-up!" replied Mr Fosset, "and certainly no shiphas passed us to my knowledge since I've been on deck. "

"By George, I don't know who or what to believe, " exclaimed CaptainApplegarth, looking from the one to the other of us. "You've set myvery brains wool-gathering between you, with your `vessels in distress'and `ghost-ships'; I'm hanged if I won't go down to the engine-room andhave a little practical common sense knocked into me, as well as see howthey're getting on with the repairs to the machinery!"

So saying, the skipper went below, and, as there was nothing particularfor me to do on deck, I followed his example. Instead of proceedingdown to the engine-room, however, I only went as far as my bunk andturned in, wondering what the morrow would bring forth. I was haunted, though, by strange dreams all through the night, continually waking upand then getting to sleep again in snatches, only to wake up againimmediately after I had dropped off. 

CHAPTER ELEVEN. 

IN THE GULF STREAM. 

"It's a dead calm, sir!" I heard Mr Fosset sing out next morningoutside the door of the skipper's state room, which opened out of thesaloon, close to my berth, when he went to call him at four bells, inobedience to orders given overnight. "The gale has completely blownitself out, and there's only a little cat's-paw of a breeze from thesouth'ard. "

"Humph!" yawned the skipper from within. "That's a good job, Fosset. Ithink we've had enough wind to last us for a blue moon!"

"So say I, sir, " agreed the other with much heartiness. "I wouldn'tlike to go through the same experiences again, by Jingo!"

"Nor I, " came from the other, evidently about to turn out from his bunk. "I'll be on deck in five minutes or so, Fosset. "

The first mate, however, would not take this for a dismissal, havingapparently further important information to give and which he at onceproceeded to disclose. 

"Do you know, sir, I think we're in the Gulf Stream, " he said in animpressive tone. "There's a lot of the weed knocking about round theship. "

"Gulf-weed?" exclaimed the skipper's voice again from the cabin, sounding a bit muffled as if he were in the act of pulling his shirtover his head. "Are you certain?"

"Aye, " affirmed the other. "There's not the slightest doubt about it. It's as plain as a pike staff, sir. "

"The deuce it is!" said the skipper in a louder key, showing that mysurmise had been correct as to the progress of his toilet, and that hishead was now unloosed from its bag-like envelope. "By George, I can'tmake it out at all!"

"There's no getting over the fact, sir, " persisted the first mate. "We're quite surrounded by the weed. I saw it well the first streak oflight at two bells, on suddenly looking over the side, sir. There's MrO'Neil up on the bridge now, and he has noticed it too!"

The skipper, to judge from the voice that came from his cabin and theway he was banging his boots and other things about, was as muchmystified by Mr Fosset's unexpected announcement as he had been theprevious evening by the sight he and I and the boatswain had seen. 

He was also angry, I know, so I thought it good for me to turn outlikewise from my bunk as speedily as possible, it not being advisableunder the circumstances to be "caught napping. "

"By George, I can't understand it!" repeated Captain Applegarth crossly. "If we're in the Gulf Stream, all I can say is, we must have drifted awonderful distance in the last two or three days. Why, man, the currentis seldom perceptible above the fortieth parallel!"

"I know that, sir, " replied the first mate; "but if you recollect, sir, from the lunar observation Mr O'Neil took on the night of thebreakdown, we were then as far south as 41° 30 minutes, and we've beendrifting south-east by east ever since. "

"Well, Fosset, I'm hanged if I know where we are, after the bucketting-about we've had since last Friday!" said the skipper, who now came intothe saloon, where I, already dressed, was hurriedly having a cup ofcocoa and bite of biscuit Weston had just brought me in from the pantry. "I feel half inclined to believe now in the old superstition about itbeing an unlucky day, though I always used to laugh at the notion!"

"There are plenty aboard who believe queerer things than that!" said MrFosset drily, with a meaning glance in my direction, eyeing my cocoa asif he rather fancied a cup himself. "I say, Haldane, that cocoa smellsgood!"

"It's not half bad, sir, " I replied grinning. "Perhaps you would likesome too, sir. Weston's got a lot more inside here, hot, just fetchedfrom the galley!"

"I don't mind if I do have a cup, " said he. "Will you join me, cap'en?"

"No, thanks; I'm too worried. I'll wait till breakfast, " said theskipper, turning to go up on deck by the companion-way and hitching hiscap off the hook by his cabin door. "You won't be long, I hope, eh?"

"I'll follow you up in a jiffey, sir, as soon as I have swallowed atoothful of this warm stuff to keep out the cold. Hi, steward?"

"Aye, aye, sir?" answered Weston, promptly putting his head out of hispantry, where he had been listening. "Cup of cocoa, sir?--yezzir. "

"I say, Fosset, " said the captain, who had lingered near awhile, as ifin deep thought, as he stood with one foot on the lower step of thecompanion as if he were trying to recollect something, "I say, we mustmake some points to-day on the chart, you know!"

"Yes, sir. I don't think there'll be any difficulty about that. Doyou?"

"No; the sun ought to be pretty clear at noon with a morning like this--clear enough, at all events, for us to find out the latitude andlongitude. "

"Just what I said to Spokeshave, sir, before I came down to call youawhile ago. "

"Quite so. "

"Aye, `quite so, ' sir. "

Whereupon both sniggered at the skipper's apt mimicry of Master Conky'spet phrase, which Captain Applegarth pronounced in the little beggar'sexact tone of voice, so like indeed being the imitation that I nearlychoked myself while swallowing the balance of my cocoa, as I hastilydrained my cup and rose to follow the skipper up the companion-ladder tothe deck. 

As Mr Fosset had said, there was a dead calm on the bosom of the deep, for the slight swell that remained after the gale on the previousevening, even up to the time of my going down below, had quitedisappeared, the surface of the water being as smooth as glass as far asthe horizon line and all aflash now with the rosy hue of sunrise to theeastward. The sky still preserved, however, the pale neutral tints ofnight in the west, and up to the zenith, where it merged into a faintand beautiful seagreen that lost itself imperceptibly in the warmcolouring of the orient, which each moment became more and more intensein hue, heralding the approach of morn. 

At last, up jumped the glorious orb of day, proudly, from his ocean bed, came with one bound as it were, a veritable globe of liquid fire, flooding the vast distant heaven and sea with a wealth of light andradiance that seemed to give life to everything around. 

"There, Haldane, " said Captain Applegarth, pointing over the taffrail ata lot of straggling masses of quasi-looking stringy stuff that camefloating on top of the water close by the ship, resembling vegetablerefuse discarded from Neptune's kitchen garden. "That's the gulf-weedMr Fosset was just speaking about to me. "

"Indeed, sir, I can't say much for its appearance. It looks more like aparcel of cauliflowers run to seed than anything else, sir!"

"Yes, that's not a bad simile of yours, my lad, " he replied, movingnearer to the side and sending his keen sailorly glance alow and aloft, examining our old barquey to see how she fared after the storm. "If Ican remember rightly, I think one of our best naturalists has given asimilar description of it. Yes, that's the gulf-weed, or sargassum, or_fucus natans_, as the big guns variously call it in their Latin lingo. A rum sort of tackle, isn't it?"

"Yes, it does look funny, queer stuff, sir, " said I, for I had never hadthe opportunity of noticing it before, all my voyages hitherto backwardsand forwards across the Atlantic having been outside the limits of theuncanny looking gulf-weed. "Does it grow in the sea, sir? It looks sofresh and green. "

"Well, that depends how you take it, my lad, " returned the skipperrather absently, his attention being fixed on something forward, aboutwhich he evidently could not quite make up his mind, as there was aslight puzzled expression on his face. "You see, it is all throughthose long-winded chaps, who won't be content with what the Creatorgives them, but must put a cause and reason for everything beyond God'sown will and pleasure, and who lay down arbitrary rules of their own forthe guidance of Dame Nature, though, between you and I and the binnacle, Haldane, the old lady got on well enough for a good many scores ofyears--I'd be sorry to say how many--without their precious help! Nowthese gentlemen, who know everything, will have it that the gulf-weedgrows deep down at the bottom of the sea and that only the branches andtendrils, or leaves, so to speak, float on the top and are visible tous. "

"How strange, sir, " said I. "Just like an aquarium plant. It isstrange!"

"It would be, if true, for they would have to possess uncommonly longstems, as, in the Sagossa Sea, in the centre of the Gulf Stream, wherethe weed is most plentiful and to be seen at its freshest and mostluxuriant growth, the recorded depth of the water is over four miles!"

"That is not likely, then, " I observed in reply to this--"I mean, sir, the fact of its growing up from the bottom of the sea. "

"Certainly not, my boy. Another wise man, of the same kidney as thelong-winded chap of the theory I've just explained, says that the gulf-weed in its natural and original state grows on the rocky islets andpromontories of the Florida coast and that it is torn thence by theaction of the great Atlantic current that bears it many miles from itshome; though, strangely enough, I have never seen any gulf-weed growingon rocks in the Gulf of Florida or in any of the adjacent seas, nor hasany one else to my knowledge!"

"Then you do not believe it grows to anything at all, do you, sir?"

"No, I don't. My opinion is that it is a surface plant of old Neptune'srearing and that the warm water of the Gulf Stream breeds it andnourishes it, for at certain times it seems partly withered, and thiscould not be due to accident. The weed, I believe, is a sailor, likeyou and I, my lad, and lives and has its being on the sea, no matterwhat your longshore naturalists, who don't know much about it frompersonal observation, may say to the contrary. Hullo! though, my boy, look forrad there! Where has our spar anchor gone? I thought I noticedsomething and could not make out at first what it was. Look, youngster, and see whether you can see it!"

I was equally puzzled for the moment, for although our good ship restedas peacefully on the bosom of the deep as if she were moored, theraftlike bundle of spars, to which she had been made fast the nightbefore, was now no longer to be seen bobbing up ahead, athwart ourhawser as then. 

Where could our wonderful floating anchor have gone?

The next moment, however, I saw what had happened, the mystery beingeasily explained by the calm. 

"They've floated alongside, sir, " I said. "I can see them under thecounter on the port side, sir. "

"Yes, of course, there they are, exemplifying the attraction ofgravitation or some other long-winded theory of your scientificgentlemen, " replied the skipper, who seemed to have got science on thebrain this morning, being violently antagonistic to it, somehow orother. "Ah, Fosset, see, our anchor's come home without weighing. Ithink you'd better have the spars hauled on board and rig up the sticksagain, now that they've served our time in another way--aye, and servedit well, too. "

"Aye, aye, sir, " said the first mate, who had come up after us on thepoop, looking, I couldn't help noticing, all the better for the good andearly breakfast he had just finished. "I thought of getting them injust now, but waited to call you first. "

"Well, you needn't wait any longer, Fosset, " rejoined the skipper. "Pass the word for the bo'sun forrad. "

"Yes, yes, sir. Quartermaster, call Masters!"

"Bo'sun, pipe all hands to hoist spars aboard!" These orders wereroared out by Mr Fosset in rapid succession, and then in equally rapidsequences came the boatswain's whistle and hail to the men down thehatchway just along the deck. 

All had a rare time of it, and an amount of "yoho-hoes-hoing" went roundthat it would have done anybody's heart good to hear; the first mate wasbellowing out his orders and old Masters seeing to their properexecution by the busy hands and active feet, the skipper meanwhilestanding on the poop, superintending matters with his keen eye, and woeto the lubber who bungled at a hitch or left a rope's end loose or braceslack!

CHAPTER TWELVE. 

BOAT AHOY!

By the time the sun was near the meridian our top-masts were up and theupper yards swayed aloft and crossed, making the old barquey all atauntoagain and pretty nearly her old self, our broken bulwarks and smashedskylight betraying the only damage done by the storm, on deck, at allevents. 

"I `calculate, ' Fosset, as our Yankee friends would say, we may now cryspell O!" observed the skipper, who was highly pleased with the progressmade in refitting the ship. "Tell the bo'sun to pipe the hands todinner, and you and I had better go up on the bridge and see what we cando in the way of determining our position on the chart. That gulf-weedmust have lost its bearings, I'm sure. It seems impossible to me thatwe could have drifted so far to the south as to bring us in the Stream!"

"An observation will soon settle the point, sir, " replied the firstmate, passing the word to Masters to knock off work. "Run down, Haldane, and get my sextant for me, there's a good chap! I left it onthe cabin table, all ready. You'll find it there!"

"Belay, there!" sang out the skipper, as I started off towards thecompanion-way. "You may as well bring mine, too, while you're about it. Two heads are better than one, eh, Fosset?"

"Yes, sir, perhaps so, " rejoined the other, before I got out of earshot. "It seems, though, as if we're going to have three on the job; for herecomes Mr O'Neil with his sextant under his arm, evidently bent on thesame errand!"

I soon was back with the instruments for the other two, and presentlyall three were at work taking the sun's altitude and measuring off theangle made by the luminary with the horizon. 

A short delay ensued from our clocks being fast on account of our havingdrifted to the eastward, of where they had last been set. 

Then all at once Mr Fosset sang out. 

"It's just noon, sir, now. The sun's crossing the meridian!"

"All right, make it so, " replied the skipper. "Bos'un, strike eightbells. "

"Aye, aye, sir, " came back from old Masters away forward, and thenfollowed the melodious chime of the ship's bell that hung immediatelyunder the beak of the fo'c's'le. "Ting-ting, ting-ting, ting-ting, ting-ting. "

"Now, " going into the wheel-house, "let us look at the chronometer andsee what Greenwich time says, and then tot up our reckonings!"

The two others followed him into the little room on the bridge, sittingdown to a table in which the track chart of the ship's course lay, andall were busy for some few moments calculating and working out ourlatitude and longitude. 

I was standing by the doorway after bringing up the correct time of thechronometers, which the skipper kept locked up in his own cabin toprevent their being meddled with, and I could see he looked puzzled, adding up and subtracting his figures over and over again, as if hethought he must have made some error, though he found that he invariablycame to the same result. 

"Well, Fosset, " he cried at length, unable to restrain himself anylonger. "What do you make it?"

"39° 20 minutes north latitude sir, and 47° 15 minutes west longitude. "

"Faith, an' I make it the same, sir, " also put in Garry O'Neil, thetwain having worked out the reckoning long before the poor skipper. "Both of us agree to the virry minnit, sure, lavin' out the sicconds, sir!"

"By George!" exclaimed the skipper. "It's even worse than I thought. "

"How, sir?" asked Mr Fosset with a smile on his face, no doubtchuckling to himself at being cleverer and wiser than CaptainApplegarth, who would not believe we were in the Gulf Stream. "Don'tyou think us right, sir?"

"Oh, yes, Fosset; I agree with you myself. The _reckoning_ is rightenough, but father's the devil to pay!"

The skipper couldn't sacrifice the joke, though he was terribly put out. 

"See here, " he continued, "jabbing, " with great noise and force thecompasses with which he was measuring off our position, into the chart, as if that was in fault, while Fosset and O'Neil laughed. "Look wherewe are! I shouldn't have thought it possible for us to have been drivenso far south, right into the Gulf Stream, as we are, for the currentgenerally runs to the nor'-east'ards below the Banks. "

"The stream has done it, though, sure enough, " said Mr Fosset; "thatand the gale, for the one has drifted us to the coast and the otherpressed us down southwards; and between the two we're just fetched wherewe are, sir!"

"Well, " replied the skipper, shrugging his shoulders, "you were right, Fosset, and I was wrong this morning. Let me see, though, how we havefetched here, if we can trace our course so far, from when we last tookthe sun. "

"Sure, an' that was Friday, that baste of a day!" interposed GarryO'Neil, pointing to a place on the chart. "I worked at the rickonin'and I put it down meself, marking it with a red pencil. "

"Yes; here it is, 42° 35 minutes north latitude, and longitude 50° 10minutes west, " said the skipper. "I worked it out also, on my own hook, and you and I tallied, if you recollect?"

"Of course we did, the divvil doubt it, sir, " answered the second matein his usual Irish fashion. "Thin, sor, we ran for five hours from thatp'int on a west by south course, going between ten and twelve knots;for, though I didn't say it meself, Mister Fosset tould me the wind wasfreshinin' all the toime, so that we must have travelled about sixtymiles, more or less. "

"So that brings us to this blue mark here?"

"Yes, sor, to 42° 28 minutes north, and 51° 12 minutes west. "

"Then we sailed right before the wind, due south?"

"Sure, an' we did that same afther Mister Haldane's will-o'-the-wisp forthree hours, bedad!"

"Oh, Mr O'Neil, " I pleaded, "please leave me out of it. I'm sure I'veseen and heard enough of the ship already!"

"Be aisy, me darlint! It's only me fun, sure; and I mean ye no harrum, "said he in his jocular way. "Arrah how can I lave ye out of the storywhen ye're the howl h'id and tail of it, sure, and without ye there'd benone to tile. Yes, cap'en, dear, sure, an' as I was a-saying whenHaldane broke in upon me yarn, thray hours on this southerly coursebrought us here right where ye see me little finger, now!"

"About 51° 5 minutes west longitude and 41° 40 minutes north latitude. How did you get this, eh?"

"Faith, sor, the ould moon looked so moighty plisint that night that Itook a lunar or two, jist to divart mesilf with, when Spokeshave wintbelow and there was nobody lift to poke fun at, sure!"

"A very useful sort of amusement, " said the skipper drily. "And I see, too, you've put in the distance we've run, by dead reckoning, as aboutanother fifty miles or so?"

"Yes, sor. The bo'sun hove the log ivery half hour till the enginesstopped, an' he made out we were going sixteen knots an' more, bedad, sohe s'id, whin we were running before the wind with full shtame on. "

"That was very likely, O'Neil, " replied the skipper, "but, after that, we altered course again, you know!"

"In course we did, sor, an' you'll say it marked roight down there onthat line! We thin sailed west, a quarter south by compass, close-hauled on the starboard track, for two hours longer after you alteredcourse ag'in an' bore up to the west'ard, keeping on till the inginesbhroke down, bad cess to 'em!"

"When was that?" asked the skipper slowly. "I was so worried andflurried at the moment that I forgot to take the time. "

"Four bells in the first watch, sor, " replied the Irishman quickly. "Itwas after we'd brought up poor Jackson from below, as Stoddart, theengineer, faith, was a sittin' near, jist before me, attindin' on thepoor chap in the cabin, whin the rush of shtame came flyin' up thehatchway, faith, an' the sekrew stopped. We both of us looked at thesaloon clock on the instant, sure, an' saw the toime, sor. "

"That is the last mark on the chart, then?" said the old skippermeaningly, pencil and compass in hand, and still bending over the tell-tale track map spread out on the wheel-house table. "Since that, nobodyknows how we've drifted!"

"Faith, no one, sor, " returned Garry O'Neil, thinking the question wasaddressed to him. "Only, perhaps, the Pope, God bless him, or theImporor of Chainy!"

All laughed at this, Captain Applegarth now losing his preoccupied airas if there were nothing to be gained, he thought, by dwelling anylonger on the past. 

It was wonderful, though, how we _had_ drifted in the short interval, comparatively, that had elapsed since we became disabled!

As Mr Fosset had been the first to find out in the morning the GulfStream--that great river that runs a course of some two thousand milesin the middle of the ocean, keeping itself perfectly distinct from thesurrounding water through which it flows, from its inception as acurrent in the Caribbean Sea to its final disposal in the NorthAtlantic--had first carried us in an easterly direction after we hadbroken-down so utterly; while the strong nor'-westerly gale, aidedprobably by the Arctic current, running due south from the Polar regionsand which disputes the right of way with the Gulf Stream some littledistance to the southwards of the great Banks of Newfoundland, hadpressed upon the helpless hull of the _Star of the North_, bearing heraway whither they pleased. 

So, unable to resist either the winds or the waves, these combinedforces had driven her off her course at an oblique angle, thusconverting the nor'-easterly, or easterly drift proper, of the GulfStream into a true sou'-westerly one, taking us from latitude 41° 30minutes north and longitude 51° 40 minutes west, where we were on theprevious Friday night, when we were forced to lie-to, to our presentposition on the chart. 

To put the case more concisely, the _Star of the North_ had been carriedfor the distance of _four degrees and a half_ exactly of longitudebackward on her outward track to New York and some _two degrees_ orthereabouts to the southwards, placing us as nearly as possible in theposition the skipper had already indicated, a direction of some fivehundred miles more or less from our proper course and about midwaybetween Bermuda and the Azores, or Western Islands. 

While Captain Applegarth was explaining this, as much for my benefit andinstruction, I believe, as anything, a thought occurred to me. 

"Are we not now, sir, in the track of all the homeward-bound shipssailing on the great circle from the West Indies and South Americanports?"

The skipper looked at me steadily, "smelling a rat" at once. 

"I suppose, Haldane, " he said somewhat sternly, "you want to get me backto that infernal ship again? Not if I know it, my lad. As you told MrO'Neil just now, we've all had enough and to spare of that vessel andthe wild-goose chase she has led us from first to last. I won't hearanother word about her, by Jingo!"

Just then old Masters, who had gone up in the foretop to set somethingright which had struck his sailor eye as not being altogether as itshould be aboard the _Star of the North_, raised his arm to attract theattention of those on deck below him. 

"Hullo, there, bo'sun!" called out the skipper, seeing him, for heseldom kept his glasses away from the rigging of the ship and thingsaloft. "What's the row, eh?"

"I sees summit to win'ard, sir. "

"By George!" exclaimed the skipper in a tone that made every one laughwho heard, all but Masters; the coincidence was so comical after whatCaptain Applegarth had said only a minute before. "Not another `ghost-ship, ' I hope!"

"No, sir, " growled the boatswain rather savagely. "It bean't no ghost-ship this time, though _she_ ain't far off, I knows, to my thinkin'!"

He added the last words as if speaking to himself, but I heard him, andhis remark stopped my mirth instanter. 

"What is it, bo'sun, that you _do_ see, then?" cried the skipperimpatiently; "that is, if you see anything at all beyond some vision ofyour own imagination!"

"I ain't dreaming, " hailed back old Masters, not quite catching what hesaid. "I sees summit as plain as possible out to win'ard. Aye, it bea-driftin' down athawt our hawser, too, cap'en. Why, hullo! I'mblessed. Boat ahoy!"

CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 

IN THE NICK OF TIME. 

"A boat!" exclaimed Captain Applegarth, his jesting manner changinginstantly to one of earnest attention. "Where away?"

"On our starboard beam, sir, " sang out Masters from the foretop. "Abouttwo points off, I fancies, sir. "

"I can't see her, " said the skipper, looking in the direction theboatswain had indicated. "I thought she was close-to from your hailingher. "

"She's further away now than I thought, sir!" shouted old Masters inreply to this, after having another squirm over the topsail yard. "I'mblessed, though, if I ain't lost her, with the ship's head bobbing allround the compass. No; there she be ag'in, sir. No--yes--yes. Thereshe is, about a mile or so off, sir, I'm thinkin'. "

"By George, Masters, you think too much, I think!" the skipper retortedangrily. "You don't seem to know what you're saying, and I believeyou've gone off your chump since you saw that `ghost-ship, ' as youcalled it! Go aloft, Haldane, and see what you can make of this blessedboat he says he sighted!"

I was already in the weather shrouds before the skipper gave me thisorder, and in another minute I was on the top beside the boatswain, whopointed out silently to me a little black speck in the distanceapparently dancing about amid the waves, which were beginning to curlbefore an approaching breeze that was evidently springing up from thewestwards. Fortunately, I had a pair of binoculars in my jacket pocket, and I immediately levelled the glasses at the object in view. 

"Well, Haldane!" at last sang out the skipper impatiently from the endof the bridge, where he still stood, looking up at me with his chincocked in the air. "What do you make it out to be, eh, my lad?"

"It's a boat sure enough, sir, " I shouted down to him, without taking myeyes off it. "She's a long way off, though, sir, and I think she'sdrifting further away, too. "

"The deuce!" exclaimed Captain Applegarth. "Can you see any one in theboat?"

"No--no--not distinctly, sir, " I replied after another searching look. "Stay; I do--I do think there's a figure at one end! and, yes--yes--I'msure I noticed something that appeared like a movement, but it mighthave been caused by the rocking of the sea. "

"But don't you see anybody, or can't you make anything else out?"

"Only the boat, sir, and that a breeze seems coming up from thewestward. I see a white line on the water along the horizon. That'sall I can see, sir!"

"Well, that's not much use to us, " he growled below, beginning hiscustomary "quarter-deck walk" up and down the bridge. "I wish some onewould come up from the engine-room to say they had repaired the cylinderand that we could go ahead again!"

Almost as soon as he spoke thus I noticed Mr Stokes, who I thought waslying down in his cabin, coming towards the forepart of the ship wherewe were, from the direction of the engine-room hatchway. 

"Hullo, Stokes, " said the skipper, catching sight of him at once withhis eagle eye that seemed to take in everything that went on, whetherhis back was turned or not. "I thought you were on the sick list still, and ill. You oughtn't to be bustling about so soon after your accident, my dear fellow!"

"No, but I feel better!" replied the old chief, who, although he wasstill pale and shaky, had a more cheerful look on his face than the daybefore, when he appeared decidedly ill. "I've been down below and I'mglad to say Stoddart and the other artificers, who I must say haveworked well without me, you will be glad to know, have got the cylindercover on again. They've made a splendid job of it!"

"Stoddart himself is a splendid fellow, " said the skipperenthusiastically. "Aye, and the rest of your staff, too, my dearStokes. By George, you've brought us good news!"

"But that isn't all, cap'en, " cried the old fellow, beaming over with abroad smile of quiet enjoyment at the surprise the skipper showed. "They say below that they'll be able to start the engines as soon asthere's a full head of steam on! Now what do you think of that, sir?Isn't that good news?"

The skipper looked ready to embrace our fat chief, and I believe onlyrefrained from giving this expression of his joy by the sight of poorMr Stokes' bandaged arm, which was still in a sling. 

He contented himself, therefore, with patting him tenderly on the backand walking round him admiringly, like a cat purring round a saucer ofcream. 

"By George!" he cried. "I feel as pleased as if my grandmother had leftme five thousand pounds!"

"I wish she had, " laughed the old chief. "I would ask to go shares!"

"And so you should, my boy; so you should, " repeated the skipper withmuch heartiness, and as if he really meant it. "How soon do you thinkwe shall be able to start, eh?"

"Very soon, I think, sir. The after-boiler fires were lit early thismorning and they've been getting up steam ever since. "

"That's good!" cried the skipper, stopping in his excited walk up anddown the bridge, which he had again resumed, being unable to keep still, when he looked up, caught sight of me and hailed me. 

"I say, Haldane?"

"Aye, aye, sir?" I sang out from the top, where I had remained with theboatswain on the look-out, and hearing likewise all that transpiredbeneath. "What do you want, sir?"

"I hope you're keeping your eye on that boat, my lad. If she is therewe may be able to overhaul her yet, if you don't lose sight of her!"

"No fear of that, sir, " I shouted back, pointing with my finger in thedistance. "There she is, still to win'ard, pretty nearly flush with thewater. "

"Then she really is there all right, my lad. Keep your eye on her. "

The funnels had been emitting smoke for some time without our havingpaid much attention to the fact, the fires of the fore-boilers havingbeen kept in and banked ever since our breakdown, in order to work thepumps and capstan gear when required; but now steam, I noticed, came outas well as smoke, and I could hear it plainly roaring up the waste pipe, besides making a fearful row. 

Presently another sound greeted my ears and made me jump. 

It was that of the electric bell in the wheel-house, giving warning thatthose below in the emporium wished to make some communication. 

Mr Stokes went to the voice-tube that led down thither from the bridge. 

"What's the matter?" he roared into the mouthpiece so loud that I heardevery word he uttered, although a-top of the mast. "Anything wrong?"

I couldn't of course catch the reply that came up the pipe; and itcertainly was not a satisfactory one, for Mr Stokes turned round atonce to the skipper, who immediately stopped his quarter-deck walk tohear what the chief had to say. 

"They've corrected the propeller, sir, " he exclaimed with a chuckle thatmade his fat form shake all over; "and Stoddart says he's only waitingfor your signal to close the stop valves and let the steam into thecylinder. "

"By George, he shan't wait a minute longer!" cried Captain Applegarth, moving the engine-room telegraph. "Go ahead, my hearties, as soon asyou please! Hullo, there, forrad, I want a hand here at the wheel. Isuppose the steam steering gear is all right again now?"

"Oh, yes, sir, " replied Mr Stokes to this. "Grummet fixed that up onSunday afternoon, he told me. I am sure it was done. I remember he wasdoing it when that man-of-war came alongside and spoke you. "

"Strange I didn't see him at the job; he must have been pretty smartover it!" replied the skipper. "But I'm very glad it is done, though. "

In answer to the skipper's signal a sudden blast of steam rushed up thefunnel abaft the wheel-house, and I could feel the ship tremble as theshaft began to revolve and the propeller blades splashed the waterastern with the familiar "thump-thump, thump-thump. "

All hands joined in a hearty cheer, to which Masters and I in the toplent what aid our lungs could give. 

"Steady amidship, there, " sang out the skipper as the old barquey forgedahead once more. "Steady, my man. "

"Aye, aye, sir, " answered the foremost hand, Parrell, who had come fromthe fo'c's'le to take the first "trick" at the steering wheel on thebridge. "Steady it is. "

"How does the boat bear now, Haldane?"

"Two points off our starboard bow, sir, " I replied to this hail of theskipper. "She's about three miles off, I think, sir. "

"All right, " he shouted back to me. "Port your helm, there!"

"Aye, aye, sir, " repeated Parrell. "Port, sir, it is. "

"We're rising her fast now, sir, " I called out after a short interval. "There's a man in the boat; yes, a man, sir. I can see him quiteplainly now, and I'm sure I'm not mistaken!"

"Are you quite sure, my lad?"

"Quite sure, sir. And he's alive, too, I'm certain. Yes, sir; he movedthen distinctly. I could see him plainly. Why, the boat is so near nowthat you ought to see it from the deck. "

"And so I can, by Jingo, Haldane!" replied the captain, peering outahead himself with a telescope from the end of the bridge. "I fancy Ican see a second figure, and it looks like another man, too, lying downin the bows of the boat, as well as the figure at the stern, who seemsto me to be holding up an oar or something!"

"Yes, there is, sir, " I called out, stopping on my way down the riggingto have another look. After a pause I exclaimed, "I can see both ofthem, and with my naked eye. I can see them now!"

"Well, then, you'd better come down from aloft. Tell your friend, theboatswain, to come down as well. He'll be wanted at the fo'c's'le whenwe presently come up to the boat, as I trust we shall!"

"Lucky Masters saw the boat, sir, " said I when I reached the deck and upto the skipper's side again. "But even more fortunate it is for thepoor fellows that our engines are working again, sir, for otherwise wecould not have been able to get up to the boat and save them. "

"It isn't luck, my boy, " observed Mr Stokes, whom the death of poorJackson and his own narrow escape from a like fate had led to think ofother matters besides those connected with his mundane profession. "It's Providence!"

CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 

AN APPEAL FOR AID. 

"Aye, that's the better way of looking at it, " chimed in the skipper, raising his arm at the same time from his station at the end of thebridge, where he was conning the ship. He then called out sharply, toenforce the signal. 

"Luff up, you lubber, luff!"

"Luff it is, sir, " rejoined the helmsman, rapidly turning round thespokes of the little steam steering wheel. "It's hard over now, sir. "

"Steady there, " next sang out the captain. "Steady, my man!"

"Aye, aye, sir, " repeated the parrot-like Tom Parrell, bringing the helmamidships again. "Steady it is!"

"By George, we're nearing the boat fast!" cried the skipper afteranother short pause, during which we had been going ahead full speed, with a quick "thump-thump, thump-thump" of the propeller and the waterfoaming past our bows. "Starboard, Parrell! Starboard a bit now!"

"Aye, aye, sir, " came again the helmsman's answering cry from the wheel-house. "Starboard it is, sir!"

"Keep her so. A trifle more off. Steady!"

"Steady it is, sir!"

"Now down with it, Parrell!" sang out the skipper, bringing his handinstanter on the handle of the engine-room gong, which he sounded twice, directing those in charge below to reduce speed, while he hailed oldMasters on the fo'c's'le. "Hi, bo'sun! Look-out there forrad with yourrope's end to heave to the poor fellows! We're just coming alongsidethe boat. "

"Aye, aye, sir!" replied Masters promptly, keeping one eye on theskipper on the bridge and the other directed to the little craft we wereapproaching, and now close to our port bow. "We're all ready forrad, sir. Mind you don't run her down, sir. She's nearly under ourforefoot. "

"All right, bo'sun, " returned the skipper. "Port, Parrell!"

"Port it is, sir, " repeated Tom Parrell. "Two points off. "

"Steady, man, steady, " continued the skipper, holding his hand up again. "Boat ahoy! Stand by. We're going to throw you a rope!"

At the same instant Captain Applegarth sounded the engine-room gongagain, bringing the _Star of the North_ to a dead stop as we steamed upto the boat slanting-wise, the steamer having just sufficient way on herwhen the screw shaft ceased revolving, to glide gently up to the veryspot where the little floating waif was gently bobbing up and down onthe wave right ahead of us, and barely half a dozen yards away, drifting, at the will of the wind, without any guidance from itsoccupants, who seemingly were unaware of our approach. 

"Boat ahoy!" shouted the skipper once more, raising his voice to alouder key. "Look-out, there!"

The men in the bows of the boat still remained in the same attitude, asif unconscious or dead; but the other in the stern-sheets appeared tohear the skipper's hail, for he half-turned his head and uttered afeeble sort of noise and made a feeble motion with one of his hands. 

"Now's your time, bo'sun!" cried Captain Applegarth. "Heave that line, sharp!"

"Aye, aye, sir, " roared out Masters in his gruff tones. "Stand by, below there!"

With that the coil of half-inch rope which he held looped on his armmade a circling whirl through the air, the end falling right across thegunwales of the boat, close to the after thwart, where sat the second ofthe castaways, who eagerly stretched out his hand to clutch at it. 

But, unfortunately, he failed to grasp it, and the exertion evidentlybeing too much for him, for he tumbled forward on his face at the bottomof the boat, while the rope slipped over the side into the water, comingback home to us alongside the old barquey on the next send of the sea, the heavy roll of our ship when she brought up broadside-on, as well asthe weight of the line saturated with water, fetching it in to us allthe sooner. 

"Poor fellows; they can't help themselves!" cried the skipper, who hadwatched the boatswain's throw and its unsatisfactory result with thedeepest interest. "Bear a hand there, some one forrad, and have anothertry to reach them. The boat's drifting past, and we'll have to goastern to board her in another minute, if you don't look sharp!"

Having climbed into the fore-rigging, however, so as to have a good lookat the boat and its occupants as we neared them, I was quite as quick asthe skipper to notice what had happened, having, indeed, foreseen thecontingency before it occurred. 

So, ere Masters or any of the other men could stir a hand, having madeup my mind what to do, I had seized hold of part of the slack of theline that remained inboard and, plunging into the sea, swam towards theboat. 

A couple of strokes, combined with the forward impetus of my leapoverboard, took me up to the little craft, and in a jiffey I had graspedthe gunwale aft and clambered within her, securing the end of the line Ihad round one of the thwarts at once, amid the ringing cheers of theskipper and my shipmates in the old barquey, who proceeded to haul us upalongside without further delay, tugging away at the tar rope I hadhitched on, yo-heave-hoing and hurrahing in one and the same breathright lustily!

So smart were they, so instantaneous had been the action of the momentduring the episode, that we were close in to the ship's side and underher conning, immediately below the port end of the bridge, where theskipper stood leaning over the rail and surveying operations, before Ihad time actually to look round so as to have a nearer view of theunfortunate men whom we had so providentially rescued. 

When I did though, one glance was enough. 

I was horror stricken at the sight that met my eyes. 

The man whom I had observed when we were yet some distance off to belying huddled up in the bows motionless, as if dying or already dead, Inow saw had received a horrible wound on the top of his head that hadvery nearly smashed in the skull, besides almost severing one of hisears which was hanging from the cheek bone, attached by a mere scrap ofskin, the bottom boards of the boat near him being stained with bloodthat had flowed from the cut, and his hair likewise matted together withgore. Oh, it was horrible to see! He was not dead, however, as I hadthought, but only in a state of stupor, breathing heavily and making astrange stertorous sound as if snoring. 

His fellow-sufferer aft, who did not appear to have suffered so much ashis comrade, had seemingly swooned from exhaustion or exposure; as, onmy putting my arm round him and lifting up his bent head, the man openedhis eyes and murmured something faintly in some foreign lingo--Spanish, I think it was; at any rate a language I did not understand. 

But I was unable to notice anything beyond these details, which Igrasped in that one hurried glance; for as I was in the act of raisingup the poor chap in the stern-sheets, the skipper hailed me from thebridge above. 

"Below there!" he sang out. "How are the poor fellows? Are they alive, Haldane?"

"They are in a bad way, sir, " I replied. "They've got the life left inthem and that's all, I'm afraid!"

"Neither dead, then?"

"No, sir. "

"Bravo! `whilst there's life there's hope, '" cried the skipper in acheery tone. "Are they quite helpless, do you think, Haldane--I meanquite unable to climb up the side?"

"Quite unable, sir, " I answered. "One's unconscious, and I don't thinkthe other could move an inch if he tried!"

"Then we must haul 'em up, " said Captain Applegarth, turning to Masters, who had popped his head over the bulwarks and was now looking down intothe boat, like the rest of the hands on board. "I say, bo'sun, can'tyou rig up a chair or something that we can lower down for the poorfellows?"

"Aye, aye, sir, " responded old Masters, drawing in his head from thebulwarks and disappearing from my view as I looked upwards from thestern-sheets, where I was still holding up the slowly-recovering man. "I'll rig up a whip from the foreyard and we can let down a hammock for'em, tricing up one at a time. "

"Stay, cap'en, " cried Mr Fosset as the boatswain went bustling off, Isuppose, though of course from my position I could not see him, to carryout this plan of his. "The davits here amidship are all right, as wellas the tackle of our cutter that had got washed away in the gale. Wouldn't it be easier to let down the falls, sir, and run up the boatall standing with the poor fellows in her as they are?"

"By George, the very thing, Fosset!" exclaimed the skipper, acceptingthe suggestion with alacrity. "It will save the poor fellows a lot ofjolting, and be all the easier for us, as you say. Besides, the littlecraft will come in handy for us, as we're rather short of boats justnow!"

"Short of boats, sir!" repeated the first mate ironically as he set towork at once, with the help of a couple of the hands who jumped to hisside to assist him the moment he spoke, casting off the lashings of thedavits so as to rig them outwards, letting go at the same time the hooksof the fall blocks and overhauling the running gear. "Why, sir, wehaven't even the dinghy left intact after that clean sweep we had fromthe wave that pooped us!"

"Oh, aye, I know that well enough, " said the skipper drily. "But, lookalive now, Fosset, with that tackle, and don't be a month of Sundaysover the job! Send down two of the cutter's crew to overrun the fallsand drop down into the boat. They can help Haldane in holding up thatpoor chap astern and also bear a hand in hoisting up. "

"All right, sir; we're just ready, " shouted back the first mate as hegave the word to let go. "Lower away there with the slack of thosefalls. Easy, my man, gently does it!"

In another instant down came the fall blocks, with one of the handshanging on to each, the men alighting "gingerly" on the thwarts of theboat in the bow and stern of the little craft, which became immersedalmost up to the gunwales with the additional weight. 

This was only for a moment, for the next minute Mr Fosset gave thesignal to "hoist away, " the falls having been hooked on beneath thethwarts in a jiffey, and up we all went in mid air, "between the deviland the deep sea, " as we say afloat sometimes!

"Bravo!" cried the skipper when we reached the level of the gangway andwere all able to step out on to the deck. "That's very handsomely done, my lads! Now let us see about lifting the poor fellows out. That chapthere in the bows seems in a very bad way! You'd better carry him intothe cuddy at once and let Mr O'Neil look after him. "

"Indade, I will, sor, " said our doctor-mate, who was standing near bywith a spirit flask in one hand and a medicine glass in the other, readyto give immediate succour to the rescued men. "Carry the poor beggaralong an' I'll be afther ye in a minnit; for this other misfortunategossoon here looks as if he wouldn't be the worst for a dhrop of goodbrandy, an' faith, I'll say to him fourst, avic!"

So saying the Irishman poured some of the contents of the spirit flaskinto the glass, which he held to the lips of the man. Mr Fosset and Iwere supporting him in our arms against the side of the boat, whence wehad just removed him. 

The poor fellow's strength returned to him almost as soon as he hadsipped a drop or two of the brandy, and, starting away from the firstmate and myself, as if no longer needing our aid, he stood erect on thedeck. 

"_Mil gracias, amigos_, " he said, with a polite inclination of his head, in apology like for shaking himself free from us. "_Estoy major_!"

Captain Applegarth stepped up to him. 

"I am sorry I can't speak Spanish, sir, though I understand you to sayyou're better. We're Englishmen all on board this ship, sir, and I'mglad we've been able to pick you up. "

The eyes of the man glistened and a pleased expression stole over hisface. 

"What! You are English! he exclaimed excitedly. But--but I'm anAmerican! Only I've been so long in Venezuela amongst Spaniards that Isometimes forget my own language. "

Our skipper was equally delighted. 

"By George!" he said. "I was sure you were no blessed foreigner, inspite of your lingo, sir! Welcome on board _the Star of the North_. "

The stranger looked round and his manner changed at once, and he pointedtowards our funnels anxiously and their escaping steam. 

"A steam vessel, eh!"

"Yes, sir, " said the skipper. "I command her, sir. Cap'en Applegarth, at your service!"

"The deuce! I was forgetting. We passed you last night, I remembernow! and you're the captain?"

"Aye!" replied the skipper, not quite making out what the other wasdriving at. "I'm captain of this ship!"

"Merciful Heavens!" cried the rescued man, falling on his knees on thedeck and bursting into a passion of sobs. "Thanks be to God! Yes, thanks be to God! You will save her, captain. You will save her?"

The skipper thought the evident suffering he had gone through had turnedhis brain. 

"Save who?" he asked, adding in a kinder tone: "Of course, we'll doanything and everything we can for you, but I must know my bearingsfirst, my friend. "

The man was on his feet at once. 

"I am not mad, captain, as you appear to think. I can see from yourmanner you think so, " he said. "I want you to save my Elsie, my onlychild, my little daughter, whom those villains, those black devils, arecarrying off!"

"Your only child, your daughter--black devils, " echoed CaptainApplegarth, astonished at the poor man's speech and at his wild andagonised look. "What do you mean, sir?"

"Heavens! We're losing time while those scoundrels are getting awaywith the ship!" exclaimed the other frantically and walking to and froin a most excited state. "Fire up the engines, pile on the coals andsteam like the devil! and go in chase of her, my good captain, you will?For Heaven's sake, captain, for the love of God, start at once in chaseof her!"

"In chase of whom?" asked Captain Applegarth, still believing him to beout of his mind. "In chase of whom?"

The man uttered a heart-rending cry, in which anger, grief and piteousappeal were alike blended. 

"In chase of a band of black miscreants who have committed murder andpiracy on the high seas!" he ejaculated in broken accents. "The bloodof a number of white men massacred by treacherous negroes calls forvengeance, the safety of a young girl and the lives of your brothersailors still on board the ship calls to you for help and rescue! GreatHeaven! Will you stand idly by and not render the aid you can? Think, captain, a little girl like your own daughter--my Elsie, my little one!Yes, and white men, your brothers, and sailors, too, like yourselves, atthe mercy of a gang of black ruffians! Sir, will you help them or not?"

CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 

WE START IN CHASE OF THE SHIP. 

The effect of this appeal was electrical, not only on the skipper, buton all of us standing by. 

"Great heavens, man!" cried the captain, staring at the other in wildastonishment. "What do you mean? I cannot understand you, sir. Yourship, you say--"

"My words are plain enough, captain, " said the stranger, interruptingthe skipper. "Our ship, the _Saint Pierre_, is in the possession of agang of Haytian negroes who rose on us while we were on the high seasand murdered most of the officers and the crew. They then threw poorCaptain Alphonse, who commanded her, overboard, after they had halfkilled him, and the rest of the unfortunate sailors and passengers, amongst them my little daughter, are now at the mercy of the blackdevils!"

"My God!" exclaimed the skipper, confounded by this lucid statement. "And you, sir?"

"I am an American!" said the other with a proud air, drawing himself upto his full height of six feet and more, and with his eyes flashing, while a red flush mounted to his cheeks, which had formerly been deadlypale. "I'm a white man, captain, and it's not likely I would stand byand see people of my own colour butchered! Of course, sir, I went tothe poor captain's assistance, but then the murderers served me almostas badly as they did him, chucking me overboard after him. "

"I beg your pardon, sir, I'm sure, for appearing to doubt your story, "cried the skipper, stretching forward his hand, which the other eagerlygrasped. "The fact is, sir, I thought at first your sufferings had setyour head wrong; but now I need hardly say I believe thoroughly everyword you've told us, and you may rely on my aid and that of every manaboard here to help you and yours. There's my hand on it, sir, and myword you'll find as good as my bond, so sure as my name is JackApplegarth!"

"And mine, captain, is Vereker, Colonel Vereker, at your service, "returned the other, reciprocating the skipper's cordiality as he lookedhim straight in the face, holding his hand the while in a firm grip. Helet go the skipper's fist, however, the next moment and a puzzledexpression came into his eyes as he glanced round occasionally, apparently in search of some one or other. "Heavens! Where's myunfortunate comrade who was in the boat with me--poor Captain Alphonse?Alas, I had forgotten him!"

"We have not forgotten him, though, colonel, " said the skipper smiling. "He has been carried below to the saloon on the maindeck, where mysecond mate, Mr O'Neil, who is a qualified surgeon, is now attending tohis injuries. He has been terribly mauled, poor fellow; we could seethat!"

"Aye, terribly!" repeated the other with a shudder, as if therecollection of all he and his fellow-sufferers had gone throughsuddenly came back to him at the moment. "But, great Heavens! captain, we're losing time and that accursed ship with those scoundrels and ourremaining comrades, and with my darling child on board, is speeding awaywhile we're talking here. You will, will you not, Senor Applegarth, goin pursuit of her, my friend?"

"By George I will, colonel; I will at once--immediately--if you'll tellme her bearings, " cried the skipper excitedly. "When was it thisterrible affair happened? When did you leave the ship, and where?"

"The revolt of the blacks, or mutiny, I should call it, captain, brokeout four days ago, on last Friday, indeed, sir, " said the Americanpromptly in his deep musical voice, and whose foreign accent obliteratedall trace of the unmelodious Yankee twang. "But we kept the rascals atbay until last night, soon after sundown, when they made an ugly rushand overpowered us. Captain Alphonse had just sighted your vessel inthe distance and was burning a blue light over the stern to attract yourattention, so as to get assistance at the time this happened. "

"Was yours a large, full-rigged ship?"

"Yes, sir, the _Saint Pierre_ is of good size and had all her sailsset, " replied the other to the skipper's question. "We were runningbefore the wind with our helm lashed amidship, as it had been since theprevious Friday, for we were all too busy defending our lives to thinkof attending to the ship. "

"Steering about nor'-east, I suppose?"

"Confound it, captain!" said the colonel impatiently. "We weredrifting, I tell you, sir, at the mercy of the elements, and heaven onlyknows how we were going! Fortunately, the weather was pretty fair, savethe very day the mutiny broke out, when it blew heavily and our canvasgot split to pieces as there was no one to go aloft and take it in. Otherwise we must have gone to the bottom!"

"By George!" exclaimed the skipper, turning round to old Masters andmyself, who were still standing by with the hands who had come aft tohaul up the boat. "Then my bo'sun here, and this young officer wereright when they declared they saw a large full-rigged ship to thewestward of us, though I only noticed the light of your flare-up. Youwere too far off for me to make you out. "

"_Ojala_!" ejaculated the American, reverting again to the familiarSpanish tongue in his emotion. "Would to God, captain, you _had_ seenus!"

"It would have been useless if I had, my friend, " said the skippersoothingly. "We couldn't move to come to your assistance if every soulon board had seen you and known your peril, sir; for our engines werebroken-down and we were not able to get up steam again until late thisafternoon, when we ran down to pick you up!"

"But, sir, " hastily whispered the colonel, suppressing a sob of emotion, "you can and will steam now?"

"Why ask?" replied the skipper. "The moment we know where to go insearch of your ship, that very moment we'll start and try to overhaulher. You say you quitted her last night?"

"Quitted her? We were _thrown_ overboard, sir, by the black devils!"

Captain Applegarth in reply said calmly, "Yes, yes, of course, "accepting the correction and trying by his manner to soothe theinfuriated man. "But what time was that?"

"I can't say the exact hour, " replied the American, whose vexed toneshowed that the captain's methodical mode of setting to work did notquite harmonise with the excited state of his feelings. "I think, however, it must have been nearly seven o'clock, as well, sir, as I canremember. "

Then I chimed in. "Ah!" I exclaimed quickly, "that was just the _verytime_ that Masters and I heard the shooting in the distance to win'ard, and it was six bells in the second dog watch!"

"So it were, Master Haldane; so it were, " agreed the old boatswain, looking from me to the skipper and then at Colonel Vereker. "Well, I'mblowed! and I'm glad, then, for that there ghost-ship wor a rael shiparter all said and done. Now who was right, I'd like to know?"

"Of course it was a real ship, you old dotard!" said the skipper grufflyand looking angrily at him. "Of course it was, " he added, while our newacquaintance looked at us, unable, naturally, to understand the mysticalallusion; but Captain Applegarth soon turned his roving thoughts intoanother direction by asking him a second question. "How long did youkeep in sight of your vessel after leaving her, colonel, do you think?"

"She was in full view of us at sunrise this morning, " replied theAmerican. "The boat in which we were adrift kept near her all night asthere was very little wind, if any. A slight breeze sprang up shortlyafter the sun rose and she then steadily increased her distance from usas the day wore on, finally disappearing from my gaze about noon, andtaking with her my little darling, my pet, my Elsie. "

The poor fellow broke down again at this point throwing up his handspassionately and burying his face in them, his whole frame convulsedwith sobs, though not a man present thought his emotion a thing to beashamed of, all of us being deeply interested in his narrative, and asanxious as himself for the skipper to start off in pursuit of the blackmutineers and pirates. 

We were not long kept in suspense, the colonel's last words and violentburst of emotion apparently touching our "old man's" feelings deeply, and hastening his decision. 

"Cheer up, sir, cheer up, " said he to the other, whose shoulders stillshook with his deep hysterical sobs. "And we'll find your little girlyet for you all right, and restore her to you, and we'll settle matterstoo, with those scoundrels, I promise. Now tell me how far off do youthink the ship must have drifted from us by now, Mr Fosset. "

"Between twenty and thirty miles, sir, " replied the first mate. "Shewas lighter than us, and of course she had the advantage of what windthere has been, though, thank goodness, that has been little enough!"

"Away to the nor'-east, I suppose?"

"Aye, aye, sir, " said Mr Fosset. "The breeze, what there was, has beenfrom the sou'-east and the current trends in the same direction. "

"Then if we steer east-nor'-east we ought to pick her up soon?"

"Not a doubt of it, sir. We have four good hours of daylight left yet!"

"Precisely my opinion, " cried the skipper. "Mr Stokes, will theengines stand full speed now, do you think?"

"Oh, yes, sir, " replied the old chief, who with the rest of us was allagog to be after the strange ship again, now that he had heard thecolonel's explanation of her true character, "if you'll send some onebelow to tell Stoddart what you want. I would go myself, but I'm rathershaky in getting down the hatchway as yet. I twisted my arm just nowwhen I went down. "

"That's all right. Stoddart, I am sure, will excuse you, " said theskipper kindly, and turning to me he added: "You, Haldane, run down andtell Stoddart we want all the steam we can get. He won't spare theengines, I know, when he knows the circumstances of the case, and youwill explain matters!"

So saying, the skipper started off forwards in the direction of thebridge, while I dived down the engine-room hatchway, reaching themachinery-flat just as the "old man" sounded the gong to put on fullspeed ahead, the telegraph working quick as if he were in a great hurry!

Ere I could tell my story Stoddart sent an answering blast up the steampipe to let the skipper know his signal was being attended to; and then, pulling back the lever of the throttle valve, the piston began to go upand down, the cylinder oscillated from side to side and the crank shaftrevolved at first slowly, but presently faster and faster until we werenow going to the utmost of our pace. 

All this while I was yarning away, though I had to shout to the top ofmy voice in order to overcome the noise of the machinery, as I describedall that had occurred. 

I did not speak to unheeding ears. 

"By Jove, Haldane!" cried Stoddart, who was a man of action if everthere was one. "The cylinder is all right again and will bear anypressure now, and I tell you what it is, the old barquey shall steamalong in pursuit of those demons faster than she ever went in her lifesince she was launched and engined!"

"I am with you there, old fellow, " said Grummet, our third engineer, hastening towards the stoke-hold. "I'll go down and see the firemen andstir them up and put some more oilers to work in the screw well, tolubricate the shaft so as to prevent the bearings from overheating. "

"That's your sort, my hearty, " said Stoddart. "So you can return ondeck, Haldane, and tell the skipper and Mr Stokes that everything shallbe done down here by us to overhaul your `ghost-ship. '"

He laughed as he uttered this little piece of chaff at my expense, thestory being now the common property of everybody on board, and Ilaughed, too, as I ran up the hatchway with my clothes nearly dry again, even drying in the short space of time I had been in the hot atmospherebelow, although, goodness knows, they had been wet enough when I hadgone down, having had no time or opportunity to shift them after my dipoverboard when taking the line to the drifting boat. 

On reaching the main deck I met Spokeshave. 

He was coming out from the saloon, and from his puffy face and corpulentappearance generally, he looked as if he had been making a haul on thesteward's pantry, although he had not long had his dinner and it was agood way off tea time. 

"Hullo!" he cried out on seeing me. "I say, that chap O'Neil is havinga fine go of it playing at doctoring. He has got a lot of ugly longknives and saws laid out on the cuddy table and I think he's going tocut off the chap's leg!"

"Which chap do you mean?" I asked; "not the colonel?"

"Aye, " said he. "The chap with the moustache and long hair, likeHamlet, you know!"

"My good chap, " said I, "you seem to know a good deal about other chaps, or think you do, but I never heard before of Hamlet having a moustachelike a life-guardsman! Irving doesn't wear one when he takes the part, if I recollect right, my joker. You think yourself mighty knowing!"

"Quite so, " replied Master Spokeshave, using his favourite phrase asusual. "But you don't call Irving Shakespeare, Haldane, do ye?"

"I don't know anything of the matter, old boy. I am not so wellinformed as you are concerning the dramatic world, Spokeshave. I knowyou're a regular authority or `toffer, ' if you like, on the subject. Don't you think, however, you're a bit hard on poor Irving, who, I've nodoubt, would take a word of advice from you if you spoke kindly to himand without that cruel sarcasm which you're apt to use?"

The little beggar actually sniggered over this, being of the opinionthat I was paying a just tribute to his histrionic acumen and judgementin things theatrical, on which he prided himself on account of hishaving appeared once behind the footlights in a theatre in Liverpool, asa "super, " I believe, and in a part where he had nothing to say!

"Quite so, Haldane; quite so, " chuckled Spokeshave, as pleased as Punchat the imaginary compliment. "_I do_ believe I could teach Irving athing or two if I had the mind to!"

"Yes, you donkey, if you _had_ the mind to, " said I witheringly, bygiving an emphasis he did not mean to his own words. "`Very like awhale, ' as our old friend Polonius says in the play, the real _Hamlet_, I mean, my boy, not your version of it. `Very like a whale, ' indeed!"

"I'm sure, Mr Haldane, " he answered loftily, cocking his long nose inthe air with a supercilious sniff, "I don't know what ye mean. "

"And I've no time to waste telling you now, " returned I. 

At that moment we emerged on the open deck from under the back of thepoop, where we had been losing our time and talking nonsense; and, looking towards the bridge forward, I saw Colonel Vereker, the veryperson about whom we had been speaking, standing by the side of theskipper. 

"O, Lor', Spokeshave, what a crammer!" I cried. "You said not a momentago that Garry O'Neil was about to cut off the colonel's leg, whilethere he is standing there, all right!"

"I didn't say he had cut it off yet, " he retorted; "I said he was goingto cut it off. O'Neil told me so himself. "

"Then, " said I, "instead of cutting off the poor colonel's leg, he wasonly `pulling your leg, ' my joker!"

The cross-grained little beggar, however, did not seem to quiteunderstand the term I employed thus in joke, though it was used at seato express the fact of "taking a rise" out of any one, and a commonenough saying. 

"I'm not the only fellow who tells crammers, " he grimly muttered. "Howabout that yarn of yours of the blessed `ghost-ship' you saw the othernight, I'd like to know. I believe, too, that the colonel, as you callhim, is only an impostor and that the skipper is going on just such awild-goose chase after this ship of his, which he says was captured bypirates, as he did that Friday hunting your _Flying Dutchman_! wastingour time with your idiotic story. Pirates and niggers, indeed! Why, this chap, I'll bet, is a nigger himself, and more of a pirate than anyone we'll come across if we steam from here to the North Pole. Put thatin your pipe and smoke it, Dick Haldane; you and your confounded `ghost-ship' together! Such utter humbug and nonsense, and thinking you takepeople in with such yarns in these days!"

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 

FULL SPEED AHEAD. 

I was so indignant at what the spiteful little brute said that Iincontinently turned on my heel and left him without another word, goingforwards towards the bridge to give the skipper Stoddart's message. 

Here, the sight of Colonel Vereker's grand figure--one that would beremarkable anywhere, towering above the rail and almost herculean in itsmassive proportions, coupled with the sad look in his noble face, andwhich reminded me somehow or other of one of the pictures of the oldCavaliers of the Stuart days, made me resent the more the baselessimputation of his being an imposter. 

The idea of such a thing being possible could only have occurred to anignoble mind like that of Spokeshave; for one single glance at thedistinguished-looking gentleman's speaking countenance, with its finely-chiselled features and lofty open brow, would have satisfied anyunprejudiced person that his was a nature incompatible with deceit andmeanness, even in the most remote degree. 

"Well, young Haldane!" exclaimed old Mr Stokes, whom I found withCaptain Applegarth and the colonel when I reached the wheel-house. 

"What do those smart chaps of mine down below say, hey, my boy?"

His face beamed as he spoke and he looked as if he would have liked tohave rubbed his hands together in his old way when he felt particularlyjolly, but unfortunately his crippled arm, which was still in a sling, prevented that!

"Oh, that's all right, sir, " I replied in an equally cheery tone, theold chief's genial address making me forget at once my anger atSpokeshave's contemptible nonsense. "Mr Stoddart directed me to tellthe cap'en that he may go on ahead as usual, as he likes, for everythinghas been made taut and secure below and there need be no fear of anothermishap. He says he intends driving the engines as they were neverdriven before, and he has put every fireman and oiler in the stoke-holdon the job. "

"Bravo!" cried the skipper, sounding the gong again and yelling down thevoice-tube that led below like one possessed. "Fire up, below there, and let her rip!"

"Dear, dear, " panted Mr Stokes, whose fears for his engines, which heregarded with the affection which a young mother might bestow on herfirst baby, began to overcome his interest in the chase after the blackpirates. "I hope you and Stoddart, between you, won't be rash, cap'en. I hope--I do hope you won't!"

"Nonsense, Stokes, you old croker; just you shut up!" said the skipper. "Keep her steady, east-nor'-east, helmsman! Now, my dear colonel, atlast we really are after those infernal rascals in earnest; and, sir, between you and me and the binnacle, we'll be up to them before longbefore nightfall, I'll wager!"

"I hope to heaven we will, Senor Applegarth, " replied the other sadly, but eagerly. "But, alas! the ocean is wide, and we may miss the ship. I cannot bear to think of it!"

"Oh, but we won't miss her!" said the skipper confidently, and he wasthe last man to give up hope. "Take my davy for that, sir. She must bewithin a radius of from twenty to thirty miles of our present bearingson the chart, somewhere here away to the eastwards, sir; and if we makea long leg to leeward and then bear up to the north'ard and west'ardagain, we'll overhaul her--I'm sure of it--yes, sure of it, in no time. Look, colonel, look how we're going now. By George, ain't that a bowwave for you, sir, and just see our wake astern!"

The old barquey was certainly steaming ahead at a great rate, the seacoming up before her in a high ridge that nearly topped the fo'c's'le, and welling under her counter on either hand in undulating furrows thatspread out beneath her stern in the form of a broad arrow, wideningtheir distance apart as she moved onward, while the space between wasfrosted as if with silver by the white foam churned up by the ever-whirling propeller blades, beating the water with their rhythmicaliteration, thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump!

There was no "racing" of the screw now, for Neptune was in one of hisquiet moods and there were no big rollers to surmount, or deep wavevalleys to descend into; consequently the old barquey had no excuse forgiving way to any gambolling propensities in the water of pitching andtossing, steaming away on an even keel and using every inch of power ofher engines, with not an ounce to waste in the way of mis-spent force!

And so on we went, tearing through the water, a blue sky overheadunflecked by a single cloud, a blue sea around that sparkled in sunshineand reflected harmonies of azure and gold, save where the bright freshwestern breeze rippled its surface with laughing wavelets that chuckledas they splashed the spray into each other's faces, or where we passed astray scrap of gulf-weed with its long yellow filaments spread out likefingers vainly clutching at the wavelets, as if imploring them to bestill, or where again the dense black smoke from our funnels made acanopy in the sky athwart our track, obscuring the shimmering surface ofthe deep with a grim path of shadow that checked the mirth of thelisping young wavelets and even awed the sunshine when it came in closercontact anon, as the wind waved it this way and that at its will. 

"Hi, bo'sun!" shouted out the skipper presently, after carrying on likethis for a goodish spell, the deck working beneath our feet and the_Star of the North_ seeming to be flying through water and air alike bya series of leaps and bounds, quivering down to her very kelson with thesustained motion and the ever-driving impulse of her masterful enginesspurring her onward. "How is she going now, eh?"

Old Masters was away aft on the poop hauling in the patent log, whichhad been hove over the side on our beginning the run, and the nextminute, as soon as he was able to look at the index of the instrument, he answered the skipper's question. 

"Sixteen knots, sir!" he sang out, and then we could hear the old seadog add his customary comment, whether of approval or discontent, "Well, I'm blowed!"

"By George, colonel!" cried Captain Applegarth to our melancholy-lookingguest at his side. "We're going sixteen knots, sir; just think of that!I didn't believe the dear old barquey had it in her!"

"It is a good, wonderful speed, captain, " replied the other, who, Inoticed, was looking even more exhausted now than when we removed himfrom the boat. "Remember, though, sir, the _Saint Pierre_ is sailing onall this time before the wind, as she was this morning, and must bemiles ahead of us!"

"Aye, I know she's going; or at least, I suppose so, and I've made everyallowance for that in my calculation of her whereabouts, " returned ourskipper, in nowise daunted by the colonel's argument. "But if she hadevery rag set that she could carry, she couldn't go more than three orfour knots at the most, in this light breeze; and for every foot shecovers we're going five!"

"That is true, " said the American, with a very weary and absent look onhis face. "But--but I'm afraid we may be too late after all! I--I'm--God protect--my--my--"

"The fact is, my dear sir, " cried the skipper abruptly, interrupting himas the other hesitated in his speech, turning a deadly white andclutching at the bridge rail in front of him, as if to save himself fromfalling or fainting. "You're completely worn out and your nervesshaken! Why, you can't have had much, if any, sleep the last three orfour days--not since that rumpus broke out aboard your ship, eh?"

"Heavens!" ejaculated the other. "I don't think I have closed my eyes, senor, since Friday, excepting when I was drifting in the boat, part ofwhich time I must have been senseless; for though I recollect seeingyour vessel, and trying to signal her by holding up a piece of thebottom planking of the boat, as we hadn't oar or sail in her, I have noremembrance of seeing your vessel steaming up to help us, or of thisbrave young gentleman here jumping into the water and swimming to ourassistance, as you tell me, captain, that he gallantly did. Believe me, sir, I shall never forget you, and I shall be ever and eternallygrateful to you for that noble act of yours!"

He half-turned and bowed to me politely as he said this, but I was toomuch confused, by his exaggerated estimate of what I had done to sayanything at the moment in reply. And, after all, it was only a verysimple thing to do, to swim with a line to a boat; any other fellowcould have done the same, and would have done it under the samecircumstances. 

The skipper, however, spoke for me. 

"Come, come, sir, " he said. "Haldane only did his duty, like the bravelad he is; and I'm sure you only make him uncomfortable by your thanks. I want you, colonel, to go below and have a little rest and somerefreshment. Besides, I promised Mr O'Neil to send you down to haveyour wounded leg dressed and seen to, more than half an hour ago, whenhe came up on deck after attending to that other poor chap, and yet hereyou are still, talking and exciting yourself. How is your leg now, colonel? Easier?"

"Confound it! No, no!" replied the other, with a writhe of torture ashe changed his position so as to relieve the strain on the wounded limb, which I had quite forgotten about, the brave follow having stoicallyrepressed all indication of pain while urging on the pursuit of theblack mutineers. "It's hurting me like the devil! But, sir, I cannotrest or leave the deck till we come up to that accursed ship and save mypoor child, my little darling--if we be not too late, too late!"

"This is nonsense, sir, " said the skipper bluntly, and rather angrily, Ithought, and he continued:

"The ship, we know, must be a goodish bit ahead of us still, and wecan't possibly overhaul her for an hour or more at the earliest. Socome, cheer up, and come along with me and have your leg attended to atonce. I insist, colonel; come. "

"But, " persisted Colonel Vereker, evidently trying to make out the timein arguing, and loth to leave the scene of action, though apparentlyready to drop now from sheer pain and exhaustion combined, "Who will--who will--"

"My first officer here, Mr Fosset, will remain on the bridge during ourabsence below, " interposed Captain Applegarth, anticipating his last, unuttered objection. "He's quite competent to take charge, and I'm surewill let us know the moment the ship comes in sight, if she appearsbefore we return on deck. "

"Aye, that I will, sir, " cried out Mr Fosset. "I'll keep a sharp look-out, and I'll hail you, sir, sharp enough, as soon as she heaves insight on the horizon. "

"There!" exclaimed the skipper in an exultant tone, taking hold of thecolonel's reluctant arm and placing it within his own, so as to lead himaway and to give him the benefit of his support down the bridge-ladder. "Won't that satisfy you now, sir, and you see you'll lose nothing bygoing below for a spell? Come, come, my good friend, have the leg seento and eat something, for you must require it. Why, colonel, unless youkeep up your strength and spur yourself up a bit, you won't be able totackle those black scoundrels when we get up to the ship and catch them, and it comes to a fight, as I expect it will. So come along, my hearty;rouse yourself and come!"

This concluding remark of the old skipper affected more than all hisprevious persuasion, the colonel at once allowing himself to be helpeddown the laddering without further demur, and so along the gangway onthe upper deck, towards the lower entrance to the saloon under the beakof the poop, I lending the aid of my shoulder for the crippled man tolean on as he limped painfully onward, having to pause at almost everystep, his wounded leg dragging now so much, now that excitement nolonger sustained his flagging frame; the skipper gave aid too, his armpropping him up on the other side. 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 

DOCTOR AND PATIENT. 

"Faith, it's moighty glad I am, sor, to say you at last!" cried GarryO'Neil, starting up from his seat at the cuddy table, on our ultimatelyreaching the saloon, where the Irish mate was having a rather late lunchwith Mr Stokes, who had preceded us below. "I was jist comin' after yeag'in, colonel, whin I had snatched a bit mouthful to kape the divvilout of me stomach, sure. I want to inspict that game leg o' yours, sor, now that I've sittled your poor f'ind's h'id. Begorrah, colonel, somebody gave him a tidy rap on the skull whin they were about it!"

"It was done with a hand-spike, " explained the other, groaning with painas we assisted him to a seat at the further end of the table, where theskipper's armchair was drawn out for him to fix him up more comfortably. "One of those treacherous niggers came behind his back and dealt him aterrific blow that landed on the side of his head partly, nearly cuttinghis ear off!"

"Aye, I saw that, sor, of course, " put in Garry, pouring out some brandyinto a tumbler which he proceeded to fill up with water--"_aqua pura_, "he called it. "I've shtrapped it on ag'in now, and it looks as nate asninepins. But jist dhrink this, colonel, dear. It'll warrm the cocklesof your heart, sure, an' put frish loife into you!"

The American took a sip first at the glass proffered him, and thendrained off the contents with a deep sigh of satisfaction. 

"Ah!" he exclaimed, "I feel a little better. But how is poor CaptainAlphonse now?"

"Bedad, he's gitting on illegantly, " replied Garry, sniffing at a soupplate containing some steaming compound which Weston, the steward, hadjust brought in, and directing that worthy to place it in front of ourpoor invalid guest. "There was a nasty paice of bone sphlinter stickingin the crayture's brainpan; but, first, I trepanned him an' raymoved theimpiddimint, an' the poor chap's now slayping as swately as a babby, slayping in the cap'en's cot over yonder! But come, colonel, I want yeto take some of this pay soup here afore I set to work carving ye about. Begorrah, it's foine stuff, an'll set ye up a bit to roights!"

"Thank you a thousand times, " returned he, taking a mouthful or two ofthe soup which Weston had placed before him, eating very sparingly atfirst like one who had been deprived of food for some time. "I'm notafraid of your handling me, sir. I have undergone too many operationsfor that!"

"Faith, colonel, " cried the Irishman, laughing in his usual good-tempered racy manner, "you'd best spake well of the craft or I'll beafther payin' you out, sure, alannah, whin I get your leg in me grip!Jist you stow some more o' that illigint soup inside your belt, sor, before I start on the job, an' while ye're aitin' I'll tell you how Ionce sarved out an old woman whom I was called in to docther, whin I wasat ould Trinity, larnin' the profession, in faith!"

"That's right, O'Neil, " said the skipper, seeing his motive in trying toset our sad guest at his ease and to try and distract his thoughts fromthe awful anxiety and grief, under which he was labouring. "Have Iheard the yarn before, eh?"

"Faith, not that I know of, cap'en, " returned the doctor _pro tem_ inhis free and easy manner. "Begorrah, the joke's too much ag'instmeself, sor, for me to be afther tillin' the story too often!"

"Never mind that; it will make it all the more interesting to us, " saidthe skipper with a knowing wink to Mr Stokes, both of them knowingGarry's old stories only too well, but at such a time as this they wouldhave listened to anything if it would only serve to distract the poorcolonel's thoughts for a few minutes, and they chuckled in recollectionof the many jokes against himself that Garry had perpetrated. "Fireaway with your yarn. "

"Bedad, then, here goes, " began O'Neil with a grin. "Ye must know, colonel, if you will have it, that I was only a `sucking sawbones, ' soto spake, at the toime. Faith, I was a medical studint in my firstyear, having barely mastered the bones. "

"The bones!" interrupted the skipper. "What the deuce do you mean, man?"

"Sure, the inthroductory study of anatomy, sor, " explained Garry rathergrandiloquently, going on with his yarn. "Well, one foine day whin Ian' another fellow who'd kept the same terms as mesilf were walking thehospital, wonderin' whin we'd be able to pass the college, sure the hallporter comes into the ward we were in an' axes if we knew whereProfessor Lancett, the house surgeon, was to be found, as he was wantedat once. 

"`Faix, ' says Terence Mahony, my chum, the other medical studint who waswith me. `He's gone to say the Lord Lieutenant, who's been struck downwith the maysles, an' the divvle only knows whin he'll get back from thecastle, sure! What's the matter, O'Dowd? Who wants ould Lancett atthis outlandish toime of day?'

"The hall porter took Mahony's chaff, faith, in all sober sayriousness. `It's moighty sorry I am, ' says he; `Master Lancett's gone to thecastle, though proud I am for ould Trinity's sake, sayin' as how theLord Lieutenant has for to send to us, sure, bekase them murtheren''sassa docthers that he brought from over the say with him from Inklandain't a patch on our chaps! But, faix, sor, a poor woman as theprofessor knows is took moighty bad in her inside, some of herneighbours says, an' wants help at onst!'

"`Who is it, O'Dowd?' I asks. `Do you know where she lives?'

"`Mistress Flannagan's her name, ' says the porter. `She's MistressLancett's ould la'ndress, sor; a cantankerous ould woman, too, an' widthe divvle of a temper! She lives jist out of Dame Strate, sure, inAbbey Lane. Any one'll till ye the place, sure!'

"`What say you to goin' to say the poor crayture?' says I to TerenceMahony. `We'll lave word where we're gone, an' I'm sure Mr Lancettwill be plaised to hear we're looking afther the ould lady!'

"`Begorrah, that he will, sor, ' agreed O'Dowd, the porter. `It'smoighty kind of you two young gintlemen going for to say her, an' I'llmake a p'int of lettin' the docther know whin he comes back from theLord Liftinnint!'

"`All right, O'Dowd, ' says I. `Mind you till the professor, an' he canthin follow us up on his return to the college--that is, if he loikes!'

"With that off the two of us wint on our errind of mercy, though it waslucky I lift that message with O'Dowd, as ye'll larn prisintly!

"It didn't take us long to find the house where the sick woman was, foras we turned into the strate, a dirty ould hag, smoking a short pipe, came up to us with a smirk on her ugly phiz. 

"`God save Ireland!' says she, addressing Terence. `Be yez the doctherjintlemen from the hospital, avic?'

"`Faix, we're that, ' says my companion; `the pair of us!'

"`Thin come along, ' says she. `Mistress Flannagan is dyin' to say you, sure. The soight of yez is good for sore eyes!'

"`Begorrah!' says Terence, `I wouldn't have come at all at all if shehadn't been dyin', the poor crayture! Where is she?'

"`In the corner there, ' returns the old hag, removing her dirty littleblack dhudeen of a pipe for a minnit from between her teeth, in order tospake the bether. `She's a-sottin' in that cheir there, as she hav'been since the mornin', widout sayin' a worrd to mortial saol afther shetould us to sind for the docther. May the divvle fly away with me, butPeggy Flannagan can be obstinate in foith, whin she likes!'

"Terence Mahony and I then poked our noses into the corner of the room, the old hag stirrin' the turf fire on the hearth to give us a bit ofloight; an' then we saw the ould crayture, who looked as broad as shewas long, sittin' in a big armchere, an' starin' at us with large, openeyes. But though she was breythin' hard loike a grampus, she didn'tspake nothin'!

"`What's the mather, my good woman?' says Mahony, going up to her an'spaking kindly to the poor crayture. `Let me feel your pulse. '

"He caught hold of her hand, which hung down the side of the chere andfumbled at the wrist for some toime, the ould woman starin' an' sayin'nothin' at all at all!

"`Faith, Garry O'Neil, I can't foind any pulse on her at all at all. She must be di'd, worse luck!'

"`Och, you omahdaun; can't ye say her eyes open?' says I. `Git out o'the way an' let me thry!'

"Begorrah, though, I couldn't fale any pulse at all aythar. 

"`She's in a faint, I think, ' says Terence, pretendin' for to know allabout it. `We had jist sich a case in hospital t'other day. It's oineof suspended animation. '

"`Blatheration, Terence, ' I cried at hearing this. `You'll be a case ofsuspended animation yoursilf by-and-bye. '

"`Faith, how's that?' says he. `What do you mean?'

"`Why, whin you're hung, me bhoy! for your ignorance of your profession. Sure, one can say with half an eye the poor crayture is sufferin' fromlumbago or peritonitas on the craynium, faith!'

"As we were arguin' the p'int, the ould hag who had introduced usbrought our discussion to an end jist as Terence made up his mind thatthe case was cholera or elephantiasis or something else equallyridiculous!

"`Bad cess to the obstinate cantankerous ould crayture, ' cried she, catching the poor sick woman by the scruff of the neck an' shakin' herviolently backwards an' forrads, afther which she banged the poor thingviolently on the sate of the chere. `Will ye now spake to theirhonours, or will ye not? Won't ye now? She be that stubborn!' saidshe, turnin' to us; `did ye ivver see anythin' loike it afore?'

"Mahony then tould her to put out her tongue, but the divvle a bit ofher tongue saw we! Nor would she say a worrd as to her ailment, to giveus a clue, though I believe on me oath, colonel, we mintioned iverycomplaint known in the Pharmacopaia, Terence even axin' civilly if shehad chilblames in the throat, for it was the depth of winter at thetoime, to prevent her talkin'!

"But our coaxin' was all in vain, loike the ould hag's shaking!

"Faith, not a worrd moved our patient. She was that in all conscience, sure. 

"`Begorrah, I'll sind a bucket of could wather over her an' say ifthat'll tach her manners!' said the ould hag, who tould us her own namewas Biddy Flynne, on our giving her an odd sixthpence for a dhrop ofdrink. `It's a shame to bring yez honours out for nothin'!'

"She was jist going to do what she had threatened, sure enough whin, providentially, in walked the professor from the college. 

"He'd been listenin' outside the door, I believe, all the toime Terencean' mesilf were talkin' an' arguin' about the ould dame's complaint, puzzlin' our brains to find out what was the mather with her, for thebaste of a man had a broad grin on his face, loike that you say on amealy petaty whin the jacket pales off of it, whin he toorned round tous afther examinin' poor Mistress Flannagan, now all a heap on herchere. 

"`Faith, I must complimint you, jintlemin, on the profound skill an'knowledge you have shown in your profession, ' says he. `I don't think Iivver heard a more ignorant or illeterate diagnosis of a case since I'vebeen professor at Trinity College!'

"He was a moighty polite man was Professor Lancett. Terence an' I bothagrayed on his sayin' this, an' thought our fortunes were made an' we'dgit our diplomas at once, without any examination, sure!

"But his nixt remark purty soon took the consate out of both of us. 

"`It's lucky for you two dunder-headed ignoramases!' he went on to sayin a nasty sneerin' way the baste had with him whin he was angry and wasany way put out. `Preshous lucky for you, Misther Terence Mahony, an'you, too, Garry O'Neil, that I chanced to come afther you, thinkin' ye'dbe up to some mischief, or else ye'd have put your foot in it with avengeance an' murthered between you this poor, harmless ould woman lyinghere. I am ashamed and disgusted with you!'

"He thin prosayded to till what the poor crayture was sufferin' from, an' what d'ye think her complaint was, colonel? Jist give a guess, now, jist to oblige me, sure. "

"Great Scot!" cried the American, smiling at O'Neil's naive manner andthe happy and roguish expression on his face, our guest's appearancehaving been much improved, by the food of which he had partaken as wellas the stimulant, which had put some little colour into his pale cheeks. "I'm sure I can't guess. But what was it, sir, for you have excited mycuriosity?"

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 

A BLACK BUSINESS. 

"Be jabers, sor!" exclaimed the Irishman in his very broadest brogue andwith a comical grin on his face that certainly must have eclipsed thatof which he complained in the professor of his college who had caughthim and his fellow-student trespassing on his medical preserves. "Totill the truth an' shame the divvle, colonel, the poor ould crayture, whose complaint we couldn't underconstumble at all at all, sure, wassufferin' from a fit of apoplexy--a thing aisy enough to recognise byany docther of experience, though, faith, it moight have been Grake tous!"

We were all very much amused and had a good laugh at this naiveconfession, even Colonel Vereker sharing in the general mirth, in spiteof his profound melancholy and the pain he felt from his wounded leg, which made him wince every now and again, I noticed, during thenarration of the story Garry O'Neil had thus told, with the utmost goodhumour, it must be confessed, at his own expense, as, indeed, he hadmade us understand beforehand that it would be. 

"By George!" cried the skipper, after having his laugh out, "you'll bethe death of me some day with your queer yarns, if you can't manage todo for me with your professional skill, or by the aid of your drugs andlotions, poisons, most of 'em, and all your murderous-lookinginstruments, besides!"

"No fear of that, cap'en; you're too tough a customer, " rejoined thedoctor with a knowing look in the direction of Mr Stokes, who had madehimself purple in the face and was panting and puffing on his seat, trying to recover his breath. "Faith, though, sor, talkin' of medicalskill, the sooner I say afther that leg of our fri'nd here, the better, I'm thinkin'. "

"With the best of wills, " assented the colonel, who had finished hisluncheon by this time and certainly presented a much improved appearanceto that he had worn when entering the saloon. "I am quite at yourservice, doctor, and promise to be as quiet as that first patient ofyours of whom you've just told us!"

"Belay that, colonel; none o' your chaff about the ould leddy, if youlove me, sure!" growled Garry, pretending to be indignant as he kneltdown on the cabin floor and slit up the leg of the colonel's trousers soas to inspect the wound. His nonsensical, quizzing manner changedinstantly, however, on seeing the serious state of the injured limb, andhe ejaculated in a subdued tone of voice, "Holy Moses!"

"Why, sir, " said the patient quietly, "what's the matter now?"

"Ah, an' ye are axin' what's the mather?" cried Garry in a still moreastonished tone. "Faith, it's wantin' to know I am how the divvleyou've iver been able to move about at all, at all, colonel, with thatthing there. Look at it now, an' till me what ye think of it yoursilf, me darlint. May the saints presairve us, but did any one iver say sucha leg?"

It was, in truth, a fearful-looking object, being swollen to the mostabnormal proportions from the ankle joint to the thigh, while the skinwas of a dark hue, save where some extravasated blood clustered about asmall punctured orifice just above the knee. 

Colonel Vereker laughed and shrugged his shoulders. 

"The fortune of war, " he explained. "One of those brutes shot me wherethat mark is, but I think the bullet travelled all round my thigh andlodged somewhere in the groin, I fancy, for I feel a lump there. "

"Sure, I wonder you can fale anythin'!" cried Garry, who was probing forthe missile all the time. "A man that can walk about, faith, loike anopera dancer, with a blue-mouldy leg loike that, can't have much falingat all, at all, I'm thinkin'!"

"Ah!" groaned his patient at last, on his touching the obnoxious bulletnear the spot the colonel had indicated. "Whew! that hurts at any rate, doctor!"

"Just be aisy a minnit, me darlint, " said the other soothingly, exchanging his probe for a pair of forceps and proceeding deftly toextract the leaden messenger. "An' if ye can't be aisy, faith, try an'be as aisy as ye can!"

In another second he had it out with a triumphant and gleeful shout. 

"Ah!" ejaculated the colonel, the excessive pain causing him to clenchhis teeth with an audible snap. 

"Faith, you may say `ah' now as much as you please, " said Garry, as heheld out the villainous-looking bullet gripped in his forceps. "Forthere's the baste that did you all the damage, an' we'll soon pull youup, alannah, with that ugly paice of mischief out of the way, sure!"

"Oh! dear me!" the poor colonel exclaimed as the doctor went on dressingthe wound and afterwards set-to to bandage the whole leg, swathing itround like a mummy with lint, and then saturating it with some linimentto allay the swelling. "Would to God all the mischief could be aseasily made good! Oh, my little Elsie, my darling little girl!"

"Cheer up, colonel, cheer up, " whispered the skipper, coming in from thestate room on the starboard side of the saloon, whither he had gone tohunt up some special cigars while Garry O'Neil was accomplishing hissurgical operation. "We're going ahead as fast as steam and a good shipcan carry us, and we'll rescue your child, I'll wager, before nightfall. Have a smoke now, my friend; and while you're trying one of theHavanah's, which never paid duty and are none the worse for that, youcan tell us how it all happened from the beginning to the end. I shouldlike to hear the account of your voyage right through, colonel, and howthose blacks came to board you. "

"Certainly!" said Colonel Vereker, leaning back in his easy chair whenGarry O'Neil had made an end of bandaging his leg, and accepting one ofthe choice cigars the skipper offered him. "I will tell you willingly, captain, and you, gentlemen, turning round and bowing to us, the sadstory of our thrice ill-fated voyage. "

"Thrice ill-fated?" repeated Mr Stokes inquiringly, the chief beingrather argumentative by nature and possessing what he called a strictlylogical turn of mind. "But how's that, sir?"

The colonel had his answer quite ready. 

"I said `thrice ill-fated' advisedly, sir, " he replied, removing hiscigar from his lips to emit a cloud of perfumed smoke, and thenrestoring the fragrant roll of tobacco to the mouth again. "In thefirst place, sir, from my having been unlucky enough ever to start uponthe voyage at all. Secondly, from the fact of a calm delaying us whenpassing between Puerto Rico and San Domingo, thereby enabling thosetreacherous negro scoundrels to see our ship in time to put out for usfrom the shore; and thirdly, because Captain Alphonse would not take myadvice and use strong measures when the mutiny originally broke out, which might have prevented the terrible events that afterwards occurred!But, sir, if you will allow me, I shall get along better by telling youwhat happened, just in my own way!"

"Certainly, sir, " immediately replied Mr Stokes, profuse in hisapologies. "Pray pardon my interruption!"

The colonel bowed in token of his forgiveness and then resumed his yarn. 

"Our ship, the _Saint Pierre_, of Marseilles, Jacques Alphonse masterand part owner, sailed from La Guayra on October 25, barely a fortnightago!" said he. "In addition to her captain, of course, she carried twomates and a crew of twenty-five hands all told, and she was bound forLiverpool, with a general cargo of cocoa, coffee and hides, besides amixed assortment of indigo, orris root, sarsaparilla and other raw drugsfor the English market. "

"Were you and your little daughter the only passengers?"

"No, Senor Applegarth, " replied the other. "There were also on boardMonsieur and Madame Boisson, from Caracas, returning home to Europeafter a lengthened residence in the Venezuelan capital, where they hadcarried on a large millinery business, supplying the dusky _senoritas_of the hybrid Spanish and native republic with the latest Parisianmodes; Don Miguel, the proprietor of an extensive estancia in theinterior; and little Mr Johnson, a Britisher, of not much account inyour country, I guess, not a gentleman--at all events, in my humbleopinion. He was travelling for some mercantile house in Londonconnected with the manufactory of chocolates or sweets, or something ofthat sort. I cannot say I cared much for the lot, as they were notpeople of my class, so I did not allow my Elsie, my darling, my pet, toassociate with them more than could be helped, save with Madame Boisson, who was a kind, good-natured sort of woman, though decidedly vulgar. Ohdear me! It was a thousand pities we ever started on that disastrousvoyage. It was unlucky from the very first!"

"Faith!" interposed Garry O'Neil. "But how was that, sor?"

"We were too late in reaching La Guayra in the first instance, " repliedColonel Vereker. "I had planned, my friend, to take the French steamerfor Brest, but on arriving at the port I found she had already left, andwhile deliberating about what I should do under the circumstances--forthere would not be another mail boat for a fortnight at least--I metCaptain Alphonse. He was an old friend of mine, a friend of longstanding, so, on his telling me that his vessel was going to sail on thefollowing day, and would probably convey me to Brest, where he said hewould have to report himself prior to proceeding to Liverpool with hiscargo, quite as soon as I should arrive if I waited for the nextsteamer, I made up my mind to accompany him. "

"But, colonel, " suggested Captain Applegarth, "you might have gonedirect to England by one of the West India mail steamers which touch atLa Guayra on their route homeward from Colon. "

"I know that, my friend, " said the other. "I could have caught one ofthem the following week. This would not have suited my purpose, however, sir. I wished to proceed direct to Brest, for I could geteasily on to Paris, where I intended placing my little Elsie at schoolin the convent of L'enfant Jesu, at Neuilly, under the guardianship ofsome good nuns, by whom her poor mother was educated and brought up. Itwas a promise, my friend, to the dead. "

"I see, colonel, " rejoined the skipper apologetically, lighting hiscigar again, having allowed it to go out while listening to the other;"I see, sir. Go on; I'm all attention. "

"Well, then, " continued the colonel, "these preliminaries being allarranged, Elsie and I went aboard the _Saint Pierre_, a full-riggedsailing ship of some eight hundred tons, the morning of the twenty-eighth of last month; and on the evening of the same day, as I havealready told you, we made sail and quitted the anchorage where the shiphad been loading--abreast of San Miguel, a port that guards theroadstead to the eastward, where it is open to the sea. "

"Aye, I know La Guayra well, colonel, " put in the skipper at this point, showing that he was following every detail. "I was in the Royal MailLine when I was a nipper, before joining my present company. "

"I recollect the night we sailed, " resumed the other, paying noattention to Captain Applegarth's remark, but speaking with his eyesfixed, as if in a dream and seeing mentally before him the scenes hedescribed. "The moon was shining brightly when we got under way, lighting up the Trinchera bastion and making the mountains in thebackground seem higher than they were, from the deep shadows they castover the town lying below. This latter lay embosomed amid a mass oftall cocoanut trees and gorgeous palms, with other tropical foliage, andhad a shining beach of white sand immediately in its front, stretchinground the curling bay, on which the surf broke in the moonlight, with aphosphorescent glow and a hollow sound as if beating over a grave. Heavens! It was the grave of all my dearest hopes and plans, for that, sir, was one of the few last peaceful nights I have of late known, andvery probably ever shall know again!"

"Faith, don't say that now, sir, " cried out Garry at this. "You'll havea peaceful one to-night, sure, or I'm no prophet. Begorrah, though, Iniver was, so far as that goes!"

The skipper grinned at this sympathetic interpolation, and the colonel'ssombre face lighted up a bit as he turned his pathetic eyes on thespeaker, as if wishing to share his hopefulness. 

"Ah, doctor, you do not know what grief and anguish are like!" he saidmournfully. "But to go on with my story. I may tell you that, had ourvoyage progressed like our start, I should have nothing to deplore, for, the land breeze filling our sails, we bore away buoyantly from theVenezuelan coast, the ship shaping a course north by west towards theMona passage, as the channel way is called, from a rock in its centre, lying between Hayti and Puerto Rico. This route is held to be the best, I believe, for passing out into the open Atlantic from the labyrinthinegroups of islands and innumerable islets that gem the blue waters of theCaribbean Sea. It is a course, too, which by its directness and thenortherly current and westerly wind there to be met, saves a lot ofuseless tacking about and beating to windward, as you, no doubt, captain, very well know. "

The skipper nodded his head. 

"You're quite a sailor, colonel, " he said approvingly. "Where did youmanage to pick up your knowledge of navigation and sea-faring matters, if I may ask the question, sir?"

"In the many voyages I have made during a somewhat adventurous life, "replied the other. "I have invariably kept my ears and eyes open, captain. There are many things thus to be learnt, I have found out fromexperience, which, although seemingly unimportant in themselves, frequently turn out afterwards to be of very great use to us, sometimes, indeed, almost unexpectedly so!"

"Aye, aye, colonel. My opinion, sir, right down to the ground, " saidthe skipper, looking towards me. "Just you put that in your pipe, DickHaldane, and smoke it!"

"Yes, young sir, " added Colonel Vereker, emphasising this piece ofadvice. "That rule of life has stood me in good stead on more than oneoccasion, both on land and on shipboard. Had I not learnt something ofthe ways of your sailors, for instance, I might not have thought oflashing the _Saint Pierre's_ helm amidships on the breaking out of themutiny, and so prevented all our going to the bottom subsequently, whenit came on to blow; for all of us were then fighting for our lives andno one had time to attend to the ship, save in the way of letting gowhat ropes were handiest. "

"Aye, that may be well enough, colonel, " observed the skipper in his dryfashion. "But your argument cuts both ways. If your helm hadn't beenlashed down, remember, the ship would have been yawing about anddrifting in this direction and that, and we should probably have comeacross her long ago, like that boat from which we picked you up, insteadof her bearing away right before the wind and our having to go in chaseof her, sir, as we are now doing. "

"It is true! I did not think of that!" returned the colonelimpulsively, half-starting from his seat in his excitement. "We must benear her now, captain, though, surely. We must find them, and I mustsee my little girl again!"

"Kape aisy, me darlint; kape aisy, " here interposed Garry O'Neil, beforeCaptain Applegarth could answer the question. "Sure, Mr Fossetpromised to give us the worrd whin she hove in sight, an' you're onlydistarbin' yoursilf for nothing, colonel! More's the pity, too, mabruchal, whin your leg is progressin' so illigantly an' the swillin'goin' down as swately as possible. Now kape aisy, if only to oblige me. Faith, colonel, me profissional reputation's at shtake!"

The Irishman, all the time he was talking, was carefully attending tothe injured limb, loosening a bandage here, tightening another there, and keeping the lint dressing moist the while with a lotion which heapplied gently to the surface by means of a sponge. So, impressed alikeby his tender solicitude thus practically shown on his behalf as much asby his opportune admonition, the colonel was forced to remain quiet. 

"I wish he'd be quick about it!" he muttered to himself. "Well, doctor, as you will not let me move, I suppose you will let me go on with mytale; that is, if it interests you!"

"Aye, aye; I want to hear everything, " said the skipper. "And fireaway, colonel; there's plenty of time for you to reel off your yarnbefore we overhaul the chase. "

"All right, --then, I will proceed, " replied the other. "All went wellwith us on the voyage until the afternoon of the third day after sailingfrom La Guayra, when, unfortunately, the weather changed and thewesterly wind, which had favoured us so far, suddenly failed us afterwafting us through the Mona Passage, and we became becalmed off Cap SanEngano, to the northward of Hayti. "

"Hayti!" exclaimed old Mr Stokes, waking up from a short nap he hadbeen having on the sly, and pretending to be keenly alive to theconversation. "That's the famous black republic, ain't it?"

"Famous black pandemonium, you mean!" retorted the colonel fiercely, hiseyes flashing at once with fire. "Excuse me, sir, but I have seen somuch of these negro brutes, who ape the airs of civilisation and yetafter a century of freedom are more uncivilised in their habits and modeof life than the African slaves, their forefathers whom Toussaint-L'Overture, as he styled himself, their leader, freed from the yoke oftheir French masters a hundred years ago, that I feel the glorious name`republic' to be dishonoured when associated with such vile wretches, wretches a thousand times worse than the Fantees of the West Coast, fromwhom they originally sprang!"

"My dear sir, " said Mr Stokes, aghast at the tempest he had raised byhis innocent remark, "you surprise me!"

"Heavens! you would be surprised, sir, if you knew these Haytians as Iknow them to be, " continued the colonel, his indignation stillstruggling for the mastery--"a race of devil worshippers and cannibals, who confound liberty with license, and have added all the vices ofcivilisation to the inherent savagery of their innate animal nature. Ah, sir, I should like to tell you a great deal more, but have not thetime now. I am afraid I am forgetting myself. Where was I?"

"Becalmed off Cape San Engano, " promptly replied the skipper, sailorfashion--"at least, so you said, colonel; but I fancy you must have hada little rougher weather in that latitude than you mentioned at first!"

"We had, " said Colonel Vereker meaningly. "Towards nightfall we driftedwith the current more inshore, Captain Alphonse not dropping our anchor, as we expected the land breeze would spring up at sunset. This did notcome for an hour later, however, for already darkness had begun tosurround us and we could see the fireflies illuminating the brush beyondthe beach. But this wasn't all observed, sir. Just as our sails filledagain and the ship slowly drew out into the offing, we heard the splashof oars in the water astern. It was a boat coming after us, propelledby a dozen oars at least, pulling as hard as those handling them knewhow, a shot or two from the shore and the sound of musket balls rippingthe water explaining, in some way, the reason for their anxiety to getbeyond the range of the firing, on which account they sought the shelterof the _Saint Pierre_, of course--at least, so we thought!

"`Who goes there?' shouted out Captain Alphonse, who was standing alonewith me, close to the taffrail. `Poor devils! there is probably anotherinsurrection at Port au Prince, and President Salomon up or down again. He is always one or the other every year or so, and these poor fellowsmay be flying to save their miserable necks. Who goes there? Who goesthere?' But, whether wanting all their energy for their oars or forsome other reason known to themselves, those in the boat made no replyto our hail, and the next moment, ere the ship gathered way sufficientto gain on them, they were alongside, their long unwieldy craft gratingagainst the ship's timbers beneath her counter. 

"`Look-out there, forrads!' cried Captain Alphonse, seeing the boatmaking apparently for our bows, but before a hand could be raised toprevent them, without asking permission in any way or offering theslightest apology or excuse in advance for their conduct, a number ofnegroes jumped out of her and began climbing aboard the _Saint Pierre_. 

"Heavens! gentlemen, clad in little beyond Nature's own covering, as themajority of the intruders were, and looking in the dim light as black asthe ace of spades, they seemed like so many demons, come to takepossession of our unfortunate ship--as indeed they were. Oh dear me!"

CHAPTER NINETEEN. 

THE "MARQUIS DE POMME-ROSE. "

"A pretty kettle of fish that!" exclaimed the skipper, pitching thebutt-end of his cigar through one of the stern ports as he got up fromhis seat and began to pace up and down the saloon in his usual quarter-deck fashion. "You must have been mad, colonel, to let them come aboardso quietly and in such a manner, too!"

"Stay, you have not heard all, " said the other. "As the black rascalstumbled over the side, one of them called out something in the Frenchtongue. This, sir, at once disarmed Captain Alphonse, who had preventedme from teaching them good manners, which I otherwise should have done, for I had my six-shooter ready, with the barrels all loaded, beingalways prepared for any such little unpleasantness by my experiences inVenezuela, where a man often carries his life in his own hands!

"But Captain Alphonse would not let me fire, though, by heavens! Iwould have accounted for half a dozen of them, I know, before they hadadvanced beyond the precincts of the ship!

"`No, no, be quiet!' cried he, knocking my arm up to prevent my takingaim at the leader of the gang, whom I had spotted dead in the eye. `These are my countrymen!'

"It was no use my talking after that, sir. The sound of the Frenchtongue, which these blacks of Hayti speak with a better accent than thegamins of Paris, gained over Captain Alphonse; while Madame Boissondeclared the whole episode truly charming, her fat husband, who wasentirely under her thumb, shrugging his shoulders and giving them bothencouragement and a welcome. 

"These charming compatriots of theirs, therefore, being allowed to takeus by storm without let or hindrance, now advanced aft, when theirringleader, a plausible scoundrel who described himself as the `Marquisde Pomme-Rose, ' or some other similar shoddy title belonging to theblack peerage of Hayti, to which I did not give heed at the time, beyondin my own mind thinking it ridiculous and that it was probably a namemade up for the occasion, this man came up to Captain Alphonse with asmile on his black face and told a wonderful story which he hadcalculated would excite our pity while allaying our fears. 

"There had been another revolution at Port au Prince, he said, asCaptain Alphonse had surmised. A band of patriots, of whom he, thespeaker, had the honour to be the chief, had attempted to depose thereigning despot Salomon from his post of president, but that that astutegentleman got wind of the conspiracy in time, and as he had a veryefficacious mode of quickly dealing with those opposed to him inpolitical matters, the nigger marquis and his fellow-plotters thought itbest to seek refuge in flight. 

"Salomon, of course, at once despatched his myrmidons after them, buthaving a few hours' start of the pursuers the runaway revolutionistscontrived to clear off from Port au Prince, concealing themselves in themountain fastnesses at the eastern end of the island. 

"Here, while in hiding, they saw the _Saint Pierre_ rounding Cape SanEngano. Subsequently observing that she was becalmed, they waited fornightfall, when they stole a boat that lay on the shore and pulled outtowards our ship, just avoiding capture in the nick of time; theregiment of black soldiers Salomon had sent after them having hit upontheir trail and being so close up behind that they were able to openfire on them ere the boat got into deep water, two of the fugitivepatriots being struck by the bullets that came whistling in their rear. 

"The `marquis' was of the belief that we were bound for Cuba, so hedeclared at all events at the moment, and he asked Captain Alphonse withthe utmost indifference to give him and his companions a passagethither, assuring him that he would be handsomely rewarded for so doingby some of their friends belonging to the Haytian revolutionary party, who had established their headquarters at Havana. 

"In reply to this request Captain Alphonse declared he was `desolated, 'but that, unfortunately, the _Saint Pierre_ was bound for Europe and notto the greater Antilles; but, strange to say, for I was watching himkeenly the while, our friend the `marquis' did not appear eithersurprised or dismayed at his supposition as to our destination turningout to be so erroneous, as he would have been, so I thought, had he beenspeaking the truth in his original narrative, and acting in good faithtowards us!

"From that moment, sir, something in my mind seemed to warn me againstthe black villain, though I had been previously rather prepossessed inhis favour by his manner and bearing, in spite of a strong antipathy torepublicans of his complexion!"

"Ah, colonel, " whispered the skipper. "I suppose it comes from livingamongst them too much, but I see you don't like negroes. "

"No; you mistake my meaning greatly if you think that, Senor Applegarth. Black, white or yellow, the colour makes no difference to me, providingthe individual I may have to deal with be a man in the true sense of theword! In the old days, before our war, I had a good deal to do withniggers, for my father and his father before him owned a largeplantation in Louisiana, and long before President Lincoln issued hisproclamation of emancipation every hand on our estate was a free man;so, you see, sir, I do not advocate slavery at all events. But betweenslavery and unbridled liberty there is, Senor Applegarth, a wide margin;and though I do not look upon a nigger in the abstract as either a brutebeast or a human chattel, still I do not consider him quite fit togovern himself, nor do I regard him in the light of my brother, sir, noreven as my equal in any way!"

The skipper laughed. 

"`What's bred in the bone, ' colonel--you know the rest!" said he. "Yourold experience in the Southern States prejudices you against the race. "

"Pardon me, " rejoined Colonel Vereker warmly, "I don't dislike them atall. On the contrary, I have found some negroes more faithful than anywhite man of my acquaintance, being true to the death; and I know thatif I came across, to-morrow, any of the old hands on our Louisianianplantation whom my father made free, I should be as glad to see them asthey would be to meet me. But, sir, at the same time, allowing allthis, I cannot admit the negro to be on an equality with the whiteraces. They are inferior, I am certain, alike in intelligence, disposition and nature, and I hold him as little qualified for self-government on the European system as a child is fit to be entrusted witha case of razors for playthings. Hayti is an illustration of this, sir!"

"All right, my dear sir, " said the skipper good-humouredly, glad to seethe colonel taken out of himself and forgetting his grief about hislittle daughter for the moment in the discussion. "Carry on; we'relistening to you!"

His enthusiasm, however, did not last very long. 

"Heavens! Senor Applegarth, and you, too, gentlemen, " he went on in achanged tone. "I have cause to love those Haytian scoundrels well, Itell you! Well, sirs, to proceed with my story, the terrible end ofwhich I have nearly reached, this dog of a black rascal, the so-calledmarquis, seemed quite content, much to my surprise, when CaptainAlphonse told him we were not bound for Cuba, but for Liverpool. 

"It was all the same to him, he said, and as they were going the longervoyage, perhaps Captain Alphonse would allow him and his companions towork out their passage by assisting the crew in the navigation of theship. 

"Captain Alphonse was delighted at this, for we had only half a dozengood seamen on board, the rest of the hands being a lot of half-bredmulattoes and niggers--some of the scourings of South America whom hehad picked up at La Guayra, most of whom knew how to handle a cutlassbetter than a rope--so the proposed addition to the strength of ourship's company was a very acceptable one, particularly as the `Marquis'pointed out two of his companions as being expert sailors and qualifiedpilots and navigators. "

"Ha! You kept your eye on those gentry, colonel, I bet you did?"

"Yes, sir. They were the first I spotted when the row began; but I'manticipating matters. "

"The divvle a bit, sor, " interposed Garry O'Neil. "Let me jist changethe dressin' of your leg, an' ye can polish off the rist of the rascalsas soon as ye plaize. "

"A thousand thanks, " returned the other, shifting his position to allowhis leg to be attended to. "They did not disclose their purpose, though, or `show their hand, ' as they say at the game of monte, all atonce; for, moved by their voluntary offer to help work the ship, CaptainAlphonse promised the `marquis, ' who when making this offer had urged arequest to that effect, calculating on the captain's generosity to putin and leave the lot at Bermuda, should they make a fair passage up tothe parallel of that island, but in the event of their being delayed byfoul winds or the voyage appearing as if it must be a long one, theHaytians must be contented to cross the ocean. 

"The bargain was struck at once, this proviso being accepted withalacrity as it just suited their purpose, and never saw I men work asthose Haytians worked in the way of tumbling up at all hours and pullingand hauling, shaking out reefs and setting fresh sail, the next day ortwo when the weather was contrary, and we had to tack about a good dealto windward in getting out into the open Atlantic. 

"Heavens! How they exerted themselves; so much so that I quite sharedCaptain Alphonse's admiration for them, but, unlike him, I watched them, and I noticed that they and the coloured men of our crew who had beenpicked up at La Guayra seemed on a more friendly footing than wasaltogether warranted by the short time they had been on board. CaptainAlphonse and the other passengers, however, would not see this. 

"But, sir, I had an old negro servant on board with me, who had followedmy fortunes from the States to Venezuela after the war, Louisiana thenbeing no longer a fit place for a white man to live in. Poor old Cato;he was the most faithful soul the Almighty ever put breath into!

"Him I acquainted with my suspicions, and sent amongst the blacks, togather what information he could of their designs, for I was confident, sirs, they had not boarded us for nothing, and were hatching some deepplot with a view, very probably, of getting possession of our ship inorder the better to further the interests of the revolutionary party, towhich they belonged, that was opposed to Salomon, the president inpower. 

"Whatever their object might be, however, I distrusted them in everyway, believing them, indeed, actuated by other motives than such asmight be prompted by their political aspirations, my suspicions beingconfirmed by the looks and bearing of the gang, who seemed capable ofany atrocity, judging them by their villainous faces and generally hang-dog appearance, besides which they were continually whispering togetheramongst themselves, and consorting and confabbing with the mulattoes andother coloured men belonging to the crew. 

"In addition to that, Senor Applegarth, and you too, gentlemen, Inoticed that our friend `the marquis, ' although he gave himself greatairs, on account of the aristocratic blood and descent to which he layclaim, pretending to think himself much superior in position to bothCaptain Alphonse and myself, and regarding poor Cato, my servant, asmere dirt under his feet, albeit the faithful negro was of a like colourto himself--did not esteem it beneath his high dignity to associate withthe scum of the forecastle and bandy ribald obscenities, when hebelieved himself unobserved, with his fellow scoundrels. 

"Aye, I watched my gentleman carefully, and so, too, did my poorfaithful Cato!"

CHAPTER TWENTY. 

THE SEVENTH OF NOVEMBER. 

"My faithful negro, however, " continued the colonel, pausing at thispoint to puff out another cloud of smoke from his fragrantcigar, --"well, he was unable to learn anything of the Haytians, thoughhe tried to make friends of them, for they always stopped their talkamongst themselves on his approach, and would only reply to hisovertures in monosyllables expressive of distrust, accompanied bycontemptuous gestures that angered poor Cato greatly, for, as heconsidered that he belonged to me, he felt the insult to be directed notonly at himself but at the whole family. 

"`Golly, massa!' he said to me after a couple or so of attempts thatproved fruitless to ingratiate himself into the confidence of the gang, `you just wait; I catch dem black raskils nappin' by-an'-bye, you see, massa. You see, "speshly dat tarn markiss!"'

"He managed this sooner than he thought, and pretty smartly too, for thevery next day he caught the noble scoundrel, who was his particularaversion, walking off with a pair of pistols from Captain Alphonse'scabin. On Cato coming up and stopping him in the very act, the`marquis' put down the pistols quickly, saying in his off-hand mannerthat he was merely examining the locks, remarking how well they weremade. `But, ' said Cato, `guess he no bamboozle dis chile!'

"The following day, sirs, was the seventh of November, last Friday, thatawful, that terrible day!

"Cato, who had been away forward early in the morning to see about ourbreakfast, came back aft with a terrified face. 

"`Yay, massa, ' said he, `guess dose tam niggars up to sumfin'! I'sehear um say dey smell de lan' an' de time was 'rive to settle de whitetrash, dat what dey say, an' take ship. One ob de tam raskel see mecome out of gully, an' say cut um tongue out if I'se tell youse, massa!'

"Of course on hearing this I put Captain Alphonse immediately on hisguard, and we locked up all the spare arms and ammunition until weshould require the same, excepting our own revolvers and three otherpistols, which we served out to the two mates and the boatswain, all ofwhom were good men and brave Frenchmen. Monsieur Boisson, when he wasasked if he would have one, shrugged his shoulders and said he was asimple passenger, he did not understand fighting--it was not his affair;while little Mr Johnson said he was an Englishman and preferred usinghis fists. Don Miguel had a pistol of his own. 

"Jingo! The emergency we dreaded came soon enough, sir; indeed, soonerthan we expected, and it was fortunate we had been forewarned!

"It was just after the noontide hour, I recollect that well, for CaptainAlphonse had just taken the altitude of the sun to ascertain ourposition, when, as he came up from his cabin where he had gone toconsult his chronometers and work out `the reckoning, ' as you sailorscall it, that that black devil the `marquis' mounted the poop with asimpering and fawning air. 

"`Ah well, captain, ' said he, with a very polite bow, `where do you makeus out to be, monsieur? Near the Bermudas yet?'

"`My word, yes, ' replied Captain Alphonse. `We are some ten leagues orso the westward of the islands, but we're bearing up now, as you see, toreach them. '

"`And what time, monsieur, ' said the `marquis, ' speaking louder so thatsome of the other niggers who were on the deck below could hear what hesaid. `Do you think it will be possible for us to land? My companionsand myself, monsieur, as you can well imagine, are most anxious to getashore as soon as possible, so that we may procure a ship to take us onto Havana. '

"`But, yes, your anxiety is natural enough, ' responded poor CaptainAlphonse, suspecting nothing from this. `I hope to approach near enoughto Port Saint George to put you ashore some time in the afternoon. '

"`_Ohe_, below there!' cried out the Haytian in reply to this, addressing his companions in the waist, who, I noticed, were graduallyedging themselves more and more aft. `Do you hear that, my brave boys?We are going to land at last. Get the boat ready!'

"This was evidently a signal, for he shouted out the last words in astill higher key than that in which he had been speaking. 

"`You need not hurry, my friend!' said the captain, surprised at thisorder and smiling at the Haytian's impulsiveness, as he thought it. `There will be plenty of time for lowering the boat when we come insight of land. '

"`I think differently, monsieur, ' rejoined the other, scowling andassuming an arrogant tone for the first time. `I say the time is_Now_!'

"This he yelled out at the top of his voice. 

"Instantly the gang of blacks made a rush at the poop on both sides atonce, and Captain Alphonse clutched at his revolver, which he had in hispocket, but was unable to get it out in time. 

"Mine, however, was in my hand and ready cocked. "

"Houly Moses!" ejaculated Garry O'Neil, his Irish blood making him allattention now at the mere mention of fighting. "I hope ye let 'em haveit hot, sor!

"Guess I did!" replied Colonel Vereker grimly, dropping unconsciouslyinto his native vernacular, which up to now he had almost seemed to haveforgotten from his long residence amongst a Spanish-speaking race. "Youmay bet your bottom dollar on that, sir! I aimed at that scoundrel the`marquis, ' but he jumped backward in his fright and his foot catching inone of the ringbolts, he tumbled right over the poop-rail on to the deckbelow; the shot I had intended for him dropping the black pilot, hisconstant companion, and who was invariably behind him. _He_ droppeddown as dead as a herring!

"Don Miguel, who luckily had just come up from the saloon, being handywith his revolver from the rough times he had experienced, like myself, in Venezuela, settled another darkie; while little Johnson, theEnglishman, caught up a long hand-spike, bigger than himself, and withit knocked down two of the Haytians to his own cheek. 

"Madame Boisson, meanwhile, was screaming for her husband, her braveHercules, to come to the rescue; but the `brave Hercules' had lockedhimself in his cabin, as my little Elsie told me afterwards; forfortunately the poor child was not feeling well and I had desired her toremain below during the hot noontide heat of the sun; and, she alsosaid, she could hear him crying and sobbing and calling downimprecations on everybody, including `my wife' and himself for bothbeing in such a position, Madame Boisson hammering at the door all thetime, and, after finding he would not reopen to her appeal for help, apostrophising him as a coward! a pig!

"During this time we were pretty busy on deck, the second mate, Basseterre, and another French seaman, who was with him in the crossjackyard, having come down from aloft to our assistance. Captain Alphonsegot his revolver out, when he and Don Miguel and I giving them a volleyaltogether, and the others supporting us with what weapons they had, werushed the rascals off the poop quicker than they came up, the lotreturning to the forecastle along with the `marquis, ' who, I was veryglad to see, had cut his face considerably by his tumble. 

"Captain Alphonse thereupon, seeing the coast clear, sang out for Housi, his second officer, and the boatswain, who he thought were away forward, to come up aft and join us, so that we might all be together, butinstead of these men, Cato, my own black servant ran up the poop-ladderand told us in much trepidation that Monsieur Housi, with the boatswainRigault and one of the French sailors, were imprisoned in the forepeak, while the two white sailors and the steward were hard and fast in themain hold, whither they had descended to get some provisions, themutineers slipping on the hatchway cover over them, on the `marquis, 'that devil, giving the signal!"

"Ah, my poor fellows!" cried Captain Alphonse. "That, then, means thereare only ourselves left. Good heavens! What shall we do?"

"Why, hoist a signal of distress, " I suggested at once. "We are nearBermuda, on the cruising ground of the English men-of-war; and as thesescoundrels have no friends or assistance, I daresay we'll be able tohold out here until some vessel bears up to our aid!"

"`Good, my friend, ' replied Captain Alphonse, who with Basseterre, thesecond mate, and Don Miguel, remained to keep guard with theirrevolvers, both seated on top of the skylight hatchway, which commandedthe approaches to the poop by way of the ladders, while I, with the lastof the white sailors, ran aft. Then I called out, `Hoist the Frenchflag!'

"I knew that the locker with the flags was in the wheel-house, close tothe taffrail, and there being no one to interfere with us, the negro whohad been attending the helm having bolted the moment I pulled out myrevolver at the first alarm, the traitor flying to join the othermutineers, my sailor and I soon ferretted out an old ensign, theTricolour; when, binding it on to the signal halliards, we hoisted itabout half-way up the peak of our spanker, whence it could best be seenby a passing ship. "

"Did you know what that signal meant, colonel?" said Captain Applegarthin an inquiring tone, "that you had a death aboard, eh?"

"Si, senor. Oh yes, of course, " repeated the colonel, correctinghimself almost as soon as he spoke for his lapse again into the Spanishtongue. "There were half a dozen dead Haytians there, whom, by the way, Captain Alphonse and I presently pitched over the side! But, beyondthat, sir, I believe all sailors regard a flag hoisted in that way, `half-mast high, ' as it is termed, to be a signal of distress!

"Without doubt, sir, " answered the skipper. "I was only testing yournautical experience, that's all!"

"I am glad then, I did not make a blunder about it, as I thought I haddone from your question, " returned Colonel Vereker, quite seriously, notnoticing that the skipper was only poking fun at him in his way and didnot mean anything beyond a bit of chaff. "Well, sir, after hoisting theflag the French sailor and I seized the opportunity to lash the helmamidships so as to keep the _Saint Pierre_ on her course, for we couldnot spare him to do the steering, and Captain Alphonse and Don Miguel, with the plucky little Englishman and myself, had all our work to dowatching the mutineers with our revolvers!

"After a time, as the rascals kept pretty quiet in their part of theship, and as my poor little daughter Elsie had been a long time now shutup below, I thought she might come up on the poop to get a breath offresh air while it was still light; there being no fear of the blacksassailing us again so long as they knew we could see to shoot straightand had our weapons handy!

"So I sent Cato down to fetch her on deck, and she came up the nextmoment, all full of curiosity and alarm, as you may imagine, the littleone wanting to know what had occurred; for the reports of my revolverand the subsequent stillness had occasioned her great fright, MadameBoisson and her husband, the `brave Hercules, ' being but poorcomforters. 

"All at once, while I was explaining to her about the flag, telling herthat we had hoisted it in order to summon any passing ship to ourassistance, she suddenly went to the side and looked over the bulwarkstowards the north. 

"The next moment she gave vent to a cry of joy. 

"`Oh, my father, ' she suddenly exclaimed. `You have only just hoistedthe flag in time. There's a big steamer! Look, look! there it is, andcoming up to help us!'

"`Where? where? Where is it? I cannot see it. Nonsense, Elsie; youare dreaming, my child!' I said, looking out eagerly to where shepointed, but could see nothing. `There's no ship there, little one!'and I felt angry at the false alarm. 

"`But, my father, you are wrong, ' still insisted the child, as positiveas you please. `I can see the vessel there in the distance quiteplainly. See how the black smoke comes puffing out of the chimneys. '

"I laughed at this. 

"`Little darling, ' said I, `there was no ship, and there are no"chimneys" on board ships at sea. Sailors call them funnels, my dearestone. '

"She pretended to pout on my thus catching her tripping in her talk. 

"`Well, my father, ' said she, with a shrug of her shoulders, as is herhabit sometimes, `I may be wrong about the chimneys, but I am not wrongabout seeing a ship. Why, my father, there she is now, coming closerand closer, and quite near; so near that I can see--yes, I can see--I amquite sure--a big boy there. Look, look, father, dear! There he is infront of the smoke. He has quite a pleasant face. '

"Elsie turned in my direction as she spoke, and, though I was stillgazing all the while, I could see nothing, and I was vexed, very vexedwith my little girl for her persistency in the matter. 

"`Why, it has gone--quite disappeared!' she cried out the instant after, on rushing to the side and looking over. `What does it mean? Why didshe not come and help if she saw the flag?'

"`You have dreamt it, little one, ' I replied shortly, as I had donebefore. `It's a freak of the imagination, and you fancied it, you funnylittle woman. '

"But it was a curious incident, though, sir, was it not, at such a time, with our hearts all full of expectancy and hope?"

Captain Applegarth was greatly excited by the narrative, and so, it mayreadily be believed, was I. 

He asked abruptly, "When did this happen? Tell me, colonel, at once. It is strange--very so!"

The other looked up with surprise, while Mr Stokes stared at him withwonder, and the Irishman opened his big blue eyes wide to the full. 

"I have already told you, sir, " replied Colonel Vereker very quickly. "As I told you before, it was the seventh of November--last Friday. "

"Yes; but I mean what time of the day, sir?"

"Oh, I should think about five o'clock in the afternoon. Perhaps alittle later, as the sun was going down, I recollect, at the time. "

I could not restrain my astonishment at this. 

"It must be the very ship I saw!" I thought to myself. 

"Is the young lady slight in figure, and has she long golden-colouredhair hanging loose about her head, sir?" I eagerly asked, almostbreathless in my excitement. "And, tell me too, did she have a largeblack Newfoundland or retriever dog by her side that same evening, sir?"

Colonel Vereker seemed even more astonished by this question of minethan I had been by his reply to Captain Applegarth the moment before. 

"My brave young sir, " said he, using this somewhat grandiloquent form ofaddressing me, I suppose, in remembrance of the slight service I haddone him by swimming with the line to the drifting boat when we pickedup him and his companion. "My little Elsie is tall and slight for herage, and her hair is assuredly of a golden hue, ah, yes! like liquidsunshine; though, how you, my good young gentleman, who, to myknowledge, can _never_ have seen her face to face in this life, can knowthe colour of her hair or what she is like, I must confess that passesmy comprehension!"

"But the dog, sir?"

"That is stranger still, " remarked Colonel Vereker. "I had forgotten tomention that I brought with me on board the _Saint Pierre_ from my oldhome at Caracas a splendid Russian wolf-hound, as faithful a creature asmy poor negro servant Cato. His name is Ivan, and he is now, Isincerely hope and trust, guarding my little darling girl, as I wouldhave done if I had remained with her, for not a living soul would dareto touch her with him there. Ivan would tear them limb from limb first. He is a large greyish-black dog, with a rough shaggy coat, and in replyto your enquiry, I must tell you he _was_ on the poop of the ship, bythe side of my child, at the very time that she declared she saw thatsteamer, which I, myself, could not see anywhere!"

For the moment I was unable to speak. I was so overcome at thisunexpected confirmation of the sight I had seen on that eventful Fridaynight, though I had afterwards been inclined to disbelieve the evidenceof my own senses, as everybody else had done, even the skipper at lastjoining in with the opinion of Mr Fosset and all the rest, save theboatswain, old Masters. Yes, yes; every one them imagined that I haddreamt of "the ghost-ship" as they called my vision, and that I had notseen it at all!

But this statement from the colonel absolutely staggered the skipper, and he looked from me to the American and back again at me in the mostbewildering manner possible; the old chief, Mr Stokes, and Garry O'Neilstaring at the pair of us with equal amazement. 

"By George, the girl and the dog, the girl and the dog. Why, it's thevery same ship, as you say, Haldane; it must be so, and, by George, myboy, you were right after all! By George, you were!" at lengthexclaimed the skipper in a voice, the genuineness of whose astonishmentcould not be doubted. "Colonel Vereker, I would not have credited thishad any one told it me and sworn to the truth of it on oath, but theproof is so strong that I cannot possibly disbelieve it, sir, though itis to my mind a downright impossibility according to every argument ofcommon sense. It is certainly the most wonderful thing that has everhappened to me, and the most wonderful thing that I have ever heard ofsince I have been at sea!"

"Heavens!" cried the other. "But why? You surprise me, sir. "

"Aye, colonel, " rejoined the skipper. "But I am going to surprise youmore. Now don't laugh at me, and don't think me an idiot and gone offmy head, sir, when I tell you that this lad, Dick Haldane, here, whetherby reason of some mirage or other I cannot tell, for it's beyond myunderstanding altogether, distinctly saw your ship with her signal ofdistress, and says he saw your little daughter with the dog by her side, aboard her, last Friday night at sunset. More than that, sir, hedescribed to me at the time, exactly as you have done now, colonel, everything he saw, even to the very hue of the young girl's hair and thecolour and texture of the dog's coat! It is altogether marvellous and, indeed, incredible!"

"Well, but--" said Colonel Vereker slowly, and pausing between everyword as if trying to comprehend it all. "Why, how is that, sir?"

"Your ship, colonel, must have been more than five hundred miles awayfrom ours at the time--that is all!"

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. 

BUTCHERED. 

"Dios!" exclaimed Colonel Vereker. "Are you--certain of this, sir?"

Captain Applegarth shrugged his shoulders. 

"Ask Mr Stokes here and your doctor there, Mr O'Neil, whether they didnot hear Haldane's yarn about your ship five days ago, sir, before weever clapped eyes on you, " said he in a slightly aggrieved tone, as ifhe thought his word was being doubted. "Why, colonel, this poor lad wasbecoming the butt for everybody's chaff on board on account of it!"

"Gracious!" cried the other. "This is indeed really wonderful!"

"Aye, colonel, and more than that! But for the lad seeing this mirage, or whatever else it was, and telling me about it, we would not have goneoff our course in search of you to render what assistance we could--yours being the `ship in distress' Haldane reported having sighted tothe southward. This divergence from our track, sir, took us into thevery teeth of the gale which we encountered later on, that same evening, and conduced to our breaking down. "

"Faith, " put in Garry O'Neil, "that's thrue for sure, sor!"

"This breakdown of ours, colonel, led to our drifting to the southwardinto the trail of the Gulf Stream, " continued the skipper, following upthe strange sequence of events as they occurred, one by one. "Yourship--the real ship, I mean--was drifting north and east meanwhile, carried along by the same current, and then it came about that, althoughapparently going in opposite directions and acted on by differentcauses, our tracks _crossed each other on the chart last night_--atleast, that is my opinion. "

"I see, I see, " cried Colonel Vereker quickly, interrupting him, and ina state of great excitement. "Thank God! But for that you would neverhave sighted our drifting boat and picked up myself and poor CaptainAlphonse! Thank God, Senor Haldane saw us in that mysterious way. Itseems to have been an interposition of heaven to warn you of our periland bring you to our aid!"

"Just so, colonel; that's what I think myself now, " said the skipperimpressively, taking off his cap and looking upward with a gravereflective air. "Aye, and I thank God, too, for putting us in the wayof helping you, with all my heart, sir!"

"Ah!" observed old Mr Stokes, who had remained silent the while. "Theways of Providence are as wonderful as they are mysterious!"

There was a pause after this in our conversation which no one seemedanxious to break till Garry O'Neil spoke. 

"Faith, sor, you haven't tould us yit how ye come by this wound in yourleg, an' about that poor chap in yander, " he said to the colonel, nodding his head in the direction of Captain Applegarth's inner statecabin, where the French captain was lying in his cot. "Sure, we'redyin' to hear the end of your scrimmage with those black divvles!"

Colonel Vereker heaved a sigh. 

"Well, I ought not to doubt that the good God is watching over mylittle, darling daughter after what I have just learnt, my friends, "said he in a more hopeful tone than his depressed manner indicated, looking round at us with his large, melancholy, dark eyes. "I ought notto despair!"

"Certainly not, sir; I dare say we'll soon overhaul the ship now, forwe're more than an hour and a half in chase of her at full speed, "remarked the skipper, recovering himself from his fit of abstraction andlooking at his watch to see the time. "Go on, colonel; go on, please, and tell us the end of your story. "

"There is little more for you to hear, sir, " replied the other, settlinghimself back in his seat again, after Mr O'Neil had once more dressedthe wound in his leg. "Before it was dark that terrible night I sentElsie below, while Captain Alphonse with myself stayed up on the poopfor the first watch, each of us with a loaded revolver, besides having abox of cartridges handy on the skylight near by, should we want toreplenish our ammunition. But the Haytians, sir, had evidently hadenough of us for that evening, making no further attempts to attack usas the hours wore on. 

"They were as watchful as ourselves, though, for as Cato, anon, tryingto creep forwards so as to release the French sailors confined under themain hatchway, had a narrow escape of his life, a heavy spar beingsuddenly let down by the run almost on top of his head when he venturedout on the exposed deck. This was at midnight, when the second mate, Basseterre, and Don Miguel, with the French sailor Duval, relievedCaptain Alphonse and me, taking the middle watch. 

"Next morning, however, soon after Captain Alphonse and I, with thelittle Englishman, had resumed charge of the poop and the others wereresting--alas, my friends, without my knowledge or sanction, poor Catomade another attempt to reach the hatchway, which, unfortunatelyresulted in his death!

"Hearing Ivan growl and my little daughter cry out as if something hadfrightened her, I had gone down to the cabin shortly after daylight tosee what was the matter, cautioning Captain Alphonse, who hardly neededmy caution, not to leave his post for a moment, and not thinking ofCato, who had disappeared from the top of the companion-way and had gonebelow to Elsie--heard her cry, I thought, and gone to her even beforemyself. 

"He was not in the cabin, however; nor did I find anything much thematter with my child, who had evidently unconsciously cried out in somedream she had, Ivan, of course, gushing in sympathy and waking her up. So, telling Elsie to compose herself and go off to sleep again, aseverything was going on all right and there was nothing to be alarmedabout, beyond the snoring of Monsieur and Madame Boisson at the furtherend of the cabin, I, feeling greatly relieved, returned on deck. 

"I looked round for Cato at once, naturally, for our forces were not sostrong that one would not be missed, especially such a one as he!

"But my faithful negro was nowhere in sight! Captain Alphonse said, too, he had not seen him during my absence below, nor indeed, for sometime prior to my going down to the cabin. 

"I then searched the wheel-house aft without discovering him. 

"`Cato!' I called out, `where are you? Come here immediately!'

"My poor servant did not answer, but that black fiend, the pseudo`marquis' advanced from the forepart of the deck, sheltering himself, you may be sure, from my aim in the rear of the windlass bitts, whichwere in a line between us. 

"`You will have to call louder, ' he cried with a mocking laugh like thatof a hyena, and full of devilish glee. `I assure you, much louder, myfriend, before that spy slave of yours will ever be able to answer youagain!'

"Heavens! I feared the worst then. Poor Cato! They had caught himreconnoitring. 

"`What have you done with him, you son of Satan?' I yelled out, full ofrage and anger, and with a terrible foreboding. `If you have hurt ahair of his head I will make you pay dearly for it, I can tell you, youfiend!'

"The malicious, murdering wretch only replied to my threat with anothermocking laugh, which his companions echoed, as if enjoying a joke, whileI noticed them dragging at a shapeless mass from the forecastleforwards. 

"`Kick the carrion aft!' I heard the inhuman brute say to hisfollowers. `Let the "white trash" see the dog's carcass! He will thenbelieve what I have said, Name of God! and know what is in store forhimself!'

"My God! Senor Applegarth and you, gentlemen, I can hardly tell youwhat followed. It is all too horrible. 

"The sight of what I saw will haunt me to my grave!

"For the shapeless mass I had observed slowly raised itself up from thedeck, and I saw that it was my poor Cato. The savages had hacked theunfortunate man to pieces with their knives!

"He recognised me, poor creature, and appeared to try to speak, but onlymade an inarticulate noise between a sob and a groan that rings in myears now, while the blood gushed from his mouth as he fell forwards, facing me, dead, huddled up in a heap again upon the deck!

"Those devils incarnate, besides mutilating his limbs, had, would youbelieve it, cut out his tongue as they had before threatened, forwarning us of their treachery!"

"God in heaven!" exclaimed Captain Applegarth, stopping in his quickwalk up and down the saloon and bringing his fist down on the table witha bang that made the glasses in the swinging tray above jump and rattle, two of them indeed falling over and smashing into fragments on thefloor. "The infernal demons! Can such things be? It is dreadful!"

All of us were equally horror stricken and indignant at the colonel'sterrible recital, even old Mr Stokes waking up and stretching out hishand to the skipper, as if pledging himself to what he wished to urgebefore he spoke. 

"Horrible, horrible, sir!" he panted out, his anger taking away hisbreath and affecting his voice. "But we'll avenge the poor fellow andkill the rascals when we come up with them, won't we, sir? There's myhand on it, anyway!"

I did not and could not say anything; no, I couldn't; but you can prettywell imagine the oath I mentally registered. 

Not so Garry O'Neil, though. 

The Irishman's face flamed with rage and anger. "Kill them, sor!" criedhe, springing to his feet from the chair in which he had been seatedalongside the colonel, whose injured limb he had been carefullyattending to again all the while, his reddish beard and moustachebristling, and his steel-blue eyes flashing out veritable sparks, itseemed of fire. "Faith, killin's too good for 'em, sure, the haythenmiscreants! I'd boil 'em alive, sor, or roast 'em in the stoke-hold, begorrah, if I had me own way with 'em. I would, sor, so hilp me Moses, if all the howly saints, whose names be praised, an' the blessed ouldPope, too, prayed me to spare 'em. Och, the murtherin' bastes, thedaymans, the divvles!"

He was almost beside himself in his rage and passionate invective. Somuch so, indeed, that Mr Stokes, despite his own hearty sympathy withthe like cause, looked at the infuriated Irishman in great trepidation, for his face was flushed, and his hair seemed actually to stand on end, while his words tumbled out of his mouth pell-mell, jostling each otherin their eagerness to find utterance. 

The chief really fancied, I believe, that he had suddenly gone mad, ashe literally fumed with fury. 

After a few moments, however, Garry cooled down a bit, restraininghimself by a violent effort, and he turned to his whilom patient with anapologetic air. 

"Faith, sor, I fancied I had that divvle, your fri'nd, the markiss, sure, be the throat, " said he, with a feeble attempt at a grin andbiting his lips to keep in his feelings while he dropped his arms, whichhe had been whirling round his head like a maniac only just before. "Bythe powers, wouldn't I throttle the baste swately, if I had hould of himonce in these two hands of mine!"

Colonel Vereker stretched out both his impulsively, and gripped those ofGarry O'Neil. 

"Heavens!" he cried, with tears in his eyes. "You are a white man, sir. I can't say more than that, and I am proud to know you!"

"Och, niver moind that, colonel, " said the Irishman, putting aside thecompliment, the highest the colonel thought he could give. "Till uswhat you did, sure, afther the poor maimed crayture was murthered bythat Haytian divvle. Faith, I loathe the baste. I hate him like pizen, though I haven't sane him yit, more's the pity; but it'll be a bad jobfor him when I do clap my peepers on him!"

"I could not do much, " said the other, proceeding with his account ofthe struggle with the mutineers on board the _Saint Pierre_, "butCaptain Alphonse and myself emptied our revolvers at the scoundrels andfloored three of them before they retreated back into the forecastle;but the `marquis, ' the greatest scoundrel of the whole lot, escaped scotfree, though I fired four shots at him point blank as he dodged behindthe mainmast and windlass bits, keeping well under cover, and mocking myefforts to get a straight aim. The villain, I think, bears a charmedlife!"

"Niver you fear, sor, " put in Garry, in answer to this remark. "Hisfather, ould Nick, is keepin' him for somethin' warm whin I git hould ofhim. Faith, sor, you can bet your boots on that, sure!"

Colonel Vereker smiled sadly at the impulsive Irishman's remark. Hecould see that he had moved every fibre of his feeling heart and warmnature and that he was following every incident of his terrible story ofatrocities and sufferings with an all-engrossing interest. 

"I rushed to the poop-ladder to make for the mocking brute, intending togrip him by the neck, as you have suggested, sir, " said he, "when, byheavens, I would have choked the life out of his vile carcass!

"But Captain Alphonse prevented me. 

"`My God! dear friend, ' he cried, catching hold of me round the body inhis powerful arms, so that I could not move a step. `Remember thelittle one, your little daughter, who would have no one to protect hershould these rabble kill you. Besides, my friend, the good Cato is deadnow, and the useless sacrifice of your life, of both our lives probably, if you go forwards, and perhaps too the life of the little one, whocannot even help herself, will never bring back the breath to the bravelad's body! No, no, colonel, I promise you, ' said he, at the same timekissing the tips of his fingers and elevating his shoulders, in hisFrench fashion, `We will do something better than that. Only wait; bepatient. We will avenge him, you will see, but I pray you do nothingrash, for the sake of the little one. '"

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. 

ALL ADRIFT. 

"Aye, colonel, " sang out the skipper, as if in response to these wordsof the French captain, "to avenge him; that's what all of us here havesworn to do, I know, for I can answer for them as if I were speaking formyself. Yes, and so we will, too. We'll avenge him--the poor fellowwhom they butchered. We will, by George!"

"Begorrah!" exclaimed Garry O'Neil. "You can count on me for one onthat job, as I tould ye before, and I don't care how soon we begin it, cap'en!"

"And me too, " put in old Mr Stokes, again becoming very enthusiastic. "The whole lot must be punished, sir, when we catch them!"

"I thought so, " said the skipper, looking round at us and then turningto the colonel with a proud air. "You see, sir, we're all unanimous;for I can answer for this lad Haldane, here, though the poor chap's toobashful to speak for himself!"

"I know what the gallant youth can do already, " said the other, lookingat me kindly as I held up my head like the rest, but with a very redface. "Thank you, gentlemen all, for your promises. Well, then, on myfriend Captain Alphonse putting the matter in the way he did, to make anend of my story, I held back, and all that day--it was last Saturday--weremained on the defensive, we five holding the after part of the ship, and the Haytians and mutineers of our crew the forecastle. All of us, though, kept on the watch; they looking out for land, we for help inresponse to our signal flag half-mast high. 

"But neither party saw what they looked out and longed for; no corner ofland on the horizon gratified the desire of their eyes, no ship hove insight to bless ours with the promise of relief!

"The next morning, Sunday, it came on to blow, and our vessel was takenaback and nearly foundered. Fortunately, though, the mutineers notinterfering, most of them being seasick forwards, Captain Alphonse andBasseterre started down into the waist to cast off all the sheets andhalliards they could reach, letting everything fly; whereupon we drovebefore the wind and so escaped any mishap from this source, at allevents!

"Probably on account of their prostration from the effects of sea-sickness, our enemies did not molest us in any way throughout the day;but towards the morning my little Elsie came up the companion-way in astate of great terror, saying she heard a sort of scratching in the holdbelow, and that Ivan, her dog, was growling as if he smelt somebodytrying to get in, though we could not hear the dog on deck from thenoise of the wind and sea, and a lot of loose ropes and swinging sparswhich were making a terrible row aloft. 

"I went down at once with her, and without even taking the trouble tolisten I could clearly distinguish the sound of tapping beneath thecabin deck, despite the confused jabbering of Monsieur Boisson, and theshrill tones of his wife. 

"I knelt down then and put my ear to the planking, Monsieur Boissonwatching me with his bottle-brush sort of hair standing straight up onend with fright, and Madame, who I thought had more courage than he, though such, evidently, I now saw was not the case--well, she wasrolling on one of the saloon settees in a fit of hysterics, screamingand yelling at the top of her voice. 

"`Who's there?' I called out in French. `Are you one of thoseHaytians, or a friend and one of us? Answer! I will know who it iswhen you speak!'

"`I am a friend!' came back instantly in Spanish. `Let me out, sir; Iam nearly stifled down here. The three of us who were locked in themain hatch have worked through the cargo and broken the after bulkhead, making our way here, but we can't get out of this, for the trap isfastened down, sir!'

"It was Pedro Gomez, the steward, who had gone down into the hold withtwo of the white sailors just before the outbreak of the mutiny toobtain some salt pork and other food for the use of the very scoundrelswho had imprisoned them, and who, probably, believed they had all threedied by this time, like poor Cato, only through suffocation, instead ofbeing murdered as he was!

"Needless to say, I immediately drew back the bolts of the hatchwaycover leading down into the after-hold, which was just under theflooring of little Elsie's cabin, and released the three, overjoyed notonly at finding alive those whom we had thought dead, but doubly so athaving such a welcome addition to our small force of five--I couldn'trely upon that coward Boisson--opposed as we were to the thirty, whomthe enemy still mustered, after deducting those we shot. 

"Why, with this adventitious aid, we could now attack the cursedwretches in their stronghold, instead of our merely remaining on thedefensive, waiting for them to assail us, as we had been forced to doall along!

"I thought it best, however, not to let the Haytian scoundrels know ofthis increase to our strength until the morrow, believing that if wewaited till daylight we might be able to take them more completely thenby surprise and ensure a victory; for in the dark we might get mixed upand, firing at random, hit our friends as well as our foes. So I wentup above and spoke to Captain Alphonse, who agreed with me about it, andwe planned a pleasant little fete for the morning. 

"This broke auspiciously enough, the sun rising on a tolerably calm sea, while the strong wind of the previous evening had graduated down to agentle breeze from the south-west. 

"But hardly had we made all our arrangements as to the distribution ofarms and settling our form of attack, when our plans were upset by thevillainous `marquis' advancing aft with a pistol in his hand, supportedby another of the scoundrels, a negro like himself from Port au Prince, and black as a coal, but a regular giant in size, and who likewise helda revolver. 

"Heavens! They had previously been without firearms, wherein lay oursuperiority in spite of numbers; but these weapons now put us almost onlevel terms, notwithstanding the reinforcement we had received. 

"`Where could they have got 'em, sir?' said little Mr Johnson to me, heand Captain Alphonse and myself being in counsel together at the time, it being the watch below of Don Miguel and Basseterre and the sailorDuval, all three of whom were asleep in the wheel-house, recruiting fortheir night duty. `They didn't have no firearms yesterday, colonel, I'll swear. Do you think they've murdered the mate and bo'sun forrads, and robbed 'em?'

"As a similar idea flashed through my mind, that devil, the `marquis, 'answered the little Englishman's question as I, too, had feared!

"`Oh! my friend, ' he called out, as I covered him with my revolver frommy rampart behind the poop-rail on the top of the ladder, where a rollof tarpaulin served us for shelter. `Don't be too handy with yourpistol. We have got firearms too, now. Stop a minute. I have gotsomething to say to you. '

"`You had better make haste with your speech, then, ' said I. `My fingeris itching to pull the trigger, and you know, to your cost, I'm a deadshot!'

"`You will not do much good by killing me, ' he retorted with thatmocking hyena laugh of his, which always exasperated me so much. `Iwant to tell you that we know you have got three more men with you nowthan you had yesterday, for we searched the hold this morning and foundthe nest empty and the birds flown. But recollect, my friend, we canget to you aft through the cargo, in the same way as those white-liveredwretches have done!'

"`Bah! I'm not afraid of your threats, you black devil, ' I replied, although my heart went down to my boots at the thought of my darlingchild being caught unawares and being left to the mercy of such demons. `We have scuttled the after part of the ship, and at the least noisebeing heard in the hold we will let in the water and drown you all likerats in a hole, and see how you like that!'

"This idea, which occurred to me on the spur of the instant, evidentlyimpressed the scoundrel, for I could see a change come over his uglyface. 

"`Let us make a compromise, ' he suggested after a pause, during which hewhispered to his companion, the giant negro, both keeping much behindthe mainmast. `You can take that boat you have there at the stern, thelot of you, if you like, and leave us the ship. '

"`My word, that's a very good proposal, marquis, ' said Captain Alphonse, coming to my side. `You won't interfere with us, I suppose, if we goaway and give you absolute power to do what you please with the _SaintPierre_, eh?'

"`Assuredly not, my friend; we promise that, ' eagerly replied thescoundrel, deceived by the manner of my poor friend. `You can takeanything you like of your personal effects too; you and the otherwhites. '

"`Ah, but my friend, you are too good!' said Captain Alphonse, firingquickly as he spoke at the `marquis, ' who had incautiously exposedhimself, thinking we had been gulled by his proposal and were ready tofall into the trap he had cunningly prepared for us. `Take that, youpig, for my answer!'

"His revolver gave out a sharp crack, and simultaneously with thereport, the other's pistol fell from his hand, the scoundrel's elbowbeing shattered by the shot. 

"Ere I could send a shot in the same direction to finish him off, thebig negro, who had accompanied him to the front, instantly dragged backthe `marquis, ' howling with rage and pain, behind the shelter of themainmast; and then, picking up his revolver for him, the two of themblazed amongst us pretty securely from that retreat, without, however, doing any damage to our side. A bullet of mine, though, flattened thebig negro's nose a little more than Nature had already done for him, andwhich did not improve his beauty, as you can well believe. 

"We kept on popping away at them whenever we saw we had a shot, thewhole of this day; well, that was only yesterday, but appears ages agoto me, sirs! We kept on firing without materially diminishing theirstrength, but they only replied feebly to our fire, with an occasionalshot fired at intervals, making up by their shouting and demoniacalyells for their failure to harm us more effectively. 

"From this we became convinced that they were obliged to husband theirammunition, having no more cartridges beyond those still remaining inthe chambers of the revolvers they were using, which had been loadedwhen served out to Monsieur Henri and the boatswain, to whom the weaponsoriginally belonged. There was, likewise, little doubt but that themutineers had robbed those poor fellows, after murdering them like poorCato, in the forecastle, as the little Englishman had surmised. 

"Towards sunset, later on in the afternoon--last night that was--SenorApplegarth, remember, we sighted your vessel in the distance. 

"Heavens! She looked to us in our desperate strait as an angel of mercymight appear to the spirits of the damned in hell; and, at once, thethought of abandoning our accursed ship, which that fiend of a black`marquis' unwillingly suggested, rapidly matured itself into a resolve. 

"But our intentions in carrying out this determination were verydifferent to his, for we believed that, with your help, we should thesooner be able to overcome the rascally gang, and re-conquer the vesselwe might be compelled, ere long, to surrender, all of us now beingpretty well worn out with the struggle!

"`This is grand! this is magnificent!' cried Captain Alphonse, when Iunfolded this scheme to him; for, sirs, I may say with pardonable pride, it was my plan entirely. `It is good tactique to beat the retreatsometimes in war. They retreat that they may the more easily advance!'

"Don Miguel was also of a like opinion, and so was the littleEnglishman, Mr Johnson, whose snobbishness had by this time beencompletely put in the shade by his manly pluck and straightforwardness;while, as for Basseterre, the mate, and the French sailors, theyimplicitly believed all that Captain Alphonse approved of mustinfallibly be right!

"Our first idea was to attract your attention without letting theHaytians see what we were up to, as, to the best of our belief, they hadno inkling of your proximity; so we were puzzling our brains how to letyou learn our need in some quiet way, when little Mr Johnson suggestedour burning a devil, composed of wet gunpowder piled up in the form of acone. This was accordingly done, and the `devil, ' when lit, placed onthe top of the wheel-house, all the rest of those around dischargingtheir revolvers in rapid succession at the rascals on the forecastle totake off their attention while the firework fizzed and flared up. 

"This signal, however, sirs, did not appear to be observed by yourvessel. "

"It was, though, " interposed the skipper. "We thought you were burninga blue light to let us read your name astern, but you were too far offfor that!"

"Ah! we did not know that, and the failure discouraged us, " replied thecolonel. "Still, whether we were observed or not, we noticed yoursteamer was lying-to, and we made up our minds to try and reach her ifpossible, should we be able to get out of the _Saint Pierre_ beforethose rascally blacks got wind of our scheme and tried to prevent ourleaving. 

"So we set about our preparations forthwith. 

"The four French sailors were ordered to prepare the boat which hungfrom the stern davits and to get it ready for lowering, it being nowdark enough to conceal their movements, while Captain Alphonse andBasseterre kept guard over the approach to the poop on our side, and DonMiguel and the Englishman defended the other ladder leading up from thelower deck. 

"Leaving these at their respective stations, I went down into thesaloon, accompanied by Pedro Gomez, the steward, to procure some tinnedmeats and biscuits, with some barricoes of water and other things toprovision the boat, intending also to warn Monsieur and Madame Boissonof our contemplated departure; not forgetting also, you may be sure, tomake every arrangement for the safety of my child, who, with the dog, her constant companion, had remained below with the ex-milliner and herhusband, though these two had retired to their cabin, whence I could notget them to stir, either by threat of being left behind or any entreaty. No, they were both as obstinate as mules in their cowardice and foolishfears!

"Madame declared they had been `betrayed, ' and asserted they could `diebut once'; while monsieur, `le brave Hercule, ' on his part, said he`washed his hands of all responsibility. ' It was not his affair, heconsidered himself perfectly satisfied, and gave me to understand hewould not interfere on either side, except, I expect, the victoriousone!

"Finding all remonstrances in vain, I was just going to force them awayagainst their will, when suddenly there came a loud shout from the deckabove, and the hasty tramp of feet overhead, which was at once respondedto by Madame Boisson with a shriek at the top of her voice, whilemonsieur cursed everybody in a whining voice. 

"Telling Elsie to stop where she was until I returned for her, I rushedup the companion-way, followed by Pedro Gomez, only to find everythingall but lost!

"The French sailors, it seems, so Mr Johnson told me afterwards in afew hurried words of explanation, had `got into a fog' over the falls ofthe boat they had been sent to lower, and seeing the clumsy way theywere setting to work at the job, both Basseterre and Captain Alphonsethoughtlessly left their post to show the men the proper way to do thetask ordered. Alas! though, in a second, while the whole lot of themall had their backs turned to the Haytians, these demons, grasping theopportunity in a moment, rushed up on the poop by the port-ladder way, now unguarded!

"Captain Alphonse, hearing the noise of their approach, faced about, fronting his foes like a tiger at bay, and drew his revolver from hisbelt. 

"But, sir, he was too late!

"Ere he could put up his hand to guard himself, for I could see it allin an instant, as I emerged from the companion-hatchway, the giantnegro, who had abandoned his pistol for a hand-spike, brought down thisfearful weapon with a tremendous thwack on the side of my poor friend'shead with the result you have seen. "

"Aye, faith, " said Garry O'Neil. "It must have been a terrible blow, sure, sor!"

"It was, " replied the colonel grimly. "It knocked him down like abullock, and then, before I could interfere, the big brute took upCaptain Alphonse, all bleeding and senseless as he was, but stillbreathing, and chucked him into the sea. 

"That was the negro's last act, however; for, as he broke into a hugeguffaw of triumph over the ghastly deed, I fired my revolver, the barrelof which I shoved almost into his mouth and blew his brains out!"

"Hooray!" exclaimed the impulsive Garry O'Neil on hearing this. "Faith, I ounly wish, colonel, I had been there with ye. Begorrah, I'd havemade 'em hop at it, sure, I bet, sor!

"After that, " continued the narrator, we had some stiff work for fiveminutes or so, but by keeping the skylight between us, the continuousfire of our four revolvers at such short range proved too much for them, and we succeeded in driving the blacks off the poop. The whole lot ofthem retreated back to the forecastle, leaving five of their number deadabout the decks, besides half a dozen or so of the others badly wounded;all of us, fortunately, escaping with only a few slight bruises fromblows from the Haytian's clubs and hand-spikes--the only weapons theyused. 

"All save poor Captain Alphonse, that is; for it was only when the coastwas clear of the scoundrels and the poop safe again that I had time tothink of him. 

"Pedro Gomez, remaining with Basseterre and one of the sailors, to guardthe port-ladder way with their six-shooters loaded and levelled infront, commanding all approach aft, in the same way as the mate and poorCaptain Alphonse had done in the first instance, I went off with allhaste to the stern gallery to see what had become of my unfortunatefriend, taking the other three sailors with me, for though taking partin the general scrimmage when the blacks invaded the poop sounexpectedly, Don Miguel and Johnson had stuck valiantly to their postby the starboard rail, and so I had no fear of another surprise on nowproceeding aft. 

"It was still light enough to distinguish objects near, and as I lookedover the side, what was my astonishment to see his body yet afloat, notfar from the ship. Aye, sir, there he was; and, stranger still, as myeye caught sight of him, the poor fellow, unconsciously, no doubt, raised one hand out of the dark water with a quick, convulsive action, just as though he were beckoning to me and imploring me to save him!

"On noticing this--a fact, of course, which showed plainly enough that hewas still alive--without thinking of what I was doing, I jumped on aprojecting bollard and dived from the deck of the ship into the sea. 

"I soon rose to the surface, when, swimming up to the almost lifelessbody in a few strokes, I caught hold of a portion of the poor fellow'sclothing and commenced turning it towards the stern of the vessel justunderneath the davits, whence the boat we had been preparing for ourflight was suspended all ready for lowering, and with the French sailorsstanding by above. 

"`Look sharp!' I sang out to them from the water. `Look sharp, there!Lower away!'

"In their haste and flurry, however, the men mistook my order, andthinking I had said `cut away, ' instead of `lower away, ' one of thefools, who held a cutlass he had caught up to defend himself with whenthose infernal niggers rushed at us, the confounded idiot made asweeping cut at the falls from which the boat hung, severing them at oneblow!

"Down came the little craft at once with a splash, almost on the top ofme; and though she managed to ship some water through her suddenimmersion, she quickly righted herself on an even keel, right side up. "

"By George, I'd have keel-hauled 'em wrong side down!" cried theskipper, out of all patience at hearing of this piece of grossstupidity. "The damned awkward lubbers!"

"Yes, sir; French sailors are not like English ones, nor do theyresemble our American shellbacks, who do know a thing or two!" repliedthe colonel. "Well, gentlemen, to make an end of my story, I may tellyou that I had some difficulty in lifting the body of poor CaptainAlphonse into the boat when I had clutched hold of the gunwale; butafter a time I succeeded in getting him into the bows, rolling him overthe side anyhow. 

"Then I tried to get in myself by the stern, and had just flung one ofmy legs over when that villain the black `marquis, ' catching sight of mefrom the forecastle, ahead of which the boat somehow or other haddrifted by this time, fired at me with probably the last cartridge hehad left in his pistol, and which the devil no doubt had reserved forme. "

"Be jabers!" exclaimed Garry O'Neil, unable to keep silent any longer. "The baste! An', sure, that's how you came by that wound in the groin, faith?"

"Yes, sir, doctor. The shot struck me when I was all of a heap, andwhere it went heaven only knows, till you probed the wound and extractedthe bullet. 

"I must have tumbled into the boat while in a state of insensibility, like poor Captain Alphonse, for I do not recollect anything thatoccurred immediately after I felt the sting of the shot as I was hit, and when I came to myself again I was horrified to find I was far awayfrom the ship, which I could only dimly discern in the distance. 

"But this did not daunt me at first, for I thought I should be able torow alongside again and get taken aboard through one of the stern ports;but, will you believe it, when I came to search the boat for the oars, which Basseterre had expressly told those clumsy sailors in my hearingto be sure to put into the boat the very first thing of all, can youcredit it? lo and behold, not a scull nor oar was in her; not a stick ofany sort or kind whatever!"

"The lubbers!" said Captain Applegarth, indignant again as he pacedbackwards and forwards impatiently, casting an occasional hurried glanceat the "tell-tale" suspended from the deck above the saloon table, theshifting dial of which showed we were now changing course to thewestward. "The damned lubbers; the damn--"

The colonel here broke in with-- "This discovery, I think, broke myheart, " cried he, heaving a heavy sigh. "It took the last flickeringgleam of hope away from me, and I sank back again to the bottom of theboat, appalled and terrified in my mind by the reflections and thoughts, of what might happen to my darling child and those others whom I hadleft on board the _Saint Pierre_, deprived at one fell blow of bothCaptain Alphonse and myself. 

"When daylight dawned after a night that seemed a century long, so fullof pain and awful thought it was to me, I saw the _Saint Pierre_ lowdown on the horizon, to the westward of where I and my poor friend, Captain Alphonse, were drifting on the desert sea. The sight of theship again, even in the distance, and the warmth of the sun's brightbeams, which made the stagnant blood circulate in my veins once more, gave me hope and renewed courage, for I recollected and thought thatafter all, there were eight white men still left on board the ill-fatedvessel to keep possession of her and defend my little one--eight goodmen and true, not counting that dastardly coward Boisson, who wasskulking below!

"But, sir, the wind and tide wafted the _Saint Pierre_ away beyond myvision; and--and--sirs, the--the end of it all you all know better thanI can tell you!"

"Aye, " put in the skipper, "we saw your boat adrift--at least, oldMasters did--I'll give him the credit for that. Then we picked you up, and here you are!"

Hardly had the skipper uttered these words, completing the colonel'sstory, when Mr Fosset suddenly poked his head through the skylight overthe after end of the saloon, the hatch of which opened out on the deckof the poop above. 

Nor was the first mate merely satisfied with the abrupt intrusion of hisfigurehead into our midst, for he rattled the glass of the skylight inno very gentle fashion at the same time, the better, I suppose, toattract our attention, though we were all staring open-mouthed at himalready, all startled by his unexpected appearance on the scene. 

But he rattled the glass all the same as he looked down upon us, nonethe less; aye, all the more, rattled it with a will, frightening us all!

"Hi! Cap'en, Cap'en Applegarth!" he sang out at the very top of hisvoice, as excited as you please. "That ship's in sight! the ship's insight, at last, sir. She's hull down to leeward about seven miles off!But we're overhauling her fast now, sir, hand over hand!"

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. 

WITHIN HAIL. 

"By George! is that so?" ejaculated the skipper, starting off with a madclutch at his cap, which he had thrown off on to a locker close by inthe heat of his excitement during the colonel's yarn. "I'll be on thebridge in a jiffey! Thank God for that news!"

"Hooray!" shouted Garry O'Neil, as we all immediately jumped from ourseats on hearing this joyful intelligence, long though it had been incoming, even the poor colonel, sliding his bandaged leg off itssupporting chair and standing on his feet, prepared to follow theskipper on deck without a moment's delay. "Be the powers! I knew we'doverhaul them divvles before sundown! Faith, an' I tould ye so, colonel; I tould ye so, you know I did!"

But just then an unexpected interruption arrested us as we all movedtowards the companion-way to regain the deck above. 

"Look here, colonel, " cried a voice from the skipper's state room aft, where the commander of the _Saint Pierre_ was supposed to be reposing inan almost insensible condition. "Get out of here! you are not worthbeing angry with. "

"Begorrah, it's your poor fri'nd in there!" said Garry O'Neil to thecolonel. "What's the poor crayture parleyvooing about, instid ofslaypin' loike a Christian whin he's got the chance? Sure, I'll have tostop his jaundering there, or he'll niver git betther!"

"Stay a moment; he's beginning again, poor fellow, " remarked thecolonel, holding up his hand. 

"Listen!"

"You villains! take that!" called out the Frenchman in a louder key andin a tone of anger, as if battling with the blacks on board the _SaintPierre_ over again; and then, after a pause we heard a piteous cry. "MyGod! they are going to shoot me! Look! Look! To the rescue, colonel, quickly, quickly, to the rescue. "

"Bedad, he's in a bad way entoirely!" said Garry, as he and the colonel, with myself at their heels, entered the after cabin, where we sawCaptain Alphonse sitting up in the skipper's cot, and gesticulatingfrantically. "What can he be after sayin' now, sor?"

"He is going over the boat scene on the poop of our unfortunate vessel, when the Haytian blacks, as I told you, made at him and the other sailorbefore I rushed up from below, too late to save him, poor fellow!"explained the colonel. "He's calling out for help, as I suppose he didthen, though I didn't hear him!"

"It sounds moighty queer, anyhow, " continued the Irishman. "Whisht!There, he's at it again! What does that extraordinary lingo mean now?I can't make h'id nor tale of it, sor!"

"Hoist the flag immediately! Close furl the main topsail!" exclaimedthe poor wounded man in short jerky sentences, as he sat up there in theswinging cot, with his hands tearing at the bandage that was bound roundhis head, looking as if he had just risen from the dead, and remindingme of a picture I once saw depicting the raising of Lazarus. His eyeswere rolling, too, in wild delirium, and after gazing at us fixedly fora second or two without a sign of recognition on his pallid face, hefell back prostrate again on the mattress, crying out in a pitiful wail, "Alas, for the ship! Too late, too late, too late. "

"Heavens!" said the colonel, turning to Garry. "Can't you do anythingfor him?"

"I'll put somethin' coolin' on the dressin', an' that'll make the poorchap's h'id aisier, " replied the other, suiting the action to the word. "Ice, sure, 'ud be betther; but, faith, there isn't a morsel aboard!"

Whatever he did apply, however, had a quieting influence, and presently, after tossing from side to side convulsively, Captain Alphonse closedhis great staring eyes and began to snore stertorously. 

"Heaven be praised!" cried Colonel Vereker. "He's sleeping again, now!"

"Faith, an' a good job, too, for him, poor crayture, " said Garry. "He'sin a bad way, I till you, sor! an' he'd betther die aisy whin he's aboutit, sure, than kickin' up a row that won't help him. "

"What!" returned the colonel. "Do you think he's going to die?"

"Begorrah, all the docthers in the worrld wouldn't save him!"

"My poor friend, my poor friend!" cried the colonel. "I will stay withhim then, to the end, so as to soothe his last moments!"

There was evidently a struggle going on in Colonel Vereker's mindbetween his desire to do his duty, as he thought, to the dying man, andhis natural anxiety to be on deck participating in all the excitement ofthe chase after the runaway ship and the coming fight with the Haytians, when the black rascals would be called to a final account for all themisery and bloodshed they had caused. 

Garry O'Neil saw this, and pooh-poohed the idea of the colonel remainingbelow. 

"Faith, there ain't the laste bit of good, sor, in yer stoppin' downhere at all, at all, " said he in his brisk, energetic way. "The poorchap won't be afther stirrin' ag'in for the next two hours or more; an'if he does, bedad, he won't ricognise ye, or any one ilse for thatmatther!"

"But, sir doctor--"

"Houly Moses! I till you, colonel, there ain't no use in your stoppin'another minnit!" impatiently cried the good-natured Irishman, interrupting his half-hearted expostulator. "Jist you clear out of thisat once, an' go on deck an' say the foightin' with those murtherin'bleyguards. I'll moind my paychant now till that old thaife Weston'sfinished all the schraps lift in the plates an' bottles from lunch; an'thin, faith, he shall take charge of him an' I'll come up too, to saythe foon. Now, be off wid ye, colonel, dear; you'll say the poor chapag'in afther the rumpus is over. Dick Haldane, me darlint, hind thecolonel the loan of yer arrum, alannah. There, now off ye both go. Away wid ye!"

So saying, he fairly pushed us out of the cabin; and, the colonellimping by my side and using my shoulder as a crutch, as he hadpreviously done, we both went up the companion-ladder, and gained thepoop. 

The scene here presented a striking contrast to that we had just left, the fresh air, bright sun, and sparkling sea all speaking of life andmovement, in exchange for the stuffy atmosphere of the darkened saloonand its association of illness and approaching death. 

A stiff breeze was blowing now from the southward, and running, as wewere, to the northward, right before it, the skipper had ordered all oursquare sails forward to be set so as to take every advantage of thewind, in addition to our steam-power, the old barquey prancing away fullspeed ahead, with her topsails and fore canvas bellied out to theirutmost extent, their leech lifting occasionally with a flicker as sheoutran the breeze and the clew-gallant blocks rattling as the sheetsslackened and grew taut again, while the wind hummed through the canvasaloft like a thousand bees buzzing about the rigging. 

The black smoke, too, was rushing up the funnel and whirling in the airoverhead, uncertain which direction to take, from the speed of thevessel inclining it to trail away aft, while the stiff southerly breezeblew it forwards; so we carried it all along with us, hung up above ourdog vane like an awning as we careered onwards, raising a deep furrow ofswelling water on either side as we cut through the dancing sunlitwaves, and leaving a long white wake astern that shone through the blue, far away behind in the distance, to where sea and sky melted into one, far away on the horizon line. 

Old Masters, the boatswain, was on the poop when the colonel and I cameup from below, in the very act of hauling in the patent log to ascertainour speed. 

"Well, " said I, as he looked at the index of the ungainly thing, whichis something of a cross between a shark hook and a miniature screwpropeller. "What's she doing, bo'sun?"

"Doing? Wot she's a-doing on, sir?" he replied, repeating my own wordsand mouthing them over with much gusto. "Why, sir, she's going sixteenknots still, and the bloomin' old grampus has been keeping it up sincefour bells. She carries the wind with her, too; for jist as we bore upnorth awhile ago, astern the chase, I'm blessed if the breeze didn'tshift round likewise to the south'ard, keepin' astern of us as before!"

"Where is the chase?" I asked, not being able to see forwards onaccount of the swelling foresail and other intervening objects. "Isuppose she's right ahead, eh?"

"No, sir. Jist come here alongside o' me at the taffrail, " said he. "Now foller my finger, sir. Look, there she is, two points off ourstarboard bow. She was hull down jist now, but we're rising her fast, sir. See, there she be right under the foreyard there!"

I looked in the direction he indicated, and could very faintly in thedistance see something white like a sail, almost out of sight on theocean ahead. 

"But, Masters, " said I, having no glass with me to bring her nearer, andseeing she was too far off for me to distinguish her with the naked eye, "are you certain she's the same craft?"

"As sartin, Master Haldane, " he answered solemnly, "aye, as sartin asthat when we goes aboard her, as go aboard her we must, we shall both bea-goin' to our death! That's the `ghost-ship, ' Master Haldane, as youand I've seed three times afore. May I die this minute if she ain't!"

"Die! don't talk such nonsense, Masters. "

"It ain't no nonsense, Master Haldane, " he retorted, and looking thepicture of misery and unhappiness. "That there ship means no good toyou nor me, nor to none of them as seed her afore, I knows. It's her, sure enuff. No mortal ship could sail on like that continually sinceFriday, right afore the wind, and still allers be a-crossin' our hawser, though her canvas be tore to ribbings and never a man aboard, as we'veseed. It ain't nat'ral, nohow. Aye, she be the `ghost-ship' and nomistake, --and God help us all!"

I noticed at the moment a telescope lying on the top of the saloonskylight, which Mr Fosset must have left behind him in his haste, whenhe came from the bridge to hail the skipper and then hurried back to hispost; so, quickly catching up the glass, I scanned the distant sail, which grew more perceptible every minute. 

Yes, there was no doubt about it. 

She was a full-rigged ship running before the wind, but going a bitevery now and then off her course as if under no proper guidance ormanagement, while all her sails were torn and hanging anyhow, and herspars and rigging apparently at sixes and sevens, as though she had beenterribly mauled by the weather. 

"For Heaven's sake, tell me!" cried the colonel, who had approached meunobserved while I was looking through the telescope. "Tell me, is shethere? Can you see her?"

"Yes, sir, " said I. "I can see her, and it's the same ship I saw theother night. It is the _Saint Pierre_!"

"Ha!" he exclaimed, his black eyes flashing into a passion that made himforget his lameness, as he strode to the side of the vessel, where, resting one hand on the rail, he shook the other menacingly at the ill-fated craft, now with her hull well above the horizon. "Ah, you blackdevils, we'll settle you at last!"

Meanwhile, the skipper, who had gone up to join Mr Fosset on the bridgeafter leaving us below so suddenly, was making his way aft again; and onthe colonel turning round from the rail he found him at his back, looking over his shoulder at the ship we were approaching. 

The skipper was all agog with excitement. 

"By George!" he exclaimed. "We're closing on her fast now, colonel!"

"How soon, Senor Applegarth, do you think we'll be before we'realongside her?"

"In about half an hour at the outside, sir, unless something gives way. We would have been up to her before if she had been lying-to; but she'sgoing ahead too, like ourselves, and not making bad way either, considering the state she's in aloft, and her yawing this way and that. It is wonderful how she keeps on!"

"Oh dear! oh dear! she's possessed, as your companion here said just nowto the young Senor Haldane. "

"Oh, you mustn't mind what the bo'sun says, " observed the skipper. "He's chock full of the old superstitions of the sea, and makesmountains out of molehills. "

"The deuce! he's not far wrong about the _Saint Pierre_, though, for ifever a ship had the devil aboard, I'm sure she has, in the shape of thatvillainous black `marquis'!"

"Then the sooner the better for us to see about `Scotching' your de'il, "cried the skipper with a laugh that meant business, I knew. "I'm nowgoing to call the hands aft and prepare for the fight, and they shallhave it hot, I can tell you, " said he. 

"Have you got arms enough for them, sir? Those rascals will make astubborn resistance, and there's a big lot of them still left in theship, remember!"

The skipper laughed outright at this. 

"Lord bless you, colonel!" said he, "the steamers of our line are fittedout in their way very like men-of-war; and I have enough rifles andcutlasses in the arm chest below to rig out more than twice the numberof the crew we carry, besides revolvers for all the officers. This, however, will be short and sharp work, as we're going to run your blackdevils by the beard; so I shall only serve out cutlasses. "

"But you'll spare me a revolver, Senor Applegarth? I left mine, as youare aware, behind me, " said he with a smile, "and I should like to haveanother shot or two at my friend, the `marquis'!"

"Aye, aye, colonel, you shall have one, and a good one too, and so shallall those who know how to use a pistol properly; but, for close hand-to-hand fighting, I prefer cold steel myself. "

Colonel Vereker joined in the skipper's grim chuckle, which suited hismood well. 

"Yes, sir, that's true, " he rejoined; "but a revolver isn't to besneezed at, all the same!"

"No colonel, your leg'll bear witness to that, " said the skipper as heturned to me. "Run down quickly, Haldane, to the arm chest in my stateroom--here are the keys--and pick out a dozen or so cutlasses andboarding-pikes, with a revolver apiece for all on the quarter-deck, andhalf a dozen rounds of ammunition. You can get Weston to help you tobring the lot up here. Look smart; I want to serve them out at once, aswe're now coming up with the chase, and there's no time to lose. "

Down I scuttled into the saloon with the skipper's bunch of keys; and, calling the steward to help me, went into the after cabin, where GarryO'Neil still remained, wetting the bandage round the head of the Frenchcaptain, and doing it too with greater delicacy of touch than the mostexperienced and flippant of hospital nurses. 

Garry was delighted when I told him what I came about. 

"Houly Moses!" he ejaculated; "why that's the virry job for me, sure. Here, Weston, you ugly thaife of a son of a gun, come here! There'sgoing to be some rare foightin' on deck prisintly; an' as I know yedon't loike to be afther spoilin' that beautiful mug o' yours, you jistsit down there, alannah, an' moind this poor chap here till I come belowag'in, whilst I help Musther Haldane, too, with thim murtherin' armsthat give one a could chill, faith, to look at, bad cess to 'em. "

He gave me a sly wink as he said this, which was unperceived by Weston, who accepted the proposed change of duty with an alacrity that showed hehad no stomach for warfare procedure, and Garry and I very speedily tookup a bundle of weapons each on to the poop, laying them down closebeside the skipper, who stood against the rail. 

"Ah, doctor, " said the colonel, who was sitting down near by on theskylight hatchway, resting himself before the battle should begin, onseeing Garry come up the companion, "how's my poor friend now?"

"Faith, he's still unconshus, " replied he, handing him a big revolverwith a cartridge belt attached; "ah, sure, I 'spect he'll remain so, too, colonel, till you've had toime to polish off the rest of thimschoindrels we're afther. Indade, it's going off loike that the poorcrayture will be, I'm afeard, whin it comes to the ind. I don't thinkhe'll ayther spake or move ag'in in this loife. "

But Garry was mistaken in this diagnosis of his, as events turned out;but, ere he could say another word, just then as the colonel was goingto make a reply to him, the skipper hammered on the deck with a marling-spike to attract attention and give a hail at the very top of his voicethat made us all jump, it was so loud and unexpected. 

"Ahoy there, forrad!" he shouted in stentorian tones that rang fore andaft like a trumpet. "Bo'sun, send the hands aft. "

"Say, cap'en, " sang out Mr Fosset from the bridge, "shall I call up thefellows down below in the stoke-hold, sir?"

"Aye. Ring the engine-room gong. I want every man-jack on deck thatMr Stokes can spare; tell him so. "

While old Masters was sounding his boatswain's pipe and while busy feetwere tramping aft, the men were beginning to cluster in the waistimmediately below the back of the poop. And here Captain Applegarthstood stern and erect like an old lion, his cap off and his wavy greyhair fluffed out over his head by the wind. While this was happening wecould hear the distant sound of the engine-room bell, and then therecame a hail from Mr Fosset. 

"Mr Stokes is sending up every one from below, sir, " yelled out thefirst mate. "He says he can manage by himself now that we're nearly upto the chase, with the help of a couple of the other firemen; and theengineers and stokers, the whole lot of them in a batch, havevolunteered to come on deck and join the boarding party. "

"That's your sort, my hearty, " cried the skipper enthusiastically, looking down at the sea of excited faces below gazing up expectantly athis, awaiting the stirring words they knew to be coming, all having gotwind of the approaching fray. "Now, men, I have summoned the lot of youaft because--well, because I've got something to say to you. "

"Bully for you, old man, " exclaimed one of the men, amidst a grand roar, while I could distinguish, distinctly above the other voices of thecrew, Accra Prout, the mulatto cook's laugh as he called outapprovingly, "Golly, dat so, sonny!"

"Heavens!" ejaculated Colonel Vereker, seemingly, like myself, torecognise the voice at once, "who's that?" said he sharply. 

Accra Prout, who stood a head taller than any other of the men clusteredround him, caught sight of the colonel as the latter cast his eyesdownwards, rising from his seat and coming to the side of the skipper;and the mulatto's eyes grew as large as saucers, while his eyeballsrolled in delight and his wide mouth extended itself from ear to ear. 

"Bress de Lor'!" he cried out, with all a darkey's emphatic enthusiasm, breaking into a huge guffaw that was almost hysterical--"bress de Lor'!it's de massa; it's Mass' Vereker from de plantation, for surh!"

"Yes, it's me, myself, sure enough, Prout; and I'm right glad to seeyou, " said the colonel, equally delighted. "There, Senor Applegarth, didn't I tell you any of my old Louisianian hands would like to see meagain, in spite of what I said about those infernal niggers who seizedour ship?"

"Aye, you did, colonel, you did, " replied the skipper, waving his handin the air; "but never mind that now--I'm going to speak to the crew. "

"Now, me bhoys, altogether, " cried Garry O'Neil, looking over the top ofthe booby-hatch over the companion-way, "three cheers for the cap'en, horray!"

"Horray!" roared the lot below with a kindred enthusiasm, "Horray!Horray!"

"We're almost within hail now of the chase, sir, " sang out Mr Fossetfrom the bridge when the echo of the last deafening cheer had died away;"I'm going to slow down, so that we can sheer up alongside. "

"That's just what I was waiting for, " said the skipper in answer tothis. "Now, men, you see that ship ahead of us?"

"Aye, " called out the foremost hand, who had before spoken--the usualleader, and the wit of the fo'c's'le--"the ghost-ship, cap'en. "

"Well, ghost-ship, devil-ship, or whatever she may be, my lads, we'regoing to board her and rescue a young lady, a child in age, the daughterof my friend, Colonel Vereker here, and a lot of white men likeyourselves, who are now at the mercy of a gang of black demons who havemurdered the rest of the passengers and crew and taken possession of thevessel. Are you going to stand by me, lads?"

His answer was another deafening cheer, heartier and louder even thanthe first. 

"Ah, I thought I could reckon on your help, " cried the skipper in a toneof proud satisfaction, glancing round at the colonel. "I have got yourtools handy for you, too, my lads; and if you will come up to the poopin single file by the port-ladder, going down again by the starboardgangway, each shall be supplied in turn. Mr O'Neil, please serve outthe cutlasses and boarding-pikes. Now, my men, way aloft there! Singlefile, and no crushing, mind, and we'll get the job done all thequicker!"

Ere he had finished speaking the arming of the men had already begun, and within a very few minutes the cutlasses and long boarding-pikes hadall been distributed, every man having some weapon. 

"Now, bo'sun, pipe the men to their stations, " sang out the skipper, whoappeared to have already matured his plan of action. "Starboard watchforrad, port watch aft, and all the stokers and firemen amidships, underthe bridge. Have a couple of hands, too, in the forechains, with ahawser and grapnel, ready to make fast to the ship when we comealongside her. "

"Aye, aye, sir, " hailed back Masters. "Starboard watch ahoy! Awayforrads with you along o' me!"

Our engines had already slackened speed; and, the helm being put down, we came up to the wind, to leeward of the ship and not a half cable'slength away from her, broadside-on. 

"Stand by there, forrad, " shouted the skipper. "Ship ahoy there!Surrender, or we'll run you aboard. "

A wild savage yell came back in reply from a number of half-nakednegroes who were mustered on the after part of the vessel, as well as onthe forecastle, not a single white man being visible, while herTricolour flag--so conspicuous before, and which I fancied having seenbut half an hour or so previously when looking at her through thetelescope--was now no longer to be seen. 

Could our worst fears have been realised?

Another savage yell almost confirmed the thought. "Heavens!" exclaimedColonel Vereker, rendered almost frantic with grief and excitement, andnoticing the appalling evidences of the Haytians' triumph, while westared aghast at each other. "My poor darling child, and those bravefellows I left behind, where are they all; where are they? For God'ssake find them! Alas! alas! those black devils have murdered them all. "

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. 

A FREE FIGHT. 

But hardly had the colonel given vent to his despairing exclamation, expressive alike of his own dismay and ours also, when the bitterfeeling of disappointment at being too late, that had for the momentweighed down upon us, crushing our enthusiasm, was suddenly banished andthe hearts of all filled with renewed hope and fierce determination. 

We were not too late after all!

No. 

For as we gazed in blank surprise at the howling mob of Haytians, whoappeared to have gained complete possession of the _Saint Pierre_, andwere dancing about and gesticulating in their wild, devilish fashion, calling out to us with wild derisive cries, as if mocking at our effortsto save those whom they had already butchered, a bright flame of fireflashed out from the skylight hatch of the doomed ship, followed by thesharp crack of a revolver; and at the same instant one of the half-nakeddevils massed on the poop leaped into the air and then fell on his faceflat on the deck, uttering a yell of agony as he writhed his limbs inthe throes of death. 

An exulting cheer broke from all of us in the _Star of the North_ onseeing this, every man gripping his weapon tightly, and setting histeeth hard, ready for action, as the two vessels sidled up nearer andnearer. 

Then if word were wanted to spur us on, the skipper gave that word witha vengeance!

"By George! my lads, we're in time yet to save the child and our otherwhite comrades!" he cried out loudly, at the same time jumping into themizzen rigging, where he hung on the shrouds with one hand, while in theother he held a cutlass which he had hastily clutched up, whirling itround his lionlike old grey head. "See, men, they've retreated to thecabin below, where they're fighting for their lives to the last. Tumbleup, my lads, and save them, like the British sailors that you are!Boarders, away!"

As he said this, Mr Fosset, who was still on the bridge conning the oldbarquey, having at once ported our helm, on the skipper holding up hiscutlass, taking this for a signal, we came broadside-on, slap againstthe hull of the other ship with a jolt that shook her down to her verykelson, rolling a lot of the darkies, who were grouped aft, off theirlegs like so many ninepins. At the same moment, before the two crafthad time to glide apart, both having way upon them, old Masters forward, and Parrell, the quartermaster, who was stationed in the waist of ourvessel, just under the break of the poop, hooked on grapnels, withhawsers attached, to the weather rigging of the _Saint Pierre_; and erethe skipper's rallying cry and our answering cheer had died away, drowned by the voice of our escaping steam rushing up the funnels on theengines coming to a stop, now that their duty for the nonce was done, there we were moored hard and fast together, alongside the whilomdreaded "ghost-ship!"

Then with another wild hurrah that made the ringbolts in the deckjingle, and swamped the sound of the rushing steam and everything, themen, closing up behind the skipper, who led us so gallantly over theside, far in advance, brave-hearted old sea dog that he was, boundedacross the intervening bulwarks, and were the next instant engaged inall the maddening excitement of a hand-to-hand tussle with the blackvillains, pistol shot, sword cut and pike thrust coming in turn intoplay, amid a babel of hoarse shouts of rage and cheers and savageyells--mingled with the swish of blows from capstan bars, the loudreports of revolvers fired off at close range and the heavy thud offalling bodies as they tumbled headlong on the deck ever and anon, accompanied by some cry of agony or groan of pain too deep forutterance. 

Aye, it was a discord of devilry that must have appeared a veritablepandemonium to the spirits of the air, were any such looking down on thewrathful, sanguinary scene from the clear blue heavens above, allradiant now with a golden glow that came from the west, where thedeclining sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon!

"Fuaghaballah, may the divvle take the hindmost!" cried Garry O'Neil, leaping after the skipper on to the poop of the _Saint Pierre_, arevolver in his right fist and a cutlass in his left, laying about himwith a will amongst the mass of infuriated negroes who tried to resisthis rush, clutching at his legs and arms in vain, for he seemedbewitched. "Come on wid ye, me darlints, an' let us make mincemate of'em, faith!"

I followed in his wake, but a crowd of our men, some of whom had servedin the navy and were accustomed to the work, pushed me on one side, going into the thick of the fight themselves, and all was such a jumbleof confusion that I hardly knew where I was until "a pretty tidy tap onthe top of my head, " as Garry would have said, brought back myrecollection in a very effective manner, when I found myself right infront of an extremely ugly-looking negro, whose appearance was notimproved by a slice having been taken off the side of his face, and fromwhich blood was streaming down all over his black body, and thatdestitute of clothing. 

I noticed that this gentleman had a long piece of wood like a boatstretcher in his hands, with which he had evidently given me the gentlereminder I have mentioned, being brought to this conclusion by the factthat the rascal had it raised ready to deal another blow. 

Putting up my arm instinctively to ward off the impending stroke that Isaw coming, I cocked and levelled my revolver at him in an instant. 

Before I could fire, however, some one behind me shoved me aside again, and crash came a heavy capstan bar down upon the negro's skull, which Iheard crack like a walnut shell as he dropped dead on his face. 

"Golly, Mass' Hald'n, " exclaimed Accra Prout, our stalwart mulatto cook, whose sinuous arm had thus incontinently settled the dispute between mysable opponent and myself. "I'se guess dis chile gib dat black debblegoss, noh ow!"

But ere I could say a word to him for his timely aid, Accra Prout hadbounded onward in front, and I then saw he was following ColonelVereker, who had managed somehow or other, in spite of his lameness, togain the deck of his old ship along with the rest of us. 

Crack, crack, crack, went his revolver with venomous iteration from theother side of the vessel, where he was standing by the bulwarks, closeto the hatchway of the companion-ladder leading to the cabin below, which he was apparently endeavouring to reach, while a crowd of Haytiansbarred his further progress towards those imprisoned in the cabin, whomthey thus prevented his releasing, a fresh foe starting up for every onehe disposed of, and a rough and terrible fight going on all round himall the time. 

"'Top a minnit, Mass' V'reker!" shouted Accra Prout, darting into themiddle of the throng, clearing a pathway for himself with the capstanbar. "I'se here; I'se come help you soon!"

"A thousand devils!" hissed a tall black near by--a man with a large, crinkly, ink-black moustache, and certainly with the most satanic visageI had ever beheld before. "A thousand devils!" repeated he, giving hima thrust with a large knife that pierced poor Accra's arm, and makinghim drop the capstan bar. "Take care of yourself--beast!"

A cry from the colonel told me who this was. 

"Ah, villain, villain!" he sang out, looking him full in the face andgrinding his teeth and trying with all his might, but vainly, to get athim through the press of struggling figures by whom he was surrounded. "I've been looking for you, _Marquis des Coupgorges_!"

The black scoundrel gave out a shrill laugh like that of a hyena, asColonel Vereker had described it to us when telling his yarn. 

"Pardon me, sir, I am here, " he yelled out mockingly. "I am here. I donot run away like your white trash! Why don't you come and fight me?Bah! I spit on you, my fine plantation colonel. When I get at you Iwill serve you just as I did your sly slave the other day, whom you sentto betray us, though you, yourself, were too great a coward to comeamongst us, yes, to come amongst us yourself. Aha! colonel. "

He said this in plain English, which language he spoke as fluently as hedid French, the native language of Hayti, uttering his abusive threatsloud enough for us to hear every syllable; but though I aimed at himwhile he was speaking twice point blank, and my revolver spoke out quiteas loudly as he, while the colonel likewise shot at him and the skippermade a slash in his direction with his cutlass, the miscreant escapedall our attacks without a single wound, dodging away from us amongst hisdusky compatriots, who were now pretty thickly mixed up with our men ina fierce _melee_, at the further end of the poop, overlooking the waistbelow. 

In the midst of this awful scrimmage there came a wild rush aft of allthe remaining blacks who had been engaged with some of the handsamidships, pursued by our second boarding party, led by Mr Fosset andStoddart, who had made their way over the bows and cleared thefo'c's'le, fighting onward step by step along the upper deck; and hemmedin fast thus, between two fires, the black desperadoes made a laststand, refusing to surrender, or throw down their arms in spite of allpromises of quarter on our part. 

All of them could see for themselves how completely overmatched theywere, and must have known the utter uselessness of attempting anyfurther resistance to us; but the mutineers of the negro portion of the_Saint Pierre's_ crew, who were now in the majority, feared to give inowing to the fact of their believing they would be ultimately hanged iftaken alive after the atrocities they had committed; so being of theopinion they were bound to be killed in any case, they determinedapparently, if die they must, they would die fighting. 

Whatever might be their motive or conviction, I will give them thecredit of being plucky, and must say that they fought bravely, thoughwith a ferocity that was more than savage, to the bitter end, their lastrally on the break of the poop being the fiercest episode of the fray, several hand-to-hand combats going on at one and the same time with handpikes and capstan bars whirling about over the heads of those engaged, where cutlass cuts were met with knife-thrusts from the formidable long-bladed weapons the negroes carried in their hands only to sheathe themin the bodies of their white antagonists. 

My brain got dizzy as I watched the mad turmoil and my blood was atfever heat, taking part in the fight too, you may be sure, whenever Isaw an opening, and dealing a blow here or parrying one there, as chancearose, with the best of them, young though I was, and totallyinexperienced in such matters!

It was coming near to the finish, being too warm work to continue muchlonger, and I think all of us had had pretty well enough of it, when, looking round for Colonel Vereker, whom I suddenly missed from among thecombatants, I saw him struggling with one of the blacks in a regularrough and tumble tussle on the deck. 

The two were rolling about close to the after skylight from whence wehad observed the flash of the pistol shot as we approached the ship, andwhich the colonel had been trying to get near to ever since he boardedher, but had been prevented from reaching by one obstacle or anotheruntil now, when this negro clutched hold of him and forced him backagain. 

He and the Haytian were tightly locked in a deadly embrace, the negrogripping him with both arms round the body, and the colonel endeavouringto release his revolver hand, the two rolling over and over on the decktowards the rail forward. 

"Ha!" muttered the colonel, who was hard pressed, through his set teeth. "Only let me get free. "

Strangely enough, the glass of the skylight above the spot where thepair were struggling was instantly shattered from within, as if inresponse to his muttered cry; and with a loud bark that could have beenheard a mile off, a big dog burst forth from the opening, makingstraight for the colonel and his relentless foe. 

Then there came a startled yell from the negro, who, releasing his lateantagonist, staggered to his feet. 

"Holy name of--" he screamed out in wild affright, but he had not timeto reach the concluding word of his sentence--the name of his patronsaint, no doubt--"the devil!"

For before he could get so far, giving a fierce growl, the dog at oncesprang up at him, his fangs meeting in the Haytian's throat, whereuponthe latter, toppling backwards over the poop-rail, fell into the waistbelow, with the dog hanging on to him; and I noticed presently that bothwere dead, the brave animal who had come so opportunely to the rescue ofthe colonel, his master, being stabbed to the heart by a knife which thenegro still held in his lifeless hand, while his own neck had been tornto pieces by the dog whom death could not force to relinquish his grip!

Immediately running up to the colonel, who was feebly trying to rise, his wrestle with the black having crippled his wounded leg and arm, Ihelped him to his feet as quickly as I could, while others clusteredround to shelter us. 

"Poor Ivan, true as steel in death as in life!" he faintly muttered, glancing from the break of the poop on the two bodies huddled togetherbelow, the blood of the faithful dog flowing with that of his ruthlessfoe into a crimson pool that was gradually extending its borders fromthe middle of the deck to the lee scuppers. "He has defended my littleElsie, I am sure, to the last, likewise, even as he defended me. I hopeand trust my child is still safe in the cabin. Help me aft, my lad, tosee; quick, quick!"

Of course I assisted him as well as I could under the circumstances, butas he limped along towards the companion-hatchway, the leader of thedesperadoes, that villainous "marquis, " who I thought had met with hisjust deserts long since, not having seen him for some little time amongthe other fighters, most unexpectedly jumped from the rigging in frontof the colonel and aimed a vindictive blow at him with a marline-spike. 

This must have settled the colonel if it had fallen on his uncoveredhead. Fortunately though, dropping quickly the colonel's arm, I fendedoff the blow with the revolver I held in my hand, while at the same timeI gave the scoundrel a drive in the face that must have astonished hisblack lordship a good deal, for my clenched fist met him square on themouth and shook his teeth, making them rattle, as well as disarrangingthe twist of his crinkly moustache!

He came at me with a snarl like an angry tiger, and then, hugging metight, with his hideous black face thrust close against mine, and hismuscular arms pressed tightly around my ribs, he squeezed every ounce ofbreath out of my body. 

I thought my last hour had come. 

But help came to my aid from a most unlooked-for quarter. 

"Ah! you blackguard, " cried a voice that sounded dimly in my ears, myhead at the time seeming to be whirling round like the arms of awindmill from the sense of suffocation and the rush of blood to thebrain. "Coward! miscreant! you are here again. "

Breathless though I was, I was so surprised, and indeed frightened atthe voice and accent of the speaker, which I immediately recognised, that I at once came to myself and opened wide my half-closed eyes. 

Good heavens! Shall I ever forget the sight? Yes; it was CaptainAlphonse, whom I had last seen only half an hour or so previously in theskipper's cot on board the _Star of the North_, when Garry O'Neil saidhe would probably never wake to consciousness again in this life, ormove out of the skipper's state room!

Here he was though, all the same, looking like an apparition from thedead, wild, ghastly, awful, but quite sufficiently in his senses torecognise his terrible enemy, the pseudo "marquis. "

It is a scene I shall never forget, as I remarked before. 

Like poor Ivan, and with equal ferocity, the Frenchman sprang at theugly villain's throat, the whole lot of us tumbling headlong on the decktogether, which caused the wretch to release me in order to protecthimself from Captain Alphonse, who, kneeling on the top of him, hammeredhim against the bulwarks as though trying to beat the life out of him. 

Making a last desperate effort, the Haytian "marquis" gripped hisantagonist round the waist as he previously gripped me, dragging himdown beside him again; and then, as the two came with all their mightagainst the side of the ship where the port flap was loose, the whole ofthe planking gave way, and poor Captain Alphonse, with that scoundrelthe black "marquis, " crashed through the splintering wood together, falling with a heavy splash overboard into the sea beneath, going to thebottom locked in each other's arms--a terrible ending to the terribleepisode of this, their last meeting. 

For the minute the colonel seemed overwhelmed with grief at this awfuland sudden termination of poor Captain Alphonse's life, and we would allsooner have seen him die unconsciously if not quietly, in his bed; butsuch are the ways of Providence, and we cannot control them!

But this day certainly witnessed a series of surprises, so it seemed tome, the most wonderful things happening every moment. 

Colonel Vereker had dragged himself as well as he could, up to where Ilay on the deck, after being set free from the bearlike hug of thenegro, helping me up on my legs in the same Good Samaritan way in thewhich I had saved him shortly before; and we were both looking over theside, talking excitedly of the dreadful catastrophe that had justhappened, and wondering whether the poor captain's body would rise tothe surface again, when all of a sudden, something bright crossing thedeck caught my eye like a flash of light, and I heard the sound of lightand hurried footsteps. 

Wheeling round hastily I was amazed at the beautiful object that met mygaze, for I saw standing there, only a pace or two off, a lovely younggirl, with a profusion of long silky hair of a bright golden hue, thatstreamed in a tangled mass over her shoulders, and reaching down almostto her feet. 

"My father, my dear father!" she exclaimed in broken and ecstatic tones, her voice sounding to me like the soft cooing of a dove, as she flew andnestled herself into the outstretched arms of the colonel, who had alsoturned round at her approach, some sympathetic feeling having warned himof her coming, telling him who it was even before he saw her. 

"Oh, my father! my father! At last, at last!"

And then, unable to control herself longer, she burst into a passion oftears and sobs. 

Colonel Vereker, on his part, was equally overcome. 

"God be thanked!" cried he, raising his face to heaven, clasping her atthe same time fondly to his heart and kissing her trembling lips againand again. "My darling one, my own little daughter, whom I thought Ihad lost for ever, but whom the good God has preserved to be the delightof my eyes again, my little one, my precious!"

For a few minutes I too had a lump in my throat, but turned aside, andthen, not wishing to appear to be observing them, I left them alone andwent off to another part of the ship. 

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. 

HORS DE COMBAT. 

A grand hurrah just then burst forth from the deck below us, where theskipper and most of the men were massed, telling as plainly astriumphant cheer could tell, that the fight was ended, and that victoryhad crowned our arms with success. I rushed back to tell the colonel. 

On hearing my footsteps, however, little Elsie turned round and caughtsight of me. 

"Oh, my father!" said she, untwining herself from the colonel's embrace, though she still nestled up close to him, as she stared at me shyly, with a puzzled look on her mignonne face. "Why, who is this young sir, my father? I seem to know him, and yet I do not remember having everseen him before!"

"Look at him again, darling one, " said her father, petting hercaressingly, while another hearty cheer went up from the hands in thewaist. "He is Senor Dick Haldane, a gallant young gentleman whom youmust thank, my little daughter, for having saved my life. "

At this the graceful young girl advanced a step or two towards me, andcatching hold of my hand, before I could prevent her, kissed it, greatlyto my confusion; as albeit it was an act expressive amongst the Spanish, with whom she had been brought up, of deferential courtesy andgratitude, but it made me blush up to my eyes and feel hot all over. 

"A thousand thanks, sir, " she began; but as she raised her eyes to myface in thus giving utterance to her thanks for having, as the colonelhad told her, saved her father's life, a flood of recollection seemed tocome upon her, and she exclaimed:

"Ah, I remember now! My father, yes, he is like the gentleman whom Isaw on the deck of the steamer that awful night when the negroes rose upagainst us--last Friday, was it not? But it seems so long ago to me!You, you naughty papa, would not believe that your little girl had seenanything at all, not even a ship, but that I only fancied it in myfoolishness. However, there is the same steamer that I saw (pointingwith her finger to the _Star of the North_), and here is the same, for Iam sure he is the same, the very same young officer. Am I not right?"And looking up at her father, she exclaimed, "Your little girl told thetruth after all. "

"And you, young lady, " said I, smiling at her recognition of me, strangecoincidence as it was, corroborating my own experience of the sameeventful night, "yes; you are the same little girl I saw on board the`ghost-ship, ' as all the men here called your vessel, not believing, likewise, my story that I had seen her or you either. Yes, I would haveknown you anywhere. You are the girl whom I saw with the dog!"

The next moment I could have bitten my tongue out, though, for mythoughtlessness in alluding to the poor dog; for at the bare mention ofhim Elsie's face, which had a sort of absent, wandering look about itstill, at once lighted up, and she glanced round in all directions. 

"Ah, I declare I had quite forgotten Ivan in the joy and happiness ofseeing you again, my father, " she exclaimed excitedly. "Where is he, the brave fellow? Ivan, Ivan, you dear old dog. Come here; come here, sir, directly!"

She looked round again, with a half smile playing about the corners ofher pretty rosebud of a mouth and a joyous light in her eyes, expectingher faithful friend and companion would come bounding up to her side;but she now waited and watched and listened in vain, there being noresponse to her summons either by bark or bound or wag of poor Ivan'sbushy tail. 

Nor would there be any more, for his ringing bark was hushed, his bodyand tail alike stiff and cold, while his noble heart which only throbbedwith affection for those whom he loved when living, had stopped beatingfor aye. 

"My dear child, poor Ivan is dead!" said Colonel Vereker tenderly aftera short pause, drawing the young girl up to him so that she might notsee the gruesome sight on the deck below. "The brave dog sacrificed hislife for mine, and but for his help, little one, I should not now be byyour side. "

This account of the poor animal's heroic end, however, did not comfortlittle Elsie, who gave a startled glance at her father's face; where, seeing something there that made her comprehend her loss, she buried hergolden head on his breast, sobbing as though her heart would break. 

"Poor, poor, dear Ivan; he never left me once, never, my father, sinceyou--you went out of the cabin that last night and told him to watchme!" she exclaimed presently, in halting accents between her convulsivesobs, neither the colonel or myself dry-eyed as we listened to her tale, you may be sure. "But--but all at once, after all the noise and thatdreadful firing that seems now to go through my ears, I--I heard yourvoice quite distinctly on the deck; and so, too, did poor Ivan, for Isaw him instantly put up his ears, while he whined and lookedbeseechingly at us. "

"Well, after that, my child, " said the colonel, on her stopping for themoment, overcome with emotion, "what happened next?"

"He made a dash at the cabin table and jumped up on it, and then thepoor fellow growled savagely at some one outside. Then--then before Icould hold him back he made a most desperate spring and sprung right upthrough the glass roof on the top of the sky--skylight, and he must havecut himself very very much. Poor, poor doggie! And now you say my poorIvan is dead, and that I shall never see the dear good faithful creatureagain. Oh, my father!"

At this point the young girl again broke down. 

Nor were her tears a mere passing tribute of grief. For, though dead, Ivan is not forgotten, like some people, the remembrance of whom is asevanescent as the scent of the flowers that hypocritical mourners mayostentatiously scatter upon their graves; his little mistress, little nolonger, preserving his memory yet green in her heart of hearts, close towhich she wears always a small locket containing likenesses of herfather and mother, together with a miniature of Ivan--her father'spreserver--with a tiny lock added from the brave dog's curly black coat. 

Some ultra-sanctimonious persons may feel inclined to cavil with thisassociation on Elsie's part of "immortal beings, " as they would styleher parents, and the recollection she cherishes of a "dead brute, "because, forsooth, they hold that her four-footed favourite had no soul;but were these gentry to broach the subject before her, being a somewhatoutspoken young lady from her foreign bringing up, which puts her beyondthe pale of boarding-school punctiliousness, she would probably urgethat she estimated poor Ivan's sagacious instinct combined with hiscourage and noble self-sacrifice, at a far higher level than the paltryapology for a soul that passes current for the genuine article withmatter-of-fact religionists of the stamp of her questioner. 

But Elsie was "little Elsie" still, at the time of which I am speaking, and too young, perhaps, for such thoughts to occur to her mind, which atthe moment was too full of her loss. 

The cheering that had followed the last tussle of our men with the blackmutineers had now ceased, and all these things happening, you mustunderstand, much more rapidly than I can talk or attempt to chroniclethem, the skipper, with Mr Fosset and Garry O'Neil, came hurriedly upon the poop. 

Both expressed their unbounded delight at seeing the child was safe andin the care of her father. 

Sure, an' what's the little colleen cryin' for? eagerly inquired Garry, his smoke-begrimed face, which bore ample evidence of the desperatestruggle in which he had been so gallantly engaged, wearing a look ofdeep commiseration as he gazed from her father to me, and then again ather. "Faith, I hope she's not been hurt or frightened?"

"No, thank God!" replied the colonel huskily. "Grieving for her poordog Ivan, who--"

"Och yes, I saw the noble baste, " interrupted Garry in his quick, enthusiastic way. "Begorrah, colonel, he fought betther than any two-legged Christian amongst us, an' I can't say more than that for him, sure, paice to his name!"

Before he could say anything further, and you know he was a rare one totalk when once he commenced, the skipper advanced again, holding out hishand to the colonel exclaiming-- "Yes, thank God you are all right andthat your little child is safe, and escaped any harm from thosescoundrels, except her nerves probably being much shaken, but that shewill soon recover at her age--and I told you she should be restored toyou, you know. By George! Though, we've paid them out at last fordemon's work aboard here!"

"The devils!" ejaculated Colonel Vereker savagely, his mood changing ashe recollected all he had seen and suffered at their hands. "Have youkilled them all?"

"All but half a dozen of the rascals, whom we had a rare hunt afterthrough the hold and fo'c's'le before we could collar them. They arefast bound now, though, lashed head and feet to the mainmast bitts; andit will puzzle them to wriggle themselves loose from old Masters' doublehitches, I know. Besides which, two of our men are guarding there, withboarding-pikes in their hands and orders to run 'em through the gizzardif they offer to stir. "

"Faith, " observed Garry O'Neil reflectively, "It was as purty a bit offoighting as I ivver took a hand in, whilst it lasted!"

"But let us go and see what has become of all those chaps below--allthose you mentioned as belonging to the French crew, whom you left onboard with your daughter, " went on the skipper. "We saw the flash of apistol, you remember, when we came up alongside, and somebody must haveprevented those villains from getting into the cabin, or else--"

He stopped here and looked meaningly at Elsie. 

"Heavens!" exclaimed the colonel, attempting to rise, but falling backon the hen-coop along the side of the bulwarks he had been using for atemporary seat, he seemed so utterly exhausted. "Ah, those bravefellows, I was almost forgetting them; but I can't move, SenorApplegarth, or I should have gone down before this to see what hadbecome of my old comrades; but I'm helpless, as you see. "

Elsie now lifted her head, looked up and turned towards the skipper. 

"They are all wounded, " said she, clasping her hands together and with alook of fright on her face. "Two of the men--the French sailors, Imean--and the English gentleman. "

"That's the little Britisher I told you about, who was so plucky, "explained the colonel--"Mr Johnson. "

"Well, my father, " continued the young girl, "these three rushed downthe stairs into the cabin, shortly before the steamer thumped againstthe side of our ship, when I thought we were all going down to thebottom of the sea. "

"Yes, my child, " said the colonel encouragingly, "go on and tell us whathappened next. "

"The English gentleman spoke to me and said that the terrible negroeshad conquered them all on deck, but that he and the two Frenchmen hadescaped from them in time, and were going to barricade the doorwayleading down from above to prevent the black men from coming below andmurdering us all. 

"He told me, though, did the kind English gentleman, that I must not befrightened and all would come right in the end, for that they had seen avery large steamer approaching, coming quite close to us, and that theywould be able, he thought, to hold out until we were all rescued. Theythen piled up heaps and heaps of things against the door at the foot ofthe stairs where the sailors remained; then the Englishman stood on thetable, under the skylight, to keep the negroes from getting throughthere. It was the Englishman who fired at them through the glass, forhe was the only one who had a pistol, and he made a hole and thenthrough that we heard all the shrieks and the noise of the pistols; andyour voice, my father, Ivan heard, and then he jumped up through thehole, making a much bigger one, and ran to your rescue, my dear, dearfather. "

"But what has become of Monsieur Boisson, and Madame all this time;where were they?" asked the colonel, on Elsie thus concluding theaccount of what had occurred under her immediate notice, a little sobescaping her involuntarily at the mention of her poor dog's name, and atthe recollection of what she had just witnessed. "Did they do anything, my dear child to help themselves, or you?"

"No, my father, " she replied, apparently surprised at the question. "They are still in the big cabin at the end of the saloon where you leftthem when you went away, and, I'm afraid they are very ill indeed, forall the time the firing was going on overhead Madame was screeching andscreaming, and I am sure I heard Monsieur groaning a good deal. He wasdoing so again just now, before I found my way upstairs to you, to findyou, and to see what had happened, everything had become so suddenlystill after all the noise, and--and--those--awful horrible yells of thenegroes--oh! I--I--can hear them still!"

She turned quite pale when uttering the last words, words spoken withvisible effort, shuddering all over and hiding her face again on herfather's shoulder. 

"Faith, sor, don't ask her any more questions, " cried Garry, "but we'dbetther be sayin' afther those poor fellows ourselves, an' at once, too!"

"Do quickly, sir doctor, " said the colonel, "and I only wish I couldcome with you! but--"

"Now jist you shtop where ye are, me friend, " rejoined Garry, puttingout his hand to prevent his stirring from his seat. "Sure the cap'enan' me, with Dick Haldane here, will be enough to look afther 'em all. "

With this he made for the companion-way and descended the "stairs, " asElsie, ignorant of nautical nomenclature, called the ladder, the skipperfollowing close behind him. 

On getting to the bottom we found the panels of the door smashed in, though of hard oak, strengthened with cross battens of the same stoutwood, which showed to what fierce assault it had been subjected, thefurniture piled up against it from within having duly prevented thenegroes from finally forcing an entrance, as well, no doubt, as ourappearance on the scene. 

This barricade had, however, been now partly removed, probably to allowof little Elsie's exit, and, quickly pitching the remaining obstaclesaside, the three of us managed to squeeze ourselves inside the cabin, which was in such a state of confusion, with the long table overturnedto serve as a breastwork for the gallant defenders and the settees andlockers turned away from the deck, as well as the glass of the skylightall smashed, that it looked like a veritable "Hurrah's vest" as wesailors say. 

On a pile of cushions belonging to the lounge aft--the only piece offurniture that was left intact in the place, I believe--lay the bravemen who had stubbornly held the ship to the last against the mutineers. 

All were covered with blood and blackened by powder and so utterly wornout from fatigue in battling throughout the night and day that hadalmost elapsed since the colonel had left them, besides being crippledby the injuries they had received in the fray, that they hardly moved onour entrance, though one--a little chap whom I judged to be theEnglishman spoken of by the colonel and Elsie--brightened up as we bentover him, a look of satisfaction and content stealing over his drawn andhaggard face, as we cauld see from the rays of the setting sun streamingdown through the broken skylight, exposing the utter desolation around. 

He was the first to speak. 

"I'm afeard you've come too late for us, sirs, " said he slowly, with adeep groan of pain. "Those damned niggers have done for me, one of themgiving me a dig of his knife in the ribs--did it through the doorwayjust now, when the fight were nearly over. You might do summat, though, for my companions here, who stood up to the darkies like Britons, inspite of them being only Frenchmen, though that ain't their fault. Buthow's the little girl? I hope she's all right. Tell her father, ifhe's alive--and I feel almost sure I heard his voice awhile ago up ondeck--tell him that I kept my word, sirs, and fought for her to thelast. I think I'm dying now, and--I--must--leave--off. But listenwhile I've a little breath, for I want to say something. My name isRobert Johnson, and my old mother, God bless her, lives at Camberwell, near London. You'll find all my papers in my pocket and a letter withthe address, and if any of you chances to be going back to England as Iwere, worse luck, you'd be doing a favour by seein' her and letting herknow why I didn't turn up home this Christmas as I promised her. I knowyou will. I'm going now, I'm so tired. Good-night to you all--good-night--good--"

As he said this he gradually fell back on the cushion he was restingagainst, and his eyes closed. 

Captain Applegarth and I both thought him dead. 

Not so, however, Garry O'Neil. 

"Sure, he's ounly fainted, " exclaimed the Irishman; "run, Dick, me bhoy, an' say if there's sich a thing as a stooard's pantry knockin' aboutanywheres in those latituodes, wid a dhrop of water convanient. Thatan' a taste of this _aqua vitae_ here, which, the saints be praised, Itook the precawshin to put in me pocket afore we shtarted on thisblissid and excoitin' skermoish, this will very soon fetch back a littleloife into the plucky little beggar ag'in!"

I had no difficulty in finding the steward's pantry and a breaker ofwater, with a tin dipper attached, speedily carrying some back and, byour joint ministrations, and with it bathing his face and hands andpouring some between his lips, little Mr Johnson at last opened hiseyes and began to breathe. 

After a time and a certain amount of patience he opened his eyes wider, and became conscious, and later on was induced to swallow down a mixtureout of his own special bottle that Garry carried, and we were at lastdelighted to see quite a broad grin spread over his round good-naturedand somewhat comical face. 

"By Jingo, sir!" said he, after a pause and rather long silence, andafter he had drained off the last drop of the elixir, with a sigh ofgratitude that evidently came from his heart, "you've saved my life thistime, and no mistake. I never thought I should taste a drop of goodbrandy again in this world. "

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. 

WE PART COMPANY. 

While Garry O'Neil and I were attending to the two French sailors who, though they had been a good bit knocked about in the course of theprotracted struggle, were not seemingly very seriously hurt, sufferingmore, indeed, from want of proper food and rest than from the slightwounds they had received, we heard loud cries and a sort of dull moaningthat appeared to proceed from the after part of the saloon. 

Going thither at once, Captain Applegarth knocked with his knuckles onthe panel of the closed door of one of the larger state rooms, runningathwart the ship from whence the sounds proceeded. 

"Hullo, within there!" he shouted, "what's the matter? What's the row?Come out!"

A shrill scream was the only response to his inquiries. 

"What's the matter?" repeated the skipper, speaking in a gentler tone. "You have nothing to fear. We're all friends here!"

The cries and confused noises continued, however, and the skipperthereupon resumed his knocking, this time more forcibly, and with hisfists aided by a kick from his heavy boot against the lower part of thestill closed door. 

At this imperative summons the shrieking ceased, and we heard a feeblevoice within, calling out in French-- "Mercy! for the love of God!" wecould distinguish amidst a plentitude of sobs and violent groans in adeeper key. "Ah! brave Haytians! Have pity, and spare our lives!"

"Hang it all, you cowards, we're _not_ those cursed Haytians, and I wishyou could have been left to their mercy! It is only what you deserve!"roared the skipper, infuriated and out of all patience at theFrenchwoman's mistake and her appealing in such terms to the murderousscoundrels, of whom we had made so summary an end. "We're Englishmen;we're your friends, I tell you, true-hearted British sailors, who havecome to rescue you, so open the door!"

But Madame Boisson, who, of course, was his interlocutrice behind thedoor, remained obdurate. 

"Ah! the false English, " she cried, "down with the pigs!"

At this the skipper laughed grimly, and all standing near him were muchamused. 

"She's a good specimen of her race, " cried the captain. "They alwaysabuse other nations and cry out that they are betrayed when ill luckcomes to them, instead of trying to help themselves, as we perfidiousEnglishmen do. "

Finding it impossible to persuade her, though, to open the door of thecabin, which was bolted and barred within, the skipper sang out to me togo on deck and ask Elsie Vereker to come down and try what she could do, thinking that the obstinate prisoner would doubtless recognise thegirl's voice and so, through her means, be made more amenable to reason. 

No sooner said than done. 

Up I went and down the companion-way. I returned anon accompanied notonly by Miss Elsie, but by the colonel as well, Garry O'Neil, whohurried up the ladder after me with that intent, insisting on his comingbelow so that he could the better attend to his wounded leg, which hadbroken out again and needed fresh dressing, and after some littledifficulty Garry got him down in safety. 

Thanks to Elsie's pleadings, Madame Boisson at length capitulated, promising to come out of her retreat as soon as she had had time, "tomake her toilet. "

"By George!" exclaimed the skipper, overhearing this and turning with anironical grin to the colonel, who had his leg upon a chair, and Garrybustling about him, busy with bandages, "she's a true Frenchwoman, as Isaid at the first. Fancy, after being imprisoned there in that stuffycabin for four and twenty hours and imagining herself and husband mightbe murdered every minute by a lot of pirate scoundrels, thinking ofnothing but titifying herself, instead of thanking God for their escapeand rushing out at the very first opportunity, eager to be free. Strange creatures!"

"Heavens!" exclaimed the colonel, smiling at the other's outburst. "Itis true, but they're all alike, and I've seen a good many of them, myfriend. "

Presently out sailed Madame Boisson, who I noticed was a middle-aged andwell-preserved woman, attired in an elaborate dressing gown with aprofusion of bows and ribbons fluttering about it, and with a good dealof pearl powder or some other cosmetic of that sort on her face, and hercheeks tinted here and there with--well, colour. 

Despite her screams and hysterics, however, there was no trace of a tearin her twinkling black eyes, although her fat little husband, who ambledmeekly in her train, betrayed signs of great emotion, his red face allswollen from crying, and otherwise looking like a whipped cur. 

Madame made a most gracious salute to us all, and, glancing at me with aspice of coquetry, to which she was evidently not unaccustomed, waspleased to observe, that I was "_un beau garcon_. "

In returning the skipper's polite bow she happened to notice the poorwounded sailors lying on the cushions by the companion, and the bloodall sprinkled about--a sight at which she turned up her nose, declaringvery volubly that the place was like a "pigsty, " unfit for any lady toenter, and expressing her surprise at those "common seamen" beingattended to and allowed to remain in the saloon, she having alwaysunderstood that that apartment was only for "the use of the first-classpassengers. "

The skipper, who understood her well enough, as I did too, having learntthe language at a French school near Rouen, was very angry at herremarks. 

"Those men, " said he in his best Parisian, "are your own countrymen, allthat are left of those who died to preserve the lives of you and yourhusband there, who ought to be ashamed of himself for skulking belowwhile they were fighting on deck. "

Monsieur looked foolish, but said nothing in reply to this. Madamesniffed, and flashed her glittering black eyes, as if she couldannihilate him at a glance. 

"My brave Hercules!" she cried indignantly, "be easy. You have been outin the Bois and have established your reputation as a hero and have noneed to notice the insulting remarks of this Englishman. But for you, "she added, turning angrily to the colonel, "this would not havehappened. "

"I? Good Heavens!" exclaimed Colonel Vereker, greatly astonished at herturning on him thus. "Why, it was I who did all in my power to preventCaptain Alphonse from allowing those cursed blacks on board the ship inthe first instance, but you and Monsieur Boisson, both of you, persuadedhim to the contrary. "

"My God! dear Hercules, see how we are calumniated, " said the irateFrenchwoman, rather illogically, turning to her miserable atom of ahusband, who gesticulated and shrugged his shoulders in response, andlooking over the skipper and Colonel Vereker as if neither existed, shewent on to remark to Elsie, who, however, did not appear to relish verymuch her conversation or endearments, that, "some persons whom she wouldnot condescend to name, were, of monsters, the most infamous andungrateful--men, indeed, of the gutter--but that she, the little one, was an angel. "

Here the skipper put an end to the interview. He had evidently seen andhad enough of the Boissons, husband and wife, and, ascending thecompanion-ladder at the same time as Garry and myself, I heard himmuttering to himself as he went along and just caught the followingwords: "To think--brave men--lose--valuable--save such--theirs--toodreadful. She frivolous--he--a--damned coward!" laying a rather strongemphasis on the last words. 

We afterwards went down again, Garry and I, and managed between us tobring up little Mr Johnson, the brave fellow having picked upwonderfully after the attention we had given him, and the knife-thrusthe had received from the negro was found to have only grazed his ribs, and he was anxious for fresh air, after his long imprisonment below, andto see and judge for himself how things were looking on deck after ourscrimmage. 

Here the light was waning and there was a good deal to be done. 

"I think, Fosset, " said the skipper to our worthy first mate, who hadbeen ordering matters forward while the former had come aft, "we hadbetter muster the hands first so as to know who's missing. I'm afraidseveral of our poor fellows have lost the number of their mess in thefight. "

"Aye, sir, they have, " replied Mr Fosset. "Poor Stoddart's gone, forone!"

"Poor fellow, I am sorry, " exclaimed the captain with much feeling. "Wecouldn't have lost a better man, for he was about the best we had onboard, poor fellow--a good engineer, a good mess-mate, and good ateverything he handled, besides being the finest fellow that ever woreshoe leather. How did it happen?"

"He was knifed by one of those black devils, sir, as he led the boardersforrad!"

"Poor Stoddart! I am sorry to lose you! Well, there's no use cryingover spilt milk, and all my words will never bring him back again. MrO'Neil, just muster the men in the waist and let us know the worst atonce!"

"Faith, ye're roight, sor; we'd betther count noses an' have the jobover, " returned Garry, _sotto voce_, singing out in a louder key to thesurvivors of the fray, who were grouped in the waist about the mainmast, where the remaining Haytians who had not been killed outright were tiedup feet to the wrists, as the skipper had told Colonel Vereker when hecame up. "Now all you _Star of the Norths_ that are still alive, comeover here to starboard; the chaps that are d'id, sure, can shtop wherethey are!"

The hands laughed at this Hibernian way of putting the matter to them, and answered their names readily on Garry proceeding to read out themuster roll from a paper he had drawn out of his pocket--all, that is, save those that had fallen, eight in number, including poor Stoddart, our energetic second engineer, and one of his firemen who hadvolunteered to swell the boarding party, as well as six of our bestsailors amongst the foremast hands. 

Of the rest of the crew four were badly hurt and a few slightly wounded. Spokeshave was one of these latter, having, unfortunately, the end ofhis nose--that prominent feature of his--cut clean off by a slash from acutlass; but the majority, we were glad to find, mostly escapedunscathed. 

Seeing old Masters all right, I thought of his morbid forebodings beforewe came up with the ship, and determined to take a rise out of him. 

"I'm awfully sorry about the old bo'sun, " I said with a wink to Garry, right behind his back. "He wasn't a bad seaman, but an awful oldgrumbler, and so superstitious that he funked his own shadow and daren'twalk up a hatchway in the dark. Poor old chap, though, it's a pity he'sdead; I shall miss him if only from not hearing his continued growlingover things that _might_ happen. "

"Well I'm blessed!" cried old Masters, completely flabbergasted at thisexordium of mine; "I never thought, Mister Haldane, to hear you speakag'in me like that. I allays believed you was a friend, that I did. "

I pretended not to see him, and so too did Garry O'Neil, "tumbling to mygame, " as the saying goes, while I went on with my chaff. 

"How did he die?" I asked. "Was he killed at the first rush?"

"Faith, I can't say corrictly, " replied Garry in a very melancholy toneof voice. "I'm afeard care carried him off, somehow or other, as itkilled the cat, for he war the most disconsolate, doleful, down-heartedchap I ivver saw piping the hands to dinner. An' so he's d'id! Poorold bo'sun! we'll nivver see his loike ag'in. "

"Lord bless you!" cried old Masters angrily, stepping up nearer andconfronting us, "I'm not dead at all, I tell you--I tell you I'm not--I'm blessed if I am. Can't you see me here alive and hearty afore you?Look at me. "

"Ah, it's his ghost!" I said, with an affected and tremulous start. "He told me, poor fellow, he felt himself doomed, and nothing could savehim; and I suppose his spirit wants to prove to me he wasn't a liar, asI always thought he was, the old sinner!"

This was too much for Garry, and he couldn't hold in any longer, andboth of us roared at Masters, who looked scared; and, though angry andhighly incensed with us at first, was only too glad at its being but ajoke, and not a fact that he was dead, to bear us any ill-feeling long. 

We were horrified when we were told later on, while we were committingto the deep the corpses of those slain--negroes and white menimpartially sharing the same grave beneath the placid sea, at rest likethemselves, the breeze having died away again soon after sunset--thatEtienne Brago and Francois Terne, the two wounded sailors we had leftbelow with the Boissons, and little Mr Johnson and the colonel andElsie of course, that _these_ were the only ones left of the thirty oddsouls on board the _Saint Pierre_ when she sailed from La Guayra afortnight before!

After all the bodies had been buried in their watery tomb, notforgetting that of poor Ivan, who we all thought merited an honouredplace by the side of his biped brethren of valour--well, after all thishad been done the skipper had the pumps rigged and the decks sluiceddown to wash away all traces of the fray. 

A council of war was then held between us all on the poop, the skipperof course presiding, and the colonel coming up from the cabin to takepart in the proceedings, as well as old Mr Stokes from our ship, wherehe had remained attending singlehanded to the duties of the engine-room, denying himself, as Garry O'Neil remarked, "all the foin of thefoighting!"

This conclave had been called for the purpose of deciding what was to bedone with the _Saint Pierre_ and the captured black pirates, from whomwe had salvaged her, and without much deliberation it was pretty soondecided, on the colonel's suggestion, to send the ship to her destinedport, Liverpool, taking the negroes in her, so that they could be triedbefore a proper court in England for the offence they had committed. "It's of no use your fetching them up to New York, " said the colonel, "for though I'm an American myself and am proud of my nationality, Imust confess those Yanks of the north mix up dollars and justice in away that puzzles folk that are not accustomed to their way of holdingthe scales. "

The skipper was of the same opinion as Colonel Vereker; so, the matterhaving been settled, a navigating party was selected to work the _SaintPierre_ across the Atlantic, with Garry O'Neil as chief officer. Theskipper was unable to spare Mr Fosset, and Garry was all the more fitin every way for the part, as he would be able to look after the woundedFrench sailors, who would naturally go in the ship as they were theprincipal witnesses against the blacks on the charges that would bebrought against them of "piracy on the high seas. "

It was dark when all these details were finally arranged, and all ofthem went back aboard on our vessel for rest and refreshment, thecolonel and his daughter, of course, accompanying us. 

Madame and Monsieur Boisson, however, could not be made to leave theship, saying they would not do so--Madame, that is, said it, and the_brave Hercule_, following her lead as usual, "would not leave, " saidshe repeatedly, "until they once more touched _terra firma_, " and notwishing they should be starved for their obstinacy, the skipper orderedWeston to look after the happy pair and provide them with food at thesame time as he did the wounded and prisoners. 

The two vessels remained for the night, still lashed alongside forbetter security, all hands being too tired out besides to be able to doanything further beyond "turning in" and getting as much rest and sleepas they could after the fatigue and excitement of the day. 

Next morning at sunrise Garry O'Neil went back to his ship with his crewof eight men--all the skipper was able to spare him--and by breakfasttime they had made her all atauto, bending new sails, which they foundbelow in the forepeak, in place of the tattered rags that hung from someof the yards, and otherwise making good defects, preparing the vesselfor her passage home. 

We were all sorry to part with Garry even for the short period thatwould elapse before he would rejoin the old barquey, for he was the lifeof all us aboard; but the same regret was not felt for Master Spokeshavewhen we saw him go over the side to accompany the Irishman, the skipperhaving so decreed, as his assistant navigator, the damage to his nosenot necessarily affecting his "taking the sun, " though it mightinterfere with the little beggar's altitudes of another character. 

By eight bells all the details necessary under the circumstances weresatisfactorily arranged, including the transfer of the effects belongingto the colonel and Miss Elsie, these two preferring to voyage with us, unlike their whilom passengers, the Boissons, who remained in their oldquarters, going with "Captain Garry, " as we all dubbed our mess-mate onhis promotion to a separate command; and half an hour or so later asplendid breeze just then springing up from the westwards and fleckingthe still blue water with buoyant life, the two ships parted companyamid a round of enthusiastic cheers that only grew faint as the distancewidened them apart, the _Saint Pierre_ sailing off right before thewind, with everything set below, and aloft, across the ocean on hercourse for Saint George's Channel, while we braced our yards sharp upand bore away full speed ahead in the opposite direction, bound for NewYork, which port we safely reached without further mishap four dayslater. 

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. 

I GO TO VENEZUELA. 

"You'd better stick to us, " said the skipper to Colonel Vereker, whotalked of taking the next Cunard steamer, which was advertised to leaveon the morrow, as the _Star of the North_ was being berthed in ourcompany's dock on the East River. "I'm only going to stop here longenough to discharge our cargo and ship a fresh one; which is all readyand waiting for us; and then, sir, we'll `make tracks, ' as our friendsthe Yankees say, right away over the `herring-pond' to Liverpool as fastas steam and sail can carry the old barquey. Better stick to us, colonel, and see the voyage out. "

"All right, Senor Applegarth, " replied the colonel, who could not drophis Spanish phraseology all at once, though otherwise graduallyreturning to his and our own native tongue and becoming less of aforeigner in every way, "I will return with you. "

Both were as good as their word, he and little Elsie coming home withus, and the skipper making the passage from Sandy Hook to the Mersey ineight days from land to land, the fastest run we had ever yet achievedacross the Atlantic, whether outward or homeward-bound. 

But, quick as we were, the _Saint Pierre_ managed to reach Liverpoolbefore we did, the pilot who boarded us off the Skerries bringing thenews that she had gone up the river a tide ahead of us. 

This piece of intelligence was confirmed beyond question by Garry O'Neilcoming off in the company's tug that sheered alongside as we droppedanchor in the stream later on, midway between the Prince's landing-stageand the Birkenhead shore, the manager of our line being anxious tocompliment the skipper on his successful rescue of the French ship, thepercentage on whose valuable cargo for bringing her safely to port, andthus saving all loss to the underwriters, would more than repay anydamage done for the detention of our vessel when engaged on the errandof mercy and justice that took her off her course. 

In addition likewise to the thanks of the company and the underwriters, the skipper was also presented with a handsome gold chronometer watch bythe committee of Lloyds, besides participating in the amount awarded bythe charterers of the _Saint Pierre_ for the salvage of the ship, thoughin this latter apportionment it was only fair to mention that we allshared, officers and crew alike, I for my part coming into the suddenpossession of such a tidy little sum of ready money that I felt myself acomparative millionaire. 

When talking with Garry, whom it is almost needless to say all handswere glad to see again, the men cheering him lustily as he crossed thegangway from the tug, he told us that though otherwise they had had afairly pleasant voyage after parting company with us off the Azores, theBoissons gave him a good deal of trouble. 

Madame, he said, worried his life out by "making eyes" at him when hewent below at meal-times, while on deck he was never safe for a momentfrom her embarrassing attentions unless, in desperation, as he was oftenforced to do, he went aloft to get out of her way. 

"Faith, an' sure, that warn't the worst of it nayther, " complained Garryin his humorous way. "Though the vain, silly ould crayture bateBanagher for flirtin'--an', indade, bates ivviry other of her sex, Godbless 'em, that I've ivver clapt eyes on yet--that quare little Frenchychap, her husband, he, the little sparrow, must neades git jallous, an'makes out it's all my fault, an', belave me, a nice toime I had o' italtogether. At last I said to him, afther havin' been more than usualexasperated by him, `If you want to foight me, begorrah, ye can begin assoon as you loike, ' at the same toime showin' him me fists. "

"_Ah, non, non, mon Dieu, non_, note yat vay!" sez he, joompin' awayfrom me whin he caught soight o' me fists. "I was mean ze duel and zerapiere. "

"Not me, faith, " sez I. "If it's duellin' ye want you'll have to go toanother shop, Monsieur Parleyvoo, for it ain't in my line. Allow me totill ye too, Monsieur Boisson, that if ye dare to hint at sich a thingag'in whilst I'm in command of this ship, the ounly satisfaction ye'llivver have out of me in the rap-here way will be a rap on the h'id widthis shtick of moine here, you recollict, joist to thry the stringth ofy'r craynium, begorrah! Faith, that sittled the matther, the littlebeggar turnin' as pale as a codfish and goin' below at onst, lookin'very dejecthed an' crestfallin. He nivver s'id another word afther thatto me as long as he remained aboard, nor did Madame trouble me very muchmore wid her attenshions. On the contrary, bedad, from the day thishappened till yestherday, whin she wor set ashore at the landing-stageyonder, she'd look moighty saur at me if we chanced to mate on deck--aye, faith, as saur as a babby that's been weaned on butthermilk. "

"Why, " inquired the skipper, when we had both a good laugh at Garry andhis account of the Boisson episode, "have they left, then, the ship forgood?"

"Faith, yis, sor, bag an' baggage, the blissid pair of 'em, an' moightypleased I wor to say the backs of 'em!"

"But how about the trial of those black devils, those pirates, then;won't they be required as witnesses against the murderers?"

"No, sor, " replied Garry. "The polis officers that came aboard whin wegot into dock sid they didn't want monsieur nor madame neither, as theydidn't know a ha'porth of the jambolle, worse luck, they bein' below allthe toime. The magistrates think the two French sailors, who're goin'on foine by the same token, and the colonel, all of whom were on deckan' saw everything that went on, would be sufficient witnisses aga'n theHaytian scoundrels. "

"Oh!" said the skipper, "have these men been brought up before themagistrates?"

"Aye, yestherday afthernoon, sor, an' they've been raymanded, whativerthat may mane--it ought to have been rayprimanded, I'm thinkin', an' acat-o'-nine-tails, if they had their desarts--till next Tuesday! Themagisthrates belayvin' the ould _Star of the North_ wid you, cap'en, widthe colonel aboard, to give ividence ag'st the mutineers, that theywouldn't be in from New York afore then, not knowin' what the ouldbarquey could do in the way of stayming as you an' I do, sor, an' thatshe'd arrive, faith, to-day!"

All happened as Garry O'Neil informed us, the Haytians and mutineerblacks of the _Saint Pierre's_ crew being brought up again before themagistrates the week following our arrival home, when, after hearing theadditional evidence against them given by Colonel Vereker and theskipper, the six black and mahogany-coloured rascals were committed fortrial at the next assizes, which we were told would not be held foranother month, on the charge of "piracy and murder on the high seas. "

The colonel took advantage of the interval that would necessarily haveto elapse before his presence would again be required in court to escortMiss Elsie to Paris, and place her under the care of the sisters at theconvent at Neuilly, where, I think I told you before, he said her motherhad been brought up and educated; while the skipper and others of usbelonging to the _Star of the North_, being compelled to remain withinhandy reach of the authorities, in case our presence at the trial mightbe required, the opportunity was seized to lay the old barquey up in drydock and give her a thorough overhaul within and without, though theengines, as proved by our rapid passage here, were none the worse forour breakdown in mid-Atlantic, thanks to the skill and exertions of poorStoddart and the rest of old Mr Stokes' staff. 

Most of us in this way got a short holiday while awaiting the assizes, which I spent with my mother and sister, taking home with me the money Ihad been awarded as my share of the _Saint Pierre's_ salvage, which hadmade me fancy myself a temporary Croesus. 

Alas, though, the sum, large though it was for a young fellow to findunexpectedly in his pocket, went but a very short step in satisfying therapacious wolf I found at my mother's door when I reached the littlecottage, where she lived with my sister Janet, in one of the suburbs ofLiverpool. 

A bubble company, whose directors had all been selected for theirreligious bias rather than their business qualifications, burst at onefell coup, almost in the very hour of my return home, dissipating intothin air, as the Latin poet has it, all the savings of a lifetime whichmy mother had invested in the swindle--the provision left behind by myfather, when he died, for her use, and the subsequent benefit of mysister and myself. The devout rogue who had "managed" the concern tohis own worldly interest and that of his fellow religionists, carried onthe same, so they said, in a pious and eminently "Christian way, " nodoubt, respected alike in the eyes of God and men, according to theloudly-voiced tenets of the particular sect, to which he and his co-directors mostly belonged; but he managed, all the same, to carry off toa remote and friendly land outside the pale of international law, andwhere dividends need no longer be paid to clamorous creditors, aconsiderable amount of portable property of a valuable nature, amongstwhich, probably, was our inheritance, my mother's capital!

Under these circumstances it behoved me to consider how I could best aidmy poor mother and sister, then left suddenly destitute through no faultof their own. 

Fortunately, I had the means ready at hand. 

In our constant association on board the _Star of the North_ after hisrescue from the drifting boat, in which he greatly exaggerated the helpI was able to render him, Colonel Vereker was kind enough to notice memuch more than my subordinate position on board would have seemed towarrant; and in a conversation we had together during the voyage homefrom New York, after asking me what my prospects were, he made me anoffer to accompany him back to Venezuela on his return, promising me, should I accept, a good salary to start with, and a fair chance ofultimately making my fortune. 

Loving the sea and my profession, however, with all a sailor's love, besides being attached to my old ship and her officers, I felt noinclination then to give up what I had learnt to look upon as mylegitimate calling, and turn landsman; so, although I had the highestadmiration for the colonel, coupled with more than a liking for hisyoung daughter, between whom and myself there seemed such a mysterioussympathy on the evening of my sighting the _Saint Pierre_, when thecaptain declared we were some hundreds of miles apart, I reluctantlyand, so it seemed to me, ungraciously, declined his proposal, tellinghim I preferred "sticking" to the skipper and the old barquey!

But the colonel very kindly would not take my refusal at first as final;and, when setting out for Paris to take Elsie to her convent school, shetaking leave of me with many tears and assurances that under anycircumstances she would always remain _mio amiquito_ (my little friend)pledging herself, too, to be, if allowed at the school, a constantcorrespondent if I would write to her sometimes to let her know where Iwas. Well, the kind, good-hearted man, taking, as he said, a deepinterest in my welfare for Elsie's sake as well as for my own, assuredme that he would keep his generous offer open until the period arrivedfor his ultimate departure for South America, on the termination of thetrial of the Haytian pirates and their mutineer accomplices. 

So, recollecting all this, in my hour of need, I naturally turned to thecolonel and told him of my trouble on his return to Liverpool for theassizes, at which, by the way, the black scoundrels and their allieswere sentenced to five years' penal servitude, the judge regretting hisinability to impose a heavier punishment from the fact of proof beingwanted of the active participation of the prisoners in the atrociouslycruel murder of Cato and the other diabolical work perpetrated on boardthe ill-fated ship. 

We were all glad when this matter, with the examination and sickeningdetails that it entailed, was finally settled, and we were at liberty togo where we liked. 

Colonel Vereker more than justified my confidence in him. 

"Heavens! my boy, you must and shall be as my son, " he said, wringing myhand in a grip that I knew would be faithful unto death. "Come with meand I will make a man of you, and a rich one, too, Dick Haldane!"

"But how shall I manage about my mother and sister, sir?" said Ihesitatingly. "How shall I manage about them during my absence?"

"You can make over your salary to them, for you will not want anythingwhile at Caracas, as you will live with me as my private secretary, " hereplied, with another hearty shake of my hand. "The money shall be paidto your mother regularly by my agent here, so that you need have nofears on that score as to her support. But I do not want you to decidesuch an important change in your life without proper consideration, andthe advice of your friends, my boy. Go and consult Senor Applegarth, who I know is an old friend of yours as well as being your captain; andthen, if he and your other friends advise your acceptance of my offer, and your mother and sister are willing to part with you--why then, Dick, you may consider the matter settled, and you, some day, will be verythankful you accepted my offer. "

The skipper did not hesitate for one moment in giving his opinion, though, like most of my mess-mates, he was good enough to say how sorryhe would be to part with me, and how he would miss me. 

"Go by all means, my lad, " said he. "By George! it's a chance thatdoesn't come twice in a fellow's lifetime, and you may consider yourfortune as good as made!"

Mr Fosset and Garry O'Neil were equally enthusiastic. 

"Faith, now, sor!" observed the latter, with a comical air of assureddeference at my future dignified position, as he imagined it would be, "I hope ye'll remember ye'r humble ould fri'nd Garry whim ye'rePrisidint of the Venezuelan Raypublic, mid a lot of yaller divvles forlackeys, an' so many dollars that ye won't know what to do wid 'em. Begorrah, it's wishin' I am, I stood in ye'r shoes, alannah, an' Iwouldn't care for to call the Pope me ouncle, God bless him!"

Spokeshave, though, sneered at my success in gaining so good a friend asthe colonel; but owing to the accident to the top of his nose, whichbeing still bandaged, or rather court-plastered up, and not tending toadd to his beauty, he was not able to turn it up and sniff in his formerirritating way that always exasperated me so much. 

As for old Masters, his face became the picture of woe when I informedhim I was leaving the ship and the company's service. 

"You mark my words, Master Haldane, " said he in his most sepulchralmanner, "many a one afore you has throwed up the sea, and what good hasit done 'em? No good! Them that goes to sea oughter stick to the sea, that's what I says; and if they throws it up, though I hopes you won't, they allus live to repent it. I be truly sorry you be goin', and ah, Master Haldane, I sed as how summet 'ud come of our seein' that thereblessed ghost-ship!"

"And so something _has_ happened, bo'sun, and a precious lot too, myhearty!" said I, jokingly, as I stood on the gangway preparatory togoing over the side. "But never mind that now, old shipmate! Good-byeto you, men, and thank you all for your kindness to me from the time Ifirst sailed with you as a youngster. "

I really believe I could see a tear in the old bo'sun's eye as he wishedme farewell with the rest of them, the crew manning the rigging to giveme a hearty cheer and "send off" that could be heard across the Mersey. 

Thus it was that I took leave of the old barquey, and, my mother'sconsent having been obtained before I finally settled with the colonel, no further arrangements had to be perfected beyond obtaining andpreparing my kit, and a hasty run to the cottage to pay a last visit tomy old mother and sister Janet, and wish them farewell for a few years, when I looked forward to returning to England and finding them both welland happy, and in more comfortable and prosperous circumstances. 

That same afternoon Colonel Vereker and I started off by train fromLiverpool for Southampton, at which latter port we embarked in theoutward bound West India mail steamer, sailing for Colon, _en route_ toVenezuela. 

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. 

DURING SEVEN YEARS. 

We reached La Guayra, and from thence Caracas, safely enough, in spiteof the country just then passing through the acute stage of one of itsperiodical revolutions that had supervened on the top of an earthquake;which convulsions of nature and society are characteristic features ofVenezuela, like as the chief products of its fertile soil are cocoa and"patriots, " the latter being almost as great an article of export as theformer, especially after a political crisis, and consisting of all sortsand conditions of men who, whether born subjects or alien intriguers, are all desirous of serving their natural or adopted mother country fora consideration!

Colonel Vereker was largely interested in an extensive gold mine in theinterior, where he put me as his overseer. 

This was not an unwise measure for his own sake, apart from any motivehe had in advancing my welfare--his real reason for appointing me to thepost; for, with the exception of the captain of the mine, a Frenchman, the majority of those employed were half-caste Spaniards and Portuguese, all of whom studied their several individual pockets rather than theinterest of their employer, while the main body of workers were peonsand mezites, bastard mulattoes, with a large intermixture of negroblood, who valued their own lives as little as they did the lives ofthose, with whom they had to deal. 

I had plenty of work to do here, looking after all these scoundrels, having to keep my eyes open as much as possible in order to preventwholesale robbery as far as I could, although it was utterly impossibleto prevent petty pilfering of the ore on its way from the mine to PuertoCabello, its general port for transhipment to Europe, to swell thetreasure chest of the exiled. 

However, by adopting the old Latin maxim, _Suaviter in modo, fortiter inre_, treating all without hauteur, which some of the insolent half-casteSpanish creoles affected, and yet keeping my revolver ready, with "mypowder dry, " so as to be prepared for any emergency, I managed to getalong very well with the mixed lot I was set over, winning goldenopinions from every one but a few of the worst characters. 

It sounds as if I were boasting, but this is something for a youngEnglishman to be able to say in a country which, though it is theveritable El Dorado of poor Drake's dreams, and has possibly a future ofwealth and prosperity before it when it comes under the rule of theAnglo-Saxon race--whether of ourselves, or of our cousins in Yankee landit does not much matter, for we are all of the same race andenterprising spirit--can be better described in respect of its presentcondition by a shorter and far more expressive word. 

Amongst my other duties I had charge of all the colonel's voluminouscorrespondence, he having a mortal hatred to all letter writing in anyshape or form, and in addition to my good patron's businesscommunications, was entrusted with the task of despatching a lengthyepistle every other mail--they went fortnightly from La Guayra toFrance--informing Miss Elsie of our doings, the colonel himself addingthe briefest of postscripts to his _pequina nina_, as he invariablytermed her and always enclosing some remembrance for his littledaughter, to show that his love exceeded any epistolary proof of thesame, as well as a more substantial token of a handsome cheque for hermaintenance and education, forwarded to the care of the mother superiorof the convent. 

Of all my manifold duties this was the pleasantest I had to perform, being as grateful as water poured on the parched soil of my exileamongst an alien people, antagonistic to me in everything, and with whomI had to shape a steady course, and preserve a "stiff weather helm, " assailors say, to avoid open rupture and assassination, the Venezuelese"sticking at nothing, " especially when that "nothing" happened to be onewhom, for some sufficient reason to their minds, they deemed an enemyand they chanced to be behind his back--and as I told you before, Isteered clear of many enemies, but I could never learn to trust them asa people. 

Yes, my happiest hours at San Felipe were spent in writing to littleElsie, who answered my own letters, as well as those I despatched onbehalf of the colonel, with unvarying punctuality, holding to thepromise she spontaneously gave in England when we parted on her going toschool, at which time she had no idea of my ever accompanying her fatherto South America. 

Similarly, the saddest task that could have been laid on my shouldersfell to my lot five years later, when the mysterious attraction by whichI had been drawn towards her as a boy had grown into the most absorbingaffection--a love that filled my heart. 

And I had to write and tell her--I, who would cheerfully have laid downmy life to save her a pang--to tell her of her dear father's death. 

This occurred just as poor Colonel Vereker had arranged for my returningwith him to the capital of the State, where another revolution--thesixth, I believe, since I had been in the country--had broken out, withthe object, as the object of all these explosions of the mob invariablywas, to depose the reigning party in power, and put the leaders of "thepopular movement" for the time being, in the power of the deposedauthorities. 

The colonel, who had a good deal staked on the issue of the struggle, took up arms on the side of the cause he esteemed just--that to whichthe most respectable of the inhabitants to a man adhered--as he hadtaken up arms before for the party of law and order, amongst whom he waslooked up to, not only as a skilled soldier and tactician, but astalwart partisan, his very name being a tower of strength. 

Alas! though, no opportunity was afforded him now to display his valouron the battlefield and lead his hosts to victory; for while we were _enroute_ for Caracas, a dastardly hound of a creole, whose blood was amixture of the beast elements--part Spaniard, part Portuguese, partnegro--well, this treacherous brute assassinated Colonel Vereker in themost cowardly fashion. 

I was by and saw it all. 

The vile murderer came up to my poor friend as we were resting in a_posada_ on the road from San Felipe; and, while engaging him in anapparently friendly conversation respecting the political points of therising, he suddenly stabbed the dear old man in the back with a longstiletto which he had hidden up his wide shirt sleeves. 

Fortunately, I was there, and I had time to send a bullet through hisbrain from my revolver before the wretch could stir a yard from thespot; but this could not save my noble-hearted, kind, generousprotector, a man who had been more than a father to me, and for whom Ihad the utmost affection and respect. No; the death of the scoundrelcould not save him, for the wound the cowardly scoundrel had inflictedwas mortal. 

My dear friend and companion only survived long enough to confide hisdaughter to my care and give me his blessing ere he died, drawing hislast breath in my arms, a smile on his face and dauntless to the end, ashe pressed my hand and uttered the usual parting phrase he had learntfrom his Spanish associates--"_Hasta la manana_--Good-bye till to-morrow!"

It was a long to-morrow, indeed!

After seeing the last tribute of respect paid to the colonel's remains, the gallant fellow being buried close to the _posada_ where he had metwith his untimely end, and a cross which I carved myself placed abovehis lonely grave, sheltered by a noble palm that stood erect, as he haddone when living, a monument of nature's handiwork, I resumed my journeyto Caracas, in order to carry out my lost friend's last directions. 

The _alcalde_, who acted as the colonel's agent and was largely in hisconfidence, being an acquaintance of many years' standing, produced acopy of Colonel Vereker's will for my inspection, assuring me that thishad been drawn up during his last visit to the State capital, while allhis affairs were in the most perfect order, "the poor gentleman, " as the_alcalde_ expressed it, "being under the opinion that he would not havelong to live, " a presentiment of death I have often found many people tohave had. 

Generous and thoughtful for others to the end, he had not forgotten mein this his last testament, showing that the regard he had alreadydisplayed for my welfare was no mere temporary fancy!

On the contrary, much to my astonishment, he had bequeathed to me quitehalf his fortune--all his share, indeed, in the Gondifera mine--whileall his realised property, which was invested in good English andAmerican securities, out of the reach of the grasping hand of thehungerful Venezuelan patriots--all this he left to his daughter Elsie. 

From a codicil, too, appended to the document, more in the form of asacred charge than a legal instrument, "reading between the lines, " Icould perceive that the large-hearted man had fathomed the secret desireof my heart, though secret it evidently was not to him, loving Elsie ashe did, albeit in a different fashion; for after enjoining upon me toregard his little daughter's interests even as he had studied mine, headded that, should fate bring us together in the future, as had happenedso strangely in the past, his dearest wish would be gratified, for hehad already learnt to care for me and to look upon me as his son!

Of course nothing of this was mentioned when writing to tell Elsie ofthe awful event and dreadful calamity that had befallen her, althoughlater on, before I was able to return to England, when her education wascompleted and the good nuns wrote to me, as her father's executor, tosay the time had arrived for taking her away from the convent unless shewished to change her religion and join the sisterhood, to both of whichcourses I was, of course, bitterly opposed, and, as you may imagine, wasdelighted when Elsie herself requested to be allowed to leave. 

I must, however, have accidentally have shown my feelings towards herand have "let the cat out of the bag" in the letter I sent home to mymother, in answer to the last communication from Neuilly, asking her totake charge of my darling Elsie until I came home to win and claim her. 

I imagined this from something that leaked out afterwards, and from thesomewhat altered tone of Elsie's letters to me from the date of herleaving France to live with my mother; for, though affectionate enough, they had a certain little air of constraint about them, and though shespoke of various objects of interest to both of us, and of differentpersons whom she and I knew, and places she went to, she never by anychance ever mentioned herself, never after the letters she sent mecontaining the passionate outpouring of her inmost heart on receivingthe news of her father's death, albeit all this she would feel perfectlycertain was to me a sacred confidence. 

Slight as the change was in her subsequent correspondence, I noticed itand it worried me, and determined me to have the matter cleared up assoon as I possibly could. 

Meanwhile, however, I had to fulfil the colonel's last trust, and as Iknew what his intentions had been in regard to the crisis in Venezuelanaffairs at the time when an assassin's hand prevented him from actingthe part he intended to play in the existing revolution, I thought Ishould be only carrying out his wishes in putting myself in his place, as far as it lay in my power to do so. 

So, soon after coming to Caracas and settling the details of thecolonel's last depositions, making my own will in my turn in case ofaccidents, though in what way is best known to myself, I went to theheadquarters of the Government troops and joined the army of GeneralGomez. 

Under this able leader I fought in several engagements that were fierceand sanguinary as all such fratricidal contests are, and ever have beenin the annals of civil war, at San Sebastien, Carapana, Tarasca, andelsewhere, our guerilla struggle extending over the whole extensivecountry in almost every direction, where there was a town to sack orproperty to plunder, until at last the insurgent "patriots" wereconquered and peace restored. 

All this took a long time; and then, having had enough and to spare offighting and bloodshed, and tired of mining too, I disposed of myinterest in the Gondifera mine, and at last sailed for Europe, bidding along adieu to Venezuela and everything belonging to it, my journey homebeing hastened by a somewhat tenderer letter than usual from Elsie, whohad read a paragraph in the papers about my having been wounded at thebattle of San Sebastien, though, of course, I had not mentioned anythingabout the affair to her or my mother, as it was a mere flea bite and ofno consequence, and I feared to have alarmed them needlessly had I saidanything about it in my letters to them at home. 

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. 

HOME AT LAST!

Fellows who knock about the world sailoring and so on, cannot helpcoming to the conclusion that its compass is narrower than stay-at-homefolk might be inclined to believe, for you can hardly stir a stepwithout knocking across some one whom you previously imagined to havebeen miles and miles away, separated, perhaps, by an ocean fromyourself. 

I had scarcely stepped into the train from Southampton, boundLondonwards, _en route_ for Liverpool, having only landed from the mailsteamer that brought me direct all the way from Colon that very morning, when whom should I see looking at me from the opposite corner of therailway carriage but a big, bushy-haired, brown-bearded man whom I didnot know from Adam. 

"Faith, " exclaimed this gentleman, after a moment's scrutiny, a broadgrin lighting up his face and his eyes twinkling with a comicalexpression that would alone have made me recognise him, had I not heardhis delightful, to me at any rate, Irish brogue, "ye're ayther DickHaldane or the divvle!" stretching out both hands to grasp mine. 

I was as pleased to see him, as may readily be believed, as the genialIrishman was to see me, I was sure, even without his telling me so. 

"Well, " said I, after we had pretty nigh wrung each other's hands off infriendly greeting, "and how are you all getting on aboard the dear oldbarquey? I want to hear about everybody. "

"Begorrah, Dick, give me toime to recover me bre'th, me bhoy, an' thinI'll till ye ivverythin', " and then he continued in a bashful sort ofway, unlike his usual off-hand manner, "I've lift the say for good, an'sit up for a docther ashore on me own hook, faith. "

"Why!" I exclaimed in great surprise, "how's that?"

"Bedad, you'd betther axe y'r sister. "

"What! my sister Janet?"

"Faith, yis; the very same little darlint of a colleen. Dick, yespalpeen, jist lit me shake y'r fist agin, lad. I'm the happiest man inthe wurrld!"

"Whee-e-e-e-eew, " I whistled through my teeth. "This is indeed asurprise!"

Then it all came out, Garry telling a long yarn about his calling at mymother's house to ask about me some few months back, and meeting thereElsie, whom he had no difficulty in identifying, he said, as "the littlegirl of the ghost-ship, " though she had grown a bit taller and was moregood-looking than he remembered her at the time he saw her on board the_Saint Pierre_. But, good-looking as she was, he did not think her tobe compared to my sister Janet, with whom he had evidently fallen inlove at first sight and very deeply so, too!

On his subsequently declaring his passion, impetuous as usual, after avery short acquaintance, my mother insisted as a first step toentertaining his suit that he should leave the sea, as he had anotherprofession by which he was quite capable of supporting a wife as well ashimself, if he so pleased. 

"Faith, and I wint an' bought a practis' at onst, havin' a snig littlesum stowed away in the bank, " continued Garry, "the savin's of me payfor the last five year an' more, besides that money we all got forsalvagin' the French ship, sure, of which I nivver spint a ha'poth. Butaven thin, Dick, ould chap, yer dear ould mother wern't satisfied, blessher ould heart. She sid that yer sisther an' mesilf wu'ld have to waitto git marri'd till you came home, ye spalpeen; an' not thin aven, if sobe as how ye'd turn nasty an' disagreyable, an' refuse yer consint. Faith, ye won't now, will ye? or, bedad, I'll be afther breakin' ivvreybone in y'r body, avic, an' thin have to plasther ye up ag'in. "

To avoid such a terrible contingency I there and then gave my heartyconsent to the arrangement he and Janet, with my mother's concurrence, had thus planned without my knowledge; although, really, if I had beeninclined to grumble at not being informed previously of what now sounexpectedly transpired, I had only time and distance to blame, not theparties concerned, for the engagement was of so recent a date that thenews of it, though on the way through the post, had not reachedVenezuela when I left. 

After I had answered a lot of Garry O'Neil's questions concerning myselfand the time I had passed in South America, speaking, too, of poorColonel Vereker, whose death he had learnt from my mother, I beganagain, asking in my turn all about my old shipmates, and, of course, hisown also. 

"Faith, the skipper is foine and flourishin', " he informed me, "an' theould barquey as good an' as sound as ivver she was. Do you ricollictould Stokes?"

"Of course I do, " I said. "Is he still chief?"

"No, no; he retired a year ago or more on a pinsion which the companygave him for his long service; an' little Grummet--ye rimimber him?--well, he's promoted, sure, to ould Stokes' billet. The ould chap, though, is alive an' hearty, an' as asthamataky as ivver!"

"What's become of Mr Fosset?"

"Och, be jabbers! he's a big man now. He's a skipper on his own hook, jist loike Cap'en Applegarth. He's got the ould _Fairi Quane_, thesicond best boat but one to the line. D'ye ricollict that ould thaifeof a bo'sun we had on the _Star of the North_?"

"Why, you must mean poor old Masters! I should think I did. "

"That same, alannah. He wasn't a bad sort of chap, an' a good sayman, ivvry inch of him, though I used for to call him an ould thaife just`for fun an' fancy'--as the old song says--well, he's lift the ouldbarquey an' gone with Cap'en Fosset in the _Fairi Quane_. But yehaven't axed me onst afther yer ould fri'nd Spokeshave! Sure, now, yehaven't forgot little `Conky, ' faith!"

"No, indeed, " said I, amused at his query and the funny wink thataccompanied it. "What has become of that spiteful little beggar?"

"Begorrah, ye'll laugh an' be amused, but he's marri'd to a wife as bigas one of thim grannydeers we onst took in the ould barquey to Bermuda, d'ye rimimber? Faith, she's saix feet hoigh, an' broad in the b'ame inproporshi'n. They make a purty couple, bedad! an' they do say she kapeshim in order. Do ye rickolict what an argufyin' chap Spokeshave wasaboard?"

"I should think I did, indeed, " replied I. "I think he was the mostcantankerous little beast I ever came across in my life, either afloator ashore!"

"Faith, ye wouldn't say that same now, Dick, " rejoined Garry with muchearnestness. "The poor little beggar's as make as a cat, for he daren'tcall his sowl his own!"

I asked after some of the other men belonging to my old ship, includingAccra Prout, whom the colonel wished to accompany us to Venezuela, themulatto refusing on the plea that, though he should always love his "oldmassa, " he could not go with him for one insurmountable reason. 

"Guess I'd hav' 'sociate wid dem tam black raskels daan thaar, massa, an' dis chile no like dat nohow. I'se nebbah 'sparrage my famerly by'sociatin' wid niggahs, massa, nebbah. De Prouts 'long good oldplantation stock, an' raise in Lousianner!"

This supercilious autocrat, it must be borne in mind, all the time beingmore than half a negro himself, though, for that matter, his heart wasbetter and his disposition braver than many a white man who would havedespised his coloured skin. 

Some of the other hands about whom I inquired had left the old barqueyand shipped aboard other vessels, so Garry told me; but at this I wasnot much surprised, sailors as a rule being fond of change and veryunconservative in their habits. 

With suchlike conversation my old mess-mate and I beguiled our longrailway journey to Liverpool, which we reached the same evening, butbefore we had quite exhausted our respective questions and answersrespecting everybody we had ever met or known during the time he and Ihad been to sea together. 

My meeting with my dear mother and sister after so long an absenceabroad can be well imagined, and so too my first interview with Elsie, whom I should hardly have known again, for how can I describe her beautyand grace, and though I had been prepared in some measure from accountsmy mother had sent me, still they exceeded my expectations. 

It would be impossible if I tried to picture her for "a month ofSundays, " as Captain Applegarth used to say on board the old barqueywhen he thought a fellow spent too much time over a job. 

So to make a long story short and to avoid all further explanation, itneed only be added that one fine day last summer, when the trees wereall green and leafy, and the flowers abloom, and happy birds filling theair with song, Elsie and I were married. 

Garry O'Neil joined his lot with that of my sister at the same time, thetwo brides being given away respectively by the skipper, who managed torun the _Star of the North_ home in time for the wedding, and old MrStokes, the chief engineer of the old barquey, who had only to cross theroad, instead of the Atlantic, to get to our house, as he lived near tous now--he also was present. Captain Applegarth, who was a very oldfriend of my mother's and a kind one too, likewise, lived in a goodsubstantial house surrounded by a lovely garden in our pretty, picturesque, old village. 

To all whom it may concern, it may, in conclusion, be mentioned thatthis double-barrelled affair took place in the quaint, old-fashioned, non-ritualistic, semi-Gothic, and many-galleried old village church, ofwhich so few remain now in England, situated close to our cottage, andwhere our widowed mother had, in our childhood, taught us to lisp ourfirst prayers to heaven, our dead father resting in the ivy-grown andflower-adorned graveyard adjoining. The nuptial knot was tied by ParsonGoldwire, as everybody called him in the neighbourhood, assisted byMatthew Jacon, the equally elderly parish clerk, without whose jointministration on the occasion neither Janet nor myself would havebelieved the marriage ceremony had been properly solemnised, both mysister and myself standing in much awe of the learned divine and hisinseparable "double, " and holding to the creed that the austere pairrepresented the very quintessence of orthodoxy. 

CHAPTER THIRTY. 

A PRESENTMENT OF THE PAST. 

After Elsie and I got "spliced, " to use the old familiar language of myboyhood, the expressive _argot_ of the sea, for which I shall alwaysretain a passionate love, only second to that I bear towards my dearwife, we set off for the Continent, having determined to spend the happyperiod of our honeymoon abroad, like the fine folk of the fashionableworld with whom, though, there is little in common between us, theirways otherwise not being our ways, nor their thoughts, ambitions, hopesor desires in any respect akin to ours. 

First we went up the Seine to Rouen, where I had passed a couple ofyears of my school life, studying French and teaching the young scionsof the Gallic race, with whom I was associated for the time theexigencies of football, as we play the game in Lancashire, varied by anoccasional illustrative exhibition explanatory of the merits of _la boxeAnglaise_. 

Time passed swiftly with so sweet and sympathetic a companion; ourtastes were similar, both taking the greatest delight in ancientbuildings and lovely scenery; the weather, too, was charming, andaltogether we were as happy as two mortals can be on this earth. 

Elsie and I saw all that was to be seen in the old city we firstvisited, which, in addition to its architectural beauties, should have aspecial charm for all Englishmen from the fact of the dauntless RichardCoeur de Lion having such an affection for the town that he bequeathedit his lion heart, and then we journeyed on through _la belleNormandie_, loitering here and there at those historic spots, woven intothe life of our country, spots where artists of all nations love tolinger. 

We stayed anon at slow, sedate Caen, as still as the stone for which itis celebrated, and that furnished the building material of WinchesterCathedral; Bayeux, boastful of its antique tapestry; and Dol and SaintServan, and away beyond, Sainte Michel, so like and yet unlike the like-named Saint Michael's Mount of Cornwall, in our own sea-girt isle thatit might have been chipped out of the same block by its grandhandycraftsman to serve as a replica; until, entering brighterBretaigne, in the sunny south of France, where the landmarks of the pastseem to stand out in bolder relief, we visited Nantes and other placesof interest, and jogging on thence through Angouleme and Poictiers, halting a day at Poictiers to fight our Plantagenet battles o'er again, we finally ended our pilgrimage at Bordeaux. 

At this wonderfully picturesque port, whose semi-ancient, quaintlymodern aspect strangely attracted us both, we anchored awhile, remainingmany weeks in excess of the customary limit of the traditionalhoneymoon, ours being an indefinite one and only to be completed wetrust, when Elsie and I cease to breathe. 

Late in the autumn, when the leaves had begun to turn russet and brown, and the air of a morning assumed a crisper and more bracing tone, telling us plainly as these signs tell that summer had fled for good andaye, and winter was coming by-and-by, we bade adieu to dear oldBordeaux, and taking a steamer there bound for the Thames, having hadenough of railways and land travel, we started to voyage home by sea, mynative element. 

On the evening of the second day that had elapsed since losing sight ofPointe de Graves at the mouth of the Garonne, towards sunset, we hadweathered Ushant and were shaping a course up Channel, north east, so asto clear the dangerous Casquettes rocks of Guernsey, when I noticed alarge ship, close-hauled on the starboard tack, steaming inwards for theFrench coast, as if heading for Brest, her nearest port. 

At that moment the tired sun, which previously appeared to linger abovethe horizon, uncertain whether to go or to stay, dipped suddenly as wewere looking at him, a pale, yellow radiance succeeding the dazzlingbeams that had well-nigh blinded us, shining straight in our eyes, whilethe afterglow, mounting rapidly into the western sky, became more andmore vivid each moment, two purple islands of cloud which floated acrossthis refulgent background having the lower edges dyed of a rich crimsonthat seemed to set the sea on fire and tipped the spars and sails of thepassing ship with flame. 

She was flying the French Tricolor, and as our steamer went by, salutingher with a couple of blasts from her steam whistle in friendly greeting, the stranger vessel as a return, in accordance with the time-honouredrule of nautical etiquette always observed on such occasions, dipped herensign. 

This action, coupled with the similarity of the scene and itssurroundings, the ship in the distance with her flag half on the hoist, the sunset glow, and the fact of my being on board a steamer then asnow, brought back to my mind at once the incidents of that memorableevening of the past, more than seven years ago now, the _vraisemblance_between the two being simply astounding!

"Elsie, dearest Elsie!" I cried with a start, as the strangecoincidence of the presentment struck me, the date being even identical. "Do you remember what day of the month this is, _querida mia_?"

"Why, of course, Dick, I do, " she answered, nestling up to my side as iffor protection, for we were sitting in a warm corner by the taffrail, just abaft the wheel-house, and screened from the observation of therest of the passengers who were walking up and down the deck as usualafter dinner. "Why, Dick, dear, it's the seventh of November, yourbirthday, you know; surely you have not already forgotten the littlepresent I gave you this morning, my likeness in a locket for your watchchain, a miniature done by that clever artist at Orleans, and you toldme you would always wear it for my sake. Dick, my husband, where isyour memory?"

"No, my little one, I have not forgotten it, " said I, kissing her, thinking she was going to cry at what she thought was forgetfulness onmy part. "Here it is next my heart, like yourself, " said I laughingly. "But, Elsie, _alma mia_, I was thinking of another anniversary, and aFriday evening too, to make it all the more wonderful! Don't yourecollect now?"

"Oh Dick, my dear husband, " she whispered, seizing my arm and gazing outover the taffrail at the ship, all ablaze now from the reflection of thesky, and nearly hull down to leeward. "I see, I see. What a strangecoincidence. It is really wonderful!"

"It is, my darling, " said I. "But it was more extraordinary still thatyou should have seen me that memorable evening, now more than sevenyears ago, and when I too saw the _Saint Pierre_ with you on her deck, and more wonderful still, when the captain and some of the crew even to_this_ day insist we were actually several hundreds of miles apart!"

"Ah, but you are near me now, though, thank God!" she cried, looking upinto my face with the most charming expression of delight, causing me tobe foolish in bestowing another little kiss on her upturned face. "Idon't know how it was, but whether the ships were as far apart as thecaptain and the others say, or whether they were not, I did see yourship and you on her, as I told my dear, dear father at the time, and hehimself did not believe it. Dick, dear, it must have been the gift of`second sight, ' as the Scotch people call it. There was a nun at theconvent who had it, and could tell, so she said, when anything was aboutto happen to any of her family, though she couldn't predict eventsconcerning persons who were not `blood relations, ' as she termed them. Don't be frightened, Dick, but I do think that I must really possess thesame faculty!"

"Well, if that is the case, sweetheart, " said I, "there must be somepsychological affinity between us, and we are both endowed with the sameweird gift, although the possession of the same has never been broughtto the knowledge of us except on that one memorable occasion. Thatcannot be otherwise explained; but the fact of the two ships meetingafterwards may very readily be accounted for under the circumstances. The winds and currents of the ocean drifted them together, like as theydid us, dear. Don't you think so?"

She did not answer for a moment, and, as our steamer speeded on her way, the glow in the sky gradually faded and darkness crept over the face ofthe sea, the flashing light of Ushant whirling its luminous arms roundin rapid rotation, like some spectral windmill, away in the distanceover our lee, where the French ship had long since disappeared. 

Presently my Elsie, who had been looking down into the now gloomy depthsalongside, musing over the bitter-sweet memories of the past, lifted hereyes to mine, glancing heavenwards. 

"No, Dick, my dearest, " said she, speaking at last, a certain hesitationand catch in her throat and a tear in the broken intonation of hervoice, "Dick, I've been thinking and--and--it was a power greater thanthat of the winds and seas that brought us together. It was God!"

THE END.