The South Sea Whaler Part 10

Walter quickly went to the helm, for the food he had taken had greatly restored his strength, and enabled him to stand up firmly. The mate lay down, and before Walter could count thirty the old sailor was fast asleep.

Walter steered on. Although clouds were already gathering in the sky, the wind continued moderate, and he hoped that the mate would be able to take a longer spell of sleep than he had expected to do.

The sun went down with a fiery red appearance, and scarcely had it sank beneath the horizon when the gloom of night came sweeping over the deep.

The wind shortly afterwards began to increase; but still, as the raft did not tumble about much, Walter considered that he was right in not calling the mate. Presently, however, a vivid flash of lightning darted from the clouds, followed almost immediately by a cras.h.i.+ng peal. Mr s...o...b..ok started up. "Why, Walter," he said, "you should have called me when the weather changed."

"The storm has only this instant burst on us," answered Walter. "I wished you to have as much rest as possible. I do not feel myself inclined to go to sleep."

"I suppose not, my lad," said the mate; "but I will take the helm, at all events, and you can stand by the halliards. We must take a reef in our sail, if it comes on to blow much harder."

The wind, however, did not greatly increase, and they stood on. The lightning continued to flash and the thunder to roar, but the sea remained calm. Frequently the whole heavens were lighted up altogether; then only in one direction, and now in another. Walter, who had never seen such vivid lightning or heard the thunder roar so loudly, very naturally felt somewhat alarmed.

"Is the lightning likely to strike us?" he asked at length.

"I think not, my lad. We have but little iron about our raft; and though iron is said to attract it, we are so low down on the surface that I believe it will pa.s.s harmlessly over our heads. A large s.h.i.+p, with her taunt masts, would be in much greater danger than this small raft. We must trust to Him who rules the winds and seas, and the lightning also. It won't do to be sometimes trusting Him and sometimes not. It's as easy for Him to save us out of a great danger as out of what we call a small one. Not that I think we are in any especial danger now; nor shall we be as long as the sea remains calm."

Walter's anxiety was greatly relieved by the mate's a.s.surances. He sat down on the raft. They had been steadily running on for some time, when a vivid flash lighted up the sky and all the ocean to the westward.

"I saw something floating on the water, right ahead," said Walter.

"What it was I cannot exactly say, though it seemed to me to be like a piece of wreck, and I thought for the moment that I saw people on it."

"Keep a bright lookout then, my lad," answered the mate. "We shall probably have another flash presently, and then you will see clearly.

Stand by to lower the sail, that I may have a look at it too."

Walter cast off the halliards, and tried with all his might to pierce the gloom.

"There! there!" he exclaimed, letting go the halliards as another flash darted from the sky. "It's a raft with two people on it. We are close upon them."

A hail came from the raft uttered by two voices.

"O Mr s...o...b..ok, that was Nub's voice, and Alice's too! I am sure of it," exclaimed Walter, scarcely able to speak from excitement. He then, lifting up his own voice, shouted in return--"Is that you, Alice? Is that you, Nub?"

"Yes, yes," answered Nub; "praise Heaven, we all right! Is dat you, Ma.s.sa Walter?"

"Yes," answered Walter.

"O Walter! O Walter! is it you?" cried Alice.

"I am Walter, and Mr s...o...b..ok is with me," he shouted.

"Here, Walter, take the helm," cried the mate, "but work away on the starboard side; I will get a rope ready to heave to Nub."

Walter did as directed, and their raft was soon brought up alongside the other, when Nub, having secured the rope hove to him, in his eagerness forgot the difference of their rank, and sprang forward with delight to embrace the old mate. Walter sprang on to the other raft, and quickly had his dear little sister in his arms. They no longer thought of the thunder roaring or the lightning flas.h.i.+ng around them as they eagerly recounted to each other their adventures. It seemed for the moment, indeed, that all danger to them was over. They soon, however, inquired of each other news of their father, and the fear that he might be lost, or might be hopelessly searching for them, soon made them feel the reality of their position. Nub in the meantime had told the mate all that had happened on board, and his belief that a large raft had been formed, and that the rest of the people had got away from the s.h.i.+p. He told him also that he had seen nothing of it. It was possible, however, that the captain's boat might have fallen in with it; and if so, they would certainly have proceeded together towards the land.

"Our poor, poor father! how unhappy he will be at not finding us,"

e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Walter and Alice together.

"He will not give up all hopes of your being restored to him; so don't fret too much about it, my dear Miss Alice," said the mate, anxious to comfort her. "He will know very well that Nub would not have deserted you; and he will have heard from the people on board that Walter went off with me; and very likely he will guess something like the truth.

And not knowing our boat was destroyed, he will fancy that I picked you up, and that we have made our way in a well-found whale-boat towards the sh.o.r.e."

"I hope he may think so," answered Alice. "I will try not to be too anxious about him; and perhaps we shall meet each other before long."

"That's it, Miss Alice," said the mate. "Hope for the best. 'Hope still in G.o.d,' as He Himself in the Bible tells us to do, and don't be cast down."

The night had been much further spent than those on the raft supposed.

The thunder gradually rolled away to the southward, and soon afterwards the sun arose in the clear sky, shedding a brilliant glare across the water. Directly the light appeared the mate exclaimed, "Now, Walter,-- now, Nub, as we have doubled our numbers, we must turn to and increase the size of our raft."

"As you think best, Mr s...o...b..ok," answered Walter.

"Anything you tell me do, I do," said Nub.

"Well, we will pull your raft to pieces, and put the bow and stern on to ours, and raise our bulwarks."

"Ay, ay, mate," answered Nub; and they immediately set to work. It was an operation requiring a good deal of skill, as it was necessary to lash the fresh timbers very securely, or they would prove a source of much danger; for should the sea get up, and should they break loose, they would be thrown upon the raft, and thus endanger the safety of those on it. A portion of Nub's raft was composed of spars, one of which was found long enough to serve as a mast, instead of the two oars which had hitherto done duty as such; and they would now be of much use in impelling on the raft. The mast was securely fixed between the two cross spars, fastened at either end to the raised sides, and it was then well stayed up, so that the whole sail bent to a yard could now be hoisted up. The casks were then lashed securely to the two sides of the raft as well as to the bow and stern; and when all was finished, the mate declared that he believed their craft would weather out a heavy gale as well as many a s.h.i.+p at sea. He might have said much better than many, which, over-laden and leaky, go helplessly down into the depths of the ocean without any land in sight or help near, the hapless crew peris.h.i.+ng miserably.

It was nearly mid-day when all was completed. Nub had not uttered a complaint. At last he could not help exclaiming, "Oh, Mr s...o...b..ok, can you give me just one mouthful of water? I give de last to Missie Alice, and she not know I go all de time without any."

"Of course, my lad, of course," answered the mate, filling a cup from the cask. "We must be careful of it; but I know what you are feeling, and there would be no use in giving you just one mouthful."

Nub drank the water, and, heaving a sigh as he smacked his lips, he exclaimed, "Dat is delicious!"

"Now I think of it, we have not breakfasted. Miss Alice and Walter must be pretty hungry, and thirsty too," said the mate.

"I am not very thirsty, but I should like to have a few of the biscuits Nub and I brought," answered Alice.

Nub looked downcast. There were only two remaining. He had not let Alice discover this, that she might not know how close run they were for food. For many hours he, honest fellow, had eaten nothing. The mate, suspecting this, gave Alice the biscuits with a cup of wine and water, and then beat up some more fish, oil, and pounded biscuit, which he shared with Walter and Nub. The latter thought the food especially good, and would have been perfectly ready to eat twice as much of it had it been given to him. Some more wine and water restored the strength of all the party, but poor Nub wanted something besides food. For many a long hour he had not closed his eyes. He told the mate so, and asking his leave, threw himself down on the deck. Almost before his head reached the piece of wood Walter had placed for a pillow, he was fast asleep. Alice was very nearly as sleepy as poor Nub; and the mate saying he would steer, Walter sat down on the deck, and taking her in his arms, she also in less than a minute closed her eyes, feeling far happier than she had done since she had left the burning s.h.i.+p. Having perfect confidence in the mate, it seemed to her that they had now only to sail on till they reached the sh.o.r.e. Happily, she little thought of the dangers before them, or knew that the scanty stock of provisions they possessed would not last long, and that before many days were over famine must overtake them.

The wind remained light but variable, and now coming from the southward, they could only steer a north-westerly course. The mate feared that it might s.h.i.+ft to the west; if so, they would have to lower the sail and trust to their oars. Their progress in that case would be very slow, as neither Walter nor Nub had much strength for rowing. As before, he himself intended to steer during the night; so, on the approach of evening, telling Walter to take the helm, he lay down, making his arm serve as a pillow for Alice. Before closing his eyes, he gave the usual charge to Walter to call him should there be any alteration in the wind; which, of course, Walter faithfully promised to do. Walter stood bravely to his post till he found his head nodding, and the stars at which he was gazing dancing before his eyes; and reluctantly he was on the point of calling Mr s...o...b..ok, when the mate, lifting up his head, told him to take charge of Alice, while he resumed his place at the helm.

All night long the old sailor stood steering the raft, allowing his young charges and Nub to sleep on.

"The black deserves his rest," he said to himself; "and it's much better that those two dear young ones should forget their sorrow and troubles; they will have enough of them, I am afraid, before long."

Again the sun rose--another day, which promised to be like the last.

The remainder of the flying-fish was eaten in the same manner as before.

Alice could not manage to get down the unsavoury compound, and contented herself with some hard biscuits soaked in wine and water.

Though they were saved from the suffering which thirst would have caused them, hunger stared them in the face. In vain they watched the shoals of flying-fish in the distance; none came near them. They had no hooks or lines, nor any means of replenis.h.i.+ng their stock of provisions. The mate did not allow the rest of the party to discover how anxious he felt; indeed, he blamed himself for feeling anxious, and continually kept saying, "G.o.d cares for us. He will take care of us, I am sure. He won't let these young ones perish." Still the thought arose, "How is that to be? It's more than I can tell, unless He sends a s.h.i.+p to pick us up." No sail, however, appeared in sight. Hour after hour pa.s.sed away. The mate looked round and round the horizon, in the hope that one would appear; but again the sun went down, and the raft floated slowly on amid the darkness of night.

Except a little biscuit reserved for Alice and Walter, no substantial food remained for the next day, though the oil, wine, and spirits might a.s.sist to keep them alive for some time longer. The mate and Nub steered on watch and watch during the night, as they agreed to let the young people sleep as long as they could. The mate felt perfect confidence while Nub, who was an excellent sailor, was at the helm, and he was thus able to take more rest than heretofore. The latter part of the night was darker than usual, for a thick mist rested on the calm ocean. Morning was approaching, when Walter awoke, and springing to his feet, offered to take the helm, that his companions might have more rest.

"No, thank you, lad; Nub and I have had sleep enough, and we wish that you and Miss Alice should have as much rest as possible," answered Mr s...o...b..ok.

Alice, on hearing her name, started up, and inquired if anything had happened. But before the mate could reply, Nub shouted out, "Land!

land!--land right ahead!"

All the party, naturally highly excited, looked out, endeavouring to pierce the gloom; but either the mist had risen for a moment, enabling Nub to see the land, or his eyes, still heavy with sleep, had deceived him. A light breeze was still driving on the raft. They got out the oars, and endeavoured to impel it faster. They had not gone far when Nub again cried out, "There! there! There it is!"

"Is it an island, or is it the back of an enormous whale?" exclaimed Walter. "I see a flag flying on the highest part, and people moving about."