In the Eastern Seas Part 23

exclaimed Potto Jumbo, as he committed his charge to our hands.

The boat meantime was slowly drifting in, in spite of the efforts of two men on board to hold her; one indeed appeared to have been hurt, and able to exert but little strength. Who they were we could not then see, but I hoped that my old friend d.i.c.k Tarbox had escaped.

"Is the boatswain one of them?" I asked of Potto Jumbo.

"Yes, ma.s.sa, yes," answered Potto; "and t'other Mr Thudic.u.mb. But help dem, help dem; no mind me. I take care of Mr Hooker; Mr Thudic.u.mb no help himself."

It was time indeed for us to exert all our strength, for the boat was now being driven helplessly towards the rock; and it seemed but too probable, should she strike it, that those in her would be thrown out, and very likely swept off by the sea: indeed, they were in a more dangerous position than had they held on alone to the rope. There was on one side of the rock a sort of gulf, which ran up some way towards the beach. Should the boat strike the point, she would very likely be dashed to pieces, but if we could manage to get hold of her as she drove by on one side, we might, I knew, rescue our friends and save her. This thought pa.s.sed rapidly through my mind. The rest of our party saw what was likely to happen as well as I did, and together we eagerly stood waiting for the boat to reach us.

On she came. Mr Thudic.u.mb managed to crawl to the helm, while d.i.c.k Tarbox stood in the bows. Another sea came roaring in. The boatswain held a rope in his hand. I almost shrieked with terror as I saw the boat, as I thought, coming towards the point; but the mate, moving the helm, she grazed by it, and the next instant Tarbox hove the rope. We caught it, and hauling on together as we ran along, drew the boat's head for an instant in towards us. Tarbox leaped out and seized the rope.

Potto, who had placed his burden on a secure part of the rock, joined us. The following sea almost filled the boat, but we dragged her bows in, though as we did so she came with a fearful crash against the rock.

Tarbox then leaping back, seized the mate, and with almost superhuman strength dragged him out over the side on to the rock, while we hauled the boat up half out of the water.

"You are safe, Mr Thudic.u.mb, you are safe!" exclaimed Tarbox to the mate, who scarcely seemed aware of what had happened.

While Oliver, Roger Trew, and Tanda attended to the boat, Potto Jumbo again lifted up Mr Hooker, and Tarbox and I a.s.sisted Mr Thudic.u.mb along over the ledge towards the sh.o.r.e.

"Are there any others left on board?" asked Roger Trew. "If there are, we will pull back and try to bring them on sh.o.r.e."

"No one, no one," answered the boatswain; "all left before we did, more's the pity. They would not stop, in spite of all we could say to them."

We were soon met by Mr Sedgwick, who had returned from the house. He cordially welcomed his old friend, moved almost to tears by the condition in which he saw him.

"Rouse up, Hooker, my dear fellow!" he exclaimed. "You will soon have a roof over your head and a dry bed to lie in and willing hands to take care of you."

We soon got the party up to the house, when Frau Ursula and the girls began eagerly to busy themselves in arranging the beds for the two sick men. Mr Thudic.u.mb had been hurt by the falling of a spar, and our uncle, who fortunately possessed considerable surgical knowledge, at once attended to his injuries.

Daylight had now returned, and as the sun rose the gale began to abate.

Mr Hooker and the mate were put to bed in my uncle's room, his own couch accommodating one, and a mattress composed of mats serving as a bed for the other. The rest of the party were now a.s.sembled in what my uncle called his hall.

"And now, my good Frau, you and the young ladies must go to your roost.

As you have been night-birds, you must sleep in the day, and we will look after these good fellows, who, I daresay, will not be sorry to take some of the remains of our feast of last night."

"No, indeed, sir, we shall not," said d.i.c.k Tarbox; "for the truth is, we have been far too anxious to think of grub, in the first place; and it was a hard matter to get at any, in the second."

It was amusing to see the eagerness with which the s.h.i.+pwrecked men set to work upon the provisions placed before them.

"The sooner you get off those wet clothes of yours the better," observed my uncle; "and though we are not very rich in garments here, we can supply you with mat petticoats and a s.h.i.+rt apiece while your things are drying."

In a few minutes we all appeared dressed in the costume thus furnished, and certainly we looked more like savages than civilised people as we sat round the board.

"Now, lads, there is one thing I think we ought to do," said d.i.c.k Tarbox, "and that is, thank Heaven for bringing us ash.o.r.e in safety, and giving us such good quarters. If we had been driven on a coast not far from here, I suspect we should have found very different treatment. The chances are our heads would have been off our shoulders before we had been many hours in the company of the natives, and very likely, instead of enjoying a good supper like this--or a breakfast, we ought to call it--we should have been served up as a feast to the savages."

Our meal over, Tanda brought in a further supply of mats, in which we all wrapped ourselves, and were very soon fast asleep, I was awoke by hearing my uncle's voice calling to Tanda, and looking up, I saw that they were placing another meal on the table. Our clothes were then brought to us.

"There, lads," said my uncle, "you are now more fit than you were to appear before the ladies; and as they are on foot, I will bring them into the hall. I am glad also to say both Mr Hooker and the mate are very much better for their rest, and I hope in a few days they will be themselves again."

The first few hours we spent on the island appeared to me like a dream.

I had been so tired on the night of the wreck, that scarcely was one meal over than I was asleep again, and only woke up to see a fresh repast prepared for us. As soon as I was somewhat recovered, I hurried out, with Tarbox and Potto Jumbo, to the sh.o.r.e to see what had become of the wreck. I gave a shout of joy when I saw that her masts were still standing, though she had been driven so high up on the rock that it was very evident that we should not be able to get her off again. The boat still lay where Roger Trew and Oliver had hauled her up. We hurried down to examine her. A hole had been torn in her bottom, rendering her unfit for use.

"Never fear," said the boatswain, on examining her. "We may soon repair this damage and be able to get off to the wreck in her. I hope we shall find many things on board of use to us, even though we cannot get the old barky afloat again."

The next thing to be done, therefore, was to repair the boat. We hurried back to the house to see if Mr Sedgwick was able to a.s.sist us.

As soon as he heard the nature of the injury, he produced some planks and nails exactly suited for our purpose.

"I cannot supply you with pitch," he said, "but there are several gums in the island which will answer the object, and here are copper nails enough, if you use them with economy."

We of course at once set to work, and quickly patched up the little boat. At first I had a vague idea that she might enable us to get off to some civilised place, but on seeing her once more in the water, I felt that that would be hopeless, as she could only hold three or four persons at the utmost in smooth water.

When Emily and Grace heard that we were going off to the vessel, they entreated us to be cautious.

"I do so dread the sea," said Emily. "I should be very thankful if I thought I had not again to cross it."

"But you would not like to live in this island for ever," observed Mr Sedgwick. "You will soon be wis.h.i.+ng yourself back in the old country, as I have done, I can a.s.sure you, very often."

Oliver and I, with Tarbox and Roger Trew, had arranged to go off in the boat. The oars had fortunately been thrown on sh.o.r.e. Although one of them was broken, two had been preserved uninjured. I did my best to rea.s.sure my sister and Grace, and they and the Frau came down to see us off. Tarbox and Oliver pulled, while I steered, and away we went over the now blue sea towards the wreck.

As we drew near we saw the fearful injuries she had received.

A coral rock had forced itself completely through her side; and had she not been thrown high up on the reef, she must inevitably have sunk, as the water flowed in and out with the tide. It was now fortunately low water, and by getting on to the reef, which appeared above the surface, having made our boat secure, we were able to scramble on board.

Everything with the exception of the masts had been swept from the deck, while the hold was still nearly full of water. In the cabin, however, we found a variety of useful articles, besides a good supply of provisions. All sorts of things, however, had been thrown out of their places, and lay scattered about the wreck. Having collected, however, as many things as we could carry, we were about to return with them to the boat.

"Stay," said the boatswain, "we have forgotten the arms. See, here are four muskets against this bulkhead, and Mr Hooker's fowling-pieces. If we could get some ammunition, we should be able to defend ourselves in case any of the piratical fellows in this neighbourhood should find us out and pay us a visit."

We were almost giving up the search for ammunition in despair, when we discovered a couple of tins of powder in one of the lockers, evidently placed there by Mr Thudic.u.mb for immediate use. The powder, fortunately, from having been carefully packed in tins, had escaped injury.

We now, laden with our prizes, got back to the boat, and without much difficulty steered clear of the surf to the sh.o.r.e. We were received on landing by Frau Ursula and the two girls, who had been standing for a long time anxiously watching the boat, afraid that some accident had happened. They now a.s.sisted us in landing our goods, and carrying them up to the house.

"We must not live idle lives here," said Emily, laughing; "and as we have no fancy work, we cannot employ our time better than in making ourselves useful."

I saw the Frau eagerly examining the articles we had brought on sh.o.r.e.

"What! you no think of our clothes?" she exclaimed at length. "You leave the frocks, and gowns, and shoes, and all the little girls'

things? Oh, you thoughtless men!"

We felt ourselves rebuked.

"Well, we must go back at once, Frau," I answered. "I confess that we ought to have recollected that you would require clothing, and that mat-made garments, however suited to the climate, are not so becoming as those you had on board. We will go back and fetch them."

"Oh no, no!" exclaimed Grace. "It is already late, and you have had a long row to-day--some accident may be happening."

"Not much fear of that, miss," observed Tarbox. "You shall have your duds, even though we had twice as far to pull for them. Just take care that no one shakes his pipe over those tins there," he observed, pointing to the cases of powder. "They might chance to send the house flying up over the trees, and the unfortunate smoker with it."

We had by this time landed all the articles we had brought on sh.o.r.e.

They were somewhat miscellaneous, but all likely to prove useful.

Besides the fire-arms and ammunition, we had found some cases of preserved meat and hams, a cask of biscuit, some tins of pepper and salt and mustard, a case of wine, a cask of pork, a box of cigars, and a couple of Mr Hooker's cases. We thought it would do his heart good to see them; and I knew they were among those he valued most for their contents.

"That was indeed thoughtful of you," observed Emily, when she saw the cases.