Dick Cheveley Part 24

he answered.

Mr McDonald replied, that he could not but say that this was the case, but that the lad had accompanied them, and they felt themselves answerable for his safe return.

The captain, however, would not listen, but continued shouting out his orders to the men, who obeyed them with more alacrity than usual.

I could not help thinking that they rejoiced at having thus easily got rid of Mark. For my own part I regretted not having run away also, and shared his fate, whatever that might have been. Had the distance not been so great, I should, even now, have jumped overboard and tried to join him. But the attempt would have been equivalent to suicide, and I dared not make it.

Away stood the s.h.i.+p out of the harbour, leaving my old friend all alone on the desert island. I pictured to myself his horror and disappointment at not seeing me; the miseries and hards.h.i.+ps he might endure for want of food and companions.h.i.+p, and his too probable early death. I went about my duty in a disconsolate mood. I had now no friend to talk to. Not one of the men appeared to pity me. Even Julius Caesar uttered no word of comfort. We soon lost sight of the Falkland Islands and shaped a course to round Cape Horn. The s.h.i.+p was now surrounded by albatrosses, penguins, and pintado birds. Several were shot, and others taken with a hook and bait. An enormous albatross was thus hauled in, and being brought on deck fought bravely for some time before it could be killed.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

South Sea whaler--I write a letter home, and how far it got on its way there--The Earl of Lollipop--Mr McTavish saves me from a flogging--My prospects somewhat improve--Another storm--We lose another man--A struggle for life--Tierra del Fuego--Cape Horn--In the Pacific--The coast of Patagonia, and how we nearly got wrecked--Juan Fernandez-- Robinson Crusoe's Island--I again determine to run away, but am prevented by an offer I receive--"Shark! Shark!"--A narrow escape-- Valparaiso--Callao--Paita--The Sandwich Islands--The king and his court--Royal guests--Some queer dishes--Pooah--Am again prevented from deserting--Columbia River at last--A glimpse of freedom--A farewell dinner--An untoward incident--Once more a prisoner--My captors' fears my only safety--My friends give up the search--At sea again--My release--"Dis curious s.h.i.+p."

We had left the island for some days, when we fell in with a homeward-bound South Sea whaler. As the ocean was calm, and the wind light, her captain came on board and politely offered to convey any message or letters home. "Now," I thought, "will be an excellent opportunity of returning home. I'm sick of this life, and shall be glad to go back to Mr b.u.t.terfield's office and the high stool, and listen to Aunt Deb's lectures." How to accomplish my purpose was the difficulty.

I went up to the captain of the whaler.

"I'm a gentleman's son," I said; "I came off to sea unintentionally, and I want to go home again."

He gave a loud "Whew!" as I said this.

"I can't take you, my lad, without your captain's leave," he answered.

"If he gives it, I shall be happy to do so."

Captain Longfleet just then came out of the cabin.

"I don't know how he came on board, but here he is and here he'll remain," he said, as the captain of the whaler spoke to him. "Go forward," he said to me, "and think yourself fortunate to escape a flogging for your impudence."

However, I persevered, and turning to Mr McTavish, asked him kindly to say a word for me. Captain Longfleet in reply told him that he had no business to interfere.

"I've lost one boy through you gentlemen, and I'm not going to lose another," he answered.

In vain Mr McDonald and the other gentlemen spoke to him; he replied in his usual rough way.

"I'm sorry, my lad, that I can't take you out of the s.h.i.+p without your captain's permission," said the whaling captain; "but if you'll get a letter scribbled off, I'll undertake to post it."

I had neither paper, pens, nor ink, but Mr McTavish, hearing what was said, instantly brought me some, and I ran off into the berth to write it, hoping that I should be there undisturbed. I had great difficulty in penning the letter; and while I was kneeling down at the chest, old Growles came in and mocked at me, and another fellow asked me whether I was sending a love-letter to my dearie, and a third gave me a knock on the elbow, which spattered the ink over the paper and nearly upset the ink-bottle. Still I wrote on.

"s.h.i.+p 'Emu,' somewhere off Cape Horn.

"My dear Father,--I didn't intend to run away, but tumbled down into the hold and was carried off. When I came to myself I found that I was at sea, and could not get out of my prison. I lived there for I don't know how many days, till, when almost dead, I was released. I have been treated worse than a dog ever since by the captain, officers, and men.

He's a terrible tyrant and brute, and if it had not been for Mark Riddle--whom, wonderful to say, I found on board the s.h.i.+p--he and his mates would have been knocked on the head and hove overboard.

"I would much rather be seated on the high stool in Mr b.u.t.terfield's office than where I am. I wanted to return home, but the captain wouldn't let me. I intend, however, to run on the first opportunity, and to get back if I can. I tried to get away in the Falkland Islands, but was prevented. Mark succeeded, and was left behind. Whether he'll manage to live there I don't know, but I hope he will, and get back to Sandgate one of these days, I have no time to write more; so with love to mother, and my brothers and sisters, and even to Aunt Deb--

"I remain your affectionate son--

"Richard Cheveley."

"PS--Please tell old Riddle all about his son."

I hurriedly folded this letter, and addressed it to the Reverend John Cheveley, Sandgate, England; and having no wax, I sealed it with a piece of pitch which I hooked out of a seam in the deck. I rushed out, intending to give it into the hands of the captain of the whaler; but what was my dismay to see his boat pulling away from the s.h.i.+p. I shouted and waved my letter, thinking that he would return; but at that moment the third mate s.n.a.t.c.hed the letter out of my hand, and waved to the men in the boat to pull on. I turned round, endeavouring to recover the letter, but instead got a box on the ear. I made another s.n.a.t.c.h at it.

"What's this about, you young rascal?" shouted the captain; "give me the letter, Simmons. You'll try next to take it out of my hands, I suppose."

In spite of all my efforts to regain it, the mate handed the letter to the captain, who, looking at the superscription, at once tore it open.

He glanced at the commencement and end.

"So you pretend to be a gentleman's son, you young scapegrace," he exclaimed. "You'll not get me to believe such a tale. Why, bless my heart, the last voyage I had a fellow who was always writing to the Earl of Lollipop, and signing himself his son. The men called him My Lord.

He was made to black down the rigging, notwithstanding, and polish up the pots and pans. He was found at last to be a chimney-sweeper's son."

I was convinced that the captain said this to be heard by the pa.s.sengers, and to try and throw discredit on me, as they were already inclined to treat me kindly, through seeing that I was at all events a boy of education; and from the service I had already rendered them in giving them warning of the crew's design. I was in hopes that the captain would let me have my letter back, but to my dismay he again looked at it and read it. I saw a thunder-cloud gathering on his brow; his lips quivered with rage; I cannot repeat the terms he applied to me.

"And so, you young anatomy, you dare to call me a tyrant and a brute,"

he shouted out in a hoa.r.s.e voice; "to write all sorts of lies of me to your friends at home. You see that yard-arm. Many a fellow has been run up for a less offence. Look out for yourself. If the crew don't finish you off before the voyage is over, I'll make you wish you had never set foot on the deck of the 'Emu.'"

"I wish I never had," I exclaimed.

"What! You dare speak to me," roared the captain. "Here, Mr Simmons, take this mutinous young rascal and give him three dozen. We'll keel-haul him next, if that doesn't bring him into order."

Here the pa.s.sengers interfered. Mr McTavish declared that he would not stand by and let me be unjustly punished.

"If it were not for young Cheveley, where should we be by this time, Captain Longfleet?" he asked. "You know as well as we do what was intended. If your mate attempts to touch him, he must take the consequences."

The captain was silent for some minutes. Perhaps some sense of what was right overcame his ill-feeling.

"Let him go, Simmons," he said, turning to the mate. "It's lucky for you, boy, that this letter was not sent," he said, looking at me. He tore it up and threw the fragments overboard. "Remember that the next time you write home, I intend to have a look at your letter. You may let your friends know where you are, but you can't accuse me of carrying you away from home."

As the captain turned from me, I thought that the best thing I could do was to go forward. I saw two of the men, who had been within earshot while the captain was speaking, eyeing me with no friendly glances. I looked as innocent as I could; but weary though I was, when it was my watch below I was almost afraid lest I should never awake again in this world. When I was forward the men treated me as badly as ever, but I found the conduct of the captain and officers towards me greatly improved, owing to the influence of the pa.s.sengers. I had frequently to go into the cabin to a.s.sist the steward, who, though he often gave me a slight cuff, never did so in the presence of my friends. Knowing that I had those on board interested in me, I bore my sufferings and annoyances with more equanimity than before. I one day, unknown to Captain Longfleet, had the opportunity of giving my father's address to Mr McTavish. He promised to write home from the first place at which we touched. It would be useless for me to attempt writing, as my letter would, I knew, be seen and taken from me. This was some comfort. I can but briefly relate the incidents of the voyage.

While still to the southward of Cape Horn, the appearances of another heavy storm came on. The lighter canvas was instantly handed. Almost in an instant a heavy sea got up, into which the s.h.i.+p violently pitched as she forced her way ahead. The flying jib having been carelessly secured, the gaskets, or small ropes which bound it to the jibboom, gave way. Two hands were immediately sent out to make it fast. While they were thus employed, a tremendous sea struck the bows. One of the men, old Growles, scrambled on to the bowsprit, to which he held on like grim death, but before the other man could follow his example, the jibboom was carried away and he with it. I saw the poor fellow struggling amid the foaming seas. The captain did not on this occasion refuse to try to save him. The s.h.i.+p was hove-to, and pieces of timber, an empty cask, and a hen-coop, were hove overboard to give him the chance of escaping.

He failed to reach any of them. Mr McTavish and two of the men and I were on the point of jumping into the jolly-boat to go to his rescue, but the captain shouted out in no gentle terms, ordering us to desist, and asked us if we wished to lose our lives also. This, if we had made the attempt, we should certainly have done. The boat could not have lived many moments in such a sea. For fully ten minutes the poor fellow was observed buffeting with the waves, but he at length disappeared.

The s.h.i.+p was kept away, and we stood on our course. We soon afterwards perceived the snow-capped mountains of Tierra del Fuego rearing their majestic heads, and looking down on the raging waters below them.

The weather soon after moderated, and as we sighted Cape Horn the captain ordered the topgallant and royal masts to be got up, and the lighter sails to be set. With a gentle breeze from the eastward we rounded the dreaded Cape, and found ourselves in the Pacific. I heard some of the men say that they had never pa.s.sed Cape Horn in such fine weather. Whales, and porpoises in countless numbers, were playing round us, and if we had had harpoons and gear on board we might have captured many of the former and filled up our s.h.i.+p with oil. We were not destined, however, to enjoy the fine weather long. Another gale came on and nearly drove us on the western coast of Patagonia, carrying away our bulwarks, and doing much other damage. When within about five or six miles of the coast the wind s.h.i.+fted, and we once more stood off the land. We sighted the far-famed island of Juan Fernandez, the scene of Robinson Crusoe's adventures, or rather those of the real Alexander Selkirk. The s.h.i.+p was hove-to when we were about two miles off sh.o.r.e, and the pinnace and jolly-boat were sent to obtain wood and water. The pa.s.sengers taking the opportunity of going also, I slipped into the boat with Mr McTavish, without being perceived by the captain. The second mate, who had charge of the boat, did not inquire whether I had leave.

I was not aware till the moment before that the boat was going.

There was no time for consideration; but the hope seized me that I might manage to make my escape and remain on the island. If Robinson Crusoe lived there, so might I. A solitary life would be infinitely better, I thought, than the existence I was doomed to live on board. I said nothing to Mr McTavish, for fear he should try to prevent me. We found when approaching the sh.o.r.e that a heavy sea was breaking over it, and that it would be impossible to land. We soon, however, discovered that we had entered the wrong bay, and pulling out again, we got into another, where the landing was less difficult, though not free from danger. While some of the party remained on the beach to fill the water-casks and to draw a seine which had been brought to catch fish, I accompanied Mr McTavish and the other gentlemen into the interior. The island appeared to be one vast rock split into various portions. We pushed on up a deep valley. At the bottom ran a stream of fine water, from which the water-casks were filled. The valley, scarcely a hundred yards wide at the entrance, gradually widened. We climbed up the wild rocks, ascending higher and higher, startling a number of goats, which scrambled off leaping from crag to crag; some of them fine-built old fellows with long beards, who looked as if they must have been well acquainted with Robinson Crusoe himself. We frequently had to turn aside to avoid cascades, which came rus.h.i.+ng down the mountain's side.

Sometimes we were involved in the thickest gloom, and then again we emerged into bright sunlight as we gained a higher elevation. The appearance of the country was picturesque in the extreme, though it didn't tempt me to make it my residence for the remainder of my life; and then again, I considered that there must be other parts of a more gentle character where Robinson Crusoe must have resided. I had been often looking about, considering how I might accomplish my object, when Mr McTavish said, "I know what you are thinking about, Cheveley, but for your own sake I do not intend you to succeed; and even if it were otherwise, I am bound to see you safe on board the boat. So come along.

You mustn't play me any trick."

"Well, I did think that I should like to stop here and live as Robinson Crusoe did. Perhaps I might give an account of my adventures when I got home," I answered.

"The chances are that you would be starved, or break your neck, or die of some disease, and never get home; so I intend to keep an eye on you, my laddie," said my friend, in a good-natured tone. "Besides this, my friends and I propose to induce Captain Longfleet to set you at liberty when we reach the Columbia River, and you can either wait at the fort till you can hear from your father, making yourself useful there as a clerk, or you can turn fur-hunter, and lead a life which I believe would be to your taste."

"I'm very much obliged to you, sir," I said, "and accept your offer, and will not attempt to run away."

After a tiring excursion we got back to the boats just as they were about to shove off. We after this touched at Ma.s.safuero, an island mountain rising abruptly from the sea, surrounded by a narrow slip of beach. Here we obtained a vast quant.i.ty of fish and a few goats. The abundance of food contributed much to tranquillise the minds of the crew, and also, I suspect, to prevent them from carrying their plans into execution. One day when we were becalmed, several of the crew who could swim jumped overboard to take a bathe, and as I was a good swimmer I did the same, and got farther than the rest from the s.h.i.+p. While I was sporting about, I heard the dreadful cry of "Shark, shark!" The rest of the men quickly making for the side, clambered on board. I was swimming towards the s.h.i.+p, when I saw a dark fin rising between her and me. I knew what it indicated, for I had seen several sharks before. To gain the s.h.i.+p without encountering the monster seemed impossible. I therefore, instead of swimming on, stopped and trod water, beating the surface with my hands, and shouting out. I saw some of the men leaning over the sides with ropes. Presently there was a shout. One of the men had lowered a rope with a bowling knot into the water, when the shark in its course round the s.h.i.+p ran its head and upper fin between it. At this moment it was secured to the cathead, and before the brute could get free it was hoisted on deck. I now darted forward, and seizing a rope which hung over the side hauled myself up. As I saw the monster floundering on deck, I was thankful that he had not caught me in his jaws.