 8. At the mercy of wind and wave. The silence which followed the disappearance of the Galatea was broken by a plaintive wail from Little May, who sobbed out that she was, oh, so sorry that poor Papa's beautiful ship was all burned up. Her sorrows, however, were speedily charmed away by the representation made to her by her mother, that if the ship had not been burnt they would probably never have thought of going for a delightful sail in the boats, as they now were. And soon afterwards the poor, overtired child fell into a deep, dreamless sleep in her mother's arms. As everything had been made ready in the launch before she left the ship's side, the ladies had now nothing to do but make themselves thoroughly comfortable for the night on and among the blankets and skin rugs which had been arranged for them in the stern sheets. A cozy enough little cabin, of necessarily very limited dimensions, was also arranged in the boughs of the boat for the gentlemen, and to this, upon Captain Stoughton's assurance that their services would certainly not be needed for at least some hours, Rex and Lance betook themselves, accompanied by Bob and young Neville, the former of whom was to keep watch alternately with the skipper. The night now being so far advanced, Captain Stoughton announced to the occupants of the other boats his intention to wait for daylight before making sail, and the tired crews at once composing themselves to slumber, silence soon fell upon the little fleet of boats, which lay there riding lightly over the majestic, slowly heaving swell of the Pacific under the solemn starlight. The hours of night passed peacefully away, and the watchers on board the several boats at length saw the velvety darkness in the eastern quarter, pailing before the approaching day. The stars, which but a short time before had risen into view over the dark rim of the horizon, dwindled into lustruous insignificance and finally disappeared. The sky grew momentarily paler and bluer in tint, the light sweeping imperceptibly higher and wider over the ethereal vault. Then suddenly above the eastern horizon appeared a faint, delicate rosy flush, followed by a brilliant golden penciling of the lower edges of a few flecks of cloud invisible before. Long shafts of golden light sprang radiating upward from a point below the horizon, and in another moment the upper edge of a great golden disc rose into view, flooding the laughing waves with shimmering radiance and transforming in a moment the hitherto silent and somber scene into one of joyousness and life. Seabirds hovered screaming high in the air on the lookout for breakfast. Flying fish sparkled like glittering gems out of the bosom of the heaving deep. Dolphins leaped and darted here and there. A school of purposes rotated lazily past, heading to the westward, and away upon the very verge of the horizon a large school of whales appeared spouting and playing. It was day again. Bob at once, in accordance with his instructions, called Captain Stanton, who had lain down an hour or two before to snatch a little rest. The skipper who had turned in all standing, that is to say without undressing, soon made his appearance, and first glancing keenly all around the horizon in the vain hope of discovering a sail, at once hailed the other boats, ordering them to make sail and to proceed upon a northeasterly course, extending themselves in line to the right and left, and to maintain as great a distance apart during the day, as would be compatible with an easy interchange of communication by signal, to keep a sharp lookout all day, and to close in again upon the launch at nightfall. The order was promptly obeyed, and in five minutes afterwards the little fleet were dancing gaily along over the low liquid hills of the Pacific swell, tossing tiny showers of spray out on each side from their bows, and leaving a long glistening wake of miniature whirlpools behind them. The slight bustle of making sail on the boats, combined with the novelty of their situation, was sufficient to rouse all hands, and a few minutes after the boats were fairly underway, the ladies in Little May emerged from their quarters in the stern sheets of the launch. The excitement of the previous night had been completely overcome by the fatigue of preparation to desert the ship, and the lateness of the hour of retirement had secured for these, our heroines, a few hours of sound repose, so that when they made their appearance aft, refreshed by sleep and exhilarated by the pure bracing morning breeze, they looked and felt as little like castaways as one can well imagine. Indeed they appeared more disposed to regard the adventure as a pleasantly exciting escapade than anything else. A state of feeling which the gentlemen of the party were careful to foster and encourage by every means in their power, judging it highly probable that there would be enough and more than enough to damp their high spirits before this singular boat voyage just commenced should be over. On board the launch, the fortunes of which we propose to follow for the present all was pleasant activity. Even the skipper whose reflections must necessarily have been of a somewhat sombre character, glad to observe such a prevalence of good spirits among his fellow voyagers, resolutely put all disagreeable thoughts behind him, and chimed in with the others, feeling the importance of prolonging to its utmost extent so favorable and pleasant a state of affairs. Lance, whose experiences in the Australian bush had evidently made him fertile of resource, now rummaged out from among his baggage a diminutive but effective cooking apparatus, the fuel for which was supplied from a goodly jar of spirit stowed away in the eyes of the boat, and initiating the steward into the peculiarities of its management and explaining to him its capabilities, an appetizing breakfast of coffee and fried chops cut from the carcass of a sheep hastily slaughtered the previous night, was soon served out to the occupants of the boat. Fishing lines were afterwards produced, and if the sport was meager in the amount of fish captured but small, the expedient had at least the good effect of providing occupation and amusement for the ladies during the greater part of the day. As the weather continued fine and there was absolutely nothing to do but steer the boat upon a given course, and keep a bright lookout, Captain Staunton seized the opportunity to take a good long spell of sleep, not only to make up for that lost in the previous night, but also to lay in a stock as it were, against the time when probably many long and weary hours would have to be passed without it. Lance and Rex took the helm in turns throughout the day, while the ladies tended the fishing lines, chatted with their male companions, or played with Little May, as the humor took them. About an hour before sunset a small red flag was hoisted on board the launch as a signal for the other boats to close, the signal being repeated by each boat as soon as it was observed, and kept flying until the most distant craft had answered it by burying up or hauling to the wind as the case might be. And by the time that the stars were fairly out the little fleet was once more sailing along in a close and compact body. So ended the first day in the boats. This pleasant and satisfactory state of affairs lasted for five days, and then came a change. On the afternoon of the fifth day light, fleezy vapors began to gather in the sky, growing thicker as the afternoon waned. Until by sunset the entire canopy of heaven was veiled by huge masses of dense, slate-colored cloud, which swept heavily across the firmament from the eastward. The aneroid, which Captain Staunton had ordered to be put on board the launch, indicated a considerable decrease of atmospheric pressure, which, coupled with the appearance of the sky, led the skipper to believe that bad weather was at hand. Accordingly, when the other boats closed in upon the launch at sundown, word was passed along the line to keep a sharp lookout and to be prepared for any change which might occur. About nine p.m., the wind died almost completely away, and shortly afterwards a few heavy drops of rain fell, speedily followed by a drenching shower. This killed the remaining light air of wind, and the boats lay idly upon the water, their saturated canvas flapping heavily against the masts. But not for long. The sails were speedily lowered down and spread across from gunnel to gunnel to catch the precious moisture. And so heavy was the downpour that in the quarter of an hour during which the shower lasted, the voyagers were enabled to almost entirely refill their breakers, the contents of which had by this time very materially diminished. The rain ceased suddenly, and a few minutes afterwards a puff of wind, hot as the breath of a furnace, swept over the boats from the northeast and passed away, leaving a breathless calm as before. This was repeated twice or thrice, and then with a heavier puff than before, a stiff breeze set in from the northeast, breaking off the boats from their course, and necessitating their hauling close upon a wind on the port tack. By midnight, the wind had increased so much that it became necessary to reef. The launch and penis double reefing their canvas in order that they might not run away from the other boats. The sea now began to rise rapidly, and when day at length broke, it revealed a dismal picture of dark, tempestuous sky. Led in gray ocean, its surface broken up into high, racing, foam-capped seas, and the little fleet of boats tossing wildy upon the angry surges. The launch leading, the penis next, and the others so far astern that it took Captain Stoughton quite ten minutes to satisfy himself that they were all still in sight. It was by this time blowing a moderate gale, and appearances seemed to indicate that downright bad weather was not far off. The captain decided, therefore, to heave to at once, as it would be quite impossible in any other way to keep the little fleet together. The canvas on board the launch was accordingly still further reduced, the jib sheet hauled over to windward, and the boat left to fight it out as best she could. The penis soon afterwards joined company and followed suit, the remainder of the boats doing the same as they came up. As the day wore on, the gale increased in strength, the sea rising proportionally and flinging the boats about like corks upon its angry surface. So violent was the motion that it was only with the utmost difficulty the steward succeeded in preparing a hot meal at midday, and when evening came our adventurers were obliged to content themselves with what Lance laughingly called a cold collation. The day was indeed a wretched one. There was no temptation whatever to leave such slight shelter as the tiny cabins afforded, for the launch, and indeed all the other boats as well, were constantly enveloped in spray blown from the caps of the seas by the wind. While cooped up below it was unpleasantly warm, and the motion of the boat was so violent that her occupants were compelled to wedge themselves firmly in one position to avoid being dashed against their companions. If the day was one of discomfort, the night which followed was infinitely worse. The gale continued steadily to increase. The sea rose to a tremendous height, breaking heavily. The spray flew continuously over the launch in drenching showers. The little craft under the nearest shred of canvas was careened gunnel too by the force of the wind every time she rose upon the crest of a sea, and the most watchful care of the skipper, who had stationed himself at the helm, was sometimes insufficient to prevent a more than ordinarily heavy sea from breaking on board. The increasing frequency of these occurrences at length necessitated the maintenance of one hand continually at the baler in order to keep the boat free of water, and in spite of all, the ladies were unable to escape a thorough wedding. Nor was this the worst in this hap. The water rose so high in the interior of the boat, on one or two occasions, that it got at the provisions, so seriously damaging some of them that there was little hope of their being rendered again fit for consumption. It was a most fortunate circumstance for those in the launch that, thanks to the captain's foresight, she had been fitted with a partial deck. Otherwise, she must inevitably have been swamped. How it fared with the other boats, it was impossible to say. The darkness was too profound to permit of their being seen, if they still remained afloat. But the manner in which the launch suffered caused the skipper to entertain the gravest apprehensions for the rest of the fleet, and he almost dreaded the return of daylight lest it should reveal to him the realization of his worst fears. It seemed the occupants of the launch, as though that miserable night would never end. The tardy dawn, however, made its appearance at last, reluctantly, as it seemed to those drenched in weary watchers. And the moment that there was light enough to enable him to see distinctly captain Stoughton staggered to his feet, and steadying himself by grasping the boat's main mast, took a long, anxious look all round the horizon. At first he could distinguish nothing save the wildly rushing foam-capped seas, and the scurrying shreds of cloud which swept rapidly a thwart the black and stormy sky. But after some minutes of painfully anxious scrutiny he described, about three miles away to Leeward, a tiny dark object appearing at intervals against the leaden gray of the horizon, which his seamen's eye told him was the penis. The remainder of the fleet had disappeared. It was no more than a realization of his forebodings, but captain Stoughton possessed far too feeling a heart not to be powerfully affected by the loss of the two boats and the thirteen brave fellows who manned them. He ran over their names mentally and recalled that no less than nine of the thirteen had arranged for half their pay to be handed over to their families at home, and he pictured to himself the bitter grief and distress there would be in those nine families when it came to be known that the husband, the father, the breadwinner was gone. Overwhelmed and swallowed up by the remorseless ocean which knows no pity, not even for the wife and the helpless children. With a powerful effort the captain dismissed these painful reflections from his mind and turned his attention to matters nearer home. He had already searchingly scrutinized the aspect of the weather with most unsatisfactory results. As far as his experience went there was every prospect of a continuance, nay more, an increase of the gale. The sky to windward looked wilder and more threatening than ever, while that the sea was still rising was a fact about which there could be no mistake. He dived into the little cabin or shelter aft and took a long look at the aneroid to find that it still manifested a downward tendency. It was evidently hopeless to expect a favorable change in the weather for some hours at least, and to attempt any longer to maintain the boat's position in the face of an increasing gale was to expose her and those in her to imminent risk of destruction. He therefore decided to watch his opportunity and seize the first favorable moment for bearing up and running before it. Bob and his fellow apprentices together with Lance and Rex were soon summoned and preparations made for bearing up. It was an anxious moment, for should the boat be caught broadside on by a breaking sea she would to a dead certainty be turned bottom up when nothing could save her occupants. Captain Stoughton stood at the tiller intently watching the onward rush of the mountainous seas as they came swooping down with upreared threatening crests upon the launch. Presently as the boat fell off a trifle from the wind and the mainsail filled, he gave the order to let draw the jib sheet. The weather sheet was let go and the lee one hauled in like lightning and the boat began to forge ahead. A sea came swooping down upon the little craft but it was not a dangerous one. The skipper sent the boat manfully at it and with a wild bound she rose over the crest and plunged into the liquid valley beyond. The next sea was a much more formidable one but by luffing the boat just in the nick of time she went through and over it with no worse consequences than the shipping of a dozen or so buckets of water, a mishap to which they were by this time growing quite accustomed and then there occurred a very decided smooth. Braille up the mainsail boys shouted the skipper cheerily and in a second it was done. The helm was put up the boat's head fell off and away she went with a rush. Broadside on to the sea with a sickening heave she rose into the air as the next sea lifted her and this time too a little water came on board but nothing to speak of and by the time the next wave caught her her quarter was fairly turned to it and she was rushing away before the wind. The foresail was then set and the mainsail stowed and everybody sat down to watch the result. The change was certainly for the better for though a sea still occasionally broke on board it did so with less violence than before and most of it now flowed off the deck and overboard again instead of falling into the body of the boat as before. As soon as the foresail was set Captain Stanton steered for the penis with the intention of ordering her also to bear up as well as to inquire whether they had seen either of the other boats. Suddenly Bob who was watching the little speck in the distance which showed against the horizon when both launch and penis happened to be on the summit of a wave together caught sight for a single instant of what appeared to him to be an attempt at a signal made on board the ladder. Hello he exclaimed what's wrong with the penis they're waving to us sir. Indeed said the skipper in a tone of concern are you sure Bob? Here take the tiller for a moment and let me have a look keep her dead before it. Aye aye sir responded Bob as he changed places with his superior the ladder going forward and steadying himself by the foremast as he watched for the reappearance of the penis. Presently he caught sight of her and caught sight too most unmistakably of a flag or something doing duty therefore being very energetically waved on board. You are right Bob he sharply exclaimed they are signaling us I fervently hope there is nothing wrong with them starboard a little there steady so keep her at that as long as you can and only run her off when it isn't absolutely necessary in order to avoid a breaking sea. In about 20 minutes the launch had reached the penis as the two boats closed it was seen that all hands on board her were busy bailing and she appeared to be low in the water when the launch was near enough for a hail to be heard Mr. Bowles stood up and placing his two hands together at his mouth so as to form an impromptu speaking trumpet shouted can you make room for us on board the launch Captain Stanton we are stove and sinking I I responded the skipper we'll round two and come alongside he then sprang aft to the tiller which he seized shouting at the same time to your stations lads in with the forceful smartly now the sail was speedily taken in the close reefed mainsail was set and the moment that the sheet was hauled aft the helm was jammed hard down and the boat brought to the wind without wasting a moment to watch for a favorable opportunity the launch was flying swiftly away from the penis and the ladder was sinking there was therefore no time for watching for opportunities by the frantic way in which Mr. Bowles resumed his task of bailing the instant that he had communicated his momentous tidings Captain Stanton saw that the danger on board the penis was imminent and the boat was at once rounded to shipping in the operation a sea which half filled her man the buckets every man of you shouted the skipper as a launch now close hauled began slowly to forge ahead in the direction of the devoted penis the seas broke heavily against the bowels of the boat as they swept furiously down a punter but bob and his comrades bailed like madmen while the skipper handled a little craft like the consummate seaman he was and between them all they managed to keep her above water drop your bucket bob and stand by to heave them a line presently shouted the captain bob sprang forward and sees the end of the long painter which was neatly coiled up and stopped with a rope yarn or two whipping open his knife he quickly severed the stops and was just arranging the coil in his hand when Captain Stanton cried sharply he with a will bob there she goes bob glanced at the penis now some 20 feet distance just in time to see a heavy sea break fairly on board the waterlogged boat and literally barrier there was a wild cry from her occupants as they felt the boat sinking under them and in another instant they were left struggling for their lives in the furious sea bob hoeved the line with all his strength and with unerring aim into the midst of the little crowd of drowning human beings and then called for assistance some of them he saw had seized it and he at once began to haul in the other apprentices with lance and wrecks sprang to his aid and presently hauled on board brook and one of the seamen by this time the launch had crept up to the spot where the penis had disappeared and by reaching out their hands those on board were able to seize and drag in board three more of the drowning men mr bowls his body however was seen floating face downwards some five and 20 feet away and close to it mr forester dale struggling desperately and uttering wild screams which were every moment changed to choking sobs as the pitiless sea broke relentlessly over his head it was bob who first caught sight of these two and without an instant pause or hesitation he sprang headlong from the launch's gunnel and with a few powerful strokes reached the struggler mr dale promptly flung both arms and legs around his would-be deliverer clasping bob like a vice and pinioning him so completely that he was unable to move hand or foot the result was that both instantly sank beneath the surface poor bob thought for a second or two that his last hour was come and there in the depths of that wildly raging sea he lifted up his whole heart to god in a momentary but earnest prayer for mercy and forgiveness doubtless that swift prayer was heard for as it flashed from his heart he felt his companions grip relaxing and in another instant he had wrenched himself free and was striking strongly upward with one hand firmly grasping mr forester dale by the collar of his coat bob rose to the surface within a few feet of mr bowls is still floating body and with a violent effort he soon succeeded in reaching it knowing that encumbered as he was he would have to trust the launch to come to him he could never reach her as he seized his staunch friend and superior officer by the hair and twisted him over on his back he heard a wild cheer instantly followed by a cheery shout of look out for the line bob as the shout reached him the rope came flying over him striking him sharply in the face he seized it with his teeth and then heard the skipper's voice say holland handsome me now and take care you don't jerk he has gripped it with his teeth a very few seconds afterwards which however appeared an age to bob and he found himself floating alongside the launch where he was speedily relieved of his two inanimate charges and finally dragged on board himself half drowned with about 10 feet of water in his hold as he expressed it but full of pluck as ever the first business claiming attention was of course that of endeavoring to restore consciousness to the inanimate bodies of mr dale and the chief mate and this was at length achieved mr dale was the first to come round and as soon as he was so far recovered as to be able to speak he was stowed away in the men's sleeping berth forward and made as comfortable as circumstances would permit he lay there warmly wrapped up bemoaning for a time his hard fate in ever having come to see but at length the spirits which had been liberally poured down his throat took effect and he dropped off to sleep mr bulls's case was somewhat more serious he having received a violent blow on the head from some of the floating wreckage just after the foundering of the penis the blow had inflicted a long scalp wound from which the blood flowed freely and when he at length revived he seemed quite dazed and lightheaded so that it was impossible to get a coherent reply to any of the questions put to him he too was at last stowed away forward and bob who was somewhat exhausted by his exertions in the water and scarcely fit for other work was detailed to watch by and attend to the two invalids the launch had in the meantime been once more got before the wind and was again flying to leeward under jib and foresail the mountain seas pursuing her and necessitating the utmost watchfulness on the part of the helmsman to prevent her from being broached too as soon as the two invalids had been satisfactorily disposed of the order for breakfast was given and after a vast amount of trouble the meal consisting of biscuits fried rashes of bacon and hot coffee was served the company were indebted to the efforts of rex and lance for the cooking they having taken counsel together and come to the conclusion that after a night of such great discomfort it was absolutely necessary that the females at least should be served with a good substantial hot meal and they had accordingly joined forces in the preparation of the same lance seating himself coolly in the bottom of the boat with the water washing all around him and balancing the cooking apparatus carefully on his knees while rex knelt before him enacting the part of chief cook this meal unromantic as it may sound to say so was inexpressibly comforting to those weak women and poor little may all of them having passed a wretched sleepless night cooped up in the close confined covered in space in the stern of the launch which for want of a more appropriate name has been termed a cabin with the water in the bottom of the boat surging up around them and wetting them to the skin as the boat tossed on the angry surges while the continuous breaking of the seas on board filled their souls with dread that the boat could not possibly outlive the gale much longer when all hands were fairly settled down to the discussion of breakfast captain staunton turned to the carpenter who had established himself close behind the skipper and said now chips let us hear how the mishap came about whereby you lost the penis this morning but before you answer me that question tell me do you know anything about the other boats well sir responded chips i can't say as i do rightly but when day broke this morning and we first missed him mr bowls he jumped up and took a good look around and the first thing he made out were the launch away to winward hoeve too then he had another good look all round and presently i see him put his hand up to his eyes and stand looking away down to leeward do you see anything sir says i and he says still with his hand up shading his eyes i don't know chips says he but i'm most certain says he that one of them boats is there away pointing with his finger away down to leeward it's too dark and thick down there to see where he distinctly he says but every now and then i keeps fancy and i can see a small dark spot like a boat sail showing up in the middle of the haze says he and i don't doubt sir continued chips but what he did see one of them boats mr bowls has an eye as we all know sir what ain't very often deceived in which case remarks the skipper thinking aloud rather than addressing the carpenter there can be no doubt that the officer in charge finding it impossible to face the gale any longer in safety bore up like ourselves only a little earlier and if one of the boats did so why not the other and why should they not both be safely scutting before it at this moment some 10 miles or so ahead of us very true sir i don't doubt but it's just as you say sir responded the carpenter who was in some uncertainty as to whether he was expected to reply to the skipper's remark or not we will hope so at all events chips she really returned the skipper and now tell me how you managed to get the penis stove well sir the fact is it were just the doing of that miserable creature mr dale our water were getting low and yesterday mr bowls ups and puts us on allowance a pint a day for each man well i suppose it weren't enough for this here mr dale he got thirsty during the night and made his way to the water breakers to get a drink on the quiet and he he was that sly over it that nobody noticed him how's ever like the lubber he is acts in your pardon humbly sir for speaking disrespectful of one of your passengers sir he lets the dipper slip in between the breakers and in trying to get it out again he managed to cast off the lassions two of the breakers struck a drift and before we could do anything with them they had started three of the planks making the boat leak that bad that as you saw yourself sir they were all we could do to keep her above water until you reached us captain staunton made no comment upon this communication though it is probable that he thought all the more the loss of the penis was particularly this juncture a most serious misfortune for at the very time when in consequence of the bad weather with which she had to contend it was of the utmost importance that the launch should be in the best possible trim she was suddenly encumbered with the additional weight of seven extra men which with the twelve persons previously on board raised her compliment to nineteen and caused her to be inconveniently crowded then these additional seven men had to be fed out of the rapidly diminishing stores belonging to the launch for not an ounce of anything had been saved from the penis this rendered it imperatively necessary that all hands should at once be put upon a very short allowance of food and water a hardship trying enough to the men of the party but doubly so to the women and poor little may however no one murmured or offered the slightest objection to the arrangement when at midday captain staunton explained the state of affairs and laid before the party his proposal except mr. dale that individual unhearing the proposition promptly crawled out of his snug shelter and hastened to remind the skipper that he the speaker was an invalid that his health already undermined by the privations and exposure which he had been lately called upon to suffer had been completely broken up and his nervous system shattered by his recent immersion that what might be perfectly right and proper treatment for people in a state of robust health as everybody in the boat accepting himself appeared to be would be followed by the most disastrous consequences if applied to himself and that finally he begged to remind captain staunton that he had duly paid his passage money and ill or well should expect to be fully supplied with everything necessary for his comfort captain staunton looked at the objector for some moments in dead silence being positively stricken dumb with amazement then in accents of the bitterest scorn he burst out with you despicable wretch is it actually possible sir that you have no sense whatever of shame that you are so full of selfishness that there is no room in you for any other feeling are you forgetful of the fact mr. Dale that is to your greed and clumsiness we are indebted for the greatly increased hardships of our situation but for you sir the penis would probably have been still afloat yet you are the one who presumes to murmur at the privations of which you are the direct cause I wish to heaven I had never seen your face you positively make me feel ashamed of my sex and of my species that's all very well sneeringly retorted this contemptible creature but I didn't come to see to be bullied by you so I shall withdraw from your exceedingly objectionable neighborhood and if ever we reach England I'll make you smart for your barbarous treatment of me my good fellow saying which he slunk away back in no very dignified fashion to the most comfortable spot he could find in the boughs of the boat and rolled himself snugly up once more in the shawls and blankets which the women had eagerly given up for his benefit when he was first fished out of the water end of chapter eight chapter nine of the pirate island a story of the south pacific by harry collinwood this liberal box recording is in the public domain chapter nine the albatross all that day the launch continued to scud before the gale getting pooped so often that it was the work of two men to keep her free of water toward evening mr bulls came aft reporting himself all a tanto once more and ready to resume duty he still looked pale and haggard but was as keen and determined as ever and he demurred so vehemently to captain stoton suggestion that he would be all the better for a whole night between the blankets that the skipper was at last compelled to give in which he did with it must be confessed a feeling of the greatest relief that he now had so trusty a co-adjutor to share the watches with him for since the springing up of the gale the poor fellow had scarcely closed his eyes the night shut down as dark as a wolf's mouth to use the skipper's own metaphor and the chief mate took the first watch with bob on the lookout it must have been somewhere about six bells or eleven p.m. when the ladder was startled by seeing the crest of the sea ahead of him breaking in a cloud of phosphoric foam over some object directly in line with the launch's bow keep her away sir he yelled starboard for your life starboard hard up went the boat's helm in an instant and as she dragged heavily on the steep incline of the wave which had just swept under her bob saw floating close past a large mass of tangled wreckage consisting of a ship's lower mast with the heel of the top mast still in its place and yards stays shrouds braces etc attached dark as was the night there was no difficulty whatever in identifying the character of the wreckage for it floated in a regular swirl of lambit greenish phosphorescent light stand by with the boat hook there forward shouted mr bowls and see if you can get hold of a rope's end if you can we will anchor to the wreck and we shall ride the leeward of it as snug as if we were in the london dock almost as he spoke he skillfully left the boat up under the lee of the mass and bob with a vigorous sweep or two of the boat hook managed to fish up the standing part of the main brace with the block still attached through this block he rode the end of the launch's painter and belated on board thus causing her to ride to the wreckage by a sort of slip line the other apprentices meanwhile lost no time in taking in and stowing the canvas and in a few minutes the launch was riding at her floating anchor in perfect safety and in comparative comfort still tossing wildly it is true but no longer shipping a drop of water accepting the spray which blew over her from the seas as they broke on the wreckage toward noon on the following day the gale broke and by sunset it had moderated to a strong breeze on that evening they were blessed with a glimpse of the sun once more for just before the moment of his setting the canopy of cloud which had hung overhead for so long broke up leaving great gaps through which the blue sky could be seen and revealing the glorious luminary upon the verge of the western horizon surrounded by a magnificent framework of jagged and tattered clouds the larger masses of which were of a dull purplish hue with blotches of crimson here and there and with edges of the purest gold while the smaller fragments streamed a thwart the sky lavishly painted with the richest tints of the rainbow they hung on to the wreckage all that night the wind being still against them and the next morning Lance suspecting that there might be a few fish congregated about the mass of broken spars as is frequently the case roused out the lines and managed to hook over a dozen godly marked and curiously shaped fish of decent size the whole of which were devoured with the greatest gusto that day at dinner notwithstanding the rather repulsive aspect which some of them presented that night the wind which had dwindled away to a gentle breeze changed and blew once more from the westward and the sea having also gone down to a great extent our adventurers cast off from the wreckage which had so opportunely provided them with a shelter from the fury of the gale and with whole canvas and flowing sheets stood away once more on a northeasterly course in addition to the delay which the gale had occasioned them captain Stanton estimated that they had been driven fully five hundred miles directly out of their course after a very careful inspection therefore of their stock of provisions the skipper was reluctantly compelled to order a further reduction in the daily allowance of food and water served out and now the sufferings of those on board the launch commenced in grim earnest the women especially as might be expected soon began to feel their privations acutely buffeted as they had been by the gale they were completely exhausted and needed rest and an abundance of nourishing food rather than to be placed on short commons they bore their privations however with a quiet fortitude which ought to have silenced in shame the quarelless complaints and murmurings of Mr. Dale though it did not the most distressing part of it all was to hear poor little May Stanton piteously crying for water because I'm so very thirsty mama as the dear child explained she was not old enough to understand the possibility of a state of things wherein food and drink were scarcities and her reproachful looks at her father when he was obliged to refuse her request almost broke his heart not it must be understood that she was limited to the same quantity of water as the others the men always accepting Mr. Dale preferred to suffer in a heightened degree the fiery torture of thirst themselves rather than to see the child suffer and they quietly arranged among themselves to contribute each as much as he felt he could possibly spare of the now precious liquid as it was daily served out to them and to store it up in a bottle which was to be made exclusive property and the same in the matter of food it was wholly in vain that the child's father protested against this sacrifice they were one and all firm and as adamant upon this point and he poor man notwithstanding his anxiety that all should be treated with equal fairness could not contest their determination with any great strength of will was she not his own and only child for whom he would cheerfully have laid down his life and how could he urge with any strength a point which would have resulted in a dreadful deprivation and a terrible increase of suffering to the winning and helpless little creature therefore he at last contented himself with pouring the whole of his daily allowance of water into May's bottle and cheerfully submitted for the her innocent sake to endure the tortures of the damned reader have you ever experienced the torment of thirst while exposed in an open boat to the blazing rays of the pit of the sun you have not then thank god for it and earnestly pray that you never may for none can realize or even faintly imagine the intensity of the suffering but those who have born it the women from whom it was of course impossible to conceal the circumstance that may was receiving more than her own share of food and water were anxious to follow the example of their male companions by also setting apart a portion of their own allowance for the use of the child but this was at once decidedly vetoed yet they were not so easily to be deterred from their generous disposition and many a sip and many a morsel which could ill be spared did the poor little child receive from their sympathetic and loving hands after the storm comes the calm says the proverb and its truth was fully borne out in the present instance on the fourth day after casting off from the wreckage the wind began to drop and by sunset had fallen so light that the launch had barely steerage way this was still another misfortune for if the calm continued it would seriously delay their progress and thereby protract their sufferings next to a gale of wind indeed a calm and its consequent delay was what they had most to dread for they were in a part of the ocean little frequented by craft of any description except a stray whaler now and then and their only reasonable hope of salvation rested upon the possibility of their being able to reach land before starvation and thirst overcame them Mr. Boles had the first watch and Bob was posted at the now all but useless helm the wind had subsided until it was faint as the breath of a sleeping infant and the boat sails flapped gently against the mast as she rode with a scarcely perceptible swinging motion over the long stately slow moving swell which followed her the vast blue black dome of the heavens above was devoid of the faintest trace of cloud and the countless stars which spangled the immeasurable vault being down upon the tiny wave with a soft and mellow splendor which was repeated in the dark bosom of the scarcely ruffled ocean where the reflected star beams mingled far down in its mysterious depths with occasional faint gleams and flashes of pale greenish phosphorescent light the thin golden crescent of the young moon hung low down in the velvety darkness of the western sky and a long thin thread of amber radiance streamed from the horizon beneath her toward the boat becoming more and more wavering and broken up as it neared her until within some twenty fathoms of the launch it dwindled away to a mere occasional fluttering gleam a great and solemn silence prevailed upon which such slight sounds as the flap of the sails the pattern of the reef points the creek of the rudder or the stir of some uneasy sleeper broke with almost painful distinctness mr bowls drew out his watch and holding it close to his face discovered that it was a few minutes past midnight for the previous half hour he had been sitting on the deck near bob with his legs dangling into the little cockpit abaffed the stern sheets and staring in an abstracted fashion a stern as he replaced the watch in his pocket he glanced once more in that direction but now his looks suddenly grew intense and eager for a full minute he remained thus then he withdrew from its beckets beneath the seat a long and powerful telescope which he adjusted and leveled for another full minute he gazed anxiously through the tube and then heading it to bob to hold he crept silently forward so i was not to disturb the sleeping women and quietly called the relief watch well mr bowls said the captain as he rose to his feet what weather have you had is there any wind at all very little sir answered the chief mate replying to the last question first just a cat's paw from the westward bow and then but nothing worth speaking about and it's been the same all through the watch i want you to take a squint through the glass before i turn in sir and to tell me whether i've been dreaming with my eyes open or no why what is it bowls do you think you've seen anything well yes i do sir answered the mate but it's so very indistinct in this starlight that i don't care to trust my own eyes alone without another word the pair moved aft and when they were fairly settled in the cockpit mr bowls took the glass from bob and put it into the skipper's hand he then looked intently a stern for perhaps half a minute when he laid his hand on the skipper's arm and said do you see them two stars sir about a couple of hands breaths to the south of the moon they're about six degrees above the horizon and the lower one is the southern most of the two it has a reddish gleam almost like a ship's port light yes replied the skipper i see them you mean those do you not pointing to them aye aye sir them's the two now look at the horizon just halfway between them and tell me if you can see anything the skipper looked long and steadfastly in the desired direction and at length raised the telescope to his eye by jove bowls i believe you are right he at length exclaimed eagerly there certainly is a something away there on the horizon but it is so small and indistinct that i cannot clearly make it out do you think it is either of the boats no sir i don't answered bowls if it's anything it's a ship's royals if it was one of the boats she'd be within some five miles of us for us to be able to see her at all and at that distance her sail would show out sharp and distinct through the glass this shows as you say so indistinctly that it must be much more than that distance away and therefore i say that if it's anything it's a ship's royals the skipper took another long steady look through the telescope and then closing it sharply said there is undoubtedly something astern of us bowls and under the circumstances i think we shall be fully justified in hauling our wind for an hour or two in order to satisfy ourselves as to what it really is mr bowls fully concurred in this opinion and the boat was accordingly at once brought to the wind what little there was of it on the starboard tack which brought the object about two points on her weather bow if it is indeed a ship bowls observed captain staunton when the boat's course had been changed and the mate was preparing to go below as he phrased it we have dropped in for a rare piece of luck for to tell you the plain truth i had no hope whatever of falling in with a craft of any description about here she will be a whaler of course but she is a long way north of the usual fishing grounds isn't she well return to bowls meditatively you can never tell where you may fall in with one of them chaps they follow as the fish you see sometimes here sometimes there just where they think they'll have the best chance then i have heard say that sometimes if they happen to hit upon a particularly likely spot such as a small uninhabited island where there's a chance of good sport they'll put a boat's crew ashore there with boat harpoons lines a stock of provisions and two or three hundred empty barrels just to try their luck like for a month or so and go away on a cruise coming back for him in due time and often finding them with every barrel full perhaps john craft is up to something of that sort it may be so returned captain stanton indeed in all probability it is so if our eyes have not deceived us at all events whatever she is we are pretty sure of a hearty welcome and even a not overclean whaler will be a welcome change for all hands and especially for the ladies from this boat particularly now that the provisions are getting low and i have no doubt i shall be able to make arrangements with the captain to carry us to val parezzo with as little delay as possible i i return bowls i don't expect there be much trouble about that i only hope we shall be able to get alongside her i wouldn't stand on too long on this tack if i was you sir my opinion is that she's coming this way and if so we ought to tack in good time so as not to let her slip past us to winward or across our bows good night sir the night being so fine and with so little wind captain stanton took the tiller himself and ordered the rest of the watch to lie down again there was nothing to do he said and if he required their assistance he would call them accordingly in a very short time he was the only waking individual in the launch the others were only too glad of the opportunity to forget as far as possible their miseries in sleep it is of course scarcely necessary to say that the skipper as he sat there keeping his lonely watch fixed his gaze with scarcely a moment's intermission on that part of the horizon where the mysterious object had been seen he allowed a full hour to pass and then drawing out the glass applied it to his eye sweeping the horizon carefully from dead ahead round to windward he had not to seek far for when the tube of the telescope pointed to within about three points of the starboard bow a small dark blot swept into the field of view yes there it was quite unmistakably this time and a single moment's observation of it satisfied the anxious watcher that he saw before him the royals and top-gallant sails of a vessel apparently of no very great size the fact that the stranger's top-gallant sails had risen above the horizon within the hour since he had last looked at her was conclusive proof to his mind that the craft was standing toward them that in fact they were approaching each other though at a very low rate of speed in consequence of the exceeding the light air of wind that was blowing fully satisfied upon this point he at once put the boat's helm down and she came slowly and heavily about the captain easily working the sheets himself by four bells captain staunton was able to discern with the naked eye the shadowy patch of darkness which the stranger's canvas made on the dusky line of the horizon and when he called mr bulls at eight bells or four o'clock in the morning the patch had become darker larger and more clearly defined and it lay about one point before the weather beam of the launch the telescope was once more called into requisition and it now showed not only the royals and top-gallant sails but also the topsoil of the stranger fairly above the horizon thank god for that welcome sight exclaimed the chief mate laying down the telescope and reverently lifting his hat from his head he remained silent a minute or two and then raising his eyes allowed his glance to travel all around the horizon and overhead until he had swept the entire expanse of the star-spangled heavens then with a sigh of intense relief he said we're all right I do verily believe sir there's the craft playing his mud in a wine glass bearing right down upon us or very nearly so we've only to stand on as we're going and we shall cross her track there's very little wind it's true but the trifle that there is is drawing us together we're nearing each other every minute and there's no sign of any change of weather unless it may happen to be that the present light air will die away altogether with sunrise I fancy I know what you're thinking of sir you're half inclined to say out oars and let's get alongside her as soon as possible and that's just what I should say if there was any sign of a breeze springing up but there ain't she can't run away from us and therefore what I say is this the launch is a heavy boat and we're all hands of us as weak as cats she's about six miles off now and it would knock us all up to pull even that short distance whereas if we go on as we are we shall drop alongside without any trouble by eight bells or maybe a trifle earlier and if the wind should die away altogether it'll be time enough then to see what we can do with yours that's exactly the way I have been arguing with myself ever since you called me bowls return the skipper it is true that we are all suffering horribly from thirst and in that way every moment is of value to us but on the other hand everybody except our two selves is now asleep and oblivious for the time being of their sufferings let them sleep on say I the toil of tugging it heavy oars and the excitement of knowing that a sail is at hand would only increase tenfold their sufferings without helping us forward a very great deal so I think with you that we had better let things remain as they are for another hour or two we can rouse all hands at any moment should it seem desirable to do so now if you will take the tiller I will just stretch myself out on the planks here close at hand I could not sleep now if the whole world were offered me to do so saying which the skipper suited the action to the word he and the mate continuing their chat but carefully pitching their voices in so low a tone that the ladies close at hand should not be disturbed in their slumbers by and by the sky began to pale in the eastern quarter the stars quietly twinkled out one by one a bright rosy flush appeared and then up rolled the glorious sun above the horizon the wind light all night had been imperceptibly dying away and when the sun rose his bright beams flashed upon a sea whose surface was smooth as oil the launch lost way all together and refused any longer to answer her helm as for the stranger there she was just hull down her snowy canvas gleaming in the brilliant morning sunshine and so clearly defined that every rippling fold in the sails was distinctly visible as they flapped against the mast to the lazy roll of the vessel over the long sleepy swell now said captain stunton will rouse the steward make him prepare and serve out a first rate breakfast to all hands and then hay for a pull to the ship this was accordingly done the breakfast was prepared no great matter of a meal was it after all though the last scrap of provisions and the last drop of water went in its composition and when it was ready the cramped and hungry voyagers were roused with the good news that a sail was in sight and the meal placed before them frugal as it was it was a sumptuous banquet compared to their late fare and the poor famous creatures devoured it ravenously feeling when it was finished that they could have disposed of thrice as much perhaps it was just as well that there was no more in their condition a moderately full meal even would have proved injurious to them if administered without great caution but while there was not sufficient to provoke hurtful results there was just enough to put new life into them and to temporarily endow them with vigor and strength enough for an hour or two's toil at the oars. The meal over the oars were eagerly manned and the men dividing themselves into two gangs and working in short spells of a quarter of an hour each the launch was headed straight for the stranger which having now lost steerage way had swung broadside on and showed herself to be a small brig. I tell you what it is bowls said the captain as he sat at the tiller steering during one of his spells of rest from the oars. We are a great deal further to the westward than I imagined we were. We must be not very far from the outline islands of that vast archipelago which spreads itself over so many hundreds of leagues of the South Pacific. That fellow is no whaler. Look at his canvas. No smoke stains from the tri works there. He is a sandalwood trader or is after Bech de Mer. I am very glad it is so it will be much more pleasant for the ladies and if she is a Yankee as a good many of these little traders are the skipper will probably be glad enough to earn a few dollars by running us all across to the mainland. To my mind remarked bowls. The craft looks rather too trim and need a loft for a trader and look at the hoist of her topsoils. Don't you think there is a man of warish appearance about the cut instead of them sale sir. She certainly does look rather taunt in her spars for a merchant man returned captain Stanton. We shall soon see what she really is however for she will be hull up in another five minutes and in another half hour we shall be on board her. Ah, they have made us out. There go her colors. Take the glass and see what you can make of them bowls. The chief mate took the telescope and leveled it at the brig taking a long and steady look at her. A ten gun brig by the look of her he presently remarked with the telescope still at his eye. Anyhow her bow works are pierced and I can see the muzzles of five bulldogs grinning through her starboard port holes. That's the stars and stripes hanging at her peak as far as I can make out but it's drooping so dead that I can see nothing but a mingling of red and white with a small patch of blue next to the halyard block. She's a pretty looking little thing enough and her skipper's a thorough seaman whoever he is. Aye, she's a man of war sure enough. Up go the courses and down comes the jib all at once man of war fashion and there's clue up royals and to gallant sales to prevent them from beating themselves to pieces against the spars and rigging. That is for all the canvas she could set wouldn't give her steerage way much less cause her to run away from us. She hasn't appended aloft though wonder how that is and the hands on board seem to be a rum looking lot of chaps as ever I set eyes on. No more like man of war's men than we are. Not a single jersey or man of war collar among them nor nothing like a uniform aft there. I suppose they're economical and want to save their regular rig for harbour service. Well thank god for his mercy in directing us to her exclaimed the skipper fervently as he lifted his cap from his head. Our troubles are all over now ladies he continued turning to the women who are now eagerly watching the brig the craft is small but she is plenty big enough to carry us all to Valparaiso and once there I think we shall have very little difficulty in getting a passage home. Half an hour or more of toil some tugging at the oars and the heavy launch ranged up alongside the brig. Look out for a rope shouted one of the crew as he sprang upon the rail with a coil of line in his hand. He shouted Bob. The rope was dexterously thrown and caught the heavy oars were laid in and as the boat touched the brig side a man dressed in a suit of white nankine his head sheltered by a broad brimmed Panama hat and his rather handsome sun brown face half hidden by a thick black beard and mustache sauntered to the gangway from the position he had occupied to bath the main rigging and leaning over the bulwarks remarked morning strangers I guess you found it hot work pulling down to us in that heavy boat looks to me as though you had had rather bad times lately yes answered the skipper we were burned out of our ship the Galatea of London we have been in the boat of fortnight today and for the last five days until this morning when we consume the last of our provisions some of us have never tasted water well stranger that's bad news to tell but I calculate we can soon put you all right here he continued addressing himself to the men who were appearing curiously over the bulwarks at the occupants of the boat jump down some of you and help them up over the side there was a hearty laugh at this order to the intense surprise of our adventurers but the skipper of the brig was evidently a man who was not to be trifled with with two strides he was among the jeering crowd of men with a revolver in each hand now get he exclaimed leveling the pistols and the men waited for no second bidding in an instant some half a dozen of them sprang into the boat the brig's gangway was opened and the boat's crew were somewhat sullenly assisted up the side of the brig and under her deck the black bearded man met them as they came up the side and held out his hand to captain Stanton morning stranger he repeated I'm powerful glad to see you all thank you return the skipper I can assure you we are all at least equally glad to see you and to find ourselves once more with the deck beneath our feet what ship is this may I ask and by what name shall we call the gentleman who has given us so kind of reception the brig's called the albatross and my name is johnson at your service you are an american cruiser I presume continued captain stanton looking first at the beautifully kept decks and then more doubtfully at the gang of desperados who crowded round sorter briefly replied the man who had called himself johnson and the reply seemed for some reason to mightily tickle his crew most of whom burst into a hearty guffaw captain stanton glanced round upon them with such stern surprise that the fellows fell back a pace or two and the skipper of the brig first darting a furious glance upon his followers led the way after the cabin saying I sorter waited breakfast when I made out through the glass that you were a shipwrecked crew calculate and that probably you'd be glad to find yourselves in front of a good square meal your crew will have to make themselves at home in the foxhole and if my lads don't treat them properly why they must just knock them down my people are a trifle archer to deal with it first but I guess they'll all pull together first raid after a while end of chapter nine chapter ten of the pirate island a story of the south pacific by harry collinwood this liber box recording is in the public domain captain johnson explains himself the cabin of the albatross was a much larger apartment than one would have expected to find in a crafter for size it was about 20 feet long and 18 feet broad occupying the entire width of the ship the state rooms of which there were only two being outside the cabin at the foot of the companion staircase the apartment was well lighted and very airy light and air being admitted not only through the skylight but also through the stern ports and deadlights fitted into the sides of the ship the fittings were extremely rich though somewhat out of harmony with each other conveying to captain stanton's educated eye the idea that they had been collected at odd times from a number of other ships the rudder case for example was enclosed in a piece of elaborate carved and gilded work representing the trunk and branches of a palm tree but it had apparently been found too large and the sections had accordingly been cut down to make them fit the result being that the carving did not match at the junctions the trunk of the tree had also been cut off rather clumsily at the base and fitted badly to the cabin floor while the branches had been cut through in places where the beams crossed the ceiling and had been nailed on again in such a way as to make them look as though they had grown through the beams then again the cushions to the lockers were of different sizes colors and materials some being a velvet and others of horse hair and every one of them from one to three sizes too large the sides of the cabin were divided into panels by carved and gilded pilasters which exhibited in a very marked degree the same incongruity the eight pilasters in the cabin exhibiting no less than three different patterns some half a dozen pictures one or two of which were really valuable paintings were securely hung in the panels and the stern windows were fitted with handsome lace curtains much too large for the position which they occupied two very handsome swinging lamps of different designs were suspended from the beams a telltale compass and a ship's barometer occupied respectively the fore and after ends of the skylight and the bulkhead which formed the fore end of the cabin was fitted above the sideboard with racks in which reposed six repeating rifles the panels which were unoccupied by pictures being filled in with trophies of stars and other fanciful devices formed with pistols daggers and cutlasses such was the apartment to which our adventurers found themselves welcomed but if the truth must be told their eyes not withstanding their recent meal on board the launch were chiefly attracted to the cabin table where on was spread on a not overcleaned tablecloth an abundant display of plate and a substantial yet appetizing meal to which their host urged them to do full justice himself setting a good example for a short time and while host and guests were taking the keen edge off their appetites very little was said at length however captain Johnson looked up and addressing captain Stanton said while stranger as I said before I'm real glad to see you all yours are the first friendly faces I've looked upon for many a long day but I guess I'm considerable troubled what to do with you all you see our accommodation is sorter limited there's plenty of room for your men in the foxel but here's no less than 10 of you reckoning the pick and any bless your dear pretty little face I wish she'd give me a kiss four years ago I left just such another on the wharf at New York kissing her hand to me and waving me goodbye as we cast off our morons and I guess I'll never see her sweet face again at her mother's suggestion little may slid down off the locker on which she was perched and somewhat reluctantly went to the man's chair and held up her little mouth for a kiss Johnson at once bent down and taking her on his knee gazed long and eagerly into the bright young face uplifted to his own in childish curiosity then he kissed her eagerly three or four times stroked her curly head tenderly with his great brown hand and finally burst out see here my pretty little dearie if era one of them great rough men on deck there says a bad word to you or dares to as much as look unkind at you you tell me and curse me if I beg your pardon strangers I guess I didn't know just then what I was talking about run along little in and get your breakfast the child at once slid down from his knee and with some little haste returned to her former place by her mother's side Johnson's gaze following her abstractedly you were speaking about the inconvenience to which our appearance seems likely to put you at length suggested captain Stanton I guess not stranger he retorted pulling himself together as it were with a jerk I was simply pointing out that our accommodation for passengers is kinder limited and I'm puzzled to know where I can stow you all away the inconvenience will be stranger not mine there's reasons you see why I should keep possession of my own cabin and there's reasons too why the mate should keep possession of his I reckon the best plan will be to clear away a place for you down in the after hold where you must try and make yourselves as comfortable as you can for the few days you'll be on board and as for you ladies I'd sort of advise you to stay below all you can if you must go on deck at all let it be at night time when there ain't so much chance of you're being seen where are you bound captain inquired the skipper while we are bound now to an island which as it's not shown on the chart I've christened albatross island under the brig we're going there to refit was the reply then I presume you have established a sort of depot there interrogated captain Stanton that's just it you've hit it exactly stranger answered the Yankee and how long will it take you to refit was the next question maybe a week maybe a month it just depends upon whether the hands are in a working humor or no captain Stanton raised his eyebrows somewhat at this singular answer after a moment or two of silence he said I presume you would find no difficulty in running us across to say Valparaiso if you were well paid for the service cash down captain Stanton was about to say yes having saved from the burning ship a bag of species sufficient in amount to convey the entire party home in perfect comfort but an idea struck him that it would perhaps be better to promise payment after rather than before the performance of the service so he said well no I could not promise that but I would draw on my owners for the amount of our passage money and pay you immediately on our arrival at Valparaiso while I guess I'll have to think it over remark Johnson I must go on deck now but you can remain here as long as you like in fact I reckon you'd better stay here altogether until I can get a place arranged for you below saying which he abruptly rose from the table and went on deck rather in unique specimen of the genus Yankee observed Rex as soon as their host had fairly disappeared I hope captain you will succeed in persuading him to take us over to the mainland the skipper was apparently plunged deep in thought for he made no reply does it not strike you bowls that there is something rather peculiar about the craft and her crew remarked Lance these Yankees are generally a queer lot answered the mate nonchalantly but immediately afterwards he made a sudden and stealthy movement of his fingers to his lips while the ladies were looking in another direction throwing at the same time an expression of so much caution and mystery into his glance that Lance made no attempt to continue the conversation shortly afterwards captain Stoughton rose from his seat at the table and touching his chief mate lightly on the shoulder said come bowls let us go on deck and see if we can make terms with this captain Johnson the rest of you had perhaps better follow that gentleman's advice in the meantime and remain here since he evidently has some motive for expressing the wish as the two were ascending the companion ladder the skipper turned and whispered hurriedly to his mate what is your opinion of things in general bowls can't say yet answered that individual looks mighty queer though she ain't a man of war that's certain on reaching the deck they found the after hatch off and their host in somewhat hot discussion with the ship's carpenter that is quite sufficient they heard him say without a trace of the Yankee twang in his speech you have your orders and see that they are executed forthwith in this matter I intend to have my own way the man muttered something in a sullen undertone and then turned to go forward saying he would get his tools and said about the job at once Johnson turned impatiently away from him with an ugly frown upon his brow which however vanished in an instant upon his finding our two friends at his elbow see here stranger he said passing his arm within that of captain Stoughton and drawing him toward the hatchway I want to show you what I'm going to do see them beams while I'm going to send some hands down below to trim a few of them bale as you see there up level with the tops of the beams then we'll lay a couple of thicknesses of planking overall which will make a tolerable floor and then I'm going to have a sale nailed for an aft of the deck beams dividing the space into two one for the women folks and one for the men and another sale set of thwart ships will make all sort of snug and private and I guess you'll have to make yourselves as comfortable as you can down there you see the brig small and your party's a large one and I guess that's the best I can do for you thank you said captain Stoughton as far as we men are concerned we can manage perfectly well down there but I'm afraid it will be rather a comfortless birth for the ladies and yet I do not see very well what else can be done unless indeed we could come to some arrangement by which you and your chief mate could be induced to surrender the cabin altogether for their use which we can't Johnson broken sharply I tell you stranger it ain't to be done I reckon I was a fool to let you come aboard here at all it was seeing that girl yours that did it he added his voice at once softening again but I guess there's going to be trouble about it yet before all's done oh no I hope not return the skipper why should there be trouble or with whom certainly not with us while I hope not said Johnson but I reckon you'll have to do just exactly as I say strangers or I tell you all not answer for the consequences assuredly we will observe captain Stoughton and as for the inconvenience we must put up with it as best we can and I only hope we shall not be compelled to intrude upon your hospitality for any great length of time indeed you might rid yourself of our presence in a fortnight by running this across to Valparaiso and I think I could make it worth your while to do so Johnson turned away and walked thoughtfully for a naft with his chin sunk upon his breast evidently in painful thought for some 10 minutes then he rejoined the pair he had left standing at the hatchway and said see here strangers I reckon it's no use to mince matters and go beating about the bush the things got to come out sooner or later so you may as well know the worst at once you must give up all notion of going to Valparaiso because the thing ain't to be done we're a crew of free traders rovers pirates if that term will make matters more clear to you and although we've only been cruising in these waters about six months I guess we've made things too hot here for us to venture into any port but the one we're bound to there you'll be put ashore and I calculate you'll have to make yourselves useful at the depot there's plenty of work to be done there and not too many to do it so you'll be valuable there I won't keep you on board here because I can see you'd never work with me or be anything else but an anxiety to me but there you can't do me any harm and take my advice stranger don't cut up rough go slow and sing small when you get there because my chief mate who is a Greek and is in charge there is a powerful short tempered man and apt to make things downright uncomfortable for them that don't please him captain Stanton and bulls looked each other in the face for a full minute too much overcome by consternation and dismay to utter a single word then the skipper recovering himself turned to Johnson who stood by intently watching them and said I thank you sir for having come to the point and put our position thus explicitly before us with so little waste of time happily the evil is not yet irreparable we can never be anything but a source of anxiety and disquiet to you as you have already admitted therefore I trust you will allow us to return to our boat as we came by which act we shall relieve you of a very great embarrassment and at the same time give ourselves a chance a very slight one it is true of arriving at the place we are so anxious to reach too late stranger replied Johnson here you are and here you must now stay look over the side and you will see that your boat is no longer there she was stove and cast a drift half an hour ago and even if she had still been alongside do you think my men would let you go now that you have been aboard us and seen our strength I tell you stranger that before you could get ten yards from the brig they would bring her broadside to bear upon you and send you all to the bottom riddled with grape and I couldn't stop them no you're here and I reckon you'll have to stay and make the best of it you'll find your traps down below there the lads wanted to overhaul them but I guess I shamed them out of that drawing half out of his pockets a pair of revolvers as he spoke are we to consider ourselves as prisoners then and to look upon the hold there as our jail inquired captain Stanton that says please retorted Johnson so long as you keep quiet and don't attempt any tricks you can come on deck as often as you like only don't let the women folks show themselves or they'll get into trouble and I nor you won't be able to help them tell them to stay in the cabin until it's dark tonight and then when all is quiet the watch below in their hammocks and the watch on deck cocking between the guns just you muffle them up and get them down there as quick as ever you can and what about the rest of my people those of them who were sent forward to the foxhole inquired captain Stanton well replied Johnson I felt myself sorter oblige to clap them and irons down in the forehold you see you must for a pretty strong party and though you could never take the brig from us I didn't know what you might be tempted to try when you found out the truth and so just to prevent accidents I had the iron slipped onto them they'll be well treated though and if any of them likes to join us so much the better we're uncommon short-handed one way and another if they don't like to join they'll just be put ashore with you to work at the depot and see here stranger don't you go for to try on any tricks either here or ashore or it'll be awful bad for you this is a friendly warning mind I'd like to make friends with you folks for to tell you the solid petrified truth I ain't got one single friend among all hands the mate hates me and would be glad to put me out of the way and step into my shoes and he's made the men distrust me why not retire from them all together then inquired captain Stanton because I can't answered Johnson I'm an outlaw and dare not show my face anywhere in the whole civilized world for fear of being recognized and hanged as a pirate a decided the unpleasant position to be in remarked the skipper however if there is any way in which we can lawfully help you we will do so in return for which we shall of course expect to be treated well by you now bowls he continued turning to his chief mate let us talk this matter over and discuss the manner in which this bad news can best be broken to the others saying which with a somewhat cold and formal bow to the pirate captain Stanton linked his arm in that of his chief mate and walked away the two promenaded the deck for nearly an hour overhauling the concern in all its bearings as bulls afterwards described it and they finally came to the conclusion that it would be only fair to let their companions in misfortune know the worst at once then all could take counsel together and as in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom someone might possibly hit upon a happy idea whereby they might be enabled to escape from this new straight they accordingly descended to the cabin where their reappearance had been anxiously looked for well captain exclaimed Dale upon their entrance what news have you for us have you made arrangements for our conveyance to Valparaiso I hope we are not going to be kept cooped up very long in this wretched little vessel we are to leave her sooner than I anticipated replied captain Stanton but I regret to say that I have been quite unable to make any arrangements of a satisfactory character and as to news I must ask you to prepare yourselves for the worst or almost the worst that you could possibly hear we are on board a pirate and in the hands of as unscrupulous a set of rascals as one could well encounter the skipper then proceeded to describe in extent so his interview with the pirate captain throwing out such ideas as presented themselves to him in the course of his narrative and winding up by pointing out to them that though the situation was serious enough it was not altogether desperate the pirate leader being evidently anxious to escape from his present position and as evidently disposed to look with friendly eyes upon all who might seem to have it in their power to assist him either directly or indirectly in the attainment of his purpose our first endeavor he said in conclusion must be to impress upon this man that though we are his prisoners we are still a power by reason of our numbers as well as of our superior intelligence and knowledge of the world and that we can certainly help him if we have the opportunity and this idea once firmly established in his mind he will listen to and very possibly fall in with some of our suggestions all of which I suppose I need hardly say must be made with a single eye to our own ultimate escape our future is beset by difficulties very few of which we can even anticipate as yet but I think if each one will only take a hopeful view of the situation it will be singular indeed if one or another of us does not hit upon a means of escape by the time that he had finished speaking the brains of his hearers were literally teaming with ideas all that is to say except Mr. Dale who with elbows on the table his head buried in his hands and his hair all rumbled abandoned himself to despair and to loud bewailings of the unfortunate combination of circumstances which led to his venturing upon the treacherous ocean the others however knew him thoroughly by this time and none troubled themselves to take the slightest notice of him except Rex Fortescue who exclaimed do shut up Dale and cease making a fool of yourself I wonder that you are not ashamed to behave in this unmanly way especially before ladies too if you can't keep quiet you know we shall have to put you on deck where I fancy you would get something worth howling about this threat had the desired effect Mr. Dale subsided into silence and the rest of the party at once in low cautious tones began an interchange of ideas which lasted a long time but brought forth no satisfactory result the council finding itself at the close of the discussion pretty much where it was at the commencement at one o'clock a thoroughly substantial dinner was served to them followed by tea at six in the evening at both of which meals the pirate captain did the honors with a manifest desire to events a friendly disposition toward his guests and about nine p.m. a quiet and unobtrusive removal from the cabin to their new quarters in the afterhold was affected after which most of the party disposed themselves comfortably upon the bedding which they found had been provided for them and enjoyed a night of thoroughly sound repose such as they had been strangers to ever since the destruction of the Galatea when our friends awoke on the following morning they became aware by the motion of the ship and the sound of the water gurgling along her sides that a breeze had sprung up most of the gentlemen all of them in fact except Dale went on deck and finding the watch busy washing decks borrowed of them a few buckets with which they gave each other a most hearty and refreshing saltwater douche much to the amusement of the crew as soon as breakfast was over lance with that cool on sucy on characteristic of the man who has so often found himself environed by perils that he ceases to think of them went again on deck with the intention of mingling freely with the pirate crew and if possible placing himself upon such easy terms with them as would give him an opportunity of acquiring whatever information it might be in their power to give the first individual he saw on emerging from the hatchway was Johnson the pirate captain who was leaning moodily over the lee rail a bath the main rigging smoking a well seasoned pipe good morning captain exclaimed lance genially as he sauntered up to the man what a delightful morning and how good your tobacco smells I have not enjoyed the luxury of a pipe for the last fortnight have you any tobacco to spare help yourself stranger answer Johnson rather certainly as he tendered his tobacco pouch thanks said Lance returning the pouch after he had filled and lighted his pipe ah how good this is as he took the first whiff or two you have a fine breeze after yesterday's calm and the brig seems quite a traveler in her small way in her small way exclaimed Johnson indignantly why she's a flyer stranger that's what she is I reckon you don't know much about ships or you wouldn't talk like that I guess you went to sailor are you I am a soldier by profession answered Lance but for all that I am not exactly an unmitigated landlubber on the contrary I am quite an enthusiastic yachtsman and I flatter myself that I know a good model when I see one and yet you don't take much account of the brig stranger she seems a good enough little craft of her kind admitted Lance and as a mere trader I have no doubt she would answer well enough but it strikes me that two gentlemen of your profession a really fast and powerful vessel is an absolute necessity if you would ensure your own safety in weather like this I dare say you would manage tolerably well but if a frigate were by any chance to fall in with you in a fresh breeze or worse still in heavy weather I fear you would find yourselves in a tight place she would have you under her guns in less than an hour that's so stranger yes I reckon that so conceded Johnson with evident reluctance there are ships as can out sail us I know for we've fallen in with some half a dozen clippers and we couldn't do nothing with them they just walked away from us and though I don't calculate that there's ever a frigate afloat as could get alongside them t ships if the t ships didn't want them to yet I guess there's frigates as could overhaul us in heavy weather and so you're a yachtsman eh then I reckon you know something about quick sailing how fast now do you calculate a yacht would sail in this breeze that depends entirely upon the build and model of the craft if she were a racing schooner of say the tonnage of this brig I dare say her speed under such circumstances as these would be 13 or perhaps 14 knots if however she were merely a cruising yacht such as my own I do not imagine she would average more than 11 11 knots Josh I say stranger how many knots do you reckon we are making just now exclaimed Johnson Lance looked over the side for a moment marked a piece of weed floating past and then answered about eight I should think certainly not more I guess you're wrong stranger return the pirate skipper with animation she's going 10 if she's going an inch you can easily test it by heaving the log suggested Lance aft here two of you and heave the log shouted Johnson two men came sauntering aft at the call the line and glass were prepared and Johnson himself made ready to test the speed of the brig turn he cried to the man who held the glass as the last of the stray passed out over the taff rail the glass was smartly turned the reel spun rapidly round the marks flew through Johnson's fingers and his countenance brightened with exaltation stop the sand had all run out and Johnson grasped the line just before the eighth knot reached his hand tarnation you're right stranger he angrily exclaimed while I swan I made sure she was going 10 at the very least you skippers very often make that kind of mistake remarked Lance or rather it is not so much a mistake as a self deception you would like your ship to have a speed of 10 knots in such weather as this and the wish is father to the thought besides which having formed an attachment for your ship you are naturally anxious to give strangers also a favorable impression of her that's so stranger sure is your stand in there you've exactly hit it I knew the craft want doing over eight at the outside but the way you talked about that yacht of yours sort of put my back up and I allowed I weren't going to let you have all the big talk to yourself about this yacht of yours Colonel where is she now where I left her no doubt answered Lance with a smile safe and sound on the mud of Hasler Creek inside Portsmouth Harbor I suppose as she's such a flyer that one of the crack English builders put her together and choir Johnson no indeed said Lance she was built at Weymouth by an ordinary shipbuilder who for odd I know had never in his life built a yacht before I was stationed there at the time and I designed her myself and of course super intended her construction you don't say while I knew that the soldiers did most everything but I didn't allow that they designed yachts exclaimed Johnson neither do we professionally admitted Lance but some of us of whom I happen to be one take up the study of naval architecture as an amusement and those who like myself belong to the engineer core are to some extent qualified by our technical education to achieve excellence in the art I can assure you that some of the officers in my core have turned out exceedingly creditable craft while now that beats I exclaimed Johnson so you're an engineer and can design yachts into the bargain stranger laying his hand impressively on Lance's arm I'm real glad I took you all aboard about this schooner of yours she is a schooner I reckon Lance nodded in affirmative while about this schooner of yours is she a pretty sea boat she is as comfortable a vessel as I would ever wish to have under my feet answered Lance with just a slight touch of enthusiasm she will face any weather a frigate would dare to look at and in a gale of wind such as once caught us in the Bay of Biscay is a great deal drier and more comfortable than many frigates would be well now I call this real interesting exclaimed Johnson with sparkling eyes and I suppose she was tolerable weatherly about the same as other vessels of her class all yachts you know if they are the least worthy the name go to windward well it is one of their strong points do you think now colonel you could recollect enough to design another yacht just like your own schooner asked Johnson eagerly well said Lance slowly as he first began to perceive the direction in which Johnson's thoughts pretending I am by no means sure that I could however as a brilliant idea dawned upon him I am certain that with the experience I have gained since I designed the fleet wing I could build one which should excel her in all respects well now this is what I call a real pleasant conversation exclaimed Johnson with enthusiasm now see here colonel I guess I'll get you to draw out that design right away I am sure I shall be very pleased said Lance but why do you wish for such a thing you will surely not venture after what you have already told us to visit a civilized port and order a vessel to be built I guess not stranger I have three prizes lying in a harbor not far off which I kept thinking they might come in useful someday and we'll break them up to build this new craft you shall super intend the work and as you're an engineer I reckon I'll get you to fortify the harbor also so as to make things secure in case one of them frigates you was talking about should come along and take a fancy to look inside very well said Lance I will do what I can both in the matter of fortifying the harbor and building the new craft upon the express condition however you must understand that we are all treated well as long as we remain with you and that you will make an early opportunity to free us as soon as the work is done don't you be afraid stranger return Johnson you do the best you can for me and I guess I'll do the right thing by you that's a bargain there is just one point which occurs to me remarked Lance it is this to do what you propose we shall require a great deal of assistance now where are we to find it if it's men you mean I reckon you'll find plenty of them at albatross island men ain't always to be picked up at sea just when they're wanted said Johnson so I've took to keeping my prisoners alive and landing them there so as I can draw upon them when I want to and I found that if they won't cut in and take a hand with us exactly the once they generally will a little later on just to escape being worked to death ashore and what about materials persisted Lance to construct a battery and to make it serviceable you know stone lime iron and wood and considerable quantities are required to say nothing of guns powder and shot with which to arm the battery when it is finished we've got it all exclaimed Johnson all that is except an iron and that we're very short of there's stone in the island and I guess you can make lime from the coral can't you and as to the guns and ammunition why it's only three months ago that we helped ourselves to a whole battery full belonging to the Spaniards away there on the mainland well said lance I cannot of course decide exactly how to use your resources to the best advantage until I have seen them and the place as far however as the design of the new ship is concerned I can say about it at once I must ask you however to release the carpenter and bob the apprentice and to allow them to join us aft the carpenter is a practical man whose advice and assistance we most valuable to me and as for bob he has been brought up in a district famous for yacht building and will be sure to prove helpful to us very well colonel I reckon you can have him said Johnson only don't you be persuaded to try any tricks on account of having two extra hands because if you do I calculate you'll find us always ready all right left lance I'll keep your warning and advice in mind by the by before I go below let me suggest that as a few of us are like myself smokers a pound or so of tobacco now and then would be regarded as a delicate attention on your part right you are colonel answered Johnson cordially you shall have the tobacco and some cigars too if you like them I guess we've got plenty of both on board so saying Johnson turned upon his heel and dived below for his sextant end of chapter 10