for a moment frank stood speechless with that deadly chill creeping round his young heart, and his bowels all awork with dread and sympathy. but with a rush there came to him the full sense of his responsibility, the pressing need for immediate action, and the fact that he had now no one upon whom to lean. it was then that, for the first time in his life that he ever remembered, he murmured, removing his cap, “god help me!” then, released at once from the numbness that the touch of the corpse had brought upon him, he bounded up the companion to the deck, shouting, “all hands shorten sail.”
it was a tremendous task for the handful of men, but each one was good and earnest in his work, and besides, the careful way in which the “spilling” or gathering-up gear of the sails had been arranged was an immense aid to them. so furious was the struggle that the warriors had no time to observe the absence of the skipper, and even frank, although conscious of a curious dull pain at the heart, was far too busily employed both in mind and body to dwell upon his immense loss.
at last the ship was snugged down to two[273] lower topsails, a reefed foresail, lower staysails and spanker, under which easy canvas she was still making good progress. then frank called all hands aft and made his first speech.
“i hardly know how to speak to you,” he said, “but i’ve got to. when i went down to call mr. jacks at eight bells i found him dead.” here he broke down, and burst into a perfect flood of passionate tears. the men gazed at him sympathetically and silently, so he recovered himself very rapidly, almost immediately in fact. he resumed: “i can navigate the ship all right, i know, and handle her too, but i’m only a boy, and i want all the help you can give me. we’ve got another fortnight before us yet, i’m afraid, before we can possibly get home, and i want you, if you will, to try and forget my age and do just as you’ve been doing all along. and if one of you can keep a watch i hope you will take it on, because i must have some sleep.”
then up spoke mac, the man who had shown such signs of resentment at the beginning of this curious passage, and said: “look here, frank, not one of us will give ye any bother. if one does, the rest of us will trouble him properly. and for a mate you’d better have scotty here. none of us are much of a hand at what you want, but he’s the best; don’t you think so, boys?”
there was universal assent to this; and scotty, as sheepishly as if he had been nominated before a vast crowd, slouched forward and said: “a’ richt. i’ll keep the first watch, then, so as to let frank[274] go below and get some sleep. it was my watch below, but that doesn’t matter now; i’ll stick it. relieve the wheel, and i’ll go and get some canvas, and be sewing him below there into his last suit, puir fallow.”
and with this they dispersed, frank merely asking scotty to call him if there was anything wanted, and remembering with a sharp pang how short a time ago it was since that cold body down there had said those words to him, and how grateful he had been to know that there was a strong man to fall back upon. but he was young and weary; and so, in spite of the tremendous burden that had been thrown upon him, in five minutes he was fast asleep.
so fast, indeed, that when scotty called him two hours after, he could hardly believe that he had more than just closed his eyes. but he sprang up and washed his face, coming on deck to find the ship still plunging gallantly forward under the same canvas and with about the same weight of wind. the stern, drab day had broken, the cold light fell upon the torn and troubled sea, making it look grim and cruel and ravenous; while the buffeted ship doggedly held her way through those fierce masses of foaming water, as some men from whom all hope has departed still battle on by some sort of striving instinct against the waves of misfortune that continuously thunder on against them.
there at the gangway lay an oblong white parcel neatly stitched up in canvas, the sight of which made frank’s young heart grow cold as[275] if an icy hand had grasped it. and then the merciful reaction came, and the relief sometimes afforded to men of great minds, and so frequently to weaklings and women. his whole frame shook as if with ague, and hot tears forced their way through the fingers tightly pressed to his face.
that storm passed rapidly over him, and lifting his head bravely he said: “scotty, will you call the other fellows aft, and we’ll put the body overside. i don’t know the service, and i haven’t got a prayer-book, but i’ll say the only prayer i know.”
so they came, the little crowd, and stood around scotty and mac, balancing the remains on the rail, while frank, kneeling on the soddened deck, repeated, with feelings i dare not attempt to describe, the beautiful “our father.” as he rose to his feet scotty and mac, looking at one another fixedly, launched the body overboard, and the splash, plainly audible to them all above the bruit of the storm, acted like the release of an intolerable tension, a relief that was grateful beyond their simple powers of expression, so not mentioned at all.
they came back to their labours almost with a bound, having buried their dead out of their sight. and it was well, for the gale immediately began to take off, and it was necessary to set sail rapidly in order to keep the woden steady in that great sea. as it was she tumbled about so horribly that several old leaks opened, and gave them much severe labour at the pumps, in addition to their exhausting work of making[276] sail with such a crew. but it was really beautiful to see how the rough, toil-hardened, and ignorant men gave frank their entirely loving and loyal support, never once alluding to his youth or inexperience, but obeying his lightest wish with cheerful alacrity. nor did they in any way resent the sudden rise of scotty to the lofty position of second in command, except by way of a joke, and even then only while frank was absent.
the result of this tacit recognition of frank’s abilities and fitness to command was that he acquired a gravity of demeanour and a steadiness of eye which made him look ten years older, while at the same time, to his secret delight and amusement, he noticed that he was growing a beard, and all boys will realise how gratifying that was to him. it saved him also from becoming too staid, of losing altogether that boyish delight in life which is so beautiful to see in youngsters who are in their work-time tremendously in earnest, and is, to me at any rate, so painful to miss in young men who reserve all their energies for play, and all ability to shirk for their duty.
the work of the ship, apart from the handling of the sails, steering, and pumping, was purposely reduced to the vanishing-point almost, except what was voluntarily undertaken by the men in the way of keeping the vessel clean. and as the good breeze that grew out of the gale carried them north as far as the azores without ever rising to the force of a gale, they had a fairly[277] easy time of it but for the pumping, twenty minutes of which were now required every two hours to keep the vessel free of water. at this frank took his full share at his own urgent wish, the men having protested against his doing so, and he insisting that the energetic work was necessary to his well-being, and for the sake of exercise.
which was undoubtedly a fact, for nothing can or could be more debilitating to a young man, or any man for the matter of that, than to eat well, and perform mental toil, and have no physical exercise. and frank’s mental toil was severe. he knew theoretically and practically how to navigate a ship; but if and when he made a mistake in his calculations on board the sealark it did not matter in the least, for the responsibility was somebody’s else’s. but now, and this i consider more important still, he had no one to check his work, so that, work as carefully as he would, he could not feel that confidence in his figures that brings an easy mind. finally, it must be remembered that he was not absolutely certain of the correctness of his chronometer.
so that we must sympathise with him if, when looking upon the vast expanse of trackless ocean, he sometimes felt a youthful thrill of apprehension lest he should have failed in the correctness of his working. but relief was near, a relief that amounted to a positive triumph, and one which remained with him in pleasant memory all his life. the wind had gradually hauled round to the westward, and so gradually put on strength until[278] the woden was racing along at a good thirteen knots an hour, to the unbounded joy of everybody on board.
one day, by frank’s most careful calculations, it appeared that, with the wind holding good, on the present course they should sight corvo, the most westerly of the azores, soon after daybreak in the morning. he mentioned the fact to scotty immediately the sights were worked up at noon; and that genial soul, looking, as men of his stamp will, almost awestricken at the chart, said, “ay, we’re haein’ a grand run.” had he made the least demur or questioned the correctness of frank’s calculations he would have given the dear boy a good deal of pain. but such a thing never occurred to him. he accepted those lines upon the chart as if they were the lines of fate laid down by unerring wisdom, which was of course flattering to frank, who could not however help wishing that he had some one capable of criticising. but he preserved a nonchalant demeanour over his real anxiety, and waited as patiently as might be for the coming dawn.
before light he was aloft on the fore-topsail yard straining his eyes ahead for the sight of his first land-fall. it was a grey, overcast, and stormy morning, the kind of weather when land is most difficult to pick up, but happily just as the sun rose there was a temporary break in the clouds around him, and there loomed up in grim majesty the mighty rock of corvo, precisely at the time when and in the quarter where frank expected and hoped to see it. the clouds sped over it again[279] almost instantly, but the vision vouchsafed was sufficient. a great wave of satisfying certainty, of exultation in his work and pride in his undoubted powers, swept over frank, making him completely happy. and with a firm step and erect bearing he descended and walked aft, feeling every inch a man.
when scotty came on deck at seven bells, the island was very plainly in sight from the deck, in spite of the unpleasant weather, but frank could not somehow help feeling a little disappointed that scotty did not make a little fuss over this (to frank) stupendous event. yet had he known it, scotty’s taking the occurrence quite as a matter of course was far and away the highest compliment that he could pay. it really showed that as far as he was concerned frank was as much to be depended upon as any officer could be, the fact of his youth being entirely lost sight of in consequence of his ability.
then the sun came out, and frank got some good sights for his chronometer, which he carefully verified by bearings of the land, finding to his delight that it had kept a good rate, and was substantially correct. later at noon, when he got a good meridian altitude, he took a fine bearing for departure, and set his course direct for falmouth. he did everything, of course, as usual, with the greatest care, but with a newly-acquired confidence that amazed him when he hazily thought about it. but he was now to be very severely tried indeed. a strong westerly gale set in, before which the woden dashed along under almost all the canvas[280] she could spread, and it brought with it a great increase in the gloom of the weather, so that all frank’s anxious watching failed to get him a sight of the sun or stars either; not that he would have been able to do much with the latter, having had no practice at either finding them or taking their altitudes, although he could work the problems.
so he was fain to depend upon his dead reckoning, or position by account, and, as the fleeting vessel surged along before the wild howling of the gale at what was for her a tremendous speed, all hands became increasingly anxious. for this is a point that sailors of every grade fully appreciate, the danger of being unable, from the veiling of the heavenly bodies, to get an accurate position when nearing the land, especially in a sailing ship when running before a gale.
no relief came, and the universal anxiety increased, until, on the fourth day from corvo, frank felt that he could bear the strain no longer, and, calling all hands, proceeded to shorten sail down to the two lower topsails and fore-topmast staysail. that successfully accomplished by dint of three hours’ tremendous labour, the woden was brought to the wind, and a cast of the deep-sea lead was taken. the result was sixty-five fathoms of water, and the “arming,” or tallow jammed into the hole at the bottom of the lead, brought up grey sand and broken shells. it was good enough to keep her away again to her original course, for it coincided with the soundings and bottom given on the chart. so they put the helm up again and away she went at a greatly reduced rate.
[281]and all through the hours of darkness the young commander remained on deck full of the most pressing anxiety, yet consoled by the knowledge that he had done his very best. at every change of watch they went through the terrible toil, under this short-handed condition, of heaving the ship to in order to get soundings, a proceeding which made the men curse bitterly the necessity, although they took care that frank should not hear them.
when morning broke, frank’s eyes felt as if they were burning out of his head with incessant staring through the darkness, and he was weary beyond words. but all his weariness and pain fell from him like a shed garment at the sight of a small vessel, a boat, in fact, under two shreds of canvas, apparently making straight for the ship. he had her immediately hove to in order to await the coming of the stranger, who proved to be a no more romantic messenger than a falmouth tailor, one of those enterprising tradesmen who hover off the harbour, and as far west as scilly sometimes, in the hope of getting a substantial order from the sailors of a ship coming into falmouth for instructions where to proceed with her cargo.
the skipper of this small craft gladdened frank’s heart by telling him just where he would find the pilot-boat, a position only a few miles away. again the heavily-burdened boy felt refreshed, relieved, and grateful as he kept his ship away on almost the same course which he had been previously steering. and then, as a sort of crowning mercy, the beautiful shores of cornwall suddenly became visible through a huge lifting of the massy[282] clouds. for the life of him frank could not help lifting his cap, and muttering with a lump in his throat, “thank god.”
there lay the pilot-boat calmly awaiting him, and soon he felt that the terrible weight of responsibility, which was making an old man of him long before his time, would be lifted. when near enough, he hove to, and the pilot came on board. his astonishment at discovering the state of affairs i shall not attempt to depict, but as soon as he had got over it he did his utmost to persuade frank to come into falmouth, and await instructions from london before proceeding any farther. in this difficult position frank took what i consider to be the very wise step of consulting his crew as to their views on the matter. to his surprise and secret gratification they unanimously decided to go on to london.
after that it was vain for the pilot to coax, threaten, or bluster, all frank would do was to insist upon getting a channel pilot (a suggestion from scotty), and the rest he and his crew were prepared to risk. after long consultation the pilot admitted that he was not qualified to take the ship up channel to london, but promised to get a man out of the cutter. in about half-an-hour the other man was on board, a grizzled old sea-dog who looked at frank with that cruel contempt that the old school always used to exhibit towards the rising generation. frank, though nettled, preserved his courteous behaviour until the vessel was once more speeding up channel with additional sail set.
[283]then when the little bustle was over, he approached the pilot, and said, “do you take the ship right up to london or only to the trinity pilot at dungeness?”
to this the pilot replied with a deep note in his voice, “you needn’t trouble your head about that, i’m in charge now, and i shall do just what i think is best for the benefit of the owners and underwriters. and understand, i want no interference from you.”
frank turned round immediately and hailed scotty, who was smoking the pipe of peace in front of the cabin. “scotty,” he said, “the pilot has informed me that i am not to interfere with anything connected with the ship, that he has all the control now. what do you think of that?”
scotty spat comprehensively over the side, took a fresh pull at his pipe, and then drawled out, looking fixedly at the pilot meanwhile, “i think he’s building on salvage, but he won’t get it. you’ve brought the ship home, and engaged him as pilot. as long as he takes the ship up nothing will happen, but if he comes any of his nonsense over you or tries to rob us of any of what we have worked so hard for, we’ll talk to him. mister pilot, you keep a civil tongue in your head towards our young skipper, one of the best that ever lived, and you’ll be all right. if you don’t you’ll be in deep waters at once, now i tell you. we’re not goin’ to have any bossing of him by you, understand that.”
the pilot, who had quite naturally scented a splendid job for himself in this, was in a parlous[284] state of surprise. he did not know what to do, especially as he noticed that the rest of the crew had gathered around with rather severe looks towards him. a moment’s hesitation and then, being wise enough to appreciate the situation, he turned to frank and said, with a note of irony in his voice which he could not suppress, “all right, sir, i can take you up to the trinity pilot at dungeness, and we’ll leave the question of what i am to be paid to the authorities in london.”
to which frank, feeling highly indignant of course, but wisely curbing his temper, replied, “very well, pilot, i hope this breeze will hold, so that your job will be an easy one. and now i’ll leave you in charge. i’ve had an anxious time lately and want a good sleep.”
as frank disappeared down the companion the baffled pilot muttered, “silly young ass, thinks he’s a man, i suppose, because he’s brought the ship in from sea somehow. but i’d give a sovereign to know all about this business.”
then he turned and devoted his attention to the steering of the ship, entirely unconscious of the utter injustice and shallowness of his remarks. the egotism of many youths is unpretty, but the arrogance of age and its refusal to recognise any merit in the young man is often quite as pitiful and annoying a spectacle.
below, in spite of his weariness, frank set himself deliberately to compose a long letter to his owners. he had sent them a long telegram from falmouth informing them of what had happened in as few words as possible, but now he felt that[285] he must give full detail, and he had found it the hardest task he had undertaken yet. so engrossed did he become, however, in his work that it was four bells before he had finished it, and then realised that he was dead beat. so he stretched himself out on the settee and slept like a log until he was awakened by scotty at daylight.
he sprang up, gave his hands and face a rinse, and ran on deck to find the ship under all sail, the wind having taken off very much during the night and the lightship off selsea bill, the owers, only about five miles off. there was also a tug (by all appearance) creeping steadily up on the port quarter, and concerning her scotty said quietly, “if she speaks us, don’t you think you’d better take her? he’ll open his mouth pretty wide, but, after all, it’d be a pity to spoil the ship for ha’porth of tar, wouldn’t it?”
frank replied as quietly, “well, scotty, if he comes up and asks for a job i’ll agree to his price, but you do the talking; if he sees me, and this old pilot man gets a-talking to him, they may hatch up some devilment between ’em.”
scotty was delighted, and went below at once to rig up a bit less like an old tar-pot, as he put it, while frank, coffee-cup in hand, walked up to the pilot and said, “good morning, pilot.”
“good morning, sir,” replied the pilot; “the wind is dying away and looks like getting into the east’ard. don’t you think you had better take steam if you can get it?”
to which frank answered, “my mate and i have just been discussing the matter, and we have agreed[286] to take that tug that’s coming up if we can get him on any sort of reasonable terms, but i must ask you not to interfere. you will please remember that you are the pilot, and i, boy as i am, am in command. i don’t say this to make a quarrel, but you must admit that i have some cause of complaint over the way you treated me yesterday.”
poor old pilot, he was bursting with curiosity to know the ins and outs of this mysterious case—an english crew of less than half the usual number on board a norwegian vessel, and in charge of a boy of eighteen—but in his eagerness to take charge of things generally he had spoiled all chance, he now plainly saw, of dipping into the rich dish of salvage which he scented somewhere near.
while he mused thus frank moved aft and, with scotty by his side, awaited the oncoming of the tug, which scotty pronounced to be one of the best of watkin’s lot that had evidently had a long tow of some ship as far as the wight. nearer and nearer she drew until she ranged alongside, and the burly skipper on the bridge shouted, “good morning, sir, where are you bound?”
“london,” roared back scotty, in his most important voice.
there was a prolonged pause, for the tug skipper was meditating many things. norwegians don’t take steam until they are driven to it, and unless utterly disabled it is not to be imagined that any ship of that flag would take steam to the westward of the foreland anyhow. but the tug was really bound to go up for coal—they often use this as an[287] argument, regardless of truth, but now it really was a fact—and he felt that even a very low rate of towage was better than going up empty-handed. so, while entirely unwilling to give himself away, he knew it was of no use beginning a bluff here, as she was not an english or an american ship. and he shouted back, “do you want a cheap tow up, captain?”
“what do you call cheap?” answered scotty.
another pause and weighing of probabilities, then loudly, defiantly almost, “forty pounds.”
now frank and scotty had made up their minds to go to any price that did not mean salvage, and so the extreme modesty of the demand almost startled them. but they waited a little for form’s sake and a mischievous wish to prolong the tantalising of the pilot, who would have given his fee for ten minutes’ conversation with the tug captain.
at last scotty lifted his head and roared back, “all right, skipper, if you’ll lend your towline in the bargain.”
the skipper of the tug was so astonished that he nearly fell down. he had figured on being bated at least fifteen pounds, but to be accorded his first demand, and by a norwegian too, almost made him faint. and he felt that something must be queer, but as he could not tell what he just nodded, “all right,” spoke down his tube and kicked ahead, the heaving-line was flung, and in ten minutes the big string was passed and secured, and the robert bruce, with the norwegian barque woden in tow, was ready to be signalled at the first station as proceeding to london.
[288]the only work then necessary was the furling of all the sails, as the wind was rapidly drawing ahead and falling light. after this heavy task for the small crew was successfully achieved, they found themselves gently rounded to under the land east of dungeness, and when their pilots were exchanged frank signed the channel pilot’s note with a polite but unreciprocated farewell. then away they sped again towards their goal under the guidance of the new pilot, who was so genial and so generally nice that frank was tempted to tell him the story of their adventurous voyage. he listened with gasping interest, and at the close of it seized frank’s hand, saying with tears in his eyes, “young man, if i had a son like you i’d be the proudest man in the world. i am an old sailor, of course, and i can appreciate to the full the value of your work. but how do you feel about it yourself?”
“well,” stammered frank, “i—i feel very glad of course that we’ve got safe home, for i have been very anxious, because i had no one on board to back me up or correct me if i made a mistake. but now it’s all over i see that i haven’t done anything different from what i did in the sealark, except, as i say, i had to depend upon myself here. and the men have been so jolly good, they have helped me so much, you can hardly believe how kind and willing they have been, obeying my orders as if i had been an elderly man. they are the best of men, especially scotty, and i do hope they’ll be well rewarded. but somehow i feel unhappy to think that mr. jacks did not live to[289] share the happiness of to-day. it meant so much to him, for he intended to retire after this voyage on his share of the salvage, and now he is dead before he could get it, and i shall get a lot that i don’t really want.”
the old pilot turned away muttering, “ah well, for once fortune has struck the right man; he’ll go far and do much, i can see, if god spares him.”
and so she dragged along at a clinking rate to gravesend, where, to frank’s intense delight, there came off in the boat bringing the river pilot, the owner of the old sealark, mr. ——. he seized frank by the arm and congratulated him most warmly on his wonderful achievement, telling him that immediately after the arrival of the sealark in new york a week before, he being advised by captain jenkins of the adventure about which, when he had read the news, he had many doubts and fears until he received the wire from falmouth. he had brought with him a budget of letters for frank from home, and, after his greetings were over, despatched the lad to his berth to read them, only waiting long enough to be introduced to scotty.
must i say it? yes, in spite of the fear of my hero being misunderstood, i must set down that he scanned those dear letters without any great amount of feeling, except that he was contentedly glad to know that all was going well at home. even the owner’s gracious praise did not give him anything like the sense of exultation that he felt over the finishing of his job for its own sake. nor, i think, would coldness or even blame have unduly[290] depressed him, for the doing of the thing well had been its own exceeding great reward. i have several times met his like, all of them unhappily compelled to look very keenly after the reward, because it was needful to their living. that part of the business had never cost frank a thought, so that he was happiest of them all, inasmuch as the doing of the work well was all he thought about.
therefore he returned on deck in a very few minutes to find mr. —— and scotty deep in conversation about him, which ceased immediately he came up. the owner had engaged a couple of watermen to steer the ship up, so that the small crew were free to get their few belongings packed up and smoke placidly, none of the usual unbending of sails and stopping-up of gear being indulged in. frank and the owner paced the deck discussing the voyage, which enabled the young man to indulge in his unstinted, outspoken admiration of the sealark’s captain and officers, praise which the owner heard with grave approval, glancing now and then admiringly at the fresh, animated young face beside him.
then mr. —— asked that the hands might be called aft. when they came he invited them into the cabin, and said, “now, men, will you take a word of advice from a man who knows a good deal more of the world than you do, and also who knows sailors pretty well? you will probably have the biggest sum you have ever handled in your lives out of this business, for i find that the vessel and cargo are insured for £20,000, and that will probably[291] work out, at salvage of two-thirds, at about £350 apiece for each of you, if not more. will you be wise and go straight out of sailor town, living somewhere quietly and soberly until you get it, and then putting it away carefully somewhere where you can always lay your hands on it when you want it? i’m prepared to advance you money now, in order to enable you to get away at once to some cheap hotel out of sailor town, and i will see that you get your wages due up to the time of leaving the sealark to-morrow.”
they all thanked him, and promised to do as he said. so he gave them £5 apiece on account, and dismissed them to get the mooring gear ready, as she was drawing near her destination, the southwest india dock. there she was speedily moored, and the men, shaking hands warmly with frank, jumped ashore, to be surrounded at once by the usual gang of harpies, who lie in wait for the sailor homeward-bound off a long voyage. but scotty, who had received the address of a nice little moderately-priced hotel just off oxford street, took the lead of his little crowd, and commissioned a boy to go and fetch two four-wheeled cabs, in which they took their departure, and amidst a round of cheering which sent that queer creeping feeling all over frank’s body, they drove away through the shoal of discomfited sharks.
the ship was duly handed over to the representatives of the owners, and mr. ——, taking frank under his wing, drove off to his comfortable hotel, where his wife was awaiting him with a warm welcome for “the dear boy,” as she said, who had[292] shown himself to be such a brave sailor and a man. and there, over a dinner which seemed to frank to be a heavenly dream, after his long course of the ship’s poor grub, well above the average as it had been, frank had to tell the story of the second voyage of the sealark over again. and then to a beautiful bed and the sweet sleep of the untroubled young, although, to say truth, he wakened several times during the night, and found himself listening to what was a-doing on deck, as he thought. for we do not shake off responsibility such as his had been so easily. but each time he thus roused and listened, the blissful remembrance of his successfully accomplished feat came over him, and he sank to sleep again with a contented, happy sigh.