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The Survivors of the Chancellor: Chapter 26

Chapter 26


CHAPTER XXVI.

DECEMBER 5th.--The day was very hot.  December in latitude 16deg.
N. is a summer month, and unless a breeze should rise to temper
the burning sun, we might expect to suffer from an oppressive
heat.

The sea still remained very rough, and as the heavy waves broke
over the ship as though she were a reef, the foam flew up to the
very top-masts, and our clothes were perpetually drenched by the
spray.

The "Chancellor's" hull is three-fourths immerged; besides the
three masts and the bowsprit, to which the whale-boat was
suspended, the poop and the forecastle are the only portions that
now are visible; and as the intervening section of the deck is
quite below the water, these appear to be connected only by the
framework of the netting that runs along the vessel's sides.
Communication between the top-masts is extremely difficult, and
would be absolutely precluded, were it not that the sailors, with
practised dexterity, manage to hoist themselves about by means of
the stays.  For the passengers, cowering on their narrow and
unstable platform, the spectacle of the raging sea below was
truly terrific; every wave that dashed over the ship shook the
masts till they trembled again, and one could venture scarcely to
look or to think lest he should be tempted to cast himself into
the vast abyss.

Meanwhile, the crew worked away with all their remaining vigour
at the second raft, for which the top-gallants and yards were all
obliged to be employed; the planks, too, which were continually
being loosened and broken away by the violence of the waves from
the partitions of the ship, were rescued before they had drifted
out of reach, and were brought into use.  The symptoms of the
ship foundering did not appear to be immediate; so that Curtis
insisted upon the raft being made with proper care to insure its
strength; we were still several hundred miles from the coast of
Guiana, and for so long a voyage it was indispensable to have a
structure of considerable solidity.  The reasonableness of this
was self-apparent, and as the crew had recovered their assurance
they spared no pains to accomplish their work effectually.

Of all the number, there was but one, an Irishman, named O'Ready,
who seemed to question the utility of all their toil.  He shook
his head with an oracular gravity.  He is an oldish man, not less
than sixty, with his hair and beard bleached with the storms of
many travels.  As I was making my way towards the poop, he came
up to me and began talking.

"And why, bedad, I'd like to know, why is it that they'll all be
afther lavin' of the ship?"

He turned his quid with the most serene composure, and
continued,--

"And isn't it me myself that's been wrecked nine times already?
and sure, poor fools are they that ever have put their trust in
rafts or boats sure and they found a wathery grave.  Nay, nay;
while the ould ship lasts, let's stick to her, says I."

Having thus unburdened his mind he relapsed, into silence, and
soon went away.

About three o'clock I noticed that Mr. Kear and Silas Huntly were
holding an animated conversation in the fore top.  The petroleum
merchant had evidently some difficulty in bringing the ex-captain
round to his opinion, for I, saw him several times shake his head
as he gave long and scrutinizing looks at the sea and sky.  In
less than an hour afterwards I saw Huntly let himself down by the
forestays and clamber along to the forecastle where he joined the
group of sailors, and I lost sight of him.

I attached little importance to the incident, and shortly
afterwards joined the party in the main-top, where we continued
talking for some hours.  The heat was intense, and if it had not
been for the shelter' afforded by the sail-tent, would have been
unbearable.  At five o'clock we took as refreshment some dried
meat and biscuit, each individual being also allowed half a glass
of water.  Mrs. Kear, prostrate with fever, could not touch a
mouthful; and nothing could be done by Miss Herbey to relieve
her, beyond occasionally moistening her parched lips.  The
unfortunate lady suffers greatly, and sometimes I am inclined to
think that she will succumb to the exposure and privation.  Not
once had her husband troubled himself about her; but when shortly
afterwards I heard him hail some of the sailors on the forecastle
and ask them to help him down from the foretop, I began to think
that the selfish fellow was coming to join his wife.

At first the sailors took no notice of his request, but on his
repeating it with the promise of paying them handsomely for their
services, two of them, Burke and Sandon, swung themselves along
the netting into the shrouds, and were soon at his side.

A long discussion ensued.  The men evidently were asking more
than Mr. Kear was inclined to give, and at one time if seemed as
though the negotiation would fall through altogether.  But at
length the bargain was struck, and I saw Mr. Kear take a bundle
of paper dollars from his waistcoat pocket, and hand a number of
them over to one of the men, The man counted them carefully, and
from the time it took him, I should think that he could not have
pocketed anything less than a hundred dollars.

The next business was to get Mr. Kear down from the foretop, and
Burke and Sandon proceeded to tie a rope round his waist, which
they afterwards fastened to the forestay; then, in a way which
provoked shouts of laughter from their mates, they gave the
unfortunate man a shove, and sent him rolling down like a bundle
of dirty clothes on to the forecastle.

I was quite mistaken as to his object.  Mr. Kear had no intention
of looking after his wife, but remained by the side of Silas
Huntly until the gathering darkness hid them both from view.

As night drew on, the wind grew calmer, but the sea remained very
rough.  The moon had been up ever since four in the afternoon,
though she only appeared at rare intervals between the clouds.
Some long lines of vapour on the horizon were tinged with a rosy
glare that foreboded a strong breeze for the morrow, and all felt
anxious to know from which quarter the breeze would come, for any
but a north-easter would bear the frail raft on which we were to
embark far away from land.

About eight o'clock in the evening Curtis mounted to the main-top
but he seemed preoccupied and anxious, and did not speak to any
one.  He remained for a quarter of an hour, then after silently
pressing my hand, he returned to his old post.

I laid myself down in the narrow space at my disposal, and tried
to sleep; but my mind was filled with strange forebodings, and
sleep was impossible.  The very calmness of the atmosphere was
oppressive; scarcely a breath of air vibrated through the metal
rigging, and yet the sea rose with a heavy swell as though it
felt the warnings of a coming tempest.

All at once, at about eleven o'clock, the moon burst brightly
forth through a rift in the clouds, and the waves sparkled again
as if illumined by a submarine glimmer.  I start up and look
around me.  Is it merely imagination?  or do I really see a black
speck floating on the dazzling whiteness of the waters, a speck
that cannot be a rock; because it rises and falls with the
heaving motion of the billows?  But the moon once again becomes
overclouded; the sea, is darkened, and I return to my uneasy
couch close to the larboard shrouds.


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