CHAPTER XIII
BOB TRIES A PRANK
The Eagle was sailing along under a spanking breeze, and already the motion of Old Briny was beginning to make itself felt. The vessel rolled to a considerable degree, and as she passed farther and farther out to sea this became more pronounced.
Bob, who had been active in visiting different parts of the ship, watching the sailors at their duties, and picking up bits of information here and there, soon got over his little indignation against those who had played the joke on him. But he soon became conscious of another feeling.
This was a decidedly uneasy one, and for the first time since he had begun to think of the voyage Bob began to fear he was going to be seasick.
"I certainly do feel queer," said our hero to himself as he leaned against the railing amidships. "I wonder what I'd better do? Perhaps I'm moving around too much. I'll keep quiet."
He sat down on a hatch cover and tried to think of other things. The sea was beginning to turn blue—the blue of deep water—and the sun was shining brightly. There was a strong wind and a healthful smell of salt in the air.
Still Bob did not appear to care for any of those things. His own feelings seemed to increase.
"Sitting still is worse than moving around," he began to think.
Just then Mr. Carr passed the boy.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "You look rather white about the gills, messmate."
"I—I don't feel very well," replied Bob.
"Better go and lie down then. I guess you're in for a spell of seasickness. Mr. Tarbill has already got his."
Bob thought it would be best to follow the advice. He went to his berth, and soon he was a very sick boy. He would have given up all his chances of rounding the Horn—yes, he would even have sacrificed his share in the rather mythical treasure of Captain Obed—if he could only have found some place that was not heaving, pitching and tossing. But the ship rolled on, and the motion seemed to increase rather than diminish.
It was a week before Bob was entirely well. During that time he stayed in his bunk, but Captain Spark saw to it that the boy was well looked after and doctored with such simple remedies as are used in that common form of illness, which attacks nearly all who first venture upon the sea.
At the end of the week Bob found that he could stand up without feeling his head go buzzing around. He ventured out on deck, and the salt breeze brought some color into his pale cheeks.
"You sort of look as if you had been drawn through a knothole," remarked Tom Manton, one of the sailors.
"Yes, old Father Neptune has been playing tricks on him, I reckon," added Sam Bender, the second mate.
"I feel as if I had been drawn through two knot-holes, one right after the other," spoke Bob, with an attempt at a smile.
"You'll soon be all right again now," comforted Tom. "Get a little salt horse and sea biscuit down for a foundation, and you can build up on that the finest thing in the way of a meal you ever saw."
For the first time since his illness Bob could think of food without a shudder. He really began to feel hungry. The old sailor proved a good prophet. Bob began to mend steadily, and in a few days he was as active as ever—more so, in fact.
"Now's the time to look for trouble," remarked Captain Spark to his mate one day.
"Trouble? How?"
"Bob is himself again. He'll be up to some tricks or I'm a Dutchman. But we must meet him half way. Give him back some of his own coin. He's on this voyage to be cured, and I'm going to do it If I have to keelhaul him."
"I guess the men will be only too anxious to do their share. They like Bob, but he mustn't play too many pranks on them."
"No. Well, I guess they can look out for themselves."
"I guess so," answered the mate with a smile. Later that day Captain Spark instructed Bob in some simple duties which would be his to perform during the voyage. He was to act in the capacity of cabin boy.
Now that Bob was in his usual spirits he began to feel an inclination to be at some of his pranks. He thought, with a sigh, that he had not played a good joke since the affair of the step-ladder, the cook and the hired man. So he began to look about and consider the possibilities of indulging in some pranks.
But Bob had about made up his mind not to bother the sailors. He was a little afraid of them, as they were big, strong men, and he had a suspicion that they were only waiting for him to begin operations before they would do something on their own account. Bob had an idea they might tie him to a rope, throw him overboard and duck him.
That, he thought, would be pretty harsh treatment.
"I wish Mr. Tarbill would come from his stateroom," Bob mused. "I guess it would be safe to play a little joke on him. I've simply got to have some fun."
Mr. Tarbill had suffered very much from seasickness, though he was now recovered. He came on deck the next day, but he was more nervous than ever.
"Oh, my!" he exclaimed as a big wave struck the Eagle, heeling her over considerably. "Are we going down?"
"Oh, I guess not," replied Bob confidently. He and Mr. Tarbill were together on the quarterdeck. The nervous passenger's fears gave Bob an idea.
"I'll give him a real scare," thought the boy. "Maybe it will cure him of being nervous."
My reader can easily understand that Bob had one thought for Mr.
Tarbill and two for himself.
The boy considered matters a few minutes, during which time the nervous passenger seemed to grow more and more frightened of the big waves, which had been piled up by quite a heavy blow the previous night.
Presently Bob went to the after-rail and looked intently into the water. Then he uttered an exclamation.
"Oh! Oh!" he cried. "It's coming right after us! Have you a revolver, Mr. Tarbill?"
"A revolver? What for? What is coming after us, my dear young friend?"
"A big whale! He's just under the surface of the water! He's trying to break off the rudder! Quick, give me your revolver!"
"I haven't any! Oh, dear! I'm so nervous! Do you think he will damage the ship, my dear young friend?"
"I'm afraid so! Look out! Hold on! Here he comes!"
Bob pretended to grasp the rail to prevent being tossed overboard by the expected shock. Mr. Tarbill did the same, and with anxious fears waited for what would happen next. Then the ship seemed to give a great shiver as a big wave struck under the port bow.
"He's hit us!" cried Bob, trying not to laugh.
"Quick! Get me a life-preserver!" exclaimed Mr. Tarbill. "A life-preserver! The ship is sinking!"
[Illustration: "A life-preserver! The ship is sinking!"]
"What's all the excitement about?" suddenly asked Captain Spark, appearing at the head of the ladder that led to the quarterdeck.
"The ship has been struck by a monster whale!" exclaimed the nervous passenger, "He's rammed us, captain, and I'm going to get a life-preserver! Then I must save my valuables in my cabin!"
He rushed from the deck, while the captain, with a grim look on his face, glanced at Bob, who burst into laughter.
CHAPTER XIV
MR. TARBILL GETS A SHOCK
"This is one of your 'jokes,' I suppose," remarked the captain.
"Yes. It was too funny," answered Bob. "He really believed a whale was after us."
"Do you think it was a good thing to do, alarm him so?"
"I—er—well, I thought it might do his nerves good," stammered Bob.
"Hum!" murmured the captain. "I must say, Bob, you have a queer idea of what is good for the nerves. Now I can't allow this. Mr. Tarbill is a guest of mine, and I will not have his comfort interfered with. He is taking a voyage for his health, and I don't want him annoyed."
"I'm sorry," began Bob, always ready to repent, though usually it did not last long.
"Then don't do it again."
"I'll not, sir. I didn't think he'd believe me."
"He knows very little about the ocean. In fact, there are some things you don't know, and, if they wanted to, some of the old sailors could spin you yarns that would make your hair stand up."
"I wish they would then," said Bob. "I like sea stories, captain."
"I guess I'll have to take stronger measures with him," thought the commander as he walked forward.
A few minutes later Mr. Tarbill rushed up on deck. He had a life-preserver strapped about him, and in either hand was a valise, while over his shoulder was some spare clothing he had not had time to pack in the satchels.
"Are the lifeboats ready?" he asked of Mr. Carr, who was the first person he met on deck.
"The lifeboats? What for?"
"Why, the ship has been rammed by a whale and is sinking."
"Who told you so?"
"That boy, Bob Henderson."
"I thought so!" exclaimed the mate. "That's one of his so-called 'jokes.' There's no danger, Mr. Tarbill. That was only a big wave that hit us. You are perfectly safe."
"Are you sure?"
"Quite sure."
"Don't you think I had better see the captain and ask him about it before I take off my life-preserver?"
"Oh, no; there is no need of that. The ship is in no danger," and the mate tried not to smile at the nervous passenger's fears.
"Then if you say so I'll go and take this life-preserver off. It is quite heavy."
"Do so by all means. The young rascal," added the mate under his breath as he thought of Bob. "I'll have to teach him a lesson."
Bob was not a little alarmed at the result of his thoughtless prank. He did not know what the captain might do to punish him, and in the future he resolved to restrain his impulses.
"Maybe he'll send me home by some passing ship," the boy thought, "and I wouldn't like that a bit."
The weather was fine for the next few days. The Eagle continued on her way south, the climate getting warmer and warmer as they approached the equator. Bob meanwhile had learned much about the ship and the manner of sailing it. He got the names of the various ropes and sails by heart, and it would have taken a pretty ingenious sailor to have sent him on a foolish errand now after some part of the ship's gear. Captain Spark was encouraged by Bob's behavior, and began to think the voyage was doing the lad good. So it was, but the cure was not complete, as you shall see.
Mr. Tarbill resented Bob's joke, and had not spoken to the boy since the "whale" incident. But Bob did not mind this. There was plenty to keep him occupied, with his duties to perform and sailors' stories to listen to.
When they were out about two weeks there came a day when there was only the lightest breeze, The Eagle barely had steerageway over the sea, which was as quiet and still as a small lake. The blue waters sparkled in the bright sun, and as Bob lounged about on deck he felt a lazy contentment which was probably caused by the near approach to the tropical zone.
He looked up at the towering masts, and an idea came to him.
"If I could climb up there," he said, "I could have a fine view. I ought to be able to see a vessel from that height. Guess I'll do it. I never tried it, but it looks easy, and there's not enough motion to pitch me off."
With Bob, usually, to think was to act. Looking around to see that neither the captain nor the mates were in sight to forbid him, he stepped to the rail, mounted Into the shrouds, or ladders, that are formed by the wire ropes supporting the mast, and was soon ascending toward the maintop, the highest point of the largest mast.
It was rather difficult work, but Bob kept on and soon was a great distance above the deck. He looked around him, noted several ships which were not visible from below and then glanced down. He saw Mr. Tarbill come out on deck, and then, more in good spirits than because he wanted, to cause the nervous passenger a scare, Bob gave a great shout. Mr. Tarbill looked up, saw the boy far in the air, clinging to what, at that distance, Seemed but a slender stick, and then he cried:
"Quick! Somebody come quick!"
"What is it?" shouted Mr. Carr, thinking from the tones of Mr.
Tarbill's voice some one had fallen overboard.
"That boy! That awful boy!" replied the nervous man.
"What about him? Is he overboard? Which side? I'll throw him a life-preserver!"
"No, he isn't overboard! He's up there! On the mast! Oh! Suppose he falls! My nerves are in such a state! This is an awful shock! What a dreadful boy! I wish he had never come aboard this ship, or else that I hadn't!"
"Come on up!" cried Bob, all unconscious of the excitement he had created. "It's fine up here!"
"Oh! I feel as if I was going to faint!" exclaimed Mr. Tarbill, growing paler than usual.
"Come down, Bob!" ordered Mr. Carr, making a trumpet of his hands. "If it isn't one thing it's another," thought the mate. "I'll be glad when this voyage is over."
CHAPTER XV
THE STORM
Bob came down, wondering why he was not allowed to stay at the maintop for a while longer.
"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Tarbill when the boy reached the deck.
"You've given me such a fright!"
"I didn't mean to," replied Bob honestly enough.
"Oh, but you did! I think I'll have to go to my cabin and take some nerve medicine."
The passenger left the deck, and Mr. Carr said:
"Don't do that again, Bob."
"No, sir; not if you don't want me to."
"It's too dangerous," added the first mate.
Bob was not very sharply reprimanded by Captain Spark for this escapade, as the commander realized that the boy meant no harm. But it was several days before Mr. Tarbill got over the shock.
Urged on by brisk winds the Eagle made excellent speed, and several days before he calculated he would reach it Captain Spark found his vessel "crossing the line"; that is, passing over the imaginary circle which marks the equator. Bob enjoyed his life on board the ship more than ever, now that the tropics were reached. The usual pranks were indulged in by the sailors when Father Neptune came aboard the day the line was crossed, and Bob came in for not a little horse-play. But he did not mind it, and in turn he played several jokes on the sailors and was not rebuked. It was a time of freedom from restraint.
Continuing on south, the Eagle passed from the hot region, and once more was in the temperate zone. But now the weather, which had been fine for several weeks, began to show signs of a change.
"We'll soon be in for a troublesome time," said the captain as he sat in the main cabin one night, looking over some charts.
"How?" asked Bob.
"We're approaching the Horn. To navigate the Straits of Magellan is no small matter. There are always more or less storms in that region, and I wish I was well through it."
"Then we're liable to have a hard passage?"
"More than likely."
The captain's fears were verified. A few days later, when they were within a hundred miles of the dreaded Straits, it began to blow. There was a steady increase to the wind, and Captain Spark wore an anxious look as he paced the quarterdeck.
Still there seemed to be nothing more than a heavy blow, and Bob was beginning to hope they might get through with less trouble than the commander anticipated. The captain had decided to try the passage of the Straits rather than to actually go around Cape Horn.
But it was not to be. The next day, toward evening, when they were preparing to navigate the difficult passage, there came a veritable hurricane.
Fortunately Captain Spark had in a measure anticipated it, and had taken in sail, bending on some heavy storm canvas which, small as it was, sent the ship ahead at a terrific pace.
As night came on the Eagle was seen to be in a mass of swirling, tumbling waves which seemed anxious to overpower the stanch craft.
Mr. Tarbill was in a great fright. He tried to stay in his cabin, but when the ship began to pitch and toss he could not stand it. So donning a life-preserver, he came on deck. Here he was much in the way, for the sailors had to be constantly rushing here and there, making ropes fast and attending to their duties. To add to the discomforts of the situation, it began to rain in torrents.
"Oh, I know we're going to sink!" cried the nervous passenger. "Do you think it will be soon, captain?"
"What soon?" asked the commander, who was too busy to pay much attention to Mr. Tarbill. "Will we sink soon?"
"Sink? We're not going to sink at all if I can help it! This is no worse than lots of storms. You had better go to your cabin and lie down."
"Oh, I wouldn't dare to! The ship might sink while I was there. I know we'll get caught in a whirlpool, or in a waterspout, or some other dreadful thing! This is terrible! Awful! Fearful!"
The wind was increasing, and great waves dashed over the Eagle's bow.
"It's bad luck to have such a storm-croaker as that aboard," murmured one of the sailors. "He's a regular Jonah!"
"I wish he'd go below," muttered the captain, and Bob overheard him. "He's frightening every one up here, and we're going to have a hard enough time as it is without a nervous man on deck."
Bob, though he was frightened at the storm, which was constantly growing worse, determined to stick it out. He wanted to see what would happen. But he saw a chance to do a service to the captain, though it would involve playing an innocent trick on Mr. Tarbill.
Accordingly, when there came a little lull in the wind, Bob made his way to where the nervous passenger stood with his back braced against a deckhouse.
"It'll be here pretty soon now," said Bob, shouting to make himself heard above the noise of the storm.
"What will, my dear young friend?" asked Mr. Tarbill, forgetting his former anger at Bob under the stress of the circumstances. "Do you mean to tell us anything else is going to happen?"
"Something surely is, Mr. Tarbill," said Bob, with an air of great earnestness, moving closer to the man, so as to get away from the driving rain, as Mr. Tarbill stood under shelter.
"What is coming? Do tell me. I am so very nervous."
"The Jilla-Jilly wind! We'll be in the midst of it soon. You'd better look out!"
"The Jilla-Jilly wind? For mercy sakes, what's that?"
"It's a kind of a hurricane," said Bob, inventing something on the spur of the moment. "Only, instead of blowing straight ahead or around in a circle it blows up and down. It's liable to snatch you right up to the clouds, or suck you down into the ocean!"
"That is terrible, my dear young friend!"
"Terrible! I should say it was!"
"What had I better do?"
"You'll surely be blown overboard if you stay on deck. That
Jilla-Jilly wind is the most terrible wind you ever heard of!
We'll soon strike it! There, that sounds like it now! Don't you
feel as if you were being lifted up?"
The nervous fears of Mr. Tarbill made him anticipate almost any sensation that was vividly described to him. He was in such a state of mind that he would have believed almost anything he heard.
"Yes! Yes!" he exclaimed. "I feel it coming! Oh, dear! What shall I do?"
"Go below quickly!" yelled Bob, for that was the object he had in mind in inventing the Jilla-Jilly wind for the occasion.
"I will! I'll go at once!" And, holding on to hand-lines which had been stretched about the deck for safety, the nervous passenger made his way to his cabin, while the ship tossed more than ever.
CHAPTER XVI
WRECK OF THE SHIP
Though the vessel was in great danger Bob could not help smiling at the success of his prank. When Mr. Tar-bill, with every evidence of terror, had left the deck, Bob crept cautiously forward to peer ahead into the wild waste of waves that threatened to overwhelm the Eagle.
"If it isn't a Jilla-Jilly wind, it's almost as bad," thought our hero. If he had known more about the ocean and its terrors he would have been more frightened than he was. If it was not exactly an instance of "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise," it was, in Bob's case, the next thing to it.
"Wow! That was a bad one!" exclaimed the boy, as an extraordinarily large wave made the ship tremble.
At the same instant a frightened shriek rang out through the darkness. It was one full of terror.
"It's got me! It's got me!" yelled the voice. "What in the world is that?" shouted Captain Spark above the din of the storm. "Is some one overboard?"
"Sounds like Mr. Tarbill," replied the mate, putting his lips close to the captain's ear, so as to be heard.
"Maybe something has happened to him," suggested the commander. "Better look after him, Mr. Carr. We shall do very well for the time being. We've got her before the gale now, and she's scudding along very nicely."
Once the first fury of the storm was past, and it settled down to a steady blow, Captain Spark knew how to handle his vessel. Mr. Carr went below. He found Mr. Tarbill in the main cabin, pacing to and fro and starting nervously at every unexpected lurch of the ship.
"Is it blowing? Is the ship going up or down?" asked the nervous passenger.
"Is what blowing?"
"The Jilla-Jilly wind!"
"The Jilla-Jilly wind?" repeated the mate in wonder, thinking Mr.
Tarbill might be out of his head.
"Yes, Bob told me about it. It blows up and down and is liable to take one up Into the clouds or down into the ocean."
"What nonsense! Look here, Mr. Tarbill, that was one of Bob's jokes. I'll scold him for this."
Yet, secretly, the mate was not sorry that Bob's trick had been effective in getting the frightened man off the deck.
"Then there isn't any such wind?"
"Of course not. Don't be frightened."
"Is the ship in any danger?"
"Well, to be honest, I can't say that she is not. There is always danger in a storm such as this is, particularly near Cape Horn. But we're doing our best."
"Oh! I knew something was going to happen!"
"What's going to happen?" asked the mate. "You must not be so nervous."
"Oh! I wish I had never come on this dreadful voyage!"
Mr. Carr wished the same on behalf of the nervous man, but he said nothing. The mate soon went back on deck, where he found plenty to do, as one of the storm sails had blown off the bolt ropes and another canvas had to be bent on. Captain Spark had sent Bob below, as it was risky for any one but an experienced sailor to move about the constantly sloping deck.
That night was one of terror. First the storm seemed to abate, and then it began again with redoubled violence. Once the Eagle was almost on her beam ends, but skilful handling brought her once more up into the teeth of the wind and she rode the waves lightly, like the gallant craft she was.
The nervousness of Mr. Tarbill increased. He would not stay alone in his cabin, and finally begged for Bob to keep him company. Bob was a little diffident about going in, after the trick he had played, but the nervous passenger seemed to forget all about that. The two sat up and talked instead of going to their berths, for sleep was out of the question amid the howling of the gale.
It was nearly morning when Captain Spark, wearing an anxious look, came into the cabin.
"Has the ship foundered? Has it sprung a leak?" asked Mr. Tarbill, for he saw that something was troubling the commander.
"No, we are safe yet," replied Mr. Spark gravely. "But I think you had better put on life-preservers."
"Why?" asked Bob, beginning to feel a nameless fear.
"We are approaching a dangerous reef. If this wind holds we can barely wear off enough to pass it. If we strike it that will be the last of the Eagle. We are going to do our best to wear the ship off, but we may not succeed. It is best to be prepared."
At this ominous warning Mr. Tarbill seemed to collapse. However, with Bob's help he donned one of the cork jackets, and the boy did likewise. Captain Spark would not allow them on deck, but promised to give them timely warning if the ship struck.
Then came an hour of anxious waiting. Outside there sounded the dash of rain, the screaming of the wind, and the rush of sailors about the deck as they hastened to obey the captain's commands.
Then, very gradually, there seemed to come a slack in the storm. The ship rode more easily, and Bob began to take heart. A little later Mr. Carr came down into the cabin. He breathed a sigh of relief as he said:
"We're all right. We've passed the reef and we have nothing more to fear for the present. The gale is going down."
"That's the best news I've heard in a year!" exclaimed Mr. Tarbill. "Never again will I take a sea voyage for my health. I've lost seven pounds to-night, I know I have."
Mr. Carr's words were soon verified. When morning broke the wind and rain had ceased, though there was still a heavy sea on, which made the Eagle toss and pitch in a dangerous way.
Bob managed to get out on deck, however, and, through the clear
atmosphere that followed the storm, he saw the dim outlines of
Terra del Fuego—"The Land of Fire"—as part of the end of the
South American continent is called.
They finished the passage of the Straits of Magellan without further incident. After that it seemed as if their troubles would be at an end. The sea went down, and, as they made the turn around the South American coast and once more began to approach the equator, the Eagle skimmed along like the bird whose name it bore.
"If this weather and the fair breezes keep up," said Captain Spark one day, "we'll arrive ahead of time."
"I guess you didn't think so during the storm, did you?" inquired
Bob.
"No indeed! It seemed as if it was going to be touch and go with us one spell. But how do you like your trip—so far?"
"Very much."
"I'm glad of it. I promised your mother it would do you good, and
I think it will."
Captain Spark was secretly delighted with the success of his experiment. He thought Bob had given up all his tricks, but that same day showed how much mistaken he was. The boy, seeing a chance to have some sport with one of the sailors—a German—sewed up the sleeves of the man's Jersey. When the man tumbled out of his bunk, in a hurry to take his watch on deck, he could not understand the reason why he could not put on his garment.
"Vot's der madder?" he exclaimed, struggling with the sleeves.
"Der vitches haf been at vork! I am bevitched!"
"More like that onery critter of a boy done it," suggested his messmate, a practical Yankee.
"So? I plays a joke on him, alretty yet. Vatch."
And the German was as good as his word. The next afternoon Bob suddenly felt himself being pitched over the rail toward the sea. He yelled and made a grab for the mizzen shroud near which he was standing, but he suddenly found himself brought up with a round turn, for the German had caught the boy's feet in a bight of cable, so that he would not go overboard.
"So!" he exclaimed. "You sews up my sleeves, eh? I t'inks you don't do so no more! Eh?"
"More tricks!" exclaimed the captain, when matters had been explained to him, "I wonder if he'll ever be cured?"
But Bob's cure was nearer at hand than either he or the captain expected.
The fine weather continued for a week, during which time the Eagle made good progress. Then came several days of dead calm, when they were near the Tropic of Capricorn, and they suffered much from the heat of the sun.
"I don't like this," remarked Captain Spark one day, as he looked up at the brassy sky.
"Why not?" asked Bob, with the familiarity of a relative.
"I think this means a storm, and we're in a poor location for a bad blow. I don't like it."
As the day wore on it became evident that the captain's prophecy was about to be verified. The wind sprang up suddenly, almost before sail could be shortened, and the Eagle heeled over until if seemed as if she would not right. That was the beginning of a storm that was worse than the other.
Scudding along under mere rags of canvas, the ship headed right into the swirl of waters agitated by the wind. As night settled down the captain prepared for the worst. It was evident that he feared something, and every man was on the alert.
The wind increased, but there was no rain. On and on rushed the ship, all through the night. The captain seemed to grow more anxious and would not leave his place at the wheel.
Suddenly, just as the darkness was giving place to the gray light of morning, the Eagle hit something. A shiver seemed to run through the whole length of the ship.
"Breakers ahead!" yelled the lookout. "Breakers all around us!"
"I feared as much!" cried the captain. "We've struck on a reef!"
The Eagle seemed to back off, probably the recoil from the blow. The wind swirled around, and then, once more, the good ship was driven on the rocks.
Once more she crashed upon the low-lying barrier, and this time an ominous splintering sound followed. There was a terrific crash, and the foremast went by the board. At the same time there was a pounding beneath the bows of the vessel.
"There's a big hole stove in the bows, sir!" cried a sailor, running to Captain Spark. "The water's coming in fast!"
"I'm afraid we're foundering!" added Mr. Carr.
"Stand by to lower the lifeboats!" yelled the captain. "Every man to his place!"
With a great crash the mizzen mast went over the side, crushing one of the lifeboats that hung on davits there.
"What has happened?" yelled Mr. Tarbill, rushing up on deck.
"The Eagle is wrecked," replied the captain, speaking calmly, though only a sailor could know what anguish the words cost him.
CHAPTER XVII
ADRIFT IN SMALL BOATS
The scene was now one of wild excitement. The sailors were working like Trojans to launch the boats, as it could not be told when the Eagle would founder. Already she was settling in the water.
For once Mr. Tarbill seemed too stunned to know what to do. Bob made up his mind to save a few of his own possessions if he could, and he hurried to his berth.
"Put on a life-preserver, Bob," called the captain to him. The boy thought of the time when this order had been given before, but not needed. Now there was real cause for it.
"Oh, Bob! Help me!" pleaded Mr. Tarbill, who was trembling with terror.
"I will. If there's anything valuable in your cabin, you'd better get it out."
"Everything I have is valuable."
"Well, you can't take it all. The boat won't hold it."
"Have we got to go in small boats out on this dreadful ocean?"
"It's the only way to save our lives."
Mr. Tarbill selected some of his possessions, as did Bob, and then the only two passengers on the ship, having donned the cork jackets, went on deck again.
The sailors were busy putting provisions and water into the small boats, of which, fortunately, there were enough to hold all, even with the loss of the one the mast had smashed.
"Is there no way of saving the ship?" asked Bob of the captain as he stood, calm, yet stern, on the quarter-deck.
"No. Her bows are stove in and the foremast has pounded a big hole in her quarter. The Eagle is doomed. There must be an uncharted reef about here, or else we were blown off our course."
"Boats are all ready, sir," reported a sailor, running up.
"Very well, tell the men to get in. Mr. Carr will be in command of one boat, Mr. Bender the other, and I will go in my gig. Bob, you and Mr. Tarbill will go with me. Pull well away from the wreck, men, and lay to until we are all together. Then we'll try to get our bearings."
It was getting lighter now, but the storm showed no signs of abating. The Eagle was fairly impaled on a sharp point of the sunken reef and was immovable, but the waves were dashing high over the bows.
Suddenly the ship gave a shudder and seemed as if about to tear herself loose, ready to sink beneath the billows.
"Lively, men!" exclaimed the captain. "She'll not last much longer!"
The orders were given to lower the boats. Bob went forward to watch the work, holding on by stray cables that dangled from the wrecked masts.
As the boat of which Mr. Bender was to take charge was being lowered, one of the ropes in the davit pulley, that at the bow, fouled, and, as the sailors at the other davit were letting their line run free, the boat tilted. There was imminent risk of the oars, sail, and mast, besides the supplies, being spilled out. Bob saw the danger and sprang forward with a shout, intending to lend a hand.
As he did so a big piece of one of the yards of the broken mizzen mast which had been hanging by splinters was whipped loose by a gust of wind and fell almost at his feet, missing him by a small margin. Had it struck him squarely it would have killed him.
Bob only hesitated an instant, though the narrow escape gave him a faint feeling in his stomach. Then, before he could make the sailors understand what the trouble was, he grabbed the rope that was running free and, taking a turn about a cleat, prevented the further lowering of the boat.
"Good!" shouted Second-Mate Bender, who had seen what had taken place. "You saved the boat, Bob. In another second all the stuff would have been afloat. Lively now, men. Straighten out that line and lower away. She's settling fast."
In the meanwhile Mr. Carr had succeeded in lowering his boat, and he and his men were in it. The crew of the captain's gig were busy with that craft, and it was all ready to lower.
"Get in, Bob," said the commander of the Eagle. "And you too,
Mr. Tarbill."
"Aren't you coming?" asked Bob.
"I'm the last one in," was the sad answer, and then the boy understood that the captain is always the last to leave a sinking ship.
"Shall we get in before you lower it?" asked Bob of the sailors who stood at the davit ropes.
"Yes. We can lower it with you two in. The captain and we can slide down the ropes. We're used to it, but it's ticklish business for land-lubbers." And the man grinned even in that time of terror.
Captain Spark had gone to his cabin for his log book, the ship's papers, and his nautical instruments. As he came out the red sun showed for an instant above the horizon.
"If we had seen that a few hours sooner we wouldn't be here now," remarked the commander sadly. "But it's too late now."
The other boats had pulled away from the wreck. Bob and Mr. Tarbill got into the gig and were lowered to the surface of the heaving ocean.
"Take an oar and fend her away from the ship's side a bit," the captain advised Bob. "Else a wave may smash the gig."
Bob did so. Mr. Tarbill was shivering too much with fear to be of any help. A few seconds later the two sailors who had lowered the boat at the captain's orders leaped into the gig as a wave lifted it close to the Eagle's rail. Then the commander, carrying a few of his possessions and with a last look around his beloved ship, made the same jump and was in his gig.
"Pull away," he commanded sorrowfully, and the sailors rowed out from the foundered ship.
When they were a little way off they rested on their oars. All around them was a waste of heaving waters. The two other boats came up, and the occupants looked at the Eagle settling lower and lower as the water filled her. The wrecked ship, now sunk almost to her deck level, seemed, save for the three boats, to be the only object in sight on the bosom of the tumultuous ocean.
"Well, men, give way!" at length called the captain, with a sigh.
"We may be sighted by some vessel, or we may land on an island.
There are several islands hereabouts, if we are not too far away
from them."
Then, bending to the oars, the sailors sent the boats away from the wreck. Bob and his friends were afloat on the big ocean in small boats that, at any moment, might be swamped by a mighty wave, for the wind was still blowing hard, though the sun shone brightly in the eastern sky.
CHAPTER XVIII
BOB ON AN ISLAND
"Keep together, men!" called the captain, as they pulled away. "We don't want to lose one another."
"Which way shall we pull, sir?" asked the first mate.
"I'll tell you presently. I'll look at my charts and see if I can't locate an island somewhere here-abouts. Keep up your courage. Luckily this didn't happen down in the Straits. At least we have warm weather here."
For the first time Bob noticed that it was very warm. It had been so, of course, for several days preceding the wreck, but the thought that they were in a tropical climate had been forgotten in the excitement of the foundering of the ship. Now it was a thing for which to be thankful.
"Oh! Isn't this the most terrible thing that could occur!" exclaimed Mr. Tarbill, from a seat where he was huddled up. "It is awful!"
"It's not half so awful as if we were drowned and in Davy Jones's locker," remarked the captain. "I've lost my ship and the cargo, but, fortunately, both were insured. We are lucky to have had time to get off in the boats, well provisioned as they are. As soon as this wind goes down a bit we'll hoist the small sails and head for the nearest land."
The captain was soon busy over his charts. He made some calculations and announced his belief that there was a group of islands about a hundred miles off. He could not be sure, for while they showed on the chart, he could not exactly determine the position of the ship when she struck, as no observation had been taken since the previous noon, and the rate of sailing under the force of the gale was mere guesswork.
So the men rowed on. The Eagle was now a mere blot on the surface of the ocean—a speck of blackness amid a swirl of foam, caused by the waves breaking over the ship and the reef. The wind continued too high to risk raising the sail with which each boat was provided, and it was slow progress with the oars.
The day was one of terror, for many times waves would break over the small craft, forcing the men to bail for their lives. Only cold provisions could be eaten, but in spite of this the little band of shipwrecked men maintained a cheerful demeanor. As for Bob he did not deny that he was frightened. He thought with sorrow of his father and mother and wondered if he would ever see them again. He and the others had removed their life-preservers, as they did not need them in the gig.
"That was a plucky thing you did, saving that boat from going down stern first," complimented the captain, a little later that day when they were talking over the events of the wreck. "You showed good judgment, Bob."
"Oh, I guess anybody would have done the same."
"No, they wouldn't. You deserve great credit. Bravery in the face of danger is bravery indeed. Your father and mother can be proud of you."
There came to Bob's mind a memory of certain times when these words of the captain would not have been true. He resolved, if his life was spared, to be a more manly boy in the future—to live up to the captain's new estimate of him.
Wearily the men labored at the oars. It was hard work to keep the boats' heads to the waves, which, to those in the small craft, looked like great green mountains of water. Now the boats would be down in a vast hollow, with towering walls on either side. Then the stanch craft would be lifted up and, poising on the crests, would slide down a watery hill with a sickening feeling, present at least in the hearts of Bob and Mr. Tarbill, that they were going straight for the bottom. The nervous passenger sat huddled up in a heap, scarcely speaking.
The wind seemed to increase as night drew on. The motion of the captain's gig was such that he could not take an observation, and, when the blackness settled down, they had no idea where they were, nor in which direction the nearest land lay.
"I'm afraid we'll be separated in the darkness," said the captain, "but there is no help for it."
The day of terror was succeeded by a night of peril. The sea and wind seemed combining to wreck the small boats. The one commanded by Mr. Carr managed to remain within hailing distance of the captain's gig, but the other seemed to have disappeared. A feeling of gloom settled down over the castaways.
It must have been about the middle of the night that Bob, working his way aft to get a drink of water from one of the casks, stumbled over part of the sail that was folded in the bottom of the gig. He put out his hands, instinctively, to save himself, but, as there was nothing to cling to, he only grasped the air.
Then, with a cry of terror which he could not suppress, he plunged overboard and was soon struggling in the water.
He went down, but, being a good swimmer, he at once began to strike out, and as he got his head above the surface and shook the water from his ears, he heard one of the sailors cry:
"Bob's overboard!"
"Bob! Bob! Where are you?" shouted the captain. "Here's a life-preserver!"
The boy heard a splash in the water near him and struck out for it.
"Back water!" he heard the captain cry.
"Aye, aye, sir!" replied the sailors heartily.
At the same time the captain shouted to Mr. Carr's boat word of what had happened. Bob was weighted down by his wet clothes and he felt he could not long keep up, but he was swimming strongly, hoping every moment one of the boats would pick him up.
"Here I am!" he shouted, but his voice did not carry far above the wind. He began to have a hopeless feeling, as if he was doomed to drown there all alone on the vast ocean. A nameless terror seized him. Then, to his joy, his fingers touched something. It was the floating cork life-preserver, and he knew he could keep himself up with it for a long time.
Once more he shouted, but there came no answering hail.
"Have they rowed away and left me?" thought the boy.
He held this idea but for an instant. Then he guessed the truth of what had happened. The boats had been swept on by wind and wave, and, in the darkness, it was impossible to see so small an object as the boy's head in the water.
The sailors in the two boats rowed about, frantically urged on by
Captain Spark.
"His mother will never forgive me!" he whispered to himself. "I'd rather have lost a dozen ships than have Bob drown!"
But, though they rowed about the spot where he had disappeared, neither the captain nor Mr. Carr nor any of the sailors could find a trace of the boy.
"We'll stand by until morning," decided the commander, and they began their weary vigil.
Meanwhile Bob was swimming right away from the boats, for he could not get the right direction in the darkness. He managed to fasten the life-preserver to him, and with the buoyancy of the cork to aid him he swam easily, though he did not make very fast progress.
After the first shock of terror was over Bob became calm. He had a momentary fear of sharks, but he resolved not to think about these monsters or the sea, as it sent a cold chill over him and he found he could not swim so well.
"I'll just paddle on until morning," he decided, "and by that time maybe the men in the boats will pick me up."
So, through the remainder of the night, he swam leisurely. In spite of the storm it was very warm and the water felt pleasant. If he had only had an idea of where he was, Bob would not have minded his position so very much.
It was just getting light when, happening to let his legs down for an instant to rest them, he felt his feet touch something. At first he had an unreasoning terror that it might be a big fish—a whale or a shark—that had come up under him. Then he felt whatever it was under his feet to be firm and hard. A dim shape loomed up before him.
"It's land!" exclaimed Bob. "I've struck land! It must be one of those islands the captain told about and that is the sandy beach my feet are touching."
He swam on a little further, and again let down his feet. To his delight he could stand upright, the water coming to his chest. Then, as it grew lighter, he could make out a low, sandy shore lying stretched out before him.
"Land! Land!" exclaimed the boy. "I'm on land! But where are the others?"
CHAPTER XIX
FINDING MR. TARBILL
Bob hurried forward as fast as he could through the water, no longer swimming, but wading. Soon he reached the beach and saw, beyond it, that the land was covered with green grass, while trees, which he easily recognized as the kind found in warm countries, grew to a great height.
"I'm on a tropical island," thought the castaway. "Just like Robinson Crusoe, only I haven't any of the things he had and the wreck of the Eagle isn't near enough for me to get anything from the ship. Still I ought to be thankful I'm not drowned or eaten by a shark."
Bob was tired after his long swim and stretched out under the trees on the grass to rest. It was already beginning to get much warmer, though the sun was only just peeping up, seemingly from beneath the ocean.
"Wonder if I'm going to find anything to eat here," the boy thought. "Doesn't look as if any one lived here. I'll have to take a look around. It's going to be very lonesome here. I wonder if any ships ever pass this place?"
There were so many questions that needed answering he did not know where to stop asking them of himself. But he decided the first and best thing to do would be to get off his wet clothes. Not that he was afraid of taking cold, but he knew he would be more comfortable in dry garments.
So, taking everything out of his pockets, which was no small operation by the way, as Bob was a typical boy, he stripped himself of his heavier garments and hung them on tree limbs to dry.
"Now if I could find something to eat I'd be right in it—at least for a while," thought the castaway as he walked around on the warm grass. "And I need a drink, for I swallowed a lot of salt water and I'm as dry as a powder horn." He looked out on the ocean, but not a trace of a boat was visible.
Bob walked some distance from where he had landed, keeping a sharp lookout for a spring of water. All the while he was getting more and more thirsty, and he began to think he would have to dig a little well near shore with clam shells, as he had read of shipwrecked sailors doing. But, fortunately, he was not forced to this. As he penetrated a little way into the wood, he heard the gurgle of water.
"That sounds good," he remarked.
Stepping cautiously, because of his bare feet, he went on a little farther and presently saw a small waterfall, caused by a stream tumbling over a little ledge of rocks and splashing into a pool below.
"That looks better than it sounds," thought Bob. And a moment later he was drinking his fill. "Seems as if there might be fish in there," he went on, glancing at the pool. "Guess I'll try it."
Bob was fond of hunting and fishing and knew considerable about wood-lore. Searching under the stones he soon found some worms, and, tossing one into the middle of the pool, he saw a hungry fish rise to it.
"Now if I had a pole, hook, and line I'd soon have a breakfast," he went on to himself. "I have the line, all right, and I ought to have a hook in one of my pockets. I generally do. As for a pole I can easily cut one."
Bob hurried back to where he had piled the things he took from his pockets. It did not take him long to discover that he had a stout cord that would answer for a line, while he also had several hooks. With his knife he cut a pole, and baiting the hook with a worm, he cast in.
Probably no one, unless it might have been some unfortunate castaway in years gone by, had ever angled in that pool. The fish at once rose to the bait, and soon Bob had several beauties on the grass beside him.
"Now to cook them," he said to himself. "Lucky I bought a water-proof match box before I started on this voyage. I can now make a fire."
Bob went back to the place he called "home"—where he had first landed—and looked in the water-tight match box which he always had carried since he had come aboard the Eagle. To his delight the little fire-sticks were not harmed by his bath. He only wished he had more of them.
Finding his clothes were now nearly dry, he put part of them on and proceeded to kindle a fire. Then he cleaned the fish and set them to broil by the simple process of hanging them in front of the fire on a pointed stick, one end of which was thrust into the ground.
"That smells good!" exclaimed Bob, as the fish began to brown. "But, I almost forgot. There's plenty of fruit to be had." For he had noticed several trees well laden as he passed through the woods. "I'll not starve here as long as I have fruit and fish."
He gathered some things that looked a cross between an orange and a tangerine and ate several, finding them delicious. By the time the fish were well done Bob, preparing to eat his odd breakfast, was suddenly startled by a groan. It seemed to come from behind a pile of rocks off to the left.
"I wonder what that was?" thought Bob. "An animal or a human being? I wonder if there are any South Sea natives on this island?"
He put down his fish on some big green leaves he had plucked for plates and went toward the rocks. As he approached, the groans became louder. Peering cautiously over the stones, Bob saw the figure of a man lying on the sand, as if he had managed to crawl out of the water.
[Illustration: "Bob saw the figure of a man lying on the sand."]
For an instant the boy could scarcely believe his eyesight. Then, with a cry, he rushed forward.
"It's Mr. Tarbill!" he exclaimed. "He, too, must have fallen overboard and been washed ashore. But he seems to be hurt."
The man's eyes were closed and he was scarcely breathing.
"He's dying!" thought Bob, his heart beating hard.
Then, thinking perhaps the man might be partly drowned, the young castaway began to put into operation as much of the directions as he remembered for restoring partially drowned persons to life. He had not worked long before he saw Mr. Tarbill's eyes open. Then the nervous passenger began to breathe better.
"Where—where am I?" he asked faintly.
"You're safe," replied Bob. "On an island with me. But where is the captain—and the others?"
"Boat foundered. Wave washed over it—soon after you fell overboard. No chance to get life-preservers. It was every one for himself."
"Are they drowned?"
"I don't know! Oh, it is terrible! I swam as long as I could, then I seemed to be sinking."
"You're all right now," said Bob cheerfully. "You're just in time to have some breakfast."
He helped Mr. Tarbill to his feet. The nervous man seemed to recover rapidly, and when, at Bob's suggestion, he had taken off most of his wet clothes and was drying out near the fire, his face took on a more cheerful look.
"Those fish smell fine," he said. "I'm very fond of fish. Are you sure those are not poisonous?"
"I'm not sure," replied Bob, "and I'm too hungry to care much.
They're a sort of big sun-fish, such as I used to catch at home.
The meat looks nice and white. Better have some. I'll warm them
again."
He put them once more on the pointed sticks near the fire, and when they were sizzling he laid them on the green leaves. Then, with sticks for knives and forks, the two castaways made a fairly good meal.
"I thought I never would see land again," said the nervous man, as he began to dress in his dry clothes after the breakfast. "This has been a terrible experience for me."
"I guess it has," admitted Bob. "And for all of us. I wish I knew what has happened to the captain and the others."
"Our boat was swamped by a big wave," said Mr. Tarbill, "and suddenly we were all thrown into the water. That is the last I remember. Perhaps the captain and some of the crew may have swum ashore on another part of this island."
"I hope so. We'll search for them. I guess we're in for a long stay."
"Have we got to remain here?" demanded Mr. Tarbill.
"I don't see what else there is to do," replied Bob. "We haven't any boat, we can't walk on the water, and we'll have to stay until a ship comes and takes us off."
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the nervous man. "I wish I had stayed at home!"
Bob thought he might at least be thankful that his life was spared and that he was not where he would starve, but the lad concluded it would be wise to say nothing.
"If you like we'll take a walk around the island, see how large it is and if there's a place where we can make a sort of shelter," proposed Bob.
"I guess that will be the best thing to do. I leave it all to you.
My nerves are in such shape that I can do nothing."
Bob felt not a little proud of the responsibility thus thrust upon him. He resolved to act wisely and cautiously, for there was no telling how long they would have to live on the island.
With the boy in the lead the two started off. The sun was now hot and strong, and they found it advisable to keep in the shade of the woods as much as possible.
Bob saw a big turtle crawling down the beach toward the water, and, knowing the flesh was good for food, he ran forward to catch it. He was too late, however, and when he turned, with a feeling of disappointment, to catch up with Mr. Tarbill, who had continued on, Bob was surprised to hear the man utter an exclamation. He had come to a halt near a pile of rocks and was looking over the tops.
"What's the matter?" asked the boy.
"There are two men down there on the beach! Perhaps they are cannibals! We had better go back!"
"Let me take a look," proposed Bob.
Cautiously he went forward, gave one glance at the figures to which
Mr. Tarbill pointed, and then he uttered a cry.
"Hurrah!" he shouted. "They are Captain Spark and Tim Flynn, one of the sailors! They've managed to get to shore! Ahoy, captain! Ahoy! Here we are!" and he ran down the beach toward them.