The Cruise of the "Esmeralda" Part 5

Meanwhile sail had been shortened on board the _Esmeralda_ to topsails and fore-topmast staysail; the gig had been prepared for lowering, and everybody was at his station.

"Are you all ready for lowering, Mr Roberts?" I asked, as Sir Edgar left me on his charitable errand.

"All ready, sir," was the prompt response.

"In with you, then, into the gig, lads," said I. "I must leave you to act as you think best, Mr Roberts, in the matter of getting alongside the wreck; but there seems to be a small clear s.p.a.ce just abaft the mizzen channels, if you can reach it without getting under the counter.

If you fail in that, the only alternative that I can see is for you to get as close as you can to the wreck's lee quarter, and let her people jump overboard, when you must look out for them and pick them up."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered the mate cheerily; "I have a plan that I think will do. All ready, sir, whenever you are."

We were now within a hundred feet of the wreck, and heading so as to cross her stern at about that distance.

"Back your main-topsail, lads; round-in smartly upon your weather braces," said I. "So! well there; take a turn; but be ready to fill again when I give the word. Now, Mr Forbes, are you ready with the davit tackles?"

"All ready, sir."

"Then, when I give the word, let them run smartly and evenly. Mr Roberts will attend to his share of the work. Now, stand by."

The tackle-falls had some time previously been taken off their proper pins, except for a single half-turn, and carefully laid out along the deck, so as to insure their running out clear, after which they had been placed under contiguous pins in the spider-band of the mizzenmast, and a single turn taken with them, thus enabling the second mate to hold them both in his hands, and sustain the entire weight of the gig and her crew. Now, as I gave him the caution to "stand by," and at the same time stepped on to a hen-coop in the wake of the mizzen-rigging to watch for a favourable opportunity for lowering, he took off half the turn round the belaying-pin, and held the boat by mere main strength and the grip of the rope on the pins. We were by this time fair across the stern of the wreck, and within a hundred feet of her, with not much way on us, and were ready to drop the gig at a moment's notice. A perfect mountain of a sea at this moment came sweeping down upon us, and as our buoyant little craft floated up its steep side, she started upon a heavy lee roll, that I saw would swing the gig well clear of her side, and at the same time dip her almost into the water before the tackles were started. We should scarcely get a more favourable opportunity.

"Lower away."

Prompt, at the word, the second mate allowed the falls to run rapidly out, while the chief, sitting in the stern-sheets, with the yoke-lines in one hand, grasped the releasing line in the other. As the barque careened to her gunwale, the light boat swung far out from her side, and in a moment splashed into the water. At the same instant a smart pull upon the releasing line freed her from the tackles fore and aft; and as the mate sheered her with the rudder toward the wreck, the men tossed out their oars with a cheer and gave way.

"Fill the main-topsail," cried I. "Up with your helm, my man, and let her gather way."

And as the barque drew away diagonally to windward of the wreck, we lost sight of our boat behind the lee quarter of the latter, and began to turn our attention to the problem of getting the people on board our own s.h.i.+p, and of hoisting the gig once more to the davits, if possible, after she had fulfilled her present mission. A sailor's duty constantly brings him face to face with difficult problems, and among them all there are perhaps few more difficult, though, of course, many of infinitely greater importance, than that of successfully picking up and hoisting a boat that has been launched in a very heavy sea, such as was running upon this occasion. So violent was the motion of the _Esmeralda_, that to have brought the boat alongside of and actually in contact with her hull would have simply been to invite the instant destruction of the smaller craft; yet it was of considerable importance that the boat should be recovered, since there was no knowing how soon her services might be required again. The problem was how to do it; and here my previous experience was of no service to me, as I had never before seen a boat launched in anything like such heavy weather as that of the moment. So as we drew off from the wreck, and prepared to tack, I gave the matter a little thought, and soon hit upon a plan that I thought would answer our purpose. A few minutes sufficed to place us in the proper position relative to the wreck for tacking, and having got the s.h.i.+p round, gone to leeward of the wreck, and hove-to again with our mainyard aback, I at once proceeded to put my ideas into practice. A whip from the lee fore and main yardarms, with a standing bowline in the end of that depending from the mainyard, and with a hauling-line attached to it, was all that I required, after which I had the davit tackles overhauled to their extremest limit, with a stout rope's-end bent on to each fall just inside the sheave, so that the tackle blocks should reach quite to the water even when the s.h.i.+p was taking the heaviest weather roll.

Meanwhile, Roberts, in the gig, was faring capitally; he had succeeded in getting up stern on, close under the lee quarter of the wreck, with a line from her to the boat, and down this line the people were pa.s.sing pretty rapidly, our men keeping the line taut all the while by tugging away steadily at the oars. Occasionally one, a little bolder than his fellows, would leap overboard, when Roberts or one of the boat's crew was always ready to seize him by the collar and drag him into the boat.

Everything seemed to be going on with the utmost regularity--one man, whom I took to be the skipper of the wreck, evidently superintending affairs on deck, while Roberts was attending them in the boat--yet it was easy to see that not a moment was being lost, one man being no sooner safe in the boat than another started to follow him. And, indeed, there was evidently the utmost need for haste, for the wreck was visibly settling before our eyes, every sea making a cleaner breach over her than the last, while there were occasions when she was absolutely buried, fore and aft, in a wild smother of white water, nothing of her showing above the turmoil save the stumps of her spars, a small portion of her p.o.o.p skylight, and the davits with the fragments of the boats hanging from them. On one of these occasions the boat in the starboard davits--that one already mentioned as having had her bottom torn out-- was completely demolished, nothing of her remaining when the buried hulk once more rose to the surface. When this was likely to happen the people on board the wreck--warned by their skipper--clung for dear life to whatever they could first lay hold of, while those in the gig, similarly warned, letting go the rope, pulled out of reach of the smother, only to back smartly up again the moment the danger was past.

At length one man only--the skipper--remained on the wreck. I saw him pause for a moment and glance round him at the poor, shattered, labouring relic of the s.h.i.+p that had borne him so proudly out of harbour, probably not very long before, and on board which he had perhaps successfully battled with wind and wave for many years, and then drawing his hand across his eyes--to clear them, maybe, of the brine that had been das.h.i.+ng into them for the last few eventful hours, or, more probably, to brush away a tear of regret at this dismal ending of a voyage that was no doubt hopefully begun. Finally, waving a signal to Roberts, he placed his hands above his head and, poising himself for an instant, dived headlong into the raging sea. A breathless moment of suspense, and then we saw Roberts lean over the boat's quarter, grasp something, struggle with it, and finally the diver's form appeared on the gunwale and was dragged safely into the boat. At this moment a towering billow reared itself just beyond the labouring hull, sweeping down upon it, green and solid, with a curling crest of hissing, snow-white foam. The men in the gig fortunately saw it too in time, and, with a warning shout to each other, stretched out to their oars for dear life. On swept that hissing mountain of angry water, heaving the wreck up on its steep side until she lay all along upon it, presenting her deck perpendicularly to us; then, as it broke over her in a roaring cataract of foam, we saw the upper side of her deck inclining more and more toward us until over she went altogether, nothing of her showing above the white water save her stern-post and the heel of her rudder.

For a fraction of a moment it appeared thus, the copper on it glistening wet and green in the light of the declining sun; then the crest of the wave interposed between it and us, and hid it from our view. When, a few seconds later, the great wave reached us and we soared upward to its crest, _the wreck had vanished_, nothing remaining but a great patch of foam and a curious swirling of the water's surface to show where the good s.h.i.+p had been.

Meanwhile, the gig, now deep in the water, was making the best of her way down to us, and I freely confess that when I saw that huge wave chasing her I gave her up, and everybody in her, as lost. The boat's close proximity to the wreck, however, probably proved her salvation, for its fury seemed to have been spent in completing the destruction of the s.h.i.+p, and before it could gather strength again it had swept harmlessly past the boat and, equally harmlessly, down upon us. A few minutes later, the little craft--oh, what a frail c.o.c.klesh.e.l.l she looked in the midst of that mountainous sea!--swept close under our stern and, splendidly handled by Roberts, came to under our lee. The ends of the two whips were smartly hove into the boat and caught, and Roberts, instantly comprehending my intentions, lost not a moment in putting them into effect. The barque, with her main-topsail aback but with her fore-topsail and fore-topmast staysail full, was forging very slowly ahead, just sufficiently so to enable those in the gig to sheer her well away from the s.h.i.+p's side when towed along by the whip from the fore-yardarm; while with the aid of the whip and hauling-line from the main yardarm we were able to get the rescued people quickly and safely out of the boat and in upon our own deck, where--the boat now demanding our most unremitting attention--we turned them over to the willing hands of Sir Edgar Desmond and his party, the women finding themselves impelled by their sympathy to take an active part in the reception of the poor half-drowned fellows. Our own lads worked intelligently and with a will, and, in a shorter time than it takes to tell of it, everybody was safely out of the boat except the chief mate and the two smartest men we had in the s.h.i.+p. We were now ready to make the attempt to hoist in the boat herself. The tackle-falls were accordingly manned by all hands except two, who stood by with the running parts in their hands, ready to drop them into the boat at the proper moment, while I, in the mizzen-rigging, keeping a keen watch upon the seas, superintended the whole. The boat was now sheered as close alongside as it was prudent to bring her; and the two men in her stood by--one forward, the other aft--to catch the blocks and slip the clutches into position, Roberts, meanwhile, attending to nothing but the steering of the boat.

At length, as the s.h.i.+p took a terrific weather roll, and the gig seemed to settle in almost under her bottom, I gave the word to heave, and both tackle blocks were dropped handsomely into the hands of the men waiting to catch them. In an instant both clutches were dashed into their sockets--the click of the bolts reaching my ears distinctly--and the two men simultaneously flung up their hands to show that this delicate operation had been successfully accomplished, and that the boat was fast. The s.h.i.+p had by this time recovered herself, and was now nearly upright in the performance of a correspondingly heavy lee roll.

"Round-in upon the tackles, lads, for your lives!" I shouted; and at the words the slack was taken in like lightning, the strain coming upon the tackles exactly at the right moment, namely, when the s.h.i.+p was pausing an instant at the steepest angle of her lee roll, prior to recovering herself.

"Now, up with her, men, as smartly as you like!" And in an instant the boat, within six feet of the davit-heads, was jerked out of the water, and, before the s.h.i.+p had recovered herself sufficiently to dash the frail craft against her side, was swinging clear of all danger, and in her proper position, to the triumphant shout of "Two blocks" from the men at the falls. To secure the gallant little craft in the gripes was the work of a few minutes only; after which the mainyard was swung, sail was made upon the s.h.i.+p, and we resumed our voyage, deeply thankful that our efforts to rescue our fellow-beings, in their moment of dire extremity, had been crowned with such complete success.

CHAPTER SIX.

THE TRAGEDY ON BOARD THE "CITY OF CALCUTTA."

The men we had just rescued were dest.i.tute of everything save the clothes they brought on board us on their backs, and those were, of course, saturated with salt-water; it therefore became necessary to supply them with a new rig from the contents of the s.h.i.+p's slop chest; but our first business--while the unfortunates were being stripped and vigorously rubbed down under Sir Edgar's personal superintendence, and afterwards liberally dosed with some of his mulled port--was to clear out the deck-house forward, and get the bunks ready for their reception, they being, naturally, very greatly exhausted by the long hours of exposure that they had been called upon to endure. The baronet, with that warm-hearted kindness and delicate consideration that I had already discovered to be characteristic of him, had, after consulting me, and obtaining my permission, caused one of the spare state-rooms in the saloon to be cleared out and prepared for the captain; and, once warm and snug in their berths, we saw no more of any of the rescued men until the next day.

The next morning, at breakfast, the skipper put in an appearance, introducing himself as Captain Baker, late of the barque _Wanderer_, of London; and as the meal proceeded, he told us the story of the disaster that had befallen him. It appeared that, like ourselves, they had been becalmed on the previous night; and, like myself, Baker had retired at midnight, without, however, having noticed the fall in the mercury that had given us our first warning of the coming blow. On the top of this oversight, the officer of the watch had made the fatal mistake of supposing that the change, when it made itself apparent, meant nothing more serious than the working up of a thunderstorm. He had therefore contented himself with clewing up the royals and hauling down the flying-jib, after which he had awaited the outburst with equanimity.

When, therefore, it came, they were utterly unprepared, and the s.h.i.+p was caught aback with topgallantsails upon her, and hove down upon her beam-ends. This was bad enough; but, to make matters worse, she was loaded with iron, and, upon being laid over, the cargo s.h.i.+fted. The watch below, of course, at once sprang on deck, and, under poor Baker's supervision, everything that was possible was promptly done to get the s.h.i.+p upon her feet again, but all to no purpose; and at length, finding that the craft was s.h.i.+pping a great deal of water, the order was reluctantly given to cut away the masts. This was easily accomplished by cutting through the lanyards of the rigging to windward, when the masts went by their own weight. Thus relieved, the s.h.i.+p partially recovered herself; but she still had a heavy list to starboard, and was floating so deep that the water constantly washed over the deck as far as the lee coamings of the hatchways as she rolled. The pumps were then manned; but after an hour's hard work it was found that the water was a full foot deeper in the hold than it had been when the pumps were started. It was therefore conjectured that the s.h.i.+p had suffered a very serious strain when thrown upon her beam-ends, or that the violent s.h.i.+fting of the cargo in her hold had started a b.u.t.t. Still the pumps were kept going, in the hope that the leak might suddenly stop, as leaks have sometimes been known to do without any apparent reason.

Meanwhile, the sea had been rapidly getting up, and soon began to break heavily over the dismasted s.h.i.+p, which was now rolling so violently that, combined with her heavy list, it became almost impossible to move about the deck, the leeward inclination of which soon grew so steep that the men had to be lashed to the pumps to save them from falling or being washed overboard. At length a tremendously heavy sea swept over the s.h.i.+p, from stem to stern, carrying away the whole of the bulwarks, smas.h.i.+ng the deck-house and long-boat to pieces, carrying two boats off the gallows, tearing the booms adrift, staving in the front of the p.o.o.p cabins, and--worst of all--killing four men who were working at the pumps. Captain Baker now abandoned all hope of saving the s.h.i.+p, and gave orders to prepare the boats for launching. And now the full measure of their disaster became for the first time known; for upon proceeding to investigate, as well as they could in the pitchy darkness, it was found that they absolutely had not a boat left capable of floating. This fact once ascertained, all hands beat a retreat to the cabin, there to consult together, in such shelter as it afforded, regarding the most desirable steps to be taken. It was soon found, however, that the sea surged into the cabin in such overwhelming deluges that they ran the utmost risk of being drowned if they remained there, and they were, therefore, compelled to turn out again and seek for safety on the p.o.o.p. There the day-dawn found them, s.h.i.+vering with cold, wet to the skin, and drenched every moment by the pelting, pitiless sea, hungry, thirsty, and hopeless--when once they had had an opportunity of seeing the condition of the battered hull that supported them, and were fully able to realise the absolute impossibility of doing _anything_ to help themselves. They could not even build a raft for themselves, every sc.r.a.p of movable timber having been swept away during the darkness of night. True, there was the wreck of the spars still alongside; and if the s.h.i.+p would but remain afloat until the weather moderated, something might possibly be done with them, but not until then. So they could only crouch there on the wet exposed p.o.o.p, with the sea was.h.i.+ng continuously over them, and the raw wind penetrating their saturated clothing, and hope dubiously that some s.h.i.+p might heave in sight in time to save them. And thus they remained until we took them off.

At sundown the gale broke, the wind moderated and came out from the eastward, and by midnight we were once more bowling along upon our course under royals. The next morning, when I went on deck, I found that Roberts had been busy during the whole of his watch getting the studding-sails set; and, in short, it proved that we had now caught the trades, which ran us to within a degree and a half of the Line, and then left us in a gla.s.sy calm, sweltering under the scorching rays of the tropical sun.

The breeze left us during the night, and when day broke, a large, full-rigged s.h.i.+p was discovered within about seven miles of us. As soon as it was light enough to see, she hoisted her ensign, but as it drooped in motionless folds from the peak we could only discern that its colour was red, from which circ.u.mstance, and the build of the s.h.i.+p, we arrived at the conclusion that she was British. We of course showed our ensign in return; but, as there was no wind to blow out the flags, it was useless to attempt exchanging numbers or otherwise indulging in a little sea conversation. We therefore dismissed all further thought of her _pro tem_.

It was consequently with some little surprise that, shortly after we had seated ourselves at breakfast in the saloon, I received a report from the mate--who happened to be in charge of the deck--that a boat was in sight, about three miles distant, apparently pulling to us from the s.h.i.+p.

Now, when s.h.i.+ps happen to be becalmed within close proximity to each other, with a prospect of the calm continuing for some hours, it is not altogether an unusual thing for the master of one s.h.i.+p to board the other, for the purpose of exchanging a little sociable chat, learning the latest news, or perhaps leaving a letter or two to be posted at the first port arrived at. But when s.h.i.+ps are becalmed _on the Line_, this is rarely done unless the two craft happen to be fairly close together-- say, within half a mile or so; because in this region light, transient airs are liable to spring up with very little warning, and when they come everybody is naturally anxious to avail themselves of them to the utmost as an aid toward escape from a spot in which s.h.i.+ps have been known to be imprisoned for as much as a month or six weeks at a time.

Then, again, under the influence of the sun's vertical rays, important atmospheric changes sometimes take place with startling rapidity--a squall, for example, working up and bursting from the clouds in a period so astonis.h.i.+ngly brief as to afford little more than the bare time necessary to prepare for it. Under these circ.u.mstances, therefore, s.h.i.+p-masters are usually very chary about making long boat-excursions when becalmed on the Line.

The novel sensation of an antic.i.p.ated visit probably caused us to dally less than usual over our morning meal. At all events, when we rose from the table and went on deck the boat was still nearly a mile distant.

And a very curious object she looked; for the weather being stark calm, and the water gla.s.sy smooth, the line of the horizon was invisible, and the boat had all the appearance of hanging suspended in mid-air. This effect was doubtless heightened by the extremely rarefied condition of the atmosphere, which also gave rise to another effect, familiar enough to me, who had witnessed it often before, but productive of the utmost astonishment to my pa.s.sengers, who now, it seemed, beheld it for the first time. This effect was the extraordinary apparent distortion of shape and dimensions which the boat underwent. She appeared to stand as high out of the water as a five-hundred-ton s.h.i.+p, while her breadth remained somewhat about what it ought to be, thus a.s.suming very much the appearance of a plank standing on its edge. The men at the oars were similarly distorted, and when, upon going on deck, our eyes first rested upon them, the only indication of their being in active movement consisted in their rapid alternate evanishment and reappearance as they swung forward and backward at the oars. The oars betrayed their presence merely by the flash of the sun upon their wet blades; but a fraction of a second after each flash there appeared on each side of the boat a large square patch of deep ultramarine, which could have been nothing but the broken surface of the water where cut by the oar-blades, for the ripple caused by the boat's progress through the water similarly appeared as a heavy line of blue extending on each side of the boat for a certain distance, when it broke up into a series of ever more widely detached and diminis.h.i.+ng blots of blue. The curious atmospheric illusion, of course, grew less marked as the boat approached; and when she had neared us to within about a quarter of a mile, it vanished altogether, the craft resuming her normal everyday aspect.

At length she ranged up alongside of us. One of our lads dropped a line into her, and the man who had been handling the yoke-lines--a grizzled, tanned, and weather-beaten individual, somewhere on the shady side of fifty--came up over the side, the rest of the crew remaining in their boat alongside, from which they engaged with our own men in the usual sailors' chat. The stranger--who, despite the roasting heat, was attired in blue cloth trousers and waistcoat, surmounted by a thick pilot jacket, the whole topped off with a blue cloth navy cap, adorned with a patent-leather peak and two bra.s.s anchor b.u.t.tons--was received by the mate, to whom he intimated his desire to speak with "the cap'n."

"Well, my man," said I, stepping forward, "what can I do for you?"

"Well, sir," he replied, "I'm the bo'sun, you see, of the s.h.i.+p yonder-- the _City of Calcutta_, of London, Cap'n Clarke; eighty-six days out from Calcutta, and bound home to the Thames. We're in terrible trouble aboard there, and you bein' the first sail as we've sighted since the trouble took us, I made so bold as to man the gig and pull aboard you-- and a precious long pull 'tis, too--to ask if so be as you can help us."

"That, of course, will depend upon the nature of your trouble," I replied. "What is wrong on board you?"

"Well, sir, you see, it's this here way," replied the man, twisting and twirling in his hands the cap he had removed from his head when he began to address me. "Our cap'n is, unfortunately, a little too fond of the rum-bottle, or p'rhaps it would be nearer the mark to say as he's _a precious sight_ too fond of it; he's been on the drink, more or less, ever since we lost sight of the land. Well, sir, about a fortnight ago we begins to notice as he seemed a bit queer in his upper story; he took to talkin' to hisself as he walked the p.o.o.p, and sometimes he'd march up to the man at the wheel and stare hard at him for a minute or so without sayin' a word, and then off he'd go again, a-mutterin' to hisself. The men didn't half like it, and at last one of 'em ups and speaks to the mate about it. The mate--that's poor Mr Talbot, you know, sir--he says, 'all right, he's got his eye on him;' and there the matter rests for a few days. All this time, hows'ever, the skipper was gettin' wuss, and at last he takes to comin' on deck along somewheres in the middle watch, and tellin' the first man as he can lay hold of that there was devils and sich in his state-room, and givin' orders as the watch was to be mustered to go below and rouse 'em out. After this had lasted two or three days, the mate summonses Mr Vine--that's the second mate--and me, and Chips, and Sails to a council o' war in his own cabin, to get our ideas upon the advisability of stoppin' the skipper's grog and lockin'

him in his own cabin until he got better again; and we agrees as it was the best thing to do--because, you see, sir, when a man gets into that sort o' state there's no knowin' what devilment he mayn't be up to, without givin' of you any warnin'. So we agreed as it would be the right thing to do for the safety of the s.h.i.+p and all hands; and we promised the mate as we'd back him up in it when we arrived home and he had to answer for hisself to the owners. Well, sir, n.o.body don't know how it come about, but we suspects as the skipper must ha' overheard Mr Talbot and Mr Vine talkin' about this here business a'terwards; anyhow, he gets the two of 'em by some means into his own cabin, and there he shoots 'em both dead with a revolver, killin' the chief mate at the first shot, and woundin' poor young Mr Vine that badly that the poor young feller died only a few minutes after we'd broke open the state-room door, which was locked, and had got him out. And now, sir, we've been obliged to put the cap'n in irons--he bein' stark, ravin'

mad, you see--and we've got n.o.body to navigate the s.h.i.+p. And we thought, mayhap--Chips, and Sails, and I did--that, learnin' of our trouble, you might be able to spare us somebody to navigate the s.h.i.+p home."

"Certainly," said I, "that can be done; for I happen to have on board the captain, mate, and part of the crew of a s.h.i.+p that was foundering when we fell in with her, and I have no doubt they will all be glad of this opportunity to get home. But this is a very dreadful story you have told me, my good fellow, and I hope you have ample proof of its truth; because, if not, it may go hard with you all when you reach home.

You may possibly be charged with the murder of your two officers, you know; or with _all_ of them, should the captain unfortunately die. When did this dreadful business happen?"

"The shootin', do you mean, sir? Four days ago."

"Well, if you will wait a bit I will speak to Captain Baker, and hear what he says to the idea of taking charge of your s.h.i.+p. I suppose you can find room for his crew? There are ten of them altogether."

"Oh yes, sir; and glad to have 'em. We were short-handed when we left Calcutta; and now--"

"Yes, yes; of course," I interposed hastily. And, with a suggestion that his crew should come on deck and get some breakfast while waiting the progress of negotiations, I stepped aft to the wheel grating, where Captain Baker was busy spinning yarns to the youngsters, and, beckoning him aside, repeated the story I had just heard; winding up by asking him whether he felt disposed to undertake the duty of navigating the s.h.i.+p home.

As might have been expected, he was more than willing to take advantage of so favourable an opportunity to return home; and as neither he nor his crew had anything to pack, or any preparations to make for the contemplated change, they were quite ready to leave us by the time that the _Calcutta's_ people had finished their breakfast. Before they left, however, it was privately arranged between Captain Baker and myself that, with the first breeze that came to us, the two craft should close, in order that I might have an opportunity of going on board and adding my signature to a declaration that he proposed to insert in the _City of Calcutta's_ log-book relative to the statement made to us by the boatswain, and the circ.u.mstances generally under which he was a.s.suming the command of the s.h.i.+p.

The weather was, as I have already said, stark calm, with not a speck of cloud anywhere within the whole visible bounds of the heavens; the sea was like gla.s.s; and if I had been asked whether there was any movement in the atmosphere I should unhesitatingly have answered "No;" yet, as Roberts was careful to indicate to me more than once during the morning, the helmsman managed not only to get the _Esmeralda's_ head pointed towards the distant s.h.i.+p, but also to keep it pretty steadily in that direction; and it is an unquestionable fact that, this done, we neared her at the rate of about three-quarters of a knot per hour. This state of things lasted during the whole day; and accordingly, when eight bells in the afternoon watch struck, the two s.h.i.+ps being at that time about a mile and a half apart, I had the gig lowered, and, after carefully instructing the chief mate how to proceed in the event of a breeze unexpectedly springing up, pulled on board the _City of Calcutta_.

She was a n.o.ble s.h.i.+p, of some eighteen hundred tons measurement, built of iron, with a s.p.a.cious p.o.o.p aft; the decks as white as snow; fittings of every kind of the very best; double topsail and topgallant yards; in fact, a typical modern clipper. She had accommodation for thirty saloon pa.s.sengers; but was luckily carrying none, on that voyage at least. The accommodation ladder had been lowered for my convenience, and as the gig dashed alongside and the oars were tossed in, Captain Baker made his appearance at the gangway to welcome me, and at once led me into the saloon.

"Well," said I, "how did you find matters on board here on your arrival?"

"Just as I might have expected to find them after listening to the boatswain's story," was the reply. "The poor skipper is undoubtedly mad--he is in that cabin, there, and I will take you in to see him presently--but within the last two hours a change seems to have come over him. Before that he was dreadfully violent and noisy; but he has now calmed down, and I should not be surprised to find that the worst of the attack is past. I have not the slightest doubt in the world that the story of his having murdered the two mates is perfectly true; all the men--and I have examined each of them separately--tell exactly the same tale, and there is confirmatory evidence of a certain kind; that is to say, there are blood-stains on the deck in the skipper's state-room, proving that the deed was committed there; the door has been broken in, as stated, and is now in the state-room, with the lock still turned and the key in it; the revolver with which the murders were committed has three chambers still loaded, and it is splashed with blood--showing how close the madman was to his victims when he used the weapon; and last, and most convincing evidence of all, there are certain entries in the official log-book, signed 'A. Talbot, Chief Mate,' particularising the captain's eccentricities of behaviour; and one--dated four days ago-- recording the consultation held as to the propriety of temporarily confining Captain Clarke to his cabin, and the decision arrived at, duly signed by each of the parties concerned. See, here they are."