The Ruined Cities of Zululand Part 33

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the man. "Luff it is, sir," and the schooner pa.s.sed ahead.

"Now!" shouted the captain, raising his hand. The double report of Wyzinski's rifle followed. The bulky Malay, shot through the back, loosed his hold of the wheel, the spokes flew round as he threw up his hands, and with one long unearthly yell fell forward dead on the deck; the schooner, as Captain Weber foresaw, under the pressure of her enormous mainsail, flying up into the wind, and almost crossing the brig's fore-foot.

"Starboard! hard a-starboard!" roared the captain, as the whole fury of the squall struck the two vessels. Das.h.i.+ng madly onward, the "Halcyon"

tore through the water as with one broad sheer to port she neared the black hull. For a moment her decks seemed to overshadow those of the doomed craft, while her broad bow, with all the force of the tempest driving her, struck the schooner amids.h.i.+ps.

"Hurrah!" shouted the master, in his excitement, "Hurrah! To h.e.l.l with the pirates!"

The shock was tremendous, as the brig bore down her small antagonist bodily, burying her beneath the sea. The cras.h.i.+ng sound of splintering wood followed, a hundred half-naked yelling figures were grouped on the schooner's decks, the next a few floating spars lay astern, a few drowning wretches cried for the mercy they themselves had refused, and the "Halcyon" pa.s.sed on her way. Half-a-dozen Malays had escaped, as, clutching at the ropes and gear which hung from the jib-boom broken with the shock, they scrambled on board, to meet the cutla.s.ses of the enraged crew. Their bodies were hove overboard, and then not a vestige remained of the dreaded pirate, the scourge of the Indian sea.

Leaping from the quarter-deck, Wyzinski hauled at the hatchway, shouting down it to his friend below. He was just in time, for but another moment and the brig, disembarra.s.sed of her enemy, would have been blown to atoms; as it was, a wild cheer burst from the crew when five minutes later Hughes was hoisted on deck, his pistol black with the loose powder into which it had been thrust, and his face pale with excitement.

"We are in the hands of Providence, dear lady," said the captain, as the whole party sought the cabin. "With a half-dismasted s.h.i.+p, a heavy gale in prospect, and a lee sh.o.r.e, there is much to be done; but the great peril is over. You can clear the deck, Mr Lowe, of all the boxes and bales we roused up. I don't think the pirates will trouble us any more.

Take the foresail off her, and send the carpenter aft."

The captain had his hands full on deck. Scudding before the wind is ever a dangerous thing, because the waves following so fast are apt to break on board, if the vessel is not propelled through the water with a speed greater than that of the following sea.

In the cabin, that cabin which they had never thought to see again, the whole party knelt, and led by Wyzinski, returned thanks to Heaven, for their lives thus almost miraculously spared. The missionary prayed long and eloquently, for it seemed to him that his had been the act which had resulted in sending the whole crew of that terrible vessel to the bottom. True, life, and more than life, was at stake; true, also, that the schooner, with her low, black hull and white canvas, had been a scourge in those seas, still the loud despairing shriek which rose on the air, as the brig's bows buried themselves in the frail timbers of the lightly-constructed vessel, rang in his ears, and though an act of necessity, it was none the less a terrible one. A fearful crisis in the lives of all had pa.s.sed by, and with the sense of relief came that of deep grat.i.tude to the hand which had turned aside the terrible fate so lately hanging over them. The missionary, then, prayed long and fervently, and never had he an auditory, more disposed to join him with heart and soul. A long life may be the soldier's destiny, a bright career that of the Portuguese n.o.ble, a happy lot fall to the share of the dark-eyed maiden whose face is now buried in her hands, as she follows the missionary's words, but never can any of the three actors in the scene forget that moment, when with the muzzle of the pistol buried in the powder keg, the forefinger bent on the trigger of the c.o.c.ked weapon, one second would have hurled into eternity not only themselves but the entire crew.

On deck the scene was a wild one. The wind had gradually freshened, and the sea in consequence risen, the ocean, far as the eye could reach, being one sheet of green, crested with white foam, the brig rolling through the waves under her fore-topsail only, at a great rate. Two serious holes in the hull, caused by the entrance of the eighteen-pound shot, had been plugged in a makes.h.i.+ft manner, it is true, but still they had been boarded over.

Notwithstanding all this the party in the cabin was a merry one. So hopeless, so utterly desperate had been their situation that morning, that all the danger of a lee sh.o.r.e, all the discomforts of a small vessel during a heavy gale at sea, were forgotten. The old n.o.ble, too, had accepted the position which had been made for him. After late events, more particularly the half-hour pa.s.sed in the brig's hold, it was impossible to think of Captain Hughes as anything but his daughter's affianced husband, and as such he had been frankly and fairly accepted.

The marriage was to take place on their arrival in Portugal, and the whole party to proceed to Europe together.

The captain sat poring over an Admiralty chart laid before him on the table. The old n.o.ble was dozing in one corner, the missionary communing with his own thoughts and Isabel and her lover talking in low tones.

The roar of the wind was heard even in the cabin, the creaking of the ropes as the gale tore through them, and now and then a wave larger than common would break over the brig, deluging her decks.

"Why don't you run for Delagoa Bay, captain?" said Hughes, as the seaman rose, placing his hand on the table to steady himself.

"We are far to the southward of Delagoa Bay," replied he; "the only port available is Port Natal."

"Then run for that," rejoined Hughes.

"It's a nasty coast, and there is a bar there of which I am afraid. It was of this I was thinking; for some of those makes.h.i.+ft spars may leave us at any moment, and then I must lie-to."

"Is the harbour dangerous at all times?" asked Hughes.

"Most certainly not; but with an easterly gale there can be no communication with the sh.o.r.e. I do not know the harbour, and have never been there but once, which makes the attempt, if I am forced to it, the more dangerous."

"But you have been there once, and consequently, with a seaman's instinct, know the place," said Hughes.

"I will tell you how I know it, and what that knowledge is worth," said the captain, seating himself beside Isabel, "and then when I go on deck you can tell the story to Dona Isabel. She may be very anxious to set her pretty little foot on land, but hardly in the same way I did. Some years since I was first-mate of the brig 'Vestal,' sailing under the command of Captain Bell. We dropped our anchor on Thursday morning, just off the bar, close to Port Natal. The following one it began to blow, and all that day the gale increased, just as this one has done, and from the same direction. Steward, just mix me a gla.s.s of grog.

Will you join me, captain? Better had than wish you had. No--well, you have not to pa.s.s the night on deck, as I have--but to continue: All that unlucky Thursday the gale steadily increased, and the sea came rolling in mountains high. Near us lay a schooner called the 'Little Nell,' and further to sea a steamer 'The Natal.' This latter got up her steam, and under a full head went out. It was a glorious sight to see her as the waves swept her decks, and sometimes she seemed more under water than above it. The schooner parted from her anchors, and ran right across the bar, thumping heavily, but she was light, and managed to cross, though she stripped all the copper from her bottom, and had to be docked. Towards eight o'clock, our anchors parted too, and we drifted bodily in, the big waves pounding at our brig, and sweeping clean over us."

"But why did you not try to run over the bar like the schooner?" asked Hughes.

"You shall hear," continued the captain, leisurely sipping his grog.

"Our skipper lost his head. I do believe we might have run over the bar, and, at all events, the crew have been saved, but no,--all went against us. He let go his third anchor on the bar itself. Wood and iron could not stand the fearful sea running there. She struck right between the breakwaters, the sea das.h.i.+ng clean over her, and the brig thumping heavily. The masts went over the side, and at last one enormous wave turned her over on her broadside, we clinging to the upper bulwarks. It was a fearful sight, for we could see the lights moving about on sh.o.r.e close to us. The hurricane never diminished, and the seas made a clean breach over us, carrying away from time to time some of the crew. We held on our best, for, so near land, we could not think we should be left to perish, but we waited in vain."

"Could not a lifeboat live in that sea?" asked Hughes.

"Ay, ay, but the lubbers had none, and for anything I know have not got one yet. Lashed to the bulwarks, we waited for help all through that fearful night, but when the grey light of day came, we saw that there was no hope. I and a sailor named Hesketh determined to take our chance. We lashed ourselves to a stout spar each, and tried hard to persuade the others to do as much, but they would not. The captain was nearly speechless, and did not seem to know what he was doing. It was a fearful moment when we two threw ourselves into the raging ocean."

"You could both swim, I suppose?" asked Hughes.

"Ay, ay; we could swim, but what use was swimming in such a sea? The first wave rolled us over and over, like corks, but could not sink us.

We remained several hours in the water, every moment expecting death. I was insensible most of the time."

"Did you remain near each other?"

"No, after the last shake of the hand as we jumped overboard, we parted company. Two lads found me rolled on the beach like a log, and help being forthcoming I was kindly treated and restored, but it was weeks before I could get about. The sailor, Hesketh, was a good deal bruised, but managed better than I did."

"And the captain and remaining crew?" inquired Hughes.

"Perished. Not a trace of the brig remained. Captain Bell, belonging to the port, and Captain Wilson of the Point, the landing agents, and other authorities, had fires lit, and did what they could, but there was no lifeboat, and save myself and Hesketh, brig and crew went to Davy Jones's locker, stock and block."

"I can easily conceive your antipathy to an anchorage at Port Natal during a gale of wind," remarked his hearer.

"If our jury masts only hold, and the gale don't increase, we shall do very well; and now I'm for deck, and I would advise Dona Isabel to turn in. Good night, Senhora," said the old seaman, rising, and in his heavy leggings, waterproof, and broad sou'-wester, clumping up the companion into the rough night; and when the clear ring of the brig's bell came from the forecastle, striking eight times, the cabin was empty, and a solitary lamp shed a feeble light as it swayed to and fro, the brig pitching heavily, her timbers groaning and creaking, the gale roaring over her decks, and moaning through her rigging.

Towards midnight, Captain Weber and his mate came below, the steward mixing for them two stiff gla.s.ses of grog.

"How's the barometer, sir?" asked the mate, as he pa.s.sed the sleeve of his coat over his mouth, after having taken a good pull at the steaming liquor.

Captain Weber stepped into his own cabin, remained some minutes, and then came out again, looking very grave.

"We have not had the worst of it yet," he replied; "the mercury has fallen since four bells struck."

The chart was placed on the table, and the s.h.i.+p's position verified.

"There's nothing for it, Lowe," said the captain, "with a falling gla.s.s, a lee sh.o.r.e, and a heavy gale, there's nothing else for it. Heave the brig to until morning."

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the officer, rising, and draining the last drop in the tumbler, "it's a good moment too, for there seems a lull."

The mate went on deck, leaving Captain Weber poring over the chart. His broad-brimmed sou'-wester lay on the table, his coat was open, the wet dropping from it, and his grey hair was dripping with salt brine.

A momentary bustle on deck was heard. A noise of trampling feet, and a few hoa.r.s.e words of command. A heavy sea struck the s.h.i.+p, flooding her decks; a cabin-door opened, and the steward was called; but still Captain Weber remained poring over his chart. Hours pa.s.sed by, and at last the anxious man rose, and went into his own cabin once more. His face was very grave when he came out, for the mercury in the barometer had again fallen, and it now stood so low as to foretell a hurricane.

Morning broke slowly over an ocean whose long, green, angry looking waves were lashed into boiling foam. Not a sail was in sight, but the thin haze hung over the sea. The brig was doing her best, hove-to, under a closely reefed make s.h.i.+ft main-topsail, and fore and main-staysails, the gale, if anything, having diminished in fury.

"It is a grand sight, Isabel," said Hughes, as towards ten o'clock the whole party stood on the quarter-deck, looking over the wild, angry ocean, the speaker holding on to the weather bulwarks, with one hand, the other being pa.s.sed round Isabel's waist, who clung to him for support. Dom Maxara stood at the break of the quarter-deck, looking the picture of misery, while the missionary under the lee of the companion, was gazing over the raging ocean, his face perfectly calm and composed.

Near the wheel stood the captain and his mate, in their rough sailor dreadnoughts and dripping sou'-westers.

"Well, I will never wish to see a gale on the ocean again," said Isabel; "but how warm the wind is."

A report like that of a heavy gun was heard over the howling of the gale, which now came down with double force, and the white canvas which had been the main-topsail was seen flying to leeward, while the shreds and ribbons left in the bolt-ropes were beating violently about in the gale. Losing the sail aft which had so powerfully helped to keep her to the wind, the brig's bows fell off, just as the whole weight of the hurricane came down upon her. Striking her broadside on, a huge wave bore her down on her broadside into the trough of the sea, pouring over the bulwarks, and flooding her decks fore and aft. The "Halcyon" was on her beam ends, with the full fury of the hurricane raging around her.

The crash of splintering wood was heard over the roar of the tempest, as the fore-topmast, with its heavy top and all its gear, came tumbling down on deck, smas.h.i.+ng in the planking of the forecastle, and driving out the lee bulwarks, as the heavy blocks and ma.s.sive wood-work surged to and fro.

Slowly the brig righted, and the voice of the master was heard above the confusion.