The Phantom Ship Part 33

After a few minutes the typhoon again raged, and the atmosphere was of a murky gloom. It seemed as if some heavy fog had been hurled along by the furious wind; nothing was to be distinguished except the white foam of the sea, and that not the distance of half a cable's length, where it was lost in one dark grey mist. The storm-stay-sail, yielding to the force of the wind, was rent into strips and flogged and cracked with a noise even louder than the gale. The furious blast again blew over, and the mist cleared up a little.

"s.h.i.+p on the weather beam close aboard of us," cried one of the men.

Krantz and Philip sprang upon the gunwale, and beheld the large s.h.i.+p bearing right down upon them, not three cables' length distant.

"Helm up! she does not see us, and she will be aboard of us!" cried Philip. "Helm up, I say, hard up, quick!"

The helm was put up, as the men, perceiving their imminent danger, climbed upon the guns to look if the vessel altered her course; but no-- down she came, and the head-sails of the Utrecht having been carried away, to their horror they perceived that she would not answer her helm, and pay off as they required.

"s.h.i.+p ahoy!" roared Philip through his trumpet--but the gale drove the sound back.

"s.h.i.+p ahoy!" cried Krantz on the gunwale, waving his hat. It was useless--down she came, with the waters foaming under her bows, and was now within pistol-shot of the Utrecht.

"s.h.i.+p ahoy!" roared all the sailors, with a shout that must have been heard: it was not attended to: down came the vessel upon them, and now her cut.w.a.ter was within ten yards of the Utrecht. The men of the Utrecht, who expected that their vessel would be severed in half by the concussion, climbed upon the weather gunwale, all ready to catch at the ropes of the other vessel, and climb on board of her. Amine, who had been surprised at the noise on deck, had come out, and had taken Philip by the arm.

"Trust to me--the shock--," said Philip. He said no more; the cut.w.a.ter of the stranger touched their sides; one general cry was raised by the sailors of the Utrecht,--they sprang to catch at the rigging of the other vessel's bowsprit, which was now pointed between their masts--they caught at nothing--nothing--there was no shock--no concussion of the two vessels--the stranger appeared to cleave through them--her hull pa.s.sed along in silence--no cracking of timbers--no falling of masts--the foreyard pa.s.sed through their mainsail, yet the canvas was unrent--the whole vessel appeared to cut through the Utrecht, yet left no trace of injury--not fast, but slowly, as if she were really sawing through her by the heaving and tossing of the sea with her sharp prow. The stranger's forechains had pa.s.sed their gunwale before Philip could recover himself. "Amine," cried he at last, "the Phantom s.h.i.+p!--my father!"

The seamen of the Utrecht, more astounded by the marvellous result than by their former danger, threw themselves down upon deck; some hastened below, some prayed, others were dumb with astonishment and fear. Amine appeared more calm than any, not excepting Philip; she surveyed the vessel as it slowly forced its way through; she beheld the seamen on board of her coolly leaning over the gunwale, as if deriding the destruction they had occasioned; she looked for Vanderdecken himself, and on the p.o.o.p of the vessel, with his trumpet under his arm she beheld the image of her Philip--the same hardy, strong build--the same features--about the same age apparently--there could be no doubt it was the _doomed_ Vanderdecken.

"See, Philip," said she, "see your father!"

"Even so--Merciful Heaven! It is--it is!" and Philip, overpowered by his feelings, sank upon deck.

The vessel had now pa.s.sed over the Utrecht; the form of the elder Vanderdecken was seen to walk aft and look over the taffrail; Amine perceived it to start and turn away suddenly--she looked down, and saw Schriften shaking his fist in defiance at the supernatural being! Again the Phantom s.h.i.+p flew to leeward before the gale, and was soon lost in the mist but, before that, Amine had turned and perceived the situation of Philip. No one but herself and Schriften appeared able to act or move. She caught the pilot's eye, beckoned to him, and with his a.s.sistance Philip was led into the cabin.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

"I have then seen him," said Philip, after he had lain down on the sofa in the cabin for some minutes to recover himself while Amine bent over him. "I have at last seen him, Amine! Can you doubt now?"

"No, Philip, I have now no doubt," replied Amine, mournfully; "but take courage, Philip."

"For myself, I want not courage--but for you, Amine--you know that his appearance portends a mischief that will surely come."

"Let it come," replied Amine, calmly; "I have long been prepared for it, and so have you."

"Yes, for my self; but not for you."

"You have been wrecked often, and have been saved--then why should not I?"

"But the sufferings!"

"Those suffer least who have most courage to bear up against them. I am but a woman weak and frail in body, but I trust I have that within me which will not make you feel ashamed of Amine. No, Philip, you will have no wailing; no expression of despair from Amine's lips; if she can console you she will; if she can a.s.sist you she will; but come what may, if she cannot serve you, at least she will prove no burden to you."

"Your presence in misfortune would unnerve me, Amine."

"It shall not; it shall add to your resolution. Let fate do its worst."

"Depend upon it, Amine, that will be ere long."

"Be it so," replied Amine; "but Philip, it were as well you showed yourself on deck; the men are frightened, and your absence will be observed."

"You are right," said Philip; and rising and embracing her, he left the cabin.

"It is but too true, then," thought Amine. "Now to prepare for disaster and death; the warning has come. I would I could know more. Oh!

mother, mother, look down upon thy child, and in a dream reveal the mystic arts which I have forgotten,--then should I know more; but I have promised Philip, that unless separated--yes, that idea is worse than death, and I have a sad foreboding; my courage fails me only when I think of that!"

Philip, on his return to the deck, found the crew of the vessel in great consternation. Krantz himself appeared bewildered--he had not forgotten the appearance of the Phantom s.h.i.+p off Desolation Harbour, and the vessels following her their destruction. This second appearance, more awful than the former, quite unmanned him; and when Philip came out of the cabin he was leaning in gloomy silence against the weather-bulkhead.

"We shall never reach port again, sir," said he to Philip, as he came up to him.

"Silence, silence; the men may hear you."

"It matters not; they think the same," replied Krantz.

"But they are wrong," replied Philip, turning to the seamen. "My lads!

that some disaster may happen to us, after the appearance of this vessel is most probable; I have seen her before more than once, and disasters did then happen; but here I am, alive and well, therefore it does not prove that we cannot escape as I have before done. We must do our best, and trust in Heaven. The gale is breaking fast, and in a few hours we shall have fine weather. I have met this Phantom s.h.i.+p before, and care not how often I meet it again. Mr Krantz, get up the spirits--the men have had hard work, and must be fatigued."

The very prospect of obtaining liquor appeared to give courage to the men; they hastened to obey the order, and the quant.i.ty served out was sufficient to give courage to the most tearful, and induce others to defy old Vanderdecken and his whole crew of imps. The next morning the weather was fine, the sea smooth, and the Utrecht went gaily on her voyage.

Many days of gentle breezes and favouring winds gradually wore off the panic occasioned by the supernatural appearance; and, if not forgotten, it was referred to either in jest or with indifference, he now had run through the straits of Malacca, and entered the Polynesian archipelago.

Philip's orders were to refresh and call for instructions at the small island of Boton, then in possession of the Dutch. They arrived there in safety, and after remaining two days, again sailed on their voyage, intending to make their pa.s.sage between the Celebes and the island of Galago. The weather was still clear and the wind light; they proceeded cautiously, on account of the reefs and currents, and with a careful watch for the piratical vessels, which have for centuries infested those seas; but they were not molested, and had gained well up among the islands to the north of Galago, when it fell calm, and the vessel was borne to the eastward of it by the current. The calm lasted several days, and they could procure no anchorage; at last they found themselves among the cl.u.s.ter of islands near to the northern coast of New Guinea.

The anchor was dropped, and the sails furled for the night; a drizzling small rain came on, the weather was thick, and watches were stationed in every part of the s.h.i.+p, that they might not be surprised by the pirate proas, for the current ran past the s.h.i.+p at the rate of eight or nine miles per hour, and these vessels, if hid among the islands, might sweep down upon them unperceived.

It was twelve o'clock at night, when Philip, who was in bed, was awakened by a shock; he thought it might be a proa running alongside, and he started from his bed and ran out. He found Krantz, who had been awakened by the same cause, running up undressed. Another shock succeeded, and the s.h.i.+p careened to port. Philip then knew that the s.h.i.+p was on sh.o.r.e.

The thickness of the night prevented them from ascertaining where the were, but the lead was thrown over the side, and they found that they were lying on sh.o.r.e on a sandbank, with not more than fourteen feet water on the deepest side, and that they were broadside on with a strong current pressing them further up on the bank; indeed the current ran like a mill-race, and each minute they were swept into shallow water.

On examination they found that the s.h.i.+p had dragged her anchor which, with the cable, was still taut from the starboard bow, but this did not appear to prevent the vessel from being swept further up on the bank.

It was supposed that the anchor had parted at the shank, and another anchor was let go.

Nothing more could be done till daybreak, and impatiently did they wait till the next morning. As the sun rose, the mist cleared away, and they discovered that they were on sh.o.r.e on a sandbank, a small portion of which was above water, and round which the current ran with great impetuosity. About three miles from them was a cl.u.s.ter of small islands with cocoa-trees growing on them, but with no appearance of inhabitants.

"I fear we have little chance," observed Krantz to Philip. "If we lighten the vessel the anchor may not hold, and we shall be swept further on, and it is impossible to lay out an anchor against the force of this current."

"At all events we must try; but I grant that our situation is anything but satisfactory. Send all the hands aft."

The men came aft, gloomy and dispirited.

"My lads!" said Philip, "why are you disheartened?"

"We are doomed, sir; we knew it would be so."

"I thought it probable that the s.h.i.+p would be lost--I told you so; but the loss of the s.h.i.+p does not involve that of the s.h.i.+p's company--nay, it does not follow that the s.h.i.+p is to be lost, although she may be in great difficulty, as she is at present. What fear is there for us, my men?--the water is smooth--we have plenty of time before us--we can make a raft and take to our boats--it never blows among these islands, and we have land close under our lee. Let us first try what we can do with the s.h.i.+p; if we fail we must then take care of ourselves."

The men caught at the idea and went to work willingly; the water-casks were started, the pumps set going, and everything that could be spared was thrown over to lighten the s.h.i.+p; but the anchor still dragged, from the strength of the current and bad holding-ground; and Philip and Krantz perceived that they were swept further on the bank.