William Henry Giles Kingston

“ The gale howled and whistled through the rigging, the waves roared, and the sea, as it rose in wild billows around, every now and then broke on board, threatening to sweep our decks clear of all upon them. The lightning, darting from the clouds in vivid flashes, played around our masts. At any instant the electric fluid might, I knew full well, come hissing down on deck, and set the ship on fire. Should also the wind shift, we should lose more of our sails, and might be driven before daylight helplessly on shore. ”

“ The faith, the belief, must be living, active, not a dead faith, and then how glorious the assurance, if we remember what everlasting life means—a certainty of eternal happiness, which no man can take away, and which makes the pains, and sufferings, and anxieties of this life as nothing. I always think of those promises, Edward, whenever I am in trouble, and you know I very often am, and I remember that God says, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’ That, and that alone, has enabled me to endure the dreadful life I have had to lead on board this ship, until I knew that you loved me. ”

“ Dick soon recovered, and I was delighted when, on having made my way forward, I found myself again with him. He scanned me all over, as if to ascertain whether any harm had come to me during our long separation. I assured him that I was all right, and was loud in my praise of Miss Kitty, though I was less complimentary to Mrs Podgers and the captain.
“They are not nice people,” I observed; “drink nasty rum, quarrel and fight, and then kiss and hug; then quarrel and fight again.” ”

“ He was becoming weaker than he had ever before been in his life, and yet he would take but a few drops of water from the beaker, and would not eat a particle of the food more than was necessary to keep the life in him, so fearful was he of not having enough for Charley. Yet Dick had not been distinguished among his shipmates for any especial good qualities, except that he was looked upon as a good-natured, kind-hearted, jovial fellow, and brave as the bravest; yet so were many of the Laurel’s gallant crew, now sleeping their last sleep beneath the ocean. ”

“ The savages all this time continued dancing on the deck, as if they would beat it in, shouting at the top of their voices, and flourishing their war-clubs, looking more like a gang of demons let loose than human beings.
“It will be bad enough for us, Charley, even though the natives don’t kill and eat us, but my mind is most troubled about poor Miss Kitty. What will become of her, if they get hold of the boat? and there’s no chance that I can see of her escaping.”
“I was thinking of her, too,” I said, “and Mr Falconer. The savages will murder him and the boat’s crew, as they have the rest. ”

“ Dick looked, and saw what a sailor dreads more than any human foe—the black triangular fin of a huge shark which was noiselessly gliding by, just beneath the surface, and turning its wicked eye towards Charley and himself. A blow from the monster’s tail or nose might easily upset the raft, when they to a certainty would become its prey. ”

“ She amused herself with copying a huge tuft of the tussock-grass which grew near, and then made me stand and sit, now in one position, now in another, while she took my portrait. Then telling me to play about near her, and to take care not to tumble off the rock, she sat down to meditate. What her thoughts were about I cannot say, but she certainly very often looked in the direction Edward Falconer had gone.
Several shots were heard from time to time. They grew fainter and fainter, as if the cattle had headed off away from the harbour. ”

“ Again a spout rose, and we could see the small, as it is called, of his back rise preparatory to his descent.
“His tail will be up directly,” said Dick, “and they will lose him, I fear;” but at that moment Mr Falconer’s boat dashing on, as he stood up in the boat with his glistening harpoon raised above his head, away it flew with unerring force, and was buried in the side of the huge animal. A loud cheer rose from the men in the boats and those on deck, and the whale, hitherto so quiet, began to strike the water with his vast tail, aiming with desperate blows at his advancing enemies. ”

“ Dick rushed forward, fearing his little charge had suffered, but Charley still lay unhurt in his basket on the raft. Suddenly there came a lull, and the hurricane ceased almost as rapidly as it had commenced: the sea, however, still tumbled and tossed about fiercely on either side, the ship lying helpless in the midst of the foaming waves. The crew laboured as gallantly as before, though their stout arms were giving way, and many knew too well that all hope was nearly gone. ”

“ Dick seated himself on the raft, with a spar in his hand which he had prepared. Lower and lower the gallant ship sank. Many of the crew were at the pumps; some were still below, some running to the forecastle, others aft. Dick kept his post. The water rushed in at the ports—the raft floated—a surge carried it overboard, Dick urging it by a shove which sent it far away from the ship’s side.
The Laurel gave one plunge forward—her stern rose in the air—and down she glided beneath the tumultuous waters. One fearful shriek arose of strong men in their agony. ”

“ Just before I did so, I cast my eyes once more seaward, and there I caught sight of a boat’s sail. Mr Falconer and Kitty were returning, unsuspicious of the dreadful circumstances which had occurred. How I wished that I could go off and warn them.
We had scarcely thought about the captain and the rest of the men on shore. If they had escaped, we need not have much apprehension about ourselves; but if they had been put to death, we, I still dreaded, on reaching the shore might meet with the same fate.
“What can we do, Dick, to let Miss Kitty and the mate know their danger?” I asked. ”

“ I must run before the breeze, and may be it will shift, and we shall be able to get back again—but if not! well, I won’t think of that,” said Dick, to himself. “I must keep my own spirits up, for Charley’s sake. It will be hard, however, for the poor little chap to lose his life after being saved from the sinking ship and those villainous pirates. For myself I don’t care; I have well known ever since I came to sea that any day what happens to so many might happen to me.” ”

“ Soon after Dick had said this, a tall chief with a high plume of feathers on his head, and his almost white skin only slightly tattooed, advanced to the heel of the bowsprit, and, looking towards Dick and me, shouted out some words, and beckoned us to come in.
“What shall we do, Dick?” I asked. “Will he kill me, do you think?”
“There’s no help for it, Charley,” answered Dick. “But don’t be afraid; he shall kill me before he hurts you. Just get round and keep close behind me, and I will ask him to take care of you; he does not look as savage as the rest.” ”

“ The tall ship glided rapidly over the ocean, the surface of which was now rippled with miniature wavelets as the freshening breeze swept across it.
“To my eye, she is a foreign ship of war,” observed Dick. “But a friend in need is a friend indeed, and we may be thankful to be taken on board by her or any other craft. Even if a ‘Mounseer’ had offered to pick us up, I would not have refused.”
The ship approaching was hove-to, a boat being lowered from her, which, with rapid strokes, pulled towards the raft. ”

“ I have not sailed so many years with good Captain Renton, without learning his ways, and as I want to be guided by the Bible, I am very sure that I must read it every day. Sometimes I find it a difficult job, but I don’t mind the other men laughing and jeering at me, as they are fond of doing; neither, Charley, will you, if you are wise. ”

“ Jonas Webb and Dick went in Mr Falconer’s boat.
Those who remained on board anxiously watched for their return, expecting, as the night was light, to see them towing out their prizes.
Some hours passed by, when the rattle of musketry and the boom of great guns came over the calm waters.
“Why, that fellow Webb mast have deceived me!” exclaimed the captain, stamping about the deck in a state of agitation. “Falconer was right. There will be more glory, as he will call it, than profit in the expedition. Bah! I cannot afford to lose men.” ”

“ Near it was a grove of cocoa-nut and other palms, a beautiful sandy bay, and what Dick was in search of, a spring of clear water which bubbled out of the rock.
“We shall be better off here, and out of the way of those gentry if they return to the island, and I don’t think they will come so far to look for us,” said Dick. “We will move up the stores, and after that I will build a hut; it will be more comfortable than the tent, especially in the hurricane season, and we can’t tell how long we may have to stop.” ”

“ At this moment we were joined by the stranger who had called to us.
“I caught sight of your boat coming towards the island, and was hurrying across, to entreat you to try what you could do to assist our friends,” he said. “Help is at hand, Emilie; they may still be saved,” he exclaimed, as he made his way to where the young lady was seated.
We got as close to the people as the sea would allow us.
“Hold on to the rope,” cried Dick, securing the end round his waist. “I will swim out, and make it fast to the boat.” ”

“ For a few seconds they seemed to hang in the air, and then were scattered far and wide around the ship. The masts falling into the water, crushed several of the canoes alongside, and the shrieks and cries of the natives, who had escaped with life, while they paddled away in dismay, came over the waters towards us.
Dick and I held our breath, and I saw horror depicted in his countenance.
“Though the savages deserve what they have got, it may be the worse for us,” he muttered. “They will now knock us on the head, to a certainty.” ”

“ I heard him say. “Poor dear Charley, I wish that he was out of the scrape. Well, well; we have been saved before, and we may be saved again. It’s a great thing to know that God looks after us poor fellows better than we can look after ourselves.” While he was speaking, the noise increased. Never did I hear such savage shrieks, cries, and howls.
“The people are cutting themselves with knives, and flints, and spear-heads, to show their grief for their dead chief,” observed Dick, after he had taken another look outside the hut. ”

“ Once more the Phoebe was at sea. Captain Renton gave me a berth in his cabin, and took so much pains to instruct me, that before the voyage was over I had made good progress in various branches of knowledge.
“Why, Charley,” said Dick, who was proud of the information I displayed, “you have become quite a scholar. Should not be surprised to hear of your bearing up to be a judge, or a bishop, or a big-wig of some sort.” ”

“ There is an old saying which should never be forgotten, that “Man proposes, but God disposes.”
It was the hurricane season. Captain Blunt had been doing his best to get the damages the ship had received repaired. He was pacing the deck, and every now and then casting an anxious eye round the horizon, knowing well that the gallant little Laurel was ill able to withstand either a gale or an enemy, by either of which she might be assailed, although, like a true sailor, he was ready to meet the one or the other with undaunted courage. ”

“ Trusting to Motakee’s protection, I felt inclined to rush forward and plead for them, but Dick held me back.
“You will do no good, Charley,” he said, “and one of those savages may in a moment give you a tap with his club, and kill you, as an idle boy does a fly.”
The five poor fellows stood collected together, looking pale as death, but they were as brave as any of the men on board. Among them I recognised Tom Clode, the armourer, and Mat Davis, the carpenter’s mate. ”

“ The mates were returning to their boats when the shout was raised that the fourth boat was appearing. She came on slowly, as if with a crippled crew. Kitty leaned against the bulwarks for support.
“Send down slings; we have some wounded men here,” said a voice which I recognised as Dick’s.
“Let the others go first,” said another voice. “They are more hurt than I am.”
Miss Kitty sprang to the gangway and looked over. Three men were hoisted on board; one especially was terribly injured—it was Jonas Webb. The last who appeared was Mr Falconer. ”

“ It is better to fear God, than poor helpless beings like ourselves. That’s what I always say to myself when the others begin to jeer at me.”
I promised Dick that I would do as he advised, and that very day when I went to my berth, on the half-deck, I got out my Bible and began to read it. I remembered what Captain Renton often said to me, that I must not read it like a common book, but that I must earnestly pray to be enlightened by God’s Holy Spirit while I read it, to understand its truths. ”

“ Miss Kitty kissed me when I told her I had seen Mr Falconer, and I was somewhat afraid that Mrs Podgers would bestow the same reward upon me when I said that the captain was unhurt.
“I wish he would make haste and sink the ship which has frightened us so much,” she observed. “It is a shame that those sort of people should be allowed to live.” ”

“ My knowledge of mathematics soon enabled me to become a better navigator than the captain himself, while I rapidly acquired a knowledge of seamanship, as from having been accustomed all my life to boating and yachting, I was at once perfectly at home. I soon became a mate, but I spent all my pay, and was glad to ship on board the Dolphin, the first vessel I could find which had a vacant berth. Had I known the character of the master and the officers with whom it was to be my lot to associate, I should certainly, as you may suppose, have avoided her. ”

“ The boats’ crews, and all who were fortunate enough, as they considered it, to be selected for the expedition, were soon busily employed in sharpening cutlasses, fitting fresh flints to their pistols, and making other preparations for the possible bloody work in which they were to be engaged. Dick Driver, who belonged to the cutter’s crew, was among the most active. Dick was a short, strongly built, powerful fellow, with a broad, honest countenance, bright blue eyes, and fair bushy beard and whiskers,—a truer-hearted, braver seaman than Dick Driver never stepped. ”

“ As soon as Dick could leave his work at the pumps, he hurried back to the child, and threw himself down to rest by his side.
The ship flew on before the gale. Every one, knowing that their lives depended on their exertions, laboured away with desperation: some were sent below to bale with buckets, which were passed up to others stationed on deck, but all their efforts, it appeared too likely, would be of no avail. Still the water gained on them. The only hope was that the hurricane might cease, and that a sail might be got under the ship’s bottom. ”

“ Mr Falconer asked Miss Kitty whether she would like to go on shore. She answered that she did not like the appearance of the natives, and that, though they might profess to be very friendly, she did not trust them, but that she should be very glad to take a sail in the bay, and to make some sketches of the island from the water, and especially of some picturesque rocks which we had passed when entering. The mate gladly undertook to do as she wished, and ordered a boat, with four of the steadiest men in the ship, who were always ready to obey him, to be got ready. ”