William Henry Giles Kingston

“ Already all the boats were full almost to sinking, and with their living freight they proceeded slowly back to the frigate; she, meantime, had been drawing nearer and nearer the ship. Still the vast fabric floated above the waves; many yet remained on board. The gallant marines stood as if on parade; the officers who had refused to quit the ship clustered on the quarter-deck. Who could have believed that all knew that in not many moments the planks on which they stood would be engulfed by the waves, yet so it was; British discipline triumphed above the fear of death. ”

“ A sudden splash was heard. “A man overboard!” was the cry. Quick as lightning a ship’s boy was seen gliding down a backstay. As he touched the hammock-nettings, instead of jumping down on deck, he plunged overboard.
“A shark! a shark!” was heard, uttered in tones of horror by several voices on deck. The order was given to lower a boat. Gratings and oars and spars were hove overboard. A short way from the ship, a young fair face was seen floating upwards, while Charles Denham, who it appeared had sprung overboard, was striking out rapidly towards him. ”

“ They seem to forget entirely what far greater triumphs await those who labour on in civil life to advance the interests of humanity, to win the desert from barrenness, to make it smile as a fruitful garden, and the glorious triumph which is reserved for those who struggle on bravely in the service of their Heavenly Lord and Master. Still, we are describing men as they are, not as they should be; and probably on board that frigate there was not a single man who had the slightest doubt that the sentiments which animated his bosom were otherwise than right and noble, and superior to all others. ”

“ Every spy-glass was in requisition on board the Cynthia, and most of the officers went aloft, that they might take a better view of the stranger. In a short time she was pronounced to be a frigate of equal size to their own. Some, however, thought her larger. That she might be so, and under an enemy’s flag, was the wish of all. It is strange how eager men are to encounter those they consider it lawful to engage with in fight, to wound and slay each other. They think not of the pain and suffering they may inflict, or may themselves have to undergo. ”

“ While Nora, regardless of all conventionalities, was assisting the lawyer and her cousin in rubbing the captain’s hands and feet, the widow was bending over the inanimate form of the seaman.
“Shane,” she exclaimed, “I told you my boy would come back, and here he is; I feel it, I know it. Oh, Dermot, Dermot, speak to me,” she exclaimed. “Do not die now that you have come as you promised. Surely it is not to break your old mother’s heart that you have just returned to die in her arms?” ”

“ This the latter avoided by hauling up.
“Fire,” cried the captain, as the broadside of the frigate bore upon that of the enemy. A loud roar of artillery was the response. Several shots seemed to take effect, some in the hull, others in the rigging. The Cynthia herself did not escape injury, and two of her crew were seen struggling in their death agonies on the deck. The two frigates now ran on side by side, firing their guns as rapidly as they could be loaded. Again a shout burst from the throats of the English crew, as the Frenchman’s fore-topmast was seen to go over the side. ”

“ Dermot had not believed that any vessel so beautiful was to be found on the ocean. She seemed so graceful, so fairy-like. As she drew nearer her sides appeared highly polished, and all about her wore an air of perfect order. A distant strain of music reached his ear from the deck. On a sudden men were seen swarming up her rigging. Every yard was covered. Now the studding-sails came in as if by magic. ”

“ In vain Lady Sophy pressed poor Kathleen, after her exertions, to remain and rest at the castle.
“No, no,” she answered; “I will be back again at my home. If I am absent, they will suspect that I have taken a part in this matter; and though they can do me no harm, they may injure those I love.”
The poor girl could scarcely be persuaded to take any refreshment; and at length, having eaten a little which Lady Nora brought her, she hastened away towards the vicarage, singing in her usual strain as she went.
The Earl quickly aroused the inmates of the castle. ”

“ Once more the captain looked anxiously to leeward.
“We shall still weather the reef,” he exclaimed to the first lieutenant, who, after gazing at it, looked in his face as if to ask a question, “Unless,” the commander added, “the wind draws more out of the west.”
Heeling over, however, less than she had before done to the blast, her head pointed seaward, clear of the reef, still, should she be making much leeway, it would be doubtful whether, after all, she would clear it. To tack close to it, crippled as she was, would be dangerous in the extreme. The commander stood, as before, at his post. ”

“ The water washed up through the scuppers, and rose high on deck. The crew sheltered themselves as best they could under the weather-bulwarks, for the seas were breaking in masses of foam over the weather-bows, deluging the decks fore and aft. The commander gazed also anxiously at the reef. The corvette darted on. Already the foam which flew over her seemed to unite with that which broke above the rocks. Still, he did not turn pale, nor did his eye quiver. In another instant she would be hurled to destruction or be free. ”

“ As is often the case, a panic seized the whole crew, and men who would have faced an enemy boldly, trembled at the thoughts of the attacks of this unseen foe. The captain and officers had tried to encourage them and revive their spirits; but all seemed in vain. Not a day passed without several of the men being committed to the deep, and no one knew who would be the next victim. The surgeon declared his belief that the seeds of the disease must have been contracted in the West Indies, as it was impossible it could have been communicated by the people of the merchantman. ”

“ He gazed aloft at the symmetrical yards and ropes, and wondered at the perfect order which reigned around; so different to what he had been accustomed to in the small fishing-vessels and coasters, the only craft with which he was acquainted.
“Would you like to come to sea, lad?” said a rough sailor, putting his hand on Dermot’s shoulder; “you would make an active young topman in a few years. There’s something in you, I see. What do you say? Will you ship aboard us? I can answer for it you would get a berth, for our captain likes such as you.” ”

“ I cannot understand how a man of his rank and position should condescend to marry a girl of low degree, however virtuous or excellent she might be. These mésalliances can never answer. Too soon the one of more refined habits and ideas discovers a degree of coarseness and vulgarity in the other, which must ultimately cause separation. No; my only notion of a happy union is, that where people are of the same rank and education, and all their sympathies are in unison—”
“You know so little of life, dear Nora, that I do not think you are capable of judging,” answered her cousin Sophy. ”

“ Early the next morning the boat was alongside the frigate. The vendors of fish are generally welcomed by men-of-war’s-men, and they very quickly disposed of all they possessed; the only complaint of the sailors being, that they had not brought off enough vegetables and other fresh productions.
Dermot was invited on board, and as he showed his curiosity in all he saw, he was allowed to go over the whole of the ship. Great was his wonder as he examined her polished guns, the decks, white as snow, one below the other, the ropes on the upper deck so beautifully flemished down. ”

“ Father O’Rourke, you are a childless man yourself, and you do not know what the love of a mother is for her child, and I do not think you know what the love of a child is for its mother—a fond, loving mother, as I have been,—not such a child as mine. ”

“ In my opinion, a naval officer is equal to any lord in the land; at all events, a post-captain is. If I were a post-captain, I know, I should not hesitate to pay my respects to any earl’s daughter. Why, just think, to have a fine frigate and three or four hundred men under one’s orders, and, by-and-by, a line-of-battle ship, and then a post-captain becomes an admiral, remember ”

“ There are things a man can bear and some he ought not to bear, and I tell you, boy as I am, I will not have her spoken against. Your words may frighten her, and she may fancy that your curses may fall upon her head, but I tell you when uttered against a poor helpless widow, they will fall back on him who dares to speak them. There, Father O’Rourke, I have had my say, and I defy you.”
The priest had never before been spoken to in this manner by one of his flock, and he found no words to reply. ”

“ No soldier should ever think of going into battle without such a safeguard. Have I not been offering up prayers day and night for the last month for your success, and are you such heretics as to believe that they have all been uttered in vain? No, trust me, let us go and attack the castle this night or to-morrow at farthest, and depend upon it, we shall gain such a victory as will make all the people in the country around rise up and join us. ”

“ Denham told Fitz Barry that he should very much like to be introduced to his relations; “but you know,” he observed, “I am afraid they will think very little of me when they hear that I was a boy before the mast. I tell you, Barry, we are messmates, and therefore it is right that we should be equal; but from what I have learned, that will not do on shore; people think there a good deal about the difference of rank, and if I was to make my appearance among some of those great people, they might treat me in a way that I should not at all like. ”

“ A cry of horror escaped the young ladies as they witnessed the fearful catastrophe.
“Oh, how many brave men are at this moment carried into a watery grave!” exclaimed Lady Sophy.
Nora was silent. A fearful apprehension seized her.
“The last time we heard from Captain Denham, he told us that he was appointed to a frigate!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Oh, suppose that is the ship he commands?”
“Can no one go to the help of those poor men?” asked Mr Finlayson. “Surely there are boats on the coast which might go off to them!” ”

“ Nora and Sophy were relieved from much anxiety by the continued residence of the kind Mr Finlayson at the castle. He was so lively, so full of conversation and anecdotes, so kind and judicious at the same time. He raised their spirits more than any one else could have done. A young man would have been out of place. Even kind, gentle Miss O’Reilly, when she came over, though she talked very pleasantly, could do little to animate them. Mr Jamieson performed his part as well as he could, but he was not very animated; he was more inclined to speak in a serious than lively strain. ”

“ Lady Sophy having herself made up her mind to marry a sailor, thought that there was not a finer profession to be followed, and Nora, who loved Fitz Barry with all her heart, could not think of doing otherwise than as he wished. Besides, she confessed that a ship was a very beautiful thing, and that she thought her dear brother must be happy on board, for little did the young ladies know of the toils and dangers, the hardships and the sufferings to which sailors are exposed, whatever their rank. ”

“ They had read to be sure of wrecks, of noble ships sinking or being burned, of men being castaway on desert islands, with little or no food on which to subsist, of boats long floating on the ocean, till one by one those on board had died of starvation or thirst, or from the exposure they were doomed to endure. To them all was bright and attractive, and Fitz Barry, therefore, by dint of importunity, at length prevailed upon his easy-going father, to allow him to join Captain Falkner’s beautiful frigate, the Cynthia, provided that officer would take him. ”

“ Young Denham’s chief wish was to hurry off and warn those who had been chiefly threatened. “If the officers have time to show a bold front, the men will not dare to act against them,” he thought; “but if they are taken by surprise, the mutineers will treat them as wild beasts treat the animals which they have caught in their clutches, and will be sure to tear them in pieces. If they once get the upper hand, they will kill them all, just as they did in the ship I have heard of, when scarcely one officer was allowed to escape.” ”

“ It seems to me that her head is once more turning towards the dreadful rocks. Alas, alas! no power can save her.”
“Oh, may Heaven protect them!” exclaimed the blind lady, turning her sightless eyes in the direction of the ship. “Oh, may those brave men on board escape the fearful danger in which they are placed!”
“Your prayers are heard, lady! your prayers are heard!” shouted Kathleen; “the wind has taken her head-sails, and once more she is on the starboard tack, standing away from that fearful reef.” ”