A Pirate of the Caribbees | Page 8

engaged in taking off her crew. With the aid of my
telescope I could distinctly see all that was going on, and I saw also
that the end of the gallant craft was so near as to render her
disappearance a matter of but a few minutes. Hungry, therefore, as I
was, I determined to remain on deck and see the last of her. Nor had I
long to wait; I had scarcely arrived at the decision that I would do so,
when, as I watched her through my glass, I saw the boats that hung
around her shoving off hurriedly one after the other, until one only
remained. Presently that one also shoved off, and, loaded down to her
gunwale, pulled, as hastily as her overloaded condition would permit,
toward the other frigate. She had scarcely placed half a dozen fathoms
between herself and the sinking ship before the latter rolled heavily to
port, slowly recovered herself, and then rolled still more heavily to
starboard, completely burying the whole tier of her starboard ports as
she did so. She hung thus for perhaps half a minute, settling visibly all
the time; finally she staggered, as it were, once more to an even keel,
but with her stern dipping deeper and deeper every second until her
taffrail was buried, while her battered bows lifted slowly into the air,
when, the inclination of her decks rapidly growing steeper, she
suddenly took a sternward plunge and vanished from sight in the midst
of a sudden swirl of water that was distinctly visible through the lenses
of the telescope. The occupants of the boat that had so recently left her
saw their danger and put forth herculean efforts to avoid it; they were
too near, however, to escape, and despite all their exertions the boat
was caught and dragged back into the vortex created by the sinking
ship, into which she too disappeared. But a few seconds afterwards I
saw heads popping up above the water again, here and there, while a
couple of boats that had just discharged their cargo of passengers
dashed away to the rescue and were soon paddling hither and thither

among the little black spots that kept popping into view all round them.
I waited until all had seemingly been picked up, and then went below to
secure what dinner might be remaining for me.
When, after a hurried meal, I again went on deck, the horizon away to
the northward and eastward was darkening to a light air from that
quarter, that came gently stealing along the glassy surface of the ocean,
first in cat's-paws, then as a gentle breathing that caused the polished
undulations to break into a tremor of laughing ripples, and finally into a
light breeze, before which the surviving French frigate bore up with
squared yards, leaving us unmolested.
Meanwhile the crew, having dined, turned to again for a busy
afternoon's work, which consisted chiefly in clearing away the wreck of
our fallen spars, and saving as many of them and as much of our canvas
and running gear as would be likely to be of use to us in fitting the ship
with a jury-rig. And so well did the men work, that by sunset we were
enabled to cut adrift from the wreck of our lower masts, and to bear up
in the wake of the Frenchman, who by this time had run us out of sight
in the south-western quarter.
But, tired as the men were, there was no rest for them that night, for it
was felt to be imperatively necessary to get the ship under canvas again
without a moment's delay; moreover, despite the fact that the shot-holes
had all been plugged, it was found that the battered hull was still
leaking so seriously as to necessitate a quarter of an hour's spell at the
pumps every two hours. The hands were therefore kept at work, watch
and watch, all through the night, with the result that when day broke
next morning we had a pair of sheers rigged and on end, ready to rear
into position the spars that had been prepared and fitted as lower masts.
The end of that day found us once more under sail, after a fashion, and
heading on our course to the southward and westward.
For the following two days all went well with us, save that the ship
continued to make water so freely as to necessitate the use of the pumps
at the middle and end of every watch, a fair breeze driving us along
under our jury-canvas at the rate of five to six knots per hour. Toward
evening, however, on the second day, signs of a change of weather

began to manifest themselves, the sky to windward losing its