Charley Laurel | Page 5

Be smart, my lads!"
The courses were quickly brailed up and furled, the fore-staysail alone
being set. A dark cloud was seen away to the south-west, gathering as it
approached a vast assemblage of black masses which appeared to come
out of space, advancing rapidly till they formed one dense column.
The men were scarcely off the yards when a sheet of white foam came
hissing over the hitherto calm surface of the ocean, followed by a
deafening roar as wave after wave arose, each higher than its
predecessor, and then the hurricane in all its irresistible might struck
the sorely-battered ship. Over she heeled before it, the fore-staysail
with a loud report flew out of the bolt-ropes ere it had done its duty of
paying off the ship's head. Again and again the savage blast struck her

side, pressing her still farther down, while the ever-increasing seas
broke in foaming masses over her. The captain gave the order to cut
away the mizzen-mast, and set another staysail. For a moment there
was a lull, the ship rose, and her head feeling the wind, away she flew
before the howling gale. The carpenter sounded the well. He had an
alarming report to make to the captain--the water was gaining faster
than ever on the ship. Dick heard it.
"To my mind the old barky will be going down," he said to himself. "I
must look after Master Charley, for if she does, it won't do to have the
little chap going to Davy Jones' locker. It is all very well for those as
are bred to it, but, bless his young heart! I must do what I can to keep
him afloat."
Dick was a man of action rather than words. He immediately filled his
capacious pockets with all the provisions he could lay hands on. In the
launch on deck he found a basket which had been brought on board
with vegetables. There were a number of broken spars and other
fragments of wood, the remains of the boats which had been carried
away. He began to lash them firmly together in a mode which a seaman
only could have accomplished; and in the centre of the raft he had thus
formed he secured the basket, which had a lid to it. One of the officers
saw him, and told him to knock off.
"Ay, ay!" he answered; but it was not a moment, he conceived, to stand
on ceremony, and immediately again went on with his work. The
boatswain also set his eyes on him.
"What are you about there, Dick?" he asked. "Off with you to the
pumps; it will be your spell directly."
"I am building a raft for your godson, Mr Slings," answered Dick. "You
would not wish the pretty little chap to be drowned if there's a chance
of saving him, and please Heaven, I will try and do it, though I am as
ready as any on myself to stick to the old barky to the last."
"Don't you be talking of the ship going down," exclaimed the
boatswain, gruffly; "you will be making the rest chicken-hearted."

"You know as well as I do, Mr Slings, that go down she will, before
many hours are over, unless old `Harry Cane' takes himself off pretty
smartly."
Dick could not resist the sailor's common joke even at that moment.
"I cannot say you nay, Dick," answered the boatswain; "but all this
comes of having babies aboard; we must try and keep the ship above
water, anyhow."
The raft being completed, Dick got hold of a small beaker of water,
which he secured to it; he also formed a paddle, and laid alongside of it
a spar of considerable length. Having finished his work, he slipped
below, and brought up little Charley, with a bundle of bedding and a
blanket. The child greatly objected to go to bed in the basket, and still
more so to be lashed in, as Dick was doing. Dick knew that nobody
would interfere with the child, but still he placed him as much out of
sight as possible, just abaft the fore-mast.
"You be good boy, Charley, and don't cry out," he said, trying to soothe
him. "There is a biscuit--chaw it, lad. I have to take a spell at the pumps,
and will be back directly."
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