King o the Beach | Page 4

see done to ensure the safety of the magnificent vessel in his charge.
The passengers, who were still discussing the accident which had befallen the boy, and who had paid no heed to the peculiar look of the sky, the sea still heaving and sinking gently in an oily calm, now began to notice the work going on, and the rumour soon spread among them that there was the possibility of a storm coming on.
The result was that first one and then another began to hunt the captain to question him, but only to obtain short polite answers, that officer being too busy to gossip after the fashion wished. They fared worse with the chief and second officers, who were quite short; and then one of the most enterprising news-seekers on board captured old Bostock, literally button-holing him with the question:
"Do you think we are going to have a storm?"
"Don't think about it, sir. We shall have a buster before we're half an hour older. Going to blow great guns, so hold your hair on, sir. Can't stop; going to hear how young Master Cranford's going on, sir."
"Only a moment, my good friend," said the gossip. "Do you think there will be any danger?"
"Well, yes, sir," said the old sailor, with his eyes twinkling, but his face as hard as if it had been cut out of wood; "this here is rather a bad place to be caught in a storm. You see, sir, the water's rather deep."
The captain had not been one-half so busy before during the voyage, and his eyes were everywhere, seeing that there was nothing left loose; but he found time twice over to go below to where Doctor Kingsmead was seated by his patient's cot watching anxiously for every change, the poor lad evidently suffering keenly from the furnace-like heat.
"How is he, Kingsmead?" asked the captain, anxiously.
"Bad as he can be," was the stern reply.
"But can't you--Bah! absurd! you know your business better than I can tell you. Poor lad! How can I face his father when we get into port? It will be heart-breaking work. It is heart-breaking work, doctor, for the young dog seemed to have a way of getting round your heart, and I couldn't feel this accident more keenly if he were my own son."
"Nor I," said the doctor, "if he were my own brother."
"God bless him, and bring him safely through it!" said the captain, softly, as he laid his hand gently on the boy's brow. "I'm glad his face is not disfigured."
"Yes, so am I," said the doctor; "it does not tell tales of the terrible mischief that has been done."
"What do you call it--concussion of the brain?"
"Yes, there is no fracture of the skull; only of his collar-bone, and that is a trifle compared to the other."
"You must bring him round, doctor. Troubles never come singly."
"What, have you some other trouble on hand?" said the doctor, rather impatiently, for he wanted the captain to go and leave him alone with his patient.
"Yes, don't you know?"
"I know nothing but that I have that poor boy lying there to be saved from death if it be possible. Can't you have a wind-sail lowered down here? The heat is intolerable."
"Wind-sail? You'll have wind enough directly. We're going straight into a typhoon, and no other course is open to me in this reef-strewn sea."
"A storm?"
"Yes, and a bad one, I expect. It will be pitch-dark directly."
"The fresh air will be welcome," said the doctor, calmly.
"Is the captain here?" said a voice at the state-room door--a voice speaking in anxious tones.
"Yes; what is it?" said the captain, quickly. "Come on deck, sir. It's rushing upon us like a great wall. Hear it?"
Doctor Kingsmead turned his face for a moment towards the door, to hear a peculiar dull distant roar, different from any sound with which he was familiar. Then the door swung to, and he was bending over his young patient again, thinking of nothing else, hearing no more for a few moments, till the door was pushed open again, and the rough, ruddy bronze face of Bostock appeared in the full light of the swinging lamp.
"Beg pardon, sir," said the man, hoarsely. "Just going on dooty, and mayn't have another chance, as things looks bad."
"What do you mean?" said the doctor, starting.
"Just wanted to have one more look at the dear lad, sir."
"But what do you mean by things looking bad?"
"Haven't you seen, sir? Well, you can hear."
The doctor could hear, for at that moment something struck the vessel a tremendous blow, which made her shiver, and then all was turmoil and confusion as rain, wind, and spray swept the decks, and the steamer careened over and lay for a time upon her beam-ends.
"Come down and tell me if the storm gets worse,"