Mark Seaworth | Page 8

think it is," replied the captain. "Keep her two more points to the
eastward of her course--steady so."
Immediately the head of the ship was turned towards a little spot which
appeared upon the water, a long way off. The report that there was
something to be seen called every one to the side of the ship, and all
eyes were fixed on that small speck on the waste of waters. There were
many speculations as to what it was. Some said that it was a dead

whale, others a smaller fish; a few insisted that it was the hull of a
vessel, and there was one party of opinion that it was the top of a rock
in the ocean, and were congratulating themselves that they had met
with it in daylight and fine weather.
"But what do you think it is, Captain Willis?" asked Ellen Barrow.
"Why, young lady, I think it is a boat; but I am not surprised that so
many people, not accustomed to look at objects on the water, where
there is nothing to compare them with, should be mistaken. Those who
fancy that it is a whale or the hull of a vessel think it is much farther off
than it really is, while those who suppose it to be a small fish, believe it
to be much nearer than it really is. It is only by comparing things
together that we can estimate them properly."
The breeze, although sufficient to fill the sails, was still very light, so
that the ship moved but slowly through the water,--at the rate, perhaps,
of a mile and a half or two miles in the hour, or, as sailors would say,
two knots an hour. She was, therefore, a long time approaching the
object. At last, Captain Willis, who had constantly kept his telescope
turned towards it, pronounced it, without doubt, to be a boat.
"There appears to be no one in her, however," he observed; "at least, I
see no one's head above the gunwale."
"How strange that a boat should be out there all alone!" exclaimed
Ellen Barrow.
"Oh no; she has got adrift from a vessel, or has been driven off from
some coast or other," answered Captain Willis.
"There looks to me, sir, as if there were some people in the boat,
though they don't appear to be moving," sung out the third officer from
aloft.
"Mr Simpson, man the starboard quarter-boat, and lower her as we
come up with the boat. We must have her alongside, and overhaul her,
at all events."

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the mate; and soon afterwards the boat's crew
were seen coming aft to lower her into the water.
Numerous were the conjectures as to who could be in the boat, and
where she could have come from; but of course no one could answer
the question. The ship glided on slowly, for the wind was still very
light. When she got a short distance only from the boat, the captain
ordered the sails to be clewed up, and the gig to be lowered. Mr
Simpson went away in her, and was soon alongside. He was seen to
throw up his hands, as an expression of horror, as he looked into the
boat. She was then made fast to the stern of the gig, and rapidly towed
up to the ship.
"Be quick there on deck, and bring a chair," he exclaimed. "Here's a
poor creature much in want of the doctor's help, if she's not gone too far
for it already."
The side of the ship on which the boat appeared was crowded with the
passengers, eager to see what it contained. The sight which met their
eyes was indeed a sad one. In the fore part were two men lying on their
backs with their faces upwards, and, from their ghastly expression, it
was seen that they were both dead. There was another person, a
dark-skinned woman, who, it appeared, the mate considered still living.
A chair was speedily slung, and the mate having secured her into it, she
was hoisted on deck.
The doctor was in waiting, and having placed her on a mattress on deck,
he knelt down at her side to discover if any spark of life yet remained in
her emaciated frame. He felt her pulse, and then calling for a glass of
wine and water, he moistened her lips, and poured a few drops down
her throat. It had the effect of instantly reviving her; she opened her
eyes, and uttering a few strange words, she attempted to rise as if to
search for something she expected to find near. For an instant she
looked wildly around; but the effort was more than nature could bear,
and, with a deep sigh,