The Missing Ship | Page 7

so that I couldn't come to any harm, and what I did any man with strength and nerve could have done likewise--so, Gerald, don't make a fuss about the matter. I saved the man's life, there's no doubt about that, and he, therefore, is the only person who need thank me."
Notwithstanding what the mate had said, Gerald hurried into the cabin and gave a report of what had occurred, not failing to express his own opinion of the gallantry of the act. Norah, who had listened with breathless interest while he spoke, uttered an ejaculation of thankfulness, forgetting to make any inquiry about the man who had been saved. Captain Tracy, however, expressed himself much as Owen expected he would.
"It was a rash though brave deed," he observed, "but I'll not blame him--he had no time, evidently, to think of the risk he was running, but acted as his gallantry prompted him. He did not get any hurt, I hope?"
"No, father, beyond a thorough wetting--it was all done in a moment--he was on board again almost before I could have looked round, walking the deck as if nothing had happened," answered Gerald.
"I am thankful for that," said the captain; "and where have they stowed the man he saved? Poor fellow! it would have been hard lines with him, in such a sea as is still running, if he had not been picked up."
"The mate put him into his own cabin," said Gerald; "the cook has been heating some soup for him, as he seemed very weak and pretty nigh exhausted."
"Owen might have let him go forward with the men; they would have looked after him carefully enough," observed Captain Tracy. "There was no necessity for Owen to give up his own cabin--but he is always generous and ready to sacrifice his own comforts for others."
"But the stranger from his way of speaking and dress seems to be an officer, and he would think himself badly treated if he had been sent forward," said Gerald.
"I must hear more about him from Owen," said the captain; "ask him to come here as soon as he can leave the deck and has got on dry clothes. How's the weather now, Gerald?"
"It is moderating rapidly, father, and the mate thinks we shall have smooth water and a light breeze before night," was the answer.
When Gerald returned on deck he found the mate giving orders to loose the topsails. As soon as this was done, the wind still decreasing, the foresail and mainsail were set, and before long the ship was bounding proudly over the seas with as much canvas as could be carried. At length, leaving the deck in charge of the boatswain, Owen repaired to the cabin and answered many questions put to him by the captain. He might well have been satisfied with the approbation he received from Norah, if not from her lips, from those bright blue eyes of hers--even the captain forgot to scold him as he had intended for his rashness.
"We shall hear more about the man to-morrow, when he has recovered," he observed; "he'll need a long rest, for he must have pretty well given up all hope of his life when you saved him, till the ship hove in sight-- and even then he could scarcely expect to be picked up with the sea there was running at the time. Well, I trust that he'll be grateful."
The captain then made inquiries about the sick men, of whom Owen was able to give a favourable report.
"Thank God for that!" said the captain. "I feel myself quite another man to what I have been for many a day, and I hope to-morrow to be on deck again. If this stranger proves to be a seaman he may give you some relief by doing duty on board; you've had a trying time of it, Owen, and it is a mercy you've not knocked up."
Owen now bade the captain and mistress Norah good night, and went on deck, when he desired the boatswain--the only person besides himself to whom the charge of the ship could be confided--to turn in, that he might relieve him in the next watch, should the weather continue to improve as he hoped it would do. He was not disappointed; when the morning broke, the ship was running on before a fair and moderate breeze. The rest of the usual canvas was set, and under all sail the Ouzel Galley made good way towards her destination. With a thankful heart, soon after breakfast, Norah accompanied her father on deck. The other sick men were able to crawl up and enjoy the fresh air, their pallid faces showing, however, how near death's door they had been. It was evident that some time must elapse before they would be