The Pirate Island | Page 7

with
upreared threatening crest toward the wreck.
There was a warning cry from those on board the wreck, as they saw
this terrible wall of water rushing down upon them, and each seized
with desperate grip whatever came nearest to hand, clinging thereto

with the tenacity of despair. Bob heard the cry, saw the danger, and had
just time to struggle clear of the wreck and pass under her stern when
the breaker burst upon them. Blinded, stunned, and breathless, he felt
himself whirled helplessly hither and thither, while a load like that of a
mountain seemed to rest upon him and press him down. At last he
emerged again, considerably to leeward of the wreck, but with the rope
which they had thrown him still in his hands. As he gasped for breath
and shook the salt water out of his eyes, something swayed against him
beneath the surface--something which he knew instantly must be a
human body. In a second he had it in his grasp, and, dragging it above
water, found it to be the body of a child, apparently about two years old.
At the same moment a powerful strain came upon the line which he
held in his hand, and he had only time to take, by a rapid movement,
two or three turns of it round his arm when those on the wreck began to
haul him on board.
In less time than it takes to tell of it, he was dragged inboard, and lay
panting and exhausted upon the steeply inclined deck of the wreck,
with a curious crowd of haggard-eyed anxious men and women
gathered round him. A man dressed in a fine white linen shirt and blue
serge trousers (he was the master of the ship, and had given his
remaining garments to shield the poor shivering, frightened children)
was in the act of kneeling down by Bob's side, apparently intending to
question him, when a piercing shriek was heard, and a woman darted
forward with the cry "My child! my child!" and seized the body which
Bob had brought on board and still held in his arms.
This incident created a diversion; and Bob speedily recovering the use
of his faculties, and rapidly explaining the intentions of those on board
the smack, a strong hawser was soon stretched from the Seamew to the
wreck, a "bo'sun's chair" slung thereto; and the transport of the
shipwrecked crew and passengers at once commenced.
The journey, though short, was fraught with the utmost peril; for it
being impossible to keep the hawser strained taut, the poor unfortunate
wretches had to be dragged through rather than over the surf; and when
all was ready the women, who were of course to go first, found their

courage fail them. In vain were they remonstrated with; in vain were
they reminded that every second as it flew bore mayhap a human life
into eternity with it; the sight of the wild surf into which the hawser
momentarily plunged completely unnerved them, and they one and all
declared that, rather than face the terrible risk, they would die where
they were.
At last Bob, who knew as well as, if not better than, anyone on board
the importance of celerity, whispered a word or two in the captain's ear.
The latter nodded approvingly; and Bob at once got into the "chair,"
some of the ship's crew rapidly but securely lashing him there, in
obedience to their captain's order. When all was ready the skipper,
approaching the terrified group of women, took one of their children
tenderly in his arms, and, before the unhappy mother could realise what
was about to take place, handed it to Bob.
The signal was instantly given to those on board the smack, who hauled
swiftly upon the hauling-line; Bob went swaying off the gunwale, with
his precious charge encircled safely in his arms, and in another moment
was buried in a mountain of broken water which rushed foaming past.
Only to reappear instantly afterwards, however; and in a very brief
space of time he and his charge had safely reached the smack. The little
one was handed over to the rough but tender-hearted fishermen; but
Bob, seeing that he could be useful there, at once returned to the wreck.
There was now no further difficulty with the women. The mother
whose child had already made the adventurous passage was frantic to
rejoin her baby, and eagerly placed herself in the chair as soon as Bob
vacated it. She, too, accomplished the journey in safety; and then the
others, taking courage once more from her example, quietly took their
turn, some carrying their children with them, while others preferred to
confide their darlings to Bob, or to one of the seamen, for the dreadful
passage