i do not suppose that a man and a woman were ever confronted with a greater task than that which we faced that morning. the problem met me in so many ways that i was fairly puzzled at it. the two men lying bound and gagged on the deck had, of course, recovered consciousness. the man below in the forepeak had given some noisy signs of his presence. these three had to be dealt with in some way. the ship itself was wrecked, aloft that is, and i had as yet no means of telling whether she were tight below, although, as i deemed she sat about as usual in the water, i concluded that if she had sprung a leak they had succeeded in stopping it.
the dawn disclosed a white-faced man and woman staring at each other near the wheel. breakfast was a problem in itself, too. on the one hand, i did not like to send my lady below without at least having made some sort of inspection[346] myself, nor did i like to leave her alone on deck, on the other.
“of what are you thinking?” she asked presently, seeing my brows knitted with the stress of my mental effort.
“breakfast, first of all, something to eat.”
“let me go below and get it.”
“no,” i replied, “i must see what’s below first myself.”
“very well then,” was her prompt, brave answer. she rose as she spoke and seized the spokes of the wheel. “i will steer the ship, only do you hurry back.”
“if i only had a pistol to leave with you,” i said.
“there is no danger,” she answered bravely enough, “there were only four men on the ship you said. one is dead, one is locked up forward, and the other two—”
“i will make sure about them,” i interrupted, going over and examining the lashings of the two.
they were frightened to death and the man with the broken wrist, although i didn’t know it then, was suffering greatly. their eyes were[347] mutely appealing, but i had no pity to waste. seeing that they were tightly bound and the hatch forward securely battened, i turned and ran below.
as fortune would have it a brace of pistols lay on the table in the cabin. one of them was loaded and primed and ready for use. it was lucky for me that they had not used it last night, i thought. i snatched it up, returned to the deck, and laid it at my lady’s side. thereafter i felt much safer for i knew she could use it on occasion. i then went below and resumed my search. the cabin was frightfully untidy and disorderly. some of the mutineers at least had made it their headquarters and the table was covered with an accumulation of soiled dishes. on a platter i found some cold salt beef and bread and other things. there was no time to be dainty, but i did make shift to clean a plate, heaped it with hard bread and beef, drew a pannikin of water, and returned to the deck with it. we made our first breakfast by the wheel.
i had been thinking hard and i had come to the conclusion that our only safety lay in keeping the three members of the crew securely locked[348] up. if i could have depended upon one of them the problem would have been simplified immensely, and if i could have depended upon two we could have got along with some degree of comfort, for the three of us with the aid of tackles could have handled the ship while my lady steered. but it was not to be thought of.
first i took the gags out of the mouths of the two men, whereat he of the broken wrist told me of his hurt. i cast off the lashings to verify his statement. i had brought up from my cabin and from captain matthews’ several sets of irons for wrists and ankles. they had not disturbed them although they had otherwise rummaged and plundered the cabins and had destroyed much in them wantonly. i clapped double irons on the villain who was unhurt and irons on the ankles of the man with the broken wrist. he was in great pain and more or less helpless. i fastened his feet to a ring bolt in the deck and then took the other man and stowed him below in my cabin which i carefully cleared of everything and which i securely locked on the outside. he was a small, slight man and i knew that the door would hold him, but to make assurance[349] doubly sure, i intended to put up a bar when i had time.
him of the broken wrist i put in the fourth cabin which had not been occupied during the cruise, as we had carried no second mate. before i turned the lock on him i set his wrist and put it in splints as best i could. it was his right wrist and little danger could be expected from him. nevertheless, i locked him up securely. i saw that each room was provided with bread and meat and water. i told them that i would visit them once a day and give them food enough for the day, and that if they attempted to break out i would give them short shrift indeed.
taking the pistol from my mistress, i then went forward, opened the fore hatch and descended into the forepeak. it was well i had a weapon, for the man had possessed himself of a cutlass and i have no doubt, if i had not presented the pistol at him so soon as i put foot on the ladder, he would have cut me down. i had some trouble in getting him to put down his weapon, he was so ugly and disobedient, and i had about made up my mind to pull the trigger and end it, as i had no time to waste on a murderer[350] like that one. i guess he must have seen in my face that my patience was at an end for finally i had him in double irons as well. i left him in the forecastle, first making a thorough search for and removing everything that he would be able to use as a weapon. a good many of the seamen’s chests were there but they were locked and i didn’t disturb them, as he had no means of getting into them. i told him what i had told the others. he was the biggest and strongest man and he had the strongest prison. the forepeak was separated from the rest of the ship by a stout bulkhead and the only way he could get out was by the hatch, which i drew over until it was but six inches open and there i secured it. the first part of the problem was thus solved.
during all this, my mistress had stood bravely by the helm. i shall never forget how beautiful she looked, with the fresh breeze bringing color into her pale cheeks and blowing back wisps of her golden hair, lovely in its disarray. we were both of us exactly as we had been when we came out of the cave. i was about to go on further business when she interrupted me.
[351]“if you please,” she began with unusual humility, “master hampdon, if you can spare me a little while to myself now i should like to go below. perhaps the villains have left some of my clothes intact and i may change my dress and wash my face, and—”
“i am a brute not to have thought of it,” i said. “keep the pistol with you. who knows what may chance? i will take the wheel. come to me as soon as you may, for i shall be anxious when you are out of my sight. when i have finished on the deck i expect to make a thorough investigation of the ship to see what condition she is in and what is best to be done.”
“i shall hasten,” she said, turning away and tripping lightly down the ladder.
in an incredibly short time she was back transformed. although her cabin had been occupied by some of the men and her things had been overhauled and were in a state of confusion, yet she had found suitable clothing and she presently came up on deck looking as fresh and dainty as if she had never been on an adventure in her life. and yet, will you believe me? it was with a certain very vivid regret i saw her put aside the[352] tunic i had made her, which had served her so well.
“i suppose,” said i, “that i ought to be doing the same thing, but there will be time enough for that later on. how do you feel?”
“fit for anything.”
“and you will take the wheel?”
“gladly.”
“very well,” said i, “you have nothing to do but keep her before the wind.”
with that, axe in hand i went forward. i put in the hardest hour or two of work in my life. i never stopped a moment except to throw back a word or two to my little mistress guiding the ship. by the time i had finished, the decks of the rose of devon presented an entirely different appearance. i had chopped away and thrown overboard the mast wreckage. when it was too heavy, i clapped a tackle to it to assist me. the tangled gear had been overhauled and each brace, line, and halyard had been coiled and hung to its proper pin. although the ship looked desolate and forlorn enough to a sailor, and to anyone else perhaps, there was no confusion or disorder.
[353]by this time it was high noon. i knocked off work therefore and, upon her insistence, relieved her at the wheel while she went below to the lazarette where the cabin stores were kept, to prepare us something to eat. she said that was her task, and although it irked me to see her compelled to do anything, there was truth in her words. i can do most things but cook. there, i confess, i fail. i did kindle a fire for her in the galley, however, and about one o’clock we had a royal dinner, the first civilized meal, so to speak, that we had enjoyed since the day of the mutiny. she brought it up on deck and we ate it together. after dinner she surprised me by proffering me a pipe which she had found below—it had been captain matthews’—and a pouch of tobacco, and nothing would do but that i must smoke before turning to again. i confess that it tasted sweet to me, and felt sorry that she could not enjoy the luxury, and told her so, which seemed to give her great amusement.
her light-heartedness cheered me immensely. to be sure she did not quite imagine the extent of the problem that lay before us, or perhaps she knew more about it than i fancied, but whatever[354] be the facts, i could not feel downhearted or downcast when she smiled at me as she did then.
well, the hour of refreshment and rest at last came to an end. surrendering the wheel to her, i went forward. i had determined to loose the mainsail first, if i could, and then loose the foresail and topsail. the first was an easy enough task. it took me some time to climb out on each of the yardarms and cast off the gaskets, but presently the huge sail hung in the buntlines. i came down by the backstays, clapped a watch tackle on each sheet and finally succeeded in getting the sail set as taut as the bolt ropes would allow. my mistress clapped her hands with joy when i had succeeded. the slow pace of the ship was much increased by the draw of the big mainsail.
i did the same thing with the foresail and then boldly tackled the fore-topsail, but here i met with greater difficulties for the topsail yard—it was a single topsail—had to be mastheaded if the sail was to be of any use. although i clapped several tackles on it and pulled and hauled lustily, it taxed my strength beyond its limit. it was my mistress who came to my[355] assistance. she lashed the wheel amidships while watching me pull at the halyards, and came and seized the tarred rope with her own hands and laid back with a will.
it was just the added pound or two that was needed, and slowly, readjusting the tackles from time to time, we at last mastheaded the fore-topsail yard. i was glad that the rose of devon was a small ship, for had that yard been a foot longer or a pound heavier, we had never done it. when i had finished i carefully braced the yards, then i cast off the lashings of the wheel and shifted it until the wind came from the starboard quarter and lo and behold we were headed due eastward!
the breeze was growing stronger but it was still gentle. it blew fair and held steady. if it would only blow long enough and hold without change we would inevitably fetch the south american coast, which i estimated something more than fifteen hundred leagues away.
i rested a while but not for long. it was late in the afternoon, yet i felt it necessary further to overhaul the ship; so leaving my mistress again in charge, a solitary woman on a half wrecked[356] ship in a great waste of unknown seas!—i tell you this that you may see how brave she was—i went below, having first sounded the well and found to my joy that there was no more than the usual amount of water in it and that the ship evidently was tight. she must have gone on the sand in the storm in such a way as not to start a leak, although it might be that a plank had been started and that the men aboard her, one of whom was an expert carpenter, had been able to get at it and caulk it up. at any rate, she was tight.
everything below was in a state of disorder but no especial damage had been done. i cleaned out the cabin, washed the dishes and made everything snug. in the cabin that pimball had occupied after my departure i found the famous chart and the little image, both of which i put carefully away. i was glad to see them again. we have them still and often show them to our children and friends as we tell again this tale.
i also estimated the provisions in the lazarette. there was plenty of food for our immediate needs, although most of the liquor was gone. then i went down into the hold. i found[357] enough supplies there to last the five of us who were on board indefinitely. the arms chest had been broken open and most of the arms were gone—i suspected that they were back on the island of the stairs! those that remained i carefully removed, and finding powder and shot, i charged them and placed them under lock and key in captain matthews’ cabin, which i had reserved for my own use.
by the time i had finished, night had almost fallen. i stopped before the doors where i had confined the prisoners and asked them how they did and if they wanted anything, being met with oaths and curses from one man and cries of pain from the other, to which i was alike indifferent. i also visited the man in the forecastle and then came back to take the wheel while my lady got our supper.
i don’t think i was ever so tired in my life. as i look back upon it it seems to me that i had done ten men’s work. and yet there was nothing but thankfulness in my heart as i hung over the spokes and watched the ship rush toward safety through the gently rolling seas. how mercifully god had protected us. how he had used[358] me to keep harm from this poor, helpless young woman. i thanked him for all his kindness and prayed for a continuance of that favor until we got safely home.
supper was soon ready and it was a fine one. my shipmate’s skill at cookery surprised me. she had not stinted in her preparations, and the best that the ship afforded, and i have told you that she was expensively, even luxuriously, stocked, was spread before me. how i did eat! i am ashamed to think on it, even to this day. after supper i had another pipe, and then plans for the night had to be adjusted.
“do you go below, mistress lucy,” i said, “and turn in. i have my watch and i will awaken you at midnight. you can then take the wheel, and—”
“no,” said the girl, “i can’t think of going below where those men are confined. it is balmy out here. i shall sleep here on the deck at your feet, within touch and call. i’d rather have it so.”
i sought to change her decision but, as in all matters which were not really vital, i was more or less helpless.
[359]“well,” said i, “since you are resolved, take the wheel and i will bring up your things to make you comfortable.”
with that i descended to her cabin and brought up a mattress, pillow, and blankets, which i laid on the deck. the sea had gone down and the ship was steady so my lady could lie comfortably without being cast against anything, but for precaution’s sake i put the mattress against the foot of the trunk cabin in the angle formed by the companionway. before mistress lucy went to sleep we had our evening prayers. i had lighted the binnacle lamp in order to see the compass course and she stood by it, reading a psalm from her prayer book, which she had carried ever with her, and so on until we said good-night. she lay down at once and closed her eyes and i thought she was asleep.
the steering of the ship was not very exhausting. under the diminished sail, which was all that we could carry, she steered easily and the wheel did not make many demands upon me. i confess frankly that i never was so utterly weary in my life. i had not had a regular sleep for three days and i had worked to the extreme limit[360] of my strength during all that time. i found myself nodding over the wheel and finally i must have gone sound asleep. the pressure of my body as i leaned on the spokes brought the ship around and it was the tremendous slatting of the sails in the wind, which was ever freshening, that awoke me.
the noise awoke my mistress too. she had learned the sailor’s trick of waking with all her faculties at her command, and this time she realized the situation and came to her senses quicker than i did.
“you were asleep,” she said, rising.
“aye, that i was,” i answered shamefacedly, bringing the ship before the wind again.
“what time is it?” she asked.
when the sails began to draw once more, i pulled out my watch and soon discovered that it was only nine o’clock.
“i have had one hour’s sleep,” she said, “and am able to take the watch now. i should not have taken advantage of your offer before. you have done enough in the past three days to have killed half a dozen ordinary men. now, do you go to sleep and i will watch.”
[361]“you will wake me at midnight?” i asked.
she nodded. at this i put my watch into her hand and started to go below.
“no,” she said, “you must not leave me. go to sleep here on the deck where i can call you if necessary.”
i tumbled down on the mattress i had fixed for her and almost before i could draw the blanket over me i was asleep. i say it to my shame and her glory that she let me sleep the long night through, for it was the sunlight that awakened me, and when i opened my eyes, there she stood, erect and dauntless, matchless, holding the wheel.
