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Thus one lad, who through carelessness had on more than one occasion cooked the "duff" for dinner badly, was made to take his cinders on deck when it was his time to turn in, and go forward to the fore-rigging. Then he had to take one cinder, go up to the cross-tree, and throw it over into the sea, come down the opposite rigging and repeat the act until he had emptied his scuttle.
They could distinguish the figures of Casey and Peter, with another man holding on to the fore-rigging, but as yet they had been unable to exchange words with them, and were afraid to let go their hold, lest they should be washed off by the sea. The gale continued to blow furiously, and for two hours a perfect hurricane raged. It suddenly ceased, and the sea though not so rapidly began to go down.
The quarter-deck was "lumbered up" with hogsheads of water, and casks of oats and barley, and hen-coops without number. With such a deck-load, not an unusually large one in those days, the leading trucks attached to the fore-rigging were about half way between the main deck and the foretop.
The Sumatra lady looked at him very earnestly, and Miss Blanche declared that she understood everything that was going on. Mrs. Noury, the Princess Zuleima, had the baby; and the little siamang seemed to take as much interest in the proceedings as her mother. Mr. Mingo was not literary, and perched in the fore-rigging.
Seeing that there was no use in further expostulation, the boys took each of them a bucket as they were ordered, and ascended, one on one side, and one on the other, of the fore-rigging, and having reached the masthead Harry secured his bucket, and showed David how to secure his. The operation, besides being a very dirty one, was tedious, as each rope had to be gone carefully round with the tar.
A warp was next passed over the port bow of the ship outside the fore-rigging, and then inboard again through the gangway, and secured to the bow of the boat, sufficient slack being left to allow her to go astern. However, just as we were launching the boat a sea struck her, and stove in two planks of the port bilge.
When the company were satisfied that there was nothing to be seen, they resumed their seats, and the "live boys" in the fore-rigging returned to their places. All were greatly interested in the viscount's account of the mutiny; and he had suspended his narrative just where cunning writers of exciting stories place the "To be continued."
Another voice cried warningly, 'We are going right into that barque, sir. The answer to this was a gruff 'All right, and the next thing was a heavy crash as the steamer struck a glancing blow with the bluff of her bow about our fore-rigging. There was a moment of confusion, yelling, and running about. Steam roared.
On a black board, fixed up in their fore-rigging, they had written, "'Iron Duke' no can do 'Bacchante." This was met by a counter taunt from us, "'Iron Duke' can do 'Bacchante' 200 dollars." I am inclined to the belief that had the "Dukes" and "Tourmalines" met on shore that night there would have been work for the doctors.
By keeping the wind abeam, Jack thought he should be going toward the rock of Mulford. In one hour, or even in less time, he expected to reach it, and he was guided by time, in his calculations, as much as by any other criterion. Previously to quitting the brig, he had gone up a few ratlins of the fore-rigging to take the bearings of the fire on Mulford's rock, but the light was no longer visible.
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