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Mr Thomas," continued Captain Oughton, addressing the boatswain, "send the ship's company aft. Forster, you had better see the ladies down below." At the summons of the boatswain, the men came aft, and stood in a body on the leeside of the quarterdeck, with their hats off, and impatience in their looks.
A small canoe, carrying only three men, at length rowed towards us; we laid to, and by signs gave permission to the savages to come on board; this they could not resolve upon; but one of them climbed the ship's side high enough to see over the deck, and handed to us a few cocoa-nuts, all the provisions they had brought; a piece of iron, which we gave him in return, he pressed to his forehead in sign of thankfulness, and then bowed his head.
Leaving all this quite undisturbed in the belief that when I could see just how it all lay I might obtain a clue to the mystery at present connected with the ship I continued my researches, with the result that I made out the cabin to occupy the extreme after-end of the vessel, with possibly a small sail-room, or something of that kind, abaft it, and that it took up the whole width of that part of the hull; that is to say, there were no staterooms between it and the ship's side, as is sometimes the case.
"Now, I tell you what it is, I shall just strike you off the ship's books, and you shall just go and cruise by yourself; I've done with you." "Go and tell that to the marines, if you like," said Jack. "I ain't done with you yet, for a jolly long watch. Why, what do you suppose would become of you, you great babby, without me?
"Well, O'Gorman, what is it?" said I, for I had met and spoken to him several times already on that same morning, and imagined that he now had some matter of ship's business to discuss with me. "I see you takin' a hobseirwashin just now," he remarked. "Yes," I answered, finding that he paused as though expecting me to reply. "D'ye mane to say, thin, that ye're a navigator?" he demanded.
Ben shouldered a ship's musket of very large dimensions an old piece of Queen Anne, with a flintlock and heavy iron ramrod the whole making a load that would have borne down a grenadier; but Ben was strong enough to have carried a small cannon, and thought nothing of the weight.
He is a willing boy, and he shall dine in the gun-room when he comes back." And so I did so I lost nothing by not expostulating, and gained more of the favour of the first lieutenant, who never forgot what he called zeal. But the hardest trial of the whole is to the midshipman who is sent to the boat to purchase the supplies for the cabin and gun-room on the day before the ship's sailing.
"Ready for blast-off!" "Control deck, ready for blast-off," said Tom, and then turned to the logbook and jotted down the time in the ship's journal. The astral chronometer over the control board read exactly 1350 hours. Fifteen minutes later Captain Strong and Governor Hardy climbed aboard and Tom received the order to raise ship.
Here is Flammarion's "L'Atmosphere" a very gorgeous though weather-stained copy in faded scarlet and gold. The book has a small history, and I value it. A young Frenchman, dying of fever on the west coast of Africa, gave it to me as a professional fee. The sight of it takes me back to a little ship's bunk, and a sallow face with large, sad eyes looking out at me.
Meanwhile the seas, although they still continued to break heavily over the ship's stern, were not nearly so violent as the great waves that had swept the decks when she first struck; and the men were able to move about in comparative safety by watching their opportunity.
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