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It is only when the time of trial comes, when the volunteers are called to man the boat that is to venture through the wild seas to pick off the crew of a foundering wreck, "when the jerking, slatting sail overhead must be got in somehow," though topmast and yard and sail may go any minute, when the quailing mate or frightened captain dares not order men to all but certain death, and still less dares to lead, then it is, when the lives of all hang on the heroism of one, that the good blood will assert itself.
In the beginning of this storm our ship sprung a leak, and let in so much water that all our people, officers included, were employed continually in working the pumps, and the next day we had the vexation to see the Gloucester with her topmast once more by the board, and whilst we were viewing her with great concern for this new distress we saw her main-topmast, which had hitherto served as a jury mainmast, share the same fate.
Everything in the stern of the ship was dry, and in pretty good order, and the water had not hurt the provisions much. So he took some biscuits, and ate them as he looked about, and drank some rum, and then he felt better, and stronger, and more fit to begin work. First of all, he took a few large spars of wood, and a spare topmast or two, that were on the deck.
Immediately after breakfast on the following morning, therefore, Billy and I climbed aboard the cutter, hoisted the Yorkshire Lass's ensign to her topmast head, suspended a bottle of wine one of the very few that we had left from her stem head, and then, leaving Billy aboard, I descended to the ground, removing the ladder by which we had ascended.
The foremast alone remained, and of this even the head was gone, a circumstance of which Captain Truck complained more than of any other, as, to use his own expressions, "it destroyed the symmetry of the spar, which had proved itself to be a good stick." What, however, was of more real importance, it rendered it difficult, if not impossible, to get up a spare topmast forward.
"Well," he replied, "when I sat down to steer the course you gave brought a bright star right over the topmast head and that's what I started to steer by. It's a perfect marvel what a game these heavenly bodies play. We must be in some place like Alice in Wonderland.
The sun was sinking behind the western hills. As the last beams faded from the gilded vane of Christ Church, they heard the beating of drums and the shrill piping of boatswain's whistles on the decks of the warships. A cannon flashed on the bastion of the Castle, and the boom of the gun rolled far away as the Cross of St. George descended from flagstaff and topmast to be furled for the night.
We stayed here but three days; the fourth after our departure a most dreadful storm arose, which in a few hours destroyed all our sails, splintered our bowsprit, and brought down our topmast; it fell directly upon the box that enclosed our compass, which, with the compass, was broken to pieces.
So I went to work, and with a carpenter’s saw I cut a spare topmast into three lengths, and added them to my raft, with a great deal of labour and pains. But the hope of furnishing myself with necessaries encouraged me to go beyond what I should have been able to have done upon another occasion. My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight.
"Did it, by the great horn spoon!" shouted he delightedly; and even as he spoke we saw the white splinters fly from the frigate's mainmast- head; the topmast swayed aft, tottered for a moment, and came down by the run! The delight of our men every soul of whom was by this time on deck was a sight to see!
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