CHAPTER XIV.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 24, 24 December 1874, Page 7

CHAPTER XIV.

THE " FRIENDS • AT SEA. The grey dawn had little more than broken when the Friends got clear of the Broomielaw, and began to drop down the river. She had not tp pass the miles of shipping and long line.s of building yards which now lie between the harbour and the river, fox. these at that time had no existanc.p. ' Tbe village pf Govan was a quiet rurzjl place, and Partick was little move, while immediately beyond lay the banks on either hand, silent and solitary, green fields, and woods, spreading down to the very edge of the river. All hands kept on deck till Glasgow

was left some distance behind, though,

as the gentle morning breeze was fair ' for the voyage down, there was not much work needing to be done. It required some skilful direction and some nicety of steering to keep the channel through the windings of the narrow Clyde— narrow^ at Jeast, a? the part they were jiow navigatipg ; and the mate had to keep a close and steady watch to prevent the yessel from grounding — an event which, if it had occurred, would have, proved peculiarly dangerous. It would not, indeed, have been a yery serious matter in itself, involying at the worst but a few hour's delay, and possibly the removal of the cargo till the ship was light enough to float ; but to. those in charge of the Friends this would have been nothing short of a catastrophe, fftr it wpujd have resulted in the discoyery that the yes§el had no , cargo on board, that the hold— ingtead

* vof containing the webs of calico which r^ Dalgleish and Gillespie and other manufacturers had sent for shipment, and

which had been duly showed there — had ..* nothing but ia quantity of stones, gravel, and sand. Thus a fatal discovery would be made at tho. very outset, and the crime committed, us well as that anticipated, would be brought to light. Most important, therefore, was it that the ship should be kept safely in the fairway so long as they were passing down the narrows of the river, and the Captain as well as the mate remained pn the poop, watchful and vigilant. But no sooner did the stream begin to widen, and the apprehended danger almost pass away, then the captain said, with a lpng yawr, " I think I'll turn in now, Bannatyne, for I'm devilish sleepy." " Not to be wondered at, seeing as how you haven't been in your berth all night," returned $c mat e. " I wish you had, though. There was no need j£ for more than one of us being astir, and you would now have been able to relieve me, foy I feel knockeq up bit too, I could not leaye the deck, knowing the ticklish work that was being done. ' 4 it was going, beyond our usual venture, 1 you know." " In course it was, but what folly to send good stuff to the bottom. You and I, captain, as well as all concerned, would have been richer to-day had we saved the former cargoes as we have

done this one."

" But the risk, man, the risk,. Suppose we had been seen discharging the cargo, and having it stowed away in M'-Dougai's stores." " Pooh, who was to see us ? the good burgesses of (Glasgow are douce, sleeptaking people, and never §tir abroad after ten, so we had the Broomjelaw all to ourselves, and were not long in getting through with the job. M'Dougal and Menzies managed their part of the work bravely."

"Ob, yes," rejoined the captain, '.* nothing pould have been better, only \_ I thought it best to walk the deck all % -*the time, for I was anything but easy I can tell you. However, we are all right now, and with good luck we'll manage this venture as successfully as the former ones." " How far shall we go ?" asked the ipaate, in a low tone. "To the old spot west, of Ailsa Craig." " Oh, farther ; we could not founder * twice at the same spot — that would look suspicious. I mean to run well out to sea this time." " Ah, I guessed' as much when we i victualled so heavily. But we needn't j go further than we can help. What's the use of running far when we have j only to return." " Only to avert suspicion, Dan, and our share this, time is. so good that we can afford to take a pretty long trip.""We could afford it better, if this * wasn't such a rotten old hulk of a thing," growled the mate. "If we come into a * sea she'll roll like a tub, and itf s my belief that if caught in a hurricane she'll ptrt her timbers and go to the bottom without any help." "So much the better," laughed the captain, "if wu can save our lives. But, I say, Dan, speak lower— ijhere is that fellow Jeff watching us. 'Tis a thousand pities you trusted him." "Couldn't hjlp.it," answered Dan. '/ He came to hive a suspicion somehow, and I thourht it best to secure him by taking hin. into confidence. He I has proved useful, too, for we couldn't I have got through last night's, work I without him." * " Still," mutteret, the captain, " I hate the thought ot any of the crew being privy to our design. Nothing | like utter secrecy. Ye are not safe I with the secret in his keeping. He may L""

blab in his grog, or be tempted to betray us for a price." " Hum, I have thought of that," said the mate, slowly. " I think he'll see it to be for his interest to keep faithful ; but as you say, captain, we are in his power, and — it mjght be as well to send him down with the ship." The captain §h#ddered. " We have never gone so far as that yet, Dan," he huskily said. " Because we didn't nee<L And Jeff has broqght the fate upon himself by prying into things that didn't concern him. Besides, the loss of one of the crew will look all the better, for us, for I haye more than once heard it talked of as strange that, for as often as we have lost our ships, all hands never failed to be saved.' 1

" Ha ! is that considered suspicious ?" said the captain, knitting his brows. " Then, as you say, the loss of Jeff might be both safe and politic. However, Dan, it's time enough to think of such a thing. Yonder is the old Castle of Dumbarton, and all fear of grounding is over 5 so, as I said before, I'll turn in and have a snoose."

Saying which the captain quitted the Eqpp and descended to his cabin, in the irth of which he was soon snugly ensconced and fast asleep.

As the day advanced the vessel made, satisfactory progress down the Firth, the imposing scenery of which opened up in all it? striking features. The lofty hills of Argyleshire on the right, with blue lochs stretching away between the openings ; and on the right the town of Greenock with the tamer coast of Renfrew and Ayr. By-and-by the islands of Bute and the Cumbraes, the peaks of Arran, and the conical form pf Ailsa Craig came into view. By dint of tacking and beating about the little vessel was worn past these various land-marks, and by the following day they had got so well out to sea under a favourable wiqd that the coast both of Scotland and Ireland lay low upon the horizon.

Then away sped the doomed ship into the blue immensity of the mighty Atlantic on what was designed to be her last voyage. She was in truth what the mate had cqlled her— --a rotten, worn-out hulk ; for by many a storm had she been buffeted, and for many years had she skimmed the wave and floated on the tide. Even now she was freshened up with paint and varnish, which hid her infirmities from superficial eyes ; but in this respect, she might be likened to a lamb wreathed for the sacrifice, for ere long it was meant that she should find a restingplace on the rocky floor of the ocean, and be lost for ever to mortal view.

And how, it may be asked, is it fairing with our two friends on board of her — Jack Blossom and Charles Wingate ? It was not disguised from themselves, and it cannot be unknown to the reader, that the position they had assumed was a very critical and dangerous one. Should anything occur to raise a suspicion in the mind of the captain or the mate of the object they had in view, their death might be looked npon as certain. Both were fully aware of this, and it made them wary and guarded. As yet they had escaped the danger arising from Charles' nautical inefiiciency. He had been able to do his share of the work devolving on the crew in such a manner as not to produce the idea that he was other than a sailor. Many a slip he had made which was instantly detected and as instantly covered by the watchful attention of Jack, who, under the influence of a ceaseless anxiety, was ever at his elbow, ready to prompt and direct him. The youth's own natural quickness of apprehension and the solicitude under which he himself laboured made him a speedy learner, and in a few days he was as free, active, and correct in his motions as any other members of the crew, to the great relief, satisfaction, and admiration of Jack, who hoped now that, unless any special emergency should arise, there was little danger to be apprehended from this particular cause.

Not for one moment, did they forget the purpose which had brought them there; and from the time the Friends had reached the open sea, they kept incessant watch ou the motions of the captain and the mate, so that, should any foul play be perpetrated, they should be witnesses of it. In doing" this they had to be particularly careful not to draw upon them the attention of Jeff, who alone of all the crew seemed to have any knowledge of the captain's criminal intention. It cost no small effort on Jack's part to be civil and pleasant in his intercourse with Jeff ; but as it would have been the height of folly, and endangered the safety both of Charles and himself, to treat him as his feelings dictated, he had to smother his anger and keep on good terms with him, though often enough, when he thought of his attempt to rob May of the diamond ring, he felt his fist instinctively doubling itself to knock him, down.

For several days after they had lost sight of land, Jack and Charles noticed the captain and mate often together on the poop keenly surveying, the ocean which spread around, them in shoreless immensity ; and as they stood thus together their conversation was carried on in whispers, and their looks were furtive, as if they dreaded being overheard.

£ I know what they are on the out-

look for," whispered Jack to his com : panion. " What V* asked the other.

" A sail. And when they see one heave in sight, if she's a likely craft, they'll do the job right off." " A likely craft ?" repeated Charles. " What do you mean by that ? ""Why, a ship as will pick us up after we take to tbe boats. They'll never risk it in the open sea without that; and there ain't a sail in sight anywhere. That's what's bothering them."

These words were exchanged privately as they went about their work on the deck, and cast a swift but unnoticed glance occasionally at the two worthies on the poop. The work on board the Frie.nds was extremely light, and they had many an idle hour, which they spent together in as quiet a part of the ship as they could find, the theme of their conversation at these timesJbeing generally the delightful one of May. It was a sweet delicious joy to Charles to talk of her and of his' love for her ; and to Jack it was no less a delight to. hear her praises sounded, her beauty lauded, her goodness extolled. '" Ay, ay, Charley, lad," Jack would often remark, " though I says ib that you may think shouldn't say it, May is as pretty a girl and as good a girl as the sun shines on. And it is to be hoped that it is shining on her this very minute, bless her dear little heart. You've had great luck, Charley, in winning her heart, I can tell you." ''And don't I know it?" Charles would return, with a bright smile. In response to this Jack was inwardly moved tp say, " No you don't," but he only grinned a pleasant grin, and nodded his head very sagaciously. Before ha had come to know Charles Wingate thoroughly he was a}armed when he saw that the young folks were falling in love. And considering who May was, it was very natural that he should. In some respects he was more anxious on the point than if she had bet-n his own daughter, and he resolved at once that if the young man was not everything that was good he would interpose to prevent-an. ill-assorted union, even if he should have to make known May's existence at Beechwood. Very soon, as the character of Charles showed itself, his doubts vanished, and he was satisfied that not only would May be made happy by becoming his wife, but that, even if his birth was not so good as hers, he would be able to place and keep her in a respectable and honorable position. Thus the consequence of the strange, and as he had first thought, the rash course he had taken in concealing her existence from her relatives promised to be satisfactory, and Jack was content. How much more than content would he have been had he known Charles' secret, but the time for this had not yet come.

As day after day passed without a vessel coming in sight, the concern of Captain Duncan and the mate visibly increased, They were now sufficiently far from land to carry their project into execution, but the opportunity did not present itself, and the voyage was being unnecessarily prolonged. They kept a general course for the port to which they were bound, but anything like a direct route was not adhered to. They thought none of the crew would observe the wide stretches of divergence that were taken ; but Jack, who had made many voyages to South America, knew well enough that the due course was not followed, and that they were not so far from Europe as they should have been if their voyage had been bona fide. He silently noted the circumstance, and quietly imparted his knowledge to Charles as a corroboration of their suspicions. They had as yet experienced only fair weather and moderate winds, but one night Charles was suddenly roused from sleep by Jack with the information that a storm had risen, and that all hands had been summoned on deck. For some moments Charles was too confused to realise anything, but when he sprang from his berth and went rolling on the floor, he discovered that the vess3l was pitching violently ; then he heard the dashing of the waves against the side and the roar of the wind among the sails aloft, and knew that they were in the midst of a hurricane.

When they ascended to the deck the night was dark and wild, the captain and the mate were both at their posts, and sharp orders were being given for the taking in of some of the sails and the reefing of others. Jack was dreadfully alarmed for Charles, as in obedience to one of these orders he and the youth sprang together into the rigging. There was but a moment or two for him to give directions and utter a word of caution than they were up the shrouds and exposed to the full fury of the tempest.

Charles was dizzy and bewildered, and his heart beat fast and strong as he clung to the yards to keep himself from being blown away. It was not only the strength of the wind he had to contend with, but the motion of the vessel as she rolled upon the waves, and lay over till it seemed as if her keel was nearly out of the water.

His head swam, his frame grew nerveless, and all he could do was instinctively to hold on, oblivious of the fact that he was not executing the order given, and that his failure to do so was endangering the safety of the ship.

The captain yelled furiously through his trumpet, and a dark form sprang to the youth's side. It was Jack, who had' done his part of the order, and had come to his assistance.

" For God sake, Charley, keep cool and steady," Jack said, in hoarse tones, at the same moment loosing the rope which the other ought to have unfastened ; and the large sails flew down with thundering rattle, just in time to save the ship from going helplessly on her beam ends. The falling of the sail eased her so suddenly and so greatly that she bounded up with a terrific lurch, which would inevitably have cast Charles headlong from his place had not Jack, who knew what was coming, clasped him in his arms and held him tenaciously. How they regained the deck the youth hardly knew, but he was fully conscious that but for the other he would have perished.

As day broke the storm increased in violence, and the schooner, under bare poles, flew before the wind, no attempt being made to keep any particular course. The increasing light showed the ocean lashed into foam, and tossed into mountainous billows, each as it came threatening to engulph them. A more magnificent and more awful scene Charles had never witnessed. Had not the sense of their danger and helplessness been so overwhelming, the sublimity of the spectacle would have affected him with, solemn admiration. At one time they were in the trough of the sea, with a lofty foam-coped wall on both sides, then in a moment they were caught up to the crest of the advancing billow ; and as for an instant they remained poised there, the surface of the sea was revealed ploughed deep with moving furrows, each capacious enough to bury a larger ship than that in which they were. The faces of all were white with fear, those of the captain and mate, were actually livid ; Jeff also, who shared in their guilt, shook like an aspan leaf, as his craven countenance betrayed every sign of terror. In the pauses of the hurricane, and as the ship pitched from one side to the other, a strange lumbering sound was heard in the hold as of hard and heavy objects being rolled about. These sounds Jack could not understand, for the cargo, being calicoes, could not shift, and, being soft, could not knock so violently against the timbers. But the captain, the mate, and Jeff knew what was meant, and the knowledge added to their dismay. The stones and gravel which they had placed in the hold in lieu of the cargo, which they had surreptitiously removed were being dashed to and fro by the rolling of the ship, and that with a violence which must soon knock a hole in the bottom. Then would their own deed be anticipated, but with tragic consequences, for all on board," as well as the vessel, would go to the bottom. Nor could they do anything to preyent the issue, for the moment they opened the hold, the crew would discover that there was no cargo there ; indeed, they noticed wondering looks on several faces already, which they hastened to change by intimating that besides the calicoes, the cargo consisted of bars of iron.

"Then hadn't we better secure them ?" suggested Jack Blossom, for the crisis was such as to warrant anybody making a suggestion who, had one to offer. " Can't be done," said the captain, curtly. <c Tf we knock off the hatches the seas will get in, and down we go." As this contingency was probable enough, Jack's idea was abandoned, but he was by no means satisfied with the explanation which had been given of the rattling noises. Bars of iron, he thought, would never roll in that fashion, for the bales of calico pressing* on them from above would keep them in their place. The larger sails being now close reefed, and only so much of the smaller ones set as kept the vessel before the wind, she flew in wild distraction over the waves, whither, those on board knew not and hardly cared, the utmost efforts of everyone being required to keep him from being blown into the sea. The utmost hope they cherished was that the ship might float, though that seemed hardly, possible, considering the way in which she was being pitched and tossed about — sometimes her prow, sometimes her stern being raised on the slope of a billow, and' each time she sunk into the valley between, they expected to be finally engulphed. Nor was any help within view, for as far as the eye could reach over the stormy waters, not a vessel was to be discerned. The mighty Atlantic rolled on every side, and their puny bark seemed the sole sport of its fury.

Jack had lashed Charles and himself to the foremast, and there they stood awaiting the issue, and thinking, not without bitterness, of the fate which was so darkly. in prospect. This was. a sad and unlooked-for ending tp the adventure in which they had voluntarily engaged, and on his own account, but still more on that of his companion, whom he had induced to ' accompany him, Charles deeply regretted his resolution to venture in such a perilous enterprise.

"Jack, it is I who have brought this upon you," he said, in tones of selfreproach and strong emotion. " Don't go for to think anything o' that sort, Charlie, my lad," responded Jack. " I'm a sailor, and always, laid

my account with going to Davy Jones some time or other. It's worse for you than for me. I'm an old battered hulk, and ain't worth much, but you are little more nor off the stocks, and ought to have had many a good voyage to make. Howsomever, it mayn't be so bad as we think. The crazy old craft is holding out better than I believed it would.

" Ah, Jack, Jack, 1 know you don't really think that," returned Charles. " You speak thus only to cheer me. But I can read the truth in the faces of the test. Look at the captain ; there's no hope in his countenance, nor in the mate's either — tor they are both the very picture of despair ; and as for that scoundrel Jeff, he's like a condemned felon about to be hung."

" It's their guilt, Charley ; it's their guilt gs makes them so white in the gills. You know their log-book ain't clean. I don't set up for being all right and tight in that matter either, only Itrusts to the Great Captain to pardon my shortcomings and take me aloft, and so I try to feel a bit o' hope in this storm ; but if I had as foul a locker as they carry in their breasts I couldn't dare to carry sail any more than they do."

a Ay, true enough, Jack, if our suspicions be well founded." " Charley," said Jack impressively, " it's worse nor we thought."

" Worse !" repeated the youth, with a startled and inquiring look. " How worse '?"

" Why, we haven't got any cargo aboard — neither calicoes nor anything else — nothing but ballast. Them's big stones we hear rolling in the hold."

" Nonsense," exclaimed Charles, with a ghastly stare.

" May I never taste grog again or chew another quid if I'm wrong. But I know it by the way she rolls and bobs about in the waves."

" But they loaded at the Broomielaw!" said Charles, in dubious astonishment.

"So they did ■, but mightn't they have unloaded the night afore we sailed ? Now that I begin to think of it, they had a meaning for keeping us out o' the ship till the moment for weighing anchor. Depend upon it, Charley, if we could have a peep under them hatches you'd see I am right. Ha ! Charley, we are down."This last exclamation was forced from Jack's lips by the tremendous sea which at the instant swept the deck. The ship staggered and reeled, then went down, down with an awful rush. In that dread moment the friends sought each other's cand, and pressed it in a final farewell ; and the thoughts of each resting for a mO^uent on the dear ones at home, they breathed a prayer for mercy to the God before whom they expected immediately to appear. (To be continued.)