With Cochrane the Dauntless

ain Pinder examined the chronometers a

Greenwich time as they now stand, and

id, "I have bought these not

h things have been found here under circumstances that leave no doubt that the crew of the ship to which they belonged have been massacred, and the ship herself burned. No doubt owners of vessels that have been missing will ca

m back again, sir, of cou

lue. However, they may never be claimed. Owners whose ships are missing, and who have re

watch and this bag of money. I suppose the chest belonged to the capta

Two hundred guineas," he went on, when they had finished; "well, that is about the

ey, and ought to be divided in the same way. I don't mind keeping the gold watch just now, but if we find out the name of the sh

t for the present. We will talk [pg 52]the matter over again later on; there is no occasion to come to any decision about it. At present it is entirely yours. I don't think that you have any right to give up a sum of money like this without, at any rate, very careful consideration. It is a sum that, divided up into shares, would give but a very small amount to each on board, while it might be of the most material service to you some day or ot

urse, do as you wish. Shall I

being missing, and there is no need for any secrecy about it. I shall also mention the money to the officers; they will appreci

pg 53]the captain says, it is astonishing what little things upset sailors' minds. They might take it into their head that as you got two hundred pounds in that hut there might be a lot more, and they would be wanting to land and to turn the village upside down, and there would be bloodshed and all sorts of trouble. The old saying, 'Least said, soonest mended', comes in here strongly. We have, so far, got on very well with the natives this voyage, and I hope that we shall continue to do so to the end. I quite allow that we should all of us be glad to give a sharp lesson to that village ashore. They have been plunderi

ere given to weigh anchor. Steve saw how rightly the captain had foreseen what was likely to hap

it, lads?

ike enough, they had been murdering and looting some vessel here; and, for aught we know, the place may be full of [pg 54]plunder of some sort or another, and that, may be, there are twenty or thirty other seamen's chests there, and othe

ne here, I think we should have seen more signs of it among the natives who have come out to the ship or on shore. There would have been more trade goods about-handkerchiefs, and beads, and so on, and they would not have been anxious to trade with us. At any rate, there are no grounds for attacking a village that has, during the last three or four days, traded peacefully with us, as they have done on several different occasions when I have put in here. Even if there were no other reason, I should refuse to allow them to be attacked, because the news of the affair would spread from island to island, and next time we were in these seas we should do no tr

usual briskness and willingness. However, before the ship had been man

d have been a good deal more trouble than there was. It would have been no good to tell them that, no doubt, it was the ship's money. Sailors are like children; they would have argued that if you could obtain two hundred pounds from o

iled for years under the skipper; still, there would have been great discontent and grumbling, and if there happened to

t, sir," S

is always best to avoid anything that, even remotely, is likely to set sailors talking together. All crews are not as trustworthy as the Tiger's, and [pg 56

ll island when Joyce, the eldest apprentice, who was exami

some sort, sir, in am

eyes with his hand. "I see it plainly en

he captain, who came out and exa

n two. Anyhow, as we have hardly steerage way, we shall lose no time by sending to find out what ship she is. Mr. Towel, you might as well lower the gig. Take six men; let them all take muskets and pistols with them. As Mr. Joyce was the first to make her out he may as w

t was l

t. "It is Mr. Archer's turn; but as he had got a touch of fever this morni

hen said, and, running below, sh

e boat?" the captain asked the ma

sir," he said as one of the

, and I don't altogether like the colour of the sky now. But if there are no signs of change aloft, and you see the natives have not been near the place, give a look round beyond the rocks for anything that might show

em; but from the way she has been thrown up I should doubt whe

d the two apprentices sat aft. They were some three miles from shore. There was a ripple on the water, but the wind was very light. Ther

the boat of there being any swell on at all, and yet the vessels at anchor outside were rolling almost gunwale under. Still, I would rather that we had not got it,

they approached the wreck. "You see there are black heads sticking out of the water all round, and it must have been a t

e exclaimed at this moment, "I

, men, and you in the bow keep a sharp look-out on the water. If we were to come bow-on

aptain's conjecture was correct. The ship had broken her back, having, as she was carried in on the crest of a great wave, dropped on a sharp ledge of rocks about amidships. The sea had rushed in

apparently far out of reach of the water, lay a quantity of wreckage, splinter

. "The waves, you see, have rushed in through the stern windows, and have made a clean sweep of everything. Half the de

ey were standing. The bales were all marked with the ship's name. There were no signs of casks or boxes, these had doubtless been smashed into splinters. Among the wreckage five

swept the decks clean and finished them all at one blow. In the next place, if by a miracle any of them did get safely ashore, you may be sure that they would have buried their comrades the next morning. You see, it is sand up there where the wreck

them if any of the crew had gained the shore, that they had paid no attention whatever to the weather. A great change had taken place since

is not a moment to be lost. There is a storm bre

the water, got into the

." Another gun was fired from the ship as he spoke. "Steady, men, steady!" he said; "you can row a

t the mate's orders, the two apprentices and the sailors in th

, as he looked ahead. "There is another gun! It is getting darker

fire guns every minute or two, and it was well s

ill come, sir?" Stephen, who

will lay her bones by that wreck behind us. We can't be above a mile away from her by

were conscious of

f of wind from behind rippled the water round them and then died away again. "Row, lads," the

rang forward at every stroke. They could hea

ing her round. They have just hoisted the boat up. He has got the little storm-ji

ut a hundred yards from the ship when the roar rose into a wild scream

ed. "Throw yourselves flat in

e been lying motionless she would probably have sunk like a stone under the force of the blow. As it was she leapt forward like a horse under a spur. They passed but half a length or so from the ship. The latter had not yet gathered way, but lay pressed down until her bow was well

s all up with us. As you go along tell each man to shift himself a bit more aft. Her stern must be well down or I can never keep her straight.

his hand to him to say that that would do for the present. The man, however, prepared the sail ready for hoisting, rolling it up tightly and winding a cord round and round it; then he hooked the head on to the traveller on the mast, and lay down at its foot, holding the halliard in readiness to ho

y were extremely buoyant, their lines resembling those of the surf-boats on the west coasts of India and Africa, while their deep keels enabled them to sail close to the wind. The men chafed sometimes when, on their way

rry all sail, while you would not dare show a shred of canvas. It makes no difference to me whether I get to shore five minutes earlier or later; properly handled, the smallest of m

eptible, and the boat flew along faster than before. The men were now sitting up in the bottom of the boat; they knew that the battle with the storm had as yet scarcely begun, and that when the sea once got up they would have a terrible time of it. In an ordinary ship's-boat the prospect would have been absolutely hopeless; but the Norwegian pilot-boats-whose model the captain had pretty closely followed-are able successfully to ride out the heaviest gale in the North Sea, and the mate and the two apprentices, the latter of whom had often heard from Captain Pinder, with whom the matter was a pet hobby, of the wonderful

like this?" S

lied in a [pg 64]similar tone of voice. "I dare

ss in the locker

ate n

orm is over, but would not help

nd almost chuck her into the air, then she would sink between two masses of water, that looked as if they would tumble over and fill her, then she would dash head-forward at a wave that rose suddenly in front of her. For a time it seemed to all on boa

them, and there were no signs of an abatement, when,

e breaker

wave they could see a line of white foam ahead of them as

break in the line, Wi

. A minute later he turned and shouted something to the man next t

f, sir; it is a

the thwarts," the mate shou

a momentary lull in the

nce is to go in on the top of a wave. The instant we touch the groun

the edge of th

deep and check her w

the waves curled over and fell with a roar like thunder on the beach. Two o

! row for

igher behind them-it looked almost as steep as a wall-and an involun

!" the ma

h a crash, and in a moment they were shooting along with th

o jump!" the

was understood. They were flying up a steep slope, when

if you can; every ma

the rush of the water, then the boat became

gether before the ne

and all uttered a fervent thanksgiving for their preservation from what had seemed almost certain death. The mate was the first to move. He went to the side of the boat, and began to take double handfuls of sand, and to throw them into her. The others looked at him in surprise, but he made signs that the wind might lift the boat up, whirl her round, and dash her to pieces; then all set to at the work, which they continued until the boat was half-full of sand. Then the two barrels of water were carried up, together with a

themselves on the sand and were soon fast asleep, utterly

t breaking. The mate was th

aid, "we must have had twelve h

t lay where they had left it, securely anchored by the weight of the sand it contained. Their next glance was inland. For a quarter of a mile away the sand covered everything, then a few bushes rose from it; beyond were some stunted trees, and a hundr

" Stephen asked, as the mate st

we started, for we are sure to have gone round and round several times in the first hour or two. The island we were at, was some fifty or sixty miles from the coast of Sumatra, and possibly it is there that we have been cast ashore; but, on the other hand, we may have gone quite in another direction. Anyhow, there is no denyi

ne, and then they w

k has started the butts of three planks on one side, and two on the ot

was

rtight, but we might caulk them up with pitch or gum from some of the trees. But that is not the first thing to think of; it is no use having a boat if we have not food or water to put into her. These biscuits would last us two or

I noticed that Timor lay to the south of where we were then, and I

a store enough we might venture upon making a start. You see, we must keep well off the land, for if we were made out from any of the coast villages, we should have one of their craft after us in no time; but, in any case, I should say we had better sta