About the time that Captain Bream was slowly recovering from the fever by which he had been stricken down, a disaster occurred out on the North Sea, in connection with the Short Blue, which told powerfully on some of the men of that fleet. This was nothing less than the wreck of the Evening Star.
The weather looked very unsettled the morning on which David Bright’s turn came about to quit the fleet and sail for port. He had flown the usual flag to intimate his readiness to convey letters, etcetera, on shore, and had also, with a new feeling of pride, run up his Bethel-Flag to show his true colours, as he said, and to intimate his willingness to join with Christian2 friends in a parting hymn3 and prayer.
Some had availed themselves of the opportunity, and, just before starting, the Evening Star ran close to the mission smack4.
“Lower the boat, Billy,” said the skipper to his son as they sat in the cabin.
“Ay, ay, daddy.”
There was a kindliness6 now in the tone of David Bright’s voice when he spoke7 to Billy that drew out the heart of that urchin8 as it had never been drawn9 out before, save by his mother’s soft voice, and which produced a corresponding sweetness in the tones of the boy—for “love begets10 love.”
The mission skipper received his visitor with unwonted heartiness11.
“I pray the Lord to give you a good time on shore, David,” he said, as they went down to the cabin, where some of the other skippers were having a chat and a cup of coffee.
“He’ll do that,” said David. “He did it last time. My dear missis could scarce believe her ears when I told her I was converted, or her eyes when she saw the Bethel-flag and the temperance pledge.”
“Praise the Lord!” exclaimed two or three of those present, with deep sincerity12, as David thus referred to his changed condition.
“I can’t bide13 with ’ee, lads,” said David, “for time’s up, but before startin’ I would like to have a little prayer with ’ee, an’ a hymn to the Master’s praise.”
We need not say that they were all ready to comply. After concluding, they saw him into his boat, and bade him God-speed in many a homely14 but hearty15 phrase.
“Good-bye, skipper; fare ye well, Billy; the Lord be with ’ee, Joe.”
John Gunter was not omitted in the salutations, and his surly spirit was a little, though not much, softened16 as he replied.
“Fare ye well, mates,” shouted David, as he once more stood on his own deck, and let his vessel17 fall away. A toss of the hand followed the salutation. Little Billy echoed the sentiment and the toss, and in a few minutes the Evening Star was making her way out of the fleet and heading westward18.
The night which followed was wild, and the wind variable. Next day the sun did not show itself at all till evening, and the wind blew dead against them. At sunset, red and lurid19 gleams in the west, and leaden darkness in the east, betokened20 at the best unsteady weather.
Little did these bold mariners21, however, regard such signs—not that they were reckless, but years of experience had accustomed them to think lightly of danger—to face and overcome it with equanimity22. In addition to his native coolness, David Bright had now the mighty23 power of humble24 trust in God to sustain him.
It still blew hard when they drew near to land, but the wind had changed its direction, blowing more on the shore, and increasing at last to a gale25 which lined the whole coast with breakers. Before the Evening Star could find refuge in port, night had again descended26. Unfortunately it was one of the darkest nights of the season, accompanied with such blinding sleet27 that it became a difficult matter to distinguish the guiding lights.
“A dirty night, Billy,” said David Bright, who himself held the tiller.
“Ay, father, it’ll be all the pleasanter when we get home.”
“True, lad; the same may be said of the heavenly home when the gales28 of life are over. D’ee see the light, boy?”
“No, father, not quite sure. Either it’s not very clear, or the sleet an’ spray blinds me.”
“‘Let the lower lights be burning,’” murmured the skipper, as a tremendous wave, which seemed about to burst over them, rushed beneath the stern, raising it high in the air. “You see the meanin’ o’ that line o’ the hymn now, Billy, though you didn’t when your dear mother taught it you. Bless her heart, her patience and prayers ha’ done it all.”
For some minutes after this there was silence. The men of the Evening Star were holding on to shroud29 or belaying-pin, finding shelter as best they could, and looking out anxiously for the “lower lights.”
“There’ll be some hands missin’, I doubt, in the Short Blue fleet to-morrow, father,” remarked Billy, with a solemn look.
“Likely enough; God have mercy on ’em,” returned Bright. “It wasn’t a much stiffer gale than this, not many years gone by, when twenty-seven smacks30 foundered31, and a hundred and eighty souls were called to stand before their Maker32.”
As David spoke a sullen33 roar of breaking water was heard on the port bow. They had been slightly misled, either by their uncertainty34 as to the position of the true lights, or by some false lights on shore. At all events, whatever the cause, they were at that moment driving towards one of the dangerous sand-banks in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth. The course of the smack was instantly changed, but it was too late. Almost before an order could be given she struck heavily, her main-mast went over the side, carrying part of the mizzen along with it. At the same time a wave broke just astern, and rushed over the deck, though happily not with its full force.
Even in that moment of disaster the bold fishermen did not quail35. With their utmost energy indeed, but without confusion, they sprang to the boat which, although lifted, had not been washed away. Accustomed to launch it in all weathers, they got it into the water, and, almost mechanically, Ned Spivin and Gunter tumbled into it, while Joe Davidson held on to the painter. Billy Bright was about to follow, but looking back shouted, “Come along, father!” David, however, paid no attention to him. He still stood firmly at the tiller guiding the wreck, which having been lifted off, or over the part of the sand on which she had struck, was again plunging36 madly onward37.
A few moments and one of those overwhelming seas which even the inexperienced perceive to be irresistible38, roared after the disabled vessel. As it reached her she struck again. The billow made a clean sweep over her. Everything was carried away. The boat was overturned, the stout39 painter snapped, and the crew left struggling in the water.
But what of the people on shore when this terrible scene was being enacted40? They were not entirely41 ignorant of it. Through driving sleet and spray they had seen in the thick darkness something that looked like a vessel in distress42. Soon the spectral43 object was seen to advance more distinctly out of the gloom. Well did the fishermen know what that meant, and, procuring44 ropes, they hastened to the rescue, while spray, foam45, sand, and even small pebbles46, were swept up by the wild hurricane and dashed in their faces.
Among the fishermen was a young man whose long ulster and cap told that he was a landsman, yet his strength, and his energy, were apparently47 equal to that of the men with whom he ran. He carried a coil of thin rope in his left hand. With the right he partly shielded his eyes.
“They’ll be certain to strike here,” cried one of the fishermen, whose voice was drowned in the gale, but whose action caused the others to halt.
He was right. The vessel was seen to strike quite close, for the water was comparatively deep.
“She’s gone,” exclaimed the young man already referred to, as the vessel was seen to be overwhelmed.
He flung off his top-coat as he spoke, and, making one end of the small line fast round his waist, ran knee-deep into the water. Some of the fishermen acted in a somewhat similar fashion, for they knew well that struggling men would soon be on the shore.
They had not to wait long, for the crew of the Evening Star were young and strong, and struggled powerfully for their lives. In a few minutes the glaring eyes of Zulu appeared, and the young man of the ulster made a dash, caught him by the hair, and held on. It seemed as if the angry sea would drag both men back into its maw, but the men on the beach held on to the rope, and they were dragged safely to land.
A cheer on right and left told that others were being rescued. Then it became known who the wrecked48 ones were.
“It’s the Evening Star!” exclaimed one.
“Poor David!” said another.
Then the cry was raised, “Have ’ee got little Billy?”
“Ay, here he comes!” shouted a strange voice.
It was that of the youth of the ulster, who now stood waist-deep eagerly stretching out his hands towards an object with which the wild waves seemed to sport lovingly. It was indeed little Billy, his eyes closed, his face white, and his curly yellow hair tossing in the foam, but he made no effort to save himself; evidently the force of the sea and perhaps the cold had been too much for his slight frame to bear.
Twice did the young man make a grasp and miss him. To go deeper in would have perhaps insured his own destruction. The third time he succeeded in catching49 the boy’s hair; the men on shore hauled them in, and soon little Billy lay on the beach surrounded by anxious fishermen.
“Come, mates,” said one, in a deep voice, “let’s carry him to his mother.”
“Not so,” said the young man who had rescued Billy, and who had only lain still for a moment where he had fallen to recover breath. “Let him lie. Undo50 his necktie, one of you.”
While he spoke he was busy making a tight roll of his own coat which he immediately placed under the shoulders of Billy, and proceeded at once to attempt to restore breathing by one of the methods of resuscitating51 the drowned.
The fishermen assisted him, some hopefully, some doubtfully, a few with looks of disbelief in the process. The youth persevered52, however, with unflagging patience, well knowing that half-drowned people have been restored after nearly an hour of labour.
“Who is he?” inquired one fisherman of another, referring to the stranger.
“Don’t you know him, mate?” asked the other in surprise.
“No, I’ve just come ashore53, you know.”
“That’s Mr Dalton, the young banker, as takes such a lift o’ the temp’rance coffee-taverns an’ Blue-Ribbon movement.”
“He’s comin’-to, sir!” exclaimed a voice eagerly.
This had reference to little Billy, whose eyelids54 had been seen to quiver, and who presently heaved a sigh.
“Fetch my coat,” said Dalton. “He will indeed be restored, thank God.”
The big ulster was brought. Billy was carefully wrapped up in it, and one of the stoutest55 among his fisher friends lifted him in his arms and bore him off to his mother.
“Have all the others been rescued?” inquired Dalton, eagerly, when Billy had been carried away.
No one could answer the question. All knew that some of the Evening Star’s crew had been saved, but they could not say how many.
“They’ve bin5 taken to the Sailor’s Home, sir,” said one man.
“Then run up like a good fellow and ask if all are safe,” said Dalton. “Meanwhile I will remain here and search the beach lest there should be more to rescue.”
Turning again to the foaming56 sea the young banker proceeded slowly along the shore some distance, when he observed the body of a man being rolled up on the sand and dragged back by each returning wave. Rushing forward he caught it, and, with the aid of the fishermen, carried it beyond the reach of the hungry waves. But these waves had already done their worst. Dalton applied57 the proper means for restoration, but without success, and again the fishermen began to look gravely at each other and shake their heads.
“Poor woman!” they murmured, but said no more. Their feelings were too deep for speech as they mourned for one who was by that time a widow, though she knew it not.
At that moment some of the men came running down from the town—one, a tall, strong figure, ahead of them. It was Joe Davidson. He had been more exhausted58 than some of the others on being rescued, and had been led to the Sailor’s Home in a scarcely conscious condition. When they began to reckon up the saved, and found that only one was missing, Joe’s life seemed to return with a bound. Breaking from those who sought to restrain him he ran down to the beach.
He knelt beside the drowned fisherman with a wild expression in his eyes as he laid hold of something that partly covered the drowned man. It was his own Bethel-flag which David Bright had twisted round his body! Joe sprang up and clasped his hands as if to restrain them from violent action.
“Oh, David!” he said, and stopped suddenly, while the wild look left his eyes and something like a smile crossed his features. “Can it be true that ye’ve gone so soon to the Better Land?”
The words gathered in force as they were uttered, and it was with a great cry of grief that he shouted, “Oh, David, David! my brother!” and fell back heavily on the sand.
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1
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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smack
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| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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7
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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urchin
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| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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begets
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| v.为…之生父( beget的第三人称单数 )；产生，引起 | |
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heartiness
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| 诚实，热心 | |
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12
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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13
bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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14
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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15
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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16
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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17
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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19
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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20
betokened
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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25
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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26
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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28
gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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shroud
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| n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏 | |
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30
smacks
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| 掌掴（声）( smack的名词复数 )； 海洛因； （打的）一拳； 打巴掌 | |
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foundered
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| v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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33
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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36
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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38
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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40
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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42
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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43
spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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44
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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45
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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46
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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47
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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48
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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49
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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50
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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51
resuscitating
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| v.使（某人或某物）恢复知觉，苏醒( resuscitate的现在分词 ) | |
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52
persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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54
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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55
stoutest
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| 粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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56
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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57
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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58
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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