Boy Scouts at Sea; Or, A Chronicle of the B. S. S. Bright Wing

by Arthur Astor Carey

While all this had been going on, hardly a word had been spoken, excepting by the Captain and the Skipper and the boys at the day bunk; and the sense of relief from suspense—when the Skipper finally stepped aboard—was so great that a cheer arose, beginning at the forecastle and taken up by the boys, to vent their feelings of happiness at the rescue.

Finally the lifeboat itself was fastened astern while the cook began busily preparing hot coffee and broth, and bread and butter.

After the old man had rested for half an hour or so, and had taken a few sips of broth, he was carried down into the officers’ cabin and put into Mr. Wentworth’s bunk; and to Mr. Wentworth the care of the patient was assigned. It was also arranged that there should be a Sea Scout attached to him as special attendant, to be relieved every three hours, and Dick Gray, who was the first to whom this duty was allotted, sat down on the cabin locker next the old man’s bunk with mingled feelings of sympathy and pride.

The watch on duty had stuck to their post admirably during these exceptional circumstances, and now the Captain ordered the sails close hauled and pointed the ship as nearly as possible into the wind while waiting instructions as to their future course.

While taking his coffee in the cabin, the Skipper explained that they were bound for Boston, having lost their ship, the Monmouth from Cardiff, by fire, about fifty miles from the coast.

“There is another lifeboat still adrift, as far as I know,” said he, “which abandoned the ship some hours before we did, but I believe it is likely to have been picked up by some coastwise vessel, just as our own boat has been picked up by the Bright Wing. The Monmouth was a tramp ocean steamer of about two thousand tons, laden with Welsh cannel coal, for Boston. Now the first thing I want to do, after thanking you, gentlemen, for saving our lives, is to get into communication, if possible, with the crew of the other lifeboat; and I suppose the best way to do this would be to get to a telegraph office and communicate directly with the nearest wireless station, or with the British Consul in Boston, or both.”

The Chairman at once sent for the Captain; and, considering the direction of the wind, which had slightly veered to the northward, it was decided to keep on their original course to Vineyard Haven and send out telegrams of inquiry from there. As they were only about thirty miles away, they would probably drop anchor in the Haven in about three or four hours, and before the closing of the telegraph office. After this decision the Captain returned on deck and gave the order to slacken sheets; and in another five minutes the Bright Wing had gathered herself together and was sliding along in a straight line for Vineyard Haven.

It was necessary to detail an extra helper for the cook; and, at half-past five, the regular supper time, all the crew of the lifeboat, with the exception of the sick man and the Skipper, were given seats at the boys’ table; while the Skipper as the guest of the Chairman sat at the officers’ table; eight of the boys had their supper separately, after the others.

During the meal the talk, of course, turned on the shipwreck and fire at sea.

“We discovered the fire,” said the Skipper, “two days before we left the ship. Some of the coal had caught fire in the hold and had gained sufficient headway, before being discovered, to make it impossible to quench it by water. The heat, of course, was intense; and the harder we worked with the pumps at one end, the more the fire seemed to gain in intensity at the other. Finally I gave the order to batten down all the hatches and try to smother it; while, at the same time, we put on full steam in the hope of making Boston Harbor in time to save the ship, although her cargo would, in any case, be a dead loss. But, unfortunately, the great heat in the hold not only made it impossible to stay in the engine room and fire room, but also interfered with the working of the machinery; and it soon became evident that there was nothing to do but to let her burn, so I gave orders for all hands to try and save what they could of their personal belongings.