Clare grasped the acting boatswain by the arm, then fell heavily forward, as if fainting.
"You fellers, come here! He's gone off like a dead un!"
The mystified sailors waded into the water, and bore the inanimate form towards the bank, when, a light being produced, it was found that Clare was in a sort of fit.
At that moment the cutter arrived from the ship, and Tom was placed in it, and conveyed on board. Captain Woodward hastened to the gangway, and himself received the suffering sailor, who was in a very precarious state; and as it was considered desirable to keep him quiet, he was placed in the acting boatswain's cabin, and immediately taken charge of by the kind doctor.
When the latter had attended to Clare, he went aft to the captain's cabin, and reported the coxswain to be suffering from great prostration, resulting from excitement and sudden immersion in the water, adding, "it may be weeks before he is fit to go to duty again."
The next morning Thompson went on board and saw his friend, who looked as if he would not be long with them; but in a few days a marked improvement took place, and Clare was able to get up.
When Tom was well enough to walk up to the quarter-deck, Captain Woodward mustered his crew, and publicly thanked him for his gallant conduct. "I have written to the admiral, and given him a full account of your noble deed, and I hope in a few days to tell you what he thinks of your bravery."
Upon hearing these kind words Tom shuddered. He knew that he deserved them, but the assembly of men reminded him so strongly of the occasion upon which he was flogged, that instead of expressing satisfaction, he felt depressed; his only pleasure was in thinking how it would please his wife when she heard of it; and, to his great joy, shortly after the men were dismissed, a mail arrived from England bringing him several letters from her, one of which was, singularly enough, dated the 16th of August, and ended with the words, "We are all in good health, thank goodness," upon reading which Tom informed his friend that now he had such evidence he would not believe that she was dead, and from that day never spoke of the illusion to any one.
One day, when he found his patient in a suitable state, the doctor questioned him as to his feelings when he was standing upon the bowsprit, with the fire blazing up under him, to which he replied, "Well, doctor, when I heered the captain say he wanted a volunteer, I somehow got hold of an axe and ran out, never thinking or caring for the fire. I felt like I used to afore I were flogged,—bold, plucky like. It seemed an age afore I heard his voice a ordering me to cut, and the smoke came up so thick and stifling that I could scarcely breathe. All at once the flame caught my whiskers and singed my dress! but, thank God, the wind drew aft, and beyond the smoke I didn't feel no hurt, but I thought the captain never would call out. Suddenly I hears his voice, loud and clear as a bell, crying, 'Cut away!' So I ups axe, and away went the anchor, which I knew by the end of the line being gone. Just as I turned to go inboard the screw began to revolve, and as the ship left the junks the smoke drew aft again, and I got half choked and fell overboard. Lucky it were slack water and I a good swimmer; so kicking off my heavy flannel trousers and pulling off my frock, I struck out for the island, where I were picked up by Mr. Jerry Thompson."
Finding the supply of live stock becoming beautifully less every day, Woodward wrote to the admiral and obtained a gun-boat, guarded by which the compradors collected a great quantity of bullocks, in fact, rather overstocked the island, and as they charged a good price for the cattle, they waxed rich and insolent. Hoo-kee was constantly with them; and according to his account, there never were such honest compradors in that line before. However, one morning a little affair occurred which not only damaged the pilot's veracity but convicted that diplomatic individual of collusion with them to cheat the Fanqui authorities. As the ship's company were scrubbing decks, the signal-man observed to the officer of the watch, that there were a lot of Chinese fellows on the banks waving a white flag, which intelligence was at once communicated to the commander, who sent Hoo-kee to ascertain what they wanted, when, upon nearing the bank, the pilot thus addressed them:—