There was justice in what he said; and the captain then fell back upon the plan which I had first proposed. It was agreed that the boat should be emptied of the coals with which it was now half-filled, and lowered into the water. While the men were busy at this work, I wandered to and fro about the deck, and, searching amidst the débris, found some fragments of my dear home-letters. They were all torn and soiled, and I gathered them together with a sigh. At this moment, as if for the very purpose of favouring our flight, the last junk put off, and hove away to sea, leaving us alone for the first time since our captivity. Being now enabled to work with less precaution, the men redoubled their efforts, and the boat was soon unloaded. Eagerly and anxiously we crowded round, and examined it. Alas, how great was our disappointment! Several planks had started in the bottom of the boat, and she was no longer sea-worthy. Intense as was their discouragement, our sailors persisted in the attempt. A dull splash followed. We hung over the side of the vessel, and breathlessly prayed to Heaven for help and protection.
Ten minutes thus passed by. "It cannot be done," said the captain, falteringly; "she is already half-full of water." We looked into each others faces, and silently dispersed. Great sorrows are dumb. Till to-morrow nothing could now be done, and who could tell what that morrow might bring forth?
CHAPTER VII.[ToC]
Efforts at Escape—Attempted Flight—Return to the "Caldera"—Capture—Cruelties of the Pirates—Portrait of a Pirate Chief—Chinese Prayer—Death of a Pirate—Seizure of a Merchant Junk—Fresh Plunder—Fortune of the Vanquished.
On the following day our sailors set to work gallantly. To repair the jolly-boat would take, at the least, eight or ten hours of hard labour, and our only hope lay in the continued absence of our enemies. The greater part of the day went by thus, and for hours and hours no sail was visible on the horizon. Once more we had the "Caldera" to ourselves; but she was now a mere shell, dismantled, melancholy, and motionless—a floating mass of utter ruin! We fixed ten o'clock at night for the moment of our escape, and throughout all the day toiled on without any kind of food or rest. But for the nervous energy which kept me up, I know not how I should have borne this long starvation; as it was, my strength was failing rapidly.
To fit a mast to the boat, and construct some kind of rude sail out of the rags that lay strewn about our decks, occupied the men up to a late hour of the evening. As all our rigging had been either carried away, or cut to pieces, they even contrived to make some bamboo canes serve in the place of ropes. This done, we prepared to leave the ship, and were just about to lower the boat, when two junks came into sight, and bore down straight upon us. Stowing away all that could be hidden of our preparations, we hastened to take refuge in our cabins, and there awaited whatever might happen.
It was not long before they hove alongside, and they had no sooner leapt on board, than they came down in search of us. Two of the pirates carried lanterns, by the light of which they examined us one by one, as if to make sure that none were missing. Arrived where I lay hidden behind some of my companions, they laughed, and called to each other with every mark of satisfaction. One made signs to me to rise, but I could only look up imploringly, and had no strength to stir. Another, irritated, perhaps, by my languor, threatened me with his sabre, which only added to my terror, and left me more helpless than ever. But for an agonized cry, which just then drew their attention from me towards one of their number, who had missed his footing and fallen into the hold, I hardly know now how this scene might have ended. Having pitched from the deck to the very bottom of the vessel, the Chinese was brought up by one of our sailors. More dead than alive, he lay and groaned piteously, and the pirates, being occupied with his sufferings, and pleased, to all appearance, with the ready help which our men had afforded him, tormented and threatened me no more.