THE WHITE SHIP.—II.
Half an hour passed, as well as Harry could judge; then the boom of a cannon was heard, and immediately two men leapt down into the hold, knocked the six plugs out of their place, and climbed up on deck again. There was again the scraping noise, and Harry knew the boat had pushed off this time for good. He watched the six jets of water for a minute or two. Then saying to himself, "It is time," he knocked the beams from their ledges, allowed the square of wood to fall, lifted the hatch, and pushed it off its combing, and clambered on to the deck with the corks and ropes.
There were some fifty persons on board, for the most part women and children, but with two or three men among them. They were gathered near the stern, and were apparently watching the scene ashore with astonishment. He hurried aft, having no fear that at this distance from the shore his figure would be recognized from the rest, and if it were it mattered not. Two or three turned round as the supposed sailor came aft, exclaiming:
"What does this mean? Why are we put here on board these white ships? What are they going to do with us?"
"Alas, ladies!" he said, "they have put you here to die; they have bored holes in the ships' bottoms, and in a few minutes they will sink. It is a wholesale execution."
As he began to speak one of the ladies in the stern pushed her way through the rest.
"Oh, Harry, is it you!" she exclaimed as he finished. "Is it true, are we to die together?"
"We are in God's hands, Jeanne, but there is hope yet. Bring Virginie forward with me."
At Harry's first words a panic had seized all around; one or two ran to the hatchway and looked down into the hold, and screamed out that the water was rushing in; then some cried to the distant crowd to send to save them; others ran up and down as if demented; while some threw themselves on their knees.
But the panic soon passed away. All had for weeks looked death in the face; and though the unexpected form in which it appeared had for the moment shaken them, they soon recovered. Mothers clasped their daughters to their breasts for a last farewell, and then all with bowed heads kneeled and listened in silence to an old man who began to pray aloud.