Sometimes a great sea-elephant would raise his noble head and gaze curiously at the passing barque, then dive and be seen no more. Shoals of whales of a small species afforded our little seafarers great delight to watch. But these went slowly on their way, dipping and ploughing, and looking neither to the right hand nor to the left. The porpoises were still more interesting, for they seemed to live but to romp and play and chase each other, sometimes jumping right out of the water, so that it is no wonder Nelda imagined they were playing at leap-frog. Nelda, when told that these were schools of porpoises, said,—
“Oh, well, and school is just let out, I suppose; no wonder they are happy. And the big whales are their mothers! They are not happy because they are all going to church, quiet and ’spectable like.”
The myriads of birds seen everywhere it would be impossible here to describe. Suffice it to say that they afforded Nelda great delight.
Bob was as merry as ever; but when one day the ’Ral walked solemnly aft wearing a pair of canvas stockings right up as far as his thighs, both Tandy and Halcott joined with the youngsters in a roar of hearty laughter. There was no more dance in that droll bird, and wouldn’t be for many a long day. “A sail in sight, sah! A steamer, sah!” It was little Fritz who reported it from the mast-head one morning, some time after the Sea Flower had regained her course, had doubled the Cape, and was steering north-west by west.
The stranger lay to on observing a flag of distress hoisted, and soon a boat was seen coming rapidly on towards the Sea Flower.
The steamer was the Dun Avon, homeward-bound from San Francisco, with passengers and cargo.
The captain himself boarded her with one of his men, and to him was related the whole sad story as we know it. “We have a clean bill of health now though,” added Halcott; “but we are short-handed—one man in irons, and five more that we cannot trust.”
“Well,” said the steamer captain, “I cannot relieve you of your black hats, but I’ll tell you what I can do: I shall let you have four good hands if they’ll volunteer, and if you’ll pay them well. And I should advise you to set your mutineers on shore at the entrance to the Strait of Magellan, and let them take their chance. You’re not compelled to voyage with mutineers, and risk the safety of yourselves and your ship. Now write your letters home, for my time is rather short.”
The four new hands were four hearties, as hard as a mainstay, as brown as bricks, and with merry faces that did one’s heart good to behold.