As for me, I was as right as a trivet now that I had come across such a splendid raft; and, climbing on top, and balancing myself so as not to let it lurch over, I proceeded to look for the ship—which I had almost forgotten while striving to reach this nearer haven of refuge.
No sooner, however, had I mounted the hencoop, which floated nearly a foot above the surface, even with my weight on it—for it was a big piece of woodwork, with plenty of timber in it, and as light as a cork—than I felt a faint current of air blowing in my face from a direction quite opposite to that of the drift of the waves, the tops of which now began to curl and break off.
“Hullo, the wind has changed!” I sang out to Mr Macdougall, as he looked up at me to hear my report; and then, glancing round, there I saw the Esmeralda, with her yards squared, approaching us rapidly, the breeze having caught her up long before it reached us.
I could have shouted aloud for joy.
“Cheer up, Mr Macdougall!” I said, repressing my emotion as much as it lay in my power. “The ship is making for us, and we’ll be on board again in a brace of shakes.”
“Nae, ye’re jookin’, laddie!” he cried despairingly. “She’ll never reach us ’fore dark.”
“Aye, but she will, though,” I replied, as she was nearing us so fast that I could now see her hull, which had before been invisible; and, almost as I spoke the words, she rose higher and higher, until I could make out an object at the mast-head like a man on the look-out for us and signalling, for I could see his arms move.
“Hurrah! she’s coming up fast now!” I cried, to convince Mr Macdougall; when, seeing my excitement, he at last believed the good news, the effect on him being to cause him to burst into a passion of tears, of which I took no notice, leaving him to recover himself.
Presently, I could not only perceive the Esmeralda, but a boat also ahead, to which the man I had noticed in the foretop was making motions.
“We’re all right now, Mr Macdougall,” I said.