“As you remember, nearly his last words were, ‘Trust in God,’” remarked Harry; “so let us go on trusting; he was a good old man, and is gone to heaven I’m sure, so we ought not to mourn for him much. It would have broken his heart to find himself on board this vessel.”
“I wonder in what direction we are going?” said David.
“I will try and get a look at the compass when we go on deck again, but we mustn’t let the Frenchmen think we care anything about the matter,” said Harry.
“What a pity it is we can’t talk French a little! I wish we could thank these kind, good-natured fellows, because really I am very grateful for their kindness to us.”
“At all events, we can do it by signs,” said Harry, jumping up and shaking the Frenchman by the hand who had given them the wine.
“Much obliged, monsieur; much obliged for your good dinner; the sausages were excellent. We don’t often taste such claret at sea as you gave us.”
Of course, though the Frenchman did not understand a word Harry had said, yet he was evidently in the way of becoming a favourite among them. When invited to return on deck they did not hesitate to do so, for by keeping forward they were not recognised among the French crew. In the evening they were again invited to join the mess of the men below, which, if not quite in accordance with English notions, was not quite the wretched fare on which Frenchmen are supposed to exist. Indeed, it must be owned that the provisions were far better cooked and made into more palatable messes than they would have been on board an English vessel of the same character. At night they had a berth allotted to them in a standing bed-place forward, into which they were too glad to creep. Having thanked the God of mercy who had thus preserved them, in a prayer which came from the very bottom of their hearts, and asked for a blessing on all those they had left at home, they lay down in their narrow berth, and stowed themselves away as well as space would allow. They had reason to be thankful that they had escaped the perils to which they had been exposed for so many nights on the raft; and though their sleeping-place was very close and dark, it had the advantage of being dry. They were very quickly fast asleep, in spite of all the rolling and pitching of the vessel, as she dashed forward across the stormy ocean. There was no danger of their being pitched out. In spite of the groaning of the bulkheads, the whistling of the wind through the rigging, the loud dash of the seas against the vessel, and the numerous other loud wild sounds which are heard during a gale at sea, the boys slept on till a gleam of daylight found its way down to their narrow berth.
“Mangez, mangez, mes amis!” said a voice, which was recognised as that of their kind friend of the previous evening. He had come, it appeared, to summon them to breakfast, for the crew were employed below in discussing that meal. Once on their feet, the boys found themselves perfectly ready to join their French friends, and to do ample justice to the food placed before them.
“If it were not for the dignity of the thing we should not be so badly off, after all,” said Harry; “but really I cannot quite get over the skipper not treating us as officers, as he should have done.”
The Frenchmen greeted them with kind smiles, and soon again reconciled them to their wretched fate.