“How can that be?” exclaimed the mate, looking round in the direction towards which Nub was pointing. “Yes, you are right, Nub; that’s our raft, sure enough. And now, Walter, I will try to get a look at what you say is a raft.” The mate managed, while pulling, to slew himself sufficiently round to look in the direction in which Walter pointed. “Sure enough, Walter, that’s also a raft,” he exclaimed,—“a much larger one than ours; but whether or not any people are on it I cannot make out.”
Chapter Ten.
On board the “Champion”—Mutiny—Fire breaks out—The Crew, with the Doctor and Tidy, escape on a Raft—Rum, and its Effects—Men lost—Steer away from the Dead Whale—Rum causes the Death of most of the Party—A Murder—The Survivors received on board the Boat.
We must now go back in the order of events, and return to the Champion. After the boats had gone away on the expedition which was to end so disastrously, Mr Lawrie, the surgeon, was walking the deck, meditating on the responsibility he had undertaken, when Dan Tidy came up to him and whispered,—“Hist, sir! things are not going on altogether straight below, I’m after thinking; and if we don’t keep a bright lookout, we shall have the boatswain and the Frenchmen running away with the ship, and leaving the captain and the rest of the people in the boats to get back to her if they can. The only chance is that they come to loggerheads together; for they have been quarrelling away for the last hour, though what about, for the life of me I cannot make out.”
“Then, Tidy, call the true men aft, and I will arm them, and be ready for whatever may happen,” said the surgeon quietly.
Tidy did as directed; and the man at the helm being one who could be trusted, a cutlass and a brace of pistols were given to him. Scarcely had these arrangements been made when a number of men came rushing up the fore-hatchway, some shouting in English and others in French,—showing the surgeon that, although they might before have been quarrelling, they were now united for one common object. He guessed that their intention was to get possession of the helm, as he saw some of them squaring away the fore-yards.
“If a man advances abaft the mainmast, or touches a brace, we fire!” he cried out.
“Knock him over!” cried out a voice, which he recognised as that of the boatswain. “Do as I told you.”