So busily were they all employed that evening arrived before they thought the day was half spent. Dark clouds had been gathering, and the wind increasing, and they had the prospect of a stormy night. The hut, however, was roofed in, and they were able to take shelter from the torrents of rain which now came down. Fuel having been collected, they lighted a fire in the front of the hut, but the wind blew the flames about so furiously that there was a risk of the walls, and a still greater one of the roof, catching fire. No one, therefore, ventured to go to sleep; indeed, there was not room for all the party to stretch their legs.
The first hours of the night were passed, as they sat close together to keep themselves warm, watching the bending flagstaff, and listening to the howling of the wind and the roar of the surf as it broke on the rocky shore. Harry did his best to keep the party amused, and got Paul Lizard, who could sing a good song, to strike up a merry stave; and Paul, once set going, was generally loath to stop. His full manly voice trolled forth many a ditty, sounding above the whistling of the storm and the roar of the waves. Then adventures and stories were told, and yarn after yarn was spun, most of which were no novelties to the hearers. The boatswain, who seldom condescended to tell his adventures except to the other warrant officers, narrated several wonderful ones he had gone through; and Willy and Peter could not help being surprised, after encountering so many dangers and hardships, he should be still living to narrate them. He had been left alone on an iceberg in the Polar seas, when the boat in which he was chasing a whale and all the other hands had been lost. He had been stranded on the coast of Africa, and made captive by the natives; when escaping, he had been nearly torn to pieces by a lion, only managing to scramble up a tree just as the monster’s claws were within a few inches of his heels. He had got on board a slaver, which had gone down while being chased by a man-of-war, and had been picked up again just as a shark was about to seize his legs. A ship he had been on board had blown up, when only he and a dozen more had escaped. On another occasion his ship had caught fire, and the crew had to take to their boats. Three times besides he had been wrecked. “And yet, you see, mates,” he wound up by saying, “here I am, alive and well, and fit for duty; and if you ask me if I think we are to get out of this place, I tell you. To be sure I do. We are not half as badly off as I have been a score of times.” Encouraged by their officer, the men kept up a brisk conversation till daylight dawned.
The weather appeared to have somewhat moderated, and Harry hoped, as soon as breakfast was over, to be able to launch the boat and return to the settlement. As the party were descending the hill, however, a seal was heard bellowing in the wood. As it was important to secure the supply of meat the animal might afford, they set out in chase. The cry of the creature guided them towards her; but as they advanced, it became evident that she was going away from them. They therefore increased their speed, hoping before long to come up with her.
“May be she has lost her calf; and if so, we must keep a look-out,” observed Paul Lizard. “She will prove mighty savage.”
“She is not likely to show fight against half-a-dozen men,” said the boatswain. “Come along, lads, we have lost a great deal of time already.” At last the bellowing grew louder, and the seal was seen looking about her, wondering perhaps at the unusual sounds which struck her ear.
The boatswain was the first to emerge from the cover of the wood. The creature lifted up its monstrous head, and opening wide its jaws, made a dash at the intruder. So formidable did she appear that the sturdy boatswain, though he would have faced a human foe without trembling, turned tail and ran for his life. The seal followed, but just then, Paul Lizard coming in sight, she bolted at him, moving over the ground with her flipper-like feet at a rapid rate. Paul, having learned a lesson from experience, dodged behind a tree, and when the seal nearly reached him, sprang on one side, giving her a blow with his club on the nose. It was not sufficiently well dealt, however, to bring her to the ground; and, again catching sight of the boatswain, she once more rushed at him. Imitating Paul’s manoeuvre, he managed to escape her charge. She, however, had fixed her eyes on him, and continued the pursuit, the rest of the party following. Before they could get up with the animal, the boatswain had run a considerable distance in an opposite direction from the flagstaff. Matters were growing serious; for he had well-nigh lost his breath, and the seal was so close to him that he could not venture to turn round and strike at her. Willy and Peter could not help laughing, thinking the matter very good fun, a notion the boatswain in no way shared with them. At last Paul and Tom Wall so distracted her attention that she stopped short, allowing the boatswain to bring up and face about. The three then dashed at her with their clubs, and quickly ended her life.
“Well, mates, we have deserved our dinners, at all events,” exclaimed Paul, as he commenced cutting up the seal. “Mr Bollard will have gained an appetite for his.”
“I had rather have gained it in a more dignified way,” observed the boatswain, wiping the perspiration from his brow. “I had no notion one of these brutes would show so much fight.”
“You should have had Tippo Sahib at your heels, sir,” said Paul. “He showed us yesterday that he was ready enough to fight, and he is twice as savage on shore.”
Some time was occupied in cutting up and packing the seal’s flesh, and then, each man carrying a load, they turned their steps towards the Flagstaff-hill. It was past noon before they got back, but Harry still hoped to be able to reach the settlement at nightfall. The fire had to be relighted, and as soon as some of the seal had been cooked and eaten, they hastened down to launch the boat. It took some time to do so; but at length she was got afloat; and, leaving the boatswain and two of the men at the look-out station, Harry and the rest made sail. Though the weather appeared threatening, he was unwilling to abandon his intention. The wind was contrary, and he had to stand out some way from land to fetch the mouth of the inner harbour. He had just gone about when the wind shifted, and a furious blast from the north-west blew directly in his teeth, making the boat heel over, and nearly capsizing her. The sails were lowered just in time to prevent such a catastrophe, but it soon became evident that it would be a difficult matter to reach the harbour’s mouth. The sails, however, being closely reefed, Harry determined to try what could be done. The boat looked up bravely for some time to the gale, but the wind increasing still more, he saw that the attempt was hopeless. The open ocean lay broad on his beam, foaming and raging, and there was now the danger of his being blown out to sea. The only spot where he could hope to land without losing the boat was the little bay he had just before left. Keeping as close to the wind as he could, he therefore stood towards the shore. Even with the reduced canvas she carried, and all hands sitting up to windward, the boat heeled over fearfully. Harry was at the helm, looking out anxiously through the spray, which beat up in showers over the bows, for the point which formed the northern side of the little bay into which he wished to run. Sometimes the boat’s head fell off, and he was afraid that he should be unable to reach it.