In the meantime we endeavoured to ascertain what the people on board the brig were going to do. The darkness, however, was so great, that we could not distinguish anything going forward among them. There the brig lay, however, hard and fast; the seas breaking now over one end, now over the other, but not with such violence as we dreaded.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

WRECK OF THE DUGONG.

The arrival of my uncle with his man, carrying a quant.i.ty of the light ratan rope, gave us some hopes of being able to rescue our friends on board the brig.

"To be sure, this will float as easily as a cork," exclaimed Roger; "and I see no reason why I should not tow the end off aboard the brig. You, Tanda, pay it out as you see I want it."

Again my uncle warned him of the danger.

"Very true, sir," he answered, fastening the end round his waist; "but, you see, if we seamen had to stop every time we saw danger, we should very soon have to go ash.o.r.e and take to nursing babies. No, sir; my notion is that the thing is to be done. It may fail; but if it succeeds, why, we may manage to get most of those poor fellows safe on sh.o.r.e."

While we were speaking, the dog gave another loud howl, as if to make a signal to those on board; and we fancied it could not fail to be heard even above the roar of the breakers, although our voices could scarcely have reached them. It was heard at all events by the rest of our party; for directly afterwards the two girls and Oliver were seen coming down from the house in spite of the pelting rain, covered up in mat cloaks.

The Frau followed behind, entreating them to return.

"Oh, you will be wet; you will be washed away!" she cried out. "Come back! come back! What is the matter?"

"We were afraid something dreadful had occurred," said Emily, as she reached the inner end of the rocks.

I entreated her and Grace not to come further, lest the seas, which occasionally washed up, might sweep them away. Oliver, however, clambered along to where we were.

"I may be of some use," he said. "Let me do what I can."

"Well, then, help to pay out this rope, Oliver," said Roger Trew, who was securing the end round his own waist, having thrown off his jacket and shoes, retaining only his trowsers, which he fastened round his waist. "No time to be lost!" he added. "You pray for me, Walter. It will be a difficult job, but it ought to be done, and so it must!"

Saying this, he plunged in, and bravely buffeting the sea which broke in showers round us, was in a short time free of the surf. He was not alone, however. Merlin, uttering a loud bark, plunged in directly afterwards, and soon overtook him, swimming by his side, as if wishing to afford him support or companionship. Away they went, we gradually paying out the light buoyant rope, which floated in a way no ordinary rope would have done.

"I am afraid," said Mr Sedgwick, "that its strength is scarcely sufficient to enable those on board to pa.s.s over it to the sh.o.r.e."

"No, sir," I said; "but if we can haul in a stouter rope by means of it, the same end will be accomplished."

In a short time we could no longer distinguish Roger and Merlin; but we knew by the way the rope continued to be dragged out that they were still making progress. Now, however, the rope seemed to stop. We knew that it could not yet have reached the vessel. After a time we felt it again drawn on. Again there was a time of great suspense. It made but little progress. Still we felt that it was drawn out, and that was all that could be said. How eagerly we looked towards the vessel, and examined the whole of the intervening s.p.a.ce! Presently we saw an object floating on the water. Now it sank, now it appeared on the foaming crest of a sea which came rushing towards the sh.o.r.e. "Help! help!"

exclaimed a voice. "Lend a hand!"

Pa.s.sing a piece of the remaining rope round my waist, I begged my uncle and Oliver to hold it, while Tanda paid out the cable, of which but a small part now only remained. I rushed forward as the person was borne onward towards the rock. Stretching out my hand, I caught him as the next sea was about to sweep him up into the bay on one side, where he would have been dashed on the sharp rocks which lined it. I threw myself back, my uncle and Oliver hauling in the rope, when I found I had Roger Trew by the hand.

"I could not do it!" he exclaimed; "but there is another who will succeed, or I am much mistaken. Merlin saw how it would be, I have a notion, from the first; and when I found I must give in or go to the bottom, I just threw him the bight of the rope. He seized it in his mouth, and swam on as well as if he was in smooth water, and I let the sea bring me back again. If Merlin does not succeed, I will have another try at it, though; but I think he will."

While he was speaking a jerk was given, apparently at the other end of the rope. Directly afterwards we heard Tanda utter an exclamation of dismay.

"It is gone!" cried Mr Sedgwick. "The end is gone!"

"Then I'll have it!" exclaimed Roger, plunging into the water as the end of the rope glided by at a little distance.

So quick was he that he caught it; and though he was carried to another point of the rock, a few yards from where we were standing, he was able once more to climb up and regain a safe position. With the quickness of a practised seaman he carried it up to a point, where he made the end fast in such a way that it was not likely again to slip.

We now all stood anxiously watching to see what would next occur. We could do no more, unless we found the end of our rope slackening, as a sign that another had been fastened to it. We should then haul away on it. The minutes seemed hours as we stood on the sh.o.r.e anxiously looking out towards the brig. Bits of timber came floating on sh.o.r.e; now a piece of a broken spar; now parts of the bulwarks. We were afraid that ere long the brig would begin to break up. Meantime Frau Ursula had been urging the girls to go back to the house; but they were too deeply interested in what was taking place to listen to her entreaties. They thought not of the pelting rain; they thought not of the driving spray or furious wind. Their hearts were with our friends on board--with Mr Hooker, kind Mr Thudic.u.mb, honest d.i.c.k Tarbox, and the faithful Potto Jumbo. Presently we saw a round object floating towards us.

"It is a man's head!" cried Oliver. "Let me go this time."

"No, no," I answered; "I am not at all tired from my other swim, and I will try and help him."

I was getting ready to plunge in, in spite of Oliver's entreaties, when, on looking again, a flash of lightning at the moment lighting up the top of the wave, we saw the head of Merlin as he bravely swam towards us.

We rushed into the water to help him, lest the send of the sea might have driven him against the rock before he had gained a footing.

Instead of shaking himself, as a dog generally does, as soon as he was clear of the water, he stood perfectly still. We then saw that he had got a bottle round his neck.

"A letter from Hooker; I am sure of it!" said Mr Sedgwick. "It will give us important information. We cannot read it here, however. Come, young ladies, I must take you up to the house, and comfort the Frau's heart. She is afraid you will catch ague or fever, or cold at all events; and she has reason for her fears--so come along."

Very unwillingly the two girls left the scene; Emily entreating me, as she went away, not to run any more risks of being drowned. Curiously enough, Merlin, having performed his duty, accompanied Mr Sedgwick and the girls up to the house. In a short time Mr Sedgwick returned, saying, that the note was from Mr Hooker, to the effect that he hoped the vessel would hold together till the hurricane was over, as she gave no signs of breaking up, while there was a sufficient s.p.a.ce free of water below, to afford shelter to all who remained on board. "I am sorry to say," he added, "that several of the crew have attempted to swim on sh.o.r.e. Two of them we saw lost before they had gone many fathoms from the ship; but we hope the others have arrived safely. We, however, will make a hawser fast to the rope you sent us by that n.o.ble creature Merlin, that in case we are mistaken about the brig holding together, we may have a better prospect of saving our lives."

On hearing this we again went to the end of the point, and found that we could haul in upon the rope; and by the resistance it made, it was evident that a hawser had been secured to it. It was very heavy work; but at length, by our united efforts, we got the hawser secured to a point of the rock. We had now a communication with our poor brig, but we trembled to think of the danger to which Mr Hooker would be exposed should he attempt to make use of it in his present weak health.

"A short time ago he would have come along that rope without the slightest difficulty," observed Oliver; "but now I am afraid that, were he to make the attempt, he could scarcely resist the strength of the waves, and would be washed off."

"I am afraid so too, Oliver," said Roger Trew. "Sooner than he should do that, I would go out and try to help him ash.o.r.e."

Attached to the end of the hawser, I should observe, we found a light rope. This was evidently sent that we might get another stout one on sh.o.r.e. We found on trying it that we were right in our conjecture, and hauling away as before, we got a second strong rope united to the vessel and the land. Mr Sedgwick now wanted us to go back to the house, but we could not think of leaving the sh.o.r.e till our friends were in safety.

He himself said that he would remain to watch, should any change take place. It was an anxious time, for instead of decreasing, the wind was blowing even harder than before. It seemed a wonder that the _Dugong_ could stand so much battering. Still, we could dimly see her through the gloom, her masts yet standing, though heeling over towards the land.

Every now and then a huge sea swept over the larger portion of the wreck; and numerous pieces of plank thrown on the rocks showed us that already her bulwarks at all events were giving way.

"I suspect that d.i.c.k Tarbox and the others will not desert Mr Hooker; and they are afraid of his suffering should he attempt to come ash.o.r.e,"

I observed to Roger Trew.

"That is it, Master Walter," he answered. "Depend on it they will not leave him till they are washed out of the ship. I should like to go on board and see how they are getting on."

I urged him, however, not to make the attempt.

"It is far more easy for them to come to us than for you to go on board," I observed. "Let us wait patiently; perhaps as the night advances the gale will abate."

Still the wind blew as hard as ever. At length, just as Mr Sedgwick had gone back to the house to look after the girls and Frau Ursula, a shout reached our ears. We hurried to the point of the rock, and there we saw what looked like a huge piece of wreck being driven towards us.

"I am afraid the brig is breaking up," I observed. "Poor Mr Hooker!

What can we do to help him?"

We tried to pierce the gloom to ascertain who was on the wreck. By degrees we saw that, instead of a piece of wreck, it was a small boat.

Those in her were holding on to the hawsers. Now she rose, now she fell, as the waves pa.s.sed under her. We could scarcely understand how she could live in that tossing sea, with the weight of several people on board. At length she seemed to stop, and turned round broadside to us.

"She must go over," shouted Roger. "Look out; help them as they come ash.o.r.e."

She was at that time near enough for us to see two persons leap overboard; one, it seemed, holding on to the other. They approached.

Again a voice shouted "Look out!" Roger Trew ran to the point of the rock, holding on to the rope, and stretching over into the sea. We could now distinguish the two men. Nearer and nearer they came.

"Give me your hand, Cooky, give me your hand," cried Roger, stretching out his arm; and then I saw that Potto Jumbo was working along the hawser, with Mr Hooker secured by a rope to his back. The dawn was just breaking. The cry of some sea-fowl as they pa.s.sed sounded ominously in our ears. Even then I feared that Potto Jumbo would lose his hold, or that Mr Hooker, weak from his illness, might be torn away by the fury of the sea. I ran forward with another rope, the end of which Oliver held, and just as Roger caught hold of Potto Jumbo's hand, and was dragging him up, I grasped him by the arm. Mr Hooker seemed almost exhausted, and could not utter a word. With the help of Oliver and Tanda we at length got them up on the rock, though not till Potto Jumbo had severely hurt his legs against the sharp points.

"Heaven be praised, it is done! You all right soon, Mr Hooker,"