The Doctor of the 'Juliet.' A story of the sea ... With illustrations by Gordon Browne

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THE DOCTOR OF THE 'JULIET.' JACK LEAVES "THE JULIET." [Page 99.] THE DOCTOR OF THE 'JULIET' il Storn of she Sect BV HARRY COLLINGWOOD ACTHOR OF ' The Secret of the Sands,' ' The Pirate Island,' ' Under the Meteor Flag, 'Missing !' etc. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY GORDON BROWNE. iflethuen & €o. 18, BURY STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1892 [Aff rights reserved] CONTENTS. CH4PTEB PACK I. THE

ADVERTISEMENT.

IN THE 'LANCET' - - 1 II. WHAT HAPPENED OFF SAXE.MBURG ISLAND - - 16 III. THE 'FLYING DUTCHMAN' - 30 IV. THE 'JULIET1 ENCOUNTERS A BRITISH GUN-BOAT 47 V. THE CAPTURE OF THE ' ST. KILDA ' - - - (37 VI. JACK LEAVES THE 'JULIET ' IN MID-OCEAN - 91 Vil. Tin: 'fair Rosamond' - 109 VIII. NED ARRO WSMlTIl'S STORY - 128 IX. THE 'FAIR ROSAMOND' FINDS A HARBOUR OF REFUGE 146 X. JACK GOES UPON AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION - 170 XI. A STARTLING DISCOVERY - 188 XII. THE DEAD MAN'S SECRET - 206 XIII. AN UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH - - - - 224 XIV. JACK AND IRIS EXPLORE A WONDERFUL CAVERN - 243 XV. THE WRECKED TREASURE-SHIP IS FOUND - - 262 XVI. THE RECOVERY OF THE TREASURE - - - 278 XVII. THE '.JULIET' REAPPEARS - 291 XVIII. AN IMPORTANT CONFERENCE - - - 311 XIX. THE RECAPTURE OF THE ' JULIET ' - - 329 XX. CONCLUSION ------ THE DOCTOE OF THE 'JULIET.'

Chapter I. The Advertisement

IN THE

' LANCET.' When the young Earl of Exford unexpectedly suc ceeded to the title and estates, through the death in the hunting-field of an uncle between whom and himself there had always existed a cordial dislike, almost the first distinct resolution to which the young peer came was that he would now indulge to the full that love of sport and adventure which was his predominating characteristic. And that he might do so with the maximum of comfort he determined to indulge in the luxury of a yacht. Accordingly, after much anxious consultation with such of his acquaintances as were supposed to be well posted in matters maritime, a famous naval architect, who had made the designing of ocean-going yachts his speciality7, was consulted ; plans were prepared, and an estimate was submitted, both of which meeting with the young Earl's approval, the construction of the vessel was entrusted to an eminent firm of ship- ' JULIET.' ■2 builders, and, in process of time, the embodiment of this idea, in the shape of a handsome schooner, made her appearance, and was duly enrolled on the list of the Royal Yacht Squadron under the name of the Juliet.

The Juliet was indeed a noble craft, worthily sus taining the high reputation of her clever designer. A topsail-schooner of some three hundred and fifty tons register, she was a beamy and somewhat shallow vessel for her dimensions, drawing only ten feet of water abaft when fully equipped and with stores for a twelve months' cruise on board. Her model was ex ceptionally handsome and graceful, the easy-flowing lines of the cunningly-moulded hull promising not only a high rate of speed under her canvas — the Earl resolutely refused to have anything to do with steam — but also the perfection of sea-going qualities ; both of which promises, it may here be said, were abun dantly fulfilled. She was built of wood, copper fastened throughout, and was as stout and sturdy a little ship as the very best of material and workman ship could make her.

Her hull, sheathed with copper to the bends, was painted snow-white, as seems to be the orthodox fashion with yachts 'cruising foreign,' a gold cable moulding along the wash-strake and a handsome gilt figure-head relieving the monotony of the colouring ; and, as for her spars, it was univer sally acknowledged that the whole squadron might be searched in vain for a pair of sticks to match her lower-masts. She was completed just in good time to put in an appearance on the Solent at the Royal lr_iciit Squadron Regatta; and though, being a top- ' LANCET.' 3 sail-schooner, she did not race, her sailing powers, even in light winds, showed then that, had she done so, she would have proved a formidable competitor. All through the summer she cruised industriously round the coasts of the United Kingdom, following the famous racers, and, by her stately presence, affording an added grace to all the more important regattas ; and when at length the racing season was over, she was taken back to Cowes, there to undergo a thorough overhaul of spars and rigging, and, generally, to be prepared for a long cruise round the world.

Her noble owner, who was of an eminently sociable disposition, now began to look about him for a few congenial companions to share the delights of his contemplated cruise, and a party of eight was even tually made up. Almost at the last moment, and quite as an after-thought, the Earl determined to raise the number to nine by adding a medical man to the party, since, as one of the guests very perti nently remarked, they would number on board nearly forty souls, all told, and with so many people, and upon such an expedition as the one contemplated, there was no knowing when the services of a doctor might be required. Accordingly, as the Earl happened at the moment of this suggestion to be in the country taking a farewell pop at the partridges, he wrote to his solicitors instructing them to look out for and secure a suitable man — one not only possessing all the requisite qualifications, but also ' a pleasant, gentlemanly, sociable young fellow, you know, whom we can make one of ourselves.' * * # # * 1—2 ' JULIET.' Now it happened that, on the evening of the day upon which the solicitors to the Earl of Exford received their instructions to look out for a medical addition to that nobleman's yachting party, Jack Hazelwood, one of the medical assistants at St. Thomas's Hospital, reached his home in Devonshire, in response to a letter from his father requesting Jack's immediate presence in consequence of some dire trouble — only obscurely hinted at — that had be fallen the family.

Jack's father was the only surviving partner and head of the old-established banking firm of Hazel wood, Anstey and Hazelwood, which had existed and flourished for nearly a hundred years in the old fashioned Devonshire market-town of East Chud leigh. East Chudleigh, as everybody knows, has seen its best days, which were when no less than eight mail coaches used to pass through it daily on their way to and from the extreme west of England. The railway, however, which runs some ten miles south of the town, has diverted all traffic from it, and now the only business done there is transacted chiefly on Friday, the market day, of each week. Still, being in the centre of a rich agricultural district, quite enough business remains to support a bank, and, accordingly, ' Hazelwood's ' survived the departure of the bustling, busy old coaching days, and appeared to prosper.

Unfortunately, however, it did not prosper to an extent sufficient to satisfy the ambition of Jack's father, who, in an evil hour, was tempted to speculate ' LANCET.' 5 extensively in a mining project, the prospectus of which was so cunninglyworded that it dazzled and ensnared even more acute men of business than the banker. The result was what it too often is with such projects : the mine, which was to literally rain gold into the pockets of its fortunate shareholders, proved worthless, and John Hazelwood discovered, when it was all too late, that he had flung away the reputation and the fortune earned by four genera tions at the instigation of a few clever, shameless swindlers. In a word, he was ruined, and though, when the assets of the bank could be realized, there would be sufficient to pay off all its liabilities, there would be nothing left to go on with ; the opulent banker had rendered himself penniless, and hence forward he and his family would be dependent for their daily bread upon his wife's small private fortune, amounting to some three hundred and odd pounds per annum.

It was to impart this miserable news, involving the consequent overthrow of all his plans for the future, that Jack had been summoned home. For Jack, though he was turned twenty-one years of age, and had, so far, successfully passed all his exams., was, at the time of the catastrophe, earning an income of only fifty pounds a year, to which his father added an annual allowance of two hundred pounds, which, he maintained, was a sum quite sufficient to permit of a lad living respectably. Jack was diligently pursuing his studies at the hospital, as it had been his inten tion to do until he had passed his final exam. ; after which he would purchase a comfortable practice some- ' JULIET.' where in the country, where there would be plenty of riding to be done. But all plans of that sort were now to be given up, and perhaps the bitterest drop in his father's cup of sorrow and humiliation was the necessity to make all this perfectlyplain to Jack, who was the pride of his heart.

Coming quite unexpectedly as the news did to young Hazelwood, it was naturally a great shock to him, but he bore it bravely. With the sympathetic intuition of a warmly affectionate heart, he saw how keenly his father suffered while relating the wretched history of his calamitous imprudence, and, putting aside for the nonce the keen disappointment he felt at the utter overthrow of all his plans for the future, Jack gave himself up wholly to the task of soothing and encouraging his father, who, as a matter of fact, suffered far more keenly on his son's account than he dicl on his own. 'Well, never mind, father,' said Jack, at last, when the whole matter had been fully gone into ; ' don't worry any more about it on my account ; I am terribly sorry that it has happened — sorry for your sake, and that of mater and the girls ; but, so far as I am concerned, it really won't make any serious difference : instead of buying a practice for myself at home, I shall just have to go abroad and work one up.

One of our fellows at St. Thomas's — a man named Jones, who has friends in Melbourne — was saying only last week that if a man wants to get on and make money quickly as a doctor, and is not afraid of hard work, there is no place equal to Australia — not in the towns and thickly populated districts, you know, but up country, where ' LANCET.' 7 you have to ride from ten to forty miles to visit a patient. The climate is magnificent, and the constant out-door life, all day in the saddle, and that sort of thing, would suit me perfectly ; so, if nothing better offers, I'll try Australia, and come lack to you, if all be well, in a few years, with, perhaps, a handsome wife and a large fortune.' So cheerily and lightly, to all appearance, did Jack take this cruel reverse and disappointment that even his father was deceived, and, now that in the telling of the story the worst had been got over, plucking up fresh courage, began not only to flunk but also to talk of the possibility of facing the world anew, among other scenes, under different circumstances, and at some period in the future so indefinite that it could only be referred to as ' eventually.' Jack's own project, however, in the meantime, claimed the immediate attention of the family ; it was first vetoed, then discussed, and finally, after much opposition from his mother, agreed to ; and, on the day but one following his arrival home, Jack returned to town for the purpose of cancelling his engagements and effecting such arrangements as would admit of his making a start in Australia under the most favourable auspices possible.

The house surgeon was an especial friend of Jack's, and he was the first man to be taken into the young fellow's confidence. He listened with sympathetic attention to the pitiful story of the mining speculation and all its disastrous results, critically discussed the Australian scheme — which he regarded with but scant favour — and finally ended the matter by a somewhat ' JULIET.' abrupt proposal that, before going any farther, Jack should try something else — ' something I happened to notice only this morning in the advertisement pages of the Lancet,' he said, ' which, I believe, will suit you down to the ground — or, rather, the deck — if you can only7 secure the appointment. Here it is.' And, taking up a copy of the journal that lay upon his table, he hastily opened it out and handed it to Jack, with his index finger pointing to the following advertisement : ' Wanted, at once, a young medical man, to join a yachting party on a cruise round the world, in the capacity of ship's doctor ; salary £300 per annum.

Apply, stating qualifications, to Messrs. Raven and Fogg, solicitors, Trafford Chambers, Lincoln's Inn.' ' Phew ! three hundred per annum, and a yachting party, that is quite worth trying for,' exclaimed Jack. ' But how about the qualifications ? You know I have not yet ' ' Precisely ; I know you have not,' interrupted the house-surgeon. But, if not technically, you are actually qualified as fully as most men to take medical charge of a ship, and keep her complement of officers and men in good health. The Chief will, I am certain, give you a testimonial to that effect, which ought to stand you in good stead ; I would advise you to go to him and tell him your whole story, and I really think that, with such a recommendation as he can give you, you ought to stand a very good chance of securing the berth, that is, if it is not filled up by the time that your application gets in.' Jack not only followed his friend's advice, but acted ' LANCET.' 9 so promptly upon it that an hour later he was on the top of a 'bus en route for Lincoln's Inn, with a letter of introduction from the head doctor of the hospital to Mr. Raven in his pocket.

By great good luck the man of law was not only in when Jack called at the office — or chambers, rather — but he was sufficiently at leisure to spare five minutes for a personal interview. Jack had allowed his card and letter of introduction to precede him into the great man's presence ; but in less than two minutes he was invited to pass through a green baize door, marked ' Private,' and found himself in the presence of a rather sharp-featured, white-haired, clean-shaven man, who the ushering clerk informed him, in a reverential whisper, was Mr. Raven. ' Ah! Mr. Hazelwood, I presume ?' said Mr. Raven, adjusting his eye-glasses on his nose with one hand while he waved Jack to a chair with the other, in which he held the letter of introduction opened. ' Take a chair, sir. So you are come to see about the appointment of medical officer to the Earl of Exford's yacht, eh ?' Jack bowed, and was about to speak when Mr. Raven continued : ' You are not by any means the only applicant for the appointment ; indeed, we have been inundated with applications.

I could never have believed it possible there would be so many professional men willing, indeed, I may say eager, to accept such a post at such a salary — I can't understand, for my part, what the world is coming to — and some of them possessed very ' JULIET.' 10 high testimonials as to ability. Fortunately, I have been too busy to attend to them, up to the present, and the appointment is consequently still vacant. Your friend, Sir Henry, here— who is also my friend — assures me that you are perfectly competent to execute the duties and functions of the post ; so you may go back to him, if you please, and tell him, with my compliments, that it affords me very great gratification to be of service to a protege of his. The appointment is yours, Mr. Hazelwood, and I hope you will enjoy the cruise.

When can you be ready to go on board the yacht — which, by the way, is lying in Cowes Roads ?' ' I can be ready, if necessary, by to-morrow,' answered Jack ; ' but if time is not quite so pressing as that I should like a fortnight in which to prepare my kit and say " good-bye " to my friends.' ' Good ; I like that !' chuckled Mr. Raven. ' Ready by to-morrow — I call that promptitude. Take the time you wish, by all means, Mr. Hazelwood, and report yourself on board to the Earl to-morrow fortnight. Leave me your address, and I will send you a letter formally appointing you to the post, which will also constitute your credentials to your new employer. Good-morning !' Jack bowed himself out, dazed, and half disposed to believe that this prompt and easy attainment of a fairly good berth would prove presently to be only a dream ; and, leaping upon the first 'bus that passed him, he hurried back to the hospital to communicate the good news to his friends, the chief physician and the house-surgeon, both of whom congratulated him ' LANCET.' 11 heartily upon his good luck.

His next step was to telegraph home, briefly acquainting his people with the fact of his appointment, after which he visited an outfitter's, giving an order for a suitable kit, and on the following day he hurried back to fair Devon to spend the short remainder of his time with those nearest and dearest to him. The days rapidly sped, and upon the appointed date he presented himself on board the Juliet, introduced himself to her noble owner — who received him with very satisfactory affability — and learned that the yacht was to sail that same evening. The Earl of Exford was a frank, pleasant-tempered, but rather indolent young fellow, of some five-and twenty years of age ; and his companions — with the exception of a Colonel Mason, a veteran Indian officer, who had hunted and shot in every corner of the globe — were very similar to himself ; but as none of the party are destined to figure very prominently in this history, they may be passed over without detailed description.

The yacht and her crew interested Jack infinitely more than did the Earl or any of the others of the party, excepting, perhaps, the Colonel. He was an elderly man, whose grizzled hair and moustache seemed to indicate that he had probably reached the shady side of fifty, but his soldierly carriage and bear ing were characterized by a suggestiveness of latent strength, and of such possibilities of alertness, energy, and activity as made him the envy of many very much younger men. Jack was not quite an utter novice in affairs 'JULIET. nautical ; he had plied a good oar on the Isis, he had sailed a Una boat on the Norfolk Broads, he had tended the jib-sheet in more than one Corinthian match on the Solent, and his last holiday had been spent among the Norwegian fjords in a fifty-ton yawl belonging to his especial chum's father ; he was, there fore, justified in believing that he could, at least dimly and to a limited extent, discriminate between a tub and a clipper.

It is not surprising, therefore, that he fell in love with the Juliet at first sight ; her exquisitely graceful and beautiful hull, moulded into an endless series of gentlysweeping curves, and crowned, as it were, with the symmetry of the lofty, slender, tapering spars and their delicate tracery of rigging, presented a picture of such perfect nautical daintiness and beauty that he was captivated by the sight afar off, even from the deck of the steamer that conveyed him across from Southampton to Cowes ; but when he stood upon the spacious, snow-white deck, and marked the combination of nautical luxury and smartness evinced by the highly-polished and handsomely carved mahogany companions and skylights, the flash and glitter of the belaying-pins and other metal fittings, all of which were brass, scoured and polished to the brilliancy of burnished gold ; the unsullied cleanness of the Manilla cordage of which the running rigging was exclusively rove, the tautness of each particular rope, and the fastidiousness, neatness, and uniformity with which it was belayed and coiled upon its own especial pin, the accurate fit of the sail-covers, the snowy whiteness and the brilliant crimson of the ensign and burgee which fluttered in the breeze, the 'LANCET.' 13 man-o'-war-like accuracy with which the swinging boom was squared, and — last but by no means least — the fastidious care and attention which had mani festly been bestowed upon eight nine-pound breach loading rifles and their fittings, four of which peeped unostentatiously from port-holes in the bulwarks on either side of the ship — all these smart and seaman like minutiae completed Jack's conquest at once, and caused him to murmur to himself, with a congratula tory shrug of the shoulders, that it would be a privilege to sail in such a ship even without pay at all — if only a man could afford such a luxury.

As for the crew of the Juliet, they were, with a single exception, the finest set of men Jack had ever seen. That exception was the sailing-master, who, though he bore the perfectly English name of Daniel Collins, possessed a decidedly foreign-looking person ality. He was a small, slim, lithe-looking man, swarthy, sharp-featured, with piercing black eyes, his rather long black hair clustered in ringlets about his small, shapely head, and he wore small gold rings in his ears. That Jack was not the only one who had noticed the anomaly between, this man's name and his personality, was evinced by a remark made by the Colonel during dinner : ' By the way, Exford,' said he, it propos of some casual remark of the Earl's hi which mention was made of the sailing-master, ' what did you say the man's name is '?' ' Collins — Daniel Collins,' answered the Earl ; ' do you happen to know him at all ?' ' JULIET.' 'Not I,' returned the Colonel; 'I merely asked because I thought I had heard you address him by a name that sounded so honestly English as to be in flat contradiction to his appearance.' ' Yes ; that is true,' replied the Earl. ' The fact is, I believe, that he is Maltese born, his mother being a native of the island, and his father an Englishman.

His appearance is the worst part of him, although, after all, I do not know that there is rhuch the matter with that. He came to me very strongly recom mended by Lord Dunmore, who, since his tenants have ceased to pay any rent, has been obliged to give up yacht-racing — finds it too expensive, he says. He assured me that in Collins I should find a thoroughly sober, trustworthy man, a reliable navigator, a perfect seaman, and an excellent manager of a crew.' ' Oh !' said the Colonel, ' so Dunmore recommended him, did he ? Then I think you may safely consider that you have at least one good man among your crew. Strange that I clo not remember the man, however. He is not at all the sort of individual that, once seen, one is likely to forget in a hurry ; and I have been on board the Constance in more than one race.' ' Then your not having seen Collins is easily accounted for,' remarked one of the other guests. ' I happen to know that Dunmore always engaged a special 'man — Hobson by name ; old Joe Hobson, of Southsea : I am sure you must know him well — to sail the Constance when racing.' ' Certainly,' said the Colonel ; ' that docs account for it.

Yes, now you mention it, I remember that Hobson was the name of the man I always used to ' LANCET.' 15 see in charge — a short, stout, red-faced, sandy whiskered man, who, tradition says, is never seen in public without a short, black " briar," called by the irreverent his " familiar," in his mouth.' The conversation was here broken in upon by the appearance of Collins himself, who, cap in hand, and wearing a rough, serviceable-looking pilot jacket, adorned with the regulation button of the Royal Yacht Squadron, appeared at the door of the saloon with the information that the tide had turned, and that there was a nice little breeze from the ' nor'ard and east'ard'; and, such being the case, was it still the Earl's intention to get under weigh that night '? The Earl replied most emphatically that it was, adding the order to weigh and make sail at once ; and after one glass more of wine, in which they pledged themselves and each other ' a pleasant cruise, and plenty of good sport,' the little party rose from the table, and went on deck to witness the important operation of getting under weigh.

An hour later saw the yacht swiftly gliding, like a beautiful phantom, out past the Needles, her white hull and pile of snowy canvas gleaming with a ghostly radiance in the light of the full moon, then rising high in a sky devoid of the faintest speck of cloud. 'JULIET.' 16

Chapter II. What Happened Off Saxemburg Island

The programme sketched out by the Earl and his friends, in full and solemn council assembled, was of a very elastic character and of beautiful simplicity, amounting, tersely described, to a decision that they would steer to the southward, taking matters as they came ; call at the Cape, and go up country for a few months after lion, elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, and such other big game as might come in their way ; and after that be guided by circumstances, or, in other words, the whim of the moment. This brilliant programme was carried out to the letter — up to a certain point. That is to say, they shaped a course for Madeira upon rounding Finis terre, spent a week in that delightful island, then went on to the Canaries, to which they devoted a fortnight, caught the north-east trades within sight of the last-named islands, and ran from thence to the line, all without adventure of any sort worthy of record.

Then, having crossed the equator in longi tude 30° W. after two days' detention by calms, they bore away southward once more, upon the wings of the south-east trade, passed within sight of the islands of Martin Vaz and Trinidad, and at length, on the sixty-fifth day out from Cowes, arrived within sight of the comparatively unknown island of Saxemburg, close to the thirtieth parallel of south latitude, and some eight hundred and fifty miles from Rio Janeiro, the nearest inhabited land. This was regarded as fairly good work on the part of the Juliet, as her noble owner had a distinct aversion to a steeply-inclined deck, with the mad plunges and hair-raising careen ings to leeward, which are the inevitable accompani ments of ' carrying on ' ; and the discreet Collins had therefore been sailing the schooner as soberly as though she had been his own ship and uninsured.

The island was sighted at daybreak — another of the many proofs Collins had already given of his skill as a navigator, as he had on the previous evening in timated that it would be in sight by daylight, if the breeze held ; and he had, further, casually remarked that good sea-elephant shooting was to be had there. Now, it happened that not one of the party had ever shot a sea-elephant hitherto, and it was therefore at once resolved that, should the weather permit of their landing on the island, a day should be devoted to the destruction of those animals. The morning — which was destined to be an eventful one for the Juliet and every soul on board her — dawned as fair as heart could wish. It was the glorious spring-tide of the south, and the breeze — the little there was of it — blew soft and balmy from the westward.

The crags and precipices of the island dotted here and there with the tender green of budding verdure, looked almost fairy-like in the loveliness im parted to it by the magical effect of the sun's rays falling upon it through a delicate ethereal mist by which it was enveloped ; and the sea, Collins declared, was calm enough to render landing both safe and easy. Moreover, the barometer was high and steady. All things, therefore, seemed to conspire together to •-> ' JULIET.' render the proposed excursion a pleasant one, and it was decided that a start should be made immediately after breakfast. The yacht accordingly stood in until she was within half a mile of the shore, when she was hove-to, Collins explaining that he would rather not anchor, as, upon the only previous occasion of his visit to the island, the ship's anchor had fouled among the rocks at the bottom, and it had been lost, with several fathoms of chain, in an unavailing effort to weigh it.