Jack Stapleton; or, the Romance of a Coral Island

Front matter

a OR, THE ROMANCE OF A CORAL ISLAND. OB, THE ROMANCE OF A CORAL ISLAND. BY COMMANDER CLAUD HARDING, R.N., AUTHOR OF "THH CAPTURE OF THE ESTRELLA," "OLD SHIPMATES," "DERELICT," ETC. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY LIMITED, j&t. Uungtan'g l^ousc, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C. 1896. [AU rights reserved.'} CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. An Imaginary Shoal ... ... ... ... 1 II. "Confusion Worse Confounded" ... ... 10 III. An Unlucky Find ... ... ... ... 20 IV. Land at Last ... ... .. ... 28 V. Escollo ... ... ... ... ... 37 VI. Bronco ... ... ... ... ... 44 VII. Melbourne ... ... ... ... ... 51 VIII. Pharaoh... ... ... ... ... 60 IX. The Trewas Family ... ... ... ... 71 X. "Hueco" ... ... ... ... 81 XI. Zalca ... ... ... ... ... 90 XII. Paradise... ... ... ... ... 99 XIII. Moule's Wedding-feast ... ... ... 109 XIV.

The Return of the "Santa Maria" ... 120 XV. A Georgetown Spree ... ... ... 128 XVI. "Will you be that Friend?" ... ... 138 XVII. A Declaration of Love ... ... ... 147 XVIII. "A Gross and Foolish Sire" ... ... 158 XIX. The Disappearance of Dot ... ... .,. CONTENTS. VI CHAPTER PAGE XX. Plot and Counterplot ... ... ... XXI. A Brave Girl 183 XXII. An Eventful Night ... ... ... 193 XXIII. The Beginning of the End ... ... ••• 203 XXIV. "Unto God who gave it" ... ... 213 XXV. Good-bye •■• 221 XXVI. Departure from Escollo ... ... ... 229 XXVII. Varinas ... ... ... 243 XXVIII. The Tables are turned ... ... ... 252 XXIX. The Escape 263 XXX. Good Samaritans ... ... ... 274 XXXI. A Happy Rencontre ... ... ... ... 284 XXXII. Serenidad ... 294 XXXIII. Conclusion ... ... ... OR, THE ROMANCE OF A CORAL ISLAND.

Chapter I. An Imaginary Shoal

" Seventy-eight fathoms ; no bottom with the deep-sea lead, sir, and a vessel under bare poles, with her jibbooni, foretop-mast, and maintopgallant-mast gone, has just been sighted on the lee bow," reported Mr. John Stapleton, the officer of the watch, and junior lieutenant on board H.M.S. Euterpe, to the captain, who was lying down on a sofa in his cabin reading a French novel. " Dear me ! " answered the captain. " What is it like on deck ? " " It is overcast, rainy, and squally ; the glass is going down, and the wind is freshening, sir." " Dear me ! Is it time for quarters, yet ? " " Yes, sir. It is just about the time," replied Staple ton; and, as he uttered the words, the first lieutenant entered the cabin, and reported — B " Ready for quarters, sir." With another exclamation of " Dear me !

" the captain told the first lieutenant to go to " quarters," while he reluctantly laid aside the French novel he was much interested in, and prepared to go on deck to be present at evening quarters, in which he took no interest whatsoever. A few days previously, when the Euteipc was com fortably moored to a buoy in Port Royal Harbour, Jamaica, an English merchant ship arrived, whose master reported that, on his voyage from British Hon duras, he had passed a patch of discoloured water, upon which the sea was breaking, where no shoal was marked on the chart. The chances were a thousand to one against there being any shoal at all. Dead whales are frequently reported for rocks, a ray of light shining on the water through a rift in an overcast sky is often mistaken for a shoal ; and it requires a small effort of the imagination to transform a school of distant flying fish into a patch of breakers.

Such a piece of information is, however, seldom neg lected or ignored ; and as the flagship happened to be lying in Port Royal Harbour when the news was brought, the admiral ordered the Euterpe to go and search for the mysterious shoal, and report its existence or otherwise. Of all the unthankful duties in the Royal Navy and they are many — that of looking for some doubtful danger to navigation is one of the unpleasantest. The position of the object is seldom given with any degree of accuracy ; thus necessitating a large tract of ocean to be surveyed. No one on board believes in the existence of the danger; but everybody thinks he is being sent on a fool's errand ; while a more than usually cautious look-out has to be kept, for fear of running down the obstacle they are sent to discover. For two weary days and nights the crew of the Euterpe had been perpetually sounding with the deep sea lead, without having once obtained soundings ; and everybody on board was tired of the job.

The weather, latterly, had changed for the worse. The sky was overcast by one impervious, leaden-hued cloud; the scud was flying low, and the air was saturated with moisture ; in addition to which there were constant squalls of wind and rain, which kept the men on duty wet to the skin. As the Euterpe neared the vessel which had been reported just before quarters, she was made out to be a barque, with no sails set and no colours showing. Her general appearance denoted her distress, for she was in great disorder. Several of her principal spars had been earned away, her yards were braced anyhow, and had fragments of canvas hanging to them, as though the sails had been blown away. There were no human beings visible on board of her, but the captain of the Euterpe decided to have her boarded ; as even though she might be abandoned and worthless, she was a danger to navigation, drifting about, as she seemed to be, at the mercy of the winds and waves, with no lights showing at night.

The lifeboat's crew was accordingly called away, and as the weather was thick and threatening, the captain ordered Stapleton to go away in the boat, in the place of the youthful midshipman whose regular duty it was. " Board that barque," he said, " and find out if any of her crew are still on board of her ; also, what is the extent of the damage she has received, the condition of her hull, and the nature of her cargo. I shall take a reef in the topsails, then run down to leeward of the barque, heave-to, and await your return." Stapleton got into the lifeboat at the davits, which was then lowered and slipped. The ten-oared cutter, which would ordinarily have been used for a lifeboat, was at the time hoisted inboard for repairs ; and a five oared life-whaler had been hoisted at the davits in its place ; but the change did not greatly signify, as Staple ton had both wind and sea in his favour ; and as the crew were excited at the thought of salvage, they pulled with a will, and soon reduced the distance between the Euterpe and the distressed vessel.

When within fifty yards of the barque, Stapleton observed that the Euterpe was up in the wind, and a few moments afterwards, her head yards were braced round, thus showing that the wind had headed her. " Give way men, as hard as you can, and let us get alongside before the squall reaches us," called out Stapleton to the crew, who bent to their oars in re sponse ; but almost at the same moment a gust of wind struck them, accompanied by a blinding sheet of spray and rain, which completely hid the Euterpe from view, and almost obscured the barque. The wind, however still favoured them in the whaler, and they were able to get under the lee of the barque, which protected them from the wind, though the rain nearly blinded them. As they ran up alongside, the whaler struck heavily on some object floating under water which badly stove her, and in a few seconds the water was up to her thwarts.

Any advantage the boat possessed as a lifeboat was lost; for the air-chambers, which would have kept her from sinking in the open sea, were stove in and full of water ; nor was this the only disaster, for the boat was caught up on the object she had struck, and all efforts to dislodge her were un successful. In the mean time, the barque had either swung round or the wind had shifted to the opposite quarter, bringing the boat on the weather side of the vessel; and instead of being in comparatively smooth water the seas were washing into the whaler, and bumping her still more on the mass of floating wreckage alongside. " Get on board the barque the best way you can," shouted Stapleton to the crew; who speedily obeyed the order by jumping overboard, and trying to clamber up the rigging which was hanging over the ship's side.

The task was, however, by no means an easy one. A mass of broken spars, weighed down by the heavy rigging, was floating a short distance below the surface of the water. This prevented the men from the free use of their limbs in swimming, yet gave them no support in the water, while there was great risk of their being entangled in the debris, or being jammed between two heavy spars. Stapleton received a blow on the knee which caused him great pain, and would have incapacitated most men from further exertion ; but being extraordinarily strong and active, he was able to haul himself up the side of the barque by his arms, and arms alone, and was assisted over the bulwarks by Bunt, the coxwain, who had been the first to arrive on board. Bunt had the agility of a cat ; and by his assistance, two other men, though slightly bruised, had gained the deck of the barque.

The remainder of the crew were washed away and seen no more. During all this time a violent squall was blowing, and the rain was descending in sheets. As soon as Stapleton realized that he was left on board a derelict barque, with his boat swamped, and two of his crew drowned, he at once took a survey of his surroundings. Nothing could be seen of the Euterpe, which is not surprising, as the rain completely obscured from view any object outside a distance of a hundred yards. In the mean time, darkness was rapidly approaching, and there was no time to lose in deciding what was best to be done. All the boats of the barque were gone with the exception of the long-boat, which -was stowed inboard amidships; and this confirmed Stapleton's impression that the vessel had been abandoned by her crew, as the boat's falls were still hanging from the davits, showing that the boats had been lowered into the water, and had not been washed away.

It was difficult to imagine the reason of the barque being deserted, for she seemed quite seaworthy, and the loss of a fore topmast and jibboom would scarcely warrant the crew leaving her. Having lost so much head-gear, the vessel kept coming up to the wind, thus making worse weather of it than if steadily drifting before the gale. The gaff foresail was still bent, and Stapleton told Bunt, the coxwain, and Moule, one of the whaler's crew, to go up and loose the sail, while he and Casey, the other man, hunted about for something to use as a sheet for it. They found a luff under the forecastle, which would answer the purpose capitally ; but they also made another discovery, which was no less than the dead bodies of two seamen in an advanced stage of decomposition. It was Casey who first found them, lying right for ward in the eyes of the vessel.

He rushed over to Stapleton in a great state of excitement, and exclaimed, "There are two of the crew lying over there, your honour, and begorra, I belave they're carpses." Stapleton went over and examined them. " My God ! this is terrible, and very mysterious," he muttered. Then turning to Casey, he said, " Come and lend me a hand with this luff. We will get the gaff foresail set, and then attend to these poor fellows." The gaff foresail being set, at once steadied the barque, and enabled her to lie comfortably to the gale. Stapleton informed Bunt and Moule of the gruesome discovery they had made, and these two went forward to inspect the dead bodies, which were, however, too decomposed to afford any clue as to the cause of death. Several conjectures were made. Bunt thought some fearful epidemic had broken out on board, and that the crew had deserted the ship in consequence.

Moule suggested that the boats were lowered to pick up some men who had fallen overboard when the foretop-mast carried away, leaving these two men in charge, and that the boats had been unable to regain the ship. Stapleton was greatly puzzled. There was no doubt that the boats had been lowered ; and it was probable that the majority of the crew had left the ship in them; but for what purpose, or why they had not returned to her, he could not conceive. Stapleton ordered the two dead bodies to be laid on a grating. They were then covered over with a piece of canvas, carried aft, and launched overboard. Bunt found an axe under the break of the poop, and with this, and the men's knives, they all set to work to clear away the wreckage alongside. This was a long job ; and it was quite dark before they had finished ; so that they were unable to make any inspection of the ship below, or to find anything to eat.

They were all wet through ; but blue-jackets make very light of such a small inconvenience as that. They were also very hungry, and they could obtain no light for their pipes, the latter being a serious consideration ; but they possessed the solace of a quid, and as it was advisable for them all to remain together, Stapleton told the men to make use of the cabin under the poop where they would at any rate be sheltered from the rain and wind, and prick for a soft plank; or, in other words, select the best billet they could find on the deck to pass the night. One man was left to mind the helm, and keep a look-out, but the barque required very little watchino-. She earned a turn and a half of lee helm, and the wheel was lashed at that. She came up to the wind a point or two, and then fell off again, making little progress through the water, but very fair weather of it, which was what Stapleton desired, as he knew the Euterpe would do her best to remain in the locality, and he fully expected to be sighted by her at daylight, when they would be rescued from their unpleasant situation.

The force of the wind increased, and its direction changed suddenly more than once during the night. On one occasion they were taken aback, and had to shift over the gaff foresail sheet, and lie on the other tack, which was, if anything, to their advantage, as it enabled them to keep near the spot where they left the Euterpe. The rain ceased about midnight, or rather gave place to a thick drifting haze, wiiich was almost as wetting as the rain, and quite as opaque. Stapleton suffered a good deal from the knee he had struck in getting on board, and was scarcely able to sleep all night from the pain of it. The other men slept soundly enough, and, except when called to relieve the watch, or shift over the gaff foresail sheet, snored as regularly as they ordinarily did in their own hammocks.

Chapter II

' CONFUSION WORSE CONFOUNDED. They all awoke at daylight, when Bunt and Casey went forward to see if they could not manage to light the galley fire and prepare some breakfast; while Stapleton crawled on the poop, and had a good look round for the Euterpe ; but the atmosphere was as thick as pea-soup, and there was no sign of the man-of-war. It was blowing a fresh gale, with a high sea, and every minute that passed rendered the chance of sight ing the Euterpe more remote. By the binnacle compass, they were heading south-west, but, with the heavy lee way, they were not making better than a southerly course. They had had no light during the night, so could not tell with any degree of accuracy in what direction they had been drifting, nor how the wind had been blowing. Stapleton made a rough calculation in his head, and concluded that they might have traveled from twenty to thirty miles in a south-westerly direction since leaving the Euterpe, and as he knew the latitude and longitude of the shoal they had been looking for, he thought he could roughly fix their present position on the chart.

He returned to the cabin to do so, and then " CONFUSION WORSE CONFOUNDED." 11 observed, in the stronger light, a state of affairs which had been hidden from view in the darkness ; and which, perhaps, afforded a clue to the cause of the vessel having been abandoned. On the deck of the cabin were some large stains of blood which led towards one of the side cabins. Following these, Stapleton found the side cabin in a state of great disorder, which clearly proved that a fight had taken place there. A looking-glass on the bulk head over a kneehole table had been fractured by a bullet, and on the table itself was a mass of papers covered with blood, as though some wounded person had first fallen there, and then sunk on the deck, where there Avas another patch of blood. The body of the wounded man had apparently been allowed to lie for some time on the deck, and had then been dragged through the doorway and along the deck of the fore cabin.

A Colt's revolver was lying in a corner of the cabin, with three out of the six chambers loaded, the others having been recently fired, as was shown by the exploded caps still remaining on the nipples. By the fight having taken place in the captain's cabin, it seemed as if the crew had mutinied, and murdered the officers. What provocation they had received, or how the two men, whose bodies they had found the night before, had met with their deaths, still remained a mystery. Stapleton examined the blood-stained papers on the table, which were mostly covered with arithmetical calculations, and threw no light on the tragedy that had taken place on board. He then searched the drawers of the kneehole table, and found in one of them the ship's log, which gave him a good deal of information. The barque's name was Liberian, of six hundred and twenty tons, belonging to Bristol, from which port she sailed some four months previously, with a general cargo, for Charleston.

A good deal of her cargo had been discharged at the latter place, and she shipped in lieu machinery and hardware, but what the latter comprised was not stated. Some of the English crew also left, other men being received in their places ; and she took on board as cabin passengers two Spanish gentlemen named Juarez and Crespo. From Charleston they proceeded to Santiago de Cuba, where more Spanish passengers took their passage, and on leaving the latter place, they shaped course for Guatemala. The Liberian had been five days at sea when the record abruptly terminated. Eighteen days had elapsed since the last entry in the log ; and during that time the barque might have drifted a considerable distance in one direction, or have been blown hither and thither by variable winds without departing far from the spot where she was abandoned.

There could be no doubt that a fight of some kind had taken place on board. The crew might have mutinied and overpowered the officers and pas sengers, or perhaps the latter had risen and murdered the officers and crew. Stapleton examined the other cabins, which all showed signs of having been hurriedly vacated ; but with the exception of a few torn-up Spanish letters, there was nothing to give any clue to what had taken place, and Stapleton's knowledge of the Spanish COaVFUSION WORSE CONFOUNDED." 13 language was too slight to enable him to interpret their meaning. The whole affair was wrapped in mystery, though the destination of the ship, Guatemala, afforded a slight clue. Guatemala was at that time, as is usual, in the throes of a revolution. The number of Spaniards taking passage in the Liberian to that place suggested that they were conspirators on their way to head quarters, to join either one side or the other.

It was possible that a quarrel had broken out amongst them which the captain of the Liberian had attempted to suppress, and, in so doing, had lost his life ; for a Central American desperado would as soon shoot a human being as a mad dog ; but that would not account for the ship being abandoned. Stapleton became quite bewildered in his attempts to unravel the mystery, and at last gave it up in despair. His cogitations were interrupted by the entry of Bunt, who brought in a basin of hot coffee and some biscuit. " Hulloa ! How did you manage to light the fire ? " asked Stapleton. " Well, sir, there's plenty of coal and firewood in the galley, and while we were looking round for a box of matches, or a charge of gunpowder, Moule happened to come across a little locker under the break of the poop, where a couple of bluelights and a box of caps was stowed ; so we picked a lot of oakum, which we put in the middle of some firewood, and set it alight with the bluelight.

We've got a fire there now you might roast a bullock at, and we won't let it out again neither." " There seems to have been a free fight on board. Do you see those stains of blood on the deck behind you . There are a lot more in one of the cabins over there," said Stapleton, as he jerked his head in the direction of the captain's sleeping-cabin. " My God, so there has ! What do you suppose it was about, sir ? Moule has been down in the forepeak, and he says the men's bunks are jnst as they left them, and they haven't even taken their sea-chests with them." " It's very difficult to say. My own impression is that there's something political at the back of it. They were carrying a lot of Spanish passengers to Guate mala, where there is always fighting going on, and I think they must have either quarrelled among them selves, or else murdered the officers and crew, and taken possession of the vessel ; but that would not account for her being deserted — in fact, I give it up."

As soon as the men had finished breakfast, the cargo in the main hold was examined. Like every other place in the ship, the hold was in confusion, and the cargo had evidently been lately disturbed. The hatches, too, had been carelessly, as if hurriedly, replaced, and were not fastened down. There were several cases of so-called hardware left, some of which were passed on deck, and, on being opened, were found to contain fire arms, and ball-cartridges, swords, and sword-bayonets. Below this was a well-stowed general cargo, which had been untouched. The nature of the hardware put a new complexion on the state of affairs, and Stapleton conjectured, with a reasonable amount of probability, that the departure of the Liberian from Santiago de Cuba with munitions of war and reinforcements, had become known to the opposite party, who had sent a steamer in chase, which CONFUSION WORSE CONFOUNDED." 15 had overhauled the barque, and that the arms and passengers had been removed by force, and all who resisted shot down.

If the officers of the Liberian had been killed, it would account for the men leaving the vessel, as the latter would be unable to navigate her, and the removal of the cases of arms and ammunition would account for the boats having been lowered. The weather was still very thick, and the chance of sighting the Euterpe grew every moment more remote; nor was there nmch probability of meeting any other ship, as they were out of the ordinary track of trading vessels. Nor, under any circumstances, would Stapleton be inclined to desert the Liberian, as she was perfectly seaworthy, and had still a cargo of considerable value on board in good condition. He called the men together, and explained to them his view of the circumstances, and said in conclusion — " It may clear at any moment, and we may find our selves within a few cables of the Euterpe, but it is quite on the cards that we never sight her again.

It is of no use to waste any further time, we'll get things in order on board the barque, and, if we do not sight the ship in the next twenty-four hours, we had better make our way to the nearest port." It is wonderful how quickly a few well-trained sea men will produce order out of the most hopeless con fusion. The wreckage, towing alongside, had been cut away the night before, but no attempt had been made to clear up the deck, as darkness overtook them, and it was raining in torrents. When the hold was restowed, Stapleton took the helm, while Bunt and the two blue-jackets went forward, and slowly working their way aft, they coiled down all the ropes, put everything in its place, and in an hour's time had made the upper deck look as orderly and ship-shape, as though the crew had never left the vessel.

They then cleared up the cabin under the poop, scrubbed the deck, and removed all the blood stains. When this was done, Bunt and Moule went down to the forepeak, and put that place to rights, while Casey took charge of the cook's galley, where an eight-pound piece of salt-beef was boiling in the coppers, in prepara tion for their dinners. The weather improved as the day wore on, the wind dropped, the sea went down, and the wet fog collected in low hanging clouds, which were driven to leeward by the breeze, and formed a heavy bank on the horizon. Stapleton found a telescope in the captain's cabin, and when the sky cleared, he searched the ocean in every direction, in the hope of seeing the Euterpe. But not a sail of any description was in sight ; and as nothing was to be gained by drifting about at the mercy of the wind and waves, he decided to make for the nearest available land.

He roughly calculated that the position of the Liberian was somewhere about two hundred miles south of Cuba, and about the same distance north-west of Jamaica. He would much have preferred to have made for the latter place ; but to do so he would have to encounter a strong adverse current, which ran at a greater velocity than he could hope to go through the water in the barque, though con tinuously favoured with a fair wind. Having no time by " CONFUSION WORSE CONFOUNDED." 17 chronometer, it would have been absurd to try and hit off a small island, so he reluctantly decided to make for the island of Cuba, which would be difficult to miss, and towards which the current was setting him. Having arrived at this decision, Stapleton called Bunt, and explained to him and the two other men their situation.

He pointed out on the chart their probable position, and gave his reasons for making for Cuba. " Now, we have plenty of stores and provisions on board to last for any length of time," he said, " and though we are a bit short-handed, I have no doubt that we shall be able to reach the land, if we all dig out and do our best. I see most of the staysails are bent, and they can be set without much labour, and they are easy sails to manage. To-morrow we may be able to bend a new foresail. I am sorry that I can't help you much myself, but my leg is badly hurt, and it is as much as I can do to stand upon it. Still, I can take my trick at the helm ; and you must always bear in mind that we have a valuable cargo on board, and that the ship is worth saving." " We'll dig out ; never you fear about that, Mr. Stapleton," answered Bunt ; " and when once we get the staysails on her, we can take this old barque wherever we please."

Bunt was as good as his word. He and the two other men worked like blacks, and before nightfall had set the fore-staysail, maintopmast staysail, and gaff mainsail. They shaped a northerly course, and with the wind abeam, nearly due east, and all the sails drawing well, the Liberian was once more under com mand, and driving briskly through the water. The c wind fell light during the night, and at midnight there was a flat calm ; but they hoped to pick up the sea breeze the next day, and as the current was in their favour, the crew did not trouble themselves much about the speed they were going ; but leaving one man at the helm, the other two slept well and soundly after the fatigues of the day. Stapleton passed an even worse night than the previous one. His leg pained him so much that he could not sleep, but lay through the long hours of the night in a feverish state bordering on delirium.