Across India by Oliver Optic

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"What's the row, Mr. Scott?" asked the former.

"Are ye's thryin' to shake the screw out of her?" inquired the Milesian,
who could talk as good English as his crony, the owner, but who
occasionally made use of the brogue to prevent him from forgetting his
mother tongue, as he put it, though he was born in the United States.
"Don't ye's do it; for sure, you will want it 'fore we get to Bombay."

"Don't you see those men standing upon something, or clinging to whatever
floats them? They are having a close call; but I hope we shall be able to
save them," replied the third officer.

The captain had gone to the pilot-house, from the windows of which the
wreck could be seen very plainly, as its distance from the ship was rapidly
reduced. By this time the entire crew had rushed to the deck, and were
waiting for orders on the forecastle. Mr. Boulong, with his boat's crew,
had gone to the starboard quarter, where the first cutter was swung in on
her davits. The boat pulled six oars, and the cockswain made seven hands.

With these the cutter wad quickly swung out, and the crew took their places
in her, the bowman at the forward tackle, and the cockswain at the after.
It was the same crew with which the first officer had boarded the Blanche
when she was in imminent peril of going down, and he had entire confidence
both in their will and their muscle. He stood on the rail, holding on at
the main shrouds, ready for further orders.

In the pilot-house, with both quartermasters at the wheel, the captain was
still observing with his glass the men in momentary peril of being washed
from their insecure position into the boiling sea. Felix had gone aft with
the first officer, and had assisted in shoving out the first cutter from
the skids inboard, and Louis had come into the pilot-house with Scott.

"Has any one counted the number of men on the wreck, or whatever it is?"
inquired the commander.

"There are eleven of them," promptly replied Scott, who, as an officer of
the ship, was in his element, and very active both in mind and body.

"Too many for one boat in a heavy sea," added Captain Ringgold. "You will
clear away the second cutter, Mr. Scott, and follow Mr. Boulong to the
wreck."

"All the second cutters aft!" shouted the third officer from the window;
and the crew of this boat rushed up the ladder to the promenade deck, and
followed the life-line to the davits of the cutter.

"Bargate, who pulls the stroke oar in the second cutter, has the rheumatism
in his right arm, and is not fit to go in the boat," interposed Mr.
Gaskette, the second officer.

"Let me take his place, Captain Ringgold!" eagerly exclaimed Louis
Belgrave.

"Do you think you can pull an oar in a heavy seaway, Mr. Belgrave?" asked
the commander, who always treated the owner with entire respect in the
presence of others, though he called him by his given name when they were
alone.

"I know I can!" replied Louis very confidently.

"I do not object, if Mr. Scott is willing."

"I am very willing, for Mr. Belgrave's muscle is as hard as a flint."

"Very well. Hurry up!" added the captain.

Four other men were sent aft to assist in the preparations for putting the
second cutter into the water; and in as short a time as Mr. Gaskette, who
usually went in that boat on important occasions, would have required to do
it, the cutter was ready to be dropped into the water when the order was
given.

The captain and the second officer continued to watch the party on the
wreck, expecting every moment to see some of them swept into the savage
waves that beat against their frail support. The ship went at full speed on
her course; for the commander would not waste an instant while the lives of
so many human beings depended upon his action.

"Can you make out what they are clinging to, Mr. Gaskette?" asked the
commander of the only person besides the two quartermasters who remained
with him in the pilot-house.

"Yes, sir; I am just getting an idea in regard to it, though the thing is
awash so that I can hardly make it out," replied the second officer. "I
think it is the bottom of a rather small vessel, upside down; for I see
something like a keel. The party have two ropes stretched the whole length
of the bottom, to which they are clinging."

"You are right; that is plainly the bottom of a vessel, and I wonder that
the craft has not gone down by this time. How she happens to be in that
situation, and why she has not sunk, are matters yet to be explained. Go
aft, if you please, and see that both cutters are ready to be lowered into
the water, Mr. Gaskette. It is not prudent to go much nearer to the wreck,
for the gale may drift us upon it."

The second officer left the pilot-house, and found the crews all seated in
their boats, with everything in readiness to obey the order to lower away;
and he reported the fact to his superior.

"Starboard the helm, Bangs, and steer small!" said Captain Ringgold as soon
as the officer returned with the information he had obtained.

To "steer small" is to move the rudder very gradually; for if the course
were suddenly changed a quarter of the circumference of the compass in such
a sea as was then raging, it would be liable to make the steamer engage in
some disagreeable, if not dangerous, antics.

"Steady!" added the captain when the steamer was headed a point south of
west.

This position brought the starboard side of the ship on the lee; that is,
this part of the ship was sheltered from the fury of the wind and the
waves, and it was the proper situation in which to lower a boat into the
water; for on the windward side these two powerful forces would be likely
to stave the cutter against the side of the steamer.

After the commander had struck the gong to stop her, he gave the order to
the second officer to lower the first cutter; and he left the pilot-house
for this purpose. Mr. Boulong was an exceptionally skilful officer in the
handling of a boat in a heavy sea. Watching for the favorable moment, he
gave the order to the cockswain and bowman to lower away, with the aid of
the oarsmen near them.

"Cast off the after fall, Stoody!" said he sharply to the cockswain; and
the order was promptly obeyed. "Cast off your fall, Knott!" he added almost
instantly. "Let fall! Give way!"

A receding wave carried the boat away from the side of the ship, precisely
as Mr. Boulong had calculated. The six oars dropped into the water as one,
and the men began to pull, getting a firm hold on the receding wave, which
sent the cutter to a safe distance from the ship. As soon as she was clear,
the commander, who had remained in the pilot-house, rang the gong to go
ahead. When the steamer had gathered sufficient headway, she was brought
about as cautiously as before.

The second cutter was on the port quarter of the vessel, and this movement
placed the boat under the lee. Mr. Gaskette had remained aft, and when the
ship had stopped her screw and nearly lost her headway, the captain shouted
to him through his speaking-trumpet, which the roar of the waves and the
escaping steam rendered necessary, to "Lower away!"

"Lower away when you are ready, Mr. Scott!" repeated the second officer.

Though Scott was only eighteen years old, he was an intuitive sailor, and
had a good deal of experience for his years. He had never before occupied
his present position; but his nautical genius, fortified by sundry combats
with wind and waves, made him feel quite at home. As the first officer had
done, he seized the auspicious moment when the retiring wave promised its
efficient aid, and gave the orders to cast off the falls.

The six oars grappled with the water on the smooth side of a great wave,
and carried it to the apex of the next billow; and she went off as
handsomely as the first cutter had done. Mr. Gaskette saw these manoeuvres
successfully accomplished, and then started for the pilot-house, to report
to the captain. On his way he could not help giving an inquiring look at
the manner in which the substitute for Bargate performed his duty.

At eighteen Louis was a healthy, vigorous, athletic fellow, developed by an
active life on the ocean, and weighing one hundred and fifty pounds. In any
trial of strength he was more than the equal of any other member of the
"Big Four," as the four young men berthing in the cabin called themselves,
borrowing the name from a combination of railroads in the West. He was well
trained as an oarsman, and the second officer was satisfied that he was
doing his full share of the work.

As Mr. Gaskette reached the pilot-house there was a commotion there, and it
was evident to him that something unlooked for had occurred. He glanced at
the two cutters; but they were all right, and were steadily making their
way to the locality of the wreck.

"The wreck is going down, sir!" exclaimed Bangs with startling energy just
before the second officer reached the door.

"It is all up with that craft!" added Twist, the other quartermaster.

Captain Ringgold said nothing, but calmly surveyed the men who were now
struggling in the water. They seemed to be all able to swim; but it was a
closer call than they had had before. The two cutters appeared to be their
only possible salvation, and they were still at a considerable distance
from the scene of peril.

It was a terribly exciting and harrowing spectacle; but the commander
looked as impassable as ever. He rang the gong for the ship to go ahead;
and Mr. Gaskette wondered what he intended to do, though he was not left
more than a moment in suspense.

CHAPTER V

THE TITLED GENTLEMEN OF THE TRAVANCORE

The first and second cutters of the Guardian-Mother were struggling bravely
with the huge billows, but not making very rapid progress, though the gale
was in their favor. The eleven men floundering in the water where the wreck
had disappeared under them were provided with life-preservers, it was now
discovered, and their chances were somewhat less desperate than they were
at first taken to be. But the waves rudely knocked them about, and
sometimes upset them so as to require a struggle to regain their upright
position.

"The Blanche is close aboard of us, Captain Ringgold," said Mr. Gaskette.
"She is running at full speed for a position on our port hand."

"Very good," replied the commander. "That is the right thing for her to do,
if she don't come too near us."

"She is at a safe distance, sir, and her starboard quarter-boat is manned
and ready to drop into the water."

"Captain Sharp will do the right thing at the right time," replied the
commander, whose gaze was riveted upon the struggling party in the water.

"I trust we shall be able to save the whole of them."

"The chances are good for it," answered the second officer.

"How is the second cutter doing?" inquired Captain Ringgold.

"She is doing very well, sir, though she is some distance behind the first
cutter, for she got away from the ship later. Mr. Belgrave is pulling a
stroke as vigorous as the rest of the crew. The Blanche is coming about,
and she will have her starboard boat in the water in a few minutes more."

As her head swung round to port she stopped her screw, and then backed for
a few moments, till she had killed the most of her headway; for Captain
Sharp knew better than to drop the boat into the water while the vessel was
making sternway. In a very short space of time the six-oar craft was
pulling with all the muscle of her British tars for the scene of peril, and
not more than two cables' length astern of the second cutter of the
Guardian-Mother.

Captain Ringgold observed the boats with the most intense interest as they
approached the unfortunate men in the water. The Blanche came about again,
and her other quarter-boat was soon pulling after the first. Possibly there
was some feeling of rivalry among the crews of the boats in the good work
in which they were engaged, for they were all putting their utmost vigor
into their oars.

But no boat appeared to gain on the others, and the one which had started
first continued to maintain her advantage till the work of rescuing the
sufferers actually began. By this time the action of the waves had
separated the party, so that they were scattered over a considerable
surface of the breaking billows. Mr. Boulong could see that some of the men
in the water were nearly exhausted; for many of them had wasted their
strength in useless struggles.

The first cutter was approaching a man who was at the extremity of the
western wing of the party. He was a European of thirty years or less; and
though his head, hair, and beard were dripping with salt water, there was
something in his expression, as he bestowed a single glance upon the boat
now close to him, which commanded the respect, and even admiration, of the
first officer. He was cool and self-possessed in spite of the peril of his
situation, and was observing with painful solicitude the struggles of a
person about ten fathoms from him.

"Stand by to lay on your oars!" said Mr. Boulong with energy, when the
first cutter was within a boat's length of the individual. "Hold water!
Stand by to haul him in, Knott!" he added to the bow man. "Stern all!"

These orders were given as the boat came within her length of the man; and
Knott was unshipping his oar, when the stranger raised his left hand,
pointing to the struggling person he had been observing in spite of the
near approach of the cutter.

"Save that man first, for he is drowning!" he shouted in tones full of
anxiety, if not positive suffering. "I can take care of myself for a while
longer."

Mr. Boulong's vision had taken in the drowning man, and he fully realized
that the person's situation was desperate, if he was not already hopelessly
lost. He had struggled and twisted himself in his involuntary efforts, till
his life-preserver had worked its way down to his hips, and then it
overthrew him; for he turned a somerset, and disappeared under a coming
wave. He had utterly "lost his head," and was like an infant in the fury of
the billows.

The men were still backing water with their oars, in obedience to the order
of the officer; but as soon as the oars would go clear of the
self-possessed gentleman, Mr. Boulong gave the command to "Give way!" and
again the cutter went ahead.

It required but a few strokes to give the necessary headway to the boat;
and Knott was again ordered to stand by to haul him in. The great wave
ingulfed and swept over him, and again left him aimlessly battling with the
killing billows. The bowman was in position, and leaned over so far to
reach the sufferer, that the officer ordered the next two men to seize him
by the legs, to prevent him from being dragged overboard.

Knott grasped him by his upper garment, and drew his head out of the water.
He held on like an excited bulldog, in spite of the erratic vaulting of the
boat and the struggles of him whom the deep sea seemed to have chosen as
its victim. But the bowman was a muscular seaman of fifty, and he won the
victory over the billows, and hauled the man into the cutter. He was a
person of rather swarthy complexion, dressed in Hindu costume. He was
passed along through the oarsmen to the stern-sheets, where Mr. Boulong
proceeded to lift him up with his feet in the air, to free his lungs from
the salt water he must have imbibed.

By this time the second cutter came up to the scene, and Scott in command
wondered why the first officer had passed by one man to save another; for
in the commotion of the waves he had not been able to realize the condition
of the Hindu, as he appeared to be. But the cool gentleman had been
over-confident; and instead of waiting for one of the boats to pick him up,
he had disengaged himself from his life-preserver, and attempted to swim to
the first cutter. Mr. Boulong was so occupied with his treatment of the
first man rescued, that he did not see him, or hear his shout above the
noise of the savage waves, and had directed the cockswain to steer for the
next man, who seemed to be an older person than either of the others.

The Hindu had not entirely lost his senses; and when he was disburdened of
the load of salt water he had swallowed, he looked about him, though still
in a somewhat dazed condition.

"Dr. Ferrolan!" he exclaimed. "Oh, save him!" He pointed to him as the
stern of the boat rose on a billow; and he proved to be the person towards
whom the cockswain was steering the boat. "Where is Lord Tremlyn?" he
asked, as he surveyed the surrounding waters. "There!" he screamed wildly,
as he pointed over the stern, where the person indicated was swimming for
the first cutter.

[Illustration: "A ready seaman seized him by the arm."--Page 45.]

"The other boat is close aboard of him, and will soon pick him up," said
Mr. Boulong, turning his attention to one ahead of the cutter.

As he spoke, a booming billow struck Lord Tremlyn, as the Hindu had
revealed his name, just as Scott was running his boat up to take him on
board. He was caught just in the comb of the wave, and it upset him, making
him turn a complete somerset, as his companion had done; but he was master
of himself, and when he came up, he appeared to dive through the crest of
another billow, and came out close alongside Scott's boat, near the bow. A
ready seaman seized him by the arm, and, with the aid of another, hauled
him into the boat, where he was passed into the stern-sheets.

"Was Sir Modava saved?" he asked, with no little excitement in his manner,
as he spit the salt water from his mouth.

"Don't know him, sir; but they just hauled a man into the first cutter,"
replied Scott.

"Which is the first cutter?" asked Lord Tremlyn, looking about him.

"The one just ahead of us, sir."

"Thank God, he is saved!" ejaculated his soaked lordship. "Kindly pull up
to her, and let me be sure of it."

"That is easier said than done, sir. The first cutter has just picked up
another man, and now she is pulling for all she is worth for the next one.
I couldn't overhaul her if I tried, and just now our business is to save
those in the water," answered the third officer.

"You are right, Mr. Officer," added Lord Tremlyn, as he seated himself in
the place pointed out to him.

There were still eight others in the water, and all of them were to the
north of the boats. Those from the Blanche had noticed this fact, and were
pulling in that direction. Mr. Boulong had directed his boat, after taking
in Dr. Ferrolan, as the Hindu called him, to the person the farthest to the
eastward, leaving the others to be saved by the boats nearer to them.

It is enough to say that all the wrecked party were saved, without giving
the details of the picking up of each of them. The vessel in which they had
foundered had entirely disappeared, and nothing was seen belonging to her.
Against the head sea all the boats pulled back to the two steamers. The
first cutter of the Guardian-Mother had saved three, the second three, and
the two boats of the Blanche had picked up five.

"Now give three cheers, Mr. Scott," said Louis Belgrave in a low tone, as
the second cutter, ahead of the first on the return, approached the ship.
"The captain will understand from that we have saved all the party."

Scott approved the suggestion, and the cheers were given with a will, and
repeated by the crew of the first cutter, not far behind. They were
returned from the ship; and the voices included those who belonged in the
cabin, as well as the officers, seamen, and waiters, while the ladies,
clinging to the rails of the promenade, vigorously waved their
handkerchiefs, as the sun rose clear from the eastern waves, though it soon
disappeared in the clouds. It was evident to the officers that the gale was
breaking; or perhaps, as the commander put it, the ship was running out of
it.

Each of the boats got under the lee in turn; the falls were hooked on, and
both cutters were hoisted up to their davits, as they had come from the
scene of their exploits. Mr. Gaskette was directed to get the ship on her
course again; and Captain Ringgold went aft to welcome the shipwrecked
mariners, or whatever they were.

The seamen assisted the dripping passengers to the deck; and the masculine
tenants of the state-cabin crept along the life-lines to take part in the
scene, or at least to witness it. As the steamer was headed to the
eastward, the second cutter was the first to be hoisted up. The first
person to be assisted to the deck was Lord Tremlyn, though those who had
saved him were not yet aware of his quality. The commander extended his
hand to him, and it was cordially grasped.

"I congratulate you, sir, on your escape from the wreck of your ship," said
he. "I thank God most earnestly that we have been able to save all your
party. I hope none were lost before we made you out on the wreck."

"Not one, Captain; and I join with you in reverent gratitude to Him who
rules the sea in calm and storm, for our preservation from certain death,
which would have been our fate, one and all, but for the care and skill
with which you have worked out our salvation. I thank you and the brave and
noble officers and crews of your boats with all my mind and heart. I speak
not for myself alone, but for all the ship's company of the Travancore, now
gone to the bottom," replied Lord Tremlyn, again grasping the hand of the
commander.

In a short time the saved from the first cutter joined the others on the
promenade deck, and the Guardian-Mother proceeded on her course to Bombay.

"Were you the captain of the Travancore, sir?" asked the commander.

"I am only an amateur sailor," said his lordship; "but I was in command of
the unfortunate vessel, which was a steam-yacht of small dimensions, in the
service of the Indian government. Ah, Dr. Ferrolan," he continued as those
from the first cutter crossed the deck; and he grasped the hand of the
person addressed, "let us thank God first, and then the commander of this
ship, that we have been preserved,--all the ship's company, I am informed."

"I join you most heartily, my Lord," replied the doctor. "Captain----"

"Captain Ringgold," prompted Mr. Boulong, by whose boat he had been saved.

"Captain Ringgold, I am your debtor for life;" and he proceeded to express
his obligations more at length. "Permit me to present to you Lord Tremlyn,
a gentleman who came to India on semi-official business."

"I am happy to know you, Lord Tremlyn," replied the commander; but the
title did not appear to make a very profound impression upon him.

"Captain Ringgold, allow me to introduce my particular friend, Sir Modava
Rao, a gentleman high in the favor of the Indian government, and I may add
of all the native princes."

"I am very happy to make your acquaintance, Sir Modava," replied the
commander, taking his dusky hand.

The captain then invited the two titled gentlemen and the doctor of the
party to the cabin, while the two engineers were turned over to Mr.
Sentrick, the chief engineer.

CHAPTER VI

THE GENERAL INTRODUCTION IN THE CABIN

It was still early in the morning, and the cabin party were not disposed to
remain any longer on the promenade deck; for it was almost impossible for
some of them to stand up, even with the aid of the life-lines and the
rails, and all of them retreated to the boudoir and music-room. None of
them had been introduced to the strangers; for they had asked to be
excused, as they were not in a presentable condition.

The trio of distinguished individuals who had been conducted to the main
cabin by the commander were of course soaked with water, and chilled after
remaining so long in their involuntary bath; and for this reason no
questions were asked of them to bring out an explanation of the cause of
the disaster of which they had been the victims. There were three vacant
state-rooms, to which they were assigned, and each of them had a bathroom
connected with it. The two cabin stewards had already been ordered to
prepare these rooms for the occupancy of the newcomers. Warm baths were
ready for them when they took possession of the apartments.

"All this is more luxurious than we have been accustomed to lately," said
Lord Tremlyn, when the commander ushered him into No. 11, which was
provided with everything belonging to a suite of rooms in the best hotels
of the United States.

"I hope you will be able to make yourself comfortable, sir; but your
greatest need at the present moment appears to be dry clothing, when you
have restored your limbs to their normal condition in the bath, and I will
endeavor to supply this want," replied the commander.

"You are very kind, Captain Ringgold, and I shall never cease to be
grateful to you for the service you have rendered to me and my companions;
for all of us would have perished when the wreck of our steamer went down,
without the prompt assistance you rendered to us," said the principal
personage of the party, who was still shivering under the influence of the
chill he had received in the cold waters of the sea.

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