Robert Michael Ballantyne
The Life of a Ship
“Now,” said the captain, “I think that there is a chance of escape yet. Get on board, lads, as fast as you can. I fear the ship won’t float long.” All the men now hastened on board. The captain’s wife, who was the only female in the ship, was the first to step on the raft, and it soon began to be crowded. When about half of the sailors had left the ship the captain suddenly cried out, “Ho! Ben Block, we’ve forgot a mast and sail. Run below with a couple of hands and fetch one as fast as you can.” Just at that moment the ship gave a heavy plunge, the ropes broke, and the raft floated slowly away, leaving the men who were yet in the ship in a state of despair. One or two of them jumped into the sea and tried to swim to the raft; but the first man who did so was nearly drowned, and the others got back to the ship with great difficulty. It was a terrible sight to witness the misery of the poor captain, as he beheld his wife, standing with her arms stretched out towards him, and the raft drifting slowly away, until at length it appeared like a small black spot far off upon the sea.
“Oh, my poor wife!” he cried, “I shall never see you more.”
The tears were rolling down Ben Block’s weatherbeaten face as he went up to the captain and took him by the hand.
“Never fear, sir,” said he; “the Almighty can save her.”
“Thank you, Ben, for saying that,” replied the captain; “but the ship won’t float long. My wife may indeed be saved, but we are sure to be lost.”
“I don’t know that,” cried Ben, trying to look cheerful. “When you sent me down below, sir, to look for a mast and sail, I observed that the water in the hold had ceased rising. If we can only keep her afloat a little longer, we may manage to make another raft.” The captain smiled sadly and shook his head, and Davy, who had been standing beside him all the time, felt his heart sink again.
To add to the horror of the scene, night came on, and the water was so high in the cabin that the captain and men who had been left in the wreck had to try to sleep on the wet decks the best way they could. Next morning the wind was still blowing pretty hard, and they now saw that they were drawing near to a wild shore, where there seemed to be many large rocks in the water near the beach. The crew of the Fair Nancy looked anxiously towards the land, hoping to see people there who might help them when the ship struck on the rocks; but they saw no one. In about an hour afterwards the ship struck, and the shock was so great that Davy’s heart seemed to leap into his throat. The shore was lined with great dark cliffs and precipices, at the foot of which the waves roared furiously. While the men stood looking helplessly at the land another wave lifted the ship, carried her forward a long way, and dashed her down on the rocks, where she stuck fast, with a sharp rock quite through her hull, and the water foaming round her. What made their situation more dreadful was, that a great deal of snow had fallen during the night. It covered the decks of the ship, and made the land look cold and dreary.
“We must swim for it now,” said the captain, as he looked sorrowfully at the boiling surf and immense waves which swept over the rocks, and bursting like thunder on the cliffs, were flung back upon the ship in spray.
“No one can swim in such a surf as that,” said one of the sailors gloomily.
“Surf” is the name given to the white foam which is formed by the waves when they dash upon the shore. It is very difficult, sometimes quite impossible, to swim in the surf of the sea, and many poor sailors have been hurled on the rocks by it and dashed in pieces while attempting to swim from their wrecked vessels to the land.
Every time a wave came it lifted the Fair Nancy, and, as it passed, let her fall heavily on the sharp rocks, so that she began to break up. Still the men were afraid to venture into the sea, and they clung to the bulwarks, quite uncertain what to do. At last Ben Block turned to the captain and said—
“I’m a good swimmer, captain, and I think I could swim to the shore well enough perhaps; but there are some o’ the men who can’t swim, and poor Davy, there, could never do it; so I’ll just throw a rope round my shoulders and make for the shore. If I land I’ll fix the rope to the cliffs, and you’ll all be able to get ashore easy enough. If I should be drowned,—it’ll only be a little sooner, that’s all, and it’s well worth risking my life to save my shipmates.”
“You’re a brave fellow, Ben,” said the captain. “Go and do it if you can.”
Ben Block went down below and soon returned with a stout rope. On the end of this he made a loop, which he passed round his shoulders, and then, raising his eyes to heaven with an imploring look, he leapt into the sea. At first he swam vigorously, and the sailors looked on in anxious hope. But a large wave came. It fell,—and Ben Block disappeared, while a cry of fear rose from the deck of the ship. In a few seconds, however, they saw him rise again and struggle manfully with the raging billows. The next wave that came lifted Ben up and threw him on the beach, to which he clung with all his power; but as the wave retired it swept him back into the sea, for he could not hold on to the loose sand. He now rolled over and over quite exhausted, and the sailors thought he was dead. But a man’s life is dear to him, and he does not soon cease to struggle. Another wave approached. It lifted Ben up and threw him again on the beach. This time he made a desperate effort to hold on, and, fortunately, he observed a large rock close to where he lay. With a sudden spring he caught hold of it and held on till the wave went back; then he ran forward a few steps and caught hold of another rock a little higher up, so that when the next wave broke over him it had not power to draw him back. Another run—and he was safe!
The men gave a loud cheer when they saw him land. After he had rested a little, Ben fastened the end of the rope to a mass of rock. The sailors hauled it tight and fixed the other end in the ship; and then, one by one, they slowly crept along the rope and reached the shore in safety. Here they all fell on their knees and thanked God for their deliverance.
