It was well understood that the passengers could have only one hope—that of reaching some part of the American coast, if not Valparaiso. What Dick Sand counted on doing was to the direction and speed of the "Pilgrim," so as to get an average. For that, it was sufficient to make each day on the chart the way made, as it has been said, by the log and the compass. There was then on board one of those "patent logs," with an index and helix, which give the speed very exactly for a time. This useful instrument, very easily handled, could render the most useful services, and the blacks were adapted to work it.
A single cause of error would interfere—the currents. To combat it, reckoning would be ; observations alone would enable one to render an exact calculation from it. Now, those observations the young was still unable to make.
For an instant Dick Sand had thought of bringing the "Pilgrim" back to New Zealand. The passage would be shorter, and he would certainly have done it if the wind, which, till then, had been contrary, had not become favorable. Better worth while then to for America.
In fact, the wind had changed almost to the contrary direction, and now it blew from the northwest with a tendency to freshen. It was then necessary to profit by it and make all the headway possible.
So Dick Sand prepared to put the "Pilgrim" under full sail.
In a brig-rigged, the foremast carries four square sails; the foresail, on the lower mast; above, the top-sail, on the topmast; then, on the top-gallant mast, a top-sail and a royal.
The mainmast, on the contrary, has fewer sails. It only carries a brigantine below, and a fore-staffsail above. Between these two masts, on the stays which support them at the , a triple row of sails may be set.
Finally, at the prow, on the bowsprit, and its extreme end, were hauled the three jibs.
The jibs, the brigantine, the fore-staff, and the stay-sails are easily managed. They can be from the deck without the necessity of climbing the masts, because they are not fastened on the yards by means of rope-bands, which must be loosened.
On the contrary, the working of the foremast sails demands much greater in seamanship. In fact, when it is necessary to set them, the sailors must climb by the rigging—it may be in the foretop, it may be on the spars of the top-gallant mast, it may be to the top of the said mast—and that, as well in letting them fly as in drawing them in to diminish their surface in reefing them. Thence the necessity of running out on foot-ropes—movable ropes stretched below the yards—of working with one hand while holding on by the other—perilous work for any one who is not used to it. The oscillation from the rolling and pitching of the ship, very much increased by the length of the lever, the flapping of the sails under a stiff breeze, have often sent a man overboard. It was then a truly dangerous operation for Tom and his companions.
Very fortunately, the wind was moderate. The sea had not yet had time to become rough. The rolling and pitching kept within bounds.
When Dick Sand, at Captain 's signal, had toward the scene of the , the "Pilgrim" only carried her jibs, her brigantine, her foresail, and her top-sail. To get the ship under way as quickly as possible, the novice had only to make use of, that is, to counter-brace, the foresail. The blacks had easily helped him in that .
The question now was to get under full sail, and, to complete the sails, to the top-sails, the royal, the fore-staff, and the stay-sails.
"My friends," said the novice to the five blacks, "do as I tell you, and all will go right."
Dick Sand was at the wheel of the helm.
"Go!" cried he. "Tom, let go that rope quickly!"
"Let go?" said Tom, who did not understand that expression.
"Yes, loosen it! Now you, Bat—the same thing! Good! Heave—haul .
Let us see, pull it in!"
"Like that?" said Bat.
"Yes, like that. Very good. Come, Hercules—strong. A good pull there!"
To say "strong" to Hercules was, perhaps, imprudent. The giant of course gave a pull that brought down the rope.
"Oh! not so strong, my honest fellow!" cried Dick Sand, smiling. "You are going to bring down the masts!"
"I have hardly pulled," replied Hercules.
"Well, only make believe! You will see that that will be enough! Well, slacken—cast off! Make fast—Make fast—like that! Good! All together! Heave—pull on the ."
And the whole breadth of the foremast, whose larboard braces had been loosened, turned slowly. The wind then the sails imparted a certain speed to the ship.
Dick Sand then had the jib sheet-ropes loosened. Then he called the blacks aft:
" what is done, my friends, and well done. Now let us attend to the mainmast. But break nothing, Hercules."
"I shall try," replied the colossus, without being willing to promise more.
This second operation was quite easy. The main-boom sheet-rope having been let go gently, the brigantine took the wind more regularly, and added its powerful action to that of the forward sails.
The fore-staff was then set above the brigantine, and, as it is simply brailed up, there was nothing to do but bear on the rope, to haul aboard, then to secure it. But Hercules pulled so hard, along with his friend Acteon, without counting little , who had joined them, that the rope broke off.
All three fell backwards—happily, without hurting themselves. Jack was .
"That's nothing! that's nothing!" cried the novice. "Fasten the two ends together for this time and hoist softly!"
That was done under Dick Sand's eyes, while he had not yet left the helm. The "Pilgrim" was already sailing rapidly, headed to the east, and there was nothing more to be done but keep it in that direction. Nothing easier, because the wind was favorable, and lurches were not to be feared.
"Good, my friends!" said the novice. "You will be good sailors before the end of the voyage!"
"We shall do our best, Captain Sand," replied Tom.
Mrs. Weldon also complimented those honest men.
Little Jack himself received his share of praise, for he had worked bravely.
"Indeed, I believe, Mr. Jack," said Hercules, smiling, "that it was you who broke the rope. What a good little fist you have. Without you we should have done nothing right."
And little Jack, very proud of himself, shook his friend Hercules' hand vigorously.
The setting of the "Pilgrim's" sails was not yet complete. She still lacked those top-sails whose action is not to be despised under this full-sail movement. Top-sail, royal, stay-sails, would add sensibly to the schooner's speed, and Dick Sand resolved to set them.
This operation would be more difficult than the others, not for the stay-sails, which could be hoisted, hauled aboard and fastened from below, but for the cross-jacks of the foremast. It was necessary to climb to the spars to let them out, and Dick Sand, not wishing to expose any one of his crew, undertook to do it himself.
He then called Tom and put him at the wheel, showing him how he should keep the ship. Then Hercules, Bat, Acteon and Austin being placed, some at the royal halyards, others at those of the top-sails, he proceeded up the mast. To climb the rattlings of the fore-shrouds, then the rattlings of the topmast-shrouds, to gain the spars, that was only play for the young novice. In a minute he was on the foot-rope of the top-sail yard, and he let go the rope-bands which kept the sail bound.
Then he stood on the spars again and climbed on the royal yard, where he let out the sail rapidly.
Dick Sand had finished his task, and seizing one of the starboard backstays, he slid to the deck.
There, under his directions, the two sails were vigorously hauled and fastened, then the two yards hoisted to the block. The stay-sails being set next between the mainmast and the foremast, the work was finished. Hercules had broken nothing this time.
The "Pilgrim" then carried all the sails that composed her rigging. Doubtless Dick Sand could still add the foremast studding-sails to larboard, but it was difficult work under the present circumstances, and should it be necessary to take them in, in case of a squall, it could not be done fast enough. So the novice stopped there.
Tom was relieved from his post at the wheel, which Dick Sand took charge of again.
The breeze freshened. The "Pilgrim," making a slight turn to starboard, rapidly over the surface of the sea, leaving behind her a very flat track, which bore witness to the purity of her water-line.
"We are well under way, Mrs. Weldon," then said Dick Sand, "and, now, may God preserve this favorable wind!"
Mrs. Weldon pressed the young man's hand. Then, with all the emotions of that last hour, she sought her cabin, and fell into a sort of painful , which was not sleep.
The new crew remained on the schooner's deck, watching on the forecastle, and ready to obey Dick Sand's orders—that is to say, to change the set of the sails according to the variations of the wind; but so long as the breeze kept both that force and that direction, there would be nothing to do.
During all this time what had become of Cousin Benedict?
Cousin Benedict was occupied in studying with a magnifying glass an articulate which he had at last found on board—a simple orthopter, whose head disappeared under the prothorax; an insect with flat elytrums, with round , with rather long wings, which belonged to the family of the roaches, and to the species of American .
It was exactly while ferreting in Negoro's kitchen, that he had made that precious discovery, and at the moment when the cook was going to crush the said insect pitilessly. Thence anger, which, indeed, Negoro took no notice of.
But this Cousin Benedict, did he know what change had taken place on board since the moment when Captain Hull and his companions had commenced that fatal whale-fishing? Yes, certainly. He was even on the deck when the "Pilgrim" arrived in sight of the
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CHAPTER IX. CAPTAIN SAND.
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