CHAPTER VIII.

THE VILLE D’ANGERS.

“Help, help! Save me!” cried Miss Rodwood in the water, at some distance from Tom Speers.

As the girl had voluntarily thrown herself into the sea, Tom could not understand why she called for assistance. He had struck the water only a few seconds after she sprang overboard, and she could not be at any great distance from him. He was a strong swimmer, and the sea was very smooth. He heard the cry of the girl repeated as he came up with the life-buoy he had thrown overboard. Placing it before him, he swam with all the speed he could make, and reached the sufferer when she was quite exhausted by her efforts. She could swim a little herself, and had more confidence in the water than most persons who had never tried to do so.

“Don’t be afraid!” cried Tom, when he saw in the gloom of the night that she was still struggling to keep afloat.

In a moment more he reached her, and placed her hands upon the life-buoy, which was buoyant enough to support both of them.

“You are perfectly safe now,” said Tom, as he assured himself that she had a good hold upon the buoy.

She was too much exhausted to make any reply; and, whatever she had intended in the beginning, it was clear enough to Tom that she had no present desire to end her young life.

Capt. O’Hara had hardly entered the engine-room, when he heard the energetic cry of Tom Speers; and he realized in an instant that the worst his friend feared had come to pass.

“Man overboard! Stop her, Alexander!” he shouted to the chief engineer, who was watching the motions of the machinery.

The captain told the engineer to pass the word for Mr. Frisbone. He returned to the main deck; but Raymond, the second officer, had heard the startling cry. Already the third cutter was swung out, and all the watch on deck were in the boat. The officers and seamen had been thoroughly trained to this sort of service, and there had been no more delay than if they had been on board of the Tritonia. The crew lowered themselves into the water, as there was no difficulty in doing in a smooth sea. The falls were cast off, and the cutter shoved away from the steamer. The four oars were shipped, and the crew pulled with all their muscle.

“Pull directly astern of the vessel!” shouted O’Hara, who had gone upon the hurricane-deck, where he could see all that was done.

“Ay, ay, sir!” replied the quartermaster, who, as the highest in rank, had taken the place of the coxswain; for the boat-service of the steamer was not yet organized, and it was not the practice in the vessels of the squadron to wait for the regular officers and crew of the boats in any emergency.

“Call all hands, Mr. Raymond,” said the captain to the officer of the deck.

As there was not another seaman left on the deck of the Ville d’Angers, Raymond performed this duty himself.

“Man overboard! All hands on deck!” cried Raymond, as he passed into the cabin, and proceeded to open the doors of all the state-rooms occupied by the crew.

“What is the matter?” asked Mrs. Frisbone, coming out of her room.

“Man overboard, madam,” replied the second officer.

“Man overboard! Who is it?” asked the terrified lady.

“I’m sure I don’t know who it is, madam.”

As it was a “man overboard,” it did not occur to her that the unfortunate person could be her sister; but, fearing that the invalid might be alarmed at the unusual noise, she went to her room, and found she was not there.

“Where is my sister?” asked Mrs. Frisbone, very much startled by the discovery she had made.

“I don’t know, madam,” replied Raymond. “I saw her walking on the hurricane-deck a while ago. I will see if she is there now.”

The second officer left the cabin; and, finding the captain on the upper deck, he asked if he had seen Miss Rodwood.

“She is overboard,” replied the captain.

“My sister overboard!” exclaimed Mrs. Frisbone, who had followed Raymond from the cabin.

“I am sorry to say she is, madam,” added O’Hara; “but I think she will be saved. Mr. Speers leaped in after her only a few seconds after she went over.”

“Did she fall into the water?” demanded the excited lady.

“She jumped over the railing herself, madam,” answered O’Hara, as gently as he could utter the disagreeable words.

“Impossible! She could not have intended to end her life,” groaned the agonized sister.

The captain was explaining what had passed in the cabin before the catastrophe, when Mr. Frisbone joined them. He was astounded at the intelligence conveyed to him.

“Have you suspected that she was out of her head, Maggie?” he inquired.

“I have not seen a single indication of any thing of the kind,” she replied.

“I was on my way to the fire-room to call you, at the request of Mr. Speers, who was sure something was the matter with her, when I heard the cry of ‘Man overboard,’” added O’Hara.

“I wish he had called me,” said Mrs. Frisbone, with a shudder.

“Don’t be alarmed, madam: I am confident she will be saved,” continued the captain, looking out into the darkness astern of the ship.

“I am sure I did not suspect any thing of this kind. She seemed to be quite cheerful and happy when she retired,” mused Mrs. Frisbone.

“Hurrah! hurrah!” shouted the boat’s crew, in the gloom, where they could not be seen.

“That means good news,” said the captain. “They have her in the boat by this time.”

The party on the deck listened for further sounds in the direction from which the cheers had come. In a few moments they heard the measured stroke of oars at some distance from the ship. Raymond had ordered up all the lanterns on board, which were taken to the gangway.

“Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!” shouted the crew of the third cutter, as the boat approached the steamer.

The party descended from the hurricane-deck, and gathered at the gangway, where the accommodation steps had been rigged by Raymond’s directions. The cutter came up to the platform; and Tom Speers, taking the shivering invalid in his arms, bore her up the steps, and into the cabin.

She was too cold, and exhausted by her struggles in the water, to speak. Tom laid her in the berth, and all retired but her sister. Her wet clothing was removed, and she was wrapped in blankets. In half an hour she was warm and comfortable. Her improved condition was reported by the Prince to the interested officers.

“What induced you to do such a thing?” asked Mrs. Frisbone. “Are you tired of living, Louise?”

“Far from it, Maggie! I don’t know what made me do it. I can’t explain it. I certainly had no intention of jumping overboard. An impulse came over me, and I could not resist it. I have hardly slept a wink for two nights, and I was very nervous.”

This was all the explanation the invalid could give of the rash act she had attempted. She insisted that the bath had done her good, and that she was no longer vexed by the morbid fancies which had troubled her since the collision. She expressed her gratitude in the strongest terms to the young gentleman who had gone to her assistance; and she was sure she should have drowned without his aid, for she felt that she was sinking when he brought the life-buoy to her.

Mrs. Frisbone would not leave her again that night, though the invalid declared that she should go to sleep at once; and she did as soon as the explanations were finished. In the mean time Tom Speers had gone to his state-room, and changed his wet clothes for dry ones, and was no worse for his bath.

“Mr. Speers, you have laid me and my wife under a load of obligation that I shall never feel like getting rid of,” said the Prince, as the young hero came out of his room. “I like that girl as though she was my own daughter; and you have done more for me than any living man could do, unless it was to save my wife from drowning in the same way.”

“I am sorry you feel that way about it, sir,” replied Tom, laughing; “for I don’t like to have anybody feel that he owes me too much.”

“You are more than ten times the feller I supposed you was, Mr. Speers; and I have heard a good deal about you within the last week or two.”

“What have you heard about me, sir?” asked Tom curiously.

“I’ll tell you some other time,” answered the Prince. “I must go and look out for the firemen, for they are very green in their new duties, and I’m afraid they will catch cold when the watch is shifted: it is just like boys to go on deck to cool off when they leave the fire-room.”

Mr. Frisbone disappeared in the engine-room, and Tom went forward. He had a long talk with O’Hara about the adventure of the night, in which the captain did not spare the praise he felt that the bold fellow deserved.

“Upon my sowl, the Prince would make you a rich man if he could; but, by the powers, you have got ahead of him, and it’ll be no use. You are richer than he is, and he can’t do any thing for you in that way.”

“I hope not; for I should feel insulted if a man offered me money for that sort of service,” replied the high-toned young officer. “I feel as much at home in the water as I do on this deck; and, if I saw anybody in the water, I couldn’t help going in after him, if he needed help.”

“That’s the ginerous nature you have, my boy! It’s a wonder you wasn’t born in ould Ireland or Italy.”

“The Tritonia is close aboard of us,” said the officer of the deck, touching his cap to the captain.

“I see she is: slow down, if you please, Mr. Raymond,” replied O’Hara. “We shall soon know now to what port we are bound.”

“I think I can go to sleep when I know that,” added Tom.

The Tritonia had made a long tack in standing off and on; and, when she was at the greatest distance from the Ville d’Angers, the wind had died out. She was rolling in the long swells with all sail set, but making no progress through the water. The Ville d’Angers ran across her wake, and within hailing distance of her.

“On board of the steamer!” called the officer of the deck.

“On board the Tritonia!” replied Raymond, prompted by the captain.

“The captain desires Mr. O’Hara to report in person,” added the officer of the schooner.

“All ready with the third cutter,” said the captain.

The boat was lowered into the water, and pulled off with O’Hara on board. In a few moments he was on the quarter-deck of the Tritonia. Capt. Wainwright had been called when the steamer was made out by the watch, and he immediately came on deck.

O’Hara reported in full concerning his action since he had taken possession of the steamer. He declared that the Ville d’Angers was in good seaworthy condition in every respect. She was abundantly supplied with coal, water, and provisions.

“It seems very remarkable that we should pick up Mr. Frisbone and his wife in a disabled vessel,” said Capt. Wainwright, when O’Hara had finished his report, which closed with the catastrophe of Miss Rodwood. “It would perhaps have been better if the American Prince had happened to come to the relief of the Ville d’Angers.”

“But better the Tritonia than neither,” added O’Hara.

“There would have been a certain fitness in the American Prince saving her former owner from the perils of the sea.”

“Indade there would!” exclaimed the captain of the steamer.

“But I suppose you want your orders; and I confess that I have been in a great deal of doubt. Professor Primback is so much incensed against me, that he won’t speak to me. I have asked his advice in regard to what to do; but he will not say any thing. He says I am in the attitude of rebellion against his authority. He insists that I shall call back the students I have sent away, and let the steamer go to the bottom, if that was to be her fate. Mr. Marline thinks I had better send her to the nearest port, which would be Cadiz.”

“That would be a sensible way to dispose of her,” interposed O’Hara, who was in favor of an independent cruise.

“Then I find I differ from all others. I am neither in favor of sending her to Cadiz, or of letting her go to the bottom,” added the captain of the Tritonia decidedly. “And, as I am to be responsible for my action, I shall follow my own plan. Mr. Primback annoys me very much, and I wish to put an end to this state of things as soon as possible.”

“You did not state your plan, captain,” suggested O’Hara nervously; for the independent cruise seemed to be no longer probable.

“I worked over the dead reckoning last night, after the calm settled down upon us; and I make it out that the Josephine cannot be more than forty or fifty miles to the southward of us. She must have laid her course sooner than we did, or we should not have lost sight of her in the night.”

“The American Prince must have sailed some time in the evening, if she was not delayed by the storm; and she may have overhauled the Josephine before this time.”

“Possibly; but the two vessels got so much off their course during the blow, that I hardly expect to see the Prince till we reach Funchal,” replied Capt. Wainwright. “All I care for is to get the vice-principal on board again; and then he can settle all disputed questions, and order the Ville d’Angers to Funchal or to Cadiz, as he pleases; and I shall be relieved of all responsibility.”

“I see,” said O’Hara; but he did not see what he wished to see.

“The Josephine must be becalmed, as we are, within fifty miles of us; and, as the weather is clear now, we shall be likely to see her,” continued the captain. “So, Mr. O’Hara, you will range your steamer ahead of the Tritonia, and take on board our best hemp cable. In other words, you will take the schooner in tow. When you have made fast our line, you will make your course south south-west, and run under full steam.”

“South south-west, under full steam,” repeated O’Hara, not at all pleased with the prospect; for he did not like the idea of having the Ville d’Angers changed into a tow-boat, as he contemptuously expressed it afterwards.

“It is now nearly eight bells in the morning,” continued Wainwright. “You will take the course given you; and if by meridian we don’t see any thing of the Josephine, I shall be ready to give you new orders.”

O’Hara returned to his boat, and was pulled to the steamer. She went on, and took a position ahead of the schooner, and as near as it was safe to lie. The second cutter carried the tow-line to her stern, and the end was hauled on board. It was made fast under the direction of Mr. Rimmer, for there were no proper bitts for the purpose.

“Are you all ready?” shouted the captain of the Tritonia.

“All ready, sir,” replied O’Hara, when the hawser had been secured.

“Then go ahead,” responded Capt. Wainwright.

The bells in the engine-room sounded; and in a few minutes the Ville d’Angers was going ahead at full speed, towing the Tritonia in the direction indicated by the captain of the latter.

Mr. Frisbone was informed of the use to be made of the steamer; but he offered no objection. He had heard that Madeira was a good place for invalids; and very likely his wife’s sister would do as well as, if not better than, at Malaga so late in the season. He was as willing to go to Funchal as to Spain. He staid in the fire-room till six o’clock, when he had thoroughly trained both watches of firemen in their duties.

During the forenoon Tom Speers saw Miss Rodwood for the first time since the stirring event of the early morning. She expressed her gratitude to him in the warmest terms, and Tom thought she was prettier than ever.

“You bear a name which has been familiar to me for some years, Miss Rodwood,” said Tom, trying to turn the conversation from his own gallant deed. “Judge Rodwood was my uncle’s most intimate friend, but I have no acquaintance with his family; and possibly you are his daughter.”

“I am not his daughter: he has no children. Judge Rodwood is my uncle; and he is a very intimate friend of Mr. Frisbone.”

“Yes; and he was very anxious to find you, young man,” said the Prince, who joined the party in the cabin at this moment.

“He was more anxious to find me than I was to have him find me,” replied Tom, laughing.

“Your uncle has left you a big fortune, and appointed the judge your guardian. Didn’t you get a despatch and some letters from him?” asked the Prince.

“I received a despatch and a letter from him,” replied Tom.

“Then, why under the sun didn’t you answer it, or go to London at once?” demanded the Prince, who supposed he had not received any thing from the judge.

Tom honestly explained why he had not opened the letter.

“If you have any influence with Judge Rodwood, I hope you will use it to induce him to allow me to remain in the academy squadron,” continued Tom.

“I certainly will; for I believe it is the best institution in the world,” replied the Prince heartily.

“Sail on the starboard bow!” shouted the lookout in the fore-top of the Tritonia, loudly enough to be heard on board of the steamer.

This announcement put an end to the conversation, for all were anxious to know whether or not the sail was the Josephine. All the glasses on board were pointed at the white spot on the ocean in the distance. A gentle breeze was blowing from the south-east, and the vessel had all sail set; but she was too far off for the officers of the steamer to determine what she was.

“On board the Ville d’Angers!” shouted the officer of the deck on the Tritonia.

Raymond answered the hail; and the order came from Capt. Wainwright, to head the steamer to the south-west. This course was directly towards the distant sail. At six bells in the forenoon watch, all hands were assured that the sail was the Josephine. Wainwright ordered three guns to be fired on board of the steamer, to attract the attention of her people; for the wind was freshening, and the chase was likely to be prolonged. Mr. Frisbone, who had fired the guns which answered as signals of distress, attended to this duty, though the students were very anxious to assist, especially in pulling the lock-string.

The signals were heard on board of the Josephine; and she came about, and stood towards the steamer and her tow. In half an hour the vessels were within hailing distance.

“Steamer ahoy!” shouted Robinson, the officer of the deck on board of the Josephine.

“On board of the Josephine!” replied Raymond.

“What steamer is that?”

“The Ville d’Angers, towing the Tritonia.”

While this conversation was going on, the crew of the Josephine were getting out the second cutter; and, when it was lowered into the water, Mr. Pelham stepped on board. The boat pulled for the Tritonia, which had been cast off by the steamer, and had heaved to under the lee of the Josephine. The vice-principal boarded her, and was received by Capt. Wainwright, cap in hand.

“I am very glad to see you, Mr. Pelham,” said Wainwright, as they shook hands.

“I did not expect to see the Tritonia again till she arrived at Funchal,” replied the vice-principal.

“I am glad you have come, sir,” said Professor Primback in a severe tone. “I am sorry to be obliged to charge Wainwright with gross insubordination during your absence, Mr. Pelham.”

“I will hear your complaint at another time, Mr. Primback,” replied the vice-principal.

“I think it would be more proper to hear it at the present time,” added the professor. “I have suspended Wainwright and Scott from duty; and I wish to know whether or not my authority is to be sustained. No attention whatever has been paid to my directions. If you have any orders to give, you will please regard Greenwood as the captain, and Alexander as the first lieutenant.”

The professor then retired to the cabin.