Great Britain -- History, Naval -- 19th century -- Fiction; Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 -- Fiction
We then sat on the bulwarks, and held out a white shirt, as a signal to
attract their attention. When about three miles from us, the cutter
rounded to, not appearing to notice us, and for two hours we were left
in this state of maddening anxiety and suspense, when at last we
perceived her bows pay off, and she again stood towards us. They had at
last seen us, and as soon as they had run down to within three cables'
length, the boat was lowered and sent to take us off. In three trips we
were all on board, and devoutly thanked Heaven for our preservation.
The lieutenant of the cutter said that at first the sun prevented his
seeing us, which I believe was the fact; but he acknowledged that he had
no idea that we had been wrecked, although he thought that the Dryad
was, as he had seen a mast floating, and, sending a boat to look at it,
found her name on the cross-trees. We were, however, too much exhausted
to enter into much conversation. As soon as we had been supplied with
food, we were all put to bed in their hammocks; the first lieutenant
resigned his standing bed-place to me. A long sleep recovered me, and I
felt little the worse for what I had suffered, and sat down to a
breakfast at noon on the following day with a good appetite. The cutter
had, by my directions, shaped a course for the island of Heligoland,
where we should find means of returning to England.
"I have letters for you, Captain Keene," said the lieutenant, "if you
are well enough to read them."
"Thank you, Mr D---; I am now quite well, and will be happy to have
them."
The lieutenant brought me a large packet, and I took a position on the
sofa to read them comfortably while he went on deck. I first opened
those on service--those, of course, had little interest for me, now that
I had lost my ship--I skimmed them over, and then threw them on the
table one after another. There were three private letters from England,
one of which was in Lord de Versely's hand-writing; I opened it first.
It was very kind, but short, complaining that he had not been very well
lately. The second was from my mother. I read it; it contained nothing
of importance; and then I took up the third, which had a black seal. I
opened it; it was from Mr Warden, acquainting me that Lord de Versely
had expired very suddenly, on his return from the House of Lords, of an
ossification of the heart.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account