The days pass, and nothing of moment happens. We get nowhere. The
_Elsinore_, without the steadying of her canvas, rolls emptily and
drifts a lunatic course. Sometimes she is bow on to the wind, and at
other times she is directly before it; but at all times she is circling
vaguely and hesitantly to get somewhere else than where she is. As an
illustration, at daylight this morning she came up into the wind as if
endeavouring to go about. In the course of half an hour she worked off
till the wind was directly abeam. In another half hour she was back
into the wind. Not until evening did she manage to get the wind on her
port bow; but when she did, she immediately paid off, accomplished the
complete circle in an hour, and recommenced her morning tactics of
trying to get into the wind.
And there is nothing for us to do save hold the poop against the attack
that is never made. Mr. Pike, more from force of habit than anything
else, takes his regular observations and works up the _Elsinore’s_
position. This noon she was eight miles east of yesterday’s position,
yet to-day’s position, in longitude, was within a mile of where she was
four days ago. On the other hand she invariably makes northing at the
rate of seven or eight miles a day.
Aloft, the _Elsinore_ is a sad spectacle. All is confusion and
disorder. The sails, unfurled, are a slovenly mess along the yards, and
many loose ends sway dismally to every roll. The only yard that is
loose is the main-yard. It is fortunate that wind and wave are mild,
else would the iron-work carry away and the mutineers find the huge
thing of steel about their ears.
There is one thing we cannot understand. A week has passed, and the men
show no signs of being starved into submission. Repeatedly and in vain
has Mr. Pike interrogated the hands aft with us. One and all, from the
cook to Buckwheat, they swear they have no knowledge of any food
for’ard, save the small supply in the galley and the barrel of hardtack
in the forecastle. Yet it is very evident that those for’ard are not
starving. We see the smoke from the galley-stove and can only conclude
that they have food to cook.
Twice has Bert Rhine attempted a truce, but both times his white flag,
as soon as it showed above the edge of the ’midship-house, was fired
upon by Mr. Pike. The last occurrence was two days ago. It is Mr.
Pike’s intention thoroughly to starve them into submission, but now he
is beginning to worry about their mysterious food supply.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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