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Page 26
"How did you know, Cousin?"
"By drawing up a bucket of water out of the sea, and putting the
thermometer into it. But I ought to tell you what a thermometer is--"
"We know quite well," said Maggie. "Nurse always put it into Baby's bath
when he had fits, to see if the water was the right warmth."
"Very good, Maggie. Then let me tell you that the water of the sea got
nearly thirty degrees warmer on that day between noon and midnight."
"How did you know about midnight?" Maggie inquired doubtfully; "weren't
you in bed?"
"No, I was not, I was very busy all day 'taking observations' every hour
or two, and it was at twelve o'clock this very night that the 'comber'
broke on deck."
"What _is_ a 'comber'?"
"A 'comber' is the name for a large wave with a comb or crest of foam, a
sort of wave over which our ship ought to have ridden; but I must tell
you that it was no easy matter to meet them on this occasion, because
(owing to the cross currents) the waves did not all go one way, but came
at us from various points. The sea was very heavy, and the night was
very dark. I tried the heat of the water for the last time that evening,
and having bade good-night to the officer whose watch was just over, I
stayed for a few minutes to talk to the officer whose watch was just
beginning, before going below to go to bed. We were standing aft, and,
fortunately for us, near one of the masts, when through the darkness we
saw the sloping sides of a great South Sea wave coming at the fore part
of the ship, but sideways. 'The rigging!' shouted the officer of the
watch, and as we both clung to the ropes the wave broke on our bows,
smashed the jib-boom, and swept the decks from stem to stern."
"And if you hadn't held on by the rigging you would have been washed
away?"
"I am afraid we should, Fred, for every loose thing on deck was swept
off in less than a minute. The bull kept his feet, by the bye; but then
he had four, and I have only two."
"The bull! what bull?"
"We were taking some cattle out to Australia. There was a bull who lived
in a stable that had been made for him on deck. When this comber broke
over us it tore up the bull's house, and carried it overboard, but I met
the bull himself taking a walk at large as I went below to change my
clothes and get some sleep."
"Were you wet?"
"Drenched, my dear Maggie; but when I got to my cabin I found that there
was no hope of rest for some hours. The wave had flooded the cabins,
broken in doors, and washed everything and everybody about. So we all
had to set to work to bale out water, and mop up our bed-rooms; and as
the wave had also put out what lights there were, we had to work in the
dark, and very uncomfortable work it was! What the women and children
did, and the poor people who were sea-sick, I hardly know. Of course we
who could keep our feet did the work."
"Weren't you ever sea-sick?"
"Never, I am thankful to say."
"Not when it's very, very rough?"
"Not in a gale. I have once or twice on that voyage been the captain's
only companion at dinner, tied to the mast to keep myself steady, and
with the sherry in one pocket and my wine-glass in another to keep
_them_ steady, and quite ashamed of my appetite, for if the sea doesn't
make you feel very ill it makes you feel very well."
"I had no idea there were such very big waves really," said Maggie,
thoughtfully.
"I see that they are quite big enough to shelter the captain's
character, Peregrine," said Mamma, smiling, "and I am much obliged to
you for correcting my ignorance. I don't _wish_ to believe that any
English sailor would pass a boat in distress without giving help, if he
saw it."
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