The Wreck Of The Grosvenor
The story of the wreck of the Grosvenor is supposed to be told by Mr.
Royle, the second mate of that unlucky ship. She was a small vessel
bound from England to Valparaiso with a heavy cargo and no passengers.
Captain Coxon and
his first mate, Duckling, were so brutal in their
treatment of the crew, that before many days a mutiny arose, headed by
Stevens the ship's carpenter. The captain and the mate were murdered,
but Royle was spared to guide the ship to the West Indies. The crew
were a treacherous gang, and near Bermuda they scuttled the Grosvenor
and abandoned her to sink with the skipper, the boatswain, and the
steward who remained faithful to him, and Mary Robertson, a girl whom
Royle had rescued from a passing wreck. But the mutineers' plot had
been discovered by the boatswain, who plugged up the holes in the
ship's side, and when the crew deserted her the Grosvenor cheerfully
sailed away. Discovering their mistake one boatload of the villains
went in pursuit. In the ensuing skirmish all of this party, except Jim
Cornish, were killed, and he was captured with the quarter-boat
itself. But even with Cornish turned a faithful ally, the Grosvenor
had not sufficient crew to man her, and she was soon crippled by a
tremendous gale. Their signal of distress was disregarded by a Russian
ship which might have rescued them, and the shock of this
disappointment destroyed the poor steward's wits and broke the heart
of Cornish. The Grosvenor was fast sinking; there was no alternative
but to take to the quarter-boat which they had captured from the
mutineers. The following story tells how the three men and the girl
were saved from the wreck of the Grosvenor.
Previous: A Gale Of Wind
Next: Saved
|
|
| SHARE | |
 |
|
| ADD TO EBOOK |
