CHAPTER XIV
_In Which Jimmie Grimm and Master Bagg Are Overtaken by the Black Fog in the Open Sea and Lose the Way Home While a Gale is Brewing_
Jimmie Grimm and Bagg, returning from Birds' Nest Islands, were caughtby the black fog in the open sea. It had been lowering all day. Dullclouds had hung in the sky since early morning and had kept the watersof the sea sombre. There was no wind--not the faintest breath or sigh.The harbour water was still; and the open--beyond the ticklerocks--was without a ripple or hint of ground swell. A thick, graymist crept out from the hills, late in the afternoon, and presentlyobscured the shore. Jimmie and Bagg were then off Mad Mull. Two milesof flat sea and windless space lay between the punt and the harbour.
"Goin' t' be thick as mud," Jimmie grumbled.
"Wisht we was more inshore," said Bagg, anxiously.
At dusk the fog was so thick that every landmark had been blotted fromsight.
"Is _you_ able t' see Mad Mull?" Jimmie demanded.
"I is _not_," said Bagg.
Mad Mull was lost in the fog. It was the last landmark. The ticklerocks, through which a passage leads to the harbour, had long agovanished.
"Wisht we was home," said Bagg.
"Don't you go an' get scared, Bagg," Jimmie laughed. "Never you fear._I'll_ take _you_ home."
It was hot, dark and damp--a breathless evening. There was a menace inthe still air and heat. A roll of thunder sounded from the northeast.
"I 'low 'twill blow afore long," said Jimmie.
"'Urry up," said Bagg.
Jimmie put a little more strength into the rowing. The punt movedfaster, but not fast enough to please Bagg, who was terrified by thefog, the thunder and the still, black water.
"Never you fear," Jimmie grumbled; "you'll get home afore the windcomes."
Bagg wasn't so sure of that.
"An' it _will_ come," Jimmie reflected. "I can fair feel it on theway."
Jimmie pulled doggedly. Occasionally a rumble of thunder came outof the northeast to enliven his strokes. There was no wind, however,as yet, except, perhaps, an adverse stirring of the air--the firsthint of a gale. On and on crept the punt. There was no lessening ofthe heat. Jimmie and Bagg fairly gasped. They fancied it had neverbeen so hot before. But Jimmie did not weaken at the oars; he wasstout-hearted and used to labour, and the punt did not lag. On theywent through the mist without a mark to guide them. Roundabout was awall of darkening fog. It hid the whole world.
"Must be gettin' close inshore," said Jimmie, at last, while he restedon his oars, quite bewildered.
"What you stoppin' for?" Bagg demanded.
"Seems t' me," said Jimmie, scratching his head in a puzzled way,"that we ought t' be in the tickle by this time."
It was evident, however, that they were not in the tickle.[4] Therewas no sign of the rocks on either hand. Jimmie gazed about him inevery direction for a moment. He saw nothing except a circle of blackwater about the boat. Beyond was the black wall of fog.
"Wonderful queer," thought he, as he dipped his oars in the wateragain; "but I 'low we ought t' be in the harbour."
There was a louder clap of thunder.
"We'll have that wind afore long," mused Jimmie.
"You 'aven't gone an' lost your way, 'ave you?" Bagg inquired in afrightened voice.
"Wonderful queer," Jimmie replied. "We _ought_ t' be in the harbour bythis time. I 'low maybe I been pullin' too far t' the nor'east."
"No, you 'aven't," said Bagg; "you been pullin' too far t' thesou'east."
"I 'low not," mused Jimmie.
"'Ave, too," Bagg sniffed.
Jimmie was not quite sure, after all. He wavered. Something seemed tobe wrong. It didn't _feel_ right. Some homing instinct told him thatthe tickle rocks did not lie in the direction in which the bow of thepunt pointed. In fact, the whole thing was queer--very queer! But hehad not pulled too far to the southeast; he was sure of that. Perhaps,too far to the northeast. He determined to change his course.
"Now, Bagg," said he, confidently, "I'll take you into harbour."
A clap of thunder--sounding near at hand--urged the boy on.
"Wisht you would," Bagg whimpered.
Jimmie turned the boat's head. He wondered if he had turned farenough. Then he fancied he had turned too far. Why, of course, thoughthe, he had turned too far! He swerved again towards the originaldirection. This, however, did not feel just right. Again he changedthe course of the boat. He wondered if the harbour lay ahead. Or wasit the open sea? Was he pulling straight out from shore? Would the bigwind catch the little punt out of harbour?
"How's she headin' now?" he asked Bagg.
"You turned too far," said Bagg.
"Not far enough," said Jimmie.
Jimmie rowed doggedly on the course of his choosing for half an houror more without developing anything to give him a clue to theirwhereabouts. Night added to the obscurity. They might have been on ashoreless waste of water for all that they were able to see. The mistmade the night impenetrable. Jimmie could but dimly distinguish Bagg'sform, although he sat not more than five feet from him; soon he couldnot see him at all. At last he lifted his oars and looked over thebow.
"I don't know where we is," he said.
"No more do I," Bagg sobbed.
"I 'low we're lost," Jimmie admitted.
Just then the first gust of wind rippled the water around the boat andwent whistling into the mist.
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[4] A "tickle" is a narrow passage of water between two islands. It is also (as here used) a narrow passage leading into harbour.