X
The Light in the Weed
Now the wind was very violent from the sea, and threatened to blow downour tent, the which, indeed, it achieved at last as we made an end of acheerless breakfast. Yet, the bo'sun bade us not trouble to put it upagain; but spread it out with the edges raised upon props made from thereeds, so that we might catch some of the rainwater; for it was becomeimperative that we should renew our supply before putting out again tosea. And whilst some of us were busied about this, he took the others andset up a small tent made of the spare canvas, and under this he shelteredall of our matters like to be harmed by the rain.
In a little, the rain continuing very violent, we had near a breaker-fullof water collected in the canvas, and were about to run it off into oneof the breakers, when the bo'sun cried out to us to hold, and first tastethe water before we mixed it with that which we had already. At that, weput down our hands and scooped up some of the water to taste, and thus wediscovered it to be brackish and quite undrinkable, at which I wasamazed, until the bo'sun reminded us that the canvas had been saturatedfor many days with salt water, so that it would take a great quantity offresh before all the salt was washed out. Then he told us to lay it flatupon the beach, and scour it well on both sides with the sand, which wedid, and afterwards let the rain rinse it well, whereupon the next waterthat we caught we found to be near fresh; though not sufficiently so forour purpose. Yet when we had rinsed it once more, it became clear of thesalt, so that we were able to keep all that we caught further.
And then, something before noon, the rain ceased to fall, though comingagain at odd times in short squalls; yet the wind died not, but blewsteadily, and continued so from that quarter during the remainder of thetime that we were upon the island.
Upon the ceasing of the rain, the bo'sun called us all together, that wemight make a decent burial of the unfortunate lad, whose remains had lainduring the night upon one of the bottom-boards of the boat. After alittle discussion, it was decided to bury him in the beach; for the onlypart where there was soft earth was in the valley, and none of us had astomach for that place. Moreover, the sand was soft and easy to dig, andas we had no proper tools, this was a great consideration. Presently,using the bottom-boards and the oars and the hatchet, we had a placelarge and deep enough to hold the boy, and into this we placed him. Wemade no prayer over him; but stood about the grave for a little space, insilence. Then, the bo'sun signed to us to fill in the sand; and,therewith, we covered up the poor lad, and left him to his sleep.
And, presently, we made our dinner, after which the bo'sun served out toeach one of us a very sound tot of the rum; for he was minded to bring usback again to a cheerful state of mind.
After we had sat awhile, smoking, the bo'sun divided us into twoparties to make a search through the island among the rocks, perchancewe should find water, collected from the rain, among the hollows andcrevasses; for though we had gotten some, through our device with thesail, yet we had by no means caught sufficient for our needs. He wasespecially anxious for haste, in that the sun had come out again; for hewas feared that such small pools as we should find would be speedilydried up by its heat.
Now the bo'sun headed one party, and set the big seaman over the other,bidding all to keep their weapons very handy. Then he set out to therocks about the base of the nearer hill, sending the others to thefarther and greater one, and in each party we carried an empty breakerslung from a couple of the stout reeds, so that we might put all suchdriblets as we should find, straight away into it, before they had timeto vanish into the hot air; and for the purpose of bailing up the water,we had brought with us our tin pannikins, and one of the boat's bailers.
In a while, and after much scrambling amid the rocks, we came upon alittle pool of water that was remarkably sweet and fresh, and from thiswe removed near three gallons before it became dry; and after that wecame across, maybe, five or six others; but not one of them near so bigas the first; yet we were not displeased; for we had near three partsfilled the breaker, and so we made back to the camp, having some wonderas to the luck of the other party.
When we came near the camp, we found the others returned before us, andseeming in a very high content with themselves; so that we had no need tocall to them as to whether they had filled their breaker. When they sawus, they set out to us at a run to tell us that they had come upon agreat basin of fresh water in a deep hollow a third of the distance upthe side of the far hill, and at this the bo'sun bade us put down ourbreaker and make all of us to the hill, so that he might examine forhimself whether their news was so good as it seemed.
Presently, being guided by the other party, we passed around to the backof the far hill, and discovered it to go upward to the top at an easyslope, with many ledges and broken places, so that it was scarce moredifficult than a stair to climb. And so, having climbed perhaps ninety ora hundred feet, we came suddenly upon the place which held the water, andfound that they had not made too much of their discovery; for the poolwas near twenty feet long by twelve broad, and so clear as though it hadcome from a fountain; yet it had considerable depth, as we discovered bythrusting a spear shaft down into it.
Now the bo'sun, having seen for himself how good a supply of water therewas for our needs, seemed very much relieved in his mind, and declaredthat within three days at the most we might leave the island, at which wefelt none of us any regret. Indeed, had the boat escaped harm, we hadbeen able to leave that same day; but this could not be; for there wasmuch to be done before we had her seaworthy again.
Having waited until the bo'sun had made complete his examination, weturned to descend, thinking that this would be the bo'sun's intention;but he called to us to stay, and, looking back, we saw that he made tofinish the ascent of the hill. At that, we hastened to follow him; thoughwe had no notion of his reason for going higher. Presently, we were cometo the top, and here we found a very spacious place, nicely level savethat in one or two parts it was crossed by deepish cracks, maybe half afoot to a foot wide, and perhaps three to six fathoms long; but, apartfrom these and some great boulders, it was, as I have mentioned, aspacious place; moreover it was bone dry and pleasantly firm under one'sfeet, after so long upon the sand.
I think, even thus early, I had some notion of the bo'sun's design; forI went to the edge that overlooked the valley, and peered down, and,finding it nigh a sheer precipice, found myself nodding my head, asthough it were in accordance with some part formed wish. Presently,looking about me, I discovered the bo'sun to be surveying that part whichlooked over towards the weed, and I made across to join him. Here, again,I saw that the hill fell away very sheer, and after that we went acrossto the seaward edge, and there it was near as abrupt as on the weed side.
Then, having by this time thought a little upon the matter, I put itstraight to the bo'sun that here would make indeed a very secure campingplace, with nothing to come at us upon our sides or back; and our front,where was the slope, could be watched with ease. And this I put to himwith great warmth; for I was mortally in dread of the coming night.
Now when I had made an end of speaking, the bo'sun disclosed to me thatthis was, as I had suspicion, his intent, and immediately he called tothe men that we should haste down, and ship our camp to the top of thehill. At that, the men expressed their approbation, and we made hasteevery one of us to the camp, and began straightway to move our gear tothe hilltop.
In the meanwhile, the bo'sun, taking me to assist him, set-to again uponthe boat, being intent to get his batten nicely shaped and fit to theside of the keel, so that it would bed well to the keel, but moreparticularly to the plank which had sprung outward from its place. And atthis he labored the greater part of that afternoon, using the littlehatchet to shape the wood, which he did with surprising skill; yet whenthe evening was come, he had not brought it to his liking. But it mustnot be thought that he did naught but work at the boat; for he had themen to direct, and once he had to make his way to the top of the hill tofix the place for the tent. And after t
he tent was up, he set them tocarry the dry weed to the new camp, and at this he kept them until neardusk; for he had vowed never again to be without a sufficiency of fuel.But two of the men he sent to collect shell-fish--putting two of them tothe task, because he would not have one alone upon the island, notknowing but that there might be danger, even though it were bright day;and a most happy ruling it proved; for, a little past the middle of theafternoon, we heard them shouting at the other end of the valley, and,not knowing but that they were in need of assistance, we ran with allhaste to discover the reason of their calling, passing along theright-hand side of the blackened and sodden vale. Upon reaching thefurther beach, we saw a most incredible sight; for the two men wererunning towards us through the thick masses of the weed, while, no morethan four or five fathoms behind, they were pursued by an enormous crab.Now I had thought the crab we had tried to capture before coming to theisland, a prodigy unsurpassed; but this creature was more than treble itssize, seeming as though a prodigious table were a-chase of them, andmoreover, spite of its monstrous bulk, it made better way over the weedthan I should have conceived to be possible--running almost sideways, andwith one enormous claw raised near a dozen feet into the air.
Now whether, omitting accidents, the men would have made good theirescape to the firmer ground of the valley, where they could have attainedto a greater speed, I do not know; but suddenly one of them tripped overa loop of the weed, and the next instant lay helpless upon his face. Hehad been dead the following moment, but for the pluck of his companion,who faced round manfully upon the monster, and ran at it with histwenty-foot spear. It seemed to me that the spear took it about a footbelow the overhanging armor of the great back shell, and I could seethat it penetrated some distance into the creature, the man having, bythe aid of Providence, stricken it in a vulnerable part. Upon receivingthis thrust, the mighty crab ceased at once its pursuit, and clipped atthe haft of the spear with its great mandible, snapping the weapon moreeasily than I had done the same thing to a straw. By the time we hadraced up to the men, the one who had stumbled was again upon his feet,and turning to assist his comrade; but the bo'sun snatched his spear fromhim, and leapt forward himself; for the crab was making now at the otherman. Now the bo'sun did not attempt to thrust the spear into the monster;but instead he made two swift blows at the great protruding eyes, and ina moment the creature had curled itself up, helpless, save that the hugeclaw waved about aimlessly. At that, the bo'sun drew us off, though theman who had attacked the crab desired to make an end of it, averring thatwe should get some very good eating out of it; but to this the bo'sunwould not listen, telling him that it was yet capable of very deadlymischief, did any but come within reach of its prodigious mandible.
And after this, he bade them look no more for shellfish; but take out thetwo fishing-lines which we had, and see if they could catch aught fromsome safe ledge on the further side of the hill upon which we had madeour camp. Then he returned to his mending of the boat.
It was a little before the evening came down upon the island, that thebo'sun ceased work; and, after that, he called to the men, who, havingmade an end of their fuel carrying, were standing near, to place thefull breakers--which we had not thought needful to carry to the newcamp on account of their weight--under the upturned boat, some holdingup the gunnel whilst the others pushed them under. Then the bo'sun laidthe unfinished batten along with them, and we lowered the boat againover all, trusting to its weight to prevent any creature from meddlingwith aught.
After that, we made at once to the camp, being wearifully tired, and witha hearty anticipation of supper. Upon reaching the hilltop, the men whomthe bo'sun had sent with the lines, came to show him a very fine fish,something like to a huge king-fish, which they had caught a few minutesearlier. This, the bo'sun, after examining, did not hesitate to pronouncefit for food; whereupon they set-to and opened and cleaned it. Now, as Ihave said, it was not unlike a great king-fish, and like it, had a mouthfull of very formidable teeth; the use of which I understood the betterwhen I saw the contents of its stomach, which seemed to consist ofnothing but the coiled tentacles of squid or cuttlefish, with which, as Ihave shown, the weed-continent swarmed. When these were upset upon therock, I was confounded to perceive the length and thickness of some ofthem; and could only conceive that this particular fish must be a verydesperate enemy to them, and able successfully to attack monsters of abulk infinitely greater than its own.
After this, and whilst the supper was preparing, the bo'sun called tosome of the men to put up a piece of the spare canvas upon a couple ofthe reeds, so as to make a screen against the wind, which up there wasso fresh that it came near at times to scattering the fire abroad. Thisthey found not difficult; for a little on the windward side of the firethere ran one of the cracks of which I have made previous mention, andinto this they jammed the supports, and so in a very little time had thefire screened.
Presently, the supper was ready, and I found the fish to be very faireating; though somewhat coarse; but this was no great matter for concernwith so empty a stomach as I contained. And here I would remark, that wemade our fishing save our provisions through all our stay on the island.Then, after we had come to an end of our eating, we lay down to a mostcomfortable smoke; for we had no fear of attack, at that height, and withprecipices upon all sides save that which lay in front. Yet, so soon aswe had rested and smoked a while, the bo'sun set the watches; for hewould run no risk through carelessness.
By this time the night was drawing on apace; yet it was not so dark butthat one could perceive matters at a very reasonable distance. Presently,being in a mood that tended to thoughtfulness, and feeling a desire to bealone for a little, I strolled away from the fire to the leeward edge ofthe hilltop. Here, I paced up and down awhile, smoking and meditating.Anon, I would stare out across the immensity of the vast continent ofweed and slime that stretched its incredible desolation out beyond thedarkening horizon, and there would come the thought to me of the terrorof men whose vessels had been entangled among its strange growths, and somy thoughts came to the lone derelict that lay out there in the dusk, andI fell to wondering what had been the end of her people, and at that Igrew yet more solemn in my heart. For it seemed to me that they must havedied at last by starvation, and if not by that, then by the act of someone of the devil-creatures which inhabited that lonely weed-world. Andthen, even as I fell upon this thought, the bo'sun clapped me upon theshoulder, and told me in a very hearty way to come to the light of thefire, and banish all melancholy thoughts; for he had a very penetratingdiscernment, and had followed me quietly from the camping place, havinghad reason once or twice before to chide me for gloomy meditations. Andfor this, and many other matters, I had grown to like the man, the whichI could almost believe at times, was his regarding of me; but his wordswere too few for me to gather his feelings; though I had hope that theywere as I surmised.
And so I came back to the fire, and presently, it not being my time towatch until after midnight, I turned into the tent for a spell of sleep,having first arranged a comfortable spread of some of the softer portionsof the dry weed to make me a bed.
Now I was very full of sleep, so that I slept heavily, and in this wiseheard not the man on watch call the bo'sun; yet the rousing of the otherswaked me, and so I came to myself and found the tent empty, at which Iran very hurriedly to the doorway, and so discovered that there was aclear moon in the sky, the which, by reason of the cloudiness that hadprevailed, we had been without for the past two nights. Moreover, thesultriness had gone, the wind having blown it away with the clouds; yetthough, maybe, I appreciated this, it was but in a half-conscious manner;for I was put about to discover the whereabouts of the men, and thereason of their leaving the tent. With this purpose, I stepped out fromthe entrance, and the following instant discovered them all in a clumpbeside the leeward edge of the hilltop. At that, I held my tongue; for Iknew not but that silence might be their desire; but I ran hastily overto them, and inquired of the bo'sun what manner of thing i
t was whichcalled them from their sleep, and he, for answer, pointed out into thegreatness of the weed-continent.
At that, I stared out over the breadth of the weed, showing very ghostlyin the moonlight; but, for the moment, I saw not the thing to which hepurposed to draw my attention. Then, suddenly, it fell within the circleof my gaze--a little light out in the lonesomeness. For the space of somemoments, I stared with bewildered eyes; then it came to me withabruptness that the light shone from the lone derelict lying out in theweed, the same that upon that very evening, I had looked with sorrow andawe, because of the end of those who had been in her--and now, behold, alight burning, seemingly within one of her after cabins; though the moonwas scarce powerful enough to enable the outline of the hulk to be seenclear of the rounding wilderness.
And from this time, until the day, we had no more sleep; but made up thefire, and sat round it, full of excitement and wonder, and getting upcontinually to discover if the light still burned. This it ceased to doabout an hour after I had first seen it; but it was the more proof thatsome of our kind were no more than the half of a mile from our camp.
And at last the day came.