VIII
The Noises in the Valley
Now, so soon as we had gotten the boat into safety, the which we did witha most feverish haste, the bo'sun gave his attention to Job; for the boyhad not yet recovered from the blow which the loom of the oar had dealthim beneath the chin when the monster snatched at it. For awhile, hisattentions produced no effect; but presently, having bathed the lad'sface with water from the sea, and rubbed rum into his chest over theheart, the youth began to show signs of life, and soon opened his eyes,whereupon the bo'sun gave him a stiff jorum of the rum, after which heasked him how he seemed in himself. To this Job replied in a weak voicethat he was dizzy and his head and neck ached badly, on hearing which,the bo'sun bade him keep lying until he had come more to himself. And sowe left him in quietness under a little shade of canvas and reeds; forthe air was warm and the sand dry, and he was not like to come to anyharm there.
At a little distance, under the directing of the bo'sun, we made toprepare dinner, for we were now very hungry, it seeming a great whilesince we had broken our fast. To this end, the bo'sun sent two of the menacross the island to gather some of the dry seaweed; for we intended tocook some of the salt meat, this being the first cooked meal since endingthe meat which we had boiled before leaving the ship in the creek.
In the meanwhile, and until the return of the men with the fuel, thebo'sun kept us busied in various ways. Two he sent to cut a bundle of thereeds, and another couple to bring the meat and the iron boiler, thelatter being one that we had taken from the old brig.
Presently, the men returned with the dried seaweed, and very curiousstuff it seemed, some of it being in chunks near as thick as a man'sbody; but exceeding brittle by reason of its dryness. And so in a little,we had a very good fire going, which we fed with the seaweed and piecesof the reeds, though we found the latter to be but indifferent fuel,having too much sap, and being troublesome to break into convenient size.
Now when the fire had grown red and hot, the bo'sun half filled theboiler with sea water, in which he placed the meat; and the pan, having astout lid, he did not scruple to place it in the very heart of the fire,so that soon we had the contents boiling merrily.
Having gotten the dinner under way, the bo'sun set about preparing ourcamp for the night, which we did by making a rough framework with thereeds, over which we spread the boat's sails and the cover, pegging thecanvas down with tough splinters of the reed. When this was completed, weset-to and carried there all our stores, after which the bo'sun took usover to the other side of the island to gather fuel for the night, whichwe did, each man bearing a great double armful.
Now by the time that we had brought over, each of us, two loads of thefuel, we found the meat to be cooked, and so, without more to-do, setourselves down and made a very good meal off it and some biscuits, afterwhich we had each of us a sound tot of the rum. Having made an end ofeating and drinking, the bo'sun went over to where Job lay, to inquirehow he felt, and found him lying very quiet, though his breathing had aheavy touch about it. However, we could conceive of nothing by which hemight be bettered, and so left him, being more hopeful that Nature wouldbring him to health than any skill of which we were possessed.
By this time it was late afternoon, so that the bo'sun declared we mightplease ourselves until sunset, deeming that we had earned a very goodright to rest; but that from sunset till the dawn we should, he told us,have each of us to take turn and turn about to watch; for though we wereno longer upon the water, none might say whether we were out of danger ornot, as witness the happening of the morning; though, certainly, heapprehended no danger from the devil-fish so long as we kept well awayfrom the water's edge.
And so from now until dark most of the men slept; but the bo'sun spentmuch of that time in overhauling the boat, to see how it might chance tohave suffered during the storm, and also whether the struggles of thedevil-fish had strained it in any way. And, indeed, it was speedilyevident that the boat would need some attention; for the plank in herbottom next but one to the keel, upon the starboard side, had been burstinwards; this having been done, it would seem, by some rock in the beachhidden just beneath the water's edge, the devil-fish having, no doubt,ground the boat down upon it. Happily, the damage was not great; thoughit would most certainly have to be carefully repaired before the boatwould be again seaworthy. For the rest, there seemed to be no other partneeding attention.
Now I had not felt any call to sleep, and so had followed the bo'sun tothe boat, giving him a hand to remove the bottom-boards, and finally toslue her bottom a little upwards, so that he might examine the leak moreclosely. When he had made an end with the boat, he went over to thestores, and looked closely into their condition, and also to see how theywere lasting. And, after that, he sounded all the water-breakers; havingdone which, he remarked that it would be well for us if we could discoverany fresh water upon the island.
By this time it was getting on towards evening, and the bo'sun wentacross to look at Job, finding him much as he had been when we visitedhim after dinner. At that, the bo'sun asked me to bring across one of thelonger of the bottom-boards, which I did, and we made use of it as astretcher to carry the lad into the tent. And afterwards, we carried allthe loose woodwork of the boat into the tent, emptying the lockers oftheir contents, which included some oakum, a small boat's hatchet, a coilof one-and-a-half-inch hemp line, a good saw, an empty colza-oil tin, abag of copper nails, some bolts and washers, two fishing-lines, threespare tholes, a three-pronged grain without the shaft, two balls of spunyarn, three hanks of roping-twine, a piece of canvas with fourroping-needles stuck in it, the boat's lamp, a spare plug, and a roll oflight duck for making boat's sails.
And so, presently, the dark came down upon the island, at which thebo'sun waked the men, and bade them throw more fuel on to the fire, whichhad burned down to a mound of glowing embers much shrouded in ash. Afterthat, one of them part filled the boiler with fresh water, and soon wewere occupied most pleasantly upon a supper of cold, boiled salt-meat,hard biscuits, and rum mixed with hot water. During supper, the bo'sunmade clear to the men regarding the watches, arranging how they shouldfollow, so that I found I was set down to take my turn from midnightuntil one of the clock. Then, he explained to them about the burst plankin the bottom of the boat, and how that it would have to be put rightbefore we could hope to leave the island, and that after that night weshould have to go most strictly with the victuals; for there seemed to benothing upon the island, that we had up till then discovered, fit tosatisfy our bellies. More than this, if we could find no fresh water, heshould have to distil some to make up for that which we had drunk, andthis must be done before leaving the island.
Now by the time that the bo'sun had made an end of explaining thesematters, we had ceased from eating, and soon after this we made each oneof us a comfortable place in the sand within the tent, and lay down tosleep. For a while, I found myself very wakeful, which may have beenbecause of the warmth of the night, and, indeed, at last I got up andwent out of the tent, conceiving that I might the better find sleep inthe open air. And so it proved; for, having lain down at the side of thetent, a little way from the fire, I fell soon into a deep slumber, whichat first was dreamless. Presently, however, I came upon a very strangeand unsettling dream; for I dreamed that I had been left alone on theisland, and was sitting very desolate upon the edge of the brown-scummedpit. Then I was aware suddenly that it was very dark and very silent, andI began to shiver; for it seemed to me that something which repulsed mywhole being had come quietly behind me. At that I tried mightily to turnand look into the shadows among the great fungi that stood all about me;but I had no power to turn. And the thing was coming nearer, though nevera sound came to me, and I gave out a scream, or tried to; but my voicemade no stir in the rounding quiet; and then something wet and coldtouched my face, and slithered down and covered my mouth, and pausedthere for a vile, breathless moment. It passed onward and fell to mythroat--and stayed there ...
Some one stumbled and
felt over my feet, and at that, I was suddenlyawake. It was the man on watch making a walk round the back of the tent,and he had not known of my presence till he fell over my boots. He wassomewhat shaken and startled, as might be supposed; but steadied himselfon learning that it was no wild creature crouched there in the shadow;and all the time, as I answered his inquiries, I was full of a strange,horrid feeling that something had left me at the moment of my awakening.There was a slight, hateful odor in my nostrils that was not altogetherunfamiliar, and then, suddenly, I was aware that my face was damp andthat there was a curious sense of tingling at my throat. I put up my handand felt my face, and the hand when I brought it away was slippery withslime, and at that, I put up my other hand, and touched my throat, andthere it was the same, only, in addition, there was a slight swelledplace a little to one side of the wind-pipe, the sort of place that thebite of a mosquito will make; but I had no thought to blame any mosquito.
Now the stumbling of the man over me, my awakening, and the discoverythat my face and throat were be-slimed, were but the happenings of somefew, short instants; and then I was upon my feet, and following him roundto the fire; for I had a sense of chilliness and a great desire not to bealone. Now, having come to the fire, I took some of the water that hadbeen left in the boiler, and washed my face and neck, after which I feltmore my own man. Then I asked the man to look at my throat, so that hemight give me some idea of what manner of place the swelling seemed, andhe, lighting a piece of the dry seaweed to act as a torch, madeexamination of my neck; but could see little, save a number of smallring-like marks, red inwardly, and white at the edges, and one of themwas bleeding slightly. After that, I asked him whether he had seenanything moving round the tent; but he had seen nothing during all thetime that he had been on watch; though it was true that he had heard oddnoises; but nothing very near at hand. Of the places on my throat heseemed to think but little, suggesting that I had been bitten by somesort of sand-fly; but at that, I shook my head, and told him of my dream,and after that, he was as anxious to keep near me as I to him. And so thenight passed onward, until my turn came to watch.
For a little while, the man whom I had relieved sat beside me; having,I conceived, the kindly intent of keeping me company; but so soon as Iperceived this, I entreated him to go and get his sleep, assuring himthat I had no longer any feelings of fear--such as had been mine uponawakening and discovering the state of my face and throat--and, uponthis, he consented to leave me, and so, in a little, I sat alonebeside the fire.
For a certain space, I kept very quiet, listening; but no sound came tome out of the surrounding darkness, and so, as though it were a freshthing, it was borne in upon me how that we were in a very abominableplace of lonesomeness and desolation. And I grew very solemn.
Thus as I sat, the fire, which had not been replenished for a while,dwindled steadily until it gave but a dullish glow around. And then, inthe direction of the valley, I heard suddenly the sound of a dull thud,the noise coming to me through the stillness with a very startlingclearness. At that, I perceived that I was not doing my duty to the rest,nor to myself, by sitting and allowing the fire to cease from flaming;and immediately reproaching myself, I seized and cast a mass of the dryweed upon the fire, so that a great blaze shot up into the night, andafterwards I glanced quickly to right and to left, holding mycut-and-thrust very readily, and most thankful to the Almighty that Ihad brought no harm to any by reason of my carelessness, which I inclineme to believe was that strange inertia which is bred by fear. And then,even as I looked about me, there came to me across the silence of thebeach a fresh noise, a continual soft slithering to and fro in the bottomof the valley, as though a multitude of creatures moved stealthily. Atthis, I threw yet more fuel upon the fire, and after that I fixed my gazein the direction of the valley: thus in the following instant it seemedto me that I saw a certain thing, as it might be a shadow, move on theouter borders of the firelight. Now the man who had kept watch before mehad left his spear stuck upright in the sand convenient to my grasp, and,seeing something moving, I seized the weapon and hurled it with all mystrength in its direction; but there came no answering cry to tell that Ihad struck anything living, and immediately afterwards there fell oncemore a great silence upon the island, being broken only by a far splashout upon the weed.
It may be conceived with truth that the above happenings had put a veryconsiderable strain upon my nerves, so that I looked to and frocontinually, with ever and anon a quick glance behind me; for it seemedto me that I might expect some demoniac creature to rush upon me at anymoment. Yet, for the space of many minutes, there came to me neither anysight nor sound of living creature; so that I knew not what to think,being near to doubting if I had heard aught beyond the common.
And then, even as I made halt upon the threshold of doubt, I was assuredthat I had not been mistaken; for, abruptly, I was aware that all thevalley was full of a rustling, scampering sort of noise, through whichthere came to me occasional soft thuds, and anon the former slitheringsounds. And at that, thinking a host of evil things to be upon us, Icried out to the bo'sun and the men to awake.
Immediately upon my shout, the bo'sun rushed out from the tent, the menfollowing, and every one with his weapon, save the man who had left hisspear in the sand, and that lay now somewhere beyond the light of thefire. Then the bo'sun shouted, to know what thing had caused me to cryout; but I replied nothing, only held up my hand for quietness, yet whenthis was granted, the noises in the valley had ceased; so that the bo'sunturned to me, being in need of some explanation; but I begged him to harka little longer, which he did, and, the sounds re-commencing almostimmediately, he heard sufficient to know that I had not waked them allwithout due cause. And then, as we stood each one of us staring into thedarkness where lay the valley, I seemed to see again some shadowy thingupon the boundary of the firelight; and, in the same instant, one of themen cried out and cast his spear into the darkness. But the bo'sun turnedupon him with a very great anger; for in throwing his weapon, the man hadleft himself without, and thus brought danger to the whole; yet, as willbe remembered, I had done likewise but a little since.
Presently, there coming again a quietness within the valley, and noneknowing what might be toward, the bo'sun caught up a mass of the dryweed, and, lighting it at the fire, ran with it towards that portion ofthe beach which lay between us and the valley. Here he cast it upon thesand, singing out to some of the men to bring more of the weed, so thatwe might have a fire there, and thus be able to see if anything made tocome at us out of the deepness of the hollow.
Presently, we had a very good fire, and by the light of this the twospears were discovered, both of them stuck in the sand, and no more thana yard one from the other, which seemed to me a very strange thing.
Now, for a while after the lighting of the second fire, there came nofurther sounds from the direction of the valley; nothing indeed to breakthe quietness of the island, save the occasional lonely splashes thatsounded from time to time out in the vastness of the weed-continent.Then, about an hour after I had waked the bo'sun, one of the men who hadbeen tending the fires came up to him to say that we had come to the endof our supply of weed-fuel. At that, the bo'sun looked very blank, thewhich did the rest of us, as well we might; yet there was no help for it,until one of the men bethought him of the remainder of the bundle ofreeds which we had cut, and which, burning but poorly, we had discardedfor the weed. This was discovered at the back of the tent, and with it wefed the fire that burned between us and the valley; but the other wesuffered to die out, for the reeds were not sufficient to support eventhe one until the dawn.
At last, and whilst it was still dark, we came to the end of our fuel,and as the fire died down, so did the noises in the valley recommence.And there we stood in the growing dark, each one keeping a very readyweapon, and a more ready glance. And at times the island would bemightily quiet, and then again the sounds of things crawling in thevalley. Yet, I think the silences tried us the more.
And so at
last came the dawn.