XI
THE FIGHT IN THE STORM
Garth and Natalie were wondering next morning with what kind of a faceNick Grylls would greet them. He was the last to come off to the boat.Hooliam took possession of the punt as a matter of course, to bringhim aboard; but Garth, determined not to allow the slightest act ofinsolence to pass unchallenged to-day, curtly ordered it back; and thefat trader was obliged to wade out like the breeds, and scramble overthe side of the _Loseis_--a very undignified reentrance upon the scene.
His demeanour was remarkable. All the way out from the shore he hadprobably been shaping the character in which he meant to make hisbow. He threw a leg over the side of the boat, affecting all his old,blustering heartiness; but the first sight of Natalie and Garth awaitinghim, wholly self-possessed and unconcerned--they had determinedin advance not to stoop to the pretense of any surprise at seeinghim--pricked him like a blown bladder. His eyes bolted; he nodded atthem askance; and he mumbled the words he had been intending to shout.Catching sight of Charley directly, he attempted to carry off hisdiscomfiture by assuming an added boisterousness.
"Hello, Charley!" he cried. "What's the good word, boy?"
"Hello, Mr. Grylls," returned Charley with a demure grin, that washighly creditable to his powers of dissimulation. "Where did you dropfrom?"
Grylls guffawed with an overdone assumption of a man at his ease. "Oh,I got a sudden call up to the Settlement," he said, in a tone meantto reach Garth's ears. "Got a big deal on to sell out my posts on theSpirit. I overtook you folks last night; and sent my canoe back. ThoughtI might as well save money. Have a cigar?"
"Thanks," said Charley. The boy lighted it elaborately, and commendedthe quality with the air of a connoisseur.
"You're all right, kid!" cried Nick, clapping him on the back. "I tellyou I'm blame glad to have a white man to talk to on the way up"--thiswith a side glance at Garth. "What are you doing away from home at thisseason?"
"Grub running low," said Charley readily. "Had to go to the Settlementfor a fresh supply."
"Well you go to Jonesy of the French outfit," bellowed Nick; "and tellhim to give you my prices!"
Nick kept the boy at his side all day, flattering and cajoling him withan immense patronage, that, coming from the great man of the country,was meant to turn the head of this, the youngest of its settlers. Inthis Nick had a double purpose: he wished, of course, to secure theboy's interest to himself; but he also wished Garth and Natalie to seewhat a fine, generous fellow he could be when he got half a chance.There was a great deal of the child in the self-indulgent trader; andhe had not lived among the breeds for twenty-five years without imbibingmany of their characteristics. As to the boy, Garth and Natalie feltnot a moment's uneasiness; Charley met Nick's advances with a kind ofimitative bluster, that was a source of great secret delight to Natalie.
The day's journey was uneventful. Grylls kept himself forward of themast, and made no attempt to address either Garth or Natalie. Indeed,he appeared to ignore their presence on the boat altogether; which,considering the shortness of the distance separating them, was notwithout its ridiculous side. Garth, refusing to be deceived by thisapparent indifference, kept himself quietly on the alert. The breezecontinued favourable but very light; and the day waxed hotter andhotter. By nightfall they had covered perhaps another thirty miles ofthe way. There had been one "spell" on shore, during which Garth andNatalie elected to remain on board, satisfied with a cold lunch. Nofurther offers were made by Hooliam to delay the journey; indeed, suchwas now their apparent anxiety to complete it, it was announced late inthe afternoon that they would sail all night. They did not even waitfor their supper on shore, but brought it off from the fire in a wadingprocession of frying pans, and steaming pails.
A lovely night succeeded. The velvety floor of heaven was strewnlavishly with bright stars; and later, the moon, just past the full,rose out of the lake astern and hung, a lovely pale globe, in theeastern sky. The breeds fell asleep one by one; and for the first, thejabbering, the _ki-yi-ing_ and the maddening stick-kettle were allstilled. The _Loseis_ hovered over the lake with her gigantic wingspread, like some great bird of the night. The only evidences that shemoved at all were the flecks of foam that drifted slowly astern underthe counter.
Charley had constructed a little niche for Natalie among the freightastern--a bale of blankets serving for a seat, with a tall box inclinedbehind it for a back to lean against. She had insisted that Charleyshare it with her, and the boy had sat beside her too blissful to speak.In the end they both fell asleep, and Natalie's head dropped on hisshoulder. In his dreams the boy smiled seraphically.
Garth watched them kindly and very enviously; and for the moment wishedthat he, too, were a boy, whom she need not take seriously. There wasno sleep for him. He sat on the narrow seat encircling the stern, withhis back against the gunwale, where, on the one hand he could watch thesteersman elevated on his little platform, while on the other side hewas prepared for any demonstration from the bow. The steersman wasNatalie's humorous breed; his name was Aleck. Nick Grylls and Hooliamwere together somewhere forward of the mast; in the darkness Garthcould not place them.
Garth's rifle lay across his knees--he would have given it, with much toboot, for the quicker and handier revolver. He was painfully aware thatnothing would suit Nick Grylls's purpose so well as to knock him swiftlyon the head, and heave his body overboard. He shrewdly suspected thatsome such intention was the reason for this night sail. It is easy toseek danger, to ride at it with a shout, the pulses leaping--but to_wait_ for it, to wait motionless in the still dark for an attack thatmay be delivered one knows not when nor from whence--that is the greatordeal. Garth clenched the stem of his pipe hard between his teeth; andwith a resolute effort of his will, put down the hysteria that will atsuch a time constrict the stoutest throat.
The first interruption of the awful stillness came, not from man, butfrom the elements. All around the western horizon clouds mounted soswiftly and imperceptibly that neither Garth nor the helmsman was awareof what was preparing, until they had reached the zenith. Caribou Lakeis known for its swift and terrible summer storms. A sharp crack ofthunder was their first warning. Aleck shouted; and dark forms arosehere and there from their resting places. Garth swallowed a sob ofrelief for the diversion. The storm might be playing right into NickGrylls's hand; but one could face the bustle and uproar with renewedcourage.
The sail was brought clattering to the deck; a couple of sweeps werehastily run out; and the _Loseis_ was pulled for the nearest point ofthe shore. With true breed seamanship she was beached on a steep andstony incline on the lee side of a point. Garth tried his best tomake their folly clear to them; but none of the crew, and least of allHooliam, retained presence of mind to comprehend. With united strengththe breeds dragged her up as far as they could, which was but little,and went through the same business of driving stakes into the bottom ofthe lake, and lashing the sternpost between. Garth threw up his hands inhelpless exasperation. Tarpaulins and sails were spread over the cargoand lashed down. Charley made Natalie snug with a tarpaulin roof overher seat. Garth commanded him, no matter what might happen, not toleave her side.
The storm came roaring down the lake like a vast animate being; andthere, in their exposed position, smote them hip and thigh. Each crashof thunder fell forth right upon the echo of the last; and the lightningplayed like wicked laughter on the face of the destroying heavens. Thencame the rain, with pitiless, whistling whips that lashed the water, andbit cruelly into exposed flesh. Every man on board, save one, instantlydived under the sail-cloths; and Hooliam was the first to seek shelter.
Only Garth dared not relax his watch in the open. He maintained hisplace with his back against the stern, a piece of tarpaulin across hisknees to keep his gun dry, and his eyes bent forward in the boat whenceany move must be made on him. So sure was he that Grylls would attackhim, he was scarcely conscious of the tumult that roared about his ears.The wind tore his hat off; and the cold rain drenched
him to the skin.
Before him, the lightning luridly showed up the trees on the shore,writhing horridly; and the wet mast and the guy ropes were often wreathedin faint, bluish flames. The _Loseis_ forward, with her irregularly piledcargo, and the crouching forms under the sail-cloths, presented a thousandshifting, fantastic shapes in the playing flashes; and Garth had a scoreof false alarms. In the end, his enemy crept almost upon him undiscovered.
By the light of a great blaze, which held all the earth and the heavenssuspended in flames for a moment, Garth suddenly saw revealed a crouchingfigure, and a hideous, distorted face no more than six feet from his own.In the blinding glare it was outlined with a horrid clearness; in itsgrossness and bestial hatred, less human than demoniacal.
Garth, snatching up his rifle, sprang to his feet, but before he couldpoint it, Grylls had flung himself upon him, and his mighty arms weresqueezing Garth's ribs into his lungs. The useless weapon dropped to thedeck. Grylls, trusting to his enormous strength, was unarmed; he wished tocrush his adversary without leaving obvious traces of violence. No wordwas spoken by either.
They swayed on the narrow seat encircling the stern; and all sound ofthe little human struggle was swallowed up in the dreadful uproar of theelements. Natalie and Charley, but three yards away, heard nothing. Gryllswas the stronger; Garth contented himself with a dogged resistance,trusting to his better wind to serve him in the end. Meanwhile the_Loseis_ was continually heaved under their feet, and dropped heavilyon the stones by the mounting breakers; and they maintained a footingwith difficulty. Nick ceaselessly strained to force Garth to his knees.Failing, he lifted him clear of the deck. At the same instant the boatlurched drunkenly; and they pitched overboard together.
Somehow, they gained their feet, and stood, still locked together,while the tumbling waves boiled around their waists, and sucked at theirknees. But Garth had struck his head on the gunwale in falling; hissenses were slipping away, and nausea overcame him. He tried to cry out;but the feeble sound was lost at his lips. Nick forced him slowly downuntil the water broke over his head. Garth was dimly conscious ofhearing him laugh--no one knew; and the explanation next day would beso simple! But the wholesome chill of the water rolling over his headrevived the swooning Garth. He collected his forces for a last effort;and, suddenly wrenching his shoulders from under the hands that pressedthem down, he gained his feet, and his hands seized upon Grylls'sthroat.
It was the big man's vulnerable point; and a subtle sweetness floodedGarth's breast as he felt him begin to fail. Foul living was telling inthe end. Grylls struggled for his breath in loud, strangling sobs; andGarth could hear his bursting heart knock at his ribs. The smith's armsof him little by little softened of their steely strength; he strove invain now to lift Garth off his feet. Garth, cool and strong again, andalways waiting, let him tire himself. He disdained to call for helpnow; he even relaxed his grip on the thick throat a little. It wasnot necessary to strangle the man; for he had done for himself.
Meanwhile the waves broke with ever-increasing violence on the frailbulwark the two bodies offered to their impetuous course, and it wasonly a question of moments when they would both be beaten down. Grylls'sknees weakening under him first, down they went, Garth uppermost; and,the water seizing them, still gripped together, they were rolled overand over, and finally flung up on the stones.
Stunned, bruised and breathless as he was, Garth was still able to freehimself from the automatic grip of the other man's arms; but Grylls laymotionless.
Briefly satisfying himself that the man still lived, Garth dragged himout of reach of the waves, and letting him lie in the driving rain,turned his attention to the boat.
The _Loseis_ was in a bad way. The waves under her stern had liftedthe driven stakes as easily as pins are drawn from a cushion. She hadimmediately swung broadside on the beach; and the waves, crashing underher counter, were driving over her in clouds of spray while her bottomheaved, and gave, and pounded sickeningly on the stones. No one on boardrequired to be told that a very little of this would separate everyplank of her from her aged ribs. The breed boys appeared one by onefrom under the coverings; and standing about, dazed and careless of thedownpour, waited to be told what to do. There was no sign of Hooliam.
Garth climbed painfully on board. Searching for the degenerate captain,he stepped on something soft, and a hollow groan issued from beneath thesail-cloth. He threw it back, and dislodged the palpitating Hooliam witha vigorous foot. The breed struggled to his knees, supporting himself bya guy rope. Just then there was a blinding flash, and the mast and thewet ropes were wreathed again for an instant in bluish flame. Partlyshocked, but more from abject fear, Hooliam collapsed with a brutishmoan.
"Throw this carrion ashore!" Garth commanded with strong disgust.
The breeds, understanding his gestures, instinctively obeyed; andHooliam was dragged over the side, and dropped on the beach, not veryfar from the body of his unconscious employer.
"We'll have to save her ourselves!" shouted Garth to Charley. "Translatemy orders!"
The storm had a revolving tendency; and the wind had now hauled to thesouth, whence it came shrieking across the lake with unabated fury. Alittle way ahead, around the shallow crescent of the exposed bay inwhich they lay, they could see by the light of the frequent flashes apoint on which the waves were beating wildly; and beyond there was apromise of smooth water and safety. It was only a little way, scarcelyan eighth of a mile; but the way was beset with heart-breakingdifficulties.
"All hands ashore to push her off!" cried Garth.
The breed boys, welcoming a voice of authority in that bewilderingchaos, sprang to do his bidding. Garth and Charley set the example,and the ten backs were braced under the lee gunwale of the _Loseis_,measuring their sinews against the crashing blows of the waves on theother side. They budged her inch by inch, often thrown back again; butat last she floated, and there they managed to hold her for a moment,rising and falling. Only one who has measured the strength of the surfagainst the smallest craft, may comprehend the magnitude of theirlabour.
"Aleck's crew ahead with the tracking-line," shouted Garth.
The line is always kept coiled and ready, hanging on the bow. Aleckseized it, and followed by three others, ran ahead along the beach,paying it out. The four of them slipped into the harness; and diggingtheir moccasined toes into the beach, painfully straightened their legsunder the pull. When the _Loseis_, answering, began to move inch by inchalong the shore, Garth put the remaining men on board one at a time,where, armed with their poles, and braced almost horizontally, they heldher off the stones.
Natalie had long since deserted her sheltered nook, and, heedless of thedrenching downpour, watched them with eager eyes. Garth, his bruisesforgotten, seemed everywhere at once; he had even time to shout a wordof encouragement to her, and she longed mightily to do something tohelp. Looking around, she saw her chance. The steersman's long sweep layalong the deck; running it aft through its ring in the sternpost, andpushing with all her strength against the stones astern, she added hermite to keep the boat headed off. Garth observing, shouted his approval;and Natalie's heart waxed big in her breast.
Inch by inch, then foot by foot, they won their painful way along thelee shore. Over and over in spite of the six poles, she was thrown backon the stones, whereupon they all leaped overboard and put their backsunder her lee. There was once when, Garth's pole snapping short, hepitched headlong overboard. He climbed back with blood colouring therain in his face, and found another pole. Again, approaching the point,the four men on the end of the tracking-line crawling slowly around theedge of a steepish bank, were by a sudden heave of the _Loseis_ all fourjerked into the water. Instantly picking themselves up, they scrambledahead with their line through the breakers. Garth's heart warmed overthe half-fed, half-clad boys. Not one of the eight faltered for aninstant, and in the midst of their superhuman labours they could stillbe shouting at each other.
A reef ran out beyond the point; and how they eve
r got over this, orhow long it took, none could have told. By that time they were merelyinsensate machines striving automatically against a mighty inhumanadversary. The _Loseis's_ ribs yielded and trembled under the renewedblows on the stones. Dizzy and blind with fatigue they struggled ahead;but they would never have made it, had not the wind hauled still furtheraround. Finally a wave greater than any preceding lifted them clear ofthe stones, and dropped them in smooth water inside. For a while, unableto realize they had rounded the point, they continued to struggle; thenthe _Loseis_ gently beached herself. The tracking crew scrambled aboard,and all hands dropped where they stood for a breathing spell.
Soon after the storm showed signs of abating. In the end it ceasedalmost as abruptly as it had begun; and the moon looked wanly forth, asif ashamed for the recent disturbances aloft. Garth, thinking of Gryllsand Hooliam lying on the beach around the point, consulted with Charleywhat had better be done. It took them about three seconds to arrive at adecision.
"It is between eight and ten miles to the head of the lake," Charleysaid.
"Let them walk it then," said Garth coolly.
Presently the same breeze resumed its gentle course up the lake as ifthere had been no such thing as a storm. Tired as they were, it was toogood to lose; and with hoisted sail, the _Loseis_ forged through therapidly subsiding waters, with Charley at the helm. The breed boys askedno questions. Having raised the sail, they promptly fell asleep. Hooliamthey had little regard for anyway; and Grylls they may have supposed wasstill somewhere under the sail-cloths. In three hours they had reachedGrier's point, the navigable head of the lake; and all hands slept untillong after sunrise.
Garth and Natalie, meeting in the daylight, exclaimed each at theappearance of the other; Natalie, with remorseful sympathy, that shehad not sooner learnt the extent of Garth's bruises; and Garth withdelighted wonder at the freshness of her. Natalie was like the lakein the early sunshine; neither showed the slightest trace of a stormovernight.
While they were at their breakfast on the shore, a deplorable figure,ashen-cheeked and shamed, came shuffling out of the bush. The eightbreeds, as one, instantly set up a merciless, derisive jeering. It wasHooliam. He bore in his hands a little bottle and a bank-bill. Wretchedas he was, his eyes glinted with satisfaction at the sight of the boatsafe and sound on the shore. He went to Garth.
"Nick Grylls in the bush," he said, dully pointing back. "Him sick bad.Maybe him die. Him give five dollar for drink of whiskey."
Garth filled the bottle from his flask. "Put up your money," he saidcurtly.