CHAPTER NINE.
A STORM BREWING--IT BURSTS, AND PRODUCES CONSEQUENCES--THE PARTY TAKE TOTHE WATER PER FORCE--ALL SAVED.
"Ah, Bryan! `a friend in need is a friend indeed,'" said Frank, as hesat on a rock watching the blacksmith and his two Indians while theyperformed the operation of skinning the bear, whose timely destructionhas been related in the last chapter. "I must say I never saw a manstand his ground so well, with a brute like that stealing kisses fromhis cheek. Were they sweet, Bryan? Did they remind you of the fairmaid of Derry, hey?"
"Ah! thrue for ye," replied the blacksmith, as he stepped to a rock forthe purpose of whetting his knife; "yer honour was just in time to saveme a power o' throuble. Bad skran to the baste! it would have takenthree or four rounds at laste to have finished him nately off, forthere's no end o' fat on his ribs that would have kep' the knife fromgoin' far in."
Frank laughed at this free-and-easy way of looking at it. "So you thinkyou would have killed him, do you, if I had not saved you the trouble?"
"Av coorse I do. Shure a man is better than a baste any day; andbesides, had I not a frind at my back ridy to help me?" Bryan cast acomical leer at La Roche as he said this, and the poor Frenchmanblushed, for he felt that his conduct in the affair had not been verypraiseworthy. It is due to La Roche to say, however, that no sooner hadhe found himself at the top of the tree, and had a moment to reflect,than he slid rapidly to the bottom again, and ran to the assistance ofhis friend, not, however, in time to render such assistance available,as he came up just at the moment the bear fell.
In half an hour afterwards the two large canoes came up, and Bryan andhis little friend had to undergo a rapid fire of witticism from theirsurprised and highly-amused comrades. Even Moses was stirred up to saythat "Bryan, him do pratty well; he most good 'nuff to make an Eskimo!"
Having embarked the skin of the bear, the canoes once more resumed theirusual order and continued on their way. The carcass of the bear beinguseless for food, was left for the wolves; and the claws, which werenearly as large as a man's finger, were given by Frank to theblacksmith, that he might make them into a necklace, as the Indians do,and keep it in remembrance of his rencounter.
But the weather was now beginning to change. Dick Prince, whose blackeye was ever roving about observantly, told Massan that a storm wasbrewing, and that the sooner he put ashore in a convenient spot thebetter. But Stanley was anxious to get on, having a long journey beforehim, at the termination of which there would be little enough time toerect a sufficient protection against the winter of the north; so hecontinued to advance along shore until they came to a point beyond whichthere was a very deep bay that would take them many hours to coast. Bymaking a traverse, however, in a direct line to the next point, theymight cross it in a much shorter time.
"How say you, Prince? shall we cross?" asked Stanley, as they rested ontheir paddles and cast furtive glances up at the dark clouds and acrossthe still quiet bay.
Prince shook his head. "I fear we won't have time to cross. The cloudsare driving too fast and growin' black."
"Well, then, we had better encamp," said Stanley.--"Is there a properplace, Massan, hereabouts?"
"No, sir," replied the guide. "The stones on the beach are the onlypillows within six mile o' us."
"Ho! then, forward, boys, make a bold push for it," cried Stanley; "ifit does begin to blow before we're over, we can run back again at allevents."
In another moment the canoes swept out to sea, and made for the pointfar ahead like race-horses. Although the clouds continued to gather,the wind did not rise, and it seemed as though they would get overeasily, when a sudden gust came off the shore--a direction whence, fromthe appearance of the clouds, it had not been expected. Ruffling thesurface of the water for a few seconds, it passed away.
"Give way, boys, give way," cried Massan, using his large steeringpaddle with a degree of energy that sent the canoe plunging forward."We can't go back, an' if the storm bursts off the shore--"
A loud peal of thunder drowned the remainder of the sentence, and in afew seconds the wind that had been dreaded came whistling violently offthe shore and covered the sea with foam. The waves soon began to rise,and ere long the frail barks, which were ill calculated to weather astorm, were careering over them and shipping water at every plunge.
It now became a matter of life and death with them that they should gainthe point, for, deeply loaded as they were, it was impossible that theycould float long in such a sea. It is true that a wind off the shoredoes not usually raise what sailors would consider much of a sea; but itmust be remembered that, although it was off shore, the bay which theywere crossing extended far inland, so that the gale had a wide sweep ofwater to act upon before it reached them. Besides this, as has alreadybeen explained, canoes are not like boats. Their timbers are weak, thebark of which they are made is thin, the gum which makes their seamstight is easily knocked off in cold water, and, in short, they cannotface a sea on which a boat might ride like a sea-gull.
For a considerable time the men strained every nerve to gain thewished-for point of land, but with so little success that it becameevident they would never reach it. The men began to show signs offlagging, and cast uneasy glances towards Stanley, as if they had lostall hope of accomplishing their object, and waited for him to suggestwhat they should do. Poor Mrs Stanley sat holding on to the gunwalewith one hand and clasping Edith round the waist with the other, as shegazed wistfully towards the cape ahead, which was now almost lost toview under the shadow of a dark cloud that rolled towards them like ablack pall laden with destruction.
"God help us!" murmured Stanley, in an undertone, as he scanned theseaward horizon, which was covered with leaden clouds and streaks oflurid light, beneath which the foaming sea leaped furiously.
"Call upon Me in the time of trouble, and I will deliver thee," saidMrs Stanley, who overheard the exclamation.
Stanley either heard her not or his mind was too deeply concentrated onthe critical nature of their position to make any reply. As she buriedher face in her hands, Edith threw her trembling arms round her motherand hid her face in her bosom. Even Chimo seemed to understand theirdanger, for he crept closer to the side of his young mistress and whinedin a low tone, as if in sympathy. The waves had now increased to such adegree that it required two of the men to bail incessantly in order toprevent their being swamped, and as Stanley cast a hurried glance at theother canoes, which were not far off, he observed that it was as much asthey could do to keep afloat. "Could we not run back, Massan?" askedStanley, in despair.
"Unposs'ble, sir," replied the guide, whose voice was almost drowned bythe whistling of the wind. "We're more nor half-way over, an' it wouldonly blow us farther out to sea if we was to try."
While the guide spoke, Stanley was gazing earnestly in the direction ofthe horizon.
"Round with you, Massan," he exclaimed suddenly; "put the canoe aboutand paddle straight out to sea.--Hallo!" he shouted to the other canoes,"follow us out to sea--straight out."
The men looked aghast at this extraordinary order. "Look alive, lads,"continued their leader; "I see an island away there to leeward. Perhapsit's only a rock, but any way it's our only chance."
The canoes' heads were turned round, and in another moment they weredriving swiftly before the wind in the direction of the open sea.
"Right, right," murmured Dick Prince, as they made towards this newsource of hope; "mayhap it's only a bit o' ice, but even that's betterthan nothin'."
"If 'tis only ice," cried La Roche, "ye have ver' pauvre chance at all."
"Shure, an' if we are to go ashore at all, at all," said Bryan, whosespirits had suddenly risen with this gleam of hope from fifty degreesbelow to fifty above zero--"if we are to go ashore at all, at all, it'sbetter to land on the ice than on the wather."
With such a breeze urging them on, the three canoes soon approached whatappeared to be a low sand-bank, on which the sea was dashing in whitefoam. But f
rom the tossing of the waves between them and the beach, itwas difficult to form a conjecture as to its size. Indeed, at timesthey could scarcely see it at all, owing to the darkness of the day andthe heavy rain which began to fall just as they approached; and morethan once Stanley's heart sank when he lost sight of the bank, and hebegan to think that he had made a mistake, and that they were actuallyflying out to the deep sea, in which case all hope would be gone forever. But God's mercy was extended to them in this hour of peril. Theisland appeared to grow larger as they neared it, and at last they werewithin a stone's-throw of the shore. But a new danger assailed themhere. The largest canoe, which neared the island first, had begun toleak, and took in water so fast that the utmost efforts of those whobailed could not keep it under, and from the quantity that was nowshipped they made very little way. To add to the horror of the scene,the sky became very dark, and another crash of thunder pealed forthaccompanied by a blinding flash of lightning.
"Paddle, boys, paddle for your lives!" cried Stanley, throwing off hiscoat, and seizing a tin dish, with which he began to throw out thewater.
The canoe rose on a huge wave which broke all round it. This nearlyfilled it with water, and carried it towards the shore with suchvelocity that it seemed as if they should be dashed in pieces; but theyfell back into the trough of the sea, and lay motionless like a heavylog, and in a sinking condition.
"Now, lads, look out for the next wave, and give way with a will," criedMassan. The worthy steersman acted rather too energetically on his ownadvice, for he dipped his paddle with such force that it snapped in two.
"Be ready to jump out," cried Dick Prince, standing up in the bow inorder to give more power to his strokes.
As he spoke, Stanley turned to his wife, and said, "Jessie, hold on bymy collar; I'll take Eda in my arms." At that instant the canoe gave alurch, and before Stanley could grasp his child, they were allstruggling in the sea! At this awful moment, instead of endeavouring todo as her husband directed, Mrs Stanley instinctively threw her armsaround Edith, and while the waves were boiling over her, she clasped thechild tightly to her bosom with her left arm, while with her right sheendeavoured to raise herself to the surface. Twice she succeeded, andtwice she sank, when a box of merchandise providentially struck her arm.Seizing this, she raised herself above the water, and poor Edith gaspedconvulsively once or twice for air. Then the box was wrenched from hergrasp by a wave, and with a wild shriek she sank again. Just then astrong arm was thrown around her, her feet touched the ground, and in afew seconds she was dragged violently from the roaring waves and fellexhausted on the beach.
"Thanks be to God, we are saved!" murmured Mrs Stanley, as her husbandassisted her to rise and led her beyond the reach of the waves, whileEdith still clung with a deadly grasp to her mother's neck.
"Ay, Jessie, thank God indeed! But for His mercy we should have allbeen lost. I was floundering about beside the canoe when your screamshowed me where you were, and enabled me to save you. But rest here, inthe lee of this bale.--I cannot stay by you. Frank is in danger still."
Without waiting for a reply, he sprang from her side and hurried down tothe beach. Here everything was in the utmost confusion. The two largecanoes had been saved and dragged out of the reach of the waves, and themen were struggling in the boiling surf to rescue the baggage andprovisions, on which latter their very lives depended. As Stanleyreached the scene of action, he observed several of the men watching thesmall canoe which contained Frank and his two Indians. It had been leftsome distance behind by the others, and was now approaching with arrowspeed on the summit of a large wave. Suddenly the top of the billowcurled over, and in another moment the canoe was turned bottom up! Likea cork it danced on the wave's white crest, then falling beneath thethundering mass of water, it was crushed to pieces and cast empty uponthe beach. But Frank and his men swam like otters, and the party onshore watched them with anxious looks as they breasted manfully over thebillows. At last a towering wave came rolling majestically forward. Itcaught the three swimmers in its rough embrace, and carrying them alongon its crest, launched them on the beach, where it left them strugglingwith the retreating water. Those who have bathed in rough weather on anexposed coast know well how difficult it is to regain a firm footing onloose sand while a heavy wave is sweeping backward into its parentocean. Frank and the two Indians experienced this; and they might havestruggled there till their strength had been exhausted, were it not forStanley, Prince, and Massan, who rushed simultaneously into the waterand rescued them.
As the whole party had now, by the goodness of God, reached the land insafety, they turned their undivided energies towards the bales and boxeswhich were rolling about in the surf. Many of these had been alreadycollected, and were carried to the spot where Mrs Stanley and Edith layunder the shelter of a bale. As the things were successively brought upthey were piled around the mother and child, who soon found themselvespretty well sheltered from the wind, though not from the rain, whichstill fell in torrents. Soon after Frank came to them, and said thatall the things were saved, and that it was time to think of getting upsome sort of shelter for the night. This was very much needed, for poorEdith was beginning to shiver from the wet and cold.
"Now then, Francois, Massan," shouted Frank, "lend a hand here to builda house for Eda. We'll be all as snug as need be in a few minutes."
Despite the cold and her recent terror, the poor child could not helpsmiling at the idea of building a house in a few minutes, and it waswith no little curiosity that she watched the operations of the men.Meanwhile Mr Stanley brought some wine in a pannikin, and made Edithand his wife drink a little. This revived them greatly, and as the rainhad now almost ceased they rose and endeavoured to wring the water outof their garments. In less than half an hour the men piled the balesand boxes in front of the largest canoe, which was turned bottom up, andsecured firmly in that position by an embankment of sand. Over the topof all, three oil-cloths were spread and lashed down, thus forming acomplete shelter, large enough to contain the whole party. At one endof this curious house Mr Stanley made a separate apartment for his wifeand child, by placing two large bales and a box as a partition; andwithin this little space Edith soon became very busy in arrangingthings, and "putting the house to rights," as she said, as long as thedaylight lasted, for after it went away they had neither candles norfire, as the former had been soaked and broken, and as for the latter nowood could be found on the island. The men's clothes were, of course,quite wet, so they cut open a bale of blankets, which had not been somuch soaked as the other goods, having been among the first things thatwere washed ashore.
At the time they were wrecked the dashing spray and the heavy rain,together with the darkness of the day, had prevented the shipwreckedvoyageurs from ascertaining the nature of the island on which they hadbeen cast; and as the night closed in while they were yet engaged in theerection of their temporary shelter, they had to lie down to rest inignorance on this point. After such a day of unusual fatigue andexcitement, they all felt more inclined for rest than food; so, insteadof taking supper, they all lay down huddled together under the canoe,and slept soundly, while the angry winds whistled round them, and thegreat sea roared and lashed itself into foam on the beach, as ifdisappointed that the little band of adventurers had escaped and werenow beyond the reach of its impotent fury.