The Boats of the Glen Carrig (20 page)

Now, about this time, I became conscious that I had grown very empty; for
I had come off to the hulk before we had made our dinner, and had been in
such interest since, that the thought of food had escaped me; for I had
seen none eating in the hulk, they, without doubt, having dined earlier
than my coming. But now, being made aware of my state by the grumbling of
my stomach, I inquired whether there was any food to be had at such a
time, and, at that, one of the men ran to tell the woman in the galley
that I had missed my dinner, at which she made much ado, and set-to and
prepared me a very good meal, which she carried aft and set out for me in
the saloon, and after that she sent me down to it.

Presently, when I had come near to being comfortable, there chanced a
lightsome step upon the floor behind me, and, turning, I discovered that
Mistress Madison was surveying me with a roguish and somewhat amused air.
At that, I got hastily to my feet; but she bade me sit down, and
therewith she took a seat opposite, and so bantered me with a gentle
playfulness that was not displeasing to me, and at which I played so good
a second as I had ability. Later, I fell to questioning her, and, among
other matters, discovered that it was she who acted as scribe for the
people in the hulk, at which I told her that I had done likewise for
those on the island. After that, our talk became somewhat personal, and I
learnt that she was near on to nineteen years of age, whereat I told her
that I had passed my twenty-third. And so we chatted on, until,
presently, it occurred to me that I had better be preparing to return to
the island, and I rose to my feet with this intention; yet feeling that I
had been very much happier to have stayed, the which I thought, for a
moment, had not been displeasing to her, and this I imagined, noting
somewhat in her eyes when I made mention that I must be gone. Yet it may
be that I flattered myself.

Now when I came out on deck, they were busied again in heaving taut the
rope, and, until they had made an end, Mistress Madison and I filled the
time with such chatter as is wholesome between a man and maid who have
not long met, yet find one another pleasing company. Then, when at last
the rope was taut, I went up to the mizzen staging, and climbed into the
chair, after which some of the men lashed me in very securely. Yet when
they gave the signal to haul me to the island, there came for awhile no
response, and then signs that we could not understand; but no movement to
haul me across the weed. At that, they unlashed me from the chair,
bidding me get out, whilst they sent a message to discover what might be
wrong. And this they did, and, presently, there came back word that the
big rope had stranded upon the edge of the cliff, and that they must
slacken it somewhat at once, the which they did, with many expressions of
dismay. And so, maybe an hour passed, during which we watched the men
working at the rope, just where it came down over the edge of the hill,
and Mistress Madison stood with us and watched; for it was very terrible,
this sudden thought of failure (though it were but temporary) when they
were so near to success. Yet, at last there came a signal from the island
for us to loose the hauling-line, the which we did, allowing them to haul
across the carrier, and so, in a little while, they signaled back to us
to pull in, which, having done, we found a letter in the bag lashed to
the carrier, in which the bo'sun made it plain that he had strengthened
the rope, and placed fresh chafing gear about it, so that he thought it
would be so safe as ever to heave upon; but to put it to a less strain.
Yet he refused to allow me to venture across upon it, saying that I must
stay in the ship until we were clear of the weed; for if the rope had
stranded in one place, then had it been so cruelly tested that there
might be some other points at which it was ready to give. And this final
note of the bo'sun's made us all very serious; for, indeed, it seemed
possible that it was as he suggested; yet they reassured themselves by
pointing out that, like enough, it had been the chafe upon the cliff edge
which had frayed the strand, so that it had been weakened before it
parted; but I, remembering the chafing gear which the bo'sun had put
about it in the first instance, felt not so sure; yet I would not add to
their anxieties.

And so it came about that I was compelled to spend the night in the hulk;
but, as I followed Mistress Madison into the big saloon, I felt no
regret, and had near forgotten already my anxiety regarding the rope.

And out on deck there sounded most cheerily the clack of the capstan.

Now, when Mistress Madison had seated herself, she invited me to do
likewise, after which we fell into talk, first touching upon the matter
of the stranding of the rope, about which I hastened to assure her, and
later to other things, and so, as is natural enough with a man and maid,
to ourselves, and here we were very content to let it remain.

Presently, the second mate came in with a note from the bo'sun, which he
laid upon the table for the girl to read, the which she beckoned me to do
also, and so I discovered that it was a suggestion, written very rudely
and ill-spelt, that they should send us a quantity of reeds from the
island, with which we might be able to ease the weed somewhat from around
the stern of the hulk, thus aiding her progress. And to this the second
mate desired the girl to write a reply, saying that we should be very
happy for the reeds, and would endeavor to act upon his hint, and this
Mistress Madison did, after which she passed the letter to me, perchance
I desired to send any message. Yet I had naught that I wished to say, and
so handed it back, with a word of thanks, and, at once, she gave it to
the second mate, who went, forthwith, and dispatched it.

Later, the stout woman from the galley came aft to set out the table,
which occupied the center of the saloon, and whilst she was at this, she
asked for information on many things, being very free and unaffected in
her speech, and seeming with less of deference to my companion, than a
certain motherliness; for it was very plain that she loved Mistress
Madison, and in this my heart did not blame her. Further, it was plain to
me that the girl had a very warm affection for her old nurse, which was
but natural, seeing that the old woman had cared for her through all the
past years, besides being companion to her, and a good and cheerful one,
as I could guess.

Now awhile I passed in answering the buxom woman's questions, and odd
times such occasional ones as were slipped in by Mistress Madison; and
then, suddenly there came the clatter of men's feet overhead, and, later,
the thud of something being cast down upon the deck, and so we knew that
the reeds had come. At that, Mistress Madison cried out that we should go
and watch the men try them upon the weed; for that if they proved of use
in easing that which lay in our path, then should we come the more
speedily to the clear water, and this without the need of putting so
great a strain upon the hawser, as had been the case hitherto.

When we came to the poop, we found the men removing a portion of the
superstructure over the stern, and after that they took some of the
stronger reeds, and proceeded to work at the weed that stretched away in
a line with our taffrail. Yet that they anticipated danger, I perceived;
for there stood by them two of the men and the second mate, all armed
with muskets, and these three kept a very strict watch upon the weed,
knowing, through much experience of its terrors, how that there might be
a need for their weapons at any moment. And so a while passed, and it
was plain that the men's work upon the weed was having effect; for the
rope grew slack visibly, and those at the capstan had all that they
could do, taking fleet and fleet with the tackle, to keep it anywhere
near to tautness, and so, perceiving that they were kept so hard at it,
I ran to give a hand, the which did Mistress Madison, pushing upon the
capstan-bars right merrily and with heartiness. And thus a while passed,
and the evening began to come down upon the lonesomeness of the
weed-continent. Then there appeared the buxom woman, and bade us come to
our suppers, and her manner of addressing the two of us was the manner
of one who might have mothered us; but Mistress Madison cried out to her
to wait, that we had found work to do, and at that the big woman
laughed, and came towards us threateningly, as though intending to
remove us hence by force.

And now, at this moment, there came a sudden interruption which checked
our merriment; for, abruptly, there sounded the report of a musket in
the stern, and then came shouts, and the noise of the two other weapons,
seeming like thunder, being pent by the over-arching superstructure.
And, directly, the men about the taffrail gave back, running here and
there, and so I saw that great arms had come all about the opening which
they had made in the superstructure, and two of these flickered
in-board, searching hither and thither; but the stout woman took a man
near to her, and thrust him out of danger, and after that, she caught
Mistress Madison up in her big arms, and ran down on to the main-deck
with her, and all this before I had come to a full knowledge of our
danger. But now I perceived that I should do well to get further back
from the stern, the which I did with haste, and, coming to a safe
position, I stood and stared at the huge creature, its great arms, vague
in the growing dusk, writhing about in vain search for a victim. Then
returned the second mate, having been for more weapons, and now I
observed that he armed all the men, and had brought up a spare musket
for my use, and so we commenced, all of us, to fire at the monster,
whereat it began to lash about most furiously, and so, after some
minutes, it slipped away from the opening and slid down into the weed.
Upon that several of the men rushed to replace those parts of the
superstructure which had been removed, and I with them; yet there were
sufficient for the job, so that I had no need to do aught; thus, before
they had made up the opening, I had been given chance to look out upon
the weed, and so discovered that all the surface which lay between our
stern and the island, was moving in vast ripples, as though mighty fish
were swimming beneath it, and then, just before the men put back the
last of the great panels, I saw the weed all tossed up like to a vast
pot a-boil, and then a vague glimpse of thousands of monstrous arms that
filled the air, and came towards the ship.

And then the men had the panel back in its place, and were hasting to
drive the supporting struts into their positions. And when this was done,
we stood awhile and listened; but there came no sound above that of the
wail of the wind across the extent of the weed-continent. And at that, I
turned to the men, asking how it was that I could hear no sounds of the
creatures attacking us, and so they took me up into the look-out place,
and from there I stared down at the weed; but it was without movement,
save for the stirring of the wind, and there was nowhere any sign of the
devil-fish. Then, seeing me amazed, they told me how that anything which
moved the weed seemed to draw them from all parts; but that they seldom
touched the hulk unless there was something visible to them which had
movement. Yet, as they went on to explain, there would be hundreds and
hundreds of them lying all about the ship, hiding in the weed; but that
if we took care not to show ourselves within their reach, they would have
gone most of them by the morning. And this the men told me in a very
matter-of-fact way; for they had become inured to such happenings.

Presently, I heard Mistress Madison calling to me by name, and so
descended out of the growing darkness, to the interior of the
superstructure, and here they had lit a number of rude slush-lamps, the
oil for which, as I learned later, they obtained from a certain fish
which haunted the sea, beneath the weed, in very large schools, and took
near any sort of bait with great readiness. And so, when I had climbed
down into the light, I found the girl waiting for me to come to supper,
for which I discovered myself to be in a mightily agreeable humor.

Presently, having made an end of eating, she leaned back in her seat and
commenced once more to bait me in her playful manner, the which appeared
to afford her much pleasure, and in which I joined with no less, and so
we fell presently to more earnest talk, and in this wise we passed a
great space of the evening. Then there came to her a sudden idea, and
what must she do but propose that we should climb to the lookout, and to
this I agreed with a very happy willingness. And to the lookout we went.
Now when we had come there, I perceived her reason for this freak; for
away in the night, astern the hulk, there blazed half-way between the
heaven and the sea, a mighty glow, and suddenly, as I stared, being dumb
with admiration and surprise, I knew that it was the blaze of our fires
upon the crown of the bigger hill; for, all the hill being in shadow, and
hidden by the darkness, there showed only the glow of the fires, hung, as
it were, in the void, and a very striking and beautiful spectacle it was.
Then, as I watched, there came, abruptly a figure into view upon the
edge of the glow, showing black and minute, and this I knew to be one of
the men come to the edge of the hill to take a look at the hulk, or test
the strain on the hawser. Now, upon my expressing admiration of the sight
to Mistress Madison, she seemed greatly pleased, and told me that she had
been up many times in the darkness to view it. And after that we went
down again into the interior of the superstructure, and here the men were
taking a further heave upon the big rope, before settling the watches for
the night, the which they managed, by having one man at a time to keep
awake and call the rest whenever the hawser grew slack.