The Boats of the Glen Carrig (8 page)

Now since the creature had so nearly captured the bo'sun, it had ceased
to tug at the boat, and lay silent, with its tentacles spread all about
it, and its great eyes appearing just over the stern, so that it
presented an appearance of watching our movements; though I doubt if it
saw us with any clearness; for it must have been dazed with the
brightness of the sunshine.

And now the bo'sun gave the signal to attack, at which he and the man ran
down upon the creature with their lances, as it were in rest. The
bo'sun's spear took the monster truly in its left eye; but the one
wielded by the man was too bendable, and sagged so much that it struck
the stern-post of the boat, the knife blade snapping off short. Yet it
mattered not; for the wound inflicted by the bo'sun's weapon was so
frightful, that the giant cuttlefish released the boat, and slid back
into deep water, churning it into foam, and gouting blood.

For some minutes we waited to make sure that the monster had indeed gone,
and after that, we hastened to the boat, and drew her up so far as we
were able; after which we unloaded the heaviest of her contents, and so
were able to get her right clear of the water.

And for an hour afterwards the sea all about the little beach was stained
black, and in places red.

Now, so soon as we had gotten the boat into safety, the which we did with
a most feverish haste, the bo'sun gave his attention to Job; for the boy
had not yet recovered from the blow which the loom of the oar had dealt
him beneath the chin when the monster snatched at it. For awhile, his
attentions produced no effect; but presently, having bathed the lad's
face with water from the sea, and rubbed rum into his chest over the
heart, 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 he
asked him how he seemed in himself. To this Job replied in a weak voice
that 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 so
we left him in quietness under a little shade of canvas and reeds; for
the air was warm and the sand dry, and he was not like to come to any
harm there.

At a little distance, under the directing of the bo'sun, we made to
prepare dinner, for we were now very hungry, it seeming a great while
since we had broken our fast. To this end, the bo'sun sent two of the men
across the island to gather some of the dry seaweed; for we intended to
cook some of the salt meat, this being the first cooked meal since ending
the 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, the
bo'sun kept us busied in various ways. Two he sent to cut a bundle of the
reeds, and another couple to bring the meat and the iron boiler, the
latter being one that we had taken from the old brig.

Presently, the men returned with the dried seaweed, and very curious
stuff it seemed, some of it being in chunks near as thick as a man's
body; 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 pieces
of 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 the
boiler with sea water, in which he placed the meat; and the pan, having a
stout 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 our
camp for the night, which we did by making a rough framework with the
reeds, over which we spread the boat's sails and the cover, pegging the
canvas down with tough splinters of the reed. When this was completed, we
set-to and carried there all our stores, after which the bo'sun took us
over to the other side of the island to gather fuel for the night, which
we did, each man bearing a great double armful.

Now by the time that we had brought over, each of us, two loads of the
fuel, we found the meat to be cooked, and so, without more to-do, set
ourselves down and made a very good meal off it and some biscuits, after
which we had each of us a sound tot of the rum. Having made an end of
eating and drinking, the bo'sun went over to where Job lay, to inquire
how he felt, and found him lying very quiet, though his breathing had a
heavy touch about it. However, we could conceive of nothing by which he
might be bettered, and so left him, being more hopeful that Nature would
bring 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 might
please ourselves until sunset, deeming that we had earned a very good
right 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 were
no longer upon the water, none might say whether we were out of danger or
not, as witness the happening of the morning; though, certainly, he
apprehended no danger from the devil-fish so long as we kept well away
from the water's edge.

And so from now until dark most of the men slept; but the bo'sun spent
much of that time in overhauling the boat, to see how it might chance to
have suffered during the storm, and also whether the struggles of the
devil-fish had strained it in any way. And, indeed, it was speedily
evident that the boat would need some attention; for the plank in her
bottom next but one to the keel, upon the starboard side, had been burst
inwards; this having been done, it would seem, by some rock in the beach
hidden just beneath the water's edge, the devil-fish having, no doubt,
ground the boat down upon it. Happily, the damage was not great; though
it would most certainly have to be carefully repaired before the boat
would be again seaworthy. For the rest, there seemed to be no other part
needing attention.

Now I had not felt any call to sleep, and so had followed the bo'sun to
the boat, giving him a hand to remove the bottom-boards, and finally to
slue her bottom a little upwards, so that he might examine the leak more
closely. When he had made an end with the boat, he went over to the
stores, and looked closely into their condition, and also to see how they
were lasting. And, after that, he sounded all the water-breakers; having
done which, he remarked that it would be well for us if we could discover
any fresh water upon the island.

By this time it was getting on towards evening, and the bo'sun went
across to look at Job, finding him much as he had been when we visited
him after dinner. At that, the bo'sun asked me to bring across one of the
longer of the bottom-boards, which I did, and we made use of it as a
stretcher to carry the lad into the tent. And afterwards, we carried all
the loose woodwork of the boat into the tent, emptying the lockers of
their contents, which included some oakum, a small boat's hatchet, a coil
of one-and-a-half-inch hemp line, a good saw, an empty colza-oil tin, a
bag of copper nails, some bolts and washers, two fishing-lines, three
spare tholes, a three-pronged grain without the shaft, two balls of spun
yarn, three hanks of roping-twine, a piece of canvas with four
roping-needles stuck in it, the boat's lamp, a spare plug, and a roll of
light duck for making boat's sails.

And so, presently, the dark came down upon the island, at which the
bo'sun waked the men, and bade them throw more fuel on to the fire, which
had burned down to a mound of glowing embers much shrouded in ash. After
that, one of them part filled the boiler with fresh water, and soon we
were occupied most pleasantly upon a supper of cold, boiled salt-meat,
hard biscuits, and rum mixed with hot water. During supper, the bo'sun
made clear to the men regarding the watches, arranging how they should
follow, so that I found I was set down to take my turn from midnight
until one of the clock. Then, he explained to them about the burst plank
in the bottom of the boat, and how that it would have to be put right
before we could hope to leave the island, and that after that night we
should have to go most strictly with the victuals; for there seemed to be
nothing upon the island, that we had up till then discovered, fit to
satisfy our bellies. More than this, if we could find no fresh water, he
should have to distil some to make up for that which we had drunk, and
this must be done before leaving the island.

Now by the time that the bo'sun had made an end of explaining these
matters, we had ceased from eating, and soon after this we made each one
of us a comfortable place in the sand within the tent, and lay down to
sleep. For a while, I found myself very wakeful, which may have been
because of the warmth of the night, and, indeed, at last I got up and
went out of the tent, conceiving that I might the better find sleep in
the open air. And so it proved; for, having lain down at the side of the
tent, a little way from the fire, I fell soon into a deep slumber, which
at first was dreamless. Presently, however, I came upon a very strange
and unsettling dream; for I dreamed that I had been left alone on the
island, and was sitting very desolate upon the edge of the brown-scummed
pit. Then I was aware suddenly that it was very dark and very silent, and
I began to shiver; for it seemed to me that something which repulsed my
whole being had come quietly behind me. At that I tried mightily to turn
and 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 never
a sound came to me, and I gave out a scream, or tried to; but my voice
made no stir in the rounding quiet; and then something wet and cold
touched my face, and slithered down and covered my mouth, and paused
there for a vile, breathless moment. It passed onward and fell to my
throat—and stayed there ...

Some one stumbled and felt over my feet, and at that, I was suddenly
awake. 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 was
somewhat shaken and startled, as might be supposed; but steadied himself
on 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 altogether
unfamiliar, and then, suddenly, I was aware that my face was damp and
that there was a curious sense of tingling at my throat. I put up my hand
and felt my face, and the hand when I brought it away was slippery with
slime, and at that, I put up my other hand, and touched my throat, and
there it was the same, only, in addition, there was a slight swelled
place a little to one side of the wind-pipe, the sort of place that the
bite 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 discovery
that my face and throat were be-slimed, were but the happenings of some
few, short instants; and then I was upon my feet, and following him round
to the fire; for I had a sense of chilliness and a great desire not to be
alone. Now, having come to the fire, I took some of the water that had
been left in the boiler, and washed my face and neck, after which I felt
more my own man. Then I asked the man to look at my throat, so that he
might give me some idea of what manner of place the swelling seemed, and
he, lighting a piece of the dry seaweed to act as a torch, made
examination of my neck; but could see little, save a number of small
ring-like marks, red inwardly, and white at the edges, and one of them
was bleeding slightly. After that, I asked him whether he had seen
anything moving round the tent; but he had seen nothing during all the
time that he had been on watch; though it was true that he had heard odd
noises; but nothing very near at hand. Of the places on my throat he
seemed to think but little, suggesting that I had been bitten by some
sort 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 the
night 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 I
perceived this, I entreated him to go and get his sleep, assuring him
that I had no longer any feelings of fear—such as had been mine upon
awakening and discovering the state of my face and throat—and, upon
this, he consented to leave me, and so, in a little, I sat alone
beside the fire.

For a certain space, I kept very quiet, listening; but no sound came to
me out of the surrounding darkness, and so, as though it were a fresh
thing, it was borne in upon me how that we were in a very abominable
place 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, in
the direction of the valley, I heard suddenly the sound of a dull thud,
the noise coming to me through the stillness with a very startling
clearness. 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 dry
weed upon the fire, so that a great blaze shot up into the night, and
afterwards I glanced quickly to right and to left, holding my
cut-and-thrust very readily, and most thankful to the Almighty that I
had brought no harm to any by reason of my carelessness, which I incline
me 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 the
beach a fresh noise, a continual soft slithering to and fro in the bottom
of the valley, as though a multitude of creatures moved stealthily. At
this, I threw yet more fuel upon the fire, and after that I fixed my gaze
in the direction of the valley: thus in the following instant it seemed
to me that I saw a certain thing, as it might be a shadow, move on the
outer borders of the firelight. Now the man who had kept watch before me
had 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 my
strength in its direction; but there came no answering cry to tell that I
had struck anything living, and immediately afterwards there fell once
more a great silence upon the island, being broken only by a far splash
out upon the weed.