The Boats of the Glen Carrig (11 page)

Presently, being guided by the other party, we passed around to the back
of the far hill, and discovered it to go upward to the top at an easy
slope, with many ledges and broken places, so that it was scarce more
difficult than a stair to climb. And so, having climbed perhaps ninety or
a hundred feet, we came suddenly upon the place which held the water, and
found that they had not made too much of their discovery; for the pool
was near twenty feet long by twelve broad, and so clear as though it had
come from a fountain; yet it had considerable depth, as we discovered by
thrusting a spear shaft down into it.

Now the bo'sun, having seen for himself how good a supply of water there
was for our needs, seemed very much relieved in his mind, and declared
that within three days at the most we might leave the island, at which we
felt none of us any regret. Indeed, had the boat escaped harm, we had
been able to leave that same day; but this could not be; for there was
much to be done before we had her seaworthy again.

Having waited until the bo'sun had made complete his examination, we
turned to descend, thinking that this would be the bo'sun's intention;
but he called to us to stay, and, looking back, we saw that he made to
finish the ascent of the hill. At that, we hastened to follow him; though
we had no notion of his reason for going higher. Presently, we were come
to the top, and here we found a very spacious place, nicely level save
that in one or two parts it was crossed by deepish cracks, maybe half a
foot to a foot wide, and perhaps three to six fathoms long; but, apart
from these and some great boulders, it was, as I have mentioned, a
spacious place; moreover it was bone dry and pleasantly firm under one's
feet, after so long upon the sand.

I think, even thus early, I had some notion of the bo'sun's design; for
I went to the edge that overlooked the valley, and peered down, and,
finding it nigh a sheer precipice, found myself nodding my head, as
though it were in accordance with some part formed wish. Presently,
looking about me, I discovered the bo'sun to be surveying that part which
looked over towards the weed, and I made across to join him. Here, again,
I saw that the hill fell away very sheer, and after that we went across
to the seaward edge, and there it was near as abrupt as on the weed side.

Then, having by this time thought a little upon the matter, I put it
straight to the bo'sun that here would make indeed a very secure camping
place, with nothing to come at us upon our sides or back; and our front,
where was the slope, could be watched with ease. And this I put to him
with great warmth; for I was mortally in dread of the coming night.

Now when I had made an end of speaking, the bo'sun disclosed to me that
this was, as I had suspicion, his intent, and immediately he called to
the men that we should haste down, and ship our camp to the top of the
hill. At that, the men expressed their approbation, and we made haste
every one of us to the camp, and began straightway to move our gear to
the hilltop.

In the meanwhile, the bo'sun, taking me to assist him, set-to again upon
the boat, being intent to get his batten nicely shaped and fit to the
side of the keel, so that it would bed well to the keel, but more
particularly to the plank which had sprung outward from its place. And at
this he labored the greater part of that afternoon, using the little
hatchet to shape the wood, which he did with surprising skill; yet when
the evening was come, he had not brought it to his liking. But it must
not be thought that he did naught but work at the boat; for he had the
men to direct, and once he had to make his way to the top of the hill to
fix the place for the tent. And after the tent was up, he set them to
carry the dry weed to the new camp, and at this he kept them until near
dusk; for he had vowed never again to be without a sufficiency of fuel.
But two of the men he sent to collect shell-fish—putting two of them to
the task, because he would not have one alone upon the island, not
knowing but that there might be danger, even though it were bright day;
and a most happy ruling it proved; for, a little past the middle of the
afternoon, we heard them shouting at the other end of the valley, and,
not knowing but that they were in need of assistance, we ran with all
haste to discover the reason of their calling, passing along the
right-hand side of the blackened and sodden vale. Upon reaching the
further beach, we saw a most incredible sight; for the two men were
running towards us through the thick masses of the weed, while, no more
than four or five fathoms behind, they were pursued by an enormous crab.
Now I had thought the crab we had tried to capture before coming to the
island, a prodigy unsurpassed; but this creature was more than treble its
size, seeming as though a prodigious table were a-chase of them, and
moreover, spite of its monstrous bulk, it made better way over the weed
than I should have conceived to be possible—running almost sideways, and
with one enormous claw raised near a dozen feet into the air.

Now whether, omitting accidents, the men would have made good their
escape to the firmer ground of the valley, where they could have attained
to a greater speed, I do not know; but suddenly one of them tripped over
a loop of the weed, and the next instant lay helpless upon his face. He
had been dead the following moment, but for the pluck of his companion,
who faced round manfully upon the monster, and ran at it with his
twenty-foot spear. It seemed to me that the spear took it about a foot
below the overhanging armor of the great back shell, and I could see
that it penetrated some distance into the creature, the man having, by
the aid of Providence, stricken it in a vulnerable part. Upon receiving
this thrust, the mighty crab ceased at once its pursuit, and clipped at
the haft of the spear with its great mandible, snapping the weapon more
easily than I had done the same thing to a straw. By the time we had
raced up to the men, the one who had stumbled was again upon his feet,
and turning to assist his comrade; but the bo'sun snatched his spear from
him, and leapt forward himself; for the crab was making now at the other
man. Now the bo'sun did not attempt to thrust the spear into the monster;
but instead he made two swift blows at the great protruding eyes, and in
a moment the creature had curled itself up, helpless, save that the huge
claw waved about aimlessly. At that, the bo'sun drew us off, though the
man who had attacked the crab desired to make an end of it, averring that
we should get some very good eating out of it; but to this the bo'sun
would not listen, telling him that it was yet capable of very deadly
mischief, did any but come within reach of its prodigious mandible.

And after this, he bade them look no more for shellfish; but take out the
two fishing-lines which we had, and see if they could catch aught from
some safe ledge on the further side of the hill upon which we had made
our camp. Then he returned to his mending of the boat.

It was a little before the evening came down upon the island, that the
bo'sun ceased work; and, after that, he called to the men, who, having
made an end of their fuel carrying, were standing near, to place the
full breakers—which we had not thought needful to carry to the new
camp on account of their weight—under the upturned boat, some holding
up the gunnel whilst the others pushed them under. Then the bo'sun laid
the unfinished batten along with them, and we lowered the boat again
over all, trusting to its weight to prevent any creature from meddling
with aught.

After that, we made at once to the camp, being wearifully tired, and with
a hearty anticipation of supper. Upon reaching the hilltop, the men whom
the bo'sun had sent with the lines, came to show him a very fine fish,
something like to a huge king-fish, which they had caught a few minutes
earlier. This, the bo'sun, after examining, did not hesitate to pronounce
fit for food; whereupon they set-to and opened and cleaned it. Now, as I
have said, it was not unlike a great king-fish, and like it, had a mouth
full of very formidable teeth; the use of which I understood the better
when I saw the contents of its stomach, which seemed to consist of
nothing but the coiled tentacles of squid or cuttlefish, with which, as I
have shown, the weed-continent swarmed. When these were upset upon the
rock, I was confounded to perceive the length and thickness of some of
them; and could only conceive that this particular fish must be a very
desperate enemy to them, and able successfully to attack monsters of a
bulk infinitely greater than its own.

After this, and whilst the supper was preparing, the bo'sun called to
some of the men to put up a piece of the spare canvas upon a couple of
the reeds, so as to make a screen against the wind, which up there was
so fresh that it came near at times to scattering the fire abroad. This
they found not difficult; for a little on the windward side of the fire
there ran one of the cracks of which I have made previous mention, and
into this they jammed the supports, and so in a very little time had the
fire screened.

Presently, the supper was ready, and I found the fish to be very fair
eating; though somewhat coarse; but this was no great matter for concern
with so empty a stomach as I contained. And here I would remark, that we
made our fishing save our provisions through all our stay on the island.
Then, after we had come to an end of our eating, we lay down to a most
comfortable smoke; for we had no fear of attack, at that height, and with
precipices upon all sides save that which lay in front. Yet, so soon as
we had rested and smoked a while, the bo'sun set the watches; for he
would run no risk through carelessness.

By this time the night was drawing on apace; yet it was not so dark but
that one could perceive matters at a very reasonable distance. Presently,
being in a mood that tended to thoughtfulness, and feeling a desire to be
alone for a little, I strolled away from the fire to the leeward edge of
the hilltop. Here, I paced up and down awhile, smoking and meditating.
Anon, I would stare out across the immensity of the vast continent of
weed and slime that stretched its incredible desolation out beyond the
darkening horizon, and there would come the thought to me of the terror
of men whose vessels had been entangled among its strange growths, and so
my thoughts came to the lone derelict that lay out there in the dusk, and
I fell to wondering what had been the end of her people, and at that I
grew yet more solemn in my heart. For it seemed to me that they must have
died at last by starvation, and if not by that, then by the act of some
one of the devil-creatures which inhabited that lonely weed-world. And
then, even as I fell upon this thought, the bo'sun clapped me upon the
shoulder, and told me in a very hearty way to come to the light of the
fire, and banish all melancholy thoughts; for he had a very penetrating
discernment, and had followed me quietly from the camping place, having
had reason once or twice before to chide me for gloomy meditations. And
for this, and many other matters, I had grown to like the man, the which
I could almost believe at times, was his regarding of me; but his words
were too few for me to gather his feelings; though I had hope that they
were as I surmised.

And so I came back to the fire, and presently, it not being my time to
watch until after midnight, I turned into the tent for a spell of sleep,
having first arranged a comfortable spread of some of the softer portions
of the dry weed to make me a bed.

Now I was very full of sleep, so that I slept heavily, and in this wise
heard not the man on watch call the bo'sun; yet the rousing of the others
waked me, and so I came to myself and found the tent empty, at which I
ran very hurriedly to the doorway, and so discovered that there was a
clear moon in the sky, the which, by reason of the cloudiness that had
prevailed, we had been without for the past two nights. Moreover, the
sultriness had gone, the wind having blown it away with the clouds; yet
though, maybe, I appreciated this, it was but in a half-conscious manner;
for I was put about to discover the whereabouts of the men, and the
reason of their leaving the tent. With this purpose, I stepped out from
the entrance, and the following instant discovered them all in a clump
beside the leeward edge of the hilltop. At that, I held my tongue; for I
knew not but that silence might be their desire; but I ran hastily over
to them, and inquired of the bo'sun what manner of thing it was which
called them from their sleep, and he, for answer, pointed out into the
greatness of the weed-continent.

At that, I stared out over the breadth of the weed, showing very ghostly
in the moonlight; but, for the moment, I saw not the thing to which he
purposed to draw my attention. Then, suddenly, it fell within the circle
of my gaze—a little light out in the lonesomeness. For the space of some
moments, I stared with bewildered eyes; then it came to me with
abruptness that the light shone from the lone derelict lying out in the
weed, the same that upon that very evening, I had looked with sorrow and
awe, because of the end of those who had been in her—and now, behold, a
light burning, seemingly within one of her after cabins; though the moon
was scarce powerful enough to enable the outline of the hulk to be seen
clear of the rounding wilderness.

And from this time, until the day, we had no more sleep; but made up the
fire, and sat round it, full of excitement and wonder, and getting up
continually to discover if the light still burned. This it ceased to do
about an hour after I had first seen it; but it was the more proof that
some of our kind were no more than the half of a mile from our camp.

And at last the day came.

Now so soon as it was clearly light, we went all of us to the leeward
brow of the hill to stare upon the derelict, which now we had cause to
believe no derelict, but an inhabited vessel. Yet though we watched her
for upwards of two hours, we could discover no sign of any living
creature, the which, indeed, had we been in cooler minds, we had not
thought strange, seeing that she was all so shut in by the great
superstructure; but we were hot to see a fellow creature, after so much
lonesomeness and terror in strange lands and seas, and so could not by
any means contain ourselves in patience until those aboard the hulk
should choose to discover themselves to us.