The Boats of the Glen Carrig (14 page)

Later, maybe about nine of the night, the bo'sun bade us all to put away
our work, and then he set the watches, after which the rest of us went
into the tent to sleep; for the strength of the wind made the shelter a
very pleasant thing.

That night, when it came my turn to watch, I minded me to take a look
into the valley; but though I watched at intervals through the half of an
hour, I saw nothing to lead me to imagine that I had indeed seen aught on
the previous night, and so I felt more confident in my mind that we
should be troubled no further by the devil-things which had destroyed
poor Job. Yet I must record one thing which I saw during my watch; though
this was from the edge of the hilltop which overlooked the
weed-continent, and was not in the valley, but in the stretch of clear
water which lay between the island and the weed. As I saw it, it seemed
to me that a number of great fish were swimming across from the island,
diagonally towards the great continent of weed: they were swimming in one
wake, and keeping a very regular line; but not breaking the water after
the manner of porpoises or black fish. Yet, though I have mentioned this,
it must not be supposed that I saw any very strange thing in such a
sight, and indeed, I thought nothing more of it than to wonder what sort
of fish they might be; for, as I saw them indistinctly in the moonlight,
they made a queer appearance, seeming each of them to be possessed of two
tails, and further, I could have thought I perceived a flicker as of
tentacles just beneath the surface; but of this I was by no means sure.

Upon the following morning, having hurried our breakfast, each of us
set-to again upon our tasks; for we were in hopes to have the great bow
at work before dinner. Soon, the bo'sun had finished his arrow, and mine
was completed very shortly after, so that there lacked nothing now to
the completion of our work, save the finishing of the line, and the
getting of the bow into position. This latter, assisted by the men, we
proceeded now to effect, making a level bed of rocks near the edge of
the hill which overlooked the weed. Upon this we placed the great bow,
and then, having sent the men back to their work at the line, we
proceeded to the aiming of the huge weapon. Now, when we had gotten the
instrument pointed, as we conceived, straight over the hulk, the which
we accomplished by squinting along the groove which the bo'sun had burnt
down the center of the stock, we turned-to upon the arranging of the
notch and trigger, the notch being to hold the strings when the weapon
was set, and the trigger—a board bolted on loosely at the side just
below the notch—to push them upwards out of this place when we desired
to discharge the bow. This part of the work took up no great portion of
our time, and soon we had all ready for our first flight. Then we
commenced to set the bows, bending the bottom one first, and then those
above in turn, until all were set; and, after that, we laid the arrow
very carefully in the groove. Then I took two pieces of spun yarn and
frapped the strings together at each end of the notch, and by this means
I was assured that all the strings would act in unison when striking the
butt of the arrow. And so we had all things ready for the discharge;
whereupon, I placed my foot upon the trigger, and, bidding the bo'sun
watch carefully the flight of the arrow, pushed downwards. The next
instant, with a mighty twang, and a quiver that made the great stock
stir on its bed of rocks, the bow sprang to its lesser tension, hurling
the arrow outwards and upwards in a vast arc. Now, it may be conceived
with what mortal interest we watched its flight, and so in a minute
discovered that we had aimed too much to the right, for the arrow struck
the weed ahead of the hulk—but
beyond
it. At that, I was filled near
to bursting with pride and joy, and the men who had come forward to
witness the trial, shouted to acclaim my success, whilst the bo'sun
clapped me twice upon the shoulder to signify his regard, and shouted as
loud as any.

And now it seemed to me that we had but to get the true aim, and the
rescue of those in the hulk would be but a matter of another day or two;
for, having once gotten a line to the hulk, we should haul across a thin
rope by its means, and with this a thicker one; after which we should set
this up so taut as possible, and then bring the people in the hulk to the
island by means of a seat and block which we should haul to and fro along
the supporting line.

Now, having realized that the bow would indeed carry so far as the wreck,
we made haste to try our second arrow, and at the same time we bade the
men go back to their work upon the line; for we should have need of it in
a very little while. Presently, having pointed the bow more to the left,
I took the frappings off the strings, so that we could bend the bows
singly, and after that we set the great weapon again. Then, seeing that
the arrow was straight in the groove, I replaced the frappings, and
immediately discharged it. This time, to my very great pleasure and
pride, the arrow went with a wonderful straightness towards the ship,
and, clearing the superstructure, passed out of our sight as it fell
behind it. At this, I was all impatience to try to get the line to the
hulk before we made our dinner; but the men had not yet laid-up
sufficient; there being then only four hundred and fifty fathoms (which
the bo'sun measured off by stretching it along his arms and across his
chest). This being so, we went to dinner, and made very great haste
through it; and, after that, every one of us worked at the line, and so
in about an hour we had sufficient; for I had estimated that it would not
be wise to make the attempt with a less length than five hundred fathoms.

Having now completed a sufficiency of the line, the bo'sun set one of the
men to flake it down very carefully upon the rock beside the bow, whilst
he himself tested it at all such parts as he thought in any way doubtful,
and so, presently, all was ready. Then I bent it on to the arrow, and,
having set the bow whilst the men were flaking down the line, I was
prepared immediately to discharge the weapon.

Now, all the morning, a man upon the hulk had observed us through a
spy-glass, from a position that brought his head just above the edge of
the superstructure, and, being aware of our intentions—having watched
the previous flights—he understood the bo'sun, when he beckoned to him,
that we had made ready for a third shot, and so, with an answering wave
of his spy-glass, he disappeared from our sight. At that, having first
turned to see that all were clear of the line, I pressed down the
trigger, my heart beating very fast and thick, and so in a moment the
arrow was sped. But now, doubtless because of the weight of the line, it
made nowhere near so good a flight as on the previous occasion, the arrow
striking the weed some two hundred yards short of the hulk, and at this,
I could near have wept with vexation and disappointment.

Immediately upon the failure of my shot, the bo'sun called to the men to
haul in the line very carefully, so that it should not be parted through
the arrow catching in the weed; then he came over to me, and proposed
that we should set-to at once to make a heavier arrow, suggesting that it
had been lack of weight in the missile which had caused it to fall short.
At that, I felt once more hopeful, and turned-to at once to prepare a new
arrow; the bo'sun doing likewise; though in his case he intended to make
a lighter one than that which had failed; for, as he put it, though the
heavier one fell short, yet might the lighter succeed, and if neither,
then we could only suppose that the bow lacked power to carry the line,
and in that case, we should have to try some other method.

Now, in about two hours, I had made my arrow, the bo'sun having finished
his a little earlier, and so (the men having hauled in all the line and
flaked it down ready) we prepared to make another attempt to cast it
over the hulk. Yet, a second time we failed, and by so much that it
seemed hopeless to think of success; but, for all that it appeared
useless, the bo'sun insisted on making a last try with the light arrow,
and, presently, when we had gotten the line ready again, we loosed upon
the wreck; but in this case so lamentable was our failure, that I cried
out to the bo'sun to set the useless thing upon the fire and burn it;
for I was sorely irked by its failure, and could scarce abide to speak
civilly of it.

Now the bo'sun, perceiving how I felt, sung out that we would cease
troubling about the hulk for the present, and go down all of us to gather
reeds and weed for the fire; for it was drawing nigh to evening. And this
we did, though all in a disconsolate condition of mind; for we had seemed
so near to success, and now it appeared to be further than ever from us.
And so, in a while, having brought up a sufficiency of fuel, the bo'sun
sent two of the men down to one of the ledges which overhung the sea, and
bade them see whether they could not secure a fish for our supper. Then,
taking our places about the fire, we fell-to upon a discussion as to how
we should come at the people in the hulk.

Now, for a while there came no suggestion worthy of notice, until at last
there occurred to me a notable idea, and I called out suddenly that we
should make a small fire balloon, and float off the line to them by such
means. At that, the men about the fire were silent a moment; for the idea
was new to them, and moreover they needed to comprehend just what I
meant. Then, when they had come fully at it, the one who had proposed
that they should make spears of their knives, cried out to know why a
kite would not do, and at that I was confounded, in that so simple an
expedient had not occurred to any before; for, surely, it would be but a
little matter to float a line to them by means of a kite, and, further,
such a thing would take no great making.

And so, after a space of talk, it was decided that upon the morrow we
should build some sort of kite, and with it fly a line over the hulk, the
which should be a task of no great difficulty with so good a breeze as we
had continually with us.

And, presently, having made our supper off a very fine fish, which the
two fishermen had caught whilst we talked, the bo'sun set the watches,
and the rest turned-in.

Now, on that night, when I came to my watch, I discovered that there was
no moon, and, save for such light as the fire threw, the hill-top was in
darkness; yet this was no great matter to trouble me; for we had been
unmolested since the burning of the fungi in the valley, and thus I had
lost much of the haunting fear which had beset me upon the death of Job.
Yet, though I was not so much afraid as I had been, I took all
precautions that suggested themselves to me, and built up the fire to a
goodly height, after which I took my cut-and-thrust, and made the round
of the camping place. At the edges of the cliffs which protected us on
three sides, I made some pause, staring down into the darkness, and
listening; though this latter was of but small use because of the
strength of the wind which roared continually in my ears. Yet though I
neither saw nor heard anything, I was presently possessed of a strange
uneasiness, which made me return twice or thrice to the edge of the
cliffs; but always without seeing or hearing anything to justify my
superstitions. And so, presently, being determined to give way to no
fancifulness, I avoided the boundary of cliffs, and kept more to that
part which commanded the slope, up and down which we made our journeys
to and from the island below.

Then, it would be near halfway through my time of watching, there came to
me out of the immensity of weed that lay to leeward, a far distant sound
that grew upon my ear, rising and rising into a fearsome screaming and
shrieking, and then dying away into the distance in queer sobs, and so at
last to a note below that of the wind's. At this, as might be supposed, I
was somewhat shaken in myself to hear so dread a noise coming out of all
that desolation, and then, suddenly, the thought came to me that the
screaming was from the ship to leeward of us, and I ran immediately to
the edge of the cliff overlooking the weed, and stared into the darkness;
but now I perceived, by a light which burned in the hulk, that the
screaming had come from some place a great distance to the right of her,
and more, as my sense assured me, it could by no means have been possible
for those in her to have sent their voices to me against such a breeze as
blew at that time.

And so, for a space, I stood nervously pondering, and peering away into
the blackness of the night; thus, in a little, I perceived a dull glow
upon the horizon, and, presently, there rose into view the upper edge of
the moon, and a very welcome sight it was to me; for I had been upon the
point of calling the bo'sun to inform him regarding the sound which I had
heard; but I had hesitated, being afraid to seem foolish if nothing
should befall. Then, even as I stood watching the moon rise into view,
there came again to me the beginning of that screaming, somewhat like to
the sound of a woman sobbing with a giant's voice, and it grew and
strengthened until it pierced through the roar of the wind with an
amazing clearness, and then slowly, and seeming to echo and echo, it sank
away into the distance, and there was again in my ears no sound beyond
that of the wind.

At this, having looked fixedly in the direction from which the sound had
proceeded, I ran straightway to the tent and roused the bo'sun; for I had
no knowledge of what the noise might portend, and this second cry had
shaken from me all my bashfulness. Now the bo'sun was upon his feet
almost before I had made an end of shaking him, and catching up his great
cutlass which he kept always by his side, he followed me swiftly out on
to the hill-top. Here, I explained to him that I had heard a very
fearsome sound which had appeared to proceed out of the vastness of the
weed-continent, and that, upon a repetition of the noise, I had decided
to call him; for I knew not but that it might signal to us of some coming
danger. At that, the bo'sun commended me; though chiding me in that I had
hesitated to call him at the first occurrence of the crying, and then,
following me to the edge of the leeward cliff, he stood there with me,
waiting and listening, perchance there might come again a recurrence of
the noise.