The Boats of the Glen Carrig (22 page)

Now after dinner upon the day on which we left the island, the bo'sun and
the second mate picked the watches, and thus I found myself chosen to be
in the bo'sun's, at which I was mightly pleased. And when the watches had
been picked, they had all hands to 'bout ship, the which, to the pleasure
of all, she accomplished; for under such gear and with so much growth
upon her bottom, they had feared that we should have to veer, and by this
we should have lost much distance to leeward, whereas we desired to edge
so much to windward as we could, being anxious to put space between us
and the weed-continent. And twice more that day we put the ship about,
though the second time it was to avoid a great bank of weed that lay
floating athwart our bows; for all the sea to windward of the island, so
far as we had been able to see from the top of the higher hill, was
studded with floating masses of the weed, like unto thousands of islets,
and in places like to far-spreading reefs. And, because of these, the sea
all about the island remained very quiet and unbroken, so that there was
never any surf, no, nor scarce a broken wave upon its shore, and this,
for all that the wind had been fresh for many days.

When the evening came, we were again upon the larboard tack, making,
perhaps, some four knots in the hour; though, had we been in proper rig,
and with a clean bottom, we had been making eight or nine, with so good a
breeze and so calm a sea. Yet, so far, our progress had been very
reasonable; for the island lay, maybe, some five miles to leeward, and
about fifteen astern. And so we prepared for the night. Yet, a little
before dark, we discovered that the weed-continent trended out towards
us; so that we should pass it, maybe, at a distance of something like
half a mile, and, at that, there was talk between the second mate and the
bo'sun as to whether it was better to put the ship about, and gain a
greater sea-room before attempting to pass this promontory of weed; but
at last they decided that we had naught to fear; for we had fair way
through the water, and further, it did not seem reasonable to suppose
that we should have aught to fear from the habitants of the
weed-continent, at so great a distance as the half of a mile. And so we
stood on; for, once past the point, there was much likelihood of the weed
trending away to the Eastward, and if this were so, we could square-in
immediately and get the wind upon our quarter, and so make better way.

Now it was the bo'sun's watch from eight of the evening until midnight,
and I, with another man, had the lookout until four bells. Thus it
chanced that, coming abreast of the point during our time of watching,
we peered very earnestly to leeward; for the night was dark, having no
moon until nearer the morning; and we were full of unease in that we had
come so near again to the desolation of that strange continent. And
then, suddenly, the man with me clutched my shoulder, and pointed into
the darkness upon our bow, and thus I discovered that we had come nearer
to the weed than the bo'sun and the second mate had intended; they,
without doubt, having miscalculated our leeway. At this, I turned and
sang out to the bo'sun that we were near to running upon the weed, and,
in the same moment, he shouted to the helmsman to luff, and directly
afterwards our starboard side was brushing against the great outlying
tufts of the point, and so, for a breathless minute, we waited. Yet the
ship drew clear, and so into the open water beyond the point; but I had
seen something as we scraped against the weed, a sudden glimpse of
white, gliding among the growth, and then I saw others, and, in a
moment, I was down on the main-deck, and running aft to the bo'sun; yet
midway along the deck a horrid shape came above the starboard rail, and
I gave out a loud cry of warning. Then I had a capstan-bar from the rack
near, and smote with it at the thing, crying all the while for help, and
at my blow the thing went from my sight, and the bo'sun was with me, and
some of the men.

Now the bo'sun had seen my stroke, and so sprang upon the t'gallant rail,
and peered over; but gave back on the instant, shouting to me to run and
call the other watch, for that the sea was full of the monsters swimming
off to the ship, and at that I was away at a run, and when I had waked
the men, I raced aft to the cabin and did likewise with the second mate,
and so returned in a minute, bearing the bo'sun's cutlass, my own
cut-and-thrust, and the lantern that hung always in the saloon. Now when
I had gotten back, I found all things in a mighty scurry—men running
about in their shirts and drawers, some in the galley bringing fire from
the stove, and others lighting a fire of dry weed to leeward of the
galley, and along the starboard rail there was already a fierce fight,
the men using capstan-bars, even as I had done. Then I thrust the
bo'sun's cutlass into his hand, and at that he gave a great shout, part
of joy, and part of approbation, and after that he snatched the lantern
from me, and had run to the larboard side of the deck, before I was well
aware that he had taken the light; but now I followed him, and happy it
was for all of us in the ship that he had thought to go at that moment;
for the light of the lantern showed me the vile faces of three of the
weed men climbing over the larboard rail; yet the bo'sun had cleft them
or ever I could come near; but in a moment I was full busy; for there
came nigh a dozen heads above the rail a little aft of where I was, and
at that I ran at them, and did good execution; but some had been aboard,
if the bo'sun had not come to my help. And now the decks were full of
light, several fires having been lit, and the second mate having brought
out fresh lanterns; and now the men had gotten their cutlasses, the which
were more handy than the capstan-bars; and so the fight went forward,
some having come over to our side to help us, and a very wild sight it
must have seemed to any onlooker; for all about the decks burned the
fires and the lanterns, and along the rails ran the men, smiting at
hideous faces that rose in dozens into the wild glare of our fighting
lights. And everywhere drifted the stench of the brutes. And up on the
poop, the fight was as brisk as elsewhere; and here, having been drawn by
a cry for help, I discovered the buxom woman smiting with a gory meat-axe
at a vile thing which had gotten a clump of its tentacles upon her dress;
but she had dispatched it, or ever my sword could help her, and then, to
my astonishment, even at that time of peril, I discovered the captain's
wife, wielding a small sword, and the face of her was like to the face of
a tiger; for her mouth was drawn, and showed her teeth clenched; but she
uttered no word nor cry, and I doubt not but that she had some vague idea
that she worked her husband's vengeance.

Then, for a space, I was as busy as any, and afterwards I ran to the
buxom woman to demand the whereabouts of Mistress Madison, and she, in a
very breathless voice, informed me that she had locked her in her room
out of harm's way, and at that I could have embraced the woman; for I had
been sorely anxious to know that my sweetheart was safe.

And, presently, the fight diminished, and so, at last, came to an end,
the ship having drawn well away from the point, and being now in the
open. And after that I ran down to my sweetheart, and opened her door,
and thus, for a space, she wept, having her arms about my neck; for she
had been in sore terror for me, and for all the ship's company. But,
soon, drying her tears, she grew very indignant with her nurse for having
locked her into her room, and refused to speak to that good woman for
near an hour. Yet I pointed out to her that she could be of very great
use in dressing such wounds as had been received, and so she came back to
her usual brightness, and brought out bandages, and lint, and ointment,
and thread, and was presently very busy.

Now it was later that there rose a fresh commotion in the ship; for it
had been discovered that the captain's wife was a-missing. At this, the
bo'sun and the second mate instituted a search; but she was nowhere to be
found, and, indeed, none in the ship ever saw her again, at which it was
presumed that she had been dragged over by some of the weed men, and so
come upon her death. And at this, there came a great prostration to my
sweetheart so that she would not be comforted for the space of nigh three
days, by which time the ship had come clear of those strange seas, having
left the incredible desolation of the weed-continent far under our
starboard counter.

And so, after a voyage which lasted for nine and seventy days since
getting under weigh, we came to the Port of London, having refused all
offers of assistance on the way.

Now here, I had to say farewell to my comrades of so many months and
perilous adventures; yet, being a man not entirely without means, I
took care that each of them should have a certain gift by which to
remember me.

And I placed monies in the hands of the buxom woman, so that she could
have no reason to stint my sweetheart, and she having—for the comfort of
her conscience—taken her good man to the church, set up a little house
upon the borders of my estate; but this was not until Mistress Madison
had come to take her place at the head of my hall in the County of Essex.

Now one further thing there is of which I must tell. Should any,
chancing to trespass upon my estate, come upon a man of very mighty
proportions, albeit somewhat bent by age, seated comfortably at the door
of his little cottage, then shall they know him for my friend the
bo'sun; for to this day do he and I fore-gather, and let our talk drift
to the desolate places of this earth, pondering upon that which we have
seen—the weed-continent, where reigns desolation and the terror of its
strange habitants. And, after that, we talk softly of the land where God
hath made monsters after the fashion of trees. Then, maybe, my children
come about me, and so we change to other matters; for the little ones
love not terror.