Kitabı oku: «The Young Marooners on the Florida Coast», sayfa 18

CHAPTER XXXII

CHRISTMAS MORNING-VOYAGE-VALUABLE DISCOVERY-HOSTILE INVASION-ROBBERY-MASTERLY RETREAT-BATTLE AT LAST-A QUARREL REQUIRES TWO QUARRELLERS-THE GHOST'S VISIT

There may have been many a more noisy Christmas, but never a brighter one, and few merrier, than that which dawned upon our young marooners; nor was it entirely without its noise. The boys had requested Sam, in case he was first awake, to rouse them at the break of day, and he had promised to do so. A secret whispering had been observed between him and Frank; and the latter had also begged for a piece of twine, which he promised to return, but the use of which he refused to tell. Conjecturing that it was intended for some piece of harmless fun, they gave it to him, and waited his own time to reveal the purpose.

On going to bed Mary noticed that Frank fidgetted a great deal with his toes, and seemed to be much tickled with several remarks made by himself, but which seemed to her to have nothing in them particularly witty. He was evidently in a frolic, and wanted excuses to laugh. In the dead of night, as Mary supposed, though it was really just before day, she was awakened by feeling him move restlessly, and then put his hands to his feet with the inquiry:

"What is the matter with my toe?"

"Is there anything the matter with it!" she drowsily asked.

"O, no, nothing at all," he replied. "I dreamed that a rat was gnawing it off. But it is only a string I tied there myself."

He then turned over, and lay still, pretending to be asleep; but when he heard her breathe hard, he slipped out of bed, put on his clothes, and went softly out of the tent. Sam had agreed to wake him, so that they two might, according to Christmas custom, "catch" the others, by hailing them first; and as Sam could not go into the room where Mary slept, he persuaded Frank to tie a string to one of his toes, and to pass the other end outside of the tent. It was Sam's pulling at this string that gave Frank his dream, and finally waked him. For a minute or two they whispered together in merry mood, and on Sam's saying, "Now, Mas Frank, now!" the roar of two guns, and then the sound of a conch, broke upon the ears of the startled sleepers.

"Good morning, lazy folks!" said Frank, bursting into the tent. "Merry Christmas to you all!"

"Merry Christmas, Mas Robbut!" Sam echoed from behind, "Merry Christmas, Mas Harrol! Merry Christmas, little Missus!"

"Fairly caught!" answered Robert; "and now, I suppose, we must look out some presents for you both."

The company completed their toilet, and came together under the awning, which was still their kitchen. The day star was "flaming" gloriously, and the approach of day was marked by a hazy belt of light above the eastern horizon. They kindled their fire, and prepared for breakfast, with many jests and kind expressions; then sobering themselves to a becoming gravity, they sat around the red blaze, and engaged in their usual morning worship.

While the sun threw his first slanting beams across the island, Harold went to the landing, and returned, saying, "Come all. The tide has been going down for hours, and is now running like a mill-tail!"

Hastening their preparations, they were in a short time seated upon the raft, Sam at the helm, and Robert and Harold by turn at the oars. Borne by the current, and impelled by their own efforts, they were not two hours in reaching the proposed landing place.

The river was exceedingly crooked, and so densely bordered with mangroves, that from the place they left to that which they sought, it was nowhere possible for them to reach the shore. Once when they approached nearest land, they saw a herd of deer peep inquisitively at them through an opening glade, and turn quietly to feed. The tall heron was a frequent sight, lifting its long blue neck high as their heads, and then flapping its broad wings to escape too near an approach; and the dapper kingfisher turning his big head to look at them; and the "poor jobs," or small white cranes clustering thick upon the dead trees; and the Spanish curlew sticking forward its long curved bill; and the grey curlew with its keen note; and the marsh hens, cackling far and near, to say (such is the report) that the tide is moving; and ducks rising in clouds from different points of the marsh and reaches of the river; – these sights were very frequent, and seen with the bright eyes of young people on a Christmas excursion, imparted a charming vivacity to the scene.

Passing a creek which drained the marsh to their left, they made a discovery, which proved a valuable one indeed. Harold was looking up the creek with that universal scrutiny that had become in him second nature, when he suddenly dropped his oars, exclaiming, "What is that?"

The raft shot so quickly past that no one but Sam had time to look. He, however, replied instantly, "Starn ob a vessel!"

"Stern of a vessel, did you say?" inquired Robert. "'Bout ship, Sam. Come, Harold, let us pull right for it and see."

They brought the raft into an eddy near shore, and though it required a prodigious pull to propel so clumsy a thing against the tide from the creek, they managed to do so, and discovered not the stern of a vessel only, but the whole of a small brig turned bottom upwards, and lying across the creek jammed in the mud and mangroves.

"Well, that is indeed a Christmas gift worth having," said Robert. "Did I say Santa Claus never heard of this island? I take that back; he has not forgotten us."

"He or some One greater," interposed Mary, with seriousness.

They rowed alongside, and tried to enter; but having no tools for penetrating the vessel's side, nor candles for lighting them after they had entered, they concluded to prosecute their voyage, and to delay their visit to the wreck till Monday.

With this intention they pushed out of the creek, and descended to the proposed landing, where they made fast their raft to a crooked root, and stepped upon a firm beach of mixed mud and sand. The fiddlers (a small variety of crabs that look at a little distance like enormous black spiders) were scampering in every direction, with their mouths covered with foam, and their threatening claws raised in self-defence, until each one dived into its little hole, and peeped slyly at the strange intruders. A wild cat sat upon a neighbouring tree, watching their motions with as much composure as if she were a favourite tabby in her mistress' parlour. Frank was the first to spy and point it out. It was within a good rifle shot.

"Stand still a moment, if you wish to see how far a cat can jump," said Harold.

He rested his rifle upon a small tree, and taking steady aim, sent the ball, from a distance of seventy yards, through both sides of the cat, directly behind the shoulders. She leaped an immense distance, and fell dead. Frank seized it, saying it was his cat, and that he intended to take off its skin, and make it into a cap like cousin Harold's.

From the landing they followed the mark left by their hatchet upon the trees in their exploring tour, and it was not long before they recognized from a distance the poplar or tulip tree, in the hollow base of which the bear had made her den.

As yet Mum had given no indications of alarm; but on approaching the tree the boys selected for Mary and Frank a pretty little oak, with horizontal branches, in full sight of the den; and having prepared them a seat made comfortable with moss, and helped them into it, advanced to the field of battle.

To their disappointment the old bear was gone. The sun shone full into the hole, and revealed the two cubs alone, nicely rolled up in the middle of their bed, and soundly asleep. There was some reason to suppose that the mother would return before they left the neighbourhood, and in this expectation Harold prepared to secure the cubs. He placed Robert and Sam as videttes at a little distance, and also charged Mary and Frank to keep a sharp look out from their elevated position, while Mum and Fidelle were set to beating the surrounding bushes as scouts. But, notwithstanding all his care and skill, he found that the work of capturing the cubs was very difficult. The cavity being too large to allow of reaching them with his arms, and afraid to trust himself inside the hole, lest the old bear should arrive and catch him in the act, he relied upon throwing a slip noose over their heads, or upon their feet; but young as they were he found them astonishingly expert in warding off his traps. The only plan by which he at last succeeded, was with a hooked pole, by which he drew forth first one, and then the other, to the mouth of the den, where, after sundry bites and scratches, he seized their hind legs, passed a cord round their necks, and made it secure by a fast knot. This done, he tied each to a tree, where they growled and whined loudly for help. The hunters were now in a momentary expectation of hearing the bushes burst asunder, and seeing the old bear come roaring upon them; but she was too far distant, and had no suspicion of the savage robbery that was going on at her quiet home.

It was fully an hour before the cubs were taken and secured. By that time Mary and Frank had become so weary of their unnatural roosting, that they begged the others to cease their hunt, and return at once to the raft. But here arose a new and unforeseen difficulty. The distance to the raft was considerable, and the way was so tangled that they had made slow progress when they came; what could they now do, encumbered with two disorderly captives, and in constant danger of attack from the fiercest beast of the forest, "a bear robbed of her whelps"? It was easy enough to decide this question, if they would consent to free the captives and return as they came. But no one, except Mary and Frank, entertained this idea for a moment; they would have been ashamed to give up through fear what they had undertaken through choice.

The plan they at last devised was this-which though appearing to assign the post of danger to the youngest, was in fact the safest they could adopt. Mary and Frank led each a cub, but they were instructed to drop the cord on the first appearance of danger, and run to the safest point. Sam marched in the van, Harold brought up the rear; Mary and Frank were in the centre, and while Robert guarded one flank, the dogs were kept as much as possible on the other. It was with much misgiving that this plan was adopted, for the boys began to feel that they had engaged in a foolish scrape, involving a needless exposure of the young people, as well as of themselves. But they were now in for it, and they had no choice, except to go forward or to give up the project in disgrace. Formed in retreating column as described, and ready for instant battle, they turned their faces to the river, and marched with what haste they could.

They had not gone many steps, however, before Harold suddenly faced about, levelled his piece, and called to them to "look out!" He heard a bush move behind him, and supposed, of course, that it was the bear coming in pursuit, but it proved to be only a bent twig righting itself to its natural position.

Not long after Robert raised a similar alarm on his side, and levelled his gun at some unseen object that was moving rapidly through the bushes. Mary and Frank dropped the cords, and Frank clambered up a small tree near at hand. Mary turned very pale, and ran first to Sam, but hearing the noise approach that way, she ran back to Harold for protection. The next moment she saw Sam drop his gun from its aim, and call out,

"You Mum! Come in, sah! You git yo' libber shot out o' you, you scary warment!"

The alarm was occasioned by Mum, who, unperceived by any, had wandered to the wrong side.

The cubs, trained by this time to obey the cord, and either weary with the walk, or submissive to a fate that seemed so gentle, had not stirred from the spot where they were left. Frank slipped quietly from his tree, hoping that nobody had seen him; but Robert caught his eye, and gave a sly wink, to which Frank doggedly replied,

"I don't care, sir. I suspect you would like to have been up a tree too, if you could have got there."

"That I should, Frank," said Robert; "but it seems that you are the only one of the crowd who can find trees in time when bears are about."

They resumed their march to the landing, and were interrupted only once more. The bushes before them rustled loudly, Fidelle rushed forward in pursuit, and the ground shook with the heavy trampling of some large beast. It was on Sam's side; but as he brought his piece to a level, Harold cried, "Deer! deer! don't shoot!" and again all was quiet.

A short walk brought them to the landing; where they wiped their moist brows, and rested, thankful that they had completed their perilous journey without accident. But their dangers were by no means over. The tide was down; the raft was aground; it was not possible to leave for hours; and in the meantime the enraged beast might follow the trace of her cubs, and perhaps assault them where they were. In view of this contingency they tied the young bears at a distance from the shore, but within sight of their own place of repose, confident that if the mother came she would bestow her first care in breaking their bonds, and taking them away, in which case they could attack and destroy her.

With this expectation they sat down to their Christmas dinner, for which they had by this time a pretty keen appetite. Sam stood sentry while they ate; then Robert and Harold by turns took his post, and gave him opportunity to dine. The spice of danger gave great zest to the enjoyment of all except Mary, who would vastly have preferred being at their comparatively secure and quiet home upon the prairie.

The tide finally rose, and floated the raft. They once more embarked. The young bears were secured, so that they could neither escape nor annoy. The fastening was cast off. Harold's oar, which he used as a pole for shoving off, sunk in the yielding sand, and Robert's "Heigh ho for home!" was hardly uttered, when they heard a tramping on the bluff, and a moment after saw the bear standing on the spot they had left. She stared in surprise at the retreating raft, whined affectionately to her cubs, who whined in answer, and tried to break loose; then seeing their efforts to be ineffectual, and the raft to be moving away, she raised such a roar as made every heart tremble, and with a fierce look at the persons on board plunged into the water. The raft was by this time but ten yards from shore, and slowly "backing" into the stream. Harold's rifle was quickly at his shoulder, and in a second more the blood spouted from the mouth and nose of the terrible beast. But the wound was not mortal, piercing below the eyes, and entering the nostrils and throat; and blowing out the blood by successive snorts, she plunged on, and began to swim.

"Now, Robert!" shouted Harold, "be steady! Aim between her eyes!"

Robert fired first one barrel, and then the other; the bear sunk for a moment, borne down by the heavy shot, but she rose again, streaming with gore, and roaring till the waters trembled. Sam's gun was the only remaining chance, and he used it most judiciously. Waiting until the bear was almost ready to place her feet upon the raft, he coolly levelled his gun, and putting the muzzle within a few inches of her ear, poured its contents bodily into her brain. The furious creature had just time to grasp the side of the raft; she gave one convulsive shake, and turned on her side, stone dead.

"It was a desperate fight," said Robert, drawing a long breath.

"And a very foolish one," rejoined Harold. "I have been thinking for the last hour that we might have been better employed."

Robert looked displeased. "Answer for yourself. If it is foolish, you helped to bring it on."

"I know that," replied Harold, with mildness, "and that makes me condemn it the more."

"Then please, sir, not to blame the rest," said Robert, "for I am sure everybody behaved as bravely as people could."

"I have not questioned any one's courage, nor have I quarrelled with any one except myself," replied Harold.

"Yes, sir, you have," persisted Robert, "you called us all a parcel of fools for coming on a Christmas excursion."

"O! no, brother," mediated Mary, "he only said we might have been better employed; and I think father would say so too. I am sure if I had known all before coming, as I know it now, I should not have given my consent."

"Please, mossa," said Sam, looking from one to the other, "'tain't any o' you been de fool. Nobody fool but me. Enty I ax you,¹⁵ please come see my countryman in de hollow tree; and you come? And now, please, mossa, don't let my countryman git away. See he floatin' away to de alligator. Please let me catch 'em. I want him fat to fry my hominy."

Sam looked so whimsical throughout the whole of this eloquent appeal, that Robert's face relaxed from its stern and angry expression, and at the last words he caught Harold's eye, and burst into a laugh.

"Come, Harold," said he, "let us save his fat; I know his mouth waters for it."

The quarrel was over. Indeed it could not properly be called a quarrel, for it was all on one side, and no one can quarrel alone. They caught the floating carcass, tied it behind the raft, then pulling into the current, floated rapidly home, and reached the prairie about the middle of the afternoon.

For the rest of the day their hands were full; and it was not until late at night that they were able to retire. The young bears were first stowed away in the same pen with the goats and deer, but Harold was scarcely able to remove them in time to save their lives; for Nanny, after running from them as far as the limits of the pen allowed, rose upon her hind legs with a desperate baa! and bringing her stony forehead against the head of the nearest, laid it senseless on the ground, and was preparing to serve the other in the same way.

What to do with them Harold did not know. He dared not put them in the poultry house, and he was unwilling either to shelter them in the tent or to tie them outside the palisade. So, until some other arrangement could be devised, he fastened them to a stake inside the enclosure round the tent, where he supplied them with water, honey, and a piece of venison.

The adventure, however, was not quite over. Late in the night Sam was awaked by feeling something move upon his bed, and put its cold nose upon his face. Thinking it was some one walking in his sleep, he called out, "Who dah?" and putting out his hand, felt to his dismay the rough head and shaggy skin of a bear. Sam was a firm believer in ghosts, both human and brute. He gave one groan, and cried out, "O massy!" expecting the next moment to be overpowered, if not torn to pieces; then jumping from bed in the greatest hurry, he hunted tremulously for some weapon of defence, exclaiming all the while,

"Mas Harrol! Mas Robbut! O massy! Here de ole bear, or else he ghost, come after us."

The taper was brought from Mary's room, and disclosed the secret. One of the cubs feeling in the chill, night air the want of its mother's warmth, had loosed the insecure fastening, and come to seek more comfortable quarters in the tent. "It is your countryman's baby, Sam," said Robert, after the excitement had subsided. "You killed its mother, and it has come, poor little orphan, to ask that you shall be its daddy now."

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE CUBS-VOYAGE TO THE WRECK-STORES-HORRID SIGHTS-TRYING PREDICAMENT-PRIZES-RETURN-FRANK NEEDS ANOTHER LECTURE

Early on Monday morning Robert and Harold set out for the wreck, leaving Sam to guard the young people, and to add another apartment to the fold, for the accommodation of the cubs. It may be stated here, that the new pets had eaten little or nothing since they were taken. For several days Sam was compelled to force the food and water into their mouths; but after they had acquired the art of feeding in a domestic way, Frank assumed their whole care, and was indefatigable in attending to their wants and their education. He taught them to stand on their hind feet and beg; to make a bow by scraping their feet, like country clowns; and many a wrestling match did he have with them, in which for a long time he was invariably the victor. Robert named them, after the twins of old, Castor and Pollux.

By Sam's advice, the boys took with them on their voyage an ax, hatchet, auger, and saw, together with some candles and a rope, and reached the wreck about nine o'clock. They moored their raft fast to a projecting bolt, and then, with much difficulty, succeeded in reaching the stern windows, from which the receding tide flowed gently, bearing on its bosom an unpleasant odour, like that of animal matter long decayed. They peeped into the dark cavity, and receiving a full blast of its sepulchral odours, drew back in disgust.

"I cannot go into that hole," said Harold, "it is stifling. Let us cut a passage through the side or bottom."

Clambering along the sloping side next the rudder, they selected a place for their scuttle, and commenced to work, but the thick and well fastened copper was so difficult to remove, that their hatchet was nearly ruined before they reached the wood. Then, with their auger, they made an entrance for the saw, and soon opened a hole between two of the ribs, large enough to admit their bodies.

Harold descended first, and standing upon a hogshead, which, being on the top of a confused pile, reached near the hole, lit a candle, and helped Robert to descend.

They were in the hold where all the grosser articles were stowed. Some of the hogsheads visible appeared to contain sugar, others molasses, rum, &c. Passing towards the stern, they saw half a dozen boxes and crates, of different sizes, one of which was filled with lemons, and from the other, on being broken, rolled out a cocoanut. Returning from this hasty survey towards the forward part of the hold, they discovered a plentiful supply of flour, ship-bread, rice, hams, and beef, stowed away in the style appropriate to each. The vessel was evidently victualled for a long voyage.

Satisfied with this partial examination, they returned amidships, and sought the hatchway, through which they might descend into the habitable part of the vessel. It was choked by such a multitude of boxes and bags, that they were a long time in finding it, and longer still in freeing it from encumbrances. Descending by their rope, they found themselves on the inner side of the inverted deck. The water had by this time all run off, except a puddle in one corner; and the floor, or rather that which had been ceiling, was wet and slimy, with deposits from the muddy river water.

On entering the cabin the sight which greeted them was horrid. There lay four skeletons, of a man and woman, a boy and girl, handsomely dressed; the soiled though costly garments still adhering to the wet and ghastly bones. The sight was more than Harold could endure; he called to Robert, and hastened as fast as possible to the open air.

"O, horrid! horrid!" said he, pale as a sheet. "I don't think I can ever go back to that dreadful cabin. It made me almost faint."

"It was horrid, indeed," responded Robert. "But you will soon recover; the trouble was more in your mind than in your body. I doubt not you are feeling as father says he felt when going first into a dissecting room-he fainted outright; and he said that this is no uncommon thing with beginners, but they soon become used to it."

"I am willing enough to go through the whole vessel," said Harold, "but not into that cabin, for a while at least."

"Poor creatures!" sighed Robert, "they appear to have been passengers; and unless the cabin filled soon with water, they must have had a lingering death."

"Don't speak of it," Harold pleaded. "The bare thought makes me shudder. And then to think of their being devoured by such slimy things as eels and catfish, and of being pinched to pieces by crabs, as these bodies were-it is sickening!"

Robert perceived that these reflections were exceedingly painful to his cousin, and had been in fact the cause of his sickness; he therefore managed adroitly to shift the conversation from point to point, until it gradually assumed a cheerful character. Pleasant thoughts were the medicine Harold needed, and in the course of a few minutes he himself proposed to renew the search.

Descending between decks, they found in the side of the vessel, contrary to custom, the cook's room. It contained a stove, with all its appurtenances complete. This was a real treasure; they rejoiced to think how much labour and trouble would be saved to Mary, whose patience and ingenuity were often put to the test for the want of suitable utensils.

The steward's room adjoined; and here they found crockery of all sorts, though most of it was in fragments; knives, forks, spoons, and candlesticks, none of which they valued, having plenty of their own; two bottles of olives, and a case of anchovies, sound and good, and a fine set of castors, partly broken, containing mustard, pepper, catsup and vinegar. Upon the topmost shelf (or under what had been the lowest) were two large lockers, which they opened with difficulty, the door being fast glued with paste, and out of which poured a deluge of musty flour from an upturned barrel. There were also different kinds of hard biscuit and ship bread, but they were all spoiled.

From these two rooms they passed with great difficulty to the forecastle, having to cut their way through a thick partition. Here the sight was more appalling than that which they had witnessed in the cabin. Lying on the floor, partly immersed in a muddy pool, were the skeletons of eight men and two boys; and in the midst of them they heard such a splashing of the water that their blood ran cold, and their hair stood on end. They started back in terror, thinking at first that the dead had waked from sleep, and were moving before their eyes; in doing so, Robert, who carried the candle, jostled roughly against Harold, and instantly they were in darkness.

"O mercy! mercy!" Robert ejaculated, in an agony of alarm, and falling upon his knees clasped his hands together, expecting every moment to be his last. Harold, however, with that presence of mind which is the mark of true courage, and is the best preservative in time of danger, threw his arms around him, to prevent him from escaping, and fortunately recovered the candle, which had dropped in the edge of the wet slime upon the floor.

"Nothing but fishes!" said he, divining the state of Robert's mind from what he knew of his own. "Nothing but fishes! I saw one leap from the water. Softly, Robert, let us light the candle."

The quieting effect of a soft, calm voice in a season of excitement is magical. Robert's excessive fear subsided, and though he trembled violently, he aided Harold to re-light the candle. Fortunately the wick was scarcely touched by the water; there was a slight spluttering from a particle or two of damp mud, but the flame soon rose bright as ever. Harold's hand now began to tremble; for though in the moment of trial his nerves had been stretched and steady as a tense wire, the re-action was so great that he began to feel weak. Robert perceived this, and pulling his sleeve said,

"Come, let us go."

Harold's courage, however, was of that sturdy kind that rises with the occasion, and he replied, "No, I mean to go through with it now. I was driven from the cabin by a bad smell, but no one shall say that I was scared off by a few catfish. Look, do you not see them floundering in the water?"

A calm inspection wholly relieved Robert from his fears, and he continued to examine the room with composure, although while looking he beheld the startling sight of a skeleton in actual motion through the water, a large fish having entered its cavity, and become entangled in the adhering clothes, giving a most lifelike motion to the arms and legs.

A glance around this room was sufficient to convince them that the vessel was of a warlike character. Great numbers of guns, pistols, cutlasses, and pikes, were visible on the floor, where they had fallen into the water, or against the walls where they had been fastened. The boys surveyed these significant appendages, exchanged glances with each other, and simultaneously exclaimed, "A cutter, or a pirate!"

"I doubt whether it can be a cutter," said Robert; "my mind misgives me that it is a vessel of bad character. But we can tell by going to the captain's room. Let us see."

They returned to the cabin, and entering the room which appeared to be the captain's, found it abundantly supplied with arms of various sorts, and (though mostly injured by the sea-water) of exquisite finish. Of papers they saw none; these were probably contained in a heavy iron chest which was fast locked, and the key of which was nowhere to be found. In the mate's room, however, the evidences were more decisive. There were flags of all nations; and among them one whose hue was jet black, except in the middle, where were sewed the snow-white figures of a skull and cross-bones. From the side-pocket of a coat, which lay in the berth, they took a pocket-book, containing letters in Spanish, and a paper signed by forty-two names, the greater part of which were marked by a cross. These indications were satisfactory, and the boys afterwards ascertained by circumstantial evidence, which left them no shadow of a doubt, that not only was the vessel piratical, but that she was overwhelmed by the same storm that had so nearly proved fatal to Sam. The prize, therefore, they considered their own by right of first discovery-stores, arms, magazine, money and all.

"By rights there ought to be a carpenter's room somewhere," said Robert; "or if not a room, there must be tools, which will help us greatly in our work. Let us look for them."

To Harold's mind the tools were the most valuable part of the prize, unless indeed they could find a boat ready made. But before proceeding, they took each a pistol from the captain's room, loaded, and thrust it into their bosoms, supposing that they should be more calm and self-possessed, when conscious of having about them the means of defence. The carpenter's room was found, and in it a chest of splendid tools, and an excellent grindstone.