The South Sea Whaler Part 14

"I will swim away and cut him off, or else maybe he will pa.s.s us."

"Let us first try what hailing will do," said the mate; "we will all shout together."

"Ay, ay!" answered Nub. "I give de time."

All three, raising their voices, shouted as loud as they could, Alice's shrill note reaching almost as far as the others.

"Once more," cried Nub; "and sure dis time he hear." Again they all cried out, even louder than before.

"Dere! dere, Missie Alice, he see us!" exclaimed Nub, looking down at the little girl as he spoke. At that moment the sheets were let go, and Walter was seen eagerly looking out to discover whence the voices came.

The raft now came gliding up towards them, Walter having gone back to the helm to steer it.

Nub was the first to spring on board, and then having made fast the chest, he lifted Alice safely on to the raft, where she was received in Walter's arms. The almost exhausted mate was then dragged on board by Nub. The first thing Mr s...o...b..ok did was to haul down the sail, that the raft might not be driven further away from the land; he then turned towards Walter, not to find fault with him for running away,--for he was well aware that the poor lad could not help it,--but to ascertain the state of his mind.

Walter had placed Alice on her usual seat, and now sat by her side. He looked up at Mr s...o...b..ok. "I cannot tell you how it all happened," he said in a low voice. "I only remember seeing Alice in the water, and shrieking out for some one to help her, when I fell down fainting on the raft. I was unconscious of what happened further, till I found myself alone on the raft, which had at that instant been taken aback by a strong breeze from the westward. I felt full of dismay and grief, but as calm and self-possessed as I ever had been. I considered what was to be done. My first thought was to go in search of you. I lowered the sail, got the raft round, and again setting the sail, steered away to the eastward, fully prepared to perish should I not find you; and oh, I cannot express how thankful I am to find you again!"

"I am sure he is," said Alice, jumping up and kissing Walter.

"I am certain of it too, my lad," said the mate. "We don't blame you; and can only be thankful that, through G.o.d's mercy, your senses were so wonderfully restored."

"Yes, Ma.s.sa Walter, we bless Heaven dat de shark not eat us, and dat we find you; and now all go well."

Both the mate and Nub felt too much fatigued just then to speak more; so having secured the chest and cask, they threw themselves down to rest, as they could not attempt to row against the breeze then blowing, with their strength exhausted as it was.

Alice was scarcely less weary than they were, not so much from exertion as from alarm and anxiety. Her clothes soon dried in the hot sun, and then she too lay down. Walter, who was now apparently quite recovered, sat by her side, watching her till she dropped off to sleep. The wind did not much affect the raft, but it was all the time slowly drifting further and further from the sh.o.r.e. The little girl's slumbers were disturbed by the terrible scenes she had gone through, and now and then she cried out, "Oh, save him! oh, save him! Where is Walter? where is Walter?"

Walter, on hearing his name p.r.o.nounced, took her hand. "Here I am, all safe," he said in a soothing tone. "I am very, very sorry that I caused you so much alarm; but it's all right now. We shall soon reach the land, I hope; and then we will build a boat, and go in search of our father and the rest."

Alice, who was still scarcely awake, did not understand what he said.

Suddenly she started up. "O Walter, where are we?" she exclaimed, looking wildly about her. "I thought you had gone away again, and were never coming back. You will never leave me, will you?"

"I should be miserable without you," he answered. "No, I never will leave you, if I can help it, till we find our father--though Mr s...o...b..ok and Nub take the best care of you they possibly can: had it not been for them, we should both have been lost."

"Don't think that it's we who take care of you, my children," said the mate, who had been awakened by their voices. "There is One above who alone has the power to do so. We are only the instruments in His hands."

"But we do what we can, though," said Nub, sitting up; "and now I tink the wind begin to fall, and we get out de oars."

"We had better take some food first," said the mate. "The young people must be hungry, and I am pretty sharp set myself."

"What you like to have, Mr s...o...b..ok? Roast beef, boiled mutton, pork pies, or plum pudding?" asked Nub, trying to make Walter and Alice laugh, for he observed how sad they both looked. "Well, if we can't have dem, we have whale blubber; it bery good for dem dat like it. Take a lilly bit, Missie Alice."

Poor Alice's lip curled. She recollected how nauseous she had found it in the morning. Nub got out some of the blubber, which the rest of the party swallowed without making faces. Fortunately there was still a small portion of biscuit, and this enabled Alice at length to get down enough of the food to sustain her strength. They had still the wine and water; but, alas! there now remained only sufficient biscuit to afford her another meal. "After that has gone, what can we give the little girl to eat?" thought the mate. "Well, well, she has been sustained hitherto, and we must not antic.i.p.ate evil."

Nub having stowed away the rest of the blubber, the oars were got out, and while Walter steered, he and the mate began to urge on the raft towards the sh.o.r.e. Their progress, however, was very slow, as when they stood up their bodies acted the part of sails, and they were driven back almost as fast as they advanced. Several birds were flying overhead, a sign that land could not be far off; while, as they looked around, they saw here and there fish of all sizes rising out of the water.

"We may get hold of one of these fellows if they come near us," said the mate. "Our time may be better spent in preparing the harpoons. Lay in your oar, Nub, and we will set to work."

They all eagerly sat down, and in a short time two harpoons were fitted with lines, while spears were also got ready for use. Scarcely were their preparations completed when the land-breeze died away; and a sea-breeze shortly afterwards setting in, the sail was once more hoisted, and the raft steered for the land. All the party kept a bright lookout ahead on either side, in the hope of seeing a fish and getting near enough to catch it. The mate and Nub stood with their harpoons in their hands ready for instant use; the importance of catching some creature made them vigilant; the strong flavour of the blubber a.s.sured them that it would not keep much longer. They had got a short distance, when Alice exclaimed, "See, see! what is that curious fish?" She pointed to a spot a short distance on one side, her sharp eyes detecting what had escaped the observation of the mate. As she spoke, there rose from the surface a creature with a long white polished piece of bone or ivory at the end of its snout, which might be well likened to a sword, and having two fish of considerable size spitted on it; at the same moment two large frigate-birds were seen in the sky, flying rapidly down to deprive the fish of its prey.

"That's a sword-fish," exclaimed the mate; "and we must try to get it before those frigate-birds succeed in stealing the smaller fish from it.

Lower the sail, Nub; get out your oar and pull away. Starboard the helm, Walter. That fellow will not dive as easily as he may expect to do with those fish on his nose."

Nub pulled away with all his might, thus bringing the raft close up to the spot where the sword-fish, which had run its pointed weapon, perhaps unintentionally, through the fish, was struggling to get them off. The mate stood with his harpoon ready; it flew from his hand, and was buried deeply in the creature's body. In vain it tried to escape. The fish impeded its progress; and, Nub coming to the mate's a.s.sistance, the line, which had run out some way, was hauled in; after which Nub, seizing the animal's snout, in spite of its struggles, held it fast, and drew off the two fish, which he threw on the raft.

"Dere, we got dem safe, at all events. Dey make a good dinner for you, Missie Alice," he exclaimed. "Now, Ma.s.sa Walter, you take de spear and stick it into de sword-fish's belly." Walter thrust in the weapon, and in another instant the creature's struggles ceased, and it was hauled up on the raft.

"Thank Heaven," said the mate. "We have now got food enough, if it will last so long fresh, for two or three days; and could we but smoke it, we should each of us enjoy two hearty meals a day for a week to come.

However, it may, at all events, keep for some time if dried in the sun.

Hoist the sail, Nub; Walter, do you steer, while the black and I cut up the fish."

The frigate-birds, disappointed of their prey, had flown off, but were hovering overhead ready to seize the entrails as they were thrown overboard.

The fish hauled up on the raft was about ten feet long, of a bluish-black above, and silvery white below, the skin being somewhat rough.

"I have seen them much bigger than this one," observed the mate; "but it's as well that we did not catch a much bigger fellow, for we should have had some difficulty in handling it. I have known these fellows attack a whale, and run their beaks right into its side, while the thrasher sticks to its back; and between them they manage to kill the monster, though I believe the sharks benefit most by the hunt. I have seen them caught in the Mediterranean by harpoons, especially off the coast of Sicily. The people in those parts are little better than idolaters, and when they go out fis.h.i.+ng they sing some old heathen song which they fancy attracts the sword-fish. They won't utter a word of their own language, for fear that the creatures should understand them; but certain it is that the fish follow their boats, when they stand ready with their harpoons to strike them. The flesh is good eating, and very nouris.h.i.+ng when cooked; as we shall find it, I hope, though we have to eat it raw. There's another sort of fish which I have fallen in with in these seas, and a curious creature it is. It is called 'the sail-fish,' for it has got a big fin on the top of its back which it can open or shut like a Chinese fan; and when it rises to the top of the water, the wind catches this sail-like fin and sends it along at a great rate; and at its chin it has got two long lines, which I suppose serve it to anchor by, to the rocks in a tideway, when lying in wait for its prey."

"What a curious sort of creature it must be," said Alice; "how I should like to see one!"

"Perhaps we may, when we get closer in-sh.o.r.e," answered the mate; "and we will try to harpoon it if you don't object to our eating it afterwards."

"Oh, no, no; that I would not," answered Alice. "I only wish some flying-fish would come on to the raft; I would willingly eat them raw.

I remember what a foolish remark I made about the matter when we were on board the _Champion_. I little thought how very thankful I should be to catch some of the beautiful creatures for the purpose of eating them."

"I no tink Missie Alice need eat de fish raw," said Nub. "I manage to cook it."

"How so?" asked the mate. "We have no hearth nor fuel."

"I find both," said Nub, in a confident tone. "Look here, Ma.s.sa s...o...b..ok. We get some bits of board. I put dem down on de middle of de raft, and we damp dem well; den I take de skin of dis fish and put it on de top of dem, doubled many times; den I take some of de dry pieces of blubber, and I pile dem up; den I get some chips from de sword-fish, and fix dem close to de heap; and now I set fire to de heap, and de fish toast; and I give it to Missie Alice and Ma.s.sa Walter to eat."

"Oh, thank you, Nub; but Walter and I shall not like to eat cooked fish while Mr s...o...b..ok and you are eating it raw," said Alice.

"We see, Missie Alice, if we got enough for all," answered Nub.

"Your plan seems a good one, Nub," said the mate. "We will try it, at all events."

Nub set to work and prepared the hearth, and by putting on only a few pieces of blubber at a time, he was able to keep up a sufficient heat to cook some small pieces of fish, which Alice and Walter gratefully ate.

There were a few pieces over, which he insisted that the mate should take, he himself humbly saying that raw fish was "good enough for black fellow." The mate and Walter stood by ready to throw water on the raft should the fire burn into the wood; but though it nearly consumed the skin, it only charred the boards beneath it.

There was still some blubber remaining, with which Nub proposed to cook another meal for Alice on the following day. Part of the sword-fish was now cut up into thin strips, which were hung up along the yard to dry in the sun, as they would thus, it was hoped, keep longer. They had now such food as they could require; though, eaten without any condiments, it was not palatable, nor altogether wholesome. It would, however, keep them from starving, and they were thankful. They knew that many voyagers, under similar circ.u.mstances, had been much worse off than they were.

They had been so much engaged that they had almost forgotten the chest which had been the means of saving Alice. Walter, looking at it, asked the mate if he would like to have it opened.

"Though I do not expect to find much within it, still there may be something that will prove useful to us," answered the mate.

Not being very heavy, though of considerable size, it was easily hauled up on the raft. It was a more difficult matter to get it open, for they were afraid of breaking their axe should they attempt to prize the lid off. Walter proposed to use one of the spear-heads, which might be driven under the lock with a hammer. The attempt was immediately made, and succeeded better than they antic.i.p.ated. It was, as the mate had suspected, a carpenter's chest. In the upper part was a drawer containing boat-nails, brad-awls, gimlets, and other small tools. The centre part, which had contained the larger tools, was empty; but below, under a sort of false bottom, were found a fine and a coa.r.s.e saw, some parcels of large heavy nails, two cold irons, and several pieces of iron of various shapes, which altogether had served to ballast the chest while in the water.

"I don't know that in our present circ.u.mstances we can make much use of these things," observed the mate; "but if we get on sh.o.r.e on an uninhabited island, they will serve us either for putting up a house, or for building a boat, and we may be thankful that we obtained them; and should the sea get up, the chest will also serve to add buoyancy to the raft."