ABOARD THE HULK
NOW WHEN it came to my watch, the which I took in company with the big
seaman, the moon had not yet risen, and all the island was vastly
dark, save the hill-top, from which the fires blazed in a score of
places, and very busy they kept us, supplying them with fuel. Then,
when maybe the half of our watch had passed, the big seaman, who had
been to feed the fires upon the weed side of the hill-top, came across
to me, and bade me come and put my hand upon the lesser rope; for that
he thought they in the ship were anxious to haul it in so that they
might send some message across to us. At his words, I asked him very
anxiously whether he had perceived them waving a light, the which we
had arranged to be our method of signalling in the night, inthe event
of such being needful; but, to this, he said that he had seen naught;
and, by now, having come near the edge of the cliff, I could see for
myself, and so perceived that there wasnone signalling to us from the
hulk. Yet, to please the fellow, I put my hand upon the line, which we
had made fast in the evening to a large piece of rock, and so,
immediately, I discovered that something was pulling upon it, hauling
and then slackening, so that it occurred to me that the people in the
vessel might be indeed wishful to send us some message, and at that,
to make sure, I ran to the nearest fire, and, lighting a tuft of weed,
waved it thrice; but there came not any answering signal from those in
the ship, and at that I went back to feel at the rope, to assure
myself that it had not been the pluck of the wind upon it; but I
foundthat it was something very different from the wind, something
that plucked with all the sharpness of a hooked fish, only that it had
been a mighty great fish to have given such tugs, and so I knew that
some vile thing out in the darkness of the weed was fast to the rope,
andat this there came the fear that it might break it, and then a
second thought that something might be climbing up to us along the
rope, and soI bade the big seaman stand ready with his great cutlass,
whilst I ranand waked the bo'sun. And this I did, and explained to him
how that something meddled with the lesser rope, so that he came
immediately to see for himself how this might be, and when he had
puthis hand upon it, he bade me go and call the rest of the men, and
let them stand round by the fires; for that there was something abroad
in thenight, and we might be in danger of attack; but he and the big
seaman stayed by the end of the rope, watching, so far as the darkness
would allow, and ever and anon feeling the tension upon it.
Then, suddenly, it came to the bo'sun to look to the second line, and
he ran, cursing himself for his thoughtlessness; but because of its
greater weight and tension, he could not discover for certain whether
anything meddled with it or not; yet he stayed by it, arguing that if
aught touched the smaller rope then might something do likewise with
the greater, only that the small line lay along the weed, whilst the
greater one had been some feet above it when the darkness had fallen
over us, and so might be free from any prowling creatures.
And thus, maybe, an hour passed, and we kept watch and tended the
fires, going from oneto another, and, presently, coming to thatone
which was nearest to the bo'sun, I went over to him, intending topass
a few minutes in talk; but as I drew nigh to him, I chanced to place
my hand upon the big rope, and at that I exclaimed in surprise; forit
had become much slacker than when last I had felt it in the
evening,and I asked the bo'sun whether he had noticed it, whereat he
felt the rope, and was almost more amazed than I had been; for when
last he had touched it, it had been taut, and hummingin the wind. Now,
upon this discovery, he was in much fear that something had bitten
through it, and called to the men to come all of them and pull upon
the rope, so that he might discover whether it was indeed parted; but
whenthey came and hauled upon it, they were unable to gather in any of
it, whereat we felt all of us mightily relieved inour minds; though
still unable to come at the cause of its sudden slackness.
And so, a while later, there rose the moon, and we were able to
examine the island and the water between it and the weed-continent,to
see whether there was anything stirring; yet neither in the valley,
nor on the faces of the cliffs, nor in the open water could we
perceive aught living, and as for anything among the weed, it was
small use trying to discover it among all that shaggy blackness. And
now, being assured that nothing was coming at us, and that, so far as
oureyes could pierce, there climbed nothing upon the ropes, the bo'sun
bade us get turned-in, allexcept those whose timeit was to watch. Yet,
before I went into the tent, I made a careful examination of the big
rope, the which did also the bo'sun, but could perceive no cause for
its slackness; though this was quite apparent in the moonlight, the
rope going down with greater abruptness than it had done in the
evening. And so we could but conceive that they in the hulk had
slacked it for some reason; and after that we went to the tent and a
further spell of sleep.
In the early morning we were waked by one of the watchmen, coming into
the tent to call the bo'sun; for it appeared that the hulk had moved
in the night, so that its stern was now pointed somewhat towards the
island. At this news, we ran all of us from the tent to the edge of
the hill, and found it to be indeed as the man had said, and now I
understood the reason of that sudden slackening of the rope; for,
after withstanding the stress upon it for some hours, the vessel had
at last yielded, and slewed its stern towards us, moving also to some
extent bodily in our direction.
And now we discovered that a man in the look-out place in the top of
the structure was waving a welcome to us, at which we waved back, and
then the bo'sun bade me haste and write a note to know whether it
seemedto them likely that they might be able to heave the ship clear
of the weed, and this I did, greatly excited within myself at this new
thought, as, indeed, was the bo'sun himself and the rest of the men.
For could they do this, then how easily solved were every problem of
comingto our own country. But it seemed too good a thing to have come
true, and yet I could but hope.And so, when my letter was completed,
we put itup in the little oilskin bag, and signalled to those in the
ship to haul in upon the line. Yet, when they went to haul, there came
a mighty splather amid the weed, and they seemed unable to gather in
any of the slack, and then, after a certain pause, I saw the man in
the look-out point something, and immediately afterwards there belched
out in front of him a little puff of smoke, and, presently,I caught
the report of a musket, so that I knew that he was firing at something
in the weed. He fired again, and yet once more, and after that they
were able to haul in upon the line, and so I perceived that his fire
had proved effectual; yet we had no knowledge of the thing at which he
had discharged his weapon.
Now, presently, they signalled to us to draw back the line, the which
we could do only with great difficulty, and thenthe man in the top of
thesuper-structure signed tous to vast hauling, whichwe did, whereupon
he began to fire again into the weed; though with what effect we could
notperceive. Then, in a while he signalled to us to haul again, and
now the rope came more easily; yet still with muchlabour, and a
commotionin the weed over which it lay and, in places, sank.And so, at
last, as it cleared the weed because of the lift of the cliff, we saw
that a great crab had clutched it, and that we hauled it towards us;
for the creature had too much obstinacy to let go.
Perceiving this, and fearing that the great claws of the crab might
divide the rope, the bo'sun caught up one of the men's lances, and
ranto the cliff edge, calling to us to pull in gently, and put no more
strain upon the line than need be. And so, hauling with great
steadiness, we brought the monster near to the edge of the hill, and
there, at a wave from the bo'sun, stayed our pulling. Then he raised
the spear, and smote at the creature's eyes, as he had done on a
previous occasion, and immediately it loosed its hold, and fell with a
mighty splash into the water at the foot of the cliff. Then the bo'sun
bade us haul in the rest of the rope, until we should come to the
packet, and, in the mean-time, he examinedthe line to see whether
ithad suffered harm through the mandibles of the crab; yet, beyond a
little chafe, it was quitesound.
And so we came to the letter, which I opened and read, finding it to
bewritten in the same feminine hand which had indited the others. From
it we gathered thatthe ship had burst through a very thick mass of the
weed which had compacted itself about her, and that the second mate,
who was the only officer remaining to them, thought there might be
good chance to heave the vessel out; though it would have to be done
with great slowness, so as to allow the weed to part gradually,
otherwise the ship would but act as a gigantic rake to gather up weed
before it, and so form its own barrier to clear water. And after this
there were kind wishes and hopes that we had spent a good night, the
which I took to be prompted by the feminine heart of the writer, and
after that I fell to wondering whether it was the captain's wife who
actedas scribe. Then I was waked from my pondering, by one of themen
crying out that they in the ship had commenced to heave again upon the
big rope,and, for a time, I stood and watched it rise slowly, as it
came to tautness.
I had stood there awhile,watching the rope, when, suddenly, there came
a commotion amid the weed, about two-thirds of the way to the ship,
and now I saw that the rope had freed itself from the weed,
andclutching it, were, maybe, a score of giant crabs. At this sight,
some of the men cried out their astonishment, and then we saw that
there had come a number of men into the look-out place in the top of
the superstructure, and, immediately, they opened a very brisk fire
upon the creatures, and so, by ones and twos they fell back into the
weed, and after that, themen in the hulk resumedtheir heaving, and so,
in a while, had the rope some feet clear of the surface.
Now, having tautened the rope so much as theythought proper, they
leftit to have its due effect upon the ship, and proceeded to attach a
great block to it; then they signalled to us to slack away on the
little rope until they had the middle part of it, and this they
hitched around the neck of the block, and to the eye in the strop of
the block they attached a bo'sun's chair, and so they had ready a
carrier, and by this means we were ableto haul stuff to and from the
hulk without having to drag it across the surface of the weed; being,
indeed, the fashion in which we had intended to haul ashore the people
in the ship. But now we had the bigger project of salvaging the ship
herself, and, further, the big rope, which acted as support for the
carrier, was not yet of a sufficient height above the weed-continent
for it to be safe to attempt to bring any ashore by such means; and
now that we had hopes of saving the ship, we did not intend to risk
parting the big rope, by trying to attain such a degree of tautness as
would have been necessary at this time to have raised its bight to the
desired height.
Now, presently, the bo'sun called out to one of the men to make
breakfast, and when it was ready we came to it,leaving the man with
thewounded arm to keep watch; then when we had made an end, he sent
him, that had lost his fingers, to keep a look-out whilst the
othercame to the fire and ate his breakfast. And in the meanwhile, the
bo'sun took us down to collect weed and reeds for the night, and so we
spent the greater part of the morning, and when we had made an end of
this,we returned to the top of the hill, to discover how matters were
goingforward; thus we found, from the one at the look-out, that they,
in the hulk, had been obliged to heave twice upon the big rope to keep
it off the weed, andby this we knew that theship was indeed making a
slow sternway towardsthe island--slipping steadily through the weed,
and as we looked at her, it seemed almost that we could perceive that
she was nearer; but this was no more than imagination; for, at most,
she could not have moved more than some odd fathoms. Yet it cheered us
greatly, so that we waved our congratulations to the man who stood in
the look-out in the superstructure, and he waved back.
Later, we made dinner, and afterwards had a very comfortable smoke,
and then the bo'sun attended to our various hurts. And so through the
afternoon we sat about upon the crest of the hill overlooking the
hulk, and thrice had theyin the ship to heave upon the big rope, and
by evening they had made near thirty fathoms towards the island, the
which they told us in reply to a query which the bo'sun desired me to
send them,several messages having passed between us in the course of
the afternoon, so that we had the carrier upon ourside. Further than
this, they explained that they would tend the rope during the night,
so that the strain would be kept up, and, more, this would keep the
ropes offthe weed.
And so, the night comingdown upon us, the bo'sun bade us light the
fires about the top of thehill, the same having been laid earlier in
the day, and thus, our supper having been dispatched, we preparedfor
the night. And all through it there burned lights aboard the hulk, the
which proved very companionable to us in our times of watching; and
so, at last came the morning, the darkness having passed without
event. And now, to our huge pleasure, we discovered that the ship had
made great progressin the night; being now so much nearer that none
could suppose it a matter of imagination; for she must have movednigh
sixty fathoms nearer to the island, so that now we seemed able almost
to recognize the face of the man in the look-out; and many things
about the hulk wesaw with greater clearness, so that we scanned her
with a fresh interest. Then the man inthe look-out waved a morning
greeting to us, the which we returned very heartily, and, even as we
did so, there came a second figure beside the man, and waved some
white matter, perchance a handkerchief, which is like enough, seeing
that it was a woman, and at that, we took off our head coverings, all
of us, and shook them at her, and after this we went to our breakfast;
having finished which, the bo'sun dressed our hurts,and then, setting
the man, who had lost his fingers, to watch, he took the rest of us,
excepting him that was bitten in the arm, down to collect fuel, and so
thetime passed until near dinner.
When we returned to the hill-top, the man upon the look-out told us
that they in the ship had heaved not less thanfour separate times
uponthe big rope, the which, indeed, they were doing at that present
minute; and it was very plain to see that the ship had come nearer
even during the short space ofthe morning. Now, whenthey had made an
end oftautening the rope, I perceived that it was, at last, well clear
of the weed through all its length, being at its lowest part nigh
twenty feet above the surface, and, at that, a sudden thought came to
me which sent me hastily to the bo'sun; for it had occurred to me that
there existed no reason why we should not pay avisit to those aboard
the hulk. But when I put the matter to him, he shook his head, and,
for awhile, stood out against my desire; but, presently, having
examined the rope, and considering that I was the lightest of any in
the island, he consented, and at that I ran to the carrier which had
been hauled across to our side, and got me into thechair. Now, the
men, so soon as they perceived my intention, applauded me very
heartily, desiring to follow; but the bo'sun bade them besilent, and,
after that, he lashed me into the chair, with his own hands, and then
signalled to those in the ship to haul upon the small rope; he, in the
meanwhile, checking mydescent towards the weeds, by means of our end
of the hauling-line.
And so, presently, I had come to the lowest part, where the bight of
the rope dipped downward in a bow towards the weed, and rose again to
the mizzen mast of the hulk. Here I looked downward with somewhat
fearful eyes; for my weight on the rope made it sag somewhat lower
than seemed to me comfortable, and I had a very lively recollection
ofsome of the horrors which that quiet surface hid. Yet I was not long
in this place; for they in theship, perceiving how therope let me
nearer to theweed than was safe, pulled very heartily uponthe
hauling-line, and so Icame quickly to the hulk.
Now, as I drew nigh to the ship, the men crowded upon a little
platform which they had built in the superstructure somewhat below the
broken head of the mizzen, and here they received me with loud cheers
and very open arms, and were so eager to get me out of the bo'sun's
chair, that they cut the lashings, being too impatient to cast them
loose. Then they led me down to the deck, and here, before I had
knowledge of aughtelse, a very buxom woman took me into herarms,
kissing me right heartily, at which I was greatly taken aback; but the
men about me did naught but laugh, and so, in a minute, she loosed me,
and there I stood, not knowing whether to feel like a fool or a hero;
but inclining rather to the latter. Then, at this minute, there came a
second woman, who bowed to me in a manner most formal, so that we
might have beenmet in some fashionable gathering, rather than ina
cast-away hulk in the lonesomeness and terrorof that weed-choked sea;
and at her coming all the mirth of the men died out of them, and they
became very sober, whilst the buxom woman went backward for a piece,
and seemed somewhat abashed. Now, at all this, I was greatly puzzled,
and looked from one to another to learn what it might mean; but in the
same moment the woman bowed again, and said something in a low voice
touching the weather, and after that she raised her glance to my face,
so that I saw hereyes, and they were so strange and full of
melancholy, that I knew on the instant why she spoke and acted in so
unmeaning a way; for the poor creature was out of her mind, and when I
learnt afterwardsthat she was the captain's wife, and had seen him die
in the arms of a mighty devil-fish, I grew to understand howshe had
come to such a pass.
Now for a minute after I had discovered the woman's madness, I was so
taken aback as to be unable to answer her remark; but for this there
appeared no necessity; for she turned away and went aft towards the
saloon stairway, which stood open, and here she was met by a maid very
bonny and fair, who led her tenderly down from my sight. Yet, in a
minute, this same maid appeared, and ran alongthe decks to me, and
caught my two hands, and shook them, and looked up at me with such
roguish, playful eyes, that she warmed my heart, which had been
strangely chilled bythe greeting of the poor mad woman. And she said
many hearty things regarding my courage, to which I knew in my heart I
had no claim; but I let her run on, and so, presently, coming more to
possession of herself, she discovered that she was still holding my
hands, the which, indeed, I had been conscious of the while with a
very great pleasure; but at her discovery she dropped them with haste,
and stood back from me a space, and so there camea little coolness
into her talk: yet this lasted not long; for we were both of us young,
and, I think,even thus early we attracted one the other; though, apart
from this, there was so much that we desired each to learn,that we
could not but talk freely, asking question for question, and giving
answer for answer. And thus a time passed, in which the men left us
alone, and went presently to the capstan, about which they had taken
the big rope, and at this they toiled awhile; for alreadythe ship had
moved sufficiently to let the linefall slack.
Presently, the maid, whom I had learnt was niece to the captain's
wife, and named Mary Madison, proposed to take me the round of
theship, to which proposal I agreed very willingly; but first I
stopped to examine the mizzen stump, and the manner in which the
people of the ship had stayed it, the which they had donevery
cunningly, and I noted how that they hadremoved some of the
superstructure from about the head of the mast, so as to allow passage
for the rope, without putting a strain upon the superstructure itself.
Then when I had made an end upon the poop, she led me down on to the
main-deck, andhere I was very greatly impressed by the prodigious size
of the structure which they hadbuilt about the hulk, andthe skill with
which it had been carried out, the supports crossing from side to side
and to the decks in a manner calculated to give great solidity to that
which they upheld. Yet, I was very greatly puzzled to know where they
had gotten a sufficiency of timber to make so large a matter; but upon
this point she satisfied me byexplaining that they had taken up the
'tween decks, and used all such bulkheads as they could spare, and,
further, that there had been a good deal among the dunnagewhich had
proved usable.
And so we came at last tothe galley, and here I discovered the buxom
woman to be installed ascook, and there were in with her a couple of
fine children, one of whom I guessed to be a boy of maybe some five
years, and the second a girl, scarce able to do more than toddle. At
this I turned and asked Mistress Madison whether these were her
cousins; but in the next moment I remembered that they could not be;
for, as I knew, the captain had been dead some seven years; yet it was
the woman in the galley who answered myquestion; for she turned and,
with something of ared face, informed me that they were hers, at which
I felt some surprise; but supposed that she had taken passage in the
ship with her husband; yet in this I was not correct; for she
proceeded to explain that, thinking they were cut off from the world
for the rest of this life, and falling very fond of the carpenter,
they had made it up together to make a sort of marriage, and had
gotten the second mate to read the service over them. She told me
then, how that she had taken passage with her mistress, the captain's
wife, to help her with her niece, who had been but a child when the
ship sailed; for she had been very attached to them both, and they to
her. And so she came to an end of her story, expressing a hope that
she had done no wrong by her marriage, as none had been intended. And
to this I made answer, assuring her that no decent-minded man could
think the worse of her; but that I, for my part, thought rather the
better, seeing that I likedthe pluck which she had shown. At that she
cast down the soup ladle, which she had in her fist,and came towards
me, wiping her hands; but I gave back, for I shamed to be hugged
again, and before Mistress Mary Madison, and at that she came to a
stop and laughed very heartily; but, all the same, called down a very
warm blessing upon my head; for which I had no cause to feel the
worse. And so I passed on with the captain's niece.
Presently, having made the round of the hulk, we came aft again to
thepoop, and discovered that they were heaving once more upon the big
rope, the which was veryheartening, proving, as it did, that the ship
was still a-move. And so, a little later, the girl left me, having to
attend to her aunt. Now whilst shewas gone, the men cameall about me,
desiring news of the world beyond the weed-continent, and so for the
next hour I was kept very busy, answering their questions. Then the
second mate called out to them to take another heave upon the rope,
and at that they turned to the capstan, and I with them, and so we
hove it taut again, after which they got about meonce more,
questioning; for so much seemed to have happened in the seven years in
which they had been imprisoned. And then, after a while, I turned-to
and questioned them on such points as I had neglected to ask Mistress
Madison, and they discovered to me their terror and sickness of the
weed-continent, its desolation and horror, and the dread which
hadbeset them at the thought that they shouldall of them come to their
ends without sight of their homes and countrymen.
Now, about this time, I became conscious that I had grown very empty;
for I had come off to the hulk before we had made our dinner, and had
been in such interestsince, that the thought of food had escaped me;
for I had seen none eating in the hulk, they, without doubt, having
dined earlier than my coming. But now, being made aware of my state by
the grumbling of my stomach, I inquired whether there was any food to
be had at such a time, and, at that, one of the men ran to tell the
woman in the galley thatI had missed my dinner, at which she made
muchado, and set-to and prepared me a very good meal, which she
carried aft and set out for me in the saloon, andafter that she sent
me down to it.
Presently, when I had come near to being comfortable, there chanced a
lightsome stepupon the floor behind me, and, turning, I discovered
that Mistress Madison was surveying me with a roguish and somewhat
amused air. Atthat, I got hastily to my feet; but she bade me sit
down, and therewith shetook a seat opposite, andso bantered me with a
gentle playfulness that was not displeasing to me, and at which I
played so good a second as I had ability. Later, I fell to questioning
her, and, among other matters, discovered that it was she who acted as
scribe for the people in the hulk, at which I told her that I had done
likewise for those on theisland. After that, our talk became somewhat
personal, and I learnt that she was near on to nineteen years of age,
whereat I told her that I had passed my twenty-third. And so we
chatted on, until, presently, it occurred to me that I had better be
preparing to return to the island, and I rose to my feet with this
intention; yet feeling that I had been very much happier to have
stayed, the which I thought, for a moment, had not been displeasingto
her, and this I imagined, noting somewhat in her eyes when I made
mention that I must be gone. Yet it may be that I flattered myself.
Now when I came out ondeck, they were busied again in heaving taut the
rope, and, until they had made an end, Mistress Madison and I filled
the time with such chatter as is wholesome between a man and maid who
have not long met, yet find one another pleasing company. Then, when
at last the rope was taut, I went up to the mizzen staging, and
climbed into the chair, after which some of the men lashed me in very
securely. Yet when they gave the signal to haul me to the island,
there came for awhile no response, and then signs that we could not
understand; but no movement to haul me across the weed. At that, they
unlashed me from the chair, bidding me get out, whilst they sent a
message to discover what might be wrong. And this they did, and,
presently, there came back word that the big rope had stranded upon
the edge of the cliff, and that they must slacken it somewhat at once,
the which they did, with many expressions of dismay. And so, maybe an
hour passed, during which we watched the men working at the rope, just
where it came down over the edge of the hill, and Mistress Madison
stood with us and watched; for it was very terrible, this
suddenthought of failure (though it were but temporary) when they were
so near to success. Yet, at last there came a signal from the island
forus to loose the hauling-line, the which we did, allowing them to
haul across the carrier, and so, in a little while, they signalled
back to us to pull in, which, having done, we found a letter in the
bag lashed to the carrier, in which the bo'sun made it plain thathe
had strengthened therope, and placed fresh chafing gear about it, so
that he thought it would be so safe as ever to heave upon; but to put
itto a less strain. Yet he refused to allow me to venture across upon
it, saying that I must stay in the ship until we were clear of the
weed; for if the rope had stranded inone place, then had it been so
cruelly tested that there might be some other points at which it was
ready to give. And this final note of the bo'sun's made us all very
serious; for, indeed, it seemed possible that it was as hesuggested;
yet they reassured themselves by pointing out that, like enough, it
had been the chafe upon the cliff edgewhich had frayed the strand, so
that it had been weakened before it parted; but I, remembering the
chafing gear which the bo'sun had put about it in the first instance,
felt not so sure; yet I would not add to their anxieties.
And so it came about that I was compelled to spend the night in the
hulk; but, as I followed Mistress Madison into thebig saloon, I felt
no regret, and had near forgotten already my anxiety regarding the
rope.
And out on deck there sounded most cheerily the clack of the capstan.
[ tobe continued....]
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