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The Ocean Cat's Paw: The Story of a Strange Cruise, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 21. Query--A Coward? |
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_ CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. QUERY--A COWARD? Joe had stationed himself on the larboard bow with his elbows resting upon the bulwark and his chin in his hands, gazing straight away to sea, his eyes fixed a little to the left of the dazzling path of light that extended from the moon to the schooner. So intent was he upon something he fancied he saw, that he did not hear Rodd's approach, and started violently upon being touched. "All right, sir; not asleep," he cried. "Oh, it's you, Mr Rodd! I fancied that it was the skipper, who thought he had caught me napping. Just you look yonder, sir. You are coming fresh to it. I have been staring till the little flashes of light make my eyes swim. Now then, just you look about half a cable's length left of that line of light, and see if you can't see something breaking water there." Rodd gazed intently in the direction indicated for some little time without speaking. "See anything, sir?" said Joe at last. "No." "That'll do then, sir. It was my fancy. Well, we are having a quiet night of it, sir. No more signs of that old sea bogy, and like enough we shan't get a squint at it again." "I don't suppose we shall now, Joe." "Sleepy, sir?" "Not a bit, Joe. Here, I want to speak to you about that thing." "I am listening, sir. Talk away. Rather queer, warn't it, to come upon a thing like that just when you didn't expect it?" "Yes, Joe; and you said something about my not being frightened." "Yes, sir. You quite capped me." "Stop a minute, Joe. I want to say something to you." "All right, sir," cried the sailor, looking wonderingly at the lad, who was speaking to him in a husky impressive tone. But Rodd remained speechless, and it was the sailor who broke the silence. "I'm a-listening, sir. Heave ahead." "Yes," cried Rodd desperately. "Look here, Joe; were you making fun of me?" "Fun of you? No, sir. It was only my way, just to make things a bit more cheery, for every one on deck seems to be in the doldrums, all on account of that great squirmy thing." "No, no, I don't mean that," cried Rodd. "I mean, making fun of me when you told the men I wasn't frightened." "Fun on you? No, sir. Why, it was as I said. You quite capped me, to see you standing facing that thing without shrinking a bit. I should have expected to see you frightened to death." "Then it was because you didn't look well, Joe," said Rodd, in a low hoarse voice, as he made a brave effort to set himself right with the man. "I was frightened--so horribly frightened that I couldn't stir." "Well, and no wonder, sir. Enough to make you. Why, it would have frightened a brass monkey, let alone a man. Look at Ikey Gregg. I believe if you'd ha' 'eard him you would have found he was calling 'Mother!' Poor old chap. There aren't no way of proving it, as one don't know how heavy he was afore, but I believe he melted away a bit. Why, we was all like it, sir. It was a regular startler and no mistake." "Do you mean honestly that all the men were very much frightened?" "Why, of course, sir. I telled you I was as bad as bad could be, and my hair stood right up on end--leastwise, it felt as if it did; and I can tell you this: I didn't feel like that when we were going into action, and that's saying a good deal, when a fellow didn't know whether the first sixty-four pounder that was fired wouldn't send its shot right into his chest. And so you felt regular skeart, did you, sir?" "Yes, Joe; and it made me ashamed to hear you talking about me to the men as you did." "Oh, well, I don't know as it matters, sir. I said just what I thought, and I rather like to hear what you say, because it seems to brighten me up a bit." "Why? How?" "Oh, because it makes me feel that I wasn't quite such a cur as I thought I was. There, it's all right, sir, and I suppose it's quite nat'ral for any one to feel afraid when there's something really worth feeling afraid on. I dare say we should both be just as bad again if that thing was to shove its head out of the water again close by here." "Then you don't think I was such a coward, Joe?" "You! You a coward! Tchah! Let me hear any fellow say you are, and I'll hit him in the eye. But there, it's just as if that thing knowed we were all ready and waiting for it, and so it won't show. I'm beginning to wish that the skipper would send everybody but the watch for their spell below; but I don't suppose he will, and so we must make the best of it. But if I was you, sir, and didn't belong to the crew, I should just slip off below and turn into my bunk till breakfast-time in the morning. What do you say?" "No," said Rodd shortly; and he stopped on deck and watched with the men till the sun was well on high. Then the suggestion of breakfast seemed so full of promise that after partaking thereof he went back on deck, to stand scanning the beautiful sunlit plain with the glass; but no further glimpse was seen of the strange monster that day, nor yet during the next six weeks, during which time they glided into port for fresh provisions twice, the second time in that of the sunny Canary Islands. There a week was spent in inspecting the beauties and the wonders of the old volcanic caverns, before they were well at sea again with the sun daily growing hotter and sea and sky more beautiful. Days upon days were spent in exploring the attractions of the Sargasso Sea, till the doctor cried "Hold! Enough!" For the bottles in the laboratory were being filled up too fast, and there was too much to do yet in the farther south, towards which they sailed slowly and steadily on, till one day a holiday was announced, for the men had been hard at work rowing here and rowing there, hauling in drag and dredge, sounding and hoisting, harpooning fish, and busying themselves with the spoil they dragged on board, while Captain Chubb stumped up and down with his hands very deep in his pockets, scowling at his sullied deck, and wearing clouds upon his sun-tanned brow, till Dr Robson bade the men throw all the rest overboard, this order, for which the skipper had been impatiently waiting, being immediately supplemented by another, brief and prompt. "Buckets! Swabs!" And then as the slime of mollusc, fish and seaweed was washed away, and the deck of the schooner rapidly grew white again, the skipper smiled and entered into a pleasant chat with the tired naturalist and his nephew. The men's holiday was spent after the fashion of such holidays, over the buffoonery enjoyed by the crew, especially in olden days, in crossing the line; and then it was onward again amidst glorious sunrises and sunsets, amidst calms and fervent seas that seemed to blaze back the heat of the sun. It was all new to Rodd, and all glorious. He was never tired of seeing the flying-fish skim out of the water to seek safety, scattered by the pursuit of some bonito or dolphin, watching them till they dipped down into the smooth surface, as if to gather new strength, and then skim out again. The dolphins and bonito were caught, the boy growing skilful in darting down the harpoon-like "grains," the modern form of Neptune fish-spear. There were times too when the boy expressed his wonder that in spite of all the time they had been sailing south, it had been such a rare thing to meet or overtake another vessel. "A pretty good proof," the doctor would say, "of the vastness of the ocean." "And of how there is plenty of room, uncle, for any number of wonderful creatures such as we have never seen yet. But are you always going sailing on like this?" "Why, aren't you satisfied?" said Uncle Paul. "Satisfied, uncle? Oh yes, with what we are doing. But I haven't had nearly enough. I should like to go oil sailing like this for--" "Ever?" said the doctor dryly. "Oh no, uncle; I mean for long enough yet. But I say, isn't the world beautiful?" "More beautiful, boy, than words can express," replied the doctor gravely. "But no. Now we are getting into the Southern Tropics I am thinking of going more to the east and into the great bay, so as to get within range of the African shores. Perhaps we shall make for the mouths of one or two of the rivers, and get within soundings where we can do more dredging. I anticipate some strange discoveries in those portions of the ocean; but at present we will keep on skimming the surface and finding what we can." And so during the next two or three days they went sailing on, and found something that they had least expected, to Rodd Harding's great wonder and delight. _ |
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