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Fire Island, a novel by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 46. A Novel Launch |
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_ CHAPTER FORTY SIX. A NOVEL LAUNCH The idea was revived again by the mate. "That's a pleasant way of looking at things," said Panton. "Horrible!" exclaimed Drew, with a shiver. "Yes, we've had enough of fire from the volcano," said Oliver, with a glance in its direction, forgetting as he did that it was invisible from their side of the mist. "We have, gentlemen," said the mate, "but that will be their plan. We may beat them off times enough, but so sure as they set thoroughly to work to burn us out, we're done for, sir." "You think so?" "No, I don't think. We're as inflammable as can be, and they've only got to bring plenty of dry, fierce, burning wood and pile it up, and there we are as soon as they set light to it. They can have a good feast then." "What?" cried Drew. "Feast, sir. There'll be plenty of roast men done to a turn." "Don't!" cried Oliver. "You give me quite a turn." The discussion arose one morning some weeks after the ascent to the crater, and when, after a tremendous amount of collecting, the three naturalists had owned that it was getting on toward the time for helping Mr Rimmer a little over the preparations for getting away from the island. "Really, Mr Rimmer," Oliver said, "I am ashamed of my selfishness." "Eh? What have you been doing selfish, my dear sir?" was the reply. "Thinking of nothing but my own pleasure." "Pleasure, sir? Why, I haven't seen you playing any games but a bit or two of chess with Mr Panton." "I mean in thinking of nothing else but my collecting." "Why, that was your work, sir." "It is a pleasure to me, and I have thought of nothing else." "And quite right too, my lad. You came out on purpose to make a collection, didn't you?" "Well, yes." "And you've made a splendid one, sir. I never saw such birds and butterflies and beetles before, let along the snakes and things." "Yes, I have been grandly successful," said Oliver; "certainly." "And so have your friends. You're satisfied, I hope, Mr Panton?" "More than satisfied," cried that gentleman. "I've a wonderful collection of minerals, and I've picked up some grand facts on volcanic and coral formation." "Oh, yes," cried Drew. "I'm satisfied, too. I'm only afraid that you'll have to build another boat to carry my specimens." "All right, we'll build one if it's necessary, but we've got to tackle this one first. Everything's done that can be done before she's in the water. No likelihood of another earthquake wave, is there, sir?" "There might be one at any time," said Panton; "but it might be five hundred years." "And it would be tiresome to wait as long as that, eh, sir?" said the mate, with a droll twinkle of the eye. "Yes, you'd better get her down to the sea first. What do you mean to do?" "Begin to-morrow morning, gentlemen; and if you would be so good as to let the birds and stones and flowers alone now, and help me till we get the _Little Planet_ afloat, I should be obliged." "You know we'll all do our best, Mr Rimmer," said Panton. "You've helped us whenever we have hinted at wanting a hand." "Why, of course, sir, of course," said the mate, interrupting the speaker. "It's all right: turn for turn." "But why not begin to-day?" said Oliver. "To be sure," said the others. "I didn't want to be hard upon you, gentlemen, and so I thought I'd give you a day's notice, but if you would all tackle to at once, why, I should be glad." "Then as far as we're concerned," said Oliver, "the lugger's launched." "Thank you, gentlemen, all of you," said the mate; and then drily, "but I don't think we shall get her in the water to-day." There was a hearty laugh at this, but they were all serious directly, and the question of the launching was taken up. "Two miles to the lagoon," said Oliver; "it's a long way." "Yes, sir, but every foot we get her along, will be one less." "Of course," said Oliver. "And do you think your plans will work?" "I hope so, sir. We'll give them a good try first, before we start upon another." They went down over the side and stood directly after examining the lines of the well-made little vessel, which was about the size of a Cornish fishing boat, and now that the greater part of the supports had been knocked away, and she could be seen in all her regularity, compliments were freely given to her builder and architect. "Well, I'm not ashamed of her, gentlemen," said the mate. "All I'm afraid of is that we shall weaken her a bit in hauling her along over the runners." "Have you got your runners made?" said Drew. "Have I got my runners made, sir?" said the mate with a chuckle. "I've got everything ready, grease and all for making 'em slippery, and under her keel a bit of iron as smooth as if it had been polished. Look here!" He pointed out the curve and finish of the keel, which was so contrived that the vessel was quite on the balance, and a couple of men could easily rock her up and down, while to keep her straight and prevent her lopping over to one side or the other, an ingenious kind of outrigger had been contrived out of a couple of yards, which rested on the ground, and were kept there about four feet from the keel. These two were well pointed and curved up a little in front, and gave the lugger the appearance of riding in a sledge-like cradle. Moreover, a capstan had been rigged up, half a cable's length away, and as soon as a rope had been attached to a hole low down close to the keel, word was given, the capstan was manned, the sailors gave a cheer as the stout cable secured low down beneath the lugger's bows gradually tightened, strained, and stretched, quivering in the bright morning sunshine, but the vessel did not move. Then a halt was called while the mate re-examined the well-greased runners, and then gave the word for the men to ply their capstan bars once more. But still she did not move, and a despairing look began to gather upon the mate's brow, till Smith sidled up to Oliver and said,-- "I've jest whispered to Billy Wriggs to go round t'other side, sir, along o' Mr Panton, and if you and me and Master Drew was to do the same here, I dessay we could start her." "Yes, what are you going to do?" asked Oliver. "Just ketch hold here, sir, and we'll give her a bit of a rock. Once she's started, away she goes." As the sailor spoke, he took hold of the yard rigged out on one side to keep the lugger upright, the others did the same on the other side, and as the cable was tightened once more with a jerk, which gave forth a musical deep bass twang, Smith shouted, "All together!" and with his companions, he began to give the hull a gentle rocking movement from side to side. Then a tremendous cheer arose, and as every man tugged and strained, the vessel began to move, so little that it was almost imperceptible, and Oliver's heart sank at the thought of two miles to go at that rate; but in less than a minute, as she was rocked a little more, she gained momentum, the men at the capstan strained and cheered, and away she went, slowly and steadily, on and on the whole half cable's length. "Now right up to the capstan," cried solemn, heavy-looking Wriggs; and as she came to a stand, and the men took out their bars and began cheering again in the glorious sunshine, with the coral rock and sand reflecting the brilliant light, and the rapid tropic growth glowing in its most vivid golden green, the rough sailor took off his straw hat, dashed it down upon the ground, screwed up his face into the most severe of frowns, folding his arms tightly across his chest, he gave a kind of trot round to form a circle, and then turned into the middle, stopped for a moment, gave three stamps and a nod to an imaginary fiddler, and started off in the regular sailor's hornpipe, dancing lightly and well, but as seriously as if his life depended upon the accuracy of his steps. "Hooroar! Brayvo, Billy!" yelled Smith, bending down and beginning to keep time by giving a succession of ringing slaps on his right thigh, and in an instant the whole crew joined in slapping and cheering, while the mate and his passengers joined in the hearty laugh. "Go it, lad!" "Brayvo, Billy!" "Lay it down, lad!" came in a rugged chorus, and Wriggs danced on with wonderful skill and lightness, putting in all the regular pulling and hauling business right to the very end, which was achieved with the most intense solemnity of manner, amid tremendous applause. "Capstan!" he shouted as he stopped, and then he was the first to begin loosening the piece of mechanism which had to be taken up and refixed strongly with block and stay a whole cable's length, this time farther on towards the sea. "Slow work," said the mate, as he turned from superintending to wipe his face and give his companions a nod full of satisfaction; "but we're half a cable's length nearer the lagoon, and if we only did that every day, we should get her afloat in time." "It's grand," cried Oliver, whose face was streaming from his exertions. "I feel quite hopeful now." "Hopeful? Yes," cried Panton. "We shall do it." "If we are not interrupted," said Drew. "If we are," said the mate, "we must make a fight for it. There's the watch up in the top to give us warning, and the arms all lie ready. At the first alarm everyone will make for the brig's deck, and I daresay we shall beat our visitors off." "But when we get farther away?" said Drew. "Don't let's meet troubles before they're half way," said the mate, smiling. "Perhaps the blacks may never come again. Let's hope not." "Amen," said Panton, and then everything was forgotten in the business on hand, all trusting to the careful watch kept from the brig, and working like slaves to get the capstan fixed to the bars driven in between crevices in the bed rock, while stays were fixed to blocks of coral, which lay here and there as they had been swept by the earthquake wave. The consequence was, that by noon, when the great heat had produced exhaustion, the capstan had been moved three times, and, thanks to the level ground, the lugger had glided steadily nearly as many cables' lengths nearer the sea. "Do it?" cried the mate, suddenly, as they sat resting and waiting till the men had finished their mid-day meal. "Of course we shall do it." "Well," said Oliver, laughing, "no one said we shouldn't." "No," said the mate, "but someone might have thought so." "Why, you thought so yourself, Mr Rimmer," cried Panton, merrily. "Yes, I suppose I have been a bit down-hearted about getting her to sea, and it has made me slow over the finishing. But after the way you gentlemen have buckled to, it goes as easy as can be." "How long do you reckon we shall be?" asked Drew. "Getting her down, sir? Well, I used to say to myself, if we can manage it in two months I shall be satisfied, but I'm beginning to think about one now." "Why, we shall do it in a week," cried Oliver. "A week?" cried the others. "Well, why not? If we go on as steadily this afternoon and evening as we have this morning, we shall manage to get her along a quarter of a mile, and that's an eighth part of the distance." "We shall see," said the mate. "We have had all plain sailing so far." "Yes, but the men get every time more accustomed to the work," said Drew, "and we ought to do more some days." "Of course," said Panton. "My anxiety is about the blacks." Work was resumed then, and by dark they all had the satisfaction of feeling that fully five hundred yards of the long portage had been got over, and, as Oliver said, there was no reason whatever why they should not get on quite as far day by day. There were plenty of rejoicings there that night--"high jinks," Smith called them--but by daylight next morning every man was in his place, and the lugger began to move again. And so matters went on day after day, in a regular, uneventful way. There were tremblings of the earth beneath them, and now and then a sharp cracking, tearing sound, as if some portion of the rocky bed below was splitting suddenly open. At times, too, a heavy report was heard from the direction of the mountain, generally followed by the flight of birds, making in alarm for the south, or the appearance of some little herd of deer, but these matters, like the lurid glow which shone nightly in the clouds above the volcano, had grown so familiar that they ceased to command much attention, and the work went steadily on. It had to be checked, though, from time to time, for there were occasions when difficulties arose as to the proper fixing of the capstan from the want of hold in the rock, or the failing of blocks to which ropes could be secured, necessitating the driving down of crowbars into some crack in the stone. At these times, when Mr Rimmer knew almost at a glance that some hours must elapse before the half-dozen for whom there was room to work would complete their task, advantage was taken of the opportunity for a hunting expedition in the nearest patch of forest, or for a party to go down to the lagoon, cross it to the reef, and spend the time with better or worse luck fishing with lines, or collecting the abundant molluscs which formed a dainty addition to their food. And at last, a month of exactly four weeks from the day they began, the lugger stood up near to the end of the two-mile land voyage, close to the sands, with the cocoa-nut grove beginning on either side, just at the edge of the land which had not been swept by the earthquake wave. That afternoon there was a desperate fight with the soft, yielding sand, into which the well-worn bearers and blocks used under the lugger's keel kept on sinking so deeply that it seemed as if fresh means must be contrived for getting the boat quite to the water's edge. "I'm about done," said Mr Rimmer, as he stood with a huge mallet in his hand; "this sand gives way directly. We shall have to get her back and make for the cocoa-nut trees, but I doubt whether they will bear the strain if we get a cable and blocks at work." "But look here," said Oliver, "I'm not a sailor, but it seems to me--" He stopped short, and Mr Rimmer looked at him smiling, but Oliver remained silent. "He thinks it would be a good plan to put some preserving soap on the lugger," said Panton laughing. "No, I don't," said Oliver, "but I was thinking that it would not be a bad plan to drag the brig's anchor down here, and get it out in the lagoon, and then fix up the capstan on board the lugger and work it there." "No," said the mate, "it would drag her bows down and wedge her more fast." "I had not done," said Oliver. "Well, what would you do then?" asked the mate. "Dig a trench just a little wider than the keel, right away down to the shore, and let the water in at high tide." "It would all soak away." "At first," said Oliver. "After a time it would be half sand, half water, and yielding enough to let the keel go through like a quicksand." "He's right," cried Mr Rimmer, and the men set to work spending two whole days digging what resembled a pretty good ditch in the sand, and leading from the embedded keel right out nearly to the edge of the water. While this was going on one of the brig's anchors was lowered down into the dinghy and laid across a couple of pieces of wood, then, with a couple of planks for the keel to run upon, each being taken up in turn and laid end on to the other, the anchor was got right down to the lagoon, dropped about fifty yards out after being attached to a cable, another was knotted on to this, and again another to the last, and carried through the lugger's bows to where the capstan was fixed. At high tide the little remaining sand was rapidly dug away, and the water began to flow in; the capstan was manned, and a burst of cheering rose; for as fast as the bars could be worked and the cables in turn coiled down, the new boat was drawn through the sand and out till she was head over the anchor, with a clear foot below her keel. "You'd better take command, Mr Lane," said the mate, shaking hands warmly. "I ought to have thought of that, but it was beyond me. There we are, then. Now, all we have to do is to load her up with your treasures and plenty of stores, and then make for some other island, and from one to the other until we can get to a civilised port." "Why not make another lugger, so as to have everything you can belonging to the _Planet_?" "And give you gentlemen more time to collect?" "Exactly." "Well, I don't see why not," said the mate, thoughtfully. "It grieves me to have the good old vessel stranded here with no end of valuable stuff in her; and now that we shall soon have the means of getting away when we like, I think I might as well set the men to work at another." "But you'll get the rigging and stores on board this one first," said Panton. "Of course," replied the mate; "but there is another thing to think of, gentlemen." The others looked at him inquiringly. "When this boat is ready and properly laden, she cannot be left without a crew on board." "On account of the blacks," cried Oliver. "No, it is impossible for her to be left." _ |
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