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Jack at Sea, a novel by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 26. A Poisoned Arrow |
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_ CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. A POISONED ARROW "Better run out toward the reef and approach from that side," said the doctor, after considering for a few moments the difficulties of their position. For they were literally in the dark, and did not know but what they might be running into danger--that from the canoes which must be attacking the crew, or that of getting into their friends' line of fire. As the doctor kept a sharp look-out, he helped to lay the wounded man in a more easy position, and bathed his head and face with the comparatively cool water; but the poor fellow showed no sign of revival, and Jack's face grew more anxious, the doctor's graver and more stern. At the end of a few minutes they had passed out of the smoke cloud, which was still increasing from the firing going on and the fumes rolling out of the funnel, and they could now grasp the position of affairs. The steamer still lay at anchor, and she was engaging half-a-dozen long canoes, whose occupants were raining arrows upon the deck, and every now and then, with terrible temerity, they were paddled rapidly near enough to hurl their spears at any one they could see. "Well, we must risk it, and get on board somehow," said the doctor. "Give way, my lads, and pull for your lives. I'll steer as well under cover as I can. Jack, lad, keep on bathing the poor fellow's face." The men began pulling with all their might, and the nearer they drew to the yacht, naturally the better cover they secured, though, as Jack sat dipping his handkerchief in the sea from time to time, and laying it upon Ned's burning head, he wondered that one or other of the canoes did not come round to meet them and cut them off. Probably they were too much occupied by their own troubles, for, stung at last by the vicious attack into fierce reprisals, the yacht was giving the savages ample proof of her power. "Don't fire at them with rifles," Sir John had said, "it is only slaughtering the poor ignorant wretches. Give them some good sharp lesson that shall teach them to respect an English vessel come upon a peaceful mission." "There is only one, sir," said the captain quietly. "Sink two or three of the canoes with round-shot." "You feel that it is absolutely necessary?" asked Sir John. "So necessary, that if we do not do that they will for certain board us, and as they are about fifty to one, we shall not be here to-morrow to tell the tale." Sir John hesitated no longer, and just as the boat was racing for the yacht, the firing had begun, the former shots having been with blank cartridge, in the vain hope of scaring the enemy away. The boat was now sighted from the yacht's deck, and a faint cheer reached Jack's ears as they sped over the water. But while they were still some three hundred yards from the gangway, one of the great canoes suddenly started away from the others, and with the paddles making the water flash and foam, came round the yacht's bows and made a dash for the solitary little boat to cut her off. "Cease rowing," cried the doctor; but every piece was already charged, and giving the order now for the rifles to be laid ready to seize at a moment's notice, they began pulling now for the yacht's bows. "If they don't give us some help soon from the yacht, Jack," said the doctor rather despondently, "it will go rather badly with us." "Oh, don't say that," cried the boy, whose face was flushed with excitement. "I am compelled to, my lad. If anything happens to me, keep the men rowing for the yacht. They must send help soon." "I don't see them lowering down a boat," replied Jack. "Oughtn't we to fire?" "I'm afraid that it would be no good. But we must not let them master us without striking a blow to save our lives." "Striking a blow to save our lives," thought Jack, as he glanced round him and saw their helpless position, for to have tried to escape by rowing, if they were cut off from the yacht, seemed to be folly. But, as is often the case when things look blackest, a ray of light suddenly gleamed out. There had been no signs of help from the yacht, but all the same those on board had not been neglectful, and as soon as the danger the returning boat ran was seen, Sir John and the captain prepared the needed help. All at once there was a white puff of smoke seen to dart from the yacht's bows. The water close to the middle of the great canoe was sent flying, and as the roar of a gun echoed from the mountain side, the canoe was seen to be cut right in two, and slowly settling down, with half her men in the water. "That was a charge of grape-shot, I know," growled Lenny. "Round-shot wouldn't ha' done it." "Hah!" ejaculated the doctor. "Pull, my lads, as you've never pulled before." The crew gave a cheer, and the cutter almost leaped to their vigorous strokes, every man being now at the oars. A minute or two later they were alongside, having nothing to fear from the half-sunken canoe, whose occupants were struggling to keep themselves afloat till they could urge the portions of the damaged vessel on to the sands. "Quick, all of you," cried the captain, "and look out for the arrows. What! wounded man! Here, two of you." A couple of the crew ran to him, and poor Ned was lifted over the side and borne down into the cabin. "Keep in shelter, Jack, my boy," cried Sir John, as he caught his son's hand. "The arrows are coming in like hail. You are sure you are not wounded?" "Quite, father; I'm all right," said Jack, as he stepped on deck. "Is Edward much hurt?" "Here's Doctor Instow, ask him," said the boy, as the doctor came up out of the boat, the last man but those who were hooking on the falls, to be run up. "Ned? I can't say yet. Don't stop me. I'm not sneaking out of the fight, Meadows. I must go down to the poor lad." "Speared?" "An arrow. For goodness' sake keep in shelter, for I'm afraid they're poisoned." "Glad to see you back safe," cried the captain, hurrying up to him. "I can talk to the miserable wretches now. Hi! there, forward. Come away from those guns. Capstan-bars, all of you. Keep in shelter, and down with every one who tries to get on board; but mind the spears." A few more orders were given, a tub to buoy the cable thrown over the side, and the yacht began to glide steadily with the tide, as the engine clanked, and the motion of the shaft produced its regular vibration through the graceful vessel, with only two men visible to those in the canoes--the captain and the man at the wheel, and they both sheltering themselves from the black marksmen as well as they could, the sailor kneeling on the grating. The savages in three canoes uttered a furious yelling, and plunged their paddles over the sides to attack in front and on both quarters, but one was a little late in crossing the yacht's bows, and the next minute, with full steam ahead, and in obedience to movements of the captain's hands, the sharp prow of the swift vessel struck the sluggish canoe full in the side about 'midships. Then a dull crashing sound, but no perceptible shock. The _Silver Star_ cut the canoe cleanly in two, and the portions of the destroyed vessel floated by on either side, coming in collision with the others, which after closing in with a vain attempt to board, grated against the yacht and were then left far astern. It was all the matter of a minute. A few black heads appeared above the bulwarks, as their owners leaped up and tried to climb on deck, but a sharp blow, rarely repeated, sent them back into the lagoon with a splash, to swim to the floating canoes, and the fight was over, save that an arrow or two came whizzing to stick in the white planks; but the enemy was too much engaged in picking up the swimming warriors to continue their assault. "There," cried the captain, rubbing his hands. "Your men-of-war may carry the biggest guns they like, and their crews may be drilled to the greatest perfection, but to my mind nothing comes up to the management of the craft under a good head of steam. Now, Sir John, shall we give them a few rounds of grape-shot, or let the poor wretches study the lesson they have had?" "No, no," cried Jack eagerly, "they're beaten; let them go." Sir John nodded his approval, saying nothing, for he seemed eager to let his son come well to the front. "Very good," said the captain. "Then I think we'll run outside and lie-to a mile or so beyond the reef, and see what they mean to do, for I suppose you don't want to give up the island to the enemy!" "No, it would be a pity," said Sir John, "just when we are getting on so well. But what do you say, Bradleigh, will not this be a sufficient lesson for them?" "It ought to be, sir; but we are dealing with savages, and I will not venture to say." The steward came hurrying up at that moment, to give a sharp look-out for danger, but seeing the enemy far astern, and the yacht gliding swiftly along toward the open sea, he walked confidently to where the group stood by the wheel. "Doctor Instow would be glad if you would come into the cabin, Sir John." "It's about, Ned," cried Jack. "I'd forgotten him." He ran to the cabin hatch, and Sir John followed quickly. "Hah!" cried the doctor. "I'm glad you've come. He's very bad, Jack. Yes, very bad, Meadows, poor lad." "But from a wound like that?" said Sir John, and he and his son bent over the poor fellow where he lay on one of the cabin settees, with his eyes wide open, and looking very fixed and strange. "Yes, from a wound like that," replied the doctor. "It would be nothing in an ordinary way, but I saved the head of the arrow which passed through his arm, and it and the top of the shaft had been well smeared with some abominable preparation. The poison is affecting his system in a very peculiar manner." "Can he hear what you say?" whispered Jack anxiously. "No; he is quite insensible. He was talking wildly a few minutes ago, but he could not understand a word." "Surely you don't think it will prove fatal?" said Sir John. The doctor was silent. "Oh, Doctor Instow," cried Jack in agony, "this is too terrible. The poor fellow came out for what he looked upon as a pleasure-trip, and now he is like this. Oh, pray do something." "My boy," said the doctor gravely, "I have done everything possible." "But try something else," cried Jack angrily. "I thought doctors could do anything with medicine." "I wish they could," said his father's friend sadly; "but it is at times like this, Jack, we doctors and surgeons find out how small our powers are." "But only this morning he was so happy and full of life and fun," cried Jack, as he sank on his knees by the couch to take the poor fellow's cold hand in his. "It seems too hard to believe. Ned! Ned! you can hear what I say?" There was no reply, and the boy looked wildly from one to the other. "Oh, father," he cried, as he saw their grave looks, "is he dying?" Sir John was silent, and Jack caught at the doctor's hand. "Tell me," he cried. "But it can't be so bad as that. It would be too dreadful for him to die." "He is very bad," said the doctor slowly, "but I have not given up all hope. It is like this, Meadows. The poison is passing through his system, and in my ignorance of what that poison really is, I am so helpless in my attempts to neutralise it. Even if I knew it would be desperate work." "Then you can do nothing?" cried Jack in agony. "I can do little more, my lad, but help him in his struggle against it. The battle is going on between a strong healthy man and the insidious enemy sapping his life. Nature is the great physician here." Jack uttered a piteous groan, and still knelt by the couch, holding the poor fellow's hand, watching every painful breath he drew, and noting the strange change in his countenance, and the peculiar spasms which convulsed him from time to time, but without his being conscious of the pain. As Jack knelt there it seemed to him that it was in a kind of confused dream that he heard his father's questions and the doctor's replies, as, after some ministration or another, they walked to the end of the cabin. Then the captain came down softly. "The enemy's coming out to sea," he said, "and making north; they'll be in a fix if the wind rises, for they are clustering in their canoes like bees. How's the patient?" "Bad," said Sir John. "Tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated the captain. "I am sorry. But you'll pull him through, doctor?" "If I can," said Doctor Instow coldly. "That's right. I have been so full up with my work that I seem to have taken hardly any notice of him. Wound through his arm. You have well cleansed it, of course?" "Of course, and injected things to neutralise the poison." "Ah!" cried the captain, angrily, "it takes all one's sympathy with the miserable savages away when one finds that they fight in so cowardly, so fiendish a fashion. I was ready to be sorry for them when I was crushing their boat. But this makes me feel as if one ought to lose no opportunity for sweeping the venomous wretches off the face of the earth. They have no excuse, you see. It is our lives or theirs. We are inoffensive enough surely; and they would have gained by our presence if they had been friendly. But they're nearly all alike." "Have you seen cases like this before?" asked the doctor. "Oh yes, several." "And after a few hours' struggle the strength of the poison dies out, and the sufferer recovers?" The captain glanced in the direction of Jack, and seeing that his attention was apparently entirely taken up by the sufferer, he said in a low tone--"Yes, sir, the strength of the poison died out, but the wounded man died too;" and every word went through Jack like some keen blade, and for the moment he drew his breath with as much difficulty as the man before him. "In the cases I saw there was no doctor near at hand, and we who attended the poor fellows could do no more than try to draw the poison from the wounds and burn them out. But it seemed to me that the poison acted like the bite, of a snake, and altered the blood, while at last the symptoms were like those I have heard of when the patient has lock-jaw." "Tetanus," said the doctor gravely. "But it can't be so hopeless here. You were with him and attended him from the first." "Yes; I have done all I can for him, poor fellow, and with his fine physique he may fight through it." "Would amputation have saved him?" asked Sir John. "I do not believe it would have had any effect upon a wound like that, even if it had been performed ten minutes after the injury," said the doctor. "The circulation is so rapid that the poison is running through the system at once, and to proceed to such an extremity seems to be giving the patient another terrible shock to fight against when his state is bad enough without." "Then you have done everything you can?" "Everything. He is beyond human aid." _ |
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