"But where are the people we saw laughing and talking as she went by?" continued she, with a shudder4.
"A good many of them will never laugh and talk any more."
"Hookie!" shouted Sim, as soon as he comprehended the nature of the disaster. "That's wus'n fallin' in the river."[213]
"Get out the sail, Sim!" I added, sharply.
"What you want the sail for?" inquired he. "The wind ain't right for it."
"Up with it, and we will talk about that afterwards."
Letting go the steering5 oar6, I hastened to Sim's assistance, while the raft whirled in the current as she went down the mighty7 river. We hoisted8 the sail, hauled in the braces9, and I took my place on the platform again. After no little labor10 at the steering oar, I succeeded in putting the raft before the wind, thus heading her up the river.
"What are you going to do, Buckland?" asked Flora, who was watching the scene of the accident with the most painful interest.
"Hundreds of those poor people have already perished, and more will be drowned, unless they have some help," I replied, much excited. "I am going to try and get up there, so as to be of some service."
"O, I hope you will! But there are boats out picking them up already," added she, wringing12 her hands, as she realized more vividly13 the nature of the terrible catastrophe14.[214]
"I'm going to do all I can," I replied, thrilled by the exciting scene, which, though a mile distant, we could understand and realize.
I expected the hull15 of the steamer would float down the river with the swift current, bringing with it all its fearful surroundings; but in her haste to outstrip16 her competitor, she had run into the shallow water, and when riven by the explosion, had sunk. The awful scene, therefore, did not come down the stream, as I anticipated. In a few moments, three steamboats, besides the one which had been engaged in the race, were hovering17 about the wreck18, and at least a dozen boats were busy in picking up the sufferers.
I found that it was utterly19 impossible to make any progress against the current with the raft. Though the wind was tolerably fresh from the southward, and the sail drew well, it barely held its own. The wreck and the raft remained about the same distance apart as at the moment of the explosion. But it was a consolation20 to know that our services were not absolutely needed, so abundant was the assistance afforded from the shore, and from the passing steamers.[215]
In a short time parts of the wreck began to come down the river. We picked up a broken door, and other pieces of the wood-work, but nothing of any great value. We kept a sharp lookout21 for any survivors22 who might have been overlooked by the boats about us; but as yet we saw none, or even any who had been killed. Finding we could be of no service, I was about to turn the raft, and resume our voyage, when Flora called my attention to an object floating at some distance from us.
"It's a woman, Buckland!" exclaimed she, clasping my arm with convulsive energy.
"So it is," I replied, with my heart almost in my throat.
We were all too young and inexperienced to behold23 a human being apparently24 at the gates of death without a tremendous sensation of horror.
"Hookie!" gasped25 Sim, after he had gazed an instant at the object, his breath collapsing26 as he uttered the favorite expression.
"Can't you save her?" cried Flora, in trembling tones.
"I will if I can."[216]
"O, do save her. It's terrible."
"She is clinging to a piece of wood, and has her head quite out of water," I added, as I turned the raft.
The unfortunate person was still some distance farther up the stream than the raft. I told Sim to trim the sail, and I hoped to get my clumsy craft in such a position that the current would bring the woman towards it, so that we could intercept27 her.
"Help! Help!" called the sufferer, in faint and fearful tones, as we came nearer to her.
"Hold on a few moments longer," I replied.
"Only a moment," I added.
That moment was a fearfully long one, and at the end of it came failure. The raft disappointed me. The current was bearing the helpless female by it, but not more than fifty feet distant. It might as well have been a mile, so far as our capacity to overcome the space between us was concerned.
"Down with the sail, Sim!" I shouted, sharply.[217]
"Down with it!" I repeated, giving him a kick to sharpen his wits.
He stumbled to the sail; but his fingers were all thumbs, and he could not untie30 the halyard. I was obliged to do it myself, for the sail had filled aback, and it was retarding31 the progress of the raft.
"Help! Save me!" cried the unhappy person again, but fainter than before, as hope appeared to desert her.
"Hold on a moment more!" I shouted to her.
I grasped the steering oar, and vainly struggled to turn the raft, so as to bring it near enough to the sufferer to enable me to haul her on board; but the only effect was to cause it to whirl in the current. Both the woman and our craft were carried along by the stream, fifty feet apart; but neither had the power to approach any nearer to the other.
"I'm sinking!" called the woman, throwing one of her hands up into the air.
"No! Hold on for your life!" I shouted, as loud as I could scream.[218]
My voice had some effect upon her, for she grasped the stick to which she was clinging.
"O, Buckland!" cried Flora, wringing her hands and sobbing32 hysterically33. "Can't you do something?"
"I can, and will!" I replied, with some of the earnestness that thrilled my soul; and I felt that I ought to die myself rather than permit the poor sufferer to perish before my eyes.
"Do!" gasped my poor sister; and I knew she would have sacrificed her precious life to save that of the stranger.
"Come here, Sim!" I called.
My blundering deck hand came promptly34 at my call, and I gave him the steering oar, bidding him keep the raft steady before the current. I took the long lines, which I used as mooring35 ropes, and tied them together, making a cord at least a hundred feet in length. I took off all my clothes but my pants and shirt, and secured the cord around my body, making fast the other end to the raft.
"Sim!" said I, startling him with the sharpness of my tones.[219]
"Mind what you're about!"
"O, yes! I will!"
"When I tell you, let go the oar, and pull in on this rope."
"I'll help him," said Flora.
"Don't you touch the rope, Flora. You may get dragged overboard."
"What shall I do?"
"You may make a fire in the stove, if you can," I answered, wishing to get her out of the reach of danger if I could.
"I will, Buckland;" and she went into the house.
I was a powerful swimmer, and nerved by the peril37 of the stranger in the water, I felt able to do anything. I let myself down into the river, and struck out with all my strength towards the sufferer. The current of the Mississippi is swift and treacherous38. It was the hardest swimming I had ever known; and, dragging the rope after me, I had a fierce struggle to make any progress. In going those fifty feet, it seemed to me that I worked hard enough to accomplish a mile.[220]
I reached the sufferer, and grasped the stick to which she clung. I was nearly exhausted myself by the violence of my efforts. I waited a moment to regain39 my breath, before I attempted to deal with the difficulties of the situation. I glanced at the person for whom I was to struggle. She was not a woman, but a girl of fourteen. She was in a sinking condition, apparently more from the effects of fear than actual suffering, for the stick to which she clung afforded her ample support.
Afraid that the act of hauling us in would detach her from the stick, I grasped it firmly with one hand, and clasped her around the waist with the other. Her frame quivered with the cold and the terror of her situation. As all persons in peril of drowning are apt to do, she was disposed to cling to me.
"Don't be afraid," said I to her. "You are safe now."
"Save me!" gasped she, hardly loud enough to be heard.
"Haul in!" I shouted to Sim.
I felt the rope cutting my waist as Sim jerked [221]and tugged40 at it with all his strength. There was no lack of zeal41 on his part, but if anything had depended upon coolness and skill, we might both have been drowned. I kept a firm hold upon my helpless charge, and managed to keep her head above the water, though my own was dragged under several times by the clumsiness of my willing friend.
Sim pulled and hauled with energy, if not with skill. When he abandoned the steering oar, the raft began to whirl, and thus to complicate42 his labor. I caught a glance of the simple-minded fellow, as the craft turned, and I heard him yell, "Hookie!" He was nonplussed43 by the change of the raft; but he did not know enough to follow it round upon the outside. I am not sure this freak of the current did not save us from a calamity44, for as it revolved45, and the rope became tangled46 in the platform, we were thrown against the raft, thus saving my helpmate half his toil47. Fortunately the end of the stick on which I floated struck the logs first, and broke the force of what might otherwise have been a stunning48 blow.[222]
"Tie the rope, Sim!" I called to my assistant, who was now on the other side of the raft.
"O, Buckland!" cried Flora, as she came out of the house and gazed at me with an expression of intense pain.
"Hookie!" ejaculated Sim, rushing to the point where I had seized hold of the raft.
AFTER THE EXPLOSION.—Page 221.
He stood there, jumping up and down on both feet, bewildered and helpless.
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1
contestants
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| n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 ) | |
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2
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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3
boiler
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| n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等) | |
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4
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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7
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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8
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
braces
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| n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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10
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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11
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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12
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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13
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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15
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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16
outstrip
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| v.超过，跑过 | |
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17
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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18
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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19
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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21
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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22
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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23
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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25
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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26
collapsing
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| 压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂 | |
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27
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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28
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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29
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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30
untie
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| vt.解开，松开；解放 | |
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31
retarding
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| 使减速( retard的现在分词 )； 妨碍； 阻止； 推迟 | |
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32
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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33
hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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34
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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35
mooring
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| n.停泊处；系泊用具，系船具；下锚v.停泊，系泊（船只）(moor的现在分词) | |
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36
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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39
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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40
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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42
complicate
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| vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂 | |
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43
nonplussed
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| adj.不知所措的，陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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45
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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46
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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47
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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48
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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