BAILEY’S den was a particularly well sheltered recess6 in the rock, open to no wind, except a sou’-wester. The wind that blew while Bailey and his guests slumbered7 inside, came from the north-west, and therefore the sleepers8 knew nothing of it. Out in the sea, indeed, the waters felt its power, and the foaming9 waves on the following morning told them the story of the night; but during that night they knew nothing at all about it. Far down the side of the cliff, under the rocky precipice11, out of the way of the wind, the occupants of Bailey’s den slumbered on the soft spruce brush and softer moss12. All night long the fire burned outside, for Bailey had piled up the fuel generously, yet carefully, and had so arranged it, by making alternate layers of green wood and dry, that it would burn all night long, and yet send forth13 sufficient flame to be visible at sea.
Morning came, and the wind and sea had gone down. Upon rising, the denizens of Bailey’s den looked forth upon the water, and saw that it was very much the same as it had been on the preceding day. At this Arthur and Tom shook their heads, but Bailey was sanguine14, and spoke15 encouragingly.
“The wind has hauled round a pint16 or two,” said he, “and I shouldn’t wonder if it was to come round a little more; and if so, it’ll be all right for us. A moderate north or north-east wind’ll be jest the cheese.”
They now replenished17 the fire, after which they sat down to their breakfast.
“So you got all this out of the Petrel,” said Bailey. “Well, only think! Why, what gormandizers them captains an mates in the cabin must be—feedin on potted meats! an only think what we eats before the mast! Hard tack18, salt junk, an dish-water, that’s what we eats before the mast; but aft, my gentlemen won’t be satisfied with nothin less than Yorkshire game pie, and Oxford19 sassage—and, what’s this?—Bolony sassage, an all them other condyments what you’ve got done up in them there tin pots. Wall, they’re precious good eatin on a desert island, whatever they be in a ship’s cabin, only they seem most too good for the likes of me.”
“You?” said Arthur. “Why, you have a better right to them than we have; for we haven’t any right at all. And, as to the Petrel, if you can manage to save her, I hereby agree to deliver up and surrender to you. all my right, title, and interest in and to any part or portion of the so-called salvage20.”
“And I too,” said Tom, chiming in with the utmost gravity; “and hereby make known by these presents, to all whom it may concern, and anything to the contrary hereof in any wise notwithstanding.”
Bailey was evidently much impressed by these legal formulas. He bowed very gravely.
“Your servant, young gents, and my ’umble dooty to both of you; but, at the same time, I don’t want any more’n fair an honest wages, and, if so be as you ain’t in the position to give it, why, well and good, says I; but, if so be as you can, why, I’ll take what’s fair, and right, and lawful22, and no more—”
But at this point this interesting conversation was abruptly24 terminated by a loud cry from Tom. His eyes were fixed25 upon the sea, and were fascinated by something there.
“A sail! a sail!” he cried. “A sail! O, a sail! Look, look, look!”
Arthur and Bailey sprang to their feet, and looked in the direction where Tom was pointing. Tom seized the spy-glass, wrhich they had brought into the den, and examined more closely, while Arthur and Bailey watched the distant sea.
And there, on the distant sea, several miles away, a sail appeared, unmistakably. It was a schooner, and she was not more than five miles away.
“She’s heading away from us,” said Tom; “she’s going away, out to sea.”
“Don’t be too hasty,” said Bailey; “she may p’raps be only beatin up agin this here wrind. It’s a head wind for her.”
“I wish it may turn out so,” said Tom.
They now watched in silence for some time longer. The schooner held on her way steadily26. At length she tacked27, and, wearing round, headed towards the shore.
“I knowed it!” said Bailey, triumphantly28. “She’s a coastin along, and is beatin up agin the wind. Just hand us that there glass for a minute, if you please, and let us git a squint29 at her.”
Tom handed the glass to Bailey, who took it, and looked at the schooner long and carefully.
At length he returned it to Tom. “It’s a fisher,” said he; “a Yankee fisher. I knows the cut of her jib; there’s no mistakin her. You don’t find any of yer Province fishermen git up such a turnout as that there. Why, she’s a cross between the best class of Liverpool pilot-boat and a nobleman’s yacht; and I don’t believe there’s a pilot-boat or a yacht afloat that can lick that there fisherman in a fair race.”
Arthur now took the glass, and looked at her long and earnestly.
“I say, Tom,” said he.
“What?”
“Do you know what I’m thinking?”
“I dare say it’s the very thought that I had.”
“What? The Fawn30?”
“The very thing.”
“Of course it’s all nonsense. I suppose all the Yankee fishermen, or, at any rate, a great many, are just like the Fawn; but, at any rate, wouldn’t it be fun if it should turn out to be her?”
“Well, it’s too much to hope for,” said Tom; “it’ll be fun enough for me if she only takes us off—if she only sees us. Hadn’t we better pile on more fuel, Bailey?”
“No; ’tain’t no use. The fire’s makin as much smoke as it can, an that’s the best thing by daytime. If that there vessel31’s beatin up the coast, she’s bound to see us on the next tack, if she don’t see us now; and it’ll only take three more tacks32 to bring her right opposite—Hallo!”
An abrupt23 exclamation33 terminated Bailey’s remarks. He seized the glass without a word of apology, and took a hasty glance.
“They’re a histin an a lowerin of the flag! They’re a signalizing, as sure as I’m a born sinner! and to us! Hooray!”
This Bailey shouted, quite beside himself, and then dropping the spy-glass, at the imminent34 risk of its destruction, he seized a pole that lay near, and scattered35 the fire about in all directions.
0325
“I’m a tryin to answer their signals,” said he. “They see us! They know that were a signalizin to them, and they’re a tellin us that they’ll be along! Hooray!”
The schooner now tacked, and stood out to sea.
“All right,” said Bailey; “the next tack’ll bring her nearer.”
This reassured36 the boys, who did not like even the appearance of desertion. They watched her now in silence, and at length had the gratification of seeing her taking her next tack, and standing21 in towards the shore. This time she was very much nearer. Bailey rushed off, and gathered a quantity of dry spruce twigs37 and moss. As the schooner neared the shore, her flag rose and fell rapidly, and the report of a rifle sounded over the waters. At this Bailey flung his moss and spruce twigs upon the fire, and a vast cloud of smoke shot up, intermingled with sparks and flame.
“We’re gradooly a comin to a understandin,” said Bailey, as he rubbed his hands in immense glee, and watched the schooner. “And I do believe that the next tack’ll bring her here. Boys, let’s get ready with the boat.”
Saying this, Bailey hurried down, followed by the boys. They hurried as fast as possible to the boat, and began to launch her. As she was uncommonly38 high and dry, this was a work of time; but it was at length accomplished39, and the boat was afloat.
The wind was still off the land, to a certain extent, and the water had become far smoother. Besides, for a quarter of a mile or so from the land, it had never been much affected40 by the wind. They were too eager to wait, and so in a short time the sail was up, and Bailey, at the stern, headed the boat so as to meet the schooner on her return tack. As the wind caught the sail, the boat moved through the water, at first slowly, but gradually more swiftly. While the boat moved out, the schooner seemed to be sailing away, and leaving them behind; but this gave them no trouble, for they knew that before long she would wear round, and come to meet them. And so, with eager eyes, they watched her, and waited impatiently for the moment when she would turn.
Suddenly Arthur gave a cry, and pointed41 down the coast. There, as they looked, to their great amazement42, they saw another sail, far away, emerging from the land, and standing out to sea.
“Wall—this—doos—beat—my—grandmother!” cried Bailey. “Or, in other words, boys, it never rains but it pours. We’ll have the whole fishing fleet yet.”
Arthur and Tom said nothing. Tom seized the glass, and looked for a few minutes. Then he handed it to Arthur in silence.
Arthur looked for some time most earnestly and most curiously43.
“It’s queer!” said he.
“What?” said Tom.
“I don’t believe there’s another vessel in the world like that.”
“Do you think that?” said Tom. “It’s the very idea that I had.”
“What! Not the Antelope?”
“Yes; the Antelope—her own very old self.”
“The Antelope!” cried Bailey. “You don’t mean it. If it is her, then it’s all explained. So he’s come arter you—has he? So that’s it. Wal, it’s the least he could do, arter gittin you into such a precious scrape.”
“O, it’s only a fancy. It mayn’t be her, after all.”
“O, but to my mind, it’s more likely to be her than any one else. No one but a friend, in search of a friend, would ever think of beatin up this here way along the coast of Anticosti. That’s my idee.” This assurance of Bailey’s tended to strengthen the idea which the boys had formed. After all, it was not impossible; nay44, they thought it was not even improbable; for had they not been on the lookout45 for this very Antelope? and what vessel was more likely to come after them than this one? and why should she not come even to Anticosti?
“There she comes!” cried Bailey.
It was the fishing schooner. She was tacking46. She wore round easily and gracefully48, and headed straight towards them. They saw her draw nearer and nearer every moment, her bows rising, and tossing the water aside in showers of spray. They also stood boldly out now, for Bailey was at the helm, and was a far different sailor from Arthur or Tom. The little boat plunged49 soon into the rough water, and occasionally a torrent50 of foam10 dashed on board; but this was nothing, for all their eyes and all their thoughts were centred upon the approaching schooner.
At length they met—the schooner driving through the sea under a cloud of canvas. There was a man at the bow—a well-known form—the form of Captain Tobias Ferguson. The graceful47 Fawn wore round; the boat came up; a line was thrown, and Bailey seized it. The boys clambered up her sides, and the instant they reached her deck, they found themselves seized by Ferguson, who said, in a voice broken by agitation,—“Hooray! We’ve got—we’ve got you—at—at last! Where are the others? Why didn’t they come off too?”
“All right,” said Arthur. “They are all safe in a cove3 about twenty miles west of this.”
Then followed a torrent of questions from Ferguson, which the boys answered. Their answers brought peace to his soul, for it appeared that he had been full of terror at the coming of these two, and two only, and had feared that they were bringing some disastrous51 tidings about the others.
The boat was towed astern. Bailey was welcomed right royally, as was befitting one whom the boys introduced as their friend. At length the mind of Captain Tobias Ferguson was at rest; and the Fawn, rounding on another tack, stood out to sea, on her way towards the cove, where the rest of the party were encamped.
“But you haven’t told us how you heard about us,” said Arthur, as soon as he had a chance to ask a question.
Ferguson seized his arm, and pointed over the water to the sail that Arthur and Tom had already noticed.
“Do you see that?”
“Yes; that schooner?”
“No; that tub, that wash-basin, that horse-trough, anything but a schooner. Well, do you know what that is?”
“The Antelope?” suggested Tom.
“Yes; that’s what she is called by her commander—that old woman, Mrs. Corbet, Mrs. Captain Corbet—old woman! Why, I can find fifty old women down our way that would take better care of a vessel than him—her, I mean. Well, boys, I was at Magdalen Islands when Mrs. Corbet came there in her wash-tub. I felt uneasy about you; knew something had happened; asked him—her, I mean—all about it; but Mrs. Corbet wouldn’t answer. Well, I followed her. I was bound to see what had become of you. And where do you think that old woman went? Where? Why, to Miramichi! Well, I followed her there and back, and come up to her, to find her in the middle of the Gulf52 of St. Lawrence, at her wit’s end; for she had come there thinking that you would be anchored there, and waiting for her. Now, what do you think of that for an Old Woman?”
The boys were very much surprised at this, and questioned him more closely. At first they thought that he was too hard on the venerable captain; but when they learned how the venerable captain had actually gone all the way to Miramichi, leaving them in their perilous53 position, they thought that the V. C., aforesaid, had gone too far, and that he merited all the contumely which Ferguson heaped so lavishly54 upon him.
“Anybody else,” he continued,—“anybody else but me, Tobias Ferguson, would simply have gone mad at trying to keep that old woman and her tub in sight. It’s taken two days to do what might have been done in one. I’ve sailed back a dozen times to keep her in sight; and look at her now! There she is, losing as much as she gains at every tack; standing still, as I’m a living sinner. I sailed off, that very day I was telling you about, for Anticosti, and got to East Point. There I waited for Mrs. Corbet, inspecting the coast at odd times, and it was nearly the end of the next day before she came up; and even then I had to sail back ever so far to find her. Then we began to beat up along the coast, against the wind, watching all the time, not only the shore, but Mrs. Corbet. And there she is! At any rate, I won’t bother about her any longer. I’ll hurry up to the cove to get the rest of the boys, and let Mrs. Corbet come along as well as her venerable limbs’ll carry her.”
“But how did you know so well that we had drifted to Anticosti?”
“Well, for various reasons. Partly because I found out from Mrs. Corbet all about her crazy experiment at anchoring the ship; partly because I understood the general set of the tide; partly because I knew how the wind had been; but chiefly, I may say, because I had a presentiment55 all along that you were bound to get ashore56 on the worst place in all the gulf; which was Anticosti, and no other place. I knowed it. I was sure of it.”
Meanwhile the Fawn was careering through the waters. The boys had no regret at leaving Bailey’s den, even though a number of cans of meat had been left behind. Bailey was on the broad grin, and felt no homesickness whatever. Arthur and Tom could not help contrasting the Fawn with the Antelope, greatly to the disadvantage of the latter, and began to think that in choosing Captain Corbet for their guide, they had made a mistake. But all these thoughts were swallowed up in the one great thought of the deliverance which they were bringing to their friends in the cove—a deliverance so much better than anything which they had hoped for, since it was in the form of old familiar friends, and not through the medium of strangers. Even the Antelope, and the much-maligned Corbet, as they followed far behind, seemed like additional elements in their joy.
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1
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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8
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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9
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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11
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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13
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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14
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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15
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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16
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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replenished
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| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
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tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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salvage
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| v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救 | |
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21
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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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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tacked
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| 用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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squint
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| v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的 | |
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fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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tacks
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| 大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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41
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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42
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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44
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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45
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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46
tacking
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| （帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉 | |
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47
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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48
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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49
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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50
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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51
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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52
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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53
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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54
lavishly
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| adv.慷慨地，大方地 | |
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55
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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56
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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