As an experiment he threw his buoy3 ahead of him by a snap of wrist and forearm, then tried to swim to it. The long yielding growth slid under and around him, but it took all the dash out of his stroke. He pawed his way forward with his arms, legs stretched out idle. A thousand wet sticky fingers dragged their length over his body, retarding4, clogging5, holding him. It left him stranded6 like a bug7 in gelatine. His flesh crawled at this slimy swimming, he shrank from it, and it sapped his heart and strength.
The only stroke possible was the overarm, and his hands fell with a gummy plop instead of the heartsome splash of open water. By the time he reached his buoy and threw it again, he regretted miserably8 that he had not swum the clean water route if it were five miles farther.
By the time he had thrown his buoy twice, he could hardly advance it a yard beyond his reach; finally it simply slushed along the surface. The sun seemed much hotter in this congestion9 than in the open sea.
Behind him came his two men in a queer snakelike procession of plopping buoys10 and wriggling11 bodies. Ahead of them the seaweed stretched, apparently12 all the way to the schooner. As they worked their way through the scum of many seas, the noon sun broiled13 their backs into thin water blisters14, and stewed15 saline odors out of the clammy life about them.
Once Madden's hand struck a yellowish line of algae16 and a score or two of little jelly-like insects writhed17 into the grass below. One of these things touched the swimmer's arm and gave the boy a stinging sensation. He knocked it off desperately18 and pushed on.
Presently his shoulder muscles ached and burned so keenly, he could no longer continue the overarm. Then he took the buoy in both hands, held it straight out, thrust it edge down into the oozy19 substance, used it as a kind of anchor and drew it to him. At first this technique seemed to advance him somewhat, but presently he appeared merely to disturb the viscous21 mass without going forward. He grew acutely discouraged; his back, shoulders, cramped22, ached and burned. The brilliantly lighted schooner seemed to regress as he progressed. The sun was like an auger23 boring into the back of his head. His mind began to wander again, and a sudden fear came on him lest he should go insane out in this horrible slime.
A fiery24 burning on his right foot jerked him back out of his half delirium25, and he knew that an insect of the same kind he had seen a few minutes before had stung him. He kicked it off convulsively, but the thrust of his foot brought a wash of new stings.
All of a sudden, his patience, endurance, pluck seemed to give out. This new torture made him as unreasonably26 frantic27 as a baby. He kicked furiously. He scraped the toe nails of one foot against the flesh of the other leg. As he did so the animalculae settled on the abraded28 skin, like streaks29 of melted steel. The boy doubled up, like a grub worm covered with ants, fighting, scraping, twisting, squirming. He writhed, beat, scratched, this great hundred and sixty pound animal fighting an enemy that would weigh about twenty to the gram.
He heard a shout from Caradoc, a question from Greer, then his insane struggles carried him under the surface of the clammy seaweed. The seaweed, infested30 with stinging insects, closed over his form like a wave of fire.
Only lack of breath stopped Leonard's mad struggles. Bursting lungs and the mere20 necessity to live at last made him disregard the attacks of these wasps31 of the Sargasso. He struck out for the surface again like a diver, reaching up arms, spreading legs with a stroke and a kick. But the gelatinous stuff simply quivered with his struggles and held him firm. He stuck like a fly in mucilage.
The sliminess of the element utterly32 destroyed the mechanics of swimming. A forward stroke in pure water displaces portions of the water and the return stroke sends the body forward. In this mass the forward stroke merely compressed the weed in front of the arm, and left a cavity through which the return stroke received no power.
Madden dared not open his eyes. In fiery blackness he kicked and struck in useless froglike movements. His heart was beating like a trip-hammer in his ears. Streaks of red fire played against the blackness of his eyelids33. He knew that in a few more seconds his straining lungs would gulp34 in the stinging ooze35, he knew his will could not prevent his drawing in some sort of breath.
He clung desperately to the control of his diaphragm, as a falling man clings to a ledge36 of rock. His great chest muscles gave convulsive jerks. His control was going, going.
Suddenly a human hand gripped his wrist. He was jerked upwards37, perhaps a foot. A moment later he was gulping38 in great lungfuls of air.
He had been suffocating39 ten or twelve inches beneath that repulsive40 slime, as securely captured as if he had been a thousand feet deep.
"Steady! Steady!" said Caradoc in a lifeless voice. "Steady there, Madden! Hold him tightly, Greer!"
Greer made some sort of groaning42 reply, when Caradoc snarled44, "Let 'em sting, you scullion! What if they do kill you! Is there any better way to die?"
Madden felt a great pushing and jostling at his body. He raked the seaweed from his face and opened his eyes. The Englishman was shoving fiercely at the American's shoulder, Greer, ahead, pulling at an elbow. The burning insects had swarmed45 on both his rescuers. Caradoc's sun-baked face had a yellowish, bloodless hue46, his lean jaws47 clenched48 under his choppy white mustache. In the midst of his burning pain he held his legs rigid49, pushed Leonard with one hand and pawed furiously through the viscid tangle50 with the other.
The constancy of his companions braced51 Madden like a dash of ice water. His own weakness had brought about this dangerous plight52. The American caught up his buoy, and between great gasps53 of the blessed air, rapped out that he could go by himself, and began making his own way forward.
So the three worked themselves over the oozy bed of fire. The Englishman's arms shot into the slime with the regularity54 of pistons55. He appeared to make no haste, yet he made remarkable56 speed. Only his distended57 nostrils58, pain-tightened mouth, grim eyes, showed that he was in torture.
Even amid his own suffering Leonard felt a thrill of admiration59 for Smith's endurance and working power. He even found time to wonder dimly if Smith's people, that rich, cold, proud family, if they could see their remittance60 man now, would not stoop to claim him as a kinsman61.
All at once the poignant62 and disgusting attack of the insects ceased. A flood of ecstatic relief swept over the adventurers. Without a word, all three quit squirming, caught their floats under their armpits and swung down in a limp luxurious63 rest.
Then they saw a marvelous thing had happened. The same slow swirl64 of the Sargasso current that had closed up their avenue on the west side, had opened another on the east. Their way toward the schooner lay unobstructed.
"We'll be there in fifteen minutes," murmured Leonard weakly.
"When you're ready, say so," said Greer with a frown still lingering on his heavy face.
"What's the matter?" aspirated the American.
"Nothing—weak—don't bother." He closed his eyes, blew out his breath like a sick man. His face was bloodlessly sallow, and Madden could see his grip slipping on the canvas buoy.
"You're all in!" gasped67 Madden in exhausted68 staccato, "I knew you oughtn't to—aren't you about to faint again?"
The Englishman shook his head slightly. "Don't worry," he murmured, then his eyes closed, his hands slipped loose.
With brusque directness, Madden caught the shock of tawny69 hair, jammed Caradoc's chin against the buoy and held him tight with little exertion70 for himself. Smith swung out as awkwardly as a turkey on a chopping block. The water was level with his lips, but his nose did not go under.
"Petered at last," grunted71 Madden, staring at the corpselike face in dull speculation72. "How in the world are we going to get him out of here?"
"I guess we can tow him out, sir," growled73 Greer with dull indifference74. "Mighty75 puny76 chap—always flopping77 over when he's in a tight place."
"Come here, stick his arms through our buoys, put his own under his head!"
The two youths took up their long swim once more. As they moved down the opening, they could see what slow progress they were making. Presently Madden explained in a low whispering tone:
"His heart's bad... can't stand much... poisoned with alcohol."
Another pause filled with slow weary swimming, then Greer said:
"Said I was no gentleman... didn't know a French word... I keep sober."
Madden made no defense79 to this reflection on the unconscious Englishman, but after a while he said:
"We ought to overlook lots in him, Greer—unfortunate fellow... there's good in him, Greer... bad too."
"I've got no call to please you," growled the sailor with astonishing frankness.
"Then why did you come with us?" inquired Madden amazed.
"Wanted to see the schooner."
"And what have I done to you?"
"Called me a thief!" the sailor elevated his dull tone. "After I telegraphed ye about th' men... fought for ye... called me a thief!"
"Was that you tapping on the dock?"
Greer nodded resentfully. "And ye insulted me for it."
"I'm sorry... I was almost wild that night. I'll apologize... before the crew."
"I don't care nothing about that dull English crew." This strange fellow's tone carried in it an illiterate80 man's undying resentment81.
"Since you feel that way," panted Madden at last, "I think I ought to tell you—he took the medicine chest," Leonard nodded at the finely carved motionless face that lay on the float before them.
"Him!" gasped Greer.
Leonard nodded. "He wanted the alcohol in it."
"And you call him a gentleman?"
Leonard nodded again. "Somehow I still call him a gentleman. He's hurt, sick, bruised82, but he's a gentleman."
"Well I don't!"
At that moment, the buoy under Caradoc's head bumped into a wooden wall and upset their swimming arrangements.
They were under the overhang of the mysterious schooner.
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1
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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buoy
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| n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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retarding
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| 使减速( retard的现在分词 )； 妨碍； 阻止； 推迟 | |
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clogging
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| 堵塞，闭合 | |
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stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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bug
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| n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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congestion
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| n.阻塞，消化不良 | |
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buoys
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| n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
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11
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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12
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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13
broiled
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| a.烤过的 | |
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14
blisters
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| n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡 | |
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15
stewed
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| adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧 | |
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algae
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| n.水藻，海藻 | |
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17
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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19
oozy
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| adj.软泥的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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21
viscous
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| adj.粘滞的，粘性的 | |
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cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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auger
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| n.螺丝钻，钻孔机 | |
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24
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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25
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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26
unreasonably
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| adv. 不合理地 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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28
abraded
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| adj.[医]刮擦的v.刮擦( abrade的过去式和过去分词 )；（在精神方面）折磨（人）；消磨（意志、精神等）；使精疲力尽 | |
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29
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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30
infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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31
wasps
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| 黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人 | |
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32
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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33
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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34
gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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35
ooze
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| n.软泥，渗出物；vi.渗出，泄漏；vt.慢慢渗出，流露 | |
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36
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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37
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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38
gulping
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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39
suffocating
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| a.使人窒息的 | |
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40
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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41
wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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42
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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43
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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44
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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45
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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46
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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47
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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48
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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50
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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51
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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52
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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53
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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54
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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55
pistons
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| 活塞( piston的名词复数 ) | |
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56
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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57
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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59
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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60
remittance
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| n.汇款，寄款，汇兑 | |
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61
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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62
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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64
swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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65
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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66
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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67
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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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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69
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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71
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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72
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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73
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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74
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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75
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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77
flopping
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| n.贬调v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的现在分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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78
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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79
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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80
illiterate
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| adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲 | |
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81
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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82
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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