This had not proved a difficult task, for some caulking8 was all that was required, but in order to reach the leak they had to lay her on the beach, and Jimmy thought it a desirable opportunity for filling up the water-breakers. Taking them ashore9 in the dory, they carried the small craft up; and after getting the water they set out for a walk across the island, because the sloop would not float until nearly high tide. The island was barren except for a few clumps10 of stunted11 trees, but they enjoyed the ramble12, and were now feeling tired by the unusual exercise, as well as hungry, because they had not troubled about taking any lunch.
Picking a sheltered spot, Bethune lighted his pipe and languidly looked about. Dingy13 clouds were driving across the island, and the leaden water broke with an angry splash among the stones. There had been a light breeze from seaward when they went ashore, but it had changed, and now blew moderately fresh off the land. It was very cold, with a rawness that penetrated14. Bethune shivered.
“We ought to be getting on board,” he said; “but I wish we had a paid crew to carry down the breakers and row us off. And I’d enjoy my supper better if I didn’t have to cook it myself. It’s curious how luxurious16 tastes stick to you.”
“I expect that’s true,” Bethune laughed. “No doubt it depends on the way one is brought up; but you don’t often surprise us with these reflections. Anyway, I can’t help thinking of our opponent sitting at the saloon table on board his yacht with a smart steward18 waiting to bring him what he wants, while we squat19 over our tin plates in the cubby-hole with our knees against the centerboard trunk and our heads among the beams. It’s a painful contrast.”
“The sooner you finish moralizing and make a move, the sooner we’ll get supper,” Jimmy reminded him.
“I wish it was Hank’s turn, only that one doesn’t have much pleasure in eating the stuff he cooks. Still, it will be a comfort to work with the stove upright, and not to have to hold the things on. That’s why I was waiting until the tide lifted her.”
“She’s afloat now,” said Moran.
Bethune, looking up, saw that this was correct, for the sloop’s mast began to move across the rocks in the background. Then there was a rattle20 of chain, and she drifted faster.
“Taking up the slack of her cable,” said Jimmy. “We’d better get on board. I didn’t give her much scope because I wanted to keep her off the stones.”
“Wait until I’ve smoked my pipe out,” Bethune said lazily; and they sat still for a few minutes.
The sloop brought up, sheering to and fro in the eddying21 gusts22. When Moran turned to look at her he jumped up with an exclamation23.
“She’s off again!”
They watched her mast, and saw a gap open between it and a boulder24. It was obvious that she was moving out to sea.
“The wind has changed since we left!” exclaimed Jimmy. “When she swung, she got a turn of her cable round the anchor-fluke and pulled it up.”
“We’d better run for the dory!” Bethune cried, setting off along the shore.
“No use!” Jimmy called after him. “There isn’t time.” He jerked off his heavy sea-boots as he added: “She’s dragging her cable along the bottom now, but it won’t check her long.”
The others saw that he was right. The water got deeper suddenly below the half-tide line, and when the boat had picked up her anchor her progress would be rapid.
“It’s too cold for swimming, and you can’t catch her!” Bethune expostulated breathlessly.
They left him and ran along the beach, stumbling among the stones. It was some distance to the dory, and darkness was coming on. The Cetacea would drift to leeward fast, and they feared that she would be out of sight before they could begin the chase, but they might be in time to pick up their exhausted26 comrade. There was no doubt that he soon would become exhausted, because the water was icy cold, and a short, troubled swell27 worked into the bay. Besides this, the horror of their position lent them speed. It looked as if they would be left without food or shelter from the inclement28 weather on the desolate29 island. They had not even a line to catch fish with, and Bethune remembered that he had only three or four loose matches in his pocket.
He fell into a hollow between two boulders30, hurting his leg, but was up again in a moment, making the best speed he could, with Moran clattering31 among the rocks a yard or two behind. Fortunately, the tide was almost up to the dory when they reached her. Thrusting her off they jumped on board and rowed with savage32 determination, pulling an oar15 each. The light craft lifted her bows and leaped forward in time to their powerful strokes, but a steeper swell was working in against the wind as the tide rose, and the long undulations checked her. Though the air was keen, the sweat dripped from the men as they rowed with throbbing33 hearts and labored34 breath, turning their heads for a glance forward every now and then.
They could not see their comrade, but that was hardly to be expected: a man’s head is a small object to distinguish at a distance in broken water. The Cetacea, however, was still visible, and she did not seem to be much farther offshore35. It was possible that Jimmy had got on board, and that they might overtake her before she felt the full force of the wind. The hope put fresh heart into them, and they strained every muscle to drive the dory faster across the irregular heave.
When Jimmy plunged36 into the icy water he gasped37 as it closed about him. The cold took away his breath and paralyzed his limbs, and he let his feet fall with an unreasoning desire to scramble38 out again. This, however, lasted only for a moment; before he could touch bottom he overcame the impulse, and, throwing his left hand forward, struck out vigorously. His was not a complex character, and his normal frame of mind was practical rather than imaginative, but he had been endowed with certain Spartan39 virtues40. Moreover, he had learned in the sailing ships that what is needful must be done, no matter how the flesh may shrink.
Now, though he could not think collectively, he knew that it was his business to overtake the sloop. He could swim better than either of his comrades, and he set about his task with the unreflecting stubbornness that generally characterized him when an effort must be made. His mind was fixed41 on his object, and not on the risk he ran.
After the first half-minute the shock began to pass, and he suffered less, but he dully realized that he was making very poor progress. His clothing hampered42 him, the swell flung him back, the only thing in his favor was that the ripples43 the wind made ran behind him instead of splashing in his face. He swam with a powerful overhand stroke, but he knew that the Cetacea would drift at double his speed unless he could catch her while she was still in shallow water. When he swung up with the swell she was clearly in sight, but he could not judge whether he was gaining. She was still an alarming distance off, and moving away, but he hoped that the cable might check her, as it trailed along the uneven44 bottom.
But as the moments passed Jimmy began to despair of reaching her. The cold was sapping his vitality45, his legs were getting cramped46, and his breath was failing; but he turned upon his breast and swam on. He must hold out until his strength was spent; besides, he could not make the beach if he turned back. For a while he could not see the boat: his eyes were full of water, for the swell, which was getting steeper, occasionally broke over his head. Indeed, he hardly cared to look and contemplate47 the distance still to be covered. At last, however, when he stopped for a moment and raised his head, hope crept into his heart. The Cetacea was much nearer than he had expected. He must make a last, determined48 effort.
She had swung round, beam to wind, when he feebly clutched her rail amidships. For a few moments he held on; he had now to solve the difficulty of getting on board. As she drifted, his body trailed out away from her, and he could not get his knees against the planking. Even if he were able to do so, he had not the strength to lift himself on deck; and there was no rope hanging over that he could seize. Then he thought of the wire bobstay that ran down from the end of the bowsprit and was fastened to the stem near the waterline. He must try to reach it and climb on that way. He cautiously moved his hands along the rail; for if they slipped off, he might not be able to get hold again.
Foot by foot he worked forward, and, stopping for some moments, tried to get up by the shrouds. He slipped back with only three fingers on the rail, and the risk he had run of letting go altogether unnerved him. He waited until he recovered, and then dragged himself forward, moving one hand over the other a few inches at a time. This was more difficult now, because as the boat’s sheerline rose sharply at the bows he was higher out of the water and there was a greater weight on his arms; but at last he clutched the bowsprit and hung on by it, splashing feebly as he felt for the wire stay with his feet. Now that he was almost in safety, terror seized him. He found the wire, slid his foot along it, and lifting himself to the bowsprit fell forward, limp and inert49, on deck. He lay there for a minute, and then with an effort roused himself, realizing that if he remained much longer he would perish of exhaustion50 and cold.
Staggering aft, he entered the cabin, and pulled off his clothes. There was no liquor on board, but he found some garments which were not very damp, and after trying to rub himself he put them on and munched51 a ship’s biscuit while he did so. Feeling somewhat better after this, he went up on deck, for he must get in the cable and hoist52 some canvas, in order to gain control of the boat, which was fast driving out to sea. When he seized the chain he realized how greatly the swim had exhausted him. It was a heavy cable, but he had often hauled a long scope of it in when the anchor was holding and he had the boat’s resistance to overcome. Now, however, he was beaten when he had laboriously53 pulled up a fathom54 or two. Trying again, he raised a few feet, and then had hard work to secure the chain round the bits.
He sat down to rest a minute, and looked about for the dory. He made her out indistinctly, but she seemed a long distance off, and as the breeze was freshening he did not know whether she could overtake the sloop. By setting some canvas he could pick her up, and the foresail would not be hard to hoist; but the Cetacea would not sail to windward with the heavy cable hanging from her bows. Jimmy remembered that there was a good length of it below; indeed, there might be scope enough to allow him to drop several fathoms55 on the bottom. The weight of this would act as a drag, and might, perhaps, bring her up. It depended on the depth of water.
He let the chain run, and watched it anxiously as it rattled56 out of the pipe. For a time it showed no sign of stopping, and then he felt a thrill as the harsh clanking slackened. The lower end had found bottom; but the vessel57 would soon lift a fathom or two, and he could not tell whether she would stop. The links ran slowly forward in a slanting58 line, and Jimmy saw by the absence of any splashing at the bows that she was still adrift. Then the rattle of the cable recommenced, which showed at least that there was more below, and she slowly stopped. In a few moments he felt her tug59 and strain, and white ripples broke angrily against the planking. She had either stopped or was drifting very slowly. Standing60 up on the cabin top, he waved his jacket that his comrades in the dory might see he was on board, and then went below out of the bitter wind. He could do no more.
It was some time later when the dory struck the side, and Moran clambered on board and entered the cabin. Jimmy could not see his face, but his gruff voice had an unusual tone.
“So was I,” smiled Jimmy. “I was too dead beat to heave the cable when I got on board.”
“Of course,” Moran agreed sympathetically. “Now you lie off and leave things to us.”
Then Bethune came down and let his hand rest for a moment on Jimmy’s shoulder.
“Thanks, old man! Neither Hank nor I could have reached her.”
They were none of them sentimentalists, and Jimmy felt that enough had been said.
“I’m a bit worried about my thick jacket and sea-boots,” he replied. “You see, I’ll need them.”
“That’s so,” said Moran. “As soon as we’ve got sail on her, we’ll pull back and look.”
Jimmy protested. They were tired and hungry, and it would be a hard row to the beach against the rising breeze, but Moran laughed, and Bethune told him to sit still when he would have gone up to help them. He lighted the stove, and when they called him the reefed mainsail was banging overhead, and Bethune was in the dory, while Moran, kneeling under the jib, freed a coil of chain from the fluke of the anchor.
“I guess that’s what made the trouble,” he said. “We won’t be long, and when you have made two or three tacks63 you can show a light.”
He jumped into the dory, and it disappeared into the dark, while Jimmy drove the sloop ahead, close-hauled, until he dimly made out the boulders on a point. Then he came round and stretched along-shore on the other tack62, until he left the helm for a few moments and lighted a lantern. Soon after he had done so he heard a shout and when he hove the boat to there was a splash of oars64. Then the dory emerged from the gloom and Moran, seizing the rail, threw a jacket and pair of long boots on deck.
“Got them all right. They were a fathom from the tide; the beach is pretty steep.”
“I must have had the sense to throw them well back, though I can’t remember it,” Jimmy answered with a laugh.
“We’re going to have a better supper than I thought we would get not long ago,” Bethune remarked as he lifted the dory in; and Jimmy gave the helm to Moran and went below to help in preparing the meal.
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1
sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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buffeted
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| 反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去 | |
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shrouds
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| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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caulking
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| n.堵缝；敛缝；捻缝；压紧v.堵（船的）缝( caulk的现在分词 )；泥…的缝；填塞；使不漏水 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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lobster
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| n.龙虾，龙虾肉 | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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inclement
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| adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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offshore
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| adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面 | |
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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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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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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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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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hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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47
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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51
munched
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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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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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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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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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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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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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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