To Carroll's delight, Orde returned unexpectedly from the woods late that night. He was so busy these days that she welcomed any chance to see him. Much to his disappointment, Bobby had been taken duck-hunting by his old friend, Mr. Kincaid. Next morning, however, Orde told Carroll his stay would be short and that his day would be occupied.
"I'd take old Prince and get some air," he advised. "You're too much indoors. Get some friend and drive around. It's fine and blowy out, and you'll get some colour in your cheeks."
After breakfast Carroll accompanied her husband to the front door. When they opened it a blast of air rushed in, whirling some dead leaves with it.
"I guess the fine weather's over," said Orde, looking up at the sky.
A dull lead colour had succeeded the soft gray of the preceding balmy days. The heavens seemed to have settled down closer to the earth. A rising wind whistled through the branches of the big maple1 trees, snatching the remaining leaves in handfuls and tossing them into the air. The tops swayed like whips. Whirlwinds scurried2 among the piles of dead leaves on the lawns, scattering3 them, chasing them madly around and around in circles.
"B-r-r-r!" shivered Carroll. "Winter's coming."
She kept herself busy about the house all the morning; ate her lunch in solitude5. Outside, the fierce wind, rising in a crescendo6 shriek7, howled around the eaves. The day darkened, but no rain fell. At last Carroll resolved to take her husband's advice. She stopped for Mina Heinzman, and the two walked around to the stable, where the men harnessed old Prince into the phaeton.
They drove, the wind at their backs, across the drawbridge, past the ship-yards, and out beyond the mills to the Marsh8 Road. There, on either side the causeway, miles and miles of cat-tails and reeds bent9 and recovered under the snatches of the wind. Here and there showed glimpses of ponds or little inlets, the surface of the water ruffled10 and dark blue. Occasionally one of these bayous swung in across the road. Then the two girls could see plainly the fan-like cat's-paws skittering here and there as though panic-stricken by the swooping11, invisible monster that pursued them.
Carroll and Mina Heinzman had a good time. They liked each other very much, and always saw a great deal to laugh at in the things about them and in the subjects about which they talked. When, however, they turned toward home, they were forced silent by the mighty12 power of the wind against them. The tears ran from their eyes as though they were crying; they had to lower their heads. Hardly could Carroll command vision clear enough to see the road along which she was driving. This was really unnecessary, for Prince was buffeted13 to a walk. Thus they crawled along until they reached the turn-bridge, where the right-angled change in direction gave them relief. The river was full of choppy waves, considerable in size. As they crossed, the SPRITE darted14 beneath them, lowering her smokestack as she went under the bridge.
They entered Main Street, where was a great banging and clanging of swinging signs and a few loose shutters16. All the sidewalk displays of vegetables and other goods had been taken in, and the doors, customarily wide open, were now shut fast. This alone lent to the street quite a deserted17 air, which was emphasised by the fact that actually not a rig of any sort stood at the curbs18. Up the empty roadway whirled one after the other clouds of dust hurried by the wind.
"I wonder where all the farmers' wagons19 are?" marvelled20 the practical Mina. "Surely they would not stay home Saturday afternoon just for this wind!"
Opposite Randall's hardware store her curiosity quite mastered her.
"Do stop!" she urged Carroll. "I want to run in and see what's the matter."
She was gone but a moment, and returned, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Oh, Carroll!" she cried, "there are three vessels22 gone ashore23 off the piers24. Everybody's gone to see."
"Jump in!" said Carroll. "We'll drive out. Perhaps they'll get out the life-saving crew."
They drove up the plank26 road over the sand-hill, through the beech27 woods, to the bluff28 above the shore. In the woods they were somewhat sheltered from the wind, although even there the crash of falling branches and the whirl of twigs29 and dead leaves advertised that the powers of the air were abroad; but when they topped the last rise, the unobstructed blast from the open Lake hit them square between the eyes.
Probably a hundred vehicles of all descriptions were hitched30 to trees just within the fringe of woods. Carroll, however, drove straight ahead until Prince stood at the top of the plank road that led down to the bath houses. Here she pulled up.
Carroll saw the lake, slate31 blue and angry, with white-capped billows to the limit of vision. Along the shore were rows and rows of breakers, leaping, breaking, and gathering32 again, until they were lost in a tumble of white foam33 that rushed and receded34 on the sands. These did not look to be very large until she noticed the twin piers reaching out from the river's mouth. Each billow, as it came in, rose sullenly35 above them, broke tempestuously37 to overwhelm the entire structure of their ends, and ripped inshore along their lengths, the crest38 submerging as it ran every foot of the massive structures. The piers and the light-houses at their ends looked like little toys, and the compact black crowd of people on the shore below were as small as Bobby's tin soldiers.
"Look there--out farther!" pointed39 Mina.
Carroll looked, and rose to her feet in excitement.
Three little toy ships--or so they seemed compared to the mountains of water--lay broadside-to, just inside the farthest line of breakers. Two were sailing schooners40. These had been thrown on their beam ends, their masts pointing at an angle toward the beach. Each wave, as it reached, stirred them a trifle, then broke in a deluge42 of water that for a moment covered their hulls43 completely from sight. With a mighty suction the billow drained away, carrying with it wreckage45. The third vessel21 was a steam barge47. She, too, was broadside to the seas, but had caught in some hole in the bar so that she lay far down by the head. The shoreward side of her upper works had, for some freakish reason, given away first, so now the interior of her staterooms and saloons was exposed to view as in the cross-section of a model ship. Over her, too, the great waves hurled48 themselves, each carrying away its spoil. To Carroll it seemed fantastically as though the barge were made of sugar, and that each sea melted her precisely49 as Bobby loved to melt the lump in his chocolate by raising and lowering it in a spoon.
And the queer part of it all was that these waves, so mighty in their effects, appeared to the woman no different from those she had often watched in the light summer blows that for a few hours raise the "white caps" on the lake. They came in from the open in the same swift yet deliberate ranks; they gathered with the same leisurely50 pauses; they broke with the same rush and roar. They seemed no larger, but everything else had been struck small--the tiny ships, the toy piers, the ant-like swarm51 of people on the shore. She looked on it as a spectacle. It had as yet no human significance.
"Poor fellows!" cried Mina.
"What?" asked Carroll.
"Don't you see them?" queried52 the other.
Carroll looked, and in the rigging of the schooner41 she made out a number of black objects.
"Are those men?--up the masts?" she cried.
She set Prince in motion toward the beach.
At the foot of the bluff the plank road ran out into the deep sand. Through this the phaeton made its way heavily. The fine particles were blown in the air like a spray, mingling53 with the spume from the lake, stinging Carroll's face like so many needles. Already the beach was strewn with pieces of wreckage, some of it cast high above the wash, others still thrown up and sucked back by each wave, others again rising and falling in the billows. This wreckage constituted a miscellaneous jumble54, although most of it was lumber55 from the deck-loads of the vessels. Intermingled with the split and broken yellow boards were bits of carving56 and of painted wood. Carroll saw one piece half buried in the sand which bore in gilt57 two huge letters, A R. A little farther, bent and twisted, projected the ornamental58 spear which had pointed the way before the steamer's bow. Portions of the usual miscellaneous freight cargo59 carried on every voyage were scattered60 along the shore--boxes, barrels, and crates61. Five or six men had rolled a whisky barrel beyond the reach of the water, had broached62 it, and now were drinking in turn from a broken and dingy63 fragment of a beer-schooner. They were very dirty; their hair had fallen over their eyes, which were bloodshot; the expression of their faces was imbecile. As the phaeton passed, they hailed its occupants in thick voices, shouting against the wind maudlin64 invitations to drink.
The crowd gathered at the pier25 comprised fully65 half the population of Monrovia. It centred about the life saving crew, whose mortar66 was being loaded. A stove-in lifeboat mutely attested67 the failure of other efforts. The men worked busily, ramming68 home the powder sack, placing the projectile69 with the light line attached, attending that the reel ran freely. Their chief watched the seas and winds through his glasses. When the preparations were finished, he adjusted the mortar, and pulled the string. Carroll had seen this done in practice. Now, with the recollection of that experience in mind, she was astonished at the feeble report of the piece, and its freedom from the dense70 white clouds of smoke that should have enveloped71 it. The wind snatched both noise and vapour away almost as soon as they were born. The dart15 with its trailer of line rose on a long graceful72 curve. The reel sang. Every member of the crowd unconsciously leaned forward in attention. But the resistance of the wind and the line early made itself felt. Slower and slower hummed the reel. There came a time when the missile seemed to hesitate, then fairly to stand in equilibrium73. Finally, in an increasingly abrupt74 curve, it descended75 into the sea. By a good three hundred yards the shot had failed to carry the line over the vessels.
"There's Mr. Bradford," said Carroll, waving her hand. "I wish he'd come and tell us something about it."
The banjo-playing village Brummell saw the signal and came, his face grave.
"Couldn't they get the lifeboats out to them?" asked Carroll as he approached.
"You see that one," said Bradford, pointing. "Well, the other's in kindling76 wood farther up the beach."
"Anybody drowned?" asked Mina quickly.
"No, we got 'em out. Mr. Cam's shoulder is broken." He glanced down at himself comically, and the girls for the first time noticed that beneath the heavy overcoat his garments were dripping.
"But surely they'll never get a line over with the mortar!" said Carroll. "That last shot fell so far short!"
"They know it. They've shot a dozen times. Might as well do something."
"I should think," said Mina, "that they'd shoot from the end of the pier. They'd be ever so much nearer."
"Tried it," replied Bradford succinctly77. "Nearly lost the whole business."
Nobody said anything for some time, but all looked helplessly to where the vessels--from this elevation78 insignificant79 among the tumbling waters--were pounding to pieces.
At this moment from the river a trail of black smoke became visible over the point of sand-hill that ran down to the pier. A smokestack darted into view, slowed down, and came to rest well inside the river-channel. There it rose and fell regularly under the influence of the swell80 that swung in from the lake. The crowd uttered a cheer, and streamed in the direction of the smokestack.
"Come and see what's up," suggested Bradford.
He hitched Prince to a log sticking up at an angle from the sand, and led the way to the pier.
There they had difficulty in getting close enough to see; but Bradford, preceding the two women, succeeded by patience and diplomacy81 in forcing a way. The SPRITE was lying close under the pier, the top of her pilot-house just about level with the feet of the people watching her. She rose and fell with the restless waters. Fat rope-yarn bumpers82 interposed between her sides and the piling. The pilot-house was empty, but Harvey, the negro engineer, leaned, elbows crossed against the sill of his little square door, smoking his pipe.
"I wouldn't go out there for a million dollars!" cried a man excitedly to Carroll and Bradford. "Nothing on earth could live in that sea! Nothing! I've run a tug83 myself in my time, and I know what I'm talking about!"
"What are they going to do?" asked Carroll.
"Haven't you heard!" cried the other, turning to her. "Where you been? This is one of Orde's tugs84, and she's going to try to get a line to them vessels. But I wouldn't--"
Bradford did not wait for him to finish. He turned abruptly85, and with an air of authority brushed toward the tug, followed closely by Carroll and Mina. At the edge of the pier was the tug's captain, Marsh, listening to earnest expostulation by a half-dozen of the leading men of the town, among whom were both Newmark and Orde.
As the three came within earshot Captain Marsh spit forth86 the stump87 of cigar he had been chewing.
"Gentlemen," said he crisply, "that isn't the question. I think I can do it; and I'm entirely88 willing to take all personal risks. The thing is hazardous89 and it's Mr. Orde's tug. It's for him to say whether he wants to risk her."
"Good Lord, man, what's the tug in a case like this!" cried Orde, who was standing90 near. Carroll looked at him proudly, but she did not attempt to make her presence known.
"I thought so," replied Captain Marsh. "So it's settled. I'll take her out, if I can get a crew. Harvey, step up here!"
The engineer slowly hoisted91 his long figure through the breast-high doorway92, dragged his legs under him, then with extraordinary agility93 swung to the pier, his teeth shining like ivory in his black face.
"Yas, suh!" said he.
"Harvey," said Captain Marsh briskly, "we're going to try to get a line aboard those vessels out there. It's dangerous. You don't have to go if you don't want to. Will you go?"
Harvey removed his cap and scratched his wool. The grin faded from his good-natured countenance94.
"You-all goin', suh?" he asked.
"Of course."
"I reckon I'll done haif to go, too," said Harvey simply. Without further word he swung lightly back to the uneasy craft below him, and began to toss the slabs95 from the deck into the hold.
"I want a man with me at the wheel, two to handle the lines, and one to fire for Harvey," said Captain Marsh to the crowd in general.
"That's our job," announced the life-saving captain.
"Well, come on then. No use in delay," said Captain Marsh.
The four men from the life-saving service dropped aboard. The five then went over the tug from stem to stern, tossing aside all movables, and lashing96 tight all essentials. From the pilot-house Captain Marsh distributed life preservers. Harvey declined his.
"Whaf-for I want dat?" he inquired. "Lots of good he gwine do me down here!"
Then all hatches were battened down. Captain Marsh reached up to shake the hand which Orde, stooping, offered him.
"I'll try to bring her back all right, sir," said he.
"To hell with the tug!" cried Orde, impatient at this insistence97 on the mere98 property aspect. "Bring yourself back."
Captain Marsh deliberately99 lit another cigar and entered the pilot-house with the other men.
"Cast off!" he cried; and the silent crowd heard clearly the single sharp bell ringing for attention, and then the "jangler" that called for full speed ahead. Awed100, they watched the tiny sturdy craft move out into the stream and point to the fury of the open lake.
"Brave chaps! Brave chaps!" said Dr. McMullen to Carroll as they turned away. The physician drew his tall slender figure to its height. "Brave chaps, every one of them. But, do you know, to my mind, the bravest of them all are that nigger--and his fireman--nailed down in the hold where they can't see nor know what's going on, and if--if--" the good doctor blew his nose vigorously five or six times--"well, it's just like a rat in a hole." He shook his head vigorously and looked out to sea. "I read last evening, sir," said he to Bradford, "in a blasted fool medical journal I take, that the race is degenerating101. Good God!"
The tug had rounded the end of the pier. The first of her thousand enemies, sweeping102 in from the open, had struck her fair. A great sheet of white water, slanting103 back and up, shot with terrific impact against the house and beyond. For an instant the little craft seemed buried; but almost immediately the gleam of her black hull44 showed her plunging104 forward dauntlessly.
"That's nothin'!" said the tug captain who had first spoken. "Wait 'til she gets outside!" The watchers streamed down from the pier for a better view. Carroll and Miss Heinzman followed. They saw the staunch little craft drive into three big seas, each of which appeared to bury her completely, save for her upper works. She managed, however, to keep her headway.
"She can stand that, all right," said one of the life-saving crew who had been watching her critically. "The trouble will come when she drops down to the vessels."
In spite of the heavy smashing of head-on seas the SPRITE held her course straight out.
"Where's she going, anyway?" marvelled little Mr. Smith, the stationer. "She's away beyond the wrecks105 already."
"Probably Marsh has found the seas heavier than he thought and is afraid to turn her broadside," guessed his companion.
"Afraid, hell!" snorted a riverman who overheard.
Nevertheless the SPRITE was now so distant that the loom106 of the great seas on the horizon swallowed her from view, save when she rose on the crest of some mighty billow.
"Well, what is he doing 'way out there then?" challenged Mr. Smith's friend with some asperity107.
"Do'no," replied the riverman, "but whatever it is, it's all right as long as Buck108 Marsh is at the wheel."
"There, she's turned now," Mr. Smith interposed.
Beneath the trail of black smoke she had shifted direction. And then with startling swiftness the SPRITE darted out of the horizon into full view. For the first time the spectators realised the size and weight of the seas. Not even the sullen36 pounding to pieces of the vessels on the bar had so impressed them as the sight of the tug coasting with railroad speed down the rush of a comber like a child's toy-boat in the surf. One moment the whole of her deck was visible as she was borne with the wave; the next her bow alone showed high as the back suction caught her and dragged her from the crest into the hollow. A sea rose behind. Nothing of the tug was to be seen. It seemed that no power or skill could prevent her feeling overwhelmed. Yet somehow always she staggered out of the gulf109 until she caught the force of the billow and was again cast forward like a chip.
"Maybe they ain't catchin' p'ticular hell at that wheel to hold her from yawing!" muttered the tug captain to his neighbour, who happened to be Mr. Duncan, the minister.
Almost before Carroll had time to see that the little craft was coming in, she had arrived at the outer line of breakers. Here the combers, dragged by the bar underneath110, crested111, curled over, and fell with a roar, just as in milder weather the surf breaks on the beach. When the SPRITE rushed at this outer line of white-water, a woman in the crowd screamed.
But at the edge of destruction the SPRITE came to a shuddering112 stop. Her powerful propellers113 had been set to the reverse. They could not hold her against the forward fling of the water, but what she lost thus she regained114 on the seaward slopes of the waves and in their hollows. Thus she hovered115 on the edge of the breakers, awaiting her chance.
As long as the seas rolled in steadily116, and nothing broke, she was safe. But if one of the waves should happen to crest and break, as many of them did, the weight of water catching117 the tug on her flat, broad stern deck would indubitably bury her. The situation was awful in its extreme simplicity118. Would Captain Marsh see his opportunity before the law of chances would bring along the wave that would overwhelm him?
A realisation of the crisis came to the crowd on the beach. At once the terrible strain of suspense119 tugged120 at their souls. Each conducted himself according to his nature. The hardy121 men of the river and the woods set their teeth until the cheek muscles turned white, and blasphemed softly and steadily. Two or three of the townsmen walked up and down the space of a dozen feet. One, the woman who had screamed, prayed aloud in short hysterical122 sentences.
"O God! Save them, O Lord! O Lord!"
Orde stood on top of a half-buried log, his hat in his hand, his entire being concentrated on the manoeuvre123 being executed. Only Newmark apparently124 remained as calm as ever, leaning against an upright timber, his arms folded, and an unlighted cigar as usual between his lips.
Methodically every few moments he removed his eyeglasses and wiped the lenses free of spray.
Suddenly, without warning, occurred one of those inexplicable125 lulls127 that interpose often amid the wildest uproars128. For the briefest instant other sounds than the roar of the wind and surf were permitted the multitude on the beach. They heard the grinding of timbers from the stricken ships, and the draining away of waters. And distinctly they heard the faint, far tinkle129 of the jangler calling again for "full speed ahead."
Between two waves the SPRITE darted forward directly for the nearest of the wrecks. Straight as an arrow's flight she held until from the crowd went up a groan130.
"She'll collide!" some one put it into words.
But at the latest moment the tug swerved131, raced past, and turned on a long diagonal across the end of the bar toward the piers.
Captain Marsh had chosen his moment with exactitude. To the utmost he had taken advantage of the brief lull126 of jumbled132 seas after the "three largest waves" had swept by. Yet in shallow water and with the strong inshore set, even that lull was all too short. The SPRITE was staggered by the buffets133 of the smaller breakers; her speed was checked, her stern was dragged around. For an instant it seemed that the back suction would hold her in its grip. She tore herself from the grasp of the current. Enveloped in a blinding hail of spray she struggled desperately134 to extricate135 herself from the maelstrom136 in which she was involved before the resumption of the larger seas should roll her over and over to destruction.
Already these larger seas were racing137 in from the open. To Carroll, watching breathless and wide-eyed in that strange passive and receptive state peculiar138 to imaginative natures, they seemed alive. And the SPRITE, too, appeared to be, not a fabric139 and a mechanism140 controlled by men, but a sentient141 creature struggling gallantly142 on her own volition143.
Far out in the lake against the tumbling horizon she saw heave up for a second the shoulder of a mighty wave. And instinctively144 she perceived this wave as a deadly enemy of the little tug, and saw it bending all its great energies to hurrying in on time to catch the victim before it could escape. To this wave she gave all her attention, watching for it after it had sunk momentarily below its fellows, recognising it instantly as it rose again. The spasms145 of dismay and relief among the crowd about her she did not share at all. The crises they indicated did not exist for her. Until the wave came in, Carroll knew, the SPRITE, no matter how battered146 and tossed, would be safe. Her whole being was concentrated in a continually shifting calculation of the respective distances between the tug and the piers, the tug and the relentlessly147 advancing wave.
"Oh, go!" she exhorted148 the SPRITE under her breath.
Then the crowd, too, caught with its slower perceptions the import of the wave. Carroll felt the electric thrill of apprehension149 shiver through it. Huge and towering, green and flecked with foam the wave came on now calmly and deliberately as though sure. The SPRITE was off the end of the pier when the wave lifted her, just in the position her enemy would have selected to crush her life out against the cribs. Slowly the tug rose against its shoulder, was lifted onward150, poised151; and then with a swift forward thrust the wave broke, smothering153 the pier and lighthouse beneath tons of water.
A low, agonised wail154 broke from the crowd. And then--and then--over beyond the pier down which the wave, broken and spent but formidable still, was ripping its way, they saw gliding155 a battered black stack from which still poured defiantly156 clouds of gray smoke.
For ten seconds the spectators could not believe their eyes. They had distinctly seen the SPRITE caught between a resistless wall of water and the pier; where she should have been crushed like the proverbial egg-shell. Yet there she was--or her ghost.
Then a great cheer rose up against the wind. The crowd went crazy. Mere acquaintances hugged each other and danced around and around through the heavy sands. Several women had hysterics. The riverman next to Mr. Duncan opened his mouth and swore so picturesquely157 that, as he afterward159 told his chum, "I must've been plumb160 inspired for the occasion." Yet it never entered Mr. Duncan's ministerial head to reprove the blasphemy161. Orde jumped down from his half-buried log and clapped his hat on his head. Newmark did not alter his attitude nor his expression.
The SPRITE was safe. For the few moments before she glided162 the length of the long pier to stiller water this fact sufficed.
"I wonder if she got the line aboard," speculated the tug-boat captain at last.
The crowd surged over to the piers again. Below them rose and fell the SPRITE. All the fancy scroll-work of her upper works, the cornice of her deck house, the light rigging of her cabin had disappeared, leaving raw and splintered wood to mark their attachments163. The tall smokestack was bent awry164, but its supports had held, which was fortunate since otherwise the fires would have been drowned out. At the moment, Captain Marsh was bending over examining a bad break in the overhang--the only material damage the tug had sustained.
At sight of him the crowd set up a yell. He paid no attention. One of the life-saving men tossed a mooring165 line ashore. It was seized by a dozen men. Then for the first time somebody noticed that although the tug had come to a standstill, her screw was still turning slowly over and over, holding her against the erratic166 strong jerking of a slender rope that ran through her stern chocks and into the water.
"He got it aboard!" yelled the man, pointing.
Another cheer broke out. The life-saving crew leaped to the deck. They were immediately followed by a crowd of enthusiasts167 eager to congratulate and question. But Captain Marsh would have none of them.
"Get off my tug!" he shouted. "Do you want to swamp her? What do you suppose we put that line aboard for? Fun? Get busy and use it! Rescue that crew now!"
Abashed168, the enthusiasts scrambled169 back. The life-saving crew took charge. It was necessary to pass the line around the end of the pier and back to the beach. This was a dangerous job, and one requiring considerable power and ingenuity170, for the strain on the line imposed by the waters was terrific; and the breaking seas rendered work on the piers extremely hazardous. However, the life-saving captain took charge confidently enough. His crew began to struggle out the pier, while volunteers, under his personal direction, manipulated the reel.
A number of the curious lingered about the SPRITE. Marsh and Orde were in consultation171 over the smashed stern, and did not look as though they cared to be disturbed. Harvey leaned out his little square door.
"Don' know nuffin 'bout4 it," said he, "'ceptin' she done rolled 'way over 'bout foh times. Yass she did, suh! I know. I felt her doin' it."
"No," he answered a query172. "I wasn't what you-all would call scairt, that is, not really SCAIRT--jess a little ne'vous. All I had to do was to feed her slabs and listen foh my bell. You see, Cap'n Ma'sh, he was in cha'ge."
"No, sir," Captain Marsh was saying emphatically to his employer. "I can't figure it out except on one thing. You see it's stove from UNDERNEATH. A sea would have smashed it from above."
"Perhaps you grounded in between seas out there," suggested Orde.
Marsh smiled grimly.
"I reckon I'd have known it," said he. "No, sir! It sounds wild, but it's the only possible guess. That last sea must've lifted us bodily right over the corner of the pier."
"Well--maybe," assented173 Orde doubtfully.
"Sure thing," repeated Marsh with conviction.
"Well, you'd better not tell 'em so unless you want to rank in with Old Man Ananias," ended Orde. "It was a good job. Pretty dusty out there, wasn't it?"
"Pretty dusty," grinned Marsh.
They turned away together and were at once pounced174 on by Leopold Lincoln Bunn, the local reporter, a callow youth aflame with the chance for a big story of more than local interest.
"Oh, Captain Marsh!" he cried. "How did you get around the pier? It looked as though the wave had you caught."
Orde glanced at his companion in curiosity.
"On roller skates," replied Marsh.
Leopold tittered nervously175.
"Could you tell me how you felt when you were out there in the worst of it?" he inquired.
"Oh, hell!" said Marsh grumpily, stalking away.
"Don't interview for a cent, does he?" grinned Orde.
"Oh, Mr. Orde! Perhaps you--"
"Don't you think we'd better lend a hand below?" suggested Orde, pointing to the beach.
The wild and picturesque158 work of rescue was under way. The line had been successfully brought to the left of the lighthouse. To it had been attached the rope, and to that the heavy cable. These the crew of the schooner had dragged out and made fast to a mast. The shore end passed over a tall scissors. When the cable was tightened176 the breeches buoy177 was put into commission, and before long the first member of the crew was hauled ashore, plunging in and out of the waves as the rope tightened or slackened. He was a flaxen-haired Norwegian, who stamped his feet, shook his body and grinned comically at those about him. He accepted with equanimity178 a dozen drinks of whisky thrust at him from all sides, swigged a mug of the coffee a few practical women were making over an open fire, and opposed to Leopold Lincoln Bunn's frantic179 efforts a stolid180 and baffling density181. Of none of these attentions did he seem to stand in especial need.
The crew and its volunteers worked quickly. When the last man had come ashore, the captain of the life-saving service entered the breeches buoy and caused himself to be hauled through the smother152 to the wreck46. After an interval182, a signal jerked back. The buoy was pulled in empty and the surf car substituted. In it were piled various utensils183 of equipment. One man went with it, and several more on its next trip, until nearly the whole crew were aboard the wreck.
Carroll and Mina stayed until dusk and after, watching the long heavy labour of rescue. Lines had to be rocketed from the schooner to the other vessels. Then by their means cable communication had to be established with the shore. After this it was really a matter of routine to run the crew to the beach, though cruel, hard work, and dangerous. The wrecks were continually swept by the great seas; and at any moment the tortured fabrics184 might give way, might dissolve completely in the elements that so battered them. The women making the hot coffee found their services becoming valuable. Big fires of driftwood were ignited. They were useful for light as well as warmth.
By their illumination finally Orde discovered the two girls standing, and paused long enough in his own heavy labour of assistance to draw Carroll one side.
"You'd better go home now, sweetheart," said he. "Bobby'll be waiting for you, and the girls may be here in the crowd somewhere. There'll be nobody to take care of him."
"I suppose so," she assented. "But hasn't it been exciting? Whose vessels were they; do you know?"
Orde glanced at her strangely.
"They were ours," said he.
She looked up at him, catching quickly the wrinkles of his brow and the harassed185 anxiety in his eyes. Impulsively186 she pulled him down to her and kissed him.
"Never mind, dear," said she. "I care only if you do."
She patted his great shoulders lightly and smiled up at him.
"Run, help!" she cried. "And come home as soon as you can. I'll have something nice and hot all ready for you."
She turned away, the smile still on her lips; but as soon as she was out of sight, her face fell grave.
"Come, Mina!" she said to the younger girl. "Time to go."
They toiled187 through the heavy sand to where, hours ago, they had left Prince. That faithful animal dozed188 in his tracks and awoke reluctantly.
Carroll looked back. The fires leaped red and yellow. Against them were the silhouettes189 of people, and in the farther circle of their illumination were more people cast in bronze that flickered190 red. In contrast to their glow the night was very dark. Only from the lake there disengaged a faint gray light where the waters broke. The strength of the failing wind still lifted the finer particles of sand. The organ of the pounding surf filled the night with the grandeur191 of its music.
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1
maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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2
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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crescendo
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| n.(音乐)渐强，高潮 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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swooping
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 ) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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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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14
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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17
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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18
curbs
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| v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 ) | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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20
marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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22
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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23
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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24
piers
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| n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩 | |
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25
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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26
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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27
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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28
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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29
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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30
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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31
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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32
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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33
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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34
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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35
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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tempestuously
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| adv.剧烈地，暴风雨似地 | |
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38
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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39
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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40
schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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41
schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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42
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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43
hulls
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| 船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚 | |
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44
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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45
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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46
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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47
barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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48
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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49
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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50
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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51
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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52
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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53
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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54
jumble
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| vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆 | |
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55
lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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56
carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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57
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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58
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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59
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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60
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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61
crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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62
broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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63
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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64
maudlin
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| adj.感情脆弱的，爱哭的 | |
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65
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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66
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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67
attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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68
ramming
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| n.打结炉底v.夯实（土等）( ram的现在分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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69
projectile
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| n.投射物，发射体；adj.向前开进的；推进的；抛掷的 | |
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70
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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71
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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73
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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74
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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75
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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76
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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77
succinctly
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| adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地 | |
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78
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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79
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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80
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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81
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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82
bumpers
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| （汽车上的）保险杠，缓冲器( bumper的名词复数 ) | |
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83
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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84
tugs
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| n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 )；猛拖；拖船v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
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85
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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86
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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87
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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88
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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89
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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90
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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91
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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93
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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94
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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95
slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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96
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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97
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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98
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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99
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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100
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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101
degenerating
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的现在分词 ) | |
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102
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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103
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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104
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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105
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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106
loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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107
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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108
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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109
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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110
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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111
crested
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| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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112
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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113
propellers
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 ) | |
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114
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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115
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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116
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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117
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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118
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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119
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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120
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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121
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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122
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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123
manoeuvre
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| n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动 | |
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124
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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125
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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126
lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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127
lulls
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| n.间歇期（lull的复数形式）vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的第三人称单数形式） | |
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128
uproars
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| 吵闹，喧嚣，骚乱( uproar的名词复数 ) | |
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129
tinkle
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| vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声 | |
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130
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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131
swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132
jumbled
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| adj.混乱的；杂乱的 | |
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133
buffets
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| （火车站的）饮食柜台( buffet的名词复数 )； （火车的）餐车； 自助餐 | |
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134
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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135
extricate
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| v.拯救，救出；解脱 | |
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136
maelstrom
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| n.大乱动；大漩涡 | |
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137
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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138
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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139
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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140
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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141
sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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142
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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143
volition
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| n.意志；决意 | |
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144
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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145
spasms
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| n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 )；抽搐；（能量、行为等的）突发；发作 | |
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146
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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147
relentlessly
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| adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断 | |
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148
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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149
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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150
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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151
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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152
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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153
smothering
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的现在分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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154
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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155
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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156
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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157
picturesquely
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158
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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159
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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160
plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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161
blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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162
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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163
attachments
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| n.（用电子邮件发送的）附件( attachment的名词复数 )；附着；连接；附属物 | |
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164
awry
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| adj.扭曲的，错的 | |
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165
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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166
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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167
enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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168
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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170
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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171
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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172
query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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173
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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174
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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175
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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176
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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177
buoy
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| n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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178
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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179
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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180
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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181
density
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| n.密集，密度，浓度 | |
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182
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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183
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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184
fabrics
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| 织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地 | |
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185
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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186
impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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187
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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188
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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189
silhouettes
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| 轮廓( silhouette的名词复数 )； （人的）体形； （事物的）形状； 剪影 | |
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190
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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191
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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