CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
UNPLEASANT SWIMMING COMPANIONS.
A shark may be driven off for a time by the efforts of a human enemy,but his natural voracity will soon impel him to return to the attack.When the Indian therefore rose to the surface of the water--rememberinghis old practice as a pearl-diver--he cast around him a glance ofcaution. Having shouted back to his companion in misfortune some wordswhich the latter had indistinctly heard, he placed his knife between histeeth, and swam straight onward.
It was not fear that caused him to take this precaution. It was merelyan act of habitual prudence.
As he struck out from the canoe, he perceived that two monsters of thedeep, far more formidable than those of the forest, were proceeding inthe same direction as himself. One was about twenty feet from him onthe right; the other appeared at an equal distance on his left; and bothwere evidently _attending_ upon him!
Unpleasant as two such companions might be deemed, the swimmer at firstpaid but slight attention to their movements. His mind was pre-occupiedwith a variety of other thoughts--especially with the doubt as towhether he might be able to find the barges. On the wide surface of thesea, and in the midst of the profound darkness, it would be but too easyto pass without perceiving them, and very difficult indeed to find them.This apprehension, combined with those fearless habits in the water,which he had contracted while following the life of a pearl-diver--andfurthermore his belief in a positive fatalism--all united in renderingthe Zapoteque indifferent to the presence of his two terribleattendants.
Only at intervals, and then rather from prudence than fear, he turnedhis head to the right or left, and glanced in the direction of his_compagnons du voyage_. He could not help perceiving moreover that ateach instant the sharks were drawing nearer to him!
By a vigorous stroke on the water he now raised his body high over thesurface; and, there balancing for a moment, glanced forward. It was aneager glance; for he was looking for that object on the finding of whichhis life must depend. He saw only the line of the horizon of dullsombre hue--no object visible upon it, except here and there the whitecrests of the waves.
A sudden glance to the right, and another to the left, showed him thetwo fearful creatures, now nearer than ever. Neither was more than tenfeet from his body!
Still the swimmer was not dismayed by their presence. Far more was hedaunted by the immense solitude of the watery surface that surroundedhim.
However bold a man may be, there are moments when danger mustnecessarily cause him fear. Costal was in a position sufficientlyperilous to have unnerved most men. Swimming in the midst of a risingsea--beyond sight of land, or any other object--escorted by twovoracious sharks--with a dark sky overhead, and no precise knowledge ofthe direction in which he was going--no wonder he began to feelsomething more than inquietude.
However strong may be a swimmer, he cannot fail after long keeping upsuch vigorous action as it requires, to become fatigued, and worn out:the more so when, like Costal, he carries a knife between his teeth--thus impeding his free respiration. But the ex-pearl-diver did notthink of parting with the weapon--his only resource, in case of beingattacked by the sharks--and still keeping his lips closed upon it, heswam on.
After a time, he felt his heart beating violently against his ribs. Heattributed this circumstance less to fear than to the efforts he wasmaking; and, taking the knife from his mouth, he carried it in one ofhis hands.
The pulsations of his heart were not the less rapid: for it may beacknowledged, without much shame to him, that Costal now really feltfear. Moreover, swimming with one hand closed, it was necessary for himto strike more rapidly with the other.
The precaution of holding his knife ready in hand, was not likely toprove an idle one. The two sharks appeared gradually converging uponthe line which the swimmer must take, if he continued to swim directlyonward.
On observing this convergence of his silent and persevering pursuers,Costal suddenly obliqued to the right. The sharks imitated his movementon the instant, and swam on each side of him as before!
For a few minutes--long and fearful minutes--he was forced to keep on inthis new direction. He began to fancy he was swimming out of the way heshould have taken; and was about to turn once more to the left, when anobject came before his eyes that prompted him to utter an ejaculation ofjoy.
In spite of himself, he had been guided into the right direction, by thevery enemies from whom he was endeavouring to escape; and it was thesight of the barges that had drawn from him the joyful exclamation.
The moment after, he uttered a louder cry, hailing the boats.
He had the satisfaction of hearing a response; but as no one saw himthrough the darkness, it was necessary for him to continue swimmingonwards.
By this time the two sharks had closed on each side, and were glidingalong so near, that only a narrow way was open between them. Costalfelt that he had not sufficient strength to make a detour; and the onlycourse left him, was to swim straight for the nearest boat. He kept ontherefore, his heart beating against his ribs, and with his knife firmlyheld in his grasp--ready to bury the weapon in the throat of the firstthat should assail him. With the last efforts of his strength he lungedout right and left, by voice and gesture endeavouring to frighten offthe two monsters that flanked him; and he proceeded onward in this waylike some doomed ship, struggling between black masses of rockybreakers.
By good fortune his efforts proved successful. The hideous creatures,glaring upon him with glassy eyeballs, were nevertheless frightened byhis menacing gestures, and for the moment diverged a little out of hisway.
Costal took advantage of this precious moment; and, swimming rapidlyforward, succeeded in clutching the side of one of the barges.
A dozen friendly arms instantly drew him aboard; but as his comradesbent over him upon the deck, they perceived that he was unconscious.The effort had been too much for his strength. He had sunk into asyncope.
The presence of Costal in such sad plight sufficiently revealed the fateof the canoe and its occupants. Words could not have made the historyof their misfortune more clear.
"It is no use remaining longer here," said the soldier-admiral. "Thecanoe must have gone to the bottom. Now, my braves! we shall pullstraight for the isle."
Then raising his sombrero in a reverential manner, he added--
"Let us pray for the souls of our unfortunate comrades--above all, forCaptain Lantejas. We have lost in him a most valiant officer."
And after this laconic oration over Don Cornelio, the barges were oncemore set in motion, and rowed directly towards the isle of Roqueta.
Meanwhile the unhappy Lantejas sat upon the keel of the broken canoe,contemplating with horrible anxiety the waves of the ocean constantlysurging around him, and gradually growing fiercer and higher. Now theyappeared as dark as Erebus; anon like ridges of liquid fire, as thelightning flashed athwart the sky, furrowing the black clouds over hishead.
He listened attentively. He heard the wind whistling against the waves,and lashing them into fury--as a horseman rouses his steed with whip andspur; he heard the groaning of the surge, like an untamed horserebelling against his rider.
Fortunately for him, it was yet but the prologue of the storm to whichhe was listening; and he was still able to maintain his seat upon thefrail embarkation.
At short intervals he shouted with all his might, but the wind hurledback his cries, mingled with the spray that was dashed in his face.
No succour appeared within sight or hearing. Costal had no doubt beeneither drowned or devoured; and the unhappy officer had arrived at thefull conviction, that such was to be his own fate; when, all of asudden, some object came under his eyes that caused him to quiver withjoy. Under the glare of the lightning, the barges were visible mountedon the crest of a huge dark wave!
Only a momentary glance did he obtain of them; for, after the flash hadpassed, the boats were again shrouded in the obscurity of the night.
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p; Do Cornelio raised a loud cry, and listened for the response. No voicereached him. His own was drowned; midst the roaring of the waters, andcould not have been heard by the people on board the boats.
He shouted repeatedly, but with the like result--no response.
Once more was he plunged into the deepest anxiety--approaching almost todespair--when on the next flashing of lightning he once more beheld thebarges at a little distance from him, but in a direction altogetheropposite! They had passed him in the darkness, and were now rowingaway!
This was his reflection, though it was an erroneous one. The boats werestill in the same direction as at first, but now appeared in theopposite quarter. This deception arose from Don Cornelio himself havingturned round on the broken canoe, which kept constantly spinning aboutupon the waves.
At this moment a rocket shooting up into the dark sky inspired thecastaway with fresh hope; and he once more raised his voice, and shoutedwith all the concentrated power of throat and lungs. After deliveringthe cry, he remained in breathless expectation, equally concentratingall his strength in the act of listening.
This time a responsive cry came back--a sound all the more joyful to hisears from his recognising it as the voice of Costal.
Don Cornelio now repeated his cries, thick and fast after each other,until his throat and jaws almost refused to give out the slightestsound. Nevertheless he kept on shouting, until one of the barges,bounding over the waves, forged close up to the side of the canoe. Thenhe felt himself seized by strong arms--they were those of Costal andGaleana--and the moment after he was lifted into the boot, where, likethe ex-pearl-diver, but from a very different cause, he fell faintingupon the deck.
It was fortunate for Don Cornelio that Costal had remained only a shorttime under the influence of his syncope. Recovering from it, the Indianhad, in a few words, revealed the situation of the canoe. The signalagreed upon was at once made; and led, as described, to the rescue ofhis companion from his perilous position.