CHAPTER EIGHT.
LOSS OF THE DINGHY.
It was the boat, then, that had caused me this sudden surprise, orrather alarm, for it speedily came to this. What, you will ask, hadhappened to the boat? Had she gone to the bottom? Not that; but, whatat first appeared almost as bad for me--_she had gone away_!
When I turned my eyes in the direction I expected to see her, she wasnot there! The little cove among the rocks was empty.
There was no mystery about the thing. At a glance I comprehended all,since at a glance I saw the boat herself, drifting away outward from thereef. No mystery at all. I had neglected to make the boat fast, hadnot even taken the rope-hawser ashore; and the breeze, which I nowobserved had grown fresher, catching upon the sides of the boat, haddrifted her out of the cove, and off into the open water.
My first feeling was simply surprise; but in a second or two, this gaveway to one of alarm. How was I to recover the boat? How to get herback to the reef? If not successful in this, how then should I reachthe shore? Three miles was the shortest distance. I could not swim iteven for my life; and I had no hope that any one would come to myrescue. It was not likely that any one upon the shore could see me, orbe aware of my situation. Even the little boat would hardly be seen,for I was now aware of how much smaller objects would be rendered atthat great distance. The signal-staff had taught me this fact, as wellas the reef itself. Rocks that, from the shore, appeared to rise only afoot above the surface, were actually more than a yard. The boat,therefore, would hardly be visible, and neither I nor my periloussituation would be noticed by any one on the shore, unless, indeed, someone might chance to be looking through a glass; but what probability wasthere of such a thing? None whatever, or the least in the world.
Reflection only increased my uneasiness; for the more I reflected themore certain did it appear to me, that my negligence had placed me in aperilous situation.
For a while my mind was in a state of confusion, and I could not decideupon what course to follow. There was but little choice left me--infact, I saw no alternative at all--but remain upon the reef. Uponsecond thoughts, however, an alternative did suggest itself, if I couldbut succeed in following it. That was to swim out after the boat, andendeavour to regain possession of her. She had not drifted so far awaybut that I might reach her by swimming. A hundred yards or so she hadgot from the edge of the islet, but she was still widening the distancebetween us, and would soon be much farther off.
It was plain, then, that if I intended to take this course, no time wasto be lost--not a moment.
What else could I do? If I did not succeed in reaching her, I might setmyself down for a troublesome adventure, perhaps perilous too; and thisbelief nerved me to the attempt.
With all the speed I could make, I stripped off my clothes and flungthem upon the rocks. My shoes and stockings followed--even my shirt wasthrown aside, lest it might encumber me, and just as if I was going into have a bathe and a swim, I launched myself upon the water. I had nowading to do. The water was beyond my depth from the very edge of thereef, and I had to swim from the first plunge. Of course, I struck outdirectly for the boat, and kept on without turning to one side or theother.
I swam as swiftly as I could, but it was a long while before I couldperceive that I was coming any nearer to the dinghy. At times, Ithought I was not gaining upon her at all, and when the thought occurredto me that she might be going as fast as I was, it filled me withvexation and alarm. Should I not succeed in coming up with her, then itwould be a hopeless case indeed. I should have to turn round again andswim back to the reef, or else go to the bottom; for, as already stated,I could no more have reached the shore by swimming than I could haveswum across the Atlantic. Though I was now a very good swimmer, andmight have done a mile on a pinch, three were far beyond my power, and Icould not have made the distance to save my life. Moreover, the boatwas not drifting in the direction of the shore, but up the bay, wherethere was at least ten miles of water before me.
I was getting discouraged in this pursuit, and thought of turning backto the reef, before I might become too exhausted to reach it, when Inoticed that the dinghy veered slightly round, and then drifted in adirection oblique to that she had already taken. This arose from asudden puff of wind which blew from a new quarter. It brought the boatnearer me, and I resolved to make one more effort to reach her.
In this, I at length succeeded; and in a few minutes more, had thesatisfaction of laying my hands upon the gunwale of the boat, whichenabled me to obtain a little rest after my long swim.
As soon as I had recovered breath, I attempted to climb in over theside; but to my chagrin, the crank little craft sunk under my weight,and turned bottom upwards, as if it had been a washing tub, plunging meunder water by the sudden capsize. I rose to the surface, and once morelaying my hands upon the boat, climbed up to get astride across thekeel; but in this I was also unsuccessful, for losing my balance, I drewthe boat so much to one side, that she righted again mouth upwards.This was what I should have desired; but I perceived to my alarm thatshe was nearly full of water, which she had shipped in turning over.The weight of the water steadied her, so that I was able to draw myselfover the gunwale without further difficulty, and got safe enough inside;but I had not been there a second, till I perceived that the boat was_sinking_! My additional weight was the cause of this, and I saw atonce that unless I leaped out again, she would speedily go to thebottom. Perhaps if I had preserved my presence of mind and leaped outagain, the boat might still have kept afloat. But what with my fears,and the confusion consequent upon the various duckings I had had, mypresence of mind was gone, and I remained standing in the boat up to myknees in the water. I thought of baling her out, but I could find novessel. The tin pan had disappeared, as well as the oars. The formerno doubt had sunk as the boat capsized, and the oars were floating onthe water at a great distance off.
In my despair, I commenced baling out the water with my hands; but I hadnot made half-a-dozen strokes before I felt that she was going down.The next instant she had gone, sinking directly underneath me, andcausing me to jump outwards in order to escape from being carried downin the vortex she had made.
I cast one glance upon the spot where she had disappeared. I saw thatshe was gone for ever; and heading away from the spot, I swam back inthe direction of the reef.