CHAPTER NINE.
DARK WATERS.
SUFFERING AND DELIRIUM--THE MIDNIGHT BATH--A STRANGE PERIL.
"Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere-- But not a drop to drink."
Several times in the course of the night, I was awakened by confusednoises, like the blowing of porpoises, or the spouting of whales; butthe sky had become overcast, and it had grown so dark, that on gettingup and looking about, I could see nothing of the creatures producingthese sounds. My slumbers were broken and uneasy, and in the morning Ifound myself suffering from a dull, heavy pain in the head, accompaniedby a slight nausea, and a general feeling of languor and weakness. Evento get upon my feet required something of an effort, which I made,impelled rather by a dim, confused sense of duty, than by anyspontaneous impulse or inclination: had I consulted inclination alone, Ibelieve I should have remained passive, and let things take theircourse.
The occurrences of the last night had given rise to some faintexpectation that by daylight we should discover land in sight to thesouthward, where we had seen the great light. But nothing was visiblein that or any other quarter. Possessed by some hope of this kind,Arthur had been up, searching the horizon, since the first streak of dayin the east. He showed me a large green branch which he had picked upas it floated near us. By the elegantly scolloped leaves, of a dark andglossy green, it was easily recognised as a branch of the bread-fruittree; and from their bright, fresh colour, and the whiteness of thewood, where it had joined the trunk, it must have been torn off quiterecently. The calm still continued. Immense schools of black-fish, orporpoises, or some similar species, could be seen about half a miledistant, passing westward, in an apparently endless line. The temporarybeneficial effect of yesterday's scanty supply of food and drink, hadpassed away entirely, and all seemed to feel in a greater or lessdegree, the bodily pain and weakness, and the lassitude andindisposition to any kind of effort, by which I was affected. To suchan extent was this the case, that when Arthur proposed that we shouldrow towards the school of fish in sight, and try to take some of them,the strongest disinclination to make any such attempt was evinced, andit was only after much argument and persuasion, and by direct personalappeals to us individually, that he overcame this strange torpor, andinduced us to take to the oars.
On getting near enough to the objects of our pursuit to distinguish themplainly, we were sorry to find that they were Porpoises instead ofblack-fish, as we had at first supposed; the former being shy and timid,and much more difficult to approach than the latter; and so they provedat present. Still we persevered for a while; the hope of obtaining foodhaving been once excited, we were almost as reluctant to abandon theattempt as we had been at first to commence it. But after half anhour's severe labour at the oars, we were obliged to give it up as quitehopeless, and soon afterward the last of the long column passed beyondpursuit, leaving us completely disheartened and worn out. The sail wasagain arranged so as to shelter us as much as possible from the sun, andArthur commenced distributing the leaves and twigs of the bread-fruitbranch, suggesting that some slight refreshment might perhaps be derivedfrom chewing them. But they retained a saline taste from having been inthe sea-water, and no one proceeded far with the experiment. Morton cutsome small slips of leather from his boots, and began to chew them. Hefancied that they afforded some nourishment, and recommended the rest ofus to make a similar trial, which I believe we all did. Max almostimmediately rejected with disgust the first morsel which he put into hismouth, saying that he must "starve a little longer before he couldrelish that." At noon the heat was more intense, if possible, than ithad been the day before. Johnny was now in a high fever, accompanied bysymptoms of an alarming character. It was distressing to witness hissufferings, and feel utterly unable to do any thing for him. Yet therewas nothing that we could do--food and drink were the only medicines heneeded, and these we could not give him. Towards the close of theafternoon he became delirious, and began to cry out violently andincessantly for water. His voice seemed to have changed, and could nowscarcely be recognised. There was something very strange and horriblein the regular, unceasing cries which he uttered, and which sounded attimes almost like the howlings of a brute. Arthur had made a sort ofbed for him, to which each of us contributed such articles of clothingas could be spared. It was now necessary to watch him every moment andfrequently to use force to keep him from getting overboard. At onetime, having got to the side of the boat, before he could be prevented,he commenced dipping up the sea-water with his hand, and would havedrunk it had he not been forcibly restrained. After this had lastednearly two hours, he suddenly ceased his struggles and violent cries,and began to beg piteously for "a drink of water." This he continuedfor a considerable time, repeatedly asking Arthur to tell him _why_ hecould not have "just a little," since there was "such a plenty of it."
It is impossible to describe the horrible and sickening effect of allthis upon us, in the state of utter physical prostration to which we hadbeen gradually reduced. Browne and Arthur watched over Johnny with allthe care and patient unwearying kindness that a mother could have shown;and they would not permit the rest of us to relieve them for a moment,or to share any part of their charge, painful and distressing as it was.Twice, when it became necessary to hold the little sufferer fast, toprevent him from getting over the gunwale, he spat fiercely in Arthur'sface, struggling and crying out with frightful vehemence. But Browne'svoice seemed to soothe and control him, and when Johnny spoke to him, itwas gently, and in the language of entreaty. Towards night he becamemore quiet, and at last sunk into a kind of lethargy, breathing deeplyand heavily, but neither speaking nor moving, except to turn from oneside to the other, which he did at nearly regular intervals.
This change relieved us from the necessity of constantly watching andrestraining him, but Arthur viewed it as an unfavourable and alarmingsymptom; he seemed now more completely depressed than I had ever beforeseen him, and to be overcome at last by grief, anxiety, and the horrorsof our situation.
The heat did not abate in the least with the going down of the sun, butthe night, though very close and sultry, was calm and beautiful, likethe last. Soon after the moon rose, Max and Morton undressed, andbathed themselves in the sea. The smooth moonlit water looked so cooland inviting, that the rest of us soon followed their example,notwithstanding the danger from sharks. We were all good swimmers, butno one ventured far from the boat except Morton; I found that a fewstrokes quite exhausted me, and I was obliged to turn and cling to thegunwale. In fact, so great was the loss of strength which we had allsuffered, that we came near perishing in a very singular and almostincredible manner: After having been in the water a sufficient time, asI thought, I discovered, on trying to get into the boat again, that Iwas utterly unable to do so, through sheer weakness. At the same time Iobserved Max making a similar attempt nearer the stern, with no bettersuccess. We were all in the water except Johnny; any difficulty ingetting into the boat again had not been dreamed of; but I began now tofeel seriously alarmed. My feet were drawn forcibly under the boat'sbottom, and even to maintain my hold of the gunwale, as we rose and sunkwith the swell, required an exhausting effort, which I knew I could notlong continue. Arthur was swimming near the stern, holding on to theend of a rope, which he had cast over before coming in. By greatexertion I raised myself so far as to be able to look over the gunwale,when I saw Browne in the same position directly opposite me.
"Can't you get into the boat!" I asked.
"Really, I don't think I can," said he, speaking like a personexhausted.
"I can't," added Max, faintly, "it is as much as I can do to maintain myhold." At this moment a voice was heard, calling out apparently from adistance, "Hilloa! where are you? Hilloa!" It was hoarse, strained,and distressed. Almost immediately the cry was repeated, much nearer athand, as it seemed; and then, a third time, faint, and distant as atfirst. I was horror-stricken; the cry sounded strange and fearful
, andI did not recognise the voice. Then it occurred to me that it must beMorton, who had swum out farther than the rest, and losing sight of theboat for a moment in the swell of the sea, had become bewildered andalarmed. This might easily happen; if but the length of a wave distantwe should be invisible to him, unless both should chance to rise on theswell at the same time. The moon, too, had just passed behind a darkmass of cloud, and the sea lay in partial obscurity. I now heard Browneand Arthur shouting, in order, as I supposed, to guide Morton by thesound of their voices. I, too, called out as loudly as I was able. Fora moment all was still again. Then I heard some one say, "There he is!"and a dark speck appeared on the crest of a wave a little to the right.At this moment the moon shone out brightly! and I saw that it wasMorton, swimming toward us. He reached the boat panting and out ofbreath, and catching hold near me with an almost convulsive effort,remained some minutes without being able to speak a word. Arthur, whohad observed Max's struggles to get into the yawl, now swam round towhere Morton and I were hanging on, and taking hold also, his additionalweight depressed the gunwale nearly to the water's edge, when he got hisknee over it, and at last, by a sudden effort rolled into the boat. Hethen helped me to get in, and we two the rest.
Morton said that after swimming but a short distance from the boat, ashe supposed, he found himself getting tired and very weak, and onturning, greatly to his surprise, could see nothing of us. In reality,however, there was nothing surprising in this, his face being on a levelwith the surface, and the boat with neither sail nor mast up, being muchless in height than the long smooth swells. Perceiving how great washis danger, and becoming somewhat alarmed, he had called out in themanner described: when he heard us shouting in return, he was actuallyswimming _away_ from us, and it was only by following the direction ofour voices that he had at last reached the boat.
That night we kept no regular watch as we had hitherto done, or at leastwe made no arrangement for that purpose, though one or another of us wasawake most of the time, watching Johnny, who continued, however, in thesame deep lethargic slumber.
For my part, it was a long time before I could sleep at all. There wassomething in the fate that threatened us, more appalling than theterrors of death. The impressions produced by the ravings, and cries,and struggles, of our poor little fellow-sufferer were yet fresh, andthey could not be effaced. All in vain I strove to control the workingsof my morbidly excited imagination--I could not shut out the fearfulthoughts and anticipations which the occurrences of the day so naturallyand obviously suggested. The lapse of twenty-four hours might find usall reduced to the same helpless state, deprived of consciousness andreason. One after another must succumb to the fever and becomedelirious, until he who should last fall its victim, should find himselfalone in the midst of his stricken and raving companions--aloneretaining reason, no longer to be accounted a blessing, since it couldonly serve to make him sensible to all the accumulated horrors of hissituation. I shuddered as I contemplated the possibility that I mightbe the most wretched one, the last of all to sink and perish. Atlength, I began to imagine that my mind was actually beginning to fail,and that I was becoming delirious. At first it was but a fearfulsuspicion. Soon, however, it took such strong possession of me, that Iwas compelled to relinquish all thought of sleep. Sitting up, I sawthat Arthur was awake and by the side of Johnny. His face was upturned,and his hands clasped as if in prayer. I could see his lips move, andeven the tears trickling from beneath his closed lids, for the moonlightfell upon his countenance. He did not observe me, and after a fewmoments he laid down again without speaking, and soon appeared toslumber like the rest.
Pressing my hands to my head, I leaned over the stern, my face almosttouching the water. A current of cooler air was stirring close to thesurface, as if it were the breathing of the sea, for there was no wind.How preternaturally still every thing seemed--what an intensity ofsilence! How softly the pale moonlight rested upon the water! A grandand solemn repose wrapped the heavens and the ocean--no sound beneathall that vast blue dome--no motion, but the heaving of the long sluggishswell. Gradually I became calmer; the excitement and perturbation of mymind began to subside, and at length I felt as though I could sleep. AsI resumed my place by the side of Browne, he moved, as if about toawake, and murmured indistinctly some broken sentences. From the wordsthat escaped him, he was dreaming of that far-off home which he was tobehold no more. In fancy he was wandering again by the banks of theClyde, the scene of many a school-boy ramble. But it seemed as thoughthe shadow of present realities darkened even his dreams, and he beheldthese familiar haunts no longer in the joyous light of early days. "Howstrange it looks!" he muttered slowly, "how dark the river is--how deepand dark!--it seems to me it was not so _then_, Robert." Truly,companion in suffering, this is no falsely coloured dream of thine, forwe have all come at last into deep and dark waters!