Part 17 (1/2)

”Now that you are through with the girl,” said the blacksmith, ”what did the Devil do?”

”I haven't got to him yet,” said the marine, ”but after Miss Minturn went below I began to think of him, and the more I thought of him, the less I liked him. I think the chief officer must have told the men below about the Water-devil, for pretty soon the whole kit and boodle of them left their work and came on deck, skipper and all. They told me they had given up the engine as a bad job, and I thought to myself that most likely they were all too nervous to rightly know what they were about. The captain threw out the log again, but it floated alongside like a cork on a fis.h.i.+ng-line, and at this he turned pale and walked away from the s.h.i.+p's side, forgetting to pull it in again.

”It was now beginning to grow dark, and as n.o.body seemed to think about supper, I went below to look into that matter. It wouldn't do for Miss Minturn. and her father to go without their regular meal, for that would be sure to scare them to death; and if I'm to have a big scare I like to take it on a good square meal, so I went below to see about it.

But I wasn't needed, for Miss Minturn's maid, who was an elderly woman, and pretty sharp set in her temper, was in the cook's galley superintending supper for her people, and after she got through I superintended some for myself.

”After that I felt a good deal bolder, and I lighted a pipe and went on deck. There I found the whole s.h.i.+p's company, officers and crew, none of them doing anything, and most of them cl.u.s.tered together in little groups, whispering or grunting.

”I went up to the captain and asked him what he was going to do next.

'Do?' said he; 'there is nothing to do; I've done everything that I can do. I'm all upset; I don't know whether I am myself or some other man'; and then he walked away.

”I sat there and smoked and looked at them, and I can tell you the sight wasn't cheerful. There was the s.h.i.+p, just as good and sound, as far as anybody could see, as anything that floated on the ocean, and here were all her people, s.h.i.+vering and shaking and not speaking above their breath, looking for all the world, under the light of the stars and the s.h.i.+p's lamps, which some of them had had sense enough to light, as if they expected in the course of the next half-hour, to be made to walk the plank; and, to tell the truth, what they were afraid of would come to pretty much the same thing.”

”Mr. Cardly,” here interrupted Mr. Harberry, ”how long does it take to count a million?”

”That depends,” said the school-master, ”on the rapidity of the calculator; some calculators count faster than others. An ordinary boy, counting two hundred a minute, would require nearly three days and a half to count a million.”

”Very good,” said Mr. Harberry; ”please go on with your story, sir.”

”Of course,” said the marine, ”there is a great difference between a boy and a Water-devil, and it is impossible for anybody to know how fast the latter can count, especially as he may be supposed to be used to it. Well, I couldn't stand it any longer on deck, and having nothing else to do, I turned in and went to sleep.”

”To sleep! Went to sleep!” exclaimed Mrs. Fryker. ”I don't see how you could have done that.”

”Ah, madam,” said the marine, ”we soldiers of the sea are exposed to all sorts of dangers,--combination dangers, you might call them,--and in the course of time we get used to it; if we didn't we couldn't do our duty.

”As the s.h.i.+p had been in its present predicament for six or seven hours, and nothing had happened, there was no reason to suppose that things would not remain as they were for six or seven hours more, in which time I might get a good sleep, and be better prepared for what might come. There's nothing like a good meal and a good sleep as a preparation for danger.

”It was daylight when I awakened, and rapidly glancing about me, I saw that everything appeared to be all right. Looking out of the port-hole, I could see that the vessel was still motionless. I hurried on deck, and was greatly surprised to find n.o.body there--no one on watch, no one at the wheel, no one anywhere. I ran down into the fo'castle, which is the sailors' quarters, but not a soul could I see. I called, I whistled, I searched everywhere, but no one answered; I could find no one. Then I dashed up on deck, and glared, around me. Every boat was gone.

”Now I knew what had happened: the cowardly rascals, from captain to cook, had deserted the s.h.i.+p in the night, and I had been left behind!

”For some minutes I stood motionless, wondering how men could be so unfeeling as to do such a thing. I soon became convinced, from what I had seen of the crew, that they had not all gone off together, that there had been no concerted action. A number of them had probably quietly lowered a boat and sneaked away; then another lot had gone off, hoping their mates would not hear them and therefore crowd into their boat. And so they had all departed, not one boat-load thinking of anybody but themselves; or if they thought at all about others, quieting their consciences by supposing that there were enough boats on the vessel, and that the other people were as likely to get off as they were.

”Suddenly I thought of the other pa.s.sengers. Had they been left behind?

I ran down below, and I had scarcely reached the bottom of the steps when I met Miss Minturn's maid. 'It seems to me,' she said, sharply, 'that the people on this s.h.i.+p are neglecting their duty. There's n.o.body in the kitchen, and I want some gruel.' 'My good woman,' said I, 'who do you want it for?' 'Who!' she replied; 'why, for Mr. Minturn, of course; and Miss Minturn may like some, too.'

”Then I knew that all the pa.s.sengers had been left behind!

”'If you want any gruel,' said I, 'you will have to go into the galley and make it yourself'; and then in a low tone I told her what had happened, for I knew that it would be much better for me to do this than for her to find it out for herself. Without a word she sat right down on the floor, and covered her head with her ap.r.o.n. 'Now don't make a row,' said I, 'and frighten your master and mistress to death; we're all right so far, and all you've got to do is to take care of Mr. and Miss Minturn, and cook their meals. The steamer is tight and sound, and it can't be long before some sort of a craft will come by and take us off.' I left her sniffling with her ap.r.o.n over her head, but when I came back, ten minutes afterward, she was in the galley making gruel.

”I don't think you will be surprised, my friends,” continued the marine, ”when I tell you that I now found myself in a terrible state of mind. Of course I hadn't felt very jovial since the steamer had been so wonderfully stopped; but when the captain and all the crew were aboard, I had that sort of confidence which comes from believing that when there are people about whose duty it is to do things, when the time comes to do the things, they will do them; but now, practically speaking, there was n.o.body but me. The others on board were not to be counted, except as enc.u.mbrances. In truth, I was alone,--alone with the Water-devil!

”The moment I found no one to depend upon but myself, and that I was deserted in the midst of this lonely ma.s.s of water, in that moment did my belief in the Water-devil begin to grow. When I first heard of the creature, I didn't consider that it was my business either to believe in it, or not to believe in it, and I could let the whole thing drop out of my mind, if I chose; but now it was a different matter. I was bound to think for myself, and the more I thought, the more I believed in the Water-devil.

”The fact was, there wasn't anything else to believe in. I had gone over the whole question, and the skipper had gone all over it, and everybody else had gone all over it, and no one could think of anything but a Water-devil that could stop a steamer in this way in the middle of the Bay of Bengal, and hold her there hour after hour, in spite of wind and wave and tide. It could not be anything but the monster the Portuguese had told us of, and all I now could do was to wonder whether, when he was done counting his million claws, he would be able to pull down a vessel of a thousand tons, for that was about the size of the _General Brooks_.

”I think I should now have begun to lose my wits if it had not been for one thing, and that was the coming of Miss Minturn on deck. The moment I saw her lovely face I stiffened up wonderfully. 'Sir,' said she, 'I would like to see the captain.' 'I am representing the captain, miss,'

I said, with a bow; 'what is it that I can do for you?' 'I want to speak to him about the steward,' she said; 'I think he is neglecting his duty.' 'I also represent the steward,' I replied; 'tell me what you wish of him.' She made no answer to this, but looked about her in a startled way. 'Where are all the men?' she said. 'Miss Minturn, 'said I, 'I represent the crew--in fact, I represent the whole s.h.i.+p's company except the cook, and his place must be taken by your maid.' 'What do you mean?' she asked, looking at me with her wide-opened, beautiful eyes.