Part 40 (1/2)
”It doesn't matter,” said the boy. ”I know where there is wood for another raft. As soon as you have gone, I shall set to work.”
Polecrab had by this time manoeuvred his flimsy craft to the position he desired, within a few yards of the current, which at that point made a sharp bend from the east. He shouted out some words to his wife and Maskull. Gleameil kissed her children convulsively, and broke down a little. The eldest boy bit his lip till it bled, and tears glistened in his eyes; but the younger children stared wide-eyed, and displayed no emotion.
Gleameil now walked into the sea, followed by Maskull. The water covered first their ankles, then their knees, but when it came as high as their waists, they were close on the raft. Polecrab let himself down into the water, and a.s.sisted his wife to climb over the side. When she was up, she bent down and kissed him. No words were exchanged. Maskull scrambled up on to the front part of the raft. The woman sat cross-legged in the stem, and seized the pole.
Polecrab shoved them off toward the current, while she worked her pole until they had got within its power. The raft immediately began to travel swiftly away from land, with a smooth, swaying motion.
The boys waved from the sh.o.r.e. Gleameil responded; but Maskull turned his back squarely to land, and gazed ahead. Polecrab was wading back to the sh.o.r.e.
For upward of an hour Maskull did not change his position by an inch. No sound was heard but the splas.h.i.+ng of the strange waves all around them, and the streamlike gurgle of the current, which threaded its way smoothly through the tossing, tumultuous sea. From their pathway of safety, the beautiful dangers surrounding them were an exhilarating experience. The air was fresh and clean, and the heat from Branchspell, now low in the west, was at last endurable. The riot of sea colors had long since banished all sadness and anxiety from his heart. Yet he felt such a grudge against the woman for selfishly forsaking those who should have been dear to her that he could not bring himself to begin a conversation.
But when, over the now enlarged shape of the dark island, he caught sight of a long chain of lofty, distant mountains, glowing salmon-pink in the evening sunlight, he felt constrained to break the silence by inquiring what they were.
”It is Lichstorm,” said Gleameil.
Maskull asked no questions about it; but in turning to address her, his eyes had rested on the rapidly receding Wombflash Forest, and he continued to stare at that. They had travelled about eight miles, and now he could better estimate the enormous height of the trees.
Overtopping them, far away, he saw Sant; and he fancied, but was not quite sure, that he could distinguish Disscourn as well.
”Now that we are alone in a strange place,” said Gleameil, averting her head, and looking down over the side of the raft into the water, ”tell me what you thought of Polecrab.”
Maskull paused before answering. ”He seemed to me like a mountain wrapped in cloud. You see the lower b.u.t.tresses, and think that is all.
But then, high up, far above the clouds, you suddenly catch sight of more mountain--and even then it is not the top.”
”You read character well, and have great perception,” remarked Gleameil quietly. ”Now say what I am.”
”In place of a human heart, you have a wild harp, and that's all I know about you.”
”What was that you said to my husband about two worlds?”
”You heard.”
”Yes, I heard. And I also am conscious of two worlds. My husband and boys are real to me, and I love them fondly. But there is another world for me, as there is for you, Maskull, and it makes my real world appear all false and vulgar.”
”Perhaps we are seeking the same thing. But can it be right to satisfy our self-nature at the expense of other people?”
”No, it's not right. It is wrong, and base. But in that other world these words have no meaning.”
There was a silence.
”It's useless to discuss such topics,” said Maskull. ”The choice is now out of our hands, and we must go where we are taken. What I would rather speak about is what awaits us on the island.”
”I am ignorant--except that we shall find Earthrid there.”
”Who is Earthrid, and why is it called Swaylone's Island?”
”They say Earthrid came from Threal, but I know nothing else about him.
As for Swaylone, if you like I will tell you his legend.”
”If you please,” said Maskull.
”In a far-back age,” began Gleameil, ”when the seas were hot, and clouds hung heavily over the earth, and life was rich with transformations, Swaylone came to this island, on which men had never before set foot, and began to play his music--the first music in Tormance. Nightly, when the moon shone, people used to gather on this sh.o.r.e behind us, and listen to the faint, sweet strains floating from over the sea.