Part 13 (1/2)

Macallister agreed, and for four days they lounged in such shade as they could find It was fiercely hot, not a breath of wind touched the dazzling creek, and the sun burned through the awning The pitch bubbled up from the deck-seams, the water in the tanks arroves and bit the panting s worse, there was no coolness after sunset, when steamy mist wrapped the vessel in its folds, bloodthirstyinsects direw nauseating Sleep was out of the question, and when the mosquitos drove the berths and waited drearily for another day ofother discomforts, Waltheas not seasoned to the climate, was troubled by a bad headache and pains in his li about this and accohy At last they rose at daybreak one h he felt shaky and suffered fro, which was to be used for landing coal

The as hard, for when they reached a sand bar up the creek they were forced to wade sos on their backs, while the perspiration soaked their thin clothes and the black dust worked through to their skin At noon they stopped for half an hour and Walthew lay in the stern-sheets of the gig where there was a patch of shade He could not eat, and after drinking some tea tried to smoke, but the tobacco tasted rank and he put his pipe away Up to the present his life had been luxurious He had been indulged and waited on, and had exerted himself only in outdoor sports

Now he felt very sick and worn out, but knew that hedeclined to enter his father's business, he must prove his capacity for the career he had chosen Moreover, he suspected that Macallister and Grahaan again he hid the effort it cost hi floated up the creek with her gunwale near awash His back hurt hi, and it was hard to keep upon his feet while he floundered through the mire Sometimes his head reeled and he could scarcely see The blisters on his hands had worked into bleeding sores This, however, did not matter much by comparison with the pain in his head

After the coal was landed they loaded loose ironwork and towed heavy spars ashore, and Walthew held out somehow until darkness fell, when he paddled back to the _Enchantress_ with a swar round his face

He could not eat when they sat down to a frugal meal, and afterward lay in his berth unable to sleep, and yet not quite awake, lost in confused thoughts that broke off and left hiuidly on deck the nextGrahame looked hard at him

”You had better lie down in the shade,” he said

”I may let up e reach open water,” Waltheered with a feeble sot out of a lay-off here”

Graha about malaria and Walthew did not look fit for work; but every man was needed, and this foul sas no place to be ill The sooner they got out the better

Steam was up when the _Enchantress_ rose with the tide, and shortly afterward the engines began to throb Muddy foaled with the smoke that poured from her funnel, and steam roared from the blow-off pipe Then the clatter of winch and windlass joined in, and Graha a rope that slipped round the spinning druh the vessel was shaking and working in her in to fall, and the sweat of suspense and strain dripped frohtened the turns on the druripped; to his surprise, a little slack caerly from the windlass

”Give her all, if you burst the chain!” he cried

The windlass clanked for a few ain; the _Enchantress_ trembled and crept a foot or two ahead Then she stuck while the cable rose froer-chain that drove the windlass creaked and strained at breaking tension While Graha shi+ver through the vessel's frame, a mad rattle of liberated machinery, and she leaped ahead

Fivewhere he went because a confused sense of triuht ain which he had taken a leading part He had ood and played the man; but there was still ether as he stopped near Grahaain, but perhaps you had better see that the chain-coht”

”If you're satisfied, it's enough,” said Grahaet the coal on board”

”If you feel equal to it,” Grahaot into the boat with a sense of elation His eyes had e of mutual respect and trust had passed between them But this was not quite all He felt he had won official recognition froer on trial but accepted as a coh a day ofwhich his worn-outby the unconquered mind It was not dainty and, in a sense, not heroic work in which he was engaged, but it hest in a grapple with obstacles that seeainst him were, he must not be beaten

The heat was pitiless in the afternoon, but Walthew pulled his oar and carried the hundred-pound coal bags across a stretch of rew broader as the tide ebbed He could scarcely pull his feet out and keep the load upon his aching back, and he sometimes sank knee-deep in the softer spots The air was heavy with exhalations from the swamps; he had thrown off his jacket and the coal wore holes in his shi+rt and rubbed raw places on his skin He et froritty dust filled his eyes and nostrils Still he held out until the as finished, when the _Enchantress's_ cargo-light began to twinkle through the dusk; and then, losing his balance, he fell forward into the boat with his last heavy load Miguel pushed her off, and with oars splashi+ng slackly she side the stea huddled on the floorings The others lifted it gently, but Walthew did not speak when he was laid on deck, and Macallister, bending over him, looked up at Grahaht about the lad But we must do the best we can for him”

They washed off the coal-dust, and when Waltherapped in thick blankets, lay unconscious in his berth, they debated earnestly over thea dose that experience in the unhealthy swamps of the tropics alone justified They forced it, drop by drop, between his clenched teeth, and then Macallister waited with a grier on his pulse, while Grahae of the berth His hands were bruised, his thin clothes were torn, and he felt the reaction after the day's strain He had now an hour or two in which to rest, and then he ether to take the vessel down the creek

When at last Macallister nodded, as if satisfied, Grahame earily up on deck Except for a faint hiss of stea was quiet

Tiredto the roves did not stir After a while the lap of the flood-tide against the planks e, rose above the trees