Part 89 (1/2)

”Hollibly 'tiff; Ching lub you well.”

Before I knew what he was about to do, he seized one of my arms, and made me shout with agony, but he moved it here and there, pinching and rubbing and kneading it till it went easily, following it up with a similar performance upon the other. Back and chest followed; and in ten minutes I was a different being.

But no amount of rubbing and kneading did any good to my spirits, nor to those of our companion in misfortune, whose wound troubled him a good deal; but he sat up, trying to look cheerful, while, with my head still confused, and thought coming slowly, I exclaimed--

”But the storm--the typhoon?”

”Allee blow way, allee gone,” cried Ching, smiling; ”velly good job.

You feel dly?”

I did not answer then, for I felt as if I could not be awake. I had been lying in the lee of a huge ma.s.s of rock, amid stones and piled-up sand, upon which the sun beat warmly; the sky overhead was of a glorious blue; and there was nothing to suggest the horrors of the past night, but the heavy boom and splash of the billows which broke at intervals somewhere behind the rock.

At last I jumped up, full of remorse at my want of thought.

”Mr Brooke--the others?” I cried.

”We were talking about 'em, sir, 'fore you woke up,” said Jecks sadly; and I now saw that he had received a blow on the head, while he spoke slowly, and looked strange.

”And what--”

”I'm afraid they're--”

”Allee dlowned; velly much 'flaid.”

I groaned.

”I don't know how we managed to get ash.o.r.e, sir,” said Jecks faintly.

”I think it was because there was so little undertow to the waves. When the boat struck, it felt to me as if I was being blown through the shallow water, and I shouldn't have been here if I hadn't come up against Mr Ching, who was pulling you along.”

”Then you saved me, Ching?” I cried.

”Ching takee hold, and pullee here. Velly pull wolk. Him get hold of tow-chang, and pullee him both together.”

”That's right, sir. I s.n.a.t.c.hed at anything, and got hold of his tail, and held on. But you don't mind, Mr Ching?”

”No; mustn't cut tow-chang off.”

”Let's try if we can find the others,” I said; and, taking the lead, I walked round the ma.s.s of rock which had sheltered us, to gaze out at the heaving sea, which was rising and falling restlessly; but there was no white water, all was of a delicious blue, darker than the sky, and not a sail in sight.

To right and left extended a low cliff, at whose feet lay huge ma.s.ses which had fallen from time to time; then an irregular stretch of sand extended to where the waves came curling over, the swell being very heavy, and the only trace of the storm to be seen was the way in which the sand had been driven up against the cliff, so as to form quite a glacis.

We could see about half a mile in either direction, but there was no sign of our companions, and my heart sank again. There were, however, here and there, ridges of rock, running down like breakwaters into the sea, and about which it fretted and tossed tremendously; and, in the hope that one of these ridges might hide our friends from our view, I climbed to the top of the highest piece of rock I could reach, and took a long and careful survey.

”See anything, sir?” said Tom Jecks.

”No,” I replied, ”nothing. Yes; about a quarter of a mile on there's a spar sticking up; it may be the boat's mast.”

I came hurriedly down, and my announcement was enough to set my companions off, Jecks limping painfully through the loose sand, climbing rocks, and finding it no easy task to get over that so-called quarter of a mile, which, like all such s.p.a.ces on the sea-sh.o.r.e, proved to be about double the length it looked, while the nearer we got the higher and more formidable the ridge seemed to grow, completely shutting out all beyond, where it ran down from the cliff at right angles into the sea.