CARROLL SEEKS HELP
Carroll slept for several hours before he awakened and sat up on the
locker, shivering. He had left the hatch slightly open, and a confused
uproar reached him from outside; the wail of wind-tossed trees; the
furious splash of ripples against the bows; and the drumming of the
halyards upon the mast. There was no doubt that it was blowing hard, but
the wind was off the land and the sloop in shelter.
Filling his pipe, he set himself to think, and promptly decided that it
would have been better had he gone down to the sloop in the beginning,
before the provisions had been spoiled. A natural reluctance to leave his
helpless companion had mainly prevented him from doing this, but he had
also been encouraged by the possibility of obtaining a deer now and then.
It was clear that he had made a mistake in remaining, but it was not the
first time he had done so, and the point was unimportant. The burning
question was--what should he do now.
It would obviously be useless to go back with rations that would barely
suffice for the march. Vane still had food enough to keep life in one man
for a little while, and it would not be a long run to Comox with a strong
northerly wind. If the sloop would face the sea that was running he might
return with assistance before his comrade's scanty store was exhausted.
Getting out the mildewed chart, he laid off his course, carefully trimmed
and lighted the binnacle lamp, and going up on deck hauled in the
kedge-anchor. He could not break the main one out, though he worked
savagely with a tackle, and deciding to slip it, he managed to lash three
reefs in the mainsail and hoist it with the peak left down. Then he
stopped to gather breath--for the work had been cruelly heavy--before he
let the cable run and hoisted the jib.
She paid off when he put up his helm, and the black loom of trees ashore
vanished. He thought that he could find his way out of the inlet, but he
knew that he had done so only when the angry ripples that splashed about
the boat suddenly changed to confused tumbling combers. They foamed up in
quick succession on her quarter, but he fancied she would withstand their
onslaught so long as he could prevent her from screwing up to windward
when she lifted. It would need constant care, and if he failed, the next
comber would, no doubt, break on board. His task was one that would have
taxed the vigilance of a strong, well-fed man, and Carroll had already
nearly reached the limit of his powers.
His case, however, was by no means an unusual one. The cost of the
subjugation of the wilderness is the endurance of hunger and thirst, cold
and crushing fatigue; and somebody pays, to the utmost farthing. Carroll
sitting, drenched, strung up and hungry, at the helm, was merely playing
his part in the struggle, though he found it cruelly difficult.
It was pitch dark, but he must gaze ahead and guess the track of the
pursuing seas by the angle of the spouting white ridge abreast of the
weather shrouds. He had a compass, but when his course did not coincide
with safety it must be disregarded. The one essential thing was to keep
the sloop on top, and to do so he had frequently to let her fall off
dead before the mad white combers that leaped out of the dark. By and by
his arms began to ache from the strain of the tiller, and his wet
fingers grew stiff and claw-like. The nervous strain was also telling,
but that could not be helped; he must keep the craft before the sea or
go down with her. There was one consolation; she was traveling at a
furious speed.
At length, morning broke, gray and lowering, over a leaden sea that was
seamed with white. Carroll glanced longingly at the meat can on the
locker near his feet. He could reach it by stooping, though he dare not
leave the helm, but he determined to wait until noon before he broke his
fast again. It could not be very far to Comox, but the wind might drop.
Then he began to wonder how he had escaped the perils of the night. He
had come down what was really a wide and not quite straight sound,
passing several unlighted islands. Before starting, he had decided that
he would run so far, and then change his course a point or two, but he
could not be sure that he had done so. He had a hazy recollection of
seeing surf, and once a faint loom of land, but he supposed that he had
avoided it half-consciously or that chance had favored him.
In the afternoon, the wind changed a little, backing to the northwest;
the sky grew brighter, and Carroll made out shadowy land over his
starboard quarter. Soon he recognized it with a start. It was the high
ridge north of Comox. He had run farther than he had expected, and he
must try to hoist the peak of the mainsail and haul her on the wind.
There was danger in rounding her up, but it must be faced, though a sea
foamed across her as he put down his helm. Another followed, but he
scrambled forward and struggled desperately to hoist the down-hanging
gaff. The halyards were swollen; and he could scarcely keep his footing
on the deluged deck that slanted steeply under him. He thought he could
have mastered the banging canvas had he been fresh; but worn out as he
was, drenched with spray and buffeted by the shattered tops of the seas,
the task was beyond his power. Giving it up, he staggered back,
breathless and almost nerveless, to the helm.
He could not reach Comox, which lay to windward, with the sail half set,
but it was only seventy miles or so to Nanaimo and not much farther to
Vancouver. The breeze would be fair to either, and he could charter a
launch or tug for the return journey. Letting her go before the sea
again, he ate some canned meat ravenously, tearing it with one hand.
During the afternoon, a gray mass rose out of the water to port and he
supposed it was Texada. There were mines on the island and he might be
able to engage a rescue party; but he reflected that he could not beat
the sloop back to windward unless the breeze fell, which it showed no
signs of doing. It would be more prudent to go on to Vancouver, where he
would be sure of getting a steamer; but he closed with the long island a
little, and dusk was falling when he made out a boat in the partial
shelter of a bight. Standing in closer, he saw that there were two men on
the craft, and driving down upon her he backed and ran alongside. There
was a crash as he struck the boat and an astonished and angry man
clutched the sloop's rail.
"Now what in the name of thunder--" he began and stopped, struck by
Carroll's haggard and ragged appearance.
"Can you take this sloop to Vancouver?" Carroll asked hoarsely.
"I could if it was worth while," was the cautious answer. "It will be a
mighty wet run."
"Seven dollars a day, until you're home again. A bonus, if you can sail
her with the whole reefed mainsail up--I won't stick at a few dollars.
Can your partner pull that boat ashore alone? If not, cast her adrift;
I'll buy her."
"He'll make the beach," returned the other, jumping on board. "Seven
dollars sounds a square deal. I won't put the screw on you."
"Then help me hoist the peak. After that, you can take the helm; I'm
played out."
The man shouted something to his companion and then seized the halyards,
and the sloop drove on again, furiously, with an increased spread of
canvas, while Carroll stood holding on by the coaming until the boat
dropped back.
"I'll leave you to it," he told the new helmsman, "It's twenty-four hours
since I've had more than a bite or two of food, and some weeks since I
had a decent meal."
"You look it. Been up against it somewhere?"
Carroll, without replying, crawled below and managed to light the stove
and make a kettleful of tea. He drank a good deal of it, and nearly
emptied the remaining small meat can, which he presently held out for the
helmsman's inspection, standing beneath the hatch.
"There's some tea left, but this is all there is to eat on board the
craft," he said. "You're hired to take her to Vancouver--you'd better get
there as quick as you can."
The bronzed helmsman nodded.
"She won't be long on the way if the mast holds up."
"Have you seen any papers lately?" Carroll inquired. "I've been up in the
bush and I'm interested in the Clermont Mine. It looked as if there might
be some changes in the company's prospects when I went away."
"I noticed a bit about it in the _Colonist_ a while back. The
company sold out to another concern, or amalgamated with it; I don't
remember which."
Carroll was not astonished. The news implied that he must be prepared to
face a more or less serious financial reverse, and it struck him as a
fitting climax to his misadventures.
"It's pretty much what I expected," he said. "I'm going to sleep and I
don't want to be wakened before it's necessary."
He crawled below, and he had hardly stretched himself out upon the locker
before his eyes closed. When he opened them, feeling more like his usual
self, he saw that the sun was above the horizon, and he recognized by the
boat's motion that the wind had fallen. Going out he found her driving
through the water under her whole mainsail and the helmsman sitting
stolidly at the tiller. The man stretched out a hand and pointed to the
hazy hills to port.
"We'll fetch the Narrows some time before noon. If you'll take the helm,
I guess we'll half that meat for breakfast"
His prediction proved correct, for Carroll reached his hotel about
midday, and hastily changing his clothes set off to call on Nairn. He had
not yet recovered his mental equipoise and, in spite of his long, sound
sleep, he was still badly jaded physically. On arriving at the house, he
was shown into a room where Mrs. Nairn and her husband were sitting with
Evelyn, waiting for the midday meal The elder lady rose with a start of
astonishment when he walked in.
"Man," she cried, "what's wrong? Ye're looking like a ghost."
It was not an inapt description. Carroll's face was worn and haggard, and
his clothes hung slack upon him.
"I've been feeling rather unsubstantial of late, as the result of
a restricted diet," he answered with a smile sinking into the
nearest chair.
Nairn regarded him with carefully suppressed curiosity.
"Ye're over lang in coming," he remarked. "Where left ye your partner?"
Carroll sat silent a moment or two, his eyes fixed on Evelyn. It was
evident that his sudden appearance unaccompanied by Vane, which he felt
had been undesirably dramatic, had alarmed her. At first, he felt
compassionate, and then he was suddenly possessed by hot indignation.
This girl, with her narrow prudish notions and dispassionate nature, had
presumed to condemn his comrade, unheard, for an imaginary offense. The
thing was at once ludicrous and intolerable; if his news brought her
dismay, let her suffer. His nerves, it must be remembered, were not in
their normal condition.
"Yes," he said, in answer to his host's first remark; "I've gathered that
we have failed to save the situation. But I don't know exactly what has
happened. You had better tell me."
Mrs. Nairn made a sign of protest, but her husband glanced at her
restrainingly.
"Ye will hear his news in good time," he informed her, and then turned to
Carroll. "In a few words, the capital was no subscribed--it leaked out
that the ore was running poor--and we held an emergency meeting. With
Vane away, I could put no confidence into the shareholders--they were
anxious to get from under--and Horsfield brought forward an amalgamation
scheme: A combine would take the property over, on their valuation. I and
a few others were outvoted; the scheme went through; and when the
announcement steadied the stock, which had been tumbling down, I
exercised the authority given me and sold your shares and Vane's at
considerably less than their face value. Ye can have particulars later.
What I have to ask now is--where is Vane?"
The man's voice grew sharp; the question was flung out like an
accusation; but Carroll still looked at Evelyn. He felt very bitter
against her; he would not soften the blow.
"I left him in the bush, with no more than a few days' provisions and a
broken leg," he announced.
Then, in spite of Evelyn's efforts to retain her composure, her face
blanched. Carroll's anger vanished, because the truth was clear. Vane had
triumphed through disaster; his peril and ruin had swept his offenses
away. The girl, who had condemned him in his prosperity, would not turn
from him in misfortune. In the meanwhile the others sat silent, gazing at
the bearer of evil news, until he spoke again.
"I want a tug to take me back, at once, if she can be got. I'll pick up a
few men along the waterfront."
Nairn rose and went out of the room. The tinkle of a telephone bell
reached those who remained, and a minute or two later he came back.
"I've sent Whitney round," he explained. "He'll come across if there's a
boat to be had, and now ye look as if ye needed lunch."
"It's several weeks since I had one," Carroll smiled.
The meal was brought in, but for a while he talked as well as ate,
relating his adventures in somewhat disjointed fragments, while the
others sat listening eagerly. He was also pleased to notice something
which suggested returning confidence in him in Evelyn's intent eyes as
the tale proceeded. When at last he had made the matter clear, he added:
"If I keep you waiting, you'll excuse me."
His hostess watched his subsequent efforts with candid approval, and
looking up once or twice, he saw sympathy in the girl's face, instead of
the astonishment or disgust he had half expected. When he finished, his
hostess rose and Carroll stood up, but Nairn motioned to him to resume
his place.
"I'm thinking ye had better sit still a while and smoke," he said.
Carroll was glad to do so, and they conferred together until Nairn was
called to the telephone.
"Ye can have the Brodick boat at noon to-morrow," he reported on
his return.
"That won't do," Carroll objected heavily. "Send Whitney round again; I
must sail to-night."
He had some difficulty in getting out the words, and when he rose his
eyes were half closed. Walking unsteadily, he crossed the room and sank
onto a big lounge.
"I think," he added, "if you don't mind, I'll go to sleep."
Nairn merely nodded, and when he went silently out of the room a minute
or two afterward, the worn-out man was already wrapped in profound
slumber. Nairn just then received another call by telephone and left in
haste for his office without speaking to his wife, with the result that
Mrs. Nairn and Evelyn, returning to the room in search of Carroll, found
him lying still. The elder lady raised her hand in warning as she bent
over the sleeper, and then taking up a light rug spread it gently over
him. Evelyn, too, was stirred to sudden pity, for the man's attitude was
eloquent of exhaustion. They withdrew softly and had reached the corridor
outside when Mrs. Nairn turned to the girl.
"When he first came in, ye blamed that man for deserting his
partner," she said.
Evelyn confessed it and her hostess smiled meaningly.
"Are ye no rather too ready to blame?"
"I'm afraid I am," Evelyn admitted, with the color creeping into her
face as she remembered another instance in which she had condemned a
man hastily.
"In this case, ye were very foolish. The man came down for help, and if
he could no get it, he would go back his lone, if all the way was barred
with ice and he must walk on his naked feet. Love of woman's strong and
the fear of death is keen, but ye will find now and then a faith between
man and man that neither would sever." She paused and looked at the girl
fixedly as she asked: "What of him that could inspire it?"
Evelyn did not answer. She had never seen her hostess in this mood, and
she also was stirred; but the elder lady went on again:
"The virtue of a gift lies in part, but no altogether, with the giver.
Whiles, it may be bestowed unworthily, but I'm thinking it's no often.
The bond that will drag Carroll back to the North again, to his death, if
need be, has no been spun from nothing."
Evelyn had no doubt that Mrs. Nairn was right. Loyalty, most often,
demanded a worthy object to tender service to; it sprang from implicit
confidence, mutual respect and strong appreciation. It was not without a
reason that Vane had inspired it in his comrade's breast; and this was
the man she had condemned. That fact, however, was by comparison a very
minor trouble. Vane was lying, helpless and alone, in the snowy
wilderness, in peril of his life; and she knew that she loved him. She
realized now, when it might be too late, that had he in reality been
stained with dishonor, she could have forgiven him. Indeed, it had only
been by a painful effort that she had maintained some show of composure
since Carroll had brought the disastrous news, and she felt that she
could not keep it up much longer.
What she said to Mrs. Nairn she could not remember, but escaping from
her she retired to her own room, to lie still and grapple with an agony
of fear and contrition.
It was two hours later when she went down and found Carroll, who still
looked drowsy, about to go out. His hostess had left him for a moment in
the hall, and meeting the girl's eyes, he smiled at her reassuringly.
"Don't be anxious. I'll bring him back," he said.
Then Mrs. Nairn appeared and in a few moments Carroll left without
another word to Evelyn. She did not ask herself why he had taken it for
granted that she would be anxious; she was beyond any petty regard for
appearances then. It was consoling to remember that he was Vane's tried
comrade; a man who kept his word.