The conduct of the Coromantee in thus relinquishing the rudder and
springing overboard into the sea was inexplicable,--at least, to little
William it seemed so for the time. What could be Snowball's object in
taking to the water? The sailor's strength was sufficient to sustain
both himself and the little girl. He appeared to have no difficulty in
holding her above the surface; and as to getting back to the raft,
Snowball was surely doing more service in steering the raft towards
them? Had he continued at the rudder a few minutes longer, the
_Catamaran_ must have come very near where the swimmer was struggling;
where as, on his dropping the oar, she once more luffed round, and began
to make way in the opposite direction.
Little William, however, did not observe this sinister circumstance; or
if he did, it was for the moment driven out of his mind by one still
more sinister, that just then came under his observation.
Only for a few seconds had he remained watching the negro, and
wondering, with unpleasant thoughts, why the latter before leaping
overboard had half drawn the knife from his belt and then resheathed it.
Something like a suspicion passed through the mind of the youth. What
could the negro want with a knife, if his object was to give help to the
swimmer? Could a fiendish conception have occurred to the Coromantee,
to lessen the number of those who might require food and water?
It is true the suspicion had barely shaped itself in the brain of the
boy. Still, it had shaped itself, to be succeeded by a feeling of
remorse for the wrong which he had done to Snowball in entertaining it.
Almost on the instant did he become conscious of this wrong, by an
object coming under his eyes and which at once accounted for the conduct
of the Coromantee, that had seemed strange. Snowball was swimming
towards Ben Brace,--not to destroy,--but with the intention of saving
him.
From what? Was the sailor really in danger of sinking, so as to stand
in need of support both for himself and his burden?
Little William did not put such an interrogatory. All his conjectures
were ended. The peril threatening his patron,--and little Lalee as
well,--was plainly outlined before his eyes, in all its frightful
reality. That flattish, dark disc, with lunetted edge, rising erect
above the surface, and cutting keenly through the rippling water, was an
object not to be mistaken for any moving thing met with amid the ocean,
save the dorsal fin of a shark, and William knew at a glance that such
in reality it was.
He saw, moreover, it was the same he and little Lalee had so late been
contemplating in security,--the dreaded zygaena: for through the
translucent water he could distinguish its hammer-shaped head, and lurid
eyes gleaming out from their protuberant sockets,--hideous to behold!
The boy now became spectator,--sole spectator,--of a scene of thrilling,
even terrible interest. The characters in the drama were Snowball, the
zygaena, and Ben Brace with his burden.
Just as William had arrived at the comprehension of the Coromantee's
behaviour, the _dramatis persona_ were placed relatively to each other
in a triangular position,--an isosceles triangle, in which Snowball and
the shark represented the angles at the base, while Ben with his charge
occupied the apex. The latter point was almost stationary, while both
the former were moving towards it in converging lines, fast as shark and
man could swim.
The situation was easily explained. The zygaena, hitherto holding its
course ahead of the _Catamaran_, had become apprised of the catastrophe
occurring among the crew. The plash occasioned by little Lalee as she
was flung upon the water, and the heavier concussion of Ben's body as he
plunged overboard, had reached the monster's ears; and, with that fell
instinct peculiar to its tribe, it had suddenly turned in the water, and
commenced swimming toward the wake of the craft; where it knew that
anything, whether human or otherwise, falling overboard, must inevitably
drift.
While passing the _Catamaran_ towards the wake, Snowball had caught
sight of its fan-like fin,--which apprised him of the direction it was
taking, at the same time revealing to him its design.
The plunge which Snowball had made as he sprang out into the water had
caused the zygaena to swerve from its course; and for some moments it
swam towards _him_, as if determined upon changing the object of its
attack; but whether not liking the looks of the Coromantee or frayed by
his bold attitude in making directly towards it, it shied back into its
former course, and kept on towards the others.
Of course, the sailor, encumbered as he was by the half-lifeless form of
the girl, would stand but little chance of making a successful defence
against a shark,--more especially such a monster as the zygaena; and it
was the knowledge of this that had summoned Snowball to the rescue.
Against such an adversary a more capable combatant than the Coromantee
could scarce have been found on the waters of the ocean, or even _in_
them. He could swim like a swan, and dive like a sea-duck; nor was it
the first time for him to have fought the shark in its own element;
neither would it be the first time should he prove conqueror in the
combat.
On launching into the lists, his chief dread had not been for himself,
but for those he was proceeding to rescue.
In point of time the shark had had the start of him; and, although on
parting from the raft the distances each would have to traverse were not
very unequal, Snowball knew that his scaly competitor far excelled him
in the quality of speed.
It was this thought that was causing him anxiety,--amounting almost to
anguish,--that caused him to plunge wildly through the water,--to utter
loud cries, and make other noisy demonstrations,--with a view of
distracting the attention of the zygaena from the victims it had
fore-chosen, and drawing its attack upon himself.
His shouts and gesticulations proved equally unavailing. The cunning
zygaena took no heed of either; but with its dark dorsal fin, set like a
well-bent sail, it kept straight on towards the easier victims.
The sides of the isosceles triangle were gradually growing unequal,--
gradually and slowly, but, alas! surely. Already was it an irregular
_scalene_. Snowball perceived the change,--each moment becoming more
perceptible, each moment augmenting his fears.
"Poor lilly Lally!" cried he, in a voice that betrayed his anxiety. "O
Mass' Ben! fo' de lub o' Gorramity, swum to de right,--round dat away,
an' let me git 'tween you an de ravenin' beast. To de right!--da's de
way. Do yer bess, Mass' Brace, an' gi' me time get up. I take care o'
de lubber ef I once get im widin reach o' dis chile's arm."
The injunction thus uttered had the desired effect. Up to that time the
sailor, sunk low in the water by reason of the extra weight, had not
become fully cognisant of the peril of his position. Hitherto his mind
had been more occupied with the idea of overtaking the raft, than any
danger to be dreaded from sharks. He was not even aware of the
zygaena's approach; for the fin, which had betrayed the monster's
presence to those on the _Catamaran_,--from being seen _en profile_,--
could not so easily be distinguished when viewed in "front-face." No
wonder, therefore, that the victims which the zygaena had selected for
its attack remained unconscious of its approach; and it was only on
seeing Snowball spring out from the _Catamaran_, and swim towards him,
that the sailor suspected the proximity of a shark. At the same
instant, also, he remembered the interrogatory that had been addressed
to him by little William, and his own laconic reply designating the
individual as a _hammer-head_. From these various circumstances he
could tell that there was a shark bearing down upon him; but in what
direction he could not conjecture, until the hurried words of Snowball
admonished him to "make way to de right."
The sailor had too much respect for the experience of the ex-cook to
disregard the injunctions thus given; and of hearing them, he at once
swerved in the direction indicated, and "made way to de right" as fast
as a man could swim with only one hand free for the stroke.
Fortunately for all parties, the one arm proved sufficient. The new
direction entered upon by the swimmer soon changed the relative position
of all parties. The triangle became resolved into a right line,--the
shark at one extremity,--the sailor with his charge at the other,--
Snowball midway between!