The Chase.
Half pulling, half trusting to the sail, in a few seconds they were
alongside the carcass of the _cachalot_. They saw what it was and
divined how it came to be there; though still puzzled by the pyrotechnic
display exhibited on its summit.
As they passed under the shadow of the huge mass some proposed that they
should stay by it,--alleging that it would furnish food for all; but
this proposal was rejected by the majority.
"_Pardieu_!" exclaimed the directing voice of Le Gros; "we have food a
plenty. It's drink we want now. There's no water upon the whale; and
there must be some in possession of these runaways, whoever they be.
Let us first follow _them_! If we overhaul them, we can come back. If
not, we can return all the same!"
This proposal appeared too reasonable to be rejected. A muttered assent
of the majority decided its acceptance; and the raft, yielding to the
renewed impulse of the rowers, swept past the carcass,--leaving both the
black mass and the blazing beacon astern.
As if further to justify the course of action he had counselled, Le Gros
continued--
"No fear about our finding the dead fish. This fog is clearing away.
In half an hour there won't be a trace of it. We shall be able to make
out the carcass if the whale twenty miles off,--especially with the
smoke of that infernal fire to guide us. Pull like the devil! Be sure
of it, there's water in one of those casks we see. Only think of
it,--_water_!"
It scarce needed the repetition of this magic word to stimulate his
thirsty companions. They were already pulling with all their strength.
For about ten minutes the chase continued,--both the pursued and the
pursuer equally enveloped in vapour. They were less than two hundred
yards apart, and virtually within view,--though not so near as to
distinguish one another's features. Each crew could make out the forms
of the other; but only to tell that they were human beings clad in some
sort of costume.
In this respect the Catamarans had the advantage. They knew who were
their pursuers; and all about them.
The latter were still in a state of ignorance as to who were the four
individuals so zealously endeavouring to avoid an interview with them.
They could perceive that only two of them were full-grown men, and that
the other two were of smaller size; but this gave them no clew for the
identification of the fugitives.
Of course it did not occur to any of them to think over the rest of the
_Pandora's_ people; and even if it had, there was no one who would have
for a moment supposed that either the black cook, Snowball, or the
little Portuguese pickaninny,--rarely seen upon the slaver's deck,--
could be among the survivors.
Such a conjecture never occurred to any of the ruffians upon the great
raft; and therefore they were continuing the chase still ignorant of the
identity of those who seemed so desirous of escaping them.
It was only after the fog had floated entirely away,--or grown so thin
as to appear but transparent film,--that the pursuers identified those
they were pursuing.
Then did their doubts cease and their conjectures come to a termination.
Of the four forms distinguishable upon the deck of the escaping craft,
there was one that could not be mistaken.
That huge, rounded bust covered with its sable epidermis--for the negro
had stripped to his work,--surmounted by a spherical occiput,--could
belong to no living creature but the ex-cook of the _Pandora_. It was
Snowball to a certainty!
A general shout proclaimed the recognition; and for some moments the air
was rent with the voices of his _ci-devant_ comrades calling upon the
Coromantee to "come to an anchor."
"Lie to, Snowball!" cried several of his old comrades. "Why have you
cut your cable in that fashion? Hold on till we come up. We mean you
no harm!"
Snowball did hold on; though not in the sense that his former associates
desired. On the contrary, their request only stimulated him to fresh
exertions, to avoid the renewal of an acquaintance which he knew would
certainly end in his ruin.
The Coromantee was not to be cajoled. With Ben Brace by his side,
muttering wholesome counsel, he lent a deaf ear to the proposal of the
pursuers; and only answered it by pulling more energetically at his oar.
What had been only a request, now became a demand,--accompanied by
threats and protestation. Snowball was menaced with the most dire
vengeance; and told of terrible punishments that awaited him on his
capture.
Their threats had no more influence than their solicitations; and they
who had given utterance to them arriving after a time, at this
conviction, ceased talking altogether.
Snowball's silent, though evidently determined, rejection of their
demands had the effect of irritating those who had made them; and
stimulated by their spite with more energy than ever did they bend
themselves to the task of overtaking the fugitive craft.
Two hundred yards still lay between pursuer and pursued. Two hundred
yards of clear, unobstructed ocean. Was that distance to become
diminished, to the capture of the _Catamaran_; or was it to be
increased, to her escape?