STARTING THE PUMP
The bush was dim with steamy shade when Austin and Jefferson plodded
along a little path behind the beach where the oil was stored. It was
with difficulty they made their way, for the soil was firmer there, and
a dense undergrowth sprang up among the big cottonwoods which replaced
the mangroves. They were draped with creepers, and here and there an
orchid flung its fantastic blossoms about a rotting limb, while the path
twisted in and out among them and through tangled thickets. It was then
the hottest part of the afternoon, and save for the soft fall of the
men's footsteps everything was still. The atmosphere was very like that
of a Turkish bath, and as Austin stumbled along the perspiration dripped
from him.
He had toiled strenuously from early dawn until darkness closed down, of
late, and though he had, as yet, escaped the fever, every joint in his
body ached, and he was limp and dejected with the heat and weariness.
His only respite from labour had been the few hours spent on watch
beside the landed oil when his turn came, and he had now come down with
two of the Spaniards to relieve Jefferson, who was going back to the
_Cumbria_. The latter glanced towards a ray of brightness that beat into
the dim green shadow, and here and there flung a patch of brilliancy
athwart the great columnar trunks.
"I've been wondering where this trail goes, and it seems to me there's
an opening close in front of us," he said. "We'll rest when we get
there, and I don't know that I'll be sorry. You have to choose between
stewing and roasting in this country, and, when it lets my skin stay on
me, I almost think the latter's easier."
Austin felt inclined to agree with him, for they had blundered through
the shadowy bush for half an hour, and its hot, saturated atmosphere
made exertion almost impossible. Still, he said nothing, and in a few
more minutes they came out upon a glaring strip of sand beside another
creek. Jefferson stopped a moment, with a little gesture of
astonishment, in the shadow of a palm.
"What in the name of wonder have they been turning that sand over for?"
he said.
Austin walked out of the shadow, blinking in the dazzling brightness the
creek flung back, and saw that the sand had certainly been disturbed
every here and there. It seemed to him that somebody had been digging
holes in it and then had carefully filled them up.
"There isn't a nigger village nearer than the one where Funnel-paint
lives, or I could have fancied they'd had an epidemic and been burying
their friends," he said.
Jefferson shook his head. "They wouldn't worry to bring them here," he
said. "Still, somebody has been digging since the last wet season, for
it seems to me that when the rain comes the creek flows over here."
It occurred to Austin that one or two, at least, of the excavations had
been filled in not long ago, but his comrade made no comment when he
suggested it, and they went back together to the shadow of the palm,
where Jefferson, sitting down thoughtfully, filled a blackened pipe.
It was several minutes before he broke the silence.
"There is," he said, at length, "a good deal I can't get the hang of
about the whole affair; but if I knew just how they came to start the
plates that let the water in, I'd have something to figure on. You can't
very well knock holes in an iron steamer's bottom on soft, slimy mud,
and I don't know where they could have found a rock here if they wanted
to."
"Ah!" said Austin. "Then you think they might have wanted to find one?"
Jefferson again sat silent for almost a minute, and then slowly shook
his head. "I don't know--I've nothing to go upon," he said. "She's not
even an old, played-out boat. Still, it seems to me that a heavily
freighted steamer, hung up by her nose on the bank, might easily have
started some of her plates when the waters of the creek subsided. Then
she'd settle deeper--it's nice soft mud."
"But that would be--after--she went ashore."
"Yes," said Jefferson dryly. "That's the point of it."
Austin looked thoughtful. It had also occurred to him that there was a
good deal it was difficult to understand about the stranding of the
_Cumbria_, though that, after all, did not appear to concern them
greatly just then.
"What puzzles me is why the salvage men let go," he said. "You see,
they're accustomed to this kind of thing, and have money behind them."
Jefferson looked at him with a little smile, and Austin saw that he
guessed his thoughts. Jefferson was as gaunt as ever, a fever-worn
skeleton of a man, dressed, for the most part, in oil-stained rags,
while Austin was quite aware that, so far as outward appearances went,
there was very little that was prepossessing about himself. His big felt
hat hung over his forehead, sodden with grease, and shapeless; his hands
were hard and scarred, his nails were broken, and the rent singlet hung
open almost to his waist. All this seemed to emphasise their feebleness,
and the fact that there was no money behind them, at least.
"Well," said Jefferson, "that's quite easy. Those salvage men are
specialists, and expect a good deal for the time they put in. Now they
took some oil out of her, but there is reason for believing they were
not sure they'd get the _Cumbria_ off at all, and it would cost a good
deal to charter a light-draught steamer to come up here. They tried
towing it down to a schooner, and lost a good deal of it on the shoals.
Then they towed the schooner in, and had to wait for a smooth surf
before they could get her out, with no more than sixty tons at that. The
game wasn't worth while, and the men were going down with fever."
"But the gum?"
"There wasn't a great deal down in the cargo sheets, and, any way, until
they'd hove the oil out they couldn't come at it."
"You are still sure about the gum yourself?"
Jefferson laughed softly. "I think I am. I don't quite know where it is,
but the skipper got it--a good deal of it."
"Still, the steamer would be worth a persistent effort. There was no
doubt about her being there."
"No," said Jefferson, with a little gesture of comprehension. "Now I
know just what you mean. You're wondering, since those men couldn't
heave her off, what's the use of us trying. Well, specialists make their
mistakes now and then, just like other men, and they took it for granted
that things were normal when they were there. From what I've seen of the
sand strips and the marks on the mangrove trunks, I don't think they
were. You see, there's a good deal we don't know about the tides yet,
and the Guinea stream doesn't always run quite the same along this
coast; while, when there's less than usual of the southwest winds that
help it along, it's quite likely to mean two or three feet less water in
these creeks. Then you can have a wet season that's a little drier than
the other ones, and it's fresh water here--the tide just backs it up."
"Then you're counting on the present season being a normal one?"
"Yes," said Jefferson quietly. "I've staked all I have on it--and a good
deal more than that. If it isn't, I might as well have pitched my forty
thousand dollars into the sea."
He stopped a moment, and then laid a little grey object in Austin's
palm. "What d'you make of that?"
Austin started as he looked at it. "A pistol bullet!"
"Exactly," said Jefferson. "It has been through the barrel, too; you can
see the score of the rifling. I picked it up along the trail, but I
don't know how long it lay there, or who fired it. Still, the niggers
don't carry pistols. Well, it's about time I was getting back on board
if we're to start the pump to-night."
Austin glanced at him sharply, and noticed that there was a suggestion
of tension in his voice, though his face was quiet. It was evident that
a good deal would depend upon the result of the first few hours'
pumping, for unless it lowered the water there would be little
probability of their floating the steamer. Neither of them, however,
said anything further, and when they went back to the beach where the
oil was, Jefferson steamed away in the launch, and Austin, who was left
with two Canarios, lay down in the shadow of a strip of tarpaulin. The
Spaniards, tired with their morning's labour, went to sleep; and Austin,
who filled his pipe several times, found the hours pass very slowly.
There was nothing to hold his attention--only glaring sand, dingy, dim
green mangroves, and tiers of puncheons with patches of whitewash
clinging to them. It flung back an intolerable brightness that hurt his
aching eyes, and he became sensible of a feverish impatience as he lay
watching the shadows lengthen.
His thoughts were with Jefferson, who was, no doubt, now getting steam
on the locomotive boiler and coupling up the big pump. Unless the latter
did what they expected of it, the toil they had undergone, and
Jefferson's eight thousand pounds, would have been thrown away. That was
very evident, but Austin wondered a little at himself as his impatience
grew upon him, until it was only by an effort he held himself still.
It was not the quarter share Jefferson offered him which had brought him
there, for he realised that even with five thousand pounds he would
still be, to all intents and purposes, a poor man, and his life on board
the _Estremedura_ had, in most respects, been one that suited him. He
had, in fact, not greatly cared whether the _Cumbria_ could be floated
or not, when he came out, but since then Jefferson's optimism, or
something that was born of the toil they had undertaken, had laid hold
of him, and now he was almost as anxious as his comrade that their
efforts should result in success. In fact, he was feverishly anxious,
and felt that if it would gain them anything he would willingly stake
his life on the venture. Then he smiled as he remembered that he had,
without quite realising it, done so already.
Still, the long, hot afternoon dragged away, and when the sun dipped,
and black darkness closed down upon the creek, the launch came clanking
up to the beach. She brought two Canarios as well as Bill, the fireman,
and Austin's voice was eager as he greeted the latter.
"Have you got the pump going yet?" he asked.
"No," said Bill. "Tom and Mr. Jefferson was packing something when I
came away. He'd given her a spin, and found the engine blowing at a
gland."
Austin asked him nothing further, but drove the launch at top speed
through the blackness that shrouded the misty creek, and walked straight
to where Jefferson was standing when he reached the _Cumbria_. The red
glow from the open fire-door of the locomotive boiler fell upon him, and
there were signs of tension in his face, while the red trickle from a
hand he had apparently injured smeared his torn jacket. Steam was
roaring from a valve beside him, and Austin could scarcely hear him when
he turned to the donkey-man.
"Shut the fire-door. She'll go now," he said. "I'll let her shake down
for a minute or two, and then we'll give her everything."
He walked forward towards where the light of a lamp fell upon the casing
of the pump, which looked like a huge iron drum considerably flattened
in. Then he touched a valve, and the machine became animate with a low
pulsatory wheezing, while something commenced to hum and rattle inside
it. The sound swelled into a fierce rhythmic whirring, the great iron
case vibrated, and Austin could feel the rails he leaned on tremble.
Jefferson turned and looked at him with a little smile, while he laid a
hand, as it were, affectionately upon the pump.
"Yes," he said, "I've made her go, and she's going to earn me eighty
thousand dollars. She's drawing air just now. Heave your hat down, and
see if she'll take it along."
Austin, who became sensible that a little draught was shaking his duck
trousers, did as Jefferson suggested, and the big felt hat rolled and
flopped in a ludicrous fashion along the deck. Then it seemed to spring
forward into the blackness, and groping after it, he found it glued to
the iron grid which was screwed to the end of a big pipe. It was with
some little difficulty he tore it loose. Then he saw Jefferson swing up
one hand.
"Easy, while she's getting her first drink; then, if she's spouting
full, you can let her hum," he said, and turned to Austin. "Now, come
down with me."
They went down together into the musty hold, and when somebody lowered
the big hose after them, Jefferson, standing upon the ladder, seized the
rope, and looked up at the Canarios clustering round the hatch above.
"Where's that rake you made?" he said.
It was handed him, and Austin glanced down at the water, which glistened
oilily under the light of a suspended lamp. It was thick with floating
grease and strewn with fragments of rotten bags.
"Get hold and keep her clear!" said Jefferson, who thrust the rake upon
him, and then waited a moment before he lowered the hose, while Austin,
glancing round a moment, could see the faces of the men above them. They
were intent, and almost as expectant as his comrade's.
Then the big pipe sank with a soft splash, and shook out its loose
half-coil, as if alive, while it swelled. It grew hard and rigid, and
the dim, oily water swirled and seethed about the end of it. In another
moment there was a rush of floating objects towards it from the shadows.
Strips of bagging, handspikes, clots of oil, and dunnage wood, came
thicker and thicker, and Jefferson raised his voice.
"Let her hum!" he said.
The pipe palpitated as it further straightened itself, and now a hole
opened in the oily water, and half-seen things came up with a rush from
the depths of the flooded hold. Hundreds of little black kernels whirled
and sank in the swing of the eddy, which grew wider as a deep, resonant
hum descended from the deck above. It seemed to Austin that everything
in the hold was coming to the top, but as he watched the bewildering
succession of odds and ends that spun amidst the froth, Jefferson's
voice rose harshly.
"It's water she's wanting! Keep her clear!" he said.
Austin contrived to do it for a while, though now and then the whirling
rush of bags and wood almost tore the rake away from him. He was kept
busy for half an hour, while Jefferson stood leaning out from the
ladder, and steadily watching the water. Then the American swung himself
down, with his knife in his hand, and scratched the iron at its level.
"We'll know in another hour or two whether we're pumping out the
_Cumbria_ or pumping in the creek," he said. "If it's the latter, I've
got to let up on the contract. I can't undertake to dry out this part of
Africa."
Then he signed to one of the Canarios. "Come down. Ven aca, savvy, and
take this rake."
They went up together, but as they passed along the deck Jefferson
stopped once more to lay his hand upon the pump. It was running with a
dull, rumbling roar, and the deck trembled about it.
"She's doing good work," he said. "Now we'll have comida. I daren't go
back there for another hour."
They went into the deck-house, where the Spaniard who acted as steward
was waiting them, but in passing, Jefferson made a sign to Tom, who
stood in the glow from the fire-door, with a shovel in his hand.
"All she's worth!" he said.
They ate as a matter of duty, and because they needed all the strength
the climate had left them, but neither had much appetite, and Austin
knew that Jefferson was listening as eagerly as he was himself to the
deep, vibrating hum that came throbbing through the open door. It was a
relief to both of them to hear, the persistent jingling of a cup that
stood unevenly in its saucer. The pump was running well, but there
remained the momentous question, was it lowering the water? And when the
meal was over, Austin glanced at Jefferson as he pushed his plate aside.
"Shall I go down and look?" he asked.
"No," said Jefferson hoarsely. "Any way, if you do, don't come back and
worry me. She's full up, fore and after holds and engine room--and there
are things I don't stand very well. We'll give her two hours, and then,
if she's doing anything worth while, the scratch I made will be dry."
Austin nodded sympathetically. "Under the circumstances," he said, "two
hours is a long while."
Jefferson smiled, a curious, wry smile. "It's hard--the toughest thing
one can do--just to keep still; but if I climbed up and down that ladder
for two hours I'd probably break out, and heave somebody into the creek.
There are things you have to get over once for all--and do it quick."
"I suppose there are," said Austin. "Still, it's the first time I've
made the acquaintance of any of them, and I shouldn't have fancied one
could get a thrill of this kind out of a centrifugal pump. There is,
however, of course, a good deal at stake."
"Eighty thousand dollars," said Jefferson, "and all the rest of my life.
You don't usually get such chances as the _Cumbria_ is giving us twice."
Austin found that he, at least, could not keep still, however he tried,
and he went out and paced up and down the slanted deck, where he fell
over things, though he now and then endeavored to talk rationally to Tom
the donkey-man. He did not find the attempt a success, but he saw that
he was not the only one who felt the tension, for the Canarios, in place
of resting, were clustered round the hatch, and apparently staring down
the opening. Jefferson was still in the deck-house each time he passed,
a gaunt, grim-faced object, with a lean hand clenched on an unlighted
pipe, and at last Austin sat down on the deck beside the pump. He liked
to feel the throb of it, but he remembered the half hour he spent there
a long while afterwards.
Then Jefferson came out of the deck-house, walking slowly, though Austin
fancied it cost him an effort, and they climbed down the ladder
together. The man with the rake stood on the opposite one across the
hatch, and Austin felt his heart beat painfully as he raised the lantern
he held and Jefferson stooped down. He straightened himself slowly,
though the blood was in his face.
"Dry!" he said hoarsely. "She's lowering it. It's a sure thing, Austin.
If the fever doesn't get us we'll see this contract out."
Then he turned, and they went up and back to the deck-house, while an
exultant clamour broke out from the Canarios; but Jefferson's lean hand
quivered a little when he laid it on the table as he sat down.
"If she has started any plates, they're not started much," he said.
"Now, talk about anything you like, so long as it isn't the _Cumbria_.
I've got to slacken down to-night."