THE PROBLEM.
Day by day the old man slowly improved in condition until at the end of
three weeks he was able to sit in the armchair with comfort. He startled
us one morning by uttering his daughter’s name, and little by little
recovered the use of his tongue. He was not yet able to stand or walk,
and it was still doubtful whether he would recover the use of his lower
limbs. I felt reasonably confident, however, that he would do so
ultimately.
As soon as he could talk, almost his first words were a request to me to
get the Jamaican sailor’s chest from the boat and use the clothing for
myself. I was glad enough to do this, as almost any sort of change was
acceptable. I found in the chest a number of good shirts, both woollen
and cotton, a good, serviceable suit of dark tweed, and two complete
suits of white duck; also socks and underwear, and a good straw hat.
These things fitted me very well, but a pair of dancing pumps were so
small that I could not get them on my feet; however, my own shoes were
still very good. The kind-hearted old man then said that if I wished it
he would cut my hair; he thought he could use his daughter’s scissors
well enough. But I did not fancy having him clipping about my ears with
uncertain fingers, and resolutely declined. My hair, which now reached
to my shoulders, was as long as it was likely to grow. The ends,
exposed freely, would naturally wear and fray away as fast as it grew,
and I concluded to let it go as it was until I reached civilization.
Thinking about my plans one day, it occurred to me that it would not be
a bad idea to plant a garden for use when I should return to the island.
Potatoes and yams, and fresh green corn would not be a bad provision to
have ready at hand in plenty while working at the sunken galleon. There
was a patch of good, rich soil near the creek, now covered with dry
grass, beneath which the new grass had sprung since the rains. By
burning it over the ground might be readily cleared for a couple of
acres in extent. I put fire to it at several places on the windward side
and it was soon black and bare. I began at once with the shovel to break
up the soil in spots, and to make hills for the potatoes and yams, and
to form a place in which to plant the corn. With the hoe I could
subsequently go over the ground between the hills and cut up the grass
when it started. After I had been working a couple of days at this
severe labor, Mr. Millward asked me why I thought it necessary to
prepare to plant so extensively, as we should soon be leaving the
island.
“I shall be well enough in a week or two longer to go. You are making
provision there as though you expected we were all to remain here for
six months longer,” said he.
I looked at him a moment before answering, debating with myself what
reply to make. At last I said, “Mr. Millward, I expect to return to this
island after we have reached Martinique.”
“And why should you do that?” he asked, with an air of surprise.
“I may tell you the reason why, and think perhaps I shall,” I answered,
and continued after a pause, “I believe I may trust you, and that you
will not betray me. It is now a secret known only to me.”
The old man said no more, and we changed the subject of conversation.
That afternoon while at work in the new garden I considered carefully
the propriety of telling the Millwards about the galleon. It would be a
great comfort to have some one to talk to and advise with concerning the
matter, and I already knew enough of these people to feel confident they
would not betray me. On the other hand was it best to tell any one of my
secret? But I finally decided to give them my confidence. And that
evening, as we sat in front of the fire,--a chill rain having set in,--I
told to the father and the daughter the whole story of my coming to the
island, the search for the wreck, the successful location of the sunken
hulk, and also what my plans for the future were. Mr. Millward after
listening to it all said, “Now, Mr. Morgan, I am better able to
appreciate the sacrifice you are making in remaining here with us, and
the great inconvenience to which we are putting you. Is it not better
that you should start at once? I think I shall now be able to stand the
voyage.”
“As soon as you are strong enough to stand the voyage, Mr. Millward,”
said I, “we will start; but not before that time.”
Mr. Millward now asked to see the pearls of which I had told him in the
course of my statement. When I had handed them to him, he said, “These
pearls are highly valuable. I am sufficiently familiar with the value of
such gems to be able to assure you that you have ten thousand dollars’
worth here, at a very low estimate, and perhaps double that amount in
value.”
I asked him where I could find a market for them. He thought that it
would not be wise to attempt to sell them anywhere in the islands,
unless at Havana, but that Havana would probably prove as good a market
as I could find anywhere. He further told me that he had heard a rumor
of a valuable pearl fishery having been found and secretly worked
somewhere among the islands. No doubt this island was the place. If so
we might expect the pearl fishers to return at any time. Now this was a
prospect which was very far from pleasant to contemplate; not because
they might lay claim to my pearls,--I had no fear of that,--nor because
I could not substantiate my right to the abandoned property, or if
necessary give them up without a murmur. The situation was more serious
than that. These pearl fishers, if they came, would be out in their
boats and prowling about, and would be sure to find out what I was
doing. Moreover, they would doubtless be a well armed, lawless, and
adventurous set. If they found us on the island, and knew that we had
discovered their secret, there was no telling what they might do. It
made me feel very uneasy. If by any accident they should run across my
buoy, the first thing would be to send a diver down and my own secret
would be disclosed.
“I shall go to-morrow morning and remove that buoy,” said I.
The old man agreed with me that this would be advisable.
That night I slept very little till toward morning. All night I lay
thinking about the galleon and the treasure that it contained. If I only
had a diving-apparatus I could see my way clear. The old man and his
daughter would be all the help I should need. I began to dislike the
idea of leaving the island even temporarily, until I had secured the
treasure. But probably I could not procure a submarine helmet and
diver’s dress, with air-tubes and pump, short of Kingston, Jamaica, or
Havana in Cuba, and possibly not nearer than New York. Ah! the loss of
my diving-apparatus was a vexing misfortune. It might, and probably
would be more than six months before I could get back with these
appliances. This line of cogitation finally brought me around to the
thought that possibly I might be able to make a diving-apparatus myself
which would answer my purpose. Why not? There must be some way to do it.
And why shall I not find that way? I began to think it over by fairly
stating the problem to myself, and before I went to sleep I had
convinced myself that I could make all the needed apparatus except the
air-pump. But this was a device I could see no way to supply. “Never
mind,” thought I, “it will suggest itself as I go along, if I keep my
mind upon it. I will stay and try it.” With this resolve I felt better
contented, and soon dropped to sleep.
At dawn I was up, and immediately took out my boat and went to the buoy.
The wind was light and I had no difficulty in getting fast to it.
Instead of taking up the buoy, as I had at first intended, I merely
shortened the anchor line so that the buoy was held under water about
two feet. I knew that the gourds would remain in this condition for a
long time, and with my sights on shore would enable me to find the
neighborhood, while they would not be likely to be seen by others not
looking for them.
When this was done I sailed back to the creek in time for breakfast,
congratulating myself on the additional peace of mind this act had
brought me. Now nobody would be likely to stumble on the galleon, and I
could give my thoughts to the problem before me.
As I rounded into the creek before the wind, I saw the graceful figure
of Alice Millward, who was coming down from the house to look after her
fire for breakfast. When I came up I found her lamenting that not a
single spark could be found alight, and that the breakfast must needs be
late, or cold. But the sun was already well up above the sea,--at least
an hour and a half high,--and I found no difficulty in procuring a blaze
with the burning-glass, and the fire was soon burning bravely.
I sat down in the shade of the shed, while she busied herself with the
simple cookery, and thought as I looked on, what a beautiful girl this
was, with her clean-cut profile, her floating tendrils of silken, brown
hair, her well rounded form, the graceful poise of her shapely head, the
elastic step, the sweet voice humming bits of song, the cheerful,
musical laugh. She was fair indeed, and more than that I knew she was
pure and true in everything, a lovely and lovable woman. I then and
there confessed to myself that she had become a part of my life. I was
in love, and the strange delight of her presence thrilled my heart with
new emotion. Up to this time my thoughts had been bent solely on getting
a treasure buried in the sea; I now realized that here was a treasure
recovered from the sea, which if I could hope to call it my own, would
far exceed in value all the gold and jewels ever carried by the richest
fleet that ever floated on the Spanish seas. It was all so new and
strange and sudden to me that I was afraid to stay longer near her, lest
I might be obliged to speak to her, and thus betray myself. So I got up
and wandered away to the edge of the forest. But the leaves trembling in
the gentle morning breeze seemed to whisper my secret; the rasping
locust, which had been noisily droning all night long, seemed to play it
in every trill; the birds sang it.
So this was love,--love that makes the world go round; that comes once
at least into each life, and fills it with light and sweetness, or with
gloom and sorrow. When did I begin to love this girl? I could not tell.
Yesterday I did not know it, but it must be that I loved her then as
now; and before that and ever since I had first seen her. And even
before I had seen her had not my heart been waiting for her? But now I
felt that somehow our relations had changed. Could I have again the
sense of comradeship that I had felt toward her? Would she not see a
change in me? I could not analyze this new sensation nor predict what
would happen. A dreadful doubt and uncertainty oppressed my heart
simultaneously with its new-born gladness. Could I hope that this sweet
maid would ever find anything to love in me?
A hot, despairing wave of self-depreciation came over me. I looked at
myself in imagination,--my great hulking frame, my tanned skin, my
bearded face, my long, unkempt hair. Oh, William Morgan, what a poor
fool you are to fall in love with this fair vision of beauty, this
domestic goddess, this Hebe, this sum of grace and loveliness. And then
a tender desire welled up and filled my heart to love and cherish and
protect this helpless waif that had floated in to me from the wild sea.
After a little I plucked a spray of orchids that hung from a half-rotten
limb,--one of those strange, rare flowers that seem rather the dreamy
vagary of a flower painter than a natural production. They were white,
but beautifully marked with spots of rich purple and ribs of golden
yellow. This spray I carried to the house, and gave it to her. Such an
act could have no particular significance, but to my distempered fancy
it seemed a homage paid, a tribute given, a declaration of fealty.
At the breakfast table I broached the subject of the galleon, and
stated that I had almost determined to remain upon the island and to
undertake the recovery of the treasure by aid of such apparatus as could
be made here, provided they were willing to delay their departure a
sufficient time. The truth was that since the last hour my mind was
fully made up to stay if possible, and the presence of Alice Millward
was doubtless a moving cause for that determination. I felt very anxious
that they should both fall in with my plan.
“I think,” said I to the old man, “that if you go on improving as you
have done, you will soon be able yourself to give me the aid I need. And
remember, in that case there will probably be treasure enough for all.
In the mean time, while you are getting well your daughter and I can be
making preparations for the work. There is a great deal to be done. Now
what do you say?”
“But let me know exactly your plan of work,” replied he, “in order that
I may be better able to judge of its feasibility.”
Thereupon I detailed my proposed scheme, so far as it was formulated in
my mind, confessing that I had as yet thought of no practical method of
making an air-pump. “Still,” said I, “there is no doubt in my mind that
some method of supplying that deficiency will occur to me.”
“Well, Mr. Morgan, let me think this over for a little while. There is
no hurry required of me in making up my mind, for I should not like to
leave the island for a week or so anyhow. Give me, say three days; but
during this time there is no reason why you should be idle. If in the
mean time some practicable method of completing the apparatus should
occur to you I am free to say that fact would have great weight in
determining my course of action.”
After breakfast we all went out on the porch and sat down, Duke lying in
the sun at the old man’s feet. We discussed at great length the whole
art and mystery of wrecking and diving, and the apparatus for such work.
In this discussion Alice Millward took an active part. She seemed so
anxious to learn and know all about it that I went over, for her
benefit, all the book knowledge I had pertaining to the subject. While
this was not very extensive, the brief descriptions of apparatus
familiar to me helped us all wonderfully to get a clearer idea of the
problem before us. There was one method of raising sunken vessels about
which I had read somewhere that was specially interesting and
suggestive. This method is to attach to the hull barges partly filled
with water, and pump the water out of the barges little by little, until
by reason of their rise in the water the hull is lifted clear of the
ground. Then barges and hull are towed into shallower water and the
operation is repeated until finally the shore is reached. But this
operation would require diving-apparatus for attaching the hawsers or
ropes to the sunken hulk, and it brought us, therefore, no nearer a
complete solution of the problem.
The talk was interesting and animated, and was kept up until the old man
gave signs of weariness. Finally, in the midst of a discussion as to the
best method of making an air-tube, he dropped to sleep. The practical
benefit which I derived from this conversation was the familiarity
obtained by holding up before the mind all the conditions and
necessities of the problem, in the effort to make others understand
these requirements. It is by steady and continuous thought that all
problems are solved, and the first requisite of every solution is this
very faculty of holding all the conditions without effort
simultaneously in the mind. By continued effort mental process becomes
finally so far a matter of mere habit, in any particular case, that the
mind is left wholly free to act. It is a familiar saying with regard to
mathematics, that a problem clearly stated is already half solved. This
is true with regard to everything depending upon human thought. But
problems are not solved by a mere effort of the will. The mind of man
does not so operate. One must jostle various thoughts about in the
brain, until finally by an unconscious process of selection the fitting
thought is found, and its fitness perceived. One thing suggests another
and that a third, link by link in a continuous chain, until the mind
finally sees in the procession the needed thing, and immediately seizing
upon it ignores all else.
I wanted to be alone that I might, by revolving the riddle over and
over, finally seize the key and unlock it.