THE ROPE LADDER
The near prospect of a conclusive struggle for life is a sharp tonic to
the adventurous soul. The actual final summons to that Other Room is
met variously. There is Earthly Dignity, who answers even this last
tap at the door with a fitting and quotable rejoinder; there is
Deathbed Repentance, whose unction _in momento mortis_ is doubtless a
comfort to pious relatives; and there are Chivalry and Valor, twin
youths who go to the unknown banquet singing and bearing their garlands
of joy.
But with the chance of a fight for life, there is a sharp-sweet tang
that sends some spirits galloping to the contest. "Dauntless the
slughorn to his lips he set--" making ready for the last good run.
When Jim descended the hatchway after reconnoitering on deck, Chatelard
was gone. The ship's cook was rummaging in a sailor's kit that he had
drawn from a locker. Jim mentally considered the situation. The
seamen had no doubt exaggerated the calamity, but without question
there was serious trouble. Were the pumps working? How far were they
from shore? If hopelessly distant from shore, were they in the course
of passing steamers? Would any one look after Miss Redmond's safety?
Monsieur Chatelard had said that she was not on board, but James did
not believe it.
While these thoughts new through his mind, James had been absently
watching while the cook turned his treasures out upon his bunk, and
pawed them over with trembling hands. There were innumerable little
things, besides a stiff white shirt, a cheap shiny Bible, a stuffed
parrot and several wads of clothes. And among the mess Jim caught
sight of a piece of stitched canvas that looked familiar.
"Hi, you there! That's my money-belt!" he cried, and jumped forward to
claim his own. But in his movement he failed to calculate with the
waves. The yacht gave another of her deep-sea plunges, and Jimmy,
thrown against his bunk, saw the cook grab his kit and make for the
ladder. He regained his feet only in time to follow at arm's length up
the hatchway. At the top he threw himself down, like a baseball runner
making his base, after the seaman's legs; but instead of a foot, he
found himself clutching one of the wads of clothes that trailed after
the cook's bundle. He caught it firmly and kept it, but the ship's
cook and the rest of his booty disappeared like a rabbit into its
burrow.
Jim sat down at the top of the ladder and examined his haul. It was a
pair of woolen trousers, and they were of generous size. He spread
them out on the deck. Round him were unmistakable signs of
demoralization. The second officer was ordering the men to the pumps
in stern tones; the yacht was pitching wildly and growing darkness was
settling on the face of the turbulent waters. But in spite of it all,
Jimmy's spirit leaped forth in laughter as he thought of his brief,
frantic chase, and its result in this capture of the characteristic
vestiture of man.
"What's money for, anyway!" he laughed, as he got up and clothed
himself once more.
There followed hours of superhuman struggle to save the _Jeanne D'Arc_.
Her crew, sufficient in ordinary weather, was too small to cope with
the storm and the leaking ship. Ballast had to be shifted or flung
overboard. Repairs had to be attempted in the hold; the pumps had to
be worked incessantly, It transpired that the yacht had gone far out of
her course during the fog the night before, and had tried to turn
inshore, even before the leak was discovered. No one knew what waters
they were that lashed so furiously about the disabled craft. The storm
overhead had abated, but the rage of the sea was unquelled. Before
long the engine was stopped by the rising water, and then the hand
pumps were used. There was some hope that the leak had been discovered
and at least partly repaired. The captain thought that, if carefully
managed, the yacht might hold till daylight.
Jimmy joined the gang and worked like a Trojan, helping wherever a man
was needed, shifting ballast, untackling the boats, handling the pump.
It was at the pump that he found himself, some time during the night,
working endlessly, it seemed. Not once had he lost sight of the real
purpose of his presence on the yacht. If Agatha Redmond were aboard
the unlucky vessel--and he had moments of curious perplexity about
it--he was there to watch for her safety. He pictured her sitting
somewhere in the endangered vessel. She could not but be terrified at
her predicament. Whether shipwreck or abduction threatened her, she
must feel that she had indeed fallen into the hands of her enemies.
He worked his turn at the pump, then made up his mind to risk no
further delay, but to search the ship's cabins. She was in one of
them, he believed; frightened she must be, possibly ill. He had done
all that the furthest stretch of duty could demand in assistance to the
ship. He would find Agatha Redmond at any cost, if she were aboard the
_Jeanne D'Arc_. Again he thought to himself that he was glad he was
there. Whatever purpose her enemies had, he alone was on her side, he
alone could do something to save her.
It was now long past midnight, but not pitch dark either on deck or on
the sea. The electric lights had gone out long before, but lanterns
had been swung here and there from the deck fixtures. As Jimmy came
up, he thought the men were preparing to lower the boats, but when he
asked about it in his difficult French, the sailor shook his head.
There were more people about than he supposed the yacht carried:
several seamen, three or four other men, and a fat woman sitting
apathetically on a pile of rope. He went from group to group, and from
end to end of the yacht, looking for one woman's face and figure. He
saw Monsieur Chatelard, examining one of the boats. He ran down the
saloon stairway, determined to search the cabins before he gave up his
quest. One moment he prayed that the words of Chatelard might be true,
and that she had never been aboard the yacht; the next moment he prayed
he might find her behind the next closed door.
As James searched below deck, a house palatial disclosed itself, even
in the dim light of the little lanterns. Cabins roomy and comfortable,
furnishings of exquisite taste, all the paraphernalia of the cultured
and the rich were there. Some of the cabin doors were standing open,
and none was locked. Jimmy beat on them, called from room to room,
finding nothing. Every human occupant was gone. Sick at heart, he
again rushed on deck. Was he mistaken, after all? Or had they hidden
her in some secret part of the ship where he could not find her?
When Jimmy got back to the deck he saw that the groups had gathered on
the port side. Sharp orders were being given. He crowded to the
railing, straining his eyes to see, and found that they were
transferring the ship's company to the boats, A rope ladder swung from
the deck to a boat beneath, which bobbed like a cork beside, the big,
plunging yacht. Two people were in the boat, a sailor standing at the
bow, and a large muffled figure of a woman sitting in the stern. Jimmy
at once knew her to be the apathetic fat woman he had seen a few
minutes before on deck. His eye searched the company crowded about the
top of the rope ladder, and suddenly his heart leaped. There she was,
at the edge of the deck, waiting for the captain to give the word for
her to descend to the boat below. As Jimmy's eyes grew accustomed to
the darkness, he saw her more and more plainly: a pale face framed in a
dark hood, a tall, cloaked figure waiting calmly to obey the word from
the superior officer.
It was the third time Jimmy had seen her, but he felt as if he had
found one dearer than himself. His eyes dwelt on her. She was not
terrified; her nerves were not shaken. "I am ready," she said, turning
to the captain. It was the same fine, free voice, suggesting--Oh, what
did it not suggest! Never this dark, wild night of danger! Jimmy
thrilled to it again as he had thrilled to it once before. He waved
jubilant hands. "Agatha Redmond!" he called, across the space and
heads that divided them.
Whether she heard his call he did not know. At that moment the word
was given, and she turned an almost smiling face to the captain in
reply. She knelt to the deck and got footing on the slippery rope.
Men above held it and helped as best they could, while the sailor below
waited to receive her into the little boat. She was steady and quick
as a woman in such a perilous position could be. As she descended, the
rowboat, insecurely held to the _Jeanne D'Arc_, slid sternward a few
feet; and while she waited in midair for the boat to be brought up
again, the _Jeanne D'Arc_ gave a mighty plunge. The captain shouted
from the deck, a sailor yelled, then another; the dipping sea tossed
the yacht so that for an instant the boat below and the woman on the
ladder were hidden from Jim's view. He climbed over the rail and edged
along the narrow margin of the deck until he was a few feet nearer the
rope, his heart thumping with fear of calamity.
And even as the thought came, the thing happened. The wrenching of the
ropes, the insecurity of their fastenings, some blunder on the part of
the seamen--whatever it was, the rope loosened like a filament of
gauze, and, with its precious burden, dropped into the angry water.
Before a breath could be drawn, the black waves churned over her head.
As, for the second time, Jim saw disaster engulf the Vision that had
such power over him, he was seized by a cold numbness.
"Oh, you brutes!" he groaned aloud; but his groan had scarcely escaped
him when he heard loud altercation among the men, and in a moment the
nasal tones of Monsieur Chatelard commanding: "Never mind! Quick with
the boat on the other side!"
The seamen rushed to the opposite side, now impatient to make the
boats. In the fear that was growing momently upon the men, there was
no one to give a thought to the vanished woman. Jimmy clung to the
rail for a second, peering over the water. With a cry of gladness he
saw her pale face rise to the surface of the water several feet away
and toward the bow.
"Keep up a second! It's all right!" he shouted. Quick as thought he
snatched a life preserver from its place on the rail, and ran forward.
He called thrice, "Keep up, I'm coming!" then threw the cork swiftly
and accurately to the very spot where she floated. A second longer he
watched, to see if she gained it. It seemed that she did, and yet
something was wrong. She was not able to right herself immediately in
the water, but floundered helplessly. Jimmy knew that her clothes were
hampering her, or else that the rope ladder had entangled her feet.
He turned and got his balance on the narrow ledge, pointed his hands
high above his head, and took a good breath. Then he dove toward the
floating face. When he came to the surface she was there, not ten
strokes away. He swam to her, placed firm hands under her arms, and
steadied her while she cleared her feet from the entangling rope.
"Thank God!" he breathed. "I'll save you yet!"