IN A DESPERATE STRAIT.
The Tambys were now in the department of Gironde, and on the twentieth
of December, about eleven in the morning, they left Parentes in order
to go to Mamezan, a town situated on the seaside. They had to traverse
about twenty miles of open moor and of pine woods without a single
house on the whole route, and at that time of the year the night came
on early.
When they were starting, Nalla, who was lying down beside the van,
seemed very reluctant to rise, and did so only in obedience to Nadine,
who said:
"My friend, be brave. We must go on farther and farther until we have
found Lydia. Then we shall be able to take a good long rest. Come now,
get up, like a good fellow. We have to be off without delay."
And so with manifest reluctance the elephant slowly rose, and followed
mopingly along in the rear of the van that Steady seemed to find
increasing difficulty in dragging over the hard roads.
The little party made slow progress, and at the end of three hours had
accomplished only one-half of the journey.
Furthermore, a violent and icy wind blowing in from the sea raised the
sand in a way that blinded poor old Steady, who toiled along painfully
with his head bent as low as if he would fain bury it between his legs,
and, finally, it was necessary to halt from time to time in order to
let Nalla rest, for he seemed too feeble to walk at all fast.
The sky became covered with dark heavy clouds, and the temperature
suddenly went down, while the bitter wind continued to blow
mercilessly. Then the snow began to fall.
The great stretch of sand was utterly deserted save for the solitary
van with its occupants and Nalla, and in a few minutes the whole plain
was as white as a tablecloth. The snow fell so thickly as to completely
shut out the sky and all the world around.
Cæsar, anxious for the animals, managed to arrange the canvas curtain
of their "theater" so that it covered Nalla's head and the most of
Steady's body, and then the three children shut themselves up in the
van with Vigilant to endure the misery of their situation as best they
could.
Poor old Steady kept up a dolorous whinnying and stamping of his hoofs
as he strove to kick away the snow which banked about his feet, and
chilled his legs, while Nalla poured forth pitiful plaints that sounded
remarkably like sobs as he cowered beneath the canvas, which was all
too small to afford him anything like adequate shelter.
For more than an hour the storm raged, the snow falling so heavily that
Steady was buried in it up to his knees, and the van up to the hubs of
the wheels.
After it ceased to fall the sky continued to be dark and lowering, and
to give promise of further avalanches, and beneath the somber heavens
the immense plain spread out as far as eye could reach, one vast
expanse of blinding whiteness.
Oh! the white robe of cruel winter, which is in truth the mourning of
Nature, and of the unfortunate creatures that have no snug shelter! How
saddening it is! How it chills the heart! It is so dreadful to think
of poor wretches who have no warm hearth to sit beside, no roof to
cover them, but must suffer the pangs that the merciless cold alone can
inflict, and perhaps lie down to die with the unpitying snow as their
winding-sheet!
The Tamby children, unfortunate though they certainly were, had at
least the protection of their van, and might have been comfortable
after a fashion had not their hearts been wrung with anxiety for their
missing sister, who, for aught they knew, was exposed to the same
storm, and for their faithful beasts cowering close to the van that
afforded them but partial shelter from the cutting blast.
"Poor Nalla and Steady!" said Cæsar, as he closed the door, after being
out to speak encouragingly to them, and to pat their heads. "If they
were only no bigger than Vigilant they could come into the van with us,
and we would help to keep each other warm."
"It is indeed too bad they have to be out in all this storm," murmured
Nadine, her eyes filling with tears, "and I'm very much afraid it
may make Nalla sick. He seems a good deal out of sorts already. Oh,
Cæsar, what would we do if he were to die! We could never earn a living
without him!"
Cæsar put his arm around his sister, and stroked her hair tenderly.
"Of course we could, dearie," he said with a cheery confidence, much
more emphatic than he really felt. "We would not of course do quite
so well at first without the dear old fellow, who is now the chief
attraction of our entertainment, but we would put something else in his
place. You might learn some new songs, and I some new tricks, and Abel
might do an act with Vigilant, and so on."
Nadine brightened up at his encouraging words.
"That's the way to look at it," she responded. "How brave you are, my
brother!" Then with a sigh that seemed to rend her heart, "But, oh!--if
we only had our little Lydia back!"
The storm subsided. The snowflakes grew lighter and fewer, and the
atmosphere clearer, but the Tambys realized with much concern that the
light was waning as at the approach of night. It was only three o'clock
in the afternoon, but on the twentieth of December darkness comes
early. Yet they were still nearly ten miles from the town of Mamezan,
which was their destination.
"Cæsar," exclaimed Nadine, rousing herself from the sad reverie into
which she had relapsed, "we must start again at once, or we shall have
to spend the night out in this desolate plain."
"We must, indeed," answered Cæsar with a brisk toss of the head, "but
it will be precious slow going. See, Nadine, how deep the snow is!
Steady is right up to his knees in it. I must get him out."
So saying, he pulled away the canvas which had been covering the horse
and elephant, and taking the former by the bridle, called out in the
same tone as if he were speaking to a human companion:
"Brace up, comrade! It will be a hard job for you to drag the heavy van
through this deep snow, but we must be off if we don't want to spend
the night without shelter. So come along, do your best, old chap!"
Steady was quite willing to show that he did not lack good-will. He
strained hard upon the collar, and by dint of a succession of vigorous
efforts, succeeded in getting the van in motion.
But after a few turns of the wheels it stopped again. The load was
beyond his strength, and the poor creature in his noble efforts to
start it, slipped upon the already hard frozen snow, and fell heavily,
injuring his knees.
Cæsar and Nadine burst into despairing tears, in which little Abel
joined. But it was only for a moment.
"This won't do," cried the brave-hearted boy, springing up and dashing
away the tears as if he were ashamed of them. "I know what I'll try."
He remembered what he had seen his father do sometimes when the road
had been too soft, or the hills too steep upon their route, and he at
once proceeded to imitate it.
He led Nalla out in front of the van, and attached him by ropes to the
whippletree. Then, in as cheery a tone as he could manage, he called
out:
"Now, then, Nalla, help your old comrade out of his difficulty. You see
he cannot haul the van through this deep snow alone. You must give him
the aid of your vast strength."
But alas! Nalla seemed to have lost all his strength and spirit.
Instead of responding to such an appeal as the faithful, big-hearted
creature was wont to do, he collapsed upon the snow!
With this, all hope of the poor children being able to get away
appeared to be at an end. There was no other alternative than to spend
the night on that appalling waste of snow.
Of course they would be fairly well sheltered from the cold in their
van, and, as they fortunately had a little fuel still left, they could
keep up a small fire in the tiny cooking-stove.
But how about the elephant and the horse? What was to become of them?
Something must be done on their behalf. So Cæsar, Nadine and Abel went
to work to clear away the snow from around the van, in order to make
some sort of a resting-place for the two animals.
It was hard work, although they went at it with all their strength, and
by the time it was finished night was drawing near.
"Here now, Nalla," said Cæsar. "Get up, old fellow, from that cold
place, and come over to where we have cleared all the snow away. You
will find it much more comfortable."
The big creature, after several vain efforts, succeeded in getting to
his feet again, and followed Cæsar to the spot indicated, where he at
once lay down again.
Nadine was very much alarmed.
"Cæsar!" she cried, "this is something serious. I have often seen Nalla
tired out, and sometimes sick, but never so bad as this. He no doubt
needs a warm mash to revive him, and I haven't a thing out of which to
make it."
Cæsar formed a resolution with his wonted promptness.
"Nadine," he said, "I'll go right away to Mamezan for the help we need.
It is now four o'clock. I'll be back before midnight."