FRITZ AND JACK PLAY SAVAGES
Directly the double report rang out from the battery on Shark's Island
the echoes of Rock Castle repeated it from cliff to cliff. M. Zermatt
and his wife, Jenny, Ernest, and Frank, running down at once to the
beach, could see the whitish smoke of the two guns drifting slowly in
the direction of Falconhurst. Waving their handkerchiefs, they answered
with a cheer.
Then all were preparing to resume their several occupations when Jenny,
who was looking towards the island through her telescope, exclaimed:
"Fritz and Jack are coming back."
"Already?" said Ernest. "Why, they have barely had time to reload the
guns. Why are they in such a hurry to get back to us?"
"They certainly do seem to be in a hurry," M. Zermatt replied.
There could be no doubt that the moving speck revealed by the telescope
a little to the right of the island was the frail boat being lifted
swiftly along by the paddles.
"It is certainly odd," said Mme. Zermatt. "Can they have any news for
us--important news?"
"I think they have," Jenny answered.
Would the news be good or bad? That was the question each one asked
himself without attempting to answer it.
All eyes were fastened on the canoe which was growing larger to the
sight. In a quarter of an hour it was halfway between Shark's Island
and the mouth of Jackal River. Fritz had not hoisted his little sail,
for the breeze was dropping, and by paddling the two brothers travelled
faster than the wind over the almost unruffled waters of Deliverance
Bay.
It occurred to M. Zermatt's mind that this hurried return might be a
flight, and he wondered whether there would appear in chase some canoe
full of savages, or even a pirate vessel from the open sea. But he did
not communicate this highly alarming idea to anyone else. Followed by
Betsy, Jenny, Ernest and Frank, he hurried to the far end of the creek,
in haste to question Fritz and Jack.
A quarter of an hour later the canoe stopped by the nearest rocks,
which served as landing stage, at the end of the creek.
"What is the matter?" M. Zermatt cried.
Fritz and Jack jumped out onto the beach. Quite out of breath, their
faces bathed in perspiration and their arms worn out with exertion,
they could only answer with gestures at first, pointing to the coast
east of Deliverance Bay.
"What is the matter?" Frank repeated, grasping Fritz's arm.
"Didn't you hear?" Fritz asked at last when he had recovered his
breath.
"Yes: you mean the two guns you fired from the Shark's battery?" said
Ernest.
"No," Jack answered; "not ours; those that answered!"
"What?" M. Zermatt exclaimed. "Reports?"
"It isn't possible! It isn't possible!" Mme. Zermatt repeated.
Jenny had drawn near Fritz, and, pale with excitement, she asked in her
turn:
"Did you hear reports near here?"
"Yes, Jenny," Fritz answered; "three guns fired at regular intervals."
Fritz spoke so positively that it was impossible to believe he had made
a mistake. Besides, Jack confirmed what his brother said, adding:
"There can't be any doubt a ship is off New Switzerland and that her
attention has been caught by the discharge of our two cannon."
"A ship! A ship!" whispered Jenny.
"And you are sure it was to the eastward?" M. Zermatt insisted.
"Yes, to the eastward," Fritz declared; "and I am sure now that
Deliverance Bay can only be a few miles from the main sea."
This was very likely the case; but no one knew, as no exploration had
yet been carried out along that coast.
Great was the emotion of the inhabitants of New Switzerland after the
first moment of surprise, almost of stupefaction.
A ship--there really was a ship within sight, a ship, the report of
whose guns had been borne by the breeze to Shark's Island! It was a
connecting link by which this unknown land, where for eleven years the
survivors of the wreck of the _Landlord_ had lived, was united once
more to the rest of the inhabited world! The cannon is the deep voice
of ships that make long voyages, and that voice had just been heard
for the first time since the battery on Shark's Island welcomed the
returning dry season! It was almost as if this happening, on which they
had ceased to count, took M. Zermatt and his people unprepared, as if
this ship spoke a tongue which they had forgotten.
However, they pulled themselves together and only thought of the bright
side of this new situation. This distant sound which had reached them
was not one of those sounds of nature to which they had been so long
accustomed, the snapping of trees by the violence of the gale, the
roar of the sea broken by the tempest, the crash of the thunder in the
mighty storms of this intertropical zone. No! This sound was caused by
the hand of man! The captain and the crew of the ship which was passing
by at sea could no longer suppose that this land was uninhabited. If
they should come to anchor in the bay their flag would salute the flag
of New Switzerland!
There was none of them but saw there the certainty of an impending
deliverance. Mme. Zermatt felt herself freed from fears of the future;
Jenny thought of her father, whom she had despaired of ever seeing
again; M. Zermatt and his sons found themselves once more among their
kind.
So the first emotion felt by this family was that caused by the
realisation of their dearest wishes. Thinking only of the happy side of
this great event, they were all full of hope and of gratitude to heaven.
"It is right that we should first give thanks to God, Whose protection
has never failed us," said Frank. "It is to Him that our thanks ought
to ascend and to Him that our prayers should be given."
It was natural for Frank to express himself so. His religious feelings
had always been deep, and had become even deeper as he grew older. His
was an upright, tranquil character, full of affection for his people,
that is to say for what had been all human kind to him hitherto.
Although the youngest of the brothers, he was yet their counsellor
in the very few disputes that arose between the members of this most
united family.
What would his vocation have been if he had lived in his native
land? No doubt he would have sought in medicine, or the law, or the
priesthood to satisfy the devotional need which was the basis of his
being, as physical activity was in the case of Fritz and Jack, and
intellectual activity in the case of Ernest. And so he sent up a
fervent prayer to Providence, in which he was joined by his father and
mother, his brothers, and Jenny.
It was necessary to act without delay. The ship, of whose presence
no one would any longer admit a doubt, was probably anchored in one
of the little bays along the coast, and was not passing by off New
Switzerland. Would the sound of the guns to which it had replied
induce it to set about the exploration of this land? Would it even try,
perhaps, to make its entry into Deliverance Bay, after doubling the
cape which closed it in to the east?
That was what Fritz maintained, and he wound up his argument by saying:
"The only thing we have to do is to go and meet this ship, following
along the eastern coast, which must run from north to south."
"Perhaps we have waited too long as it is," said Jenny.
"I don't think so," Ernest answered. "It is out of the question that
the captain of this ship, whatever it is, won't try to find out all
about it."
"What is the good of all this talk, talk!" cried Jack. "Let us go!"
"Give us time to get the launch ready," said M. Zermatt.
"It would take too long," Fritz declared, "and the canoe will serve."
"Very well," said M. Zermatt. Then he added: "The important point is to
behave with the utmost caution. I do not think it likely that any Malay
or Australian savages have landed on the eastern coast, but the Indian
Ocean is infested by pirates, and we should have everything to fear
from them."
"Yes," said Mme. Zermatt, "and it would be better for this ship to go
away if----"
"I will go myself," M. Zermatt declared. "Before we get into
communication with these strangers we must know with whom we have to
deal."
This decision was a wise one. It only remained to put it into
execution. But as ill luck would have it, the weather had changed since
the early morning. After having dropped, the wind had now veered to the
west and was freshening perceptibly. The canoe could not have ventured
into the bay, even if it had only been a matter of getting to Shark's
Island. The sky was covered with clouds which were rising out of the
west, squall clouds of which a sailor is always mistrustful.
But, failing the canoe, and although it might involve a delay of an
hour or two in getting her ready, was it not possible to use the
launch, heavy as the swell might be outside the mouth of the bay?
Hugely to his disappointment, M. Zermatt was obliged to abandon the
idea. Before midday a veritable tempest was tossing the waters of
Deliverance Bay, rendering them unnavigable. Even if this sudden
change of weather could not last at this time of the year, at least it
thwarted all their plans, and if the storm endured only twenty-four
hours it might still be too late for them to find the ship. Besides,
if its anchorage did not offer it absolute protection, it would almost
certainly leave, and, with this wind blowing from the west, it would
speedily be out of sight of New Switzerland.
Ernest, on the other hand, argued that the vessel would perhaps try to
take refuge in Deliverance Bay if it happened to double the cape to the
east.
"That is possible, it is true," M. Zermatt replied, "and is even very
much to be wished, provided it is not pirates we have to deal with."
"Well, we will keep watch, Papa," said Frank. "We will keep watch all
day, and all night, too."
"If we could get to Prospect Hill, or even only to Falconhurst," Jack
added, "we should be in a better position still to keep watch over the
sea."
Obviously, but it was idle to think of that. During the afternoon the
weather became worse. The fury of the squalls was twice as violent. The
rain fell in such torrents that Jackal River overflowed its banks, and
Family Bridge was within an ace of being swept away. M. Zermatt and his
sons kept an unceasing vigil, and it was all they could do to prevent
the flood from invading the enclosure of Rock Castle. Betsy and Jenny
were unable to set foot outside. Never did day pass more heavily, and
if the ship went away was it not only too certain that it would not
return to these same waters?
When night came, the violence of the storm increased further. On the
advice of M. Zermatt, who was compelled by his children to take some
rest, Fritz, Jack, and Frank took it in turns to watch until day. From
the gallery, which they did not leave, they had a view of the sea as
far as Shark's Island. If any ship's light had appeared at the mouth
of the bay they would have seen it; if any gun had rung out they would
have heard it, in spite of the tumult of the waves which were breaking
upon the rocks with an appalling din. When the squall abated, somewhat,
all four wrapped themselves in their oilskins and went as far as the
mouth of Jackal River, to satisfy themselves that the launch and the
pinnace had not dragged their anchors.
The storm lasted for forty-eight hours. During the whole of that time
M. Zermatt and his sons were barely able to get as far as halfway to
Falconhurst in order to survey a wider sweep of horizon. The sea, white
with the foam of rolling waves, was absolutely deserted. Indeed, no
ship would have dared to venture close to shore during a storm like
this.
M. Zermatt and his wife had already given up their hopes. Ernest, Jack,
and Frank, who had been accustomed to their present existence since
childhood, did not very greatly regret the loss of this opportunity.
But Fritz regretted it for their sake, or rather for Jenny's sake.
If the ship had gone away and were never to return to these waters,
what a disappointment it would be for Colonel Montrose's daughter! The
chance of being restored to her father was slipping away. How long a
time would elapse before this opportunity of returning to Europe would
present itself again! Would it ever do so, indeed?
"Don't give up hope! Don't give up hope!" Fritz said over and over
again, overwhelmed by Jenny's distress. "This ship will come back, or
some other must come, since New Switzerland is now known!"
During the night of the 11th of October the wind veered back to the
north and the spell of bad weather came to an end. Inside Deliverance
Bay the sea dropped quickly, and with daybreak the rollers ceased to
sweep onto Rock Castle beach.
The whole family left the enclosure and turned their eyes out to the
open sea.
"Let us go to Shark's Island," was Fritz's immediate suggestion. "There
is no risk for the canoe."
"What will you do there?" Mme. Zermatt asked.
"Perhaps the ship is still lying up under shelter of the coast; and
even supposing it was compelled by the storm to stand out to sea, may
it not have come back again? Let us fire a few guns, and if they are
answered----"
"Yes, Fritz, yes!" cried Jenny eagerly.
"Fritz is right," said M. Zermatt. "We must not neglect any chance. If
the ship is there she will hear us and make herself heard."
The canoe was ready in a few minutes. But as Fritz was about to take
his seat in it M. Zermatt advised him to remain at Rock Castle with
his mother, his brothers, and Jenny. Jack would accompany his father.
They would take a flag in order to indicate whether there was any
good news or whether any danger threatened them. In the latter case
M. Zermatt would wave the flag three times and then throw it into the
sea, and Fritz was at once to take the whole family to Falconhurst. M.
Zermatt and Jack would join them there as speedily as possible, and
if necessary they would then take refuge at Wood Grange or Sugar-cane
Grove, or even at the hermitage at Eberfurt. On the other hand, if M.
Zermatt waved his flag twice and then planted it near the battery,
that would signify that there was no ground for anxiety, and Fritz
would await his return at Rock Castle.
Jack had brought the canoe to the foot of the rocks. He and his father
stepped into it. A few cables' length outside the creek the heavy swell
had given place to a slightly choppy sea. Driven by its paddles the
boat sped rapidly towards Shark's Island.
M. Zermatt's heart beat fast when he drew alongside the end of the
island; and it was at the top of their speed that he and Jack climbed
the little hill.
Outside the hangar they stopped. From that point their eyes swept the
wide horizon between the eastern cape and False Hope Point.
Not a sail was to be seen upon the sea, which was still rolling heavily
far out.
Just as they were about to go inside the hangar M. Zermatt said for the
last time to Jack:
"You are quite sure you heard----"
"Absolutely positive," Jack answered. "They really were reports that
came from the eastward."
"God grant it!" said M. Zermatt.
As the guns had been reloaded by Fritz they only needed to have the
match applied.
"Jack," said M. Zermatt, "you are to fire two shots at an interval of
two minutes, and then you will reload the first gun and fire a third
time."
"Very well, papa," Jack replied; "and you?"
"I am going to station myself at the edge of the plateau that faces
east, and if a report comes from that side I shall be in a good place
to hear it."
As the wind had changed to the north, although it was very faint, the
conditions were favourable. Any reports of heavy runs coming either
from the west or the east must be heard easily, provided the distance
were not more than three or four miles.
M. Zermatt took up his position by the side of the hangar.
Jack fired three guns from the battery at the intervals arranged. Then
he ran at once to his father's side, and both stayed motionless, their
ears strained towards the east.
A first report came distinctly to Shark's Island.
"Papa!" cried Jack, "the ship is still there!"
"Listen!" M. Zermatt rejoined.
Six other reports, at regular intervals, followed the first. The ship
was not only answering, but seeming to say that things must not remain
as they were.
M. Zermatt waved his flag and planted it near the battery.
If the reports of the ship's guns had not reached Rock Castle, at all
events the people there would know that there was no danger to be
feared.
And half an hour later, when the canoe had reached the creek again,
Jack called out:
"Seven guns! They fired seven guns!"
"May heaven be praised sevenfold!" was Frank's reply.
Deeply moved, Jenny seized Fritz's hand. Then she flung herself into
the arms of Mme. Zermatt, who wiped away her tears and kissed her.
There was no doubt now about the presence of the ship. For some reason
or another it must be lying up in one of the bays along the eastern
coast. Possibly it had not been obliged to leave the bay during
the storm; now, it would not leave without having got into direct
communication with the inhabitants of this unknown land, and perhaps
the best course would be to wait until it came in sight of the bay.
"No, let us go, let us go!" Jack insisted. "Let us go at once!"
But the cautious Ernest suggested some considerations of which M.
Zermatt expressed approval.
How were they to find out what the ship's nationality was? Was it not
possible that she might be manned by pirates who, as every one knows,
were very numerous in the waters of the Indian Ocean at this period?
"Well," Fritz declared, "they must be answered as quickly as possible."
"Yes, yes, they must!" Jenny repeated, unable to control her impatience.
"I am going to put off in the canoe," Fritz added, "and since the state
of the sea now allows of it, I shall have no difficulty in getting
round the eastern cape."
"Very well," M. Zermatt replied, "for we cannot remain in this state
of uncertainty. Still, before boarding this vessel it is necessary to
know all about it. I will come with you, Fritz."
Jack intervened.
"Papa," he said, "I am accustomed to paddling; it will take more than
two hours merely to reach the cape, and it may be a long way then to
where the ship is anchored. I must go with Fritz."
"That will be much better," Fritz added.
M. Zermatt hesitated. He felt that he ought to take part in an
undertaking like this, which called for caution.
"Yes, let Fritz and Jack go," Mme. Zermatt put in. "We can leave it to
them."
M. Zermatt yielded, and the most earnest injunctions were given to the
two brothers. After rounding the cape they were to follow the shore,
glide between the rocks that studded that part of the coast, see before
being seen, only ascertain the position of the vessel, on no account
go aboard, and come back at once to Rock Castle. M. Zermatt would then
decide what course to pursue. If Fritz and Jack could avoid being seen
at all it would be better.
Perhaps--too--as Ernest suggested--Fritz and Jack might manage to be
taken for savages. Why should they not dress themselves up like savages
and then blacken their faces and arms and hands, as Fritz had done
once, when he brought Jenny back to Pearl Bay? The ship's crew would be
less astonished to meet black men on this land in the Indian Ocean.
Ernest's suggestion was a good one. The two brothers disguised
themselves as natives of the Nicobars, and then rubbed soot all over
their faces and arms. Then they embarked in the canoe, and half an hour
later it was past the mouth of the bay.
Those left behind followed the canoe with their eyes as long as it was
visible, and only returned to Rock Castle after they had watched it go
out of Deliverance Bay.
Off Shark's Island Fritz manœuvred so as to get near the opposite
shore. If a boat put off from the ship and rounded the extreme point,
the canoe would have time to hide behind the reefs and remain on watch.
It took quite two hours to reach the cape, for the distance was more
than five miles. With the breeze blowing from the north it would have
been useless to set the little sail. It is true, the ebb tide had been
favourable to the progress of the cockleshell of a boat.
This cape was about to be rounded for the first time since the Zermatt
family had found refuge in Deliverance Bay. What a contrast it
offered to False Hope Point, which was outlined ten miles away to the
north-west! What an arid front this eastern part of New Switzerland
presented! The coast, covered with sand dunes and bristling with black
rocks, was set with reefs that stretched out several hundred fathoms
beyond the promontory against which the ocean swell, even in fine
weather, broke with never flagging violence.
When the canoe had rounded the furthest rocks, the eastern shore
revealed itself before the eyes of Fritz and Jack. It ran almost due
north to south, forming the boundary of New Switzerland on this side.
Unless it was an island, therefore, it must be on the south that this
land was joined to a continent.
The canoe skirted the coastline in such a way as to be
indistinguishable from the rocks.
A couple of miles beyond, within a narrow bay, a vessel appeared, a
three-master, with top-gallant-sails unstepped, undergoing repairs at
this anchorage. Upon the neighbouring beach several tents were pitched.
The canoe approached within half-a-dozen cables' length of the vessel.
The moment they were seen neither Fritz nor Jack could fail to
apprehend the signs of friendship made to them from on board. They even
heard a few sentences spoken in the English language, and it was clear
that they were being taken for savages.
On their part they could be in no doubt as to the nationality of this
vessel. The British flag was flying from the mizzen. She was an English
corvette carrying ten guns.
Thus, there would have been no objection to opening communication with
the captain of this corvette.
Jack would have liked to, but Fritz would not permit it. He had
promised to return to Rock Castle the moment he had ascertained the
position and the nationality of the ship, and he meant to keep his
promise. So the canoe resumed her northward course once more, and after
a voyage lasting two and a half hours passed through the entrance into
Deliverance Bay.