"That's right," he said. "I shall do the same. We might reach some
ledge lower down."
He said that word _might_ with a slow solemn emphasis that made me
shudder, for I knew he felt that it was hopeless; but all the same he
granted that it was our duty to try.
The doctor now bent down over the water, and I could see that it was
rising faster than ever.
All at once Jimmy seemed to rouse himself, throwing up his waddy with
his foot and catching it in his hand.
"No water go down," he said. "Mass Joe, Mass Jack, doctor, an all a let
get up higher; no get wet. Top along get drown, die, and bunyip pull um
down an eat um!"
"I'm afraid escape is impossible, Jimmy," I said sadly.
"No know what um say!" cried the black impatiently.
"Can't get away," I said.
"No get way! Waitum, waitum! Jimmy--Jimmy see!"
He went to the edge of the shelf and dipped one foot in the water, then
the other, worked his toes about, and then, after a contemptuous look at
the blacks, who were calmly awaiting their fate, he looked up at the
face of the rock beyond the curving over abutment, and, reaching up as
high as he could, began to climb.
It did not seem to occur to him at first that if he were able to escape
no one else would be, and he tried twice with a wonderful display of
activity, which resulted merely in his slipping back.
Then he tried elsewhere in two places, but with the same result, and
after a few more trials he came to me and stood rubbing the back of his
head, as if puzzled at his being so helpless and beaten at every turn.
"Get much, too much water, Mass Joe!" he said. "What um going to do?"
I shook my head sadly, and went to where the doctor was watching the
progress of the rushing river as it rose inch by inch--cracks and points
of rock that we had before noticed disappearing entirely, till the
flowing earth-stained surface was but a few inches below the ledge where
we were grouped, waiting for the time when we should be swept away.
In spite of the knowledge that at most in an hour the ledge would be
covered I could not help watching the rushing stream as it dashed along.
It was plain enough to me now why the sides of the gorge were so smooth
and regular, for the action of the water must have been going on like
this for many ages after every storm, and, laden as the waters were with
masses of wood and stone, with pebbles and sand, the scouring of the
rocks must have been incessant.
Then my thoughts came back to our horrible position, and I looked round
in despair, but only to be shamed out of any frantic display of grief by
the stoical calmness with which all seemed to be preparing to meet their
fate.
Still the water rose steadily higher and higher inch by inch, and I
could see that in a very few minutes it would be over the ledge.
I was noting, too, that now it was so near the end, my companions seemed
averse to speaking to me or each other, but were evidently moody and
thoughtful; all but Jimmy, who seemed to be getting excited, and yet not
much alarmed.
I had gone to the extreme edge of the ledge, where the water nearly
lapped my feet, and gazing straight up the gorge at the sunlit waters,
kept backing slowly up the slope, driven away as the river rose, when
the black came to me and touched my shoulder.
"Poor black fellow there going die, Mass Joe. Not die yet while: Jimmy
not go die till fin' um fader. Lot o' time; Jimmy not ready die--lot o'
time!"
"But how are we to get away, Jimmy? How are we to escape?"
"Black fellow hab big tink," he replied. "Much big tink and find um
way. Great tupid go die when quite well, tank you, Mass Joe. Jimmy
black fellow won't die yet? Mass Joe hab big swim 'long o' Jimmy. Swim
much fass all down a water. Won't die, oh no! Oh no!"
There was so much hope and confidence in the black's manner and his
broken English that I felt my heart give a great throb; but a sight of
the calm resignation of my companions damped me again, till Jimmy once
more spoke:
"Mass Joe take off closums. Put long gun up in corner; come and fetch
um when no water. Big swim!"
Many had been the times when Jimmy and I had dashed into the river and
swum about by the hour together; why not then now try to save our lives
in spite of the roughness of the torrent and the horrors of the great
fall I knew, too, that the fall must be at least two or three miles
away, and there was always the possibility of our getting into some eddy
and struggling out.
My spirits rose then at these thoughts, and I rapidly threw off part of
my clothes, placing my gun and hatchet with the big knife, all tied
together, in a niche of the rock, where their weight and the shelter
might save them from being washed away.
As I did all this I saw the doctor look up sadly, but only to lower his
head again till his chin rested upon his breast; while Jack Penny
stared, and drew his knees up to his chin, embracing his legs and
nodding his head sagely, as if he quite approved of what I was doing.
The only individual who made any active demonstration was Gyp, who
jumped up and came to me wagging his tail and uttering a sharp bark or
two. Then he ran to the water, snuffed at it, lapped a little, and
threw up his head again, barking and splashing in it a little as he ran
in breast-high and came back, as if intimating that he was ready at any
moment for a swim.
The doctor looked up now, and a change seemed to have come over him, for
he rose from where he had been seated and took my hand.
"Quite right, my lad," he said; "one must never say despair. There's a
ledge there higher up where we will place the ammunition. Let's keep
that dry if we can. It may not be touched by the water; even if we have
to swim for our lives the guns won't hurt--that is, if they are not
washed away."
It was as if he had prepared himself for the worst, and was now going to
make strenuous efforts to save himself and his friends, after we had
taken such precautions as we could about our stores.
Jimmy grinned and helped readily to place the various articles likely to
be damaged by water as high as we could on ledges and blocks of stone,
though as I did all this it was with the feeling that we were never
likely to see the things again.
Still it was like doing one's duty, and I felt that then, of all times,
was the hour for that.
So we worked on, with many a furtive glance at the water, which kept on
encroaching till it began to lap the feet of our black companions.
But they did not stir; they remained with their positions unaltered, and
still the water advanced, till the highest point of the ledge was
covered, and Gyp began whining and paddling about, asking us, as it
were, with his intelligent eyes, whether we did not mean to start.
"Hi! Gyp, Gyp!" shouted Jimmy just then; "up along, boy; up along!" and
he patted the top of one of the stones that we had used for a
breastwork.
The dog leaped up directly, placing himself three feet above the flood,
and stood barking loudly.
"Yes, we can stand up there for a while," said the doctor, "and that
will prolong the struggle a bit. Here, come up higher!" he cried,
making signs to our black companions, who after a time came unwillingly
from their lower position, splashing mournfully through the water, but
evidently unwilling even then to disobey their white leader.
They grouped themselves with us close up to the breastwork, where we
stood with the water rising still higher, and then all at once I felt
that we must swim, for a fresh wave, the result probably of some portion
of the flood that had been dammed up higher on the river course, swept
upon us right to our lips, and but for the strength of our stone
breastwork we must have been borne away.
As it was, we were standing by it, some on either side, and all clinging
together. We withstood the heavy wrench that the water seemed to give,
and held on, the only one who lost his footing being Jack Penny, who was
dragged back by the doctor as the wave passed on.
"Enough to pull your arms out of the socket," whined Jack dolefully. "I
say, please don't do it again. I'd rather have to swim."
Higher and higher came the water, icily cold and numbing. The wave that
passed was succeeded by another, but that only reached to our waists,
and when this had gone by there was the old slow rising of the flood as
before till it was as high as our knees. Then by degrees it crept on
and on till I was standing with it reaching my hips.
A fearful silence now ensued, and the thought came upon me that when the
final struggle was at hand we should be so clasped together that
swimming would be impossible and we must all be drowned.
And now, once more, with the water rising steadily, the old stunned
helpless feeling began to creep over me, and I began to think of home in
a dull heavy manner, of the happy days when I had hardly a care, and
perhaps a few regrets were mixed with it all; but somehow I did not feel
as if I repented of coming, save when I thought that my mother would
have two sorrows now when she came to know of her loss.
Then everything seemed to be numbed; my limbs began to feel helpless,
and my thoughts moved sluggishly, and in a half dreamy fashion I stood
there pressed against, the rock holding tightly by the doctor on one
side, by Jimmy on the other, and in another minute I knew that the
rising water would be at my lips.
I remember giving a curious gasp as if my breath was going, and in
imagination I recalled my sensations when, during a bathing expedition,
I went down twice before Jimmy swam to my help and held me up. The
water had not touched my lips--it was only at my chest, but I fancied I
felt it bubbling in my nostrils and strangling me; I seemed to hear it
thundering in my ears; there was the old pain at the back of my neck,
and I struggled to get my hands free to beat the water like a drowning
dog, but they were tightly held by my companions, how tightly probably
they never knew. Then I remember that my head suddenly seemed to grow
clear, and I was repeating to myself the words of a familiar old prayer
when my eyes fell upon the surface of the water, and I felt as if I
could not breathe.
The next minute Gyp was barking furiously, as he stood upon his hind
legs resting his paws upon his master's shoulders, and Jimmy gave a loud
shout.
"All a water run away, juss fass now," and as he spoke it fell a couple
of inches, then a couple more, so swiftly, indeed, that the terrible
pressure that held us tightly against the stones was taken off pound by
pound, and before we could realise the truth the water was at my knees.
Ten minutes later it was at my feet, and before half an hour had passed
we were standing in the glorious sunshine with the rocky ledge drying
fast, while the river, minute by minute, was going down, so that we felt
sure if no storm came to renew the flood it would be at its old level in
a couple of hours' time.
We were dripping and numbed by the icy water; but in that fierce
sunshine it was wonderful how soon our wrung-out garments dried; and
warmth was rapidly restored to our limbs by rocks that soon grew heated
in the torrid rays.
"Big bunyip got no more water. All gone dis time," said Jimmy calmly.
"Poor black fellows tink go die. No die Jimmy. Lots a do find um fader
all over big country. Water all gone, Jimmy cunning--artful, not mean
die dis time. Bunyip not got 'nuff water. Give Jimmy something eat.
Ready eat half sheep and damper. Give Jimmy some eat."
We all wanted something to eat, and eagerly set to work, but soaking
damper was not a very sumptuous repast; still we feasted as eagerly as
if it had been the most delicious food, and all the time the water kept
going down.