DRIVEN AWAY.
The water kept rising higher.
Meanwhile, the sharks swam all round the rocks, and the raft, now and
then leaping forth, as if to clutch at the party.
The sight of these ugly-looking creatures, with their long heads,
sharp fins, teeth, and dull, bloodshot eyes, inspired Mary with the
most disagreeable sensations.
"Come!" said she, "let us leave this fearful place!"
Turk shook his head.
"It is our only salvation, Miss, I'm afraid."
"Not much of a salvation, either," said Brand, pointing down at
several of the ferocious creatures, which had begun to gnaw at the
lashings of the raft.
Vainly the men endeavored to drive them away; they clung with steady
tenacity to the lashings, biting with demon-like intelligence at the
rope strands, as if aware that the severing of these would put the
party in their power.
Finally the seamen were obliged to get off the raft on the rocks, and
draw the planks after them, as the only means of pulling the lashings
away from the teeth of the troublesome monsters.
The water, however, kept rising, so that it was necessary to get away
as soon as possible.
The men did their best to strengthen the planks, then once more
launched their raft, actually driven away by the sharks.
The tendency of the current and the wind now was to the westward.
"At such a rate," said Turk, "shouldn't wonder if we find ourselves,
before two days, on the volcanic island."
For this island the party had looked every day, while they were
afloat; but, for some reason or other, since the night of their first
floating away from the island, they had seen nothing of the smoke or
fire of the burning crater.
The seamen had attributed this fact to the murky atmosphere westward,
shrouding the island from their view, while the raft had meanwhile
been carried further and further from it by the tide.
When night came, after their leaving the rock, the bearings of which
they endeavored to keep in mind, they again looked for the light of
the volcano. The atmosphere, however, not having yet cleared, they
could see no sign of it. Hoping that the current would continue in
this direction and carry them to the island, they watched the west,
keenly yet vainly for a sign of the shore.
Mary slept little that night. In the morning Harry pointed out to her,
far away, the land, evidently that which they were anxious to reach,
looming up, the mist having cleared.
That it was the wished-for shore was made evident by a column of
smoke, rising up from the summit of one of the lofty island peaks.
"Do you think we will reach it?" the young girl inquired.
"I think so; if the set of the current does not change to the south,"
answered Harry.
He was right; before night the party were close upon the island shore.
Mary's eyes lighted up with joy. Worn though she was by hardship and
suffering, she could yet feel a thrill of eager, pleasant expectation,
as she gazed at the beautiful shores of this island.
Scarcely a mile in extent, and not more than half that in breadth, the
shores teemed with the most luxuriant vegetation.
There were seen tall cocoanuts waving upon a bright, pebbly beach,
rocks covered with flowers and vines, cascades flashing and gleaming
as they glittered in the sunlight, and the broad waters of silver
streams, gliding along through mossy grounds.
"Beautiful," said Mary, clapping her hands. "Papa! papa! are you
there?"
She spoke half plaintively, half joyfully, clasping her hands like a
little child.
Brand turned aside his head. Hardened as he was, the voice went
straight to his ruffian heart, and he felt at that moment as if he
would give worlds had he not committed the fearful crime which, after
all, had been perpetrated for nothing.
Meanwhile Turk stood gazing steadily towards one of the island bays.
"If I ain't mistaken," said he, "there's an old wreck of some kind
there!"
"Ay, ay," cried Harry; "I see it--the wreck of a schooner, if we may
judge by the two stumps of her masts."
It was almost sundown before the raft touched upon the beach.
"We will commence our search for traces of your father," said Harry to
Mary, after all had refreshed themselves with luxurious bananas and
the remains of their fish, "by visiting that old wreck. If your parent
be here, he probably has visited the hulk, and perhaps left some sign
of his presence; a pipe, matches or something of that sort."
"Who knows," said Mary, "but he has taken up his quarters there."
"I'm afraid you are too hopeful, lass," said old Tom Turk, "'specially
as it was believed by all aboard the _Maxwell_ that the poor old man
was drowned after he fell overboard."
"Yes," said Brand, shuddering; "I for one believe he was drowned."
"I will go with you to the wreck," said Mary.
"No," replied Harry, "it will be too much for you."
The young girl, however, insisting, the whole party started for the
bay, which they could see from their position.
A short walk brought them to the wreck.
It was a schooner, and as had been supposed, with its two masts broken
short off near the deck.
It lay almost upon its beam ends, firmly wedged in between two rocks.
By mounting a small, flat rock near the larboard gunwale, the party
easily got aboard. Having done so, they entered the cabin. It was
devoid of all articles of furniture, these probably having been taken
away by some of the Indian visitors at the island.
A candle, however, with an old piece of a clay pipe, a few nails, and
an empty box, were found.
Turk took the candle, and endeavored to light it. This was done with
some difficulty, after which the party passed into the hold. Here,
saturated with salt water, which had broken in through the bottom of
the schooner, were seen several coils of old rope and a few empty
barrels.
"All of which," philosophized Turk, "will come in good use, 'specially
if we can find some nails."
After a long search, he came upon a bag of rusty nails, lying upon one
of the beams.
"With these," said Turk, "we can manage to make a boat, leastways a
good raft."
The flickering candle shed lurid light upon the old, creaking beams
of the schooner, as the party vainly searched the hold for signs of
Mary's father.
"Thought it would be of no use," said Turk; "Poor old man, he was
drowned, you may be sartin."
"Oh, papa! papa! would that I could find him!" wailed Mary, mournfully.
Brand shuddered, as he always did, when the girl's father was
mentioned.
Seating himself on a detached coil of rigging, with his back turned to
the rest of the party, he suddenly fancied he felt a strange, creeping
sensation stealing over his body; a feeling, as if a multitude of
worms, were crawling up his back.
Instinctively he turned half round, to see his companions, already
leaving the hold, passing into the cabin.
Some strange instinct prompted him to turn yet further round, when he
beheld a sight which for some moments kept him motionless, unable to
utter a word.
In the faint light of the candle, streaming into the hold, he saw a
long, lean neck, surmounted by a face as bloodless and apparently
almost transparent, with hollow cheeks and protruding eyes, lifted
above a barrel at the other side of the hold.
A strange looking face it was; a face of unearthly transparency,
apparently quivering like a vapor, while his eyes--those great,
staring eyes, were fixed strangely upon the captain.
The latter, as mentioned, could not utter a word. To him the
apparition was doubly terrible, as it was that of the man whom he had
pushed overboard from the _Maxwell_.
Yes, there it was, sure enough, the face of the unfortunate passenger,
William Manton.