SUMNER'S SELF-SACRIFICE.
If Rust Norris had not been rendered so nearly helpless by his broken
arm, Sumner would have endeavored to make the _Psyche_ bear them both
safely to land, if not by carrying them, at least by supporting them
while they swam alongside. On his way to the wrecked sloop he had
thought that perhaps this might be done, but as soon as he discovered
Rust's real condition he knew that he might as well leave him there
to drown as to attempt to burden the light craft with their double
weight. At that moment the lad made up his mind that Rust should have
the canoe to himself, and that he would take whatever chance of escape
still remained. Thus he had resolutely shoved the canoe off, with
its single occupant, while he stayed behind, clinging to the leeward
mast-stay, and watching with eager eyes the perilous passage to the
beach of the man for whom he had risked so much. The act was a bit of
that coolly-planned self-sacrificing heroism that stamps true bravery,
and distinguishes it from recklessness.
In his exhausted and partially dazed condition, Rust did not realize
the sacrifice made by his young deliverer until the canoe had been
snatched from the breakers by a dozen willing hands, and drawn high on
the beach beyond their cruel grasp. Then, on looking for the boy and
seeing that he had remained behind, he uttered a great cry, and sank
down limp and helpless on the wet sand.
Those on shore had seen from the first that only one was coming in the
canoe, while one was left behind, but they had not known which was
approaching them until the _Psyche_ was dragged from the breakers.
Worth was in an agony of despair at his friend's peril. "Let me go to
him!" he cried. "I would rather drown than stand here without trying to
save him!"
"No; let me go! Let me go!" cried the others; and they made frantic
attempts to again launch the canoe through the breakers; but they might
as well have tried to launch it through a stone wall. Again and again
was it hurled back, while those who strove to launch it were torn from
their footing and flung upon the beach.
Then there was a shout of "Here he comes! He is in the water!" and
then they strained their eyes in vain for another glimpse of their
well-loved young comrade.
Sumner had indeed taken the plunge, but not voluntarily. He had
determined to remain by the sloop until she broke up and he was
compelled to swim, or until the falling tide should render the passage
of that seething maelstrom less terrible. Thus thinking, he was about
to seek the poor shelter in which he had found Rust, when a great wave,
rushing over the wreck, swept him from it, and buried him beneath tons
of its mighty volume.
As he came gasping to the surface he was again almost immediately
overwhelmed and borne under. Still, he had drawn a breath of air, and
had noted the direction of the beach. He knew that, sooner or later,
alive or dead, the waves would cast him ashore. So, without trying to
swim forward, he devoted all his energies to reaching the surface, and
breathing as often as possible. It seemed as though he were merely
rising and sinking, without moving forward an inch, and it required
all his self-control to keep from exhausting himself by violent
struggles to make a perceptible headway. He retained his presence of
mind, however, and after a half-hour of battle the very waves seemed
to acknowledge his victory, and tossed him up within sight of the
watchers, who had given up all hope except that of finding his lifeless
body.
They uttered a glad shout; but it was checked as he was again buried
from their sight. Again he appeared, and this time much nearer. Then
Lieutenant Carey rushed into the water. Behind him Worth, Quorum, and
the others formed a line, tightly grasping each other's hands, and at
length the swimmer was within their reach.
With cries of exultant joy, they bore him up the beach and laid him on
the sand; but their rejoicing was quickly succeeded by consternation.
He lay with closed eyes, cold, and apparently lifeless.
"Hurry to the schooner, Worth, and tell them to have hot water, hot
blankets, and a roaring fire ready by the time we get there," demanded
the Lieutenant. "We will bring him as quickly as possible."
For hours they worked over the senseless form of the brave lad. So
nearly had the sea accomplished its cruel purpose that, but for the
lessons learned by the workers years before at Annapolis, Sumner
Rankin's life would have been given in exchange for that of Rust
Norris. At length a faint color tinged his cheeks, a faint breath came
from between his lips, and they knew that their efforts had not been in
vain. An hour later he was sleeping quietly, and it was certain that
Nature would complete the work of restoration. Then the same skill that
had snatched life from apparent death was directed to the setting and
proper bandaging of Rust's broken arm.
The Norther continued to blow all that night and the following day, and
during this period of enforced idleness Sumner was not allowed to leave
his berth. His every want was anticipated, and those who surrounded him
vied with each other in their tender care of the lad who had so well
won their regard and admiration. As for Rust Norris, his whole nature
seemed to have undergone such a change that his former intimates would
hardly have recognized him. He sat and watched constantly beside the
boy to whom he owed so much, and could hardly be persuaded to leave him
for the briefest intervals.
During that second day of storm he made a full confession of how and
why he had attempted to thwart the objects of Lieutenant Carey's
expedition. His enmity had been particularly directed towards Sumner,
and when the latter instead of himself had been chosen to pilot
the _Transit_ up the reef, he had formed a plan of revenge that he
immediately proceeded to carry out. This was to visit the Everglade
Indians, and inform them that the expedition was for the purpose of
spying out their lands and preparing for their removal to a far-away
country of cold and snow, where they would certainly die. To accomplish
this he had joined a Bahama smuggler, and with a cask of rum as a
cargo, they had sailed in the small sloop owned by the latter for Cape
Sable. Here they met a party of Indians who had come down from the
'Glades on a deer-hunt, and after plying them with rum, roused them to
anger by their lying tale concerning the coming expedition. The Indians
had departed to spread the report to the rest of their band, and to
devise plans for frustrating the supposed purpose of the expedition.
Their departure had taken place on the day of the _Transit's_ arrival
on the coast, and but for the signs of the approaching Norther, Rust
Norris and his companion would have left the lagoon in which they were
so snugly anchored that afternoon. Noting these signs they decided to
remain where they were until it should blow over. They had no idea
when the _Transit_ would reach the cape, nor did they suppose that
Sumner was aware of the passage into the lagoon. It was therefore
with surprise and consternation that they found those whom they had
attempted to injure anchored close beside them. They at once determined
to take advantage of the darkness to run out of the lagoon before the
storm broke, and seek another shelter among the mangrove keys a short
distance farther inland.
They slipped their cable, not daring to lift the anchor for fear the
sound might be heard on board the schooner, and drifted down to the
mouth of the creek with the last of the ebb-tide. Here, while waiting
for a breeze, Rust conceived the idea of effectually crippling the
expedition by stealing their boats, and went back up the creek for that
purpose. He cut them loose from the schooner and attempted to tow them
silently down to where the sloop lay, but as the tide had turned and
was flooding strongly up the creek, he found it impossible to do so. So
he turned them adrift in the belief that they would be driven to the
farther side of the lagoon, and dashed to pieces by the storm that was
about to break. At any rate, the expedition would be so long delayed in
recovering their boats that the news of their coming would be spread
over the length and breadth of the Everglades before they could enter
them.
So much time had thus been wasted that before the sloop could be taken
to the proposed place of safety the storm burst in all its fury.
They were forced to seek refuge in another place that was partially
exposed, but where with two anchors they could probably have ridden
out the gale. With but one, they were dragged from their moorings soon
after daylight, and driven on the reef where the sloop now lay. Rust's
arm had been broken by the gybing of the main boom, and, left alone,
exposed to the fury of those raging seas, he had given up all hope long
before Sumner came to his rescue.
"And to think," said Rust, in conclusion, "that the fellow to whom I
was doing all this meanness should have come after me and offered to
throw away his own life to save mine! I tell you, gentlemen, it makes
me feel meaner 'n a toad-fish!"