It was a wonderful change from the stormy, tossing Atlantic, with its
bitter winds and chilling cold, to the calm transparency of the
brilliantly-blue tropic waters, where everything looked so unclouded and
so bright. When we neared one or other of the islands, everything
seemed so fresh that we began to forget the perils and troubles of our
long, uneventful, but sufficiently troubled voyage. For there were
golden or dazzlingly white sands, upon which the calm sea softly
rippled, while close down to the water's edge we could see what Tom
called spike plants and sweep's-brush trees--these being his names for
plants of the Yucca family and lovely slender-tufted palms.
When we gazed down into the clear waters from the deck of our
comparatively small steamer, we could see fish in plenty, for the
brilliant sun seemed to light up the sea beneath the vessel's keel,
while as the screw churned up the water and the steamer rushed on, the
scaly occupants of the deep flashed away to right and left, darting out
of sight like so many shafts of silver through the sunny depths.
It was a wonderful change from cold and chill to a delicious atmosphere,
where the soft sea-breeze fanned our cheeks, though we soon became aware
of the fact that the sun possessed power such as we had never
experienced before.
"Why, it's like as if it came through a burning glass, Mas'r Harry,"
said Tom; "and, I say, just you try to touch that copper hood thing that
goes over the compass. I did, and it burned my hand just as if it had
come out of a hot fire."
"Well, I don't want to burn my hands, Tom," I replied. "I can see how
hot it is by the pitch standing up in beads all along the ropes."
"And it's making black icicles outside some of the boards, Mas'r Harry,
only they're soft instead of hard. I say, isn't it jolly?"
The next day it was a great deal hotter, for there was not a breath of
air, and Tom came to me as I was hanging listlessly over the side, for I
was too hot to stir.
"Say, Mas'r Harry," he said, "isn't this what they call being in the
tropics?"
"Yes, Tom; this is the tropics."
"Well, they're hot tropics, and no mistake--out-and-out hot uns. It
won't get any warmer than this, will it?"
"Warmer, my lad?" said one of the sailors; "why, this is nothing to what
it is sometimes. I've known it so hot that the fellows have been
half-roasted, and when the skipper's piped all hands to bathe in a
lugsail overboard, to keep away the sharks, you've heard the lads sizzle
as they jumped into the water."
"They got quite red-hot, then?" said Tom quietly.
"Well, hardly red-hot, though they were mostly very red--more brown-hot,
I should say."
"Thanky," said Tom. "Much obliged;" and the sailor went away chuckling.
"He thinks I believe him, Mas'r Harry," said Tom quietly; "but I'm not
quite such a fool as all that."
"Oh! never mind their nonsense, Tom," I said; "there are too many
beautiful things to see, for us to pay heed to all that these fellows
say."
"Ah! you're about right there, Mas'r Harry," said Tom; "but somehow I am
a bit disappointed."
"Why?" I asked.
"At not getting ashore. Only think of it, Mas'r Harry! having a gun
apiece, and going wandering up the country somewhere, seeing all there
is in one of these islands."
"Have patience, Tom," I replied; "and I daresay you'll get as much
adventure as you'll care to have."
I did not know how true a prophet I was then. In fact, perhaps if I
could have foreseen all we should have to go through, I might have
shrunk back from my undertaking.
Farther and farther every day now we went on and on, putting in at first
one island port and then another, but never having time to do more than
just go ashore. A visit up the country was quite out of the question.
"It's a rum un, Mas'r Harry," said Tom, on our first landing; and his
broad countrified face expanded into a grin as he stopped opposite a
stout old negro woman who was selling fruit. No sooner did she see Tom
displaying his white teeth than she showed hers--two long rows like
ivory--and these two stood smiling one at the other till Tom recovered
himself, and invested sixpence in plantains and oranges.
"They're black enough out here, and no mistake, Mas'r Harry," said Tom;
"and oh, I say, just you taste these--they're splendid."
The waving cocoa palms and the beautiful flowers that we saw brought
into the bright little market made me feel, like Tom, that I should like
to go farther afield; but I comforted myself with the recollection that
we should soon be at our destination, and that then there would be
plenty to see and do.
Back on board once more, we spent our time basking in the sunshine,
drinking it in as it were, for it seemed so delightful in spite of its
heat after our dull, cheerless, hazy home in the winter season.
I took no note of how the time went, and this part of the voyage, though
in a slow clumsy boat, seemed far the quickest portion of the journey,
so that I was quite surprised when one morning I came on deck, and found
not only that we were in sight of land, but in sight of port--my landing
port--the end of my sea journey, for we were right across the Gulf of
Mexico, abreast of La Guayra, where the orders were given, and anchor
was dropped in the open roadstead, where, calm as it was, we could still
feel the great swell that came softly sweeping in, making the great
steamer rock and roll first to this side then to that, till, heavily
laden though she was, she careened over so that her copper glistened in
the sun.
I was beginning to feast my eyes upon the beauty of the place, when Tom,
who was right forward, shouted to me to come, and as I glanced at him I
saw that he was waving his hands so excitedly that there must be
something worth seeing, and I ran forward.
"Here's something for you to have a look at, Mas'r Harry," he cried.
"You recollect that big pike the sea-serpent sailor told us about--ugh!
four feet long didn't he say?"
"Yes, Tom; but there are no pike here."
"No pike, Mas'r Harry! Why, here's a couple of 'em cruising about just
under the bows here, and you can see 'em as plain as plain, and they're
twelve or fourteen foot long at least."
"Yes, Tom," I said, as I climbed on to the bulwark, and sheltering my
eyes gazed down into the beautiful water, where the bottom was plainly
visible many feet below. "Yes, Tom," I said, "they're twelve or
fourteen feet long at least, but they are not pike."
"Not pike, Mas'r Harry! What are they then?"
"Sharks, my lad," I replied. "Sharks."
"What, them?" he cried excitedly as he stared down. "So they're sharks
are they? Well, I'm glad I've seen 'em anyhow; but I shouldn't have
known that they were sharks. Mustn't bathe here then," he continued;
"that is if all they say about sharks is true."
"I believe it's true enough, Tom," I said.
"Let's try 'em, Mas'r Harry," said Tom eagerly.
"Try them! What, bathe? Why, Tom, you must be mad!"
"I never said a word about bathing, Mas'r Harry," he responded rather
grumpily. "I said, Let's try 'em. I say if we had a big hook and line,
Mas'r Harry," he continued, with a broadly comical grin, "and baited
with nice fat little niggers, what sport we should have."
"Nice fun for the little niggers as you call them, Tom," I said.
"Yes, it wouldn't be very nice for them, Mas'r Harry. But I say, let's
see if they'd go at a bait."
"How?" I cried.
"Stop a moment, and I'll show you," he said; and running to where one of
the firemen was having a quiet pipe on deck, I saw Tom accost him, and
then go down into the stoke-hole, to come up again directly with a big
lump of slaty coal, bearing which he joined me.
"Let's drop this in gently," he said, "just over them; or, no, it would
make such a splash some of the sailors would come to see. I've got a
bit of string in my pocket."
Tom always had a bit of string in his pocket, and unrolling it he
loosely tied it round the lump of coal, and then getting well on the
bulwark raised the coal gently up and over the side, beginning to lower
it down.
"Take care you don't go over instead of the coal, Tom," I said with a
grim smile.
"Oh, I say, Mas'r Harry, don't talk like that!" he cried; "it's enough
to give a chap the shudders. It was only my fun about the little
niggers. Now, then, I think I can shake it out of the loop."
The sharks were just below us, and eight or ten feet down, as Tom
lowered the piece of coal right to the surface, without making any
splash and disturbing the water so as to interrupt our view of what we
hoped would take place. Then giving the string a jerk he loosened the
coal, which began to descend rapidly, its bright black surface flashing
in the brilliant sunshine till it was half-way down, when there was a
tremendous swirl in the water, which danced and flashed and obscured our
vision, only that we caught sight of something--of two somethings--quite
white, and then by degrees the water calmed down, and there were the two
sharks still there, but turned round with their heads in a fresh
direction.
"Why, they took the coal, and one of 'em's swallowed it, Mas'r Harry,"
cried Tom excitedly.
"No, Tom: I think I can see it right down below there," I said; "but
they did have a try at it."
"What are you young fellows doing there?" said a voice; and, as we
turned sharply round, there stood the captain. "What! are you fishing?"
"No, sir," said Tom; "I only dropped something over to see if the big
fish there would take it."
"Oh, I see!" he exclaimed. "Sharks! Yes, there are plenty of them, my
lads. No bathing here. You should get the cook to give you a lump of
bad pork, and hang that over by the string: that would fetch them."
Tom took the hint, and running to the cook told him what the captain
said, returning at the end of a minute to where I was still watching the
two monsters, the captain having gone.
"I'll tie this tight on, Mas'r Harry," cried Tom, suiting the action to
the word. "I say, don't I wish we had a hook!"
The piece of meat was soon firmly secured, and twisting one end of the
string round his hand, Tom took his old place beside me, chuckling and
laughing, and began to lower down his bait.
"I say, Mas'r Harry, I wish it was a bar o' soap. If one of 'em
swallowed it I wonder what he'd think of the taste."
By this time Tom had his bait close to the water, and directly after he
let it drop on the surface, where it made a little disturbance and then
floated.
Almost at the same moment it appeared as if, without the slightest
movement, one of the sharks was growing bigger and closer. It seemed to
fascinate us, so cautiously did it rise nearer and nearer, till all of a
sudden it rolled right over on its side, showing the creamy white of its
under parts; there was a gleam of teeth, a swirl in the water, and the
greasy lump of salt pork disappeared.
As it did so I saw Tom's arm give a sudden jerk, and as he uttered a
yell I realised what was wrong, flinging my arms round him, and threw
myself inboard, so that I dragged him with me, and we fell together upon
the deck.
"Oh, my eye!" gasped Tom as we sat up on the deck; and he held up his
hand, beginning to unwind the broken string from it, and showing how
deeply it had cut into it before it gave way.
"What an escape, Tom!" I cried, and as I spoke I felt that I must be
looking very white.
"I should have gone overboard if you hadn't laid hold o' me, Mas'r
Harry," he said, looking blankly in my face. "How strong that string
was, and how it cut!"
"How stupid of you to tie it round your hand like that!" I said.
"Well, I s'pose it was, Mas'r Harry," he said ruefully; "but one didn't
think of it then."
"Well, let's have a look at the sharks," I said, as the horror of what
might have happened passed off.
"No, thankye, Mas'r Harry," said Tom sulkily. "I've had enough shark
for one day. My hand's 'bout cut in two, and my arm's 'bout pulled
outer the socket, and one of my legs was twissen under me when I come
down, I've had enough shark to last me half a lifetime."