The Ocean Waifs Part 21

The sailor's chest,--for which its owner now felt increased affection,-- was the first thing secured; and next the cask upon which s...o...b..ll had bestraddled himself to get a better view. Both were near, and easily reached by a little rowing.

The other three casks had drifted to a considerable distance to leeward, and were still continuing their course; but as all three were in sight, the crew of the _Catamaran_ antic.i.p.ated no great difficulty in overtaking them.

Nor did any occur. A pair of oars handled by the sailor and sea-cook, with the sailor-boy standing up to direct the course in which they should pull, soon brought the raft down upon the straying hogsheads; and they were picked up one after the other, the severed ropes respliced, and all of them set back in their old positions,--so that but for the wet garments clinging around the bodies of those who had been overboard, and perhaps the pale and wearied expression upon their countenances, no one could have told that anything had gone wrong on board the _Catamaran_.

As to their wet clothes, none of them cared much for that; and if there had been any discomfort in it, it was not likely to continue long under the hot sun then shining down upon them. So rapidly was this part of the damage becoming repaired that all three,--but more especially s...o...b..ll--were now surrounded by a cloud of evaporation that would soon dry every st.i.tch of clothing they had on.

The negro,--partly from the natural heat proceeding from his own body, and partly from the strong sunbeams,--was smoking like a fresh kindled pit of charcoal: so that, through the strata of steam that encompa.s.sed his head and shoulders, it would have been impossible to tell whether he was black or white. In the midst of this Juno-like _nimbus_ however, the negro continued to talk and act, helping the sailor and little William, until not only were the water-casks restored to their proper places, but the sail was hauled up to the mast, and the _Catamaran_ once more scudding before the breeze, as if not the slightest accident had occurred either to craft or crew.

Care was taken, however, this time to make fast the halliard rope with a proper "belay"; and although s...o...b..ll might have deserved a caution to be more vigilant for the future, it was not deemed necessary to administer it, as it was thought the peril out of which they had so miraculously escaped would prove to him a sufficient reminder.

There was but one misfortune arising out of the adventure that might have caused the crew of the _Catamaran_ any serious regret. This was the loss of a large portion of their stock of provisions,--consisting of the dried fish,--partly those that had been half cured by s...o...b..ll previous to the union of the two rafts, and partly the flitches of shark-meat, that had been taken from the lesser raft, and added to s...o...b..ll's store.

These, with the object of having them thoroughly dried, had been exposed to the sun, on the tops of the water-casks which little William had let loose. In the hurry and excitement of the moment, it was not likely the lad should give a thought to the flitches of fish. Nor did he; and while freeing the water-casks from their fastenings, and pushing them off from the raft, the pieces were all permitted to slide off into the water, and either swim or go to the bottom, as their specific gravity might dictate. The consequence was, that, when everything else was recovered, these were lost,--having actually gone to the bottom, or floated out of sight; or, what was more probable than either, having been picked up by the numerous predatory birds hovering in the heavens above, or the equally voracious fish quartering the depths of the ocean underneath.

It was not without some chagrin that s...o...b..ll contemplated his reduced stores,--a chagrin in which his companions could equally partic.i.p.ate.

At the time, however, they felt the misfortune less bitterly than they might otherwise have done,--their spirits being buoyed up by the miraculous escape they had just made, as well as by a hope that the larder so spent might be replenished, and by a process similar to that by which it had been originally stocked.

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.

THE ALBACORES.

The hope of replenishing their larder was likely to be realised easily, and ere long. Scarce had their sail caught the breeze, when they perceived alongside the _Catamaran_ a shoal of the most beautiful fish that are to be found in any part of the boundless ocean. There were several hundreds in the shoal; like mackerel, all nearly of one size, and swimming, moreover in the same direction,--just as a school of mackerel are seen to do.

They were much larger, however, than the common mackerel,--each being about four feet in length, with a stout, though well-proportioned body, having that peculiar elegance of shape which belongs to all the mackerel tribe.

Their colour was sufficient of itself to ent.i.tle them to the appellation of beautiful creatures. It was a bright turquoise blue or azure, showing, in certain lights, a tinge of gold. This was the colour of their backs; while underneath they were of a silvery white, gleaming with a lively iridescence. A row of spurious fins above the tail, and another underneath, were of a bright yellow; while their large round eyes exhibited an iris of silver.

Their pectoral fins were very long and sickle-shaped; while the dorsal one, also well developed, presented a structural peculiarity in having a deep groove running longitudinally down the spine of the back, into which the fin,--when at rest and depressed,--exactly fitted: becoming so completely sheathed and concealed, as to give to the fish the appearance of being without this apparatus altogether!

If we except their lovely hues, their greater size, and a few other less notable circ.u.mstances, the fishes in question might have been taken for mackerel; and it would have been no great mistake to so describe them: since they were in reality of this genus. They were of a different species, however,--the most beautiful species of the mackerel tribe.

"Albacore!" cried Ben Brace, as soon as he saw them shooting alongside the raft. "Albacore be they. Now, Snowy, out wi' your hooks an' lines.

In this fresh breeze they be a'most sure to bite; and we'll be able, I hope, to make up for the loss o' the others. Hush all o' ye! Ne'er a word; ne'er a movement to scare 'em off. Softly, Snowy! Softly, ye ole sea-cook."

"No fear, Ma.s.sa Brace,--no fear o' dem leabin dis ole _Cat'maran_, so long's de be a-gwine on dat fashion. Looker dar! Fuss to one side, den de todder,--back and for'rad as ef de cudn't be content nowha."

While s...o...b..ll was speaking, and before he had commenced, the albacores had entered upon a peculiar movement. On first joining company with the _Catamaran_, they swam for a time alongside,--the starboard side,-- keeping pace with the raft, and evidently making no exertion to go ahead of her, as they might easily have done. On the contrary, they scarce moved their fins; but floated slowly along at the exact rate of speed at which the craft was sailing, and not one bit faster. As they swam parallel to the raft, and also parallel to each other, one might have fancied them all joined together by some invisible link, that kept them from changing their relative positions both to the _Catamaran_ and to one another!

All at once, however, and quick as the change of a kaleidoscope, this parallelism was terminated,--not as regarded each other, but with respect to the course of the _Catamaran_ By a single flutter of their tails, the whole _school_ was seen simultaneously turning head towards the craft; and then, like a flash of lightning, they pa.s.sed underneath.

For a moment they were out of sight; but in the next they appeared on the starboard beam, swimming parallel as before, both to the course of the _Catamaran_ and to each other. The manoeuvre was executed with such precision and uniformity, as could not be imitated among men,--even under the tuition of the ablest drill-sergeant that ever existed. They swerved from right to left, as if each and all were actuated by the same impulse, and at the same instant of time. At the same instant their tails made a movement in the water,--at precisely the same point of time they turned together,--showing a list of its silvery abdomen, and with like simultaneous action did they dive under the keel of the _Catamaran_.

It was this peculiar manoeuvre on the part of the fish,--won after repeated by their shooting back to the starboard, and again returning to larboard,--that had elicited from s...o...b..ll the a.s.sertion, so confidently put forward, that there was no fear of their leaving the _Catamaran_ so long as they were going in that fashion.

Of those upon the raft, Ben Brace alone comprehended s...o...b..ll's meaning.

To little William it was a matter of some surprise when the ex-sea-cook spoke so confidently, and acted, moreover, as if he had no fear of frightening the shy-looking creatures that were swimming alongside.

"Why, Snowy?" asked the lad,--"why is there no fear of their being scared off?"

"Kase, lilly w.i.l.l.y, I hab de idea dar be something else not far off, dat dem albacore am more feerd on dan we. I no see dat someting yet. We sure see de _long snout_, by 'm by."

"The long snout!--what do you mean by that, Snowy?"

"Wha do a mean?--de long-nose a mean. Tole ye so! dar he be yonner,-- right on de la'bord quarter. Dis n.i.g.g.e.r knew he no far off. Da's why de beauties hab come roun de raff; an dat I hope keep um hyar till we hab cotch a few ob dem!"

"A shark!" cried the boy-sailor, catching a glance of some large fish at some distance out in the water on the larboard bow,--the direction in which s...o...b..ll had pointed.

"Shark! nuffin ob de kind," rejoined the negro; "diff'rent sort ob fish altogedder. If him wa shark, de albacore no stay hyar. Dey go up to him, and dart all 'bout im,--jess like de lilly birds when dey see big hawk or de vulture. No shark he,--dat ere skulkin' fella. He am ma.s.sa long-nose,--de real enemy ob de albacore. No fear ob dem leabin' us, while he anywhar in sight."

Saying this the Coromantee proceeded to single out his hooks; and, a.s.sisted by Ben Brace, commenced baiting them with an unconcern that testified a full confidence in the truth of his a.s.sertion.

CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.

THE SWORD-FISH.

Little William,--whose curiosity had become excited at the appearance of the strange fish,--stood looking over the larboard quarter, in hopes of getting a better view of it.

As yet, he had only obtained a slight glimpse of it: for the larboard quarter lay towards the south-west, and the sun, just then sinking down upon the sea, hindered him from having a fair opportunity to scan the surface in that particular direction.

Shading his eyes with the palm of his hand, he gazed for some time, but saw nothing,--either upon the surface or under it. s...o...b..ll, notwithstanding that he seemed wholly occupied with the hooks and lines, took notice of the reconnoissance of the sailor-lad.

"No use you look dat way, lilly w.i.l.l.y," said he. "Doan you see dat de abbacores are now on de larbord side. Wheneber dey am on de larbord, you look for long-nose on de starbord. Truss dem take care dey no get on de same side wit' dat ere fella."

"There, Will'm!" interposed Ben. "Look out that way! there he be,-- right astarn,--don't ye see?"

"I see, I see!" cried William. "O, look, Lalee! What in odd fish it is! I never saw one like it before."

This was true; for although the young sailer had already traversed many a long league of the Atlantic Ocean, he had not yet seen a fish of the same kind; and he might traverse hundreds of long leagues of any of the oceans without seeing the like again.

It was, in truth, one of the most singular denizens of the great deep that had thus come under the observation of the _Catamaran's_ crew,--so peculiar in its appearance that, without the intervention of Ben Brace, who at that moment called out in name, the boy could have p.r.o.nounced it for himself.

It was a fish of some eight or ten feet in length; with a long bony snout, projecting horizontally forward, at least one third of the length of its body. This snout was nothing more than a prolongation of the upper jaw,--perfectly straight, of osseous structure, and tapering towards the end like the blade of a rapier.

Otherwise the fish was not ill-formed; nor did it present that hideous aspect characteristic of the more predatory creatures that inhabit the ocean. For all that, there was a certain shyness combined with great swiftness in its motion,--a skulking in its att.i.tudes: as s...o...b..ll's speech had already declared,--a truculent, trap-like expression in its quick watchful eyes, that told of an animal whose whole existence was pa.s.sed in the pursuit of prey.

It was not to be wondered at that William should have mistaken the creature for a shark: for, in addition to the fact of the sun being in his eyes, there were points of similarity between the fish in question, and certain species of sharks, requiring a good view and an experienced observer to tell the difference. William perceived a large crescent shaped fin rising several inches above the surface of the water,--a tail lunated like that of the shark,--a hungry eye, and prowling att.i.tude: the very characteristics of the dreaded tyrant of the deep.

There was one thing in which the creature in question differed materially from all the individuals of the _squalus_ tribe. Instead of swimming slowly, it appeared to be one of the swiftest of fishes: for at each instant as the albacores changed their position from one side of the raft to the other, the long-snouted creature was seen to shoot to the same side with a velocity that almost baffled the sight to keep pace with it.

In fact, the eye could scarcely have traced its course, had it not been aided by two circ.u.mstances altogether strange and peculiar. The first was that the strange fish, while darting from point to point, caused a rushing sound in the water; like that produced by heavy rain falling upon the leaves of a forest. The second peculiarity was, that while thus progressing its hues became completely changed. Instead of the dull brown,--its colour when at rest,--its body presented a striated appearance,--a brindling of bright and dark blue,--sometimes heightened to a uniform azure!

It was not these peculiarities that had guided little William to the identification of the species; but the long, tapering snout, straight as a rapier, that projected in front of its body. This was a token not to be mistaken,--never to be forgotten by one who had seen it before. And the young sailor had before seen such a one; not at sea, nor under the sea, but in a collection of "natural curiosities," that had by chance been carried through his native town; and whose inspection, perhaps, had much to do with that impulse that first caused him to "run away to sea."

Under a gla.s.s-case he had examined that piece of osseous structure, described by the showman as the sword of the _sword-fish_. Under the waves of the tropical Atlantic,--but little less translucent than the gla.s.s,--he had no difficulty in identifying the formidable weapon!