Yussuf the Guide Part 17

"What nonsense, Preston!" he said; "why, the man and his crew are like so many good-tempered gypsy boys. No, sir, I am not going to be scared because the night is coming on. Poor fellows, they are honest enough.

That sour Turk--I don't like the fellow--has been filling our heads with nonsense to make himself seem more important. It's all right."

"I hope it is," said the professor to himself, and in due course he lay down, but not to sleep.

During the day, by a quiet understanding, he and Yussuf had taken it in turns to s.n.a.t.c.h an hour's repose, with the result that they were far better prepared to encounter the night than might have been supposed.

"We will lie down, excellency," Yussuf took the opportunity of whispering; "but one of us must not sleep."

After a time the old lawyer, who had been leaning back watching the stars from far above till they seemed to dip down in the transparent sea, yawned aloud, and then began to talk in an unknown tongue, using a strange guttural language which for the most part consisted of a repet.i.tion, at regular intervals, of the word "_Snorruk_," and this had a wonderful effect upon his companions, who had felt listless and drowsy after the hot day; but the coolness of the night and the interesting nature of Mr Burne's discourse effectually banished sleep, and hence it was that, when the skipper and a couple of his men came stealing aft to apparently change the steersman, the professor sat up, and Lawrence saw that Yussuf was wide awake and on the _qui vive_.

This occurred three times, and then the rosy morning lit up the tops of the distant mountains, and made the sea flash as if it were all so much molten topaz.

A pleasant listless day followed, and another and another, during which the travellers slept in turn, and watched the various islands seem to rise out of the sea, grow larger, and then, after they were pa.s.sed, sink down again into the soft blue water.

It was a delicious dreamy time, the only drawbacks being the suspicions of the boatmen, and the cramped nature of the s.p.a.ce at disposal.

They sailed on and on now, with the water surging beneath their bows and the little vessel careening over in the brilliant sunshine; but they were still far from their destination, and now the question had arisen whether it would not be wise to put in at the princ.i.p.al port of Cyprus, which they were now nearing, to obtain more provisions, as the wind was so light that the prospect of their reaching Ansina that night was very doubtful.

The evening had come on, with the sun going down in the midst of a peculiar bank of clouds that would have looked threatening to experienced eyes; but to the travellers it was one scene of glory, the edges of the vapours being of a glowing orange, while the sky and sea were gorgeous with tints that were almost painful in their dazzling sheen. There was not a breath of wind, not a sound upon the smooth sea.

The sails hung motionless, and the heat was as oppressive as if those on board were facing some mighty furnace.

"Very, very grand!" said Mr Burne at last, after he had sat with the others for some time silently watching the glorious sight; "but to my mind there's too much of it. I should like to have it spread over months, a little bit every night, not like this, all at once."

"Oh, Mr Burne!" cried Lawrence reproachfully.

"I once saw a pantomime many years ago, when I took some of my sister's children to a box I was foolish enough to pay for. This reminds me of one of the scenes, only there are no sham fairies and stupid people bobbing about and standing on one leg. Just when everything was at the brightest a great dark curtain came down, and it was all over, and it seems to be coming here, only it's coming up instead of coming down.

Heigho--ha--hum! how sleepy I am!"

He lay down as he spoke close under the low bulwark, and as he did so Lawrence glanced forward and saw that the gorgeous sunset had no charms for the sailors, for they were lying among the baskets fast asleep, their faces upon their arms, while, upon looking aft, the man at the helm was crouched up all of a heap sleeping heavily.

"It is very beautiful," said the professor; "but I daresay some of our English sunsets are nearly as bright, only we do not notice them, being either shut up or too busy to look."

"Doesn't this curious stuffy feeling of heat make you feel drowsy, Mr Preston?" said Lawrence, after a few minutes' silence, "or do I feel it because I am weak with being ill so long?"

"My dear boy," replied the professor laughing, "at the present moment I feel as if all my bones had been dissolved into so much gristle. It is the heat, my lad, the heat."

Lawrence lay back upon the deck with his head resting upon a pillow formed out of a doubled-up coat. He had tried going below, but the little cabin was suffocating. It was as if the bulkheads and deck had imbibed the sun's heat all day and were now slowly giving it out. To sleep there would have been impossible, and he had returned on deck bathed in perspiration to try and get a breath of air.

As he lay there he could see the old lawyer sleeping heavily, the professor with his head resting upon his hand, and his face glorified by the reflection from sea and sky, and their guide Yussuf seated cross-legged smoking placidly at his water-pipe, his dark eyes seeming to glow like hot coals.

Beyond him lay the Greek and his men upon their faces, motionless as the man at the helm, and then all at once the muttering bubbling noise made by Yussuf's pipe seemed to be coming from the old lawyer's parted lips, and the pipe, instead of justifying its name of "hubble-bubble," kept on saying _snorruk_--_snorruk_, after the fashion of Mr Burne. Finally, there was nothing--nothing at all but sleep, deep, heavy, satisfying sleep that might have lasted one hour, two hours, any length of time.

It seemed as if there was no dreaming, till all at once Lawrence imagined that the professor was bitterly angry with him for getting better that he jumped up and kicked him violently, and that then, as he tried to rise, he stamped upon him, and the stamp made a loud report.

He was awake.

Awake, but in a dazed, puzzled state, for all was pitchy dark, and as he jumped up he was knocked down again, and would have gone over the side had he not struck against and clung to one of the ropes which supported the mast.

About him a terrible struggle was going on; there was heavy, hoa.r.s.e breathing; men were trampling here and there with falls and struggles upon the sc.r.a.p of a deck.

Then Lawrence turned cold, for there was a yell and a splash, followed directly after by a blinding flash of light and a loud report.

The struggle went on for a few moments longer, seemed to cease, and a voice that he recognised said some words hastily in Greek, which were replied to in hoa.r.s.e panting tones.

Then the professor's welcome voice arose out of the pitchy darkness.

"Lawrence! Lawrence! where are you?"

Before an answer could be given there was the dull thud of a heavy blow, and the professor roared more than spoke the one word:

"Coward!"

The struggle was resumed for a moment or two, while the Greek skipper yelled out some order; but before it could be executed there came from out of the darkness a sharp hiss and a loud roar. Lawrence felt himself drenched by what seemed to be a cutting tempest of rain, and then it was as if some huge elastic ma.s.s had struck the boat, capsizing it in an instant. The lad felt that he was beneath the surface of the water, the sudden plunge clearing his faculties and making him strike for the surface.

As he rose he had touched a rope, which he caught at with the instinctive clutch of a drowning man, and found that it was attached to something which enabled him to keep his head above the water, but how it was or what it all meant he could not comprehend in the midst of the deafening rushing noise of the wind and the beating stinging blows of the surf that was flying over him.

All at once from out of the darkness a hand seemed to be stretched forth and to grasp him by the collar of the light Norfolk jacket he wore.

In spite of himself he uttered a cry of horror, but the grasp was not inimical, for he felt that he was drawn up on to what seemed to be a heaving piece of woodwork, and then a strong arm was pa.s.sed round him, a man's breast pressed him down, and the rush and roar and confusion increased.

There were times when he could scarcely breathe, the wind and spray stifling him till he could turn by an effort a little aside. Then for long periods together, as they seemed, they were under water, as some wave leaped over them. In fact, after a few such experiences he was half insensible, and every struggle towards recovery was met by a new attack.

How long it lasted the lad never knew; all he could comprehend was that he was floating upon something in the midst of a wildly tempestuous sea, and that the wind and spray seemed to have combined to tear him from where his feeble efforts were aided by a strong man's arm.

Once or twice he fancied he heard a shout, but he could not be sure, and he could make no effort to understand his position, for the storm that had stricken the boat so suddenly robbed him more and more of the power to move.

It was like another waking from sleep, to feel that his head was being raised a little more from where it drooped, and someone pressed a pair of lips to his ear and spoke.

He could not answer, he could not even move, for though the voice was familiar, its import did not reach his brain, and he lay perfectly inert till it seemed as if the sea and wind were not beating so hard upon his face, and that he could breathe more easily.

Then it was not so dark, for the stars were coming out, and he found himself gazing at a great black veil that was being drawn over the heavens.

The next thing he heard was a voice, a familiar voice, speaking, and another which he recognised, and which came from close by, answered, but what was said he could not tell.

There was another confused half-dreamy time, and then it was comparatively light. The spray had ceased to beat, and the ma.s.s of wood upon which he had been dragged was rising and falling in a regular drowsy rocking fashion, while now he felt bitterly cold.

"I cannot get to you, Yussuf," said the familiar voice again. "If I attempt to move he will slip off into the water. Safe?"

"He is alive!" came in a low deep voice from close by Lawrence's ear, and then there was a fierce puff of wind again, and with it the dreamy sensation once more.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

CAST ASh.o.r.e.

When Lawrence came to himself again there was more vigour in his brain, and he was conscious that he was on the side of the boat held fast by Yussuf. The wind was blowing fiercely, and had seized hold of a portion of a half-submerged sail which had filled out into a half sphere, and they were going swiftly through the water.

The stars were shining brightly; there was no more spray, and as he recovered himself he could see, right at the far end of the boat, the dimly defined head and shoulders of the professor, whom he knew by his great beard, and he seemed to be supporting Mr Burne.

Between them, seated high and clear of the water, were the Greek skipper and a couple of his men, holding on tightly in a bent position.