The Coral Island by Robert Michael Ballantyne (interesting books to read in english TXT) đź“–
- Author: Robert Michael Ballantyne
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breeze, and, before we had made half the distance to the small
island, it became a regular gale. Although it was not so directly
against us as to prevent our rowing in the course we wished to go,
yet it checked us very much; and although the force of the sea was
somewhat broken by the island, the waves soon began to rise, and to
roll their broken crests against our small craft, so that she began
to take in water, and we had much ado to keep ourselves afloat. At
last the wind and sea together became so violent that we found it
impossible to make the island, so Jack suddenly put the head of the
boat round and ordered Peterkin and me to hoist a corner of the
sail, intending to run back to Penguin Island.
“We shall at least have the shelter of the bushes,” he said, as the
boat flew before the wind, “and the penguins will keep us company.”
As Jack spoke, the wind suddenly shifted, and blew so much against
us that we were forced to hoist more of the sail in order to beat
up for the island, being by this change thrown much to leeward of
it. What made matters worse was, that the gale came in squalls, so
that we were more than once nearly upset.
“Stand by, both of you,” cried Jack, in a quick, earnest tone; “be
ready to dowse the sail. I very much fear we won’t make the island
after all.”
Peterkin and I were so much in the habit of trusting everything to
Jack that we had fallen into the way of not considering things,
especially such things as were under Jack’s care. We had,
therefore, never doubted for a moment that all was going well, so
that it was with no little anxiety that we heard him make the above
remark. However, we had no time for question or surmise, for, at
the moment he spoke, a heavy squall was bearing down upon us, and,
as we were then flying with our lee gunwale dipping occasionally
under the waves, it was evident that we should have to lower our
sail altogether. In a few seconds the squall struck the boat, but
Peterkin and I had the sail down in a moment, so that it did not
upset us; but, when it was past, we were more than half full of
water. This I soon baled out, while Peterkin again hoisted a
corner of the sail; but the evil which Jack had feared came upon
us. We found it quite impossible to make Penguin Island. The gale
carried us quickly past it towards the open sea, and the terrible
truth flashed upon us that we should be swept out and left to
perish miserably in a small boat in the midst of the wide ocean.
This idea was forced very strongly upon us because we saw nothing
in the direction whither the wind was blowing us save the raging
billows of the sea; and, indeed, we trembled as we gazed around us,
for we were now beyond the shelter of the islands, and it seemed as
though any of the huge billows, which curled over in masses of
foam, might swallow us up in a moment. The water, also, began to
wash in over our sides, and I had to keep constantly baling, for
Jack could not quit the helm nor Peterkin the sail for an instant,
without endangering our lives. In the midst of this distress Jack
uttered an exclamation of hope, and pointed towards a low island or
rock which lay directly ahead. It had been hitherto unobserved,
owing to the dark clouds that obscured the sky and the blinding
spray that seemed to fill the whole atmosphere.
As we neared this rock we observed that it was quite destitute of
trees and verdure, and so low that the sea broke completely over
it. In fact it was nothing more than the summit of one of the
coral formations, which rose only a few feet above the level of the
water, and was, in stormy weather, all but invisible. Over this
island the waves were breaking in the utmost fury, and our hearts
sank within us as we saw that there was not a spot where we could
thrust our little boat without its being dashed to pieces.
“Show a little bit more sail,” cried Jack, as we swept past the
weather side of the rock with fearful speed.
“Ay, ay,” answered Peterkin, hoisting about a foot more of our
sail.
Little though the addition was it caused the boat to lie over and
creak so loudly, as we cleft the foaming waves, that I expected to
be upset every instant; and I blamed Jack in my heart for his
rashness. But I did him injustice, for, although during two
seconds the water rushed in-board in a torrent, he succeeded in
steering us sharply round to the leeward side of the rock, where
the water was comparatively calm, and the force of the breeze
broken.
“Out your oars now, lads; that’s well done. Give way!” We obeyed
instantly. The oars splashed into the waves together. One good
hearty pull, and we were floating in a comparatively calm creek
that was so narrow as to be barely able to admit our boat. Here we
were in perfect safety, and, as we leaped on shore and fastened our
cable to the rocks, I thanked God in my heart for our deliverance
from so great danger. But, although I have said we were now in
safety, I suspect that few of my readers would have envied our
position. It is true we had no lack of food, but we were drenched
to the skin; the sea was foaming round us and the spray flying over
our heads, so that we were completely enveloped, as it were, in
water; the spot on which we had landed was not more than twelve
yards in diameter, and from this spot we could not move without the
risk of being swept away by the storm. At the upper end of the
creek was a small hollow or cave in the rock, which sheltered us
from the fury of the winds and waves; and as the rock extended in a
sort of ledge over our heads, it prevented the spray from falling
upon us.
“Why,” said Peterkin, beginning to feel cheery again, “it seems to
me that we have got into a mermaid’s cave, for there is nothing but
water all round us; and as for earth or sky, they are things of the
past.”
Peterkin’s idea was not inappropriate, for, what with the sea
roaring in white foam up to our very feet, and the spray flying in
white sheets continually over our heads, and the water dripping
heavily from the ledge above like a curtain in front of our cave,
it did seem to us very much more like being below than above water.
“Now, boys,” cried Jack, “bestir yourselves, and let’s make
ourselves comfortable. Toss out our provisions, Peterkin; and
here, Ralph, lend a hand to haul up the boat. Look sharp.”
“Ay, ay, captain,” we cried, as we hastened to obey, much cheered
by the hearty manner of our comrade.
Fortunately the cave, although not very deep, was quite dry, so
that we succeeded in making ourselves much more comfortable than
could have been expected. We landed our provisions, wrung the
water out of our garments, spread our sail below us for a carpet,
and, after having eaten a hearty meal, began to feel quite
cheerful. But as night drew on, our spirits sank again, for with
the daylight all evidence of our security vanished away. We could
no longer see the firm rock on which we lay, while we were stunned
with the violence of the tempest that raged around us. The night
grew pitchy dark, as it advanced, so that we could not see our
hands when we held them up before our eyes, and were obliged to
feel each other occasionally to make sure that we were safe, for
the storm at last became so terrible that it was difficult to make
our voices audible. A slight variation of the wind, as we
supposed, caused a few drops of spray ever and anon to blow into
our faces; and the eddy of the sea, in its mad boiling, washed up
into our little creek until it reached our feet and threatened to
tear away our boat. In order to prevent this latter calamity, we
hauled the boat farther up and held the cable in our hands.
Occasional flashes of lightning shone with a ghastly glare through
the watery curtains around us, and lent additional horror to the
scene. Yet we longed for those dismal flashes, for they were less
appalling than the thick blackness that succeeded them. Crashing
peals of thunder seemed to tear the skies in twain, and fell upon
our ears through the wild yelling of the hurricane as if it had
been but a gentle summer breeze; while the billows burst upon the
weather side of the island until we fancied that the solid rock was
giving way, and, in our agony, we clung to the bare ground,
expecting every moment to be whirled away and whelmed in the black
howling sea! Oh! it was a night of terrible anxiety, and no one
can conceive the feelings of intense gratitude and relief with
which we at last saw the dawn of day break through the vapory mists
around us.
For three days and three nights we remained on this rock, while the
storm continued to rage with unabated fury. On the morning of the
fourth day it suddenly ceased, and the wind fell altogether; but
the waves still ran so high that we did not dare to put off in our
boat. During the greater part of this period we scarcely slept
above a few minutes at a time, but on the third night we slept
soundly and awoke early on the fourth morning to find the sea very
much down, and the sun shining brightly again in the clear blue
sky.
It was with light hearts that we launched forth once more in our
little boat and steered away for our island home, which, we were
overjoyed to find, was quite visible on the horizon, for we had
feared that we had been blown out of sight of it altogether. As it
was a dead calm we had to row during the greater part of the day;
but towards the afternoon a fair breeze sprang up, which enabled us
to hoist our sail. We soon passed Penguin Island, and the other
island which we had failed to reach on the day the storm commenced;
but as we had still enough of provisions, and were anxious to get
home, we did not land, to the great disappointment of Peterkin, who
seemed to entertain quite an affection for the penguins.
Although the breeze was pretty fresh for several hours, we did not
reach the outer reef of our island till night-fall, and before we
had sailed more than a hundred yards into the lagoon, the wind died
away altogether, so that we had to take to our oars again. It was
late and the moon and stars were shining brightly when we arrived
opposite the bower and leaped upon the strand. So glad were we to
be safe back again on our beloved island, that we scarcely took
time to drag the boat a short way up the beach, and then ran up to
see that all was right at the bower. I must confess, however, that
my joy was mingled with a vague
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