Among the Brigands

by James De Mille

  CHAPTER XXI.

  _The Pontine Marshes.--A Change comes over the Party.--The foulExhalations.--The Sleep of Death.--Dreadful Accident.--Despair ofFrank.--A Break-down.--Ingenuity of the Driver.--Resumption ofthe Journey._

  For the first half of the day the boys had been in great spirits.Laughter, noisy conversation, jests, chaff, and uproarious songshad all been intermingled, and the carriage was a miniature Bedlam.But after their stoppage at the wayside inn a change took place,and on resuming their journey, they seemed like a very differentcompany. The air of the marshes now began to act upon them. Theyfelt it to be raw, and chill, and unpleasant. A general feeling ofdiscomfort and a general sensation of gloom pervaded all of them.Bob held out most bravely, and strove to regain the jollity whichthey had felt before. For a long time his fun and nonsense provokeda laugh; but at length his fun grew fainter, and his nonsense morestupid; and the laughter grew less hearty and more forced, untilat length the fun, and the nonsense, and the laughter ceasedaltogether.

  Frank felt upon himself the responsibility of the rest to an unusualdegree. He was only a few weeks older than David, but he was farstronger and more mature in many respects. David was a hard student,and perhaps a bit of a book-worm, and had a larger share of theknowledge that may be gained from books; but Frank had seen moreof the world, and in all that relates to the practical affairs ofcommon life he was immeasurably superior to David. For this reasonFrank often assumed, and very naturally too, the guardianship ofthe party; and so appropriate was this to him, that the rest tacitlyallowed it. As for Uncle Moses, none of them ever regarded him astheir protector, but rather as an innocent and simple-hearted being,who himself required protection from them.

  Frank, therefore, on this occasion, kept warning the whole party,above all things, not to let themselves go to sleep. He had heardthat the air of the Pontine Marshes had a peculiar tendency to sendone to sleep; and if one should yield to this, the consequencesmight be fatal. Fever, he, said, would be sure to follow sleep,that might be indulged in under such circumstances. The anxietywhich was created in his own mind by his sense of responsibilitywas of itself sufficient to keep him awake, and left him to devoteall his energies to the task of trying to keep the others awakealso, and thus save them from the impending danger.

  At first they, all laughed at him; but after a time, as each onefelt the drowsiness coming over him, they ceased to laugh. Thenthey tried to sing. They kept up this for some time. They exhaustedall their stock of school songs, nigger songs, patriotic songs,songs sentimental and moral, and finally tried even hymns. But thesinging was not a very striking success; there was a lack of spiritin it; and under this depressing sense of languor, the voice ofmusic at last died out.

  Singularly enough, the one who felt this drowsiness most stronglywas Bob. Frank had not thought of him as being at all likely tofall asleep; but whether it was that his mobile temperament madehim more liable to extremes of excitement and dullness, or whetherthe reaction from his former joviality and noisiness had beengreater than that of the rest, certain it is that Bob it was whofirst showed signs of sleep. His eyes closed, his head nodded, andlifting it again with a start, he blinked around.

  "Come, Bob," said Frank, "this won't do. You don't mean to say that_you're_ sleepy."

  Bob said nothing. He rubbed his eyes, and yawned.

  "Bob," said Frank, "take care of yourself."

  "O, I'm all right," said Bob, with a drawl; "never fear about me.I'm wide awake."

  Scarce had he finished this when his eyes closed again, and hishead fell forward.

  Frank shook him, and Bob raised himself up with an effort atdignified surprise which was, however, a failure.

  "You needn't shake a fellow," he said in a husky, sleepy voice.

  "But I will shake you," cried Frank.

  "Le'--me--'lone," said Bob, in a half whisper, nodding again.

  "Here," cried Frank; "this'll never do. Bob! Bob! wake up! Bob!Bo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-b! Wa-a-a-a-a-a-a-ake u-u-u-u-up!"

  But Bob wouldn't wake up. On the contrary, he bobbed his head ina foolish and imbecile way towards Frank, as though seekingunconsciously to find a place on which to rest it. But Frank wouldn'tallow anything of the sort He made Bob sit erect, and held him inthis way for some time, bawling, yelling, and occasionally shakinghim. David and Clive were a little roused by this, and surveyedit with sleepy eyes. Uncle Moses, however, was as wide awake asever--he had his usual anxiety about the well-being of the boys,and this made sleep out of the question. He now joined his entreatiesto those of Frank; and the two, uniting their shouts, succeeded inmaking considerable uproar.

  Still Bob would not wake.

  "I'll make him get out and walk," said Frank. "This'll never do.If he sleeps here, he may never wake again."

  Saying this, Frank turned to open the carriage door to call to thedriver. As he did so, he loosed his hold of Bob, who, being nolonger stayed tip on that side, fell over on Frank's lap with hisface downward.

  Upon this, Frank turned back, and determined to lift Bob up again.

  Shaking him as hard as he could, he yelled in his ears and shoutedto him to get up.

  Now Bob was asleep, yet in his sleep he had a kind of underconsciousness of what was going on. He was stupidly conscious thatthey were trying to raise him up to an uncomfortable sittingposture--a bolt-upright position. This he was sleepily unwillingto submit to. There wasn't any particular strength in his hands,and his drowsy faculties didn't extend farther down than his head.He felt himself lying on something, and to prevent them from raisinghim from it, he seized it in his teeth.

  "Bo-o-o-ob! Bo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-b!" yelled Frank. "W-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-akeu-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-p!"

  But Bob wouldn't.

  He only held on the tighter with his teeth.

  Upon this, Frank seized him with all his strength, and gave Bob asudden jerk upward, when--

  C-r-r-r-r-i-k-k-k-k!--

  A sharp, ripping sound was heard, and as Bob's head was pulled up,a long, narrow piece of cloth was exhibited, hanging down from hismouth; and held in his teeth.

  Frank looked at it in dismay, and then lookeddown.

  He gave a cry of vexation.

  Bob had seized Frank's trousers in his teeth, and as he was pulledup, he held on tight. Consequently the cloth gave way, and therewas poor Frank, reduced to rags and tatters, and utterly unpresentablein any decent society.

  He gave up Bob in despair, and began to investigate the extent ofthe ruin that had been wrought in his trousers. It was a bad rent,an irretrievable one, in fact; and all that he could do was to tiehis handkerchief around his leg.

  Bob now slept heavily, held up by Uncle Moses.

  The other boys grew drowsier and drowsier. Frank was just decidingto get out of the carriage and make them all walk for a time, whena sudden event occurred which brought a solution to the problem.

  It was a sudden crash.

  Down sank the carriage under them, and away it went, toppling overon one side. A cry of terror escaped all of them. Every one startedup, and each one grasped neighbor.

  There was something in this sudden shock so dreadful and so startling,that it broke through even the drowsiness and heavy stupor of Bob,and penetrated to his slumbering faculties, and in an instant rousedthem all. With a wild yell he flung his arms round Uncle Moses.Uncle Moses, fell backward, and all the others were flung upon him.They all lay thus heaped upon the side of the coach, a stragglingmass of humanity.

  Frank was the first to come to himself, and regain his presence ofmind.

  "All right," said he, in a cheerful voice. "We haven't gone overquite. The horses have stopped. All right."

  A groan came from below the pile of humanity.

  "Get off, get off!" exclaimed Bob's voice. "You're smotheringUncle Moses." Frank, who was uppermost, disengaged himself, andhelped off the others; and finally Bob scrambled away, giving everyindication by this time that he was at last perfectly wide awake.

  This restored Unc
le Moses. He was able to take a long breath.

  By this time Frank had torn open the carriage door, and jumpeddown. The others followed.

  He saw the driver holding the horses. The carriage was tilted over.One of the hind wheels lay underneath, a shattered wreck.

  Now all was bustle and confusion.

  The driver proceeded to put into execution a plan by which theycould go forward, at least far enough to traverse the marshes. Theboys all helped, and their efforts drove away the last vestige ofdrowsiness.

  The plan consisted in taking out the tongue of the wagon, bindingit upon the fore axle, and letting its other end drag on the ground.Now, as the tongue sloped down, the hind axle rested upon it, andthus the trailing wood served to keep the coach erect, and to actas a runner, which supplied very well the place of the lost wheel.The horses were then hitched on by the traces, without any tongue,and in this way they pulled along the broken carriage.