CHAPTER XV.
TROPICAL EVENINGS.
Our voyagers thought they had already known something of torrid heat, butthe next few days was to show that, as yet, they had only begun toappreciate it; for there is but one hotter zone on earth than this inwhich the Red Sea lies, and that contains the Persian Gulf and Senegambia.
As they steamed into the Suez Canal, upon leaving uninteresting PortSaid, every one was brought to the decks by curiosity and interest. Thisworld-renowned ditch, which has revolutionized the commerce and travel ofthe whole earth, begins with much breadth and promise, but soon narrowsdown to a watery roadway, scarcely wider than a city street, wheremeeting vessels cannot pass, except as one hugs the siding, and at nightthe "International" was obliged to "tie up," as the captain expressed it,that there need be no danger of collisions.
Its great propelling screw churned the narrow stream into waves that woreaway the sandy banks on either side, and the cries of the flamingoes,storks, and pelicans, inhabiting the marshes, were constantly in the earsof the deck loungers.
Dwight, perhaps, was the one who wrested the most fun from the situation,for while the rest soon grew weary of the monotony, and lethargic withthe heat, groaning aloud every time they had to seek the siding in orderto let some great train of laden boats go by, he found fresh enjoyment inevery stop, and in blouse and knickerbockers, with bare feet, paddledabout on the moist banks, making friends with the half-clothedcamel-drivers, whose patient beasts knelt so obediently to be loaded withthe silt deposits taken from the bed of the canal, and collecting itemsof interest in regard to this artery of commerce which might have madeeven its founder open his eyes. The girls profited by his researches,and it was, indeed, a common thing for any passenger, when askingquestions about "De Lessep's Ditch," to hear, "Oh, ask Dwight! He knowsit all."
Both here, and on the Red Sea, into which they entered on the thirdmorning, the staterooms and cabins, in spite of waving punkahs, werealmost intolerable, and nobody could get up life enough to do more thanlounge feebly on the upper decks in their lightest clothing, reading thelightest literature. At night, mattresses were laid on deck, and most ofthe men slept there, while our twin sisters gladly took to their father'scabin floor and a folded comforter, with the great windows wide to catchevery breath of air.
Hemmed in upon these sluggish waters, swept by no wide sea breeze, butonly by an occasional sluggish puff from the sun-dried deserts of theshore, they realized fully what torrid heat means. This long stretch ofsouthern travel is perhaps the most wearisome part of the long journey,yet there were sometimes scenes and sights of the dark hours that almostcompensated. One night, there was a phosphorescent and electricaldisplay that could never be forgotten. The sultry air was surchargedwith the magic fluid, which made itself evident in most unexpected waysand places. Points of dull iron about the steamer would suddenly breakinto a soft glow, like an astral lamp silently lighted by unseen hands;certain fabrics crackled fiercely at the touch, and soft waves of lightflitted over exposed surfaces, only half perceived till gone. The slowmoving waves of the sea glowed and sparkled in phosphorescent fire, andthe sky was a constantly changing curtain, upon which were thrown lightsand shadows, rays and wrinkles of every hue. Far above, in the deepblue-black of the wonderful canopy, blazed the brilliant Southernconstellations--the Cross gleaming in white splendor midway betweenhorizon and zenith.
The girls, grouped with others, watched well into the nights, that weretoo hot for sleep, and in these still, solemn watches small resentmentswere forgotten, and friendships that could not be bounded by an oceanvoyage, grew apace.
While the younger passengers enjoyed with little care, the older, findingdeeper significance in Nature's wonders, also watched and waited. Beforethey had left the Canal, however, Lady Moreham, with Faith's forgottenenvelope in her pocket, sought Captain Hosmer on one of those breathlessevenings when he fretted from inaction, and asked abruptly,
"Captain, do you remember Clara?"
"Your sister? Certainly. She was a little girl when we were young folkstogether."
"Yes, but only four years younger, after all, and the dearest child! Wecorresponded for years until--my trouble."
The captain eyed her with an amused smile.
"It seems a little strange to hear you call it that!"
"But what else was it? The bitterest trouble!"
"So it seems--yes. But how did you so completely lose sight of yourfamily?"
"I stopped writing. They had no address. There were only Jane and Claraleft, and Jane was absorbed in her own family. I sometimes think Claramight have understood and helped me; she was different from the rest andso fond of me."
"It was a foolish thing to cut yourself off so thoroughly, my friend."
"You don't need to tell me that--but neither can you ever understand howmy pride was wounded, and how mortifying it was, after all my boasts ofthe glories in store for us, to have to confess what I was subjected to,that I might be fit to live among their high-mightinesses!"
"It certainly was hard, but was it right to let them think that, perhaps,you had become too proud to associate with your own family?"
"Oh, I know, I know, it was a horrid thing to do, and I have been wellpunished for it, but I felt, in my resentful shame, that I wanted to flyfrom every one who had ever known me. It was so belittling--sodespicable! Some trials make us nobler, and awaken the sympathy of ourfriends; other excite only ridicule. Mine were utterly ridiculous andcommon to others though bitter to me. But I have suffered through mypride--oh, how I have suffered!"
"You were always given to exaggerating things Anna--beg pardon! Lady----"
"No, no, use the old name--I like it! Aren't you the one friend left me?I want no titles from you. They are worse than nonsense between suchlife-long friends. And what a 'sounding brass' any title of mine mustseem to you, anyhow! But we're wandering from the subject. My sisterClara wrote a peculiar hand, plain, large, and straight up and down, yetrather handsome. I've never seen writing just like it--until a few daysago--and after turning the matter over and over to no purpose, Iconcluded to come to you. An envelope addressed to the Misses Hosmer,and postmarked Portsmouth, England was blown along the deck to my side,lately, and when I absently picked it up it was, apparently, to see mysister's writing before me. I asked your daughter Faith who wrote thataddress, and she said a lodger of her old nurse's, but could not tell thename--had forgotten it. But she described my sister, Clara Leroy, asperfectly as I could. What does it mean? More than that, she said sheand Hope both thought her an American. Is it possible my own Clara maybe hunting me up in England? It seems too good to believe!"
"It is strange!" assented the captain, with some excitement. "And tothink my girls have forgotten her name--what a pity! But they mustremember it. I'll set their wits at work. Your sister! Why, this islike a story."
"It is better than that; it means life and hope to me. Oh, if I amdeceiving myself!" sighed the lady. "That is what has made me hesitateabout speaking to you--I was so afraid it was only my imagination, and Icould not bear to think of disappointment. But the more I study thewriting the surer I am. Every time I look at that envelope I feel surerand safer! You don't know how it braces me to bear with Duncan'sstrangeness."
"Why 'strangeness'? I thought we had agreed that his letters have simplybeen lost, and, if he is in India, he will be as glad to see you as youhim, didn't we?"
"Oh, if I could be certain of that!"
"I shouldn't allow myself to think anything else."
"It is so easy to talk when it is not our own trouble!"
The captain smiled patiently.
"Did you keep that envelope?"
"Yes. Faith didn't seem to notice."
"That is right. And I'll think it over. We can mail a letter atIsmailia, but no answer could reach you until we get to Bombay. Isuppose we might wire, but we only stop, there--dear me! I keepforgetting we have no address except Debby's, and she wo
uld go all topieces over a telegram. Do you know whether Clara's still single?"
"No, I don't."
"Sort of a wild-goose chase, at the best! It will have to be a letter, Iguess."
"How a small difficulty looms into a fate in a case like this! I mustcling to this clue, though, till convinced it is a false one; I cannotgive it up so lightly."
"Of course not. And I'll think up something--trust me. Why don't youwrite yourself, Anna? Make it a note that would mean something to Clara,and nothing to others, and I'll send it to Debby, putting in a linemyself. That will be best, and then we need not say anything to thegirls, as you are so anxious to keep it all from them."
She bent her head in meditation.
"I was, at first, because I did not know them; now I do not so much care.They are lovely girls, my friend, and so sensible! There comes Hopenow--I recognize her laugh. Well, help me in this, and you will butforge another link in the long chain of favors I owe you. Good-night!"
"None o' that, now! I don't keep a log-book on little kindnesses--justpass 'em along down the line, say I. And don't you give up the ship, mylady! That's good sailor-like advice! Good-night to you, and good luck!"
The proposed plan was carried out, and the double enclosure quietlymailed at the Arabic town upon Lake Timseh, which looked so fresh andgreen to the wearied eyes of our friends, after the dismal marshes andclayey banks of the canal. But all beauty has its blemishes, and theother name for this lake suggests the blemish on Ismailia's shores. Itis "Crocodile Pool," and our young people spent their time mainly inwatching a couple of these monster saurians as they stolidly followed thesteamer, through the whole day, eagerly snapping up the refuse of thecaboose in their great ugly-looking jaws.
Without event, or incident, they steamed through Bab-el-Mandib, by thelighthouse on Perim, and eastward across the Gulf of Aden. As for thetown of that name, on its northern shore, opinions were divided. Faithshuddered at its desolation, Hope thought it bold and striking, while Mr.Lawrence said that, "If Dante had seen it he would have been saved a dealof trouble, for he could simply have described its rocky wilds for hisInferno!" All blessed the fresher atmosphere and brisker breezes of theIndian Ocean, which, if warm, are bearable, and awoke from the lethargyof a sultriness which was like that of an overheated, airless room, tolife and interest, once more.
It was nearing night, after a day of intense calm, with the mercury closeupon the century mark, and the passengers, eager for air, crowded theupper decks. The captain stood long, with glass in hand, scanning thehorizon, and made his dinner a short affair.
"Do you know," said Faith, glancing up at the twilight sky, "there's astrange feeling in the atmosphere, to-night? I can't tell what it is,but, though it is so sultry that I can scarcely breathe, at times a coldshiver runs down my spine, and I believe it is dread, or fear."
"Goodness!" said Hope, turning to look at her, "you're not going to havea fever, are you?"
"I hope not," said Chester Carnegie, with a laugh, "for I've felt thesame."
"Sympathetic suggestion possibly," mused Mr. Lawrence, with an absentair, as he leaned over the guard-rail.
"Well, I feel oppressed, too," observed Bess, looking moodily seawards."I wouldn't wonder if something is brooding over us. A big storm, or--"
"More sharks," suggested Dwight.
"I always supposed they were under us--that is, the sea kind," put in Mr.Allyne, appearing out of the dusk, accompanied by his friend. "Of coursethere are land sharks, but--"
"Not on this ship!" cried Hope promptly.
"Glad to have my fears relieved," flashing a glance at her.
"And, if you'll let me, I was going to say storm, or pestilence,"continued Bess in a resigned tone.
"Well, I stopped worrying over that when my sick man kindly refrainedfrom developing smallpox, or ship fever," said Carnegie, sinking downupon a cushion between Bess and Faith. "I was anxious for a day or two,though, and so was our surgeon."
"And he is quite well again?" asked Mrs. Vanderhoff.
"Convalescing, thank you. We consider him entirely out of--Ah! that wasvivid."
He referred to a flash of lightning that seemed to rend the heavens,followed by a terrific report that made the girls cower close together.
"There _is_ going to be a storm," exclaimed Mr. Lawrence, coining closeto the group. "I would not wonder if it is a fierce one, too. There hasbeen a strangeness in the air for the past half hour, as the girls haveremarked. Shall we go inside?"
"Oh, not yet," said Mrs. Vanderhoff, "What a delicious little breeze!"
She turned to catch it full in the face, and gasped as she pointed to thehorizon. At the same instant the lookout sounded a warning, echoed by aquick command from the bridge, and instantly all was activity on board.Mr. Malcolm, as he hurried past the group, called out,
"Run for the saloon! It's a cyclone," and there was an immediatestampede below, while the Hindu boys ran nimbly about the decks, stowingaway chairs and furling awnings.
Our girls sought shelter with the rest, in the main saloon, and amid itsbrilliant lights and merry company could scarcely believe in that oneswift, southward glance at the strange fast-coming gloom, under which thewaves were beginning to seethe, in the distance. There had been oneappalling cloud driving upwards in their very faces, with pall-blackcenters, and edges of cold gray that seemed to curl and writhe like giantlips, intense with scorn and rage.
But sound remained to them, if sight was removed. As they heard theshriek of the fierce, whirling blasts, the rush and hiss of astonishedwaves whipped into terrible activity, the creaking of beams and timberssuddenly strained to their utmost capacity, the flap and rattle of sailsfurled with lightning rapidity, and, above all else, the increasing roar,indescribably awful, that was mingled of electricity set free into widespaces and vapor pent into dire cloud-shapes driven by mighty winds,whose form no man can imagine, whose might only God can guess, they grewsilent and gathered in groups, awestricken and still.
At this intense moment, when even the men looked pallid in the arc-light,Dwight suddenly pointed down the saloon, and broke into a hystericalgiggle that seemed almost blasphemous at such a time. The next to catchit up was Hope, and in an instant the gale of laughter within almostequalled the gale of wind without. For, running nimbly down the longroom, came a tiny figure. Sometimes it was on two legs and sometimes onthree, the fourth extremity being occupied with a small hand-glass, whichit clutched in its left forepaw.
On its head, set disreputably awry, was a fine flower-laden bonnet, alittle evening affair, belonging to Mrs. Campbell, and around its necktrailed a long sash-ribbon of Laura Windemere's. Out from the Frenchroses of the stylish hat peered the solemn old-man face of Andy, themonkey, and he was making as fast for his beloved mistress as three feetcould carry him.
Evidently the little wretch had broken bounds and helped himself from theneighboring staterooms. Faith, red and confused, made a dive for him,and caught off the bonnet, but with a shrill cry he clung to thehandglass, and ran up to the top of a cabinet, where he calmly wound thelong ribbon around his swart body, and, after scolding the assembledcompany for a moment or so, proceeded to admire himself in the glass,with all the vanity of a Broadway belle.
At just this instant the storm burst with awful fury, and the great shipcareened until it was impossible to keep one's footing. Faith, watchingthe mischievous monkey, as she stood in the center of the floor, wastaken unaware and flung with violence to one side, where she might havebeen cruelly hurt against the hard wall, but for the amazing quickness ofChester Carnegie, who flung himself between just in time to save her fromthe blow. In the instant that he held her thus a blinding glare seemedto wrap them in white fire, and with it a crashing peal of thunderstunned them into deafness, then all was utter darkness.
For a second it seemed to each that earth and sea stood still, andneither quite knew if life were still left to them, but the next instanta cry rent the air--a cry frightful
enough on land, doubly horrible onthe wide ocean--the cry of "_Fire!_"
All Aboard: A Story for Girls Page 15
