The Boats of the Glen Carrig

by William Hope Hodgson

  II

  The Ship in the Creek

  Then, it was nigh on to evening, we came upon a creek opening into thegreater one through the bank upon our left. We had been like to passit--as, indeed, we had passed many throughout the day--but that thebo'sun, whose boat had the lead, cried out that there was some craftlying-up, a little beyond the first bend. And, indeed, so it seemed; forone of the masts of her--all jagged, where it had carried away--stuck upplain to our view.

  Now, having grown sick with so much lonesomeness, and being in fear ofthe approaching night, we gave out something near to a cheer, which,however, the bo'sun silenced, having no knowledge of those who mightoccupy the stranger. And so, in silence, the bo'sun turned his crafttoward the creek, whereat we followed, taking heed to keep quietness, andworking the oars warily. So, in a little, we came to the shoulder of thebend, and had plain sight of the vessel some little way beyond us. Fromthe distance she had no appearance of being inhabited; so that after somesmall hesitation, we pulled towards her, though still being at pains tokeep silence.

  The strange vessel lay against that bank of the creek which was upon ourright, and over above her was a thick clump of the stunted trees. For therest, she appeared to be firmly imbedded in the heavy mud, and there wasa certain look of age about her which carried to me a doleful suggestionthat we should find naught aboard of her fit for an honest stomach.

  We had come to a distance of maybe some ten fathoms from her starboardbow--for she lay with her head down towards the mouth of the littlecreek--when the bo'sun bade his men to back water, the which Josh didregarding our own boat. Then, being ready to fly if we had been indanger, the bo'sun hailed the stranger; but got no reply, save that someecho of his shout seemed to come back at us. And so he sung out again toher, chance there might be some below decks who had not caught his firsthail; but, for the second time, no answer came to us, save the lowecho--naught, but that the silent trees took on a little quivering, asthough his voice had shaken them.

  At that, being confident now within our minds, we laid alongside, and, ina minute had shinned up the oars and so gained her decks. Here, save thatthe glass of the skylight of the main cabin had been broken, and someportion of the framework shattered, there was no extraordinary litter; sothat it appeared to us as though she had been no great while abandoned.

  So soon as the bo'sun had made his way up from the boat, he turned afttoward the scuttle, the rest of us following. We found the leaf of thescuttle pulled forward to within an inch of closing, and so much effortdid it require of us to push it back, that we had immediate evidence of aconsiderable time since any had gone down that way.

  However, it was no great while before we were below, and here we foundthe main cabin to be empty, save for the bare furnishings. From it thereopened off two state-rooms at the forrard end, and the captain's cabin inthe after part, and in all of these we found matters of clothing andsundries such as proved that the vessel had been deserted apparently inhaste. In further proof of this we found, in a drawer in the captain'sroom, a considerable quantity of loose gold, the which it was not to besupposed would have been left by the free-will of the owner.

  Of the staterooms, the one upon the starboard side gave evidence that ithad been occupied by a woman--no doubt a passenger. The other, in whichthere were two bunks, had been shared, so far as we could have anycertainty, by a couple of young men; and this we gathered by observationof various garments which were scattered carelessly about.

  Yet it must not be supposed that we spent any great time in the cabins;for we were pressed for food, and made haste--under the directing ofthe bo'sun--to discover if the hulk held victuals whereby we might bekept alive.

  To this end, we removed the hatch which led down to the lazarette, and,lighting two lamps which we had with us in the boats, went down to make asearch. And so, in a little while, we came upon two casks which thebo'sun broke open with a hatchet. These casks were sound and tight, andin them was ship's biscuit, very good and fit for food. At this, as maybe imagined, we felt eased in our minds, knowing that there was noimmediate fear of starvation. Following this, we found a barrel ofmolasses; a cask of rum; some cases of dried fruit--these were mouldy andscarce fit to be eaten; a cask of salt beef, another of pork; a smallbarrel of vinegar; a case of brandy; two barrels of flour--one of whichproved to be damp-struck; and a bunch of tallow dips.

  In a little while we had all these things up in the big cabin, so thatwe might come at them the better to make choice of that which was fit forour stomachs, and that which was otherwise. Meantime, whilst the bo'sunoverhauled these matters, Josh called a couple of the men, and went ondeck to bring up the gear from the boats, for it had been decided that weshould pass the night aboard the hulk.

  When this was accomplished, Josh took a walk forward to the fo'cas'le;but found nothing beyond two seamen's chests; a sea-bag, and some oddgear. There were, indeed, no more than ten bunks in the place; for shewas but a small brig, and had no call for a great crowd. Yet Josh wasmore than a little puzzled to know what had come to the odd chests; forit was not to be supposed that there had been no more than two--and asea-bag--among ten men. But to this, at that time, he had no answer, andso, being sharp for supper, made a return to the deck, and thence to themain cabin.

  Now while he had been gone, the bo'sun had set the men to clearing outthe main cabin; after which, he had served out two biscuits apiece allround, and a tot of rum. To Josh, when he appeared, he gave the same,and, in a little, we called a sort of council; being sufficiently stayedby the food to talk.

  Yet, before we came to speech, we made shift to light our pipes; for thebo'sun had discovered a case of tobacco in the captain's cabin, and afterthis we came to the consideration of our position.

  We had provender, so the bo'sun calculated, to last us for the betterpart of two months, and this without any great stint; but we had yet toprove if the brig held water in her casks, for that in the creek wasbrackish, even so far as we had penetrated from the sea; else we had notbeen in need. To the charge of this, the bo'sun set Josh, along with twoof the men. Another, he told to take charge of the galley, so long as wewere in the hulk. But for that night, he said we had no need to doaught; for we had sufficient of water in the boats' breakers to last ustill the morrow. And so, in a little, the dusk began to fill the cabin;but we talked on, being greatly content with our present ease and thegood tobacco which we enjoyed.

  In a little while, one of the men cried out suddenly to us to be silent,and, in that minute, all heard it--a far, drawn-out wailing; the samewhich had come to us in the evening of the first day. At that we lookedat one another through the smoke and the growing dark, and, even as welooked, it became plainer heard, until, in a while, it was all aboutus--aye! it seemed to come floating down through the broken framework ofthe skylight as though some weariful, unseen thing stood and cried uponthe decks above our heads.

  Now through all that crying, none moved; none, that is, save Josh and thebo'sun, and they went up into the scuttle to see whether anything was insight; but they found nothing, and so came down to us; for there was nowisdom in exposing ourselves, unarmed as we were, save for oursheath-knives.

  And so, in a little, the night crept down upon the world, and still wesat within the dark cabin, none speaking, and knowing of the rest only bythe glows of their pipes.

  All at once there came a low, muttered growl, stealing across the land;and immediately the crying was quenched in its sullen thunder. It diedaway, and there was a full minute of silence; then, once more it came,and it was nearer and more plain to the ear. I took my pipe from mymouth; for I had come again upon the great fear and uneasiness which thehappenings of the first night had bred in me, and the taste of the smokebrought me no more pleasure. The muttered growl swept over our heads anddied away into the distance, and there was a sudden silence.

  Then, in that quietness, came the bo'sun's voice. He was bidding ushaste every one into the captain's cabin. As we moved to obey him, he ranto draw over the
lid of the scuttle; and Josh went with him, and,together, they had it across; though with difficulty. When we had comeinto the captain's cabin, we closed and barred the door, piling two greatsea chests up against it; and so we felt near safe; for we knew that nothing, man nor beast, could come at us there. Yet, as may be supposed, wefelt not altogether secure; for there was that in the growling which nowfilled the darkness, that seemed demoniac, and we knew not what horridPowers were abroad.

  And so through the night the growling continued, seeming to be mightynear unto us--aye! almost over our heads, and of a loudness farsurpassing all that had come to us on the previous night; so that Ithanked the Almighty that we had come into shelter in the midst of somuch fear.