[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]appear on deck, however, unarmed and after the brig was far from the
island, where the crew would have no fear of a savage attack, then he
might tell his story. Then if they wished to return and take revenge
on the captain, all well and good. But it would be risky at best. That
fool had made it so. Am I to suffer for his lunacy? he asked himself.
They will leave soon, within an hour, and I will have no choice but
to watch them sail out of the bay. Any report of their encounter here
will warn off other ships, and then a canoe will be the only way from
the island.
The thought of a canoe made him realize that setting off, even in
the best of weather, would require pluck. He might be alone out there,
for Christopher, despite his cheerful spirits, might not wish to go. The
mate and old Tobit seemed unwilling even to consider building a boat
or canoe of any sort. As desperate as he was to see home again, he
was not sure he could leave knowing he could not turn back and find
the island again. He well knew how it felt to be in a frail little shell,
swiftly rising and falling on huge swells coming out of the west. He
could only make a course by following the correct stars on clear nights,
248 MOTOO EETEE
and the rising and setting sun. He would have to trust the wind had
not changed while the sun was high up in the sky and on the clouded
nights. There would be no land on the horizon out there to set him
right, nothing in the full circle of the sea and sky to make for, no hints
of where to point the bow. He might be sailing away from land and
never know it. And what of the canoe? Would all the bindings hold,
or would they part and his vessel fall to pieces? He might end his life
lying in a dismasted hull or be eaten by some great fish.
Thomas was elated when he saw that his guess about the condi-
tions on the brig was true. Both boats were being loaded with empty
butts and more were being streamed astern of them to be towed ashore.
Four men carrying muskets and hangers climbed into each boat. They
were going to fill every butt aboard at their leisure and not, as he had
expected, hurriedly take on only enough to carry them to the Middle
Island or on to New Holland. After the boats were loaded, Thomas
watched them being rowed to the bar almost opposite the fall. They
must have discovered it back in its recess and thus knew the water of
the slough was sweet. It was a clever move. They could get their water
and yet not risk ambush from the stand of flax. Also the stern chase
could be brought to bear and that more than anything would drive
off attackers. He hoped the watering would take them hours, enough
time to permit him to get aboard the brig, but it wasn t likely they
would stay moored there as darkness came on.
At the very moment he watched the men roll the butts across the
bar to the lake, he was aware that the wounded man might be dead
aboard the brig or suffering terrible pain with small chance of recov-
ery. He remembered the stories told of the men with stomach wounds
during the war, how their injuries turned septic, and of the agony they
suffered before they expired.
How could he ever convince that crew he was not the one who
had fired the arrow? If those men knew that there were but four on
the island, they might in their anger hunt them down one by one. But
the way in which they held their weapons and walked about revealed
they feared the woods were full of savages eager to kill and eat any
MOTOO EETEE 249
stranger. Only when they felt safe and with every advantage would
they listen to him before they fired their muskets. That could only be
aboard the brig and only when it was far out in the bay. If he could
manage to hide aboard and suddenly appear on deck, he would not
seem a danger to them. Even if they did not speak English, he was
sure he could make it known to them by dumb show that he was a
castaway and not a cannibal.
Part of the brig s crew worked at their leisure, filling the water butts
and ferrying them to the ship. They even walked along the bar and
gathered what wood was there, but they never neared the heavy growth
at either end. Though cautious, they showed no haste to quit the
island. Some men were reeving new lines on the foremast. It was all
quite odd, as if the wounding of their mate had not happened.
Thomas formed his plan. There wasn t much to it. He would work
his way down to a place near the outlet of the lake, always keeping
under the cover of the trees. There he would hide and watch what
happened next. If the brig started to hoist her bowers, his only choice
then was to hail them from the beach and swim out to her. Seeing
that he was alone in the water they might allow his approach and not
fire upon him. It was a desperate move, yet there was nothing else to
do. It was very unlikely the vessel would remain until dark, but if she
did, he could swim out and conceal himself under her channels or
somewhere on board. Then, naked and unarmed, he would reveal
himself before them. Surely they would not cut a man down in that
condition. He must seize this opportunity or attempt to sail a hol-
lowed log over two or three hundred miles of heaving ocean and land
on a perilous coast. He was girt by those two choices.
Determined to get on board, he started directly down the slope to
the shore. For more than an hour he forced a way through the vines
and around clumps of ferns. He realized the brig could be leaving
while he was making his way to the beach, and he took chances, some-
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