Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 80: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE CAPTIVES OF THE TEMPLE. Desklit. “If the raft will carry us in the daytime it will at night. The sooner we get to land the better.” “Like you say, so we do,” said Pedro. “ But what I wan’ fur say is dis. Dis river swarm wid de crocodile. In de night time dey steal on de raft an’ eat us. In de daytime we kin fight ’em off.” “Something in that,” I answered. “But suppose a storm Or wave carries the wreck off the rock during the night.”’ “Let him go. I no say leave de raft on boa’d. Put him in de water an’ fas- ten to de rock.” “Pedro is right, after. all,” said Desklit. “ We can moor the raft to the rock and in the morning set out with a full day before us.” There was plenty of room on the ledge for us all to sleep. I fell in at once with the ideas of Desklit, and Pedro and I began to get the raft into the water. We managed this after much work, and fastened it to the rock with a long rope, so that it swept clear of the wreck and had plenty of rise and fall with the tide. Pedro Gapo now discovered that he was hungry, and believed that we must be. . “You jes’ go up wid de doctor,” he said to me, “an’ I go below an’ see what I kin fin’. We mus’ have de grub to keep up our strength.” I saw him disappear on board the wreck and then the gleam of a lantern showed through various apertures. He rummaged round for a while and then joined us. He carried in his arms enough food for two or three days. “One t’ing *bout dat ole Wing,” he said. “ De galley was in de forard pa’t an’ dat what saves our lives. I fin’ some biscuits, some tea an’ some coffee an’ some canned beef. What more kin wrecked sailormens want? Course, we drink no coffee here ’less we make a fire. Plenty wood on de wreck for de fire if you want de coffee.” ~ 7i ‘“T believe a drink of coffee would do us good,” said Desklit. Pedro needed no more than the sug- gestion. He at once brought splinters from the wreck and made a fire on the ledge, and swung a tin over it to boil the water. We made a weird group, perched on } the ledge, which was about six feet wide and ten long, with the red gleam of the fire making our shadows dance on the rock or on the roaring waters. Dangerous as was our predicament, we enjoyed that meal. Pedro and I had worked so hard at the raft making that we had a magnificent appetite. Desklit was less ready, but the coffee put new vigor into him. After we had eaten our supper we sat a while talking over the events of - the day, and then, wearied with excite- ment and exertion, stretched ourselves on the rock to sleep. The night passed without incident until about four in the morning. Then we were all awakened by a sound of grinding and crunching, and sat up just in time to see the last of the old Wing dive to her final resting place be- neath the rushing waters. In the morning the water was calmer, and after a hearty breakfast we embarked on our raft. Pedro Gapo had evidently made rafts before, for this one was perfection in its way. It stood a foot or more out of the water, and kept us dry. The sail was large enough to give good headway, and with the black man’s powerful arm to steer it could be kept steady with the wind. We could not see either shore, and as the choice of a landing place was all a matter of chance we left it to Pedro. We made but slow progress, and as the wind was down river we did not approach either shore. But we knew the wind would change, and probably before night. After we had been on the raft per- haps six hours, and had not yet caught a glimpse of any land save the island ecomicooolKs eco