CHAPTER ELEVEN.
The young maiden steered the canoe in a way which excited Ben's warmestadmiration. The roar of the rapids was soon heard ahead; not a momentdid she hesitate; onward sped the canoe, straight as an arrow. Movingher paddle now on one side, now on the other, she guided it down thesteep descent, the water bubbling and foaming, the tops of the darkrocks appearing on either side, against which had the frail fabricstruck it must have been dashed to pieces. Even Ben held in his breathtill they were once more in smooth water.
"Paddle on! paddle on!" she cried; and Oliver repeated the order to Ben,who understood not her language. A wall of trees rose on either bank,above which the blue sky appeared, tinged with the light of morning,though the stream down which the canoe sped her way still lay in deepestgloom. Every rock and sand-bank was well known to Virginia, who steeredsteadily onward. Gradually the stream widened, and the current ran withless force. Hitherto, scarcely a word had been uttered, except when theyoung pilot directed her crew to cease paddling or to paddle on.
"How shall we be able to get up in the longboat?" asked Oliver, whothought that he might at length venture to speak; "nearly as much wateris required as a man could wade through."
Virginia understood his explanation. "There is another passage to theleft, where the water is deep, though the current is rapid, and strongmen can drag up such a canoe as you describe," she answered.
"Our men will not be prevented from coming up on that account, then," heremarked, satisfied that the undertaking might be accomplished.
Sooner than he expected the canoe entered the broad river, at the mouthof which he hoped to find the ship at anchor. The sun had now risen,his bright rays glancing across the placid water, which shone like asheet of burnished gold. Virginia gazed at it with astonishment. "Ican be your pilot no longer," she said, "for I have been here twice onlybefore--the first time the water was dark and troubled, and I thoughtthat I had reached the mighty lake across which the canoes of thepalefaces, as I had heard, sail from their own lands. I came again,when seeing the opposite bank, I knew that I was in another river, butfeared to venture far lest I should be unable to return against thecurrent."
"Continue to steer, I pray you," said Oliver, "Ben will act as pilot totell you which way to go, for neither of us can manage the canoe as youdo; all we have to do is to keep near to the shore on our right, and wecannot miss our way."
Virginia seemed well pleased at the confidence placed in her, and Oliverand Ben paddled on right merrily. Though the river was so broad, therestill might be shoals and rocks or sunken trees; and Virginia kept hergaze ahead, to be ready to avoid them or any other dangers. The currenthaving less strength than in the smaller stream, the canoe did not makeas rapid way as at first; still, as they looked at the trees on theright, they saw that they were going at a speed with which no ordinaryboat could compete.
As midday drew on, Oliver proposed landing to take their meal, but tothis Virginia objected, as there might be inhabitants on the shore, whomight come suddenly upon them before they had time to embark. Theytherefore took such food as they required, allowing the canoe meantimeto float down. Virginia had not failed to look out for any canoe whichmight dart out upon them, for, taught by experience, she knew that theywere more likely to contain foes than friends. None, however, appeared.
The sun was already sinking astern when Ben announced that he recognisedthe mouth of the river, and as they rounded a point, he shouted,"Hurrah! there's the ship all right--we shall soon be aboard andastonish them not a little."
They were hailed as they approached by the sentry on the forecastle, whoseeing the maiden in her Indian dress, knew not what to expect. Ben'sreply assured him who they were, and Captain Layton and the rest of thecrew quickly gathered at the side to help Virginia upon deck. Shehesitated for a moment; the huge ship astonished her, surpassing all herimaginings. On hearing from Oliver who she was, the captain endeavouredby every sign he could make to show his satisfaction. "Tell her," hesaid to Oliver, "that I knew her father, a brave Christian man, and sheshall be to me as a daughter, so that she shall never regret the Indianfriends she has left."
He kissed her brow as he spoke, and she seemed at once to understandhim. He then led her down into the cabin, round which she looked with agaze of astonishment at the numberless articles, so strange to her eyes."Tell her we cannot yet turn her into an English girl, for Cicely hasleft none of her clothes on board, and they would not fit her slimfigure if she had," said Captain Layton, "but in the mean time she mustlearn English, and when we get back to James Town we will rig her outproperly, and she will soon be able to talk her native tongue--though Idon't suppose she ever spoke much of it in early life."
The captain had, however, but little time just then to attend toVirginia, as Oliver had further to explain the condition of the party,and to beg that the long-boat might be sent up to their assistance. Asshe, however, had been waiting all this time for the return of theparty, it was necessary to send for her, and she could not arrive tillnightfall. Oliver and Ben volunteered to go for her at once; thoughthey had been paddling all day, a few hours more work would do them noharm. Virginia wanted to accompany them when she heard they were going,but this the captain would not allow. Though, she seemed very unhappyat parting from her brother, Oliver soothed her by assuring her that hewould soon be back; and slipping into the canoe, he and Ben set off.
"Well, I never was at sea in a craft like this before, its planking notmuch thicker than a sheet of paper," said Ben, as they paddled on;"however, provided the water keeps out, it matters little whether theplanking is three inches or the tenth of an inch thick."
They paddled on and on, keeping as close into the beach as they couldventure; Ben observing, it would not do to run the risk of touching arock or sandbank either. The tide, on which they had not calculated,was against them, as was a light breeze, so that they were longer thanthey expected in reaching the bay where they had landed. It was thengrowing dusk, and as they looked towards the shore, they saw severalfigures running down. A musket-ball came whistling not far from theirears; on this Ben shouted pretty lustily. They paddled on as fast asthey could to the boat; she lay, contrary to orders, close to the beach.
"Pretty fellows you are, to shoot at your friends," exclaimed Ben.
"We took you for natives," answered one of the men, "and thought itmight be that you were coming to carry off the boat."
"If you had been where you ought to have been--on board her--they wouldhave found that a hard job," replied Ben.
"We were only stretching our legs, Master Tarbox, while we looked outfor the rest. What has become of them?" asked the man.
"You'll have to stretch your arms now, mates," said Ben; "and I'll tellyou all about that as we go along."
The long-boat was quickly shoved off, and the canoe being fastenedastern, Oliver took the helm, and the crew gave way with a will, gladenough to return to the ship. Ben then told them that they would have amuch longer pull on the morrow, and as he hoped attain the object oftheir expedition. Such a trip, in spite of the hard work they wouldhave to go through, not free from danger though it might be, was exactlyto their tastes.
They reached the ship two hours after dark. The captain had beengetting ready provisions and ammunition so that they might start at dawnof day. Virginia, surmising their intentions, crept out of the cabin,and was on the watch, intending to go also. Oliver had no littledifficulty in persuading her to remain, and not till he told her thatthe great chief who commanded the big canoe would not allow her to godid she consent to remain. A light breeze blowing up the river, thelong-boat, with the canoe astern, sped merrily on her voyage. Oliverhad taken care to obtain from his sister, as far as he could understandher language, an exact description of the channel by which the rapidsmight be avoided. With a strong current against them, heavy also as theboat was, they made much slower progress during the second part. Theywere still some way from the rapids when night overtook the
m. Oliverand Ben agreed that it would be impossible to attempt the channel unlessin broad daylight; they therefore secured their boat to the bank under awide-spreading tree.
Oliver, young as he was, knew the importance of being on their guardagainst surprise. Accordingly he and Ben searched round to ascertainwhether any Indians were lurking in the neighbourhood; he also stationeda sentry on shore with orders to keep his ears open, that he might givetimely notice of the approach of a foe. The night passed off, however,without interruption.
"Now, lads, we must get up these rapids before the hot sun comes down tomake the toil harder to bear," cried Ben, rousing the men up. "For thenext three or four miles the water is deep and free from rocks, as Inoted when we came down, and we may get along it in the twilight."
Ben was right, and, with the early light, the rapids came in sightahead; then, steering to the right, they found the channel Virginia haddescribed. The depth at the entrance was sufficient to float the boat,but it was too narrow to allow the oars to be worked. The only way,therefore, by which they could hope to get on was to land and tow theboat up against the current. This was no easy matter, as in many placesthe stems and roots of the trees came close down to the water's edge,while the wide branches formed a thick canopy overhead. Still,sometimes pulling, at others wading, and at others landing and towing onthe boat, they hoped by perseverance to succeed. While thus engagedthey knew that, should any hostile natives attack them, they must betaken at a woeful disadvantage. The arms therefore were placed in theboat, so that each one might seize his weapon in an instant, while twomen proceeded as scouts through the forest on the right to give warningshould a foe approach. Thus, after an hour's toil they emerged into thebroad stream, some way above the rapids, when they were able once moreto take to their oars.
Oliver judged that Virginia had avoided this passage when theydescended, as the darkness in which it must have been plunged at thattime would have prevented her from seeing the way, while the danger toher slight canoe from the roots projecting into the water and the sunkenlogs would have been far greater than that from the rocks of the rapids.
The Settlers: A Tale of Virginia Page 11