by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER TWO.
SAVED BY SWANS.
From my earliest days, I was fond of the water--instinctively so. Had Ibeen born a duck, or a water-dog, I could not have liked it better. Myfather had been a seaman, and his father before him, and grandfathertoo; so that perhaps I inherited the instinct. Whether or not, myaquatic tastes were as strong as if the water had been my naturalelement; and I have been told, though I do not myself remember it, thatwhen still but a mere child, it was with difficulty I could be kept outof puddles and ponds. In fact, the first adventure of my life occurredin a pond, and that I remember well. Though it was neither so strangenor so terrible as many adventures that befell me afterwards, still itwas rather a curious one, and I shall give you it, as illustrating theearly _penchant_ I had for aquatic pursuits. I was but a very littleboy at the time, and the odd incident occurring, as it were, at the verythreshold of my life, seemed to foreshadow the destiny of my futurecareer--that I was to experience as in reality I have experienced, manyvicissitudes and adventures.
I have said I was but a very little boy at the time--just big enough togo about, and just of that age when boys take to sailing paper-boats. Iknew how to construct these out of the leaf of an old book, or a pieceof a newspaper; and often had I sent them on voyages across theduck-pond, which was my ocean. I may ay, I had got a step beyond themere paper-boats: with my six months' stock of pocket-money, which I hadsaved for the purpose, I had succeeded in purchasing a full-riggedsloop, from an old fisherman, who had "built" her during his hours ofleisure. She was only six inches in length of keel, by less than threein breadth of beam, and her tonnage, if registered--which it never was--would have been about half a pound avoirdupois. A small craft you willstyle her; but at that time, in my eyes, she was as grand as athree-decker.
I esteemed her too large for the duck-pond, and resolved to go in searchof a piece of water where she should have more room to exhibit hersailing qualities.
This I soon found in the shape of a very large pond--or lake, I shouldrather call it--where the water was clear as crystal, and where therewas usually a nice light breeze playing over the surface--just strongenough to fill the sails, and drive my little sloop along like a bird onthe wing--so that she often crossed the pond before I myself could getround to the other side to receive her into my hands again.
Many a race have I had with my little sloop, in which sometimes she, andsometimes I, proved victorious, according as the wind was favourable orunfavourable to her course.
Now this pretty pond--by the shores of which I used to delight myself,and where I spent many of the happiest hours of my boyhood--was notpublic property. It was situated in a gentleman's park, that extendedbackward from the end of the village, and the pond of course belonged tothe owner of the park. He was a kind and liberal gentleman, however,and permitted the villagers to go through his grounds whenever theypleased, and did not object to the boys sailing their boats upon theornamental water, or even playing cricket in one of his fields, providedthey did not act rudely or destroy any of the shrubs or plants that grewalong the walks. It was very kind and good of him to allow thisfreedom; and we, the boys of the village, were sensible of this, and Ithink on the whole we behaved as if we were so; for I never heard of anydamage being done that was deemed worthy of complaint. The park andpond are there still--you all know them?--but the kind gentleman I speakof has long since left this world; for he was an _old_ gentleman, then,and that is sixty years ago.
Upon the little lake, there was at that time a flock of swans--six, if Iremember aright--besides other water-fowl of rare kinds. The boys tookgreat delight in feeding these pretty creatures; and it was a commonthing for one or other of us to bring pieces of bread, and chuck them tothe water-fowl. For my part, I was very fond of this little piece ofextravagance; and, whenever I had the opportunity, I came to the lakewith my pockets crammed.
The fowls, and especially the swans, under this treatment had grown sotame, that they would eat out of our hands, without exhibiting theslightest fear of us.
There was a particular way of giving them their food, in which we usedto take great delight. On one side of the lake, there was a bank thatrose three feet or so above the surface of the water. Here the pond wasdeep, and there was no chance for either the swans, or any othercreature, to land at this place without taking to wing. The bank wassteep, without either shelf or stair to ascend by. In fact, it ratherhung over, than shelved.
At this point we used to meet the swans, that were always ready to comewhen they saw us; and then, placing the piece of bread in the split endof a rod, and holding it out high above them, we enjoyed the spectacleof the swans stretching up their long necks, and occasionally leapingupward out of the water to snatch it, just as dogs would have done. Allthis, you will perceive, was rare fun for boys.
Now I come to the promised adventure.
One day, I had proceeded to the pond, carrying my sloop with me asusual. It was at an early hour; and on reaching the ground, I foundthat none of my companions had yet arrived. I launched my sloop,however; and then walked around the shore to meet her on the oppositeside.
There was scarcely a breath of wind, and the sloop sailed slowly. I wastherefore in no hurry, but sauntered along at my leisure. On leavinghome I had not forgotten the swans, which were my great pets: suchfavourites, indeed, that I very much fear they induced me on more thanone occasion to commit small thefts for them; since the slices of breadwith which my pockets were crammed, had been rather surreptitiouslyobtained from the domestic larder.
Be this as it may, I had brought their allowance along with me; and onreaching the high bank, I halted to give it them.
All six, who knew me well, with proud arching necks and wings slightlyelevated, came gliding rapidly across the pond to meet me; and in a fewseconds arrived under the bank, where they moved about with upstretchedbeaks, and eyes eagerly scanning my movements. They knew that I hadcalled them thither to be kind to them.
Having procured a slight sapling, and split it at the end, I placed apiece of bread in the notch, and proceeded to amuse myself with themanoeuvres of the birds.
One piece after another was snatched away from the stick, and I hadnearly emptied my pockets, when all at once the sod upon which I wasstanding gave way under me, and I fell _plump_ into the water.
I fell with a plunge like a large stone, and as I could not swim astroke, I should have gone to the bottom like one, but it so happenedthat I came down right in the middle of the swans, who were no doubttaken as much by surprise as myself.
Now it was not through any peculiar presence of mind on my part, butsimply from the instinct of self-preservation, which is common to everyliving creature, that I made an effort to save myself. This I did bythrowing out my hands, and endeavouring to seize hold of something, justas drowning men will catch even at straws. But I caught somethingbetter than a straw, for I chanced to seize upon the leg of one of thebiggest and strongest of the swans, and to that I held on, as if my lifedepended on my not letting it go.
At the first plunge my eyes and ears had been filled with water, and Iwas hardly sensible of what I was doing. I could hear a vast splashingand spluttering as the birds scattered away in affright, but in anothersecond of time I had consciousness enough to perceive that I had gothold of the leg of the swan, and was being towed rapidly through thewater. I had sense enough to retain my hold; and in less time than Ihave taken to tell it, I was dragged better than half across the pond,which, after all, was but a short distance. The swan made no attempt toswim, but rather fluttered along the surface, using his wings, andperhaps the leg that was still free, to propel himself forward. Terror,no doubt, had doubled both his strength and his energies, else he couldnever have towed such a weight, big and strong as he was. How long theaffair would have lasted, it is hard to say. Not very long, however.The bird might have kept above water a good while, but I could not haveheld out much longer. I was every moment being ducked under, the waterat each
immersion getting into my mouth and nostrils. I was fast losingconsciousness, and would soon have been forced to let go.
Just at this crisis, to my great joy, I felt something touch meunderneath; some rough object had struck against my knees. It was thestones and gravel at the bottom of the lake; and I perceived that I wasnow in water of no great depth. The bird, in struggling to escape, hadpassed over the portion of the lake where it was deep and dangerous, andwas now close to the edge, where it shoaled, I did not hesitate amoment; I was only too glad to put an end to the towing match, andtherefore released my grasp from the leg of the swan. The bird, thuslightened, immediately took to wing; and, screeching like a wild fowl,rose high into the air.
For myself, I found bottom at once, and after some staggering, and agood deal of sneezing and hiccoughing, I regained my feet; and thenwading out, stood once more safe upon _terra firma_.
I was so badly terrified by the incident that I never thought of lookingafter my sloop. Leaving her to finish her voyage as she might, I ranaway as fast as my legs would carry me, and never made halt or pausetill I had reached home and stood with dripping garments in front of thefire.