With Lee in Virginia. G. A. Henty

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СКАЧАТЬ "dis am awful; we neber see the shore no more, massa."

      "Nonsense, man," Vincent said cheerily; "we are getting on capitally."

      "It hab been an awful night, sah."

      "An awful night! You lazy rascal, you slept like a pig all night, while I have been bailing the boat and looking out for you. It is your turn now, I can tell you. Well, do you feel ready for your breakfast?"

      Dan, after a moment's consideration, declared that he was. The feeling of seasickness had passed off, and except that he was wet through and miserable, he felt himself again, and could have eaten four times the allowance of food that Vincent handed him. A pannikin of rum and water did much to restore his life and vitality, and he was soon, with the light-heartedness of his race, laughing and chatting cheerfully.

      "How long dis go on, you tink, sah?"

      "Not long, I hope, Dan. I was afraid last night it was going to be a big gale, but I do not think it is blowing so hard now as it was in the night."

      "Where have we get to now, sah?"

      "I don't exactly know, Dan; but I do not suppose that we are very many miles away from shore. The mast and oars prevent our drifting fast, and I don't think we are further off now than we were when we left that ship yesterday. But even if we were four or five times as far as that, we should not take very long in sailing back again when the wind drops, and as we have got enough to eat for a week we need not be uncomfortable about that."

      "Not much food for a week, Massa Vincent."

      "Not a very great deal, Dan; but quite enough to keep us going. You can make up for lost time when you get to shore again."

      In a few hours it was certain that the wind was going down. By midday the clouds began to break up, and an hour later the sun was shining brightly. The wind was still blowing strongly, but the sea had a very different appearance in the bright light of the sun to that which it had borne under the canopy of dark gray clouds. Standing up in the boat two hours later, Vincent could see no signs of land.

      "How shall we find our way back, Massa Vincent?"

      "We have got a compass; besides, we should manage very well even if we had not. Look at the sun, Dan. There it is right ahead of us. So, you know, that's the west—that's the way we have to go."

      "That very useful ob de sun, sah; but suppose we not live in de west de sun not point de way den."

      "Oh, yes, he would, just the same, Dan. We should know whether to go away from him, or to keep him on the right hand or on the left."

      This was beyond Dan. "And I s'pose the moon will show de way at night, massa?"

      "The moon would show the way if she were up, but she is not always up; but I have got a compass here, and so whether we have the sun or the moon, or neither of them, I can find my way back to land."

      Dan had never seen a compass, and for an hour amused himself turning it round and round and trying to get it to point in some other direction than the north.

      "Now, Dan," Vincent said at last, "give me that compass, and get out the food. We will have a better meal than we did this morning, for now that the wind is going down there's no chance of food running short. When we have had dinner we will get up the sail again. The sea is not so rough as it was, and it is certainly not so high as it was before we lowered the sail yesterday."

      "De waves berry big, massa."

      "They are big, Dan; but they are not so angry. The heads are not breaking over as they did last night, and the boat will go better over those long waves than she did through the choppy sea at the beginning of the gale."

      Accordingly the bundle of spars was pulled up alongside and lifted. The mast was set up and the sail hoisted. Dan in a few minutes forgot his fears and lost even his sense of uneasiness as he found the boat mounted wave after wave without shipping water. Several times, indeed, a shower of spray flew high up in the air, but the gusts no longer buried her so that the water came over the gunwale, and it was a long time before there was any occasion to use the bailer. As the sun set it could be seen that there was a dark line between it and the water.

      "There is the land, Dan; and I do not suppose it is more than twenty miles away, for most of the coast lies low."

      "But how we find de York River, massa? Will de compass tell you dat?"

      "No, Dan. I don't know whether we have drifted north or south of it. At ordinary times the current runs up the coast, but the wind this morning was blowing from the north of west, and may have been doing so all through the night for anything I know. Well, the great thing is to make land. We are almost sure to come across some fishing-boats, but, if not, we must run ashore and find a house."

      They continued sailing until Vincent's watch told him it was twelve o'clock, by which time the coast was quite close. The wind now almost dropped, and, lowering their sail, they rowed in until, on lowering the anchor, they found that it touched the ground. Then they lay down and slept till morning. Dan was the first to waken.

      "Dar are some houses dere close down by the shore, sah, and some men getting out a boat."

      "That's all right, Dan," Vincent said as he roused himself and looked over. "We shall learn soon where we are."

      In a quarter of an hour the fishing-boat put off, and the lads at once rowed to it.

      "How far are we from the mouth of the York River?" Vincent asked the two negroes on board.

      "About twenty miles, sah. Where you come from?"

      "We were off the mouth of the river, and were blown off in the gale."

      "You tink yourself berry lucky you get back," one of them said. "Berry foolish to go out like dat when not know how to get back."

      "Well, we have managed to get back now, you see, and none the worse for it. Now, Dan, up with the sail again."

      There was a light wind off shore, and all the reefs being shaken out the boat ran along fast.

      "I should think we are going about five miles an hour, Dan. We ought to be off the mouth of the river in four hours. We must look out sharp or else we shall pass it, for many of these islets look just like the mouth of the river. However, we are pretty sure to pass several fishing-boats on our way, and we shall be able to inquire from them."

      There was no need, however, to do this. It was just the four hours from the time of starting when they saw some eight or ten fishing-boats ahead of them.

      "I expect that that is the entrance to the river. When we get half a mile further we shall see it open."

      On approaching the fishing-boats they recognized at once the appearance of the shore, as they had noticed it when fishing there before, and were soon in the entrance to the river.

      "It will be high tide in about two hours," Vincent said, "according to the time it was the other day. I am afraid when it turns we shall have to get down our sails; there will be no beating against both wind and tide. Then we must get out oars and row. There is very little tide close in by the bank, and every little gain will be a help. We have been out four days. It is Thursday now, and they will be beginning to get very anxious at home, so СКАЧАТЬ