The Old Tobacco Shop

"I hope they won't come near this boat," said Toby. "One of 'em would just about turn us upside down if he struck us."

"Mercy!" said Aunt Amanda. "Don't say such a terrible thing."

At that moment a great round black back appeared above the surface of the water, some hundred yards or so away, and in another moment a great black blunt head joined itself to the back, and a spout of white vapor rose from the head.

"A whale!" cried several voices at once.

"Oh!" said Aunt Amanda. "Suppose he should come this way?"

The five or six fins of the great fish near the sardines now disappeared. The whale threw up his enormous tail, and went down head first beneath the water. Almost immediately, one of the saw-toothed fins reappeared, much nearer the raft than before.

"Merciful heavens!" cried Aunt Amanda. "He's coming towards us! Oh dear!"

The great fish was in fact evidently making straight towards the raft. Freddie clutched Aunt Amanda's arm. The fin cut the water at a high speed; it disappeared at times, but on each reappearance it was still pointed towards the raft.

"He's nearly on us!" cried Aunt Amanda. "Hold on tight, Freddie!"

The great fish came on with a rush, and as he reached the raft struck it with his back and slid under it. There was a tremendous bump, which nearly sent the company flat; then there was a rubbing under the raft, and everything was quiet again.

"He's gone," said Toby.

"No, 'e isn't," said Mr. Punch. "Look at 'is tail!"

A great tail could be seen beyond the edge of the raft, just below the surface of the water. It thrashed about and churned up the water violently for a few seconds, and then waved back and forth quietly; but it did not disappear.

"By crackey," said Toby, "he's stuck! His fin has got stuck into the bottom of the raft! He's got the whole kit and bilin' of us on his back!"

"Mercy on us!" said Aunt Amanda.

"Is it really true?" said Freddie.

"On due consideration," said the Churchwarden, "I think Toby's right."

"Hi believe 'e is!" said Mr. Punch. "Blimy if I ever rode on the back of a fish before! Now 'e's got us on 'is back, what's 'e going to do with us?"

"We're moving!" cried Freddie.

"So we are!" said Aunt Amanda.

"Blamed if we ain't," said Toby.

The mattress craft was in fact moving; very slowly, indeed, but still moving; and it was moving in the opposite direction to the fish's tail, which could be seen now and then under the water, waving back and forth like the tail of a swimming fish.

"If this don't beat all," said Toby. "That fish down there has certainly got his fin hooked into our mattress, and he's swimming along with us on top of him. I've seen a snail crawlin' with his shell on top of him, but a fish with a load of mattresses and live-stock is a new thing to me!"

"I'm the captain," said Aunt Amanda, "and my orders is to sit as still as you can and see where he's taking us to."

"Ay, ay, sir," said the Churchwarden. "I mean, ay, ay, ma'am."

The party huddled on top of the mattresses sat as still as mice, hardly daring to breathe. Their little craft continued to move gently through the water. They expected each moment that the fish would free himself, but evidently his fin had embedded itself so firmly in one of the bottom mattresses that he could not get loose; he went on swimming with his load on his back.

Hour after hour they waited to feel their craft stop; but hour after hour it moved gently and slowly across the surface of the sea. They settled themselves more comfortably against each other, and spoke very little. No one noticed that their raft was now much lower in the water.

The air was warm, the moonlight and the silence were extremely soothing, and the motion of the raft was gentle and languorous. Freddie's head sank against Aunt Amanda's shoulder, and his eyes closed; and in another moment he was asleep. Aunt Amanda herself nodded, and her eyes closed; she was asleep too. Toby yawned, and leaned heavily against the Sly Old Codger; his eyes closed, and – in short, every eye closed, and every frame relaxed heavily against its neighbor, and at last, doubled over in a closely huddled group in the exact center of their mattresses, the whole party slept; each and every one.

The raft went on steadily and quietly through the water, the moon glittered on the sea, the raft settled deeper and deeper, and there was absolute silence on the ocean, except for a slight groan which came regularly and gently from the nose of the Churchwarden.

CHAPTER XV

A FALL IN THE DARK

Freddie was the first to be awake in the morning. He was cramped and stiff. He sat up straight, rubbed his eyes, and stretched his arms. He looked abroad, and the sight which met him caused him to grasp Aunt Amanda's hand in excitement.

"Land!" he cried, so loud that everyone awoke.

"Blamed if it ain't," said Toby, and put on his white derby hat, considering that he had thereby dressed himself for the day.

All the others sat bolt upright, and stared across the smooth blue sea, sparkling in the sunlight.

Not more than a quarter of a mile away rose a tall black cliff straight up out of the water. It stretched away on either hand for miles and miles, and came to an end in the ocean at the right hand and the left, so that it was probably the side of an island. The sea rolled up and down at the foot of the cliff, making a beautiful white splash against the rocks.

"But how on earth," said Aunt Amanda, "are we ever to get ashore on such a place as that?"

"We're moving towards it," said Freddie.

"Blamed if we ain't," said Toby. "We'll soon know whether we can get ashore or not."

They moved very slowly, and it was a long time before they came close enough to the cliff to see what their chances of a landing might be. They floated at last within two or three hundred yards of the cliff. It was very dangerous looking; the waves rolled over huge black rocks at its foot and broke in white foam against its side; it seemed the last place in the world for a landing.

A great swell rolled in from the sea and brought them nearer the breakers.

"My word!" cried Mr. Punch, excitedly. "There's a harch!"

"A what?" said Toby.

"See!" said Aunt Amanda. "There's a little archway in the rock, like the mouth of a cave, over there to the right! Don't you see? With the water pouring in! Over there!"

It was true. There was an archway, like the mouth of a cave; and into this the water was streaming in a strong current, making a kind of passage-way, more or less smooth, through the breakers.

"Yes!" said Freddie. "And I believe we're headed towards it!"

Their course changed a little to the right, as if the fish who was piloting them had now taken a correct bearing. They found themselves in a passage through the breakers where the water swirled in towards the arch. They were caught in this current and were swept to a point close under the towering black rocks, and in another moment they were directly before the opening. The current seized the raft as if with strong hands and drew it in.

They were in a cavern, narrow and high, whose interior was lost in darkness. The current carried them onward into the dark. The roar of the breakers suddenly ceased, and as they looked behind them the archway was no more than a speck of light. Their raft turned slightly to the left, and at that moment the speck of light disappeared, as if they had turned a corner; and the darkness became so black that no one could see even the person sitting next to him.

"I wonder," said Toby, "if there are any matches and candles on board this boat. I'm going to see."

He was silent for a while, and it was evident from the tilting of the raft that he had moved his position. Finally he said "Ah!" and a match spluttered and went out in the breeze which was blowing past them; but after it went out there remained a glimmer, and Toby was holding up a lighted candle, and shielding it from the draught with his hand.