Chapter 18 - Shark prey!
What had happened? How come that ship, which had resisted for many weeks, sank just at that moment when the castaways were saved?
At Blake's cry, Kaj and Jody leapt forward, pale, ready to throw themselves into the sea, before the wreck sank and could engulf them in the vortex.
«Mr. Blake» said the pearl fisherman, «are you sure this hull is about to miss under our feet?»
«I'm quite sure, shut up and listen.»
They strained their ears, holding their breath. They immediately heard a gurgling accompanied by a little hoarse hissing and a few light creaks.
«It's the internal air escaping through some opening.» Blake warned.
«And how could it have come about right now?» Jody asked.
«Who knows! The wood has rotted over time and perhaps even damaged by the impact of our pirogue. The ship has shifted a little, but it doesn't seem to me that so far it has lowered».
«That's true, Mr. Blake» said Kaj the line of algae is always the same.
«But not forward.» Jody noted «It seems to me that the ship has leaned towards the bowsprit and that the stern has instead risen a little.Then the leak appeared in the bow».
«I have a suspicion!» suddenly exclaimed the former officer.
«Which one, Mr. Blake?»
«That it was the sword-fish who damaged the hull, in the fury of the chase and the hunt for flying fish, he will have slipped his blade between the planks and opened a hole.»
«Possible!»
«Their sword is of exceptional strength. If the leak was produced by one of them, the ship will sink slowly and we may be picked up by that ship first. Ah! Where is it? I no longer see his headlights!» Blake continued.
All three stared east. There were many stars in the sky and no green or red dots to indicate the position lights of a ship.
«Disappeared?» Jody asked in terror.
«Wait, there are ships belonging to states that carry a single light, almost always in white light, which can be mistaken for a star».
«Without wind, that ship can be in complete calm» added Kaj, a little reassured.
«What if the ship comes upon us in the meantime?» Jody said «You know I'm a bad swimmer».
«There is your box and that can serve as a support» Blake teased him «If the moon rises ...»
«He'll get up very late.» Kaj said.
A new and more abrupt shift of the wreck made them fall on each other.
«Let's sink!» Jody yelled.
«Wait for me!» shouted Blake, who kept admirable coolness. He immediately noticed that the figurehead, represented by a large eagle, which was previously visible, was now entirely immersed.
«Damned fate!» he exclaimed. «The hull sank two feet in a quarter of an hour. The flaw has therefore become bigger. He must have given something!»
There were hoarse rumblings, accompanied by a low roar, probably produced by water.
In the throes of sad apprehensions he returned to his companions who were waiting for him with anguish.
«He goes away?» Kaj asked.
«In a couple of hours it will all be over.» Blake answered with a sigh.
«Shall we throw the box into the water?»
«No, let's wait until the last moment, he must remain at sea as little as possible. You know the sharks haven't left us yet. Even before the sun went down, I saw them offshore».
«Mr. Blake» Jody said, «maybe it's really true that when sharks follow someone, it's a sign that they will have safe prey».
«Superstitions. They followed us as others would. Ah! It is not a star, no, that! It is the light of a lantern! Friends, the ship is always there, held back by calm».
«Let's try to reach him, Mr. Blake» Kaj said. «How far will it be?»
«Several miles, but we won't leave this ship until it sinks. The wind is very weak, but that ship will advance a little and there will be less to sail».
«Does it always drop, sir?»
«Slowly.»
They sat on the keel, near the driver's chest, a kind of large suitcase. The ship continued to lower, always slowly, moving forward and even a little to the port side.
The ship, when it capsized, must have all its hatches closed and the air in the hold had kept it afloat.
After an hour the white light always shone at a great distance, the wind did not seem to rise and the hull sank lower and lower.
Suddenly Blake stood up:
«Come on, friends: it's time to leave. The ship begins to drop rapidly».
The sides of the ship creaked and inside the hold the mass of water could be heard bellowing.
The three convicts stood up. «Will that ship be advanced?» Kay asked.
«Your headlight stands out better than before. Jody, hold the gun, we may need it. Take some cartridges and be careful not to get them wet.»
«Will the cashier support me?» asked the driver.
«Yes, as long as you straddle it. The two of us will hold the handles!»
Kay got out with the box first. Jody was quick to straddle, holding the pistol and cartridges. Blake was the last to descend.
«Let's get away before we are swallowed by the eddy.»
They gripped the handles with one hand and swam, towing the box. The hull of the ship, now almost full of water, began to sink rapidly.
«Soon! soon!» Blake shouted.
It sank from the bow with a thousand creaks, almost vertically, then the whole mass sank, forming an immense vortex. A circular wave swept across the ocean, spreading rapidly, then returned to the vortex bellowing and dragging the crate and the three clinging men a few steps.
«For a moment I was afraid that the eddy would swallow us,» said Jody who was still trembling.
«It had been condemned for a long time now» Blake replied.
«Do you always see the light, Jody? You are higher than us.»
«Yes, Mr. Blake, but he's always far away.»
«We will be collected before dawn. However, the cash desk serves as a point of support for us too and we will be able to resist for four or five hours, is it true, Kaj?»
«Even more.» replied the pearl fisherman.
«What time will it be?» Jody asked.
«About midnight.» Blake said, looking up at the stars.
«Eh!» the engineer said at that moment, waving and taking his pistol.
«What do you have?"
«I see the mouth of one of the two damned sharks shining behind us.»
«Kay, get the knife ready and let's stop. Sharks have good nose, but bad eyes. Let's let what follows us pass.»
«And do you see the other, Jody?» Kaj asked.
«No, in no direction.»
«Who approaches underwater?»
Those words made the blood run cold. In fact, the monster could sneak up on them and cut off the legs of one or the other of the two swimmers with a single stroke.
«I confess I'm afraid» said Blake.
«Wait, I want to make sure.»
Kaj let go of the handle and let himself sink, without making any noise, then after half a minute he reappeared a few yards from the box.
«Nothing!»
«Then let's go ahead and try to reach that ship as soon as possible. And the moon? Are you sleeping tonight? Yet the horizon is clear».
«It is about to rise, Mr. Blake.» confirmed Jody said «I see over there the light reflecting on the water, in the direction of the ship».
«If the shark advances, warn us. Pick up, Kaj».
They began to swim again, while the night star peeped out, showing itself little by little. Jody turned his eyes, in that direction, without losing sight of the shark's phosphorescent mouth, he could soon see a small black dot.
«Mr. Blake! The sailing ship is visible and advances towards us.»
«What is it then?»
«It has only two Latin sails like the Indian grabs and the pinasse.»
«Does it seem far to you?»
«Two or three miles.»
«And do you always see the shark?»
«Blood of Brahma!»
«What happens?»
«The shark seems to be moving on us!» Jody was terrified.
«Are you shooting Jody well?»
«I'm not bad.»
«Shoot him as soon as he comes within range.»
«I will, Mr. Blake.»
«And I'll be ready to do the rest!» Kaj said, putting the knife between his teeth.
«Let's hurry up, Kaj!»
They made prodigious efforts, but they certainly couldn't compete with the shark. The monster must have seen the three castaways and was coming very fast, impatient to earn dinner.
«Let's face it» Blake proposed, who could now hear the hasty blows of the tail of that terrible opponent.
«There he is!» Jody shouted at that moment, holding his arm armed «Get it, villain!»
Lightning pierced the darkness, followed by a shot. The shark, hit in the mouth, made a sudden leap into the air coming out of the water almost whole, then sank with a great crash, while Kaj threw himself holding the knife.
A moment later a shot was heard in the distance.
«They send us signals from the ship!» Jody yelled as he hastily reloaded the gun.
«They'll come too late» said Blake. «Here's the shark charging back».
The monster, even with a wounded palate, rushed back at the castaways, determined to finish off those elusive prey, which for so many days he had been avidly sighing.
Jody and Kaj, however, were ready to receive him.
Jody, who saw him best of all, still straddling the box, for the second time unloaded the pistol between his enormous, gaping jaws; at the same time Kaj, taking advantage of the monster's pain and his surprise, with a tremendous stab slashed his belly.
Almost immediately a second shot rang out on the prow of the ship, which was closer.
The castaways uttered a triple cry that was lost far away on the ocean:
«To us! To us!»
A voice, which scarred the English language horribly, replied:
«Who are you?»
«Shipwrecked.»
«Wait for the lifeboat!»
A few minutes later a black stripe was outlined on the silver zone by the rays of the moon, while the voice of a moment before shouted:
«Take a moment! We come!»