when chap reached the spot where he left the water-barrel and the countess, he found the former sticking up in the mud, but there were no signs of the latter. chap sprang into the mud, and struggled to shore. where was she? he hoped she was waiting somewhere in the shade, but he could not find her. he called and shouted for her, but there was no reply. he was just giving himself up to despair, when one of the negroes cried out, “dar she!” and pointed in the direction of the winkyminky.
and there, sure enough, was the countess and her colored servant in a boat, just pushing off from the winkyminky, while the whistle of the humphrey giles could be heard from the other side of the island.
the countess was a woman of action. as soon[283] as chap had left her, she had run along the shore, until she was opposite the winkyminky, and shouted for some one to come over for her. if the giles should consent to stop for her, she wanted to take her maid and some of her baggage with her, and there was no time to be lost. there was another boat on the winkyminky, and it had been sent for her, and it was now about to take her and her maid around the upper end of the island to the giles, whose whistle gave sufficient signal that she was there, and waiting.
“upon my word!” ejaculated chap, as he gazed upon this scene. “aristocrats and countesses, indeed! give me a republican form of government!”
and he dashed through the mud, and into the boat.
“never mind the water-barrel,” he cried. “row after that boat. another dollar if you catch it.”
the negroes’ arms already ached from the violent rowing they had done, and chap’s throat was sore from his continuous shouting; but the men bent again to their oars, and chap’s former yells were nothing to what he uttered now. he felt sure that if the countess’s boat reached the giles before he did, that steamboat would start off without him, and his sister, whose appearance on board was such an astounding mystery, would be carried[284] away from him. the captain would not wait for anybody after the countess was on board. his soul was fired with rage at that treacherous woman, for whom he had taken so much trouble to return, and for whom he had probably lost his chance of joining his dear sister. if he could catch up with her, he would tell her a thing or two.
“tug at her! tug at her!” he shouted to the oarsmen. “crack your backs! break your bones! give way, boys, give way! why don’t you pull? jerk her out, boys! jerk her out!”
and the two negroes, with bare heads, perspiration rolling down their cheeks, and their eyes and teeth glistening, as they rose in their seats with every wild pull at the oars, did almost jerk the boat out of the water in their frantic efforts to earn the money chap had promised them.
there was no rudder to the boat; but chap sat in the stern, and by gestures and commands directed the oarsmen. he did not row toward the winkyminky, but kept directly after the boat containing the countess.
there was nearly half a mile distance between them when they started, and the upper point of the island was certainly less than a quarter of a mile above the foremost boat. so chap had great odds against him as far as regards distance, and there seemed much reason to fear that the countess’s boat would round the point and reach[285] the humphrey giles before chap could be seen or heard; but the odds in other respects were somewhat in chap’s favor.
his men were now so thoroughly warmed up to their work that they forgot their arms had ached a little while before, and they pulled like tireless machines.
the other boat had two strong oarsmen; but it carried two passengers and some baggage, and there was no wildly excited fellow in the stern to urge, with ringing battle-cry, his men to deeds of valor.
chap’s boat steadily gained upon the other, and the few people who were left on board the winkyminky cheered and clapped him as he passed. they did not know whether he wanted to go on board the other steamboat or not; but they saw plainly enough that he had some reason for catching up with the countess.
“i wish i knew how to make those fellows work like that,” said the captain of the winkyminky, as he watched chap’s boat. “they never pulled with such good will for me.”
“perhaps you could do it,” said the old gentleman who was standing by him, “if you would make yourself a raving lunatic like that boy. i believe he has scared those black fellows out of their wits, and that they are trying to get away from him.”
[286]the countess did not perceive the boat that was following them, and she knew nothing about the giles, except that it was on the other side of the island, where it was certainly stopping, and occasionally blowing its whistle.
the trees and high reeds prevented the countess’s boat from being seen from the giles, and, as the captain might not know that a boat was coming to him, he might start off at any moment. therefore, the countess was anxious to get in sight of the giles as soon as possible, and urged her men to row as fast as they could, her words, however, having nothing like the same effect as the yells of chap.
when she went to the winkyminky and then started for the giles, she had no idea that she was behaving in a manner which chap would consider treacherous. she did not know that he thought of going on board the giles, and indeed he had said to her, when they were talking together, that he supposed he would have to stay by the winkyminky until she was towed to the city. of course the lady could not be supposed to imagine that the whole current of the boy’s feelings and intentions had been changed by his finding his only sister on board the giles.
there was a point of reeds which grew out into the water for ten or a dozen yards from the end of the island, and around these the countess’s[287] men rowed their boat as rapidly as they could.
the moment they were on the other side of them, and within sight of the waiting giles, the countess waved her handkerchief above her head to attract attention to her approach.
the people on the steamboat had, of course, been expecting a boat to come to them, and they were looking for it to come around the end of the island. and we may be quite certain that no one watched for it with greater eagerness than helen and mr. berkeley. their grief and dismay, therefore, when they saw two women in the stern of the boat and no chap, need not be described. was he not coming?
if they could have looked through the reeds and bushes to the other side of the island they would have known that chap was coming!
the moment that the foremost boat turned the point of reeds, chap’s frenzy doubled.
“wake up!” he screamed. “are you going to sleep, and have me left? ten more pulls, and we’ve got her! give way now! give way! tear at it, i tell you! tear at it!”
they had now reached the reeds, but chap had no intention of going around them. they were growing in the water, and the water would certainly float his boat.
“pull around, you bill,” he cried. “smash[288] right through them! drive her through, boys! drive her through!”
the tall reeds bent beneath the sudden dash of the boat and the wild sweep of the oars; and in a few seconds chap’s little craft was out in the open water beyond.
just ahead of her, and not twenty feet away, was the countess’s boat. chap’s men were rowing as madly as ever, and in a few strokes they would be upon it.
“stop!” yelled chap. “back water!”
but these words had no effect on his two negroes. he had been shouting and yelling to them ever since they started, and they did not now notice what he said. they were so filled with savage excitement that they paid no attention to mere words.
the men in the other boat tried to pull out of the way, but they were not quick enough. chap’s boat crashed into that of the countess, smashing in one side, and nearly turning it over with the violence of the shock.
