British -- Costa Rica -- Fiction; Short stories; Travel -- Fiction
The canoe had been swept round so as to be brought by the force of the
waters absolutely in among the upturned roots and broken stumps of the
trees which impeded the river, and thus, when the party was upset, they
were at first to be seen scrambling among the branches. But
unfortunately there was much more wood below the water than above it, and
the force of the stream was so great, that those who caught hold of the
timber were not able to support themselves by it above the surface.
Arkwright was soon to be seen some forty yards down, having been carried
clear of the trees, and here he got out of the river on the farther bank.
The distance to him was not above forty yards, but from the nature of the
ground he could not get up towards his wife, unless he could have forced
his way against the stream.
The Indian who had had charge of the baby rose quickly to the surface,
was carried once round in the eddy, with his head high above the water,
and then was seen to throw himself among the broken wood. He had seen
the dress of the poor woman, and made his effort to save her. The other
two men were so caught by the fragments of the boughs, that they could
not extricate themselves so as to make any exertions; ultimately,
however, they also got out on the further bank.
Mrs. Arkwright had sunk at once on being precipitated into the water, but
the buoyancy of her clothes had brought her for a moment again to the
surface. She had risen for a moment, and then had again gone down,
immediately below the forked trunk of a huge tree;—had gone down, alas,
alas! never to rise again with life within her bosom. The poor Indian
made two attempts to save her, and then came up himself, incapable of
further effort.
It was then that the German, the owner of the canoes, who had fought his
way with great efforts across the violence of the waters, and indeed up
against the stream for some few yards, made his effort to save the life
of that poor frail creature. He had watched the spot at which she had
gone down, and even while struggling across the river, had seen how the
Indian had followed her and had failed. It was now his turn. His life
was in his hand, and he was prepared to throw it away in that attempt.
Having succeeded in placing himself a little above the large tree, he
turned his face towards the bottom of the river, and dived down among the
branches. And he also, after that, was never again seen with the
life-blood flowing round his heart.
When the sun set that night, the two swollen corpses were lying in the
Commandant’s hut, and Abel Ring and Arkwright were sitting beside them.
Arkwright had his baby sleeping in his arms, but he sat there for
hours,—into the middle of the long night,—without speaking a word to any
one.
“Harry,” said his brother at last, “come away and lay down. It will be
good for you to sleep.”
“Nothing ever will be good again for me,” said he.
“You must bear up against your sorrow as other men do,” said Ring.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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