Donalblane of Darien
Copyright© 2024 by J. Macdonald Oxley
Chapter 4: A Rescue and a Retreat.
Well was it for both Donalblane and the child that all those on board the Bonnie Scotland did not lose their heads so completely as the young fellow whose foolish action had caused the trouble.
Among the first to take in the situation was William Paterson, and instinctively he looked about him for something to throw over after the brave boy which might serve to buoy him up until help reached him. As it happened, some one had brought on deck an empty wooden chest to serve for a seat.
“The very thing!” exclaimed Mr. Paterson when his eye fell upon it, and, without pausing to ask permission, he lifted it up and flung it over the bulwarks.
It fell not far from where Donald struck the water, and, although he did not see it at first, it presently attracted his attention.
“Eh! what’s that?” he asked himself, as the black thing bobbed up and down on the waves. For a moment he feared it might be the back of a shark coming to the attack, but on a second look fear gave way to joy. “It’s a box!” he cried, “and it will keep us up, if I can only get to it.”
The child lay like a log, whimpering a little when the water splashed in his face; and it seemed to demand all Donald’s strength just to keep from sinking, so that he did not see how he was to reach the chest, which was at least twenty yards distant.
“Wae’s me!” he groaned, “but I’m near spent, and if I canna lay hold of that box, I maun droon.”
Happily the wind was blowing towards him, and, although he could not make much progress against it, the chest was helped by it in his direction, so that, just when he thought he could keep up no longer, it bobbed within his reach, and, with a sigh of unutterable relief, he laid hold of it.
“Noo then, my bairnie, just get atop o’ that,” he said cheeringly, as he placed the child upon the chest, and held him there that he might not fall off.
The chest accepted the responsibility and bore it bravely, taking all the strain off Donald’s tired arms, and enabling him to recover his strength and wind in a measure. Of course it was no easy matter to keep the little one in place with the waves so full of motion, but it was ever so much less strain than it had been before, and the sturdy boy could have maintained the struggle a little longer still, when the welcome rattle of oars and the encouraging shouts of men told him that rescue was near.
The boat came dashing up under the strenuous strokes of four brawny oarsmen, and in her bow stood William Paterson, his eager glance bent upon the two imperilled ones, and his arms outstretched ready to grasp them.
“God bless you, my noble boy!” he exclaimed, as, after tenderly lifting the child into the boat, he caught Donald under the arms to help him in. “You’ve taught us a lesson in heroism this day.”
Donald sat down in the bow so utterly exhausted that he was hardly conscious of Mr. Paterson’s warm words, nor of the hearty praise of the men, but he had an exquisite sense of relief and of having become a person of importance.
The first to greet him on the deck of the vessel were the parents of the child, and Mrs. Sutherland turned from hugging her rescued darling to throw her arms around Donald’s neck and kiss him again and again, greatly to the bashful boy’s embarrassment, while her husband was thumping him on the back, and exclaiming huskily, “How can I ever repay you for saving my child’s life?”
It was really very trying to Donald to be the subject of such demonstration, and he was quite glad to get away from the grateful parents and the applauding crowd to his own cabin to put on some dry clothes. But when the first excitement subsided and he found that he had not only won the respect of his shipmates, but also the warm friendship of the Sutherlands, who were very fine people, he felt that the game was well worth the candle, and that he was splendidly repaid for the risk he had taken.
The first part of the long voyage across the great Atlantic Ocean was devoid of special incident. The ships presently scattered, so that each was alone in the vast expanse; and the days followed one another monotonously enough until the Bonnie Scotland sighted the Azores Islands, and, to the delight of all on board, it was announced that a call at Fayal would be made in order to replenish the supply of water.
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