University of Virginia Library

3. CHAPTER III.

The thought instantly occurred to me that the paper
was a note from Augustus, and that some unaccountable
accident having happened to prevent his relieving me
from my dungeon, he had devised this method of acquainting
me with the true state of affairs. Trembling
with eagerness, I now commenced another search for
my phosphorus matches and tapers. I had a confused
recollection of having put them carefully away just before
falling asleep; and, indeed, previously to my last
journey to the trap, I had been able to remember the
exact spot where I had deposited them. But now I endeavoured
in vain to call it to mind, and busied myself
for a full hour in a fruitless and vexatious search
for the missing articles; never, surely, was there a more
tantalizing state of anxiety and suspense. At length,
while groping about, with my head close to the ballast,
near the opening of the box, and outside of it, I perceived
a faint glimmering of light in the direction of the
steerage. Greatly surprised, I endeavoured to make my
way towards it, as it appeared to be but a few feet from
my position. Scarcely had I moved with this intention,
when I lost sight of the glimmer entirely, and, before I
could bring it into view again, was obliged to feel along
by the box until I had exactly resumed my original situation.
Now, moving my head with caution to and fro,
I found that, by proceeding slowly, with great care, in
an opposite direction to that in which I had at first

started, I was enabled to draw near the light, still keeping
it in view. Presently I came directly upon it (having
squeezed my way through innumerable narrow windings),
and found that it proceeded from some fragments
of my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its
side. I was wondering how they came in such a place,
when my hand fell upon two or three pieces of taper-wax,
which had been evidently mumbled by the dog. I
concluded at once that he had devoured the whole of my
supply of candles, and I felt hopeless of being ever able
to read the note of Augustus. The small remnants of
the wax were so mashed up among other rubbish in the
barrel, that I despaired of deriving any service from
them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus, of
which there was only a speck or two, I gathered up as
well as I could, and returned with it, after much difficulty,
to my box, where Tiger had all the while remained.

What to do next I could not tell. The hold was so
intensely dark that I could not see my hand, however
close I would hold it to my face. The white slip of
paper could barely be discerned, and not even that when
I looked at it directly; by turning the exterior portions
of the retina towards it, that is to say, by surveying it
slightly askance, I found that it became in some measure
perceptible. Thus the gloom of my prison may be
imagined, and the note of my friend, if indeed it were a
note from him, seemed only likely to throw me into further
trouble, by disquieting to no purpose my already
enfeebled and agitated mind. In vain I revolved in my
brain a multitude of absurd expedients for procuring
light—such expedients precisely as a man in the perturbed
sleep occasioned by opium would be apt to fall
upon for a similar purpose—each and all of which appear
by turns to the dreamer the most reasonable and
the most preposterous of conceptions, just as the reasoning
or imaginative faculties flicker, alternately, one
above the other. At last an idea occurred to me which
seemed rational, and which gave me cause to wonder,
very justly, that I had not entertained it before. I

placed the slip of paper on the back of a book, and, collecting
the fragments of the phosphorus matches which
I had brought from the barrel, laid them together upon
the paper. I then, with the palm of my hand, rubbed
the whole over quickly yet steadily. A clear light diffused
itself immediately throughout the whole surface;
and had there been any writing upon it, I should not
have experienced the least difficulty, I am sure, in reading
it. Not a syllable was there, however—nothing but
a dreary and unsatisfactory blank; the illumination died
away in a few seconds, and my heart died away within
me as it went.

I have before stated more than once that my intellect,
for some period prior to this, had been in a condition
nearly bordering on idiocy. There were, to be sure,
momentary intervals of perfect sanity, and, now and
then, even of energy; but these were few. It must be
remembered that I had been, for many days certainly,
inhaling the almost pestilential atmosphere of a close
hold in a whaling vessel, and a long portion of that time
but scantily supplied with water. For the last fourteen
or fifteen hours I had none—nor had I slept during that
time. Salt provisions of the most exciting kind had
been my chief, and, indeed, since the loss of the mutton,
my only supply of food, with the exception of the sea-biscuit;
and these latter were utterly useless to me, as
they were too dry and hard to be swallowed in the
swollen and parched condition of my throat. I was
now in a high state of fever, and in every respect exceedingly
ill. This will account for the fact that many
miserable hours of despondency elapsed after my last
adventure with the phosphorus, before the thought suggested
itself that I had examined only one side of the
paper. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings of
rage (for I believe I was more angry than anything
else) when the egregious oversight I had committed
flashed suddenly upon my perception. The blunder itself
would have been unimportant, had not my own folly
and impetuosity rendered it otherwise—in my disappointment
at not finding some words upon the slip, I had

childishly torn it in pieces and thrown it away, it was
impossible to say where.

From the worst part of this dilemma I was relieved
by the sagacity of Tiger. Having got, after a long
search, a small piece of the note, I put it to the dog's
nose, and endeavoured to make him understand that he
must bring me the rest of it. To my astonishment (for
I had taught him none of the usual tricks for which his
breed are famous), he seemed to enter at once into my
meaning, and, rummaging about for a few moments,
soon found another considerable portion. Bringing me
this, he paused a while, and, rubbing his nose against my
hand, appeared to be waiting for my approval of what he
had done. I patted him on the head, when he immediately
made off again. It was now some minutes before
he came back—but when he did come, he brought with
him a large slip, which proved to be all the paper missing—it
having been torn, it seems, only into three
pieces. Luckily, I had no trouble in finding what few fragments
of the phosphorus were left—being guided by the
indistinct glow one or two of the particles still emitted.
My difficulties had taught me the necessity of caution,
and I now took time to reflect upon what I was about to
do. It was very probable, I considered, that some
words were written upon that side of the paper which
had not been examined—but which side was that? Fitting
the pieces together gave me no clew in this respect,
although it assured me that the words (if there were any)
would be found all on one side, and connected in a
proper manner, as written. There was the greater necessity
of ascertaining the point in question beyond a
doubt, as the phosphorus remaining would be altogether
insufficient for a third attempt, should I fail in the one I
was now about to make. I placed the paper on a book
as before, and sat for some minutes thoughtfully revolving
the matter over in my mind. At last I thought it
barely possible that the written side might have some
unevenness on its surface, which a delicate sense of
feeling might enable me to detect. I determined to
make the experiment, and passed my finger very carefully

over the side which first presented itself—nothing
however, was perceptible, and I turned the paper, adjusting
it on the book. I now again carried my fore-finger
cautiously along, when I was aware of an exceedingly
slight, but still discernible glow, which followed
as it proceeded. This, I knew, must arise from some
very minute remaining particles of the phosphorus with
which I had covered the paper in my previous attempt.
The other, or under side, then, was that on which lay
the writing, if writing there should finally prove to be.
Again I turned the note, and went to work as I had previously
done. Having rubbed in the phosphorus, a brilliancy
ensued as before—but this time several lines of
MS. in a large hand, and apparently in red ink, became
distinctly visible. The glimmer, although sufficiently
bright, was but momentary. Still, had I not been too
greatly excited, there would have been ample time enough
for me to peruse the whole three sentences before me—
for I saw there were three. In my anxiety, however, to
read all at once, I succeeded only in reading the seven
concluding words, which thus appeared: “blood—your
life depends upon lying close.”

Had I been able to ascertain the entire contents of
the note—the full meaning of the admonition which my
friend had thus attempted to convey, that admonition,
even although it should have revealed a story of disaster
the most unspeakable, could not, I am firmly convinced,
have imbued my mind with one tithe of the harrowing
and yet indefinable horror with which I was inspired by
the fragmentary warning thus received. And “blood”
too, that word of all words—so rife at all times with
mystery, and suffering, and terror—how trebly full of
import did it now appear—how chillily and heavily (disjointed,
as it thus was, from any foregoing words to
qualify or render it distinct) did its vague syllables fall,
amid the deep gloom of my prison, into the innermost
recesses of my soul!

Augustus had, undoubtedly, good reasons for wishing
me to remain concealed, and I formed a thousand surmises
as to what they could be—but I could think of

nothing affording a satisfactory solution of the mystery.
Just after returning from my last journey to the trap,
and before my attention had been otherwise directed by
the singular conduct of Tiger, I had come to the resolution
of making myself heard at all events by those on
board, or, if I could not succeed in this directly, of
trying to cut my way through the orlop deck. The half
certainty which I felt of being able to accomplish one of
these two purposes in the last emergency, had given me
courage (which I should not otherwise have had) to
endure the evils of my situation. The few words I had
been able to read, however, had cut me off from these
final resources, and I now, for the first time, felt all the
misery of my fate. In a paroxysm of despair I threw
myself again upon the mattress, where, for about the
period of a day and night, I lay in a kind of stupor, relieved
only by momentary intervals of reason and recollection.

At length I once more arose, and busied myself in
reflection upon the horrors which encompassed me.
For another twenty-four hours it was barely possible
that I might exist without water—for a longer time I
could not do so. During the first portion of my imprisonment
I had made free use of the cordials with which
Augustus had supplied me, but they only served to excite
fever, without in the least degree assuaging my
thirst. I had now only about a gill left, and this was of
a species of strong peach liqueur at which my stomach
revolted. The sausages were entirely consumed; of
the ham nothing remained but a small piece of the skin;
and all the biscuit, except a few fragments of one, had
been eaten by Tiger. To add to my troubles, I found
that my headache was increasing momentarily, and with
it the species of delirium which had distressed me more
or less since my first falling asleep. For some hours
past it had been with the greatest difficulty I could breathe
at all, and now each attempt at so doing was attended
with the most distressing spasmodic action of the chest.
But there was still another and very different source of
disquietude, and one, indeed, whose harassing terrors

had been the chief means of arousing me to exertion
from my stupor on the mattress. It arose from the demeanour
of the dog.

I first observed an alteration in his conduct while rubbing
in the phosphorus on the paper in my last attempt.
As I rubbed, he ran his nose against my hand with a
slight snarl; but I was too greatly excited at the time
to pay much attention to the circumstance. Soon afterward,
it will be remembered, I threw myself on the
mattress, and fell into a species of lethargy. Presently
I became aware of a singular hissing sound close at my
ears, and discovered it to proceed from Tiger, who was
panting and wheezing in a state of the greatest apparent
excitement, his eyeballs flashing fiercely through the
gloom. I spoke to him, when he replied with a low
growl, and then remained quiet. Presently I relapsed
into my stupor, from which I was again awakened in a
similar manner. This was repeated three or four times,
until finally his behaviour inspired me with so great a degree
of fear that I became fully aroused. He was now
lying close by the door of the box, snarling fearfully, although
in a kind of under tone, and grinding his teeth as
if strongly convulsed. I had no doubt whatever that the
want of water or the confined atmosphere of the hold
had driven him mad, and I was at a loss what course to
pursue. I could not endure the thought of killing him,
yet it seemed absolutely necessary for my own safety.
I could distinctly perceive his eyes fastened upon me
with an expression of the most deadly animosity, and I
expected every instant that he would attack me. At
last I could endure my terrible situation no longer, and
determined to make my way from the box at all hazards,
and despatch him, if his opposition should render it necessary
for me to do so. To get out, I had to pass directly
over his body, and he already seemed to anticipate
my design—raising himself upon his fore legs (as I perceived
by the altered position of his eyes), and displaying
the whole of his white fangs, which were easily discernible.
I took the remains of the ham-skin, and the
bottle containing the liqueur, and secured them about

my person, together with a large carving-knife which
Augustus had left me—then, folding my cloak as closely
around me as possible, I made a movement towards the
mouth of the box. No sooner did I do this than the dog
sprang with a loud growl towards my throat. The
whole weight of his body struck me on the right shoulder,
and I fell violently to the left, while the enraged
animal passed entirely over me. I had fallen upon my
knees, with my head buried among the blankets, and
these protected me from a second furious assault, during
which I felt the sharp teeth pressing vigorously upon
the woollen which enveloped my neck—yet, luckily,
without being able to penetrate all the folds. I was
now beneath the dog, and a few moments would place
me completely in his power. Despair gave me strength,
and I rose bodily up, shaking him from me by main
force, and dragging with me the blankets from the mattress.
These I now threw over him, and before he
could extricate himself I had got through the door and
closed it effectually against his pursuit. In this struggle,
however, I had been forced to drop the morsel of
ham-skin, and I now found my whole stock of provisions
reduced to a single gill of liqueur. As this reflection
crossed my mind, I felt myself actuated by one of
those fits of perverseness which might be supposed to
influence a spoiled child in similar circumstances, and,
raising the bottle to my lips, I drained it to the last drop,
and dashed it furiously upon the floor.

Scarcely had the echo of the crash died away, when
I heard my name pronounced in an eager but subdued
voice, issuing from the direction of the steerage. So
unexpected was anything of the kind, and so intense
was the emotion excited within me by the sound, that I
endeavoured in vain to reply. My powers of speech totally
failed, and, in an agony of terror lest my friend
should conclude me dead, and return without attempting
to reach me, I stood up between the crates near the door
of the box, trembling convulsively, and gasping and
struggling for utterance. Had a thousand worlds depended
upon a syllable, I could not have spoken it.

There was a slight movement now audible among the
lumber somewhere forward of my station. The sound
presently grew less distinct, then again less so, and still
less. Shall I ever forget my feelings at this moment?
He was going—my friend—my companion, from whom
I had a right to expect so much—he was going—he
would abandon me—he was gone! He would leave me
to perish miserably, to expire in the most horrible and
loathsome of dungeons—and one word—one little syllable
would save me—yet that single syllable I could not
utter! I felt, I am sure, more than ten thousand times
the agonies of death itself. My brain reeled, and I fell,
deadly sick, against the end of the box.

As I fell, the carving-knife was shaken out from the
waistband of my pantaloons, and dropped with a rattling
sound to the floor. Never did any strain of the richest
melody come so sweetly to my ears! With the intensest
anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect of the noise
upon Augustus—for I knew that the person who called
my name could be no one but himself. All was silent
for some moments. At length I again heard the word
Arthur! repeated in a low tone, and one full of hesitation.
Reviving hope loosened at once my powers of
speech, and I now screamed, at the top of my voice,
“Augustus! oh Augustus!” “Hush—for God's sake
be silent!” he replied, in a voice trembling with agitation;
“I will be with you immediately—as soon as I can
make my way through the hold.” For a long time I
heard him moving among the lumber, and every moment
seemed to me an age. At length I felt his hand upon
my shoulder, and he placed at the same moment a bottle
of water to my lips. Those only who have been suddenly
redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who have
known the insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances
as aggravated as those which encompassed me
in my dreary prison, can form any idea of the unutterable
transports which that one long draught of the richest
of all physical luxuries afforded.

When I had in some degree satisfied my thirst, Augustus
produced from his pocket three or four cold

boiled potatoes, which I devoured with the greatest avidity.
He had brought with him a light in a dark lantern,
and the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort
than the food and drink. But I was impatient to learn
the cause of his protracted absence, and he proceeded
to recount what had happened on board during my incarceration.