Chapter 25

And when the hours of rest
Come, like a calm upon the mid-sea brine
Hushing its billowy breast--
The quiet of that moment, too, is thine;
It breathes of him who keeps
The vast and helpless city while it sleeps.

BRYANT.

It was chilling to meet with this unexpected and sudden check at so
critical a moment. The first impression was, that some one of the hundreds
of Arabs, who were known to be near, had laid a hand on the launch; but
this fear vanished on examination. No one was visible, and the side of the
boat was untouched. The boat-hook could find no impediment in the water,
and it was not possible that they could again be aground. Raising the
boat-hook over his head, Paul soon detected the obstacle. The line used by
the barbarians in their efforts to move the ship was stretched from the
forecastle to the reef, and it lay against the boat's mast. It was severed
with caution; but the short end slipped from the hand of Mr. Sharp, who
cut the rope, and fell into the water. The noise was heard, and the watch
on the deck of the ship made a rush towards her side.

No time was to be lost; but Paul, who still held the outer end of the
line, pulled on it vigorously, hauling the boat swiftly from the ship,
and, at the same time, a little in advance. As soon as this was done, he
dropped the line and seized the tiller-ropes, in order to keep the
launch's head in a direction between the two dangers--the ship and the
reef. This was not done without some little noise; the footfall on the
roof, and the plash of the water when it received the line, were audible;
and even the element washing under the bows of the boat was heard. The
Arabs of the ship called to those on the reef, and the latter answered.
They took the alarm, and awoke their comrades, for, knowing as they did,
that the party of Captain Truck was still at liberty, they apprehended
an attack.

The clamour and uproar that succeeded were terrific. Muskets were
discharged at random, and the noises from the camp echoed the cries and
tumult from the vessel and the rocks. Those who had been sleeping in the
boat were rudely awaked, and Saunders joined in the cries through sheer
fright. But the two gentlemen on deck soon caused their companions to
understand their situation, and to observe a profound silence.

"They do not appear to see us," whispered Paul to Eve as he bent over, so
as to put his head at an open window; "and a return of the breeze may
still save us. There is a great alarm among them and no doubt they know we
are not distant; but so long as they cannot tell precisely where, we are
comparatively safe.--Their cries do us good service as landmarks, and you
may be certain I shall not approach the spots were they