"I _am_ sitting in the middle," said the Churchwarden. "I wonder what the Vestry would say if they could--"
"I wish it distinctly understood," said the Sly Old Fox, "that I am here under protest. If I had for one moment imagined--"
"Now listen to me," said Aunt Amanda. "There"s got to be a captain of this expedition, and as there"s n.o.body here but a lot of helpless men-creatures, I suppose I"ve got to be the captain myself. All those in favor say aye. I"m elected. That"s done. Warden, sit a little bit over to the right."
"Ay, ay, sir; ay, ay, ma"am; certainly," said the Warden.
"Now everybody sit up close to the Warden," said Aunt Amanda. "There. Is the raft balanced now?"
"Ay, ay, sir," said the Churchwarden. "I mean, ay, ay, ma"am."
"Then my orders as captain is, to sit still and see what"s going to happen."
Nothing happened. Freddie grew sleepy, and leaned his head against Aunt Amanda"s shoulder. As he was falling off to sleep, a slim dark object rose from the sea near by and whirred across the ocean and plopped into the water.
"Bless me heyes," said Mr. Punch, "hit"s a flying-fish, as ever was."
"Is it, really?" said Freddie. "Did he really fly?"
"How wonderful is nature!" said the Sly Old Codger. "Such an opportunity to improve the mind! My little friend, I trust you will profit by what you have seen. It is very educational; very educational indeed."
"Ahem!" said the Old Codger with the Wooden Leg. "What do you suppose--er--ahem!--if you will pardon me--what are those little things sparkling out there on the surface of the water?"
"Hit"s a school of sardines!" said Mr. Punch. "Hi know them wery well; when I was a lad--"
"There must be millions of them," said Freddie. "Just look!"
The tiny fish were leaping by thousands on the surface of the water, immediately in the path of moonlight; and they flashed and sparkled as they leaped.
"Hi believe there"s a great fish arfter them," said Mr. Punch.
"Maybe a whole regiment of big fish," said Toby. "By crackey, there"s one now!"
As he spoke, a black fin cut the water near the sardines, and they became more agitated than ever; from the size of the fin, it must have been a very great fish indeed; and along the upper edge of the fin was a row of long sharp saw-teeth, looking big and strong enough to have sawed through a wooden plank.
"There"s another one!" cried Freddie.
"And another! and another!" cried Aunt Amanda.
There must have been five or six of the great fish.
"I hope they won"t come near this boat," said Toby. "One of "em would just about turn us upside down if he struck us."
"Mercy!" said Aunt Amanda. "Don"t say such a terrible thing."
At that moment a great round black back appeared above the surface of the water, some hundred yards or so away, and in another moment a great black blunt head joined itself to the back, and a spout of white vapor rose from the head.
"A whale!" cried several voices at once.
"Oh!" said Aunt Amanda. "Suppose he should come this way?"
The five or six fins of the great fish near the sardines now disappeared. The whale threw up his enormous tail, and went down head first beneath the water. Almost immediately, one of the saw-toothed fins reappeared, much nearer the raft than before.
"Merciful heavens!" cried Aunt Amanda. "He"s coming towards us! Oh dear!"
The great fish was in fact evidently making straight towards the raft.
Freddie clutched Aunt Amanda"s arm. The fin cut the water at a high speed; it disappeared at times, but on each reappearance it was still pointed towards the raft.
"He"s nearly on us!" cried Aunt Amanda. "Hold on tight, Freddie!"
The great fish came on with a rush, and as he reached the raft struck it with his back and slid under it. There was a tremendous b.u.mp, which nearly sent the company flat; then there was a rubbing under the raft, and everything was quiet again.
"He"s gone," said Toby.
"No, "e isn"t," said Mr. Punch. "Look at "is tail!"
A great tail could be seen beyond the edge of the raft, just below the surface of the water. It thrashed about and churned up the water violently for a few seconds, and then waved back and forth quietly; but it did not disappear.
"By crackey," said Toby, "he"s stuck! His fin has got stuck into the bottom of the raft! He"s got the whole kit and bilin" of us on his back!"
"Mercy on us!" said Aunt Amanda.
"Is it really true?" said Freddie.
"On due consideration," said the Churchwarden, "I think Toby"s right."
"Hi believe "e is!" said Mr. Punch. "Blimy if I ever rode on the back of a fish before! Now "e"s got us on "is back, what"s "e going to do with us?"
"We"re moving!" cried Freddie.
"So we are!" said Aunt Amanda.
"Blamed if we ain"t," said Toby.
The mattress craft was in fact moving; very slowly, indeed, but still moving; and it was moving in the opposite direction to the fish"s tail, which could be seen now and then under the water, waving back and forth like the tail of a swimming fish.
"If this don"t beat all," said Toby. "That fish down there has certainly got his fin hooked into our mattress, and he"s swimming along with us on top of him. I"ve seen a snail crawlin" with his sh.e.l.l on top of him, but a fish with a load of mattresses and live-stock is a new thing to me!"
"I"m the captain," said Aunt Amanda, "and my orders is to sit as still as you can and see where he"s taking us to."
"Ay, ay, sir," said the Churchwarden. "I mean, ay, ay, ma"am."
The party huddled on top of the mattresses sat as still as mice, hardly daring to breathe. Their little craft continued to move gently through the water. They expected each moment that the fish would free himself, but evidently his fin had embedded itself so firmly in one of the bottom mattresses that he could not get loose; he went on swimming with his load on his back.
Hour after hour they waited to feel their craft stop; but hour after hour it moved gently and slowly across the surface of the sea. They settled themselves more comfortably against each other, and spoke very little. No one noticed that their raft was now much lower in the water.
The air was warm, the moonlight and the silence were extremely soothing, and the motion of the raft was gentle and languorous. Freddie"s head sank against Aunt Amanda"s shoulder, and his eyes closed; and in another moment he was asleep. Aunt Amanda herself nodded, and her eyes closed; she was asleep too. Toby yawned, and leaned heavily against the Sly Old Codger; his eyes closed, and--in short, every eye closed, and every frame relaxed heavily against its neighbor, and at last, doubled over in a closely huddled group in the exact center of their mattresses, the whole party slept; each and every one.