A STORM ON THE LAKE. 61
At this sudden blow, which could not have been parried, the bow of the boat was split open, and the water poured into it in torrents.
"We are sinking! we are sinking!" cried Jaspar Hobson.
He was right. The boat was settling down; the water had already reached the seats.
"Madam, madam, I am here! I will not leave you!" added the Lieutenant.
"No, no," cried Mrs Bamett: "alone, you may save yourself; together, we should perish. Leave me! leave me!"
"Never!" cried Hobson.
But he had scarcely pronounced this word when the boat, struck by another wave, filled and sank.
Both were drawn under water by the eddy caused by the sudden settling down of the boat, but in a few instants they rose to the surface. Hobson was a strong swimmer, and struck out with one arm, supporting his companion with the other. But it was evident that he could not long sustain a conflict with the furious waves, and that he must perish with her he wished to save.
At this moment a strange sound attracted his attention. It was not the cry of a frightened bird, but the shout of a human voice! By one supreme effort Hobson raised himself above the waves and looked around him.
But he could distinguish nothing in the thick fog. And yet he again heard cries, this time nearer to him. Some bold men were coming to his succour! Alas! if it were so, they would arrive too late. Encumbered by his clothes, the Lieutenant felt himself sinking with the unfortunate lady, whose head he could scarcely keep above the water. With a last despairing effort he uttered a heart-rending cry and disappeared beneath the waves.
It was, however, no mistake — he had heard voices. Three men, wandering about by the lake, had seen the boat in danger, and put off to its rescue. They were Esquimaux, the only men who could have hoped to weather such a storm, for theirs are the only boats constructed to escape destruction in these fearful tempests.
The Esquimaux boat or kayak is a long pirogue raised at each end, made of a light framework of wood, covered with stretched seal-skins strongly stitched with the sinews of the Walrus. In the upper part of the boat, also covered with skins, is an opening in which the Esquimaux takes his place, fastening his waterproof jacket to the back of his seat; so that he is actually joined to his bark.
