The Elfin Ship by James P. Blaylock Read Free Book Online Page A

that. There they sat, in the middle of the quiet river with their bow run up a third of the length of the raft onto the sand.
    The two struggled for an hour, vainly attempting to work the bow of the raft out into the deeper channel that ran along the edge of the bar. Too much of the raft was aground, however, for this maneuver to prove of much use. The long, stiff wooden poles could find nothing solid in the sandy river bottom to pry against, and simply gouged along through the sand and accomplished nothing.
    The Professor, finally, paused and sat down on an empty cask. ‘I think I see it, Cheeser.’
    ‘Ah,’ said Jonathan, not knowing exactly what it was the Professor saw. ‘Do you now?’
    ‘That I do. We can’t, you’ll agree, pole this craft off the bar. Not the two of us.’
    ‘I agree.’
    ‘And we can’t sit and wait for the river to rise.’
    ‘True again. It may drop before it rises. And a rise would mean a storm, and we don’t want to weather a storm while aground in midriver.’
    ‘Just so,’ said the Professor, ‘just so. As I see it, we’re men of science.’
    ‘I believe you’re right.’
    ‘And men of science use their heads, you’ll agree again. Now my head tells me that there are three ways to get off this bar. Muscle is the first, and that, apparently, doesn’t work. That leaves us two options. One of those is to rig the mizzenmast and take advantage of the crosswind to help swing the stern out into deep water. With the current to help, we could then pole the bow free.’
    ‘That’s a good plan, Professor, a good plan. But we’d be the better part of the day accomplishing the task. And who’s to say that we wouldn’t spin round and beach the whole larboard side?’
    ‘And if we do, are we much the worse off?’
    ‘No,’ said Jonathan, ‘I suppose not. But you mentioned a third option. What is that?’
    ‘It would be possible to row across to the far shore in the coracle. Then by looping a line round one of the great alders, we could drag the raft free by use of a block and tackle.’
    Jonathan pondered for a moment. ‘I’m afraid it’s too great a distance for such a thing. The weight of the wet rope alone would make it an impossible chore for one man to accomplish. And one of us would, of course, have to stay aboard the raft. And think of the pressure on a rope of that length once the raft is free in the current. We’d likely lose the rope, block and tackle, and all.’
    ‘Well we could cut the rope as soon as the raft was free. Clearly the one on the raft would have to tack upstream so as not to outdistance the coracle anyway. So those fears shouldn’t much interfere with the scheme.’
    The two sat there puffing on their pipes during this interchange, and both realized at the same instant that the lunch they had considered eating an hour and a half before hadn’t been eaten.
    ‘Are you hungry, Professor?’ asked Jonathan.
    ‘Ravenous.’
    ‘Shall we eat then?’
    ‘I suppose we shall.’
    As they rose and reached for the door of the hold, both men paused. From within, unmistakably, came the murmur of a voice, droning along as if engaged in earnest conversation. Jonathan, stealthily, bent an ear to the door and caught the words, ‘hairy thing’ and ‘goblin’ and ‘buckets of ice cream.’ He was sure of it. The door swung to, and both Jonathan and Professor Wurzle peeked in half expecting almost anything. What they saw was Ahab, round as a tub, hunched over a half-eaten dill pickle. The top of the pickle keg was ajar. The whole mystery was peculiar to the utmost.
    The Professor was the first to speak. ‘It looks as if your beast has been having a go at the pickles.’
    ‘I should say.’
    ‘Abominably odd.’
    ‘Yes indeed. How could he have purloined a pickle? Even if he had been able to reach the top of the keg, he couldn’t have popped the top loose.’
    ‘A good deduction, Cheeser,’ the Professor whispered. ‘Odd things are afoot.’ The two