Take the other side, Brown. Nowlift.
Between them they could just raise it; they had hardly staggered a yard with it before all the strength was gone from Hornblowers wrists and fingers and the boat slipped to the ground again. He avoided Browns eye and stooped again, exasperated.
Lift! he said.
It was impossible to carry the heavy boat that way. He had no sooner lifted it than he was compelled to drop it again.
Its no go, sir, said Brown gently. Well have to get her upon our backs, sir. Thats the only way.
Hornblower heard the respectful murmur as if from a long distance.
If you take the bows, beggin your pardon, sir, Ill look after the stern. Here, sir, lift tother way round. Hold it, sir, till I can get aft. Right, sir. Ready. Lift!
They had the boat up on their backs now, stooping double under the heavy load. Hornblower, straining under the lighter bows, thought of Brown carrying the much heavier stern, and he set his teeth and vowed to himself that he would not rest until Brown asked to. Within five seconds he was regretting his vow. His breath was coming with difficulty and there were stabbing pains in his chest. It grew harder and harder to take the trouble to attend to the proper placing of his feet as he stumbled over the uneven surface. Those months in the Château de Graçay had done their work in making him soft and out of condition; for the last few yards of the portage he was conscious of nothing save the overwhelming weight on his neck and shoulders and his difficulty of breathing. Then he heard Bushs bluff voice.
Right, sir. Let me get hold, sir.
With the small but welcome help that Bush could afford he was able to disengage himself and lower the boat to the ground; Brown was standing over the stern gasping, and sweeping the sweat off his forehead with his forearm. Hornblower saw him open his mouth to make a remark, presumably regarding the weight of the boat, and then shut it again when he remembered that now he was under discipline again and must only speak when spoken to. And discipline, Hornblower realized, required that he himself should display no sign of weakness before his subordinatesit was bad enough that he should have had to receive advice from Brown as to how to lift the boat.
Take hold again, Brown, and well get her into the water, he said, controlling his breathing with a vast effort.
They slid the boat in, and heaved the stores on board again. Hornblowers head was swimming with the strain; he thought longingly of his comfortable seat in the stern, and then put the thought from him.
Ill take the sculls, Brown, he said.
Brown opened and shut his mouth again, but he could not question explicit orders. The boat danced out over the water, with Hornblower at the sculls happy in the rather baseless conviction that he had demonstrated that a captain in the Kings Navy was the equal even in physical strength of any mere coxswain, however Herculean his thews.
Once or twice that day shallows caught them out in midstream which they were unable to pass without lightening the boat to a maximum extent. When Hornblower and Brown, ankle-deep in rushing water, could drag the boat no farther, Bush had to get out too, his wooden leg sinking in the sand despite its broad leather sole, and limp downstream to the edge of the shallows and wait until the others dragged the lightened boat up to himonce he had to stand holding the bag of bread and the roll of bedding before they could tug the boat over the shallows, and on that occasion they had to unstrap his wooden leg, help him in, and then tug the leg free from the sand, so deeply had it sunk. There was another portage to be made that day, fortunately not nearly such a long one as the first; altogether there was quite enough interest in the days journey to keep them from growing bored.
On that big lonely river it was almost like travelling through an uninhabited country. For the greater part of the day there was hardly a soul in sight. Once they saw a skiff moored to the bank which was obviously used as a ferry-boat, and once they passed a big wagon ferrya flat-bottomed scow which was moored so as to swing itself across the river by the force of the current, pendulum-fashion on long mooring ropes. Once they passed a small boat engaged in
the task of dredging sand for building purposes from the river bed; there were two weather-beaten men on board, hard at work with, small hand dredgers on poles, which they scraped over the bottom and emptied into the boat. It was a nervous moment as they approached them, Bush and Brown with their ornamental fishing rods out, Hornblower forcing himself to do no more with the sculls than merely keep the boat in midstream. He had thought, as they drifted down, of giving orders to Bush and Brown regarding the instant silencing of the two men if they appeared suspicious, but he checked himself. He could rely on their acting promptly without warning, and his dignity demanded that he should betray none of the apprehension which he felt.