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diff --git a/21472.txt b/21472.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bda2be3 --- /dev/null +++ b/21472.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6690 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ned Garth, by W. H. G. Kingston + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Ned Garth + Made Prisoner in Africa. A Tale of the Slave Trade + +Author: W. H. G. Kingston + +Release Date: May 15, 2007 [EBook #21472] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NED GARTH *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Ned Garth; Made Prisoner in Africa. A Tale of the Slave Trade, by W H G +Kingston. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +NED GARTH; MADE PRISONER IN AFRICA. A TALE OF THE SLAVE TRADE, BY W H G +KINGSTON. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +"Can you make her out, Ned? My eyes are not so sharp as they used to +be, and I lost sight of the craft when came on." + +"She has tacked, uncle; I see her masts in one, and she's standing to +the westward." + +"I was afraid so; she must be a stranger, or she would have kept her +course. She'll not weather the head as she's now standing, and if it +doesn't clear and show her the land, she'll be on shore, as sure as my +name is John Pack." + +The speaker was a strongly built man, dressed in a thick pea-coat +buttoned closely over his breast, the collar turned up to protect his +neck. A white, low-crowned, weather-beaten, broadish-brimmed hat +covered his head, and he held in his hand a thick stick, which he +pressed firmly on the ground as he walked, for he had been deprived of +one of his legs, its place being supplied by a wooden substitute +resembling a mop handle in shape. His appearance was decidedly +nautical, and though habited in plain clothes, he might have been known +at a glance to be a naval officer. + +His companion, a boy of about fourteen years of age, though from his +height and breadth of shoulders he might have been supposed to be older, +wore a thick monkey jacket, a necessary protection against the strong +wind and dense masses of rain and mist which swept up from the ocean. + +They stood on the top of a cliff on the southern coast of England, +which, circling round from the north-west to the south-east, formed a +broad deep bay, terminated on the further side by a bluff headland, and +on the other by a rocky point, a ledge partly under water extending +beyond it. + +The bay was indeed a dangerous place to enter with so heavy a gale from +the south-west as was now blowing. + +Lieutenant Pack and his young nephew Edward Garth were returning home +from an errand of mercy to an old fisherman who had been severely +injured by the upsetting of his boat, in a vain endeavour to go off to a +coaster in distress, which foundered in sight of land, when he was +washed on shore amid the fragments of his boat, narrowly escaping with +his life. Although the fisherman's cottage was upwards of two miles +off, the old lieutenant trudged daily over to see him, and on this +occasion had been accompanied by his nephew, carrying a basket +containing certain delicacies prepared by the kind hands of Miss Sarah +Pack, or sister Sally, as he was wont to call her. He and his nephew +had started later than usual, and the gloom of an autumn evening had +overtaken them when they were still some distance from home. He had +caught sight of the vessel, apparently a large brig, and had at once +perceived her dangerous position. + +For some time he and his nephew stood watching the stranger from the +cliff. + +"Here she comes again!" cried Ned. + +"She made out the land sooner than I expected she would," observed the +lieutenant; "but she'll scarcely weather the point even now, unless the +wind shifts. She can't do it--she can't do it!" he cried, striking the +ground in his eagerness with his stick. "Run on, Ned, to the +coast-guard station. If you meet one of the men, tell him, in case he +hasn't seen her, that I think the vessel will be on shore before long. +But if you fall in with no one, go and let Lieutenant Hanson know what I +say, and he'll get his rockets ready, so as to be prepared to assist the +crew whenever the vessel may strike. Take care, Ned, though, not to +fall over the cliff--keep well away from it. On a dark night you cannot +see the path clearly, and in many spots, remember, it ends abruptly in +places where it wouldn't do to tumble down. I cannot spare you, my +boy." + +While the lieutenant was shouting out these latter sentences, Edward, +eager to obey his uncle's directions, had got to a considerable +distance; he, however, very soon came back. + +"I met one of the men, uncle," he said, "and he went on to the station +faster than I could in the dark, as he knows the short cuts." + +"Come along then, we'll keep an eye on the brig as we walk homeward," +said the lieutenant. "I pray that after all she may claw off the land, +although she will have a hard job to do it." + +The old officer and the boy proceeded on the way they had previously +been pursuing. They had gone some distance when they saw a light +approaching them. + +"Now, if my sister Sally hasn't sent Tom to look for us, or I am much +mistaken," he exclaimed to himself rather than to his companion. "Poor +soul! she's been in a precious quandary at our not returning sooner, and +has been fancying that we shall be melted by the rain, or carried off +the cliffs by the wind, though it blows directly on them." + +The lieutenant was right in his conjectures; in another minute a voice +was heard shouting, "Dat you, Massa Pack an' Massa Ned?" + +"Aye, aye," answered the lieutenant; "keep your lantern shaded from the +sea, or it may be mistaken for a signal." + +Directly afterwards a tall figure could be discerned coming towards him. +"Missie Sarah in drea'ful way, cos you an' Massa Ned not come back when +de wind an' rain kick up such a hulabaloo," said the same voice which +had before spoken. + +The lieutenant explained the cause of their delay, and bade Tom hasten +back and tell his mistress that they would soon be at home, but were +anxious to ascertain the fate of a vessel they had discovered closer +in-shore than she should be. "Beg her not to be alarmed; and, Tom, you +come back with a coil of rope and a couple of oars from the boat-house. +We may not want them, for I hope the coast-guard men will be up to the +spot in time to help, should the craft unfortunately come ashore, but it +is just as well to be prepared to render assistance in case of need." + +Tom, handing the lantern to the boy, hurried back to execute the orders +he had received, the lieutenant and his young companion following at a +slower pace. The fast increasing darkness had now completely shut out +the brig from sight. When last perceived, however, her head was pointed +in a direction which, could she maintain, she might weather the rocks +under her lee. Presently the loud report of a gun was heard sounding +high above the roar of the seas which broke on the shore. + +"That was fearfully near," observed Edward. + +"It was indeed," said the lieutenant. "I hope that it will hurry Hanson +and his men. The master of the brig has discovered his danger. There +is no chance of her escaping, I fear." + +"I can see her!" cried the boy; "one of her top-masts has gone, she's +drifting bodily on shore." + +"Poor fellows! with a heavy sea beating on it; unless she's a stout +craft, she'll knock to pieces in a few minutes," observed the +lieutenant. "We'll go down to the beach and try what help we can +render." + +A zig-zag pathway, well known to both of them, led downwards through an +opening in the cliff, a short distance from the spot they had reached. +The lieutenant and his nephew followed it without hesitation, the former +leading and feeling the way with his stick, for it required care to +avoid slipping over, and an ugly fall might have been the consequence of +a false step. They reached the bottom, however, in safety; and as they +hurried along the shingly beach, straining their eyes to discover the +whereabouts of the hapless brig, another and another gun was heard, the +loud reports rapidly succeeding the bright flashes, showing the nearness +of the vessel. The whistling of the wind and the roaring of the waves +overpowered all other sounds. They listened for another gun, but +listened in vain. + +"I feared it would be so," exclaimed the lieutenant; "she must have +struck already." + +"Yes, yes, I see a dark mass surrounded by foam; that must he her, and +not fifty yards off," cried Ned. As he spoke he could distinguish, in +imagination at all events, amid the wild foaming waters, the crash of +timbers, and hear the cries of the hapless crew imploring assistance. +For an instant, too, he fancied that he saw a smaller object floating on +the snowy crests of the waves, but before he could be certain that it +was what he supposed, it had disappeared. + +"Would that the men with their rockets were here. What can have delayed +them? If they don't come soon, not a soul of the crew will be left +alive," exclaimed the lieutenant. + +Just then a voice hailed, and Edward shouted in return. A dark figure +could be seen at the top of the cliff. It was Tom, who rapidly made his +way down to where they stood, carrying a pair of oars and a coil of +rope. + +"The brig is driving in," cried Edward. "She's much nearer than when I +first saw her." + +"You're right," answered the lieutenant. "In spite of my timber leg, +few men could once beat me at swimming; even now I've a mind to go off +to the wreck. I might be in time to save some of the people. Here, +Tom, hand me the end of the rope, and I'll make it fast round my waist, +and do you and Ned pay it out, and haul in again when I shout to you." + +"Don't think of going," said Edward; "you have been ill lately, and are +not as strong as you were. Let me try. I can swim like a fish; you +have often seen me in rough water as well as in smooth. It won't matter +to any one if I am drowned." + +"Won't it though! What would Aunt Sally say if I was to go back without +you, Ned?" exclaimed the lieutenant. "I should never be able to look +her in the face again." + +"But I'll do my best not to come to harm," said Edward; "and you can +haul me back if I cannot make my way through the breakers." + +"Let me go, massa," cried Tom, rapidly throwing off his clothes, and +beginning, without further ado, to fasten the rope round his own waist. +"Jis see him tight--not a slip-knot, massa. Tom Baraka swim tro' worse +seas dan dis on coast ob Africa, as you know. Stick de oar in de sand. +Tie de rope to it, Massa Pack; you pay out, and off him go." + +And before the lieutenant or Ned had time to speak another word, the +black had plunged into the foaming seas, dragging out the rope which the +lieutenant quickly uncoiled. His dark head and back could be +distinguished amid the surging foam, as he made his way through the +breakers for some distance, when a huge wave rolling in beat him back +almost to the beach. The lieutenant hauled in the rope, fearing that +Tom's legs might be entangled, but the brave black again sprang forward. +He had, however, another danger besides the sea to encounter. Already +broken spars, planks, and masses of timber, with bales of all sorts, +were being hurled on shore, and a blow from some heavy piece of wreck +might in an instant disable him. It seemed useless indeed to proceed +further; not a human being was likely to have remained alive on the +shattered wreck. Probably the larger number were drowned when the boat +was upset. Another sea, still fiercer than the former, rushing on with +a loud roar, again drove Tom back. + +"We must haul in the rope," cried the lieutenant. "I cannot let the +brave fellow further risk his life." + +But once more it was found that Tom was dragging out the rope. + +"I heard a cry, and I fancy I see some one not far from. Tom," +exclaimed Edward. "Yes, yes! he is making towards the man. Ah, I fear +he has missed him; no, he has hold of him. Haul away, uncle, haul away; +let me go and help him, there's rope enough to spare," and Ned, securing +the slack end of the rope under his arms and seizing the spare oar, +dashed forward in time to grasp the man just as the black, exhausted by +his exertions, was on the point of letting him go. Another wave +breaking at the moment, and hissing as it rushed back in a sheet of foam +over the beach, would have swept away the almost rescued man, but +Edward, planting his oar deep in the sand, held on while the lieutenant +was engaged in hauling Tom out of danger, hastening, the moment he had +done so, to assist his nephew in landing the stranger. The latter still +breathed, and attempted to raise himself from the sand, though unable to +speak. + +"You attend to him, Ned, while I look after Tom," said the lieutenant. + +The black, however, required no assistance. He proposed, indeed, to +again swim off on the chance of finding some other human being +struggling for life; but this the lieutenant would not allow. Already +the breakers were covered with masses of wreck, amid which not a single +person could be seen, though they looked out eagerly, Tom pressing into +the seething foam as far as he dared venture, while the lieutenant held +up the lantern as a signal to any strong swimmer who might successfully +have buffeted with the waves; but he did so with little hope of success. +Every now and then he looked round, uttering an exclamation of regret +at the non-appearance of the coast-guard, though, had they arrived, it +was evident that they would be too late to be of use. + +The sea continued to cast up fragments of wreck and cargo on the beach, +but the lieutenant and Tom searched in vain for any of their +fellow-creatures to whom they might render assistance. + +"No use waiting longer, I fear," shouted the lieutenant. "I'll go and +look after the man we have saved; the sooner we get him under shelter +the better, or he'll be perishing of cold." + +"Me stop just a little longer," answered the black. + +"Take care though that the sea doesn't carry you off, Tom," cried the +lieutenant, even now trusting that someone else might be rescued. + +On returning to the spot where Edward was tending the stranger, he bent +down by the side of the latter and felt his heart. "He is still +evidently in a very exhausted condition," he observed, holding up his +lantern so that the light fell on the man's countenance. "Poor fellow, +he does not look as if he were accustomed to a seaman's life." + +"I have been rubbing his hands and chest, uncle, and trying what I could +do to revive him," said Edward. "We should get him home at once, I am +sure." + +"Just what I was saying; we must not risk his life on the chance of +saving that of others," replied the lieutenant. "Come, Tom," he +shouted, "it is of no use, we must carry home this poor fellow; and may +be before we get far the coast-guard will be down here and take our +places." + +At that instant a hail was heard. The lieutenant shouted in return. In +a few minutes a party of coast-guard men appeared, headed by their +lieutenant, who had heard the guns, and had been searching for the spot +where the vessel had struck. The man to whom Edward had given the +message had, however, not appeared, having, as was afterwards +discovered, fallen over the cliff and nearly lost his life. Lieutenant +Hanson said that he would remain on the spot, though his rockets would +be useless, as not a man could be clinging to the wreck. + +"Let me have one of your people to assist in carrying this poor fellow +to my cottage then," said Lieutenant Pack; "it is more than Tom and I +can accomplish, seeing that my timber toe is apt to stick in the soft +sand as I trudge along." + +"With all my heart," was the answer. "You shall have two, only send +them back without delay." + +No further time was lost. The coast-guard men, wrapping the stranger in +their dry coats, lifted him on their shoulders, Ned and Tom taking his +feet, while the lieutenant led the way, lantern in hand, towards his +home. + +Although a bright light beaming forth from the sitting-room of the +lieutenant's abode could alone be distinguished as the party approached, +it may be as well to describe it at once. Triton Cottage, as he called +it, from the name of the ship on board which he first went to sea, stood +on the side of a broad gap or opening in the cliff, some little distance +up from the beach, the ground around it being sufficiently level to +allow of a fair-sized garden and shrubbery. It was a building of +somewhat curious appearance, having no pretentions to what is considered +architectural beauty. The lieutenant, notwithstanding, was proud of it, +as the larger portion had been erected by his own hands from time to +time as he considered it necessary to increase its size, in order to +afford sufficient accommodation to its inmates, and to obtain a spare +room in which he could put up an old shipmate, or any other visitor to +whom his hospitable feelings might prompt him to give an invitation. +The original building had been a fisherman's cottage, to which he had +added another story, with a broad verandah in front, while on either +side wings had been attached, the upper portions composed of wood +obtained from wrecks, the bulkheads serving as wainscoting to the rooms. +Both from their size and the fittings they resembled the cabins of a +small vessel, being warmed also by ship's stoves, with high flues, +curiously topped, rising above the roof, exhibiting a variety of +contrivances to prevent the smoke from beating down. The tar-bucket and +paint-pot had been brought largely into requisition, the wood-work of +the lower story being covered with a shining coat of black, while +various colours adorned the walls both inside and out. The old +lieutenant might frequently have been seen, brush in hand, adorning his +mansion, and stopping up every crevice, so as to defy damp, or rain +driven against it by the fiercest of south-westerly gales. It was +substantially roofed with thick slabs of slate, obtained from a +neighbouring quarry, calculated to withstand the storms of winter or the +thickest downfall of snow. The building had, however, so slight an +appearance that it looked as if it might be carried by a strong wind +into the sea; but a closer inspection showed that the materials of which +it was composed were well seasoned and firmly put together, and though +gaily bedecked, fire was the only element it had to fear, and against +that the owner had taken all necessary precautions. + +"Sally, sister Sally!" he shouted, as he neared the door, "I have +brought a guest who requires careful looking after, or he'll slip +through our fingers, for he's pretty well gone already." + +As he spoke, the door opened, and a female appeared holding a shaded +lamp in her hand, which the wind threatened every instant to extinguish. +Her figure was short and slight, her dress a grey silk gown, a plain +lace cap confining her once dark hair, already sprinkled with grey, +drawn back from her forehead, on which not a wrinkle could be seen. A +kind expression beamed from her countenance, which, if it had never +possessed much beauty, must always have been pleasant to look upon. + +"Thank Heaven you've come back at last, John! Tom frightened me by the +intelligence that a wreck was on shore, and I knew that you would be +exposing yourself to danger. Have many of the poor fellows been saved?" + +"Only one, I fear," answered the lieutenant, pointing to the men who now +approached. "Take him into my room, Tom; the sooner he is in bed the +better, and mine is ready for him. Get some warm broth or a cup of tea +made in the meantime. He is terribly exhausted, and probably has not +tasted food for many hours." + +The lieutenant made these remarks as Ned and Tom, with the coast-guard +men, conveyed the stranger into the room, when, speedily taking off his +wet garments, they placed him in bed. + +"By his dress I suspect he is a gentleman," observed the lieutenant to +his nephew, as Tom gathered up his wet clothes. "Hand me his watch and +purse--it is a heavy one--and that pocket-book. Here is a small case +too, something of value probably. He will be glad to know that his +property is safe when he comes to. Run and see if the tea is ready. I +will get him, if I can, to take a little hot liquid. Tell your aunt and +Jane to stir up the fire and get the broth boiling; that will soon set +him on his legs I hope." + +The lieutenant now managed to pour the warm tea down the throat of the +stranger, who opened his eyes, and looking about with an astonished gaze +murmured, "Thank you, thank you! Where am I?" + +"All right and safe on shore, though you may take my room to be a ship's +cabin," answered the lieutenant. "We have got your property, in case +you are anxious about it; and after you have had a basin of broth I +would advise you to try and go to sleep. It will restore your strength +faster than any food we can give you." + +The stranger again murmured his thanks, and soon after the broth was +brought, following his host's advice, he fell into a quiet slumber. + +"He'll require a visit from the doctor perhaps, though I hope that he'll +do well enough now," observed the lieutenant, as he sat at supper with +his sister and Ned that evening after he had paid all the attention +necessary to his guest. + +"I wonder who he can be?" observed Miss Sarah. "You say he was dressed +as a gentleman, and has a considerable amount of property in his +possession." + +"Your female curiosity will probably be gratified to-morrow, when he is +able to give an account of himself," replied the lieutenant; "but it +matters very little as far as we are concerned. I suspect he'll thank +us for doing what it was our simple duty to do, and after he has gone +his way we shall probably hear no more of him. Had he been a seaman, +without a copper in his pocket, we should have treated him in the same +fashion I hope. Remember, Ned, the meaning of having no respect for +persons. It is not that we are not to respect those above us, but that +we are to treat our fellow-creatures alike, without expectation of +reward, and to pull a drowning man, whether a lord or an ordinary +seaman, out of the water when we can." + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +The next morning Ned went off to summon the doctor from the neighbouring +town, for their guest still remained in an apparently dangerous state. +Several days passed before he was able to rise. He was evidently, from +his conversation and manners, a man of education; but he did not speak +of himself, except to mention that his name was Farrance, and that he +was on a voyage from the Mediterranean in the "Champion" brig, when she +had been cast away; and he again also expressed his gratitude to Miss +Sarah Pack for the kindness he was receiving, and to the lieutenant and +his companions for preserving his life. He made minute inquiries as to +the occurrence, he only remembering that he was clinging to a portion of +the wreck after she had struck, when he felt himself washed into the +foaming breakers. He appeared to be interested in Ned, whom he drew +into conversation, inquiring particularly what profession he intended to +follow. + +"I wish to enter the navy, as my father and uncle did," answered Ned; +"but my uncle says that he has no interest, and that I should have +little chance of promotion. Indeed, his means are so limited that I +cannot ask him to provide the necessary funds, so I conclude I shall +have to go into the merchant service." + +"Well, well, you are right in desiring not to be an expense to your +uncle. Every man should endeavour, as far as he can, to depend upon his +own exertions; however, you have still some time to think about the +matter, and you will, I hope, succeed in whatever profession you +follow," remarked the stranger. + +There was another inmate of the house who appeared to interest him even +more than Edward. A little girl of some ten or twelve years of age--a +fair-haired, blue-eyed damsel, with a sweet, gentle expression of +countenance, yet full of life and spirits. Edward had told him that she +was not his sister, although he loved her as much as if she were. The +first evening he came into the sitting-room the lieutenant heard him ask +her name. + +"I am called Mary," she answered; "Uncle John gave me my name when he +first found me." + +She shortly afterwards left the room. The stranger watched her as she +went out with a look of much surprise. + +"You may be curious to know the meaning of her remark," observed Miss +Sarah. "My brother will tell you how she came into our possession; very +thankful I have been to have so sprightly and sweet a young creature +under our roof, though at first I confess I felt somewhat anxious when +he placed her in my charge." + +Mr Farrance turned an inquiring glance towards his host. + +"I have but a short yarn to spin about the matter," said the lieutenant. +"Some few years ago, after I had quitted the service, an old friend +offered me the command of a ship bound on a voyage round the Cape of +Good Hope and up the Red Sea. I was not sorry to obtain employment, and +was glad to have the opportunity of making a few pounds, which might +assist to keep the pot boiling at home, and help Sally in her +housekeeping. Having touched at the Cape, I was steering for Aden, when +we were overtaken by a heavy gale, which pretty severely tried my stout +ship. We were about to make sail in the morning, the wind having abated +and the sea gone down, when an object was seen floating a short distance +ahead. On getting nearer, we saw that it was a piece of wreck with a +man upon it. Standing on, I hove the ship to, and having lowered a +boat, watched with interest her approach to the raft. The man was, I +made out, a black. He was holding what looked like a bundle of clothes +with one hand, keeping it above the water, which still nearly washed +over him. His bundle contained, I had no doubt, something of value, or +he would not have exerted himself as he was doing to preserve it from +the sea. It was of value, and, to my mind, the most valuable thing in +creation--a young child, as I discovered when the boat returned with the +rescued man, who still held fast to his treasure. We lifted them both +carefully on board. The black sank exhausted on the deck, making signs +to us, however, to take care of the child. We thought that it was his +own, but when we got a look at its countenance, greatly to our surprise +we found that it was as fair as any European. How the man had managed +to preserve it during the heavy sea which had been running for some +hours seemed a miracle. We carried them both into my cabin. The little +girl, you may be sure, had plenty of nurses. She looked frightened +enough at seeing us, but appeared wonderfully little the worse for the +exposure to which she had been subjected; indeed, although the shawl +which had wrapped her was wet, the water was warm and the black must +have contrived to keep her head well out of the sea, as her face and +hair were only moistened by the spray. + +"Though she seemed almost too young to speak, she uttered several words +in a lingo none of us understood. In a very short time after we had +given her some food, and she had had a quiet sleep, she seemed more +happy and smiled, and lifted up her face to kiss me when I bent over +her. I thanked Heaven that I had been the means of saving the little +darling. + +"It was not until evening that the black, who was pretty well exhausted +by his exertions, awoke. I was disappointed, I can tell you, when on +speaking to him, he answered in a language of which I could not +comprehend a word. We tried him in all sorts of ways, and he made a +variety of signs, but we could not comprehend the meaning he intended to +convey. In appearance he greatly resembled the slaves I had seen at +Zanzibar, on board the Arab dhows, though better-looking. Like most of +them, he had but a clout round his waist, and his woolly hair was +cropped close. Still he evidently did not lack intelligence. It was +very tantalising to find that we could get no information out of him. +The little girl was equally unable to give an account of herself, though +I fancied that she understood us when we spoke English, but she could +not reply intelligibly. + +"I treated the black as he deserved, for the brave way in which he had +saved the child, and he showed that he was grateful for such kindness as +I bestowed upon him. + +"As to the little girl, though I made inquiries at every place I touched +at, I could get no information by which I could even guess where she had +come from or who she was. From her ways and tone of voice I felt sure, +however, that she was of gentle birth. The black seemed mortally afraid +of the Arabs, and kept below when any came on board or any dhows hove in +sight; indeed it was some time before we could make him understand that +he was safe with us, and that no one would venture to take him away by +force. He soon became a great favourite with the men, who gave him the +name of Tom, in addition to the one by which he called himself, which +sounded like Baraka, and Tom Baraka he has been ever since. In a short +time he picked up a few words of English, with which he managed to make +himself understood; but it was not until we were on the voyage home that +he was able to give me an idea how he and the little girl came to be on +the piece of wreck from which we rescued him. I would call him in, and +let him give his own history; but I think I can make you understand the +account better if I give it in ordinary English, for I took no little +trouble during several months to get the truth out of him, anxious as he +was to give the information I required. His vocabulary being somewhat +limited, he accompanied his words by signs, often of so curious a +description that it was with difficulty my officers and I could restrain +ourselves from bursting into fits of laughter, and yet his account was +sad enough. + +"I placed before him the best map I possessed of the part of Africa from +which I calculated he came, and explained to him the rivers and lakes +marked upon it. He shook his head, as if he could make nothing of it, +but at last fixed on a spot some way in the interior. + +"`There!' he said, making a wide circle with his finger, `There abouts +was my home. By the banks of a river which fell into a lake my people +and I were happy in our way, we cultivated our fields and tended our +cattle, and had abundance of food without thinking of the future. We +heard, it is true, that the cruel men who come across from the big sea +had carried off not a few of the inhabitants of other districts; but it +was a long, long distance away, and we hoped they would never come near +us. We lived as our fathers had done. Occasionally we had to fight to +punish our neighbours, who came upon our land and tried to carry off our +cattle; and as I grew up and increased in strength I became a warrior, +but I only wished to fight to protect my home and my fields from our +enemies. When old enough I married a wife, who was as fond of me as +woman could be. When kindly treated black women love their husbands, as +do their white sisters. We had a little child, I was fond of him, oh! +so fond. My delight when I came in from the fields was to carry him +about in my arms, or to roll with him on the grass, letting him tumble +over me and pull my hair and ears, and then he would smile down into my +face and laugh merrily. I was a hunter also, and used fearlessly to +attack huge elephants for the sake of their tusks, as well as for their +flesh, especially for their big feet, which afford a dainty meal. Even +one would be sufficient for the whole of our party. I had crossed the +river, with several companions, armed with bows, arrows, and spears, +intending to go some distance south, where many elephants, it was said, +had been seen. A stranger brought the account. We had gone a day's +journey, and were encamped at night, hoping to fall in with a herd of +elephants the next day. We had eaten our evening meal, and were about +to lie down to sleep, when we were startled by hearing a shower of +bullets come whistling above our heads. We rose to fly, but knew not +which way to go, for from either side strange cries assailed our ears, +and before we could recover from our surprise a large party of men, with +gleaming swords in their hands, rushed in upon us. Snatching up our +spears we attempted to defend ourselves, but were quickly overpowered, +two of my friends being killed and others badly wounded. We were at +once bound with cords and thrown on the ground, while our captors were +employed in preparing another way to secure us. They were fierce men in +dark dresses, some wearing turbans on their heads, others red caps. I +watched their proceedings, thinking that, perhaps, they were going to +kill and eat us. They cut down some young trees, leaving a fork at one +end, and fixing a thick branch at the other, so as to form another fork. +When several logs had thus been prepared, they made us with kicks get +up, and picking out the strongest men among us, placed one at one end of +a leg, and one at the other, securing them by the forks round our necks. +As our arms were lashed behind our backs we could offer no resistance, +but, pricked by the spears or sword points of our captors, were +compelled to march forward in the direction they ordered us. Twenty or +more of us were thus secured; the remainder were fastened together by a +long rope, one behind the other at an interval of a few feet, with their +arms lashed behind them, led by an Arab. With the heavy log round our +necks we had no chance of escaping, nor indeed had the others, who would +have been shot had they made the attempt. Two or three of the worst +wounded sank down from loss of blood. The Arabs made them get up and +proceed, but finding at last that the poor wretches could not keep up +with the rest, took them out of the line, and putting pistols to their +heads, shot them dead. We were joined as we proceeded towards the coast +by other captives, taken much as we had been, and treated in the same +cruel manner. Some, who had come from still further up the country than +we had, and who had thus a longer march, told us that one-third of their +number had died or been killed on the way, so that even those who were +suffering severely from sickness endeavoured to struggle on as long as +they had strength to move for fear of being murdered.' + +"`At night we were ordered to lie down before the fire, with a strong +guard placed over us. We were generally amply fed, in order that our +strength might be kept up. Although we passed through several +thickly-populated districts, no one dared to help us for fear of the +Arabs. At length we reached the bank of a river, near the sea-coast, +where we found a large vessel ready to receive us. We were at once +ordered to go on board, when we were placed on a bamboo deck, packed +close to each other, with our chins resting on our knees. As soon as +some fifty or more of us were stowed on the lower deck, another deck was +placed over our heads, preventing us even from sitting upright. On this +another layer of slaves was stowed in the same way that we were. A +third deck was placed above them, which was also crowded with +unfortunate captives. We could hear the voices of those above us, and +frequently their cries, as the Arabs beat them in order to make them sit +closer. A narrow passage was left down the centre of the deck, along +which the Arabs could pass to bring us our food. We were thus kept a +couple of days in the river, either waiting for a fair wind, or because +our masters were afraid of being caught by some of the ships of the +white men. Our condition was bad enough in smooth water, but we were to +find it considerably worse when we got into the open sea. My only +consolation was that my wife and little boy had escaped. I knew that +they would be mourning for me, whom they were never to see again. I +then wished that they were dead, that their grief might come to an end; +and sometimes a terrible thought came to me that they too might some day +be captured and carried off to the same horrible slavery which I was +doomed, as I thought, to bear. There were not only men on board, but +women and children, to be taken to a far distant country, of which we +had never before heard. Where it was we could not tell, but we knew, by +one telling the other, that it was inhabited by the same sort of people +as the Arabs, and we supposed that they would beat and otherwise cruelly +treat us if we did not obey them. The younger women and children were +better cared for than we men were, and wore well fed, to make them look +plump and healthy. The vessel had one great nearly triangular sail, and +the after part rose high out of the water, while the bows seemed as if +they would dip under it. At last, the wind being fair, we sailed. For +some time we glided on. A few of us were sent on deck at a time to +breath the fresh air. I felt my heart sink within me, when, on looking +round, I could nowhere see the land, nothing but the smooth, shining +ocean on every side. It was terrible; I thought we should never again +set foot on shore. I had often paddled my canoe on the river, and had +even made trading voyages down to the great lake, where I had seen huge +waves covered with foam rolling across it; but on such occasions we had +quickly made for the shore. Twice my canoe had been upset, but I had +easily gained it by swimming. Suddenly the wind began to roar, the +thunder rolled above our heads, and the dhow was tossed about by the sea +in a way which made me expect that she would speedily be thrown over, +and that all on board would be sent into the raging waves. Pitiful were +the shrieks and cries of my companions. In vain the Arabs ordered them +to keep quiet; they believed that their last hour was come, and cared +not what was said to them. I determined, whatever happened, to struggle +for my life. I was young and strong; and the thought entered my mind +that I might swim to the shore, and get back some day to my wife and +children, though I knew that my home must be a long way off. I felt +quite disappointed when the storm ceased, and the dhow glided on her +course as before. When I next went on deck, I saw that she was in +company with other vessels, rigged as she was, and sailing in the same +direction. Each of them had prisoners on board. The decks of two or +three of the larger ones were crowded with black forms, and I guessed +that there were as many more below. Our dhow sailed very fast, and was +passing most of them, when a calm came on, and we lay all huddled +together, near enough for the people in one vessel to speak to those on +board another. Presently I heard the Arabs shouting to each other that +there was a large sail in sight. The news seemed to alarm them. She +was coming towards the fleet of dhows, bringing up a breeze. At last +the wind filled our sails, and the dhows began to separate. We fancied +that if we could keep ahead of the stranger that she could not harm us; +but we saw flashes of flame proceeding from her side, and round shot +came bounding over the water towards us; first one dhow was hit, now +another. At last one shot struck our vessel, going through the side, +and fearful were the cries which arose from the people below, who were +wounded, or expected to be killed by other shots. I had been allowed to +remain on deck, for the Arabs in their flight did not think about the +slaves. I saw some of the dhows lower their sails, when boats from the +big ship took possession of them. Our dhow sailing faster than the +others soon got ahead, and I saw our Arab masters rejoicing that they +should escape; but the wind was increasing; every instant it grew +stronger and stronger. The large sail was lowered, and a small one +hoisted, but we dashed over the fast rising sea at greater speed than +ever, soon losing sight of the big ship, which, after securing the +prizes she had taken, pursued some other dhows, who were endeavouring to +make their escape in different directions to that we were steering. The +storm, however, increased. The Arabs now began to look alarmed. In +vain they tried to stop the hole which the shot had made in the vessel's +side; finding this difficult, owing to the crowd of slaves below, they +began to throw those in their way overboard. Some were dead, others +wounded, but many were uninjured. They shrieked out for mercy, but the +Arabs heeded them not.' + +"`I had kept in the fore part of the vessel, hidden behind a coil of +rope, fully expecting that they would soon seize me. After labouring +away for some time and finding the water come in as fast as ever, they +began to lower a boat and canoe, for the purpose of getting into them, +and trying to save their lives, intending to leave me and my companions +to our fate. The sea was foaming and roaring around us. It seemed that +at any moment the dhow would sink. The sail was now lowered, and the +boat and canoe were got into the water. The cry arose that the dhow was +sinking, and the Arabs leapt into them in such haste that the boat was +upset, and all in her were speedily overwhelmed. The canoe, after being +tossed about on the tops of the waves for a few minutes, was also turned +over, and all in her shared the fate of their companions. She was not +far off at the time. I thought that I might reach her, but I remembered +my fellow-slaves. I found a knife which one of the Arabs had left on +the deck, and was endeavouring to release some of the men, who might be +able to swim with me to the canoe, when I felt that the dhow was going +down. I sprang overboard, and with a few strokes gained the canoe, +being almost thrown on to her by the seas, when I felt that she was +being drawn under the surface; but I clutched tight hold of her, and she +quickly came up again. For a few moments the shrieks and cries of my +drowning countrymen rose high above the loud dashing of the waves and +the howling of the storm, but they were speedily silenced, and I found +myself floating alone on the tossing waters. I wished to live for the +sake of my wife and child. In my ignorance I knew not how far I was +away from the land, still I struggled for life. All night long I clung +to the canoe, and before morning the wind had fallen and the sea had +become smooth. I was able to right the canoe, when I saw close to me a +gourd and a paddle. I reached them by working the canoe on with my +hands, and contrived to bale her out. I saw the sun rise, and knew that +the land lay on the opposite side. I tried to paddle towards it; but I +had had no food and no water, and the sun came down with a heat I had +never felt on shore. Still, for hours I paddled on, when I saw the +sails of a big ship rising above the horizon. She must be, I thought, +the one which had captured the dhows. Fear filled my heart, for the +Arabs had told us that the white men would kill and eat us. Terror and +the suffering I had undergone overcame me; I sank down at the bottom of +the canoe, and knew no more until I found myself on board a ship, with +white people standing round me. I could not understand a word they +said, nor tell them how I came to be in the canoe, but they looked kind, +and my fears left me. I was well fed and cared for, and soon recovered +my strength. There were several persons whom I now know to have been +passengers. One lady, very fair and beautiful, who spoke in a gentle, +sweet voice to me, trying to make me comprehend what she meant. She had +a little girl with her. I loved that child from the first, for she made +me think of my own boy by her playful ways and happy laugh, though she +was fair as a lily, and my boy was as black as I am, but I thought not +of the difference of colour. I felt that I should never wish to leave +that kind lady and her child. In a few days the weather again became +bad, a fearful gale began to blow. The ship was tossed about far more +violently than the dhow had been. Presently, during the night, I heard +a loud crash, followed by the shouts and shrieks of the crew and +passengers. My first thought was of the little girl. On reaching the +deck a flash of lightning showed her to me, clinging to her mother's +arms. I made signs that I would try and save her, and I wrapped her up +in some shawls which had been brought from below. The officers and crew +were, I saw, trying to lower the boats. Whether they succeeded or not I +could not tell, for the seas were sweeping over the ship, and I knew too +that she was sinking, as the dhow had done. While I was standing by the +lady's side, looking for one of the boats into which to help her, a huge +sea separated us, carrying me off my legs, and I found myself struggling +amid the foaming waves. I had caught sight of a dark object floating +near, far larger than a boat. By what means I know not I reached it. +It was part of the wreck of a dhow or of some other vessel against which +our ship had struck. I climbed upon it with my little charge, whose +head I had managed to keep above water. She was crying out for her +mamma. I knew that name. I tried to console her. For some time voices +reached my ear, but whether they came from the boats or the deck of the +ship I could not tell; I guessed, too truly, that she had gone down, for +when morning at last dawned neither she nor the boats were to be seen. +I feared that the little girl would sink from hunger and thirst, for I +remembered what I had endured in the canoe; but scarcely had the sun +risen than I saw a ship approaching, and you, Massa Pack, know the +rest.' + +"It was my ship which Tom saw coming. Of course we soon had him and his +little charge on board. You will understand that I have given what I +may call a translation of his yarn. It was spun, as it were, in a +number of shreds, and I have put them together; still I have expressed +his sentiments, and have not adorned his tale by adding to it anything +he did not say. Many a time did he melt into tears as he spoke of his +own child and the love he bore him, and it would be difficult to picture +fully all the horrors he endured during his journey overland and his +voyage in the slave dhow. To send him back to his home I knew was +impossible, he would have been retaken by the first Arab party he fell +in with, or been murdered as he was trying to pass through the territory +of any hostile tribe. He therefore cheerfully remained on board my +ship, and has stayed with me ever since, pretty well reconciled to his +lot, his whole soul wrapped up in Mary, who has taken the place in his +affections of the son from whom he has, he believes, for ever been +separated, though he is devoted also to my sister, and to Ned and me. +That black fellow has as big a heart as any white man. He does not, +however, forget his wife and child, for since he became a Christian, his +great desire is that they should be brought to a knowledge of the truth. +If it were possible, I would help him to get back to his native +village, but to do so is beyond my means. Indeed, from what I hear I +fear that the Arabs have long ere this carried them off into captivity, +or that, deprived of their protector, they have died of hunger or been +killed by their cruel persecutors. Those Arabs have long been the curse +of that part of Africa--indeed, for the purpose of obtaining slaves, +they have devastated many of its most fertile districts." + +His guest listened with evident interest to the account given by the +lieutenant. + +"I have not hitherto turned my attention in that direction," observed +the former. "Of course I have heard much of the slave trade on the +western coast and of the horrors of the middle passage, but I believed +that it is now carried on only in a very limited degree, and that the +inhabitants of the east coast are well able to take care of themselves." + +"I have cruised on both coasts, and am convinced that the people on the +east part of Africa are subjected to cruelties fully equal to those +which the western tribes have for so many ages endured," answered the +lieutenant. "Tom's experience is that of thousands; but he did not +describe the miseries suffered by those left behind, the despair of the +women and children, and of the men who may have escaped from the sudden +attack made on their village, to find it when they have returned burned +to the ground, their fields laid waste, and their cattle carried off. +No one can calculate the numbers who have died from hunger in a land +teeming with abundance." + +Ned and Mary came in during the latter part of the conversation, to +which they paid the greatest attention. + +"I wish I could help to put a stop to such horrible doings," exclaimed +Ned. "I should like to see an English fleet employed in catching all +the dhows, and an army sent to march through the country to turn all the +Arabs out of it. It would be an honour to serve even as a drummer-boy +on shore, or as a powder-monkey on board one of the ships." + +Their guest smiled at Ned's enthusiasm. + +"A more certain way may be found for benefiting the Africans than by +armies or fleets," observed Miss Sarah; "if a band of faithful +missionaries of the Gospel were scattered through the country, they +would, with God's blessing, carry Christianity and civilisation to the +long benighted and cruelly treated people." + +"You speak the truth, madam, the matter is worthy of consideration," +observed the guest, turning to Miss Sarah. "I have learned several +things since I came into your house. I wish that I could remain longer +to learn more, but I am compelled to go up to London; and as I feel +myself sufficiently strong to travel, I must, early to-morrow morning, +wish you farewell." + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +The shipwrecked stranger had taken his departure; he had paid the +doctor, and sent a present to the coast-guard men who had assisted to +carry him to the house; but he had not offered to remunerate the +lieutenant or Tom for the service they had rendered him, though he +feelingly expressed his gratitude to them. Perhaps he considered, and +he was not wrong in so doing, that they not only did not require a +reward for performing an act of humanity, but would have felt hurt had +it been offered them. + +The next morning the lieutenant and Ned started on a walk along the +cliffs to inquire at Longview station about the coast-guard man who had +nearly been killed on the night of the wreck. The sky was clear, the +blue ocean slumbered below their feet, the gentle ripples which played +over it sparkling in the bright rays of the sun. A large vessel, with a +wide spread of canvas, was gliding majestically by on her way down +channel. Ned gazed at her with a wistful eye. + +"I wish that I were on board that fine craft," he said at length. "I am +very happy at home, and I don't want to leave you and Aunt Sally and +Mary, but I feel that I ought to be doing something for myself. You and +my father went to sea before you were as old as I am. I don't like to +be idle and a burden to you. If you did not disapprove of it, I would +go before the mast and work my way up--many have done so who are now +masters in the merchant service; though, as you know, I would rather go +into the navy, but from what you tell me that is out of the question. +The owners of your old ship would, I dare say, take me as an apprentice; +I'll try and do my duty, and learn to be a sailor so as to become an +officer as soon as possible." + +"You look far ahead; but it is all right, my boy, and I am very sure of +one thing, that you will do your duty and reap the reward, whatever +happens. I'll write to Clew, Earring and Grummet, and ask them if they +have a vacancy for you. Jack Clew, who was once in the navy, was a +messmate of mine on board the old `Thunderer' when I lost my leg at +`Navarin'," (so the lieutenant always pronounced Navarino, the action +fought by the British fleet under Sir Edward Codrington with that of the +Turks and Egyptians). "Jack used to profess a willingness to serve me, +but, Ned, we must not trust too much to old friends. Times alter, and +he may find he has applicants nearer at hand whose relatives have longer +purses than I have. Don't fear, however, my boy, something may turn up, +as it always does, if we seek diligently to get it and wait with +patience." + +Ned did not then press the matter further; his spirits were buoyant, and +although his uncle's remarks were not calculated to raise them, he was +not disheartened. + +Edward Garth, the lieutenant's nephew, was the son of a younger sister, +who had married a friend and messmate, a lieutenant in the same noble +service in which he had spent his best days. They had served together +in several ships up to the time that Garth was stricken down with fever +up an African river, their ship then forming one of the blockading +squadron on the west coast, when he committed his infant boy to his +brother-in-law's care. "I am sure that you will look after him for our +poor Fanny's sake; but she is delicate, and I know not what effect my +death will have on her. At all events, he will be fatherless, and she, +poor girl, will find it a hard matter to manage a spirited lad." + +"Do not let that thought trouble you, Ned," answered Lieutenant Pack; +"Fanny's child shall ever be as if he were my own son. I promised to +keep house with Sally, and Fanny shall come and live with us. A better +soul than Sally does not exist, though I, who am her brother, say so." + +Soon after he had seen his brother-in-law laid in the grave, Lieutenant +Pack came home to find that his sister Fanny had followed her husband to +the other world, and that Sally had already taken charge of their young +nephew. + +From that day forward she truly became a mother to the orphan, and as +the lieutenant proved a kind, though not over indulgent father, Ned +never felt the loss of his parents, and grew up all that his uncle and +aunt could desire, rewarding them for their watchful care and judicious +management of him. The lieutenant's means would not allow him to bestow +an expensive education on his nephew, but he was enabled to send him to +a neighbouring grammar school, where the boy, diligently taking +advantage of such instruction as it afforded, soon reached the head of +each class in which he was placed. Though first in all manly exercises, +he made good use of his books at home, his uncle giving him lessons in +mathematics and navigation, so that he was as well prepared for the +profession he desired to enter as any boy of his age. Ned was a +favourite with all who knew him. His home training had answered, for, +though kind, it had been judicious. He was truthful and honest, and +sincerely, desirous of doing his duty, while he was manly and +good-tempered, ever ready to forgive an injury, though well capable of +standing up for himself. Had the "Worcester" training-ship then been +established, and had Ned gone on board her, he would probably have +become a gold medallist, and that is saying much in his favour. His +uncle delighted in his society--"Ned always made him feel young again," +he used to say--and Aunt Sally bestowed upon him the affection of her +kind and gentle heart. As to Mary, she thought there never had been, +never could be, a boy equal to brother Ned, for so she always called +him, ever looking on him as her brother. Ned faithfully returned the +affectionate feelings evinced towards him by his relatives. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The one-legged lieutenant and his nephew continued their walk, the +former stopping every now and then to impress a remark on Ned, or +glancing over the ocean to observe the progress made by the +outward-bound ship, until the row of whitewashed cottages, surmounted by +a signal staff, which formed the coast-guard station of Longview, hove +in sight. Lieutenant Hanson, who met them at a short distance from it, +shook Ned and his uncle cordially by the band. + +"We came to learn how poor Herron is getting on," said the lieutenant. + +"He'll weather it, I hope; but it was a wonder he was not killed from +his fall down the cliff, sixty feet, with exposure to the rain and wind +during the whole of the night, for we did not find him until the +morning," answered the coast-guard officer. "The accident was even of +more consequence to others than to himself, for had it not occurred, we +might have been in time to save some more of the poor fellows from the +wreck." + +"That may be so; but had you come, my black man Tom Baraka and Ned here +would have lost the opportunity of showing what they are made of, by +pulling one of them out of the water," said Lieutenant Pack. + +"What! had you a hand in saving the passenger?" asked Lieutenant Hanson, +turning to Ned. + +"Indeed he had, and had it not been for his courage I believe that the +man would have been washed away again, for Tom was pretty well exhausted +by that time," answered Lieutenant Pack. + +"You have begun well," said Mr Hanson, casting an approving look at +Ned. + +"He has set his heart on going to sea, though I fear there is but little +chance of his getting into the navy," observed Lieutenant Pack. + +"If he does, I hope that he may be more fortunate than some of his +elders," answered the coast-guard lieutenant in a tone not very +encouraging. + +The remark produced a momentary effect on Ned, but he soon forgot it, +and was as eager as before to become a sailor. + +They proceeded on to the station, where, after visiting the injured man, +for whom the old lieutenant had brought some delicacies made by Miss +Sarah, he and his nephew set off to return home by a circuitous road, +which ran a good way inland. They had got some way, when they caught +sight of Miss Sarah and Mary in the distance. + +"Go, Ned, and see where those women-kind of ours are bound for," +exclaimed the lieutenant. Ned ran forward. + +"We are going to visit Silas Shank the miser, as the people call him, +though he must be very poor and miserable, as I cannot suppose that he +would nearly starve himself if he had the means of buying proper food," +answered Mary. + +"If I may, I will go with you," said Ned; "perhaps Uncle Pack would like +to come also." + +The lieutenant, for whom they waited, however, preferred going home, and +Miss Sally, giving her basket to Ned, returned with him, allowing her +nephew to accompany Mary. + +"Just leave the pudding and jelly with the old man, and if he does not +appear inclined to talk do not stop," said Miss Sally. + +Ned and Mary walked on, cheerfully conversing, as they were wont to do, +for they had always plenty to say to each other, and Mary's tongue +wagged as fast as that of any young lady of her age, though not so +thoughtlessly as that of many. Ned naturally spoke of the ship he had +seen running down channel. "I do not wish to be away from you all, but +yet I did wish to be on board her, sailing to distant lands, to go among +strange people, and to feel that I was doing something and learning to +be an officer. It would be a fine thing to command a ship like that." + +"I wish as you wish; but, O Ned, you would be a long, long time absent +from us--months and months, or perhaps years and years. Uncle Pack says +that he was once five years without setting foot on English ground, and +you might be as long away. We shouldn't know you when you came back; +you will be grown into a big man, with a bronzed face and bushy +whiskers." Mary laughed, though the tears at the same time came into +her eyes. + +"But that was in the war-time, Mary, and even the Queen's ships are not +now kept out for so long a period, while merchant vessels return every +year, and sometimes from short voyages much oftener. And then think of +all the curiosities I should bring home; I should delight in collecting +them for you and Aunt Sally, or to add to Uncle Pack's museum." + +"Yes, yes, it would be a very joyous time when you did come back, we +should be delighted to see all the things you brought; but then think +how slowly the days will pass by when you are away, uncle and aunt and I +all alone." + +"There would be only one less," said Ned, naturally. + +"Yes, I know," answered Mary--she stopped short--she did not say how +large a space Ned occupied in her world. She was not aware of it +herself just then. + +The subject was one which made her feel sadder than was her wont, and +she was glad to change it. + +Old Shank's cottage was soon reached. It stood about half a mile from +the village. It was situated in a hollow, an old quarry, by the side of +a hill, the bare downs rising beyond it without a tree near. A +desolate-looking place in its best days. Though containing several +rooms--a large part of the roof having fallen in--it had only one which +was habitable. In that lived Silas Shank the reputed miser. The +palings which fenced it in had been broken down to be used as firewood. +The gate was off its hinges; nettles and other hardy weeds had taken +possession of the garden. Scarcely a pane of glass remained in any of +the windows; even those of the rooms occupied by the miser were stuffed +with rags, or had pieces of brown paper pasted over them. + +"I'll stay outside while you go in," said Ned; "the old man was very +surly when I last saw him, and I do not wish to face him again. He +can't be rough to you." + +Mary knocked at the door, which was tightly closed. + +"Who's there?" asked a tremulous voice. + +"It is I, Mary Pack; I've brought you something from aunt which she +thought you would like to have." + +The bars were withdrawn. + +"Come in!" said the same voice, and the door was cautiously opened. + +Mary, without hesitation, entered in time to see a thin old man, in a +tattered threadbare great-coat, with a red woollen cap on his head, and +slippered feet, his stockings hanging about his ankles, totter back to +an arm-chair from which he had risen, by the side of a small wood fire +on which a pot was boiling. + +"That's all I've got for my dinner, with a few potatoes, but it's enough +to keep body and soul together, and what more does a wretched being like +me want?" he said in a querulous voice. + +"I have brought you something nice, as aunt knows you can't cook +anything of the sort yourself, and you may eat it with more appetite +than you can the potatoes," said Mary, placing the contents of the +basket in some cracked plates on a rickety three-legged table which +stood near the old man's chair. + +He eagerly eyed the tempting-looking pudding, a nicely cooked chop, and +a delicious jelly. "Yes, that's more like what I once used to have," he +muttered. "Thank you, thank you, little girl. I cannot buy such things +for myself, but I am glad to get them from others. Sit down, pray do, +after your walk," and he pointed to a high-backed oak chair, of very +doubtful stability and covered with dust. He saw that Mary on that +account hesitated to sit down, so rising he shambled forward and wiped +it with an old cotton handkerchief which he drew out of his pocket. +"There, now it's all clean and nice; you must sit down and rest, and see +me eat the food, so that you may tell your aunt I sold none of it. The +people say that I have parted with my coat off my back and the shoes +from my feet, but do not believe them; if I did, it was on account of my +poverty." + +Mary made no reply; it appeared to her that the old man was +contradicting himself, and she did not wish to inquire too minutely into +the matter. + +"This pudding must have cost a great deal," he continued, as he ate it +mouthful by mouthful; "there's the flour, the milk, the raisins, and the +sugar and spice, and other ingredients. Your aunt must be a rich woman +to afford so dainty a dish for a poor man like me?" + +"No, I do not think Aunt Sally is at all rich, but she saves what little +she can to give to the sick and needy; she heard that you were ill, Mr +Shank, and had no one to care for you." + +"That's true, little girl, no one cares for the old miser, as they call +me; and the boys, when I go into the village, throw stones at me, and +jeer and shout at my heels. I hate boys!" + +"I'm sure Ned would not do that," said Mary; "he is always kind and +gentle, and would beat off bad boys if he saw them treating you in that +way." + +"No, he wouldn't, he would join them, and behave like the rest. They +are all alike, boys! Mischievous little imps!" + +Mary felt very indignant at hearing Ned thus designated, but she +repressed her rising anger, pitying the forlorn old man, and smiling, +said, "You will find you are mistaken in regard to Ned, Mr Shank; he is +outside, and I must not keep him waiting longer. But I was nearly +forgetting that I have a book to give you, which Aunt Sally thought you +would like to read. It is in large print, so that you need not try your +eyes." + +Mary, as she spoke, produced a thin book from her basket, and presented +it to the old man. He glanced at it with indifference. + +"I do not care about this sort of thing," he said. "I wonder people +spend money in having such productions printed. A loss of time to print +them, and a loss of time to read them!" + +"Aunt Sally will be much disappointed if you do not keep the book," said +Mary, quietly; "you might like to read it when you are all alone and +have nothing else to do." + +"Well, well, as she has sent me the pudding, I'll keep the book; she +means kindly, I dare say, and I do not wish to make you carry it back. +What! must you go, little girl? You'll come and see me again some day, +and bring another nice pudding, won't you?" said the old man, looking at +Mary with a more amiable expression in his eyes than they generally +wore. + +"Yes, I must go, I cannot, indeed, keep Ned waiting longer. Good-bye, +Mr Shank; you'll read the book, and I'll tell Aunt Sally what you say," +said Mary, taking up her basket and tripping out of the room. + +"Don't let that boy Ned you spoke of throw stones in at my window. You +see how others have broken the panes, and it would cost too much money +to have them repaired." + +He said this as he followed Mary with a shuffling step to the door. + +"Ned would never dream of doing anything of the sort," she answered, now +feeling greatly hurt at the remark. + +"They're all alike, they're all alike," muttered the old man; "but you, +I dare say, can keep him in order. I didn't mean to offend you, little +girl," he added, observing Mary's grave look, as she turned round to +wish him good-bye before going through the doorway. + +The remark pacified her. "Poor old man!" she thought, "sickness makes +him testy." + +"Good-bye, little girl," said Mr Shank, as he stood with his hand on +the door-latch; "you'll come again soon?" + +"If Aunt Sally sends me; but you must promise not to accuse Ned +wrongfully. Good-bye!" answered Mary, as she stepped over the +threshold, the old man immediately closing and bolting the door. + +Ned, who had been on the watch at a little distance, sprang forward to +meet her. She did not tell him what old Mr Shank had said, as she +naturally thought that it would make him indignant; and like a wise girl +she confined herself merely to saying how glad he seemed to be to get +the food, and how pool and wretched he looked. + +Mary and Ned had a pleasant walk home. After this she paid several +visits to old Mr Shank, sometimes with Aunt Sally, at others with the +lieutenant and Ned, but she always carried the basket and presented the +contents to the old man. Aunt Sally would not believe that he was +really a miser, although the people called him one. The cottage was his +own, and he obtained periodically a few shillings at the bank, but this +was all he was known to possess, and the amount was insufficient to +supply him with the bare necessaries of life. He picked up sticks and +bits of coal which fell from carts for firing. He possessed a few +goats, which lived at free quarters on the downs, and their winter food +cost but little. He sold the kids and part of the milk which he did not +consume. He seemed grateful to Mary, and talked to her more than to any +one else; but to Aunt Sally and the lieutenant he rarely uttered a word +beyond a cold expression of thanks for the gifts they bestowed upon him. + +Ned in the meantime was waiting anxiously for an answer to the letter +his uncle had written Messrs. Clew, Earring and Grummet, the shipowners. +After some delay a reply was received from a clerk, stating that Mr +Clew was dead, and that the other partners were unable to comply with +the lieutenant's request unless a considerable premium was paid, which +was utterly beyond his means. + +This was a great disappointment to Ned. + +"Don't fret over it, my boy," said his uncle, "we shall all find many +things to bear up against through life. There's a good time coming for +all of us, if we'll only wait patiently for it. I ought to have been an +admiral, and so I might if my leg hadn't been knocked away by a Turkish +round shot at Navarin; but you see, notwithstanding, I am as happy as a +prince. As far as I myself am concerned I have no reasonable want +unsupplied, though I should like to have your very natural wish complied +with." + +Still week after week went by; the lieutenant wrote several other +letters, but the answers were unsatisfactory. At last he began to talk +of going up himself to town to call on the Admiralty, and to beard the +lions in their den; but it was an undertaking the thoughts of which he +dreaded far more than had he been ordered to head a boarding party +against an enemy's ship. He talked the matter over with his sister +Sally. + +"If we want a thing we must go for it, if we don't want it we may stay +at home and not get it," he observed. "If I felt anything like sure +that I should succeed by pressing my claim, I'd go ten times as far; but +my belief is, that I shall be sent back with a flea in my ear." + +"Still, what can poor Ned do if he doesn't go to sea, though I wish that +we could have found him some employment on shore suited to his taste," +said Miss Sarah. + +"Well, I'll make up my mind about the matter," said the lieutenant, who +was as anxious as his sister to forward Ned's wishes. "I can but ask, +you know, and if I am refused, I shall have good reason for grumbling +for the next year to come, or to the end of my days. I'll go and talk +the subject over with Hanson; he knows more about the ways of the +Admiralty than I do, and will give me a wrinkle or two. In the meantime +do you get my old uniform brushed up and my traps ready." + +Next morning the old lieutenant, summoning Ned, set off to pay a visit +to his brother officer. Ned was in high spirits at hearing that steps +were actually being taken to promote his object, and he expressed his +gratitude to his uncle for the effort he was about to make on his +behalf. All difficulties seemed to vanish, and he already saw himself a +midshipman on board a fine ship sailing down channel. + +Lieutenant Hanson was not very sanguine when he heard of his friend's +intention. + +"There is nothing like asking, however, and they can't eat you, though +you may be refused," he answered. "Go by all means; get to the +Admiralty early, step boldly in, and show that you fully expect to have +your request granted. Say that the boy will soon be over age, and +consequently there is no time to be lost." [See Note 1.] + +Although the old lieutenant had not received much encouragement from Mr +Hanson, yet some of the difficulties he had apprehended appeared to +clear away, and he walked home with Ned, resolved to carry out his +project. The cost of his expedition was now his chief anxiety. He +pictured to himself the risk of running short of funds in the great +metropolis, and being unable to pay his journey back. Then Sally would +be hard put to it for many a long month. + +"His small income, poor lad, won't go far to defray his outfit and +allowance," he said to himself as he walked along. "Still it must be +done, and we'll find the ways and means. If the worst comes to the +worst, I'll go to sea, and take Ned with me. I wonder I never thought +of that before. It will make some amends to him for not entering the +navy; he'd soon become a prime seaman under my charge, and in a few +years get the command of a ship." + +Such were some of the thoughts which passed through the worthy officer's +mind, but he did not express them aloud. + +While pointing his telescope seaward, an employment in which he seldom +failed to spend a part of the day, he caught sight of a cutter standing +for the bay. + +As the tide had just turned, and the wind was falling, it was evident +that she was about to bring up. In a short time her commander, +Lieutenant Jenkins, came on shore, and proved to be an old messmate of +Mr Pack. On hearing of his intention of going to London, Lieutenant +Jenkins at once offered him a passage as far as Portsmouth. The +invitation was gladly accepted, as a considerable expense would thus be +saved. Miss Sally having packed her brother's traps, he, late in the +evening, went on board the cutter, which, just as darkness set in, +sailed for the westward. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. At the period we are speaking of, the rule had not been formed +which makes it necessary for boys to undergo a training on board the +"Britannia" before they can become midshipmen. The Admiralty either +appointed them to ships, or captains had the privilege of taking certain +number selected by themselves. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +Several days had passed by, and no news had been received from the +lieutenant. Aunt Sally began to grow anxious, though she pursued her +ordinary avocations in her usual calm manner. Desirous as she was of +being economical, she did not forget poor old Mr Shank, and Mary and +Ned were despatched with some provisions which she had prepared, and +another book from her lending-library for him. Mary, remembering his +dislike to boys, went in alone, leaving Ned to amuse himself outside. + +"I'll not be long, and I want you to walk up and down out of sight of +his window, or he may, if he sees you, say something unpleasant," +observed Mary. + +Ned, though he cared very little as to what the old man might say about +him, did not wish to have Mary's feelings hurt, and promising obedience, +walked on to a spot whence he could watch for her when she came out. + +She rapped at the door, the bolts were withdrawn, and she entered. + +"Glad to see you, little girl," said Mr Shank, as he led the way into +his room. "No one has come here for many a day. I am well-nigh +starving, for the people in the village yonder do not trouble themselves +about the wretched old miser, as they call me; and I could not go out +yesterday to buy food--if I did, where was I to get the money to pay for +it?" + +"Aunt, fearing that you might be in want, has sent you something to +eat," said Mary, unpacking her basket, and placing the contents on the +three-legged table. + +The old man drew it towards him, and began to eat far more voraciously +than usual, showing that in one respect at all events his assertion was +correct. Mary, thinking that it might amuse him, mentioned the +lieutenant's journey to London and its object. + +"So they intend to send that boy off to sea! The best thing they can do +with him. Boys are always up to mischief at home, and it is to be hoped +he'll never come back." + +"You should not say that, Mr Shank!" exclaimed Mary, indignantly. "Ned +is a good honest boy, he never harmed you in any way, and if he had it +is your duty to forgive him, for God tells us in His Word to forgive our +enemies, and do good to those who ill-treat us." + +"I don't understand that; if we are not to hate our enemies, who and +what are we to hate?" muttered the old man. + +"We are to hate nothing except sin and Satan, because that is what God +hates, I am very sure," said Mary. "Doesn't the book I brought you last +week say that? And here is another which aunt has sent you, perhaps you +will like to read it," and she put the volume on the table. + +"What the book says doesn't concern me. I do no harm to any one; all I +want is to lead a quiet life and be let alone," he muttered, evidently +not wishing to enter into a discussion with the little girl, fearing +perhaps that he might lose his temper. He, however, took the book she +had brought and gave her back the other, observing, "Perhaps your aunt +will lend it me at some other time if I feel ill and fancy I am going to +die; but I shan't die yet, O no, no, I want to live a great many years +longer." + +"I hope that you may, if you wish it," said Mary. She did not add, "I +wonder what the poor old man can find so pleasant in his existence as to +make him desire to live?" She did not again refer to Ned, but shortly +got up, and told Mr Shank that she must be going. + +"What! do you come all this way alone merely to visit a wretched being +like me?" he exclaimed, as she moved towards the door. + +"No, Ned comes with me, and he is waiting to take me back," she +answered. + +"Why didn't he come in and sit down until you were ready to go?" he +asked. + +"Because, Mr Shank, he knows that you dislike boys," said Mary. + +"Perhaps, as you think so well of him, he may not be so bad as others. +When you come again bring him in; I'll not scold him if he speaks +civilly to me, and doesn't attempt to play me tricks." + +"He'll not play you tricks, and I'm sure that he'll speak properly to +you," answered Mary, considerably mollified by Mr Shank's last remark. +She was glad, however, that Ned was not in sight, as she still somewhat +mistrusted the old man. As soon as the door was closed she looked about +for Ned, and spied him hurrying up. + +"He wants to see you," she said when Ned joined her, "so you must come +in when Aunt Sally next sends me to him. He is a strange being. I +wonder how he can manage to spend his time all by himself?" + +They walked home chattering merrily, though Ned was a little more +thoughtful than usual, wondering why his uncle had not written; and as +soon as he had seen Mary safe at home, he hurried off to consult +Lieutenant Hanson about the matter. + +"Why," said Ned to the lieutenant, "has uncle not written?" + +"Simply that he has had nothing to say, or has had no time to write, or +if he has written, his letter may have gone astray," answered the +lieutenant. "You must exercise patience, my young friend; you'll find +plenty of that required in this world." + +Ned returned home not much wiser than he went, but a brisk walk and the +fresh air revived his spirits. Next morning's post brought the +looked-for letter, addressed to Miss Sarah Pack. She hurriedly opened +it, while the young people looked eagerly on, watching her countenance. +That, however, betrayed no satisfaction. The lieutenant's handwriting +required time to decipher, though the characters were bold enough and +covered a large sheet of paper. + +"Dear Sally," it began, "I have been to the Admiralty and seen the First +Lord, having reached this big city, and lost my way half-a-dozen times +in it, four days after I left you. We had calms and light winds the +whole distance to Portsmouth. His lordship received me with a profound +bow, as if I had been an admiral, listened attentively to all I had to +say, and I made up my mind that he was the politest gentleman I had ever +met, and fully intended to grant my request. When I had finished, he +glanced his eye down a long list, which he held up so that I could see +it, remarking that there were a number of promising lads who desired to +enter the service, but that he much feared he should be compelled to +disappoint them. My claims were great, and he was surprised that his +predecessors had not acknowledged them by promoting me; that he had no +doubt my brother-in-law would have been an ornament to the service had +he lived; that I ought to have sent his son's name in long ago, and that +he would take the matter into consideration. He desired me to leave my +address, advising me not to remain in town, as it might be some time +before I was likely to hear from him; he then politely bowed me out of +the room. Whether or not anything will come of it is more than I can +divine. In my humble opinion my visit to London will prove bootless; it +can't be helped, Sally, so cheer up, and don't let Ned get out of +spirits. I am going to call on two or three shipowners, of whom +Jenkins, who knows more of London than I do, has told me, for if Ned +cannot get into the navy, he must make up his mind to enter the merchant +service. I'll write more when I have more to communicate, so, with love +to the young ones, I remain, your affectionate brother, John Pack." + +Aunt Sally had to confess to herself that the letter was not +encouraging, still she did her best to follow her brother's advice. +"Perhaps the First Lord doesn't like to make promises, but he must be a +good man, or he would not hold the position he does, and I dare say +he'll do his best. We may have a letter even before your uncle comes +back, saying that you are appointed to a ship. It can't be so difficult +a thing to make a midshipman. Had your uncle, however, asked to be +promoted, I should not have been surprised had he been refused. It is +very kind of the First Lord to receive him so well and to listen to all +he had to say; we should not expect too much from great men." + +Miss Sally ran on in the same strain for some time, but all she said +failed to impart much confidence to poor Ned; still his uncle might +succeed in getting him on board a merchant vessel, and like a prudent +lad, he was ready for whatever might turn up. Next morning Ned eagerly +looked out for the postman, but no letter arrived; another and another +day passed by. It was too evident that the lieutenant had no news to +communicate. + +Some days after, just as evening was approaching, a post chaise was seen +slowly descending the winding road which led down to the cottage. Miss +Sally, followed by Ned, Mary, and Tom, hurried out. Ned darted forward +to let down the steps, while Tom opened the door. The lieutenant, +leaning on the black's shoulder, stepped out. Though he smiled at +seeing those he loved, his countenance showed that he had no good news +to communicate. + +"I'll tell you all about it when I have refreshed the inner man," he +said, as, after paying the driver and telling Tom to look after him, he +stumped into the house; "I am at present somewhat sharp set. It is +several hours since I took anything on board in the shape of provisions, +and my jaw tackles want greasing before I can make them work." + +Aunt Sally and Mary quickly got supper ready, and the lieutenant having +said grace, took his seat at the table. Having eaten a few mouthfuls he +looked mere cheerful than he had hitherto done. His sister and the +young people were longing to hear what he had got to say. + +"I told you I did not expect much from my visit to London, but it is +wrong to allow ourselves to be cast down because things don't go as +smoothly as we could wish," he at length observed. "I wrote you about +my visit to the Admiralty; well, after that, believing that their +lordships were not likely to do much for me, I called on three +shipowners to whom Jenkins had given me introductions. They were civil +enough, but all gave me the same sort of answer. They had numerous +applications to receive on board their ships youngsters whose friends +could pay handsome premiums, and in duty to themselves they were +compelled to accept such in preference to others, willing as they were +to attend to the recommendation of Lieutenant Jenkins. When I offered +to take command of one of their ships, they replied, that as I had been +some time on shore I might have grown rusty, and that they were obliged +to employ officers brought up in their own service, though they could +not doubt my abilities, and were duly grateful for the offer I had made +them. They would consider the matter, and let me know the result to +which they might come, but no promise could be made on the subject." + +Miss Sally looked greatly relieved when she heard that it was not likely +her brother would go to sea, anxious as she was that poor Ned should +obtain the object of his wishes. + +"We must not despair, however," said the lieutenant. "We know that God +orders all for the best, if we trust Him and do our duty; perhaps +something will turn up when we least expect it. I have been thinking, +Ned, how I can raise money enough to pay the required premium, and if I +can do that the matter will be quickly settled. After two or three +voyages to India, Australia, or round Cape Horn, you will have obtained +sufficient experience to become a mate. You will then be independent +and able to gain your own livelihood." + +"That is what I wish to do, uncle," answered Ned, gulping down his +disappointment at the thoughts that he should be unable to enter the +navy, and some day become a Nelson or a Collingwood. In truth, matters +stood very much as they were before the lieutenant's journey, and he had +to confess to himself that the cost and trouble had apparently been +thrown away. + +"Well, well, Ned, we'll go on with our mathematics and navigation, and +wait patiently for what may occur. You are young yet, and won't be the +worse for a few months more spent on shore if you make good use of your +time." + +Ned followed his uncle's advice, and did his utmost to overcome his +disappointment. + +Things went on much as usual at Triton Cottage. Ned frequently got a +pull in a revenue boat, but his great delight was to take a sail in one +of the fishing crafts belonging to the bay, when the fishermen, with +whom he was an especial favourite, gave him instruction in steeling and +other nautical knowledge, so that he learned how to handle a boat, to +furl and shorten sail, to knot and splice, as well as to row. + +His uncle always encouraged him to go when the weather was moderate, but +on two or three occasions when it came on unexpectedly to blow, and the +boats were kept out, poor Aunt Sally was put into a great state of +trepidation until he came back safe. Nearly a month had passed since +the lieutenant's return home, and no letter had been received either +from the Admiralty or from any of the shipowners. The family were +seated at tea. The lieutenant could not help occasionally speaking of +the subject which occupied his thoughts, generally concluding by saying, +"Well, never mind, something may turn up!" + +Just then a ring was heard at the door, and Jane put her head in to say +that Mr Hanson had called. + +"I'll bring him in to take a cup of tea," said the lieutenant, rising +and stumping out of the room. He soon returned with his friend. + +"Well, Pack, I've come to wish you and Miss Sarah good-bye," said their +guest. "Commander Curtis, an old friend of mine, has been appointed to +the `Ione' corvette, fitting out for the Cape station, and he has +applied for me as his first lieutenant. Though I had made up my mind to +remain on shore, as he is a man I should like to serve under, I have +accepted his offer, and am going off to join the ship as soon as I can +be relieved--in two or three days, I hope." + +Ned listened, expecting that something else of interest to him was about +to follow, but he was disappointed. He was not aware that even a first +lieutenant could not obtain a berth for a midshipman. + +"Very sorry to lose you, Hanson," said Lieutenant Pack; "you, I daresay +will be glad to get afloat again, as there is a better chance of +promotion than you would have on shore. We never know what may turn up. +We may be at loggerheads with the French, or Russians, or some other +people before your commission is over." + +Their guest saw Ned looking at him. He divined the boy's thoughts. + +"I wish that I had power to take you with me, Ned, but I have not, and I +very much fear that the commander will have given away his appointment, +and he has but one. However, when I accepted his proposal, I wrote +saying that I had a young friend who wished to go to sea, and should be +very glad if he would nominate him. I'll let you know as soon as I get +his answer, but I do not want unduly to arouse your expectations." + +Ned heartily thanked his friend for his good intentions towards him, as +did his uncle. + +"I knew you would serve him, Hanson, if you could, and if you are not +successful, I'll take the will for the deed," said the old lieutenant, +as he shook the hand of his guest, whom he accompanied to the door. + +Two days afterwards a note came from Lieutenant Hanson, enclosing one +from the commander of the "Ione," regretting that he had already filled +up his nomination, and had just heard that the Admiralty had already +promised the only other vacancy. + +"It can't be helped, Ned," said Lieutenant Pack, in a tone which showed +how disheartened he was, although he did not intend to exhibit his +feelings. "Cheer up, we must not be cast down, we'll still hope that +something will turn up. In the meantime we'll try and be as happy as we +can. Aunt Sally and Mary are not tired of you, nor am I, my boy. It's +only because I know that you wish to be doing something, and that you +are right in your wishes, that I regret this delay." + +Mary, though sympathising with Ned, could not from her heart say that +she was sorry. For the last two days she had been expecting to hear +that he would have to go off immediately. + +Next morning the postman was seen coming up to the door with an +official-looking letter in his hand, and another of ordinary appearance; +Ned ran out to receive them. The first was addressed to Lieutenant +Pack, R.N. He opened it with far more agitation than he was wont to +exhibit. His countenance brightened. + +"Ned, my boy!" he exclaimed, "this letter has reference to you. My +Lords do recognise my services--it is gratifying, very gratifying--and +they have nominated you as a volunteer of the first class to Her +Majesty's ship `Ione,' Commander Curtis, now fitting out at Portsmouth; +the very ship of which Hanson is to be first lieutenant. This is +fortunate. If he has not started, I'll get him to take you to +Portsmouth, and arrange your outfit. He'll do it, I am sure, and will +stand your friend if you do your duty; I know that you will do that, and +become an honour to the service, as your father would have been had he +lived." + +Suddenly a thought seemed to strike the lieutenant. He had forgotten a +very important matter--the difficulty of obtaining the required funds. +The balance at his banker's would not meet the expenses to which he +himself must be put, even although the commander might not insist on the +usual allowance made to midshipmen. He was silent, thinking of what +could be done, and overlooking the envelope which lay on the table +beneath the official dispatch. + +"Surely there was another letter," remarked Aunt Sally. "I wonder who +it can come from?" + +"Bless me! so there is," said the lieutenant, glad to have for a moment +another occupation for his thoughts. He examined the address, and then +the coat of arms on the seal, before breaking it open, which he did +deliberately, as if he did not expect to find anything of interest +within. His countenance had brightened when he saw the letter from the +Admiralty, but it lighted up still more as he read the letter. + +"Well, I little expected this from a stranger, at least from one on whom +we have no possible claim. Most liberal and generous. I said something +would turn up. What do you think, Sally? I really can scarcely read it +for the satisfaction it gives me, but I'll try. It begins-- + +"My dear Friend,--A severe illness has prevented me hitherto from +communicating with you, and from the same cause I was unable to attempt +forwarding your nephew's views; but as soon as I was well enough I +applied to the Admiralty, and their lordships, in consideration of your +own and brother-in-law's services, promised to nominate his son to the +first ship fitting out. I have to-day heard that he has been appointed +to the `Ione.' As I am aware that his outfit and allowance while at sea +will entail certain expenses, I have requested Commander Curtis to draw +on my bankers for the latter, while I beg to enclose a cheque for a +hundred pounds, which will cover the cost of his outfit, and it will +afford me great satisfaction to defray any further expenses which +unexpectedly may occur." The letter was signed, "Your faithful and +deeply-obliged friend, J. Farrance." + +The tears started into Aunt Sally's eyes as she heard the letter read. +They were tears which showed how grateful she felt at the thought of her +brother's anxieties being relieved, mingled, however, with the feeling +that dear Ned was so soon to leave them. + +"How very, very kind of Mr Farrance to help you to become a midshipman, +and some day you may perhaps be made a lieutenant. I am indeed glad!" +exclaimed Mary, though her faltering voice and the tears which filled +her eyes belied her words, as she remembered that Ned must go away, and +perhaps not come back for many long years. + +"This is indeed far better than I could have hoped for," observed the +lieutenant, who had been again glancing over the letter while his sister +and Mary had been talking. + +Ned himself for a minute or more could not utter a word. + +"We must lose no time in setting about doing what is necessary," +continued the lieutenant. "Sally, you'll get his things ready as fast +as you can. He will only require, however, a change or two, to serve +him until he can obtain his outfit. I'll write to the Admiralty to say +that he will join the `Ione' forthwith, and to Mr Farrance to thank him +for his generous offer, which I will accept for Ned, although I might +have thought twice about it had it been made more directly in my favour. +Ned, as soon as you have breakfasted, start away for Longview station. +Give Mr Hanson my regards, and say I shall be grateful to him if he +will take you under his wing to Portsmouth, and arrange about your +outfit; it will save me the expense of the journey, though I should +wonderfully like to see you on board your ship, to introduce you to the +captain and your future messmates. Sally, give Ned some slices of bread +and butter, while Mary pours me out a cup of tea." + +Ned having diligently set to work to swallow the food, in less than a +minute declared himself ready to start. + +"But you have taken nothing, my poor boy!" exclaimed Aunt Sally. + +"I can eat the rest on the way," answered Ned, showing a slice of bread +which he had doubled up and put into his pocket. + +"All right, you'll do well!" said his uncle, nodding approvingly. "When +you receive an order, lose no time in executing it." + +Ned ran off, sprang up the hill with the agility of a deer, and made his +way to the coast-guard station faster than he had ever before performed +the distance. Standing at the door he found a stranger, who inquired +his errand. + +"Mr Hanson started this morning, or he would have been happy to take +charge of you, youngster," was the answer he received. "But my son +Charley is to join the `Ione' in a couple of days, and you can accompany +him. As he has been to sea before, he will look after you and keep you +out of mischief. Tell your uncle, as I don't want to bring him all this +way, that I will, with his leave, call upon him in the course of the +morning to make the necessary arrangements. I'll make you known, +however, to my son before you go back; come in and have some breakfast." + +"Thank you, sir, I have already had mine, and my uncle wants me to +return as soon as possible; but I shall be glad to be introduced to your +son. Who shall I tell my uncle you are, sir?" + +"Say Lieutenant Meadows; we were for a short time messmates as +midshipmen on board the old `Goliath,' and I knew his brother-in-law, +poor Garth. Was he your father?" + +"Yes, sir," answered Ned. + +"I'm very glad that his son and mine are to be together. Charley!" he +shouted, turning round. + +At the summons, a fine-looking lad in a midshipman's uniform, about two +years older than Ned, made his appearance, his face well bronzed by a +tropical sun and sea air. Ned thought at once, from the look he had at +his countenance, that he should like him. Lieutenant Meadows introduced +the boys to each other, and they shook hands, Charley saying that he +should be very glad to be of any service to his future messmate. + +Ned, after exchanging a few words, wished his new friends good-bye, and +hurried homewards, well pleased at the thoughts of having a companion on +his journey who would put him up to what he would have to do on board +ship. This would make amends for his disappointment at not being able +to accompany Mr Hanson; Ned had not then learned to hold in any +especial awe the first lieutenant of a man-of-war, or he might greatly +have preferred the society of the midshipman to that of his superior +officer. + +"I would rather you had been able to accompany Hanson," observed his +uncle, when Ned made his report. "This youngster may be a very steady +fellow, and do his best to help you, or he may be much the contrary and +try to lead you into all sorts of mischief; we cannot always judge by +the outside appearance. No, I won't risk it, I'll go with you and take +charge of you both; his father won't object to that. I shall save +Hanson the trouble of getting your outfit--he'll have quite enough to +do--and I'll introduce you to your commander. Yes, yes, that will be +the best plan." + +In the course of the forenoon Lieutenant Meadows and his son Charley +paid their promised visit to Triton Cottage. The two old shipmates soon +recognised each other, and were well pleased with the anticipation of +having long yarns together about former days. The visitors were +introduced to Aunt Sally and Mary. + +The arrangements for the journey were soon concluded, for Mr Meadows, +knowing what youngsters are made of, was happy to place his son in +charge of a brother officer, who would look after him until he had +joined his new ship. + +While Ned was sent out of the room with a message to Jane and Tom to get +luncheon ready, Mary, though somewhat timidly, managed to get near +Charley Meadows. + +"I want you to be kind to Ned, to take good care of him," she whispered. +"You do not know what a good boy he is; and we are very, very sorry for +him to go away, though we try to look cheerful, as he wants to become a +sailor, and we do not like to prevent him." + +"Of course, young lady, for your sake I'll take as much care of him as I +can," answered Charley, looking down at Mary's sweet face, as she raised +it with an imploring look to his. + +"But I want you to take care of him for his own sake, and be a brother +to him, for he has no brother of his own, and, except Lieutenant Hanson, +who knows him, he will be among strangers." + +"Mr Hanson is first lieutenant of the ship, and will be able to take +much better care of him than I can," said Charley, "but I promise you I +will look after him and fight for him if necessary; but he seems a young +fellow who can stand up for himself, though, as he has not been to sea +before, he will be rather green at first." + +"Thank you, thank you!" said Mary. "I felt that I must ask you, for you +do not know how we all love him." + +"He is a fortunate fellow," observed Charley, smiling, "and I daresay he +will make friends wherever he goes; at all events, I promise that I will +be his friend if he will let me." + +"O yes, I am sure he will; I am so glad that I spoke to you." + +"All right, little lady, set your mind at rest on that score," said +Charley. "Here comes your brother." + +Before Mary could explain that Ned was not her brother, (indeed she so +completely looked upon him as a brother that she often forgot that he +was not so), he entered the room. Mary's heart was greatly relieved at +the thoughts that Ned had already found a friend among his future +messmates. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +Two days afterwards found the one-legged lieutenant and his young +companions on their way to Portsmouth. Ned bore the parting manfully, +though he did not the less acutely feel having to wish good-bye to Aunt +Sally, Mary, and Tom Baraka. + +"If you go to my country, Massa Ned, an' if you see any ob my people, +tell dem where Tom Baraka is," said the black, as he wrung Ned's hand. +"Dare is one ting I long for--to find my wife and boy, and to tell dem +dat I Christian, an' want dem to be Christian also." + +"You have not told me your son's name, so that even should I meet him, I +should not know that he is your son," said Ned. + +"Him called Chando," answered Tom. "Him know dat name when you call +him." + +"And your wife--what is her name?" asked Ned. "Him--Masika," said Tom +after a few moments' thought--it was so long since he had uttered his +wife's name. "O Massa Ned, you bring dem back, and God bless you." + +"Chando--Masika," repeated Ned. "But I am afraid that there is very +little chance of my finding your family, Tom, though I should be truly +thankful to meet with them; I don't know even to what part of the coast +of Africa I am going. It is a large country, and though I may see +thousands of the inhabitants, those you care for may not be among them." + +"Massa Ned, if God wish to bring dem to you, He can find de way," said +the black, in a tone of simple faith. "I no say He will do it, but He +can do it, dat I know." + +Ned did not forget this conversation with poor Tom, not that he +entertained the slightest hope that he should fall in with his wife or +son; indeed, should he do so, how should he possibly know them? He +determined, however, to ask all the Africans he might meet with where +they came from, and should it appear that they were natives of the part +of the country Tom had described to him, to make more minute inquiries. +He knew as well as Tom that God can bring about whatever He thinks fit; +but he was too well instructed not to know that our Heavenly Father does +not always act as men wish or think best--for that He sees what man in +his blindness does not. No one, except Mary, perhaps, missed Ned more +than did Tom Baraka. Poor Mary! it was her first great trial in life. +She found more difficulty than she had ever done before in learning her +lessons, and she about her daily avocations with a far less elastic step +than was her wont. She was too young, however, to remain long +sorrowful, and was as pleased as ever to accompany Aunt Sally on her +rounds among her poor neighbours. + +The travellers reached Portsmouth, and repaired to the "Blue Posts," the +inn at which Mr Pack had been accustomed to put up in his younger days. +Next morning he took the two boys on board the "Ione," which lay +alongside the hulk off the dockyard. Lieutenant Hanson, who had already +joined, received them in a kind manner, which made Charley whisper to +Ned that they were all right, as it was clear that their first +lieutenant was not one of those stiff chaps who look as if they had +swallowed pokers, and he hoped that their commander was of the same +character. + +Two days passed rapidly away in visiting the numerous objects of +interest to be seen at Portsmouth. Ned's kit was ready, and his uncle +finally took him on board the "Ione," which had cast off from the hulk, +and was getting ready to go out to Spithead. Ned was introduced to the +commander, who shook his uncle and him by the hand in a friendly way. + +"I hope that the ship will be a happy one," said Captain Curtis. "It +will depend much on his messmates and him whether it is so, and they'll +find me ready to serve them if they act as I trust may." + +The next day the "Ione" went out to Spithead, the one-legged lieutenant, +by the commander's invitation, being on board. With a beaming eye he +watched Ned, who performed various duties in a way which showed that he +knew well what he was about. + +"He'll do, he'll do," he said to himself more than once. "Meadows, too, +seems an active young fellow. Nothing could have turned out better." + +At length the moment for parting came. Ned accompanied his uncle down +the side, and again and again the kind old lieutenant wrung his hand +before he stepped into the wherry which was to carry him to shore. Ned +stood watching the boat, thinking of his uncle and his home, until he +was recalled to himself by the boatswain's whistle summoning the crew to +weigh anchor and make sail. With a fair breeze and all canvas spread, +the "Ione" stood out through the Needle Passage on her course down +channel. As she came off that part of the coast where his boyhood had +been spent, he turned a wistful gaze in that direction, knowing that +although the lieutenant was not at home, his telescope would be pointed +seaward, and that even then Mary might be looking at the graceful ship +which floated like a swan over the calm water. The Lizard was the last +point of land seen, and the "Ione" stood out into the broad Atlantic. + +"Well, Ned, we are at sea at last, you really have shown yourself more +of a man than I expected," said Charley Meadows. + +"What should have made you fancy I should have been otherwise?" asked +Ned. + +"Why, you've been brought up so much at home that I was afraid you'd +prove rather too soft for the life you'll have to lead on board. +However, I have no fear about that, whatever others may think. Some of +the fellows may try to bully you because you are the youngest on board, +but keep your temper, and do not let them see that you know what they +are about; I'll back you up, and they'll soon cease annoying you." + +Ned followed his friend's advice, and managed without quarrelling or +fighting to obtain the respect of even the least well-disposed of his +messmates. + +Charley was at first inclined to exhibit a somewhat patronising manner +towards Ned, who, however, wisely did not show that he perceived this, +nor did he in the slightest degree resent it. He from the first had +endeavoured to gain all the nautical knowledge he possibly could, and +was never ashamed of asking for information from those able to afford +it. + +"That's the way to become a seaman," observed Mr Dawes the boatswain, +to whom he frequently went when he wanted any matter explained. "Come +to me as often as you like, and I shall be glad to tell you what I know; +and I ought to know a thing or two, as I've been at sea, man and boy, +pretty near five-and-twenty years, though I've not got much +book-learning." + +Ned thanked him, promising to take advantage of his offer, and, as was +natural, became a great favourite with the boatswain. Ned was well up +in many of the details of seamanship, and having been accustomed to +boats all his life, was as well able to manage one as anybody on board. +He quickly learned to go aloft, and to lay out on the yards to reef or +loose the sails, while he was as active and fearless as many a far older +seaman. His knowledge of navigation too was considerable, his uncle +having taken great pains to instruct him, he, on his part, being always +anxious to learn. Charley, therefore, in a short time, finding that Ned +was not only his equal in most respects, but his superior in several, +dropped his patronising manner, and they became faster friends than +ever. + +The first lieutenant, Mr Hanson, did not fail to remark Ned's progress, +and calling him up, expressed his approval. "Go on as you have begun, +Garth, and you will become a good officer. The commander has his eye on +you, and will always, you may depend upon it, prove your friend." + +Although with most of his messmates Ned got on very well, two or three, +it was very evident, disliked him on account of his zeal and good +conduct, which reflected, they might have considered, on their +behaviour. + +The senior mate in the berth, "Old Rhymer" as he was called, who was +soured by disappointment at not obtaining his commission, as he thought +he ought to have done long ago, took every opportunity of finding fault +with him, and was continually sneering at what he said when at the mess +table. If he attempted to reply, O'Connor, the eldest of the +midshipmen, was sure to come down on him and join Rhymer. + +"You'll be after getting a cobbing, Master Garth, if you don't keep your +tongue quiet in presence of your elders," exclaimed the latter. + +"I have said nothing to offend any one," said Ned. + +"We are the judges of that," replied O'Connor, beginning to knot his +handkerchief in an ominous fashion. "You and Meadows are becoming too +conceited by half, because the first lieutenant and the commander have +taken it into their heads that you are something above the common." + +"I have no reason to suppose that from anything they have said to me," +answered Ned. "The first lieutenant merely advised me to go on doing my +duty, and that is what I intend to do; I don't see how that should +offend you." + +"We are the best judges of what is offensive and what is not, Master +Jackanapes," exclaimed Rhymer, "so take that for daring to reply," and +he threw a biscuit across the berth, which would have hit Ned on the eye +had he not ducked in time to avoid it. + +"Thank you for your good intentions, Rhymer," said Ned, picking up the +biscuit and continuing to eat the duff on which he was engaged. + +O'Connor meantime went on knotting his handkerchief, and only waiting +for a word from Rhymer to commence operations on Ned's back. Ned took +no notice, but as soon as he had finished dinner he sprang up and made +for the door of the berth. + +"Stop that youngster!" exclaimed Rhymer; "he is not to set our authority +at defiance. Come back I say, Garth." + +No one, however, laid a hand on Ned, who, making his way round on the +locker behind his companions' backs, gained the door. O'Connor, eager +to obey the old mate's commands, made a spring over the table, and in so +doing caught the table-cloth with his foot, and toppling over on his +face, brought it after him with the plates and other articles to the +deck outside the berth, where he lay struggling, amid shouts of laughter +from his messmates. + +Ned reached the upper deck before O'Connor had regained his legs. The +latter was not inclined to follow him, though he vowed he would be +revenged on the first opportunity. Ned was soon joined by Charley +Meadows. + +"You have made enemies of those two fellows, and they'll pay you off +some day," observed Charley. + +"I am sorry for that, though I do not fear their enmity, and I will try +and make friends with them as soon as possible," answered Ned. He +watched for an opportunity, and was careful not to say anything in the +berth likely to offend his elders. Notwithstanding, they continued to +treat him much in the same way, though O'Connor forbore the use of the +cob, as he had promised, finding that public opinion was decidedly +against him. + +Week after week went by, the "Ione" steadily continuing her course to +the southward. A heavy gale came on, which, though it lasted but a few +days, served to show that Ned was not only a fair-weather sailor, but +could do his duty in foul weather as well as in fine. Then there were +calms and light winds. + +The line was passed. Much to O'Connor's disappointment, the commander +would not allow the usual customs, having given notice that he should +not receive "Daddy Neptune" and his Tritons on board. + +The ship put into Rio, in South America, which, though apparently out of +her course, was not really so. Having remained a few days in that +magnificent harbour, and obtained a supply of fresh provisions and +water, she again sailed, and soon fell in with the south-easterly trade +wind, which carried her rapidly without a tack across the Atlantic. +Table Bay was soon reached, and the officers were anticipating a run on +shore, when the commander received orders to sail immediately for the +east coast, to assist in putting a stop to the trade in slaves, said to +be carried on along it for the supply of the Persian and Arabian +markets. Many of the mess grumbled at being sent off so soon again to +sea, and declared that they would have remained on shore had they known +they were to be engaged in such abominable work. + +"I have heard all about it," exclaimed Rhymer. "We shall never have a +moment's quiet, but be chasing those Arab dhows night and day, and if we +capture any, have to crowd up our decks with hundreds of dirty +blackamoors, whom we shall be obliged to nurse and feed until we can set +them on shore, with the chances of fever or small-pox and all sorts of +complaints breaking out among them." + +Very different were Ned's feelings when he heard the news; it was the +very station to which he had hoped the ship might be sent. His +knowledge of the good qualities possessed by Tom Baraka made him sure +that the blacks were not the despicable race some of his messmates were +disposed to consider them. They, at all events, had immortal souls, and +might with the same advantages become as civilised and as good a +Christian as Tom was. There was a possibility, though a very remote +one, that he might fall in with Tom's wife and child, and he pictured to +himself the satisfaction of being able to restore them to liberty. He +did not, however, express his feelings, except to Charley, as he +considered, justly, that it would be like throwing pearls before swine +to say anything of the sort to Rhymer or O'Connor, who would only have +laughed at him. + +The "Ione" had a quick passage round the south coast of Africa, and she +now entered the Mozambique Channel. The chart showed that she had +reached the twentieth degree of south latitude, and about the +forty-first of east longitude. Away to the west, though far out of +sight, were the mouths of the Zambesi river, whose waters have been +explored from their source to the ocean by the energetic Livingstone, +while to the right was the magnificent island of Madagascar, many of +whose long benighted people have since accepted the Gospel. The ship +glided on over the smooth sea, her sails spread to a gentle southerly +breeze. The heat was great; it had been rapidly increasing. As the hot +sun shone down from a cloudless sky on the deck, the pitch bubbled up as +if a fire were beneath it, and O'Connor declared that he could cook a +beef steak, if he had one, on the capstan head. + +"Hot, do you call it?" observed Rhymer, who had before been in those +seas. "Wait until we get under the line; we may roast an ox there by +tricing it up to the fore-yard, and even then should have to lower it +into the sea every now and then to prevent it being done too quickly." + +Every shady spot was eagerly sought for by officers and crew, though, as +the air was pure, no one really suffered by the heat. Other smaller +islands were passed, though not seen--among them Johanna and Comoro, +inhabited by dark-skinned races. At last the island of Zanzibar, close +in with the African coast, was sighted, and as the breeze blew off its +undulating plains, Ned and Charley agreed that they could inhale the +perfume of its spice groves and its many fragrant flowers. As the ship +drew nearer the land, on the lower ground could be distinguished large +plantations of sugar-cane, with forests of cocoa-nut trees, just beyond +the line of shining sands separating them from the blue water, while +here and there rose low rocky cliffs of varied tints of red and brown. +On the uplands were seen rows of clove-trees ranged in exact order +between the plantations, groups of palm or dark-leaved mangoes, with +masses of wild jungle, where nature was still allowed to have its own +way. Further on white flat-roofed buildings with numerous windows +appeared in sight; then the harbour opened up, in which floated a crowd +of vessels of all nations, some with red banners floating from their +mast-heads, forming the sultan's navy, others English ships of war, +merchantmen, countless dhows with high sterns and strange rigs; then +more houses and terraces with arches and colonnades came into view, with +several consular flags flying above them. + +"That's Zanzibar, the capital of the sultan of that ilk. A very +beautiful place you may think it," said Rhymer; "but wait until we get +on shore, and then give me your opinion." + +"Shorten sail and bring ship to an anchor!" shouted the first +lieutenant. + +The boatswain's whistle sounded, the hands flew aloft, the canvas was +furled, and in a few minutes the "Ione" was brought up at no great +distance from the town. The commander shortly afterwards went on shore, +and several members of the midshipmen's berth obtained leave to follow +him under charge of Rhymer. + +"Remember, young gentlemen, keep together, and do nothing to offend the +natives," said Mr Hanson as they were about to shove off. "They are +not like the inhabitants of European places, and are quick to resent +what they may consider an insult. You cannot be too careful in your +conduct towards them." + +Attractive as the place appeared from the sea, the party had not gone +far when they were inclined to pass a very different opinion on it. The +houses looked dilapidated, the inhabitants, black and brown, squalid and +dirty, though a few Arabs in picturesque costumes, armed to the teeth, +were encountered strolling about with a swaggering air, while odours +abominable in the extreme rose from all directions. The party made +their way through the crooked, narrow lanes, with plastered houses on +each side, in the lower floors of which were Banyans, wearing red +turbans, seated in front of their goods, consisting either of coloured +cottons or calicoes, or heaps of ivory tusks, or of piles of loose +cotton, crockery, or cheap Birmingham ware. Further on they came to +rows of miserable huts, the doors occupied by woolly-headed blacks, who, +in spite of the filth and offensive smells arising from heaps of refuse, +seemed as merry as crickets, laughing, chattering, and bargaining in +loud tones. + +Most of the people they met on foot appeared to be bending their steps +to one quarter; on pursuing the same road the naval party found +themselves at the entrance of a large open space or square crowded with +people. Round it were arranged groups of men, women, and children of +various hues, jet black or darkest of browns predominating. + +"Who can all these people be?" asked Charley. + +"Slaves, to be sure; they are brought here to be sold," answered Rhymer. +"Let's go on, it will be some fun to watch them." + +Rhymer led the way round the square, examining the different groups of +slaves. Although the greater number looked very squalid and wretched, +others had evidently been taken care of. Among them were a party of +Gallas, mostly women, habited in silk and gauze dresses, with their hair +prettily ornamented to increase their personal attractions, which were +far superior to those of the negroes. Close to the group stood a man +who acted as auctioneer, ready to hand his goods over to the highest +bidder. The purchasers were chiefly Arabs, who walked about surveying +the hapless slaves, and ordering those to whom they took a fancy to be +paraded out before them, after which they examined the mouths and limbs +of any they thought of purchasing, striking their breasts and pinching +their arms and legs to ascertain that they possessed sufficient muscle +and wind for their work. + +Ned turned away from the scene with disgust. He longed to be able to +liberate the poor slaves, and to place them where they could obtain +religious instruction and the advantages of civilisation, for they were, +he knew, being dragged from one state of barbarism to another, in many +cases infinitely worse, where they would become utterly degraded and +debased. + +"Is there no hope for these poor people?" he exclaimed, turning to +Charley. "Cannot our commander interfere?" + +"He has not the authority to do so in the dominions of the sultan; we +can only touch those whom we meet on the high seas, beyond certain +limits. We shall soon have an opportunity, however, of setting some of +them free, for the commander told Mr Hanson that we are only to remain +here a couple of days, and then to commence our cruise to the +northward." + +"The sooner the better," exclaimed Ned; "we shall all catch fever if we +stay long in this place. Rhymer was right in what he said about it, +fair as it looks outside." + +Ned was not disappointed; the "Ione" was soon again at sea, and had +reached the latitude beyond which his commander had authority to capture +all dhows with slaves on board. A bright look-out was kept aloft, from +the first break of day until darkness covered the face of the deep, for +any dhows sailing northward, but day after day passed by and none were +seen. The ship was then kept further off the land, the commander +suspecting that the Arabs and slave traders had notice of his +whereabouts. The following day three dhows were seen; chase was made; +they were overtaken and boarded; one, however, was a fair trader, but +about the two others there was considerable doubt. They each carried a +large number of people, whom the Arab captains averred were either +passengers or part of their crews. As no one contradicted them, they +were allowed to proceed on their voyage. + +"This dhow chasing is dull work," exclaimed Rhymer. "I'll bet anything +that we don't make a single capture; and if we do, what is the good of +it, except the modicum of prize money we might chance to pocket? The +blacks won't be a bit the better off, and the Arabs will be the losers." + +"They deserve to be the losers," exclaimed Charley, who, influenced by +the remarks of Ned, had become as much interested as he was in the duty +in which they were engaged. "What business have they to make slaves of +their fellow-creatures?" + +"Business! Why, because they want slaves, and set about the best way of +getting them," answered Rhymer, with a laugh. The ship was now nearly +under the line. The heat, as Rhymer had forewarned his messmates, was +very great, though not enough to roast an ox; and when there was a +breeze, it was at all events endurable in the shade. Had it been much +greater it would not have impeded Commander Curtis in the performance of +his duty. Ned bore it very well, although he confessed to Charley that +he should like a roll in the snow. When the ship was becalmed the crew +were allowed a plunge overboard, but they were ordered to keep close to +the side for fear of sharks, and a sail was rigged out in the water for +those who could not swim. Several more days passed without a single +dhow being seen, and Rhymer declared that they would catch no slavers, +for the best of reasons, that there were no slavers to be caught, or +that if there were, they would take good care to keep out of their way. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +It was Ned's morning watch. Scarcely had the first streaks of crimson +and gold appeared in the eastern sky, heralding the coming day, than the +look-out, who had just reached the masthead, shouted-- + +"Three sail on the port bow," and presently afterwards he announced two +more in the same direction. The wind was southerly and light, the +ship's head was to the northward. The commander, according to his +orders, was immediately called. All hands were roused up to make sail, +and soon every stitch of canvas the ship could carry being packed on +her, the foam which bubbled up under her bows showed that she was making +good way in the direction in which the strangers had been seen. As soon +as Ned was able, he hurried aloft with his spy-glass, eager to have a +look at them. He counted not only five, but six, all of them dhows. As +yet they were probably not aware of the presence of a man-of-war, for +their hulls were still below the horizon. He hoped, therefore, that the +"Ione" would gain on them before they should hoist their larger sails. +He knew that it was the custom of the Arabs to carry only small sails at +night. The usual preparations were made on board the corvette, the +boats were cleared ready for lowering, the bow-chasers loaded and run +out, and buckets of water were thrown over the sails to make them hold +the wind. + +"We are gaining on them!" exclaimed Ned to Charley, as, after a third +trip aloft, he came again on deck. + +"So we may be, but we must remember that after all they may be only +honest traders, and not have a slave on board," observed Charley. "We +shall judge better if they make more sail when they discover us. If +they are honest traders they will keep jogging on as before, if not, +depend upon it they will try to escape." + +"They may try, but they'll find that the `Ione' has a fast pair of +heels, and we shall have the fun of overhauling them at all events," +said Ned. + +At length the Arabs must have discovered the man-of-war. First the +nearest hoisted her big sail, and also set one on her after-mast. Then +another and another dhow followed her example, and then the whole +squadron, like white-winged birds, went skimming along over the blue +sea. + +"What do you think now, Charley, of the strangers?" asked Ned. + +"No doubt that they wish to keep ahead of us, but whether or not we +shall get up with them is another question, though, if the wind holds as +it now does, we may do it." + +The commander and gun-room officers were fully as eager as Ned to +overtake the dhows. They had, they thought, at length got some +veritable slavers in sight, and it would be provoking to lose them. It +was, however, curious that they should all keep together; probably, +however, none of them wished to steer a course by which they would run a +greater chance of falling into the power of their pursuer. Seldom had +breakfast been disposed of more quickly by officers and crew than that +morning. The dhows could now be seen clearly from the deck, proof +positive that the corvette was sailing much faster than they were. Once +headed, most of them might be captured, for the dhow can sail but badly +on a wind, though no vessel is faster before it. + +The lofty canvas of the corvette gave her an advantage over the dhows, +whose sails occasionally hung down from their yards, almost emptied of +wind. + +"We shall soon get them within range of our long gun," said the +commander, as he stood eagerly watching the vessels ahead. "Stand by, +Mr Hanson, to lower the boats; we shall be able to do so with this +breeze without heaving to." + +"Is the gun all ready forward?" he asked a few minutes later. + +"Aye, aye, sir," was the answer. His practised eye assured him that the +stern most dhow was within range of the long gun. + +"We'll make that fellow lower his canvas, and then see what cargo he +carries," said the commander. "Send a shot across his forefoot, and if +that doesn't stop him we'll try to knock away that big yard of his. All +ready there forward?" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +"Fire!" + +The missile flew from the mouth of the gun, and was seen to strike the +surface so close to the dhow as to send the spray over her low bows. +Still she held on her course. The gun was run in and reloaded. + +"Give her another shot!" cried the commander; "and if they don't bring +to, the Arabs must take the consequences." + +The second lieutenant, who had been carefully taking the range, obeyed +the order. The shot was seen to touch the water twice before it +disappeared, but whether it struck the dhow seemed doubtful. Again the +gun was got ready, but this time was aimed at the next vessel ahead, +which almost immediately lowered her sails, the one astern following her +example. + +"Let Mr Rhymer, with a midshipman, shove off and take possession of +those two vessels, while we stand after the others. We must try and bag +the whole of them, for I suspect they all have slaves on board," +observed the commander. + +"Garth, do you accompany Rhymer," said Mr Hanson. "Take care that the +Arabs don't play you any trick." + +The ship was moving so steadily over the smooth water that there was no +necessity to stop her way, though even then it required care in lowering +the boat. The crew with the two young officers were soon in her, the +oars were got out, and away she pulled after the sternmost dhow, while +the ship stood on in chase of the remainder of the fleet. The crew of +the boat gave way, eager to secure their prize. Scarcely, however, had +they got half-way to the nearest, than the breeze freshened up again, +and the corvette's speed was so increased, that it would have now been +no easy task to lower a boat. They were soon up to the dhow, on board +of which there appeared to be a crew of from fifteen to twenty Arabs, +who gazed with folded arms and scowling countenances on their +approaching captors. Rhymer and Ned sprang on board. No resistance was +offered. The Arab captain shrugged his shoulders, said something, which +probably meant, "It is the fortune of war," and appeared perfectly +resigned to his fate. A peep down the main hatchway showed at once that +she was a slaver, as the bamboo deck was crowded with blacks, who +commenced shrieking fearfully as they saw Ned's white face, having been +told by the Arabs that the object of the English was to cook and eat +them. + +"Stop those fellows from making that horrible uproar," cried Rhymer in +an angry tone. "I cannot make out what these Arabs say with this +abominable noise." + +It is very doubtful if he would have understood his prisoners even had +there been perfect silence. In order not to be seen by the blacks Ned +walked aft. + +Rhymer made signs to the Arabs to give up their arms, which he handed +into the boat as the best means of preventing any attempt they might +make to recapture their vessel. He then ordered them to go forward to +rehoist the sail, while he sent one of his men to the helm. + +While they were engaged in these arrangements, Ned cast his eye on the +other dhow, of which Rhymer had been ordered to take charge. + +"Look out there, Rhymer!" he exclaimed; "that fellow is getting up his +long yard again, and will try to give us the slip." + +"We'll soon stop him from doing that," answered Rhymer. "You remain on +board this craft with a couple of hands and I'll go after him. Cox and +Stone, you stay with Mr Garth; into the boat the rest of you." The +crew in another instant were in their seats, and shoving off, pulled +away towards the other dhow. There was no time to lose, for already the +yard with its white canvas was half-way up the mast. The breeze, too, +was freshening, and as Ned watched her it seemed to him that she had a +good chance of escaping. The boat's crew were pulling as hard as they +could lay their backs to the oars. He saw Rhymer standing up with a +musket in his hand, and shouting to the Arabs, threatening to fire +should they continue the attempt to escape. They were, however, +apparently not to be deterred from so doing. Still the sail continued +to ascend and the dhow was gathering way. Should the sail once be got +up, the boat would have little chance of catching her. Rhymer, however, +was not likely to give up the pursuit. Finding that his threats were +not attended to, he fired one of the muskets, but whether any person was +hit Ned could not discover. Again Rhymer fired, and then reloaded both +muskets. Ned was so engaged in watching the boat, that he scarcely took +notice of the proceedings of the Arabs on board his own dhow. He +observed, however, that one of them, a young man with a better-looking +countenance than most of his companions, had remained aft, while the +rest were attempting to hoist the sail, though from some cause or other +the halyards appeared to have got foul. + +"Go forward, Cox, and see what those fellows are about," he said; "I'll +take the helm." + +The seaman obeyed, while Stone, beckoning to the young Arab to come to +his assistance, stood by to haul in the main sheet. The only thing in +the shape of a boat was a small canoe which lay in the after part of the +vessel. Aided by Cox, the sail was soon hoisted, but scarcely had the +dhow heeled over to the breeze, than cries arose from the Arab crew, who +made frantic gesticulations, indicating that the vessel was sinking. +Ned at once suspected the cause; their second shot must have struck the +bows of the dhow between wind and water, and had probably started a +plank, so as to allow the sea, like a mill stream, to rush into her. +There was little hope of stopping it. Ned put up the helm. "Lower the +sail!" he shouted as he had never shouted before; the seamen endeavoured +to obey the order, but the halyards had again become jammed, and to his +dismay he saw that the bows of the dhow were rapidly sinking. As the +water rushed into the hold the poor blacks uttered the most piercing +shrieks, while the panic-stricken Arabs in a body frantically sprang +towards the after part of the vessel; but as they came along, the light +deck gave way beneath their weight, and the whole of them were +precipitated on to the heads of the hapless negroes below. + +"We must save ourselves, sir," cried Stone, lifting the canoe. "It is +our only chance, or we shall be drowned with the rest." + +"Where is Cox?" exclaimed Ned. + +He had fallen in among the struggling Arabs and blacks. Ned caught +sight of him for a moment, and was springing forward to help him out +from their midst, when the stern of the dhow lifted. Stone launched the +canoe and leaped into her, shouting to his young officer to join him, +while he paddled with a piece of board clear of the sinking vessel. Ned +seeing that Cox had managed to reach the side, sprang overboard, his +example being followed by the latter, as well as by the young Arab who +had remained aft. Before any of the rest of the crew had extricated +themselves, the dhow, plunging her head into the sea, rapidly glided +downwards, and in an instant the despairing cries of the perishing +wretches which had filled the air were silenced. Stone, influenced by +the natural desire of saving his own life, paddled away with might and +main to escape being drawn down in the vortex. Ned had also struck out +bravely, though he had to exert all his swimming powers to escape. For +an instant he cast a glance back; the dhow had disappeared with all +those on board; Cox was nowhere to be seen; he caught sight, however, of +the young Arab, who, having clutched hold of a piece of bamboo, had come +to the surface, but was evidently no swimmer. + +"I must try and save that poor fellow," he thought. "I can manage to +keep him afloat until the canoe gets up to us." Ned carried out his +intention. On reaching the young Arab he made a sign to him to turn on +his back, placing the piece of bamboo under him. Just then he heard a +faint shout--it came from Cox, who had returned to the surface, though, +like the Arab, unable to swim. + +"Save me, save me!" shouted Cox, who was clinging to a log of wood. + +Stone heard him, and Ned saw the head of the canoe turned towards where +the seaman was struggling. + +"Pick him up first!" he shouted to Stone. "I can keep this man afloat +until you come to us." + +With only a board to impel the canoe, it took Stone a considerable time +to reach his messmate, whom it was then no easy matter to get into the +canoe without upsetting her. While Stone was thus employed, Ned did his +uttermost to calm the fears of the young Arab, who, besides being unable +to swim, probably recollected that sharks abounded in those seas, and +dreaded lest he and the Englishman might be attacked by one. Ned +thought only of one thing, that he had to keep himself and a +fellow-creature afloat until the canoe should come up to them. As to +how they should get on board, he did not allow himself to think just +then. She was scarcely large enough to hold four people, though she +might possibly support the whole party until Rhymer could send the boat +to pick them up. Ned, withdrawing his eyes from poor Cox, who was +clinging to his log, and shouting to his messmate to make haste, looked +towards the dhow of which Rhymer was in chase. She had hoisted her +sail, and should the breeze continue, would very probably get away, +unless Rhymer, by killing or wounding some of her crew, could make the +others give in. He, it was pretty clear, was so eagerly engaged in +pursuing the chase, that he had not seen the dhow go down. The boat's +crew, however, must have perceived what had happened; and Ned thought it +strange that he did not at once return to try and save him and his two +men. + +"Perhaps he fancies that we are all lost, and that there would be no use +in coming to look after us. If he catches the dhow, however, I hope +that he will send back the boat, on the chance of any of us having +escaped," thought Ned. He could see the sails of the corvette, and an +occasional shot told him that she was still firing at the slavers. She +was already almost hull down, and the catastrophe could not have been +discovered from her deck, while the eyes of the look-outs aloft were +probably fixed on the dhows still trying to escape. Still Ned did not +give up hopes of being rescued, but continued energetically treading +water, and speaking in as cheerful a tone as he could command to keep up +the spirits of the young Arab. + +"Me understand, t'ankee, t'ankee," said the latter at last. + +Still Stone could make but slow progress, and Ned began to fear that his +own strength might become exhausted before the canoe could reach him. +He was truly thankful when at last he saw that Stone had got hold of +Cox, and was dragging him on board. Just at that moment, however, to +his horror, he caught sight of a dark fin above the surface; that it was +that of a shark he knew too well. He must do his utmost to keep the +monster at a distance. He shouted, and splashed the water with his +disengaged hand. + +"Be quick, be quick, Stone!" he cried. "Do you see that brute?" + +"Aye, aye, sir, I see him; but he'll not come nigh you while you're +splashing about, and the canoe is too big a morsel for him to attack. +Now, Ben," he cried, turning to his messmate, "haul yourself on board +while I keep at the other end of the canoe, it is the safest plan." + +But poor Cox was too much exhausted by his violent struggles to do as he +was advised, and at last Stone had to help him, at the risk of upsetting +the canoe or bringing her bow under the water. By lying flat along he +succeeded, however, at last in hauling his shipmate's shoulders over the +bows. He then returned to the stern, when Ben, by great exertion, +managed to drag himself in. This done, Stone endeavoured as fast as he +could to get up to Ned. As Stone paddled, he sung out, "I'm afraid it's +of no use trying to keep that Arab fellow above water; you must let him +go, for the canoe won't hold us all." + +"Not while I have life and strength to help him," answered Ned. "Do not +be afraid," he added, turning to the Arab, who understood what Stone had +said. "The canoe may support us even though she is brought down to the +gunwale; and if she can't, I'll keep outside and hold on until Mr +Rhymer's boat comes back, or the corvette sends to look for us." + +"But the shark!" cried Stone; "the brute may be grabbing you if you +remain quiet even for a minute." + +"I don't intend to remain quiet," said Ned. "Here, lift the Arab in. +I'll help you--it can be done." There certainly was a great risk of the +canoe upsetting in doing as Ned proposed. Cox, however, leaned over on +the opposite side, and they at length succeeded in getting the Arab on +board. The gunwale of the canoe was scarcely a couple of inches above +the water; a slight ripple would have filled her, but the sea was so +smooth that there was no fear of that happening. Ned, directing the men +how to place themselves, was at last drawn safely on board. His +additional weight brought the canoe almost flush with the water. They +were, however, certainly better off in her than in the water; but at any +moment, with the slightest increase of wind, she might fill and sink +beneath them, and they would again be left to struggle for their lives. +Ned was afraid of moving, and urged his companions to remain perfectly +still. + +"Look out, Stone; what is the dhow about? Mr Rhymer will surely soon +be sending the boat to our relief--he must have seen our craft go down." + +"Not so sure of that; he'll not trouble himself about us," muttered +Stone. "If you were there, you'd do it; all officers are not alike." + +Ned was afraid that the seaman might be right, but he did not express an +opinion on the subject. Their position was, indeed, a trying one. The +sun struck down with intense heat on their heads, while they had not a +particle of food to satisfy their hunger, nor a drop of fresh water to +quench their burning thirst. The breeze had sprung up, and every now +and then a ripple broke over the gunwale, even though Stone kept the +canoe before the wind. + +"If we had a couple of paddles, we might gain on the corvette; but I'm +afraid of using this bit of board, for fear of taking the water in on +one side or the other," said Stone. + +"Do not attempt it," answered Ned; "we should not overtake her unless it +should fall calm again, and the commander will surely come and look for +us." + +"Provided Mr Rhymer doesn't tell him we are all lost," remarked Stone, +who had evidently little confidence in the old mate. + +Hour after hour went by, the boat was nowhere to be seen, and the dhows' +sails had sunk beneath the horizon. Night was approaching, and as far +as the occupants of the canoe could judge, no help was at hand. Ned +endeavoured, as well as he could, to keep up the spirits of his +companions. + +The wind remained light, and the sea was as smooth as a mill-pond. The +approaching darkness so far brought relief that they were no longer +exposed to the burning rays of the sun, while the cooler air of night +greatly relieved them. As the day had passed by, so it appeared +probable would the night, without bringing them succour. Ben and the +Arab slept, but Ned was too anxious to close his eyes, and Stone +insisted on keeping a look-out, on the chance of any vessel passing +which might take them on board. Even an Arab dhow would be welcome, for +the Arabs would doubtless be willing to receive them on board for the +sake of obtaining a reward for preserving their lives. At last the +Arab, whose head was resting on Ned's side, awoke. He appeared to be in +a very weak state, and told Ned, in his broken English, that he thought +he was dying. + +"Try and keep alive until to-morrow morning," said Ned; "by that time +our ship will be looking for us, and as they know where we were left, we +are sure to be seen." + +Ned had been calculating that it was about two hours to dawn, when, in +spite of his efforts to keep awake, he found his head dropping back on +Ben's legs, and he was soon fast asleep. How long he had been lost in +forgetfulness he could not tell, when he heard Stone give a loud hail. + +"What is that?" asked Ned, lifting up his head. "I heard voices and a +splash of oars, sir," he answered; "they were a long way off, and, I +fancied, passed to the southward." + +"Silence, then," said Ned; "we will listen for their reply." + +No answering hail came, and he feared that Stone must have been +mistaken; again he listened. "Yes, those were human voices and the dip +of oars in the water. We'll shout together. Rouse yourself, Cox," he +said. + +Ben sat up, and, Stone leading, they shouted together at the top of +their voices, the young Arab joining them. Again they were silent, but +no answer came. "If that is a boat, they surely must have heard us," +observed Ned. + +"They may be talking themselves, sir, or the noise of their oars +prevented them," remarked Stone. + +"We'll shout again, then," said Ned. + +Again they shouted, this time louder than before. They waited a few +seconds, almost afraid to breathe, and then there came across the water +a British cheer, sounding faintly in the distance. + +"Hurrah! hurrah! All right, sir!" cried Stone. They shouted several +times after this to guide the boat towards them. At length they could +see her emerging from the gloom; but no one on board her had apparently +seen the canoe, for, from the speed the boat was going and the course +she was steering, she was evidently about to pass them. + +"Boat ahoy!" shouted Stone. "Here we are, but take care not to run us +down." + +The boat's course was altered; they soon heard a voice, it was that of +Charley Meadows, crying out, "There is something floating ahead of us, a +raft or a sunken boat." + +"Meadows ahoy!" hailed Ned. "Come carefully alongside." The oars were +thrown in, and the boat glided up to the canoe. + +"Why, Ned, Ned! I am so thankful that I have found you," cried Charley, +as he grasped the hand of his messmate after he had been helped on +board. + +"There is a poor Arab, take care of him, for he is pretty far gone +already," said Ned. + +"Water, water," murmured the Arab faintly. + +There was fortunately a breaker in the boat, and before many words were +exchanged some of the refreshing liquid was served out to Ned and his +companions. Except a few biscuits there was nothing to eat, but even +these soaked in water served to refresh the well-nigh famished party. + +Charley then explained that the corvette, having captured three of the +dhows, all with slaves on board, had hove to for the purpose of +transferring their cargoes to her deck; and that while so occupied, +Rhymer had arrived with a fourth, several of the Arab crew having been +wounded in attempting to get away. "The commander seeing you were not +on board, inquired what had become of you, when Rhymer, with very little +concern, replied that he feared you all had gone to the bottom with the +dhow, as his boat's crew asserted that they had seen her founder. The +commander was very indignant at his not having gone back at once to try +and pick you up, should you by any means have escaped. He immediately +ordered off three boats--the second lieutenant going in one, Rhymer in +another, while he gave me charge of the third. What has become of the +other two boats I do not know; perhaps they thought that they had come +far enough and have gone back, as I confess I was on the point of doing +when I heard your hail. We shall soon, I hope, fall in with the ship, +for she is sure to beat back over the ground until she has picked us +up." + +"I shall be thankful to get on board for the sake of this poor Arab, who +requires the doctor's care," said Ned. + +"Why, isn't he one of the slaver's crew?" exclaimed Charley. "An arrant +rogue, I dare say." + +"I don't know about that, but I saved his life," answered Ned, "and I +feel an interest in him; he seems grateful too, as far as I can judge." + +He then asked the Arab, who was sitting near him, whether he would have +some more water, and handed him the cup, which was full. + +"T'ankee, t'ankee!" answered the Arab; "much t'ankee!" Ned then gave +him some more sopped biscuit. + +"What's his name?" inquired Charley. "Ask him, as he seems to speak +English." + +"Sayd," answered the Arab immediately, showing that he understood what +was said. + +Charley was now steering the boat to the northward. In a short time day +broke, and as the sun rose, his rays fell on the white canvas of the +corvette, which was standing close-hauled to the south-west, her black +hull just seen above the horizon. + +"Hurrah!" cried Charley, "there's the old `barky'; I hope we shall soon +be on board." + +"If she stands on that course she'll pass us," said Ned. + +"No fear of that," answered Charley; "she'll soon be about, and we shall +be on board and all to rights." + +He was not mistaken; the corvette immediately tacked, her canvas, which +had hitherto seemed of snowy whiteness, being thrown into dark shadow. +She now stood towards the south-east, on a course which would bring her +so near that the boat would soon be seen from her deck. Before long she +again came to the wind. + +"She is going about again!" exclaimed Ned. + +"No, no, she's heaving to to pick up one of the boats," answered +Charley. + +He was again right; in a few minutes the sails were once more filled, +and she stood on. The wind being light, the midshipmen had to wait for +some time before they were certain that the boat was seen. The corvette +again appeared as if about to pass them, but soon put about, and in less +than a quarter of an hour she hove to, to enable Charley to steer +alongside. + +"Hurrah!" he shouted as he approached, "we have them all safe." + +A cheer rose from the throats of the crew as they received this +announcement. Ned with his companions were assisted up the side. As he +passed along the gangway he observed the unusual appearance which the +deck presented, covered as it was by an almost countless number of black +figures, men, women, and children, most of them squatting down in the +attitudes they had been compelled to preserve on board the slave +vessels. He had, however, to make his way aft to the commander, who put +out his hand and cordially congratulated him on his escape. + +Ned having reported what had happened to himself, added, "There's a poor +Arab with me, sir, who requires to be looked after by the doctor. He +seems grateful to me for having kept him afloat until the canoe picked +us up." + +"In other words you saved his life, Garth, at the peril of your own, as +far as I can understand. The surgeon will attend to him; and I hope the +risk he has run of losing his life will induce him to give up +slave-trading for the future. Now, my lad, you must turn into your +hammock, you look as if you required rest." + +Ned confessed that such was the case, but hinted that he and Sayd would +first of all be glad of some food. This was soon brought him, and +scarcely a minute had passed after he had tumbled into his hammock +before he was fast asleep. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +Ned was allowed to take as long a rest as he liked, and it was not until +hammocks were piped up the next morning that he awoke. Scarcely had he +reached the deck when Sayd, who immediately knew him, hurried up, and +making a profound salaam, pressed his hand, and in his broken English +warmly thanked him for saving his life. + +"I am very glad to have done so," said Ned; "and, as the commander says, +the best way you can show your gratitude is to give up slave-dealing for +the future, and turn honest trader." + +The young Arab evidently did not understand the meaning of what Ned had +said, possibly had he done so he would have declared that he was merely +following an occupation which his people considered perfectly lawful, +and that he saw no reason why he should abandon it. Although he could +not exchange many words, Ned felt greatly drawn towards his new friend. +There was something very pleasing in the young Arab's manner; indeed, in +every sense of the word, he appeared to be a gentleman. Ned, however, +had his duties to perform, and could not just then hold much +conversation with him. Both officers and crew were occupied from +morning till night in attending to the liberated slaves, who had in the +first place to be washed from the filth in which they had lived on board +the dhows; they had then to be fed, and most of them also had to be +clothed, while constant attention was required to keep each gang on the +part of the deck allotted to it. Ned, on inquiring for the dhows, found +that all those captured had been destroyed, with the exception of one, +on board which the Arab crews had been placed, and allowed to go about +their business, as it would have been inconvenient to keep them on board +until they could be earned to Aden or Zanzibar. + +The ship was now steering for the Seychelles Islands, the nearest place +at which negroes could be landed without the risk of again being +enslaved. There were upwards of three hundred of these poor creatures +on board, of all tints, from yellow and brown to ebon black. Some few, +chiefly Gallas, were fine-looking people, with nothing of the negro in +their features, and of a dark copper colour; but the greater number, +according to European notions, were excessively ugly specimens of the +human race. Many were in a deplorable condition, having been long +crammed together on the bamboo decks of the dhow, without being even +able to sit upright. Several of the women had infants in their arms, +the poor little creatures being mere living skeletons; not a few of +them, indeed, died as they were being removed from the slavers to the +ship. Most of the slaves, both men and women, looked wretched in the +extreme, for the only food they had received for many weeks was a +handful of rice and half a cocoa-nut full of water. On board two of the +captured dhows not more than three bags of grain were found to feed +between eighty and a hundred people. At first the poor creatures, when +placed on the man-of-war's deck, looked terrified in the extreme, but +the kindness they received from the officers and seamen soon reassured +them. The rough "tars" at all hours of the day might be seen nursing +the babies or tending the sick, lifting those unable to walk from place +to place, or carrying them their food. Not a grumble was heard among +the crew, although their patience was severely taxed. The provisions, +consisting of grain and rice, having been boiled in the ship's coppers, +were served out at stated times in large bowls to the different messes. +As soon as the food was cooked, the seamen told off for the purpose came +along the deck with the huge bowls in their hands, one of which was +placed in the midst of each tribe, or gang, of blacks, who lost no time +in falling to, using their fingers to transfer the hot food to their +mouths, often squabbling among each other when any one was supposed to +take more than his or her share. Ned was as active as any one in +tending the poor Africans, much to the astonishment of Sayd, who could +not understand why white men should interest themselves about a set of +wretched savages, as he considered them. Ned tried to explain that, as +they had souls, it was the duty of Christian men to try and improve +their condition, and that no people had a right to enslave their +fellow-creatures; but though Sayd was intelligent enough about most +matters, he failed to understand Ned's arguments, and evidently retained +his own opinion to the last. Notwithstanding this, their friendship +continued. Ned took great pains to teach Sayd English, which he +appeared especially anxious to learn. + +With the assistance of the Arab, he made inquiries among all the negroes +in the hopes of hearing something about Tom Baraka's family, but nothing +could he learn which could lead him to suppose that any one on board was +acquainted with them. Even Charley was almost as anxious as he was on +the subject, though he owned that he had little hope of success. + +"You might as well try to find a needle in a bundle of hay," he +observed. + +Sayd, too, assured him that so many thousands had been carried off from +their families, it would be scarcely possible to identify Baraka's wife +and child. + +Happily the sea was smooth and the wind moderate, for had bad weather +come on, the sufferings of the slaves would have been greatly increased. +At length Mahe, the largest of the Seychelles group, appeared ahead, +and a pilot coming on board, the "Ione" brought up in Port Victoria. +Everywhere on shore the most beautiful tropical vegetation was seen; the +hills covered to their summits with trees, cottages and plantations on +the more level ground, while here and there bright coloured cliffs +peeped out amid the green foliage. Mahe was pronounced to be a very +pretty island indeed, and although so close under the line, it is +considered an extremely healthy one. + +The slaves were landed, some of them being hired by the planters, while +others set up for themselves on ground allotted to them by the +government. Before leaving the Seychelles, Commander Curtis had the +satisfaction of seeing the larger number of emancipated negroes +comfortably settled, and several having agreed to keep house together +were legally married. In most respects, after all their troubles, they +were far better off than they would have been in their own country, as +they were free from the attacks of hostile tribes or wild animals, and +ran no risk of again being carried off by Arab slave dealers. + +Once more the "Ione" was at sea, and steering so as to cross the track +of the slavers. Several dhows were seen, but being to leeward, effected +their escape. Others which came in sight to the southward were +compelled to heave to, and were boarded, but these turned out to be +legal traders. Though many had blacks on board, it could not be proved +that they were slaves. At length two were caught having full cargoes of +slaves, and with these the "Ione" returned to Zanzibar. Sayd had by +this time learned so much English, that, as Ned had hoped, the office of +interpreter was offered to him by Commander Curtis. Sayd replied that +he had friends on shore whom he would consult on the subject. The +following day he returned. + +"Are you going to remain with us?" asked Ned. + +"After some time perhaps, not now," answered Sayd, without giving any +further reason for not accepting the situation. He was as friendly as +ever, and expressed his gratitude for the kindness he had received; he +had, however, made up his mind to remain on shore, and having bade +farewell to Ned and his other friends on board, he took his departure. + +"I for one am glad to be rid of the fellow," observed Rhymer, as he was +seated at the head of the table in the midshipmen's berth. "Like all +Arabs, I have no doubt that he is a great rascal, though he is so soft +and insinuating in his manners." + +"I hope that he is an exception to the rule," answered Ned, not liking +to have his friend run down. + +"How dare you oppose your opinion to mine, youngster?" exclaimed Rhymer. +"As you claim the credit of saving his life, you think it necessary to +praise him; but if any of us fall into his power, he'd show his +gratitude by cutting our throats with as little compunction as any other +Arab would have." + +Charley sided with Ned; but the majority of those present thought Rhymer +was not far wrong in the opinion he expressed. + +The "Ione" having replenished her stores, again sailed on a cruise to +the southward. Week after week, however, went by and not a prize was +taken. It was very tantalising. Dhows were frequently seen and chased, +but those which were overhauled proved to be legal traders. It was the +old story over again. The Arabs were evidently too cunning to be +caught; only those who had no cause to dread the British cruisers got in +her way, and the rest kept out of it. That thousands of slaves were +being embarked and carried northward there could be no doubt, but how to +catch the dhows with slaves on board was the question. The commander +resolved to try and outwit the Arabs. He had heard at Zanzibar that +many of their vessels kept close in-shore, both to avoid the British +cruisers and to fill up their cargoes with any negroes they might +entrap. He accordingly determined to send the boats in with strong +crews well-armed and provisioned to lie in wait among the small islands +off the shore, that should any dhows appear in sight, they might pounce +down on them and effect their capture before they had time to make their +escape. As the commander had no reason for keeping his plans secret +they were soon known about the ship, and every one in the midshipmen's +berth hoped to be employed in the service. Boat expeditions are always +popular among men-of-war's men, notwithstanding the privations they +entail, as a change from the regular routine of life on board ship. As +yet it was not known who was to go; Ned and Charley thought that they +should have but little chance. + +"If we ask Mr Hanson he will advise the commander to send us," said +Ned. + +"There's nothing like trying," replied Charley; "but I am afraid it will +be of little use." + +"I'll speak to him," said Ned. "It will show our zeal, and we can but +be refused. I do not suppose that either you or I are likely to obtain +command of a boat, but we may be sent with some one else, and the +commander may be willing to give us an opportunity of gaining +experience." + +Ned carried out his intention. + +"I will see about it," answered Mr Hanson. "I suppose you and Meadows +wish to go together to keep each other out of mischief." + +"Thank you, sir," said Ned, "we'll look after each other at all events; +it won't be our fault if we don't take a dhow or two." + +"You are always zealous, Garth, and the commander will, I know, be glad +to favour your wishes," answered the lieutenant, in a tone which +encouraged Ned to hope that he would be sent on the expedition. While +the ship was standing towards the African coast orders were received to +prepare the three largest boats--the launch, pinnace, and cutter. The +second lieutenant was to go in one with the assistant surgeon, the +master in another, and Rhymer was to have charge of the third. The +commander, who held him in more estimation than his messmates were wont +to do, spoke to him on the quarter-deck. + +"I intend to send two of the youngsters with you--Meadows and Garth. +You will look after them, and see that they come to no harm; the +experience they may gain will be of advantage to them." + +"Of course, sir, I am always glad to be of service to youngsters, and +will take good care of them," he answered aloud, muttering to himself, +"especially as one of these days I may find them passed over my head." + +"Very well, then, Rhymer, I will give you the necessary directions for +your guidance; but remember you will on no account allow your men to +sleep on shore on the mainland, and you must avoid remaining at night up +any river into which you may chase a dhow." + +Rhymer, of course, undertook to act according to the commander's +directions. + +Next day the ship came in sight of an island, three or four miles from +the mainland, the western side rising some fifty or sixty feet above the +summit of the water, and covered with trees. On the north side was a +deep bay, into which the ship stood, and came to an anchor. Here she +was hid both from the people on shore or from any passing dhows. The +island formed one of a group, extending along the coast at various +distances, most of them, however, were low, and many were mere +sand-banks, with a few casuarina bushes growing on the higher portions. +They would all, however, afford sufficient shelter to the boats, and +conceal them till they could pounce out and capture any dhows passing +near. The boats were now lowered, each with a gun in the bows, well +stored with provisions and tents for living in on shore, while the crews +were well-armed, and were at once despatched to their several +destinations. The second lieutenant was directed to go to the +northward, and Rhymer was to proceed to the most southern limit, and in +case of necessity they were to rendezvous at the spot from whence they +started. The ship then sailed on a cruise to the northward, the +commander promising to return in the course of a fortnight to replenish +their provisions, and take charge of any dhows which might have been +captured. Ned and Charley were in high glee at the thoughts of the work +they were to be engaged in. Old Rhymer had lately been more pleasant +than usual, and they hoped to get along pretty well with him. He was +fond of his ease, and in fine weather was likely to entrust the boat to +them, while he took a "caulk" in the stern sheets; indeed, when away +from his superiors, and in command himself, he was always more amiable +than on board ship. + +For some time after the boat had shoved off all on board were employed +in re-stowing the stores, getting her into trim, and placing the +articles most likely to be required uppermost. When everything had been +done according to his satisfaction, he addressed the two midshipmen. + +"Now, youngsters," he said, "recollect, I must have implicit obedience, +and all things will go well; if not, look out for squalls. I'll take +one watch, you, Meadows, another, and you, Garth, the third." + +The midshipmen made no answer, for, being as well aware as he was of the +importance of maintaining discipline, they thought his remark rather +superfluous. + +The weather continued fine, and the old mate appeared to be in unusual +good-humour. He laughed and talked and spun long yarns which amused his +companions, although they had heard most of them twenty times before. +When tired of talking, he stretched himself in the stern sheets to "take +a snooze," as he said, charging them to call him should anything occur. +"You see, youngsters, what confidence I place in you," he observed. "I +could not venture to shut my eyes if I didn't feel sure that you would +keep a bright look-out. It is for your good besides, that you may know +how to act when left in command of a boat." + +The midshipmen suspected that Rhymer thought more of his own comfort +than of benefiting them. They passed several small islands. On some +grew a scanty vegetation, while others were mere sand-banks. One of +them was occupied by vast numbers of wild fowl, on which Rhymer looked +with longing eyes. + +"We might land, and in a short time kill birds enough to supply +ourselves for a couple of days," he observed; "the delay cannot be of +consequence." + +Ned recollected that Rhymer had received orders to proceed without delay +to the southward, but he knew that it would not do to remind him. The +boat was therefore headed in towards a point on the lee side, where it +appeared likely that an easy landing-place could be found. The beach, +however, shelved so gradually that she could not approach within about +twenty yards of the dry sand; she therefore was brought up by a grapnel, +and Rhymer said that he would wade on shore, telling Ned to remain in +charge of the boat with part of the crew, while Charley and the rest +accompanied him. Neither Rhymer nor Charley had much experience as +sportsmen, and as their arms were only ship's muskets, Ned thought it +possible that they would not kill as many birds as Rhymer expected to +obtain. Taking off their shoes and trousers, Rhymer and his followers +jumped overboard and waded ashore. There were but few birds on that end +of the island, the chief colony being some way off. Ned heard several +shots fired, but the sportsmen were too far off by that time for him to +see whether any birds had been killed. In a short time the sounds of +firing again reached him, evidently at a still greater distance; he did +not forget his directions to keep a bright look-out, and he occasionally +swarmed to the masthead that he might obtain a more extensive view. He +had gone up for the fourth time, when he caught sight of a white sail +coming up from the southward with the wind off the land; she was a dhow, +of that there was no doubt, and might be a full slaver. She would +possibly pass close to the island, abreast of which, as she was sailing +rapidly, she would very quickly arrive. There was no time to be lost. +He glanced his eye over the land, but could nowhere discover the +shooting party; he was afraid of firing, for fear of alarming the crew +of the dhow. As the only means of getting back Rhymer, he sent one of +the men to try and find him and urge him to return. On came the dhow; +every moment was precious; she had not yet discovered the boat. The +man, wading on shore, ran off along the sand; the dhow was almost +abreast of the island; at length Ned, to his relief, saw his companions +approaching in the distance. + +He got the sail ready, so that it might be hoisted the moment the party +were on board. He shouted and signed to them to make haste, pointing to +the dhow; at last Rhymer came, followed by Charley and the men, wading +through the water, puffing and blowing, terribly out of wind. The +result of the sport appeared to be only half-a-dozen wild fowl, the +bodies of some being nearly blown to pieces. The party quickly tumbled +into the boat, and, the grapnel being got up, she immediately made sail +on a course which Rhymer fancied would cut off the dhow. He was +evidently in no good-humour at the ill-success of their sport, but the +prospect of making a prize somewhat restored him; the dhow, however, +must soon have seen the boat standing out towards her. + +"Hurrah! she knows it is no use running, and gives in at once," +exclaimed Rhymer, as the dhow was seen to lower her canvas. He soon +altered his tone when she hoisted a much larger sail than she had before +been carrying, and put up her helm, standing away directly before the +wind. + +"We must be after her, lads," cried Rhymer. "The breeze may fail, and +if she is becalmed we are sure to have her." + +It occurred to Ned that if Rhymer had not landed on the island this +would have been more likely. The wind being light, the oars were got +out and the boat went along at a good rate. + +"We shall have her, we shall have her!" cried the old mate; "she is +within range of our gun. Try a shot, Meadows." + +Charley sprang forward, and glancing along the piece, fired, but the +shot fell short. + +Though Rhymer still cried out, "We shall have her, we shall have her!" +gradually his voice lost its tone of confidence, the breeze freshened, +and the dhow began rapidly to distance her pursuer. Still the boat +followed; the wind might again fail and the chase be overtaken. Instead +of failing, however, the wind increased, and the dhow's hull sunk +beneath the horizon. At length only the upper portion of her sail could +be seen; still, as long as a speck was in sight, Rhymer pursued her, and +not until the sun set did he abandon all hope. + +"It is a bad job," he exclaimed. "Now let's have those birds, they must +be pretty well stewed by this time." + +The wild fowl had been cut up into pieces, and, with rice biscuits and +other ingredients, had been stewing in the pot in which all their meals +were cooked, officers and men sharing alike. As soon, however, as +Rhymer's plate was handed to him he exclaimed-- + +"Fishy! Horribly fishy!" + +"Strong flavoured I must own," said Charley; and he and Ned could with +difficulty eat a small portion, though the men were not so particular. +The unsavoury dish did not add to Rhymer's good-humour. Scarcely had +supper been concluded than it began to blow so hard that it became +necessary to take down two reefs, and the boat close-hauled stood +towards the shore with the prospect of having a dirty night of it. The +sea, too, got up and sent the spray flying over her. About the middle +watch rain began to fall heavily. Though provided with an awning, +blowing as fresh as it did, it was impossible to rig it, and all hands +were soon wet through. As to sleeping, that was out of the question. +Rhymer passed the night grumbling and abusing the wild fowl, the Arabs +and the dhows, lamenting his own hard fate in being engaged in such +abominable service. By morning, when the boat had got in again with the +land, the wind fell, and the sun rising, quickly dried their wet +clothes. After this heavy showers frequently fell, detracting from the +pleasure of the cruise. Ned and Charley made themselves as happy as +they could, caring very little for Rhymer's grumbling. The worst part +of the business was that day after day went by and no dhows were seen. +Their destination, however, was at length reached. It was an island +with a snug little harbour, in which the boat was perfectly concealed. +Here they were able to land and erect a tent, hidden from the sea by a +grove of casuarina bushes. A couple of hands were kept on board the +boat, while the rest lived on shore and enjoyed the advantage of being +able to stretch their legs, but they were ordered to keep within hail, +in case of being required to shove off in chase of a dhow. On the +highest tree a look-out place was made, reached by a rope ladder; and +Rhymer ordered Charley and Ned to occupy it by turns. Either the one or +the other had to sit, telescope in hand, from sunrise to sunset, +sweeping the horizon in search of a sail. Several were seen, but they +were too far off to make it of any use to go in chase. At length one +appeared, which, by the course she was steering, would inevitably pass +close to the island. Officers and crew hurried on board the boat, and +away she pulled to cut off the stranger. + +"We shall catch yonder craft this time, at all events," exclaimed +Rhymer. "I only hope she will be full of slaves. As she stands on +boldly, it is pretty clear that we are not seen." + +The men gave way, in spite of the hot sun striking down on their heads. +Still the dhow stood on, and in a short time the boat was up to her. A +shot fired across her forefoot made the Arabs lower their sail, and the +boat was pulled alongside. The crew jumped on board. About twenty +fierce-looking Arabs stood on the deck, but they offered no resistance. +Rhymer inquired for the captain. A well-dressed person stepped forward, +making a profound salaam. + +"Where are your papers?" inquired Rhymer. + +The Arab understood him, and presented several documents, which the +English officer looked at, in as knowing a way as he could assume, +without being able to decipher a word. He then made signs that he +wished to examine the hold. No opposition was offered. It was found to +contain a miscellaneous cargo, but not a single slave could be +discovered. As it was evident that the dhow was a lawful trader, Rhymer +apologised to the captain, and stepping into his boat pulled for the +shore, while the dhow sailed on her course. Several other dhows were +boarded in the same way. Some had blacks on board, but they were +supposed either to form part of the crew or to be passengers, and Rhymer +did not venture to stop them. The time for their return was +approaching. + +"If we had not captured those slavers some time back, I should be +inclined to believe that there is no such thing as the slave trade on +this coast," exclaimed Rhymer, as he sat in the tent one evening after +sunset. "It is all my ill-luck, however, and I suppose I shall get +hauled over the coals for my want of success. If we catch sight of +another dhow, and she takes to flight, I'll chase her round the world +rather than lose her." + +Next morning, soon after Ned had gone up to the look-out station, as he +was turning his glass to the southward, the white canvas of a dhow, +lighted up by the rays of the rising sun, came full into view, standing +almost directly for the island. The wind for the last day or two had +been variable. It was now blowing from the south-east. Quickly +descending, he carried the information to his commanding officer. The +party, tossing off their coffee, and snatching up the portions of +breakfast they had just commenced, hurried on board. By the time they +had got clear of the island the hull of the dhow could be seen. For +some time she stood on as before, apparently not discovering them. With +the wind as it had been, she had no chance of escaping, except by +running on shore, and Rhymer ordered his men to lay on their oars to +await her coming, while the sail was got ready to hoist in a moment, and +the gun loaded to send a shot at her should she refuse to strike. +Presently the wind shifted two points to the eastward, the dhow lowered +her sail. + +"Hurrah!" exclaimed Rhymer; "she knows it's of no use to try and escape. +We will make sail, and shall soon be up to her. Hoist away!" + +The boat was soon under canvas, heeling over to the freshening breeze. +A short time, however, only had elapsed when the dhow was seen to +rehoist her sail; but it was evident from her position that her head had +been brought round, and was now pointing to the southward. + +"It is pretty clear that the Arabs intend to run for it," observed +Charley to Ned. + +"And if they go round the world we shall have to follow them," answered +Ned in a low voice. + +The boat sailed well. There was just enough wind, and no more, to suit +her, and the dhow apparently was not so fast a sailer as some of her +class. Still she kept well ahead of the boat. Should the wind shift +back to its old quarter, however, there was a fair probability that the +boat would overtake her. + +"We've got a good many hours of daylight, and it will be a hard matter +if we do not come up with her before dark," said Rhymer. + +"But as it is, if we do not, and we are to chase her round the world, we +must do our best to keep her in sight during the night," observed +Charley, demurely. + +The dhow was still out of range of the boat's gun, and appeared +determined to stand on while there was a prospect of escaping. The wind +continuing as before, Ned and Charley began to fear that after all she +would get away. + +"I wish that the breeze would shift back to the south-east, and we +should have her sure enough, for we can sail three points closer to the +wind than she can," observed Ned. + +The time was passing by. Exciting as was the chase, the cook did not +forget to prepare dinner, which the crew were as ready to eat as if no +dhow supposed to be full of slaves was in sight. The evening +approached, the compass showed that the dhow had fallen off two points, +and presently afterwards another point. + +"She'll not weather that headland!" observed Charley, looking out ahead. + +"No, but she's going to run on shore, and if so she'll go to pieces, and +the slaves will either be drowned or be carried off into the interior," +remarked Rhymer. + +Presently the dhow was seen standing directly for the coast. Ned, who +was examining it through the telescope, exclaimed-- + +"There's the mouth of a river there, and she's steering for that." + +"Then we'll follow her up it; if she can get in we can," answered +Rhymer, and the boat's head was put towards the opening for which the +dhow was making. Had there been a doubt on the subject before, there +was now no longer any that the dhow was full of slaves, and that +probably their captors would make every effort to retain them. As the +boat drew nearer the entrance of the river, between two sandy points, it +was difficult to judge whether or not it was a stream of any +considerable size. + +"If it's navigable for a hundred miles, we will follow the dhow up; I am +not going to allow that craft to escape me," cried Rhymer. + +The slaver was now running directly before the wind, fast distancing the +boat, and was soon seen to enter the river, pitching and tossing as if +she had crossed a bar. Rhymer steered on; two or three heavy rollers in +succession lifted the boat, but no water broke on board, and she was +soon safe in and gliding over the smooth surface of the stream. The +river, which was of considerable width, was thickly lined on both sides +by trees; in the middle of it the dhow was seen, running on with all her +canvas set, still beyond reach of the boat's gun. + +"We have her now, safe enough," exclaimed Rhymer; "though, if the river +is navigable far up from the mouth, she may lead us a long chase before +we catch her." + +"I only hope there may be no Arab fort up the river, or we may find it a +difficult job to cut out the slaver after all," observed Charley. + +"An Arab fort! What made you think of that, youngster?" exclaimed +Rhymer, looking somewhat blank. "If there is we shall have more +fighting than we bargained for, but it will never do to go back without +attempting to secure the dhow." + +"I should think not," remarked Ned. + +The men of course were ready for any work their officers determined on. +The excitement of the chase and the prospect of fighting before them was +greatly increased as the dhow got higher up the river; the wind falling, +and sometimes becoming baffling, the boat gained on her. Ned was sent +forward to look out for the fort, but he could discover no signs of a +stockade; at any moment, however, a bend of the stream might disclose it +to view. + +"Get out the oars!" cried Rhymer; "before long I hope the wind will fail +the dhow altogether and we shall soon be up to her." + +The men gave way, in a few minutes the boat got the dhow within range of +her gun. + +"We must try to bring her sail down," exclaimed Rhymer, giving the helm +to Charley and springing forward to the gun. He fired, the shot went +through the sail, but the chase stood on as before; the gun was quickly +loaded, but the second shot, though well aimed, produced no more result +than the first. It was pretty evident that the Arabs expected to reach +some place of shelter, and that they would run on until they had gained +it. This made Rhymer doubly anxious to come up with them before they +could do so. He continued firing away as fast as the gun could be run +in and loaded. Though the sail was riddled with shot, the yard and +rigging remained uninjured. + +"Get the muskets ready, Garth!" he cried out. "We shall soon be near +enough to send a shower of bullets among those fellows, and they will +then, I have a notion, heave to pretty quickly." + +Scarcely, however, had he spoken than the breeze freshened up, and to +his disappointment he found that the boat was no longer gaining on the +dhow. Still he kept firing the gun, hoping that a fortunate shot might +bring down her yard. Some way ahead, on the south side of the river, he +observed a small bay, where the bank was steeper than in any other place +and free of trees; the dhow appeared to be edging away towards it. "I +must knock away that fellow's yard. I'd give a hundred guineas to see +it come down," he exclaimed, as he again fired. + +The shot wounded the yard, for he could see the splinters fly from it, +but it still remained standing; at any moment, however, it might go. +The Arabs seemed to think so likewise, for the dhow was now steered +directly for the little bay. Before another shot was fired at her, she +was close up to the bank, and a black stream of human beings was seen +issuing forth from her decks, and winding, like a long black snake, up +among the grass and bushes, while the Arabs could be distinguished by +their dress urging on the fugitives with their spears. + +"We must stop those fellows, and turn them back," exclaimed Rhymer, and +resuming the tiller, he steered the boat for the shore at the nearest +spot above the dhow where a landing could be effected. + +"Meadows, do you remain by the boat with a couple of hands, the rest of +you follow me," he exclaimed as he leapt on shore. + +It was now seen that the blacks, of whom there appeared to be nearly two +hundred, were becoming divided, some going off in one direction, some in +another, while others, mostly women and children, were sinking down on +the ground, unable to keep up with their companions. Rhymer on this +made chase with most of his crew after the larger party; but he had not +got far when he ordered Ned, with the coxswain, Dick Morgan by name, and +two other hands, to pursue another who were going off to the left. + +Ned, as directed, started away at full speed, and soon outstripped his +followers, who, as they overtook smaller parties of the blacks, tried to +turn them back. The negroes on hearing the shouts of the sailors, and +seeing them flourish their cutlasses, more frightened than ever, sank +down to the ground. In vain the seamen endeavoured to make them rise, +assuring them that they meant them no harm. Much time was lost in the +attempt. Ned, in obedience to his orders, had got ahead of one party of +the blacks and was seen by Dick Morgan making signs to induce them to +stop running. When, however, Dick looked again, he could nowhere +discover his young officer, while the slaves were scampering off at a +rate which made it almost hopeless to overtake them. + +"Lads, we must not let Mr Garth be carried off by those niggers, for it +seems to me that they have somehow or other got hold of him," exclaimed +Dick, shouting to his companions. + +Away they dashed after the fugitives. They had got some distance when +they heard Mr Rhymer hailing them to come back. Dick pointed in the +direction where he had last seen the midshipman; but Mr Rhymer not +understanding his signs, peremptorily ordered him and his companions to +retreat to the boat. It was time indeed to do so, for a large party of +well-armed Arabs appeared on the hill just before them, and with +threatening gestures were advancing evidently with the intention of +recovering the slaves they had captured. Rhymer saw at once that were +he to remain he should run the risk of having his whole party cut off, +and that his only safe course was to retreat as fast as possible to the +boat; he accordingly gave the word to face about, and by threatening to +fire, he kept the Arabs in check. Their object was evidently not so +much to attack the English, as to get possession of the slaver. Had the +boat been nearer the dhow, Rhymer might have boarded her and set her on +fire, but in endeavouring to do so, he might expose his whole party to +destruction. Had there been time even to get hold of any of the blacks, +they could not have been taken into the boat, and Rhymer had therefore +to make the best of his way down to her without securing a single one of +them. The Arabs, who advanced more rapidly as they saw the English +retreating, soon got under shelter of some trees, whence they opened a +hot fire from matchlocks and gingalls. Rhymer ordered his men to fire +in return, but their exposed position on the bank of the river, and +their inferior numbers, rendered the combat unequal. + +Rhymer, who was as brave as most men, at first hoped to drive the enemy +from their shelter, but he soon saw that he might lose many of his men +in the attempt, and that his only prudent course was to get on board and +shove off as fast as possible. Three of his men had already been hit; +should he remain longer the crew might be so weakened as to be unable to +pull the boat down the river. Charley, who had run the boat in ready to +receive them when he saw them coming, was dismayed at not discovering +Ned among the party. + +"Where is Mr Garth?" he exclaimed. "Have none of you seen him?" + +Rhymer repeated the question. + +Dick Morgan was the only man who could answer it: he replied that he had +last set eyes on him while trying to induce the blacks to return to the +dhow. + +"Have they killed him, do you think?" asked Charley, in a tone which +showed his anxiety. + +"Can't say, sir; but if not, it is more than likely that those Arab +fellows have got hold of him, and I'm afraid they'll not be treating him +over well." + +Just then, however, there was no time to make further inquiries. The +first thing to be done was to get out of reach of the Arabs' matchlocks. + +Rhymer gave the word to shove off, and the boat pulled away from the +bank. He was vexed at the utter failure of the enterprise, and the +blame which might be attributed to him for the loss of Ned. He might +still, however, destroy the dhow. The Arabs, well aware of the long +range of the boat's gun, were still keeping at a distance. There would +be time to get up to the dhow and to set her on fire. Rhymer +accordingly steered in where she lay, with the boat's gun ready to send +a shot into the midst of any party who might venture to show themselves. +Almost before the Arabs were aware of what was intended, the boat was +up to the dhow, matches had been got ready, and the seamen springing on +board, in less than a minute had set her on fire fore and aft. The +combustible materials with which she was fitted quickly blazed up, and +her destruction was inevitable. The men leapt back into the boat, which +now pulled away out of gun-shot into the middle of the stream. + +"Surely we are not to leave Garth without going to look for him!" +exclaimed Charley. "Perhaps he may be hiding himself somewhere, and +will, when the Arabs retire, make his way down to the margin of the +river expecting to be taken off." + +"Very little chance of that; but, depend on it, I'll not show my face on +board without him if I can help it," answered Rhymer. + +Charley was obliged to be content with this promise. As he watched the +shore through his telescope he could see the Arabs collecting the +unfortunate slaves and driving them on before them, though he in vain +searched for Ned among the former. Had he been made a prisoner he would +probably have been seen. This made him hope that he might still be +recovered. At length Rhymer began to grow impatient. The last of the +slaves had been carried off, and the Arabs themselves had disappeared +behind the hill. Charley now entreated Rhymer to pull in for the shore. +"If you will let me I will land with any of the men who will volunteer, +and we will search round in every direction for Garth; he may possibly +have been wounded, and have crawled under some bushes to hide himself +from the Arabs." + +Rhymer hesitated. "If I let you go you may be caught also, and I shall +have to report the loss of two midshipmen instead of one." + +"O no, no! Do let me go!" cried Charley, in a beseeching tone. "The +Arabs have gone away, and we will keep a good look-out not to be +surprised. I am sure that some of the men will be ready to go with me." + +"I will!" exclaimed Dick Morgan. + +"And I, and I, and I," added others, until the whole boat's crew +volunteered. + +At last Rhymer, feeling that he might be accused of deserting the +midshipman, consented, allowing Morgan with three other men to accompany +Charley. + +The boat accordingly returned to the shore. While Charley and his men +pushed forward, Rhymer and the remainder having landed, advanced a short +distance to support him in case he should have to retreat. Charley led +the way to a spot pointed out by Morgan, where Ned had last been seen. +They hunted about among the bushes, but no trace of him could they +discover. + +"Ned Garth, Ned Garth! where are you?" shouted Charley again and again, +forgetting in his anxiety that the Arabs might hear, but no answer +reached him. There were traces, however, of the course the blacks had +taken, wherever the ground was soft enough to receive impressions of +their feet. Charley was tempted to follow, and the men, regardless of +consequences, accompanied him. He had not gone far when he came upon +two children who had evidently been let fall by those who were carrying +them. Both were dead, and their shrunken little forms showed that they +had died from starvation. The top of the hill was reached. Charley at +length stopped and looked round, but neither Arabs nor blacks were +anywhere visible. Though, had he consulted his own feelings, he would +have gone on still farther, he remembered his promise to be cautious, +and exclaimed with a heavy heart-- + +"We must go back; we may still find him, but I dare not push on +further." + +The men appeared to share his feelings, for Ned was a favourite with all +of them. They made their way towards the boat, searching the bushes as +they went along, dreading that at any moment they might discover Ned's +body. At length they met Rhymer. + +"He must have been made prisoner and carried off by the Arabs," cried +Charley; "that is the only consolation we have." + +"Well, I suppose they would scarcely have taken the trouble to carry him +off if he had been killed; and we must report to the commander that such +is the conclusion we have arrived at, after making diligent search for +him in all directions." + +Charley felt somewhat indignant that Rhymer did not express more regret +at the loss of their young messmate; he, however, said nothing. They +once more embarked, and shoving off, proceeded down the river. It was +important to get over the bar before dark, and make the best of their +way back to the ship, for the wounded men, now that the excitement was +over, began to complain of their hurts, and it was, of course, necessary +that they should be attended to by the surgeon with as little delay as +possible. As the wind blew almost up the river, it was necessary to get +the oars out and pull the boat over the bar. This was a heavy task with +a diminished crew, but Rhymer sent one of the wounded men to the helm, +while he took one oar and Charley another. + +They got down very well to the mouth, but the heavy foam-topped rollers +which came tumbling in threatened to prevent them getting into the open +sea beyond. + +"It must be done," exclaimed Rhymer. "To-morrow it may be worse, and we +shall have a whole fleet of Arab boats coming down upon us." + +Twice, however, he pulled up to the inner roller, and backed the boat +off again. For some minutes he stood up watching the seas; at length he +exclaimed, "Now, my lads, now or never, give way," and all hands bending +their backs to the oars, pulled on as British seamen are wont to do in +cases of emergency. It was a struggle truly for life and death. Had +the boat been caught broadside by one of those treacherous undulations, +she would have been thrown over and over, and not a man on board could +have escaped. Had an oar broken, or the men relaxed in their efforts, +no power could have saved them. Three rollers had been passed, there +were still two more to be encountered. The fourth advanced with a crest +of foam. The boat had almost reached the summit, when the water came +rushing over her bows, half-filling her; but the crew persevered, and +the wounded men began bailing away with might and main. + +"Pull away, pull away, lads!" shouted Rhymer; "there's only one more, +and we shall be clear of them." + +Again the boat rose, the water rushing aft, but the poor fellows seated +there, in spite of their hurts, continued to heave it out. The next +minute, having forced their way over the last roller, the boat was free. +They had still a long pull before them until the boat could obtain a +good offing, so that they might make sail and stand to the northward. +At length the sails were set. By this time it was perfectly dark, yet, +having a compass, a proper course could be kept. As the wind was light, +it was not until near morning that they reached the island where they +had left their tent and stores. As there was a moon they were able to +steer into the bay. On landing they hurried up to where the tent had +stood. + +"Why, where is it?" exclaimed Rhymer. + +They hunted about, neither their tent nor any of their stores could they +discover. + +"Some fellows have been here and carried them off, no doubt about that," +observed Charley; "but who they are is more than I can say." + +"The rascally crew of a dhow probably," answered Rhymer. "How the +villains must have laughed at us when they saw our boat sailing away." + +A further search in no way cleared up the mystery, and all they could do +was to light a fire and cook some provisions, which had fortunately been +kept on board the boat. On the return of daylight they found the marks +of numerous naked feet on the sand; but whether of blacks or Arabs they +were unable to determine, though Charley suspected that they were those +of a party of blacks who had come across from the mainland. + +This loss made it still more important for them to get back to the ship. +As soon as they had taken a hurried breakfast, Rhymer ordered all hands +on board, and once more they made sail to the northward. + +The old mate, as may be supposed, was in an especial ill-humour, which +he vented on poor Charley, who required comforting for the loss of his +friend. For three days he had to endure all the abuse heaped on him, +but he bore it without complaint, resolving not again, if he could help +it, to take a long cruise with Rhymer. At length a sail was seen ahead, +standing towards them. As she drew nearer-- + +"That's her, that's the old ship!" cried Morgan, who was on the +look-out. + +Dick was right, and in another hour the ship hove to and the boat got +alongside. Rhymer's downcast countenance showed that he had +unsatisfactory intelligence to communicate. The commander listened to +his report, but made no remark; he then desired to hear Charley's +account. + +"We can't let the poor boy be lost without a further effort to recover +him!" observed Captain Curtis. + +He sent for Mr Hanson, and they held a consultation. The result was +that the commander determined, having already picked up the other boats, +to proceed to the mouth of the river and to send them in to inquire from +the first Arabs they could meet with what had become of the missing +midshipman and to insist on his liberation. + +There was a chance also of their capturing a dhow laden with the slaves +which had been landed. The ship came off the mouth of the river at +night, and the boats were got ready to go in over the bar as soon as +there was light sufficient to see their way, by which time also the +flood would have made. Mr Hanson begged to have charge of the +expedition, as he felt an especial interest in the recovery of Ned. The +boats pulled up at a rapid rate, and soon reached the spot where the +encounter had taken place. Charley, who had accompanied Mr Hanson, +kept a look-out along the bank, half expecting to see a signal made by +Ned. No one appeared, and if there were any inhabitants, they kept out +of sight. The boats pulled up the river for ten miles or more, till Mr +Hanson's, which was leading, grounded. No trace of the missing +midshipman was discovered, and, much disappointed, the expedition +returned to the ship. + +The weather proving fine, the "Ione" remained at anchor. Every day a +boat was sent in ready to receive the midshipman should he appear, but +returned with the same unsatisfactory report. + +The commander, considering that everything possible had been done to +recover the midshipman, then ordered the ship to be got under weigh, and +she stood for Zanzibar, where he hoped, by other means, to be more +successful, although the general opinion on board was that poor Garth +had been killed, and that nothing more would be heard of him. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +The "Ione" had been upwards of three years on the station, and of late +the sick list had been greatly increased, still the commander persevered +in his efforts to capture slavers; but the Arabs, grown cautious, +managed to avoid him, and for some time not a single dhow had been +taken. + +One morning, as the ship lay becalmed on the shining ocean, with the +sun's rays beaming down as from a furnace on the heads of the crew, the +smoke of a steamer was seen coming from the southward. She rapidly +approached, and coming nearer, made her number. She was a man-of-war. +Had she came out to relieve the "Ione"? Every eye on board watched her +eagerly. Stopping her way a boat was lowered; her commander came on +board. No sooner were the contents of the despatch he brought known +than cheers rose from fore and aft, joined in by the poor fellows in +their hammocks. The "Ione" was to return home immediately. Before long +a breeze sprang up, the two ships parted, and the corvette, under all +sail, steered for the Cape. + +"The only thing I regret is going home without nearing of young Garth," +observed the commander, as he walked the deck with his first lieutenant; +"I would have given much to find him, but I fear that when he fell into +their hands, the rascally Arabs killed him." + +"I am inclined to your notion, sir," answered Mr Hanson; "but I still +have a lingering hope that by some means or other he may have escaped, +although, as, notwithstanding all our inquiries and the rewards offered, +no tidings of him had reached Zanzibar when we left the island, it is, I +confess, very faint indeed." + +Charley Meadows was the only person in the midshipmen's berth who would +not abandon all expectation of again seeing his friend, and who would +very gladly have remained another year on the station with the chance of +hearing of Ned. He dreaded also the melancholy duty which might fall to +his lot of informing Lieutenant Pack and Miss Sarah and sweet Mary of +Ned's fate. + +As the ship drew near England he thought over and over again of what he +should say; no one had written, as the commander had been unwilling to +alarm the boy's friends while any uncertainty existed. They would, +therefore, on seeing the announcement in the papers of the "Ione's" +return, be looking out eagerly for him. The corvette had a rapid +passage, and on reaching Portsmouth was at once paid off. Charley +Meadows had written to his father, who was still commander of the +coast-guard station at Longview, giving an account of what had occurred, +and begging him to break the intelligence to Lieutenant Pack. As soon +as he was at liberty he hurried home. One of the first questions he put +on his arrival was, "Have you told them, father, about poor Ned?" + +"No; for I only received your letter yesterday, and have been unable to +get over and see our friends. It will be sad news to them. Whenever I +have called on Pack and his sister, their nephew was always the subject +of their conversation." + +Charley thus found that, after all, he must be the first to carry the +sad intelligence to his friends. He, however, possessed the most +valuable description of courage; he was morally, as well as physically, +brave. The duty had to be performed, and he resolved to do it +forthwith. As his father could not go, he set out by himself. Now and +then he stopped to consider what he should say, and then hurried on, +wishing to say it at once. Just before he reached Triton Cottage, he +saw Mr Pack coming along the road; the old lieutenant stopped and +looked at Charley as he approached, putting out his hand. + +"Glad to welcome you, my lad. I saw that the `Ione' had arrived and was +to be paid off, so was looking out for you; but where is Ned? I thought +you would have come down together." + +Now came the moment Charley had dreaded. + +"I will tell you how it happened, sir, directly, but Ned is not with us. +I don't believe he is lost, and no one saw him dead; but the Arabs got +hold of him, and he has not since turned up." + +"What! hasn't he come home with you?" exclaimed the lieutenant. "You +don't mean to say that our Ned is dead?" + +"No, sir; but he's lost, and we don't know what has become of him," and +Charley then gave a full account of all that had occurred. + +The old lieutenant listened attentively. "Poor Sally! poor Mary!" he +murmured, as, leaning on Charley's shoulder, he walked back to the +house. "It will well-nigh break their hearts to hear that he is dead, +but I for one won't believe it; I tell you, Meadows, I can't believe +it," his voice growing more husky as he spoke. "I expect to see Ned a +commander before I die; he is sure to get on in the service. Sally +won't believe it either; she's got too much good sense for that. Come +along, however, you shall tell her and Mary about it, for I have not +taken in all the particulars." + +The lieutenant stumped on, but Charley felt the hand which rested on his +shoulder press more and more heavily. They together entered the +parlour, where Miss Sarah and Mary were seated. + +"Ned, Ned!" cried Miss Sally, mistaking him for her nephew; but she +quickly saw her mistake, while Mary knew him at once. + +"Where is Ned?" they both inquired, after they had shaken hands, Mary +looking up into his face with an inquiring glance. + +"He hasn't come home with us," said Charley, "and Mr Pack will tell you +what I have told him." + +The lieutenant was glad of this opportunity to give his own version of +the story, for he was afraid Charley would alarm his sister and Mary. + +"You see Ned's not come home in the `Ione,' and that's a disappointment, +I'll own. That he is all right I have no doubt, somewhere out in Africa +among some Arabs who got hold of him while performing his duty--you may +be sure Ned would be always doing that--and he hasn't yet been able to +make his way down to the coast, or at all events to get on board an +English ship. He'll do so by-and-by though. You two must not fret +about him in the meantime. I know what Ned's made of; he has a fine +constitution, and is not likely to succumb to the climate; and as to the +Arabs, except in the matter of slavery, they are not a bad set of +fellows." + +Thus the lieutenant ran on, until Miss Sarah, turning to Charley, asked +him to give a more particular account. This he did, omitting no +circumstance which might support the idea that Ned had escaped. + +Miss Sarah every now and then interrupted him with an ejaculation or a +question, but poor Mary sat looking very pale and anxious, with her eyes +fixed upon his countenance all the time and not uttering a word. Tom +Baraka had seen Charley arrive with the lieutenant, and guessing that he +had belonged to the "Ione," and had brought news of Ned, waited outside, +hoping to learn from him why Ned had not come home. At length, however, +unable to endure the suspense, he took the privilege of a favoured +servant and came into the room. + +"You come from de `Ione,' massa?" he said, looking at Charley. "Pray +tell me why Massa Ned not come back. Hab him gone in nudder ship?" + +Charley, who remembered Tom, briefly told him the particulars of Ned's +disappearance. + +"Den I go an' look for him!" exclaimed Tom. "He go search for my boy, +what I do better dan go look for him?" + +"O do, do!" cried Mary, springing up. "I would go too if I could be of +any use." + +"You do not know the character of the country, Miss Mary," said Charley; +"but if Tom would go, if he escapes being caught by the Arabs, he would +have a better chance of finding him than any one else. How to get there +would be the difficulty, unless he could obtain a passage on board a +man-of-war going out to the coast." + +"Yes, yes, I go!" cried Tom; "I find a way, nebber fear." + +"We must think the matter over, and consider what can be done," said the +lieutenant. "Ask your father, Charley, to come here and give me the +benefit of his advice, and I will write to Hanson, they'll have his +address at the Admiralty, and he will come down here and tell us what he +thinks best, or I'll go up to London myself and see their lordships. +They would not wish a promising young officer to be lost without taking +all possible steps for his recovery." + +Charley's spirits rose as he found his friends even more sanguine than +himself as to the finding of Ned. They talked on and on without any +material alteration in their proposed plan. The lieutenant said that he +would write to Mr Farrance, as in duty bound, to tell him of Ned's +disappearance, and to ask his advice. "He has the means of helping us, +and judging from the generous way in which he has acted towards Ned, I +feel sure that we can rely on him," he observed. + +Charley went back with a message to his father, who came over that +evening, and the subject was again discussed in all its bearings, indeed +the old lieutenant could think and talk of nothing else. He had, in the +meantime, despatched his letters to Mr Farrance and the late first +lieutenant of the "Ione," and determined, by the advice of Mr Meadows, +to take no steps until he heard from them. + +The next day Charley again came over, and greatly interested Mary and +her aunt by the account he gave of their adventures in the Indian Ocean. +He inspired Mary with a strong wish to see the horrible traffic in +slaves put an end to. + +"If I had a fortune I would devote it to that object," she exclaimed +enthusiastically. "What sufferings the poor little children have to +endure; and then the agony of their parents as they are dragged off from +their homes to die on their way to the sea, or on board those horrible +dhows, or to be carried into slavery, which must be worse than death." + +Her remarks had greater influence on Charley than even the miserable +state of the slaves on board the dhows had produced. "I will do all I +can to try and get back to the coast as soon as possible, or if an +expedition is formed to go up the country to look for Ned I'll get my +father to allow me to join it; I am pretty well seasoned to the climate +by this time--never had an hour's illness while I was away." + +By return of post a letter was received from Mr Farrance. He +sympathised with the lieutenant and his sister in their anxiety about +their nephew; said that he would be glad to defray the expenses should +any plan be formed for discovering him, and begged to see Mr Pack in +town as soon as possible. + +The old lieutenant accordingly at once made preparations for his +journey. Fortunately, before he started, he received a letter from Mr +Hanson, saying that in the course of three or four days he would come +down. + +"I shall be in time to stop him," observed the lieutenant, "and to talk +the matter over with him before I see Mr Farrance, who will, of course, +want all the information I can give him. I'll take Tom with me; he +knows his own country, and his woolly pate contains as much good sense +as many a white man's skull." + +Tom could scarcely restrain the delight he felt on hearing of his +master's decision. + +"But who take care ob de house, de pigs, and de garden, and de poultry?" +he exclaimed of a sudden, as if the idea had just struck him. + +"The ladies and Jane will attend to them, and no one will think of +robbing the house during our absence," was the answer. + +The lieutenant and his black attendant set off the following morning and +reached London in safety, arriving just in time to stop Mr Hanson from +going down to Triton Cottage. + +He doubted whether the Admiralty would consider themselves justified in +sending out any special expedition, and they had already given +directions to the vessels on the coast to make all inquiries in their +power, but he thought that a private expedition such as his friend +suggested might possibly succeed, although he was not very sanguine on +the subject. Young Garth might possibly be alive, and until they had +received proof positive of his death hope ought not to be abandoned. He +was expecting his own promotion, but should he not obtain it, he should +be ready to go out in command of a properly organised expedition. +Trustworthy natives might be found, they were not all so black as +generally described. A private vessel, which would remain on the coast +while the expedition pushed inland, would entail considerable cost. +Where were the funds to come from? + +When the old lieutenant related Mr Farrance's offer to defray all +expenses, his friend's countenance brightened. + +"That alters the case; we will see him without delay, and if he has the +means we are right to take advantage of his liberality," said Mr +Hanson. + +The two officers, therefore, accompanied by Tom Baraka, proceeded to the +address of Mr Farrance in one of the fashionable parts of London. The +old lieutenant was somewhat taken aback, as he expressed it, on finding +himself in a handsome mansion, such as he had never before in his life +entered; it appeared to him a perfect palace. He and his companion were +at once ushered into a large study, where they found Mr Farrance, who, +rising from his seat, welcomed them cordially. He expressed his sincere +regret at hearing of the disappearance of his young friend, from whose +commander, he said, he had received excellent accounts. "We must find +him if he is to be found. What object the Arabs can have for keeping +him in captivity, when a reward has been offered for his liberation, it +is difficult to say. However, I am very glad to have the means of +assisting to recover him." + +Mr Farrance, after putting numerous questions to the two officers and +Tom, observed, "We will consider the matter settled. I have two objects +in view; besides the recovery of our young friend, I am sure the more +the natives are brought into intercourse with white men who show that +they come for the purpose of benefiting them, the sooner will the slave +trade be put a stop to and the Arabs driven out of the country. Not +until then will the negroes be able to enjoy the blessings of peace, and +the possibility of advancing in civilisation and embracing the truths of +Christianity. As you, Lieutenant Pack, know those seas and are willing +to take charge of a vessel, I shall be glad to obtain for you the +command of one suited for the purpose; and I conclude, as you would find +it inconvenient to travel--indeed you should not make the attempt--you +would remain on board while the rest of the party penetrate into the +interior. You, I dare say, Mr Hanson, can get some trustworthy men +among your late crew to accompany you; but we must rely chiefly on the +natives for furnishing a sufficient force." + +Mr Hanson was delighted with the readiness shown by Mr Farrance to +forward their object, and he and his brother officer at once promised to +under take the arrangement of an expedition. + +"No time then must be lost," replied Mr Farrance. "I give you and +Lieutenant Pack authority to obtain such a vessel as you consider fit +for the purpose, and to engage a crew for her, and companions for your +land journey. You will, I conclude, select a small craft which can keep +close in with the coast or run up rivers, as every mile you can go by +water will save you so much, or probably a still greater distance of +land journey." + +Further arrangements having been made, the two officers and Tom Baraka +took their departure, promising to report progress. + +Mr Hanson was not a man to let the grass grow under his feet, and the +old lieutenant was even more eager than his friend to get under weigh. + +Within three days they paid another visit to Mr Farrance. They had +purchased a schooner of about 150 tons, which had once been a yacht--a +fast craft. Hands had been engaged, chiefly from the crew of the +"Ione"; three men from Cowes accustomed to fore and aft vessels, one of +whom was to act as mate. The fitting out of the schooner would be an +easy matter, but the preparations for the land journey required more +time and consideration. The only two people who had as yet undertaken +to go were Charley Meadows and Tom Baraka. Two stout Africans who had +lately arrived in England on board a ship from India, and who stated +that when boys they had been captured on the east coast, but had escaped +from Madagascar, to which island they had been carried, to an English +merchantman, appeared well suited for the undertaking. Mr Hanson was +only waiting until he could hear more about them. + +Being satisfied with their testimonials he engaged them, and the next +day, as he was prosecuting his search in the neighbourhood of the docks, +he met with an Arab and three Lascars, of whom, on inquiry of the +masters of the ships who brought them home, he obtained a favourable +report. The Lascars were brave and useful fellows, while the Arab spoke +English fairly, and he had already penetrated some way into the interior +of Africa. + +Both officers, assisted by Charley Meadows, who had been sent for, were +engaged from morning until night in superintending the preparations. +The old lieutenant when he quitted home had expected to return, but as +the "Hope" was ready for sea, he changed his purpose and wrote to his +sister explaining his reasons. + +"I don't want to go through another parting, Sally," he said. "You know +I love you and Mary with all my heart, but that heart is not so tough as +it ought to be perhaps, and I could not bear saying `good-bye' again, +when I have said it already, although I didn't think it was for long. +If Ned is found, and I make no doubt about the matter, we shall have, I +pray God, a happy meeting, and I expect to find Mary grown at least an +inch taller, tell her. Don't either of you fret; whatever happens all +will be for the best--of that you may be sure. Should it please Him who +governs all things to call me away--and I do not shut my eyes to the +possibility--you will find my will in my desk. I have provided, as far +as I can, for you and Mary." + +This letter was received the very morning the "Hope" was to sail. It +caused considerable disappointment to Aunt Sally and Mary, but they +could not help confessing that after all it was for the best. + +"My good brother always acts wisely," said Aunt Sally. "It would have +cost us a good deal to say `good-bye,' when we knew he was going away to +that terrible country Africa!" + +"Perhaps the `Hope' will come off here," observed Mary; "we shall then +see uncle and Tom Baraka, and perhaps Mr Hanson and Charley, and be +able to send messages by them to Ned. As they sailed this morning, they +may be off here in a couple of days." + +Mary, as may be supposed, kept a constant look-out through the +lieutenant's telescope, but time went by and no schooner appeared. Some +days afterwards a letter, which had been landed by a pilot vessel, +brought information that the "Hope" was already in the chops of the +channel and all well. Aunt Sally and Mary at first felt a great blank +in their existence. The lieutenant's cheery voice was no longer heard, +and his chair stood vacant at their daily meals, while, instead of the +master, Miss Sally led the morning and evening prayer to the diminished +household. Tom Baraka's merry laugh was also missed, for in spite of +his one absorbing thought, he was merry when he gave way to his natural +disposition. + +Aunt Sally and Mary did not, however, neglect their usual avocations. +They had plenty of work now that Jane had not time to assist them. + +The garden had to be attended to, and they persevered in their visits to +the neighbouring poor. Mary very frequently went to see Mr Shank. The +old man received her with more apparent gratitude than he used before to +exhibit, and willingly listened when she read to him. He was evidently +deeply interested in the account she gave him of the expedition in +search of Ned, as also when she repeated the information she had +received from Charley Meadows about Africa and the slave trade. + +"Terrible, terrible," he muttered, "that men should sell each other for +gold and produce all this suffering, and yet--" he was silent and seemed +lost in thought. Mary did not for some minutes again speak. She then +continued-- + +"It is the duty of all who have the means to try and put a stop to this +fearful state of things, and to assist in sending missionaries of the +Gospel and artisans to teach Christianity to the poor blacks, and to +instruct them in the useful arts of civilised life." + +"The Government should do that," said Mr Shank. "We pay them taxes." + +"The Government do their part by sending out ships-of-war to stop the +dhows and the Arabs who steal the slaves, making the trade so difficult +and dangerous a one that many will be compelled to give it up--so uncle +says--and what more than that can the Government do? Private people +must carry on the rest of the work, and a more noble and glorious one I +am sure cannot be found. If I had ever so much money, I should like to +spend it in that way." + +"But you would get no interest, you would see no result," said the old +man. + +Mary pointed to the Bible she had brought, and from which she had +previously been reading. "There is a verse there which tells us that we +are to lay up riches in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth +corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal," she answered +in an unaffected tone. "I should not expect interest, and I am very +sure that I should be satisfied with the result." + +The old man again mused, this time far longer than before. "And so you +want to make Christians and civilised men of those black Africans of +whom you spoke?" he observed. + +"Yes; it is the only way to make them become happy here and happy +hereafter," she said, energetically. "I am sure of it. If all the +money that is hoarded up or spent uselessly were devoted to such a work, +how soon might the condition of the unfortunate negroes be changed for +the better." + +"Then do you blame those who hoard up money?" asked the old man. + +"Yes, indeed I do. I think they are wicked, very wicked, and are not +making a good use of the talents committed to them. They are just as +wicked as those who throw it away or spend it badly." + +"You are a severe censor, Miss Mary," said the old man. "But you are +right, very right." He placed his hand on his brow. + +Mary took her leave, feeling more drawn towards Mr Shank than she had +ever before been, he seemed so softened and so sad, and very much weaker +than he had before appeared. + +Mary told her aunt. + +"He suffers from want of food," observed Miss Sally. "You shall go +again to-morrow and take him another pudding, and say that I will send +one for him, if he wishes it, every day." + +Mary reached Mr Shank's door. She heard him feebly approaching to +withdraw the bolts; as soon as he had done so, he tottered back, +panting, to his seat. + +"I am glad you have come, Mary, or I might have been found stiff and +cold on my bed. I am very ill, I fear, for I have never felt before as +I do now," he said, in so low and trembling a voice that Mary had to +draw closer to hear him. + +She begged him to eat the food she had brought, hoping that it might +restore his strength. He followed her advice, lifting the spoon slowly +to his mouth. + +After he had finished the food he appeared somewhat stronger. + +"Thank you, Mary," he said. "I owe you a great deal more than I can now +tell you, for I have something else to say. I want you to bring me a +lawyer, an honest man, if such is to be found, and his clerk must come +to witness my signature. I'll try to keep alive until he arrives, for, +Mary, do you know I think that I am dying." + +"O no, I hope not, Mr Shank. You are only weak from want of food," +exclaimed Mary, who, however, was much alarmed. "I will go on to where +Mr Thorpe lives, I know the way perfectly, and have heard uncle say +that he is a good and honest man, and is trusted by all the people +round." + +"Go then, Mary, go!" said the old man. "Don't allow any one to stop +you; and if Mr Thorpe is out, write a message requesting him to come on +here immediately." + +Mary, promising Mr Shank that she would obey his wishes, hastened away. +She observed that he did not close the door behind her as usual. She +found Mr Thorpe at home and gave her message. + +"What! old Shank the miser? I suspect that he has something worth +leaving behind," observed the lawyer. "I'll be with him immediately, +depend on that. But how are you going to get back, young lady?" + +"Oh, I can walk perfectly well," said Mary. + +"No; let me drive you as far as old Shank's, and if you like to remain I +will take you on to Triton Cottage. Miss Sally will not know what has +become of you." + +Mary was glad to accept this offer, and the lawyer's gig being brought +round, she took her seat between him and his clerk. + +"I will wait outside," she said when they reached Mr Shank's door. "I +can look after your horse and see it doesn't run away, for Mr Shank may +have something particular to tell you which he might not wish me to +hear." + +The lawyer, appreciating Mary's delicacy, agreed, though he did not give +her the charge of his horse, as the animal was well accustomed to stand +with its head fastened to a paling while he visited his clients. Mary +waited and waited, sometimes walking about, at others standing beside +the gig, or sitting on the hillside, on the very spot which had often +been occupied by Ned. Her thoughts naturally flew away to him. Where +could he be all this time? Would Mr Hanson and Charley discover him, +or would they return without tidings of his fate? + +The lawyer at last appeared, and, directing his clerk to return home +with some papers he held in his hand, he begged Mary to get into the +gig. + +"I must run in to see old Mr Shank first," she said, "and learn if +there is anything aunt or I can do for him." + +"You will find him more easy in his mind than he was when I arrived; but +in regard to assistance, he doesn't require it as much as you suppose. +He has consented to let me send a doctor, and a respectable woman to +attend on him. He is not in a fit state to be left by himself." + +Mary was surprised at these remarks. Not wishing to delay the lawyer +she hurried in. Mr Shank, who was still seated in his arm-chair, put +out his shrivelled hand and clasped hers. + +"Thank you, Mary, thank you!" he said. "You deserve to be happy, and +Heaven will bless your kindness to a forlorn old man. I may live to see +you again, but my days are numbered, whatever the lawyer may say to the +contrary." + +Mary explained that Mr Thorpe was waiting for her, and saying that she +was glad to hear he was to have some one to attend on him, bade him +good-bye. + +During the drive to Triton Cottage the lawyer did not further allude to +Mr Shank, and Mary very naturally forbore to question him. + +Aunt Sally, who had become somewhat anxious at her long absence, was +greatly surprised at seeing Mr Thorpe, and not being influenced by the +same motive as Mary, inquired what the old man could possibly have +desired to see him about. + +"To make his will, Miss Sally," answered the lawyer; "it has been +signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of myself and John Brown, +my clerk, and its contents are to remain locked in our respective +breasts and my strong box until the due time arrives for its +administration. That he has made a will argues that he has, as you may +suppose, some property to leave, and that the people in our +neighbourhood were not so far wrong in calling him a miser; but he has +hoarded to some purpose, and I wish that all misers would leave their +gold in as satisfactory a manner as he has done." + +In vain Miss Sally endeavoured to elicit further information; the lawyer +laughed and rubbed his hands, but not a word more could she get out of +him than he chose to say. Then turning the subject, he steadily +declined again entering on it, though he made himself agreeable by +conversing in a cheerful tone on various others. + +Mary's anxiety prompted her to visit Mr Shank the next day, and her +aunt not objecting she set off by herself. A respectable-looking woman +opened the door, and courtesied to her as she did so. + +"How is Mr Shank?" asked Mary. + +"He is not worse than he was yesterday; he has been asking for you ever +so many times, miss, and has made me go to the door to see if you were +coming. He'll be main glad to see you. I have been working hard to +make the house look a little tidy, but it is in a sad mess; it is a +wonder the whole of it didn't come down and crush the old man before +this--" + +The woman would have continued to run on in the same strain had not Mary +begged to be allowed to enter. She found Mr Shank seated in his +arm-chair, looking, as she thought, very pale and weak. He thanked her, +much in his usual way, for again coming to see him, and for bringing him +another of Miss Sally's puddings, but Mary remarked that he no longer +spoke of his poverty. + +"I wanted very much to see you, my dear," he said, in a gentle tone, +which contrasted greatly with that in which he used formally to speak; +"but I don't want listeners, Mrs Mason, I will request you to retire +and busy yourself at the further end of the house, or out of doors." + +The old woman looked somewhat astonished, but obeyed without replying. + +Mary could not fail to be surprised at the tone of authority in which he +spoke, as if he had been accustomed all his life to give directions to +an attendant. + +"Mary," he said, as he sat with his hands clasped, leaning back in his +chair, and glancing half aside at her fair countenance, as if a feeling +of shame oppressed him, "you have been my good angel. I owe you much, +more than I can ever repay. Had it not been for you, I should have gone +down to my grave a miserable, wretched being, with no one to care for +me; but you awoke me to a sense of better things. I have not always +been as I am now, but care and disappointment came upon me, and those I +loved were lost through my fault, by my hard treatment. I see it now, +but I thought then they were alone to blame. I once had wealth, but it +was dissipated almost, not all, and I feared lest the remainder would be +lost; then I became what you have known me, a wretched, grovelling +miser. I had a daughter, she was young and fair, and as bright as you +are, but she desired to live as she had been accustomed to, not aware of +my losses, and I stinted her of everything except the bare necessaries +of life. She had many admirers: one of them was wealthy, but Fanny +regarded him with dislike; the other, a fine youth, was, I thought, +penniless. She returned his affection, and I ordered him never again to +enter my doors. My child bore my treatment meekly, but one day she came +into my presence, and in a calm but firm voice said she would no longer +be a burden to me; that she was ready to toil for my support were it +requisite, but that she was well aware that I was possessed of ample +means to obtain the comforts as well as the necessaries of life. +Enraged, I ordered her, with a curse, to quit my house, declaring that I +would never see her again. She obeyed me too faithfully, and became the +young man's wife, and she and her husband left England. I heard shortly +afterwards that the ship in which they sailed had been wrecked. That +such was the case I had every reason to believe as from that day I lost +all trace of them. Hardhearted as I was, I believed that my child had +met her just doom for the disobedience into which I myself had driven +her, and having no one to care for, I sank into the wretched object you +found me. You will think of me, Mary, with pity rather than scorn when +I am gone?" + +"Do not speak so, Mr Shank; I have long, long pitied you," said Mary, +soothingly. "You are not what you were; you mourn your past life, and +you know the way by which you can be reconciled to a merciful God." + +The old man gazed at her fair countenance. "No other human being could +have moved me but you," he said; "you reminded me from the first of my +lost child, and I listened to you as I would have listened to no one +else. Bless you! bless you!" + +Mary had already spent a longer time than she had intended listening to +the old man's history. She rose to go away. He kept her small hand in +his shrivelled palms. + +"I should wish my last gaze on earth to be on your face, Mary; I should +die more easily, and yet I do not fear death as I once did when I strove +to put away all thoughts of it. I know it must come before long; it may +be days, or weeks, and you will then know how my poor wretched heart has +loved you." + +Mary, not understanding him, answered-- + +"You have shown me that already, Mr Shank, and I hope you may be spared +to find something worth living for." + +"Yes, if I had health and strength I should wish to assist in benefiting +those poor Africans of whom you have so often told me, and putting an +end to the fearful slave trade; but I cannot recall my wasted days, and +I must leave it to you, Mary. If you have the means to try and help +them, you will do so, I know, far better than I can." + +"I shall be thankful if I can ever benefit the poor Africans," said +Mary, smiling at what appeared to her so very unlikely. "But I must +stop no longer, or Aunt Sally will fancy that some harm has befallen +me." + +Mary wished him good-bye, summoning Mrs Mason as she went out. + +On Mary's return to Triton Cottage she found Lieutenant Meadows, who had +come to wish her and her aunt good-bye, his turn of service on the +coast-guard having expired. + +He inquired whether they had received any news of the "Hope." + +"She must have been round the Cape long ago. Hanson and his people +should by this time have landed, so that you would get letters from the +Cape, or perhaps even from Zanzibar, in the course of a week or two. +You will write to me and say what news you receive in case Charley's +letters should miscarry." Miss Sally promised, without fail, to write +as Mr Meadows requested, and he gave her his address. When he was +gone, Miss Sally and Mary had no one to talk to on the subject nearest +their hearts. They discussed it over and over again by themselves, in +spite of Aunt Sally's declaration that it was of no use, and that they +had better not speak about the matter; yet she was generally the first +to begin, and Mary would bring out the map, and they both would pore +over it, the elder lady through her spectacles, as if they could there +discover by some magical power where Ned was, and the point the "Hope" +had reached. They were cheerful and happy, though nothing occurred to +vary the monotony of their everyday life, until the post one morning +brought a letter addressed to Miss Sarah Pack. + +"Whom can it be from?" she exclaimed, adjusting her spectacles. "It is +not from my brother; it bears only the English post mark. Give me my +scissors, Mary." And she deliberately cut it open, though not the less +eager to know its contents. + +Mary watched her as she read, holding the letter up to the light, and +murmuring, "Astonishing!" + +"Very strange!" + +"I cannot understand it!" + +"And yet not impossible!" + +"I don't know whether I ought to tell you the contents of this," she +said, after she had read it twice over; "it may agitate you, my dear +Mary, and raise expectations only to be disappointed. It is from Mr +Farrance, and a very singular story he gives me." + +These remarks could not fail to arouse Mary's curiosity. + +"Is it about Ned? Has he been found? Is he coming back?" she +exclaimed, her hand trembling in an unusual manner as she was about to +pour out a cup of tea for her aunt. + +"No, he does not give us any news of Ned. The letter has reference to +you. I ought not to wish that anything to your advantage should not +happen, but yet I almost dread lest Mr Farrance's expectations should +be realised." + +"Oh, do tell me, aunt, what Mr Farrance says!" exclaimed Mary. "I will +nerve myself for whatever it may be; but I cannot even guess." + +"Have you no suspicion on the subject?" asked Miss Sally, after a few +moments' silence. + +"None whatever," answered Mary. + +Miss Sally looked at her earnestly with eyes full of affection, and then +said, speaking very slowly-- + +"You know, my dear Mary, how my brother found you and Tom Baraka +floating on a piece of wreck in the Indian Ocean, and how neither you +nor Tom were able to give any account of yourselves--he not +understanding English, and you being too young to remember what had +occurred. From the day my brother brought you home we have ever loved +you dearly, and supposing that your parents perished, we believed that +no one would appear to take you away from us." + +"Yes, indeed, dear aunt, and I have never wished to leave you," said +Mary, in a gentle tone. "If Mr Farrance wishes me to do so, pray tell +him that it is impossible." + +"There may be one who has a greater right to claim you than we have, and +should he prove his claim, we should be unable to hold you from him." + +"But how can any one have a claim upon me? I don't understand, aunt," +said Mary, completely puzzled. "Pray tell me what Mr Farrance does +say." + +"You shall hear his letter, and then judge for yourself, my dear child," +said Miss Sally, and again holding the letter before her spectacles, she +read-- + +"My Dear Miss Pack,--I lose no time in informing you during your good +brother's absence of a circumstance which may possibly greatly affect +your young charge Mary. I must tell you that I had a brother who, at an +early age, having married imprudently, left England, and that I and the +rest of his family long supposed him dead. Two days ago a gentleman, +who said that he had just returned to this country after having resided +for many years in one of the Dutch East India settlements, called upon +me. After some conversation he inquired whether I suspected who he was, +and, greatly to my astonishment, he announced himself as my long-lost +brother. He was so changed by time and a pestiferous climate, and +sorrow and trials of all sorts, that I had a great difficulty in +recognising him, though I was at length satisfied that he was my +brother, and as such welcomed him home. While he was yesterday evening +narrating the events of his life, he mentioned having sent his wife, +whose health required a change of climate, and their only child, a +little girl, on board a ship bound for the Cape of Good Hope, where a +correspondent of his house had promised to receive them, but that the +ship was lost and that all on board, it was believed, had perished. On +hearing this it at once struck me as possible, and remember I say barely +possible, that the child picked up by Lieutenant Pack might be my +brother's daughter. On comparing dates I found, as nearly as I can +calculate, that they agree. Of course I do not forget that there might +have been several children of the same ago on board the ship. Even +should the wreck Mr Pack fell in with have been a portion of the +ill-fated ship, yet some other child instead of my brother's might have +been saved. It would be difficult, but not impossible, to identify her. +My brother is more sanguine than I am on the subject, and is anxious to +come down with me as soon as his health will allow, if you will give us +permission, to see your young charge. You may possibly have preserved +the clothes she had on and any ornaments about her which might assist in +her identification. Although my brother might not be able to recognise +them, he tells me that a black girl, who was a nurse in his family and +much attached to the child, is still alive, and he proposes to send for +her immediately. He has married again and has a large family. Though +Mary may be pleased to find that she has a number of brothers and +sisters, her position as to fortune will not be greatly altered; however +on that point she will not concern herself as much as you and others, +her elders, may possibly do, and we will take care that she is not the +loser should the hopes we entertain be realised. + +"I have written this, my dear madam, as you ought to receive the +earliest information on the subject, and because you may think fit to +prepare your young charge for what may otherwise prove so startling to +her; but I leave that to your judgment, and hoping in the course of a +few days to see you, + +"I remain, + +"Yours faithfully, + +"J. Farrance." + +Mary sat for some minutes, her hands clasped and apparently lost in +thought, then she burst into tears, exclaiming, "My poor, poor mother! +I cannot help picturing her on the deck of the sinking ship, while the +fierce waves were foaming around her until she was carried away and +lost." + +It was strange she did not think so much of her supposed father and the +new brothers and sisters she might find. Miss Sally endeavoured to calm +her. + +"My dear, dear Mary, I ought not to have read this letter to you," she +exclaimed, "you must try to forget it; but I am afraid that you will not +do that, and we must endeavour to wait patiently until Mr Farrance and +his brother appear. They may find that they are mistaken, and then you +will still be my little niece, and as much loved as ever." + +Mary soon grew calm, and tried to follow Miss Sally's advice by waiting +patiently for the appearance of their expected visitors. We, in the +meantime, must go to a far off part of the world. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +No one will suppose that Ned Garth was dead, more than did his loving +friends, although a long time had elapsed, and no tidings of him had +been received. + +When ordered by Mr Rhymer to try and prevent the escape of the slaves, +he sprang forward without thinking of the risk he ran. He had succeeded +in getting in front of a large party of the fugitives, endeavouring by +all the significant gestures he could think of to induce them to turn +back to the shore, when he was felled to the ground by a blow from +behind. He retained sufficient consciousness, however, to be aware that +he had been picked up and was being dragged along rapidly in the midst +of a crowd of blacks. He could hear at first the shouts of his +shipmates, but they gradually became less and less distinct. He felt +that he was being carried forward further and further from the river, +sometimes completely lifted off his feet. He could not, fortunately for +himself, collect his scattered senses sufficiently to consider what +would probably be his fate. His first idea, when he recovered from the +blow, was the desire to try and escape, but he had neither the strength +nor opportunity to get away. When he opened his eyes he saw a number of +black faces scowling round him, and several well-dressed Arabs a little +distance off, while on every side were other negroes being driven in +like a flock of terrified sheep to a common centre. Presently a much +larger party of Arabs than those who had formed the crew of the dhow +made their appearance, and were welcomed with shouts of satisfaction. + +The whole party now occupied themselves in binding the negroes, some +with ropes round their necks and others with forked sticks, a treatment +to which they appeared to submit without resistance. The blacks who +guarded Ned were apparently free men, or at all events attached to the +Arabs. They jabbered away and made signs, intimating that he was soon +to be put to death; he prepared himself therefore for what he had too +much reason to fear would be his fate. He knew that it would be useless +to ask for mercy. Had he been able to speak their tongue, he would have +told them that they would gain much more by delivering him up to his +friends; but, as his arms were kept tight, he could not even make signs +to that effect. He waited therefore, with as much calmness as he could +command, for what would next follow. Several of the slaves had in the +meantime attempted to escape, but were pursued by the Arabs and some of +the free blacks. The least active, or those who had last started, were +soon brought back; he heard, however, shots fired, and after a time the +pursuers returned dragging along those they had recovered, two of whom +were bleeding from gun-shot wounds in the shoulders. Whether any had +been killed he could not then learn, but he afterwards ascertained that +three had been shot as a warning to the rest. The slaves having at +length been secured, the party moved forward towards the west, keeping +the river in sight on their right hand. As evening approached, they +encamped at some distance from the bank. Fires were lighted, but no +food was cooked--for the best of all reasons, that the party were +destitute of provisions. Ned observed that armed sentries were placed +round the camp, but that was probably to prevent any of the slaves +escaping rather than on account of an expected attack. + +He had some faint hope that Rhymer might have got back to the ship in +time to give information of what had happened, and that the boats might +be sent up to attempt his recapture. At length, overcome with fatigue, +he lay down between the two blacks who had him in charge, and in spite +of the disagreeable proximity of his guards, he was soon fast asleep; +his slumbers, however, were troubled, but he continued dozing on until +he was aroused by the Arabs summoning their followers to re-commence the +march. Water had been brought from the river, but they started without +food, and it was not till late in the day that, reaching a village, they +compelled the inhabitants to supply them by threatening to burn their +huts if they refused. Ultimately, crossing the river by a ford, they +proceeded for some distance towards the north. + +Ned did not fail to be on the watch for an opportunity of escaping; he +thought that if he could hide himself away he might get down to the +coast, and have a chance of falling in with one of the boats. He was, +however, far too closely guarded, he discovered, for this to be +possible. He was still unable to conjecture for what object the Arabs +had carried him off. For three days they journeyed on, the whole party +suffering greatly from want of food, and sometimes from thirst, when +long stretches of barren ground were passed over without a drop of water +to be found. At last he discovered that they were directing their +course once more to the eastward, and in another day they came in sight +of the sea. There was a high cliff on the right hand, sheltering a deep +bay in which three dhows rode at anchor. On a signal being made the +dhows stood in towards the inner part of the bay, where a small creek +formed a harbour of sufficient size to contain them, so that they were +able to moor close to the shore. Several Arabs landed from each of +them. After the preliminary salaams had been gone through, business at +once commenced, which terminated apparently in a bargain being struck +for the purchase of the whole party of slaves, their price consisting of +bales of cloth, coils of wire, beads, and other articles, which were at +once landed; and this being done, the slaves were shipped on board the +dhows. Ned almost hoped that he might be sent with them, as he thought +that he might thus have a better opportunity of making his escape than +he could expect to find should he be detained by his captors. He was +greatly disappointed, therefore, on finding that he was still kept a +prisoner. He looked seaward with a longing gaze, thinking it possible +that either the ship or the boats might appear in search of the dhows; +but not seeing them, he guessed that the cunning Arabs had taken the +opportunity of shipping the slaves while they remained off the mouth of +the river. Several other Arabs had joined their party, which now +consisted of thirty well-armed men, besides nearly one hundred pagazis, +or carriers, hired from the neighbouring villages to convey the goods +into the interior. Among them was a finely-dressed individual wearing +on his head a large turban, and round his waist a rich scarf, into which +were stuck a dagger and a brace of silver-mounted pistols. He appeared +to take the lead, and Ned discovered that he was called +Mohammed-ibn-Nassib. He had not long joined the party when his eye fell +on Ned. Pointing towards him he inquired who the young stranger was. +The answer he received appeared to satisfy him, and he turned away +without making any further remark. The party being marshalled the march +began, the Arabs keeping a strict watch on the blacks carrying their +goods. + +At nightfall they halted near the banks of a stream which evidently fell +into the main river. As Ned observed its course, the thought occurred +to him that if he could find a canoe, or for want of one a log of +timber, he might float down with the current and reach the boats, which +he felt sure would be sent to look for him. To do this, however, he +must first elude his guards, who were, he found to his satisfaction, +less watchful than at first, being apparently satisfied that he would +not attempt to escape. + +It was terribly trying work to be alone, without any one to speak to who +understood a word he said. Several fires were lighted in the camp, +which served both for cooking provisions and scaring away the wild +beasts. Ned was allowed to sit near one, round which Mohammed and the +other Arabs collected. Hoping to throw them off their guard, he assumed +as unconcerned an air as possible, endeavouring to make them believe +that he was reconciled to his lot. He was still as much in the dark as +ever as to what they intended to do with him. Their purpose could +scarcely be to sell him as a slave, but possibly they thought that by +exhibiting him as a prisoner to the black chiefs they might gain the +credit of having defeated the English. + +In a short time their evening meal was brought by the attendants, one of +whom, when they were served, placed a bowl of rice, seasoned with red +pepper and salt, before him. It was the food the slaves were fed upon. +Though aware of this, he was too hungry to refuse it, and trying to look +perfectly satisfied, he ate up the rice as if it was exactly the dish he +preferred, and then put out the bowl to ask for more. + +Mohammed shook his head to signify that he must be content with the +share given him, while the rest seemed highly amused with his look of +disappointment. After some time they retired to sleep in some rude +huts, which their attendants had put up for them, when he was led away +by his two watchful guards. He was placed as usual between them, and +lay down, covering himself up with a piece of matting which one of the +Arabs more kindly disposed than the rest had given him. Drawing the +matting over his head, he pretended to go to sleep, but he kept his eye +at a hole, through which he could partially see what was taking place. + +He waited for some time watching his guards until their loud snores +assured him that their slumbers were not feigned, and at length all +sounds having ceased in the camp, he cautiously lifted up his head to +ascertain whether any sentries had been placed near him, but he could +see none either on the one side or the other. The fires had burnt low. +"Some one will soon come to wake them up," he thought; "it will be +imprudent to move yet." He waited for some time longer, but the flames +got lower and lower, and at last the glare they had thrown on the +neighbouring trees faded away. + +"Now or never is my time to escape," he said to himself. Creeping out +from under his mat, which he left raised up in the centre to appear as +if he was still beneath it, he crawled along for some distance on his +hands and knees. He stopped, however, every now and then to ascertain +if any sentry, who might have been lying down, had risen to his feet and +was likely to discover him. Thus advancing a few yards at a time, he +made his way towards the river. His intention was then to continue down +along it until he could find a canoe. He had nearly gained the water +when cries, shrieks, and loud shouts reached his ear, followed by the +sound of fire-arms. Several bullets came whistling close to his head; +to avoid them he sprang behind the trunk of a large tree. Scarcely had +he done so, when he heard close to him the crash of bushes, and a huge +animal bounded by carrying in its jaws what, seen through the gloom, +appeared to be the dead body of a man. He heard a faint cry as if from +a human voice, followed by the continued crash of the underwood as the +creature rushed along the very course he had intended to pursue. Hardly +had it disappeared than the cries and shouts, growing nearer and nearer, +showed him that a number of men from the camp were coming in pursuit of +the animal, and that he could scarcely avoid being discovered. Even if +this should happen, he had reason to be thankful that he had not +attempted to make his escape sooner, or he would in all probability have +met the lion and fallen a victim instead of the man who had been carried +off. He crouched down among the thick roots of the tree, hoping that +even now he might not be discovered; at the same time he felt that it +would be madness to attempt to pursue the course he had intended down +the river, as he should in all probability, if he did so, encounter the +lion which had carried off the man. He waited, his heart beating +quickly. The blacks came on, shouting at the top of their voices to +keep up their courage and to frighten the lion, but did not discover +him. He must now decide what to do, either to return to the camp and +wait for another opportunity or to continue his flight. Every day would +increase his distance from the coast and the difficulties he must +encounter to reach it. The thought occurred to him that he might cross +the river and go down on the opposite bank, though he did not fail to +remember that crocodiles or hippopotami might be lying concealed in its +bed, but he resolved to run the risk rather than again place himself in +the power of the Arabs. Not a moment was to be lost. He sprang from +his place of concealment and ran towards the bank. Scarcely had he +reached it than he heard the men coming back, shouting as before to each +other, for they had not ventured to follow the lion far, knowing that +their companion must by that time have been dead. He did not therefore +hesitate. Slipping into the water, he struck out across the stream. He +had got nearly half-way over, when he became aware that the shouts he +heard were directed at him. Not daring to look back, he swam on with +all his strength, hoping that no one would venture to follow him. + +On and on he went. Thoughts of crocodiles and hippopotami would +intrude, but he trusted that the noise made by the blacks would drive +them away. No shots were fired at him. Why this was he could not +tell--perhaps he was no longer seen. Then the idea occurred that some +one might be pursuing him: still, undaunted, he continued his course. +Reeds flanked the opposite bank of the stream; should he be able to +force his way through them? If he could, they would afford him +concealment. He could distinguish them rising up like a wall before +him; he at last reached them, and began to struggle through the barrier. +It was hard work, for the water was still too deep to allow him to +wade, and the reeds bent down as he clutched them; still, as those he +first grasped yielded, he seized others, and hauled himself along. At +length his feet touched the bottom, and he was able to make somewhat +better progress. He had not time to consider what he should do when he +had gained the firm ground. There might be other lions in the way, but +he resolved not to be deterred by the fear of encountering them; he +dreaded far more falling into the hands of the Arabs. He expected every +moment to reach the shore, when one of his feet stuck fast in the mud. +He endeavoured to obtain a firmer foothold by pressing down the reeds so +that he might stand upon them, but this caused considerable delay, and +in his efforts he was nearly falling on his face into the water. At +length he succeeded in drawing out his foot, and once more he struggled +on. The noise made by the bending reeds had prevented him from hearing +a loud rustling at no great distance which now struck his ear. It might +be caused by one of the huge inhabitants of the river. Should an +hippopotamus have discovered him, he must seek for safety by climbing +the nearest tree he could reach. The idea incited him to fresh +exertions. He sprang forward, his hand touched the firm ground. He +drew himself up the bank, but was so exhausted by his efforts that he +had scarcely strength sufficient to run for a tree. As he stood for a +few moments endeavouring to recover himself, he fixed on one a short +distance off, a branch of which hung down sufficiently low to enable him +to swing himself up by it. He took one glance also behind him. The +darkness prevented him from seeing the figures of this Arabs on the +opposite side, but he could hear their voices still shouting loudly. +Having recovered his breath, he once more started off in the direction +of the tree. Should he there find that he was not pursued, as he +expected, he intended to continue his course along the bank of the +river. He reached the tree, and was on the point of grasping the bough +when he heard men shouting behind him, and, glancing over his shoulder, +he distinguished amid the gloom three dark figures coming on at full +speed. He hoped, however, that he might not have been seen, and that, +if he could once get into the tree, they might pass by. He made frantic +efforts to draw himself up, and had just succeeded when he felt his foot +seized by a human hand. He in vain endeavoured to free himself. The +gruff voice of a black shouted to him, and he recognised it as that of +one of his former guards. The man pulled away at his leg with such +force that he was compelled to let go his hold, and would have fallen +heavily to the ground had not his other pursuers, who came up, caught +him. Once more he found himself a prisoner. His captors, he judged by +the way they spoke, were abusing him, though he could not understand +what they said. Further resistance was useless, so he resigned himself +to his fate. What they were going to do with him he could not tell; +whether they would recross the river or remain on the side he had +reached. They led him down to the bank, from which a large amount of +shouting was exchanged. This finally ceased, and he found himself being +led up the stream, as he concluded, towards a ford, or to some spot +where a crossing might be more easily effected than at the place where +he had swum over. He was right in his conjectures, for after some time +torches appeared on the opposite side, and his captors, dragging him +along, plunged into the stream, and began to wade across, shouting and +shrieking at the top of their voices as they did so, and boating the +water with some long sticks to drive away the crocodiles. Several Arabs +and blacks with torches received the party as they landed, casting +scowling looks at poor Ned, who had abundance of abuse heaped upon him +for his futile attempt to escape. On being led back to the camp, +however, he was allowed to dry his wet clothes before the fire, which he +did by taking some of them off at a time. + +It was a sore trial to him to be all alone without any human being to +whom he could speak. At last the blacks led him back to the very spot +from which he had escaped, and he was allowed to cover himself up again +with his mat. He saw, however, that one of the men was sitting by his +side to keep watch. + +He was too much exhausted to think over his disappointment, or to fear +any evil consequences from remaining so long wet. He soon fell into a +deep slumber, from which he was aroused by one of the blacks shaking him +by the shoulder, while another brought a bowl of rice and a cup of +coffee. + +On looking round he perceived that the caravan was preparing to march. +The pagazis had shouldered their loads, and the Arabs were girding +themselves for the journey. Knowing that he would have to accompany +them, he got up ready to obey the summons to move. He was surprised to +see Mohammed, the leader, approaching him. The Arab chief spoke a few +words, laughing heartily, slapped him on the shoulder in a familiar way, +and Ned concluded that he was complimenting him on the manner he had +attempted his escape. He then lifted his gun as if about to shoot, and +put it into his hands, making signs that he was to use it, and Ned +surmised that it was intended he should fight for the Arabs. + +After this Mohammed seemed much more friendly than before, and invited +him frequently to march by his side. The river was crossed by the ford, +and the caravan proceeded westward. + +Ned cast many a lingering look behind as he got further and further from +the stream by means of which he had hoped to rejoin his friends. He was +too strictly watched, however, to have the slightest chance of escaping. +The country near the coast had been almost depopulated, and very few +villages or habitations of any description were passed. As the caravan +advanced more people were met with, and several large villages were +seen, to the chiefs of some of which the Arabs paid a sort of tribute in +beads and wire, and occasionally cloth, for the sake of retaining their +friendship. + +Shortly afterwards they were joined by another caravan, containing even +more men than their own, and together they formed a large party. He was +introduced formally to the new-comers, who seemed to look at him with +much interest and treat him with respect. Though allowed to wander in +the neighbourhood of the camp he found that one of the blacks was always +strictly watching him, and that even had he intended to escape he should +have no opportunity of so doing. He now observed that the Arabs marched +more cautiously than heretofore, that scouts were sent out and returned +frequently to report what was going on in front. At last one day the +caravan halted earlier than usual, and the pagazis were immediately set +to work to cut down young trees, with which stockades were formed round +the camp, and every man remained under arms. The Arab leaders, seated +on carpets outside their huts, held long consultations, which, though +Ned attended them, he was unable to understand a word that was said. He +guessed, however, from their gestures and the expression of their +countenances, that some were counselling peace and others war--that the +advice of the latter prevailed he judged from the excited tones of their +voices, while the chief's touched the hilts of their swords, or drew +them from their scabbards and flourished them in the air. The opinion +he came to from all he heard and saw was that some potentate or other, +through whose country they desired to pass, had prohibited their +progress, and that they had determined to force their onward way in +spite of his opposition. That many of the chiefs had for some time been +prepared for this Ned was convinced from the preparations they had made. + +Leaving a garrison within the camp to guard their goods, the next +morning the little army commenced its march, each chief dressed in his +gayest attire, attended by a lad carrying his gun, drums beating, +colours flying, and musical instruments emitting strange sounds, while +the black followers of the Arabs chanted their various war songs in +discordant tones. Mohammed had sent for Ned, and by signs made him +understand that he was to be his armour-bearer, and to accompany him to +battle. Ned was very much inclined to decline the honour. He +questioned whether the Arabs had any right to insist on marching through +a country claimed by others. Whatever quarrel might exist it was no +concern of his. Then came the point, should he refuse, he would be +looked upon with contempt and treated as a slave, and would have less +chance of escaping; as to the danger, it did not enter into his +calculations. "The Arab insists on my accompanying him, and will make +me promise to fight, so fight I must," he thought. "I do not see how I +can help myself." He therefore nodded and patted the gun handed him, +showing that he knew well how to use it. The chiefs marched forward in +high spirits, congratulating each other beforehand on the victory they +expected to achieve. Ned kept by Mohammed's side, carrying the chief's +gun as well as his own, an honour he would gladly have dispensed with. + +About noon the force halted to dine, and two hours afterwards they came +in sight, from the top of slightly elevated ground, of a stockaded +enclosure, the interior filled with huts on the side of a gentle slope. +The chiefs pointed towards it and addressed their followers, who replied +with loud shouts. Ned guessed that it was the place about to be +attacked. No other enemies had been seen, and the village did not +appear capable of holding out against so formidable a force. The Arabs, +expecting to gain an easy victory, advanced in loose order to the +attack. While one party rushed at the gate to break it open, the +remainder halting fired their muskets, but as the stockades were thick +no injury was inflicted on the garrison. Not a missile was shot in +return. Emboldened by this they were advancing close up to the +stockade, when suddenly a shower of bullets, accompanied by a flight of +arrows, came whistling about their heads. Several of the attacking +party fell dead, pierced through and through, two or three of the chief +Arabs being among them, while others were badly wounded. + +Mohammed, taking his gun from Ned's hand and shouting his battle cry, +rushed forward, firing as he advanced. In the meantime the gate had +been opened. Many of the Arabs and a large number of their followers +sprang in. No resistance was offered. Others were about to follow when +the gate was shut, and directly afterwards the sharp rattle of musketry +was heard, mingled with the shouts of the Arabs and the shrieks and +cries of the negroes, but not a shot, was fired at those outside. Then +there came an ominous silence. Suddenly it was broken by renewed +firing, but this time the shots were directed towards the assailants, +who were still pressing on to the walls. In vain they attempted to +force the gate, numbers were falling; already half their number, with +those cut to pieces inside the village, were killed or wounded, and +Mohammed, calling his followers round him, retreated, leaving all the +dead and many of the worst wounded behind to the mercy of the victors. +They hurried on until they were beyond the range of the muskets of the +fort, when they halted, and Mohammed asked whether they would renew the +attack and revenge the loss of their friends or retreat. + +The point was settled by the appearance of a band of black warriors +armed, some with shields and spears and others with muskets, issuing +from the gate. + +The retreat was continued, and Mohammed had the greatest difficulty in +preventing it from becoming a disorganised flight. Bravely he faced +about, and setting the example to his men fired his musket at the +advancing foe; but the latter, halting when the Arabs stopped, kept out +of range, again advancing as soon as they moved on. + +Ned remained with Mohammed, who shook his head mournfully as if +acknowledging his defeat. He had reason to look grave. The distance to +the camp was great, they were in an enemy's country, and there was more +than one defile to pass through, while the thick woods and tall grass on +either side might conceal large bodies of their foes. Again and again +the Arab called on his men to keep together, and not to be disheartened, +though he himself showed his apprehensions by the expression of his +countenance. For a couple of hours the retreating force had marched on, +the dark band of savages hovering in their rear, but not venturing near +enough to come to blows. + +Mohammed continued to cast anxious glances on either hand, and retained +his musket instead of giving it back to Ned to carry for him. Ned +longed to be able to ask him what hope there was of getting back safe to +the camp, but when he made signs the chief only gave in return an +ominous shake of the head. + +One of the denies they had to pass through was entered, Mohammed gazed +round even more anxiously than before, scanning every rock and bush +which might conceal a foe. While their pursuers were still in sight, +the narrowest part was gained. The chief had inspired Ned with his own +apprehensions, and every moment he expected to be assailed by a shower +of arrows and javelins. He breathed more freely when they once more +entered the open country. As they advanced they looked behind, hoping +that the negroes would not have ventured through the pass, but they were +still pursuing. The Arabs dared not halt to rest or take any +refreshment, for it was all-important to reach their camp before +nightfall. Once there, as it was well stored with provisions, they +might wait for reinforcements. + +A thick wood, however, was before them and another rocky defile. As +they approached the wood, Mohammed again showed his anxiety. Several of +the men now gave in, the wounded especially suffered greatly, and one by +one they dropped, no attempt being made to carry them on. The wood, +however, was passed, and next the defile appeared. Their figures cast +long shadows on the ground, and the entrance to the gorge looked dark +and threatening. The fugitives were too much fatigued to climb the +heights to ascertain if any foes lurked among them. "On, on!" was the +cry, Mohammed and the other chiefs leading. Ned cast one look behind, +and saw that the negroes were pressing forward in their rear at a faster +pace than before; the move was ominous. The pass was entered. The men +went on at a sharp run, each eager to get through. Not a shout was +uttered, the tramp of many feet alone was heard, when suddenly the +comparative silence was broken by fierce shrieks and cries, and from all +sides came showers of arrows and javelins, while from the heights above +their heads rushed down a complete avalanche of rocks and stones. Ned +saw Mohammed pierced through by an arrow; all the other chiefs the next +instant shared the same fate. There was no hope of escaping by pushing +forward, as the path was barred by a band of shrieking savages, while on +every side lay the dead or dying, crushed by stones or pierced by arrows +and darts. In the rear he could distinguish the few survivors +endeavouring to cut their way out by the road they had come, fighting +desperately with the band of warriors who had pursued them, but they too +were quickly brought to the ground, and not half a dozen of his +companions remained standing. He was looking round to see whether any +overhanging rock or hollow would afford him shelter, when a stone struck +his head and he sank almost senseless to the ground. The next instant +the savages in front came rushing on, while others, descending from the +heights, leapt into the ravine. He gave himself up for lost. The +savages sprang forward, uttering cries more of terror than victory. No +one attempted to strike the fallen. Some climbed up the rocks, others +rushed at headlong speed through the ravine. The cause was evident, +they were being pursued. A rattling fire was opened upon them, the +bullets striking either the rocks or the ground close to where Ned lay, +he being partly protected, however, by the bodies of the Arab chiefs, +none hit him. The savages continued their flight until they joined the +party at the western end of the pass. Here they turned about, +encouraged by their friends, to meet the fresh body of Arabs. A fierce +fight now took place, and the Arabs had cause to repent their imprudence +in so hurriedly pushing forward. Several of their leaders fell, and +they in their turn retreated. Ned saw them coming, and at the same time +he observed that a number of the savages had again climbed the heights +and were preparing to assail them as they had Mohammed's party. +Fortunately for the Arabs, the Africans had expended most of their +missiles. Ned implored the first who passed in their retreat to lift +him up and to carry him with them, for he fully expected to be trampled +to death should he not be killed by the falling rocks or the arrows of +the savages. His cries were unheeded; already the greater number had +passed by, when he saw an Arab, evidently a chief, bringing up the rear, +and encouraging the men under him by continuing their fire to keep the +foe in check. Ned recognised him as the Arab whose life he had saved +from the sinking dhow. + +"Sayd, Sayd!" he shouted, "don't you know me? Do help me out of this." + +"Yes, yes, I will save you," answered the Arab. There was no time for +further words, and stooping down Sayd lifted Ned in his arms and, with +the aid of one of his followers, bore him on through the pass, while his +men, as before, kept their pursuers at bay. + +The open country was at length gained. The savages, although they might +rightly claim the victory, having suffered severely, showed no +inclination to continue the pursuit. + +Of the whole force, however, which had marched out in the morning with +Mohammed not a dozen remained alive, and most of those were badly +wounded. Ned was unable to speak to Sayd until the fortified camp was +gained. No sooner had they arrived than their ears were deafened by the +wailing cries of the women mourning for their husbands and relatives +slain, and it was some time before Ned could obtain the rest he so much +required after the injury he had received and the fatigues he had gone +through. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +After resting some time Ned recovered sufficiently to converse with +Sayd, who, coming up, seated himself by his side. + +"I had heard that a young white man had set out with +Mohammed-ibn-Nassib, and was acting as his gun-bearer, but little did I +expect to find that you were the person spoken of. How came you to be +with him? Have you run away from your ship?" he inquired. + +"No, indeed," answered Ned; and he explained how he had been made +prisoner and ill-treated, until Mohammed took him into his service. +"And how came you to be here?" asked Ned. "Surely you have not joined +company with these men-stealers?" + +"Men-stealers! O no; my friends and I are on an expedition to purchase +elephant tusks from the natives far away in the interior, where they are +so plentiful that people make their door-posts of them, and we all +expect to become immensely rich." + +"I hope that you will succeed," said Ned; "but I would rather have heard +that you were returning to the coast, that I might accompany you, as I +am very desirous of getting back to my ship. Can you, however, assist +me?" + +"You ask what is impossible. If you attempt to go alone, you will be +murdered by the robbers through whose territory we have passed. No +white men can travel among these savages, unless in considerable numbers +well-armed. If we meet with a caravan on its way seaward you may put +yourself under its protection; but I should be sorry, now we have met, +to part with you, and would advise you to accompany us until we have +accomplished our undertaking." + +"I thank you for the offer; but, if it is possible, I must go back to my +ship," said Ned. + +"But I say that it is impossible," answered Sayd, who evidently did not +wish to part with Ned. "Make up your mind to come with us, and you +shall receive a portion of my share of the profits of the expedition." + +Ned again thanked Sayd, adding-- + +"But I have no goods with which to trade, and I would not deprive you of +your gains. My captain will, however, I am sure, repay any one for the +expenses of my journey." + +"But you can do without goods; you have Mohammed's musket, and with it +you may shoot some elephants; besides which, it is just possible that we +may have to attack some villages if the inhabitants refuse to supply us +with tusks or provisions. It is very likely that some will do so, in +which case you will have a right to the booty we may obtain." + +"I thought, friend Sayd, that you were going on a hunting and trading +expedition?" + +"It is the Arabs' way of trading when the negroes are obstinate," +answered Sayd, with a laugh. + +Ned, on hearing this, became somewhat suspicious of the intentions of +the Arabs, but he feared he should be unable to help himself. He +resolved, however, that should an opportunity offer, to get back to the +coast at all risks. + +The caravan to which Sayd belonged was far larger than that of Mohammed. +It was under the command of a magnificent fellow in appearance, +Habib-ibn-Abdullah, to whom his followers looked with reverential awe. +There were numerous other chiefs, each attended by fifty or more black +free men or slaves, some armed with muskets or swords, and the rest with +spears and knives, or bows and arrows. Sayd had about fifty of these +men under his orders, entrusted to him by his father and other relatives +at Zanzibar. + +The caravan waited in the entrenched camp, expecting every hour to be +attacked; but the negro chiefs had gained information of the number of +the garrison, and thought it wiser not to make the attempt, intending +probably to way-lay the caravan on its march, and cut it off should an +opportunity occur. + +Several days passed by; no enemy appearing, Abdullah, mustering his men, +ordered the march to begin. With drums beating, colours flying, and +trumpets sounding, they marched out in gallant array, the armed men +guarding the pagazis, who carried the bales of cloth, boxes of beads, +and coils of wire. Though they looked so formidable, Ned, after the +disgraceful defeat suffered by Mohammed, did not feel that confidence +which he might otherwise have experienced. To avoid the defiles which +had proved so disastrous to their friends, Abdullah took a course to the +northward, which, after being pursued for a couple of days, was changed +to the westward. Ned looked out anxiously in the hopes of meeting a +return caravan; still none appeared, and he was convinced that it would +be madness to attempt returning by himself without the means of even +paying for his food. Sayd was as kind and attentive as he could desire, +generally marching alongside him, when they managed to converse freely +together, the young Arab eking out his English by signs. A strict watch +was kept night and day for enemies, but none ventured to attack them. +Abdullah, however, consented to pay tribute to the various chiefs +through whose territory the caravan passed. It consisted of so many +yards of cloth, with a string or two of beads or several lengths of +wire. Although muskets, powder, and shot were in demand, the Arabs +refused to part with them, suspecting that the weapons might be turned +against themselves when any difficulty might arise. The country of the +more warlike tribes having been passed, the Arabs marched with less +caution than before, their hunters being sent out to kill game, which +appeared in great abundance--elephants, giraffes, buffalo, wild boars, +zebras, and deer of various species, besides guinea-fowl, pelicans, and +numerous other birds. + +Ned had a great inclination to join these hunting parties, but Sayd +persuaded him to remain in camp, indeed, on most occasions, he felt too +much fatigued to take any unnecessary exercise. + +An ample supply of meat put the caravan in good spirits, and they +marched on, shouting and singing, feeling themselves capable of +conquering the world. + +"We have now a country before us very different to any we have yet +traversed," observed Sayd. "The slaves will not sing quite so loudly." + +They had just arrived at a small stream. Here Abdullah issued the order +that every man should fill his water-bottle. + +"We will carry a gourd apiece in addition, it will be well worth while +bearing the extra weight, for before many days are over we shall esteem +a few drops of water of as great value as so many pieces of gold," +observed Sayd. "See how leaden the sky looks yonder, and how the air +seems to dance over the surface of the earth." + +Some of the chiefs desired to camp where they were, but Abdullah was +eager to push on, as they had marched but two hours that morning. A +water-hole, he said, would be found before nightfall, or the people +might dig and the precious fluid would be discovered beneath the earth. + +After a short halt, therefore, they recommenced their march. The +chiefs, who did not carry even their own muskets, found it easy enough, +but the pagazis groaned under their heavy loads as they tramped over the +baked ground. Scarcely a tree was to be seen, and such shrubs and +plants only as require little water. The sun sinking towards the +horizon appeared like a ball of fire, setting the whole western sky +ablaze. Not a breath of air fanned the cheeks of the weary men. Ned +did not complain, but he felt dreadfully tired, and had to apply so +frequently to his gourd that it was nearly empty. + +"We have not yet got half-way over the desert," observed Sayd. "I +advise you, my friend, to husband that precious liquid." + +"But Abdullah believes that there is a water-hole before us." + +"His belief will not bring it there!" answered Sayd. "It may by this +time be dried up, and we may have many a long mile to march before we +reach another." + +A few minutes after this a line of trees appeared ahead. The blacks +raised a shout of joy, supposing that beneath their shade the looked-for +water would be discovered. Worn out as many of them were, they hastened +their steps until even the carriers broke into a run, and the whole mass +rushed eagerly down the bank, but as they reached the bottom a cry of +bitter disappointment escaped them; not a drop of liquid was to be seen, +only a smooth mass of black mud, with cracks across in all directions, +showing that the water had evaporated. + +Water must be had at every cost, or the whole party might perish. Their +numbers, their arms, their courage would not avail them. Those who had +before traversed the country immediately set to work with pointed sticks +to dig along the bed of what was once a stream, in the hopes of +obtaining water, and many dug holes of five and six feet deep, but no +water appeared. + +"Then, men, you must dig deeper," shouted the chiefs as they went about +among their people. + +A little thick liquid bubbled up, the labourers shouted with joy, and +several of the more thirsty rushed in, and kneeling down lapped it up, +although it was of the consistency of mud. + +The men again set to work, and at length a sufficient quantity of water +came bubbling up to enable their companions to obtain a few mouthfuls. +The camp fires were then lit, and the men gathered close round them, for +it was a locality where a prowling lion was very likely to pay them a +visit. + +Sayd and Ned had a sufficient amount of water to prevent them suffering. +As Ned looked out over the dark plain, he could see objects flitting +by. Sayd thought that they were deer, which, fleet of foot, were +passing across the desert to some more fertile region. Several times +the roars of lions were heard, but none ventured near the camp, being +scared by the bright blaze kept up. + +At an early hour all were again on foot, and eagerly descended into the +holes, which now contained rather more water than on the previous +evening, but still barely sufficient to quench their thirst. There was +none to fill their water-bottles. The Arabs, kneeling on their carpets, +joined by the Mohammedans among their followers, offered up their +prayers to Allah as the first gleam of the sun rose above the horizon; +then the morning meal being hastily taken, the pagazis shouldered their +loads and the march commenced. + +As Sayd had predicted, no songs, no shouts were heard; even the merriest +among the blacks were silent. Scarcely a word was uttered as the +caravan moved forward, the dull sound of human feet treading the baked +earth alone broke the silence. On and on they trudged; the sun, as he +rose, got hotter and hotter, striking down with intense force on their +heads. Ned marched alongside Sayd. The latter had two favoured +followers--young Hassan, partly of Arab birth, who acted as his +gun-bearer; and a huge negro, a freed man, Sambroko by name, possessed +of prodigious strength and courage. These two had followed their +master's example, and supplied themselves with gourds of water, two of +which the negro carried slung round his neck. + +For some hours the caravan proceeded as rapidly as at first. It was +hoped that a stream would be found soon after noon, where Abdullah +promised to halt to give the men the rest they so much needed; but noon +was passed, already the sun was in their eyes, and no stream was seen. +To halt now would be to lose precious time. With parched lips and +starting eyeballs the men pushed on, and, instead of songs and jokes, +cries and groans were heard on every side. Now a weary pagazi sank +down, declaring that he could carry his load no longer; now another and +another followed his example. In vain the Arab leaders urged them to +rise with threats and curses, using the points of their spears. The +hapless men staggered on, then dropping their loads attempted to fly. +Two were shot dead as a warning to the rest, and their masters +distributed their loads among the others who appeared better able to +carry them, but, ere long, others sinking down, stretched themselves on +the ground and were left to die in the desert. Time would have been +lost in attempting to carry them. + +"Is this the way you Arabs treat your followers?" asked Ned, who felt +indignant at the apparent cruelty of the chiefs. + +"They are but slaves," answered Sayd in a careless tone. "Necessity has +no law; let us go forward, or their fate may be ours." + +"Onwards, onwards!" was the cry. The chiefs shouted to their people to +keep together, for already many were straggling behind. They had +started, feeling confident that by their numbers all difficulties would +be overcome, but had they mustered ten thousand men the same fate by +which they were now threatened might have overtaken them. Even young +Hassan, generally so joyous and dauntless, began to complain; but +Sambroko took him by the arm and helped him along, every now and then +applying his water-bottle to his lips. + +Among the pagazis Ned had observed a young man of pleasing countenance, +who had always been amongst the merriest of the merry, though his load +was heavier than that of many. He had never complained, but was now +staggering along endeavouring to keep up with the rest. Ned, seeing how +much he was suffering, offered him a draught from his own water-bottle. + +"Stop!" cried Sayd. "You will want it for yourself." + +"I cannot disappoint him," answered Ned, as he poured the water down the +lad's throat. + +The young pagazi's countenance brightened, and he uttered an expression +of gratitude as he again attempted to follow his companions. + +"I should like to carry some of his load," said Ned. "He is younger +than the rest, and it is too much for him. Here! let me help you +along," he added, making signs of his intention. + +"You will bring contempt on yourself if you do that," observed Sayd. +"No Arab would demean himself by carrying a load." + +"An Englishman thinks nothing derogatory when necessary," answered Ned, +taking the package off the shoulders of the youth, who, while he +expressed his gratitude, seemed much astonished at the offer being made. + +Ned trudged on with it manfully for some minutes, but soon began to feel +the weight oppressive. Sambroko observed him, and, taking hold of the +load, swung it on his own back and carried it a considerable distance. +Then calling to the young pagazi bade him carry it forward. + +Ned begged Sayd to thank Sambroko, who answered, that though he could no +longer bear to see his master's friend thus fatigue himself, the young +pagazi must expect no further help from him. + +"But I must try and help him, for I could not bear to see the poor +fellow sink down and die as so many are doing." + +"There is nothing strange in that," remarked Sambroko. "I once crossed +a desert larger than this, and one half our number were left behind; but +we got through and returned during the wet season with large cargoes of +ivory, and our masters, for I was then a slave, were well content." + +Sayd translated to Ned what was said. + +"I wonder the Arabs venture into a country where so many lose their +lives," said Ned. + +"The profits are great," answered Sayd. "Men will dare and do anything +for gain; each hopes to be more fortunate than his predecessor." + +The young slave, greatly rested and refreshed by the water, and even +more by the sympathy shown him, marched forward with an almost elastic +step. + +"O young master!" he said, looking at Ned, "my heart feels light. I +thought no one cared for poor Chando; but I now know that there are kind +men in the world." + +Sayd explained the meaning of the black's words. + +"Chando!" repeated Ned. "I have heard that name before. Inquire where +he comes from, and how long he has been a slave." + +Sayd put the questions. + +"From the village of Kamwawi in Warua," answered the young pagazi +without hesitation. "It is far, far away from here. It is so long ago +since I was taken that I could not find my way back; but were I once +there, I should know it again. The hills around it, the beautiful lake, +into which falls many a sparkling stream, rushing down amid rocks and +tall trees. Would that we were there now instead of toiling over this +arid desert. How delightful it would be to plunge into some cool and +sheltered pool where no crocodile or hippopotamus could reach us. What +draughts of water we would drink," and the black opened his mouth as if +to pour some of the longed-for fluid down it. + +Sayd imitated the movement of his lips as he translated what was said. + +"Chando! Chando!" repeated Ned. "Ask him if he had a father or mother +living when he was carried off to become a slave." + +"I had a mother, but whether or not she escaped from the slaves I cannot +say. I never saw her again. I once had a father, whom I remember well; +he used to carry me in his arms, and give me wild grapes and sweet +fruit. He was either killed by a lion or an elephant, or was captured +by the slave hunters, who, it was said, had been prowling about in the +neighbourhood at that time, though they did not venture to attack our +village, which was too strong for them." + +Ned became very much interested in the account Chando gave of himself. +"Inquire whether he can recollect the name of his father." + +Sayd put the question. + +"Yes, I remember it perfectly well. It was Baraka." + +Ned gave a shout of joy, and forgetting his danger and fatigue, and all +that was still before him, he rushed forward, and, grasping Chando's +hand, exclaimed-- + +"I know your father; I promised him that I would search for you, and now +I have found you. There can be no mistake about it. He told me that +his son's name was Chando, and you say your father's name was Baraka, +that he disappeared, and has never since come back. I would far rather +have found you than made my escape, or returned to the coast the +possessor of hundreds of elephants' tusks." + +Sayd's exclamations of surprise somewhat interrupted Ned's remarks as he +translated them to Chando. The latter almost let his load drop in his +agitation as he asked, "Is Baraka--is my father still alive? O my young +master, can you take me to him? Can you find my mother, that we may be +together and be once more happy as we were before he was carried away to +become a slave?" + +"The very thing I wish to do," answered Ned. "I will try to get your +master to give you your freedom at once; or, if he will not now do so, +as soon as we return to the coast." + +So deeply interested were Ned and his companions in the discovery he had +made, that they forgot for a time their fatigue and their thirst. Even +Sambroko and young Hassan listened eagerly. + +"I know where Kamwawi is!" exclaimed the huge black. "It is to the +north-west, but it would take many days to reach. It is a fine country, +and the people are brave and warlike; though the slave hunters sometimes +go there to trap the natives, they seldom venture to attack the +villages." + +"It is true, it is true!" answered Chando. "I was captured whilst out +hunting elephants with some other lads. They all died--I alone lived; +and after being sold several times became the slave of Abdullah. It was +better than being sent away on board a dhow to be carried to some far +off land, where I might have been ill-treated by strangers, and have no +chance of meeting with any of my own people." + +"We must try to reach Kamwawi, and endeavour to ascertain whether +Chando's mother is still alive. I promised her husband to bring her +back as well as her son if I could find them. It would be a glorious +thing to rescue both," exclaimed Ned. + +"To do that would be impossible," answered Sayd. "Abdullah will not +lead the caravan so far away for such an object. Even should we reach +the village you speak of, we should be looked upon as enemies, besides +which, the woman is by this time dead, or is married to another husband, +and she would not wish to quit her home to go to a distant country for +the mere chance of finding her husband alive. You must give up the +idea, my friend; the undertaking, I repeat, is impossible." + +Ned made no reply, there was too much truth, he feared, in Sayd's +remarks. For some time he tramped on, thinking over the matter. At +last he again turned to the Arab-- + +"Sayd," he exclaimed, "I want you to do me a favour--to obtain Chando's +liberty. If you have to purchase his freedom, as I suppose you must, I +will promise, when we return to the coast, to repay you the cost, +whatever it may be." + +Sayd smiled at the request. + +"Abdullah is not the man willingly to dispose of a healthy slave, who +will be able to carry a whole tusk on his shoulders back to the coast," +he answered. "Perhaps when the journey is over he may be ready to talk +over the matter, but he will demand a high price, of that you may be +certain." + +"I will pay him any price he may ask. I am sure I shall find friends +ready to help me to advance the money until I can send it to them from +England." + +This answer showed that, although Ned was tramping over the desert in +the interior of Africa without a penny in his pocket, or any equivalent +in his possession, he had not lost his spirits, and was as sanguine as +ever as to getting home some day. As he looked round, however, at the +haggard countenances of the Arab leaders and their armed followers, as +well as at those of the pagazis, he might with good reason have dreaded +that none of them would ever reach the fertile region said to lie beyond +the desert. Already many more had fallen, and their track was strewn +with the bodies of dead or dying men. + +The survivors staggered on, well knowing that to stop was certain +destruction. The Arabs no longer attempted to drive them forward, or to +distribute the loads of those who sank down among the rest. They +themselves were too eager to reach a stream where they might quench +their thirst and rest their weary limbs. They would then send back to +recover the loads, and pick up any of the men who might still be alive. +But hour after hour went by, and the hot sun glared in their faces like +the flame from a furnace, almost blinding their eyes. Darkness came on, +but still they pushed forward. The same cry resounded from all parts of +the caravan: "They must march through the night." Should they halt, how +many would be alive in the morning? Ned had told Chando to keep close +to his side, and had supplied him every now and then with a few drops of +water. Had others seen this, Ned would have run the risk of having his +bottle taken from him. He would, indeed, have been glad to share the +water with his companions, but he knew that, divided among many, it +would avail them nothing. Not a word was now exchanged among any of +Sayd's party, but they kept compactly together. At length Ned caught +sight of some objects rising up ahead. They were tall trees with +spreading branches. They would not grow thus unless with nourishment +from below. + +The Arabs and their followers raised a shout, and pressed forward. +Every instant they expected to come upon a stream. Several of the trees +were passed, and none was seen. At length they reached a bank below +which the stars were reflected as in a mirror. + +"Water! water!" was the cry, and Arabs and soldiers and slaves dashing +forward, their strength suddenly revived, plunged their faces into the +pool, regardless of the danger they ran. Some, more prudent, drank the +water from their hands, or from cups they carried, but several, +exhausted, fell with their heads below the surface. Some of these were +rescued by their comrades, but many were drowned before they could be +drawn out. The leaders now issued the order to encamp, and the pagazis, +piling their loads, were compelled to search for wood. + +On the different bands being mustered by their respective chiefs, nearly +half were found missing. Ned set out to search for Chando, and brought +him to Sayd's fire to hear more of his adventures, but, though generally +talkative, he was scarcely able to utter a word. Directly the scanty +meal had been consumed, the weary blacks as well as their masters were +asleep. A few hours only were allowed them to rest, when, their +strength being somewhat recovered, a large party with water-bottles were +sent along the way they had come to the relief of any who might have +survived, and to bring in their loads. A few lives were thus saved, and +much of the property dropped was recovered. + +Sayd had lost several of his men, but he took the matter very coolly, +observing "that it was the will of Allah, and could not be avoided." + +Heavy as the loss of life had been, the Arabs were still sufficiently +numerous to march forward to the rich country where they expected to +obtain all their hearts desired. A halt, however, of several days was +absolutely necessary to recruit their strength. As Sayd was less +fatigued than any of the other chiefs, he undertook to go out hunting in +order to obtain food, which was greatly required. Ned offered to +accompany him. He took Sambroko, Hassan, and three more of his own +followers, and having permission to select any experienced hunters from +among the rest of the men, recollecting what Chando had said, he fixed +among others on him. All were well-armed with muskets, or bows and +arrows and spears, and with darts or long knives. Chando, being the +most experienced elephant hunter, was sent ahead to look out for game. + +The nature of the forest caused the party to become somewhat separated. +Ned kept as close as he could to Sayd. Some time had elapsed, when Ned +heard a loud trumpeting coming from the forest in front of them. + +"That's an elephant," shouted Sayd, who was some distance off. "Move +carefully forward, and when the creature appears fire steadily, and then +spring on one side, but beware lest he sees you, or he may make a rush +at you." + +Ned resolved to follow this advice. Again they advanced. Ned saw Sayd +enter an open glade. He had got but a few yards along it, when a +crashing sound from the opposite side was heard, followed by a loud +trumpeting. With trunk erect and open mouth a huge elephant dashed out +of the cover, catching sight as he came into the open of the Arab. Ned +had his gun ready, and, as the animal drew near, steadying his weapon +against the trunk of a tree, he fired. The bullet struck the creature, +but still it advanced, trumpeting loudly, its rage increased, with its +keen eyes fixed on Sayd. The Arab saw it coming, and knowing that, if +its progress was not stopped, his destruction was certain, fired at its +head, and then, his courage giving way, turned round to fly. Ned gave +up his friend for lost. The huge brute would break through all +impediments to reach his victim. Just then Ned saw a black form +emerging from the wood and springing over the ground at a rate +surpassing that of the elephant, against whose thick frontal bone Sayd's +bullet had been ineffective. With trunk uplifted the animal had got +within ten paces of the Arab, when the black overtook it, a sharp sword +in his hand; the weapon flashed for an instant, and descended on the +elephant's left hinder leg; then springing on one side the black +inflicted another tremendous gash on the right. The monster staggered +on, and was about to seize the Arab with its trunk, when, uttering a +shriek of pain and baffled rage, down it came with a crash to the earth. + +Sayd, stopping in his flight, turned and saw that his deliverer was the +pagazi Chando, while Ned at the same moment springing forward +congratulated him on his escape. Chando, without speaking, plunged his +sword in the neck of the elephant. The rest of the party on hearing the +firing made their way up to the spot, and complimented Chando on his +achievement. + +"I am grateful, and must see how I can reward you," said Sayd to the +young pagazi. + +As meat was much wanted at the camp, the party immediately commenced +cutting up the elephant, while messengers were despatched to summon +carriers to convey the flesh and tusks. As soon as it was sent off the +hunters continued the chase. Ned shot a zebra, which raised him in the +estimation of his companions. A giraffe was also seen, and creeping up +to it among the long grass the party surrounded it. Before it could +escape a bullet from Sayd's gun wounded it in the shoulder, when spears +and javelins thrust at it from every side soon ended its life. There +was great rejoicing when this meat was brought into camp, and the Arabs +and their followers feasting luxuriously forgot their toils and +sufferings. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +Again the caravan was on the move. For many days they marched on with +varied fortunes, sometimes meeting a friendly reception at the villages +they passed, but more frequently being refused admittance, and having to +purchase provisions at a high cost, or to pay tribute to the petty +chiefs, many of whom, possessing fire-arms, were too formidable to +offend. Abdullah declared that they had had enough of fighting, and +could not afford to lose more men in unnecessary battles. Hitherto but +a small quantity of ivory had been procured, the villagers having +disposed of all they possessed to other traders. At this the chiefs +were evidently greatly disappointed, and frequent consultations were +held among them. + +Sayd did not tell Ned the result, but he seemed dissatisfied, and more +than once expressed a wish that he had not undertaken the expedition. +"But then you would not have found me, and I should not have discovered +Chando, so that I am very thankful you came," answered Ned. + +Some days after this he observed that they advanced with even more +caution than before. Scouts were sent out, who from time to time +brought back the intelligence they had obtained. + +At length one evening the caravan halted on the confines of a wood +through which they had passed. As Ned looked ahead he could +distinguish, as the sun set, a large scattered village below them, +surrounded by fields and fruit-bearing trees, situated on the borders of +a shining lake, a picturesque circle of hills beyond. It was a smiling +scene, and spoke of abundance and contentment. Sayd appeared more +unhappy than before. Ned again asked him what was about to be done. + +"You will see before the night is over," he replied. "My companions +have departed from the original intention of our expedition, and I feel +much disposed to separate from them, but yet if I do I shall gain no +profits, and my friends will have cause to complain." + +"Is Abdullah going to trade with the inhabitants of yonder village?" +asked Ned. + +"No," answered Sayd; "he and the other leaders have devised a plan for +acquiring not only all the wealth it contains, but at the same time +bearers to convey it to the coast. We have already lost so many pagazis +that we shall be unable to transport more than a small portion of what +we may purchase." + +"Do they, then, intend to attack the village and make slaves of the +unfortunate people?" asked Ned. + +"It is that they propose to do. It is bad, very bad," answered Sayd. + +"Then let me urge you to take no part in the proceeding," said Ned. "If +you cannot prevent them from committing the crime they contemplate, +separate yourself at once from the caravan, take a different route, and +endeavour to obtain the friendship of the natives. I have heard that +they look with respect on Englishmen, who always treat them justly. I +may, therefore, be of some use to you, as, when they see an Englishman, +they will know that we wish to be at peace, and desire to deal fairly +with them." + +"You are right," observed the Arab; "I will order my people to be +prepared for marching in the direction I may determine on." + +Ned was satisfied as far as Sayd was concerned. He desired also, +however, if possible, to prevent Abdullah from carrying out his infamous +project, but how to do so was the question. An attempt to warn the +villagers of Abdullah's designs would be very difficult. He could not +speak to the Arab leader himself, and Sayd declared that he had already +said all he could to dissuade him. He had, therefore, to wait the +course of events. The caravan remained concealed in the wood, watching +the village, until all the lights were extinguished and it was supposed +that the inhabitants had gone to rest. In perfect silence the Arabs +marshalled their forces, several of the pagazis being also armed, while +the remainder, with a small guard over them, were left in the wood with +the goods and provisions. + +Sayd, on seeing this, true to his word, drew off his own men, greatly to +the anger of Abdullah and the other chiefs. Ned accompanied him, but +Chando was obliged to remain in the camp. It was better than being +employed in attacking the villagers. Ned was much concerned at having +to separate from him. Again he implored Sayd to try by some means or +other to obtain Chando's liberty; he received the same answer, "It is +impossible." + +"Tell him then from me that he must try and join us. He would be +perfectly justified in running away if he has the opportunity, and that +may occur." + +Sayd did as Ned begged him, and then drawing off his men formed a +separate camp at a distance from that of Abdullah. + +In the meantime the main body of the Arabs, with their armed followers, +were creeping down towards the village, keeping concealed among the +rocks and shrubs so that they might not be discovered until they were +close up to it. + +Some time elapsed, when the stillness of night was broken by the rattle +of musketry, followed by the shrieks and cries of the Arabs. The +flashes appeared on all sides except that of the lake, showing that the +Arabs had almost surrounded the place. Ned could only picture in +imagination the cruel deed taking place below him. Presently flames +burst forth, now from one part of the village, now from another, until +in a short time the whole was in a blaze, while by the ruddy light he +could see the dark figures of the inhabitants endeavouring to escape by +flight, pursued by their relentless invaders. Still the firing +continued, showing that the work of death was going on. At length it +ceased. After some time a large mass of people could be seen by the +light of the flames, while the Arabs were distinguished rushing here and +there, lance in hand, driving their frightened prisoners before them. +The cruel act had been accomplished; upwards of a hundred of the +villagers had been captured, and the Arabs, exulting in their victory, +returned to their camp. Ned accompanied Sayd, who desired to have a +parting interview with Abdullah. As they approached the camp they saw +the prisoners, men, women, and children, sitting on the ground, the +armed guards standing round them, while the remainder of the Arabs' +followers were employed in forming forked poles to place on the necks of +the refractory, and in preparing the ropes by which the others were to +be bound together. + +The meeting between Sayd and his former leader was more stormy than +might have been supposed, the latter abusing him in no measured terms +for his desertion, and threatened his destruction and that of his +followers should he try to proceed through the country. To attempt to +obtain Chando's liberty under these circumstances would have been +useless. Sayd and Ned therefore returned to their own camp. Ned did +his utmost to keep up Sayd's spirits, pointing out to him that he had +acted rightly and would have no cause to repent his decision, though he +himself was bitterly disappointed at having to leave Chando, whom he had +hoped some day to restore to his father. + +"In what direction do you propose to proceed?" he inquired of Sayd. + +Having consulted Sambroko: "I intend to march northward and then to turn +to the east. He tells me that we pass near many villages inhabited by +elephant hunters, who are sure to have a good supply of ivory; and as +the Arabs have not gone through that part of the country for a long +time, we shall obtain it at a moderate price, besides which, the people +are likely to prove friendly." + +At daybreak Sayd's small caravan commenced its march, Sambroko uttering +a farewell shout to their fate companions, who replied by derisive +cries. "They may shriek as they like," he observed, "but they will +before long change their tone. They will either have to recross the +desert, or will have to go a long way round to avoid it, when they will +find enemies in all directions through whom they will have to fight +their way." + +Ned would have rejoiced at getting free of Abdullah had Chando been with +him, though he did not despair of recovering the young slave on his +return to Zanzibar. Still he knew that many circumstances might prevent +this. Chando might succumb to the fatigues of the journey, as many +others had done, or might be killed should the caravan be attacked by +hostile natives, or Abdullah might ship him off with other slaves on +board a dhow, should they reach the coast. All Ned could do, therefore, +was to hope that none of these events would occur. + +There was but little time for thought. Sayd was anxious, by forced +marches, to get away from the neighbourhood of the village which had +been so treacherously treated, lest the inhabitants of other villages-- +supposing that he and his followers had been engaged in the proceeding-- +should attack them and revenge themselves on his head. They marched on +therefore all day, with only a short halt to take some food, water being +abundant and the tall trees protecting them from the hot sun. At night +they encamped under a gigantic sycamore, the boughs of which would have +shaded twice their number from the rays of the sun. Near it was a +stream from which fresh water could be procured, and Sayd would gladly +have halted here some days had not Sambroko advised that they should +push on. + +At daybreak they were again on the march. They had, however, to supply +themselves with food, but so plentiful was the game that the hunters had +not to go far out of their way to obtain it. Sambroko, who was their +chief hunter, succeeded in killing a zebra, which afforded meat to the +whole party, and the next day, whilst stalking at the head of the party, +he brought down a magnificent giraffe, which he managed to surprise +before the animal had taken alarm. It was of the greatest importance to +reach a village, which Sambroko said must be passed before the news of +the Arab raid could get there, and at length it came in sight, standing +on a knoll surrounded by palisades, above which the roofs of the houses +could be seen. + +As they approached, Sambroko set up a cheerful song announcing that +friends were drawing near and desired peace. The result was anxiously +watched for. Should the gates remain closed, the caravan would have to +pass by as far as possible from the village with the prospect of being +attacked in the rear. Greatly to their satisfaction, however, +Sambroko's song produced a favourable effect, and the villagers came out +shouting a welcome. + +Sayd thought it wise, however, not to enter, but gave notice that he had +brought goods with which to purchase ivory and provisions. An active +barter was soon going forward. Eight tusks were procured and an ample +supply of provisions. Sayd also obtained information from the natives +that several villages were situated in the direction he wished to go, +the inhabitants of which were likely to prove hostile. They offered to +furnish guides who would conduct his party through the jungle to a +distance from them. This offer he gladly accepted, confident that no +treachery was intended. After a short rest the caravan again moved +forward. The carriers marched in single file, the path not allowing two +to walk abreast. + +Sayd and Ned, accompanied by Hassan, led, Sambroko bringing up the rear, +the other armed men being equally distributed in the line, while the two +guides kept ahead. The party were soon buried in the depths of the +forest. Perfect silence was preserved. Now they emerged into a more +open country and pushed forward with rapid steps. As darkness was +coming on, there was little risk of being seen from a distance. Led by +their guides they continued through the early part of the night until +another forest was reached, where they lay down to rest, no fires being +lighted, no sounds being uttered. The guards kept a strict watch lest a +lion might spring out on the slumbering party. Before dawn they were +again on foot and moving forward as on the previous evening. For three +days they thus advanced, until the guides assured them that they might +continue to the eastward without fear of molestation until they reached +the village of Kamwawi. + +"You must be cautious how you approach it," they observed; "the people +are brave and warlike, and if they think you come as enemies they will +be sore to attack you, but if they consider you are friends they will +treat you with kindness and hospitality." + +"Kamwawi!" exclaimed Ned, when he heard the name; "that surely is the +village to which Chando told us he belonged?" + +"Yes, but there are others with similar names, so that we can never be +certain," answered Sayd. "I find that the one spoken of is four days' +journey from hence, and as we must camp to procure food it may be longer +than that before we reach it." + +The provisions held out another day after they had parted from their +friendly guides, and they had now only their own judgment to depend +upon. Once more they were encamped. No human habitations were visible, +no signs of cultivation. The country around appeared to be deserted. +They would have, however, in consequence a better chance of meeting with +game, and Sambroko promised that he would bring enough food to feed the +whole party for several days. Ned offered to accompany him, but Sayd +was too tired after his morning march to leave the camp. Hassan and +another freed man followed, carrying spare guns. It was difficult to +say beforehand what game might be met with, whether elephants, or +buffaloes, or giraffes, or zebras, or deer, but the hunters were +prepared for any one of them. Sambroko declared that all game were +alike to him, that he knew their ways and habits. Ned, however, was the +first to shoot a deer, which they came upon suddenly before the animal +had time to fly. While the blacks were employed in cutting it up, Ned +walked on ahead in the hopes of finding some large game. Feeling +confident that he might easily make his way back to the camp again he +crept cautiously on, looking to the right hand and to the left, and +endeavouring to peer over the bushes in front. At length he saw some +dark objects moving up and down above the tops of the branches directly +in front of him. He crept on and on; getting a little closer he saw +that they were elephant's ears. Ambitious of shooting the true monarch +of the wilds, Ned, regardless of the danger he was running, crept on, +hoping to plant a bullet in a vital part of the animal before he was +discovered. He had got within twenty yards of the huge creature, when +he stepped on a rotten branch, which broke beneath his foot. The noise +warned the elephant that an enemy was near. Up went its trunk. It +began breaking through the intervening brushwood. Ned, retaining his +presence of mind, stood watching until he could get a fair shot, +intending then to follow the advice which Sayd had before given. The +head and shoulders of the animal came in sight. Now was the moment to +fire; he pulled the trigger. Without waiting even to see the effect of +his shot, for had he remained where he was he would the next instant, +should it have failed to take effect, have been crushed to death, +springing on one side he ran for shelter behind a tree which he had just +before noted. The elephant, with trunk uplifted, broke through the +brushwood, trumpeting loudly in its rage. Looking about and not seeing +its enemy it stopped short. Ned in the meantime reloaded as fast as he +could, and stepped out to fire again. The quick eye of the elephant +detected him. To fly was now impossible; he must bring down the +creature, or run a fearful risk of being caught. He fired, when the +elephant rushed towards him with extended trunk. Ned saw that the +branch of a tree hung just within reach above his head. By a desperate +effort, which under other circumstances he could scarcely have made, he +swung himself up on to the bough, and ran, as a sailor alone can run, +along it until he reached the stem, up which he began to climb with the +rapidity of a squirrel. The elephant had, however, seen him; even now +he was scarcely beyond the reach of its trunk, which, looking down, he +saw extended towards his feet. In vain he tried to spring up to the +nearest branch. He felt the end of the creature's trunk touching his +legs; should they once be encircled he would be drawn hopelessly down. +He involuntarily uttered a loud shriek, and endeavoured to draw up his +feet. It was answered by a shout from Sambroko and the other blacks; at +the same instant he heard a shot. The elephant's trunk was no longer +touching him, but the exertion he had made was beyond his strength; his +hands relaxed their hold, he felt himself falling. Consciousness, +however, did not desert him. He expected in another instant to be +crushed to death by the creature's feet, or to be dashed by its trunk +against a tree. He fell heavily to the ground. All he could see for a +moment was a dark form above him. He made a desperate effort to +struggle out of its way, but his limbs refused to aid him. He closed +his eyes, resigned to his fate. But the death he expected did not come. +A shout sounded on his ear. Looking up he saw the black stooping over +him, while a few paces off, lay the elephant which Sambroko's shot had +brought to the ground. + +"Well done, young master, well done!" cried the black. "You are not +much hurt. We will carry you to the camp, and send the people to bring +in the meat and tusks. We shall have fine feasting, and all will be +grateful to you for having supplied us with meat." Such was what Ned +understood the black to say. + +He was very thankful to find himself placed on a litter, composed of a +couple of poles and some cross pieces cut down from the neighbouring +trees, when his bearers immediately set off towards the camp. The men, +on hearing of their success, uttered shouts of joy, while half their +number set off to bring in the tusks and elephant meat and venison. +Sayd attended to Ned's hurts. One of his ankles was severely injured by +his fall, and his shoulder was also sprained. It was evident that he +would be unable to march for several days. + +"You must remain here until you have recovered your strength," said +Sayd. "The people will be in no hurry to move while they have such an +abundance of meat. If you cannot walk after a few days, they must carry +you, and they will be ready to do so, as they owe their feasting to you. +Sambroko tells me that one, if not both, of your shots mortally wounded +the elephant, though it was his which saved your life, for had he not +fired the moment he did you would probably have been destroyed by the +beast." + +"I am very thankful to him, at all events," said Ned; "but I am very +sorry to detain you when it is so important to push forward." + +"Allah wills it, we must not repine," answered Sayd; "and as we have to +remain, we must lose no time in fortifying our camp to protect ourselves +against wild beasts as well as human foes." + +In accordance with this intention he ordered his men to cut down stakes +and to collect a large quantity of prickly pear-bushes which grew in the +neighbourhood. A square fence was then formed with stakes, the +interstices being filled up by masses of bushes, making it perfectly +impervious, so that even elephants would hesitate before attempting to +break through it. Within the circle rude huts were built for the +accommodation of the garrison, one of which, of rather better +construction, was devoted to Ned's use. He had hardly taken possession +of it when he felt a painful sensation come over him, and he was +conscious that he was attacked by fever. Fearful fancies filled his +brain, hideous forms were constantly flitting before him, while during +his lucid moments he endured the greatest depression of spirits. He +gave up all hope of ever again seeing those he loved or his native land. +Hour after hour he lay racked with pain. Sayd sat up by his side, +continuing to assert that he would recover. Still not only hours but +days and weeks went by, and he heard Sayd acknowledge to Sambroko that +he feared the young master would die after all. The very next day, +however, Ned felt himself better, though too weak to walk. Sayd had +hitherto borne the delay patiently, but he now again became anxious to +proceed. Sambroko, though at first successful, had of late shot but a +small quantity of game. + +At length Sayd ordered a litter to be formed, and directed four of the +pagazis to carry Ned, giving their packs to others, who grumbled greatly +at the increased weight of their loads. Sambroko having fortunately +killed an eland, the people were restored to good-humour, and consented +the next morning to commence the march. + +Again the little caravan moved on, and as the men had been well fed they +made good progress. About an hour before sunset they once more prepared +to camp, a spot near a thick wood having been selected, with a stream +flowing at no great distance. Ned had been placed on the ground, and +the people were scattered about collecting branches for huts and fuel +for their fires, when suddenly loud cries burst from the forest, and a +band of fierce-looking savages, armed with spears and javelins, burst +out from among the trees. The men had left their arms in the centre of +the spot chosen for their camp; near them lay Ned on his litter, with +Sayd seated by his side. The young Arab immediately rose, and lifting +his rifle, pointed it at the foremost of the savages. A fight appeared +imminent. Should Sayd or Sambroko fire, the next instant the blacks +would be upon them, and the rest of the party, having only their axes or +knives, could offer but a feeble resistance. The intruders held their +ground in spite of the warning shouts of Sayd and Sambroko. Ned, +unwilling to die without attempting to strike a blow, was crawling +towards the arms to possess himself of a musket, when one of the savages +raised his spear to dart at him. At that instant a shout was heard +proceeding from the forest, out of which Ned saw a person rushing +without weapons in his hands. The black who was about to hurl the spear +hesitated, and the next instant Ned recognised Chando, who, coming +forward, turned round and addressed his countrymen, for they were of his +tribe, signing also to Sayd and Sambroko to lower their weapons. The +savages, who just before appeared bent on the destruction of the +travellers, now advanced, uttering expressions of good-will and welcome. +Seeing peace established, Chando knelt down by Ned's side, pouring out +expressions of joy at having found him, and inquiring anxiously the +cause of his being unable to walk. Sayd replied, and then eagerly asked +how he himself happened to arrive at so fortunate a moment. As Sayd +listened to the account Chando was giving him his countenance expressed +deep concern. + +"What has happened?" asked Ned, when the black at length ceased. + +"What I am not surprised to hear," answered Sayd. "Abdullah had +proceeded but three days' journey with his newly-captured slaves, and +some sixty tusks or more which he had obtained, when a large force of +negroes, who were lying in ambush, burst out on the caravan. The Arabs +and some of their followers fought bravely, and, with a portion of their +slaves and pagazis, escaped to a height where their enemies dared not +follow them; but the remainder of the carriers threw down their loads +and tried to escape through the forest. Some were killed, but Chando, +with a few others, got free, and came on in this direction, till they +fell in with a hunting-party of his own tribe, from whom he learned that +an attack was to be made on a small caravan, which he at once +conjectured was ours. Hastening on, he arrived just in time to prevent +a fight, which would probably have ended in our destruction." + +Chando nodded his head and smiled as Sayd was speaking. He appeared to +have another matter, to speak about which he evidently considered of the +greatest importance. He at once communicated it to Sayd. + +"What does he say?" asked Ned. + +"That his mother is alive and one of the most important people in +Kamwawi. That her brother is the chief, which is a fortunate +circumstance, as he undertakes that we shall be received in a friendly +way and escorted by his people as far as the influence of their tribe +extends." + +The two parties encamped together, the hunters bringing in an ample +supply of venison and elephant flesh. The next morning they proceeded +towards Kamwawi. Ned had now no longer any difficulty in obtaining +pagazis, each of Chando's friends wishing to have the honour of carrying +him. In two days they reached Kamwawi. Messengers having gone ahead to +announce their coming, the gates were thrown open, and the villagers +streamed forth to welcome them, headed by their chief; near him walked a +woman, superior in appearance to the other females of the party. No +sooner did Chando see her than he rushed forward and threw himself at +her feet. She lifted him up, embraced him, bursting into tears. She +was his mother--Masika. At length, when released from her arms, the +chief welcomed him in almost as affectionate a manner. + +The whole party were then received in the usual native fashion, and +Sayd, without hesitation, accepted the chief's invitation to remain at +the village as long as he might desire. + +Great was Masika's astonishment at hearing that her husband was alive, +though she hesitated about accepting Ned's offer to take her and Chando +to England. She bestowed, however, every care on her white guest, and +contributed much by her skill to restore him to health. + +Whenever she and her son could get Sayd to interpret for them, they +would come and sit by Ned's couch, listening eagerly to the accounts he +gave them of Baraka, as well as to the adventures he himself had met +with. + +"Wonderful, wonderful!" exclaimed Masika. "Chando says he must +accompany the young master, and I will go also. I will find my husband +and bring him back; he will be a great man here. He has become so wise, +so good!" + +Masika at last made up her mind to undertake the expedition, and +occupied herself in making such preparations as she considered +necessary. It was some time, however, before Ned recovered the use of +his feet, and could walk about without pain. The fever, too, had left +him very weak. He was thankful for the rest he obtained. Sayd now +became anxious to proceed, though his followers were in no hurry to +leave their present quarters. He had purchased a large number of tusks +from the villagers, and had engaged a dozen of them to assist in +conveying his property to the coast. He had, indeed, by honest commerce +made a far more profitable expedition than, in all probability, had +Abdullah, even though he should succeed in reaching the coast with his +captured slaves. + +During the stay of the caravan at Kamwawi, Chando and a number of +people, excited by the prospect of selling their ivory at a good price, +several times went out hunting and succeeded in bringing in six elephant +tusks, and four from the jaws of hippopotami, which they had slain. + +After a stay of several weeks, the caravan, considerably increased in +size, marched forth from the gates of the village with colours flying, +drums beating, horns sounding, and people shouting their farewells and +good wishes. Ned felt in better spirits than he had done for a long +time, as he was once more able to march alongside Sayd, Chando, who was +now not only a freed man, but was looked upon as a person of +considerable consequence, being generally in their company. Masika, +carried in a sort of litter by four bearers, followed close behind them. + +They had a long journey before them, and many dangers and difficulties +to encounter. Sayd confessed to Ned that his stock of ammunition had +run very low, and that should they encounter an enemy they might be +unable to defend themselves. They hoped, however, to find the natives +friendly, and that they should march forward without interruption. + +He had still retained a sufficient amount of goods to purchase +provisions and to pay the usual tribute to the chiefs through whose +territory they would have to pass. Sayd issued strict orders to his +people to expend none of their powder and shot unless in a case of +absolute necessity. + +Day after day they marched on, sometimes being received as friends, at +others finding the gates of the villages closed against them, especially +when they reached the districts through which the Arab caravans had +passed. Still, they were two hundred miles or more from the coast. +Fifteen miles was the very utmost length they could perform in one day's +journey, and generally they did not get through more than ten miles. +Thus, with the necessary halts for hunting or purchasing provisions, and +the detention they might meet with from chiefs, it would still take them +three weeks before they could reach the coast. + +Three weeks, after so many months spent in the interior, seemed nothing +to Ned, and he would not allow himself to think of the many other delays +which might occur. They had rivers to ford, swamps to cross, dense +forests to penetrate, and occasionally a desert region to get over, on +which occasions, in spite of the heat of the sun beating down on their +heads, they pushed forward as fast as they could move. Once they ran +short of provisions, but a successful hunt the following day restored +the spirits of the party. When game could not be procured they obtained +supplies of honey from the wild bees in the forests, as well as fruits +of various descriptions, including an abundance of grapes from the +vines, which grew in unrestrained luxuriance along the borders of the +forest, forming graceful festoons on the projecting branches of the +trees. + +From the character they had received of the natives they had reason to +expect an unfriendly reception from the inhabitants. They did their +best to avoid these villages; or, when compelled to pass near, Sayd, +without hesitation, paid the "honga," or tribute demanded. The people, +however, generally treated them in a friendly way on observing that they +had no slaves, no chains, or men with forked sticks to their necks, and +Sayd explained that their mission was peaceable, their object being to +carry on a fair trade. There appeared, indeed, every prospect of a +satisfactory termination of their journey. + +They had encamped earlier than usual one day in order to allow Sambroko, +Chando, and the other hunters to go out in search of game. In the +meantime huts were built, wood collected, and fires were lighted to be +ready for cooking it. They were expecting the return of the hunters, +when Sambroko and Chando were seen rushing at headlong speed towards the +camp, where they arrived almost breathless, exclaiming-- + +"To arms! to arms! The enemy are upon us. No time to lose; before many +minutes they will be here. We saw them coming in this direction." + +Sayd, on further questioning the two hunters, was convinced that their +report was true. To encounter a horde of savages on the open ground on +which they were encamped would be dangerous; but near at hand was a +knoll with trees on its summit, which Ned had observed. He advised Sayd +to retreat to this spot, as they might there, should they be attacked, +defend themselves with greater hope of success. The pagazis shouldering +their loads, the cooks snatching up their pots and pans, and the armed +men their runs, the caravan beat a hurried retreat and quickly ascended +to the top of the knoll. Ned, on surveying it, advised that a +breastwork should be thrown up with such trees and bushes as could be +quickly cut down, and which would enable them to defend themselves +against any enemies destitute of fire-arms. Every man, therefore, +capable of using an axe was set to work, and several tall trees being +brought down were piled one above another on the most accessible side of +the knoll. Where the ground was soft stakes were driven in, and in +other places thick branches were heaped up, so that in a short time a +breastwork was formed calculated greatly to strengthen their position. +The people were still labouring at it, when from out of the forest to +the north issued a band of warriors with long spears in their right +hands and shields on their arms, their heads bedecked with zebra manes, +above which waved plumes of ostrich or eagle feathers, while their robes +of skin, as they rushed on, streamed behind them. Rings were round +their legs, to which bells were suspended as they ran. On either side +of the main body were skirmishers. They shouted and shrieked +vehemently, and flourished their weapons as if to inspire terror in the +hearts of those they were about to attack. On they came, fresh bodies +appearing until they might have been counted by hundreds. Ned watched +them with no small anxiety. + +If determined to conquer at the sacrifice of life, they could not fail +to succeed; but he had seen enough of black warriors to know that when +met with determination they were not likely to persevere. Sayd seemed +to be of the same opinion. He spoke to his people, and urged them to +fight to the last. Masika also addressed her followers, reminding them +of their character for courage, and urging them to fight bravely in +defence of their white friends, and of her and her son. The men +responded with loud cheers, which were heard by their advancing foes. +It had the effect of making the latter halt just as they came within +gun-shot, when the chiefs, who were known by their tall plumes and the +leopard skins round their waists, were seen speaking to their followers, +apparently urging them to the attack. + +"Would that we had the means of letting them understand that we have no +wish to injure them, and desire only peaceably to pass through their +country," observed Sayd. + +"Haven't we got something to serve as a flag of truce?" asked Ned. "A +piece of white calico at the end of a spear would answer the purpose." + +"They would not understand it," answered the Arab. + +"I should like to try," said Ned. + +"You would probably be speared as soon as you approached." + +Scarcely had he spoken when once more, with loud shrieks and cries, the +warriors came on. + +"Fire, my brave men!" cried Sayd, and every gun was discharged, Sambroko +picking out one of the chiefs, who fell wounded, as did several more, +though none were killed. Still other chiefs led the way; undaunted they +advanced in spite of another volley, the defenders of the knoll loading +and discharging their muskets as fast as they could. In vain Ned set +them the example, and Sayd urged them to take better aim. Except +Sambroko and a few of the more disciplined men, they fired at random. + +Their assailants had almost reached the foot of the knoll when some of +Sayd's men cried out that their ammunition was expended and asked for +more. In vain Hassan was sent to look for it. Package after package +was turned over, but none was to be found. Three or four rounds at the +utmost remained in the pouches of any of the party; when they were +expended there would be nothing but the breastwork to stop the progress +of their foes. Sayd entreated those who had cartridges not to throw a +shot away. On the enemy pressed; they had begun to climb the side of +the knoll, hurling their javelins at its defenders. Sayd, in spite of +the desperate state of affairs, exhibited the coolest courage, his fire +checking several times the advance of the foe; but he and Ned had both +discharged their last round. The chief leading the way had almost +gained the breastwork, when Sambroko, leaping over it, dealt him a blow +on the head with his clubbed musket, which sent him falling back among +his followers. Others, however, were rushing on to avenge his death. + +In another instant they would have been up to the breastwork, when a +loud shout was heard and a body of men, bearing an English ensign in +their midst, was seen emerging from the wood to the south-east. As they +advanced a British cheer was heard, which was replied to by Ned, and +echoed, though in a somewhat strange fashion, by his companions, who, +picking up the javelins aimed at them, hurled them back on their foes. +The latter seeing a fresh body approaching to the assistance of those +they were attacking, and dismayed by the fall of their chief, retreated +hastily down the knoll, and on reaching level ground took to flight to +avoid a volley fired at them by the new-comers. On came the British +party. Ned, with his heart leaping into his mouth, rushed down the hill +to meet them. In another instant his hand was being grasped by +Lieutenant Hanson and his old messmate Charley Meadows, while Tom +Baraka, springing forward, clasped him in his arms, exclaiming-- + +"O Massa Ned, we find you at last! I always said dat you 'live. +Hurrah! hurrah! Now him tink him die happy." + +"Don't talk about dying," said Ned, "for I have found some one else whom +you will rejoice to see, and I will tell you all about it presently; but +I want to know first about my uncle and Aunt Sally and Mary?" + +"Dey all well, an' de lieutenant he off dis berry coast in fine schooner +which bring us here." + +Lieutenant Hanson and Charley then explained more fully what had +occurred. How they had come out in the "Hope," and how they had heard +from an Arab, one of the few belonging to Abdullah's caravan who had +escaped, that a young Englishman answering Ned's description was up the +country, and was very unlikely ever to find his way down to the coast. +They had accordingly hired the most trustworthy men they could obtain, +and set off without delay to his rescue. + +"And very thankful we are to find you," exclaimed Mr Hanson. + +"You could not have arrived more opportunely, for never since I have +been in Africa have I been in so great a danger of losing my life; and +now I want to break the news I have to communicate to my faithful friend +Tom Baraka," said Ned. + +In the meantime Chando, prompted by curiosity to look at the white men, +had descended the hill. Ned seeing him, took his hand and led him up to +Baraka. + +"Tom," he said, "I promised to find your son if I could. What do you +think of this young man? Are you ready to acknowledge him as your +little boy Chando?" + +Tom gazed into Chando's face for a few seconds, then grasping his hands, +he rapidly uttered a few words which Ned could not understand. The +young black replied, and the next instant they were clasped in an +affectionate embrace. Tom's paternal feelings assured him that he had +found his long-lost boy, but a still greater surprise was in store for +him. In another minute he and Chando were rushing up the hill together. +Ned and his friends followed, and were just in time to see the meeting +between Tom and his wife. Though so many years had passed away since he +had parted from her, he appeared to know her immediately, and if he +exhibited his feelings in a more exuberant manner than a white man might +have done, they were not the less affectionate and genuine. + +Ned introduced Sayd, expressing his gratitude for the protection he had +received. Mr Hanson and Charley at once recognised him as the young +Arab who had been saved from the sinking dhow. It was necessary now to +arrange what was to be done next. The two parties agreed to camp +together on the knoll, and resolved to proceed to the coast by the route +Mr Hanson and his people had followed, thus avoiding the savage +warriors who had just been defeated, and who would undoubtedly seek for +an opportunity of revenging themselves. An important point, however, +had to be settled. Would Tom return with his son to Kamwawi, or would +they accompany the English back to the coast? + +"Me lub him wife, him son too; but him lub Massa Pack, an' Baraka's +heart break if he not say good-bye. And Missie Sally an' Missie Mary! +Oh! what shall him do, what shall him do?" + +Tom had some difficulty, it appeared, in persuading his wife and Chando +to proceed to the coast, but the descriptions he gave of the wonders +they would see overcame their objections. Still, Chando expressed the +not unreasonable fear that he might be seized by Abdullah and carried +off again into slavery, and very nearly turned the scale the other way. +Mr Hanson, however, through Sayd, promised him protection, and his +mother's fears on that score were quieted. + +The two parties now united forming a strong body, marched through the +country without opposition, except from the natural difficulties which +presented themselves. + +The "Hope" was found at anchor in the harbour, where Lieutenant Pack had +promised to wait for the expedition, having returned there the previous +day. + +His joy at recovering his nephew may be supposed. Sayd, who had +expected to be obliged to carry his ivory to Zanzibar, was delighted to +find that Mr Pack was ready to purchase the whole of it at a far higher +price than he could have expected to have obtained at that market. +Leaving his people encamped under the command of Sambroko and Hassan, he +accepted an invitation to return on board the "Hope" to Zanzibar to +purchase fresh stores for another expedition, and he promised Ned that +he would not only never again have anything to do with slave-trading, +but, after the experience he had gained, would keep aloof from all those +who engaged in that barbarous traffic. Tom Baraka, his wife, and Chando +also came on board, Tom having inspired Masika with a curiosity to see +the wonders of the island, as Zanzibar is called. The great desire of +his heart was accomplished. From the commencement of the journey he had +instructed her in that faith which had afforded him support and comfort +during his long exile from the home he had expected never again to see. +Though she did not at first understand all Tom said, her mind, as well +as that of her son, became gradually enlightened, and he had the +happiness of seeing them both baptised before they left Zanzibar under +the escort of Sayd, who undertook to protect them and to restore them +safely to their native village. It cost Tom, however, much to part from +his old master and Ned, though he was reconciled to the separation by +the belief which they had taken care to instil into him, that he might +prove an unspeakable blessing to his countrymen by imparting to them the +truths of the Gospel and instructing them in the arts of civilisation. +He and Sayd were the last persons to quit the "Hope," as, with a full +cargo of ivory and other African produce, she sailed for England. + +Though the voyage was long, Ned had scarcely finished the account of his +adventures when the schooner reached the Thames, and the two +lieutenants, richer men than they had ever before been in their lives, +accompanied by Ned and Charley, set off to report to Mr Farrance the +success of their undertaking. On reaching the house they were greatly +surprised at hearing that he, with his brother, had a few days before +started for Triton Cottage. + +On this Lieutenant Pack, bidding farewell to Mr Hanson, accompanied by +Ned and Charley, immediately set off for home. As they approached, Ned, +looking out of the carriage window, saw a young lady leaning on the arm +of a gentleman who bore a strong resemblance to Mr Farrance. It needed +not a second glance to convince him that the young lady, though much +taller than the Mary he remembered, was Mary herself, and calling the +post-boy to stop, in a moment he was out of the chaise and running +towards them. + +"It is--it is Ned!" cried Mary, and forgetting her advanced age, and +many other things besides, she threw her arms round his neck and burst +into tears; but as she looked up directly afterwards and saw Lieutenant +Pack coming stumping eagerly towards them, the bright smile which +overspread her countenance showed that they were tears of joy. The +lieutenant took her in his arms and kissed her cheek again and again. + +"How is sister Sally--all right I hope?" + +"She is at home with Uncle Farrance; and here is my papa," she added, +pointing to a gentleman standing near her. + +"Your papa, Mary?" exclaimed the lieutenant putting out his hand. "I am +happy to see you, sir, whatever claim you have to that relationship, +although you shall not carry off our Mary if I can help it." + +The gentleman smiled faintly. "You certainly, sir, have a superior, if +not a prior claim, from all the loving-kindness which you and your +sister have shown her, and I should indeed be ungrateful were I to act +contrary to your wishes," answered the stranger. + +"Well, well, come along, we will settle that by-and-by," said the +lieutenant, as he walked hurriedly on. "I want to see my good sister +Sally and assure her that I am as sound in health and limb as when I +went away." He had let go Mary's hand, and she and Ned now followed, +Charley having got out some time before to take a shorter cut to the +coast-guard station, where he expected to find his father. + +Miss Sally did not go into hysterics, as Mary had so nearly done, on +seeing the lieutenant and her nephew, but received them both as her +affectionate nature prompted, though as she looked up into Ned's face +she declared that, had not he come back with his uncle, she would have +had some doubts as to his identity. + +Mr Farrance now came forward and more formally introduced his brother, +assuring the lieutenant of the proofs he had obtained to his entire +satisfaction that he was Mary's father, "though," he added, as he took +him aside, "I fear, from the trials and sufferings he has endured, his +days on earth are destined to be few." + +This, indeed, when the lieutenant had an opportunity of observing the +elder Mr Farrance, he thought likely to be the case. The lieutenant +and Ned were too much engaged--the one in describing his voyage, and the +other his adventures in Africa--to inquire after any of their +neighbours, though it was very evident that Miss Sally had a matter of +importance which she wished to communicate. + +"Come, Sally, what is it?" exclaimed the lieutenant. "Has Mrs Jones +got twins? or is Miss Simpkins married? or is poor old Shank dead and +not left enough to bury him, as I always said would be the case?" + +"Hush, hush," said Miss Sally, looking towards Mary and her father, who, +with Ned, were seated at the window. "It is about Mr Shank I wish to +tell you. The old man is dead, and it was partly about his affairs that +Mr Farrance came down here, or they would have sent for Mary and me to +London. It is a very extraordinary story. He was once a miser, and +although suffering apparently from poverty, had no less than thirty +thousand pounds, which he has left to our dear Mary. He did so before +he knew he was her grandfather, which he turns out without doubt to have +been. His only daughter married Mr Farrance, and was lost in the +Indian seas on board the ship from which you saved Mary and Tom. Mary +was with the old man until his death, and was a great comfort to him, +but she had not the slightest suspicion that he intended to leave her a +sixpence. From what our friend Mr Thorpe had said, however, I was not +so much surprised as I might otherwise have been. Mary had so +interested him in the sufferings of the Africans, caused by the slave +trade, that he left a note expressing his hope that she would employ +such means as she might have at her disposal to better their condition, +especially by the establishment of missions, which he expressed his +belief would prove the best way for accomplishing that end." + +No one would have supposed from Mary's manner that she had suddenly +become an heiress. Indeed no one was more astonished than Ned when he +heard the account Miss Sally had given his uncle. It seemed, indeed, to +afford him much less satisfaction than might have been supposed. Her +wealth, however, was not increased by her father's death, which occurred +a short time afterwards. + +Several years passed away; by that time Africa had been explored by the +many energetic travellers who have so greatly benefited its people by +acting as pioneers to the missionaries who have since gone forth to +carry to them the blessings of the Gospel. + +Mary had to wait until she was of age before she inherited her +grandfather's property, when she became the wife of honest Ned Garth, +then a commander, and who, greatly to his surprise, found that Mr +Farrance had settled on him a sum equal to her fortune. + +Mary did not forget Mr Shank's wishes, nor did Ned the scenes he had +witnessed in Africa, both ever showing a warm interest in its +dark-skinned races by contributing liberally towards the support of +every enterprise for their benefit. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ned Garth, by W. H. G. 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