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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Modern Buccaneer, by Rolf Boldrewood
+
+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: A Modern Buccaneer
+
+Author: Rolf Boldrewood
+
+Release Date: February 28, 2011 [EBook #35431]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MODERN BUCCANEER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Erica Pfister-Altschul and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+(This book was produced from scanned images of public
+domain material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+A MODERN BUCCANEER
+
+[Illustration]
+
+I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Louis Becke, author of
+_By Reef and Palm_, as to the South Sea Island portion of _A Modern
+Buccaneer_, with the exception of the chapter headed "Poisoned Arrows,"
+which is founded upon the diary of a Whaling Cruise by my late father.
+
+[Illustration: _Boldrewood's "Modern Buccaneer"_ _Walker & Boutall sc._]
+
+
+
+
+A MODERN BUCCANEER
+
+
+BY
+ROLF BOLDREWOOD
+
+AUTHOR OF 'ROBBERY UNDER ARMS'
+
+
+London
+
+MACMILLAN AND CO.
+AND NEW YORK
+1894
+
+_All rights reserved_
+
+
+COPYRIGHT
+1894
+BY
+MACMILLAN AND CO.
+
+
+_First Edition (3 Vols.) April 1894_
+_Second Edition (1 Vol.) October 1894_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+    MY FIRST VOYAGE                                                    1
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+    WILLIAM HENRY HAYSTON                                             13
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+    IN SAMOA                                                          20
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+    SAMOA TO MILLE                                                    32
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+    THE BRIG LEONORA                                                  41
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+    CAPTAIN BEN PEESE                                                 62
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+    CRUISING AMONG THE CAROLINES                                      74
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+    POISONED ARROWS                                                   87
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+    HALCYON DAYS                                                     111
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+    MURDER AND SHIPWRECK                                             121
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+    A KING AND QUEEN                                                 159
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+    "MY LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY"                                      189
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+    H.M.S. ROSARIO                                                   206
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+    NORFOLK ISLAND--ARCADIA                                          225
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+    EPITHALAMIUM                                                     255
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+    A SWIM FOR LIFE                                                  277
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+    "OUR JACK'S COME HOME TO-DAY"                                    303
+
+
+
+
+A MODERN BUCCANEER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+MY FIRST VOYAGE
+
+
+Born near Sydney harbour, nursery of the seamen of the South, I could
+swim almost as soon as I could walk, and sail a boat at an age when most
+children are forbidden to go near the water. We came of a salt-water
+stock. My father had been a sea-captain for the greater part of his
+life, after a youth spent in every kind of craft, from a cutter to a
+man-of-war. No part of the habitable globe was unfamiliar to him: from
+India to the Pole, from Russia to the Brazils, from the China Sea to the
+Bight of Benin--every harbour was a home.
+
+He had nursed one crew frost-bitten in Archangel, when the blankets had
+to be cut up for mittens; had watched by the beds of another, decimated
+by yellow fever in Jamaica; had marked up the "death's-head and
+cross-bones" in the margin of the log-book, to denote the loss by
+tetanus of the wounded by poisoned arrows on Bougainville Island; and
+had fought hand to hand with the stubborn Maories of Taranaki. Wounds
+and death, privation and pestilence, wrecks and tempests were with him
+household words, close comrades. What were they but symbols,
+nature-pictures, the cards dealt by fate? You lost the stake or rose a
+winner. Men who had played the game of life all round knew this. He
+accepted fortune, fair or foul, as he did the weather--a favour or a
+force of nature to be enjoyed or defied. But to be commented upon, much
+less complained of? Hardly. And as fate had willed it, the worn though
+unwearied sea-king had seen fit to heave anchor, so to speak, and moor
+his vessels--for he owned more than one--in this the fairest haven of
+the southern main. Once before in youth had he seen and never forgotten
+the frowning headlands, beyond which lay so peerless a harbour, such
+wealth of anchorage, so mild a clime, so boundless an extent of virgin
+soil; from which he, "a picked man of countries," even then prophesied
+wealth, population, and empire in the future.
+
+Here, then, a generation later, he brought his newly-wedded wife. Here
+was I, Hilary Telfer, destined to see the light.
+
+From the mid-city street of Sydney is but a stone's throw to the wharves
+and quays, magnificent water-ways in which those ocean palaces of the
+present day, the liners of the P. and O. and the Orient, lie moored, and
+but a plank divides the impatient passenger from the busy mart. Not that
+such stately ships were visitors in my school-boy days. Sydney was then
+a grass-grown, quiet seaport, boasting some fifty thousand inhabitants,
+with a fleet of vessels small in size and of humble tonnage.
+
+But, though unpretending of aspect, to the eager-hearted, imaginative
+school-boy they were rich as Spanish galleons. For were they not laden
+with uncounted treasure, weighed down with wealth beyond the fabled
+hoards of the pirates of the Spanish Main, upon whose dark deeds and
+desperate adventures I had so greedily feasted?
+
+Each vessel that swept through the Heads at midnight, or marked the
+white-walled mansions and pine-crowned promontories rise faintly out of
+the pearl-hued dawn, was for me a volume filled with romance and
+mystery. Sat there not on the forecastle of that South Sea whaler,
+silent, scornful, imperturbable, the young Maori chief, nursing in his
+breast the deep revenge for a hasty blow, which on the return voyage to
+New Zealand and the home of his tribe was to take the form of a massacre
+of the whole ship's company?
+
+Yes, captain and officers, passengers and crew, every man on that ship
+paid the death penalty for the mate's hard word and blow. The insult to
+a Rangatira must be wiped out in blood.
+
+The trader of the South Sea Islands was a marine marvel which I was
+never weary of studying.
+
+I generally managed to make friends with one or other of the crew, who
+permitted me to explore the lower deck and feed my fancy upon the
+treasures from that paradise with which the voyager from an enchanted
+ocean had surely freighted his vessel. Strange bows and arrows--the
+latter poison-tipped, as I was always assured, perhaps as a
+precautionary measure--piles of shaddocks, tons of bananas, idols,
+skulls, spears, clubs, woven cloth of curious fabric, an endless store
+of unfamiliar foreign commodities.
+
+Among the crew were always a few half-castes mingled with the grizzled,
+weather-beaten British sea-dogs. Perhaps a boat's crew of the islanders
+themselves, born sailors, and as much at home in water as on land.
+
+Seldom did I leave, however unwillingly, the deck of one of these fairy
+barques, without registering a vow that the year in which I left school
+should see me a gay sailor-boy, bound on my first voyage in search of
+dangerous adventures and that splendidly untrammelled career which was
+so surely to result in fortune and distinction.
+
+Then the whaleships! In that old time, Sydney harbour was rarely without
+a score or more of them. In their way they were portents and wonders of
+the deep. Fortune failed them at times. The second year might find them
+far from full of the high-priced whale-oil. The capricious cetacean was
+not to be depended upon in migration from one "whaling ground" to
+another. Sometimes a "favourite" ship--lucky in spite of
+everything--would come flaunting in after an absence of merely eleven or
+twelve months--such were the _Florentia_ and the _Proteus_--full to the
+hatches, while three long years would have elapsed before her consort,
+sailing on the same day and fitted up much in the same way, would crawl
+sadly into Snail's or Neutral Bay, battered and tempest-tossed, but
+three-quarter full even then, a mark for the rough wit of the port, to
+pay off an impoverished crew and confront unsmiling or incredulous
+owners.
+
+Every kind of disaster would have befallen her. When she got fast to a
+ninety-barrel whale, her boats would be stoven in. When all was well, no
+cheery shout of "There she spouts!" would be heard for days. Savage
+islanders would attack her doggedly, and hardly be beaten off. Every
+kind of evil omen would be justified, until the crew came to believe
+that they were sailing with an Australian Vanderdecken, and would never
+see a port again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The grudging childish years had rolled by, and now I was seventeen years
+of age--fitted, as I fully believed, to begin the battle of life in
+earnest, and ardent for the fray. As to my personal qualifications for a
+life on the ocean wave, and well I knew no other would have contented
+me, let the reader judge. At the age when tall lads are often found to
+have out-grown their strength, I had attained the fullest stature of
+manhood; wide-chested and muscular, constant exercise with oar and sail
+had developed my frame and toughened my sinews, until I held myself,
+with some reason, to be a match in strength and activity for most men I
+was likely to meet.
+
+In the rowing contests to which Australians of the shore have always
+been devoted, more particularly the privileged citizens of Sydney, I had
+always taken a leading part. More than once, in a hard-fought finish,
+had I been lifted out fainting or insensible.
+
+My curling fair hair and blue eyes bore token of our Norse blood and
+Anglo-Norman descent. The family held a tradition that our surname came
+from Taillefer, the warrior minstrel who rode in the forefront of Duke
+William's army at Hastings. Strangely, too, a passionate love of song
+had always clung to the race. "Sir Hilary charged at Agincourt," as
+saith the ballad. Roving and adventure ran in the blood for generations
+uncounted.
+
+For all that trouble arose when I announced my resolve. My schoolmates
+had settled down in the offices of merchants, bankers, and lawyers, why
+could not I do the same? My mother's tears fell fast as she tried in
+vain to dissuade me from my resolution. My father was neutral. He knew
+well the intensity of the feeling. "If born in a boy," he said, "as it
+was in me, it is his fate--nothing on earth can turn him from it; if you
+stop him you will make a bad landsman and spoil a good sailor. Let him
+go! he must take his chance like another man. God is above the wave as
+over the earth. If it be his fate, the perils of the deep will be no
+more than the breezes of the bay."
+
+It was decided at length that I should be allowed to go on my way. To
+the islands of the South Pacific my heart pointed as truly as ever did
+compass needle to the North.
+
+I had read every book that had ever been written about them, from
+Captain Cook's _Voyages_ to _The Mutiny of the Bounty_. In my dreams how
+many times had I seen the purple mountains, the green glow of the fairy
+woodlands, had bathed in the crystal streams, and heard the endless surf
+music on the encircling reef, cheered the canoes loaded with fruit
+racing for their market in the crimson flush of the paradisal morn, or
+lingered amidst the Aidenns of the charmed main, where the
+flower-crowned children of nature--maidens beauteous as angels--roamed
+in careless happiness and joyous freedom! It was an entrancing picture.
+
+Why should I stay in this prosaic land, where men wore the hideous
+costume of their forefathers, and women, false to all canons of art,
+still clung to their outworn garb?
+
+What did I care for the sheep and cattle, the tending of which enriched
+my compatriots?
+
+A world of romance, mystery, and adventure lay open and inviting. The
+die was cast. The spell of the sea was upon me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My father's accumulations had amounted to a reasonable capital, as
+things went in those Arcadian non-speculative days. He was not
+altogether without a commercial faculty, which had enabled him to make
+prudent investments in city and suburban lands. These the steadily
+improving markets were destined to turn into value as yet undreamed of.
+
+It was not thought befitting that I should ship as an apprentice or
+foremost hand, though I was perfectly willing, even eager, for a start
+in any way. A more suitable style of equipment was arranged. An
+agreement was entered into with the owner of a vessel bound for San
+Francisco via Honolulu, by which a proportion of the cargo was purchased
+in my name, and I was, after some discussion, duly installed as
+supercargo. It may be thought that I was too young for such a
+responsible post. But I was old for my age. I had a man's courage and
+ambition. I had studied navigation to some purpose; could "hand reef and
+steer," and in the management of a boat, or acquaintance with every
+rope, sail, and spar on board of a vessel, I held myself, if not an A.
+B., fully qualified for that rank and position.
+
+Words would fail to describe my joy and exultation when I found myself
+at length on blue water, in a vessel which I might fairly describe as
+"our little craft," bound for foreign parts and strange cities. I
+speedily made the acquaintance of the crew--a strangely assembled lot,
+mostly shady as to character and reckless as to speech, but without
+exception true "sailor men." At that time of day, employment on the high
+seas was neither so easy to obtain nor so well paid as at present. The
+jolly tars of the period were therefore less independent and inclined to
+cavil at minor discomforts. Once shipped, they worked with a will, and
+but little fault could be found with their courage or seamanship.
+
+Among other joys and delights which I promised myself, had been a closer
+acquaintance with the life and times of a picturesque and romantic
+personage, known and feared, if all tales were true, throughout the
+South Seas. This was the famous, the celebrated Captain Hayston, whose
+name was indeed a spell to conjure with from New Zealand to the Line
+Islands.
+
+Much that could excite a boyish imagination had been related to me
+concerning him. One man professing an intimate knowledge had described
+him as "a real pirate." Could higher praise be awarded? I put together
+all the tales I had heard about him--his great stature and vast
+strength, his reckless courage, his hair-breadth escapes, his wonderful
+brig,--cousin german, no doubt, to the "long low wicked-looking craft"
+in the pages of _Tom Cringle's Log_, and other veracious historiettes,
+"nourishing a youth sublime," in the long bright summer days of old;
+those days when we fished and bathed, ate oysters, and read alternately
+from early morn till the lighthouse on the South Head flashed out! My
+heroes had been difficult to find hitherto; they had mostly eluded my
+grasp. But this one was real and tangible. He would be fully up to
+description. His splendid scorn of law and order, mercy or moderation,
+his unquestioned control over mutinous crews and fierce islanders,
+illumined by occasional homicides and abductions, all these splendours
+and glories so stirred my blood, that I felt, if I could only once
+behold my boyhood's idol, I should not have lived in vain. Among the
+crew, fortunately for me as I then thought, was a sailor who had
+actually known in the flesh the idol of my daydreams.
+
+"And it's the great Captain Hayston you'd like to hear about," said Dan
+Daly, as we sat together in the foc'sle head of the old barque
+_Clarkstone_, before we made Honolulu. Dan had been a South Sea
+beach-comber and whaler; moreover, had been marooned, according to his
+own account, escaping only by a miracle; a trader's head-man--once,
+indeed, more than half-killed by a rush of natives on the station. With
+every kind of dangerous experience short of death and burial he was
+familiar. On which account I regarded him with a fine boyish admiration.
+What a night was it, superbly beautiful, when I hung upon his words, as
+we sat together gazing over the moonlit water! We had changed our course
+owing to some dispute about food between captain and crew, and were now
+heading for the island of Rurutu, where fresh provisions were
+attainable. As I listened spellbound and entranced, the barque's bows
+slowly rose and fell, the wavering moonlight streamed down upon the
+deck, the sails, the black masses of cordage, while ghostly shadows
+moved rhythmically, in answering measure to every motion of the vessel.
+
+"You must know," said Dan, in grave commencement, "it's nigh upon five
+years ago, when I woke up one morning in the 'Calaboose' as they call
+the 'lock-up' in Papiete, with a broken head. It's the port of the
+island of Tahiti. I was one of the hands of the American brig
+_Cherokee_, and we'd put in there on our way to San Francisco from
+Sydney. The skipper had given us liberty, so we went ashore and began
+drinking and having some fun. There was some wahines in it, in
+coorse--that's whats they call the women in thim parts. Somehow or other
+I got a knock on the head, and remimbered nothing more until I woke up
+in the 'Calaboose,' where I was charged with batin' a native till he was
+nigh dead. To make a long story short, I got six months 'hard,' and the
+ship sailed away without me.
+
+"When I'd served my time, I walks into the American Consulate and asks
+for a passage to California.
+
+"'Clear out,' says the Consul, 'you red-headed varmint, I have nothing
+to say to you, after beating an inoffensive native in the manner you
+did.'
+
+"'By the powers,' says I to myself, 'you're a big blackguard, Dan Daly,
+when you've had a taste of liquor, but if I remimber batin' any man
+black, white, or whitey-brown, may I be keel-hauled. Howsomdever, that
+says nothing, the next thing's a new ship.'
+
+"So I steps down to the wharf and aboord a smart-looking schooner that
+belonged to Carl Brander, a big merchant in Tahiti, as rich as the
+Emperor of China, they used to say. The mate was aboord. 'Do you want
+any hands?' says I.
+
+"'We do,' says he. 'You've a taking colour of hair for this trade, my
+lad.'
+
+"'How's that?'
+
+"'Why, the girls down at Rimitara and Rurutu will just make love to you
+in a body. Red hair's the making of a man in thim parts.'
+
+"Upon this I signed articles for six months in the schooner, and next
+day we sailed for a place called Bora-bora in the north-west. We didn't
+stay there long, but got under weigh for Rurutu next day. We weren't
+hardly clear of Bora-bora when we sights a brigantine away to windward
+and bearing down on us before the wind. As soon as she got close enough,
+she signalled that she wanted to send a boat aboard, so we hove to and
+waited.
+
+"Our skipper had a look at the man who was steering the boat, whin he
+turns as pale as a sheet, and says he to the mate, 'It's that devil
+Hayston! and that's the brigantine he and Captain Ben Peese ran away
+with from Panama.'
+
+"However, up alongside came the boat, and as fine a looking man as ever
+I set eyes on steps aboord amongst us.
+
+"'How do ye do, Captain?' says he. 'Where from and whither bound?'
+
+"The skipper was in a blue funk, I could see, for this Bully Hayston had
+a terrible bad name, so he answers him quite polite and civil.
+
+"'Can you spare me half a coil of two-inch Manilla?' asks the stranger,
+'and I'll pay you your own price?'
+
+"The skipper got him the rope, the strange captain pays for it, and they
+goes below for a glass of grog. In half an hour, up on deck they comes
+again, our skipper half-seas over and laughing fit to kill himself.
+
+"'By George!' says he, 'you're the drollest card I ever came across.
+D--n me! if I wouldn't like to take a trip with you myself!' and with
+that he struggles to the skylight and falls in a heap across it.
+
+"'Who's the mate of this schooner?' sings out Hayston, in such a changed
+voice that it made me jump.
+
+"'I am!' said the mate, who was standing in the waist.
+
+"'Then where's that Mangareva girl of yours? Come, look lively! I know
+all about her from that fellow there,' pointing to the skipper.
+
+"The mate had a young slip of a girl on board. She belonged to an island
+called Mangareva, and was as pretty a creature, with her big soft eyes
+and long curling hair, as ever I'd seen in my life. The mate just trated
+her the same as he would the finest lady, and was going to marry her at
+the next island where there was a missionary. When he heard who the
+strange captain was, he'd planted her down in the hold and covered her
+up with mats. He was a fine manly young chap, and as soon as he saw
+Hayston meant to take 'Taloo,' that was her name, he pulls out a pistol
+and says, 'Down in the hold, Captain Hayston! and as long as God gives
+me breath you'll never lay a finger on her. I'll put a bullet through
+her head rather than see her fall into the hands of a man like you.' The
+strange captain just gives a laugh and pulls his long moustache. Then he
+walks up to the mate and slaps him on the shoulder.
+
+"'You've got the right grit in you,' says he. 'I'd like to have a man
+like you on board my ship;' and the next second he gripped the pistol
+out of the mate's hand and sent it spinning along the deck. The mate
+fought like a tiger, but he was a child in the other man's grasp. All
+the time Hayston kept up that devilish laugh of his. Then, as he saw me
+and Tom Lynch coming to help the mate, he says something in a foreign
+lingo, and the boat's crew jumps on board amongst us, every one of them
+with a pistol. But for all that they seems a decent lot of chaps.
+
+"Hayston still held the mate by his wrists, laughing in his face as if
+he was having the finest fun in the world, when up comes Taloo out of
+the hold by way of the foc'sle bulk-head, with her long hair hanging
+over her shoulders, and the tears streaming down her cheeks.
+
+"She flings herself down at the Captain's feet, and clasps her arms
+round his knees.
+
+"'No, no! no kill Ted!' she kept on crying, just about all the English
+she knew.
+
+"'You pretty little thing,' says he, 'I wouldn't hurt your Ted for the
+world.' Then he lets go the mate and takes her hand and shakes it.
+
+"'What's your name, my man?'
+
+"'Ted Bannington!' says the mate.
+
+"'Well, Ted Bannington, look here; if you'd showed any funk I'd have
+taken the girl in spite of you and your whole ship's company. If a man
+don't think a woman good enough to fight for, he deserves to lose her if
+a better man comes along.'
+
+"Taloo put out one little hand, the other hand and arm was round the
+mate's neck, shaking like a leaf too.
+
+"'I'm so sorry if I've hurt your wrists,' says he to the mate, most
+polite. Then he gave some orders to the boat's crew, who pulled away to
+the brigantine. After they had gone he walked aft with the mate, the two
+chatting like the best friends in the world, and I'll be hanged if that
+same mate wasn't laughing fit to split at some of the yarns the other
+chap was spinning, sitting on the skylight, with the Captain lying at
+their feet as drunk as Davy's sow.
+
+"Presently the boat comes alongside agin, and a chap walks aft and gives
+the strange captain a parcel.
+
+"'You'll please accept this as a friendly gift from Bully Hayston,' says
+he to the mate; and then he takes a ten-dollar piece out of his pocket
+and gives it to Taloo. 'Drill a hole in it, and hang it round the neck
+of your first child for luck.'
+
+"He shakes hands with her and the mate, jumps into the boat, and steers
+for the brigantine. In another ten minutes she squared away and stood to
+the south-east.
+
+"'Come here, Dan,' says the mate to me; 'see what he's given me!' 'Twas
+a beautiful chronometer bran new, in a splendid case. The mate said he'd
+never seen one like it before.
+
+"Well, that was the first time I ever seen Bully Hayston, though I did a
+few times afterwards, and the brigantine too.
+
+"They do say he's a thundering scoundrel, but a pleasanter-spoken
+gentleman I never met in my life."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WILLIAM HENRY HAYSTON
+
+
+These were the first particulars I ever heard of the man who had
+afterwards so great an influence upon my destiny that no incident of my
+sojourn with him will ever be forgotten. A man with whom I went into the
+jaws of death and returned unhurt. A man who, no matter what his faults
+may have been, possessed qualities which, had they been devoted to
+higher aims in life, might have rendered him the hero of a nation.
+
+Our Captain's altercation with the crew nearly blossomed into a mutiny.
+This was compromised, however, one of the conditions of peace being that
+we should touch at Rurutu, one of the five islands forming the Tubuai
+group. This we accordingly did, and, steering for San Francisco,
+experienced no further adventures until we sighted the Golden Gate. When
+our cargo was sold I left the ship.
+
+My occupation being from this time gone, I used to stroll down to the
+wharf from my lodgings in Harvard Street to look at the foreign vessels.
+Wandering aimlessly, I one day made the acquaintance of a "hard-shell
+down-easter," with the truly American name of Slocum, master of a
+venerable-looking rate called the _Constitution_. He himself was a
+dried-up specimen of the old style of Yankee captain, with a face that
+resembled in colour a brown painted oilskin, and hands like an
+albatross's feet. He had been running for a number of years to Tahiti,
+taking out timber and returning with island produce.
+
+Not being a proud man, he permitted me to stand drinks for him in a
+well-known liquor saloon in Third Street, where we had long yarns over
+his trading adventures in the Pacific.
+
+One Sunday morning, I remember it as if yesterday, we were sitting in a
+private room off the bar. Slocum was advising me to come with him on his
+next trip and share the luxuries of the _Constitution's_ table, for
+which he asked the modest sum of a hundred dollars to Tahiti and back,
+when we heard some one enter and address the bar-keeper. "Great Scott!"
+came the reply, "it's Captain Hayston! How air you, Captain, and whar
+d'ye come from?"
+
+"I've come to try and find Ben Peese. We're going to form a new station
+at Arrecifu. He left me at Yap in the Carolines to come here and buy a
+schooner with a light draught; but he never turned up; I'm afraid that
+after he left Yap he met with some accident."
+
+The moment Slocum heard the stranger's voice his face underwent a
+marvellous change. All his assurance seemed to have left him. He
+whispered to me, "That's Bully Hayston! I guess I'll lie low till he
+clears out. I don't want to be seen with him, as it'll sorter damage my
+character. Besides, he's such a vi'lent critter."
+
+The next moment we heard the new-comer say to the barman,--
+
+"Say, Fred, I've been down to that old schooner the _Constitution_, but
+couldn't find Slocum aboard. They told me he often came here to get a
+cheap drink. I want him to take a letter to Tahiti. Do you know where he
+is?"
+
+Slocum saw it was of no use attempting to "lie low," so with a nervous
+hand he opened the door.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I've knocked about the world a good deal since I sat in the little back
+parlour in Third Street, Frisco, but neither before nor since I left
+Strong's Island have I seen such a splendid specimen of humanity as the
+man who then entered.
+
+Much that I am about to relate I learned during my later experience.
+
+William Henry Hayston was born in one of the Western States of America,
+and received his education at Norfolk, Virginia. As his first
+appointment he obtained a cadetship in the United States Revenue
+Service, subsequently retiring to become captain of one of the large
+lake steamers.
+
+In '55 he joined the navy, serving with great gallantry under Admiral
+Farragut. The reported reason of his leaving the service was a
+disagreement with Captain Carroll, afterwards commander of the rebel
+cruiser _Shenandoah_. So bitter was their feud, that years afterwards,
+when that vessel was in the South Pacific, her commander made no secret
+of his ardent wish to meet Hayston and settle accounts with him, even to
+the death.
+
+Hayston was a giant in stature: six feet four in height, with a chest
+that measured, from shoulder to shoulder, forty-nine inches; and there
+was nothing clumsy about him, as his many antagonists could testify. His
+strength was enormous, and he was proud of it. But, apart from his
+magnificent physique, Hayston was one of the most remarkably handsome
+men about this time that I have ever seen. His hair fell in clusters
+across his forehead, above laughing eyes of the brightest blue; his nose
+was a bold aquiline; a well-cut, full-lipped mouth that could set like
+fate was covered by a huge moustache. A Vandyke beard completed the
+_tout ensemble_ of a visage which, once seen, was rarely forgotten by
+friend or foe. Taking him altogether, what with face, figure, and
+manner, he had a personal magnetism only too fatally attractive, as many
+a man--ay, and woman too--knew to their cost. He was my beau ideal of a
+naval officer--bold and masterful, yet soft and pleasant-voiced withal
+when he chose to conciliate. His sole disfigurement--not wholly so,
+perhaps, in the eye of his admirers--was a sabre cut which extended from
+the right temple to his ear.
+
+For his character, the one controlling influence in his life was an
+ungovernable temper. It was utterly beyond his mastery. Let any one
+offend him, and though he might have been smiling the instant before,
+the blue eyes would suddenly turn almost black, his face become a deep
+purple. Then it was time for friend or foe to beware. For I never saw
+the man that could stand up to him. Strangely enough, I have sometimes
+seen him go laughing through a fight until he had finished his man. At
+other times his cyclone of a mood would discharge itself without warning
+or restraint. It was probably this appalling temper that gained him a
+character for being bloodthirsty; for, once roused, nothing could stop
+him. Yet I do him the justice to say that I never once witnessed an act
+of deliberate cruelty at his hands. In the islands he was surrounded by
+a strange collection of the greatest scoundrels unhung. There, of
+necessity, his rule was one of "blood and iron."
+
+And now for his pleasing traits. He was one of the most fascinating
+companions possible. He possessed a splendid baritone voice and affected
+the songs of Schumann and the German composers. He was an accomplished
+musician, playing on the pianoforte, violin, and, in default of a better
+instrument, even on the accordion. He spoke German, French, and Spanish,
+as well as the island languages, fluently. Generous to a fault, in spite
+of repeated lessons, he would insist on trusting again and again those
+in whom he believed. But once convinced that he had been falsely dealt
+with, the culprit would have fared nearly as well in the jaws of a
+tiger. He was utterly without fear, under any and all circumstances,
+even the most desperate, and was naturally a hater of every phase of
+meanness or cowardice. But one more trait, and my sketch is complete.
+He had a fatal weakness where the fairer sex was concerned. To one of
+them he owed his first war with society. To the consequences of that
+false step might have been traced the reckless career which dishonoured
+his manhood and led to the final catastrophe.
+
+"Come, gentlemen!" he said on entering--in so pleasant and kindly a
+tone, that I felt drawn towards him at once, "let us sit down and have a
+drink together."
+
+We went back to the room, Slocum, I could see, feeling intensely
+uncomfortable, fidgeting and twisting. As we sat down I took a good look
+at the man of whom I had heard so much. Heard of his daring deeds in the
+China seas; of a wild career in the Pacific Islands; of his bold
+defiance of law and order; besides strange tales of mysterious cruises
+in the north-west among the Caroline and Pellew Islands.
+
+"And how air yer, Captain?" said Slocum with forced hilarity.
+
+"I'm devilish glad to see _you_," replied Hayston; "what about that
+barque of mine you stripped down at the Marshalls, you porpoise-hided
+skunk?"
+
+"True as gospel, Captain, I didn't know she was yours. There was a
+trader at Arnu, you know the man, an Italian critter, but they call him
+George Brown, and he says to me, 'Captain Slocum,' says he, 'there's a
+big lump of a timber-ship cast away on one of them reefs near Alluk, and
+if you can get up to her you'll make a powerful haul. She's new
+coppered, and hasn't broke up yet.' So I gave him fifty dollars, and
+promised him four hundred and fifty more if his news was reliable; if
+that ain't the solid facts of the case I hope I may be paralysed."
+
+"Oh! so it was George who put you on to take my property, was it? and he
+my trader too; well, Slocum, I can't blame you. But now I'll tell you my
+'_facts_': that barque was wrecked; the skipper and crew were picked up
+by Ben Peese and taken to China. He bought the barque for me for four
+hundred dollars, and I beat up to Arnu, and asked George if he would get
+me fifty Arnu natives to go with me to the wreck and either try and
+float it or strip her. The d--d Marcaroni-eating sweep promised to get
+me the men in a week or two, so I squared away for Madura, where I had
+two traders. Bad weather came on, and when I got back to Arnu, the
+fellow told me that a big canoe had come down from the Radacks and
+reported that the barque had gone to pieces. The infernal scoundrel! Had
+I known that he had put you on to her I'd have taken it out of his hide.
+Who is this young gentleman?"
+
+"A friend of mine, Captain, thinking of takin' a voyage with me for
+recruitin' of his health," and the lantern-jawed Slocum introduced us.
+
+Drawing his seat up to me, Hayston placed his hand on my shoulder, and
+said with a laugh, looking intensely at Slocum, who was nervously
+twisting his fingers, "Oh! a recruitin' of his health, is he? or rather
+recruitin' of your pocket? I'm glad I dropped in on you and made his
+acquaintance. I could tell him a few droll stories about the pious
+Slocum."
+
+Slocum said nothing, but laughed in a sickly way.
+
+Leaning forward with a smiling face, he said, "What did you clear out of
+my barque, you good Slocum?"
+
+"Nigh on a thousand dollars."
+
+"You know you lie, Slocum! you must have done better than that."
+
+"I kin show my receipts if you come aboard," he answered in shaky tones.
+
+"Well, I'll take your word, you sanctimonious old shark, and five
+hundred dollars for my share."
+
+"Why, sartin, Captain! that's fair and square," said the other, as his
+sallow face lighted up, "I'll give you the dollars to-morrow morning."
+
+"Right you are. Come to the Lick house at ten o'clock. Say, my pious
+friend, what would our good Father Damien think if I told him that
+pretty story about the six Solomon Island people you picked up at sea,
+and sold to a sugar planter?"
+
+The trader's visage turned green, as with a deprecating gesture towards
+me he seemed to implore Hayston's silence.
+
+"Ha! ha! don't get scared. Business matters, my lad," he said, turning
+to me his merry blue eyes, and patting me on the back. "Where are you
+staying here?"
+
+I told him. Then as we were rising to go, speaking to me, and looking
+Slocum in the face, he said, "Don't have any truck with Master Slocum,
+he'll skin you of every dollar you've got, and like as not turn you
+adrift at some place you can't get away from. Isn't that so, my saintly
+friend?"
+
+Slocum flinched like a whipped hound, but said nothing. Then, shaking
+hands with me, and saying if ever I came to the Pacific and dropped
+across him or Captain Ben Peese I should meet a hearty welcome, he
+strode out, with the shambling figure of the down-easter under his lee.
+
+That was the last I saw of the two captains for many a long day, for a
+few days later the _Constitution_ cleared out for Tahiti, and I couldn't
+learn anything more about Hayston. Whether he was then in command of a
+vessel, or had merely come up as passenger in some other ship, I could
+not ascertain. All the bar-keeper knew about him was that he was a
+gentleman with plenty of money and a h--l of a temper, if anybody
+bothered him with questions.
+
+Little I thought at the time that we were fated to meet again, or that
+where we once more forgathered would be under the tropic sun of
+Polynesia.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+IN SAMOA
+
+
+From what I have said about Hayston, it will readily be understood that
+every tale relating to him was strangely exciting to my boyish mind. For
+me he was the incarnation of all that was utterly reckless, possibly
+wicked, and of course, as such, possessed a fascination that a better
+man would have failed to inspire.
+
+My hero, however, had disappeared, and with him all zest seemed to have
+gone out of life at Frisco. So after mooning about for a few weeks I
+resolved on returning to Sydney.
+
+My friends on the Pacific slope did their best to dissuade me, trying to
+instil the idea into my head that I was cut out for a merchant prince by
+disposition and intellect. But I heeded not the voice of the charmer.
+The only walk in life for which I felt myself thoroughly fitted was that
+of an armed cruiser through the South Sea Islands. All other vocations
+were tame and colourless in comparison. I could fancy myself parading
+the deck of my vessel, pistol at belt, dagger in sheath, a band of
+cut-throats trembling at my glance, and a bevy of dark-skinned
+princesses ready to die for me at a moment's notice, or to keep the
+flies from bothering, whichever I preferred.
+
+I may state "right here," as the Yankees have it, that I did not become
+a "free trader," though at one time I had a close shave of being run up
+to the yardarm of a British man-of-war in that identical capacity. But
+this came later on.
+
+I returned, therefore, to my native Sydney in due course of time, and as
+a wholesome corrective after my somewhat erratic experiences, was placed
+by my father in a merchant's office. But the colourless monotony became
+absolutely killing. It was awful to be stuck there, adding up columns of
+pounds, shillings, and pence, and writing business letters, while there
+was stabbing, shooting, and all sorts of wild excitement going on "away
+down in the islands."
+
+It was about this time that I made the acquaintance of certain South Sea
+Islanders belonging to whalers or trading vessels. With one of them,
+named George, a native of Raratonga, I became intimate. He impressed me
+with his intelligence, and amused me with his descriptions of island
+life. He had just returned from a whaling voyage in the barque
+_Adventurer_ belonging to the well-known firm of Robert Towns & Company.
+
+So when George, having been paid off in Sydney with a handsome cheque,
+confided to me that he intended going back to the Navigators' Islands,
+where he had previously spent some years, in order to open a small
+trading station, my unrest returned. He had a hundred pounds which he
+wished to invest in trade-goods, so I took him round the Sydney firms
+and saw him fairly dealt with. A week afterwards he sailed to Samoa via
+Tonga, in the _Taoji Vuna_, a schooner belonging to King George of that
+ilk.
+
+Before he left he told me that two of his countrymen were trading for
+Captain Hayston--one at Marhiki, and one at Fakaofo, in the Union group.
+Both had made money, and he believed that Captain Hayston had fixed upon
+Apia, the chief port of Samoa, as his head-quarters.
+
+Need I say that this information interested me greatly, and I asked
+George no end of questions. But the schooner was just leaving the wharf
+in tow of a tug, and my dark-skinned friend having shipped as an A. B.,
+was no longer of the "leisure classes." So, grasping my hand, and
+telling me where to hear of him if I ever came to Samoa, we parted.
+
+Before going further let me explain the nature of a Polynesian trader's
+mission.
+
+On the greater number of the islands white men are resident, who act as
+agents for a firm of merchants, for masters of vessels, or on their own
+account. In some cases a piece of ground is rented from the king or
+chief whereon to make the trading station. In others the rulers are paid
+a protection fee. Then, if a trader is murdered, his principal can claim
+blood for blood. This, however, is rarely resorted to. A trader once
+settled on his station proceeds to obtain cocoa-nuts from the natives,
+for which he pays in dollars or "trade." He further employs them to
+scrape the fruit into troughs exposed to the sun, by which process the
+cocoa-nut oil is extracted. Of late years "copra" has taken the place of
+the oil. This material--the dried kernel of the nut--has become far more
+valuable; for when crushed by powerful machinery the refuse is pressed
+into oil-cake, and proved to be excellent food for cattle.
+
+To be a good trader requires pluck, tact, and business capacity. Many
+traders meet their death for want of one or other of these attributes.
+All through the South Seas, more especially in the Line Islands, are to
+be found the most reckless desperadoes living. Their uncontrolled
+passions lead them to commit acts which the natives naturally resent;
+the usual result being that if the trader fails to kill or terrorise
+them, they do society a kindness by ridding it of him. Then comes the
+not infrequent shelling of a native village by an avenging man-of-war.
+And thus civilisation keeps ever moving onwards.
+
+The traders were making fortunes in the South Seas at that time,
+according to George. I returned to business with a mind full of
+projects. The glamour of the sea, the magic attraction of blue water,
+was again upon me; I was powerless to resist. My father smiled. My
+mother and sisters wept afresh. I bowed myself, nevertheless, to my
+fate. In a fortnight I bade my relations farewell--all unworthy as I
+felt myself of their affection. Inwardly exultant, though decently
+uncheerful, I took passage a fortnight later in a barque trading to the
+Friendly and Navigators' Islands. She was called the _Rotumah_,
+belonging to Messrs. M'Donald, Smith, & Company, of Hunter Street,
+Sydney. Her captain was a Canadian named Robertson, of great experience
+in the island trade.
+
+There were two other passengers--a lady going to join her brother who
+was in business at Nukulofa, in Tonga, and a fine old French priest whom
+we were taking to Samoa. The latter was very kind to me, and during our
+passage through the Friendly Islands I was frequently the guest of his
+brother missionaries at their various stations in the groups.
+
+How shall I describe my feelings, landed at last among the charmed isles
+of the South, where I had come to stay, I told myself? Generally
+speaking, how often is there a savour of disappointment, of anticipation
+unrealised, when the wish is achieved! But the reality here was beyond
+the most brilliant mental pictures ever painted. All things were fresh
+and novel; the coral reefs skirting the island shore upon which the surf
+broke ceaselessly with sullen roar; cocoa-palms bowed with their
+feathery crests above a vegetation richly verdurous. The browns and
+yellows of the native villages, so rich in tone, so foreign of aspect,
+excited my unaccustomed vision. Graceful figures, warm and dusky of
+colouring, passed to and fro. The groves of broad leafed bananas; the
+group of white mission houses; the balmy, sensuous air; the transparent
+water, in which the very fish were strange in form and hue,--all things
+soever, land and water, sea and sky, seemed to cry aloud to my eager,
+wondering soul, "Hither, oh fortunate youth, hast thou come to a world
+new, perfect, and complete in itself--to a land of Nature's fondness and
+profuse luxuriance, to that Aidenn, long lost, mysteriously concealed
+for ages from all mankind."
+
+At the Marist Mission at Tongatabu I was received most kindly by the
+venerable Father Chevron, the head of the Church in Tonga. His had been
+a life truly remarkable. For fifty years he had laboured unceasingly
+among the savage races of Polynesia, had had hairbreadth escapes, and
+passed through deadliest perils. Like many of his colleagues he was
+unknown to fame, dying a few years later, beloved and respected by all,
+yet comparatively "unhonoured and unsung." During the whole course of my
+experiences in the Pacific I have never heard the roughest trader speak
+an ill word of the Marist Brothers. Their lives of ceaseless toil and
+honourable poverty tell their own tale. The Roman Catholic Church may
+well feel proud of these her most devoted servants.
+
+One morning Captain Robertson joined me; the Father seemed pleased to
+see him. On my mentioning how kindly they had treated me, a stranger and
+a Protestant, he replied,--
+
+"Ay, ay, my lad; they are different from most of the missionaries in
+Tonga, anyway, as many a shipwrecked sailor has found. If a ship were
+cast away, and the crew hadn't a biscuit apiece to keep them from
+starving, they wouldn't get so much as a piece of yam from some of the
+reverend gentlemen."
+
+I asked Father Chevron if he knew Captain Peese and Captain Hayston.
+
+"Yes! I am acquainted with both; of the latter I can only say that when
+I met him here I forgot all the bad reports I had heard about him. He
+cannot be the man he is reputed to be."
+
+I was sorry to part with the good Father when the time came to leave.
+But a native messenger arrived next day with a note from the captain,
+who intended sailing at daylight.
+
+So I said farewell and went on board.
+
+We called at Hapai and Vavau, the two other ports of the Friendly
+Islands, sighting the peak of Upolu, in the Navigators', three days
+after leaving the latter place.
+
+We rounded the south-east point of Upolu next day, running in so close
+to the shore that we could see the natives walking on the beaches. Saw a
+whaleboat, manned by islanders and steered by a white man, shoot through
+an opening in the reef opposite Flupata. For him we tarried not, in
+spite of a signal, running in as we were with the wind dead aft, and at
+four o'clock in the afternoon anchored in Apia harbour, opposite the
+American consulate.
+
+The scenery around Apia harbour is beauteous beyond description.
+Spacious bays unfold themselves as you approach, each revealing the
+silvery white-sanded beach fringed with cocoa-palms; stretching afar
+towards the hills lies undulating forest land chequered with the white
+houses of the planters. The harbour itself consists of a horseshoe bay,
+extending from Matautu to Mullinu Point. Fronting the passage a mountain
+rears its summit cloud-enwrapped and half-hidden, narrow paths wind
+through deep gorges, amid which you catch here and there the sheen of a
+mountain-torrent. On the south the land heads in a graceful sweep to
+leeward, until lost in the all-enveloping sea-mists of the tropics,
+while the straggling town, white-walled, reed-roofed, peeps through a
+dark-green grove of the bananas and cocoa-palms which fringe the beach.
+
+At this precise period I paid but little attention to the beauties of
+Apia, for in a canoe paddled by a Samoan boy sat my friend George. I
+hailed him; what a look of joy and surprise rippled over his dark
+countenance as he recognised me! With a few strokes of the paddle the
+canoe shot alongside and he sprang on deck.
+
+"I knew you would come," he said; "I boarded every ship that put in here
+since I landed. Going to live here?"
+
+"I think so, George! I have some money and trade with me; if I get a
+chance I'll start somewhere in Samoa."
+
+He was delighted, and said I would make plenty of money by and by. He
+wouldn't hear of my going to an hotel. I must come with him. He had a
+Samoan wife at Lellepa, a village about a mile from Apia on the Matautu
+side.
+
+It was dark when we landed. As we walked towards his home George pointed
+out a house standing back from the beach, which, he said, belonged to
+Captain Hayston.
+
+That personage had just left Samoa, and was now cruising in the Line
+Islands, where he had a number of traders. He was expected back in two
+months. A short time before I arrived, the American gunboat
+_Narraganset_ had suddenly put in an appearance in Apia where Hayston's
+brig was lying. Her anchor had barely sounded bottom, before an armed
+boat's crew left her side, boarded, took Hayston prisoner, and kept
+possession of the _Leonora_.
+
+There was wild excitement that day in Apia. Many of the residents had a
+strong liking for Hayston and expressed sympathy for him. Others,
+particularly the German element, were jubilant, and expressed a hope
+that he would be taken to America in irons.
+
+The captain of the _Narraganset_ then notified his seizure to the
+foreign consuls, and solicited evidence regarding alleged acts of piracy
+and kidnapping. During this time Hayston was, so the Americans stated,
+in close confinement on board the man-of-war, but it was the general
+opinion that he was treated more as a guest than a prisoner. The trial
+came on at the stated time, but resulted in his acquittal. Either the
+witnesses were unreliable or afraid of vengeance, for nothing of a
+criminal nature could be elicited from them. Hayston was then conducted
+back to his brig, and in half-an-hour he had "dressed ship" in honour
+of the event. The next act was to give his crew liberty--when those
+bright particular stars sallied forth on shore, all more or less drunk,
+in company with the blue jackets from the man-of-war, and immediately
+set about "painting the town red," and looking for the witnesses who had
+testified against their commander. On the next night Hayston gave a ball
+to the officers, and, doubtless, from that time felt his position
+secure, as far as danger from warships of his own country was concerned.
+
+All this was told to me by George as we walked along the track to his
+house, where we arrived just in time for a good supper. The place was
+better built than the ordinary native houses. The floor was covered with
+handsome clean mats on which, on the far end of the room, his wife and
+two daughters by a former marriage were sitting. They seemed so
+delighted at the idea of having me to live with them, that in a few
+minutes I felt quite at home. The evening meal was ready on the mats;
+the smell of roast pork and bread-fruit whetted my appetite amazingly;
+nor was it appeased until George and his wife had helped me to food
+enough to satisfy a boarding-school.
+
+After supper the family gathered round the lamp which was placed in the
+middle of the room. There they went through the evening prayers; a hymn
+was sung, after which a chapter was read from a Samoan Testament,
+followed by a prayer from the master of the house.
+
+I found that the custom of morning and evening prayers was never
+neglected in any Samoan household; for, whether the Samoans are really
+religious or no, they keep up a better semblance of it than many who
+have whiter skins.
+
+That night George, who by the way was called Tuluia by his wife and
+daughters, made plans for our future. As we sat talking the others
+retired to a far corner, where they sat watching us, their big dark eyes
+dilated with interest. We agreed to buy a boat between us and make
+trading trips to the windward port as far as Aleipata. Then after
+smoking a number of "salui" or native cigarettes, we turned in.
+
+All next day we were incommoded by crowds of inquisitive visitors, who
+came to have a look at me and learn why I had come to Samoa--George
+having told them merely that I was his "uo," or friend, treated most of
+them with scant courtesy, explaining that the natives about Apia are
+thorough loafers and beggars, and warning me not to sell any of them my
+"trade" unless I received cash in return. In the afternoon I landed my
+effects, but could scarcely get into the house for the crowds.
+
+George's wife, it appeared, had been so indiscreet as to tell some of
+her relations that I had rifles for sale; as a consequence there were
+fully a hundred men eager to see them. Some had money, others wanted
+credit, others desired loose powder, and kept pointing to a shed close
+by, saying, "Panla pana fanua" (powder for the cannon). I discovered
+that under the shed lay a big gun which Patiole and Asi, two chiefs, had
+bought from Captain Hayston for six hundred dollars, but had run out of
+ammunition.
+
+I had no powder to sell, but George found me a cash buyer for one of my
+Winchesters at seventy-five dollars. I could have sold the other three
+for sixty dollars each, but he advised me to keep them in order to get a
+better price up the coast. It was just on the eve of the second native
+war, so the Samoans were buying arms in large quantities. From some
+Californians' trading vessels they had brought about three hundred
+breech-loaders, and Hayston had sold them the cannon aforesaid, which he
+had brought from China in the _Leonora_.
+
+The chief, Malietoa, had an idea of carrying the war into the enemy's
+country. His plan was to charter a vessel, and take five hundred men to
+Tuvali, the largest island in the group. Hayston had met a deputation of
+chiefs, and told them that for a thousand dollars he would land that
+number of Malietoa's warriors in any part of the group. Moreover, if
+they gave him ten dollars for every shot fired, he would land them under
+cover of four guns. But they were not to bring their arms, and were to
+arrange to have taumualuas, or native boats, to meet the brig off the
+coast and put them on board. This, he explained, was necessary to
+prevent the vessel being seized if they met a man-of-war, and so getting
+him into serious trouble.
+
+The chiefs took this proposition in eagerly at first, but, on thinking
+it over, suspicions arose as to their reaching their destination safely;
+and, finally, after the usual amount of fawning and flattering, in which
+every Samoan is an adept, they told Hayston that they could not raise
+sufficient money, and so the matter ended.
+
+The following months of my sojourn in Samoa passed quickly. George and I
+bought a cutter in which we made several trips to the windward villages,
+whence we ran down to the little island of Manono, situated between
+Upolu and Savaii. There we did a good business, selling our trade for
+cash to the people of Manono, and buying a cargo of yams to take to
+Apia, to sell to the natives there, who were short of food owing to the
+outbreak of hostilities.
+
+On our way up we took advantage of a westerly wind, and made the passage
+inside the reef, calling at the villages of Multifanna and
+Saleimoa--visiting even places with only a few houses nestling amongst
+the cocoa-palms.
+
+We left Saleimoa at dusk, and although we were deeply laden, we made
+good way. Whilst at the village I heard that a large Norwegian ship
+laden with guano had put into Apia, having sprung a leak and run short
+of provisions; also that there was not a yam to be had in the place. Our
+informant was a deserter from a man-of-war, living at Saleimoa. He had
+been tattooed, and was a thorough Samoan in appearance, but was anxious
+to get a passage to New Britain, being afraid to remain longer in his
+present quarters. He was known as "Flash Jack," and was held to be a
+desperate character. After a few drinks he became communicative, telling
+me certain things which he had better have kept to himself. He informed
+me that he intended to ship with Hayston, whose brig was expected daily
+with a hundred recruits for Goddeffroy and Sons' plantations. He advised
+me to keep my yams until the _Leonora's_ cargo of "boys" arrived, as the
+Germans would pay me my own price for them, being short of food for
+their plantation labourers. In another few minutes Jack was drunk, and
+wanted to fight us, when two of his wives came on board, and after
+beating him with pieces of wood, carried him on shore and laid him in
+his bunk.
+
+I determined, however, to take his advice about the yams, and was
+cogitating as to the price I should ask for them, when George, who was
+steering, called my attention to two "taumualuas" full of men, paddling
+quickly in from sea through an opening in the reef.
+
+Not apprehending danger we kept on. Our boat was well known along the
+coast by the Tua Massaga or Malietoa faction, and we merely supposed
+that these boats were coming down from Apia to the leeward ports. It was
+a clear night; George called out the usual Samoan greeting, used when
+canoes meet at night. The next moment we saw them stop paddling, when,
+without a word of warning, we received a volley, the bullets striking
+the cutter in at least twenty places. How we escaped is a mystery.
+George got a cut on the shoulder from a piece of our saucepan, which was
+lying against the mast. It flew to pieces when struck, and I thought a
+shell had exploded.
+
+Flinging ourselves flat on the deck, George called out to the canoes,
+which were now paddling quickly after us, and told them who we were, at
+the same time lowering our jib and foresail. The taumualuas dashed up,
+one on each side. Luckily some of the warriors instantly recognised us.
+They expressed great sorrow, and explained that they had mistaken us for
+a boat bringing up a war party from Savaii.
+
+Every man was armed with a rifle, mostly modelled on the German
+needle-gun, and as they were all in full fighting costume they had a
+striking and picturesque effect. After mutual expressions of regard and
+a general consumption of cigarettes, we gave them a bottle of grog to
+keep out the cold night air, sold them some cartridges from my own
+private stock, and with many a vociferous "To Fa," we sailed away, and
+left them in the passage waiting for the expected invaders.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+SAMOA TO MILLE
+
+
+Just as we parted from our warlike friends who had so nearly put an end
+to our cruises, one of the chiefs sang out that a large brig, painted
+white, was out at sea beating up to Apia. Turning his information over
+in my mind, the conviction grew upon me that she must be Hayston's
+vessel, the _Leonora_. It proved to be correct, for as we ran past
+Mulinu Point we saw her entering the passage leading to the harbour. She
+was about a mile distant from us, but I could see that she was a
+beautifully-built vessel, and could well believe the tales of her
+extraordinary speed. The Norwegian guano-man, an immense ship, the _Otto
+and Antoine_, was lying in the roadstead, and as the _Leonora_ came to
+her moorings, we ran up between the two vessels and dropped anchor.
+
+During the next few minutes I received no less than three different
+offers for our sixteen tons of yams. These I declined, and after waiting
+till I perceived that most of the shore visitors had left the brig, I
+took our dingey and pulled aboard.
+
+Captain Hayston was below, and the Chinese steward conducted me into his
+presence. He looked at me steadily for a moment, as if trying to recall
+where he had seen me before, and then after my few words of explanation,
+gave me a hearty welcome to the South Seas.
+
+Having told him how I came to visit Samoa, I offered him my yams, which
+he gladly purchased, paying me a good price for them in United States
+gold coin. This transaction being concluded, he asked me to meet him
+next day, when we could have a good long chat, at the same time desiring
+me to keep secret the fact of our previous meeting. What his reasons
+were I never knew; but as he seemed anxious on this matter, I told him
+that I had seldom mentioned the circumstance, and to no one in Samoa,
+with the exception of my mate Tuluia. I had indeed made few other
+acquaintances.
+
+Although I should much have liked to have had a look round the brig, I
+could see the Captain wished to get on shore, so after shaking hands
+with him I returned to our cutter, where, in a few minutes, the brig's
+longboat came alongside, and we set to work getting out the yams.
+Hayston paid me without demanding to have them weighed, and George's
+dark face was wreathed in smiles when I showed him the money. He
+explained that two tons were very bad, and had they been seen by a
+purchaser would have been rejected.
+
+Although only a Kanaka, George possessed true commercial instincts, and
+I felt sure he would grow rich.
+
+The native war was now at its height, and the lines of the hostile party
+were so close to Matautu, the eastern part of Apia, that bullets were
+whistling over our heads all day long. The yam season being over, and
+the copra trade at a standstill, we gave up the cutter and settled for a
+while on shore. It was during this period that I was a constant visitor
+at the house of Mr. Lewis, the American Consul, where I generally found
+Hayston in company with Captain Edward Hamilton, the pilot, and another
+American, a whisky-loving, kava-drinking old salt, brimful of fun and
+good humour. He had been twenty years in Samoa, and was one of the best
+linguists I ever met with; was known to every native in the group, and
+had been several trips with Hayston to the north-west islands. He
+followed no known occupation, but devoted his time to idling and
+attending native dances.
+
+Many a merry evening we spent together while the _Leonora_ was
+recruiting, and I began to think Hayston was the most entertaining man I
+had ever met. He made no secret of some of his exploits, and in
+particular referred to the way in which he had beaten a certain German
+firm in the way of business, even breaking up their stations in the Line
+Islands. At that time these merchants had acquired a bad name for the
+underhand manner in which they had treated English and American traders;
+and for any man to gain an advantage over them was looked upon as a
+meritorious action.
+
+By many people who cherished animosity against Hayston I had been led at
+first to look upon him as a thorough-going pirate and a bloodthirsty
+ruffian. Yet here I found him, if not respected, at least deemed a fit
+associate for respectable men. Moreover, his word was considered as good
+security in business as another man's bond. I well remember the days
+when he used to visit me at Leliepa, and we amused ourselves with pistol
+practice. He was a wonderful shot, and his skill excited the loud
+applause of the native chiefs. One fat old fellow, known as Pulumakau
+(the bullock), begged him to spend a day now and then in the lines with
+the native forces, and exercise his skill upon the enemy.
+
+One day he took me on board with him in order to show me over the brig.
+He intended to leave in a few days, and I remarked, as we were pulled on
+board, that I should dearly like to have a trip with him some day.
+
+He was silent for a minute, and then replied, "No! I shall be glad
+enough of your company as my guest, as I have taken a fancy to you; but
+it will be better for you to keep clear of me."
+
+When we got on board I was struck with the beautiful order in which the
+vessel was kept, aloft and below; there was not a rope yarn out of
+place. Descending to the cabin I found it splendidly furnished for a
+vessel of her size.
+
+The _Leonora_ was 250 tons register, and had been built for the opium
+trade. During her career in Chinese seas she acquired the reputation of
+being the fastest vessel on the coast. She then carried eight guns. She
+had been several times attacked by pirates, who were invariably beaten
+off with loss. At the time of my visit she carried but one gun, which
+stood on the main deck, Hayston having sold two others of the same
+calibre to the natives. But for this, as far as I could see, she had a
+most peaceful appearance.
+
+On the main deck, just abaft the foc'sle, was a deckhouse divided into
+compartments, forming the cook's galley and boats' crews' quarters,
+together with those belonging to the first and second mates. On the top
+of the house a whale-boat was carried, leaving room for two sentries to
+keep guard, a precaution which I afterwards found was, on certain
+occasions, highly necessary for the vessel's safety. The foc'sle was
+large, for she carried between twenty-five and thirty men. The thing
+that struck me most, however, was the bulkhead, which was loop-holed for
+rifles, so that if any disturbance took place in the forehold, which was
+sometimes filled with Kanaka labourers, the rebels could be shot down
+with ease and accuracy.
+
+The most noticeable things about the gear were the topsails she carried,
+Cunningham's patent, in which there were no reef points. The topsail
+yards revolved, so that you could reef as much as you liked, and all the
+work could be done from the main deck by the down haul. Many captains
+dislike this patent, but it behaved splendidly on the _Leonora_ for all
+that.
+
+The crew, or most of them, were ashore, and only the second mate, the
+Chinese carpenter, the steward, and ship's boys were on board. The mate
+was a muscular Fijian half-caste named Bill Hicks, known as a fighting
+man all over Polynesia. A native girl, called Liva, was sitting on the
+main hatch making a bowl of kava.
+
+"Halloa! Liva," said the Captain, as we passed along the deck, "I
+thought you were married to one of the Dutch clerks at Goddeffroy's?"
+
+"Avoe, lava, alii." "Quite true, Captain, but I've come to stay with
+Bill for a week."
+
+The Captain and second mate laughed, and next day I learned that Bill
+had gone to the clerk's house at Matafele, the German quarter of the
+town, and though there were other Germans present, told Liva to pack up
+her clothes and come with him. She, nothing loth, did as he told her,
+and the Germans, seeing mischief in the half-caste's eye, offered no
+opposition.
+
+The departure of the _Leonora_ took place a few days afterwards, and I
+accepted the position of supercargo in a ketch which the junior partner
+of one of the principal firms in Samoa wished to send to the Marshalls
+to be sold. I expressed my doubts of her sea-worthiness for so long a
+voyage. However, he said there was no danger, as it would be a fine
+weather passage all the way through, adding that the king of Arnu, or
+Arrowsmith's Island, had commissioned Captain Hayston to buy a vessel
+for him in Samoa.
+
+I thought his proposition over, and next day stated my willingness to
+undertake the venture, the owners promising to put the vessel in repair
+as soon as possible. She was hauled up to the beach in front of the
+British consulate, where for the next few weeks carpenters were at work,
+patching up and covering her rotten bottom with a thick coating of
+chunam. Notwithstanding these precautions no one except old Tapoleni,
+the Dutch skipper, could be induced to take charge of her.
+
+During the time she was on the beach I made a trip to the beautiful
+village of Tiavea, doing a week's trading and pigeon shooting. On my
+return I found the town in a high state of excitement owing to a
+succession of daring robberies of the various stores. Strong suspicions
+were entertained with respect to a herculean American negro, known as
+Black Tom, who kept an extremely disorderly hotel where seamen were
+known to be enticed and robbed.
+
+The old vessel was launched at last, and, to the manifest surprise of
+everybody, refrained from springing a leak. Things might easily have
+been worse; for what with the great age of her timber and the thickness
+of her hull the carpenters were barely able to make the copper hold.
+
+Next day we took in our stores. I was surprised at the casks of beef,
+tins of biscuits, and quantities of other provisions put on board, and
+thought the owners extremely liberal. This favourable state of feeling
+lasted till we were well at sea, when I discovered all the beef to be
+bad, and the remainder of the stores unfit for any well-brought-up pig.
+When everything was aboard the owners gave me the following document:--
+
+                        APIA, _3rd December, 187 _.
+
+    Dear Sir,--You will proceed to Mille, Mulgrave Island, for the
+    purpose of selling the ketch _E. A. Wilson_. You will find
+    Captain Hayston there waiting for you; so you will please
+    consult with him, as he is acquainted with the parties who wish
+    to purchase her. Try to obtain oil and copra to the amount of
+    L500 for the vessel. Ship whatever produce you may get on board
+    the _Leonora_, and get Captain Hayston to sign bills of lading.
+    Do not sell the chronometer unless you get a good price for it.
+    Sell the few things you take to the best advantage; none of the
+    Samoans are to remain, but must come back to Apia. Have the
+    ketch painted on your arrival at Mille. Wishing you a prosperous
+    and speedy voyage.--We are, etc.,
+
+                        BASCOM & CO.
+
+I quote this letter _in extenso_, for later on it plays an important
+part in my narrative. Having carefully read it Mr. Bascom shook hands
+with me, wished me a pleasant voyage, and departed. I went aboard, the
+vessel being already hove short, and, as I thought, only waiting my
+arrival to sail.
+
+Things looked much otherwise as I stepped on deck. The skipper was drunk
+and helpless. The decks were thronged with shore natives--men and women
+nearly all crying and half drunk, bidding farewell to one or other of
+the crew.
+
+The mate, Jim Knowles, was a Tongan half-caste, who was afterwards
+hanged in Fiji for shooting Larsen, one of the Messrs. Goddeffroy's
+captains, dead on his own ship. He was the only sober man on board. He
+told me that one of Tapoleni's friends had come on board, and that she
+had been stowed away by that worthy, who swore that he would not leave
+her behind. To this Maa Maa I had a particular aversion, and always
+hated to see her come on board. She was ugly enough in all conscience,
+and had always been said to be the cause of quarrels and fights whenever
+the skipper took her on a trip. Taking Knowles with me, we lugged her on
+deck screaming and biting. As she refused to get into a canoe, Knowles
+threw her overboard, where some sympathising friends picked her up.
+
+Just as this incident terminated I received a note from the owners,
+telling me to delay the vessel's departure for half-an-hour. Wondering
+what was in the wind, I set about restoring order. I found a lot of
+liquor in the foc'sle, which I took aft and locked up. Then with
+Knowles' aid I succeeded in clearing the decks of the women and shore
+loafers, who were lying about in all stages of intoxication.
+
+At eleven o'clock we saw two boats pulling off from the shore, and
+noticed armed Samoans among the crews. As they came alongside I saw
+seated in one of them the figures of Black Tom and his son Johnny, both
+heavily ironed. In the stern sat his Samoan wife, a woman named Musia. A
+number of white residents were in charge of the lot, and I was informed
+that at an impromptu mass meeting, held that morning, it had been
+decided to expatriate Tom and his family for the good of the country;
+they had seized this favourable opportunity of carrying their resolution
+into effect.
+
+This was a pretty state of affairs. I need scarcely explain my
+indignation at having two such characters as Black Tom and his son
+foisted on me as passengers. I was about to get into a boat and let them
+carry their own prisoners away, when I was told that I could land him
+and his family at the first land we made. This would be Quiros Island,
+bearing N.N.W. from Apia.
+
+"All right, gentlemen," I replied, "and as everybody here happens to be
+drunk, I'll feel obliged if you will be good enough to lift the anchor
+and let us get away."
+
+Tom and his family were accordingly put in the hold, and the new-comers
+having got the anchor up bade me farewell, chuckling at having rid
+themselves of Black Tom so cleverly. Whereupon they got into the boats
+and pulled ashore.
+
+It was blowing stiffly as we ran through the passage, and certainly we
+presented a pretty spectacle, with our running gear all in disorder, and
+the crew drunk in the lee scuppers. I had the keys of the prisoners'
+irons, so giving the tiller to Knowles, I went below and liberated them.
+
+"Tom," I said, "my instructions are to keep you in irons till we made
+the first land. Now, I've got nothing against you, but I don't want your
+company, and I consider I was served a shabby trick when they put you on
+board. I mean to be even with them. They said the first land. Now, I'll
+stand on this tack till midnight; then I'll put about and land you on
+the coast."
+
+The negro's bloodshot eyes showed blind fury when I first approached
+him, but his look softened as I spoke. He laughed, evidently enjoying my
+suggestion.
+
+"Thank you, sir, for taking the bracelets off us, but I don't care about
+landing in Samoa again, and I'll face the voyage with you. You're the
+first man that's spoke a kind word to me since I was rushed and tied in
+my own house--treated like a wild beast, and, by ----! I'll do any
+mortal thing in this world for you."
+
+He then begged me not to land him at Quiros, but to let him remain on
+board until we met Captain Hayston who, he was sure, would give him a
+trading station. I promised him this, and in return, being a splendid
+cook, he provided me during the remainder of the voyage with all sorts
+of sea delicacies.
+
+I will not speak of the dangers of that wearisome voyage; the
+drunkenness that I tried in vain to suppress; the erratic course we made
+to our destination. The skipper sobered up every two or three days, took
+the sun, worked out the ship's position, and let me steer any course I
+liked. Then he would fly to his bottle of "square-face," until I thought
+it necessary to rouse him again in order to ascertain our whereabouts.
+At last, after a forty-two days' passage, we sighted the low-lying coral
+islands enclosing the spacious lagoon of Mille.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE BRIG LEONORA
+
+
+The island of Mille is situated in the Radac or eastern portion of the
+Marshall group, discovered by a captain of that name in 1788. On the
+charts it bears the name of the Mulgrave Lagoon, and the reason is not
+far to seek. For the most part the islands of Polynesia are of volcanic
+origin, whilst the lagoons, which sometimes pass for islands, are
+exclusively of coral formation. The minute insects which form them build
+their submarine wall in a circle, which growing for ages, until it rises
+at low water above sea-level, gradually collects sand and debris, when
+it decomposes and becomes a solid. Then comes a day when wandering
+cocoa-nuts float to it and take up their abode on its shores. Gradually
+a ring of land is formed, varying in width, covered with a wreath of
+palms, sheltering within its circumference a peaceful sea, into which
+access is attainable by scattered channels only.
+
+The spot we had reached was of this description.
+
+Day was breaking when we first sighted the tops of the cocoa-palms, and
+putting the ketch dead before the wind we ran down to the passage. On
+going aloft I was glad to see the spars of a vessel showing about three
+miles distant. As none of the crew had ever visited the place before, we
+lay to and fired a gun. In about half-an-hour we saw a boat pulling
+towards us, with a tall man standing up steering. It was Hayston.
+Jumping aboard he shook me warmly by the hand, and said, "So you see
+we've met again! What sort of passage did you have?"
+
+I recounted our misfortunes, adding the information that the ketch
+leaked terribly.
+
+"Oh! that's just like Bascom," he remarked. "He told me that he'd send
+her down as sound as a bell. I never had a chance of looking at her when
+she was on the beach at Apia, and I certainly thought he would act
+squarely with me. But we'll talk business by and by."
+
+He now took command of the ketch, and brought us into the lagoon, where
+we dropped anchor in ten fathoms alongside the brig. I then formally
+handed over my vessel to him, and wished the king of Arnu joy of his
+bargain. After receiving full particulars of the voyage, he called the
+skipper aft.
+
+"Well, Captain Westendorf," he said, "you have most fortunately reached
+here safely, but more through good luck than good management. I know you
+to be an experienced and capable navigator, so that had you attended to
+your duty you would have made Mille ten or fifteen days, earlier. Now,
+you can go ashore and live with my trader till you get a passage back to
+Samoa, for I'll be hanged if I take you back. As for your crew, I don't
+want them either; you can take them with you or turn them adrift. The
+ketch I intend to leave here until I return from Ascension; but mark
+this--_and you know me_--don't attempt to board her during my absence;
+good day!"
+
+I felt sorry at seeing the good-natured "Tapoleni" so humiliated; for
+with the exception of that one failing which has obscured brighter
+intellects, and which was the cause of all his troubles, he was a
+thoroughly honest old fellow.
+
+Black Tom and his wife elected to remain at Mille until they found a
+suitable island on which to open a trading station. They parted from me
+with many professions of gratitude which I think were sincere. He
+afterwards became a wealthy man--such are fortune's vagaries in the
+islands; his son Johnny earnestly begged me to intercede with Captain
+Hayston on his account, and not to leave him on shore at Mille. I made
+the request, and the Captain told him to come aboard the _Leonora_.
+
+During the afternoon Hayston and I went over the ketch in order to
+inspect the stores, gear, etc., when he asked me, now that my
+responsibility had ended, what were my intentions as to future
+movements? I told him I proposed to charter a native canoe for Arnu,
+there to await a passing vessel and a passage to Samoa. From this
+course, however, he dissuaded me, pointing out that I might have to stay
+there six months. He then offered me the position of supercargo on his
+brig at a fair salary, pressing for an immediate answer.
+
+Thinking it better to be earning money than leading a life of idleness
+among the natives, I consented. "I accept your offer, Captain," I said;
+"but there is one thing I wish you to understand, I am coming with you,
+not for the sake of the pay, but because I don't want to loaf about the
+Marshall group like a beach-comber, and, moreover, I should like to
+visit the Carolines. I don't particularly want to return to Samoa, and
+if I see a place I like I'll start trading. Now, I am willing to do duty
+as supercargo, even without pay, but I won't lend a hand in any
+transaction that I don't like the look of. So at our first difference
+you can set me ashore."
+
+Hayston looked me straight in the face and held out his hand--"Well,
+now, that's a fair deal. I give you my word that I won't ask you to join
+in anything doubtful. The traders round here are the greatest scoundrels
+unhung, and I have to treat them as they treat me. My books are in a bad
+state, and you'll find work enough putting them straight; but I'll be
+glad of your company aboard, even if you never do a hand's turn." So
+the bargain was closed. I got my chest from the hold and sent it aboard
+the brig; the steward receiving instructions that I was to occupy the
+port side of the cabin. At dusk Hayston gave some of the crew liberty,
+and sent the rest with the mates to haul the ketch in and beach her as
+the tide was full. While he stood watching her from the brig's deck, he
+suddenly remarked that they were making a mess of it, and calling two
+boys to bring the dingey alongside, he was pulled into the shore.
+
+There was a number of young women on board, natives of the Kingsmill
+group, good-looking, but wild in appearance. I was on deck and they were
+below, where I heard them laughing and talking, and saw they were seated
+on the lounge that ran round the cabin. They all seemed very merry over
+a game, much like "knucklebones," which they were playing with shells. A
+large canoe was bearing down on us from one of the islands in the
+lagoon, and just as she ran up in the wind ahead of us, allowing the
+topsail to drift down alongside, I heard a man's voice mingling with the
+girls'.
+
+I was going forward to have a close look at the canoe, when I saw the
+Captain close alongside in the dingey. He had sailed out to the brig,
+having let the two boys remain on shore to assist at the ketch. Just as
+he stepped over the sail, the owner of the voice I had heard ran out of
+the cabin. Hayston gripped him by the arm, and I heard him sing out,
+"What, would you knife me?" The next minute the man was seized in the
+powerful arms, lifted high above his head, and then dashed upon the
+deck, where he lay perfectly still.
+
+The Captain disappeared in the cabin, and running up I lifted the man's
+head. His back and neck seemed broken, and though I called loudly no one
+came from below. There were a lot of Arunai natives in the hold sleeping
+and smoking, but they took no notice of my calls, which, as I didn't
+know a word of their language, did not surprise me. The canoe had now
+come alongside, and the Captain reappeared upon deck. The chief seemed
+pleased to see him, and then a lot of natives clambered on board and
+carried the wounded man aboard their barque.
+
+Having given them eight or ten pounds of tobacco, Hayston told them,
+partly in English and partly in the Mille dialect, that the man was
+shamming dead, and if he woke up on board they could chuck him overboard
+and let him swim. Then they hoisted sail again and stood away.
+
+I felt horrified, for, although the Captain was certainly justified in
+defending himself from a man armed with a knife, I was shocked at
+witnessing the result. He, however, insisted that the fellow was only
+"foxing," and so the matter ended. When the boats returned from the
+ketch, I heard the women remark to the sailors that Siake (Jack) had
+run away in a canoe, because "Kaptin" had beat him.
+
+At daylight next morning we got under weigh, and I was astonished at the
+manner in which Hayston handled the brig through the narrow passage.
+After accomplishing this feat, we bore away for Ujillong, and the
+steward called us to breakfast.
+
+Our destination was the almost unknown chain of coral islets forming
+Ujillong or Providence Island. Some fifteen months previously, Hayston
+had discovered a passage through the reef there, and sailed his brig in.
+He was delighted with the security afforded by the magnificent lagoon
+inside. The islets were covered with cocoa-nuts, and he at once decided
+upon forming a principal trading station there, making it a centre from
+whence he could work the islands in the North Pacific. There were only
+thirty natives on the whole lagoon, and with these he succeeded in
+establishing friendly relations, setting them to work in erecting
+dwelling-houses and oil-sheds.
+
+We left in charge two white men named Jerry Jackson and Whistling Bill,
+together with a number of Line Island natives who were to assist in
+making oil. Hayston told me he intended to settle there himself and
+cruise among the Carolines and Marshalls, whilst Captain Peese, his
+colleague, would run a small vessel to China, making Ujillong his
+headquarters. On this occasion he expected to find that a large quantity
+of oil had been made in his absence, and was anxious to get there as
+quickly as possible.
+
+During the day I had leisure to observe the crew, and considering that
+none of them were white men, the way in which the brig was worked was
+simply admirable. They treated the officers with great freedom of
+manner, but before the Captain they seemed absolutely to cower. There
+being some thirty of them they were by no means over-worked. They were
+allowed as much liquor as they chose to buy at a dollar a bottle for
+gin, beer at fifty cents, and rum at a dollar. With such license one
+would naturally think that insubordination would be rife. It was not so.
+But though they never broke out at sea, when once the brig anchored they
+became fiends incarnate. Gambling and drinking then commenced. The
+sounds of oaths, yells, and blows floated up from the foc'sle, mingling
+with the screams of the women, and the night was made horrible with
+their din.
+
+Individual members of the crew of this strange vessel I shall describe
+later on--for the present _place aux dames_! Every officer had a native
+wife, and the Chinese carpenter two. Most of these women were natives of
+Arurai or Hope Island, one of the Kingsmill group. They were darker in
+complexion than the other Polynesians, and prone to violent jealousy of
+their protectors. It was by no means uncommon to see two of these girls
+fighting like demons on the main deck with their national weapons,
+wooden daggers set round with shark's teeth, while blood poured in
+streams from their lacerated limbs and bodies. There were several girls
+from Ocean and Pleasant Island, near the equator. Very good-looking
+were these last, and fair as to complexion. The principal belle, whose
+name was Nellie, was a very handsome half-caste--a native of Hope
+Island. Her father, a deserter from a whaler, had acquired such
+influence with the natives that they made him a war chief. He led them
+when they cut off an American whaler and killed the whole crew.
+Discarding civilised clothing, he became a native in all but colour, and
+finally met his death in a skirmish with a hostile tribe. This girl was
+his daughter, and had been given as a present to Hayston by the king of
+Arurai. Along with her beauty she had a violent and dangerous temper,
+and was never backward in using her knife on any woman that provoked
+her.
+
+We had merely dropped Mille astern of us, when Hayston changed his mind
+about going to Arurai, and bore away to Pleasant Island. He told me that
+he had forgotten a promise made to the traders there to bring them
+supplies, but that he would call at Providence on our way back from the
+Carolines.
+
+Pleasant Island (or Naura) is generally considered one of the Gilbert
+group, although it is far to the leeward, and the natives, together with
+those of Ocean Island (or Paanup), consider themselves a distinct
+people. The former island is in latitude 0.25 S., longitude 167.5 E.,
+and the latter in latitude 0.505, longitude 169.30 E.
+
+"We've got a bully breeze," said the Captain; "and there is a straight
+run of five hundred miles before we sight the cocoa-nuts on Pleasant
+Island. I'll show you what the _Leonora_ can do."
+
+Our course was something about S.W. by W., the wind increasing in
+strength as we put the helm up for Pleasant Island, and during the
+afternoon, so quickly was the brig slipping through the water, that
+Hayston said we should do the distance--four hundred and ninety-five
+miles--in forty-eight hours. I was astonished at the rate we travelled,
+and the Captain himself seemed pleased. Calling the hands aft, he gave
+them a glass of grog all round, and told the women to go on the main
+deck and dance. This created considerable amusement, for as the brig was
+running dead before the wind, and occasionally giving rolls, the dancers
+losing their balance got some heavy falls into the scuppers, while the
+others laughed and enjoyed their misfortunes.
+
+We ran up under the leeside of the island just forty-four hours after
+leaving Mille, a trifle over eleven knots an hour. In a few minutes we
+were boarded by the traders, of whom there were six. They were certainly
+a rough lot. As each man lived under the protection of a particular
+chief, the island being divided into six districts, there was the
+keenest business rivalry among them.
+
+Hayston called them down below, when they were soon pretty well drunk.
+
+They had plenty of dollars, and bought largely of arms and ammunition. I
+was employed, with the second mate, in getting up the guns, principally
+Snider rifles, from the lazarette. I called to them, one by one, to come
+and pick what they wanted; however they seemed quite satisfied to let me
+give them what I liked.
+
+The brig was standing off and on, close into the land, in charge of the
+boatswain, the mate being ill; Hayston was singing "The Zouave," and the
+traders were applauding uproariously, whilst two were dancing with
+Nellie and Sara, shouting and yelling like lunatics. The only one that
+was sober was a fine young fellow who seemed ill, and was supported by a
+native. This young fellow paid me for the arms bought by his comrades,
+saying, "They're all drunk now, and as I don't go in for that kind of
+thing myself, they've got me to do this business for them." The man who
+was dancing with Sara had a bag of dollars in his hand, and as he
+waltzed round the cabin he kept swinging it about and striking the
+woodwork of the cabin.
+
+Carl, the sick man, called out to him, "I say, Ned, let me have that
+money now, I'm settling up for you." Swinging the bag of dollars round,
+Ned sent it full at liberty, and struck Carl in the chest, knocking him
+down. I picked him up, and thought by the pallor of his face that he was
+either killed or seriously injured.
+
+The native who was with him called to some of his comrades, and a young
+woman came down and took his head in her lap, while I got a decanter of
+water. After a while he came round, and told me he was not much hurt,
+but that the bag of money was heavy and had bruised his chest greatly.
+
+"You dog," he said, getting up and walking over to the other man, who
+was now sitting at the table talking to the Captain, "as sure as my
+name's Carl I'll make you suffer for this."
+
+"Come, come," said Hayston, "it was only Ned's rough play. I don't think
+he meant to hurt you. Besides, I don't want to see white men fighting on
+board my ship."
+
+"Look here, Captain," said he, pulling off his shirt, "look at my body,
+and tell me if Ned thought me a fit subject for a joke."
+
+It makes me shudder now. There was an awful gash on his back, extending
+from his right shoulder to below the ribs on the right side. It was
+roughly sewn up here and there, and seemed to be healing, but the blow
+on the chest had made it bleed anew; a dark stream was soaking down his
+leg to the ground.
+
+"By heaven! that is a terrible cut," said the Captain; "how in thunder
+did you get mauled like that?"
+
+Carl, who was still very faint, told us that some time ago he had a
+fight with a native, and licked him. One night, as he was lying face
+downward on his mat, this man crept into his hut and struck him with a
+shark tooth sword. His native wife, who was coming into the house at
+the time, carrying two shells of toddy, dropped them, and flinging her
+arms round the man's legs, tripped him up, and held him, while Carl, all
+smothered in blood, shot him dead with his revolver.
+
+"Ned!" said the Captain gravely, when Carl's tale was told, "did you
+know this young fellow had this gash in his back when you hove the bag
+at him?"
+
+"Of course I did! why, d--n him, can't he take a joke? Naura's a rough
+shop for a man that can't stand a bit of fun."
+
+"Put up your hands, you cowardly dog!" said the Captain, and in an
+instant the drunken traders cleared a space. "I'll teach you to hurt a
+wounded man."
+
+Ned was as big a man as the Captain, and seemed to be the leading spirit
+of the gang. But the other traders, though armed with navy revolvers and
+derringers, did not seem inclined to interfere.
+
+At the first round the big trader went down like a bullock, and lay on
+the cabin floor apparently lifeless. Hayston was like a mad animal when
+he tried to get him up, and the man fell helpless. Picking him up in his
+arms like a child, he carried him on deck, the rest of us following.
+
+"Here! Naura men, where's Ned's boat?" he called out.
+
+It was towing astern, and some one having hauled it up, Hayston dropped
+the man into it like a log of wood.
+
+Then his good temper returned instantly, and he paid Carl every
+attention, insisting on dressing his wound. We remained out by Pleasant
+Island all day, and shipped a lot of oil, for which Hayston paid the
+traders in arms and ammunition; we then stood away for Ocean Island.
+
+I learned that Carl had been a petty officer on board the U.S. cruiser
+_Wish-ton-wish_, but had deserted and made his way to Pleasant Island.
+He seemed superior to his companions in every way, and I was glad to be
+able to give him some books.
+
+He told me that he belonged to the New England States, but that he could
+never return, and would put a bullet through his head rather than be
+taken back a disgraced man. I bade him farewell with regret, and learned
+two years afterwards that, a month after I saw him, he had blown his
+brains out, as the U.S. corvette _Rowena_ touched at the island. Poor
+Carl! How many a tale of wasted life, of reckless deeds, and early
+death, could every island of the South Sea tell.
+
+Although Hayston was an utterly reckless man in most matters, he was by
+no means foolhardy where the lives of others were concerned. During the
+time we spent at Pleasant Island every precaution was taken against a
+surprise.
+
+All the crew carried revolvers, and two men were posted in the fore and
+main-tops armed with Winchesters. The natives of this island had cut off
+many ships in past years, and were now so well armed and determined that
+the utmost caution was needed.
+
+It was here that I met an American named Maule--about as hard a specimen
+of an old style South Sea trader as one could fall across. He was
+extremely anxious that I should purchase two native girls from him. They
+were under his charge. It seems their father had been killed, and his
+own wife objected to their presence in his house.
+
+I told him that I was supercargo, and therefore could not speculate on
+my own account. Besides, that sort of traffic was entirely out of my
+line. If he had curios, weapons, or Naura gods, I would deal, but there
+I drew the line.
+
+"Well, blame my cats! if you ain't too disgustin' partickler! Want to
+stuff yer cabin with kyurosities and graven images, instead of dellikit
+young women. Now, lookee hyar--jest you take them two gals o' mine for
+thirty dollars, and you'll jest double your money from king Abinoka.
+He's jest mad after Naura girls, and buys 'em up by the dozen."
+
+Finding that I wouldn't invest, he tried the Captain, telling him that
+the girls were anxious to get away from Pleasant Island, as their father
+was dead, and having no brothers, they could not get food enough from
+the people. His wife was jealous too, and had beaten them.
+
+"Well, well!" said the Captain, "bring them aboard, and I'll give them a
+passage somewhere. I suppose by and by you'll tell some man-of-war
+captain that I stole them." So the trader sent them on board, and
+received in exchange some boats' gear and a keg of molasses.
+
+The girls went aft, and remained with the others in the cabin for a few
+days. When we sighted Ocean Island, Hayston called me on deck, and said,
+"Come and see a bit of fun."
+
+Old Mary was told to bring up her flock. The two Pleasant Island girls
+came up with the rest. They were about fourteen and fifteen years of
+age, and, from their close similarity, probably the children of the same
+mother--a somewhat unusual thing in the Gilbert group. They seemed
+frightened at being called up, and clung closely to Sara and Nellie.
+Their hair, Pleasant Island fashion, hung down straight upon their
+backs, and was carefully oiled and combed. A girdle of Pandanus leaf was
+their only garment. Speaking kindly to them, the Captain asked them if
+they would like to go ashore there and live. I give the conversation.
+
+_Captain._--"Well, will you go ashore here?"
+
+_Girls._--"Are there plenty of cocoa-nuts and fish?"
+
+_Captain._--"Pretty fair; but there are not always plenty."
+
+_Girls._--"What chiefs will take us and give us food?"
+
+_Captain._--"I don't know--there are more women there than men. All the
+young men have gone away in whaleships."
+
+_Girls._--"That's bad; the Ocean Island women will soon kill us
+strangers."
+
+_Captain._--"Most likely. Would you like to stay on the ship if I get
+you husbands?"
+
+_Girls._--"Yes! where are they?"
+
+_Captain._--"Boatswain, send Sunday and boy George here."
+
+These were two boys who had been sailing with Hayston for some years.
+Both were about sixteen. Of George I will speak later on. Having come
+aft, the Captain, addressing them, said he was pleased at their
+steadiness, and as a reward for their good conduct, he had at great
+expense procured them wives, whom he hoped they would treat well. His
+speech was a humorous one, and the crew standing round grinned
+approvingly--Sunday and boy George being, apparently, looked upon as
+lucky youths, for the girls were undeniably good-looking. In fact, I
+never saw an ill-looking Pleasant islander.
+
+"Now, Terau and N'jilong, you must draw lots for first pick. Carpenter,
+bring me two splinters of wood."
+
+They were instructed by the other native girls how to draw lots, the
+result being that Terau picked boy George, and her sister took Sunday.
+
+"Steward!" commanded Hayston, "bring up a couple of bottles of grog. And
+you, Sunday and boy George! before you begin your married life just
+listen to me! Call all hands aft!"
+
+The crew came aft, and the Captain, who now seemed quite serious, said,
+"Now, boys, I have given these girls to Sunday and boy George. Don't let
+me hear of any one attempting to interfere with them, and if one of you
+puts his head into the boys' house while the girls are there alone, I'll
+make it warm for him. There's a couple of bottles of grog for the watch
+to drink their healths, and the steward has two more for the watch
+below. For'ard now, and you, boys, go and ask the supercargo for some
+cloth to rig your girls out with."
+
+The _Leonora_ was certainly a very sociable and domesticated ship.
+
+We lay off and on at Ocean Island for a day or two, and engaged
+twenty-seven natives to proceed to Ponape (Ascension Island) to work for
+Cappelle and Milne, a German firm. Then we made an easterly course to
+Taputanea (or Drummond Island), one of the Gilbert group, where Hayston
+had a trader.
+
+The Drummond islanders are notorious throughout the Pacific for
+treachery and ferocity. They frequently cut off vessels, and murder all
+hands, being led on these occasions by renegade white men. When
+Commodore White's ships visited this spot in 1842 they murdered one of
+his seamen. A fight ensued, in which many were killed, and the town of
+Utiroa was laid in ashes. But the lesson had no great effect, and
+Hayston told me that they would not hesitate to attempt the capture of
+any vessel that could not make a good resistance.
+
+We sighted the island at night-time, and lay off Utiroa till daylight.
+Then after putting the brig in a state of defence, and giving the
+command to the Fiji half-caste, Bill, telling him also to shoot a
+certain native if he saw him come alongside, Hayston had the longboat
+and whaleboat lowered.
+
+Into the former he put a great quantity of trade, principally gin, rum,
+and firearms, giving me charge of the latter to cover him. I had six men
+with me, each armed with a Vetterlich rifle, and I carried my own
+Winchester--eighteen shot. Hayston gave me full instructions how to act
+if he was attacked; then we made for the town of Utiroa, the boats
+keeping alongside of each other. As we were pulling Hayston told me that
+he wished to get ashore before the canoes left, in order to interview
+his trader Jim in the presence of the people. This fellow, it appeared,
+was a fighting man who had great influence over the Drummond Island
+natives, with whom bloodshed and murder were acts of everyday
+occurrence. He always aided them in their tribal fights, and evinced a
+partiality for taking life that had won their warmest admiration.
+Hayston had brought him from Ponape, where he was the terror of the
+white men, swaggering about the ports of the island, and using his
+pistol on any one that resented his conduct. But he was a good trader
+for all that, and had been placed in this trust because no other man
+could be found willing to risk his life among such a treacherous race.
+
+Jim had not been installed a week at Utiroa, when a chief named Tabirau
+gave him one of his daughters for a wife, and was paid for her in trade
+according to custom. Shortly afterwards the girl ran home again, saying
+that the white man had beaten her for spoiling a razor.
+
+Jim took his rifle, went to his father-in-law's house, and demanded the
+girl back. A number of natives followed up, anticipating that he would
+be killed, for Tabirau was a chief of note, not averse to the
+extermination of white men. As they expected, he refused to give up the
+girl unless Jim paid more trade, alleging that one of the muskets paid
+for her was no good. Without a moment's hesitation the trader shot him
+through the body, killing him instantly, and then clubbed the girl to
+death with the butt end of his rifle.
+
+Instead of being murdered by the natives for this atrocious deed, he was
+looked upon as a hero, and all Tabirau's land, canoes, and property were
+made over to him. The people of Utiroa elected him to be their
+commercial ruler, refusing to sell oil or produce to any ship without
+his advice or consent. For a while his conduct had quite satisfied
+Hayston, until he learned that Jim had sold a lot of his oil to a
+Californian trader, boasting, besides, that Hayston dared not bring him
+to task for it.
+
+It was now the Captain's intention to assert his authority, and break
+the trader's power over the natives. For this purpose he determined to
+meet him on shore, and let the natives see which was the better man.
+
+As we approached the beach we saw fully five hundred natives assembled;
+all were armed, and many dressed in their thick armour of fibre, and
+wearing helmets of the skin of the porcupine fish. There was great
+excitement among them, though many of them seemed glad to see Hayston,
+calling out "Tiaka po, Kaptin" (How do you do). The main body, however,
+seemed ready to dispute our landing.
+
+"Keep close up!" the Captain called out to me, "and don't let any of
+them see your arms, but be ready to drop it into them the first shot
+that is fired. But, for God's sake, don't miss. That villain Jim, you
+see, isn't here, though; those fellows mean mischief. However, land I
+must, and will." He then told the crew to run the boat on the beach, and
+standing up in the stern, called out to natives that he knew, pretending
+to see nothing unusual in their manner. At the moment that he stepped on
+the beach the whole body of natives formed in solid line in front of
+him, while hundreds of rifle muzzles were almost thrust in his face. He
+looked steadily at them, and commenced to talk with his hands in his
+trousers' pocket.
+
+I forgot my instructions, and my crew seemed equally excited at the
+Captain's danger, for, without being told, they ran the whaleboat ashore
+and we all jumped out. The men in the other boat were standing up rifle
+in hand, and they followed us.
+
+The Captain was speaking calmly to the natives, when he turned and saw
+me. "For God's sake, go back to the boats," he said, in a quiet tone;
+then raising his hand threateningly and roaring like a lion, he repeated
+the order in the Drummond Island dialect. I understood this hint, so we
+ran back, but kept our arms ready. Hayston's order to me seemed to have
+a good effect, for the fierce looks of the natives relaxed, and soon
+afterwards he called out that it was all right, and told me to give him
+two muskets and a box of tobacco out of the longboat. This was a present
+for two of the principal chiefs, who now shook hands with him, saying
+that Jim was in his house, and had told them that if Captain Hayston put
+his foot inside he would shoot him. Our former opponents seemed pretty
+equally divided in their opinions. Half of them were eager to see the
+fight between Jim and the Captain, and the others were ready to massacre
+the whole of us if but a single act of hostility was committed on either
+side.
+
+Hayston ordered me then to come with him, and asked the natives'
+permission to allow me to bring my Winchester, as I was frightened of
+them. The boats were shoved out, the crew being told to jump ashore if
+they heard any firing, and fight their way to Jim's house. As I joined
+the Captain on the beach he told me that the natives thought he meant to
+kill Jim, and that they had felt him all over to see if he had concealed
+any arms, but that they seemed satisfied when they found none. I was
+astonished at his recklessness in not bringing weapons, and as we were
+escorted along the road by the natives, I told him that I had a
+derringer hidden among some tobacco in a canvas bag slung round my
+waist.
+
+"No, no!" he said. "It will never do to see you give it to me now.
+Besides, I don't want any shooting if I can help it. There are many of
+these natives who will be glad to see Jim's power broken, and I want to
+get my hands on him before he puts a bullet into me. The rest is easy
+enough. If you see him taking a shot at me before I come up to him, you
+can use that rifle; but don't kill him if you can help it, and don't be
+alarmed about yourself. Take hold of this old nigger's hand who is
+walking beside you and you'll be all right. Just keep laughing and
+talking."
+
+After a long walk we got up to the trader's house, and here the natives
+made a halt. I was beginning to feel horribly scared, and wished we were
+on board the brig again. Presently we were told that Jim was inside, and
+would not come out because he was sick. Walking steadily forward the
+Captain advanced to within a few feet of the house, and called out,
+"Well, this is a nice sort of welcome, Jim! Come out and show yourself."
+
+The door opened, and I could see that the place was filled with natives,
+all of whom carried guns and seemed much excited.
+
+Then Jim made his appearance and walked slowly up to the Captain. He was
+a tall man, dressed in pyjamas, with two navy revolvers in his belt.
+With his heavy red moustache and bloodshot eyes, he looked his character
+well--that of an unscrupulous and remorseless ruffian. Hayston had
+seated himself on a fallen cocoa-nut tree with his hands full of papers.
+
+"How d'ye do, Jim?" he said, extending his hand to the trader and rising
+as he spoke. The moment the trader's hand touched his, he seized him by
+the throat and shook him like a dog shaking a rat; then spun him round
+violently and threw him against the stern of a canoe, where he lay half
+stunned. The natives gave a roar, but the Captain held up his hands--the
+tide seemed to turn at once in our favour, and one man went up to the
+trader, took away his pistols, and gave them to Hayston. The Captain
+addressed the principal chiefs, whom he told that Jim had robbed him,
+and that after he had made presents to the people, he intended to take
+the rest of the trade away.
+
+We were moving into the house to take possession, when the trader, who
+had now recovered himself, got up and addressed the natives. I did not
+understand what he said, but Hayston evidently did. The effect of Jim's
+harangue was to render the natives undecided as to what course to
+adopt. One man, who spoke good English and had a rifle with a sword
+bayonet attached, said it did not matter if any one was killed, but they
+thought their white man did not have fair play.
+
+"Jim," said the Captain, in his smoothest tones, "you say you can whip
+any man in the Pacific in four rounds. Well! now you have an opportunity
+to prove your words. If you are a better man than I am, I will let you
+keep what trade you have got, and shake hands afterwards."
+
+Jim stripped to the waist, and called for one of his women to bring him
+a pair of "taka" or "cinnet" sandals, as he was barefooted.
+
+He was shaking with rage and excitement, while Hayston showed no concern
+whatever. From the jump the trader forced the fighting, but in less time
+than I describe it, both of his eyes were nearly closed, and he had a
+terrific cut on his cheekbone. Some women then ran in and begged the
+Captain to desist. I believe he could have killed his man in another
+five minutes. He asked Jim if he was satisfied and would shake hands.
+But the trader would not answer, and then the Captain's face grew dark.
+Seizing him again by the throat he nearly strangled him, his eyes
+protruding horribly as he worked his arms in the air. When he let him go
+he fell like a log. "Carry him down to the boats and make him fast," he
+said to the interpreter.
+
+We entered his house unmolested, and I took an inventory of his goods.
+There was very little trade left, but the natives said he had a lot of
+money given him by the skipper of the Californian vessel. This we found
+in a large soup and bouilli tin in his chest. It amounted to nearly
+seven hundred dollars, mostly in U.S. half-dollar coins.
+
+The natives begged the Captain not to close the station up; if Jim was
+going away, they wished some one in his place. He said he would consider
+their wish after he got on board; but they must first help him to raft
+off twenty casks of oil that were lying in Jim's oil-shed.
+
+We got off to the boats at last. The old man still kept hold of my left
+hand. This, the Captain had told me, he had done to protect me if any
+fighting took place; that if fighting had resulted I would not have been
+killed, but would have been regarded as the old man's prize. The natives
+launched their canoes and followed the boats in swarms when we set sail
+for the brig. As soon as we got alongside, Hayston asked the second mate
+if the native he had spoken of had shown up.
+
+"No," said Bill; "he's gone away to Samoa, so they say here."
+
+Hayston seemed pleased at this news, telling me that this man was a
+special enemy of his, into whom he meant to put a bullet if he could
+drop across him. As he was gone away he was saved an unpleasant task.
+Jim was taken for'ard, and the carpenter was ordered to put him in
+irons; thereupon he sulkily explained that he didn't intend to turn
+rusty.
+
+"All right, then, Jim," replied the Captain. "I'm glad we're going to be
+friends again. But you can go ashore at Makin and stay there."
+
+He then called for a man among his crew to take Jim's place on shore.
+After some hesitation a sturdy Rotumah native said he didn't mind, if
+the Captain gave him a wife. He couldn't speak the language, and if he
+took a Taputana woman she might plot to kill him and he be none the
+wiser.
+
+"Boys!" called out the Captain, "is any one of you willing to give
+Willie his wife? I'll make it up to him. Besides, there'll be plenty
+more going through the Marshall group."
+
+No one appeared struck with the idea. So the Captain called Sunday aft,
+and held brief conversation with him, after which the boy went into the
+deckhouse and brought out his wife and N'jilong. The poor girl shed a
+few tears at first and clung to Sunday's neck, but he finally induced
+her to go with Willie. She had come aboard almost naked, but went away
+with a well-filled chest and any amount of finery.
+
+She parted from her sister in an apathetic manner, but her tears began
+to flow afresh when Sunday turned coolly from her and pursued his duties
+on the deck. Savage though she might be, she felt the parting from the
+hardened young wretch whom she had come to look on as her partner.
+However she lost nothing by the change. Her new husband was a steady,
+good fellow who treated her kindly. Years afterwards I met them both on
+one of the Ellice Islands and received a warm welcome. Willie had
+legally married her in Fiji, and they seemed a most affectionate couple,
+with children in whom their chief pride in life was centred.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+CAPTAIN BEN PEESE
+
+
+For the next few weeks we cruised about among the islands of the
+Kingsmill and Gilbert groups, collectively known as the Line Islands.
+The most southerly of them is Arurai or Hope Island, in the latitude
+2.41 S., longitude 177 E.--the most northerly, Makin or Butaritu, in
+latitude 3.20, 45 N.
+
+We did good business generally going through this group, and steady
+going trade it was, varied only by the mad drunken bouts and wild dances
+which took place when we were at anchor--these last beyond description.
+
+Just then I was badly hurt fishing on shore one day. It was peculiarly a
+South Sea accident. I was standing on a jutting ledge of coral, holding
+my rod, when it suddenly broke off, allowing me to fall downwards on
+sharp edges, where I was terribly cut about the legs and body. The green
+or live coral has the property of making a festering wound whenever it
+pierces the true skin, and for weeks, with my unhealed wounds, I was
+nearly mad with pain. The Captain did all he could for me, having a
+netted hammock slung on deck, where I could see all that was going on.
+One day in a fit of pain I fell out and nearly cracked my skull. All the
+native girls on board were most kind and patient in nursing me. So the
+Captain said the least I could do was to marry one, if only out of
+gratitude and to brush away the flies.
+
+Whatever some people might call these poor girls they had at least one
+virtue, which, like charity, covereth a multitude of sins. Pity for any
+one in bodily pain they possessed in the highest degree. Many an hour
+did they sit beside me, bathing my aching head with a sponge and salt
+water--this last the universal and infallible cure.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We called at Peru or Francis Island, where we obtained nine
+natives--five men and four young women. The islanders here are rude and
+insulting to all strangers not carrying arms, and almost as threatening
+as those of Taputana. I was, however, too ill to go on shore here.
+
+After a two months' cruise through this group we bore away for Strong's
+Island, distant some five hundred miles. We had favourable winds, and
+the brig's speed was something wonderful. In thirty-eight hours we had
+covered a distance of four hundred and ninety miles, when the lofty
+hills of this gem of the North Pacific, covered with brightest verdure,
+gladdened our eyes after the long, low-lying chains of islets and atolls
+of the Marshall and Kingsmill groups.
+
+The brave "north-east trade" that had borne us so gallantly along died
+away to a zephyr as we drew near the land, and saw once more the huge
+rollers thundering on the weather point of the island.
+
+Calling first at Chabral harbour we did a little trading, and then
+sailed down the coast close to the shore--so deep runs the water--till
+we reached Utwe.
+
+Here we found three American whalers put in for food and water. Hayston
+seemed anxious to get away, so, after exchanging courtesies with the
+skippers, we ran round to Coquille harbour, where we lay several days
+trading and painting ship. We cleared the harbour at daylight, with the
+sea as smooth as glass and wind so light that the _Leonora_ could
+scarcely stem the strong easterly current. Still keeping a north-west
+course, we sailed away over the summer sea while scarce a ripple broke
+its glassy surface, until we sighted Pingelap or M'Askill's, a hundred
+and fifty miles from Strong's Island.
+
+These were discovered by Captain Musgrave, of the American whaler _Sugar
+Cane_, in 1793. They are densely covered with cocoa-palms, and though
+wholly of coral formation, are a good height above sea-level.
+
+The Captain had a trader here named Sam Biggs--a weak-kneed,
+gin-drinking cockney. How ever such a character could have found his way
+to these almost unknown islands passed my comprehension! We ran in close
+to the village--so near that, the wind being light, we nearly drifted
+onto the beach, and lowered the starboard quarter boat to tow out again.
+
+Whilst waiting for the trader I had a good look at the village, which I
+was surprised to hear contained 500 inhabitants. As, however, these
+islands--there are three of them, Takai, Tugula, and Pingelap--are
+wondrous fertile, they support their populations easily.
+
+Presently the trader came off in a canoe, and, shambling along the deck,
+went down below to give in his report. He said that things were very
+bad. A few months back the American missionary brig _Morning Star_ had
+called and prevailed on the king to allow two teachers to be landed.
+After making presents to the chiefs and principal men, they had got
+their promise to accept Christianity and to send the white man Biggs
+about his business. They had also told the natives that Captain Hayston
+was coming with the intention of carrying them off in bondage to work on
+the plantations in Samoa. Also that Mr. Morland, the chief missionary,
+was now in Honolulu, begging for a man-of-war to come to Pingelap and
+fight Captain Hayston's ship with his big guns and sink her.
+
+All South Sea islanders are easily influenced. In a few hours after the
+teachers landed the whole village declared for Christianity, burned
+their idols, and renounced the devil and all his works, _i.e._ Captain
+Hayston and the brig _Leonora_.
+
+The Captain's face darkened as he listened; then he asked the trader
+what he had done in the matter. The man, blinking his watery eyes, said
+he had done nothing; that he was afraid the natives would kill him, and
+asked to be taken away.
+
+Jumping up from the table, Hayston grasped him by the collar, and asked
+me to look at him and say what he should do with such a white-livered
+hound, who would let one of the finest islands in the Pacific be handed
+over to the sanctimonious pack on board the _Morning Star_, and let the
+best trading station he, Hayston, owned be ruined?
+
+I suggested that he should be detained on board till we met the _Morning
+Star_, and then be given to Mr. Morland to keep.
+
+"By ----! just the thing! but just let me tell you, you drunken hound,
+that when I picked you up a starving beach-comber in Ponape, I thought
+you had at least enough sense to know that I am not a man to be trifled
+with. I was the first man to place a trader on Pingelap. I overcame the
+natives' hostility, and made this one of the safest islands in the group
+for whaleships to call at. Now I have lost a thousand dollars by your
+cowardice. So take this to remember it by."
+
+Then, holding him by one hand, he shook him like a rag, finally slinging
+him up the companion way, and telling the men to tie him up.
+
+"Lower away the longboat," he roared, "I'll teach the Pingelap gentry
+how to dance." I went with him, as I wanted to get some bananas and
+young cocoa-nuts. In five minutes we drew up on the beach.
+
+The head-men of the island now came forward to meet the Captain, and to
+express their pleasure at seeing him. But he was not to be mollified,
+and sternly bade them follow him to the largest house in the town where
+he would talk to them.
+
+The boy Sunday, who was a native of Pingelap, came with us to act as
+interpreter. Behind the crowd of natives were the two Hawaiian teachers,
+dressed in white linen shirts and drill trousers. They had their wives
+with them, dressed in mixed European and native costume.
+
+None of us had arms, nor did we think them necessary. Hitherto these
+people had been slavish admirers of Hayston, and he assured me that he
+would reassert his former influence over them in ten minutes. The crowd
+swarmed into the council-house and sat down on their mats. The Captain
+remained standing.
+
+His grand, imposing form, as he stood in the centre of the house and
+held up his hands for silence, seemed to awe them as would a demi-god,
+and murmurs of applause broke from them involuntarily.
+
+"Tell them, Sunday," he said, fixing his piercing blue eyes on the
+cowering forms of the two missionary teachers, "that I have come to talk
+peace, not to fight. Ask them who it was years ago, when the hurricane
+came and destroyed their houses and plantations--when their little ones
+were crying with hunger--that brought them to his ship and fed them?
+Have they forgotten who it was that carried them to Ponape, and there
+let them live on his land and fed them on his food till they grew tired
+of the strange land, and then brought them back to their homes again?"
+
+Sunday translated, and the silence was unbroken till the Captain
+resumed, "Did not the men of Pingelap say then that no man should be
+more to them than me--that no one else should place a white man here?
+And now a strange ship comes, and the men of Pingelap have turned their
+faces from me?"
+
+A scene of wild excitement followed, the greater number crowding round
+the Captain, while with outstretched hands and bent heads they signified
+respect.
+
+The two teachers were walking quickly away with their wives, when the
+Captain called them back, and in a pleasant voice invited them to come
+on board and see if there was anything there that they would like their
+wives to have for a present.
+
+Before returning on board Sunday told the Captain that the chiefs and
+people desired to express their sorrow at receiving the missionaries,
+and that they would be glad if he took them away. Since the visit of the
+_Morning Star_ an epidemic had broken out resembling measles, which had
+already carried off fifty or sixty of them. Already their superstitious
+fears led them to regard the sickness as a punishment for having broken
+their treaty with Hayston. So they offered us six young women as a
+present; also ten large turtles, and humbly begged him to allow his
+trader to remain.
+
+The Captain made answer that he did not want six young women--there were
+plenty on board already; but he would take two, with the ten turtles,
+and ten thousand cocoa-nuts. The said presents were then cheerfully
+handed over; the two girls and the turtles going off in the Captain's
+boat, while the cocoa-nuts were formed into a raft and floated alongside
+the ship.
+
+While these weighty matters were being arranged I walked round to the
+weather side of the island with Sunday, who wanted to show me a pool in
+which the natives kept some captive turtle. On our way we came across
+some young boys and girls catching fish with a seine. They brought us
+some and lit a fire. We stayed about an hour with them, having great fun
+bathing in the surf.
+
+Happening to look out to sea, I saw a big ship coming round the point
+under easy sail; from her rig and the number of boats she carried I knew
+her at once to be a whaler. We ran ashore and dressed, and as two of the
+children offered to show us a short cut through the forest to the
+village, we ran all the way and got opposite the brig just in time to
+see the Captain leaving her side to board the whaler. I hailed the brig,
+and they sent me the dingey, in which I followed Hayston. She proved to
+be the _Josephine_, just out from Honolulu--a clean ship, not having
+taken a fish. The captain was a queer-looking old fellow dressed like a
+fisherman. He received us with civility, yet looked at the Captain
+curiously. His crew were all under arms. Each man had a musket, a lance,
+or a whaling spade--these two last very formidable weapons--in his hand.
+
+Captain Long was candid, and admitted that as soon as he sighted our
+brig he had armed his men, for the wind was so light that he would have
+no chance of getting away. Hayston laughingly asked him if he thought
+the brig was a pirate.
+
+The whaler replied, "Why, certainly. Old Morland and Captain Melton told
+me two years ago that you sailed a brig with a crew of darned cut-throat
+niggers, and would take a ship if you wanted her, so I made up my mind
+to have a bit of shootin' if you boarded us."
+
+"Well, Captain Long," said Hayston, in his easy, pleasant way, "come
+over to my little vessel and see the pirate at home."
+
+The invitation was accepted, and as we pulled over amicably, the skipper
+cast an admiring glance at the graceful _Leonora_ as she floated o'er
+the still, untroubled deep. As we stepped over the ship's side we were
+met by Bill Hicks, the second mate, whose savage countenance was
+illumined by a broad smile as he silently pointed to the queer
+entertainment before us.
+
+"Great ancestral ghosts! d'ye carry a troupe of ackeribats aboard this
+hyar brig?" quoth the skipper, pointing to four undraped figures
+capering about in the mad abandonment of a Hawaiian national dance.
+
+The mate explained briefly that he had given the native teachers grog,
+after which nothing would satisfy them but to show the crew how they
+used to dance in Lakaina in the good old days. Their wives were also
+exhilarated, and having thrown off their European clothes, were dancing
+with more vigour than decorum to the music of an accordion and a violin.
+The Hope Island girl, Nellie, was seated in a boat we carried on deck
+playing the accordion, and with her were the rest of the girls laughing
+and clapping their hands at the antics of the dancers. The stalwart
+Portuguese, Antonio, was perched on the water-tank with his fiddle, and
+the rest of the crew who were not at work getting the cocoa-nuts on
+board were standing around encouraging the quartette by shouts and
+admiring remarks.
+
+As the whaling skipper gazed with astonishment at the sight, Hayston
+said, "Ay, there you see the Honolulu native teacher in his true
+colours. His Christianity is like ours--no better, no worse--to be put
+on and off like a garment. Once give a Sandwich Island missionary a
+taste of grog and his true instincts appear in spite of himself. There
+is _nothing_ either of those men would not do now for a dollar; and yet
+in a day or two they will put on their white shirts, and begin to preach
+again to these natives who are better men than themselves."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We went below, and after a glass of wine or two the skipper was about to
+leave, after promising to sell us some bolts of canvas, when the Chinese
+steward announced that they were fighting on deck. We ran up and saw
+Antonio and boy George struggling with knives in their hands. The
+Captain caught Antonio a crack on the head, which sent him down very
+decisively, and then pitched George roughly into the boat with the
+girls, telling them to stop their infernal din. The two teachers' wives
+were then placed in old Mary's care below, and told to lie down and
+sleep.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The two Pingelap girls who came on board were very young, and seemed
+frightened at their surroundings, wailing and moaning with fear, so
+Hayston gave them trinkets and sent them back to the chiefs, getting two
+immense turtles in exchange.
+
+The wind now died away. All night the brig lay drifting on the glassy
+sea. At breakfast-time we were almost alongside of the whaler, and the
+two crews were exchanging sailors' courtesies when five or six whales
+hove in sight.
+
+All was changed in a moment. Four boats were lowered as if by magic from
+the whaler, and the crews were pulling like demons for the huge prizes.
+
+The whales were travelling as quickly as the boats, but towards the
+ships, and in another quarter of an hour three of the boats got fast,
+the fourth boat also, but had to cut away again.
+
+Our crew cheered the boats, and as there was no wind for the vessel to
+work up to the dead whales which were being towed up, I took the brig's
+longboat and six men to help the boats to get the whales alongside.
+
+A breeze sprung up at noon, so after bidding good-bye to the whaler, we
+stood away for Ponape, making W.N.W. We were ten days out from Pingelap
+before we sighted Ponape's cloud-capped peaks. The wind was very light
+for the whole way, the brig having barely steerage way on her. Hayston
+was anxious to reach the island, for there he expected to meet his
+partner, the notorious Captain Ben Peese.
+
+Here he told me that if things went well with them they would make a
+fortune in a few years; that he had bought Peese's schooner and sent him
+to Hong Kong with a load of oil to sell, arranging to meet him in
+Jakoits harbour in Ponape on a day named. They were then to proceed to
+Providence Island, which was a dense grove of cocoa-nut trees. He was
+sanguine of filling two hundred and fifty casks now in the brig's hold
+with oil when we reached there.
+
+Twenty miles from shore we spoke an American whaleship from New London.
+She was "trying out," and signalled to send a boat. The Captain, taking
+me with him, went on board, when we were met by a pleasant, white-haired
+old man, Captain Allan.
+
+His first words were, "Well, Captain Hayston, I have bad news. Peese has
+turned against you. He returned to Ponape from China a week ago, and
+cleared out your two stations of everything of value. He had a big
+schooner called the _Vittoria_, and after gutting the stations, he told
+the chiefs at Kiti harbour that you had sent him for the cattle running
+there. He took them all away--thirty-six head."
+
+The Captain said nothing. Turning away he looked at the brig, as if in
+thought, then asked Allan if he knew where Peese had gone.
+
+"To Manila; Peese has made friends there, and engaged with the
+Governor-General of the Philippines to supply the garrison with forty
+head of cattle. I knew the cattle were yours, and warned the chiefs not
+to let Peese take them away. But he threatened them with a visit from a
+Spanish man-of-war, and Miller backed him up. He had a strong party with
+him to enforce his demands."
+
+"Thank you, Allan!" Hayston said very deliberately and calmly; "I was
+half afraid something like this would happen, but I thought the man I
+took out of the slums of Shanghai and helped like a brother was the last
+person to have robbed me. It has shown me the folly of trusting any one.
+You are busy, Allan! so will leave you."
+
+Bidding adieu to the good skipper we stepped into our boat. Hayston was
+silent for ten minutes. Then he put his hand on my knee, and looking
+into my face with the expression I had never seen him wear since he
+fought the trader at Drummond Island, said, "Hilary! did you ever know
+me to say I would do a thing and not do it?"
+
+"No! but I have often wished you would _not_ keep your word so strictly.
+Some day you will regret it."
+
+"Perhaps so. But listen to me. This man--this Peese--I found in Shanghai
+years ago, ill and starving. There was something in his face which
+roused my interest; I took him on board my vessel and treated him as a
+brother. I was then high in favour with the Chinese authorities. Not as
+I am now--hunted from port to port--forced to take up this island life
+and associate with ruffians who would shoot and rob me if they did not
+fear me. I went to a mandarin--a man who knew the stuff I was made of,
+and what I had done in the Chinese service--and asked for preferment for
+Peese. It was done. In a week he was put in command of a transport, and
+with his commission in his hand he came aboard my ship and swore he
+would never forget who it was that had saved him. He spoke but the bare
+truth, for I tell you this man was dying--dying of starvation. Well! it
+was he who led me afterwards, by his insidious advice and by collusion
+with Portuguese collie merchants, into risky dealings. At first all went
+well. We so used our positions in the Imperial service that we made over
+fifteen thousand dollars in three months, exclusive of the money used in
+bribing Chinese officials. The end came by and by, when I nearly lost my
+head in rescuing Peese from a gunboat in which he lay a prisoner. Anyhow
+I lost my rank, and the Viceroy issued a proclamation in the usual
+flowing language, depriving me of all honours previously conferred. We
+escaped, it is true, but China was closed to me for ever. Since then I
+have stood to Peese faithfully. Now, you see the result. He is a d--d
+clever fellow, and a good sailor, no doubt of that. But mind me when I
+say that I'll find him, if I beggar myself to do it. And when I find
+him, he dies!"
+
+I said nothing. He could not well let such treachery and ingratitude
+pass, and Peese would deserve his fate. However, they never met. Peese,
+like Hayston, appeared to have his hand against every man, as every man
+had his hand against Peese.
+
+He met his fate after this fashion:--
+
+A daring act of piracy--seizing a Spanish revenue vessel under the very
+guns of a fort--and working her out to sea with sweeps, outlawed him.
+Caught at one of his old haunts in the Pelew Islands, he was heavily
+ironed and put on board the cruiser _Hernandez Pizarro_, for conveyance
+to Manila, to await trial.
+
+One day he begged the officers of the corvette to allow him on deck as
+the heat was stifling. He was brought up and his leg-irons widened so
+that he could walk. Peese was always an exceedingly polite man. He
+thanked the officers for their courtesy, and begged for a cigar.
+
+This was given him, and he slowly walked the decks, dragging his
+clanking chains, but apparently enjoying the flavour of his cigar.
+Standing against a gun, he took a last look at the blue cloudless sky
+above him, and then quietly dropped overboard. The weight of his irons,
+of course, sank him "deeper than plummet lies".... So, and in such
+manner, was the appropriate and befitting ending of Benjamin Peese,
+master mariner--"_Requiescat in pace!_"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CRUISING AMONG THE CAROLINES
+
+
+Our first port of call at Ponape was Jakoits harbour. It was here we
+were to land some Line Islanders we had brought from various places in
+the Gilbert group. Hayston had brought them to the order of the firm of
+Johann Guldenstern and Sons of Hamburg, whose agents and managers at
+Ponape were Messrs. Capelle and Milne. Their trading stations were at
+Jakoits Islands, where resided the manager of the business. The senior
+partner of the firm--a burly, bullying Scot--had for some time been
+carrying on a rather heated correspondence with Hayston, whom he had
+accused of kidnapping the firm's traders. He had not as yet encountered
+the Captain, but had told various whaling skippers and others that if
+half a dozen good men would back him up, he would seize Hayston, and
+keep him prisoner till H.M. warships _Tuscarora_ or _Jamestown_ turned
+up.
+
+Occasionally Hayston had by letter warned him to beware, as he was not a
+man to be trifled with. Talk and threats are easy when the enemy is
+distant; so Miller, during his cruisings in the schooner _Matauta_,
+would exhibit to various traders the particular pistol he intended to
+use on Hayston. Representing a powerful firm, he had almost unlimited
+influence in Ponape. Hayston told me that he believed Peese would never
+have dared to have looted his trading stations and taken his cattle if
+Miller had not sided with him.
+
+"Now," said the Captain, as we were slowly sailing into Jakoits, "I'm in
+a bit of a fix. I must let Miller come aboard and treat him civilly for
+a bit, or he will pretend he knows nothing of this consignment of
+natives I have for him. He lies easily, and may declare that he has
+received no instructions from Kleber, the manager at Samoa, to receive
+these niggers from me, much less pay for them. But once I have the cash
+in hand, or his firm's draft, I mean to bring him up with a round turn."
+
+We dropped anchor in the lovely harbour, almost underneath the
+precipitous Jakoits Islands, on which were the trading stations. There
+were five whalers lying at anchor, having run in according to custom to
+get wood, water, and other necessaries. One of these was a brig, the
+_Rameses_ of Honolulu. Dismantled and deserted-looking--in a little
+secluded cove--she had not a soul on board but the captain, and he was
+mad. Of him and his vessel later on.
+
+A Yankee beach-comber of a pilot, named Joe Kelman, met us as we came
+in; not that his services were required, but evidently for his own
+gratification, as he was bursting with news. As he pulled alongside the
+Captain told me that he was a creature of Miller's, and a thundering
+scoundrel on his own account as well. But he would settle it with him
+and his principal also in a few days.
+
+With a countenance expressive of the deepest sorrow the beach-comber, as
+he sent glass after glass of grog down his throat, told his doleful
+tale--how Peese had come with a crew of murdering Spaniards, and played
+h--l with the "Capting's" property; stole every hoof of his cattle, but
+four which were now running at Kiti harbour; how Capting Miller had been
+real cut up at seeing Peese acting so piratical, and said that though he
+and Captain Hayston was sorter enemies, he thought Peese was "blamed
+downright ongrateful," etc.
+
+"That's all right, Joe," answered the Captain with the pleasantest
+laugh, "that's only a stroke of bad luck for me. I bear Captain Miller
+no ill will from the letters he has written me, and for this part--we
+are both hot-tempered men, and may have felt ourselves injured by each
+other's acts--as he tried to save my property, I shall be glad to meet
+him and thank him personally."
+
+"Well, that's suthinlike," said the beach-comber, "I'd be real sorry to
+see two such fine lookin' men shootin' bullets into each other. Besides,
+pore Miller's sick. Guess I'll cut ashore now, Captain. Kin I take any
+message?"
+
+Hayston said he would give him a few lines, and, sitting down, wrote a
+short but polite note to Miller, stating that he had a number of
+labourers for him, which he would be glad to have inspected and landed.
+He regretted his illness, but would come ashore as soon as he (Miller)
+was well enough to receive him.
+
+The beach-comber took the letter and went ashore. Hayston turned to me
+with a laugh: "Do you see that? The gin-drinking scoundrel is playing
+pilot-fish. He has come to learn if I suspect anything of the game his
+master is playing. Here's a canoe; you'll see I'll get the truth out of
+these natives."
+
+The canoe was paddled by a very old man and a boy. There were also a lot
+of young girls. The Captain declined to entertain visitors at present,
+there being too much work to do, and cross-examined the old man as to
+Miller and his men. He said there were no white men now at Jakoits;
+furthermore, that when the _Leonora_ was sighted, Miller had gone off to
+the four whaleships and had a long talk with the captains. He had taken
+two guns from the _Seabreeze_, and loaded them as soon as he got ashore.
+The natives were told there were going to be a big fight; that Captain
+Miller had got sixty natives in his house, and the two guns placed in
+front of the landing-place. Hayston gave the old man a present, and
+suggested that he should dispose of his cargo to one of the whaleships.
+The old fellow shook his head sadly, saying he had come too late.
+
+Turning to me, the Captain said, "There's news for you; Miller must have
+thought I meant to go for him as soon as we met, and has his people
+ready to give me a warm reception. If I had not these Kanakas on board
+I'd give him as much fighting as he cares for, and put a firestick in
+his station to finish up with." A few minutes later we saw a boat put
+off from Jakoits with a big burly man sitting in the stern. At the same
+time one of the whalers' boats came aboard, in which were the four
+captains. He greeted them warmly, and we all trooped below.
+
+One of them, a wizened little man with a wonderful vocabulary of curses,
+said, looking at the others: "Well, gentlemen, before we accept Captain
+Hayston's hospitality we ought to tell him that we lent Captain Miller
+two guns to sink this brig with."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Hayston, standing at the head of his table, with his
+hands resting upon it, "I know all about that, but you are none the less
+welcome. Miller will be here in a few minutes, and I must beg of you not
+to let him know that I have been informed of the warm reception he had
+prepared for me. Besides, they tell me he is ill."
+
+"Oh, h--l! Ill! That's curious; he was in powerful good health an hour
+or two ago," and the skippers looked at each other and winked. Presently
+we returned to the deck, just as the bluff personage of whom we were
+talking clambered up the ship's side and came aft.
+
+The whaling captains and I watched the meeting with intense interest.
+Miller was evidently ill at ease, but seeing Hayston walking towards him
+with outstretched hand and a smile on his face, he made a great effort
+at self-command, and shook hands vigorously.
+
+"Well, we've met at last, Captain Hayston, and ye see I'm no feared to
+come aboard and speak up till ye like a man."
+
+"My dear sir," replied Hayston, grasping his hand with a prolonged
+shake, "I was just telling these gentlemen how I regretted to hear of
+your illness, for, although we have carried on such a paper warfare, I'm
+convinced that we only need to meet to become good friends."
+
+Here one of the American captains came up, and, looking the new-comer
+straight in the face, said, "Well, I _am_ surprised at meeting you here.
+Reckon you can sick and well quicker'n any man I ever come across."
+
+No notice was taken by Miller of this and other sarcastic remarks while
+he hurried on his business with Hayston. Much grog was drunk, and then
+the Captain passed the word for all hands to muster on deck--the crew to
+starboard, the Kanaka passengers on the port side.
+
+The "labour" was then inspected, and passed by their new proprietor,
+who, now very jovial and unsteady on his pins, took them on shore
+without delay. He returned shortly and paid for them in cash. Next
+morning several traders came on board, and any amount of beach-combers,
+for Ponape is their paradise. Mr. Miller came with an invitation to
+visit him on shore. Having business to attend to I stayed on board,
+promising to follow later on. As Hayston was leaving the brig, Miller
+said, in presence of the traders,--
+
+"Eh, Captain Hayston, but ye're no siccan a terrible crater as they mak'
+ye oot. Man, I hae my doots if ye could pommel me so sevairly as ye've
+inseenuated."
+
+"Mr. Miller," said the Captain, stopping dead, and taking him by the
+shoulder, "you are now on board my ship, and I will say nothing further
+than that if you have any doubt on the subject I am perfectly willing,
+as soon as we reach your station, to convince you that you are
+mistaken."
+
+The traders, who had hitherto backed up their colleague, applauded
+loudly, evidently expecting Miller to take up the challenge. He,
+however, preferred to treat it as a joke. I knew that the Captain was
+labouring under suppressed wrath because he was so cool and polite. I
+knew, by the ring in his voice, that he meant mischief, and at any
+moment looked to see the hot blood surging to his brow, and his fierce
+nature assert itself.
+
+About an hour later the mate of one of the whaleships came on board to
+have dinner with me, and told me that Hayston had given Miller a
+terrible thrashing in his own house, in the presence of his backers and
+the American captains. It seems that Hayston led the conversation up to
+Captain Peese's recent visit, and then suddenly asked Miller if he had
+not told the natives that Captain Peese must take the cattle, and that
+he (Hayston) dared not show up in Ponape again, or else he would long
+since have appeared on the scene.
+
+Possibly Miller thought his only chance was to brazen it out, for,
+though he had a following of the lowest roughs and beach-combers, who
+were at that moment loafing about his house and grounds, and Hayston was
+unarmed, he could see by the coolness of the American captains that he
+could not count on their support. At last he said, with a forced
+laugh,--
+
+"Come, let us have nae mair fule's talk. We can be good friends
+pairsonally, if we would fain cut each other's throats in business. I'll
+make no secret of it, I did say so, and thocht I was playing a good joke
+on ye."
+
+"So that's your idea of a joke, is it," said Hayston, grimly, "but now I
+must have mine, and as it takes a surgical operation to get one into a
+Scotchman's brain, I'll begin at once."
+
+He gave Miller a fearful knocking about there and then. The captains
+picked him up senseless, with a head considerably altered for the worse.
+After which Hayston washed his hands, and went on board one of the
+whaleships to dinner.
+
+He then sent for the chiefs of the various districts, telling them to
+meet him at Miller and Lapelle's station on a certain day and hour. When
+they were all assembled, he induced Miller to say that he sincerely
+regretted having told them such lies, as he knew the cattle did belong
+to Captain Hayston. Finally they shook hands, and swore to be friends in
+future; Hayston, in a tone of solicitude, informing him that he would
+send him some arnica, as his head appeared very bad still. The parting
+scene must have been truly ludicrous. Shaking him warmly by the hand,
+Hayston said, "Good-bye, old fellow; we've settled our little
+difficulty, and will be better friends in future. If I've lost cattle,
+I've gained a friend." Begging the favour of a kiss from the women
+present he then departed, full of honours and dignities; and in another
+hour we were sailing round the coast to Metalauia harbour.
+
+Here we bought a quantity of hawkbill turtle shell. While it was being
+got on board, the Captain and I spent two days on shore exploring the
+mysterious ruins and ancient fortifications which render the island so
+deeply interesting; wonderful in size, Cyclopean in structure. It is a
+long-buried secret by whom and for what purpose they were erected. None
+remain to tell. "Their memorial is perished with them."
+
+In one of the smaller islands on which those ruins are situated, Hayston
+told me that a Captain Williams, in 1836, had found over L10,000 worth
+of treasure. He himself believed that there were rich deposits in other
+localities not far distant.
+
+To this end we explored a series of deathly cold dungeons, but found
+nothing except a heavy disc of a metal resembling copper several feet
+under ground.
+
+This was lying with its face to the stone wall of the subterranean
+chamber--had lain there probably for centuries.
+
+Its weight was nearly that of fifty pounds. It had three holes in the
+centre. We could form no idea as to its probable use or meaning. I was
+unwilling to part with it, however, and taking it on board, put it in my
+cabin.
+
+While we were at Metalauia, Joe Keogh came on board, bringing with him
+three native girls from the Andema group, a cluster of large coral
+islands near the mainland, belonging to the three chiefs of the Kite
+district. He had gone forward, when the Captain saw him and called him
+aft.
+
+He at once accused Joe of being treacherous, telling him that the
+whaling captains had given him a written statement to the effect that he
+had taken a letter from Miller to the Mortlock group, where an American
+cruiser was surveying, asking the captain if he would take Hayston to
+California, as he (Miller) and Keogh would engage to entice him ashore
+and capture him if the cruiser was close at hand.
+
+Not being able to deny the charge, Keogh was badly beaten, and sent away
+without the girls, who were taken aft. Like the Ponape natives, they
+were very light-coloured, wearing a quantity of feather head-dress and
+other native finery. They agreed to remain on board during the cruise
+through the Caroline group, and were then to be landed at their own
+islands.
+
+They were then sent to keep the steward company in the cabin, and put to
+making hats and mats, in which they excelled. At Kite harbour we took on
+board the bull and three cows which Peese had not succeeded in catching.
+On returning to Jakoits harbour in a fortnight's time, I was told that I
+might take up my quarters on shore, while the cabin was redecorated. I
+therefore got a canoe and two natives, with which I amused myself with
+visiting the native village and pigeon-shooting.
+
+One day I fell across a deserted whaling brig. Her crew had run away,
+and the ship having contracted debts, was seized by Miller and Lapelle.
+The captain alone was left. He was now ship-keeper, and his troubles had
+so preyed on his mind that he had become insane.
+
+I watched him. It was a strange and weird spectacle; there lay the
+vessel, silent, solitary--"a painted ship upon a painted ocean."
+
+Her brooding inmate would sometimes pace the deck for hours with his
+arms folded; then would throw himself into a cane lounge, and fixing his
+eyes upon the sky, mutter and talk to himself.
+
+At other times he would imagine that the ship was surrounded by whales,
+and rush wildly about the decks, calling on the officers to lower the
+boats. Not succeeding, he would in despair peer down the dark, deserted
+foc'sle, begging the crew to be men, and get out the boats.
+
+We cruised now for some weeks to and fro among the lovely islands of the
+Caroline group, trading in turtle shell, of which we bought great
+quantities. What a halcyon time it was! There was a luxurious sense of
+dreamy repose, which seemed unreal from its very completeness.
+
+The gliding barque, the summer sea, the lulling breeze, the careless,
+joyous children of nature among whom we lived,--all were fairy-like in
+combination.
+
+When one thought of the hard and anxious toilers of civilisation, from
+whom we had come out, I could fancy that we had reached the lotus-land
+of the ancients, and could well imagine a fixed unwillingness to return
+to a less idyllic life. Hayston was apparently in no hurry.
+
+At any particular island that pleased him he would lie at anchor for
+days. Then we would explore the wondrous woods, and have glorious
+shooting trips on shore.
+
+We met some truly strange and original characters in these waters--white
+men as well as natives. The former, often men of birth and culture,
+were completely lost to the world, to their former friends and kinsfolk.
+
+Return? not they! Why should they go back? Here they had all things
+which are wont to satisfy man here below. A paradise of Eden-like
+beauty, amid which they wandered day by day all unheeding of the morrow;
+food, houses, honours, wives, friends, kinsfolk, all provided for them
+in unstinted abundance, and certain continuity, by the guileless
+denizens of these fairy isles amid this charmed main. Why--why, indeed,
+should they leave the land of magical delights for the cold climate and
+still more glacial moral atmosphere of their native land, miscalled
+home?
+
+Then, perhaps, in the former life beyond these crystal seas--where the
+boom of the surf upon the reef is not heard, and the whispering palm
+leaves never talk at midnight--some imprudence, some mistake at cards
+may have occurred, who knows! These things happen so easily.
+
+The temptation of a moment--a lack of resolve at the fateful crisis--and
+they are so deadly difficult of reparation. Difficult--nay impossible.
+
+Where, then, can mortal find such an asylum for weary body and restless
+soul as this land of Lethe? Where life is one long dream of bliss, and
+where death comes as a lingering friend rather than a swift executioner.
+
+It added materially to my enjoyment of the whole adventure, that
+wherever we went we were always honoured personages, favoured guests.
+Everywhere the people had the greatest admiration for Hayston's personal
+qualities--his strength, his fearlessness, his prompt determination in
+the face of danger and difficulty. That his word was invariably law to
+them was fully evident.
+
+One day, however, as a kind of drawback to all these satisfactions, I
+suddenly noticed that the girl Terau, who had been given to boy George,
+appeared to be very ill, if not dying. That young savage had obtained
+permission from the Captain to keep her on board, although she was most
+anxious to get ashore at Ponape.
+
+She would often get into one of the boats and sit there all day--sad and
+silent--knitting a head-dress from the fibres of the banana plant. Not
+being able to talk to her myself, I got a native of Ocean Island, whose
+dialect resembled her own, to ask her if she was ill.
+
+The girl made no answer. She covered her face with her hands. I then saw
+that every movement of her body gave her pain. At length she murmured
+something to the Ocean islander, slowly took from her shoulders the mat
+which covered them, and looking at me, said, "Teorti fra mati Terau"
+(George has nearly killed Terau). I was horrified to see that the poor
+girl's back was cut and swelled dreadfully. Her side, also, she said,
+was very bad, and it hurt her to breathe.
+
+We lifted her carefully out of the boat, and carried her between us to
+the skylight, where we placed her in a comfortable position.
+
+I found the Captain lying down, and asked him to come on deck, where,
+lifting the mat from the girl's bruised shoulders, I showed him the
+terrible state she was in.
+
+"Do you mean to allow such brutality to be practised on a poor girl?
+Why, I believe she is dying!"
+
+He said nothing, except "Come below." Sitting down at the table, he
+said, "I will not punish that boy. But I would be glad if you will see
+him, and induce him to treat the girl kindly."
+
+I called George, who was in the deck-house playing cards, and asked him
+what he would take for Terau.
+
+The lad thought for a moment, and asked me if the Captain had told me to
+come to him about her?
+
+I said, "Yes! he had." But that I wanted him either to give or sell me
+the girl, adding that he had better be quick about it, as Terau seemed
+sinking fast.
+
+"Oh! if that is so, you give me what you like for her. Don't want no
+dead girls 'bout me."
+
+I called up three of the crew as witnesses, whereupon George sold me the
+victim of his brutality for ten dollars and a German concertina.
+
+"Now, George," I said, "I am going to put Terau ashore, and if you touch
+her again, or even speak to her, I'll knock your infernal soul out of
+your black body."
+
+He grinned, and replied that he was only too glad to get rid of her; and
+returning into the deck-house, began at once to play on the concertina.
+
+A few days after this transaction we touched at Ngatik or Los Valientes
+Island, and I was pleased to find here a trader whose wife was a native
+of Pleasant Island.
+
+I asked them if they would like to have Terau to live with them, and the
+wife at once expressed her willingness as well as joy at seeing one of
+her own countrywomen.
+
+Returning on board, I inquired of Terau if she would not like to go
+ashore and live with these people, who would treat her kindly. During my
+ownership she had regained her strength in great degree, Nellie having
+agreed to attend on her, and the Chinese steward saw that she had
+nourishing food.
+
+She preferred to go ashore, being still afraid of George's
+ill-treatment; I did not tell her of the trader's wife being a
+countrywoman, trusting it would prove a joyful surprise. I was not
+mistaken. The two women rushed into each other's arms, and wept in their
+impulsive fashion. I felt certain that here poor Terau would receive
+kind treatment.
+
+Before returning on board the trader told me that Terau had related her
+story to them, and that the Ngatik women, who were in the house, told
+her to make the white man who had been so kind to her "the present of
+poverty." This ceremonial consisted in her cutting off her hair close to
+the head, and, together with an empty cocoa-nut shell and a small fish,
+offering it to me. The trader said this was to express her
+gratitude--the empty shell and small fish signifying poverty, while the
+gift of hair denoted that she was a bondswoman to me for life.
+
+I felt sorry that the poor child should have cut off her beautiful hair,
+which was tied round the centre with a band of pandanus leaf, and put in
+my hand; but I felt a glow of pleasure at being able to place her with
+people who would be good to her; and thanking her for the gift, to which
+she added a thick plate of turtle shell, I said farewell, and returned
+to the brig.
+
+The Captain called me below, and shook my hand.
+
+"I'm glad," he said, "that poor girl has left the ship; but I must repay
+you the money you gave George for her."
+
+This I refused to take. I felt well repaid by the unmistakable gratitude
+Terau had evinced towards me from the moment the Ocean islander and I
+had carried her pain-racked form below.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+POISONED ARROWS
+
+
+The weather had changed, and been cloudy and dull for several days. We
+were all rather in the doldrums too. We had been bearing eastward on the
+line. Suddenly Hayston said, "Suppose we put in at Santa Cruz. We want
+the water casks filled. I'm not very fond of the island, for all its
+name. Sacred names and bloodshed often go together with Spaniards.
+However, I know the harbour well, and the yams are first-rate." So at
+daylight we bore up, at eight bells we entered the heads with both
+anchors bent to the chains, and at noon were beating up the harbour. By
+two o'clock we cast anchor in thirty fathoms. Out came the canoes, and
+we soon began trading with the natives.
+
+We kept pretty strict watch, however. The men, to my fancy, had a sullen
+expression, and the women, though not bad-looking, seemed as if it cost
+them an effort to look pleasant.
+
+Our girls wouldn't have anything to say to them. Hope Island Nellie, in
+particular, said she'd like to shoot half of them; that they'd killed a
+cousin of hers, who was only scratched with a poisoned arrow, and that
+it was one of the Captain's mad tricks to go there at all.
+
+However, Hayston, as usual, was spurred on by opposition to have his own
+way, and to do even more than he originally intended. He told me
+afterwards that he only wanted to get some yams in the harbour, and that
+the water would have held out longer--until we got to a known safe
+island.
+
+So on Sunday we sent two boats on shore, and got the casks filled with
+water immediately. Our provisions were taken out and examined. Trading
+with the natives went on merrily.
+
+On Monday the weather was fine. We got a couple of rafts out with water,
+and laid in yams enough to last for the rest of our cruise. Hayston
+laughed, and said there was nothing like showing natives that you were
+not afraid of them. "Eh, Nellie? What you think now?"
+
+"Think Captain big fool," said Nellie, who was in a bad temper that
+morning. "Ha! you see boat crew; by God! man wounded--I see them carry
+him along."
+
+Sure enough, we could see the two boats' crews coming down to the beach.
+They were carrying one man, while two supported another, who seemed
+hardly able to walk. "Get out the boats!" roared Hayston. "I'll teach
+the scoundrels to touch a crew of mine."
+
+All was now bustle and commotion. Every man on the ship that could be
+spared, and Hope Island Nellie to boot, who had begged to be allowed to
+go with the attacking party, and whose ruffled temper was restored to
+equanimity by the chance of having a shot at her foes, and avenging her
+cousin's death. We left a boat's crew watch, and made for the shore,
+Nellie sitting in the bow of the Captain's boat with a Winchester rifle
+across her knees, and her eyes sparkling with a light I had never seen
+in a woman's face before. It was the light of battle come down through
+the veins of chiefs and warriors of her people for centuries uncounted.
+
+We left a couple of men in each boat, telling them to keep on and off
+until we returned; the wounded men were carefully laid on mats in one of
+their own boats; and forth we went--a light-hearted storming party, and
+attacked the town of the treacherous devils. Hayston was in a frightful
+rage, cursing himself one moment for relaxing his usual caution, and
+devoting the Santa Cruz natives in the next to all the fiends of hell
+for their infernal causeless treachery. He raged up again and again to
+the cluster of huts, thickly built together with palisades here and
+there, which made excellent cover for shooting from, backed up by the
+green wall of the primeval forest. I could not but admire him as he
+stood there--grand, colossal, fearless, as though he bore a charmed
+life, while the deadly quivering arrows flew thick, and more than one
+man was hit severely. Only that our fire was quick and deadly with the
+terrible Winchester repeaters, and that the savages--bold at first--were
+mowed down so quickly that they had to retreat to a distance which
+rendered their arrows powerless, we should have had a muster roll with
+gaps in it of some seriousness. Hayston was a splendid rifle shot, and
+for quick loading and firing had few equals. Every native that showed
+himself within range went down ere he could fit an arrow to his
+bowstring. And there was Hope Island Nellie by his side, firing nearly
+as fast, and laughing like a child at play whenever one of her shots
+told.
+
+Then the arrows grew fewer. Just before they ceased I had fired at a
+tall native who had been conspicuous through the fight. He fell on his
+face. Nellie gave a shout, and loaded her own rifle on the chance of
+another shot, straining her bright and eager eyes to see if another
+lurking form was near enough for danger. Well for me was it that she did
+so! Staggering to his feet, a wounded native fitted an arrow to his bow,
+and sent it straight for my breast before I could raise my gun to my
+shoulder. Nellie made a snap shot at him, and, either from exhaustion or
+the effect of her bullet, he fell prone and motionless.
+
+I felt a scratch on my arm--bare to the shoulder--as if a forest twig
+had raised the skin. "Look!" said Nellie, and her face changed. As she
+spoke, she passed her finger over the place, and showed it bloodstained.
+"The crawling brute's arrow hit you there. Let me suck the poison. If
+you don't"--as I made a gesture of dissent--"you die, twel' days."
+
+"Don't be a fool!" said Hayston. "You're a dead man if you don't. As it
+is, you must run your chance. Some of these fellows will lose the number
+of their mess, I'm sorry to say."
+
+So the girl, who had been but the moment before thirsting for blood, and
+firing into the mob of half-frightened, yet ferocious savages, pressed
+her soft lips on my arm, like a young mother soothing a babe, and with
+all womanly tenderness bound up the injured place, which had now begun
+to smart, and, to my excited imagination, commenced to throb from wrist
+to shoulder.
+
+"Strange child, isn't she?" laughed Hayston. "If she'd only been born
+white, and been to boarding-school down east, what a sensation she'd
+have created in a ball-room!"
+
+"Better as she is, perhaps," said I. "She has lived her life with few
+limitations, and enjoyed most of it."
+
+The excited crew rushed in and finished every wounded man in a position
+to show fight. Nellie did not join in this, but stood leaning on her
+rifle--_la belle sauvage_, if ever there was one--brave, beautiful, with
+a new expression like that of a roused lioness on her parted lips and
+blazing eyes.
+
+As for Hayston, he was a fatalist by constitution and theory. "A man
+must die when his time comes," he had often said to me. "Until the hour
+of fate he cannot die. Why, then, should he waste his emotions by giving
+way to the meanest of all attributes--personal fear?"
+
+He had none, at any rate. He would have walked up to the block without
+haste or reluctance, had beheading been the fashionable mode of
+execution in his day, chaffed his executioner, and with a bow and a
+smile for the handsomest woman among the spectators, quitted with easy
+grace a world which had afforded him a fair share of its rarest
+possessions.
+
+By his order the town was fired and quickly reduced to ashes, thus
+destroying a number of articles--mats, utensils, wearing apparel,
+weapons, etc.--which, requiring, as they do, considerable skill and
+expenditure of time, are regarded as valuable effects by all savages.
+
+The attack had been early in the day. We cut down as many cocoa-nut
+trees as we could, and finally departed for the ship, towing out with us
+a small fleet of canoes, to be broken up when we got to the brig. The
+sick men were sent below, and such remedies as we knew of were applied.
+They were--all but one--silent and downhearted. They knew by experience
+the sure and deadly effect of the poison manufactured among the Line
+Islands. Subtle and penetrating! But little hope of recovery remains.
+
+About four o'clock next morning we began to heave at the windlass, and
+got under weigh at eight. The wind was light and variable, and our
+progress slow. As we got abreast of the hostile village we gave them a
+broadside. But the sullen devils of Santa Cruz were not cowed yet. A
+second fleet of canoes swarmed around the ship. They made signals of
+submission and a desire to trade, but when they got near enough sent a
+cloud of arrows at the ship, many of which stuck quivering in the masts,
+though luckily no one was hit. Their yells and screams of wrath were
+like the tumult of a hive of demons. We were luckily well prepared, and
+we let them have the carronades over and over again, sinking a dozen of
+their canoes, and doing good execution among the crews when their black
+heads popped up like corks as they swam for the nearest canoes. While
+this took place we unbent the starboard chain, stowed it and the anchor,
+and clearing the heads, bade adieu to the inhospitable isle.
+
+On the next day all hands were engaged in cleaning our armoury, which it
+certainly appeared necessary to keep in good order. Hope Island Nellie
+polished her Winchester rifle till it shone again, besides showing an
+acquaintance with the machinery of the lock and repeating gear was
+nothing new to her.
+
+"You ought to make a notch in the stock for every man you kill, Nellie,"
+said Hayston, as we were lying on the deck in the afternoon, while the
+_Leonora_ was gliding on her course like the fair ocean bird that she
+was.
+
+Nellie frowned. "No like that talk," she answered. "Might have to put
+'nother notch yet for Nellie--who knows?"
+
+"Who knows, indeed, Nellie?" answered the Captain. "None of us can
+foresee our fate," he added with a tinge of sadness, which so often
+mingled with his apparently most careless moments. "We don't even know
+who's going to die from those arrow scratches yet."
+
+Here the girl looked over at me. "How you feel, Hil'ree?" she said, as
+her voice softened and lost its jesting tone.
+
+"Feel good," I said, "think getting better."
+
+"You no know," she answered gravely. "You wait." And she began to count.
+She went over the fingers of her small, delicately-formed left
+hand,--wonderful in shape are the hands and feet of some of these Island
+girls,--and after counting from little finger to thumb _twice_, touched
+the two first fingers, and looked up. "How many?" she asked.
+
+"Twelve," I said; I had followed the counts with care, you may be sure.
+
+"Twel' day, you see," she said; "perhaps you all right--perhaps"--and
+here she gave a faint but accurate limitation of the dreadful shudder
+which precedes the unspeakable agonies of tetanus.
+
+"Nellie's right," said Hayston; "keep up your spirits, for you won't
+know till then whether you're to go to sleep in your hammock in blue
+water or not."
+
+This was a cheerful prospect, but I had come through many perils, and
+missed the grim veteran by so many close shaves, that I had grown to be
+something of a fatalist like Hayston.
+
+"Well! if I go under it won't be your fault, Nellie! So, Captain,
+remember I make over to her all the stuff in my trade chest. Send any
+letters and papers to the address you know in Sydney, and a bank draft
+for what you will find in the dollar bag. Nellie will have some good
+dresses anyhow."
+
+"Dress be hanged!" quoth Nellie, who was emphatic in her language
+sometimes. "You go home to mother yet;" and she arose and left
+hurriedly. Poor Nellie!
+
+In that day when we and others who have sinned, after fullest knowledge
+of good and evil "know the right and yet the wrong pursue," shall be
+arraigned for deeds done in the flesh, will the same doom be meted out
+to this frank, untaught child of Nature and her sisters? I trow not. I
+must say that for a day or two before the fated twelfth which Nellie so
+stoutly insisted upon, I felt slightly anxious. What an end to all one's
+hopes, longings, and glorious imaginings, to be racked with tortures
+indescribable before dying like a poisoned hound, all because of the
+instinctive, senseless act of a stupid savage!
+
+To die young, too, with the world but opening before me! Life with its
+thousand possibilities just unrolled! One's friends, too,--the weeping
+mother and sisters, whose grief would never wholly abate this side of
+time; the old man's fixed expression of sorrow. These thoughts passed
+through my brain, with others arising from and mingled with them, as I
+left my hammock early on the twelfth day. I dressed quickly, and going
+on deck, that daily miracle occurred--"the glorious sun uprist."
+
+The dawnlight now began to infuse the pearly rim, which, imperceptibly
+separating from the azure grey horizon, deepened as it touched the edge
+of the vast ocean plain. Faintly glimmering, how magically it
+transformed from a dim, neutral-tinted waste to an opaline clarity of
+hue--a fuller crimson. Then the wondrous golden globe heaved itself over
+the edge of our water-world all silently, and the day, the 19th of
+October, began its course.
+
+Should I live to see its close?
+
+How strange if all this time the subtle poison should have lurked in
+one's veins until the exact moment, when, like a modern engine of
+devilry--an infernal machine with a clock and apparatus--set to strike
+and detonate at a given and calculated hour, the death-stroke should
+sound!
+
+We had breakfasted, and were lying on the deck chatting and reading, as
+the _Leonora_ glided over the heaving bosom of the main--the sun
+shining--the seabirds sailing athwart our course with outstretched,
+moveless wings--the sparkling waters reflecting a thousand prismatic
+colours, as the brig swiftly sped along her course--all nature gaily
+bright, joyous, and unheeding. Suddenly one of the wounded men, Henry
+Stephens by name, raised himself from his mat with a cry so wild and
+unearthly that half the crew and people started to their feet.
+
+"My God!" he exclaimed, as he sank down again upon his mat, "I'm a dead
+man--those infernal arrows."
+
+"Poor Harry!" said Nellie, who by this time was bending over him, "don't
+give in--by and by better--you get down to bunk. Carry him down, you
+boys!"
+
+Two of the crew lifted the poor fellow, who even as they raised him had
+another fearful paroxysm, drawing his frame together almost double, so
+that the men could scarcely retain their hold.
+
+"Carry him gently, boys!" said Hayston; "go to the steward for some
+brandy and laudanum, that will ease the pain."
+
+"And is there no cure--no means of stopping this awful agony?"
+
+"Not when tetanus once sets in," said Hayston; "it's not the first case
+I've seen."
+
+The other man was quite a young fellow, and famed among us for his
+entire want of fear upon each and every occasion. He laughed and joked
+the whole time of the fight with the Santa Cruz islanders, said that
+every bullet had its billet, and that his time had not come. "He
+believed," he said, "also that half the talk about death by poisoned
+arrows was fancy. Men got nervous, and frightened themselves to death."
+He was not one of that sort anyhow. He had laughed and joked with both
+of us, and even now, when poor Harry Stephens was carried below, and we
+could hear his cries as the increasing torture of the paroxysms overcame
+his courage and self-control, he joked still.
+
+The day was a sad one. Still the brig glided on through the azure
+waveless deep--still the tropic birds hung motionless above us--still
+the breeze whispered through our swelling sails, until the soft, brief
+twilight of the tropic eve stole upon us, and the stars trembled one by
+one in the dusky azure, so soon to be "thick inlaid with patines of
+bright gold."
+
+"Reckon I've euchred the bloodthirsty niggers this time," said Dick,
+with a careless laugh, lighting his pipe as he spoke. "This is 'Twelfth
+night.' That's the end of the time the cussed poison takes to ripen,
+isn't it, Nellie?" he laughed. "It regular puts me in mind of old
+Christmas days in England, and us schoolboys counting the days after the
+New Year! What a jolly time it was! Won't I be glad to see the snow, and
+the bare hedges, and the holly berries, and the village church again?
+Dashed if I don't stay there next time I get a chance, and cut this
+darned slaving, privateering life. I'll--oh! my God--ah--a--h!"
+
+His voice, in spite of all his efforts, rose from a startled cry to a
+long piercing shriek, such as it curdled our blood to hear.
+
+Hayston came up from the cabin, followed by Nellie and the other girls.
+All crowded round him in silence. They knew well at the first cry he was
+a doomed man.
+
+"Carry him down, lads!" he said, as he laid his hand on his forehead and
+passed it quietly over his clustering hair--"poor Dick! poor fellow!" At
+this moment another frightful spasm shook the seaman's frame, and
+scarcely could the men who had lifted him from the deck on which he had
+been lying control his tortured limbs. As they reached the lower deck
+another terrible cry reached our ears, while the continuous groaning of
+the poor fellow first attacked made a ghastly and awful accompaniment to
+the screams of the latest victim.
+
+As for me, I walked forward and sat as near as I could get to the
+_Leonora's_ bows, where I lit my pipe and awaited the moment in which
+only too probably my own summons would come in a like pang of
+excruciating agony. The gleaming phosphorescent wavelets of that calm
+sea fell in broken fire from the vessel's side, while the hissing,
+splashing sound deadened the recurring shrieks of the doomed sufferers,
+and soothed my excited nerves.
+
+Now that death was so near, in such a truly awful shape, I began
+seriously to reflect upon the imprudence, nay, more, the inexcusable
+folly of continuing a life exposed to such terrible hazards.
+
+If my life was spared I would resolve, like poor Dick, to stay at home
+in future. The resolution might avail me as little as it had done in his
+case.
+
+As I sat hour after hour gazing into the endless shadow and gleam of the
+great deep, a strange feeling of peace and resignation seemed to pass
+suddenly over my troubled spirit. I felt almost tempted to plunge
+beneath the calm bosom of the main, and so end for aye the doubt, the
+fear, the rapture, and despair of this mysterious human life. All
+suddenly the moon rose, sending before her a brilliant pathway, adown
+which, in my excited imagination, angels might glide, bearing messages
+of pardon or reprieve. A distinct sensation of hope arose in my mind. A
+dark form glided to my side, and seated itself on the rail.
+
+"You hear eight bell?" she said. "Listen now, you all right--no more
+poison--he go away." She held my hand--the pulse was steady and regular.
+In spite of my efforts at calmness and self-control, I was sensible of a
+strange exaltation of spirit. The heaven above, the sea below, seemed
+animate with messengers of pardon and peace. Even poor Nellie, the
+untaught child of a lonely isle, "placed far amid the melancholy main,"
+seemed transformed into a celestial visitant, and her large, dark eyes
+glowed in the light of the mystic moon rays.
+
+"You well, man Hil'ree!" she said in the foc'sle vernacular. "No more go
+mate. Nellie so much glad," and here her soft low tones were so instinct
+with deepest human feeling that I took her in my arms and folded her in
+a warm embrace.
+
+"How's poor Dick?" I asked, as we walked aft to where Hayston and the
+rest of the cabin party were seated.
+
+"Poor Dick dead!" she said; "just die before me come up."
+
+The people we had brought for the big firm, mostly Line Island natives,
+were quiet and easily controlled. Hayston now and then executed orders
+of this sort, though he would have scorned the idea of turning the
+_Leonora_ into a labour vessel. He was naturally too humane to permit
+any ill-treatment of the recruits, and having his crew under full
+control, always made matters as pleasant for these dark-skinned
+"passengers" as possible.
+
+But there were voyages of very different kind,--voyages when the
+recruiting agents were thoroughly unscrupulous, caring only for the
+numbers--by fair means or foul--to be made up. Sometimes dark deeds were
+done. Blood was shed like water; partly from the fierce, intractable
+nature of the islanders--sometimes in pure self-defence. But "strange
+things happen at sea." One labour cruise of which Hayston told me--he
+heard it from an English trader who saw the affair--was much of that
+complexion. We had plenty of time for telling stories in the long calm
+days which sometimes ran into weeks. And this was one of them.
+
+One day a white painted schooner, with gaff-headed mainsail, and flying
+the German flag, anchored off Kabakada, a populous village on the north
+coast of New Britain. She was on a labour cruise for the German
+plantations in Samoa.
+
+Not being able to secure her full complement of "boys" in the New
+Hebrides and Solomon groups, she had come northward to fill up with
+recruits from the naked savages of the northern coast of New Britain.
+
+In those days the German flag had not been formally hoisted over New
+Britain and New Ireland, and apart from the German trading station at
+Matupi in Blanche Bay, which faces the scarred and blackened sides of a
+smouldering volcano springing abruptly from the deep waters of the bay,
+the trading stations were few and far between.
+
+At Kabakada, where the vessel had anchored, there were two traders. One
+was a noisy, vociferous German, who had once kept a liquor saloon in
+Honolulu, but, moved by tales of easily accumulated wealth in New
+Britain, he had sold his business, and settled at his present location
+among a horde of the most treacherous natives in the South Seas. His
+rude good nature had been his safety; for although, through ignorance of
+the native character, he was continually placing his life in danger, he
+was quick to make amends, and being of a generous disposition and a man
+of means, enjoyed a prestige among the natives possessed by no other
+white man.
+
+His colleague--or rather his opponent, for they traded for opposition
+firms--was a small, dark Frenchman, an ex-bugler of the Chasseurs
+d'Afrique, who had spent some years of enforced retirement at New
+Caledonia. His advent to New Britain had been made in the most private
+manner, and his reminiscences of the voyage from the convict colony with
+his four companions were not of a cheerful nature.
+
+Ten miles away, at the head of a narrow bay that split the forest-clad
+mountains like a Norwegian fiord, lived another trader, an English
+seaman. He had been on the island about two years, and was well-nigh
+sickened of it. Frequently recurring attacks of the deadly malarial
+fever had weakened and depressed him, and he longed to return to the
+open, breezy islands of eastern Polynesia, where he had no need to start
+from his sleep at night, and, rifle in hand, peer out into the darkness
+at the slightest noise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The labour schooner anchored about a mile from the German trader's
+house, and about two hours afterwards the boat of the Englishman was
+seen pulling round Cape Luen, and making for Charlie's station. This was
+because all three traders, being on friendly terms, it would have been
+considered "playing it low down" for any one of them to have boarded the
+schooner alone.
+
+The day was swelteringly hot, and the sea between the gloomy outlines of
+Mau Island and the long, curving, palm-shaded beaches of New Britain
+shore was throwing off great clouds of hot, steamy mist. As the
+Englishman's boat was about half-way between the steep-wooded point of
+Cape Luen and Kabakada, she altered her course and ran into the beach,
+where, surrounded by a cluster of native huts, was the station of
+Pierre. This was to save the little Frenchman the trouble of launching
+his clumsy boat. Pierre, dressed in white pyjamas, with a heavy
+Lefaucheux revolver in his belt and a Snider rifle in his hand, came out
+of his house. Addressing his two wives in emphatic language, and warning
+them to fire off guns if anything happened during his absence on board
+the schooner, he swaggered down the beach and into the boat.
+
+"How are you, Pierre?" said the Englishman, languidly. "I knew you and
+Hans Muller would expect me to board the schooner with you, or else I
+wouldn't have come. Curse the place, the people, the climate, and
+everything!"
+
+The little Frenchman grinned, "Yes, it ees ver' hot; but nevare mind.
+Ven ve get to de 'ouse of de German we shall drink some gin and feel
+bettare. Last veek he buy four case of gin from a valeship, and now le
+bon Dieu send this schooner, from vich we shall get more."
+
+"What a drunken little beast you are!" said the Englishman, sourly. "But
+after all, I suppose you enjoy life more than I do. I'd drink gin like
+water if I thought it would kill me quick enough."
+
+"My friend, it is but the fevare that now talks in you. See me! I am
+happy. I drink, I smoke, I laugh. I have two wife to make my cafe and
+look aftare my house. Some day I walk in the bush, then, whouff, a spear
+go through me, and my two wife will weep ven they see me cut up for
+_rosbif_, and perhaps eat a piece themselves."
+
+The Englishman laughed. The picture Pierre drew was likely to be a true
+one in one respect. Not a mile from the spot where the boat was at that
+moment were the graves of a trading captain, his mate, and two seamen,
+who had been slaughtered by the natives under circumstances of the most
+abominable treachery. And right before them, on the white beach of Mau
+Island, a whaler's boat's crew had been speared while filling their
+water casks, the natives who surrounded them appearing to be animated
+by the greatest friendliness.
+
+Such incidents were common enough in those days among the islands to the
+westward of New Guinea, and the people of New Britain were no worse than
+those of other islands. They were simply treacherous, cowardly savages,
+and though occasionally indulging in cannibalistic feasts upon the
+bodies of people of their own race, they never killed white men for that
+purpose. Many a white man has been speared or shot there, but their
+bodies were spared that atrocity--so in that respect Pierre did his
+young wives an injustice. They would, if occasion needed it, readily
+poison him, or steal his cartridges and leave him to be slaughtered
+without the chance of making resistance, but they wouldn't eat him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It's the _Samoa_," said the German, as he shook hands with us. "And the
+skipper is a d--d Dutchman, but a good sort" (having once sailed in a
+Yankee timber ship, trading between Sydney and the Pacific slope, Hans
+was now an American), "and as soon as it gets a bit cool, we'll go off.
+I know the recruiter, he's a chap with one arm."
+
+"What?" said the Englishman, "you don't mean Captain Kyte, do you?"
+
+"That's the man. He's a terror. Guldensterns pay him $200 a month
+regular to recruit for them, and he gets a bonus of $10 each for every
+nigger as well. We must try and get him a few here to fill up."
+
+"_You_ can," said the Englishman, "but I won't. I'm not going to tout
+for an infernal Dutch black-birder."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As soon as a breeze set in the three traders sailed off. The schooner
+was a fine lump of a vessel of about 190 tons register, and her decks
+were crowded with male and female recruits from the Solomon group.
+There were about fifty in all--thirty-five or forty men and about a
+dozen women.
+
+The captain of the schooner and his "recruiter," Captain Kyte, received
+the traders with great cordiality. In a few minutes the table was
+covered with bottles of beer, kummel, and other liquor, and Hans was
+asserting with great vehemence his ability to procure another thirty
+"boys."
+
+Kyte, a thin man, with deep-set grey eyes, and a skin tanned by twenty
+years' wanderings in the South Seas, listened quietly to the trader's
+vapourings, and then said, "All right, Hans! I think, though, we can
+leave it till to-morrow, and if you can manage to get me twenty 'boys,'
+I'll give you five dollars a head for them, cash."
+
+The traders remained on board for an hour or two, and in the meanwhile
+the captain of the schooner sent a boat ashore to fill water casks from
+the creek near the trader's house. Six natives got in--four of whom were
+seamen from the schooner and two Solomon Island recruits; these two
+recruits led to all the subsequent trouble.
+
+Kyte was a wonderfully entertaining man, and although his one arm was
+against him (he had lost the other one by the bursting of a shell), he
+contrived to shoot very straight, and could hold his own anywhere.
+
+He was full of cynical humour, and the Englishman, though suffering from
+latent fever, could not but be amused at the disrespectful manner in
+which the American spoke of his employers. The German firm which in a
+small way was the H.E.I.C. of the Pacific; indeed, their actions in many
+respects, when conducting trading arrangements with the island chiefs,
+were very similar to those of the Great East India Company--they always
+had an armed force to back them up.
+
+"I should think you have natives enough on board as it is, Captain
+Kyte," the Englishman was saying, "without taking any more."
+
+"Well, so I have in one way. But these d--d greedy Dutchmen (looking the
+captain and mate of the schooner full in the face) like to see me come
+into Apia harbour with about 180 or 200 on board. The schooner is only
+fit to carry about ninety. Of course the more I have the more dollars I
+get. But it's mighty risky work, I can tell you. I've got nearly sixty
+Solomon boys on board now, and I could have filled down there, but came
+up along here instead. You see, when we've got two or three different
+mobs on board from islands widely apart they can't concoct any general
+scheme of treachery, and I can always play one crowd off against the
+other. Now, these Solomon Island niggers know me well, and they wouldn't
+try any cutting off business away up here--it's too far from home. But I
+wouldn't trust them when we are beating back through the Solomons on our
+way to Samoa--that's the time I've got a pull on them, by having New
+Britain niggers on board."
+
+"You don't let your crew carry arms on board, I see," said the
+Englishman.
+
+"No, I don't. There's no necessity for it, I reckon. If we were anywhere
+about the Solomon Islands, and had a lot of recruits on board, I take
+d--d good care that every man is armed then. But here, in New Britain,
+we could safely give every rifle in the ship to the 'recruits'
+themselves, and seeing armed men about them always irritates them. As a
+matter of fact, these 'boys' now on board would fight like h--l for us
+if the New Britain niggers tried to take the ship. Some men, however,"
+and his eyes rested on Pierre, Hans, and the captain, "like to carry a
+small-arms factory slung around 'em. Have another drink, gentlemen?
+Hallo, what the h--l is that?" and he was off up on deck, the other four
+white men after him.
+
+The watering party had come back, but the two Solomon islanders (the
+recruits) lay in the bottom of the boat, both dead, and with broken
+spears sticking all over their bodies. The rest of the crew were
+wounded--one badly.
+
+In two minutes Captain Kyte had the story. They were just filling the
+last cask when they were rushed, and the two Solomon islanders speared
+and clubbed to death. The rage of the attackers seemed specially
+directed against the two recruits, and the crew--who were natives of
+Likaiana (Stewart's Island)--said that after the first volley of spears
+no attempt was made to prevent their escape.
+
+The face of Captain Kyte had undergone a curious change. It had turned
+to a dull leaden white, and his dark grey eyes had a spark of fire in
+them as he turned to the captain of the schooner.
+
+"What business had you, you blundering, dunder-headed, Dutch swab, to
+let two of my recruits go ashore in that boat? Haven't you got enough
+sense to know that it was certain death for them. Two of my best men,
+too. Bougainville boys. By ----! you'd better jump overboard. You're no
+more fit for a labour schooner than I am to teach dancing in a ladies'
+school."
+
+The captain made no answer. He was clearly in fault. As it was, no one
+of the boat's crew were killed, but that was merely because their
+European clothing showed them to be seamen. The matter was more serious
+for Kyte than any one else on board. The countrymen of the murdered boys
+looked upon him as the man chiefly responsible. He knew only one way of
+placating them--by paying some of the dead boys' relations a heavy
+indemnity, and immediately began a consultation with five Solomon
+islanders who came from the same island.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the mean time the three traders returned to the shore, and Hans, with
+his usual thick-headedness, immediately "put his foot in it," by
+demanding a heavy compensation from the chief of the village for the
+killing of the two men.
+
+The chief argued, very reasonably from his point of view, that the
+matter didn't concern him.
+
+"I don't care what you think," wrathfully answered the little trader, "I
+want fifty coils, of fifty fathoms each, of _dewarra_. If I don't get
+it"--here he touched his revolver.
+
+Now, dewarra is the native money of New Britain; it is formed of very
+small white shells of the cowrie species, perforated with two small
+holes at each end, and threaded upon thin strips of cane or the stalk of
+the cocoa-nut leaf. A coil of dewarras would be worth in European money,
+or its trade equivalent, about fifty dollars.
+
+The chief wasn't long in giving his answer. His lips, stained a hideous
+red by the betel nut juice, opened in a derisive smile and revealed his
+blackened teeth.
+
+"He will fight," he answered.
+
+"You've done it now, Hans," said the Englishman, "you might as well pack
+up and clear out in the schooner. You have no more sense than a hog. By
+the time I get back to my station I'll find it burnt and all my trade
+gone. However, I don't care much; but I hope to see you get wiped out
+first. You deserve it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All that night the native village was in a state of turmoil, and when
+daylight came it was deserted by the inhabitants, who had retreated to
+their bush-houses; the French trader, who had walked along the beach to
+his station, returned at daylight and reported that not a native was in
+his town, even his two wives had gone. Nothing, however, of his trade
+had been touched.
+
+"That's a good sign for you," said the Englishman. "If I were you,
+Pierre, I would go quietly back, and start mending your fence or
+painting your boat as if nothing had happened. They won't meddle with
+you."
+
+But this was strongly objected to by his fellow-trader, and just then a
+strange sound reached them,--the wild cries and howls of chorus, in a
+tongue unknown to the three men. It came from the sea, and going to the
+door they saw the schooner's two whaleboats, packed as full of natives
+as they could carry, close in to the shore. Instead of oars they were
+propelled by canoe paddles, and at each stroke the native rowers fairly
+made the boats leap and surge like steam launches in a sea-way. But the
+most noticeable thing to the eyes of the traders was the glitter of
+rifle barrels that appeared between the double row of paddlers. In
+another five minutes the leading boat was close enough for the traders
+to see that the paddlers who lined the gunwales from stem to stern had
+their faces daubed with red and blue, and their fighting ornaments on.
+In the body of the boats, crouching on their hams, with elbows on knees,
+and upright rifles, were the others, packed as tightly as sardines.
+
+"Mein Gott!" gasped Muller, "they have killed all hands on the schooner
+and are coming for us. Look at the rifles." He dashed into his
+trade-room and brought out about half a dozen Sniders, and an Epsom
+salts box full of cartridges. "Come on, boys, load up as quick as you
+can."
+
+"You thundering ass," said the Englishman, "look again; can't you see
+Kyte's in one boat steering?"
+
+In another minute, with a roar from the excited savages, the first boat
+surged up on the beach, and a huge, light-skinned savage seized Kyte in
+his arms as if he were a child and placed him on the land. Then every
+man leaped out and stood, rifle in hand, waiting for the other boat.
+Again the same fierce cry as the second boat touched the shore; then
+silence, as they watched with dilated eyes and gleaming teeth the
+movements of the white man.
+
+For one moment he stood facing them with outstretched hand uplifted in
+warning to check their eager rush. Then he turned to the traders--
+
+"The devils have broken loose. Have you fellows any of your own natives
+that you don't want to get hurt? If so, get them inside the house, and
+look mighty smart about it."
+
+"There's not a native on the beach," said the German, "every mother's
+son of them has cleared into the bush, except this man's boat's crew,"
+pointing to the English trader; "they're in the house all right. But
+look out, Captain Kyte, those fellows in the bush mean fight. There's
+two thousand people in this village, and many of them have
+rifles--Sniders--and plenty cartridges. I know, because it was I who
+sold them."
+
+Kyte smiled grimly. There was a steely glitter of suppressed excitement
+in his keen grey eyes. Then he again held up his hand to his followers--
+
+"Blood for blood, my children. But heed well my words--kill not the
+women and children; now, go!"
+
+Like bloodhounds slipped from the leash, the brown bodies and gleaming
+rifle barrels went by the white men in one wild rush, and passed away
+out of sight into the comparatively open forest that touched the edge of
+the trader's clearing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"There they go," said Kyte quietly, as he sat down on the edge of the
+trader's verandah and lit a cigar, "and they'll give those smart niggers
+of yours a dressing down that will keep them quiet for the next five
+years (he was right, they did). Well, I had to let them have their own
+way. They told me that if I didn't let them have revenge for the two men
+that I would be unlucky before I got to Samoa,--a polite way of saying
+that they would seize the schooner and cut our throats on the way up. So
+to save unpleasantness, I gave each man a Snider and twenty-five
+cartridges, and told them to shoot as many _pigs and fowls_ as they
+liked. You should have heard the beggars laugh. By the way, I hope they
+do shoot some, we want pork badly."
+
+"Hallo, they've got to Tubarigan's, the chief's bush-house, and fired
+it!" said Muller.
+
+A column of black smoke arose from the side of the mountain, and in
+another second or two loud yells and cries of defiance mingled with the
+thundering reports of the Sniders and the crackling of the flames.
+
+The little Frenchman and Muller played nervously with their rifles for a
+moment or two; then meeting the answering look in each other's eyes,
+they dashed into the trees and up the jungle-clad mountain side in the
+direction of the smoke and fighting.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The native houses in New Britain are built of cane, neatly lashed
+together with coir cinnet, and the roofs thatched with broad-leaved
+grass or sugar-cane leaves. They burn well, and as the cane swells to
+the heat each joint bursts with a crack like a pistol shot.
+
+"Look now," said Kyte to his companion, pointing along the tops of the
+hills. Clouds of black smoke and sheets of flame were everywhere
+visible, and amidst the continuous roar of the flames, the crackling of
+the burning cane-work of the native houses, and the incessant reports of
+the Sniders, came savage shouts and yells from the raiders, and
+answering cries of defiance from the New Britain men, who retreated
+slowly to the grassy hills of the interior, whence they watched the
+total destruction of some four or five of their villages. These
+bush-houses are constructed with great care and skill by the natives,
+and are generally only a short distance from the main village on the
+beach; every bush-house stands surrounded by a growth of
+carefully-tended crotons of extraordinary beauty and great variety of
+colour, and in the immediate vicinity is the owner's plantation of yams,
+taro, sugar-cane, bananas, and betel nuts.
+
+In the course of an hour or two the Solomon islanders ceased firing, and
+then the two white men, looking out on the beach, saw a number of the
+beaten villagers fleeing down to the shore, about half a mile away, and
+endeavouring to launch canoes.
+
+"By ----!" exclaimed Kyte, "my fellows have outflanked them, and are
+driving them down to the beach. I might get some after all for the
+schooner. Will you lend me your boat's crew to head them off? They are
+going to try and get to Mau Island."
+
+"No," said the Englishman, "I won't. If Pierre and the German are such
+idiots as to go shooting niggers in another man's quarrel, that's no
+reason why I should take a hand in it."
+
+Kyte nodded good-humouredly, and seemed to abandon the idea; but he went
+into the house after a while, and came out again with a long Snider in
+his hand.
+
+In a few minutes the Solomon islanders began to return in parties of two
+or three, then came the two white men, excited and panting with the lust
+of killing.
+
+Kyte held a whispered consultation with one of his "boys,"--a huge
+fellow, whose body was reeking with perspiration and blood from the
+scratches received in the thorny depths of the jungle,--and then pointed
+to the beach where four or five white-painted canoes had been launched,
+and were making for an opening in the reef. To reach this opening they
+would have to pass in front of the trader's house, for which they now
+headed.
+
+Kyte waited a moment or two till the leading canoe was within four or
+five hundred yards, then he raised his rifle, and placing it across the
+stump of his left arm, fired. The ball plumped directly amidships, and
+two of the paddlers fell. The rest threw away their paddles and spears,
+and swam to the other canoes.
+
+"Now we've got them," said Kyte, and taking about twenty of his boys,
+he manned his two boats and pulled out, intercepting the canoes before
+they could get through the reef into the open.
+
+Then commenced an exciting chase. The refugees swam and dived about in
+the shallow water like frightened fish, but their pursuers were better
+men at that game than they, and of superior physique. In twenty minutes
+they were all captured, except one, who sprang over the edge of the reef
+into deep water and was shot swimming.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There were about five-and-twenty prisoners, and when they were brought
+back in the boats and taken on board the schooner it was found that the
+chief was among them. It may have occurred to him in the plantation life
+of the after time that he had better have stayed quiet. The Englishman,
+disgusted with the whole affair, went off with the other white men,
+leaving his boat's crew for safety in the trader's house, for had the
+Solomon islanders seen them they would have made quick work of them, or
+else Kyte, to save their lives, would have offered to take them as
+recruits.
+
+The two other traders decided to leave in the schooner. They had made
+the locality too warm for themselves, and urged the Englishman to follow
+their example.
+
+"No," he said, "I've been a good while here now, and I've never shot a
+nigger yet for the fun of the thing. I'll take my chance with them for a
+bit longer. The chances are you fellows will get your throats cut before
+I do."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+However, the schooner arrived safely at Samoa with her live cargo, but
+Kyte reported to his owners that it would not be advisable to recruit in
+New Britain for a year or two.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+HALCYON DAYS
+
+
+We were now bound for Arrecifos Island, Hayston's central station, but
+had first to call at Pingelap and Strong's Island, where we were to land
+our cattle and ship a few tuns of oil.
+
+Nine days after leaving Ponape, as the sun broke through the tropic
+haze, the lookout reported smoke in sight. The Captain and I at once
+went aloft, and with our glasses made out a steamer a long distance off.
+
+Hayston said he thought it was the _Resacca_, an American cruiser.
+Possibly she might overhaul us and take us into Ponape. Unless the
+breeze freshened we could not get away from her.
+
+We were heading N.N.E. close hauled, and the steamer appeared to be
+making for Ponape. She was sure to see us within an hour unless she
+changed her course.
+
+The _Leonora_ was kept away a couple of points, but the wind was light,
+and we were only travelling about four knots.
+
+At breakfast time we could see the man-of-war's spars from the deck, and
+the breeze was dying away. The Captain and I went on the foreyard and
+watched her.
+
+She had not as yet changed her course, but apparently did not seem
+anxious to overtake us.
+
+At length Hayston said with a laugh, as he took a long look at her, "All
+right, keep full, and by (to the man at the wheel) ----, brace up the
+yards again, she doesn't want to stop us. It's that old Spanish gunboat
+from Manila, a 'side wheeler.' I was told she was coming down to Ponape
+from Guam to look after some escaped Tagalau prisoners. She'd never
+catch us if she wanted to with anything like a breeze."
+
+That night the Captain seemed greatly relieved. He told me that it would
+prove a bad business for him if an American cruiser took him; and
+although he did not anticipate meeting with one in these parts, he gave
+me full instructions how to act in the event of his seizure. He placed
+in my charge two bags of gold coin of two thousand dollars each, and a
+draft for a thousand dollars on Goddefroys' in Samoa.
+
+After which he declared that the ship was getting dull lately, and
+ordered the steward's boy to beat the gong and call out the girls for a
+dance.
+
+For the next hour or two wild merriment prevailed. Antonio, the
+Portuguese, with his violin, and the Captain with his flute, furnished
+the music, while half a dozen of the girls were soon dancing with some
+of the picturesque ruffians of the foc'sle.
+
+For days and days we had scarcely shifted tack or sheet, so gentle and
+steady was the wind that filled our sails; but the easterly equatorial
+counter current that prevails in these calm seas was sweeping us
+steadily on towards Strong's Island at the rate of two or three knots an
+hour.
+
+On some days we would lower a floating target and practise with the long
+gun carried amidships, on others the Captain and I would pass away an
+hour or two shooting at bottles with our rifles or revolvers.
+
+Hayston was a splendid shot, and loud were the exclamations from the
+crew when he made an especially clever shot; at other times he would sit
+on the skylight, and with the girls around him, sewing or card-playing,
+tell me anecdotes of his career when in the service of the Chinese
+Government.
+
+There were on board two children, a boy and girl--Toby and
+Kitty--natives of Arurai or Hope Island. They were the Captain's
+particular pets, in right of which he allowed them full liberty to tease
+any one on the ship.
+
+He was strongly attached to these children, and often told me that he
+intended to provide for them.
+
+Their father, who was one of his boat's crew, had fallen at his side
+when the natives of the island had boarded the vessel. On his next
+cruise he called at Arurai and took them on board, the head chief freely
+giving his permission to adopt them. I mention this boy and girl more
+particularly, because the American missionaries had often stated in the
+Honolulu journals "that Hayston had kidnapped them after having killed
+their father."
+
+His story was that on his first visit to the Pelew Islands with Captain
+Peese, the vessel they owned, a small brigantine, was attacked by the
+natives in the most daring manner, although the boarding nettings were
+up and every preparation made to repel them.
+
+He had with him ten seamen--mostly Japanese. Captain Peese was acting as
+first mate. An intelligent writer has described these Pelew islanders,
+the countrymen of the young Prince Lee Boo, whose death in England
+caused genuine sorrow, as "delicate in their sentiments, friendly in
+their disposition, and, in short, a people that do honour to the human
+race."
+
+The Captain's description of the undaunted manner in which fifty of
+these noble islanders climbed up the side of the brigantine, and slashed
+away at the nettings with their heavy swords, was truly graphic.
+Stripped to the waist they fought gallantly and unflinchingly, though
+twelve of their number had been killed by the fire of musketry from the
+brigantine. One of them had seized Captain Peese by his beard, and,
+dragging him to the side, stabbed him in the neck, and threw him into
+the prahu alongside, where his head would have soon left his body, when
+Hayston and a Japanese sailor dashed over after him, and killed the two
+natives that were holding him down, while another was about to
+decapitate him. At this stage three of the brigantine's crew lay dead
+and nearly all were wounded, Hayston having a fearful slash on the
+thigh.
+
+There were seventeen islanders killed and many badly wounded before they
+gave up the attempt to cut off the vessel.
+
+The father of Kitty and Toby was the steward. He had been fighting all
+through like a demon, having for his weapon a carpenter's squaring axe.
+He had cut one islander down with a fearful blow on the shoulder, which
+severed the arm, the limb falling on the deck, when he was attacked by
+three others. One of these was shot by a Japanese sailor, and another
+knocked down by the Captain, when the poor steward was thrust through
+from behind and died in a few minutes.
+
+The Captain spoke highly of the courage and intelligence of the Pelew
+islanders, and said that the cause of the attack upon the vessel was
+that, being under the Portuguese flag--the brigantine was owned by
+merchants in Macao--the natives had sought to avenge the bombardment of
+one of their principal towns by two Portuguese gunboats a year
+previously.
+
+Hayston afterwards established friendly relations with these very people
+who had attacked him, and six months afterwards slept ashore at their
+village alone and unarmed.
+
+From that day his perfect safety was assured. He succeeded in gaining
+the friendship of the principal chiefs by selling them a hundred
+breech-loading rifles and ten thousand cartridges, giving them two
+years' time to pay for them. He also gave nearly a thousand dollars'
+worth of powder and cartridges to the relatives of the men killed in
+attempting to cut off the brigantine.
+
+Such was one of the many romantic incidents in Hayston's career in the
+wild islands still further to the north-west. That he was a man of
+lion-like courage and marvellous resolution under the most desperate
+circumstances was known to all who ever sailed with him. Had not his
+recklessness and uncontrollable passions hurried him on to the
+commission of deeds that darkened for ever his good name, his splendid
+qualities would have earned him fame and fortune in any of those
+national enterprises which have in all ages transformed the adventurer
+into the hero.
+
+One day, while we sat talking together, gazing upon the unruffled
+deep,--he had been explaining the theory of the ocean currents, as well
+as the electrical phenomena of the Caroline group, where thunder may be
+heard perhaps six times a year, and lightning seen not once,--I
+unthinkingly asked him why he did not commit his observations to paper,
+as I felt sure that the large amount of facts relating to the
+meteorology of the Pacific, of which he was possessed, would be most
+valuable, and as such secure fitting recognition by the scientific
+world.
+
+He smiled bitterly, then answered, "Hilary, my boy, it is too late. I am
+an outlaw in fact, if not in name. The world's doors are closed, and
+society has turned its back on me. Out of ten professed friends nine are
+false, and would betray me to-morrow. When I think of what I once was,
+what I might have been, and to what I have now fallen, I am weary of
+existence. So I take the world as it comes, with neither hope nor fear
+for the morrow, knowing that if I do not make blue shark's meat, I am
+doomed to leave my bones on some coral islet."
+
+And thus the days wore on. We still drifted under cloudless skies, over
+the unfretted surface of the blue Pacific, the brig's sails ever and
+anon swelling out in answer to the faint, mysterious breeze-whispers, to
+fall languidly back against her spars and cordage.
+
+Passing the Nuknor or Monteverde Islands, discovered by Don Juan
+Monteverde in 1806, in the Spanish frigate _La Pala_, we sailed onward
+with the gentle N.E. trades to Overluk, and then to Losap. Like the
+people of Nuknor, the Losap islanders were a splendid race and most
+hospitable. Then we made the Mortlock group, once so dreaded by
+whaleships. These fierce and warlike islanders made most determined
+efforts to cut off the whaleships _Dolly Primrose_ and _Heavenly City_.
+To us, however, they were most amiable in demeanour, and loud cries of
+welcome greeted the Captain from the crowd of canoes which swarmed
+around the brig.
+
+Then commenced one of the reckless orgies with which the brig's crew
+were familiar. Glad to escape the scene, I left the brig and wandered
+about in the silent depths of the island forest.
+
+The Captain here, as elsewhere, was evidently regarded as a visitor of
+immense importance, for as I passed through the thickly populated
+villages the people were cooking vast quantities of pigs, poultry, and
+pigeons.
+
+The women and girls were decorating their persons with wreaths of
+flowers, and the warriors making preparations for a big dance to take
+place at night. I had brought my gun with me, and shot some of the
+magnificent pigeons which throng the island woods, which I presented to
+the native girls, a merry group of whom followed me with offerings of
+cocoa-nuts, and a native dish made of baked bananas, flavoured with the
+juice of the sugar-cane.
+
+I could not have eaten a fiftieth part of what was offered, but as
+declining would have been regarded as a rudeness, I begged them to take
+it to the chief's house for me.
+
+On my return a singular and characteristic scene presented itself. I
+could not help smiling as I thought what a shock it would have given
+many of my steady-going friends and relatives in Sydney, most of whom,
+if untravelled, resemble nothing so much as the inhabitants of English
+country towns, and are equally apt to be displeased at any departure
+from the British standard of manners and morals.
+
+The Captain was seated on a mat in the great council-house of the tribe,
+talking business with a white-headed warrior, whom he introduced as the
+king of the Mortlock group. The women had decorated the Captain's neck
+and broad breast with wreaths--two girls were seated a little farther
+off, binding into his hat the tail-feathers of the tropic bird. He
+seemed in a merry mood, and whispering something to the old man, pointed
+to me.
+
+In a moment a dozen young girls bounded up, and with laughing eyes and
+lips, commenced to circle around me in a measure, the native name of
+which means "a dance for a husband."
+
+They formed a pretty enough picture, with their waving arms and flowing
+flower-crowned hair. I plead guilty to applauding vociferously, and
+rewarding them with a quantity of the small red beads which the Mortlock
+girls sew into their head-dresses.
+
+Thus, with but slight variations, our life flowed, if monotonously,
+pleasantly, even luxuriously on--as we sailed to and fro amid these
+charmed isles, from Namoluk to Truk, thence to the wondrously beautiful
+Royalist Islands, inhabited by a wild vigorous race. They also made much
+of us and gave dances and games in honour of our visit.
+
+And still we sailed and sailed. Days passed, and weeks. Still glided we
+over the summer sea--still gazed we at a cloudless sky--still felt we
+the languorous, sighing breath of the soft South Pacific winds.
+
+Day by day the same flock of predatory frigate birds skimmed and swept
+o'er the glittering ocean plain, while high overhead the wandering
+tropic birds hung motionless, with their scarlet tail-feathers floating
+like lance pennons in relief against the bright blue heavens.
+
+Now, the Captain had all a true seaman's dislike to seeing a sea-bird
+shot. One day, off Ocean Island, Jansen, the mate, came out of the cabin
+with a long, smooth bore, which he proceeded to load with buck shot,
+glancing the while at two graceful tropic birds, which, with snow-white
+wings outspread, were poised in air directly over the deck, apparently
+looking down with wondering eye at the scene below.
+
+"What are you going to shoot, Jansen?" inquired the Captain, in a mild
+voice.
+
+The mate pointed to the birds, and remarked that his girl wanted the
+feathers for a head-dress. He was bringing the gun to his shoulder, when
+a quick "Put down that musket," nearly caused him to drop it.
+
+"Jansen!" said the Captain, "please to remember this,--never let me see
+you or any other man shoot a sea-bird from the deck of this ship. Your
+girl can live without the feathers, I presume, and what is more to the
+point, I _forbid_ you to do it."
+
+The mate growled something in an undertone, and was turning away to his
+cabin, when Hayston sprang upon him like a panther, and seizing him by
+the throat, held him before him.
+
+"By ----! Jansen," he said, "don't tempt me too far. I told you as
+civilly as possible not to shoot the birds--yet you turn away and mutter
+mutinously before my men. Listen to me! though you are no seaman, and a
+thorough 'soldier,' I treat you well for peace' sake. But once give me a
+sidelook, and as sure as God made me, I'll trice you up to the mainmast,
+and let a nigger flog you."
+
+He released his hold of the mate's throat after this warning. The cowed
+bully staggered off towards his cabin. After which the Captain's mood
+changed with customary suddenness; he came aft, and began a game with
+Kitty and her brother--apparently having forgotten the very existence of
+Jansen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The calm, bright weather still prevailed--the light air hardly filling
+our sails--the current doing all the work. When one afternoon, taking a
+look from aloft, I descried the loom of Kusaie or Strong's Island, on
+the farthest horizon.
+
+"Land ho!" The watch below, just turning out, take up the cry as it goes
+from mouth to mouth on deck. Some of them gaze longingly, making
+calculations as to the amount of liberty they are likely to get, as well
+as the work that lies before them.
+
+Early next morning we had drifted twenty miles nearer, whereupon the
+Captain decided to run round to the weather side of the island first,
+and interview the king, before going to Utwe or South harbour, where we
+proposed to do the most of our trading.
+
+Suddenly, after breakfast, a serious disturbance arose between the
+Chinese carpenter and Bill Hicks, the fierce Fijian half-caste, who was
+second mate. The carpenter's provisional spouse was a handsome young
+woman from the Gilbert group, who rejoiced in the name of Ni-a-bon
+(Shades of Night). Of her, the carpenter, a tall, powerfully-built
+Chinaman, who had sailed for years with Hayston in the China Seas, was
+intensely jealous. So cunning, however, was she in evading suspicion,
+that though every one on board was aware of the state of affairs, her
+lawful protector suspected nothing.
+
+However, on this particular morning, Nellie, the Hope Island girl, being
+reproved by the second mate for throwing pine apple and banana peel into
+the ship's dingey, flew into a violent rage, and told the carpenter that
+the second mate was stealing Ni-a-bon--and, moreover, had persuaded her
+to put something into his, the carpenter's, food, to make him "go mate,"
+_i.e._ sicken and die.
+
+Seizing an axe, the Chinaman sallied on deck, and commenced to exact
+satisfaction by aiming a blow at Ni-a-bon, who was playing cards with
+the other girls. The girl Mila averted the blow, and the whole pack fled
+shrieking to the Captain, who at once called upon Bill for explanation.
+
+He did not deny the impeachment, and offered to fight the carpenter for
+Ni-a-bon. The Captain decided this to be eminently right and proper; but
+thought the carpenter was hardly a match for the mate with fists. Bill
+promptly suggested knives. This seemed to choke off the carpenter, as,
+amid howls from the women, he stepped back into his cabin, only to
+reappear in the doorway with a rifle, and to send a bullet at the mate's
+head, which missed him.
+
+"At him, Billy," cried the Captain, "give him a good licking--but _don't
+hurt his arms_; there's a lot of work to be done to the bulwarks when we
+get the anchor down again."
+
+The second mate at once seized the carpenter, and dragging him out of
+his cabin, in a few minutes had so knocked his features about that he
+was hardly recognisable.
+
+Ni-a-bon was then called up before the Captain and questioned as to her
+preference, when, with many smiles and twisting about of her hands, she
+confessed to an ardent attachment to the herculean Bill.
+
+The Captain told Bill that he would have to pay the carpenter for
+damages, which he assessed at ten dollars, the amount being given, not
+for personal injury, but for the loss sustained by his annexation of the
+fascinating Ni-a-bon.
+
+At sunset we once more were off Chabral harbour, where we ran in and
+anchored--_within fifty yards_ of the king's house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+MURDER AND SHIPWRECK
+
+
+We found the island in a state of excitement. Two whaleships had
+arrived, bringing half a dozen white men, and who had a retinue of
+nearly a hundred natives from Ocean and Pleasant Islands. The white men
+had to leave Pleasant Island on account of a general engagement which
+had taken place; had fled to the ships for safety, taking with them
+their native wives, families, and adherents.
+
+The other men were from Ocean Island, a famine having set in from
+drought in that lovely isle. They had also taken passage with their
+native following, to seek a more temporarily favoured spot. The
+fertility of Kusaie (Strong's Island) had decided them to remain.
+
+Strange characters, in truth, were these same traders, now all quartered
+at Chabral harbour! They were not without means, and so far had
+conducted themselves decently. But their retinue of savage warriors had
+struck terror into the hearts of the milder natives of Kusaie.
+
+Let me draw from the life one of the patriarchs of the movement, on the
+occasion of his embarkation.
+
+Ocean Island, lat. 0 deg. 50' south, long. 168 deg. east.
+
+A fantastic, lonely, forbidding-looking spot. Circular in form, with
+rounded summit, and a cruel upheaved coral coast, split up into ravines
+running deep into the land. Here and there, on ledges overlooking the
+sea, are perched tiny villages, inhabited by as fierce and intractable a
+race of Malayo-Polynesians as ever lacerated each other's bodies with
+sharks'-tooth daggers, after the mad drunkenness produced by sour toddy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mister Robert Ridley, aged seventy, sitting on a case in his house, on
+the south-west point of Paanopa, as its people call Ocean Island, with a
+bottle of "square face" before him, from which he refreshes himself,
+without the intervention of a glass, is one of the few successful
+deserters from the convict army of New South Wales. At the present
+moment he is an ill-used man. For seven years he has been the boss white
+man of Paanopa, ever since he left the neighbouring Naura or Pleasant
+Island, after seeing his comrades fall in the ranks one by one, slain by
+bullet or the scarce less deadly drink demon. Now, solitary and
+saturnine, he has to bow to Fate and quit his equatorial cave of
+Adullam, because a mysterious Providence has afflicted his island with a
+drought.
+
+From out the open door he sees the _Josephine_, of New Bedford, Captain
+Jos Long, awaiting the four whaleboats now on the little beach below his
+house, which are engaged in conveying on board his household goods and
+chattels, his wives and his children, with _their_ children, and a dusky
+retinue of blood-relations and retainers; for the drought had made food
+scarce. Blood had been shed over the ownership of certain cocoa-nut
+trees; and old Bob Ridley has decided to bid farewell to his island, and
+to make for Ponape in the Carolines. So the old man sits alone and
+awaits a call from the last boat. Perhaps he feels unusual emotion
+stirring him, as the faint murmur of voices ascends from the beach. He
+would be alone for awhile to conjure up strange memories of the past, or
+because the gin bottle is but half emptied.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The _Josephine_, of New Bedford!" he mutters, as a grim smile passes
+over his bronzed, sin-wrinkled countenance; "why, _t'other one_ was from
+New Bedford too. This one's larger--a six-boat ship--and carries a big
+afterguard. Still the job could be done agin. But--what's the good now!
+If Joe, the Portuguese, was here with me I'd say it _could_ be done."
+Another gulp at the "square face." "Damn it! I'm an old fool. There's
+too many of these here cussed blubber-hunting Yankees about now. Say we
+took the ship, we'd never get away with her. Please God, I'll go to
+Ponape and live like a d--d gentleman. There's some of the old crowd
+there now, and I a'n't so old yet."
+
+And here, maybe, the old renegade falls a thinking afresh of "the other
+one" from New Bedford, that made this very island on the evening of the
+3rd of December 1852.
+
+Out nearly two years, and working up from the Line Islands towards
+Honolulu, the skipper had tried to make Pleasant Island, to get a
+boat-load of pigs for his crew, but light winds and strong currents had
+drifted him away, till, at dawn, he saw the rounded summits of Ocean
+Island pencilled faintly against the horizon, and stood away for it. "We
+can get a few boat-loads of pigs and 'punkins' there, anyhow," he said
+to the mate.
+
+The mate had been there before, and didn't like going again. That was in
+1850. Sixteen white men lived there then, ten of whom were runaway
+convicts from Sydney or Norfolk Island. He told his captain that they
+were part of a gang of twenty-seven who had at various times been landed
+from whalers at Pleasant Island in 1845. They had separated--some going
+away in the _Sallie_ whaler, and others finding their way to Ocean
+Island. Now, the _Sallie was never heard of again_, the mate remarked.
+The captain of the _Inga_ looked grave, but he had set his heart upon
+the pigs and "punkins." So at dusk the brig hove to, close to the
+south-west point, and as no boats came off the skipper went ashore.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There were nearly a thousand people on Ocean Island then, and he felt a
+trifle queer as the boat was rushed by the wild, long-haired crowd, and
+carried bodily on shore.
+
+Through the gathering darkness he saw the forms of white men trying to
+push their way through the yellow crowd of excited natives. Presently a
+voice called out, "Don't be scared, mister! Let the niggers have their
+way and carry up the boat."
+
+He let them have their way, and after being glared at by the red light
+of cocoa-nut torches borne by the women, he was conducted to one of
+three houses occupied by the six gentlemen who had arranged to leave the
+continent of Australia without beat of drum.
+
+Bob Ridley's house was the scene of rude and reckless revelry that
+night. A jar of the _Inga's_ rum had been sent for, and seated around on
+the boxes that lined the side of the room the six convicts drank the raw
+spirit like milk, and plied the captain for news of the outer world two
+years old. Surrounding the house was a throng of eager, curious natives,
+no longer noisy, but strangely silent as their rolling, gleaming eyes
+gloated over the stone jar on the table. Presently a native, called
+"Jack" by his white fellow residents, comes to the door and makes a
+quick sign to Bob and a man named Brady, who rose and followed him into
+a shed used as a cook-house. Jack's story is soon told. He had been to
+the brig. She had thirty-two hands, but three men were sick. A strict
+watch was kept by the mate, not more than ten natives were allowed on
+board at once. In the port bow boats and the starboard quarter boats
+hanging on the davits there were two sailors armed with muskets.
+
+Another of the white men now slunk into the cook-house where the three
+talked earnestly. Then Brady went back and told the captain that the
+brig was getting into the set of the outer currents, and would be out of
+sight of land by daylight unless he made sail and worked in close again.
+Upon which the captain shook hands all around, and was escorted to his
+boat, promising to be back at daylight and get his load of "punkins."
+
+Brady and two others went with the captain for company, and on the way
+out one of his new friends--a tall, ghastly creature, eternally twisting
+his long fingers and squirting tobacco juice from his evil-seeming
+mouth--told the captain that he "orter let his men take a run ashore to
+get some cocoa-nuts and have a skylark." When they got aboard the
+captain told the mate to take the sentries out of the boats, to make
+sail, and run in close out of the currents, as it was all right. The
+captain and the guests went below to open another jar, while the mate
+and cooper roused up the hands who were lying about yarning and smoking,
+and told them to make sail. In the house ashore Bob Ridley with his two
+companions and Jack were planning _how the job was to be done_.
+
+Two boats came ashore at daylight, and in addition to the crews there
+were ten or a dozen liberty men who had leave till noon to have a run
+about the island. The captain still bent on his "punkins," took a
+boat-steerer and two other hands to put the coveted vegetables into bags
+and carry them down to the boats. The pumpkins, Ridley said, grew on his
+own land quite close; the men could pick them off the vines, and the
+natives carry them down. So they set off up the hill until the pumpkin
+patch was reached. Here old Bob suddenly felt ill, and thought he would
+go back to take a swig at the rum jar and return, but if the captain
+wanted a good view from the top of the island Jack would show him round.
+So leaving the men to bag the pumpkins, the skipper and Jack climbed the
+path winding through the cocoa-nuts to the top of the hill. The sun was
+hot already, and the captain thirsty. Jack, out of his hospitable heart,
+suggested a drink. There were plenty of cocoa-nuts around growing on
+short, stumpy trees, a couple of which he twisted off, and without
+husking one with his teeth, as is often done, cut a hole in the green
+husk and presented it to the skipper to drink from. The nut was a heavy
+one; taking it in both hands the doomed sailor raised it to his lips and
+threw back his head. That was his last sight of the summer sky that has
+smiled down on so many a deed of blood and rapine. For Jack at that
+moment lifted his right arm and drove the knife to the hilt through his
+heart.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As Jack hurried back to be in good time for the "grand coup"--the
+cutting off of the brig--he saw that the boat-steerer and his two hands
+_had finished gathering the pumpkins_. Two bags were filled and tied,
+while beside them were the three bodies of the gatherers, each decently
+covered with a spreading cocoa-nut branch. The ten "liberty men" had
+been induced by a bevy of laughing island nymphs to accompany them along
+the ledge of the steep coast cliff to a place where, as Jack had told
+them, they would find plenty of nuts--a species of almond peculiar to
+Ocean and Pleasant Islands. Half-an-hour's walk took them out of sight
+and hearing of the _Inga_, and then the "liberty men" saw that the girls
+had somehow dropped behind, and were running with trembling feet into
+the maze of the undergrowth. The startled men found themselves in an
+amphitheatre of jagged rough coral boulders, covered over with a dense
+verdure of creepers, when suddenly Brady and fifty other devils swept
+down upon them without a cry. It was soon over. Then the blood-stained
+mob hurried back to the little beach.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The mate of the _Inga_ was a raw-boned Yankee from Martha's Vineyard.
+Fearless, and yet watchful, he had struck the tall renegade as "a chap
+as was agoin' to give them trouble if they didn't stiffen him fust in
+the cabin." It was then noon, and as eight bells struck the crew began
+to get dinner. The mate, before he went below, took a look at the shore
+and fancied he saw the boat shoving off with the captain.
+
+"Yes," chimed in Wilkins, one of the guests, "that's him; he's got a
+boat-load, and all the canoes comin' off 's a lot of our own niggers
+bringin' off cocoa-nuts."
+
+"Then let's get dinner right away," answered the mate, who knew the
+captain would make sail as soon as ever he found his "punkins" safe
+aboard.
+
+Had he known that the captain was lying staring up at the sun on the
+hilltop among the dwarf palms, he might even then have made a fight of
+it, short of half the crew as he was.
+
+It was not to be.
+
+They went below--he and his guests, the third mate and the carpenter;
+the cooper was left in charge of the ship.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The boats and canoes came alongside at once, pulling hard. Suddenly the
+cooper heard a cry from a man in the waist of the ship that chilled his
+blood, while over the bulwarks swarmed the copper-skinned crowd, knife
+and club in hand. As he rushed to the companion, the tall renegade
+looked up and saw the time had come.
+
+Then began the butchery. The ship's officers rushed on deck, leaving
+behind only the negro steward and a boy with the three convicts. Two
+shots were fired in the cabin, after which the three demons hurried up
+to join in the melee. In ten minutes there was not a man of the crew
+alive, except the cooper in the maintop, with a bloody whale-spade in
+his fast relaxing grasp. Brady and Bob were agreed "to give the old cove
+a chance to get eat up by the sharks," and ironically advised him to
+take a header and swim ashore. But the cooper, with his feet dangling
+over the futtocks and his head sunk on his chest, made no sign. He fell
+back as a streak of red ran slowly between the planking of the maintop
+and trickled down the mast to the deck.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a disappointment when the white murderers gathered in the cabin
+to find so small a quantity of rum in the _Inga's_ lazarette. But they
+were consoled by two bags of Mexican dollars--"Money for the punkins,"
+grinned Brady, which would buy them twice as much as they wanted when
+next ship came along. And then as the principal business was over, the
+harmony began, and amidst rum and unholy jesting, a division of the
+effects in the cabins was made, while unto Jack and his myrmidons were
+abandoned all and sundry that could be found for'ard.
+
+When the heavy-laden boats had been sent again and again to the shore, a
+fire was lighted in the cabin by the tall renegade, and the white men
+pushed off. But it suddenly occurred to Messrs. Ridley and Brady that
+"such a hell of a blaze might be seen by some other blubber-hunters a
+long way on a dark night," so the boat was put back and the brig
+hurriedly scuttled. And you can drop a lead line close to the edge of
+the reef anywhere about Ocean Island, and get no soundings at forty
+fathoms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Soon after we anchored an urgent message was sent to the Captain by King
+Tokusar and Queen Se, imploring him to come ashore and advise them. The
+Captain had of late seemed averse to going anywhere without my company,
+and asked me to come with him. So, getting into the whaleboat, we were
+pulled on shore, landing at a massively-built stone wharf which formed
+part of the royal premises.
+
+I may here mention that the headquarters of the American Mission had
+been at Kusaie for many years. The people were all Christians, and to a
+certain degree educated. Their island took rank, therefore, as the most
+successful result of missionary enterprise in the North Pacific.
+
+A native college had been built, to which were brought from outlying
+islands those natives who were destined for the ministry. However, about
+a year previously the Board of Mission had changed their headquarters to
+Ebon, an island of the Marshall group, leaving but one native missionary
+on Kusaie in charge of the flock. His name was Likiak Sa. There are
+coloured Chadbands as well as white ones; and for pure, unmitigated
+hypocrisy the European professor would have had but little show in a
+prize contest.
+
+The head of the American Mission, Mr. Morland, had built himself an
+exceedingly comfortable stone house in Lele. As he was away at present
+in the brig _Morning Star_, his residence was occupied by his
+fellow-worker, Likiak Sa, his wife, and an exceedingly pretty girl named
+Kitty of Ebon, who acted as housekeeper to Mr. and Mrs. Morland when at
+home.
+
+The missionaries had tried hard to prevent the people of Kusaie from
+selling produce to the whaleships, alleging that their visits were
+fruitful of harm. The old king, however, whose power had declined
+sensibly since the arrival of the missionaries, withstood their orders;
+and finally insisted upon the privilege of permitting them to visit the
+island, and to purchase the pigs, poultry, and fruit from the islanders
+which would otherwise lie useless on their hands.
+
+This King Tokusar was a curious compound of shrewdness, generosity,
+cant, and immorality, each alternately gaining the upper hand.
+
+On entering the "palace," which was exceedingly well furnished, we found
+him seated in an armchair in his reception room. He was dressed in a
+black frock-coat and white duck trousers: the latter somewhat of a
+military cut, falling over patent leather shoes. On one side of the
+chair, lying on its broad arm, was a ponderous copy of the Scriptures in
+the Kusaie dialect. On the other arm was placed one of the long clay
+pipes known as churchwardens.
+
+Behind him, with her much bejewelled fingers clasping the back of her
+consort's chair, was Queen Se, a pretty little woman, with a pleasant,
+animated expression of countenance. Further inside the apartment were
+the queen's female attendants, sitting in the ungraceful manner peculiar
+to the Pingelap and Kusaie women.
+
+The king looked worn and ill, as he croaked out, "How you do, Captain? I
+glad to see you again. I thank God he bin good to you--give you good
+voyage. How much oil you bin buy at Ponape?"
+
+Shaking hands warmly with the king, Hayston introduced me in form, and
+then to Her Majesty, who smiled graciously, tossing back her wavy black
+hair, so as to show her massive gold ear-rings. Chairs were brought,
+when a truly amusing conversation took place.
+
+_King._--"Well, Captain! you d--d clever man. I want you give me advice.
+You see--all these men come to Kusaie. Well--me afraid, take my island
+altogether. What you think?"
+
+_Captain._--"Oh no, king! I'll see they do you no harm. I think some of
+them go away in the _Leonora_."
+
+_King._--(Much doubting) "Oh! thank you. I no want too many white men
+here--no Christians like Kusaie men. No believe God, no Jesus Christ."
+(Then with sudden change of tone) "I say, Capt'n Hayston, one of you men
+no pay my people when you here last--no pay anybody."
+
+_Captain._--"Very bad man, king, how much he cheat people out of?"
+
+_King._--(With inquiring look at queen) "Oh! about three dollars."
+
+_Captain._--"I'll attend to it, king--I'll see it paid."
+
+_King._--"Thank you, Capt'n. What you say this young gentleman's name?"
+
+_Captain._--"His name is Hilary Telfer."
+
+_King._--"You like Strong's Island, young gentleman? Pretty girl, eh?
+Same as Captain?" Here he gave a wheezing laugh, and clapped his hands
+on the Captain's knees.
+
+I told him I thought the Strong Island girls very pretty. The queen
+communicated this to the attendants. After which I was the recipient of
+various nods and winks and wreathed smiles.
+
+An enormous roasted hog was then carried in by two of the king's cooks,
+after which a number of servitors appeared carrying taro, yams, and
+other vegetables--again yet more, bearing quantities of fish. We seated
+ourselves at a small table--the Captain opposite the king, while the
+lively little queen and I were _vis-a-vis_.
+
+"Make up to her," whispered the Captain, "flatter her to the masthead if
+you wish to be in clover for the rest of your stay. Never mind old
+Tokusar."
+
+Acting on this hint I got on famously with her South Sea majesty,
+discovering in due course that she was a really clever little woman, as
+well as an outrageous flirt.
+
+Presently the boats came ashore again, and the steward was ushered in,
+carrying a large box.
+
+"King!" said the Captain, "I know you are sick, and need something to
+make you strong. Pray accept a small present from my table." The
+present consisted of two bottles of brandy, with the same quantity of
+gin, and a dozen of beer.
+
+"Oh! thank you, Capt'n--you really very kind. By George! I like you too
+much."
+
+The queen cast a reproachful glance at Hayston. I could see she did not
+appreciate the gift. Her lord soon had a bottle of brandy opened, out of
+which he poured himself an able seaman's dose. The Captain took a
+little, and I--for once in my life--shared a bottle of Tennant's bitter
+beer with a real queen.
+
+The king rose up, with a broad smile illumining his wrinkled face, and
+said, with his glass to his lips, "Capt'n, and Capt'n's friend, I glad
+to see you." Presently, however, with a scared face, he said something
+to his consort at which she seemed disconcerted, and then told us they
+had forgotten to say grace.
+
+This, in a solemn manner, Hayston requested me to do, and, as I was
+bending my head and muttering the half-forgotten formula, the king
+leaned over and whispered to him, "I say, Capt'n, how many labour boys
+you want take away in brig?"
+
+This made me collapse entirely, and I indulged in a hearty laugh. The
+Captain and the queen followed suit, and, at some distance, the king's
+cackling merriment.
+
+It certainly was a jolly dinner. The king was growing madder ever
+minute, alternately quoting Scripture and swearing atrociously. After
+which he told me that he liked to be good friends with Mr. Morland, and
+that he had given up all his bad habits. But, changing his mood again,
+he confided to me that he wished he was young again, and concluded by
+expressing a decided opinion as to the beauty of Kitty of Ebon, Mrs.
+Morland's housekeeper.
+
+The queen now rose from the table and asked me to smoke a cigar. She
+produced a work-box in which were cigarettes and some Manila cheroots.
+Most graciously she lighted one for me.
+
+The king was now more than half-seas over. He laughed hilariously at the
+Captain's stories, and, with some double-barrelled oaths, announced his
+determination to return to the worship of the heathen gods and to
+increase the number of his wives.
+
+Queen Se smiled, and blowing out the smoke from between her pouting red
+lips, said, "Hear the old fool talk!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That night there was high revel on board the _Leonora_ after we had
+taken our farewell of the king and queen.
+
+Hayston decided to take advantage of the land breeze, and so get away to
+South harbour at once, as we had business to do there. Chabral harbour
+was a difficult place to get out of, though easy enough to get into.
+
+The trade winds blow steadily here for seven months out of the twelve.
+Now, though the largest ship afloat may run in easily through the deep
+and narrow passage, there is not room enough to beat out against the
+north-east wind. Neither can she tow out, as there is always a heavy
+swell rolling in through the passage, wind or no wind. Kedging out is
+also simply impossible, owing to the extraordinary depth of water.
+
+In 1836, the _Falcon_ of London, a whaleship, lay in Chabral harbour for
+120 days. She had ventured in for wood and water. On making a fifth
+attempt to tow out with her five boats, she touched and went to pieces
+on the reef.
+
+Hayston, however, had run in, knowing that at this season of the
+year--from January to March--the winds were variable, a land breeze
+generally springing up at dusk.
+
+I stated that there was revelry on board the brig that night. The fact
+was that the Captain, in the presence of the king, queen, and myself,
+had made agreement with the refugee traders to take them to whatever
+island they preferred. The king was strongly averse to their retinue of
+excitable natives being domiciled among the peaceful Kusaie people.
+Inspired with courage by the presence of Hayston, he had told the
+traders that he wished them to vacate Lele. If they did arrange to leave
+in the _Leonora_, he told them that they could establish themselves at
+Utwe (South harbour), and there remain until they got away in a passing
+whaler or China-bound ship.
+
+After conferring with Hayston, most of the traders decided to take his
+offer of conveying them and their following to Ujilong (Providence
+Island), which was his own property, and there enter into engagement
+with him to make oil for five years. Two others agreed to proceed to the
+sparsely populated but beautiful Eniwetok (or Brown's group), where were
+vast quantities of cocoa-nuts, and only thirty natives. These two men
+had a following of thirty Ocean islanders, and were in high delight at
+the prospect of having an island to themselves and securing a fortune
+after a few years of oil-making.
+
+As the merry clink of the windlass pauls echoed amidst the verdurous
+glens and crags of the mountains that surround Lele, the traders, with
+their wives, families, and followers, pulled off in their whaleboats and
+came aboard.
+
+What a picture did the brig make as she spread her snowy canvas to the
+land-breeze! Laden with the perfume of a thousand flowers, cooled by its
+passage through the primeval forest, it swept us along towards the
+passage, upon the right steering through which so much depended. The
+traders had half a dozen whaleboats; these, with two belonging to the
+_Leonora_, were towing astern, with a native in each.
+
+The passage, as I have said before, was deep but narrow. As the traders
+gazed on either side and watched the immense green rollers dashing with
+resistless force past the brig's side, they looked apprehensively at
+the Captain and then at their boats astern.
+
+Right in the centre an enormous billow came careering along at the speed
+of an express train. Though it had no "breaking curl" on its towering
+crest, I instinctively placed my hands in the starboard boat davits,
+expecting to see the vast volume of water sweep our decks. Some of the
+traders sprang into the main rigging just as the brig lifted to the sea,
+to plunge downward with a swift and graceful motion, never losing her
+way for a moment. No man of our crew took the least notice. They knew
+what the brig could do, they knew the Captain, and no more anticipated a
+disaster than a mutiny.
+
+We made open water safely. Then the Captain descended from the
+fore-yard, whence he had been conning the ship. "Well, gentlemen," he
+said, "here we are, all on board the _Leonora_! I hope you think well of
+her."
+
+The traders emphatically asserted that she was a wonder. Then, as we did
+not intend to enter Utwe harbour till the morning, we shortened sail.
+The brig was placed under her topsails only, and we glided slowly and
+smoothly down the coast. Still the reef surge was thundering on the
+starboard hand.
+
+The light of the native villages--for the sudden night of the tropics
+was upon us--glimmered through the groves of cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit
+trees that fringed the snowy beaches. A shadowy, dreamy landscape,
+blurred and indistinct at times, while ever and anon the back-borne
+spume of the breakers fell in rain-mist over all, as they reared and
+raved, only to dash themselves in mad turmoil on the javelins of jagged
+coral.
+
+It was a strange scene. Yet stranger still were the dramatis
+personae--the wild band of traders that clustered around the giant form
+of the Captain, as he lay smoking his cigar on the skylight, in friendly
+converse with all.
+
+Foremost in position and seniority comes old Harry Terry, a stalwart,
+grizzled veteran, brown-cheeked and bright-eyed still. Full of yarns of
+his cruise with Captain Waldegrave of H.M. _Seringapatan_, and Captain
+Thomas Thompson in the _Talbot_ frigate, on the coast of South America.
+Clear and honest is his eye, yet he has a worn and saddened look, as
+from a sorrow, long past, half-forgotten, yet never to be wholly erased
+from memory's tablet. A deserter--of course. Yet had he a true Briton's
+love for the flag which he had once sailed and fought under. By his side
+stand four stalwart half-caste sons, hearkening with glistening eyes to
+the Captain's tales of lands they had never seen, scarcely heard of,--of
+polar bears, icebergs, dog sledges, Esquimaux, reindeer, far amid the
+solitudes of the frozen North.
+
+Close by old Harry sits a tall, red-bearded man, with a look of latent
+humour in his countenance, which proclaims his nationality even if the
+richness of his brogue were not in evidence. This is Pleasant Island
+Bill, a merry good-for-nothing, with a warm heart and unlimited capacity
+for whisky. In his belt he carries--perhaps from force of habit--a heavy
+navy revolver, before which many a fierce Pleasant islander has gone
+down in the bloody emeutes so common in that wild spot. Behind Bill is
+his wife Tiaro--a fair-skinned native of Taputanea (Drummond's Island).
+She is certainly the "savage woman" of the poet's fancy--handsome
+withal, as, with her hand on her husband's shoulder, she gazes
+admiringly at the herculean figure of the far-famed Rover of the South
+Seas, the dreaded Captain of the _Leonora_. Near to or behind Tiaro are
+the other traders' wives, with their wild-eyed, graceful children.
+
+Beside me, sitting upon a bundle of sleeping mats, is a bronzed and
+handsome young fellow, Charlie Wilder by name, a veritable Adonis of the
+South Seas. With clear-cut features and bright brown curling locks,
+contrasting well with a dark, drooping moustache, he lolls languidly on
+the mats, gazing dreamily at times at the animated forms and faces
+around him. He was the ideal sea rover--much untrammelled by the canons
+of more civilised life. To each of his four young wives he appeared
+equally devoted. Though a _blase_, exquisite in manner, he was a man who
+simply laughed at wounds and death. A dangerous antagonist, too, as some
+of his fellow-traders had good reason to know.
+
+There was yet another trader--a tall young American, who had run away at
+Pleasant Island from the whaleship _Seagull_--a difference of opinion
+with the captain having resulted in Seth's being put in irons.
+
+Besides Dick Mills the boat-steerer, who had deserted also from a
+whaler, there was another well-known trader, a true type of the old-time
+escaped convict. Burnt browner than a coffee berry is old Bob Ridley,
+scarred, weather-beaten, and, in accordance with the fashion of runaway
+sailors in the early days, tattooed like a Marquesas islander. Very
+"dour" and dangerous was this veteran--thinking no more of settling a
+difference with his ever-ready revolver than of filling his ancient clay
+pipe. He had with him two sons and three daughters, all married save the
+youngest girl. Sons and daughters alike had intermarried with natives,
+and the old man himself--his first wife being dead--had possessed
+himself of a girl of tender years but unyielding character. A native of
+Rapa-nui or Easter Island, she possessed in a high degree the personal
+beauty for which her race is famed throughout Polynesia. The old trader,
+it seems, had lately visited Tahiti, and there had dropped across the
+beautiful Lalia, and rescued her from the streets of Papeite. When he
+returned to Pleasant Island she accompanied him. She was a clever
+damsel, and having once been an inmate of the military camp at Tahiti,
+gave herself great airs over her step-children, though she was the
+junior of the youngest girl. Amongst other accomplishments Lalia
+could swear fluently both in French and English, having besides a
+thorough command of whaleship oaths which, I may observe, are unique in
+their way, and never seen in print.
+
+Singing and dancing were kept up until the galley fire was lit and
+coffee served out. Then as the tropic sea-mist was dispelled by the
+first sun rays, we saw, at no great distance, the verdurous hills that
+enclose with emerald walls the harbour of Utwe. Far back, yet seeming
+but a cable's length from the brig, rose the rugged coast, two thousand
+feet in air, of Mount Crozier.
+
+The inner shore of the harbour, sheltered by the reef from the fury of
+the terrific rollers, is surrounded by a broad belt of darkest green
+mangroves and hibiscus, forming a dense barrier, monotonous in
+colouring, but blending harmoniously with sea and sky. A well-nigh
+impassable forest coloured the landscape from sea to mountain top. Only
+near the shore were groves of cocoa-palms waving their plumy banners to
+the soft trade breezes. Interspersed at intervals one descried
+plantations of bananas and sugar-cane, yams and taro. The humidity of
+the climate shows itself in the surpassing richness of the vegetation.
+Mountain torrents foam and "rivulets dance their wayward round" in many
+a sequestered glen. Cane thickets springing densely from the deep
+alluvial mould form a safe retreat for the wild boar, while the stately
+purple plumaged pigeons preen themselves in the green gloom of this
+paradisal wild.
+
+The Captain walked the quarter-deck, giving orders to make sail on the
+brig, glancing in a half amused, yet contemptuous manner at the
+recumbent figures of the traders who, overcome by their potations, lay
+slumbering on the deck.
+
+Utwe is but a small harbour, so that the Captain felt vexed when
+daylight broke and revealed four whalers lying at anchor in the little
+port, allowing us no room. But one of them had his canvas loosed, and
+we caught the strains of "Shenandoah" as the crew lifted the anchor. We
+backed our main-yard and lay to, while she sailed out. A fine sight it
+was, as the whaler stood out through the narrow passage! The huge
+rollers dashing swiftly past her weather-beaten sides, made her roll so
+heavily that the boats on the davits nearly touched the water with their
+keels. She came close under our stern. Her captain stood up in one of
+the boats and took off his hat.
+
+"How air you, Capt'n?" he drawled; "that's a beautiful brig of yours.
+I've heard a deal of the _Leonora_ and Captain Hayston. I'm real sorry I
+hav'n't time to board you and have a chat. There's another
+blubber-hunter coming out after me, so you'd better wait awhile."
+
+Hayston answered him politely, and the _Marathon_ soon ran round the lee
+side of the island. In a quarter of an hour she was followed by another
+ship, after which we filled again and ran in, anchoring between the
+mangroves and the _Europa_ and _St. George_, New Bedford whaleships.
+
+Our first care was to land the cattle, and here the traders and whalers
+were treated to a lively scene. The mate Jansen, of whom I have before
+spoken, had been knocked off duty by the Captain, who told him that he
+was no seaman, and a cowardly dog besides, as he was always ready to ill
+treat the native crew, but would not stand up to him.
+
+An incident, in which I was an actor, goes to show the savage nature of
+the brute. One day, during our stay at Ponape, I happened to require a
+pair of steelyards that lay in his cabin; on going for them he used
+insulting language, and dared me to enter. He was lying in his bunk, and
+his bloodshot eyes glared with rage as he took a pistol from under his
+pillow. Keeping one eye on the pistol I went in and took the steelyards.
+He leaped out, and a struggle began. We fell on the deck--his whole
+weight upon me--but I managed to get hold of the pistol, which I threw
+overboard. As he freed himself and rose, he gave me a savage kick on
+the knee which lamed me for a week. But I drew back and landed him a
+left-hander, which catching him fair in the face, sent him down
+senseless, while a stream of blood poured from his mouth and ears.
+
+"Malie! malie!" shouted Black Johnny in Samoan (the equivalent to
+"_habet_"), and the crew took up the cry in tones of deep approval.
+
+We never spoke again after this encounter.
+
+However, just before we made ready to land the cattle, he came aft and
+begged the Captain to reinstate him.
+
+"Mr. Jansen!" said Hayston, "I cannot permit you to resume duty as mate
+of this brig. I have given the position to Fiji Bill, as you are not fit
+for it. However, I will see how you behave for the future, and may give
+you another chance. Go on deck and assist to get these cattle into the
+water."
+
+The traders and whalers were watching the operation with great interest.
+The longboat, in charge of Fiji Billy, was ready to tow the cattle on
+shore as soon as they were lowered into the water. The first beast was
+swung safely out of the main hold and over the side, when the tackle
+parted aloft and the animal plunged into the sea, just missing the boat.
+For a moment there was silence. We all ran to the side, where we saw the
+bullock reappear and strike bravely out for the mangroves, which he
+reached in safety.
+
+The Captain walked slowly over to Jansen, who was engaged in bullying
+the boatswain.
+
+"Who rigged that tackle?" he asked in his most unruffled tones; but I
+could see the colour mounting to his forehead, as the laughter of the
+whaling crews fell upon his ear.
+
+"I did," growled Jansen (edging towards his cabin, in which he always
+kept loaded firearms), his sullen face showing fear and hatred
+combined.
+
+"Keep to the deck, sir," broke forth the Captain, who had foreseen this
+movement; the harsh, severe tones I knew foretold disaster. "D--n you,
+sir, you are neither good enough for an officer nor man before the mast.
+There is not a kanaka on board this brig but could have rigged that
+tackle in a seaman-like manner. Boy George, or even one of the girls,
+could have made a better fist of it. You have disgraced the brig in the
+presence of other ships. Go to your bunk till after breakfast."
+
+And now Jansen brought immediate punishment on himself. With one hand on
+the door of the deckhouse, he turned round and muttered, "Why didn't you
+let the women do it, then?"
+
+The next moment both men were struggling fiercely on the deck,--Jansen
+making frantic efforts to fire a pistol he had concealed in the bosom of
+his shirt; but the hand which held it was gripped by the Captain, and
+the muzzle pointed upwards.
+
+Jansen was an extremely powerful man, and, amid the babel of tongues
+that were let loose, I heard one trader say, "By ----! he's got the best
+of the Captain."
+
+But I noticed that while Jansen was almost spent, and was breathing
+stertorously, the Captain had not yet put forth the tremendous strength
+which, on sea or shore, I never saw equalled. He was still holding
+Jansen's hand with a vice-like grasp, when the pistol fell to the deck.
+Suddenly freeing himself, he stepped back and dealt two blows with
+wonderful quickness on the mate's face, cutting his forehead and cheek
+to the bone. The man staggered wildly--his features streaming with
+blood--then fell senseless against one of the crew, who darted aside and
+let him drop on the deck. A murmur of applause, mingled with cries of
+pity from the women, arose from the spectators, while the whaler crews
+rent the air with cheers for "Bully Hayston."
+
+The Captain drew forth his handkerchief, with which he removed a slight
+stain upon his face, then said in a mild and pleasant voice, as if
+nothing had occurred, "Steward! bring me a glass of water. Bill (to the
+Fijian) get these other beasts up and put them ashore. Antonio! get
+Jansen's traps together, and put them and him into the boat. The man
+that points a pistol at me on board of this brig only does it once. As I
+don't wish to hurt him again, I must get rid of him."
+
+The cattle were soon landed and eating their fill on the rich tract of
+littoral between Utwe and Coquille.
+
+That day I bought various articles of trade--including ten tons of yams
+for Arrecifos. The Captain never interfered with my dealings with the
+natives; so when Likiak Sa the missionary went to him, and in a whining
+tone complained of my paying them in trade, he got the following answer:
+"Don't want your people to be paid in trade, don't you? Precisely so!
+you white chokered schemer--you whited sepulchre! you want to see these
+hard-working slaves of natives paid in cash, so that you and your
+brethren may rob the poor devils of every dollar for church tithes. The
+supercargo has my fullest confidence, and will not rob any native of a
+cent. Go and talk to him."
+
+The missionary came to the trade-room, where I was selling pigeon shot
+and powder to a man named Sree, and said that he wished the natives paid
+in cash. Every Strong's islander can speak English. So I turned to those
+present and asked if I had suggested their taking trade instead of
+dollars. On receiving this answer in the negative I told him to clear
+out. He disregarded me, upon which I assisted him to leave the cabin,
+while Lalia and Kitty covered him with flour from the pantry.
+
+This provided me with a persistent and bitter enemy.
+
+About six o'clock the Captain went below, but rather hastily returned,
+casting an anxious look to seaward. "The glass is falling fast," he
+said, "I can't make it out. I have never known it to blow hard here at
+this time of year. Still it is banking up to the westward."
+
+He hailed the whaleships, and saw that they had also noticed the glass
+falling. In a few minutes the two captains boarded us to have a
+consultation. The heavy, lowering cloud to seaward had deepened in
+gloom, and the three captains gazed anxiously at it.
+
+"Gentlemen!" said Hayston, "we are in a bad place if it comes on to
+blow. The land-breeze has died away, and that it is going to blow from
+the sou'-west I am convinced. We cannot tow out in the face of such a
+swell, even if we had daylight to try it. To beat out by night would be
+madness."
+
+The faces of the Yankee skippers lengthened visibly as they begged
+Hayston to make a suggestion.
+
+"Well," he said at length, "your ships may ride out a blow, for you've
+room to swing in, and if you send down your light spars and be quick
+about it, and your cables don't part, you'll see daylight. But with me
+it is different. I cannot give the brig a fathom more cable; there are
+coral boulders all around us, and the first one she touches will knock a
+hole in her bottom. But now every man must look to himself. I have two
+hundred people on board, and my decks are lumbered up with them. Adios!
+gentlemen, go on board and get your spars down for God's sake."
+
+Then the Captain turned all his attention to getting the brig ready for
+the storm that was even then close upon us. In the shortest time our
+royal and topgallant yards were down, the decks cleared of lumber, the
+native passengers sent below, and five fathoms of cable hove in. Hayston
+knew the brig would swing round with her head to the passage as soon as
+the gale struck her, and unless he hove in cable, must strike on one of
+the boulders he had spoken of.
+
+As yet there was not a breath of air, for after the last whisper of the
+land-breeze had died away, the atmosphere became surcharged with
+electricity, and the rollers commenced to sound a ceaseless thunder, as
+they dashed themselves upon the reef, such as I had never heard before.
+A pall of darkness settled over us, and though the whaleships were so
+near that the voices of their crews sounded strange and ghostlike in our
+ears, we could see nothing except the dull glow of the lamps alight in
+the cabins--showing through the ports.
+
+Then we heard the voice of Captain Grant of the _St. George_, "Stand by,
+Captain Hayston, it's coming along as solid as a wall."
+
+A fierce gust whistled through the cordage, and then a great white cloud
+of rain, salt spume, and spray enveloped the brig, as with a shrill,
+humming drone, like a thousand bagpipes in full blast, the full force of
+the gale struck us. The brig heeled over, then swung quickly round to
+her anchor, while the crew, every man at his station, sought through the
+inky blackness that followed the rain squall to see how the whaleships
+fared.
+
+But now the darkness deepened, if such were possible. No star shone
+through the funereal gloom; while the enormous rollers, impelled by the
+increasing force of the wind, swept in quickest succession through the
+narrow passage. The three ships rolled heavily.
+
+"Harry!" called out the Captain to the oldest trader, "take your boats
+and land as many of the people as you can. The sea is getting up
+fast--in half-an-hour it will be breaking aboard the brig."
+
+The traders' boats were made fast to the ship's stern, except two on
+deck.
+
+These were now hauled alongside, and old Harry, with his four stalwart
+sons--splendid fellows they were physically--manned one, and taking
+about fifty of their followers, who sprang over the side and were
+hauled into the boat, the sons gave a wild shout and disappeared into
+the darkness.
+
+The other boat was equally lucky in not being stove in. Pleasant Island
+Bill was in charge, and in a lull of the wind I heard him call out to
+those on deck to throw the women overboard and he would pick them up.
+
+Five or six of them leaped overboard and, swimming like otters, gained
+the boat; many others naturally held back. Standing on the deck clinging
+to the Captain's knees were the two children, Toby and Kitty. Seizing
+Kitty in his arms the Captain tossed her into the black waters close to
+the boat, where one of the crew caught her by the hair and pulled her
+in. Toby gave a yell of alarm and tried to dart below, but I caught him
+and slung him over after Kitty. Bill nearly missed catching him as he
+rose to the surface, but he was taken in. Then the boat headed for the
+shore, now only discernible by the white line of foam breaking; into the
+mangroves.
+
+And now our troubles recommenced. The waters of the harbour, generally
+placid as a mill-pond, were now running mountains high, so quickly had
+the sea got up. The Captain, who was standing at the stern sounding, and
+apparently as cool as if he were trout fishing, beckoned me to him, and
+placing his mouth to my ear, shouted--
+
+"Four fathoms under our stern--little enough if the sea gets worse. But
+if the wind hauls another point we'll touch that big coral mushroom on
+the port quarter, and then it's good-bye to the _Leonora_!"
+
+The words had hardly left his lips when a strange and awful lull of the
+wind occurred, rendering more intense the enshrouding darkness, more
+dread and distinct the seething wash and roar of the seas that broke on
+the weather reef.
+
+The Captain sprang into the main rigging and held up his hand to feel
+if the wind was coming from a new quarter. For some minutes the brig
+rolled so madly that it was all he could do to hold on.
+
+Then his strong, fearless voice sounded out: "Men! who will man a boat
+to take a line to the _Europa_? If I can get a hawser to the whaler to
+keep the brig's stern from this boulder under our port quarter, it may
+save the ship. If not, we must strike. There's a lull now, and a boat
+could get away."
+
+After a momentary hesitation, Antonio the Portuguese, Johnny Tilton, and
+two natives volunteered.
+
+"Good lads!" cried the Captain; "stand by, men, to lower away the
+whaleboat." In a few minutes she was in the water, and a whale-line made
+fast to a stout hawser was coiled away in the bow, as with an
+encouraging cheer from those on deck, the men gave way, and passing
+under our stern made for the _Europa_.
+
+After twenty minutes of anxiety, for we could see nothing, nor tell
+whether the boat had reached the _Europa_ safely or been stove in
+alongside, we saw her dart past the stern again, and Antonio called out,
+"All right, Captain, heave away on the hawser, the end's fast to the
+_Europa_."
+
+"Well done, lads!" cried the Captain; "but stay where you are, and I'll
+get some more women on shore."
+
+The strange lull still continued, but a lurid glare showed me the glass
+still falling steadily; when I told the Captain this he sighed, for he
+knew that our best chance of safety was gone. But he was a man of
+action.
+
+"Go below, Hilary!" he said quietly, "and get all the papers, letters,
+and articles of value together--I'll send them on shore with the women."
+
+In the cabin were eight or ten women; they gazed at me with
+terror-stricken faces. "On deck, Mary!" I said. "On deck all of you!
+there's a boat alongside, and some of you can get ashore."
+
+Five of them, with old Mary, at once left the cabin, and I heard their
+wild cries and screams of alarm as they were seized by the Captain and
+crew, and thrown overboard to be picked up by the boat.
+
+Lalia and the others remained in the cabin, clinging to each other
+and sobbing with fear.
+
+I picked up a heavy trade chest, and laying mats and rugs along the
+bottom and sides, stowed into it the chronometers, a couple of sextants,
+charts, and what gold and silver coin was in the Captain's secretary;
+also as many Winchester carbines and cartridges as it would hold.
+
+"Here, girls! help me carry this on deck," I said in Samoan to Lalia,
+who understood the language. We dragged the heavy box on deck, and, by
+wonderful good luck, it was lowered into the boat, which was now under
+the ship's quarter, and in imminent danger of being stove in.
+
+The Captain desired me to go ashore in the longboat and take charge of
+the boat. I was just about to jump when the brig gave a fearful plunge,
+and before she could recover, a heavy roller crashed over the waist and
+nearly smothered me. By clinging to the iron boat davits near me, I
+managed to save myself from being carried overboard with the debris of
+spars and timber that swept aft. When I regained my breath I could see
+nothing of the boat. She had, however, been swept ashore, and all in her
+landed safely except Bill, who was knocked overboard, but washed up into
+the mangroves.
+
+I felt the Captain's hand on my shoulder, as he asked me if I thought
+the boat had gone under.
+
+"I think not, or we should have heard some of them calling out; they can
+all swim."
+
+"Well, perhaps so," he replied, "but I fear not. I don't care a cent
+about the loss of the dollars, but Bill is a good fellow."
+
+Lalia had clung to the davits with me when the sea struck us, and was
+now almost exhausted. So with the Captain's help I carried her below
+into the now deserted cabin, for the other women were gone; had, I
+supposed, been washed overboard, for they were standing with us when we
+lowered the chest.
+
+The Captain then hastened on deck, telling me that the wind was coming
+away from the south. He had scarcely left me when I heard the dismal
+drone of the gale again, and his voice shouting to the carpenter to
+stand by and cut away the masts, for the seas were now breaking clean
+over the bows, and sweeping along the decks with resistless force.
+
+Being almost hove short, the ship could not rise quickly enough to the
+seas, and was besides rolling so much that she threatened to turn turtle
+every minute. It was impossible for any one to cross the deck, so madly
+was the brig rolling, and so fiercely were the seas sweeping her decks
+in quick succession; and so for a while all hands waited till a better
+chance offered to cut away.
+
+In the mean time I had dragged out another trade chest, and first
+securing my own papers and placing them in the bottom, I filled it with
+such articles as I thought would prove valuable if we did not save the
+ship.
+
+Lalia rendered me great assistance now. I filled a wineglass of
+brandy from the decanter, and made her drink it, for her teeth were
+chattering, and her lips blue with cold and terror combined.
+
+Together we managed to get the chest half-way up the companion, when
+another plunge made me slip, and the heavy box jammed the girl's feet
+against the side of the companion lining. I called loudly for help, as I
+could not extricate her from under the box. Fortunately, four native
+seamen heard me, and lifted the chest off her legs.
+
+Then I heard the Captain's voice calling out, "Well done, boys! Rotumah
+men, brave fellows, in a boat!"
+
+Carrying the girl below again, I dropped her in the steward's cabin,
+told her to stay there till I came back, and ran on deck.
+
+The Captain met me, and, pointing to a dark, indistinct mass, rising and
+falling near the ship's stern, said, "There's real grit for you!"
+
+It was one of the trader's whaleboats, manned by four Rotumah men and a
+native of Danger Island. Two of these brave fellows had been washed
+ashore in the second sea that had struck us, and with three others, who
+had reached the mangroves in another boat, had put out again to return
+to the brig and save their shipmates.
+
+The Captain now called out to those who were left on board, and told
+them that there was a chance of some of them getting ashore, by jumping
+over as the boat approached and getting into her. As for himself, if
+three or four good men would stand by him, he would attempt to cut away
+the masts, and perhaps save the ship as the hawser was made fast to the
+_Europa_.
+
+It was a new one, and might not part; but if it did, nothing could help
+the brig from sticking on the detached coral boulders that lay so close
+under the stern.
+
+Seizing her child in her arms, a powerfully-built Ocean Island woman
+sprang into the seething foam-caldron, and disregarding our cries to
+make for the boat, struck out for the nearest point of the mangroves.
+Next morning the child was found unharmed on a small beach, more than a
+mile away, and the body of the mother lying dead beside her, with a
+fearful gash on her temple and one foot missing,--the poor babe gazing
+at the cold face, and wondering why she did not wake when she called to
+her. Then others followed the women, some getting into the boat, and
+others letting the sea take them in the direction of the shore.
+
+"Where is the second mate?" shouted the Captain to the coxswain of the
+rescuing boat.
+
+"On shore with the traders, sir; all the boats but one are stove in on
+the beach, and he can't get out again."
+
+"All right, lads, don't attempt to come out again; but wait a minute."
+Then turning to me, "You must go ashore now in this boat. She has not
+many in her; and if her head is kept right into the break between the
+mountains she'll run up into the mangroves."
+
+But I said I would take my chance with the ship. I was a good swimmer,
+and in that time of danger, even despair, I could not leave the Captain.
+
+He pressed my hand silently, then called out, "All right, men, give way,
+the supercargo stays with me and the ship"; one dash of the oars, a
+wailing cry, a shout which out-toned it, and the boat disappeared, as if
+swallowed up by the darkness or the deep.
+
+We were not clustered together aft. Those of the crew that had stood by
+the ship were hanging on to the main rigging. The Captain, who had
+hitherto intended cutting away both masts at once, told me he fancied
+the ship was straining and plunging less, and that he would only cut
+away as a last resource.
+
+Suddenly he bent his glance at the hawser that was made fast to the
+_Europa_, and then pointed over to the seething water under our stern. I
+saw we were almost over a huge coral boulder, which every now and then
+showed itself bare.
+
+"By ----! those fellows on board the _Europa_ are paying out the hawser.
+We were fifty feet from that rock when the hawser was made fast and had
+a strain on it, and now it's right under her stern. Can any of you see
+the whaler's cabin lights?"
+
+The men looked through the blinding mists of spray that flew in our
+faces, and stung like whip-lashes when the brig was lifted high on a
+towering sea. The hawser tightened like an iron bar, but suddenly fell
+as if it had parted or been cast off.
+
+"The cursed dogs!" said the Captain, opening and shutting his hands
+spasmodically, "they are paying out, and letting us go to the devil!"
+
+And now a tremendous sea swept along and broke just as it reached
+abreast the mainmast. We felt the brig strike. Sea after sea tumbled in
+over the bulwarks, and a solid sheet of water broke over us in the main
+rigging, sweeping three or four men overboard.
+
+When I cleared my throat of the water I had swallowed, I saw the Captain
+with a rifle in his hand, and then followed the flash as he fired in the
+direction of the _Europa_.
+
+"Captain," I cried, "what good will that do? She may be ashore herself
+in as bad a fix as we are."
+
+He pushed me aside as I placed my hand on his arm. "Stand clear, Hilary!
+I tell you these cowardly hounds are deliberately wrecking me. That ship
+is in a safe place, and could ride out a heavier gale than this."
+
+"Captain," I began, when another sea lifted the brig's bow high in the
+air; then, with a dull crash, we struck stern on, and I saw the hawser
+had either parted or been cut away. The rudder had been torn from the
+stern-post, and ripped its way through the timbers with a fearful
+tearing sound. Again the Captain's face showed itself to me almost as
+white as the hell of boiling foam around us.
+
+"My ship is dearer to me than my life!" he said, as he cast the rifle
+from him and stood gazing out into the howling storm, amid which all the
+voices of earth and air seemed to be contending.
+
+Suddenly, with a pang of pity, I remembered that Lalia was in the
+steward's cabin. I dashed down below. Already the water was running into
+the hold, and as I gained the cabin the ship once more struck violently
+under my feet.
+
+"Lalia! Lalia!" I called, "come with me. Can you walk?"
+
+The girl was sitting up in the bunk, her hair unloosed, her eyes dilated
+with terror, as she gazed into the dimly-lighted cabin, and saw the
+water washing around it.
+
+She could hardly stand with the pain in her bruised feet, but I lifted
+her out. Then she tore off her dress, stripped to the waist, and, hand
+in hand, we succeeded in gaining the companion-way just as a torrent of
+water filled the cabin and put out the lamps.
+
+I felt the Captain's hand grasp me round the waist as we stumbled out on
+deck, and heard him say, "Hold on to me, Hilary! hold on like grim
+death, my girl!" as we were swept along by a sea against the bulwarks on
+the starboard side.
+
+Some of the men had clung to a boat that we carried on top of the
+deck-house, which had been washed over the side. They had no oars, but
+the backwater from the reef dashed her up against the ship, and I have
+an indistinct remembrance of the Captain dragging us along with him, and
+attempting to lift the girl up, when a towering wave struck us right
+amidships and drove us all over together on top of the boat, which was
+already stove in.
+
+I should have gone under then but for Lalia, for I had got a blow on
+the side from a piece of wreckage. Anyhow, what followed I cannot
+remember, for when I came to my senses it was daylight, and I was lying
+under some cocoa-nut trees with Lalia, and one of Harry Skilling's
+native retainers named Karta, bathing my back with fresh water.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My first inquiry was for the Captain, and I was relieved to hear from
+Lalia that he was visible at that moment, directing the crew to save
+wreckage from the brig. The two whaleships had ridden out the gale in
+safety, and the _Europa_ was already under weigh. I thought it just as
+well it was so, for Hayston would, I am sure, have attempted to seize
+her.
+
+Lalia told me that we clung to the boat till she struck a coral rock
+and went to pieces. Then every one was separated. She had been seized by
+Karta, and, still keeping hold of me, the three of us had come ashore
+together. She said also that my back was badly cut with the coral. The
+poor girl had a terrible gash on her arm, and this she had neglected to
+attend to me. I had a deep wound on my face, which caused me great pain,
+as a piece of tough coral had broken off in it.
+
+Lalia was almost nude, and I had only the remnants of a pair of duck
+trousers. We did not feel cold, however, as the storm had ceased, and
+the sun was now shining brightly. The wind had gone down, and the
+harbour was nearly as smooth as a mountain lake. The only visible sign
+of the disaster of the night was the maintopmast of the _Leonora_,
+showing where she had gone down.
+
+From the bank of mangroves on which we were located there was no access
+to the village of Utwe, where the rest of the ship's company were. Deep
+channels separated the two portions of the harbour. Karta was about to
+swim over to tell the Captain where I was, when Lalia caught him by
+the arm and pointed to the water. I have read a good many tall yarns
+about sharks, but never till now could I believe in their being as
+numerous as a shoal of minnows.
+
+The channels were simply alive with the brutes dashing to and fro,
+lashing the water into foam, and contesting with each other for dark
+objects floating near the surface. I shuddered instinctively, but
+Lalia laughed, and explained that the dead bodies were those of pigs
+washed overboard from the brig.
+
+Presently the tall figure of Karta attracted the notice of some of the
+people on the other side, and Lalia said the "ariki vaka" was coming
+over to us in one of the traders' whaleboats.
+
+The Captain sprang out of the boat, and seeing me lying down with my
+head in the girl's lap thought I was dead.
+
+"My dear boy," he said, taking both my hands and pressing them, "are you
+badly hurt?"
+
+I showed him my back, and said I felt most pain in my side, and
+whereupon I suffered ten excruciating pains in one as he extracted the
+piece of flat coral from my face. He then called one of the boat's crew,
+and told him to take off his shirt, one sleeve of which he tore off and
+bound up Lalia's arm. He then gave her the mutilated garment to cover
+her bare body, saying in his old cheerful manner that her husband was
+all right, and was out searching the beaches for her. She made a gesture
+of indifference, and then fainted away. As soon as she revived she was
+lifted into the boat, and we pushed off for the village.
+
+The Captain kept pressing my hand all the way over, and told me that
+since daylight he had been looking among the wreckage coming ashore and
+searching the beach for me, when some one saw our three figures in the
+cocoa-nut grove, and said two were white. Hayston knew this must be
+Lalia and myself, as she had a very fair skin. He was sincerely
+pleased at my escape, and no words need express my relief at his safety.
+
+He took us forthwith to one of the villagers' houses, and told the
+people to attend to us, and see that we wanted for nothing. He further
+insisted that I should not attempt to render him any assistance until I
+was perfectly recovered. I could only nod acquiescence, as my side was
+paining me terribly.
+
+A warm grasp of my hand and a kind look to Lalia and he was gone.
+
+One of the Kusaie women in the house told us that a message had gone up
+to the king, and that a native doctor named Srulik would soon come down
+and cure my back with leaves in the island fashion. She also informed
+Lalia that her husband had gone away in a canoe to look for her
+body, with two natives, but that he had come across a case of gin, and
+was now dead drunk on the opposite side of Utwe. It is hardly to be
+expected that a young girl could feel love for a man of her husband's
+years; but tears of humiliation coursed down her cheeks when the woman
+added that he had already asked an Ocean Island girl to be wife to him.
+
+About four o'clock in the afternoon messengers arrived from Lele with a
+message of regret from the king to Captain Hayston, and an invitation
+for me to Chabral harbour, so that I could get better quickly; and he
+could send his own boat for me. But I did not want to be separated from
+the Captain, and said I would come and visit him when I got permission.
+
+Queen Se sent me a large basket of cooked pigeons and fruit. Taking out
+a few for myself and Lalia, I sent the rest to the Captain, who was
+glad of them for his weary and hungry men.
+
+For the next few days I suffered fearfully with the pain in my side, and
+though the Captain visited me twice a day, and tried all he could to
+cheer me up, I fell into a hopeless state of despondency. All the time
+Lalia had remained in the house, her husband, not having finished the
+case of gin, never coming near her. Her stepsons and daughters disliked
+her, and therefore avoided the house where we were staying.
+
+The Captain told me that her arm was cut to the bone, and that the trade
+chest that had fallen against her had injured one foot badly. Never as
+long as I live shall I forget the unwearied attention and kindness which
+the poor girl showed me during our stay in the village. Though lame, and
+with only the use of one arm, she never left my side, and strove by
+every means in her power to allay the agony I endured--answering to my
+petulance and irritability only with smiles and kind words.
+
+The Captain told me that he had saved a good many articles from the
+wreck; that the big trade chest had come ashore, and that the money and
+firearms were in a safe place. A quantity of liquor had also been saved,
+and already some fierce fights had taken place, but the traders had in
+most instances behaved well, and assisted him to maintain order. He told
+me also that Lalia's husband had taken away a lot of liquor into the
+impassable forest that lines the north side of Utwe, and, with two of
+his sons and several women, was having a big carouse.
+
+"The virtuous and Christian Strong's islanders had," he said, "stolen
+about a thousand dollars' worth of trade that had been washed ashore.
+But," he added quietly, "I'll talk to them like a father as soon as I
+get a house built, and knock the devil out of those Pleasant islanders
+besides. They seem disposed to cut all our throats."
+
+A couple of days after this, Hayston came to me with a letter from
+Lalia's husband, which he handed to me. I don't know whether
+amusement or indignation predominated as I read it, written as it was on
+a piece of account paper.
+
+                        STRONG'S ISLAND, _March 11th_.
+
+                Supercargo _Leonora_ Brig.
+
+    DEAR FRIEND.--I heer my wife have took up with you, and say she
+    do'ent want anny mo-ar truck with her lawful husban. Captin
+    Hayston say No, but she must be cotton strong to you, not to
+    come to me when I look for her neerly one week amung two thousan
+    sharks, as I can prove, but I bare you no ill-wil, for I got
+    anuther wife, but you must give me the three rings she ware, and
+    I warn you I'm not responsble.--I remane, your true and sincere
+    friend.
+
+    _P.S._--Lal can read as well as me, and you can let her read
+    this. She is a good girl, and I bear no ill-wil.
+
+The Captain laughed when I read out this precious document, and told me
+not to take matters so seriously. He then sat down and chatted for
+half-an-hour, saying that as soon as he had finished saving the
+wreckage, he had called the traders together, and laid certain proposals
+before them to which they had agreed.
+
+These were that the traders and their followers would consider
+themselves under his direction, in which case he would engage to provide
+food for them during their stay on the island. They were not to have any
+commercial dealings with the people of Strong's Island, and their
+natives were to assist the crew of the _Leonora_ in erecting houses for
+their joint accommodation. After which he would endeavour to charter a
+vessel, probably a passing whaleship, to take the whole lot of us to
+Providence Island. Should no vessel call in six months' time, he would
+take a boat's crew and make for Mille Lagoon, six hundred miles distant.
+If the ketch I had brought down from Samoa was still afloat, he would
+bring her back, and take the people in detachments to Providence Island.
+He feared, however, that no more whalers would be calling in for ten
+months, as the _St. George_ and _Europa_ were the last of the fleet
+which was making, via Japan, for the Siberian coast, "right whaling."
+
+He left us then, saying he had established a little republic on the
+narrow strip of land that lay on the sea-side of Utwe village.
+
+Then I gave Lalia the letter I had received from her reprobate
+husband. She read it in silence and returned it to me, but I could see
+that the heartless old scoundrel's words had wounded her deeply. She
+took off some rings from her fingers, and sent them to the Captain to
+hand to the old man. "Do you think," she said, "that I can ever get back
+to Rapa-nui?" (Easter Island.)
+
+Her father, she went on to say, was dead, and her mother had been among
+those unfortunate people who in 1866 were seized by three Peruvian
+slavers and taken to work the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands.
+She, when about fourteen, had married one of the captains of one of the
+ships owned by the great firm of Brander of Tahiti. The tales she told
+me of his brutality and ill-usage during his drunken fits of passion
+moved me to sincere pity. The unmitigated rascal deliberately sold his
+child wife to an American (or a man who called himself one), and by him
+she was taken to San Francisco and delivered into yet more hopeless
+slavery. Here she made the acquaintance of a Tahitian half-caste. She
+and this girl succeeded in escaping and paying their passages to Tahiti,
+where they landed penniless and starving.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From Tahiti she was taken by her present husband.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A KING AND QUEEN
+
+
+On the next day I walked to the new village in course of formation, when
+I received from whites and natives alike a most flattering reception.
+Outside of the sandy spit a solid sea-wall of coral had been built, the
+ground had been levelled, and an enormous dwelling-house erected. This
+was the work of the Ocean and Pleasant islanders. It was the Captain's
+house, and from a hole in the gable floated the starry banner of the
+great Republic. This flag had been the joint work of Nellie and Mila. It
+was composed of strips of white calico, navy blue and Turkey red. At the
+further end of the sea-wall stood the traders' houses; opposite the
+captains' were those of their people. Every one seemed busy, and the
+greatest animation pervaded the scene, while a number of Strong's
+islanders, squatted down in front of the big house, surveyed the
+operations with dismay. They dreaded, and with good reason, the fierce
+and intractable natives of Pleasant Island, who would have been only too
+pleased to have cut their throats and taken possession of their
+beautiful home altogether.
+
+I was received by the Captain at the door of his house, and although the
+girls had frequently been to visit me, and bring fruit and fish from the
+Captain when I was sick, I was made as much of as if I had been dead and
+buried and come to life again. The Captain's merry blue eyes looked
+searchingly into mine, as I seated myself in an easy chair, "You see
+what it is to be _l'ami du maison_."
+
+I acknowledged the compliment, and then turned to shake hands with
+little Toby, who with a number of other children were being entertained
+by a sort of pig and yam tea-party by the Captain, each youngster having
+in his hand a junk of yam and piece of pork.
+
+Those of the crew who were in the vicinity now came in, and I had quite
+a levee. Black Johnny nearly wrung my hand off. I was glad to see the
+Captain looking so bright, and evidently on such good terms with those
+around him. I could not but be struck with the way in which the traders,
+resolute and determined men themselves, deferred to his slightest wish.
+
+For a few minutes he walked up and down the long matted floor,
+apparently lost in thought, while I sat and talked with the
+light-hearted, merry creatures around me. Suddenly stopping, he came up,
+and placed his hand on my shoulder.
+
+"Hilary! I like this island so well, that as Henry the Fifth said in
+France, when the French queen asked him how he liked her country: I mean
+to keep it."
+
+"Captain," I said, startled and alarmed, "are you serious?"
+
+"Yes and no! If I cannot get a ship to take us to Providence Island
+within six months I will upset the missionaries' apple-cart and take
+possession of the island. If a ship does call here, and I can charter
+her, I am bound in honour to fulfil my promise to these traders."
+
+"Captain," I said, "there are two hundred and fifty men on Strong's
+Island; surely you would not dispossess them? Besides, they will fight."
+
+"So much the better," he said, with a smile of contempt, "once let a
+quarrel break out between them and these Ocean and Pleasant islanders,
+and every native of Kusaie will have his throat cut in twenty-four
+hours."
+
+I turned the subject, for I saw by his stern expression that he meant
+what he said, and that any trifling incident would perhaps bring matters
+to an issue.
+
+Presently he began again. "Yes, these Pleasant islanders, who two weeks
+ago were all attached to these traders, are now heart and soul devoted
+to me. They know I am a better man, according to their ideas, than all
+the traders put together, and if I stepped out of the house now and told
+them I would lead them, they would follow me and burn old Tokusar's town
+over his head, cut off a passing ship, or do any other devilry such as
+their bloody instincts revel in."
+
+I tried to turn his thoughts into another channel, and succeeded so far
+that when I rose to return he was laughing and joking in his usual
+manner. He pointed out to me a separate part of the house, and told me
+that as soon as I liked to take possession he would be glad to see me in
+it.
+
+I explained to him that for the present I had better remain in the
+native house, as the king daily sent me food, and considered me his
+guest. In this he concurred, as he said if the king took a liking to a
+white man he would live in clover. He advised me to go and see him as
+soon as I was strong, or else his dignity would be touched. Also that I
+would find it well to keep good friends with Queen Se.
+
+When I returned to the native house, however, I felt "sick unto death,"
+and cast myself down on the mats in despair. The hurt I had received in
+the side seemed to have also affected my chest, as I could hardly
+breathe without suffering agonies. Happily I became unconscious; when I
+opened my eyes I found the Captain beside my mat, and during the whole
+night he remained with me and encouraged my sinking spirits. When
+daylight came he examined me carefully, after which he told me, that
+from the darkening colour of my skin, and the agony I felt from the
+slightest pressure, he thought I had received internal injury. He
+therefore insisted upon my coming over to his village, so that I might
+be under his immediate control. To this I consented at last, although
+young Harry (as we called Harry Waters) was eager that I should come and
+live with him on the north side of Utwe, where Hayston had formed a
+sub-station to make oil and given him charge.
+
+I liked Harry very much; he was the only one of the traders whose age
+approached my own. His bearing and behaviour, too, contrasted favourably
+with those of his drunken and dissolute colleagues. However, I had to
+decline his kind offer, although, to my amusement, he emphatically
+asserted that I would be no trouble to him, as he had four wives, and
+Rosa, the youngest of them, was a clever nurse. I paid the Strong
+islanders who had attended on me, and then inquired of Lalia what she
+intended to do? She had, of course, no money to pay the people for
+keeping her, and the old custom of extending hospitality to strangers
+had naturally died out since the coming of the missionaries.
+
+I had no other way of showing my gratitude than by offering her money.
+This she refused, but said she would be glad to get some clothes or
+material to make them. I gave a native money, and sent him up to Lele,
+where he bought several dresses from Kitty of Ebon, and as she was the
+same height and figure as Lalia, they fitted her capitally.
+
+A couple of days after I had taken up my quarters with the Captain she
+came to see me, and say good-bye. She told me she was going to live at a
+village near Lele, and teach the Strong's Island women hat-making, at
+which she was clever. She would stay there till she got tired of it. I
+was sincerely sorry, and was not ashamed to show it, "being weak from my
+wound," and hardly able to refrain from tears. I felt quite pleased when
+the Captain came up and shook her little hand warmly, telling her that
+she really ought not to leave us. "Mind, Lalia, come to me if you are
+in any trouble, and I will see you righted," he said in parting.
+
+"I know that, Captain! very well," she answered, looking up with a
+strange, sorrowful look in her large bright eyes, "but I must go now."
+Whereupon she walked slowly down the beach, and getting into a canoe
+with two Kusaie women, waved her hand and was soon out of sight.
+
+I recovered slowly, but after a while was able to get about and to take
+an inventory of the property saved, while the Captain amused himself by
+overlooking the building of a large oil-store. He had demanded an
+immediate payment of two hundred and fifty thousand cocoa-nuts from the
+king, as part indemnity for the property stolen by the natives from the
+wreck. The king dared not refuse, and now a huge pile of cocoa-nuts was
+accumulating near the oil-shed, where the Pleasant islanders were daily
+scraping the nuts and making oil. A number of butts had come ashore,
+which were utilised for the oil, so that the village had already gained
+a settled look. About this time the Captain gave way to occasional
+bursts of passion, inflicting severe beatings upon two of the traders,
+who had got drunk and were careering about with rifles in their hands,
+threatening to shoot any one that interfered with them.
+
+He also accused old Harry Terry of plotting with the king, and a violent
+scene ensued. Some of the natives still sided with their old master, and
+with knives and shark-tooth daggers surrounded him, uttering cries of
+defiance at the Captain.
+
+I was in the big house when the row commenced, and saw the excited
+savages running up to where the Captain and old Harry stood. An
+encounter seemed imminent.
+
+Boy George, with Nellie and the other women, now rushed in and demanded
+of me to give them the Winchester and Snider rifles, which stood ready
+loaded in a corner of the house. But, knowing that the Captain was ready
+to assert his authority without arms, I refused, and locking them up in
+a trade chest sat down upon it. I knew that the first shot would be
+followed by a scene of bloodshed and murder. George was persistent,
+saying the Captain would be killed, but changed his tone when he walked
+in unharmed, but with his fingers bleeding. Harry had given in when he
+saw the Captain dart in amongst the natives surrounding him, and knock
+two of the ringleaders down, but denied that he had been plotting to
+usurp Hayston's authority. A hollow reconciliation then took place, but
+there was bad blood between them from that time. He told me that I had
+done wisely in locking up the arms, and gave me the key to keep, as I
+had, he confessed, shown more prudence than himself. Then he sat down
+and began to sing like a schoolboy on a holiday.
+
+One day we took the boat and went up a creek flowing into the harbour.
+We were the only men, as the crew consisted of Ocean Island women and
+some of the girls from the brig.
+
+We were going to land them across the creek, where they intended to
+construct a fish weir, as the harbour was a bad place to fish in on
+account of the swarms of fierce and daring sharks.
+
+Among the girls in the boat were two from Ocean Island, being of the
+party landed from the whaleships at Chabral harbour. One of these was
+the new wife of the old convict trader. She had come down on a visit,
+and kept us amused with her descriptions of the orgies and drunken
+freaks of the fierce old man, whose conduct had frightened--no easy
+matter--all who came into contact with him.
+
+As we crossed over the in-shore reef and got into the channel of the
+creek, I saw a canoe with three figures in it ahead of us, and told the
+Captain that I thought I recognised Lalia. He said it was hardly
+possible, as she lived six miles away on the coast, and was not likely
+to come down here. At this mention of Lalia her successor looked
+frightened, and said she would like to go back, but was overruled by
+the others, who laughed at her fears. After rowing up the creek as far
+as the boat would go, the girls got out, and the Captain and I took our
+rifles and started up a spur in the mountain on the chance of getting a
+shot at the wild pigs.
+
+We struck into the dense woodland, and in a few minutes the voices of
+the laughing girls sounded subdued and far away. The gloom of the
+primeval forest seemed to be deepened by the vast structure and domelike
+tops of the mighty trees, whose thick branches formed an almost perfect
+canopy, while underneath our footsteps fell soundless on the thick
+carpet of rotting leaves.
+
+Here the Captain and I took different routes, agreeing to meet on the
+summit of the spur. As I walked along the silence that enshrouded all
+things seemed to weigh heavily; the darkening gloom of the forest began
+to fill me with childish fancies and misgivings. My nerves became strung
+to such a pitch that the harsh croak of some brooding frigate bird, or
+the sudden booming note of a wood pigeon, set my heart bumping against
+my ribs with that strange, undefined feeling which, if it be not
+premonition, is nearly akin to it.
+
+I had ascended half-way to the spur when I heard a shot.
+
+Its prolonged and tumultuous echoes startled the denizens of the forest,
+winged and quadrupedal, and as they died away a wild chorus of shrieks
+and growls seemed to electrify me into life. Waiting till silence
+resumed sway I called aloud to the Captain. Far down below I heard his
+answering call. Then he queried, "Have you shot anything?"
+
+"No, I have not fired."
+
+"Quick," he shouted, "come down--there's mischief among the women."
+
+Rushing down the leaf-strewn spur I soon joined him. We ran together
+till we reached the boat. There a tragedy had been enacted. The girls
+were huddled up in the boat, which was drifting about from bank to bank.
+As we dashed through the scrub they pointed to a patch of green-sward
+amongst the cocoa-nut trees, saying, "She is killed."
+
+There, lying on her face quite dead, was the Ocean Island girl with a
+bullet through her breast. The ball had passed completely through her
+body, and though her limbs were still quivering with muscular action,
+she must have died in a few seconds after she was struck.
+
+The girls told us that while they were making the weir she had gone up
+to a pool of fresh water among the rocks to look for fresh-water
+shrimps. A few minutes after they heard a shot; she staggered forward
+and fell on her face dead.
+
+The Captain and I looked at one another. Each read the thoughts that
+passed through the other's mind--Lalia had fired the shot! But,
+calling the women out of the boat, the Captain sternly forbade them to
+mention Lalia's name in connection with the matter, and said that
+they must all keep silence. A grave was hastily dug in the soft alluvial
+of the shadowy forest glade, where the body of the poor girl, wrapped in
+garments of her companions, was hastily buried.
+
+I did not understand the meaning of the secrecy which was evidently
+considered necessary, until the Captain told me that as the girl was in
+his charge at the time of her death, he would be held responsible, and
+that the uncertain temper of her countrymen might at any time cause an
+outbreak.
+
+We returned to the boat, and the women, as we neared the village, were
+instructed by the Captain to answer all inquiries for the dead girl by
+saying she had disappeared. Her countrymen took her departure very
+quietly, and came to the conclusion that the evil spirits of the
+mountain had carried her away, and their superstition forbade search.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I cannot, even after the time that has elapsed, recall without a pang of
+regret the total change in the Captain's demeanour and conduct at this
+time. Some demon appeared to have taken possession of him. His terrific
+bursts of violence drove every soul away at times, none daring to
+venture near him until he had cooled down except myself, to whom he
+never addressed a harsh or angry word. One day he declared that the men
+of the _Leonora_ and some of the Pleasant islanders were concocting a
+meeting, and I was sickened and horrified at seeing three of each lashed
+to cocoa-nut trees, while the huge figure of Antonio, the black
+Portuguese, towered above the crowd as he flogged them. The Captain
+stood by with a pistol in each hand as, with a countenance blanched and
+disturbed with passion, he ordered Antonio to lay it on well.
+
+I went into the house and, sitting down, tried to think out a course for
+myself. The Captain came in after a while and, drawing a seat to the
+window, gazed moodily out upon the sparkling, breeze-rippled sea. Then I
+knew that the dark hour had passed, and that he would listen to reason.
+
+"Captain," I said, "I can stay here no longer with you. I am sick of
+seeing men flogged till their backs are like raw meat, even though they
+are mutinous. If I thought any words of mine would do good, I would
+earnestly beg of you to adopt milder measures. Every day that passes you
+run the gauntlet, so to speak, of these men's deadly hatred, I know; for
+how can I avoid hearing the mutterings and seeing the fierce glances of
+the people--that you are surrounded with foes, and that any moment may
+be your last."
+
+He placed his hand on my shoulder in his old way. "True, my lad, true;
+but if they are dangerous to meddle with, so am I. The white men, young
+Harry excepted, would gladly see me lying out there on the sand with a
+bullet hole in my skull; but, by ----, I'll shoot every mother's son of
+them if I detect any treachery.... And so you wish to leave me?"
+
+I considered a moment and then answered, "Sorry am I to say it, but I
+do."
+
+"Come out to the beach, my lad, and talk to me there. This house is
+stifling; another month of this life would send me mad."
+
+We walked along the weather side for about a mile, then seating
+ourselves on a huge flat rock, watched the rollers tumbling in over the
+reef and hissing along the sand at our feet. Hayston then spoke freely
+to me of his troubles, his hopes, and disappointments, begging me to
+remain with him--going, indeed, the length of a half promise to use
+gentler methods of correction in future.
+
+I yielded for a time, but after another week the fights and floggings,
+followed by threats of vengeance, commenced anew. Two incidents also,
+following close upon one another, led me to sever my connection with the
+Captain finally, though in a friendly spirit.
+
+The first was an attack single-handed upon the Kusaie village of Utwe,
+driving the men before him like a flock of sheep. Some who ventured to
+resist were felled by blows of his fist. Then he picked out half a dozen
+of the youngest women, and drove them to the men's quarters, telling
+them to keep them till the husbands and families ransomed them.
+
+This was all because he had been told that Likiak Sa had been to the
+village, and urged the natives to remove to Lele, where a man-of-war was
+expected to arrive from Honolulu, and that Hayston dared not follow them
+there.
+
+The next matter that went wrong was that he desired me to bring the
+trade books, and go over the various traders' accounts with him.
+
+One of these books was missing, although I remembered placing the whole
+bundle in the big chest with the charts and chronometers. He declared
+that the loss of this book, with some important accounts of his trading
+stations in the Line and Marshall Islands, rendered the others
+valueless.
+
+I felt aggrieved at the imputation of carelessness, and having never
+since first I knew him felt any fear of expressing myself clearly, told
+him that he must have lost it, or it would have been with the others.
+
+Starting from his seat with his face livid with rage, he passionately
+denied having lost it. Then he strode into his room, and with savage
+oaths drove out the women, cursing them as the cause of the brig's loss
+and all his misfortunes.
+
+The next moment he appeared with his arms full of chronometers, and,
+standing in the doorway, tore the costly instruments from their cases
+and dashed them to pieces on the coral flagstones at his feet. Then,
+swearing he would fire the station and roast every one in it, with his
+hands beating and clutching at the air, his face working with passion,
+he walked, staggering like a drunken man, to the beach, and threw
+himself down on a boulder.
+
+Three hours after, taking little Kitty and Toby with me, I found him
+still there, resting his head on his hand and gazing out upon the sea.
+
+"Captain," I said, "I have come to say farewell."
+
+He slowly raised his head, and with sorrow depicted on his countenance,
+gave me his hand.
+
+I pressed it and turned away. I packed up my belongings, and then
+calling to Nellie, told her to give the Captain a note which I left on
+his table, and with a handshake to each of the wondering girls, made my
+way through the village, and thence to the bank of a lagoon that runs
+parallel to the southern coast of Strong's Island. I knew that I could
+walk to Coquille harbour in about a day, and thither I decided to go,
+as at the village of Mout dwelt a man named Kusis, who had several
+times pressed me to visit him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a bright moonlight night, so that I had no difficulty in making
+my way along the lonely coast. The lagoon, solemnly still and
+silver-gleaming, lay between me and the mainland. The narrow strip on
+the ocean side was not more than half a mile wide; on the lagoon border
+was a thicket well-nigh impassable.
+
+The mood of melancholy that impressed me at parting with a man to whom,
+in spite of his faults, I was sincerely attached, weighed heavily. The
+deep silence of the night, unbroken save by the murmuring plumes of the
+cocoa-nut palms as they swayed to the breath of the trade-wind, and the
+ceaseless plaints of the unresting surge, completed the feeling of
+loneliness and desolation.
+
+At length I reached the end of the narrow spit that ran parallel to the
+lofty mainland, and found that I had to cross over the reef that
+connected it to the main, this reef forming the southern end of the
+lagoon.
+
+The country was entirely new to me, but once I gained the white beach
+that fringed the leeside of the island, I knew that I need only follow
+it along till I reached the village of Mout, about four miles distant
+from the end of the lagoon. I hung my bundle across my Winchester and
+commenced the crossing. The tide was out and the reef bare, but here and
+there were deep pools through which I had to pick my steps carefully,
+being confused besides by the lines of dazzling moon-rays.
+
+When nearly across, and walking up to my waist through a channel that
+led between the coral patches, I saw a strange, dark shape moving
+quickly towards me. "A shark!" I thought, but the next minute the black
+mass darted past me at an angle, when I saw it was an innocent turtle
+that was doubtless more frightened than I. After this adventure I gained
+the white beach, which lay shining like a silver girdle under the
+moon-rays, and flung myself down on the safe yielding sand. The spot was
+silent as the grave. The murmurous rhythm of the surf sounded miles
+distant, and but rose to the faintest lulling sound, as I made a pillow
+of my worldly goods and sank into dreamless sleep.
+
+It was the earliest dawn when the chill breath of the land-breeze
+touched my cheek, and sent a shiver through my somewhat exhausted frame.
+I arose, and looking round found that I was not wholly alone: several
+huge turtles had been keeping me company during the night, having come
+ashore to lay their eggs. As soon as I stood up they scrambled and
+floundered away in dire fright. I felt badly in need of a smoke, but
+having no matches, decided to eat something instead. I had not far to
+seek for a breakfast. Picking up a couple of sprouting cocoa-nuts from
+the ground, I husked them by beating them against a tree-trunk, and made
+a much needed meal from the sweet kernels.
+
+Although I was still far from well, and the pain in my side had returned
+with tenfold vigour, I felt a new-born elasticity of spirit. The glow of
+the tropic sun lighted up the slumberous main spread out in azure
+vastness before me.
+
+Shouldering my bundle and rifle, my sole worldly possessions, except
+utterly valueless money and papers in the Captain's care, I descended to
+the beach and walked along in the hard sand. At about six o'clock I came
+abreast of two lovely verdure-clad islets, rising from the shallow
+waters which lay between the outer reefs and the mainland, and I knew I
+must be near Mout.
+
+Then I saw a canoe shoot out from the land about a quarter of a mile
+distant, with the native in it standing up poling it along. The next
+bend of the beach brought me in full view of the picturesque village. A
+loud cry of wonder greeted me. The next moment I was surrounded by
+smiling villagers. I felt a thrill of pride at the thought that of all
+those who had been cast away in the _Leonora_, none would have been
+welcomed so warmly as I was now by those simple, kind-hearted people.
+
+"Kusis' friend, Kusis' friend has come!" the men called aloud. Crowding
+around, and taking my rifle and bundle from me, I was escorted to the
+farther end of the village, where out of a pretty little house embowered
+in a grove of palms, a man sprang out and fairly hugged me.
+
+This was Kusis, in whose frank and open countenance nothing but joyous
+welcome and boundless hospitality could be read. Taking me by the hand,
+he led me inside. My cares were over for the present, evidently.
+
+Words of mine can but faintly describe the generosity and kindness of
+these people to me during my lengthened sojourn among them. The memory
+of the peaceful days which I passed in that unknown, lovely village can
+never be effaced.
+
+Kusis, it seems, had often been to see me when I lay sick at Utwe, and
+was unconscious of his presence. The Captain and Lalia had told me of
+how he would come softly into the house, bringing a present of fruit or
+fish for "the sick white boy," as he called me. He would sit by my side
+and gaze anxiously at me for hours at a time, always questioning the
+Captain concerning me. When I got better I had long chats with him, and
+to his inexpressible delight, gave him a shot gun which I had bought
+from the carpenter for a pound of tobacco. He had no shot, but he told
+me he could make some from strips of lead, and as there was plenty of
+that from the wreckage that came ashore, the Captain gave him as much as
+he could carry in the canoe, besides a large tin of powder and plenty
+of caps.
+
+He was a tall, large-framed man for a Strong's islander--magnificently
+built, and with a heart in proportion. His wife Tulpe, and his only
+daughter, a little girl named Kinie, made up the family. He evidently
+wished to complete it by making me his son, for his sole aim in life
+seemed to be to keep me with him.
+
+Unlike the people of Utwe, the villagers of Mout were utterly
+unsophisticated, besides being free from the cant and hypocrisy that
+nearly always attaches to the native character when they profess
+Christianity. No doubt this was the result of their village being so
+distant from Lele, where the natives were for ever chanting psalms and
+hymns, and keeping the letter of the law, while at the same time they
+departed as widely from the spirit as their heathen forefathers had ever
+done.
+
+After a while I received a letter from Captain Hayston, and with it a
+large parcel. The letter ran as follows:--
+
+    MY DEAR BOY.--Have you entirely deserted me? I hope not. Come
+    and see me again, even if you only stop a day: I miss you
+    greatly, and the evenings are very dull without you to talk to.
+    I gave that fellow Miles, the boatswain, a bad beating, and he
+    has cleared out to the mountains with the Pleasant islanders.
+    Had you been here you would have got him off. As it is, I have
+    lost three men. Accept the things I send. (The hat was made for
+    you by a friend.) They will do for presents for your Kusaie
+    friends. Let me know when you can come up, and I will send the
+    whaleboat.--Yours sincerely,
+
+                        W. H. HAYSTON.
+
+I sent back my thanks, saying that I would come and see him, but should
+come overland, as the messenger was returning in a canoe. Kusis put in
+two turtle as "present for Captin."
+
+I opened the parcel, which I found contained all sorts of articles
+likely to be useful to me, with ten pounds of tobacco, and a bag of
+small scarlet and white beads, the delight of a Strong's Island girl's
+heart. Rolled up in a native sash was a beautifully-made Panama hat.
+This latter was a gift from Lalia, and at once excited the admiration
+of Kusis and Tulpe, when they examined its texture. The childish delight
+of Kinie, when I gave her the beads, gave me the greatest pleasure, and
+although her father and mother looked with glistening eyes at the other
+articles which I wished them to take, they firmly refused the offered
+gifts, Kusis only taking a few sticks of tobacco, and his wife a silk
+handkerchief with some needles and thread.
+
+I was rapidly regaining my strength, now felt in much higher spirits as
+I accompanied Kusis on his shooting and fishing trips, returning home to
+the bright faces and welcoming smiles of his wife and daughter. After
+another week Kusis and I set out to visit the Captain, who, though I was
+thoroughly happy and contented with my new friends, was never absent
+from my thoughts. He received us with unaffected pleasure, and, calling
+his steward and making us sit down to lunch, he gave me an account of
+what had been doing since I had left.
+
+The village had now a settled appearance, and the people were all busy
+making oil, another two hundred and fifty thousand cocoa-nuts having
+been paid by the king. The Captain asked me if there were not a vast
+quantity of cocoa-nuts at Coquille harbour, and on my assenting, said he
+would send a gang of Pleasant islanders under Fiji Bill and Antonio to
+live there, and collect the third part of the indemnity--another two
+hundred and fifty thousand cocoa-nuts.
+
+This I begged him not to do, pointing out the injustice of such an
+action, inasmuch as the people of Coquille had no hand in stealing the
+property from the brig, and it would be cruel to make them pay for the
+misdoings of others. I told him also that at Coquille were situated the
+largest taro and yam plantations, with the best turtle fisheries, that I
+was sure the natives would destroy the plantations and abandon the
+villages if they had the savage Pleasant islanders quartered upon them.
+Besides, we might have to remain another eight or nine months on the
+island before the whaling fleet called here again, and that it was
+absolutely indispensable that he should be able to command a supply of
+food to subsist nearly a hundred and fifty people.
+
+Kusis, who was seated on the mats near us, eagerly watched the Captain.
+At length a look of content overspread his face as the Captain said he
+would not touch the cocoa-nuts in Coquille harbour. To Kusis he said,
+"Tell your people to have no fear as long as the king continues to pay
+up, but once let me see any 'soldiering,' or desire to avoid paying the
+fine, I'll strip the island from Mount Crozier to the reef."
+
+Then we strolled to and fro on the Plaza, as we called the local
+esplanade in front of the big house, and the Captain told me to come and
+look at his turtle pond, in which were a number of green turtle, and
+also the two hawkbills sent by Kusis.
+
+I found that several of the traders had now openly broken with him, and
+leaving their native following, had retired to Lele, where they were
+under the protection of the king. The number of girls in the big house
+had now increased to nine or ten. At the time of my visit some were
+engaged in weaving an immense mat to cover the whole floor, others were
+drying and picking tobacco leaves for making cigars. Two of the new
+arrivals, I could see, were native girls. I asked the Captain what they
+were doing there. He answered somewhat testily, "Did I think they came
+to teach Sunday-school?"
+
+I remained that night, and we spent a merry evening. In the morning,
+after a breakfast of turtle eggs and roast pig, Kusis and I prepared to
+return.
+
+The Captain urged me to go by way of Chabral harbour, and pay my
+promised visit to the king.
+
+"In that case I might let him know how his Majesty was taking matters."
+Kusis also urged me to see the king, who was anxious that I should spend
+a week with him.
+
+We got a canoe to carry us across to the north arm of the harbour, where
+I remained an hour or two with young Harry, who had established quite a
+small village.
+
+When we entered the fence surrounding his place, we found him lying in a
+hammock, slung between two pandanus-trees, smoking his morning pipe, and
+having his hair combed by two pretty little witches named Rosa and
+Taloe.
+
+This was Harry's idea of island luxury. He always alleged that sleeping
+gave him a headache, and that having his hair brushed drove it away,
+particularly if the combing was performed by the soft hands of one of
+his four houris.
+
+He sprang up and welcomed me heartily, urging me to stay all night. But
+I was anxious to get on. However, I said I should be glad to see him at
+Mout, when he could bring his family with him, and give them a week's
+feast on pork and turtle.
+
+Harry presently took me into a small room, saying, "Look here!" The
+place was closely packed with liquor in small kegs. These had been
+washed ashore, and he had found them, only a few days since, high up in
+the mangroves. The Captain told him to store it, as it was dangerous
+stuff to bring to Utwe. The Pleasant islanders are very fond of liquor,
+after imbibing which they always want to fight and kill some one, and
+generally do.
+
+We had a glass of grog together, after which I said good-bye to the
+good-natured, handsome young trader and his wives, whom he used to call
+the "Three Graces, with another thrown in."
+
+Kusis and I reached the south side of Chabral harbour about sunset. I
+was freshly enchanted with the loveliness of the scene, accustomed as I
+had become to this paradisal quarter of the globe. The trade-wind had
+died away, the transparent waters of the harbour reflected in their blue
+depths the tall shadows of the towering mountains that overhung the
+harbour on three sides.
+
+A canoe put across from the king's wharf when I fired a shot to attract
+attention. So wonderfully clear was the atmosphere, so unbroken the
+silence of the lonely bay, that the quick "tweep, tweep" of the paddle,
+as it struck the water, reached our ears as distinctly as if the canoe
+was but a few yards distant, instead of nearly half a mile.
+
+The old king received me graciously, but soon commenced a string of
+complaints, interlarded with Scripture quotations rounded off by quaint
+oaths. He feared the Captain greatly, and yet was anxious to keep up his
+authority. Then, with every grievance that was laid before me, he drank
+a stiff glass of grog to wash it down with, and insisted on my keeping
+him company.
+
+Queen Se now came in, saying in her prettiest English, "Oh! you naughty
+boy! Why you no come see king, see _me_? Long time promise, but never
+come out. How you bad pain side? How many Strong's Island girl Captain
+got now? I never see man like that. Debil, I believe. You got any wife
+yet?"
+
+I told the queen I was still unmarried, and thought I should remain so.
+
+"Oh! no, you say so now. By and by get like Captain. But don't you steal
+girl like him. You come to me! I pick you out nice girl. Cook, sew, make
+pyjamas; very pretty face too."
+
+By this time old Tokusar was asleep, with his head on the table, his
+inevitable Bible open at the Psalms of David (printed in the Kusaie
+dialect) in the leaf of his armchair, and the half-emptied gin bottle
+encircled by his left arm.
+
+Queen Se was a tiny little creature--very good-looking, even at this
+time of her life--being about five-and-twenty, which is considered the
+_passee_ period in Polynesia. She was extremely vain, but had a quick
+perception of humour. She and the Captain always got on famously
+together.
+
+Drawing our chairs up to a side table, she brought me a number of bound
+volumes of _Leslie's Illustrated Paper_, sent to her by the queen of
+Hawaii.
+
+While I looked at the pictures she plied me with questions, principally
+at random, about Captain Hayston, who, I was not long in discovering,
+had been a former admirer. Going into a side room, she unlocked a small
+box, and brought me out a photo of a gentleman wearing a post-captain's
+uniform in her Britannic Majesty's navy. "What do you think of him?" she
+asked. "Very, oh! very handsome man--that Captain Damer. Oh! that long
+time ago. I love him; he love me too"--and then, pointing to poor old
+Tokusar, "King know all about it. He don't like me to talk about Captain
+Damer. But, oh! such handsome man! He tell me I loveliest girl in all
+the world. What you think yourself? What Captain tell you; he think me
+pretty too?"
+
+Her Majesty was an expert angler for flattery. I was not indisposed to
+humour a pretty woman, and a queen, and was evidently rising in her
+estimation. I resolved to turn my good fortune to account, by inducing
+her to effect a reconciliation between the king and the Captain, who
+wanted the king to visit him at Utwe, to see the wonderful change he had
+effected there. He felt certain that, when the king saw the magnitude of
+the station, knowing that it must, sooner or later, come into his
+possession when he, Hayston, left the island, he would forgive all that
+had passed.
+
+Once the subject was broached I became an ardent advocate for the
+Captain, and told the queen how anxious he was to be on good terms with
+the king again. In fact, so eloquent did I become, partly through the
+potency of the schnapps of which I had partaken, that I represented the
+Captain as devoured with grief at losing the king's and her friendship.
+
+The queen listened gravely, and then extending her shapely hand, caught
+me by the ear, and laughed, "Oh! you bad boy! Captain Hayston think
+Tokusar old fool; told _me_ so plenty time. Well, never mind, I try make
+everything all right."
+
+The queen, as beseemed her, had a number of young women with her,
+sitting round the sides of the great room. Some were making the girdles
+that the Kusaie natives of both sexes wear round the waist under their
+other garments. They are woven on an ingeniously constructed loom, the
+banana fibres which form the material being stained in various bright
+colours. These girls were sitting in the manner peculiar to the Strong's
+Island women, with their eyes cast down--it being considered a boldness
+to look at either the king or queen. When speaking to either their eyes
+were always bent on the ground.
+
+The king, being carefully placed on a cane lounge, a meal was brought
+in. Both Kusis and I were presented with food enough to last for a
+month. As the queen bade me good-night she passed her arm round me, and
+tenderly inquired, "How my poor side feel?" adding that I was a very
+good boy, because I was kind to Strong's Island man. She also informed
+me that I could kiss her, which I did. Then putting the post-captain's
+photo in her bosom she went to bed, finally telling me that she "will
+make king friend once more with Captain."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For the next six months I lived with the kind-hearted Kusis, his wife,
+and little daughter. Except for an occasional visit to the Captain or
+the king, nothing disturbed the pleasing monotony of my existence.
+
+Why Kusis should have taken such a violent and wholly unreasonable
+attachment to me is a mystery I never could unravel. Yet such is island
+life. And how strange it is, and hard of comprehension! Women take their
+fancies here, as in other worlds (surely this is a world in itself,
+distinct, mystic, unreal), but the extraordinary point in the social
+system is, that men will, as a matter of mere caprice, conceive the most
+ardent friendship for an utter stranger. In pursuance of which passion
+they will entertain him for any time which he likes to stay; will guide,
+help, and defend him, risking, and indeed sacrificing their lives for
+him in the most reckless and devoted manner. Such was the deep and
+sudden affection of Kusis for me. How he acquired it I don't in the
+least know. All my personal property seemed to be mixed up with his. As
+the weather was not favourable for attention to detail, I preferred to
+leave things as they were. My life at this time was chiefly uneventful.
+Yet it was not always so. I was fishing one day near the end of the
+lagoon which extends from Utwe to the lee side of the island. After I
+had anchored my canoe a very strange incident indeed occurred.
+
+The sun had just set, and I had cast out my hooks, and was able to fill
+my pipe, when I saw two boatsful of Pleasant islanders land on the
+narrow fringe of the north side of the lagoon. There were about twenty
+men and seven or eight women. I saw that they had with them a small keg,
+doubtless one of the kegs of rum which had been washed ashore, and which
+they had discovered in the mangroves. A fire was lit. The women began to
+sing and the men to dance; and as the fiery spirit was passed round in
+cocoa-nut shells to the men--for the women touched none--a wild orgie
+began.
+
+Suddenly bright flashes appeared from out the darkness in the
+surrounding grove, and the reverberating echoes of gun-shots pealed over
+the water, and ran far back, from mountain, crag, and cave.
+
+Three of the dancers fell, either killed or wounded. Then the dark forms
+of their previously unseen enemies appeared through the firelight. The
+white shells worn in strings round their necks told me that they were
+Ocean islanders, between whom and the Pleasant islanders feuds were of
+common occurrence. Then began a bloody hand-to-hand fight, the twilight
+silence being broken by yells of rage and screams of mortal agony. When
+the Ocean islanders were beaten off seven or eight bodies lay motionless
+on the ground.
+
+I quietly pulled up the anchor, and let the canoe drift towards the
+mainland. I did not care about visiting the scene of the fight as I had
+no arms with me, and learnt by experience the folly of meddling with the
+Pleasant islanders when they were sober. When they were drunk I knew
+that they would as soon cut my throat as not.
+
+I mentioned this matter to the Captain on my next visit. He told me with
+a grim smile that he knew there had been a fight up the lagoon; so much
+the better, as he found the Pleasant islanders harder to manage every
+day, and the sooner their number was reduced the better.
+
+One day, when Kusis and I were coming across the lagoon with some
+pigeons I had shot, we met the Pingelap girl, Peloa, paddling a canoe
+furiously, her plump face showing great excitement. "She had been sent
+for us," she said, "by the Captain. There was a sail in sight. I was to
+hasten back to Mout, where I would find a boat outside the reef which
+he had sent down for me. I was to try and board the ship, in case he
+could not do so from Utwe, and tell the master that a shipwrecked crew
+were on the island."
+
+Peloa hauled her canoe up on a little beach, and got in with us. We
+three then paddled along till we got abreast of the two islets near
+Mout. We then saw a whaleboat coming round the point with a lug sail.
+She soon ran in for me, and I found she was manned by Pleasant
+islanders, who told me that the ship was coming round the point, about
+three miles off the land.
+
+There was a strong breeze, and we slipped through the water at a great
+rate so as to meet the ship. As soon as we cleared the point I saw her
+coming down before the wind about two miles distant.
+
+She was a large ship, and was running straight for us with her yards
+squared. At first I thought she had seen us, but she kept steadily on
+her course. Then I saw her take in her light sails and heave to.
+Standing up in the boat, I could distinguish a whaleboat under a fore
+and aft sail close to her. Behind this boat were two others, which, from
+their black paint and peculiarly-cut sails, I knew to be those the
+Captain had at Utwe.
+
+The ship lay to till the first whaleboat boarded her, and then, to my
+great surprise, the yards were swung round, the light sails again set,
+and she stood on her course, but kept the wind more on her quarter so as
+to make the most of the breeze.
+
+By this time I had got almost within hailing distance of the ship. She
+was deep in the water, and was, I supposed, some coal-laden ship bound
+from New South Wales to China, which had taken the outside or easier
+route to her destination. When the whaleboat lowered her sail and ran
+alongside, I saw that she was the king's new boat, and contained but two
+men. These, my crew said, looked like the two deserters from the _St.
+George_. As soon as they got on board the boat was hoisted in without
+delay, and, as I have said, the ship kept on her course.
+
+It was of no use attempting to overtake her, as she was travelling now
+about twelve knots, so I signalled for the other two boats, and they ran
+down after us till we got under the lee of the land again in smooth
+water.
+
+The men in these boats told me the following tale:--About daylight that
+morning the king's whaleboat, which was anchored in Utwe harbour, was
+found to be missing. The two deserters from the _St. George_ were also
+gone. Captain Hayston instantly offered to send his boat in pursuit of
+the runaways, and curiously, just as they were being launched, there
+came a cry of "Sail ho." The Captain then saw the ship a long way off,
+and told the crews to try and board her, and get her to run in close to
+the land, and that he would then come off himself. In the mean time he
+manned one of the trader's whaleboats with a native crew, and sent her
+round to Coquille to pick me up, as he fancied the ship would be easier
+boarded from there than from Utwe. The three boats left together, two
+standing right out to sea, and the other running down the coast to pick
+me up.
+
+When the two boats were within three miles of the ship, they noticed the
+fore and aft sail of the king's whaleboat showing up now and then as she
+rose and sunk again in the heavy swell, and noticed that she was also
+heading to meet the ship. The rest I had observed myself.
+
+I suspected something from the manner of the coxswain in charge of the
+king's two boats, but did not question him, and telling him to give the
+Captain full particulars of our endeavour to board the ship, I got
+ashore in a smooth part of the reef, and walked back to Mout, where I
+found the villagers in a great state of excitement, under the impression
+that I had gone away in the ship.
+
+Hayston afterwards admitted that he had supplied the deserters with
+sextant, compass, and chart, had also given them provisions, and fifty
+dollars in money. They promised him to make straight for Ponape, and
+wait there till some Californian ship called, which they would endeavour
+to charter, on the part of Hayston, to beat up to Strong's Island, and
+take us all away to Providence Island. Barney was a good navigator, and
+could he only have kept fairly sober would have long since had a ship of
+his own. He eagerly accepted the Captain's offer, and the next morning
+the crew of the king's whaleboat found she had disappeared; then
+followed the strange series of events by which Barney and his mate got
+on board the ship and evaded pursuit.
+
+Barney was a highly intelligent individual, as the sequel will show, and
+was capable of making a rapid calculation of probabilities. He
+afterwards visited Samoa, and gave this account of his escape.
+
+He said that when the Captain provided him with "a jewel of a
+whaleboat," he honestly intended to fulfil his promises. He lost some
+time in trying to persuade a native girl named Luta to share his
+fortunes, but she was afraid of a long voyage in a small boat. His
+pleadings, moreover, were cut short by the Captain, who told him to
+hurry up, and get out of the harbour before daylight.
+
+As soon, then, as Barney sighted the ship a plan suggested itself to
+him. Once on deck he introduced himself to the Captain as "Captain
+Casey," and said, "For heaven's sake, sir, don't delay another moment.
+There are two boat-loads of bloody, cut-throat pirates coming after me,
+and they mane to take the ship! Have you never heard of 'Bully
+Hayston'?"
+
+The skipper _had_ heard of him,--things true, and untrue likewise. Then
+Barney told him a tale of how the _Leonora_ had been wrecked on the
+island, and that ever since the fierce Captain and crew had planned to
+cut off the first ship that touched at the island--that he (Barney) and
+his mate had owned a small trading cutter, which Hayston had seized two
+days ago--but that he had managed to escape with one of his men, and
+thanked God that he was able to reach the ship in time, and save every
+one's throat from being cut.
+
+The ship's captain took all this in; Barney's boat was hoisted in, and
+the ship kept away. The two boats, with their crews of excited natives
+yelling and shouting, gave colour to Barney's narrative, and when he
+pointed to my boat, and said, "Holy saints! there's another of the
+villains coming out under the lee side with a boat-load of pirates too,"
+the captain's funk was complete. He landed Barney and his companion at
+Ponape, and, purely out of compassion, bought the king's whaleboat and
+her contents for a hundred dollars, so that Mr. Barney landed there with
+a hundred and fifty dollars in his pocket, and got a free passage later
+on to Manila as a distressed American seaman.
+
+The Captain took matters philosophically when the boats returned, saying
+that he never had expected to see Barney again. After which he resumed
+his oil-making and the government of his "kingdom by the sea" as usual.
+
+As for me, my life was a quiet, deeply enjoyable one. I began at times
+to doubt whether I should ever wish to change it. But against this phase
+of lotus-eating contentment arose from time to time a haunting dread,
+lest by evil chance I should ever sink down into the position of those
+renegades from civilisation, whom I had known, in the strange world of
+"The Islands," and as often pitied or despised. In this Robinson Crusoe
+existence I even felt a mild interest in the three cattle that we had
+landed at Utwe.
+
+They had found their way over to the lee side of the island, and made
+their way along the beach to Mout.
+
+One day little Kinie met them, and, with hair flying loose and eyes
+dilated in an agony of terror, fled wildly home. She explained to me
+incoherently "that she had met three huge pigs, with, long teeth
+growing out of their heads and eyes as big as cocoa-nuts."
+
+Kusis and I, with some natives, went out and found them walking slowly
+along the beach. At the sound of my voice they stopped and let me come
+up to them, smelling me all over. I had only a mat round my waist, for
+my European clothes were only worn on great occasions; but they
+evidently knew me for a different being to those around them. We drove
+them to a rich piece of meadow land, where they remained during the rest
+of my stay on the island--fat, quiet, and contented.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Early one morning I made ready for a start back to Coquille harbour, and
+found Kusis awaiting me in the king's courtyard.
+
+Shortly after the queen came out and told me that I must wait for
+breakfast, or the king would be offended. Old Tokusar then appeared,
+none the worse for the night's potations, and we sat down to a very good
+breakfast.
+
+He told me that he had intended to go and see the Captain's village at
+Utwe, but that Likiak Sa, had dissuaded him by telling him that Hayston
+would seize and imprison him.
+
+I assured the king that this was a pure invention, upon which both he
+and the queen said they would take my word before that of Likiak Sa, and
+from the kindness of the king and his subjects at Chabral harbour, I
+felt certain that my intercession with Hayston on behalf of the villages
+at Coquille had placed me high in their regard.
+
+The queen pointed to a pile of beautiful mats, quantities of cooked
+fowls, pigeons, pork, fish, and fruit, which were being carried in and
+deposited in the courtyard, telling me that they were presents from the
+king and herself, and would be taken down to Mout for me by native
+carriers.
+
+As I was bidding my royal friends good-bye, promising to come and see
+them whenever I got tired of Mout, Kitty of Ebon came in, and quite
+bore out the description Hayston had given me of her remarkable beauty.
+She seemed a very intelligent girl, and was much admired by the king,
+who kept nudging me, and saying in his wheezy, croaking voice, "Um, ah!
+What you tink girl like that?"
+
+He then fell into moody silence, upon which Queen Se gave him a scornful
+glance, exclaiming, "For shame! old man like you, sick all the time,
+look so much at young girl like Kitty Ebon! Captain Hayston teach you
+all that."
+
+I learnt from Kitty that Lalia was then at her house on a visit, and,
+telling the king and queen of her kindness to me when I was ill at Utwe,
+said I should like to go and see her, as Kitty's house lay in the
+direction Kusis and I were taking. The queen generously gave me a small
+work-box, with the necessary fittings, which she said I could give to
+Lalia. It was quite a handsome affair, and had been given to the
+queen by a ship captain; but she had never used it. Shaking hands with
+Tokusar and Queen Se, we set out on our journey, Kusis leading the way,
+Kitty of Ebon and I following, and the carriers in the rear.
+
+Kitty was very lively, and startlingly simple in manner. She made me
+laugh at her description of the flirtations of Captain Hayston and the
+queen when he had visited Strong's Island three years before in company
+with Captain Ben Peese. For a missionary's housekeeper Kitty of Ebon was
+something unique, and her lively sallies kept me amused in her excellent
+English all the way. I was pleased to see Lalia, who was looking as
+beautiful as ever. Indeed, it was hard to say which was the handsomer,
+she or the hostess.
+
+I gave her the work-box, which seemed to please her very much. Then
+Kitty proposed a game of cards, saying it was all right, as we need not
+play for money, and no one would tell Mr. Morland. But I had to decline,
+and, saying good-bye to them with some regrets, I rejoined Kusis, much
+wondering inwardly whether Lalia, with her sad, bright eyes, soft
+voice, and gentle manner, could really have been the perpetrator of the
+cruel deed in the mountain forest of Utwe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"MY LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY"
+
+
+In October I received another letter from the Captain, asking me to meet
+him in Chabral harbour. He had become so tired of waiting for a ship
+that he had decided to start in a boat for Mille. He had effected a
+reconciliation with the king, and was paying him a friendly visit. He
+meant to arrange with him regarding the people and the management of the
+station at Utwe during his absence.
+
+I left Mout at daylight, and, as I said good-bye to Tulpe and the
+little daughter, how little I thought that I should never cross their
+hospitable threshold again!
+
+Kusis came with me, and we took the route by the weather side of the
+island, reaching Lele in the afternoon. On my way to the king's house we
+came across a number of women catching shrimps in the rivulet that runs
+into Chabral harbour, and among them were Kitty of Ebon and Lalia.
+
+These two called to us to stop, as they had news for me. Coming out of
+the water, they threw off their wet clothes and put on dry ones. Then
+the four of us sat down on a low coral wall under the shade of some
+trees.
+
+Kitty of Ebon began the conversation by saying that the Captain had
+arrived the night before, and had a long talk with the king, whom he
+told that he was going to try and reach Mille in the largest of the
+ship's boats, though he would have to contend against the north-east
+trades the whole way. He wished the king to become responsible for the
+management and safety of the station of Utwe.
+
+This the king didn't see his way to do, as he could never control the
+Pleasant islanders. The remaining white men at Chabral harbour would
+regain their control over them as soon as Hayston had left; that it was
+not wise of the Captain to attempt to reach Mille.
+
+He also showed great fear of being punished if the Captain came back and
+found his station pillaged.
+
+Kitty of Ebon, who was present at the interview, further narrated that
+the king, finding that Hayston was bent on setting out for Mille, made
+another proposal to the Captain, who had accepted it on the condition
+that I would concur. This was that all the oil, boats, and stores, with
+the women, should be conveyed to Chabral harbour and put under the
+king's protection, who professed then to be anxious that I should come
+and live with him in case the traders made an attack on him, and tried
+to seize the property or carry off the women.
+
+Both Kitty and Lalia urged me not to do this, for, they said, "as
+soon as the Captain goes away there will be fighting here; the king is
+weak, and the traders do not fear him. Besides, they are plotting with
+Likiak Sa, the missionary, who has promised them to win the king over.
+They say that you and Black Johnny are the only two men that will stand
+by the Captain's property when guns and knives are out, as young Harry
+is to stay at Utwe till the Captain returns."
+
+I inquired of the girls what the traders proposed doing with me?
+
+"Shoot you, Black Johnny, and young Harry. Then, when the Captain is
+once away, they will be strong enough, and the king will not interfere
+with them."
+
+Lalia then told me that one of the trader's wives had told her that
+they had arranged to have us three shot by some of their natives as
+soon as the Captain had left for Mille. The girls again urged me not to
+comply with the king's request, and to dissuade Hayston from his
+intended voyage. Indeed, they tried to prevent me from going to the king
+at all, Kitty urging me to come to her house, and write a letter to the
+Captain asking him to meet me there.
+
+The thought of the Captain being a victim, as well as myself and young
+Harry, to such treachery decided me in an instant, and breaking away
+from the women, Kusis and I soon reached the king's house.
+
+The traders who were living at Chabral kept carefully within doors. When
+I reached the courtyard of the king's house I found no one there but His
+Majesty and Likiak Sa engaged in earnest conversation. The native
+missionary glanced uneasily at me, and I at once opened out on him by
+calling him a treacherous dog, striking him at the same time, and
+threatening him with the Captain's vengeance. He picked himself up and
+left.
+
+"Where is the Captain?" I said to the king.
+
+"In my oil-shed," he answered in a troubled voice.
+
+But I said nothing to him, and, finding Hayston, shortly made him
+acquainted with what I had learnt from Kitty of Ebon. His face darkened
+as he strode off to the king.
+
+At that moment the natives called out that there was a vessel in sight,
+upon which he turned back, and together we walked to the beach in time
+to see a fine fore and aft schooner sailing in, which Hayston declared
+was the _Matautu_, belonging to Captain Warner.
+
+"He would never have ventured in if he knew I was here," quoth the
+Captain grimly; "and if I had a few of my boys he'd never go out again,
+unless the schooner had a new master."
+
+I reasoned with him against the folly of such an action, when he said
+that he would use fair means at first, and would try and charter the
+_Matautu_. He then went to the king, and I could see meant mischief. I
+was glad to notice the traders getting into canoes and making for the
+schooner, where they no doubt thought they would be safe, as Hayston had
+only two native boys with him, and would hardly attempt to tackle the
+schooner single-handed.
+
+Likiak Sa was again with the king when we returned. However, he ran away
+at once, narrowly missing a chair which the Captain threw at him. Old
+Tokusar seemed scared, as he watched the Captain's darkening face. He
+inquired in a shaking voice, "Why you so much angry?"
+
+"Because," answered the Captain, "the men who have been living on my
+food have been plotting against me, and that scheming missionary is at
+the bottom of it; but look you, King Tokusar, and mark my words well! If
+I suspect you, too, I will burn your house and town, and drown you like
+a rat in your own turtle pond!"
+
+"Captain," I said, "what folly! You are here almost alone, and all but
+in the power of your enemies. Return to the boats and get back to Utwe."
+
+He calmed down almost immediately, and said he would see Captain Warner.
+He asked me to come with him. I mentioned the fact of the traders being
+on board the ship, and urged him to be cautious.
+
+We got in the boats, and pulled towards the schooner. Before we were
+half-way across the Captain laughed contemptuously, and pointed to the
+traders, who were already leaving the schooner's side in canoes, and
+making rapidly for the western side of the harbour.
+
+Captain Warner seemed under great excitement when we stepped on deck,
+but the cordial manner of Hayston's greeting at once reassured him, so
+that we were received most politely and asked below.
+
+Captain Warner seemed so intensely amiable that I could hardly help
+laughing, and as he kept his glass constantly filled, or rather emptied,
+his amiability increased proportionately.
+
+In the course of conversation a discussion arose as to some business
+transactions with Hayston while we were at Ponape, and the skipper
+laughingly remarked that he had over-reached him in the matter. The
+Captain, who was now perfectly calm, gave a pleasantly-worded denial,
+and said, "No, Captain Warner, I think my supercargo must have got to
+windward of _you_ there."
+
+A quarrel ensued forthwith. The burly skipper became offensive, and it
+ended in our agreeing to meet with pistols on the beach at daylight next
+morning.
+
+However, at dawn the _Matautu_ had towed out with the first breath of
+the land-breeze, and was already outside the passage standing to the
+westward. So the duel did not come off. I honestly think the skipper was
+not afraid, but I suspect he decided not to risk another encounter with
+Hayston, and so thought discretion was the better part of valour.
+
+Next day we again heard the stirring cry of "Sail ho!" The new arrival
+was the _Morning Star_ from Honolulu, from which about ten o'clock
+landed the Rev. Mr. Morland--a portly, white bearded old gentleman, who
+at once made his way to his residence, while the Captain and I returned
+to South harbour. Kusis went home, with a promise from me to follow him
+next day, the honest fellow begging me to delay as little as possible.
+
+It was dark when we started, and a fierce black squall struck us just
+after we got out of the passage, nearly capsizing the boat. The Captain
+thought we had better return, but I was anxious to get back to Mout,
+and said I was sure the squall would not last. So we reefed the sail and
+dashed out to sea close-hauled, for the squall came from the westward,
+and was dead against us. However, the wind continued to increase, and
+the little boat shipped two or three heavy seas. So we agreed to turn
+back.
+
+We went about in a lull, and had made the entrance to the passage, as we
+thought, when the Captain called out, "Look out! here comes a sea!"
+
+Looking back, I saw a huge black roller almost on top of us. The next
+minute I felt we had touched. I shouted, "By Jove! we're not in the
+passage at all--it's only a creek in the reef. Jump out, quick!"
+
+We all sprang out of the boat on to the jagged coral, then the waves,
+poised high in air, dashed down upon us, and we were all washed clear
+over into a pool of smooth water. The boat was capsized, and with broken
+masts and oars gone, was swept in far ahead of us, till she disappeared
+in the darkness. We clung to the reef as best we could, and succeeded in
+reaching a coral "mushroom" that was just a wash. "We'll be all right
+here," said the Captain, in his cool, cheerful way; "are you boys all
+right?"--the two native boys were, like ourselves, cut about the arms
+and legs by the coral. But they thought nothing of that. What they
+dreaded were the _sharks_!
+
+Fortunately the tide was falling, and the coral knoll was gradually
+showing more of its surface above the water. Otherwise none of us would
+have reached the shore; for in these deep water passages the sharks
+literally swarm.
+
+A sea occasionally broke close to us, but not with sufficient force to
+wash any of us away. Suddenly the Captain said, "Boys, I see some people
+fishing ashore with torches," and he gave a resounding hail. An answer
+came back, and, what was more to the purpose, a canoe, in which we were
+rescued from our precarious position and taken ashore. The boat was
+searched for, and found drifting out to sea. But as long as I live I
+shall never forget the horrible feeling of standing on that coral knoll,
+in the wave-washed darkness, knowing that if we were once dislodged
+there was no chance of escaping the sharks. We were all good swimmers,
+but the Kusaie natives told us that the passage of Chabral harbour was
+swarming with the dreaded reef-shark, that seeks its prey, chiefly
+turtle, in the foam and swirl of the breakers on the reef. We slept that
+night in a native house, some distance from the village of Lele, and at
+daylight proceeded along the beach to the king's house. The old king did
+not appear; the queen was very hospitable to us, but seemed nervous and
+constrained in her manner to the Captain. Once when I was standing apart
+from him, she said in a low tone that I had better return to Mout,
+where I would be safe, adding, "Don't stay along with Captain.
+Man-of-war come from Honolulu to take him away. By and by I tell him."
+
+I afterwards regretted that I did not attach more importance to her
+warning, and tell the Captain; subsequent events showed that both the
+king and queen had been informed by Mr. Morland of the impending arrival
+of a man-of-war, which had been searching for Hayston for months
+previously. Later in the day, while the Captain was superintending
+repairs to the boat, Mr. Morland and the native colleague were
+announced. The white missionary requested to see the Captain. I may
+mention, that during our cruise to the north-west in the _Leonora_ we
+had occasionally met with the missionary brig, _Morning Star_, and had
+been visited by Mr. Morland once or twice.
+
+On this occasion he met us with the usual smile and outstretched hand.
+
+"How do you do, Captain Hayston? I am glad--very glad to see you, and
+yet sorry; for you have my sincere sympathy for the loss of your
+beautiful vessel."
+
+"Morland!" came the quick reply, "you know you are lying most
+infernally. You are no more pleased to see me than I am to see you. Our
+interests are too antagonistic for us to take kindly to each other. So
+let us at least be candid!"
+
+"Oh! Captain Hayston!" rejoined Mr. Morland, "you terribly unkind man!
+Why must you hate the poor parson so? Oh! my friend, my countryman, let
+us shake hands as fellow-Christians should do when they meet in these
+lonely, beautiful spots of God's bright universe!"
+
+Hayston smiled, but if he had but known that Mr. Morland was, even then,
+anxiously looking for the tall spars of one of Her Majesty's warships,
+and had actually been in communication with her captain a few days
+previously, he would possibly have half-strangled his pleasant-mannered
+visitor then and there.
+
+After a short chat the missionary returned to the king's house with the
+Captain, while I busied myself with the repairs of the boat, when the
+startling cry of "Sail ho!" rang through the quiet village. I ran up to
+the king's house, and found the Captain in the courtyard playing a game
+of dominoes with Queen Se.
+
+The missionary and Likiak Sa were just coming out from an interview with
+the king. The air of exultation on their faces as they saw the natives
+hurrying to and fro at the cry of "Sail ho!" struck me at once.
+
+The Captain sprang up at once, and said, "Let us take the boat and go
+out to her, she may want a pilot"; and we walked through the house to
+the stone wharf that abutted on one side of the king's establishment. We
+jumped into the boat, and with a crew of four natives pulled quickly out
+of the passage. On gaining the open we could see no sail, and concluded
+that the ship must be coming round the north-eastern side of the island,
+where she had been sighted by the natives. We then set sail, and
+commenced beating to windward, and about half-an-hour afterwards, as the
+little boat rode on the swell, we got a sight of the lofty masts and
+square yards of a man-of-war under steam, as she rounded the high land
+on the north-east side of the island.
+
+With a sudden exclamation the Captain stood up and gazed at the steamer.
+He then seated himself and seemed lost in thought. The great vessel came
+steadily on, then altered her course by a couple of points, and steered
+in the direction of the passage. I could see that she was under a full
+head of steam, and was travelling at a great rate. A volume of thick
+smoke was issuing from the yellow funnel, and as there is always a heavy
+sea off the windward side of Strong's Island she rolled tremendously,
+the water pouring from her black painted sides in sheets.
+
+The Captain watched her intently. "That's a man-of-war, Hilary! and a
+Britisher too," he said. "Though she may be an American--the
+_Portsmouth_ or the _Jamestown_; I can't tell with that smoke blowing
+ahead of her. If she's an American cruiser, she'll take me prisoner
+right enough. It's no use attempting to escape now. It's too late; I
+must take my chance. In that case you must get away to Utwe as quick as
+possible, and do the best you can with the station and the people. You
+know where the money is stowed away, and what to do with it if we are
+fated not to meet again."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As he said these words the smoke cleared away from the cruiser, and we
+had a splendid view of her as she rose majestically to a heavy sea, and
+fell gracefully into the trough again. "A Britisher, by ----!" exclaimed
+the Captain, "and a beauty too; give way, my lads, she's stopped her
+engines. Let us get aboard, and I'll soon learn what's in store for me."
+
+In order that it may be understood what reason the Captain had for these
+strong suspicions of arrest and imprisonment, I will here make quotation
+from the _Queensland Government Gazette_, an official journal of
+severely correct character, which, like "the _Apparatus_, cannot lie."
+
+
+                        COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
+                        BRISBANE, _20th August 1875_.
+
+    His Excellency directs the subjoined circular despatch received
+    from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, together with the
+    enclosed correspondence with the Board of Admiralty, respecting
+    the proceedings in the South Seas of W. H. Hayston, a United
+    States' subject, and master of the American brig _Leonora_, to
+    be published in the _Gazette_ for general information.
+
+                        A. MACALISTER.
+
+
+    The Admiralty to the Colonial Office.
+
+                        ADMIRALTY, _12th January 1875_.
+
+    SIR,--I am commanded by the my Lords Commissioners of the
+    Admiralty to transmit herewith, for the information of the Earl
+    of Carnarvon, a letter and its enclosures from Commodore
+    Goodenough, Senior Naval Officer of the Australasian Station,
+    reporting the proceedings of W. H. Hayston, a citizen of the
+    United States, and master of the late American brig _Leonora_.
+    It is requested that these papers be returned in order that they
+    may be sent to the Foreign Office.--I am, etc.
+
+                        (Signed) ROBERT HALL.
+
+    The Under Secretary of State,
+    Colonial Office.
+
+
+    Admiral Cochrane to the Admiralty.
+
+                        _Repulse_ AT CALLAO, _28th February 1875_.
+
+    SIR,--I have the honour to forward for the information of their
+    Lordships a copy of correspondence which I have received from
+    Commodore Goodenough, commanding the Australian Station.
+
+    2. The correspondence has reference to the very irregular
+    conduct of a master of a trading brig lately wrecked. The master
+    is believed to be an American.
+
+    3. Commodore Goodenough requested that the documents containing
+    evidence tending to substantiate the charges against the said
+    master should be forwarded to the American admiral commanding
+    the North Pacific Station. The islands where the occurrences
+    referred to took place are not included in the Pacific
+    Station.--I am, etc.
+
+                        (Signed) A. A. COCHRANE.
+
+    Rear Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
+
+
+                        H.M.S. _Repulse_,
+                        CALLAO, _28th February 1875_.
+
+    SIR,--I have the honour to forward for your perusal copies of
+    correspondence I have received from Commodore Goodenough in
+    command of H.M. ships on the Australian Station, relative to the
+    highly irregular proceedings of a master of a vessel trading
+    among the South Sea Islands. He is believed to be an American
+    citizen.
+
+    I should be much gratified if circumstances enable you to cause
+    inquiry into the subject of the charges enumerated.--I have,
+    etc.
+
+                        (Signed) A. A. COCHRANE.
+
+    Rear Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
+
+
+    Circular.
+
+                        DOWNING STREET, _13th May 1875_.
+
+    SIR,--I have the honour to transmit to you copies of a
+    correspondence with the Board of Admiralty respecting the
+    proceedings in the South Seas of W. H. Hayston, a United States'
+    subject, and master of the late American brig _Leonora_. In
+    connection with the lawless conduct of Hayston, as reported in
+    the papers now transmitted, I beg to refer you to my
+    predecessor's Circular Despatch of 22nd December 1875, relating
+    to the proceedings in the case of the _Atlantic_, and I desire
+    to express my entire concurrence in the hope expressed by Lord
+    Kimberley, that no opportunity may be lost of bringing the man
+    to trial.--I have, etc.
+
+                        CARNARVON.
+
+    To the Officer administering the
+    Government of Queensland.
+
+
+   Proceedings of H.M.S. _Rosario_ in the South Sea Islands.
+   Criminal acts of Mr. W. H. Hayston, master of the brig _Leonora_.
+
+                        H.M.S. _Pearl_, _16th November 1874_.
+
+    SIR,--I have the honour to enclose for the information of the
+    Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, a Report and various
+    papers furnished to me by Commander Dupont of H.M.S. _Rosario_,
+    concerning a Mr. William H. Hayston, master of the late American
+    brig _Leonora_.
+
+    2. This Mr. Hayston has long been known among the Pacific
+    Islands as a collector of produce, and has the reputation of
+    defrauding natives and lifting produce collected by other
+    traders. He has been spoken of in correspondence between this
+    and the Chinese Station as "the notorious Captain Hayston," but
+    hitherto no evidence on which he could be convicted of any
+    piratical act has been brought before me.
+
+    3. It seemed possible that Commander Dupont, while cruising in
+    H.M.S. _Rosario_ among the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, and
+    watching the labour traffic, might be able to gather some
+    evidence which would enable him to detain this person, who is
+    doing much harm among the islands. A copy of my orders to
+    Commander Dupont is enclosed.
+
+    4. Commander Dupont seems only to have obtained the evidence
+    which he desired against Hayston after he had learned of his
+    escape, and he is satisfied from inspection of Hayston's papers
+    that he is an American citizen.
+
+    5. Commander Dupont brought away with him from Strong's Island
+    the crew of Hayston's vessel, the _Leonora_, which was wrecked
+    there in March last, and also one Hilary Telfer, who had
+    proceeded from Samoa to Mille as supercargo of a vessel called
+    the _E. A. Wilson_, and belonging to the sons and daughters of
+    Mr. Wilson, H.M. Consul from Samoa.
+
+    6. This Mr. Telfer carried with him from Samoa orders from Mr.
+    Wilson to put the _E. A. Wilson_ and the cargo into Hayston's
+    hands to be sold, and in course of business appears to have
+    become so mixed up in Hayston's affairs, that the latter made
+    him his agent and entrusted him with letters to all his
+    subordinate agents, informing them that he had been seized by
+    the _Rosario_ for conveyance to Sydney.
+
+    7. I was in Samoa in H.M.S. _Pearl_ in November 1873. The ketch
+    _E. A. Wilson_ was then there under repairs. Mr. S. D. Wilson
+    told me nothing of his intentions regarding the vessel, but gave
+    me to understand that Mr. Hayston was a great rascal, who had
+    cleverly outwitted all inquiries. He offered to obtain evidence
+    from a half-caste, and at my desire took the statements (which
+    proved valueless) on oath. Yet on December 3, 1873, he enters
+    into communication with this man, against whom he had pretended
+    to give me information.
+
+    8. I consider the whole affair as most unsatisfactory, even
+    regarding Mr. Wilson as a trader. In the position of Her
+    Majesty's Acting Consul, I consider that he has been guilty of
+    improper behaviour, rendering him unworthy to occupy such a
+    position. The desirability of appointing a non-trading Consul in
+    Samoa has already been pointed out by both myself and my
+    predecessor on this Station.
+
+    9. The papers I enclose concerning Hayston will illustrate the
+    life of a modern South-Sea filibuster.--I have the honour to be,
+    your obedient servant,
+
+                        JAMES G. GOODENOUGH,
+                        Captain and Commodore, 2nd Class,
+                        Commanding Australian Station.
+
+    To the Secretary.
+
+
+    Enclosure No. 2.
+
+                        H.M.S. _Rosario_,
+                        AT SEA, Lat. 2 deg. 26' N., Long. 167 deg. 19' E.,
+                        _10th October 1874_.
+
+    SIR,--With reference to Mr. Hayston, master of the American brig
+    _Leonora_, I beg to forward the following statement of facts
+    relative to him that I have been able to collect among the
+    different islands visited during my present cruise:--
+
+    1. There can be no doubt but that Mr. Hayston is a shrewd,
+    unprincipled man, who has committed acts of violence towards the
+    natives, and been guilty of unjustifiable acts towards other
+    persons. Yet, so greatly has his name got to be feared, by both
+    natives and white men on the islands, that, though it was
+    evident that at nearly all the islands I visited he was well
+    known, it was impossible to find out much about him.
+
+    2. With respect to Mr. Dunn's business, what evidence I could
+    get was mainly in Hayston's favour, and tended to show that
+    Dunn's agents had sold the trade to Hayston instead of his
+    taking it. This is certainly the case as regards an Englishman
+    named George Winchcombe, whom I found living on Nukufutau, one
+    of the Ellice group. He himself stated to me that he left Sydney
+    with Dunn, in the understanding that he was to be found at a
+    station on one of the islands. He complained that Dunn treated
+    him badly on board, and eventually sent him on shore on the
+    island of Apaiari (Gilbert group) to collect trade. He was
+    dissatisfied with his life, much in dread of the natives, and on
+    Hayston's coming there in the beginning of 1873, he begged him
+    to take him off the island, and offered to sell him all the
+    trade he had collected. Hayston accordingly took him. At another
+    island, Tarawa, the only white resident had heard that some
+    trade had been removed by Hayston, but was not on the island at
+    the time. At other islands I heard things relative to Dunn's
+    property, but could get nothing but hearsay evidence. I could
+    not find a single individual, either white or native, who could
+    furnish me with any positive evidence or proof against Hayston.
+
+    On entering Chabral harbour (Strong's Island) Mr. Hayston, as I
+    have reported in my letter of proceedings, came out to meet the
+    ship in a boat. He told that his vessel had been wrecked in
+    South harbour of the island on the 15th of March this year,
+    since which date he had been living on shore collecting oil.
+
+    Mr. Morland, an American missionary, who had just arrived from
+    Ebon Island, and numerous white men--the late crew of the
+    _Leonora_--were also there. A schooner under the German flag,
+    Mr. Miller an Englishman master, lay in the harbour. I commenced
+    making inquiries as quietly as possible about Hayston, but here,
+    as at other places, I met with disinclination from all traders
+    to tell me anything they might know; Mr. Miller, though hinting
+    that Hayston had robbed him not long since, would at first say
+    nothing, nor was it till after considerable persuasion and the
+    delay of some days that I got the enclosed statement, with the
+    various witnesses in the matter, from him.
+
+    But as he was sailing under German colours, I could not believe
+    my duty was to do more than receive the statements and forward
+    it through you to the German Consul in Sydney.
+
+    Hayston, apprised by some of the crew of the inquiries that had
+    been made, left the island in a boat on the night of the 27th.
+    His design was, I believe, either to make the island of
+    Ascension or that of Pingelap. At their own request, and also
+    considering it a good thing for the island to be rid of them, I
+    took five of the crew of the _Leonora_ on board for passage to
+    Sydney, and also one other person who had been a passenger on
+    board, and also, from what I could hear, a great friend of
+    Hayston. This Hilary Telfer was the person who had been sent by
+    Mr. Wilson, British Consul at Samoa, as supercargo of the ketch
+    that I met at Mille, but leaving his charge there, had gone to
+    sea with Hayston and been with him since January. I deemed it
+    advisable that he should be removed, there being no chance of
+    his getting back to Mille from Strong's Island, and also because
+    the chief particularly desired his removal, as being likely to
+    stir up trouble in the island. These six persons are now on
+    board.
+
+    I visited Mr. Hayston's residence at South harbour; he had made
+    a regular settlement of it, and had collected a large quantity
+    of oil. No less than five young women were living in his house,
+    who had all with one exception been living on board the
+    _Leonora_. That vessel was sunk in fourteen fathoms, her topmast
+    head a few feet above water.
+
+    The first mate I left on the island, recommending him to take
+    charge of Hayston's property. The second mate, William Hicks,
+    ran away into the bush and couldn't be found, otherwise I should
+    have taken him to Sydney with the others. Thinking the case over
+    quietly afterwards, I cannot see how I could have arrested
+    Hayston. It is, therefore, with great regret that I am obliged
+    to report my failure to collect sufficient evidence against him
+    to warrant my doing so. The case of Mr. Dunn must have failed
+    from want of such evidence.--I have, etc., etc.
+
+                        A. E. DUPONT,
+                        Commander.
+
+    To Commodore J. G. Goodenough,
+    H.M.S. _Pearl_.
+
+
+    Enclosure No. 13.
+
+        MESSRS. MILLER AND WARNE TO MR. HILARY TELFER, SUPERCARGO.
+
+    DEAR SIR,--You will proceed from hence to Mille, Mulgrave
+    Island, for the purpose of selling the ketch _A.E.W._ You will
+    find Captain Hayston there waiting for you, so you will please
+    consult with him, as he is acquainted with the people who wish
+    to purchase the ketch. Try to obtain oil or copra to the amount
+    of L500 for her. Ship whatever produce you may get on board the
+    _Leonora_, and get Captain Hayston to sign bills of lading. Do
+    not sell the chronometer unless you get a good price for it.
+    Sell the few things you take to the best advantage. None of the
+    Samoans are to remain, but to come back to Apia. Have the ketch
+    painted at Mille.--Wishing you a prosperous and speedy voyage,
+    we are, etc.,
+
+                        (Signed) MILLER AND WARNE.
+
+
+    Enclosure No. 15.
+
+    Know all men by these presents that I, William Henry Hayston,
+    Master mariner, now residing on Strong's Island, in the North
+    Pacific Ocean, have made, constituted, and appointed Hilary
+    Telfer, of Sydney, New South Wales, at present residing on this
+    island of Kusaie (or Strong's Island), to be my true and lawful
+    agent for me, and, in my place and stead, to enter into and take
+    possession of my station situated at Maloe, near the village of
+    Utwe, South harbour, on the above-named island. Also all my oil,
+    casks, tobacco, and other trade which may be on said station.
+    Also boats, canoe, pigs, fowls, possessions--all and everything,
+    whether of value or not, together with my furniture and private
+    effects, and to take full charge of all my business on the
+    above-named island during my trip to the eastward.
+
+                        (Signed)   W. H. HAYSTON,
+                        In the presence of the undersigned witness,
+                        this 19th August 1874.
+
+                        (Signed)   CHARLES ROBERTS.
+
+
+    Enclosure No. 16.
+
+                  MEMORANDUM OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR MR. HILARY TELFER.
+
+    SIR,--As I am about to leave Strong's Island, and have given you
+    power to act on my behalf, I wish you to close up all my affairs
+    in the best manner you can. You will look after the property I
+    leave behind, and dispose of it to the best advantage. Out of
+    the remainder of the oil you can pay yourself for the
+    chronometer, and Mr. Harry Skillings for the trade I had from
+    him. Sell the balance, including the large cargo-boat, as soon
+    as an opportunity offers. Anything left over you can give to the
+    people that have been kind to you, and the natives. Out of the
+    proceeds of the sale you can pay for the passage of my natives
+    to Samoa, if they want to go there. If not, see them back on
+    their own island, or on some of the Kingsmill group, that they
+    may get with their own country people.
+
+    My native boy Toby I wish you to take to Samoa, and look after
+    him as well as you can; also Kitty, as they have no father or
+    mother. Both were given to me by the king of Hope Island. The
+    stores I left behind are for you and the natives to live on till
+    you can get away. Be careful of the little trade I leave you, as
+    the Strong's islanders want payment for everything you get of
+    them to eat. You will also bear in mind that the king owes me
+    12,100 cocoa-nuts, the balance of the 48,000 that he agreed to
+    pay me for the property stolen by the Strong's islanders at the
+    time of the loss of the brig.
+
+    I write an accompanying letter to each of my agents. You will
+    have to settle with them by their own accounts, as my trade-book
+    was lost, as you know. The balance, after paying for your own
+    passage and expense, you can hand over to my agent at
+    Samoa.--Wishing you a safe arrival there and every success, I
+    remain, yours in good faith,
+
+                        (Signed) W. H. HAYSTON.
+
+
+    Circular.
+
+                        DOWNING STREET, _31st May 1875_.
+
+    SIR,--With reference to my circular despatch of 13th instant, I
+    have the honour to transmit to you the accompanying copy of a
+    note addressed by the Duc de Decazes to Her Majesty's Minister
+    at Paris, in consequence of the communication on the subject of
+    the lawless proceedings of W. H. Hayston in the South Seas,
+    which the Earl of Derby caused to be made to the French
+    Government, also those of Germany and the United States.--I am,
+    etc.,
+
+                        CARNARVON.
+
+    The Officer Administering
+    the Government of Queensland.
+
+
+    THE DUC DE DECAZES TO MR. ADAMS.
+
+    (Copy.)
+
+                        PARIS, _le 10 mai 1875_.
+
+    M. LE MINISTRE,--J'ai porte a la connaissance de mon collegue
+    les informations que vous m'avez fait l'honneur de me
+    transmettre, relativement a un personnage dangereux, du nom de
+    Hayston, qui se serait signale par de nombreux actes de
+    depredation dans les Iles de l'Oceanie. M. l'Amiral de Montaigne
+    repondant a ma communication m'annonce qu'il signalera par le
+    premier courrier cet individu au Commandant en Chef de notre
+    division navale dans l'Ocean Pacifique. Il adressera en outre a
+    M. l'Amiral Rebout les instructions necessaires pour que ce
+    flibustier soit surveille de pres et mis, le cas echeant, hors
+    d'etat de poursuivre son industrie criminelle.--Agreez, etc.,
+
+                        (Signed) DUC DE DECAZES.
+
+    M. Adams.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+H.M.S. ROSARIO
+
+
+As we pulled up alongside we saw her bulwarks forward crowded with the
+blue-jackets. The Captain's quick eye, which nothing escaped, detected
+among them the bronzed faces of Dan Gardiner and another trader whom he
+had left at Providence Island.
+
+"She's come to take me, sure enough," he said to me. "The moment I
+looked at those two fellows they dropped back out of sight. Never mind,
+come aboard and I'll see it through."
+
+As soon as we gained the deck he advanced towards a group of officers
+standing on the quarter-deck, and, raising his hat, said, "Good morning,
+gentlemen. I am Captain Hayston of the brig _Leonora_, cast away on this
+island in the earlier part of the year."
+
+There was a moment's silence; then a tall man, the captain of the
+cruiser, stepped out from the others, surveyed Hayston from head to
+foot, and said, "Oh, ah, indeed! then you are the very man I am looking
+for. This is Her Majesty's ship _Rosario_, and you are a prisoner, Mr.
+Hayston!"
+
+Hayston simply bowed and said nothing, retiring to the port side, where
+he was placed under the charge of the sergeant-major of marines, who, as
+also all others on board, looked with intense curiosity at the man of
+whose doings they had heard so much in their cruises in the Pacific
+Ocean.
+
+The man-of-war captain then demanded my name, after which I was
+considerably staggered by the announcement that he had instructions to
+apprehend me on the charge of stealing the ketch _E. A. Wilson_, the
+property of Messrs. Miller and Warne of Samoa.
+
+Hayston at once came forward, and, addressing the captain, said that I
+had simply brought that vessel to him at Mille, and could produce
+written instructions from the owners to hand the vessel over to him. To
+this no answer was returned, and silence was maintained, for the
+_Rosario_ was now entering the passage, and so interested was I at the
+novel surroundings of a man-of-war under steam, and so lost in
+admiration of the perfect discipline on board, that for the time being I
+forgot that the Captain of the _Leonora_ was a prisoner, and that I was
+also apprehended on a serious charge.
+
+Slowly and gracefully the great ship steamed through the passage, and
+brought up within a cable's length of the king's wharf, where the anchor
+plunged below to its resting-place on the coral bottom. No sooner had
+the man-of-war come to anchor than Mr. Morland and the native
+missionary, who followed him like a shadow, came on board, and were
+received by Her Majesty's representative. A consultation took place,
+after which I was separated from my companion, and, without being able
+to exchange a word of farewell, was hurried down to the gun-room. As I
+placed my foot on the ladder leading to the "'tween decks" I turned. He
+waved his hand to me in farewell. _We never met again!_
+
+While I was detained in the gun-room a midshipman told me that Captain
+Hayston had been permitted to go on shore, under the charge of an
+officer, to collect his personal effects and write letters, as he had
+been informed that I would not be permitted to have any further
+communication with him.
+
+The midshipman said that Mr. Morland had seemed surprised at Captain
+Hayston's not being put in irons, and was at that moment collecting
+evidence in order to formulate a series of charges against him before
+the captain of the _Rosario_. My informant added, "If Captain Hayston is
+such a blood-thirsty ruffian as he is described to be he certainly shows
+no indication of it."
+
+Several of the warrant officers now gathered around and pressed me with
+questions concerning Hayston. One of them jocularly inquired where the
+Captain's harem was located, adding that it was a pity to separate him
+from them, and that there was plenty of room on board the _Rosario_ for
+ladies.
+
+I was burning with anxiety to know on what particular charge Hayston had
+been arrested, and how the captain of the _Rosario_ had heard of the
+loss of the _Leonora_. They told me then that the _Rosario_ had been
+searching for Hayston for some time, under instructions from the
+Commodore of the Australian Station, to whom representations had been
+made concerning alleged depredations committed by him (Hayston) in the
+Line Islands. The _Rosario_ had visited a number of islands, and
+endeavoured to obtain evidence against Hayston, but that it had resulted
+in a failure, nearly every one, when it came to the point, declining to
+make any statement against him. The captain of the man-of-war then
+decided to proceed to Arrecifos, or Providence Island, which he knew to
+be one of Hayston's depots. On arrival he learned from the two white men
+there that so long an interval had passed since his last visit that they
+fancied that the _Leonora_ had been lost.
+
+These two men were taken on board, and the _Rosario_ made for Strong's
+Island. When within 400 miles she met the little _Matautu_, who
+signalled a wish to speak. As soon as Captain Warner boarded the
+man-of-war he informed the commander of the loss of the _Leonora_, and
+of Hayston's presence on the island. He also handed in several written
+charges made by himself against Hayston, and, as well as I can remember
+from what I was told, was about to return to his schooner when the
+_Morning Star_ hove in sight.
+
+On board of the missionary brig was Mr. Morland, and a consultation then
+took place between the two captains and this gentleman, who was, of
+course, delighted to hear of the loss of the _Leonora_, and that Captain
+Hayston was to be taken prisoner.
+
+The _Matautu_ then bore away on her course, and the _Morning Star_,
+after landing Mr. Morland at the weather side of the island, went on her
+way, leaving him ashore, perfectly assured of his own safety and the
+immediate presence of the _Rosario_ in Chabral harbour.
+
+I could now understand the hints given me by the queen, as well as the
+expression of triumph on the faces of the missionaries as they returned
+from their interview with the king.
+
+Presently an officer came down and asked me if I wished to obtain my
+effects from the shore. I at once sent a message to Kusis to bring me a
+small chest, in which were my worldly goods, as well as my power of
+attorney and letters of instructions from former employers in Samoa. I
+was going to make inquiries about Hayston, when the officer requested me
+kindly enough not to ask him questions, as he could give me no
+information. He told me, however, that the captain of the _Rosario_ was
+at that moment engaged in hearing charges against Hayston made by the
+king, Mr. Morland, and two or three of the traders from Pleasant Island.
+Also that some of the crew of the _Leonora_ had been induced to come
+forward and make statements. I also learned that Hayston had been taken
+to South harbour in charge of an officer, for what purpose I could never
+learn, unless it was to give him an opportunity of escaping, as he could
+easily have written his letters in the king's house.
+
+Two of the boats' crews were piped away, and I was told by an old
+quarter-master, with a humorous grin, that some of the officers had gone
+away in the boats to South harbour to have a look at the "pirate's
+village, and bring away the unfortunate female captives." All this time
+I was kept in close confinement, and the time passed wearily away. I was
+growing tired of the ceaseless questions from every one that came near
+me about Hayston, the _Leonora_, and our voyage from the Carolines till
+the brig was cast away.
+
+At night, however, the boats returned, and after the crews had been
+piped down to supper the good old sergeant-major of marines, suspecting
+the anxiety I was in as to Hayston's movements, startled me by telling
+me that he had escaped from custody when at South Island harbour.
+
+He told me that as soon as the boat reached the village they found the
+place in a state of wildest confusion. A messenger had come down along
+the coast and told the Captain's people that a man-of-war was at Lele,
+and that Captain Hayston had been taken prisoner, put in irons, and was
+to be shot or hanged at once. A number of Strong's Island natives
+followed the man-of-war boats down from Chabral harbour, and these at
+once attempted to rush and ransack the station, which they were only
+prevented from doing by the presence of the blue-jackets.
+
+Hayston was escorted to his station, where he was at once surrounded by
+the girls belonging to the house and many others, among them being the
+carpenter's, steward's, boatswain's, and Antonio's wives--all clinging
+to him and impeding his movements.
+
+Calling them all together, with such others of the natives as had not
+fled from the village at the sight of the blue-jackets, he told them
+that they need not be under any alarm, that he was going away in the
+man-of-war, and might not return for a long time--perhaps many moons,
+but that the supercargo, Hilary Telfer, would be with them shortly, and
+they must be guided by him. Of course the Captain never for a minute
+imagined that I was then under the closest surveillance, and therefore
+would be utterly powerless to carry out his promises made to them.
+
+He then quietly seated himself, and wrote a quantity of letters to his
+agents in the different islands in the Line and Marshall groups. These
+letters he directed and enclosed to me, together with a power of
+attorney which he had previously drawn up, and a letter of
+instructions--all of which he laid on the table.
+
+He then told his captors that he was ready to return with them, when
+(according to the statement made by the marines on their return to Lele)
+he suddenly exerted his vast strength, and knocking several of them
+down, sprang into the sea and gained the mangroves on the opposite side
+of the harbour.
+
+On my inquiring from the marine officer why he had not been pursued,
+that gentleman winked at me, and replied, "No orders, my boy, no orders;
+besides he swam like a beaver, and to search the mangroves for one man
+would take a month of Sundays." Thinking the matter over, I came to the
+conclusion that for some reason I could not fathom, the captain of the
+man-of-war was not particularly anxious to keep Hayston a prisoner,
+though I had heard him declare to Mr. Morland that the naval authorities
+would at last rid the Pacific of this man, who was a source of terror
+and dread from New Zealand to the China Seas.
+
+When the boats returned from Utwe they brought up the man Jansen, whom
+Hayston had beaten and disgraced. He called himself, and was recognised
+by the captain of the _Rosario_ as the chief officer of the _Leonora_,
+although he had long since lost his position on account of his rascally
+conduct. He seemed brimful of evidence as to Hayston's misdeeds, and I
+was afterwards informed that when brought into the ward-room of the
+man-of-war the officers expected to have some thrilling stories of
+rapine and bloodshed. However, they were disappointed, as his evidence
+was little more than confirmatory of that of Captain Warner of the
+_Matautu_, in reference to the taking of some gear from the brig
+_Kamehameha the Fourth_.
+
+Mr. Morland and Likiak Sa appeared to be the leading spirits in
+obtaining charges against the absent Hayston, for the commander of the
+man-of-war was strictly neutral, and certainly not furiously indignant
+at his escape. They succeeded in obtaining his approval of the
+appointment of Jansen to take charge of the people and the station,
+under the supervision of King Tokusar, at Utwe. It was at this juncture
+that the letters written by Hayston to his agents, as well as the power
+of attorney and letters of instruction to me, were produced by Mr.
+Morland. How they came to be in that gentleman's hands I do not know. A
+rough draft was made by him for the king's perusal, he said, and the
+originals were then brought to me by one of the lieutenants, who also
+handed me a bundle of papers which he said had been brought on board by
+a native.
+
+These papers were my power of attorney, to hand over the ketch _E. A.
+Wilson_ to Captain Hayston, and also a letter of instructions in
+reference to the crew--copies of which the reader has already seen.
+Feeling confident that I had but to show these documents to Commander
+Dupont to insure an interview and my instant release, I requested to be
+ushered into the autocrat's presence. The Reverend Mr. Morland was
+present, and greeted me with such a smile of active benevolence that I
+longed to kick him.
+
+When I presented the letter to Captain Dupont I was considerably
+surprised when he denounced them as forgeries, calling me at the same
+time a d--d piratical scoundrel and accomplished young villain, adding
+that my cruel behaviour in aiding and abetting Hayston in his villainies
+made him regret that he could not run me up to the yardarm as a
+warning. He finished this tirade by tearing up my papers and throwing
+them at me. Calling the sergeant of marines, he ordered me put in irons,
+from which, however, I was released before the _Rosario_ put to sea.
+
+Early next morning, much to my relief, there appeared on board the black
+shining face of Johnny Tilton, the young negro, who among others of the
+crew had been brought away from Utwe, in one of the man-of-war boats.
+Johnny, with his shipmates, was taken below and examined by the captain
+and Mr. Morland. But as there was nothing against him personally or the
+Fijian half-caste Bill, they were permitted to return ashore. Before
+leaving, Johnny requested to be allowed to see me, which was granted.
+
+The moment I saw his face I knew he had something of importance to tell
+me, for looking at the marine standing sentry over me, he said in
+Samoan, "Le--alu ua sola i te po" (the Captain escaped in the night).
+
+"Yes!" I replied, "I know that already."
+
+"Ah! but I mean that he has taken the small boat and gone away
+altogether. Listen, I'll tell you all about it. After the man-of-war
+boats had gone away from Utwe, and the Captain had escaped into the
+mangroves, a number of the Strong's islanders came down and said they
+were going to loot the place. Then the king sent down word that the
+captain of the man-of-war had declared that the station now belonged to
+him (the king), and that he could do what he liked with the place. The
+king forbade any of the people to go into the Captain's house till
+Jansen came down with Likiak Sa, as these two had been appointed by the
+king and Mr. Morland to take charge. Well, there was a lot of us ran
+away into the mountains at the very first when we heard the Captain was
+taken prisoner. Bill Hicks and I were among them, also boy George and
+Sunday. Before we left I went to the Captain's house and told the girls
+that we were running away, and our wives were coming with us, and asked
+them what they intended to do. Old Mary said she would wait and see
+first if it were true about the Captain being taken prisoner.
+
+"All the young women, too, though they were very frightened, said they
+would stay. I got Hope Island Nellie to give me three Winchester rifles
+and a bag of cartridges from the back of the big house. I cut a hole
+through the side of the Captain's sleeping-place, and Nellie passed the
+rifles out to me quietly. I told Nellie that we were going to hide in
+the mountains till we saw whether the man-of-war wanted to catch us as
+well as the Captain. If not we would return to Utwe.
+
+"I took the rifles and wrapped them up in a long mat, and went down to
+the lagoon, where I found a canoe and took it. Bill and the others were
+waiting for me; they told me that the man-of-war boats were coming into
+the harbour, and that the Captain was in one of them; we watched them
+carefully and saw them go out of the harbour. Then Bill began to talk
+against the Captain, and said he would be glad if he were shot. He asked
+me if I was willing to make a dash into the village and help him to
+bring away Nellie and Sara, as if the Captain was taken away in the
+man-of-war he was going to have them for himself.
+
+"I told him that until Captain Hayston was taken away or dead that I
+intended to stick to him. So we nearly had a fight over it. Then Bill
+said all of a sudden that he intended to have Sara and Nellie, right or
+wrong. And as he had nothing to fear from the man-of-war, he would try
+if he couldn't fool the captain, and pretend he could tell him all about
+Captain Hayston robbing Captain Daly's station on the Line Islands.
+
+"I told him I was not going to turn dog on the Captain, and he might do
+his dirty work himself.
+
+"So off he went, and we saw him cross over in a canoe to young Harry's
+place, and knew he was going along the beach to Chabral harbour. Then I
+talked to the others, and asked them what we ought to do, for I was
+afraid we would not see the Captain any more. Boy George laughed, and
+said he didn't care, but he meant to be beforehand with Bill and run off
+with Sara; that if I had any sense I would run off with Nellie, and let
+the other girls go adrift. He said we could easily live in the mountains
+till the man-of-war was gone, and then go back to Utwe. But I said I
+wouldn't do that, and that they would find that Sara would fight like a
+wild cat if boy George or any one else tried to take her away.
+
+"Boy George then said if she wouldn't come he would put a bullet through
+her, and take Mila or Nellie instead. So then we had a row; he called me
+a black thief and said I could go to h--l. He and the others cleared out
+and left me alone.
+
+"It was then very dark, and as everything seemed quiet, I walked across
+the coral and got into the house on the point where some Strong's Island
+people live, the one you were brought to when you were washed ashore.
+The man and his wife Nadup were frightened at first; but they were good
+to me, and gave me food, and then they told me Jansen was in charge of
+the station; that the Pleasant islanders were fled into the bush, and
+that the girls in the big house had run away when they saw him coming to
+them, drunk, with a loaded rifle in his hand.
+
+"Only Nellie and little Kitty and Toby stayed behind. Nellie had a
+Winchester rifle and pointed it at Jansen, who was afraid to come into
+the house. Then she, Kitty, and the little boy collected as many of the
+Captain's things as they could carry, and taking a canoe, put out to
+sea, intending to paddle round to Mout, where they thought they would
+find you, who would tell them all about the Captain, and whether he was
+killed or not.
+
+"But, after they had gone four or five miles, the outrigger came off
+and the canoe capsized. They swam ashore and then walked back to Utwe,
+where they were told by some natives that you were also a prisoner on
+board the man-of-war. And the last that had been seen of Nellie, Kitty,
+and the boy, was that they started to walk to Chabral harbour to try and
+see the captain of the man-of-war, as they were afraid that Jansen would
+kill them.
+
+"Well," continued Black Johnny, "when I heard that you were also a
+prisoner I thought I would run away into the bush again, as I knew
+Jansen would put a bullet into me whenever he saw me if I did not get
+first shot. Just as I was thinking very hard what I should do, I heard
+some one walking on the broken coral outside the house. I knew the
+footstep; it was the Captain! I crept outside, and saw him standing up
+leaning against a stone wall. He had two pistols in his sash and a
+Winchester rifle in his hand. He seemed to be considering. I whistled
+softly, and then spoke. He shook hands with me, and then raised his
+rifle and pointed it at the head of the Strong's islander, who, with his
+wife Nadup, had followed me. They ran outside and threw themselves on
+the ground, and grovelled in the way they do to old Tokusar, and swore
+they would not tell that the Captain had come back.
+
+"We then had a hasty talk, and I told him about you being a prisoner.
+But he said you would soon be set free again and would return to Utwe,
+and I must stick to you and help to keep order; that after the
+man-of-war had gone he would come back again. When I told him that the
+station was broken up, and that Jansen was in charge of thirty Strong's
+islanders, and that the girls had run away, he said it was a bad case,
+and, picking up his rifle, he asked me where Jansen was sleeping. I saw
+what he meant to do, and begged him to let things be as they were, and
+not kill Jansen while the man-of-war was here.
+
+"So he thought awhile, and then said if he could find a boat he would
+get away, as he didn't think the man-of-war would follow him. By and by
+he would come back again, when he hoped to find you and me here all
+safe.
+
+"The Strong's Island women then told us that the dingey had been brought
+down from Chabral harbour by Jansen, and was then lying outside the
+coral at anchor. 'She'll do,' said the Captain; 'lend me a hand, and
+we'll bring her ashore.' But I made him lie quiet while I went for her;
+and I can tell you I was in a terrible funk all the time about sharks as
+soon as I began to swim out. Anyway I brought her in all right; and then
+the man and his wife brought a lot of cocoa-nuts and cooked food, and
+put it into the boat. I gave the Captain all the cartridges I had. He
+told me that he got the pistols from the place in the bush that you know
+of, and the rifle from young Harry, and that everything else there was
+all right."
+
+By this I knew that Hayston had visited a place in the bush where he had
+secreted his bags of money, besides firearms and ammunition.
+
+Going on with his talk the young negro said, "When everything was ready
+the Captain told me he meant to sail round the lee side of the island,
+and hide the boat in the mangroves till the man-of-war had gone, and
+then he would return and wipe out Jansen and the traders.
+
+"He told me, though (for he felt sure of your being set free again),
+that if it so happened that he did not return in ten days you would know
+that he had cleared out towards the north-west, and would try to reach
+the Pelew Islands. He said if he reached there he would soon get a
+vessel, as there were always plenty of small Spanish schooners about
+those islands, and he could easily put his hand on one or two people in
+the Pelews who would help him to take one. I asked him what we should do
+if, when we came back to Utwe, you found that Jansen was too strong for
+us? He said we should make no attempt to take forcible possession, but
+go and live with your people at Mout. That as soon as the girls knew
+where we were they would be certain to come to us with little Kitty and
+Toby. That we must wait till he returned, as he would never desert us.
+
+"Then," said Johnny, whose glistening eyes showed how deeply attached he
+was to his Captain, "the poor fellow! he shook hands with me, and said I
+was made of the right stuff, and that the Almighty made a mistake when
+he gave me a black skin. Then, telling me to keep a stout heart, he got
+in and hoisted the sail. It was very dark, but there was a good
+land-breeze, and he sailed the dingey right along the edge of the reef
+till he came to the passage, and disappeared in the darkness. I ran
+across the strip of land on the sea-side of the lagoon and waited till I
+saw him pass.
+
+"In about half-an-hour I saw the little boat sailing along close into
+the shore, just outside of the breakers, rising and falling like a
+sea-gull on the top of the heavy seas. I could see the Captain's figure
+in the stern, and every moment expected to see her lifted high up on a
+roller and dashed on the reef. But though I shouted to him to keep
+farther out, the white figure in the stern never moved, and my voice was
+lost in the roaring of the surf.
+
+"Then, as I saw him still keeping steady to the southward, just clear of
+the last sweep of the seas before they curled and broke on the reef, I
+remembered that only a few cables' lengths from the breakers there was
+always a strong current setting to the north, and that with a light
+breeze the boat would never stem it. That was why he hugged the shore so
+closely. At last, as I kept running through the undergrowth following
+the boat, I came to that place where there is a thick cane scrub. When I
+got through it he was nearly out of sight, and I sat on a boulder and
+watched the sail gradually covered up by the night."
+
+Such, in effect, was the young negro's story. I could not help being
+affected by his evident sorrow, and told him that I feared there was no
+chance of me at least ever seeing the Captain again. Then, when the time
+came to part, I shook his hand warmly, and advised him to sever his
+connection with the _Leonora's_ crew; also to go and see the king, who
+would not, at any rate, object to his remaining on the island to follow
+out the Captain's wishes as far as lay in his power.
+
+Soon after Black Johnny had bid me good-bye young Harry came to say
+farewell, and with him Kusis and his family, and Lalia.
+
+Harry told me that he saw the Captain after his escape, and urged him
+not to think of returning to Utwe just then, as Jansen had a strong
+force of natives with him, and would certainly try to take or shoot him.
+But he was determined to find out how matters stood, and bidding Harry
+good-bye, set out across the mangrove swamp that lined the shore from
+Harry's station to the village at Utwe. He gave him the Winchester and
+cartridges, and the Captain assured him that he would not fire a shot
+except in self-defence.
+
+I told Harry what I had learned from the young negro about the Captain's
+final movements, and that I was being taken away as a prisoner. He
+seemed very bitter against the other traders, whom he spoke of as
+trembling like whipped hounds before the Captain's frown when he was
+free, and who now, when he was a ruined and broken man, were loud in
+their threats and vapourings.
+
+He also told me that he had received a letter from the king and Mr.
+Morland, commanding him to deliver up to Jansen all oil, casks, boats,
+and other property in his possession belonging to Captain Hayston, and
+threatening him with deportation from the island if he refused. To this
+he sent a written reply to the effect, that unless the king and Mr.
+Morland could back up their demand by a boat's crew from the
+man-of-war, he would shoot the first man who stepped inside his fence.
+
+They then appealed to Commander Dupont, who told them that as young
+Harry was an American citizen, he could not force him to give up the
+property, but advised the king and Mr. Morland to take the law into
+their own hands.
+
+Young Harry then armed his wives and native servants with rifles, and
+telling them to make short work of any one attempting to seize Captain
+Hayston's property, set out for Chabral harbour to interview the king.
+He told me that when he reached the king's house he found there the
+other traders, Mr. Morland, and the commander of the man-of-war. On the
+latter gentleman inquiring who he was, and what he wanted, Harry
+answered him very concisely by furnishing his name and nationality. He
+then stated that he had not come to see him (Commander Dupont), but the
+king, of whom he wished to ask by what right he dared to send him a
+letter threatening him with deportation from the island unless he
+consented to give up Captain Hayston's property. He warned him to be
+careful how he interfered with an American citizen, as there was an
+American cruiser now in the Caroline Islands. He (the king) would find
+he had made a serious mistake if he committed any outrage upon a citizen
+of the United States.
+
+"You should have seen the look in the British officer's face," said
+Harry, "when I stepped up to the old king, and nearly touching his face
+with my hand, said, 'and I warn you, king, that the captain of an
+American cruiser will listen to the tale and redress the wrongs of the
+honest American citizen. He would think little of knocking your town
+about your ears.'"
+
+The old king never spoke, but glanced first towards the British officer
+and then to the missionary, but as neither of them offered suggestions,
+the poor old fellow could only mutter something to the effect that he
+was like a little fish in a pool, afraid of the sea because of the
+bigger fish, and afraid to stay lest the frigate birds should seize him.
+Young Harry quite enjoyed relating the scene to me, and said that as he
+was going away the king held out his hand and inquired in a shaky voice,
+"I say, Harry, what you tink, what you do? Suppose Captain Hayston come
+back, what become of King Tokusar? Oh! by God! now I be 'fraid every
+day; think I hear Captain Hayston speak me; make noise like bullock; I
+think better be poor native, no more king."
+
+Harry refused to advise the king, and then taking a good look at the
+white men present, said, "Well, good-bye, King Tokusar! I am going back
+to my station--the station I am minding for Captain Hayston. I have six
+men and four women all armed, and the American flag on a pole in front
+of my door; and the first man that attempts to do me any mischief,
+white, black, or yellow, _I'll shoot him_. You can ask the white men
+from Pleasant Island if I am not a man of my word. They know me."
+
+Harry then got into his boat and pulled on board the man-of-war, where
+the first lieutenant very kindly allowed him to see me. I felt sincere
+regret at parting with Harry, telling him to beware of the other
+traders. I repeated what had been told me by Kitty of Ebon and Lalia.
+He laughed, and said he was always prepared, and meant to do justice to
+the trust reposed in him by Captain Hayston. "I'm the wrong man," he
+said on leaving, "to abandon any station and property left in my
+charge." Then, with oft-repeated wishes that we might meet again, after
+hearing of the Captain's safety we parted.
+
+Then came again good simple Kusis and his people with Lalia. She had
+in charge little Kitty and Toby. Poor Toby clung to my legs and sobbed
+as if his heart was breaking, when I told him that I did not know when
+the Captain would come back again. If no one else loved his master Toby
+did, and I tried in vain to assuage his grief. I was glad to hear from
+Lalia that she was going to young Harry's place with the two
+children. There I knew they would be well treated and cared for.
+
+"Look!" said she, pointing to the little fellow, "the Captain had two
+good friends besides yourself, young Harry, and the nigger Johnny, but
+this little fellow has never ceased crying for 'Captin' since he left
+the village in South harbour. Never mind, little Toby, we will wait and
+the 'Captin' will be sure to come;" and then she stooped down, and tried
+by kissing and coaxing to prevent him from giving utterance to his
+doleful wails and sobs of grief.
+
+Lalia told me, as with glistening eyes and trembling hands we said
+farewell, that her one hope now was to be able to get back to her
+distant home on Easter Island, that Captain Hayston would return with a
+ship; and, if he went towards Samoa or Tahiti, take her with him for
+that portion of the many thousand miles that lay between Strong's Island
+and her native land. That he would do this she felt confident. "For,"
+she said, "he once told me that he would stand by me if I was in
+trouble--it was when we were all washed ashore together--you remember?
+_and he never breaks his word_."
+
+Whatever Lalia's past life had been, I could never help admiring her
+many noble traits of character. I owed her life-long gratitude for her
+heroic self-sacrifice on the fateful night of the wreck of the
+_Leonora_; by me, at least, she will never be forgotten. Poor Lalia!
+Brave, loving, lovely child of the charmed isles of the southern main!
+reckless alike in love and hate, who shall judge? who condemn thee? Not
+I!
+
+Kusis, Tulpe, and Kinie clung to me as if they could not bear to say
+farewell. I see before me often the honest, kindly countenance of Kusis
+as, with his hand clasped in mine, he looked trustfully into my face and
+made me promise that some day I would return and live with him once
+more. And so freshly at that time came the remembrance of the happy days
+I had passed in his quiet home, dreaming the hours away within sight of
+the heaving bosom of the blue, boundless Pacific Ocean, so deliciously
+restful after the stormy life of the _Leonora_ and her wild commander,
+that I believe I really intended to return to Strong's Island some day;
+but, as we used to say at Sydney college, "_Dis aliter visum_."
+
+Queen Se sent me a letter as follows:--
+
+    DEAR FRIEND,--Kitty Ebon send Lalia to see you. We all very
+    sorry, but must not say so, because Mr. Morland very strong man
+    now. Where you think Captain Hayston go in little boat? I 'fraid
+    he die in boat. I very sorry for Captain--very kind man--but bad
+    man to natives sometimes.
+
+                        QUEEN SE.
+
+Enclosed were these pencilled lines from Kitty of Ebon:--
+
+    MY DEAR FRIEND,--All the people from Mout been to Mr. Morland
+    to ask why you are in prison, and he says you will be hung for
+    stealing a ship. We all very sorry, all Mout people love you
+    very much--and me too. Good-bye, dear friend, come back to Kusis
+    and Mout people, for I don't think you be hanged in
+    Fiji.--Your sincere friend,
+
+                        CATHERINE EBON.
+
+But when the light-hearted blue-jackets manned the capstan and merrily
+footed it round to lively music, and the great steamer's head was
+pointed to the passage, my thoughts were far away, where in fancy I
+discerned a tiny boat breasting the vast ocean swell, while sitting aft
+with his face turned to the westward, his strong brown hand on the
+tiller, was the once dreaded Captain of the _Leonora_; the lawless rover
+of the South Seas; the man whose name was known and feared from the
+South Pole to Japan, and yet through all, my true friend and most
+indulgent commander. With all his faults, our constant association had
+enabled me to appreciate his many noble qualities and fine natural
+impulses. And as the black hull of the _Rosario_ rose and fell to the
+sea, her funnel the while pouring forth volumes of sable smoke, the
+island gradually sunk astern, but the memories connected with it and
+Captain Hayston will abide with me for ever.
+
+Harry Skillings I never saw again, but heard that he went to Truk in the
+North-west Carolines. Black Johnny was murdered in New Britain. The
+other Harry with his native wife fell victims to the treacherous savages
+of the Solomon Islands. Jansen died a few years since on Providence
+Island. Some of the other traders and members of the crew I have heard
+of from time to time, scattered far and wide over the Isles of the
+Pacific. Lalia died in Honolulu about five years since, constant in
+her attempts to reach her distant home on Easter Island.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+NORFOLK ISLAND--ARCADIA
+
+
+And now, my innocence and lack of complicity in Hayston's irregularities
+having been established, a revulsion of feeling took place in the minds
+of the captain and officers of the _Rosario_ with regard to me.
+
+After the fullest explanations furnished by the traders and others,
+backed up by the manifest sympathy and good-will of the inhabitants of
+Strong Island, it became apparent that some sort of reparation was due
+to me. This took the form of a courteous invitation to accept a passage
+to Sydney in H.M.S. _Rosario_, and to join the officers' mess on the
+voyage. "I'm afraid that we acted hastily in your case, Mr. Telfer!"
+said Captain Dupont. "You have been thoroughly cleared of all
+accusations made against you. I am bound to say they were very few. And
+you seem chiefly to have acted as a peacemaker and a power for good. I
+have gathered that you are anxious to rejoin your friends in Sydney. I
+shall be glad to have your company on the return voyage. What do you
+say? I trust you will not refuse; I shall otherwise think you have not
+forgiven my apparent harshness."
+
+Thus pressed to return to family and friends--from whom, at times, in
+spite of my inborn roving propensities, the separation had cost me
+dear--what could I do but thank the manly and courteous potentate, and
+comply with an invitation so rarely granted to a South Sea adventurer. I
+was the more loth to lose the opportunity as there had come upon me of
+late a violent fit of homesickness which I in vain strove to combat.
+
+I had in truth now no particular reason for remaining at Kusaie, or
+indeed anywhere in the South Seas. Hayston was gone; his magnetic
+influence no longer controlled my will, as in our first acquaintance.
+The _Leonora_--our pride and boast, our peerless floating home--no
+longer "walked the waters like a thing of life," but lay dead,
+dismantled, dishonoured on the ruthless coral rocks which had crushed
+the life out of her on that fatal night.
+
+I realised now with thankfulness that I had narrowly escaped being
+liable as an accessory for some of Hayston's ultra-legal proceedings--to
+call them by no harsher name.
+
+How often, indeed, in the reckless daring of boyhood is the fatal line
+crossed which severs imprudence from crime! The inexorable fiat of human
+justice knows no shade of criminality. "Guilty or not guilty," goes
+forth the verdict. There is no appeal on earth. And the faulty, but not
+all evil-natured victim, is doomed to live out all the years of a life
+branded as a felon, or maddened by the fears which must ever torture the
+fugitive from justice!
+
+If I stayed in the South Seas on my present footing, nothing remained
+but the trader's life, pure and simple. I had little doubt but that I
+could make a living, perhaps a competence in years to come. But that
+meant exile in every sense of the word. Complete severance from my
+kindred, whom my soul yearned to see again; from the friends of my
+boyhood; from the loved and lovely land of my birth; from the thousand
+and one luxuries, material and intellectual, which are comprehended in
+the word civilisation. I had slaked my thirst for adventure, danger, and
+mystery. I had carried my life in my hand, so to speak, and times
+without number had doubted whether I should retain that more or less
+valuable possession for the next ten minutes. I had felt the poisoned
+arrows at Santa Cruz hurtling around me, even hiss through my waving
+locks, when the death-scratch summoned a man on either hand. I had
+nearly been "blue sharks' meat" as Hayston phrased it, on coral strand
+amid "the cruel crawling foam." All chances and risks I had taken
+heedlessly in the past. But now I began to feel that I must pronounce
+the momentous decision which would make or mar my future career. The
+island life was very fair. For one moment I saw myself the owner of a
+trading station on Pingelap or Arurai. I am sitting in a large, cool
+house, on soft, parti-coloured mats, surrounded by laughing girls
+garlanded and flower-crowned. Around and above, save in the plantation
+which surrounds the house, is the soft green light of the paradisal
+woodland illumining its incredible wealth of leafage, fruit, and
+flowers. Before me lies the endless, azure sea-plain. And oh, my sea! my
+own, my beloved sea!--loved in childhood, youth, and age, if such be
+granted to me! In my ears are the magical murmurous surge-voices, to the
+lulling of which I have so often slept like a tired child. Fruit and
+flowers--love and war--manly effort--danger--high health--boundless
+liberty,--all things necessary to the happiness of primeval man, before
+he became sophisticated by the false wisdom of these later ages, should
+I not possess in profusion? Why, then, should I not remain in this land
+of changeless summer--this magic treasure-house of all delights of land
+and sea?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Long and anxiously did I ponder over my decision. Those only who have
+known the witchery of the "summer Isles of Eden," have felt the charm of
+the dream-life of the Southern Main--the sorcery of that lotus-eating
+existence, alternating with the fierce hazards and stormy delights which
+give a richness to life unknown to a guarded, narrowed civilisation--can
+gauge my irresolution.
+
+I had well-nigh resolved to adhere to the trader's life--until I had
+made a fortune with which I could return in triumph--when I thought of
+my mother! The old house, with its broad, stone-paved verandah came back
+to me--the large, "careless-ordered" garden with its trailing, tropical
+shrubs and fruit-trees--the lordly araucarias, the boat-house, the
+stone-walled bath wherein I had learned to swim--all came back in that
+moment when memory recalled the scenes and surroundings of my early
+life. I could hear a voice ever low and sweet, as in the days of my
+childhood, which said, "Oh! my boy! my boy! come back--let me see my
+darling's face before I die."
+
+I was conquered--the temptations of the strange life, with its sorceries
+and phantasms, which had so long enveloped me, were swept away like a
+ghost-procession at dawn. And in their place came the steadfast resolve
+to return to the home of my youth, thenceforward to pursue such modes of
+life as might be marked out for me. In a new land like my birth-place,
+with a continent for an arena, I had no fear but that a career would
+open itself for me. In no country under heaven are there so many chances
+of success, so many roads to fortune, as in the lone wastes upon which
+the Southern Cross looks down. On land or sea--the tracks are
+limitless--the avenues to fortune innumerable. Gold was to be had for
+the seeking; silver and gems lay as yet in their desert solitudes, only
+awaiting the adventurer who, strong in the daring of manhood, should
+compel the waste to disclose its secrets--only awaited the hour and the
+man.
+
+For such enterprises was I peculiarly fitted. So much could then be said
+without boast or falsehood on my part. My frame, inured to withstand
+every change of temperature which sea or land could furnish, was of
+unusual strength. By hard experience I had learned to bear myself
+masterfully among men of widely various dispositions and characters. I
+took my stand henceforth as a citizen of the world--as a rover on sea
+and land--as more than a suppliant to fortune, a "Conquistador."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The homeward voyage being now fairly commenced, I began to speculate on
+the probabilities of my future career. During the years which I had
+passed among the islands I had acquired experience--more or less
+valuable--but very little cash. This was chiefly in consequence of our
+crowning disaster, the wreck of the _Leonora_. But for that untoward
+gale, my share of the proceeds of the venture would have exceeded the
+profits of all my other trading enterprises. As it was, I was left, if
+not altogether penniless, still in a position which would debar me from
+making more than a brief stay with my friends in Sydney, unless I
+consented to be beholden to them for support. That I held to be
+impossible. For a few weeks I felt that my finances would hold out. And
+after that, was there not a whole world of adventures--risks, hardships,
+dangers, if you will--all that makes life worth living--open before me;
+the curtain had fallen upon one act of the life drama of Hilary Telfer.
+What of that? Were there not four more, at least, to come?
+
+Even the princess had not arrived. There had been a "first robber" on
+the boards, perhaps--even more of that persuasion. But the principal
+stage business was only commencing--the denouement was obviously far
+off. Thereupon my hopes rose as if freshly illumined. My sanguine
+nature--boundless in faith, fertile in expedient--reasserted itself.
+Temporarily depressed, more in sympathy with Hayston than with my own
+ill-luck, it seemed more vigorous and elastic in rebound than ever. The
+memory of my island life became faint and dreamily indistinct. The forms
+of Hayston, the king and queen, of Lalia, with sad, reproachful
+gaze--of Hope Island Nellie, lifting a rifle with the mien of an
+angered goddess--of Kitty of Ebon, incarnate daughter of the dusky
+Venus--of the bronzed and wrinkled trader, with blood and to spare on
+his sinewy hand--of young Harry and the negro Johnny. All these forms
+and faces, once so familiar, seemed to recede into the misty distance
+until they faded away from my mental vision.
+
+With them passed into shadow-land the joyous life of my youth--of the
+untrammelled, care-free existence--such as no man may find again in this
+world of slow, tracking care and hasty disenchantment. "Was I wise?" I
+asked myself again and again, in quitting it for the hard and anxious
+pursuits of the Continent? Were there not a dozen places besides
+Strong's Island where I should be welcomed, feted, caressed, almost
+worshipped as a restored divinity? Was it well to abandon the rank which
+I had acquired among these simple people? Was it-- But no. For ever had I
+made the decision. Once resolved, I disliked changing my plans. Burdened
+with a regret which for days I could neither subdue nor remove, I
+adhered unflinchingly to my resolution, and addressed myself to the
+steady contemplation of the future.
+
+Now had commenced for me a new life--a new world socially speaking. The
+quiet reserve and unemotional bearing of the British officer was
+substituted for the frank accost and reckless speech of the island
+trader or wandering mariner. I was prompt, however, to assimilate the
+modish bearing of my companions, and assisted by some natural alertness,
+or perhaps inherited tendencies, soon became undistinguishable from the
+honourables and lordlings of the gun-room. Upon my repose of manner,
+indeed, I was often complimented. "By Jove, old fellow," one of the
+offshoots of the British aristocracy would say, "one would think you had
+been at Rugby or Eton. And I suppose you have never seen England.
+Certainly you have the pull of us in make and shape. I can't think how
+they grow such fellows,--more English than the English,--with your blue
+eyes and fair hair, too, in these God-forsaken regions."
+
+"Because," I said, "I am of as pure English blood as yourself; have been
+reared, and moulded, and surrounded by English people, and have all the
+traditions of the old country at my fingers' end. For the rest, I hold
+that this end of the world is more favourable to the growth of
+Anglo-Saxons, as you call yourselves, than the other."
+
+"Well! it looks like it, I must say," said my new friend. "I only hope
+that when the time comes for fighting, by sea and land--and, mark my
+words, come it will--that you will be found as stanch as I think you
+are."
+
+"Be sure we shall be," said I. "We have inherited the true English
+'grit,' as Americans say. You all said _they_ couldn't fight when their
+war began; when it finished, the world gave a different verdict. We are
+our fathers' sons, neither more nor less. The bull-dog and the game-cock
+still fight to the death in our country. Many a time have I seen it. And
+so will we when our time comes, and when we think it worth our while."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We carried an order from the New South Wales Government to call in at
+Norfolk Island--once the ocean prison of the more desperate felons of
+the old convict regime, who had been replaced by the descendants of the
+Pitcairn islanders. They, in their turn the descendants of mutinous
+sailors and Tahitian women--now the most moral, God-fearing, and ideally
+perfect race on the face of the earth.
+
+What a miracle had been wrought! Who could have imagined that the last
+days of a rough old sailor, spent among the survivors of a group of
+savage women who had butchered their mates, could have so firmly fixed
+the morale of a whole community that virtue should have indelibly
+impressed itself upon a hundred families. Sydney lies about S.S.W. from
+Kusaie, but to avoid passing through the dangers of the New Hebrides,
+and the reef-studded vicinity of New Caledonia, a direct south course
+with a little easting was decided upon.
+
+We made Norfolk Island, the distance being about two thousand miles, in
+ten days' easy steaming from Strong's Island. This lovely island was
+discovered by Cook in 1774.
+
+A military man writing of it in 1798, draws a comparison between it and
+Sydney much to the disadvantage of the latter. "The air is soft (he
+says) and the soil inexpressibly productive. It is a perfect section of
+paradise. Our officers and their wives were sensibly affected at their
+departure, and what they regarded as banishment to Sydney."
+
+Another officer writing of it in 1847, says: "It is by nature a paradise
+adorned with all the choicest gifts of nature--climate, scenery, and
+vegetable productions; by art and man's policy turned into an earthly
+hell, disfigured by crime, misery, and despair."
+
+The island had been brought into a high state of cultivation by convict
+labour. Its roads, buildings, and gardens were in admirable order. But
+with the establishment of the new regime--a different race with
+different tasks--much was neglected, a part became decayed and ruinous.
+The island is now partitioned into blocks of fifty acres, of which each
+adult male is allowed one, drawn for and decided by lot.
+
+Whale fishing is the favourite and most profitable occupation. From this
+and the sale of farm produce, which finds a market in Sydney, the
+inhabitants are furnished with all their needs require. Their wants are
+few, simple, and easily supplied.
+
+The old convict town with its huge, dilapidated barracks,
+gaol-officers' quarters, and servants' houses, is situated on the
+south-east edge of the island, where the little Nepean islet gives
+sufficient shelter to form a precarious roadstead available in certain
+winds. The old town is occupied by the Pitcairn islanders--in number
+about three hundred.
+
+Five miles across the island, on its north-eastern shore, and
+communicating with it by a fair road, lies the Melanesian Mission estate
+of a thousand acres. Sloping gently down to a low cliff and a rocky
+shore, the land is an undulating meadow, broken by ravines, and covered
+with a thick sward of conch grass or "doubh," said to have been imported
+from India, whence we drew our chief food supplies so many a year ago.
+Nothing more beautiful in a state of nature had ever been seen, I
+thought, when I first cast my admiring eyes on it. Here and there
+gigantic, graceful pines (_Araucaria excelsa_) stood in stately groves.
+Higher up on the flanks of Mount Pitt (a thousand feet above) grow the
+lemon and guava, cotton and wild tobacco. The island is nine hundred
+miles from Sydney and thirteen hundred and fifty from Cape Pillar,
+Tasmania. The Nepean and Phillip Islands lie to the south of the main
+island.
+
+We were in such a hurry to see the famous island and still more famous
+islanders, that we omitted a precaution which had been earnestly
+impressed upon us the day before. This was not to attempt to land unless
+we had a Pitcairner to steer. When the long swell of the Pacific rolls
+in upon the shallow beaches of Sydney Bay there is no more dangerous
+place in the world--the roadstead of Madras hardly excepted--than the
+boat harbour at Norfolk Island.
+
+Like most sailors, and man-of-war's men in particular, the crew was
+reckless and confident. For myself, I was a fair hand in a boat, and had
+mixed in so many cases of touch-and-go, where all hands would have fed
+the sharks in a few more minutes, that I had lost any sense of caution
+that I might have originally possessed. As we neared the shore, rising
+and falling upon the tremendous billows, which told of a scarce passed
+gale, I felt a sense of exhilaration to which I had been long a
+stranger. A party of the islanders, seeing a boat leave the ship, had
+come down to watch our landing, apparently with interest. As we came
+closer I noticed them talking rapidly to one another, and occasionally
+waving their arms to one side or the other as if to direct our steering.
+There were several women in the group, but as we neared the landing my
+attention was rivetted upon a girl who stood out some distance from the
+others at the end of a rocky point, which jutted beyond the narrow
+beach.
+
+I had seen strikingly beautiful faces and faultless forms among the
+island girls, as all unconscious, they threw themselves into attitudes
+so graceful and unstudied that a sculptor would have coveted them for
+models. Among these children of nature, roaming at will through their
+paradisal isles, the perfection of the human form had doubtless been
+developed. But there was a subtle charm about this girl, as she stood
+with bare feet beside the plashing wave,--a statuesque presentment of
+nobility, courage, and refinement which I had never before recognised in
+living woman. Tall and slender of frame, she yet possessed the rounded
+outlines which, in all island women, promise a fuller development in the
+matured stage of womanhood. Her features were delicately regular; in her
+large dark eyes there was an expression of strong interest, deepening
+almost into fear, as she gazed at our incoming boat. She had bent
+slightly forward, and stood poised on her rock as if waiting for a
+signal to plunge into the boiling surf. Her complexion was so fair that,
+but for her attitude, which spoke her a daughter of the sea, one which
+no mortal born away from the music of the surges could have assumed, I
+might have taken her for an Englishwoman.
+
+"In the name of all the divine maidens since Nausicaa" (I had not quite
+forgotten my _Odyssey_, rusty though was my Greek) "who can she be?"
+thought I.
+
+At this point my reflections and conjectures came to an abrupt end, as,
+indeed, nearly did also "the fever called living" in my particular case.
+I felt the boat rise heavenwards on the back of a tremendous roller. The
+islanders shouted as though to warn us of danger, the steersman gave the
+tiller a wrong turn, or omitted to give it the right one, and the next
+moment the boat was buried beneath an avalanche of foam, with crew and
+passengers struggling for their lives. I could swim well, that is, of
+course, comparatively, for the difference between the best performance
+of a white man--well practised from youth though he be--and of an
+islander is as that of a dog and a fish. Still, having risen to the
+surface, I made no doubt but that I could easily gain a landing. In this
+I was deceived. As in other spots, the constant surf concealed a
+treacherous undertow against which the ordinary swimmer is powerless.
+Again and again did I gain foothold, to be swept back by the resistless
+power of the backward current. Each time I became weaker, and at length,
+after a long fruitless struggle, I closed my eyes and resigned myself to
+my fate. Borne backward and half fainting, I saw the whole party of
+natives in the water mingling with the crew, who, like myself, had been
+making desperate efforts to reach the landing.
+
+My senses were leaving me; darkness was before my eyes, when dimly, as
+in a dream, I seemed to mark the girl upon the rock plunge with the
+gliding motion of a seal into the boiling foam. Her bosom shone as with
+outstretched arms she parted the foaming tide, her short under-dress,
+reaching only to the knees, offered no impediment to the freedom of her
+limbs. I felt soft arms around me. A cloud of dusky hair enveloped me.
+Strains of unearthly music floated in my ears. It was the dirge of the
+mermaidens, as they wail over the drowned sailor and bear him with song
+and lament to his burial cavern. All suddenly it ceased.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The mid-day sun had pierced the roof and side of the cottage wherein I
+was lying upon a couch, softly matted. When I awoke I looked around.
+Surely I had been drowned, and must be dead and gone! How, then, was I
+once more in a place where the sun shone, where there were mats and
+signs of ordinary life? I closed my eyes in half-denial of the evidences
+of my so-called senses. Then, as I raised myself with difficulty, the
+door opened and a man entered.
+
+He was a tall, grandly developed Pitcairner, one of the men who had been
+on board the night before. His face was dark, with the tint of those
+races which, though far removed from the blackness of the Ethiop, are
+yet distinct from the pure white family of mankind. But his eyes,
+curiously, were of bright and distinct blue, in hereditary transmission,
+doubtless, from that ancestor who had formed one of the historic
+mutineers of the _Bounty_.
+
+"You've had a close shave, Hilary. That's your name, I believe. A trifle
+more salt water and you'd have been with the poor chap that's drowned.
+We got all the crew out but him."
+
+"I thought I _was_ drowned," I replied, "but I begin to perceive that
+I'm alive. I see you're of the same opinion, so I suppose it's all
+right."
+
+"It's not a thing to laugh at," the Pitcairner said gravely. "God saw
+fit to save you this time. To Him and Miranda you owe your thanks for
+being where you are now."
+
+"There are people in Sydney," I said, "who will be foolish enough to be
+glad of it, and after I have a little time to think, I daresay I shall
+be pleased myself. But who is Miranda, and how did she save me?"
+
+"Miranda Christian, my cousin, is the girl you saw standing on the rock.
+She had a strong fight of it to get you in, and but for one of us going
+on each side neither of you would have come out. We had been hard at it
+trying to save the crew, and nearly left it too late. She was just about
+done."
+
+"I shall be uneasy till I thank her. What a brave girl! And what am I to
+call you?"
+
+"Fletcher Quintal, and her cousin," the islander replied, drawing
+himself up and looking at me with a steady gaze. "You won't see her till
+the afternoon. She has gone home to rest after staying with you till you
+came to. My sister, Dorcas, will bring you food directly, and perhaps
+you'd better rest yourself too till sundown. Then some of us will pay
+you a visit. Good morning."
+
+A pleasant-faced damsel, with the sparkling eyes and perfect teeth of
+the race, came in shortly afterwards, who smilingly informed me that her
+name was Dorcas Quintal, and that her cousin Miranda had told her she
+was not to talk much to me.
+
+However, during the time occupied in making a creditable lunch--all
+things considered,--I succeeded in convincing her that I was strong
+enough for a decent dose of gossip, in the course of which I learned
+several interesting pieces of information about Miranda, who certainly
+had posed as my Guardian Angel in the late accident. She was, according
+to Dorcas, the leader in all sports and pastimes, and also the most
+learned and accomplished damsel on the island. "She sang and played in
+their church choir. She had read all the poets in the world," Dorcas
+believed. "She could recite pages and pages of poetry and history.
+Altogether she was a wonderful girl to be born and brought up in such a
+place as Norfolk Island, where we never see any one"--here Dorcas
+wreathed her lips into an expressive pout--"that is, except captains of
+ships and strangers like yourself."
+
+"So she is quite perfect," I said, "alike on land and sea. I can vouch
+for the last. I suppose she can pull an oar and is quite at home in a
+boat?"
+
+"Indeed she is," answered Dorcas, warming up. "She can sail a cutter
+with any man on the island, and steer a whaleboat besides. You should
+see her standing up with the big steer oar in those tiny hands of hers."
+
+"So, then, she has no faults?" I queried, a little mischievously.
+
+The girl smiled. "I suppose we have all some here as in other places.
+She is rather proud and quiet, the other girls say. I never saw it, and
+if there is anything else you must find it out for yourself. And now, as
+you have finished eating and drinking, I must go. Miranda will be here
+by and by."
+
+"Only one word, Dorcas," said I, as she turned towards the doorway. "How
+many admirers has she--all the young men in the island, I suppose?"
+
+"Only one," she replied, impressively, "my brother, Fletcher Quintal. He
+would die for her."
+
+"And she?"
+
+The girl paused before replying, and gazed earnestly at me.
+
+"She says she will never marry." And with that she passed out and left
+me to my meditations.
+
+I must have been fatigued, even bruised and battered by my conflict with
+sea and shore, as I felt a kind of lassitude creep over me, and
+presently fell into a dreamless sleep, which lasted till the sun was low
+and the dimness of the light told me that the day had passed.
+
+I raised myself and saw Miranda sitting on a low stool near the window,
+or the aperture which served for one. As I turned, she smiled and came
+towards me, putting out her hand for me to take, and gazing into my face
+with a frank pleasure of the unspoiled woman of the woods and fields. "I
+have to thank you for my life," I said, as I pressed her hand warmly.
+"It is of no great value to any one, as things have been going lately,
+but being such as it is, you have my warmest gratitude. I should hardly
+have changed for the worse if I had been lying beside poor Bill Dacre."
+
+"You must not talk in that mocking way," she said, with a pained
+expression like that of a hurt child. "God has given us all a life to
+use for some good purpose. Surely you have friends? perhaps a mother and
+sisters, who would weep when they heard you were lying under the waves?"
+
+"You are right, Miranda, and I will not talk foolishly again; but I
+thank you with my whole heart for your noble courage in risking your
+life to save mine. I wonder now how we both got to land, in spite of
+that beastly undertow?"
+
+"I never could have done it without help," she said. "I was nearly
+exhausted, yet I did not like to let you go, when Fletcher Quintal and
+Peter Mills, who had each brought out a man, swam in again, and we came
+in between them."
+
+"You seem to be quite at home in the water," I said. "I thought I could
+swim, and at Strong's Island and other places could hold my own with the
+natives pretty well. But I found my mistake here."
+
+"Of course we all swim well," she replied, smiling, "and know how to
+manage a boat. It would be curious if we did not; there is little else
+to do, in Norfolk Island, except when we are working in the fields. Our
+life is sometimes dull, I must allow."
+
+"I hear that you can do all sorts of other things," I said. "That you
+are the chief musician and teacher, besides being commander of the
+fleet."
+
+"Dorcas has been chattering, I am afraid," she answered, while a blush
+rose to her brow, tingeing the pallor of her ivory cheek with faint
+carmine. "I certainly have a variety of occupations, and very fortunate
+it is! Otherwise, I don't know what would happen to me, for I am
+scarcely as contented as my cousins and the other girls on the island."
+
+"It is the old story," I said. "Now, why should you not be contented on
+this lovely island where you have all you could wish for in the
+world--perfect freedom, a matchless climate, exercise, adventure, the
+love of your kinsfolk, everything that satisfies the heart of woman?"
+
+"Everything necessary to satisfy a woman's heart!" she said, rising and
+walking to where the casement admitted a view of the heaving deep with
+the _Rosario_ lying on and off. "Can you look at the boundless ocean
+with its thousand paths to the cities of the earth and not wish to roam?
+To see the glories of the old world, all the varied richly-coloured life
+of ancient nations that I have read of and see in my dreams? Do you
+think men only are impatient of a hemmed-in life? It is not so. Women
+have their longings for a wider range, a larger sphere; and yet I am
+perhaps the only girl on the island that feels what I have described."
+
+"You must have read much," I said, rather startled at this burst of
+feeling from the lips of a Norfolk Island damsel--a child of the most
+contented community in the world. "These strange yearnings must have
+been awakened in you through the word-painting of these wicked authors."
+
+"And why not?" she answered, with heightened colour and flashing eye.
+"That my world is one of books I do not deny. I have daily tasks and
+occupations, but my evenings are my own, and in them I read and muse.
+Then this little island, with its patient, primitive people, seems to
+fade away. I spend hours in Italy, where I revel in Florence, the Pitti
+Palace, the Arno, and roam the streets of the Eternal City amid the
+monuments of the world's grandest era, their very decay 'an Empire's
+dust.' I fall asleep often when reclining on the banks of 'Tiber, Father
+Tiber, to whom the Romans pray.' But, oh! if I begin to wander away in
+the track of my visions I shall never stop. And you," she continued with
+an eager glance, "you, who have seen men and cities, are you contented
+to linger away your life under cocoa-palms and bread-fruit trees, taking
+in glorious ease among simple savages until you become one yourself in
+all but the colour? Is this what you were born and reared and educated
+for?"
+
+As the girl thus spoke, with head upraised and exalted mien, her
+wondrous eyes flashing with almost unearthly light, her mobile
+lineaments changing with each varying mood, she looked in her strange
+and unfamiliar beauty like some virgin prophetess of the days of old,
+rousing her countrymen to deeds of patriotic valour or self-sacrificing
+heroism.
+
+All enthusiasm is contagious, more especially when the enthusiast is
+fair to look upon, and belongs to that sex for, or on account of which,
+so much of the world's strife has resulted.
+
+For the first time I began seriously to ask myself what motives had led
+me to waste so large a portion of my youth in heedless wandering among
+these fairy isles. What were my aims in life? What did I propose to
+myself? As I looked at the girl's face, aglow with the fire of a noble
+ambition, I felt humbled and ashamed.
+
+"You have spoken truly, Miranda," I replied, after a long pause, during
+which my fair questioner looked with a far-away gaze across the ocean
+plain, now quenching its thousand shifting gleams in the quick-falling
+tropic night. "I have been idly careless and unheeding of the future,
+satisfied with the day's toil and the day's pleasure. But I am going
+back to my people in Australia; there I shall begin a new life. It is a
+land of duty, of labour, and its enduring reward. There I shall renew
+the tension of my moral fibre which has been too long relaxed. But you
+must not be too hard on me. I have had to face losses, dangers, and
+misfortunes. I have been wrecked; I lost everything I had in the world.
+I have been ill; have been wounded; and, but for some of those simple
+islanders you seem to despise, I should not have been a living man
+to-day."
+
+"I do not despise them," she said; "of course every one knows that we
+are descended from those of Tahiti. I only say that they are not fit
+companions for white men--I mean of educated white men who in the end
+become as bad as they are--even worse--much worse. But tell me about
+your being ill. And who tended you? Was it a woman?"
+
+"I will tell you all about it to-morrow if you will walk with me and
+show me some of the scenery of this beautiful island of yours. But it is
+a long story, and it is too late to begin to-night."
+
+"I should like it above all things," she said frankly, "though you must
+have seen so many grand places in your roamings that our poor landscapes
+will hardly interest you."
+
+"Much depends on the guide," I said, as I gazed admiringly at her
+eloquent countenance.
+
+"I know that," she answered, meeting my too ardent gaze with perfect
+unconsciousness of any hidden meaning. "They tell me I am the best guide
+on the island, and indeed I should be, for my father and I were never
+tired of exploring and finding out traces of the old occupation by the
+Sydney Government, and many curious discoveries we made. So I will come
+here after breakfast to-morrow."
+
+She was true to her appointment, and then commenced a series of
+delightful rambles which, perhaps, I more truly enjoyed than many later
+and more pretentious travels.
+
+In despite of Miranda's depreciation of her lovely isle we found endless
+excuses for interest and admiration. It was truly a wonderful little
+"kingdom by the sea." Scraped along the side of a hill would be one of
+the beautiful roads constructed by the forced labour of the convicts
+which at one time almost filled the island. Rising from the valley slope
+were gigantic ferns, broad-leaved palms, lemons, oranges, guavas, all
+originally imported, but now flourishing in the wildest luxuriance in
+the rich soil and semi-tropical climate; while above all, stately and
+columnar, rose the great Araucaria peculiar to the island--the Norfolk
+Island pine of the colonists.
+
+Hand in hand we roamed together through this Eden amid the main, as
+though our great progenitors had again been transplanted to this
+wondrous wild--a latter day Adam, by whose side smiled a sinless
+Eve--pure as her prototype, and yet informed of much of the lore which
+men had wrested from the rolling ages. Together we explored the gloomy
+corridors and echoing halls of the ruinous prison houses--once the dark
+abodes of sorrow, torment, and despair unutterable.
+
+Miranda shuddered at the thought that these dismal cells and courtyards
+had echoed to the cries of criminals under the lash--to the clanking of
+chains--had even witnessed the death penalty inflicted on the murderer
+and the mutineer.
+
+Mute and terrible witnesses were they to the guilt to which human nature
+may descend--to the abysmal depths of despair into which the felon and
+the outcast may be hurled, when, hopeless of help from God or man, he
+abandons himself to all the baser instincts.
+
+We seldom lingered amid these sullen retreats, around which Miranda
+always declared she heard sighs and groanings, sobs, and even shrieks,
+as though the spirits of those who had suffered, and mourned, and died
+amidst the horrors unspeakable of prison life still lingered amid the
+ruins of their place of torment.
+
+How strange, well-nigh impossible, it even seemed to me that the very
+earth, the dumb witness of crime immeasurable, was not polluted
+irredeemably by the deeds that she had perforce endured and condoned.
+And now--stranger than aught that dreaming poet or seer imagined--that
+this Inferno should have been transmuted into an Arcadia, purer and more
+stainless than the fabled land of old, and peopled by the most
+obediently moral and conscientious family of mankind that had ever
+gathered the fruits of the earth since the days of our first parents.
+
+Day after day followed of this charmed life--magical, unreal, only in
+that it transcended all my other experiences in the degree that the
+glamour of fairyland and the companionship of the queen of Elfland may
+have exceeded the memorials of Ercildoune. If he was enchanted, I was
+spellbound even as true Thomas. Never had I met with a companion who
+combined all the charm of womanhood--the grace and joyousness of
+girlhood's most resistless period--with the range of thought and
+intellectual progress which this singular girl, amid her lonely isle and
+restricted companionship, had explored. And withal, she had remained in
+her almost infantine unconsciousness of evil--her virginal, instinctive
+repulsion of all things forbidden and debarred--like a being of
+another planet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Naturally an end arrived to this blissful state of things. The
+man-of-war after a few days was compelled to continue her voyage and
+perform her allotted duties, which comprehended surveys of uncharted
+coast-lines and suspected rocks. I had to choose between going on to
+Sydney and remaining in this charmed isle. And here inclination and
+duty appeared to draw different ways with equal strength. I was
+naturally anxious to return to my birth-place, my family, and friends.
+My feelings of home-sickness had returned with redoubled strength after
+being long in abeyance. But all such doubts and distrusts were swept
+away like storm wrack before the swelling surges of Miranda's own isle.
+I was fain to yield to the resistless force of the passion which now
+dominated, nay, consumed me. True, I had not as yet definitely assured
+myself that this purest pearl of womanhood was within my grasp. I had
+made no proffer of my affections. I had not, in so many words, solicited
+the priceless gift of hers. But I was not so unskilled in affairs of the
+heart as to mistake many a sign and symbol from Love's own alphabet,
+denoting that the outworks of the citadel were yielding, and that the
+fortress would ere long open gate and drawbridge to the invader.
+
+True to nature's own teaching, Miranda had not scrupled to confess and
+dilate upon the pleasure my companionship afforded her, to declare that
+never before in her life had she been half so happy, to wonder if my
+sisters would not die of joy when I returned, to chide me for my long
+absence from them and from such a home as I had often described to her.
+And all this with the steady eye and frank expression of girlish
+pleasure, which a less unsophisticated damsel would scarcely have
+acknowledged without conscious blushes and downcast eyes.
+
+Miranda, on the other hand, stated her sensations calmly and fearlessly,
+her wondrous eyes meeting mine with all the trustful eagerness of a
+happy child, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "You see,
+Hilary," she would say, laying her hand lightly on my arm, and looking
+up in an appealing manner, "I have never met any one before who seems to
+understand my feelings as you do apparently by instinct. You have
+travelled and been in other places besides the islands, and you have
+read books--nearly all those which I have. You know that story in the
+_Arabian Nights_ about the prince that was changed into a bird? He knew
+that he was a prince, yet he was condemned to be dumb, and was unable to
+convey his feelings, because to all the world he was only a bird.
+
+"I sometimes think we Pitcairn girls live the life of birds--like that
+one," and she pointed to a soaring white-winged sea-bird, which
+presently darted downwards, falling like a stone upon the blue ocean
+wave. "We swim and fish, we are almost more on the sea than the land, we
+sleep on the land like that white bird, walk a little, talk a
+little,--that is our whole life. I think the bird has the best of it, as
+she can fly and we cannot."
+
+"But you all seem happy and contented," I said, "you and your cousins."
+
+"_They_ are, but I seem to have been born under a different star. I must
+have inherited some of the restless, adventurous spirit of my ancestor,
+Fletcher Christian.
+
+"The feeling of unrest and the desire to see the world--the wonderful,
+ancient, beautiful world of which we, in this island prison, for lovely
+as it is, it is but a prison for free souls--becomes so intense at times
+that I almost dread lest I should end my life like his."
+
+"And in what way was that?" I asked. "God forbid you should ever do a
+deed so terrible," I said.
+
+"Do you not know? He used to go every day to the top of a high cliff on
+the south side of Pitcairn to gaze over the ocean--as I have done
+hundreds of times--thinking, perhaps, of the wonderlands beyond, where
+he had forfeited the right to live by his own act; and--and one day he
+threw himself over the cliff, and they found his body on the rocks
+below. Poor Fletcher! I can partly understand his feelings."
+
+This was but one of our many conversations, always fascinating to me,
+as affording the rare privilege of exploring a mind naturally of high
+intelligence, developed by patient thought and a wide range of
+reading,--the island library, enriched by many generous gifts, being by
+no means a poor one,--guarded from deterioration by an exquisite natural
+refinement, yet withal clear and limpid as the transparent seas which
+encircled her home, where the more deeply the eye penetrated the more
+precious were the treasures disclosed.
+
+So it came to pass that the _Rosario_ sailed without me. The Captain and
+my jolly comrades of the gun-room chaffed me about what they called my
+imprudent attachment. "You'll have to turn Pitcairner," they said, "and
+settle down after old Nobbs has spliced you upon a fifty-acre patch,
+where you can grow sweet potatoes, yams, and maize to the end of your
+days. Surely a fellow like you, with a family to go back to, has
+something better in view than that!"
+
+"I shall not stay on the island," I said, "I intend to live in
+Australia, perhaps near Sydney."
+
+"Then your island princess will run away and leave you disconsolate.
+They can't live away from their people and where they were brought up.
+Some of them insisted on going back to Pitcairn, and are there now. They
+could not be persuaded from it. They had to let them go. They would have
+died else."
+
+"I have resolved," I said. "I will take all risks. You shall all come
+and see us in Sydney. We will live at North Shore, and have a yacht
+built on the lines of the _Leonora_. Adios!"
+
+So we parted. The _Rosario_ got up steam, and once more I watched the
+black cloud of smoke pouring from her funnels and the waves breaking as
+she moved majestically across the bright-hued ocean.
+
+Up to the last moment my simple and warm-hearted friends on the island
+had serious doubts as to whether I was not going off in the _Rosario_.
+They could hardly understand how I could prefer remaining as their guest
+and friend when the glory and dignity of a man-of-war--their highest
+expression of maritime splendour--were open to me.
+
+They had, it is true, implored me to stay with them for a few months
+longer--the young men were equally pressing with the older members of
+the community. With artless candour the girls promised that if I would
+stay Miranda should be my constant companion, and, except on Sundays,
+when, as their chief musician and organist, she could not naturally be
+spared, I should have a monopoly of her society.
+
+"You seem to like her so much," Dorcas Quintal repeatedly exclaimed.
+"And I am certain she likes you more than any one she has ever seen. The
+worst of it is that she will be so sorry when you have to go away. Clara
+Young nearly died when her friend went away. That was two years ago. But
+she got over it in time, and now she is happily married. But she _did_
+try to drown herself one day, only we were too quick for her."
+
+"It is a bad thing to have strangers for friends," I said, "if it may
+end so tragically when they leave. I wonder you entertain such dangerous
+visitors."
+
+"I suppose we can't help it," the girl replied, laughingly. "It is so
+pleasant to talk with men who know the great world we can only read
+about. We just take our chance. We have plenty to do, and that prevents
+us from fretting too much. I daresay you will hear a little crying
+to-night. We are all very sorry the big ship is gone."
+
+"It's the old, old story, Dorcas! Girls are a good deal alike all the
+world over, I suppose, in many of their ways. But you Pitcairners are
+certainly different in some respects to any women I know anywhere."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked the girl, eagerly. "I know we are simple, and
+have never been taught very much."
+
+"It isn't that. I will tell you before I go, or rather, I will tell
+Miranda, and she shall tell you what I say."
+
+So, with the full approbation of friends and relations of every degree
+of relationship, and, what was of more consequence, with the good-will
+of the spiritual pastor and master of the island, whose authority was
+absolute and unquestioned, Miranda and I pursued our untroubled way. In
+this wondrous Arcadia there were no jealousies, no scandals, no asking
+of intentions, no fiery, disappointed aspirants, no infuriated
+brothers,--these obstacles to pure and true love were evidently the
+outcome of a higher or a lower stage of civilisation. No evil
+consequences had ever occurred from unrestricted freedom of intercourse
+between the young people since the formation of the community. No such
+result was regarded as possible. Immutably fixed in my own course, I
+knew that nothing--humanly speaking--could affect my unalterable
+resolve. I had discovered a pearl of womanhood, matchless in beauty of
+mind and body, combining the higher mental qualities, indeed, with such
+physical perfection as no girl reared under less fortunate conditions
+was likely to possess. With regard to the future, if she consented to
+link her fate with mine I was ready to take all the risks of fortune.
+The fickle goddess has always favoured the brave, and with Miranda at my
+side I felt that I could lead the forlorn hopes of desperate endeavour,
+or endure uncomplainingly the toil and self-denial of the humblest
+station. I had, it is true, led a careless, somewhat epicurean life in
+the past, surrendering myself perhaps too readily to the charm of island
+life. But this was of the past, and the half-instinctive folly period of
+youth. Henceforth I would essay the culture of the mental qualities with
+which I had been reasonably gifted, turning to account also that very
+sound and thorough early tuition through which I had fortunately passed.
+Thus equipped, and with a helpmate at once loving and practical--devoted
+to duty and the highest forms of unselfish charity--ambitious only for
+intellectual experience and development--I felt that hope became
+certainty and success a mere matter of detail. After the departure of
+the _Rosario_ I became almost a son by adoption among the elders of the
+community. I learned to accommodate myself to their ways, after a
+fashion which was rendered more easy by my years of familiarity with
+island life. At the same time I was careful not to infringe in the
+slightest degree upon their peculiar customs, or to shock those
+religious prejudices which were so earnestly accepted in the community.
+It was taken for granted that I would settle among them in right of my
+bride. If I decided to marry Miranda, or any other island maiden, I
+should be put in possession of a landed estate of fifty acres, where I
+might dream away life in a round of labour that was half recreation,
+wandering amid the island groves, reclining under giant ferns or lofty
+pines, bathing in crystal founts or clear-hued seas at dawn or under the
+yellow moon. Passing contentedly from youth to middle age, from that
+half-way stage to a later span of life, which in this enchanted land
+implied little or no diminution of natural powers. Should it be so?
+
+This question I had asked Miranda more than once. But she would not
+consent to take it seriously. One day, however, I compelled her to
+listen, though she had again declared that we were so happy as we were
+that no change could be for the better, possibly for the worse--even.
+
+"Then, Miranda," I answered, "I must leave the island. Did we not hear
+from the last whaler that called in for fresh provisions that my old
+friend--the friend of the family, Captain Carryall, was to touch here in
+the _Florentia_?" He was the best known, the most popular of all the
+skippers next to Captain Hayston. Unlike him, however, his reputation
+was spotless, while for fair dealing and adherence to his promises his
+fame was proverbial. "Shall I go with him?" I said, "and must I go
+alone?"
+
+"And would you leave me?" she asked, imploringly--her dark eyes turned
+towards my face in a passion of reproachful tenderness, of which she
+herself scarce understood the meaning, "Oh! I thought once that I could
+let you go, though it has been life and happiness untold having you to
+talk to and read with. I fancied I should only mourn for you for a
+while--like the other island girls who weep and lament, and then dry
+their tears and dance and sing as if nothing had happened. But, oh! It
+is not so with me. They always say the Fletcher-Christians are
+different. I shall die! I shall die! I know I shall."
+
+And with that she cast herself on my neck, sobbing as though her heart
+would break. In the same breath declaring that she would never consent
+to spoil my life by marriage with a poor savage island girl, but a few
+degrees superior to the women of Pingelap and Ocean Island whom she had
+so often despised.
+
+By degrees I persuaded her to listen to my pleadings, and then calmly
+set before her my plans for the future. We must be married here, and
+after remaining on the island, living the idyllic life we were revelling
+in now, we would sail for Sydney in the _Florentia_, or some other
+vessel, and there begin life in earnest. Some employment would be found,
+doubtless, which would pave the way, by which I might make a serious
+effort towards a career, perhaps a competency in the future, or even a
+fortune.
+
+I had but little difficulty in carrying out my plan. The elders of the
+community, the relations and friends of Miranda, were overjoyed at the
+prospect of her marriage with a person of my position, who might also be
+enabled to do them many a good turn if I settled in Sydney, a port with
+which they had close business relations. I found, too, that I was not
+altogether an unknown personage. Some of the young men who had made
+voyages in whaleships had heard of my companionship with Captain
+Hayston. However, it would seem that all the natives whom they had met
+had given a good account of me as a fair dealer, and, moreover, generous
+in my treatment of them,--an apparently unimportant matter at the time,
+but serious enough now. Miranda told me afterwards, that had it been
+otherwise nothing would have induced her guardians to give their
+consent, or her to defy their decision.
+
+As it was, however, all seemed _couleur de rose_. No great preparations
+were needed. The simple island fashion was not encumbered with any great
+multiplication of garments. On the happy day Miranda was escorted to the
+modest building which did duty for a church by a band of white-robed
+maidens, in whose dark hair was wreathed the crimson blossoms of the
+coral plant and the hibiscus, with little other adornment but nature's
+furnishing in the flower-time of life. My comrades were selected from
+the younger men of the island, among whom I had always taken care to
+stand well, joining in their sports, and entering as an equal competitor
+their athletic contests. I was therefore looked upon as a most desirable
+acquaintance, able to hold my own, moreover, in all manly
+accomplishments (except swimming), and much esteemed for a gift of
+relating adventures in strange lands, and describing the foreign manners
+and customs with which a roving life had made me familiar.
+
+It might have been imagined that a girl so singularly gifted and
+attractive as Miranda would have had lovers in abundance, by whom a
+successful aspirant like myself would be regarded with jealousy.
+Unlikely as it may appear I observed no feeling of this kind. In that
+strange society, the passions which rage so fiercely in more civilised
+communities appeared to have lost their force, or to flow with the
+peaceful motion of the incoming tide rather than the resistless rush of
+a mountain torrent, which love, hate, jealousy, and envy in other lands
+so often resemble. The young men admired Miranda, indeed, worshipped her
+from afar. But they seemed rather elated by her good fortune, as it so
+appeared to them, than enviously disposed, and had no thought of other
+than the warmest friendship for their more fortunate companion. Even
+Fletcher Quintal, who might have been expected to view with dislike, if
+not a stronger sensation, my marriage with his favourite cousin, had
+apparently no feeling of this sort. He certainly expressed none, but
+congratulated me with all the warmth which a brother might be supposed
+to exhibit at the marriage of his best loved sister with his dearest
+friend. Truly it _was_ the long lost rediscovered Arcadia. There were
+moments when I doubted whether it was wise to leave a land where care
+was unknown; where want, with its attendant evils, had never been heard
+of; where there were no rich men to envy; no bad ones to fear; no poor
+to despise; where no one died but of old age or mishap; whence all the
+ills that flesh is heir to had, like the snakes of Ireland, been
+banished by some good genius, and only the gifts of virtue, contentment,
+and regulated industry remained. But there was wild blood in my veins,
+long dormant as it had lain. The murmur of the ocean seemed to call me
+with a tone of magical power. I longed for the wave-music once more--for
+the voyage which was to speed me to my birthland. I hurried on the
+preparations for our wedding, and, lingering though were all the slow
+sweet hours, endless the days, almost tedious the soft starlight glow of
+the summer nights, the day of days at last dawned that was to herald the
+happiness of a life-time.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our small domain had been carefully measured and marked out for us. A
+cottage had been built, thatched with palm leaves, floored with the soft
+mats of the island, simply furnished, and, as it happened, near to a
+bubbling spring, and shaded by the wondrous wild orange, which here
+grows almost to the height and girth of a forest tree. It happened to be
+the flower-time of these charming fruit bearers, so that wreaths and
+garlands of the blossom sacred to Hymen were plentiful and profuse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+EPITHALAMIUM
+
+
+Our marriage day! Oh, day of days! Dawn of a new existence! All nature
+seemed to sympathise with us in our supernal joy. For us, for us alone
+in all the world the streamlets murmured, the breezes whispered
+together, the wavelets plashed musically, the blue sky glowed, the sun
+shone goldingly. The venerable pastor of the community--he who had
+watched over every man and woman present from infancy, who had
+christened, and married, and buried the whole population of the island
+as they require these offices--read the time-honoured service of the
+Church of England, which was followed with deepest reverential attention
+by all present. When he blessed our union in the solemn language of the
+ritual familiar to me in the days of my childhood, every head was bowed,
+each woman's eye was wet with heart-felt sympathy and warmest affection
+for their erst-while playmate.
+
+The day was cloudless, a breeze at times sighed through the fragrant
+foliage of the grove wherein the little church had been built. The
+wavelets murmured on the beach, and the unresting surges seemed but to
+exchange loving memories of coral islands and crystal seas, of waving
+palms and the green gladness of tropic forests, of maidens,
+feather-crowned and flower-bejewelled, dancing on silver strands beneath
+the full-orbed midnight moon, or gliding, a laughing bevy of syrens,
+beneath the translucent wave. No sullen, dirge-like refrain on that
+paradisal day brought from the ocean voices the memory of drifting
+wrecks, of stormy seas, of drowned seamen--no hint of danger, of
+despair, of pestilence, and death; and yet all these phases of
+experience I had known and reckoned with even in my short life.
+
+No; these and kindred ills were forgotten, banished from earth and sea.
+On this blissful morn the golden age of the earth seemed to have
+returned. Recalling the half-forgotten classics of my boyhood, I could
+fancy that I saw fauns peeping through the leaves of the orange grove,
+that the ages had reverted to the freshness of the elder world, when the
+flush of the fair Arcadian life informed all things with divinity.
+
+And Miranda, my bride of brides! what words can describe her as she
+stood, with an expression half-timid, half-rapt, and inspired, before
+the humble altar that day? Her simple dress of virgin white which but
+slightly concealed while it outlined the curves of her statuesque form;
+her large dark eyes, which had often appeared to me to hold a shade of
+melancholy, were now irradiated by the love-light which she, in the
+purity and innocence of her heart, made no attempt to conceal. Her soft,
+abundant tresses had been gathered up into becoming form and classic
+simplicity, and, save a wreath of scarlet berries and the traditional
+orange blossom, she wore no ornament. As all unconscious of her maiden
+loveliness she stood beside me, with her head raised and an expectant
+smile which disclosed her pearly teeth, she seemed to my enraptured gaze
+a daughter of the wave,--no mortal maiden, but a being compact of air
+and sea and sky, visible but beneath the moonbeams, and unrevealed to
+the dwellers of the garish day.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had been but a month wedded; our simple home, our tiny domain, our
+forest rambles, our sea-baths at dawn and eve, as yet contented
+us--filled us with all fullest delight in which mortal beings can revel
+beneath this ethereal dome. And yet the spirit of unrest, the veritable
+serpent of the world's fairest Aidenns, gradually found means to
+discover himself.
+
+Miranda and I had, indeed, begun to discuss our projected voyage to
+Sydney, and I had many times described to her an ideal home on one of
+the thousand and one bays which render the northern shore of the
+unrivalled Sydney harbour matchless in beauty and convenience for those
+who, like myself, have salt water in their blood. She agreed with me,
+that with a boat, a garden, a bath-house, and a cottage built of the
+beautiful white, pink-veined sandstone, which is so abundant beneath and
+around Sydney, existence might be endured away from her island home,
+with the aid of books and the inspiring idea of the coming fortune.
+
+"And even if we do not make money," she said, "as people call it--what a
+strange idea it seems to me, who have hardly ever seen any--we shall be
+happy. I can't imagine people who are married and love each other ever
+being unhappy. Then your mother and sisters--I am so much afraid of
+them. They will regard me as a kind of savage, I am sure; and, indeed,
+compared with them, or real civilised people, I am afraid that I shall
+feel like one. And, oh! shall we ever be happier than we are now? Why
+should we change? Do you think we can come back now and then and visit
+my people? I should break my heart if I thought I should see them no
+more!"
+
+I promised this and other things, doubtless, at the time. But before we
+had completed the conversation about our future life--which indeed
+supplied us with endless subjects of interest--the great island
+wonder-sign appeared. A shout--a rush of excited people past our hut
+told of a ship in sight. We were down at the beach nearly as soon as
+the others, and as a long, low barque came up before the wind, something
+told me that she was the _Florentia_.
+
+A boat--a whaleboat, with a kanaka crew--put off soon after she was at
+anchor, and in the tall man at the steer-oar, whose commanding figure,
+even at that distance, I seemed to know, there was no difficulty in
+identifying our old friend Captain Carryall.
+
+Directly he jumped ashore, a dozen of the islanders dashed into the surf
+and ran the boat up on the beach. Our recognition was mutual.
+
+"Well, young fellow!" he said, "I've been hunting you up half over the
+South Seas. Wherever have you stowed yourself all this time? Why, what a
+man you've grown--a couple of inches taller than me, and I'm no pony.
+Brown as a berry, too! You'll have to come home with me this trip. Your
+old man's beginning to get anxious about you--and you know he's not much
+in that line--and your mother and sisters."
+
+"Captain Carryall," I said, "there's no necessity for more reasons. I'm
+going to Sydney with you if you'll give me a passage."
+
+"Half a dozen if you want it," quoth the jolly sailor. "And now I must
+have a word with my friends. Anybody been married since I was here last;
+no Quintals--no Millses! Mary, how's this? Dorcas--Grace--Mercy Young,
+I'm ashamed of you. And Miranda! Nobody run away with you yet? I see I
+must take you to Sydney and show you at a Government House ball. Then
+they'd see what a Pitcairn girl was like."
+
+"You may do that yet," I said, "for, seriously, Miranda is now Mrs.
+Hilary Telfer. We have been married more than a month."
+
+The captain could not refrain from giving a prolonged whistle at this
+announcement, which certainly appeared to take him by surprise. However,
+he rallied with ease and celerity, and addressing Miranda, whose hand
+he took as he spoke, said, "My dear! let me congratulate the son of my
+old friend, Captain Telfer, upon his marriage with the best, cleverest,
+and prettiest girl I have fallen across in all my wanderings. I don't
+suppose you have any great amount of capital to begin life with; but if
+two young people like you don't manage to find some path to fortune in a
+country like Australia, I'm a Dutchman. He needs to be a good fellow,
+and a man all round, to be worthy of Miranda Christian; but he can't
+help, as the son of his father and his mother, being all that, and more.
+So now, my dear! you must let me kiss you, as your husband's old friend,
+and wish you all happiness."
+
+Miranda blushed as the warm-hearted fellow folded her in his arms, but
+submitted with becoming grace; and leaving her among her young friends,
+he and I strolled away towards our hut to talk over affairs more at
+leisure.
+
+"Well, youngster!" said he, laying his hand on my shoulder, "I suppose
+you've had enough island life for a while, and won't be sorry to see
+Sydney Heads again. Nor I either. I've been out fifteen months this
+time, and that's rather long to be away from one's home and picaninnies.
+They'll be glad to see your face again at Rose Bay, I'll be bound. But
+they certainly will be taken aback when you turn up as a married man.
+Nineteen times out of twenty it's a mistake to tie one's self up for
+life at your age. But all depends upon getting the right woman, and
+Miranda is the one woman in a thousand that a man might be proud to
+marry, whether he was rich or poor, and to work and wear out his life
+for all his days. I've known her since she was a baby, and, taking her
+all round, I don't know her equal anywhere. It seems queer to say so,
+considering her birth and bringing up. But these Pitcairners are well
+known to be the best and finest women, in all womanly ways, that the
+world can show. And your wife is, and has always been, the flower of the
+flock."
+
+I grasped the captain's hand. I knew that I had secured a powerful ally;
+and though I felt so secure in the wisdom of my choice that no
+disapprobation of family and friends would have had power to affect me,
+yet, in such matters, it is well to have a friend at court, and the
+captain's reputation for sense and sagacity stood so high, that I felt
+not only my relatives, but my acquaintances and friends, would be
+strongly swayed by his judgment.
+
+"Now that we've got so far," he said, "you had better make your
+arrangements to sail with me on Sunday morning; this is Thursday, but my
+passengers want to see the island and the people of whom they have heard
+so much."
+
+"Passengers!" I said. "How many? and where from?"
+
+"Well, I picked them up at Honolulu. Half a dozen, and very nice people,
+too. They came in an English yacht that went to San Francisco for them,
+and they wanted to see Australia, and so came with me. They're rather
+big people at home, I believe, though they're very quiet, and give
+themselves no airs."
+
+"Any ladies?"
+
+"There are two married couples, and a young lady, with her brother."
+
+"That's very serious, captain," said I. "I don't quite know how Miranda
+will get on with travelling Englishwomen--they're rather difficult
+sometimes."
+
+"Miranda will get on with any one," answered the captain, with a decided
+air. "She will sit on my right hand, as a bride, and no one in my ship
+will show her less than proper respect. Anyhow, these people are not
+that sort. You'll see she's all ready to start on Sunday morning. 'The
+better the day, the better the deed.'"
+
+So the captain went to pay a visit to the people of the settlement,
+among whom his free, pleasant manner and generous bearing had made him
+most popular. The girls crowded around him, laughing and plying him with
+questions about the commissions he had promised to execute for them,
+and the presents he had brought. These attentions he never omitted. Full
+of curiosity they were, too, about the English ladies on board. "How
+they were dressed?" "How long they would stay in Sydney?" "What they
+would think of the poor Pitcairn girls?" and so on.
+
+With the elders he told of the whaleships he had spoken, and of their
+cargoes of oil--of the Quintals, or Youngs, Mills, or M'Coys who were
+harpooners and boat-steerers on board some of the Sydney whalers, and of
+the chances of their "lay" or share of profit being a good one. Besides
+all this, the captain consented to act as their ambassador to the
+Governor-General in Sydney, and lay before that potentate certain
+defects of their island administration--small, perhaps, in themselves,
+but highly important to the members of an isolated community. In
+addition to all this, he (as I heard afterwards) specially attended to
+my marriage with Miranda, of which he highly approved; telling the old
+pastor and the elders of the community that he had known my father for
+ever so many years; that he was highly respected now, when retired, but
+had been well known in the South Seas and New Zealand many years ago as
+the captain of the _Orpheus_, one of the most successful whalers that
+ever sailed through Sydney Heads.
+
+"Captain Telfer of the _Orpheus_!" said one of the oldest men of the
+group, "I remember him well. I was cast away on Easter Island the time
+the _Harriet_ was wrecked in a hurricane. He gave me a free passage to
+Tahiti, a suit of clothes, and ten dollars when I left the ship. He
+wanted me to finish the voyage with him and go to Sydney. I was sorry
+afterwards I didn't. He was a fine man, and a better seaman never trod
+plank. No wonder Hilary is such a fine chap. I can see the likeness now.
+I don't hold with our young women going off this island in a general
+way, but Miranda is a lucky girl to have Captain Telfer's son for a
+husband." All this the captain told me afterwards with slight
+embellishments and variations of his own.
+
+My reputation had fairly gone before, but this light thrown on my
+parentage placed me in a most exalted position--next to their spiritual
+pastor and master, before whom they bowed in genuine respect and
+reverence. Perhaps there is no man in the whole world more honoured and
+admired in the South Seas than the captain of a ship. And now that the
+name of my father's barque, once pretty well known south of the line,
+had been recalled from the past, every doubt as to the future of Miranda
+and myself was set at rest.
+
+We were invested, so to speak, with the blessing of the whole community,
+and began our modest preparations with added cheerfulness and resolve.
+
+In the afternoon we saw a boat put off from the _Florentia_ and the
+visitors land. They were five in number. We could see them walk over to
+the village, where they were met by some of the principal people and a
+few of the women and girls. We had been making ready for our voyage, and
+having finished our simple meal, sat in the shade of our orange tree,
+near the door, and awaited the strangers whom I judged rightly that
+curiosity and the captain would bring to our dwelling.
+
+In less than an hour's time we saw them strolling along the path which
+led to our nest. As they approached we arose and went to meet them, when
+the captain with all due form introduced us, "The Honourable Mr. and
+Mrs. Craven, Colonel Percival, Mr. Vavasour, and his sister, Miss
+Vavasour." Mrs. Percival had remained on board, as her little boy of
+four or five years old was not well. Miranda, rather to my surprise, was
+perfectly unembarrassed, and talked away to the stranger ladies as if
+she had been accustomed to the society business all her life.
+
+I could see that they were pleased and surprised at her appearance, as
+also gratified with the manner in which she invited them to inspect our
+simple dwelling.
+
+"Oh! what a charming nest of a place--quite a bower of bliss!" cried
+Miss Vavasour. "I declare I will come here when I am married and spend
+my honeymoon. What shade and fragrance combined! What a lovely crystal
+lakelet to bathe in! and I suppose, Mrs. Telfer, you go out fishing in
+that dear canoe? What an ideal life!"
+
+"I quite agree with you and feel quite envious," said Mrs. Craven.
+"Charlie and I have been married too long to have our honeymoon over
+again; but it would have been idyllic, wouldn't it, Charlie?"
+
+"Splendid place to smoke in," assented her husband. "No hounds meet
+nearer than Sydney, though, I presume. Drawback rather, isn't it?"
+
+"You men are always thinking of horses, and hounds or guns," pouted Miss
+Vavasour. "What can one want with them here? What can life offer more
+than this endless summer, this fairy bower, this crystal wave, this air
+which is a living perfume? It is an earthly paradise."
+
+"And the beloved object," added Mrs. Craven, with quiet humour. "You
+have left him out. It would be an incomplete paradise without Adam."
+
+"Oh! here he comes!" exclaimed Miranda (as she told me afterwards), who
+had not been attending to the enthusiastic speech, but was watching
+bird-like for my approach.
+
+"Who? Adam?" said Miss Vavasour, laughingly.
+
+"Oh, no!" answered she, smiling at the apparent absurdity. "You must
+excuse me a little, but I was looking out for Hilary."
+
+"Now, then, ladies!" said the cheerful voice of Captain Carryall, "we
+must get back to our boat. It's dangerous to stop ashore all night,
+isn't it, Miranda? We must leave you to finish your packing. It's a long
+voyage to Sydney, eh? It may be years before you see the island again."
+
+We all went down together to the boat, where the visitors were seen off
+by all the young people of the island, the girls wondering with
+respectful admiration at the English ladies' dresses, hats, boots, and
+shoes--in fact, at everything they did and said as well. It was a
+revelation to them, not that they had any envious feeling about those
+cherished possessions. They had been too well trained for that, and were
+secure in the guidance of their deeply-rooted religious faith and lofty
+moral code. On the other hand, their visitors admired sincerely the
+noble forms and free, graceful bearing of the island maidens, as well as
+the splendid athletic development of the men.
+
+"Here, you Thursday Quintal, come and show these ladies how you can
+handle a steer-oar," called out the captain. "He was the boat-steerer on
+board the _Florentia_ one voyage, and steered in the pulling race for
+whaleboats at the regatta on anniversary day, which we won the year
+before last in Sydney harbour. We'll bring you ashore in the morning."
+
+"Ay, ay, captain," said the young fellow, showing his splendid teeth in
+a pleasant smile. "It will feel quite natural to take an oar in a boat
+of yours again."
+
+The wind had freshened during the afternoon, and the rollers on the
+beach lifted the whaleboat as she came up to the landing rather higher
+than the ladies fancied. However, they were carefully seated, and at the
+captain's word, "Give way, my lads," the crew picked her up in great
+style, while Quintal, standing with easy grace at the stern, the sixteen
+foot oar in his strong grasp, directed her course with instinctive skill
+so as to avoid the growing force of the wave. As he stood there--tall,
+muscular, glorious in the grace and dignity of early manhood--he seemed
+the embodiment of a sculptor's dream.
+
+"What a magnificent figure!" said Mrs. Craven to her young friend. "How
+rare it is to see such a form in Mayfair!"
+
+"I surmise, as our American girl said at Honolulu," replied Miss
+Vavasour, "that you might look a long time before you saw such a man
+among our 'Johnnies'; and what eyes and teeth he has! Really I feel
+inclined to rebel. Here's this Mr. Telfer, too, and what a grand-looking
+fellow he is, and an English gentleman besides in all his ways. He can
+make his way to this out of the way speck in the ocean, and secure a
+Miranda for a life companion--glorious girl she is too--while we poor
+English spins have to wait till a passable _pretendu_ comes along,--old,
+bald, stupid, or diminutive, as the case may be,--and are bound to take
+him under penalty of dying old maids. I call it rank injustice, and I'd
+head a revolution tomorrow; and oh!--"
+
+The interjection which closed the speech of this ardent woman's righter
+was caused by the onward course of a breaking wave, which was not
+avoided so deftly as usual, and splashed the speaker and Mrs. Craven.
+
+"Hulloa! Quintal, what are you about?" said the captain, "is this your
+steering that I've been blowing about to these ladies and gentlemen?
+Miss Vavasour! I'm afraid it's your fault, you know the rule aboard
+ship? Passengers are requested not to speak to the man at the wheel."
+
+"But there's no regulation, captain, that the man at the steer-oar is
+not to look at the passengers," said Mrs. Craven. "However, here we are
+nearly on board, so there's no harm done, and we're only a trifle
+damped."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Clear-hued--calm--waveless--dawned our farewell day. I was glad of it.
+Rain and storm-clouds lower the spirits more distinctly when one is
+about to make a departure than at any other time, besides the
+inconvenience of wet or bedraggled garments. It was the Sabbath day, and
+the pastor arranged a special service in commemoration of Miranda's
+marriage and departure from the island. All the ship's company that
+could be spared came, of course; the visitors made a point of attending.
+The little church was crowded. Except the youngest children and their
+guardians, every soul on the island was there.
+
+After the Church of England service, which the islanders had at their
+fingers' ends, and in which they all most reverently joined, hymns were
+sung, in which the rich voices of the young girls were heard to great
+advantage. There was a strange and subtle harmony pervading the
+part-singing, which seemed natural to the race, more particularly in
+those parts in which the whole of the congregation joined. As Miranda
+played on the harmonium, it may have occurred to her friends and
+playmates for the last time, many of them could not restrain their
+tears. The aged pastor after the Liturgy preached a feeling and
+sympathetic address, which certainly went to the hearts of all present.
+He made particular allusion to our union and departure.
+
+"One of the children of the island," he said, "who had endeared herself
+to all by her unselfish kindness of heart, who had been marked out by
+uncommon gifts, both mental and physical, was to leave them that day.
+She might be absent for years, perhaps they might not see her face
+again,--that face upon which no one had seen a frown, nor hear that
+voice which had never uttered an unkind word," here the greater part of
+the congregation, male and female, fell a-weeping and lamenting loudly.
+"But they must take comfort; our beloved one was not departing alone,
+she had been joined in holy matrimony with a youth of whom any damsel
+might feel proud; he was the husband of her choice, the son of a master
+mariner well known and highly respected in former years throughout the
+wide Pacific. He himself had often heard of him in old days, and the son
+of such a father was worthy to be loved and trusted. The child of our
+hearts would go forth, even as Rebecca left her home and her people with
+Isaac, and God's blessing would surely rest upon all her descendants as
+upon the children of the promise.
+
+"He would ask all now assembled to join in prayers for the welfare of
+Hilary Telfer and Miranda, his wife."
+
+As the venerable man pronounced the words of the benediction, echoed
+audibly by the whole of the congregation, the sobs of the women were
+audible, while tears and stifled sighs were the rule, and not the
+exception. As the congregation rose from their knees, he walked down to
+the _Florentia's_ boats, it having been so arranged by the captain, who
+had invited all who could by any means attend, to lunch on board his
+vessel. Farewells were said on the beach to all who were perforce
+detained by age, infirmity, or other causes, and at length we were
+safely seated in the captain's boat, and putting off, were followed by a
+perfect fleet of every size and carrying capacity.
+
+Miranda hid her face and wept silently. I did not attempt to persuade
+her to moderate her grief, as the outlet of over-strung feelings, of
+genuine and passionate regret, it was a natural and healthful
+safety-valve for an overburdened heart.
+
+"I don't think I was ever more impressed with our Church service," said
+Mrs. Craven. "That dear, venerable old man, and his truly wonderful
+congregation! How earnestly they listened, and how reverently they
+behaved!"
+
+"Think of our rustics in a village church!" said Miss Vavasour, "the
+conceited choir, the sleeping labourers, the giggling school children,
+where do you ever see anything like what we have witnessed to-day?
+However did they manage to grow up so blameless, and to keep so good and
+pure minded? Can you tell me, Mr. Telfer?"
+
+"My knowledge of my wife's people is chiefly from hearsay," I said; "I
+can remember the old tale of the Mutiny of the _Bounty_ when I was a
+school-boy in Sydney. Captain Bligh, of the ill-fated ship, was
+afterwards the Governor of New South Wales. Whether his conduct provoked
+the mutiny, of which Miranda's great grandfather was the leader, or
+whether the crew were overcome by the temptations of a life in that
+second garden of Eden, Tahiti, has been disputed, and perhaps can never
+be definitely known. This much is certain, that the sole surviving
+mutineer, John Adams, deeply repentant, changed his rule of life.
+Morning and evening prayer was established, and a system of instruction
+for the children and young people regularly carried out. Such was the
+apparently accidental commencement of the religious teaching of the
+little community at the beginning of the century. Some of the results
+you have witnessed to-day."
+
+"It certainly is the most wonderful historiette in the whole world,"
+said Miss Vavasour, who had listened with deep interest. "I never saw so
+many nice people in one place before--all good--all kind--all contented,
+and all happy. It makes one believe in the millennium; I must try what I
+can do with our village when I get back to Dorsetshire."
+
+"You'll have your work cut out for you, Miss Vavasour," said Colonel
+Percival. "Fancy the old poachers and the hardened tramps, the
+beer-drinking yokels and the rough field-hands. Work of years, and
+doubtful then."
+
+"Oh! dear, why do we call ourselves civilised, I wonder?" sighed the
+enthusiastic damsel, just awakened to a sense of the duties of property
+in correlation with the "rights." "I really believe Englishmen--the
+lower classes, of course--are the most ill-mannered, uncivilised people
+in the world. Look at those dear islanders, how polite and unselfish
+they are in their behaviour to each other, and to us! It makes me feel
+ashamed of my country. Why, even at a presentation to Her Majesty people
+push, and crush, and look as black as thunder if you tread on their
+absurd trains."
+
+"You ought to come out and join the Melanesian Mission, my dear," said
+Mrs. Craven. "There is no knowing, with your energy and convictions,
+what good you might do."
+
+"I wish I could," said the girl eagerly. "But I'm not good enough, I
+wish I was. If I felt I could keep up my present feelings I'd go
+to-morrow. But I'm selfish and worldly-minded, like my neighbours in
+Christendom. It would be no use. I should only spoil my own life, and
+not mend theirs."
+
+"Such has been the confession of many an earnest reformer, who had
+started in life with high hopes and a scorn of consequences," said Mr.
+Vavasour quietly; "it is by far the most common result of heroic
+self-sacrifice. If we did not occasionally see the accomplished fact, as
+in this case, we might well despair."
+
+"And this was an accident of accidents," said Miss Vavasour sorrowfully.
+"No missionary society sent away the pioneer preachers to the heathen
+with prayers, and flags, and collections. No, here is the grandest feat
+ever accomplished in the world's history. The most religious, contented,
+consistent community in the whole world evolved from a crew of runaway
+sailors and a few poor savage women! Really there must be some good in
+human nature after all, reviled and insulted as it is by all the extra
+good people."
+
+The _Florentia_ had not had so large a party on board since the last
+successful affair in Sydney harbour. That one included dancing, which
+did not enter into this entertainment. Nothing, however, could have gone
+off better. The curiosity of the young women about the ladies'
+belongings was amply gratified, and the luncheon voted the very best one
+at which they had ever been entertained.
+
+A mirthful and joyous gathering it was. The visitors were charmed with,
+the naturally refined and courteous manners of the guests. And, finally,
+as the day wore on, and the breeze from the land promised a good offing,
+Miranda came up from her cabin, to which she had elected to retire, and
+bade farewell to friends and kinsfolk, who departed in their boats, much
+less saddened of mien than they had been in the morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Once more at sea. The _Florentia_, though a whaler, and not ornamented
+up to yachting form, was yet extremely neat and spotlessly clean, as far
+as could be managed by a smart and energetic captain. She was a fast
+sailer, and as the wind off the land freshened at sundown, she spread
+most of her canvas and sped before the breeze after a fashion which
+would have made her a not unworthy comrade of the _Leonora_.
+
+Miranda had retired to her cabin. Her heart was too full for jesting
+converse, and after she had watched the last speck of her loved island
+disappear below the horizon, she was fain to go below to hide her tears,
+and relieve her feelings by unrestrained indulgence in grief.
+
+For my part, after a cheerful dinner in the cuddy, I remained long on
+deck, pacing up and down, and revolving in my mind plans for our future.
+As I felt the accustomed sway of the vessel, listened to the creaking of
+the rigging, which was music in my ears, and watched the waves fall back
+from her sides in hissing foam-flakes, as the aroused vessel, feeling
+the force of the rising gale, drove through the darkening wave-masses,
+and seemed to defy the menace of the deep, the memories of my early
+island life came back to me. The luxurious, halcyon days, the starlit,
+silent nights, when ofttimes I had wandered to the shore, and seating
+myself on a coral rock, gazed over the boundless watery waste, wondering
+ever about my career, my destined fate.
+
+Then returned the strange and wayward memories of Hayston and his
+lawless associates--the reckless traders, the fierce half-castes, the
+savage islanders! Again I heard the soft voices of Lalia, Nellie,
+Kitty of Ebon, and smiled as I recalled their pleading, infantine ways,
+their flashing eyes, so eloquent in love or hate. All were gone; all had
+become phantoms of the past. With that stage and season of my life they
+had passed away--irrevocably, eternally--and now I possessed an
+incentive to labour, ambition, and self-denial such as I had never
+before known. With such a companion as Miranda, where was the man who
+would not have displayed the higher qualities of his nature, who would
+not have risen to the supremest effort of labour, valour, or
+self-abnegation? Before Heaven I vowed that night, that neither toil nor
+trouble, difficulty nor danger, should deter me from the pursuit of
+fortune and distinction. So passed our first day at sea.
+
+With the one that followed the gale abated, and as the _Florentia_ swept
+southward under easy sail, comfort was restored. The passengers settled
+themselves down to the enjoyment of that absolute rest and passive
+luxuriousness which characterise board-ship life in fine weather. Miss
+Vavasour and Miranda were soon deep in earnest conversation, both for
+the time disregarding the books with which they had furnished
+themselves. Mrs. Craven had devoted herself to an endless task of
+knitting, which apparently supplied a substitute for thought, reading,
+recreation, and conversation.
+
+I was talking to the captain when a lady came up the companion, followed
+by the colonel, who half lifted, half led a fine little boy of four or
+five years of age.
+
+"Oh," said the captain, with a sudden movement towards the new arrivals,
+"I see Mrs. Percival has come on deck. Come over and be introduced." We
+walked over, and I received a formal bow from a handsome, pale woman,
+who had evidently been sojourning in the East. There is a certain
+similarity in all "Indian women," as they are generally called, which
+extends even to manner and expression. Long residence in a hot climate
+robs them of their roses, while the habit of command, resulting from
+association with an inferior race, gives them a tinge of hauteur--not to
+say unconscious insolence of manner--which is scarcely agreeable to
+those who, from circumstances, they may deem to be socially inferior.
+
+So it was that Miranda, in spite of Miss Vavasour's nods and signals,
+received but the faintest recognition, and retreated to her chair
+somewhat chilled by her reception. She, however, took no apparent notice
+of the slight, and was soon absorbed in conversation with Miss Vavasour,
+her brother, and Mrs. Craven, who had moved up her chair to join the
+party. The colonel deserted his former friends to devote himself to his
+family duties, while the captain and I walked forward and commenced a
+discussion which had, at any rate, a strong personal interest for me.
+
+"Now look here, Hilary," said he, as he lighted a fresh cigar. He had
+been smoking on the quarter-deck under protest, as it were, and thus
+commenced: "Listen to me, my boy! I've been thinking seriously about you
+and Miranda. Your start in life when you get to Sydney is important. I
+think I can give you a bit of advice worth following. You understand all
+the dialects between here and the Line Islands, don't you?"
+
+"More than eight," I answered; "I can talk with nearly every islander
+from here to the Gilberts. I have learned so much, at any rate, in my
+wanderings."
+
+"And a very good thing, too, for it's not a thing that can be picked up
+in a year, no matter how a man may work, and he's useless or nearly so
+without it; you can keep accounts, write well, and all that?"
+
+I replied that I had a number of peculiar accounts to keep as
+supercargo to the _Leonora_, as well as all Hayston's business letters
+to write; that my office books were always considered neat, complete,
+and well kept. Then he suddenly said, "You are the very man we want!"
+
+"Who are we, and what is the man wanted for?" I asked.
+
+"For the South Sea Island trade, and no other," said Captain Carryall,
+putting his hand on my shoulder. "Old Paul Frankston (you've heard of
+him) and I have laid it out to establish a regular mercantile house in
+Sydney for the development of the island trade. The old man will back
+us, and the name of Paul Frankston is good from New Zealand to the North
+Pole and back again. I will do the whaling, cruising, and cargo
+business--cocoa-nut oil, copra, and curios--while you will live in one
+of those nice white houses at North Shore, somewhere about Neutral Bay,
+where you can see the ships come through the Heads; Miranda can have a
+skiff, and you a ten-tonner, so as not to forget your boating and your
+sea-legs. What do you think of that, eh?"
+
+"It is a splendid idea!" I cried, "and poor Miranda will be within sound
+of the sea. If she were not, she would pine away like her own araucarias
+which will not live outside of the wave music. But how about the cash
+part of it? I haven't much. Most of my savings went down in the
+_Leonora_."
+
+"Oh, we'll manage that somehow! Old Paul will work that part of the
+arrangement. I daresay your father will advance what will make your
+share equal, or nearly so, to ours."
+
+"It sounds well," I said. "With partners like Mr. Frankston and yourself
+a man ought to be able to do something. I know almost every island where
+trade can be got, and the price to a cowrie that should be paid. There
+ought to be a fortune in it in five years. What a pity Hayston couldn't
+have had such a chance."
+
+"He'd have had the cash, and the other partners the experience, in less
+than that time," said the captain, smiling sardonically. "He was a
+first-rate organiser if he had not been such a d--d scoundrel. He had
+some fine qualities, I allow; as a seaman he had no equal. In the good
+old fighting days he would have been a splendid robber baron. But in
+these modern times, where there is a trifle of law and order in most
+countries, even in the South Seas he was out of place."
+
+"He was far from a model mariner," I said, "but it hurts me to hear him
+condemned. He had splendid points in his character, and no one but
+myself will ever know how much good there was mixed up with his
+recklessness and despair. I left him, but I couldn't help being fond of
+him to the last."
+
+"It was a good thing for you that you did--a very good thing. You will
+live to be thankful for it. He was a dangerous beggar, and neither man
+nor woman could escape his fascination. However, that's all past and
+gone now. You're married and settled, remember, and you're to be Hilary
+Telfer, Esq., J.P., and all the rest of it directly, and the only
+sea-going business you can have for the future is to be Commodore of the
+Neutral Bay Yacht Club, or some such title and distinction. And now I've
+done for the present. You go and see what Miranda thinks of it. I won't
+agree to anything unless she consents."
+
+Miranda was charmed with the idea of a mercantile marine enterprise, so
+much in accordance with her previous habits and experiences. The added
+inducement of living on the sea-shore, with a boat, a jetty, and a
+bathing-house, decided her. She implicitly believed in Captain
+Carryall's power and ability to make our fortune; was also certain that,
+with Mr. Frankston's commercial aid, we should soon be as rich as the
+Guldensterns, the Rothschilds of the Pacific. She surrendered herself
+thereupon to a dream of bliss, alloyed only at intervals by a tinge of
+apprehension that the great undiscovered country of Sydney society might
+prove hostile or indifferent.
+
+So much she communicated to Miss Vavasour as she and Mrs. Craven were
+reclining side by side on their deck chairs, while the _Florentia_ was
+gliding along on another day all sunshine, azure, and favouring breeze.
+
+"Don't you be afraid, my dear," said the kind-hearted Mrs. Craven, "you
+and your husband are quite able to hold your own in Sydney society or
+any other; indeed, I shall be inclined to bet that you'd be the rage
+rather than otherwise. I wish I had you in Northamptonshire, I'd
+undertake to 'knock out' (as Charlie says) the local belles in a
+fortnight."
+
+Miranda laughed the childishly happy laugh of unspoiled girlhood. "Dear
+Mrs. Craven, how good of you to say so; but, of course, I know I'm a
+sort of savage, who will improve in a year or two if every one is as
+kind as you and Miss Vavasour here; but suppose they should be like
+her," and she motioned towards Mrs. Percival.
+
+This lady had never relaxed the coldness and hauteur towards Miranda and
+myself. She had been unable to modify her "Indian manner," as Captain
+Carryall and Mr. Vavasour called it, and about which they made daily
+jokes.
+
+As she passed the little group, she bowed slightly and without
+relaxation of feature, going forward to the waist of the ship, where she
+sat down and was soon absorbed in a book. The three friends smiled at
+each other, and continued their conversation.
+
+"I should like to dress you for a garden-party, Miranda," said Miss
+Vavasour; "let me see now, a real summer day, such as we sometimes get
+in dear old England--not like this one perhaps, but very nice. A lovely
+old manor house like Gravenhurst or Hunsdon--such a lawn, such old
+trees, such a river, a marquee under an elm a hundred years old, and the
+county magnates marching in from their carriages."
+
+"Oh, how delicious!" cried Miranda. "I have read such descriptions in
+books, but you--oh, how happy you must be to have lived it all!"
+
+"It's very nice, but as to the happiness, that doesn't always follow,"
+confessed the English girl with a half sigh. "I almost think you have
+the greater share of that. Anyhow, just as the company are assembled, I
+am seen walking down from the house. We are of the house party, you
+know, Miranda and I. She is dressed in a soft, white, embroidered
+muslin, very simply made, with a little, a very little Valenciennes
+lace. Its long straight folds hang gracefully around her matchless
+figure, and are confined at the waist by a broad, white moire sash;
+white gloves, a white moire parasol, a large Gainsborough hat with
+fleecy white feathers, and Miranda's costume is complete--the very
+embodiment of fresh, fair girlhood, unspotted from the world of fashion
+and folly."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A SWIM FOR LIFE
+
+
+The words died on her lips as a shriek, wild, agonising, despairing,
+rang through the air, and startled not only the little group of pleased
+listeners, but all who happened to be on deck at the time. We started up
+and gazed towards the spot whence the cry had come. The colonel, who had
+been reading on the opposite side of the deck, calmly smoking the while,
+dropped his book and only saved his meerschaum by a cricketer's smart
+catch. The captain came bounding up from below, followed by the steward
+and his boy; the foc'sle hands, with the black cook, hurled themselves
+aft. All guessed the cause as they saw Mrs. Percival wringing her hands
+frantically and gazing at an object in the sea.
+
+Her boy had fallen overboard! Yes! the little fellow, active and
+courageous beyond his years, had tried to crawl up to the shrouds while
+his mother's eyes were engaged in the perusal of the leading novel of
+the day. Weary of inaction, the poor little chap had done a little
+climbing on his own account, and an unexpected roll of the ship had sent
+him overboard. Light as the wind was, he was already a long way astern.
+
+Long before all these observations were made, however, and while the
+astonished spectators were questioning their senses as to the meaning of
+the confusion, Miranda had sprung upon the rail, and in the next moment,
+with hands clasped above her head, was parting the smooth waters.
+Rising to the surface, she swam with rapid and powerful strokes towards
+the receding form of the still floating child. With less rapidity of
+motion, I cast myself into the heaving waste of water, not that I
+doubted Miranda's ability to overtake and bear up the child, but from
+simple inability to remain behind while all that was worth living for on
+earth was adrift upon the wave.
+
+I followed in her wake, and though I failed to keep near her, for the
+Pitcairn islanders are among the fastest swimmers in the world, I yet
+felt that I might be of some use or aid. Long before I could overtake
+her she had caught up the little fellow, and lifting him high above the
+water, was swimming easily towards me.
+
+"Oh! you foolish boy!" she cried, "why did you come after me? do you
+want to be drowned again?" Here she smiled and showed her lovely teeth
+as if it was rather a good joke. It may have been, but at that time and
+place I was not in the humour to perceive it.
+
+"I came for the same reason that you did, I suppose--because I could not
+stay behind. If anything had happened to you what should I have done?
+Here comes the boat, though, and we can talk it over on board."
+
+Some little time had been expended in lowering the boat. The ship had
+been brought to, but even then--and with so light a wind--it was
+astonishing what a distance we had fallen behind. It was a curious
+sensation, such specks as we were upon the immense water-plain which
+stretched around to the horizon. However, the _Florentia_ was strongly
+in evidence, and nearer and nearer came the whaleboat, with the captain
+at the steer-oar, and the men pulling as if they were laying on a crack
+harpooner to an eighty barrel whale.
+
+We were now swimming side by side, Miranda talking to the little fellow,
+who had never lost consciousness, and did not seem particularly afraid
+of his position.
+
+"How tremendously hard they are pulling!" I said; "they are making the
+boat spin again. One would think they were pulling for a wager."
+
+"So they are," answered she, "for three lives, and perhaps another. See
+there! God in His mercy protect us."
+
+I followed the direction of her turned head, and my heart stood still as
+my eye caught the fatal sign of the monster's presence at no great
+distance from us. It was _the back fin of a shark_!
+
+"Do your best, my beloved," she continued; "we must keep together, and
+if he overtakes us before the boat reaches, splash hard and shout as
+loud as you can. I have seen a shark frightened before now; but please
+God it may not come to that."
+
+The boat came nearer--still nearer--but, as it seemed to us, all too
+slowly. The men were pulling for their lives, I could notice, and the
+captain frantically urging them on. They had seen the dreaded signal
+before us, and had commenced to race from that moment. But for some
+delay in the tackle for lowering, they would have been up to us before
+now.
+
+As it was we did our best. I would have taken the child, but Miranda
+would not allow me. "His weight is nothing in the water," she said, "and
+I could swim faster than you, even with him." This she showed me she
+could do by shooting ahead with the greatest ease, and then allowing me
+to overtake her. I had to let her have her own way. We were lessening
+the distance between us and the boat, but the sea demon had a mind to
+overtake us, and our hearts almost failed as we noticed the sharp black
+fin gaining rapidly upon us. Still there was one chance, that he would
+not pursue us to the very side of the boat. It was a terrible moment.
+With every muscle strained to the uttermost, with lung, and sinew, and
+every organ taxed to utmost tension, I most certainly beat any previous
+record in swimming that I had ever attained. Miranda, with apparently
+but little effort, kept slightly ahead. The last few yards--shorter than
+the actual distance--appeared to divide us from the huge form of the
+monster now distinctly visible beneath the water, when with one frantic
+yell and a dash at the oars, which took every remaining pound of
+strength out of the willing crew, the boat shot up within equal
+distance. At a signal from the captain every oar was raised and brought
+down again with a terrific splash into the water, and a simultaneous
+yell. The effort was successful. The huge creature, strangely timid in
+some respects, stopped, and with one powerful side motion of fins and
+tail glided out of the line of pursuit. At the same moment the boat
+swept up, and eager arms lifted Miranda and her burden into it. My hand
+was on the gunwale until I saw her safe, whence with a slight amount of
+assistance I gained the mid-thwart.
+
+"Saved, thank God!" cried the captain, with fervent expression, "but a
+mighty close thing; the next time you take a bath of this kind, my dear
+Miranda, with sharks around, you must let me know beforehand, eh?"
+
+"Some one would have had to go, captain," she answered; "we couldn't see
+the dear little fellow drowned before our eyes. It was only a trifle
+after all--a swim in smooth water on a fine day: I didn't reckon on a
+shark being so close, I must say."
+
+"I saw the naughty shark," said the little fellow, now quite recovered
+and in his usual spirits. "How close he came! do you think he would have
+eaten us all, captain?"
+
+"Yes, my boy--without salt; you would never have seen your papa and
+mamma again if it had not been for this lady here."
+
+"But you took us in the boat, captain," argued the little fellow; "he
+can't catch us in here, can he?"
+
+"But the lady caught you in her arms long before the boat came up, my
+dear, or else you would have been drowned over and over again; that
+confounded tackle caught, or else we should have been up long before.
+It's a good thing they were not lowering for a whale, or my first mate's
+language would have been something to remember till the voyage after
+next. However, here we are all safe, Charlie, and there's your mother
+looking out for you."
+
+A painfully eager face was that which gazed from the vessel as we rowed
+alongside. Every trace of the languor partly born of the tropic sun and
+partly of aristocratic _morgue_ was gone from the countenance of Mrs.
+Percival, as her boy, laughing and prattling, was carried up the rope
+ladder and lifted on deck. His mother clasped him now passionately in
+her arms, sobbing, blessing, kissing him, and crying aloud that God had
+restored her child from the dead. "Oh, my boy! my boy!" she repeated
+again and again; "your mother would have died too, if you had been
+drowned, she would never have lived without you."
+
+By this time Miranda had reached the deck, where she was received with a
+hearty British cheer from the ship's company, while the passengers
+crowded around her as if she had acquired a new character in their eyes.
+But Mrs. Percival surpassed them all; kneeling before Miranda she bowed
+herself to the deck, as if in adoration, and kissed her wet feet again
+and again.
+
+"You have saved my child from a terrible death at the risk of your own
+and your husband's lives," she said. "May God forget me if I forget your
+noble act this day! I have been proud and unkind in my manner to you, my
+dear. I humble myself at your feet, and implore your pardon. But
+henceforth, Miranda Telfer, you and I are sisters. If I do not do
+something in requital it will go hard with me and Charlie."
+
+"Now, my dear Sybil," interposed the husband, "do you observe that Mrs.
+Telfer has not had time to change her dress--very wet it seems to
+be--and I suppose Master Charlie will be none the worse for being put
+to bed and well scolded, the young rascal. Come, my dear."
+
+Colonel Percival, doubtless, felt a world of joy and relief when the
+light of his eyes and the joy of his heart stood safe and sound on the
+deck of the _Florentia_ again, but it is not the wont of the British
+aristocrat to give vent to his emotions, even the holiest, in public.
+The veil of indifference is thrown over them, and men may but guess at
+the volcanic forces at work below that studiously calm exterior.
+
+So, laying his hand gently but firmly on his wife's arm, he led her to
+her cabin, with her boy still clasped in her arms as if she yet feared
+to lose him, and they disappeared from our eyes. As for Miranda and
+myself, such immersions had been daily matters of course, and were
+regarded as altogether too trifling occurrences to require more than the
+necessary changes of clothing.
+
+We both appeared in our places at the next meal, when Miranda was
+besieged with questions as to her sensations, mingled with praises of
+her courage and endurance in that hour of deadly peril.
+
+"And _her_ child, too," said Mrs. Craven; "what a lesson of humility it
+ought to teach her! Had you, my dear girl, been swayed by any of the
+meaner motives which actuate men and women her foolish pride might have
+cost her child's life."
+
+"Oh, surely no one _could_ have had such thoughts when that dear little
+boy fell overboard! I couldn't help Mrs. Percival not liking me. I
+really did not think much about it; but when I saw the poor little face
+in the sea, more startled, indeed, than frightened, I felt as if I must
+go in after him. It was quite a matter of course."
+
+After this incident it may be believed that we were indeed a happy
+family on board the _Florentia_. Every one vied with every one else in
+exhibiting respect and admiration towards Miranda. Mrs. Percival would
+not hear of a refusal that we should come and stay with her, when we
+had done all that was proper and dutiful in the family home. Miss
+Vavasour and Mrs. Craven depended on me to show them all the beauties of
+Sydney harbour; while Captain Carryall pledged himself to place Mr.
+Frankston's yacht at the service of his passengers generally, and to
+render them competent to champion the much-vaunted glories of the
+unrivalled harbour to all friends, foes, and doubters on the other side
+of the world.
+
+Colonel Percival privately interrogated the captain as to the nature of
+the commercial undertaking in which he was about to arrange a
+partnership for me, and begged as a favour, being a man of ample means,
+that he might be permitted to advance the amount of my share. The
+captain solemnly promised him that if there was any difficulty in the
+proposed arrangement on account of my deficiency of cash he should be
+requested to supply it. "He seemed to feel easy in his mind after I told
+him this, my boy," said the commander, with that mixture of simplicity
+and astuteness which distinguished him, "but fancy old Paul and your
+father admitting outside capital in one of their trade ventures!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"This time to-morrow we shall be going through Sydney Heads," said the
+first mate to me as we walked the deck about an hour after sunrise one
+morning, "that is, if the wind holds."
+
+"Pray Heaven it may," said I, "then we shall have a view of the harbour
+and city worth seeing. It makes all the difference. We might have a
+cloudy day, or be tacking about till nightfall, and the whole effect
+would be lost." I was most anxious not only that Miranda's first sight
+of my native land and her future home should impress her favourably, but
+I was naturally concerned that our friends should not suppose that the
+descriptions of the Queen City of the South, with which the captain and
+I had regaled them, were overdrawn. We sat late at supper that night
+talking over the wonderful events and experiences that were to occur on
+the morrow. Plans were discussed, probable residence and inland travel
+calculated, the Fish River caves and the Blue Mountains were, of course,
+to be visited--all kinds of expeditions and slightly incongruous
+journeys to be carried out.
+
+Colonel and Mrs. Percival had been asked to stay at Government House
+during their visit, which was comparatively short; while Mr. and Mrs.
+Craven and Miss Vavasour were to go primarily to Petty's Hotel, which
+had been highly recommended; and the gentlemen had intimation that they
+would receive notices of their being admitted as honorary members of the
+Australian and Union Clubs. With such cheerful expectations and
+forecasts we parted for the night.
+
+The winds were kind. "The breeze stuck to us," as the mate expressed it,
+and about an hour after the time he had mentioned we were within a mile
+of the towering sandstone portals of that erstwhile strange, silent
+harbour into which the gallant seaman Cook, old England's typical
+mariner, had sailed a hundred years ago.
+
+I had been on deck since dawn. Now that we were so near the home of my
+childhood, the thoughts of old days, and the parents, brothers, sisters,
+from whom I had been so long separated, rushed into my mind, until I
+felt almost suffocated with contending emotions. How would they receive
+us? Would they be prepared to see me a married man? Would their welcome
+to Miranda be warm or formal? I began to foresee difficulties--even
+dangers of family disruption--consequences which before had never
+entered into the calculation.
+
+However, for the present these serious reflections were put to flight
+by expressions of delight from the whole body of passengers, headed by
+Miranda, who then came on deck. By this time the good ship _Florentia_
+had closely approached the comparatively narrow entrance, the frowning
+buttresses of sandstone, against which the waves, now dashed with hoarse
+and angry murmur, rose almost above us, while a long line of surges, lit
+up by the red dawn fires, menaced us on either hand.
+
+"Oh, what a lovely entrance!" said Miss Vavasour, after gazing long and
+earnestly at the scene. "It seems like the gate of an enchanted lake.
+What magnificent rock-masses, and what light and colour the sun brings
+out! It is something like a sun--warm, glowing, irradiating everything
+even at this early hour--and what a sky! The dream tone of a painter! I
+congratulate you, you dear darling Miranda, and you, Mr. Telfer, on
+having such a day for home-coming. It is a good omen--I am sure it must
+be. Nothing but good could happen on such a glorious day."
+
+"The day is perfection, but more than one good ship coming through this
+entrance at night has mistaken the indentation on the other side of the
+South Head for the true passage, and gone to pieces on the rocks below
+that promontory. But, at any rate, _we_ are now safely inside; and where
+is there a harbour in the world to match it?"
+
+As we passed Middle harbour and drew slowly up the great waterway, which
+affords perhaps more deep anchorage than any other in the world, the
+ladies were loud in their expressions of admiration. "Look at those
+sweet white houses on the shores of the pretty little bays!" said Mrs.
+Craven; "and what lovely gardens and terraces stretching down to the
+beaches!"
+
+"And there is a Norfolk Island pine, one--two--ever so many," cried
+Miranda. "I did not think _they_ grew here, I am sure now that I shall
+be happy."
+
+"Yes, of course!" said Miss Vavasour, "what is to hinder you? And you
+are to live in one of those pretty cream-coloured cottages--what lovely
+stone it must be!--with a garden just like that one on the point, and a
+boat-house and a jetty. One of those little steamers that I see fussing
+about will land Mr. Telfer, when he returns from the city, or you can
+get into that little boat that lies moored below, and row across the bay
+for him."
+
+Miranda's eyes filled as she glanced at the pretty villas and more
+pretentious mansions, past which we glided, some half-covered with
+climbers, or buried amid tropical shrubs of wild luxuriance. Her heart
+was too deeply stirred for jesting at that moment. She could only press
+her friend's hand and smile, as if pleading for a less humorous view of
+so important a subject.
+
+The harbour itself was full of interest to the strangers. Vessels of all
+sizes and shapes--coasters, colliers, passenger-boats, yachts, and steam
+launches, passed and re-passed in endless succession. Two men-of-war lay
+peacefully at anchor in Farm Cove, a Messagerie steamer in the stream,
+while a huge P. & O. mail-boat outward bound moved majestically towards
+the Heads through which we had so recently entered.
+
+We had just cleared Point Piper, where I remember spending the joyous
+holidays of long ago with my schoolmates, the sons of the fine old
+English gentleman who then dwelt there, when a sailing boat sped swiftly
+towards us, in which stood a stout, middle-aged man waving his hat
+frantically.
+
+"I believe that is Paul Frankston himself come to overhaul us," said the
+captain, raising his glass. "He's sailor enough to recognise the rig of
+the _Florentia_, and if we had been a little nearer his bay, he'd have
+wanted us to stop the ship and lunch with him in a body. As it is I feel
+sure he'll capture some of the party."
+
+"What splendid hospitality!" said Mrs. Percival. "Is that sort of thing
+usual here? you must be something like us Indians in your ways."
+
+"There is a good deal of likeness, I think," said the captain. "I
+suppose the heat accounts for it. It's too hot to refuse, most of the
+year. But here comes Paul!"
+
+The sailing boat by this time had run alongside and doused her sail,
+while one of the crew held on to a rope thrown to him, as the owner
+presented himself on deck with more agility than might have been
+expected from a man of his age.
+
+"Well, Charley, my boy, so you're in at last--thought you were lost, or
+had run away and sold the ship, ha, ha! What sort of a voyage have you
+had? Passengers, too--pray introduce me. Is there anything I can do for
+them in Sydney? Must be something. Perhaps I shall hear by and by. Who's
+this youngster?
+
+"No! surely not the son of my old friend, Captain Telfer? Now I remember
+the boy that ran away to the islands, or would have done so, if they
+hadn't let him go. Quite right, I ran away myself and a fine time I had
+there. I must tell you what happened to me there once, eh! Charley?"
+
+Here the old gentleman began to laugh so heartily that he was forced to
+suspend his narration, while the captain regarded him with an expression
+which conveyed a slight look of warning. "But I am forgetting. By the
+way, Charley, have you any curios in your cabin?" The captain nodded,
+and the two old friends disappeared down the companion. Only, however,
+to reappear in a very few minutes, which we employed in favourable
+criticism.
+
+"What a fine hearty old gentleman!" said Mrs. Craven, "any one can see
+that he is an Englishman by his figure and the way he talks; though I
+suppose colonists are not so very different."
+
+"Mr. Frankston has been a good deal about the world," I said. "But he
+was born in Sydney, and has spent the greater part of his life near
+this very spot. He was at sea in his earlier years, but has been on
+shore since he married. He is now a wealthy man, and one of the leading
+Sydney merchants."
+
+"One would think he was a sea captain now," said Miss Vavasour. "He
+looks quite as much like one as a merchant; but I suppose every one can
+sail a boat here."
+
+"You are quite right, Miss Vavasour. Every one who is born in Sydney
+learns to swim and sail a boat as soon as possible after he can walk.
+There is no place in the world where there are so many yachtsmen. On
+holidays you may see doctors, lawyers, clergymen, even judges, sailing
+their boats--doing a good deal of their own work in the 'able seaman'
+line; and, to tell truth, looking occasionally much more like pirates
+than sober professional men."
+
+About this time Mr. Frankston reappeared, carrying in his hand a couple
+of grass-er-garments, which he appeared to look upon as very precious.
+"These are for my little girl," he said, "she has just come down from
+the bush with her husband to spend the hot months with her old father.
+It will give her the greatest pleasure to see these ladies and their
+husbands at Marahmee, next Saturday, when we can have a little picnic in
+the harbour and a sail in my yacht, the _Sea-gull_. The captain will
+tell you that I am to be trusted with a lively boat still."
+
+"I never wish to go to sea with a better sailor," said the captain, "and
+if our friends have no other engagements, I can promise them a
+delightful day and a view of some of the finest scenery south of the
+line."
+
+Barring unforeseen or indispensable engagements every one promised to
+go. Mr. Frankston averred that they had done him a great--an important
+service. He was getting quite hipped--he was indeed--when his daughter
+luckily recognised the _Florentia_ coming up the harbour. She is a
+sailor's daughter, you know--has an eye for a ship--and started him off
+to meet his old friend Captain Carryall, and secure him for dinner. Now
+he felt quite another man, and would say good-bye. Before leaving he
+must have a word with his young friend.
+
+"My dear boy," said he, laying his hand on my shoulder, "I have known
+your father ever so many years. We were younger men then, and saw
+something of each other in more than one bit of fun; and at least one or
+two very queer bits of fighting in the Bay of Islands; so that we know
+each other pretty well. I've heard what Carryall has to say about you
+and your charming wife. I think we shall be able to 'fix up,' as our
+American friends say, our little mercantile arrangement very neatly. But
+that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. You've been away a good
+while, so many years, we'll say."
+
+"I have indeed," I replied.
+
+"Well--you've grown from a boy into a man, and a devilish fine one too."
+Here the dear old chap patted me on the back and looked up at my face, a
+great deal higher up than his. "Well! naturally, you've changed. So have
+your people, your young brothers and sisters have turned into men and
+women while you've been away. And then again, another change--a great
+one too--you're married."
+
+"Yes! thank God I am."
+
+"I am sure you have good reason, my boy. But my idea is this,
+people--the best of people--don't like surprises,--even one's own
+friends. Now, what I want you to do is to bring your wife and come and
+stay at Marahmee for a week, while they're getting your rooms ready for
+you at North Shore. There's nobody there now but Antonia and her
+husband. It wants another pair of young people to enliven the place a
+bit. And Charley Carryall will go over and tell them all about you and
+your pretty Miranda, while you and I settle our partnership affairs."
+
+I could see how it was; our good old friend, with a kindness and
+delicacy of feeling which I have rarely seen equalled, had all along
+made up his mind that Miranda and I should begin our Sydney experiences
+with a visit to his hospitable mansion. After a talk with the captain,
+for which purpose he had feigned an interest in South Sea "curios," they
+had come to the conclusion that it would be more prudent that the family
+should have a few days to accustom themselves to the idea of my
+marriage. In the mean time his daughter, Mrs. Neuchamp, would be able to
+give Miranda the benefit of her experience as a Sydney matron of some
+years' standing, and to ensure that she made her introduction under
+favourable circumstances.
+
+Miranda, naturally nervous at the idea of then and there making her
+appearance among a group of relatives wholly unknown to her, was much
+relieved at the delay thus granted, and cheerfully acceded to the
+proposed arrangement.
+
+"That being all settled, I'll get home and have everything ready for you
+when you arrive. The captain will take care of you. He knows the road
+out, eh, Charley? night or day; so good-bye till dinner time. Seven
+o'clock sharp."
+
+Still talking, Mr. Frankston descended to his boat, and making a long
+board, proceeded to beat down the harbour on his homeward voyage, waving
+his handkerchief at intervals until he rounded a point and was lost to
+our gaze.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was not very long after this interview that we found ourselves in our
+berth at the Circular Quay, where, unlike Melbourne and some other
+ports, nothing more was needed for disembarkation but to step on shore
+into the city. Our good comrades of so many days were carried off in
+cabs to their destinations, with the exception of the Percivals, who,
+having been invited to Government House, found an aide-de-camp and the
+viceregal carriage awaiting them on the wharf. At such a time there is
+always a certain amount of fuss and anxiety with reference to luggage,
+rendering farewells occasionally less sentimental than might have been
+expected from the character of marine friendships. But it was not so in
+our experience. Miss Vavasour and Mrs. Craven exchanged touching
+farewells with Miranda, mingled with solemn promises to meet at given
+dates--to write--to do all sorts of things necessary for their keeping
+up the flame of friendship. Then at the last moment Colonel and Mrs.
+Percival came up. "My dearest Miranda," said this lady, "don't forget
+that you are my sister, not in word only. Put me to the proof whenever
+you need a sister's aid, and it shall be always at your service. Kiss
+Auntie Miranda, Charlie darling, and tell her you will always love her."
+
+"She picked me up out of the sea, when the naughty shark was going to
+eat us all. She's a good auntie, isn't she, mother?" said the little
+chap responding readily. "Good-bye, Auntie Miranda."
+
+"I am not a man of many words, Mr. Telfer!" said the colonel; "but if I
+can be of service to you, now or at any future time I shall be offended
+if you do not let me know;" and then the stern soldier shook my hand in
+a way which gave double meaning to the pledge.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was yet early in the day, and the captain had duties to attend to
+which would keep him employed until the evening. "I've ordered a
+carriage at six," he said, "when we'll start for Marahmee, which is
+about half-an-hour's drive. Until that time you can go ashore if you
+like; the Botanical Gardens are just round that point, or walk down
+George Street, or in any other way amuse yourselves. Meanwhile, consider
+yourselves at home also."
+
+"I think we'll stay at home then, captain, for the present," said
+Miranda, "and watch the people on shore. You have no idea how they
+interest me. Everything is so new. Remember that I have never seen a
+carriage in my life before, or a cab, or a soldier; there goes one
+now--isn't he beautiful to behold? I shall sit here and make Hilary tell
+me the names of all the specimens as they come into view."
+
+"That will do capitally," said the captain. "I might have known that you
+could amuse yourself without help from any one."
+
+The time passed quickly enough, with the aid of lunch. The decks were
+cleared by six o'clock, by which time we were ready for the hired
+barouche when it drove up.
+
+Miranda and I had employed our time so well that she had learnt the
+names of various types of character, and many products of civilisation,
+of which she had been before necessarily ignorant, except from books.
+"It is a perfect object lesson," she said. "How delightful it is to be
+able to see the things and people that I have only read about! I feel
+like those people in the _Arabian Nights_ who had been all their lives
+in a glass tower on a desert island. Not that our dear Norfolk Island
+was a desert--very far from it. And now I am going to the first grand
+house I ever saw, and to live in it--more wonderful still. I feel like a
+princess in a fairy tale," she went on, as she smilingly skipped into
+the carriage. "Everything seems so unreal. Do you think this will turn
+into a pumpkin, drawn by mice, like poor Cinderella's? Hers was a
+chariot, though. What is a chariot?"
+
+"I remember riding in one when I was a small boy," I answered; "and, by
+the same token, I had caught a number of locusts, and put them into my
+hat. I was invited to uncover, as the day was warm. When I did so, the
+locusts flew all about the closed-up carriage and into everybody's face.
+But chariots are old-fashioned now."
+
+Onward we passed along the South Head road, while below us lay the
+harbour with its multitudinous bays, inlets, promontories, and green
+knolls, in so many instances crowned with white-walled gardens,
+surrounding villas and mansions, all built of pale-hued,
+delicately-toned sandstone.
+
+"Oh! what a lovely, delicious bay!" cried Miranda; "and these are the
+Heads, where we came in. Good-bye, old ocean, playfellow of my
+childhood; farewell, wind of the sea, for a while. But I shall live near
+you still, and hear you in my dreams. I should die--I should feel
+suffocated--if nothing but woods and forests were to be seen."
+
+"If you don't die until you can't see the ocean, or feel the winds about
+here, you will live a long time, my dear," said the captain. "I don't
+know a more sea-going population anywhere than this Sydney one. Half the
+people you meet here have been a voyage, and the boys take to a boat as
+the bush lads do to a horse. But here we are at the Marahmee gates, and
+there's my pet Antonia on the verandah ready to receive us."
+
+As we drove up the avenue, which was not very long, a very pretty,
+graceful young woman came swiftly to meet us. I knew this must be Mrs.
+Neuchamp, formerly Antonia Frankston, the old man's only child. She was
+not grown up when I left Sydney, and I heard that she had lately married
+a young Englishman, who had come out with letters of introduction to Mr.
+Frankston. We had seen each other last, as boy and girl, long years ago.
+
+"Well, Captain Charley," she said, making as though she would have
+embraced the skipper, "what do you mean by being so long away? We began
+to think that you were lost--that the _Florentia_ had run on a reef--all
+sorts of things--been cut off by the islanders, perhaps. But now you
+_are_ back with all sorts of island stories to tell dad, and a few
+curios for me. And you are Mrs. Telfer! Papa has told me all about
+you--his latest admiration, evidently. But you mustn't get melancholy
+when he deserts you; he is a passionate adorer while it lasts, but is
+always carried away by the next fresh face, generally a complete
+contrast to the last. I am sure we shall be great friends. I used to
+dance with your husband when we were children. Do you remember that
+party at Mrs. Morton's? You have grown considerably since then, and so
+handsome, too, I suppose I may say--now we are all married--no wonder
+Miranda fell in love with you. You're to call me Antonia, my dear; and
+now come upstairs, and I'll show you your rooms which I have been
+getting ready all the morning. Papa and Ernest will be here in a few
+minutes."
+
+"Mrs. Neuchamp evidently takes after her father," I said, "who can say
+more kind things in fewer minutes than any one I ever knew--and do them,
+too, which is more to the purpose. I am so glad that Miranda has had the
+chance of making her acquaintance before she sees many other people."
+
+"She is a dear, good, unselfish girl," said the captain, "and was always
+the same from a child, when she used to sit on my knee in this very
+verandah, and get me to tell her the names of the ships. I never saw a
+child so thoughtful for other people, always wondering what she could do
+for them; she is just the same to this day. She will be an invaluable
+friend for our Miranda, I foresee. She can give her all sorts of hints
+about housekeeping, and I've no doubt one or two about dress and the
+minor society matters. Not that Miranda wants much teaching in that or
+any other way. Nature made her a lady, and gave her the look of a sea
+princess, and nothing could alter her."
+
+"Did you ever hear of a handsome young woman being spoiled by flattery,
+captain?" I said. "I don't want to anticipate such a disaster, but it
+strikes me that if you are all going to be so very complimentary, I
+shall have to go on the other tack to keep the compass level."
+
+"There are dispositions that flattery falls harmless from," said the
+captain solemnly; "there are women that cannot be spoiled,--not so many,
+perhaps, but you have got one of them, Antonia is another. They will
+make a good pair, and I'll back them to do their duty and keep a
+straight course, fair weather or foul, against any two, married or
+single, that I ever saw, and I've seen a good many women in my time. But
+now we had better be ready for dinner, for old Paul and Mr. Neuchamp
+will be here directly."
+
+They were not long in making their appearance, and a very merry dinner
+it was. Mr. Frankston wanted to hear all about the islands, and Mrs.
+Neuchamp was much interested in Captain Hayston, and thought he
+resembled one of the buccaneers of the Spanish Main, for whom she had a
+sentimental admiration in her girlhood.
+
+"What a pity that all the romantic and picturesque people should be so
+wicked!" she asked. "How is it, and what law of nature can it be that
+arranges that so many good and worthy people are so deadly
+uninteresting?"
+
+"Antonia is not quite in earnest, my dear Mrs. Telfer!" said Mr.
+Neuchamp, remarking Miranda's wondering look; "she knows well that it is
+more difficult to live up to a high ideal than to fall below it. There
+is a false glamour about men like Hayston, I admit, by which people who
+are swayed by feeling rather than reason are often attracted."
+
+"I am afraid that Captain Hayston was a wicked man," said Miranda,
+"though I can't get Hilary to tell me much about him. However, there
+were very different accounts, some describing him as being generous and
+heroic, and others as cruel and unprincipled."
+
+"Whatever he was, there was no doubt about his being a sailor every inch
+of him," said Captain Charley. "I saw him handle his ship in a gale of
+wind through a dangerous channel, and I never forgot it."
+
+"I suppose he had his faults like the rest of us," said Mr. Frankston,
+who did not seem inclined to pursue the subject. "Never mind, when
+Frankston, Telfer, and Co. get the control of the South Sea Island
+trade, there won't be any room for dashing filibusters, will there,
+Charley?"
+
+"I hope not; his day is over," said the captain. "I am sorry for him,
+too, for he was one of the grandest men and finest seamen God Almighty
+ever permitted to sail upon His ocean. Under a different star he might
+have been an ornament to the service and an honour to his country."
+
+After dinner we all sat out on the broad verandah, where we lighted our
+cigars, and enjoyed the view over the sleeping waters of the bay. It was
+a glorious night, undimmed by mist or cloud. The harbour lights flamed
+brightly, anear and afar, while steamers passing to the different points
+of the endless harbourage lighted up the glittering plain with their
+variegated lamps, as if an operatic effect were intended.
+
+"What a wondrous sight!" said Miranda. "It certainly is a scene of
+enchantment, though it loses some of its beauty in my eyes from being so
+restless and exciting. There is no solitude; all is motion and effort,
+as is the city by day. Our sea-view is as still and silent as if our
+island had just been discovered. It lends an air of solemnity to the
+night which this brilliant, many-coloured vision seems to want."
+
+"Antonia and I enjoy this sort of thing thoroughly," said Mr. Neuchamp;
+"our country is hot and dry as the summer comes on, and the glare is
+something to remember. But I must say I prefer the winter of the
+interior. The nights are heavenly, the mid-day warm without being
+oppressive, and the mornings are delightfully cool and bracing."
+
+"As weather it is as nearly perfect as it can be," assented Mrs.
+Neuchamp, backing up her husband. "Then the rides and drives on the firm
+sandy turf and the delightful natural roads! It's nice to think you can
+drive thirty or forty miles in any direction without going off your own
+run. Miranda must come and stay with me for a month or two when you get
+settled, Mr. Telfer. We must see if she can't be persuaded to leave the
+seaside for a while."
+
+"We'll make up a party," said Mr. Frankston; "it's a long time since I
+have seen any station life. I had half a mind to try squatting once
+myself. But I'm like Miranda--I don't sleep well unless I can hear the
+surge in the night; but for a month or two, in May or June, it would be
+great fun, and do us all good, I expect."
+
+"Yes, my dear dad," said his daughter, patting his shoulder, "think of
+the riding and driving. You're not too old to ride, you know. I'll lend
+you Osmond--he's my horse now, and he's a pearl of hackneys. I'll ride
+out with you, and Ernest can take Miranda and Courtenay in the
+four-in-hand drag."
+
+"Well, that's a bargain, my dear!" said her father. "When the summer is
+over and the autumn has nearly come to an end, and the nights and
+mornings are growing fresh and crisp, that's the time to see the
+interior at its best. I haven't forgotten the feel of a bush-morning at
+sunrise; there's something very exhilarating about it."
+
+"Is there not?" replied Mrs. Neuchamp, "'as you see the vision splendid,
+of the sunlit plains extended,' an ocean of verdure. You trace the river
+by the heavy timber on its banks, and the slowly-rising mists along its
+course. Then the sun, a crimson and gold shield against the cloudless
+azure, the cattle low in the great river meadows, you hear the crack of
+a stockwhip as the horses come galloping in like a regiment of cavalry,
+and the day has begun. It seems like a new world awakening to life."
+
+"I know a young woman," said her husband, "whose 'inward eye' by no
+means made 'the bliss of solitude' when she first went into the bush."
+
+"That was because I was newly married--torn away from my childhood's
+home, and all that," laughed his wife. "Besides, you used to stay away
+unconscionably long sometimes; now everything looks different. You will
+have to pass through that stage, my dear Miranda. So prepare yourself."
+
+"I am sure Hilary will never stay away from our home unless he is
+obliged; and then I must sew and sing till he comes back, like my
+countrywomen at Norfolk Island and Pitcairn when their men are at sea."
+
+"A very good custom, too," said Paul. "That reminds me that we must have
+some music to-night. Antonia will lead the way, and our cigars will
+taste all the better in the verandah."
+
+Mrs. Neuchamp had a fine voice and a fine ear. She had been well taught,
+and played her own accompaniments, while she sang several favourite
+songs of her father's, and a duet with her husband.
+
+"Now, it's your turn, Miranda," said Mr. Frankston. "I've heard all
+about you from the captain."
+
+"I shall be very glad to sing," she answered, seating herself at the
+piano, "if you care for my simple songs. I have always been fond of
+music, but our poor little harmonium was, for a long time, my only
+instrument. What shall I sing?"
+
+"Sing the 'Lament of Susannah M'Coy for her drowned lover,'" said the
+captain, "that was a song brought from Pitcairn, wasn't it? I always
+liked it the best of all the island sing songs."
+
+"It is simple," replied Miranda, "but it is true; I believe the poor
+girl used to sit by the sea-shore singing it at night, and died of grief
+a year afterwards."
+
+She struck a few chords on the grand Erard piano, and commenced a
+wailing, dirge-like melody, "a long, low island song," inexpressibly
+mournful. The movement was chiefly low-toned, and in the minor key, but
+at times it rose to a higher pitch, into which was thrown the agonised
+sorrow of irrevocable love, the endless regret, the void immeasurable
+and eternal, the hopeless despair of a desolated existence.
+
+The words were simple, and more in recitative than rhythm. There was a
+certain monotony and repetition, but as an expression of passionate and
+hopeless sorrow it was strangely complete.
+
+The tale was old as life and death, as love and joy, hope and despair.
+The maiden watching and waiting, during the voyage of the whaleship, the
+year long through. The sudden delight of the vessel being sighted; the
+boats going off; the intensity of the anxiety; the returning crew; the
+eager scanning of the passengers; the refusal to believe in mischance;
+the guarded half-told tale, then the unmistakable word of doom! _He had
+been drowned at sea_; the fearless, fortunate harpooner had, in the
+sudden flurry of the death-stricken whale, been thrown overboard and
+stunned. When the half-capsized boat was righted, Johnnie Mills was
+missing! They rowed round and round, all vainly, then sadly returned to
+the vessel. This was the tale they had to tell, the tale Susannah M'Coy
+had to hear. Her over-wrought feelings found relief in the "Maiden's
+Lament," and after her death her girl companions in singing it preserved
+the memory of the maiden and her lover, of his doom and her unhappy
+fate.
+
+There was nothing unusually melodious in the song itself, but as the
+low, rich notes of Miranda's voice struck on the ear of the listeners,
+those who had not heard before seemed spell-bound. Not a motion was
+made, not a sound escaped them, as they listened with an intentness
+which said far more than the ready and general praise at its close.
+Knowing, as I did, the extraordinary quality of her voice, I had
+expected that some such effect would be produced, but I hardly reckoned
+on such complete and universal admiration.
+
+When the cry of the heartbroken girl rose and echoed through the large
+room, the effect was electrical; the higher notes were sweet and clear,
+without a suspicion of hardness, and yet had wondrous under-tones of
+tears, such as I never heard in another woman's voice. Long before the
+wailing notes had faded into nothingness Mrs. Neuchamp's eyes were wet.
+While old Paul, Mr. Neuchamp, and the captain, seemed in no great hurry
+to express their approval.
+
+"That's the most wonderful song I ever heard," said the old man. "I've
+heard the girls in Nukuheva sing one something like it, and there are
+notes in Miranda's voice that take me back to my youth, the island days,
+and the good old times when Paul Frankston was young and foolish. God's
+blessing on them! Miranda! my dear, take an old man's thanks. I foresee
+that I shall have two daughters: one at Marahmee in the summer, and the
+other in the winter, when Antonia is in the bush."
+
+After this no one would hear of her leaving off. She sang other songs
+which were not all sorrowful. Some had a livelier tone, and the
+transient gleam which lit up the dark eyes told that mirth had its due
+place in her rich and many-sided nature.
+
+"Would you like to hear one of our hymns now?" she asked, with the
+simplicity of a child. "We used to sing them in parts, and many a night
+when the moon was at the full did we sit on the beach and sing for
+hours. I can hear the surge now, and it puts me in mind of our dear old
+home."
+
+"Oh, by all means," said Antonia, and without further prelude, she began
+a well-known hymn, the deep tones of her voice rising and falling as if
+in a cathedral, while the organ-like chords which she evoked from the
+Erard favoured the faultless rendering. We involuntarily joined in, and
+I saw Antonia looking admiringly at the singer, as with head upraised,
+and all the fervour of a mediaeval penitent, she poured forth a volume of
+melodious adoration.
+
+All were silent for some seconds after the last cadence had died away.
+At length the pause was broken by Antonia.
+
+"After that lovely hymn, my dear Miranda, let me first thank you warmly
+for the pleasure you have given us all, and then suggest that we retire.
+The gentlemen may stay and smoke a while longer, but this has been an
+exciting day for us, and you require rest. Besides, you have to make
+acquaintance with your new relations."
+
+"A sensible suggestion, my darling," said Mr. Frankston. "So we'll say
+good night to Mrs. Telfer and yourself. We must have one more cigar in
+the verandah while we think over that great song of hers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was arranged between Mr. Frankston and the captain that I should take
+my bride to my old home on the morning after next, and present her to my
+family. It might have been thought that, after so long an absence from
+my parents, it would have been more in keeping with filial duty to have
+rushed off at once and, in a manner, cast myself at their feet like the
+prodigal. But that unlucky, yet eventually fortunate younger son, did
+not bring a wife with him, in which case the paternal welcome might have
+been less distinct. I had put myself in the hands of my more experienced
+friends, who, as men of the world, knew the value of first impressions.
+
+"You and Miranda will be all the better for a day's rest, and a little
+cheering up at Marahmee," had said the captain. "Antonia, too, will see
+that your sea princess is properly turned out, and fit to bear
+inspection by the ladies of the family. _They_ won't have much to
+criticise, I'll be bound. I'm an early man, so I'll go and breakfast
+with your father, and give him a general idea of your doings and
+prospects. You had better turn up about mid-day. It will be high tide
+then, and Miranda will see Isola Bella at its best. Come on board the
+_Florentia_ first, and I'll send you over in proper style."
+
+Acting upon this prudent advice, Miranda and I alighted from the
+Marahmee carriage at the Circular Quay, and once more set foot on board
+the _Florentia_, where we found the captain ready to receive us. He made
+us come down into the cuddy and partake of fruit and wine (that is,
+Miranda took the first and I the latter), while he gave us a sketch of
+his interview with my father.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+"OUR JACK'S COME HOME TO-DAY"
+
+
+"The old skipper was walking in the garden, glass in hand. I knew I
+should find him up, though it was soon after sunrise. No fear of _his_
+being in bed and the sun up. 'Hallo! Carryall,' he said, 'I was just
+thinking about you; thought I could make out the _Florentia_ yesterday.
+What sort of a voyage have you had, and what luck among the right
+whales?'
+
+"'Pretty fair. Rather longer out than I expected, but didn't do badly
+after all; had some trading among the islands; cocoa-nut oil has gone
+up, and the copra I got will pay handsomely.'
+
+"'That's good news,' he said; 'and look here, Carryall, my boy, I've
+been thinking lately that a very paying business might be put together
+by going in regularly for island trading. They're ready and willing to
+take our goods, and their raw material--oil, copra, fruit, ever so many
+things that they are only too glad to sell--would pay a handsome
+percentage on the outlay. What is wanted is a partner here with capital,
+a few ships to go regularly round the islands, and a manager who knows
+the language and understands the natives. If I were a little younger, by
+Jove! I'd go into it myself. You'll stay and breakfast with us of
+course. We're not late people. By the by you haven't heard of my boy in
+your travels, have you?'
+
+"'Well I _have_ heard of him, and--'
+
+"'Heard of him!' he said, not giving me time to get further; 'where?
+what was he doing?'
+
+"'Well, he was supercargo on board the _Leonora_--Hayston's brig. They
+had been at Ocean Island just before me.'
+
+"'Hayston, Bully Hayston?' the old man said, looking stern. 'I'm sorry
+he was mixed up with that fellow. A fine seaman, but a d--d scoundrel,
+from all I've heard of him; what were they doing there? However, I know
+young fellows must buy their experience. Perhaps he's left him by this
+time.'
+
+"'The _Leonora_ was wrecked in Chabral harbour,' I said, 'and her bones
+lie on the coral reef there. She'll never float again.'
+
+"'Ha! and did Hilary get off safe? I suppose it was a heavy gale. Heard
+anything of him since?'
+
+"'He stayed at Mout for some time,' I said, 'and then was lucky
+enough to get a passage to Sydney in the _Rosario_, but he left her at
+Norfolk Island.'
+
+"'Left her--left her--why the devil didn't he come on in her, and see
+his old father, and mother, and sisters? Hang the fellow, has he no
+natural feeling? Here have we been wearing our hearts out with anxiety
+all these years, and his poor mother having a presentiment (as she calls
+it) that he's drowned or sold into slavery, or something, and d--mn me,
+sir! the young rascal goes and stays to have a picnic at Norfolk Island!
+The next thing we'll hear, I suppose, is that he's married one of these
+Pitcairn Island girls. Not but what he might do worse, for I never saw
+such a lot of fine-looking lasses in my life, as I did the last time I
+was there; and as good as they are handsome, by George! But to stay
+there, so near home too! If I didn't know that he was a good boy, and as
+honest as the day, from his cradle upwards, I'd say he was an unnatural
+young-- But I won't miscall the lad. To stay there--'
+
+"'But he didn't stay there, captain.'
+
+"'What!' he roared, 'didn't stay there--went back to the islands, I
+suppose, to have a little more beach-combing and loafing? Why couldn't
+he have come home when he was so near? He _might_ have thought of his
+poor mother, if he didn't give _me_ credit for caring to see his face
+again.'
+
+"And here the old skipper frowned, and put on a terribly stern
+expression. 'Why, he might have come home and married a wife, and
+settled down and been the comfort of our old age.'
+
+"'So he has!' I said; 'that is, he is married, and he has come to
+Sydney.'
+
+"'Married? Come to Sydney? How can that be? Why isn't he here? Carryall,
+my boy, you wouldn't play a joke on an old man? No, sir! you wouldn't
+_dare_ to do it. How _could_ he come to Sydney and be married?'
+
+"'He came with me in the _Florentia_,' I said, 'and brought his wife with
+him.' And here, Miranda, my dear, I told him what a very unpleasant
+young woman you were, and took about a quarter of an hour to do it; at
+the end of which narration the breakfast bell rang.
+
+"'Come into the house, Carryall,' he said, 'and tell it all to his
+mother. I'll break it to her by saying that you bring news of Hilary,
+and that he's quite well, and so on, and likely to come home soon.'
+
+"So we went in. I shall never forget the look that came into your
+mother's eyes when the skipper said, 'Here's Captain Carryall straight
+from the islands; he's brought you girls some shells and curios as
+usual, and better than that, news of Hilary.'
+
+"'News of my boy, my darling Hilary! Good news, I hope. Oh, Captain
+Carryall! say it's good. Oh! _where_ is he, and what was he doing?'
+
+"'It is good news, my dear lady,' said I, 'or I should not have come
+over to tell you. I saw him quite lately as near Sydney as Norfolk
+Island.'
+
+"'Of course he was coming here--coming here; he would not have the heart
+to stay away from his poor father and mother any longer, when he was so
+near as that. And was he quite well? Oh! my boy--my precious Hilary!
+What would I not give if he were to come here and settle down for good?'
+
+"'He is thinking of doing so,' I said. 'His fixed intention was to marry
+and live in Sydney for the rest of his days.'
+
+"'Thank God! thank God in His mercy!' she said, clasping her hands. 'And
+do you think he will be here soon--how many weeks?'
+
+"'It will not be a matter of weeks, but days; I know that he took his
+passage in a certain ship, and that you may expect him every hour.'
+
+"Then she looked keenly at me. Your mother is a clever woman. She began
+to think I had been leading her on.
+
+"'You are not treating me as a child, Charles Carryall, are you? My son
+is here, and you have been afraid to tell me so. Is it not so?'
+
+"'Only a harmless deception, my dear Mrs. Telfer. Your son and his wife
+came here in my vessel. They stayed at Paul Frankston's last night, and
+will be here at mid-day.'
+
+"The dear lady looked as if she could not realise it for a moment, then
+sat back in her chair, and raised her eyes as if in prayer.
+
+"One of the girls moved as if to support her, but she waved her off.
+'No, my dear, you need not be afraid. I shall not faint; I have borne
+many things, and can bear this. I am returning thanks to our Almighty
+Father, who has restored my son to me. "My son, who was lost, and is
+found." My son, who was dead to me, and is now restored to life. Oh,
+God! most heartily and humbly do I thank Thee--most merciful--most
+loving!'
+
+"After this we were a very happy party. The girls, of course, wanted to
+know all about Miranda here"--here my darling smiled, and took his hand;
+"I dashed off a sketch, and some day you can ask Mariana and
+Elinor--both great friends of mine they are--if it is a good likeness."
+
+"I am afraid it was too good," sighed Miranda, "and they will be
+dreadfully disappointed."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The end of it was that we left the _Florentia_ at eight bells, in great
+state and majesty, in a whaleboat--upon which Miranda insisted,
+despising the captain's gig as a trumpery skiff--and a picked crew, with
+the skipper himself as the steer-oar.
+
+"That's really something like," she said, as she stepped lightly on to
+the thwart. "If there was a little swell on, I should feel quite myself
+again, and think of the dear days when I was a happy little island girl,
+bare-footed and bare-headed, and thought going off to a strange vessel
+through the great, solemn, sweeping rollers the wildest enjoyment. But I
+am a happy girl now," she added, with a look in her deep eyes which
+expressed a world of love and rich content; "only the thought of
+learning to be a lady sometimes troubles me."
+
+"You will never need to do _that_," I said.
+
+"There is the house?" I cried; "there's Isola Bella!" as we rounded a
+point, and a picturesque stone house came full into view. It had been
+built in the early days of the colony by an Imperial officer, long
+resident in Italy, and showed the period in its massive stone walls,
+Florentine facade, and wide, paved verandah. The site was elevated
+above the lake-like waters of the bay, towards which a winding walk led,
+terminating in a massive stone pier, into which iron rings and
+stanchions had been let. The beach was white and smooth, though the tide
+ran high, and the wavelets rippled close to the pale sandstone rocks,
+which lent a tone of delicacy and purity to the foreshore.
+
+The weather-stained walls of the house were half covered with climbers,
+a wilderness of tropical shrubs, and richly-blooming flower-thickets.
+There were glades interspersed, carpeted with the thick-swarded couch or
+"dhoub" grass, originally imported from India, and which, nourished by
+the coast showers, and delighting in a humid atmosphere, preserves its
+general freshness of colour the long Australian summer through.
+
+I had been so preoccupied with speculations as to Miranda's reception by
+my family, that my own emotions, on returning to my childhood's home,
+lay in abeyance. Now, however, at the near view of the house--the pier,
+the walled-in sea-bath--the scenes and adventures of my earliest youth
+came back with overwhelming force and clearness. There was the
+boat-house, into which I had paddled so many a time after nightfall,
+returning from fishing or sailing excursions. There was the flagstaff on
+which was displayed the Union Jack and other flags on great occasions.
+The old flag floated in the breeze to-day. I knew for what reason and
+celebration. I could see my mother, as of old, walking down to the pier
+to welcome and embrace, or to remonstrate and fondly chide when I had
+remained absent in stormy weather. How many fears and anxieties had I
+not caused to agitate that loving heart! And my stern and mostly silent
+parent--did I not once surprise him in scarce dignified sorrow at my
+night-long absence and probable untimely decease. Yet all his words
+were, "God forgive you, my boy, for the misery you have caused us this
+night."
+
+And now the years had passed--had flown rather, crowded as they were
+with incident--that had changed the heedless boy into the man,--matured,
+perhaps, by too early worldly knowledge, and the grim comradeship of
+danger and death. I had returned safely, bringing my sheaves with me in
+the guise of one dearer to me than life. I had, during the intervals of
+reflection I had lately enjoyed, repented fully of the unconsciously
+selfish sins of my youth, and was fixed in firm resolve to atone, so far
+as in me lay, by care and consideration in the future.
+
+As we dashed alongside of the pier, the years rolled back, and as of old
+I saw my mother pacing the well-known path to the boat. She was followed
+by my father at a short distance. I fancied that the dear form told of
+the lapse of time, in less firm step and the bent figure which age
+compels. My father was erect as ever, and his eye swept the far horizon
+of outer seas as of old; but surely his hair and beard were whiter.
+
+Miranda's step was first upon the pier--she needed no help in leaving or
+entering a boat. Side by side we walked to meet my mother, who, with a
+sob of joy, folded me in her arms. "My boy! my boy!" was all she could
+articulate for some moments; then, gently disengaging herself, "and this
+is my new daughter?" she said. "May God bless and keep you both, my
+children, and preserve for us the great happiness which His providence
+has ordained this day."
+
+"Well, neighbour!" in the well-remembered greeting which he affected,
+rang out here my father's clear tones, "and so you have finished your
+cruise for a while! What a man you have grown!" he exclaimed, as he
+looked upwards half-admiringly at my head and shoulders, markedly above
+his own. "Filled out, bronzed, you look a sailor, man, all over."
+
+"And so you wouldn't give the Sydney girls a chance, and have brought a
+wife back with you for fear there mightn't be a 'currency lass' to
+spare. I must say I admire your taste, my boy. No one can fault that.
+Welcome, my dear Miranda, to your own and your husband's home. Give your
+old father a kiss and the ceremony is complete." Here the governor
+gravely embraced his new daughter, and then, holding her at arm's
+length, regarded her admiringly, till she playfully ran back to the
+girls. "Charley here guarantees she is as good as she is handsome. He
+said better, indeed; but that's impossible. No woman with her looks
+could be better inside than out. So, Hilary, my boy, I congratulate you
+on your choice. You've fallen on your feet in love and friendship both,
+according to what Carryall tells me of Paul Frankston's partnership
+arrangement. And now we'll come up to the house and drink the bride's
+health. I feel as if I needed a refresher after all this excitement. I
+little thought when I saw Charley come over so early what was in store
+for us, eh, mother?"
+
+Before we reached the house the two girls, Mariana and Elinor, had taken
+possession of Miranda and carried her upstairs to the rooms which were
+to be allotted to us while we dwelt at Isola Bella. "Now that the other
+boys are up the country," said Mariana, who was the elder, "we have more
+houseroom than we need. So, directly we heard that you were in Sydney,
+Elinor and I set to work and arranged these two rooms, so that you and
+Miranda should be quite independent. There's such a pretty view of the
+harbour. You can use this one as a sitting-room, and there's a smaller
+dressing-room which he can make a den of. Men always like a place to be
+untidy in."
+
+"Oh, how nice it will be," said Elinor, the younger one, whom I remember
+a curly-headed romp of ten when I left home, "to have a mate for rowing
+and boat-sailing. Mariana here doesn't care for boats, and dislikes
+rough weather. I suppose no weather would frighten you. Oh, what lovely
+trips we shall have, and mother can't be nervous when you are with me."
+
+"I suppose you think Miranda is a sort of mermaid," said I, now arrived
+and joining in the conversation, "and impossible to be drowned. But what
+would become of me if anything happened to her? Do you think I can trust
+her with you? What a grand room! I remember it well in old days when it
+used to be the guest chamber. I was only allowed into it now and then,
+and always under inspection. I feel the promotion."
+
+"Now, we'll run away and leave you," said Mariana. "Lunch is nearly
+ready; you will hear the bell."
+
+We sat down on a couch and gazed into each other's eyes with clasped
+hands. The harbour, with its variously composed fleet, lay wide and
+diversified before us. Every conceivable vessel--barge, steamer,
+collier, skiff, yacht, and row-boat--made progress adown and across its
+waters. How fair a scene it was on this, one of the loveliest days which
+sun and sky and wavelets deep ever combined to fashion! After all my
+adventures by seas and lands--after all the sharp contrasts of my
+chequered life--now lotus-eating amid the groves or by the founts of an
+earthly paradise--now ignorant, from one day to another, of the hour
+when the death-knell would sound--now free and joyous, handsomely
+dressed, in foreign seaports with ruffling swagger and chinking
+dollars--anon ragged, shoeless, shipwrecked, and forlorn--nay, starving,
+but for the charity of the soft-hearted heathens whom we in our pride
+are prone to despise.
+
+And now I was at home again. Home! sweet home! in fullest sense of the
+word--welcomed, beloved, feted! What had I done to deserve this love and
+trust now so profusely showered upon me? My better angel, too, my
+darling Miranda, by my side, sharing in all this wealth of affection.
+How could I have foretold that such good fortune would be mine, all
+unworthy that I felt myself, when, bruised and bleeding, I was hurled
+ashore in the midnight storm from the wrecked _Leonora_?--when I felt
+in thought the deadly shudder which ever follows the scratch of the
+poisoned arrow--when I sank to eternal rest (as I then supposed) beneath
+the surf-tormented shore of the island? How had I jostled death,
+disease, danger in every form and shape,--and now, almost without
+thought or volition of my own, I was placed in possession of all those
+things for which through a long life so many men toil and struggle
+vainly and unsuccessfully.
+
+"Thank God! thank God!" I exclaimed aloud involuntarily, for truly our
+hearts were filled in that hour of realised peace and happiness with
+grateful wonder.
+
+"Let us give Him thanks," whispered Miranda, "who only has done this
+wondrous thing for us."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Captain Carryall, my father, and Mr. Frankston were men of action--all
+through their lives the deed had followed quick on the resolve. Thus,
+within a week after our arrival, premises were purchased on the shore of
+the bay; stores and warehouses were planned, while upon an office in the
+chief business centre of Sydney, at no great distance from Macquarie
+Square, a legend of the period presented the firm of "Carryall, Telfer,
+and Company, South Sea merchants and purchasers of island produce." This
+was the commencement, as it turned out, of a prosperous mercantile
+enterprise, ramifying in divers directions. It was arranged not only to
+purchase or to ship on commission the raw material so easily procurable,
+but to advance on whaling and trading ventures; the projectors, better
+equipped with experience than capital, being always willing to pay high
+interest, for which indeed the margin of profit amply provided. Here I
+was in my element, whether directing labourers, interviewing seamen,
+shouting in the vernacular to the native crews, or calculating the value
+of cargoes. My father came over every other day to watch me at my work,
+and of my style of management he was pleased to express approval. "You
+have not altogether wasted your time, my boy," he said one day. "The
+great thing in all these matters is energy. With that and reasonable
+experience a man is sure to be successful in a new country--indeed in
+any country. Pluck and perseverance mean everything in life. Never
+despair. You know our family motto--_Fortuna favet fortibus_. And you
+would smile if I told you how often in the history of my life a bold bid
+for fame or fortune has been my only resource."
+
+Whether I had exhibited the proverbial fortitude, or whether, indeed,
+the capricious goddess was mollified in my case, cannot with certainty
+be decided. The fact, however, was there, that our luck, from whatever
+cause, was in the ascendant, inasmuch as business of a profitable nature
+began to pour in upon us. The average gains beyond expenses were so
+apparent that it was evident that before long we should be in a position
+to set up housekeeping on our own account.
+
+In the mean time nothing could be more harmonious and satisfactory than
+our composite home life at Isola Bella, difficult as it is sometimes to
+arrange the housing of two families, however closely related, under one
+roof. The natural amiability of Miranda's nature fortunately prevented
+the slightest friction. Constitutionally anxious to please, it was the
+chief article of her simple faith to seek the happiness of others rather
+than her own. Prompt in compliance, eager to learn all minor matters
+with which she had been necessarily unacquainted, ready to join in the
+harmless mirth of the hour, or to tell of the wonders of her island
+home, she was, as all agreed, a constant source of interest and
+entertainment.
+
+More than all, her pervading, fervent, religious faith endeared her to
+the pious heart of my dearest mother, in whose visits to the poor and
+in charitable ministrations she was by choice her constant companion;
+while her unfeigned pity for the half-fed, half-clothed children of the
+neglected classes with which every city abounds excited my mother's
+wonder and admiration.
+
+"Your wife is a pearl of womanhood, my dear Hilary," she would say to
+me. "You are a good boy; I hope you are worthy of her. I can hardly
+think that any man could be. When you see the women so many men are
+fated to pass their lives with, you have indeed reason to be thankful."
+
+"So I am, my dear old mother," I would say. "Every day I feel minded to
+sing a song of joy and gratitude. I feel as life was a new discovery and
+creation. I am in a Paradise where no serpent that ever crawled has
+power to harm my Eve. I feel sometimes as if there was an unreal
+perfection about it all, too bright to last."
+
+So indeed it appeared to me at that time. Fully employed as I was by day
+and in the exercise of all the faculties that my island life had served
+to train, it was impossible to overtask the health of mind and body in
+which I revelled. I was sensible, too, that the joint enterprise upon
+which I had embarked was growing and improving daily, while much of its
+success was attributed by Mr. Frankston and Captain Carryall to my
+management. At night, when I returned there was one who never failed to
+catch sight of my skiff when half across the bay. Then our family
+evenings, cheered with song and harmless mirth, were truly restful after
+the labours of the day.
+
+Our neighbours, too, with all the old friends of the family, seemed
+desirous to welcome the son of the house who had been so long absent,
+and had wandered so far. Whether from curiosity, or a higher feeling,
+they were equally anxious to call upon "the son's wife." The positions,
+and dispositions, manners, and habitudes of the different types were
+well explained to Miranda by my socially-experienced sisters, so that
+she was saved from any misapprehension which might so easily have
+arisen.
+
+Our friends the Neuchamps, too, were often with us, and made the greater
+part of our quiet recreations. On alternate Sundays nothing would
+content Mr. Frankston short of our all dining with him, to be sent back
+in his sailing boat if the weather was favourable, or to remain for the
+night in the ample guest-chambers of Marahmee if otherwise.
+
+Our Saturday afternoons, indeed, were almost entirely devoted to picnics
+and cruises in his yacht, at which time he insisted upon Miranda
+steering, or, as he said, taking command, at which times he was always
+loud in admiration of her nautical skill--declaring, indeed, that she
+was fit to take charge of any vessel in Her Majesty's navy.
+
+We had also seen a good deal of our fellow passengers, Mr. and Miss
+Vavasour, who, after a first introduction, were always included in Mr.
+Frankston's Saturday picnic invitations. That lively damsel professed a
+great admiration for Mr. Frankston, who responded so promptly that
+Antonia reproached him for turning faithless to Miranda.
+
+"It's his nature, he can't help it," she said.
+
+"But Miss Vavasour will have some day to suffer whatever pangs are
+supposed to fall to the lot of the deserted fair; then she will repent
+of her fascinations."
+
+"Not at all--sufficient for the day, you know. I begin to think that
+one's admirers ought to be past their first youth. They're more
+thoroughly appreciative. 'On his frank features middle age Had scarcely
+set its signet sage,' and so on. I'm sure that quite describes Mr.
+Frankston. How should you like me for a mamma-in-law, Mrs. Neuchamp?
+Marahmee is such a dear house, and these yachting parties are all that
+are wanted to make life perfect."
+
+"I give my consent," said Antonia, "but beware of delay. 'Men were
+deceivers ever,' and if you wait more than a fortnight your charms will
+be on the wane, so I warn you."
+
+"I like decision," responded Miss Vavasour, "but perhaps 'two weeks,' as
+our American friend used to say, is _rather hurried_ legislation. The
+trousseau business and the milliner's objections would be fatal. Even
+Miranda must have stood out for a longer respite. How long did you take,
+Miranda, dear? You're the pattern woman, you know, the first girl I ever
+saw that men and women equally delighted to honour."
+
+Miranda blushed charmingly, then looking up with her clear, frank eyes,
+that always appeared to me to be fountains of truth, as she replied--
+
+"Hilary and I were married just a month after he asked me to be his
+wife, you know very well."
+
+So, jesting lightly, and with a breeze that sufficed just to fill the
+great sails of the yacht, we glided along until we had explored the
+recesses of Middle harbour,--a spacious inlet winding amid the thick
+growing semi-tropical forest which clothed the slopes of the bays and
+promontories to the water's edge.
+
+Here and there were small clearings in which might be discovered a tent
+or cabin, just sufficient for the needs of a couple of bachelors or a
+hermit, who here desired to live during his holiday amid this "boundless
+contiguity of shade"--"The world forgetting, and the world forgot."
+
+"Oh, how lovely!" said Mrs. Percival, as we swept round a point and came
+suddenly upon a fairy-like nook, a tiny bay with milk-white strand and
+fantastic sandstone rocks. There was a fenced enclosure around a cabin.
+There was a boat, with rude stone pier and boat-house. The owner, in
+cool garb and broad-leafed sombrero, was seated on a rock reading, and
+occasionally dabbling his bare feet in the rippling tide. As the yacht
+glided past in the deep water which came so close to his possessions,
+he raised his hat to the ladies, and resumed his studies.
+
+"What a picture of peace and restful enjoyment!" said Mrs. Craven. "How
+I envy men who can seclude themselves like this within an hour's sail
+from a city! Now, people are so fond of generalising about colonists,
+and how wrong they are! They always describe them as wildly energetic
+and restless people, perpetually rushing about in search of gain or
+gold."
+
+"That's Thorndale," said one of the younger guests. "He works hard
+enough at his business when he is about it, but his notion of enjoyment
+is to come here on a Saturday with only a boat-keeper, to fish, and
+read, and smoke till Monday morning, when he goes back to his law and
+his office."
+
+"Sensible fellow!" said the colonel. "There's nothing like tent life to
+recruit a man's health after a spell of official work. We used to manage
+that in India, when we couldn't go all the way to the hills, by forming
+small encampments of a dozen or twenty fellows, having a mess-house in
+common, and living in tents or huts separately when we were not hunting
+or shooting. Splendid life while it lasted! Sent us back twice the men
+we were, when we left the lines!"
+
+We anchored for lunch in one of the fairy nooks of which that enchanted
+region is so lavish. There was tea for the ladies and something
+presumably stronger for the seniors. We had mirth and pleasantries,
+spoken and acted--all went merrily in that charmed sunshine and beneath
+the shadowy sea-woods. We had songs--"A mellow voice Fitz Eustace
+had"--that is, one of the young fellows, native and to the manner born,
+lifted up his tuneful pipe and made us all laugh, the air he sang being
+certainly not "wild and sad,"--the reverse, indeed.
+
+"Now, is not this an ideal picnic,--a day rescued from that terrible
+fiend Ennui, that haunts us all?" cried Miss Vavasour. "I might
+truthfully, perhaps, except myself, who am frivolous, and therefore
+easily amused--but of course it sounds well to complain and be
+mysterious. But, really, this is life indeed! The climate makes up for
+any little deficiency. I shall positively go home and arrange my
+affairs, make sure of my allowance being paid quarterly, then take a
+cottage near Miranda, on that sweet North Shore,--isn't that what you
+call it?--and live happy ever afterwards like a 'maid of Llangollen.'"
+
+"Nothing can be nicer," said Mrs. Neuchamp. "We'll all three live here
+in the summer, within reach of the sea-breeze. In June you must come up
+and stay with me at Rainbar; then you will know what the glory of winter
+in our Riverina is like."
+
+The breeze freshened as we glided swiftly on our homeward course. We had
+expended most of the daylight before we left our fairy bower. Sunset
+banners flared o'er the western horizon. "White and golden-crimson,
+blue," fading imperceptibly into the paler tones, and swift-appearing
+shades which veil the couch of the day god. The stars tremulously
+gleamed at first timidly, then brightly scintillating in pure and
+clustered radiance. Our merry converse had gradually lessened, then
+ceased and died away. All seemed impressed by the solemnity of the
+hour--the hush of sea and land--the shimmering phosphorescent sparkle of
+the silver-seeming plain over which we swept all swift and silently.
+Then the lights of the city, brilliant, profuse, widely scattered as in
+a lower firmament!
+
+Miss Vavasour sat with Miranda's hand in hers. "How lovely to live in an
+hour like this, and yet it is like this with such surroundings that I
+should like to die."
+
+"Hush!" said Miranda, "we must all die when God wills it. It is not good
+to talk so, my dear."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During the next week our good friends and fellow-passengers of the
+_Florentia_ were to leave us on their return voyage. We arranged to meet
+as often as we could manage the leisure, and, as it happened, there was
+to be a ball at Government House--one of the great functions of the
+season, which, it was decided, would be an appropriate conclusion to our
+comradeship. Mr. and Mrs. Neuchamp were going back to their station,
+Captain Carryall was under sailing orders, and our friends the Colonel
+and Mrs. Percival were leaving for India and "going foreign" generally.
+
+Miranda was not eager to attend the extremely grand, and, as far as she
+was concerned, strange entertainment. But the whole party were most
+anxious for her to make her appearance in public--at least on that
+occasion. Partly from natural curiosity, partly on account of my wishes,
+and my sisters' and Mrs. Neuchamp's strong persuasion, she
+consented--pleading, however, to be relieved from all anxiety on the
+score of her dress.
+
+"Oh! we'll take that responsibility," said Elinor. "Antonia Neuchamp is
+generally admitted to dress in perfect taste. We'll compose a becoming
+ball-dress amongst us or die--something simple and yet not wholly out of
+the fashion, and becoming to Miranda's style of beauty."
+
+"I'm afraid you'll make me vain," she answered, smiling. "What will you
+do if I spend all Hilary's money on dress? However, it must be a lovely
+sight. I have read of balls and grand entertainments, of course, and
+when I was a girl longed to be able to take part in them. Now that I am
+married," and here she gazed at me with those tender, truthful eyes, "I
+seem not to care for mere pleasure. It leads to nothing, you know."
+
+"You are going to be a pattern wife, Miranda, I see," said Mariana, my
+elder sister. "You must not spoil Hilary, you know. He will think he is
+the only man in the world."
+
+"And is he not for me?" she asked, eagerly. Then blushing at the quick
+betrayal of her inmost heart, she added, "Should it not be so? Are
+civilised people in a great city anxious to attract admiration even
+after they are married?"
+
+"There are people who do this and more in all societies, my dear," said
+my mother, with a seriousness which rebuked our inclination to smile at
+Miranda's ignorance of the world. "But do you, my dear child, cling fast
+to the faith in which you have been reared. You will neither be of them
+nor among them that follow the multitude to do evil."
+
+"I don't think there is as much evil in Miranda as would fill a
+teaspoon," said Elinor. "This isle of hers must have been a veritable
+Eden, or she must have come down from the moon, dear creature. You must
+be very good to deserve her, I can tell you, Master Hilary."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The day arrived, the night of which was to realise all manner of
+rose-coloured visions, in which the youth and maidens of Sydney had for
+weeks indulged. It was to be the ball of the season. The grand
+entertainment at which a royal personage, who had arrived in a
+man-of-war but recently, had consented to be present! The officers of
+the squadron were, of course, invited. They were gratified that the ball
+was fixed for a week previous to their sailing on an extended cruise
+among the islands. As it happened, too, the great pastoral section--the
+proprietors of the vast estates of the interior--were still at their
+clubs and hotels, not yet departed for their annual sojourn amid the
+limitless wastes of "The Bush." The _jeunesse doree_ of the city, the
+_flaneurs_, and civil servants who, like the poor, are "always with us,"
+were specially available. Lastly, the Governor's wife had openly stated
+that she wished to show her friends, the Percivals, what we could do in
+Sydney. And she was not a woman to fail in any of her undertakings.
+
+It was arranged that we should comply with Paul Frankston's imperious
+mandate, and meet at Marahmee early in the day for the greater
+convenience of driving thence to Government House, instead of taking
+steamboat from the North Shore. All our plans prospered exceedingly. The
+day was calm and fair; the night illumined by the soft radiance of the
+moon. We dined in great peace and contentment, the ladies having
+devoted--as it appeared to me--the greater portion of the afternoon to
+the befitting adornments of their persons. We were all in good spirits.
+I had reason indeed to be so, for that day I had concluded a highly
+profitable trade arrangement, which augured well for my future
+mercantile career.
+
+"What a glorious night!" said Paul Frankston. "Don't be afraid of that
+Moselle, Ernest, it's some of my own importing--a rare wine, as most
+judges think. Do you remember the ball we went to, Antonia, given by
+that fellow Schaefer? Such a swell he looked, and how well he did the
+thing! He has different quarters now, if all's true that we hear."
+
+"The poor Count!" answered Mrs. Neuchamp, "I can't help feeling sorry
+for him though he was an imposter. Is it really true that they put him
+in prison in Batavia? What a fate after such a brilliant career!"
+
+"Carryall was there last year and saw him. Got an order, you know, from
+the Dutch authorities. Said he was fairly cheerful; expected to be out
+in three years."
+
+"He was very near not being imprisoned in Batavia or anywhere else,"
+interposed Mr. Neuchamp, with some show of asperity. "If Jack Windsor
+had come up a little earlier in the fray we'd have broken the
+scoundrel's neck, or otherwise saved the hangman a task."
+
+"Now, Ernest, you mustn't bear malice," said his wife, reprovingly;
+"after all it was Harriet Folleton and not me whom he wished to carry
+off. It was an afterthought trying to make me accompany her. But 'all's
+well that ends well.' He has paid for his misdeeds in full."
+
+"Not half as much as he deserves," growled Neuchamp, who evidently
+declined to perceive the humorous side of the affair--the attempted
+abduction of an imprudent beauty and heiress, besides the
+ultra-felonious taking away of Miss Frankston, as she was then--as a
+pendant to a career of general swindling and imposture practised upon
+the good people of Sydney. Mr. Frankston's eyes began to glitter, too,
+at the reminiscence. So the conversation was changed.
+
+"I really believe that women never wholly repudiate admiration,"
+continued Mr. Neuchamp, reflectively, "however unprincipled and
+abandoned the 'first robber' may be. It's a curious psychical problem."
+
+"You know that is untrue, Ernest," quoth Mrs. Neuchamp, with calm
+decision. "Don't let me hear you say such things." An hour later our
+carriages had taken up position in the apparently endless line of
+vehicles which stretched along Macquarie Street and the lamplit avenues
+which led to it. After nearly an hour's waiting, as it seemed to me, we
+drove through the lofty freestone gateway which led to the viceregal
+mansion, and descended within the portico, amid a guard of honour and
+attendant aides-de-camp. Passing through a vestibule, and being duly
+divested of wraps in the cloak-rooms, we were finally ushered into the
+Viceroy's presence, and duly announced.
+
+Paul Frankston took the lead, with Miranda on his arm. I followed with
+Mrs. Neuchamp, whose husband escorted my sisters. As we were announced
+by name, I noticed that Colonel and Mrs. Percival, with a few other
+people of distinction, were standing on the dais, close to the Governor
+and Lady Rochester, the latter talking to a young man in naval uniform,
+whom I conjectured to be the Prince. As we approached I saw Mrs.
+Percival speak to Lady Rochester, who at once came forward and greeted
+us warmly. "Mr. Frankston," she said, "I know the Governor wishes to
+talk to you about the fortifications; will you and your party come up
+here and stay with us. And so this is Mrs. Telfer, the heroine of my
+friend, Mrs. Percival's romance! I am delighted to see her and
+congratulate you, Mr. Telfer, on bringing us such a sea princess for
+your bride. She has all the air of it, I declare."
+
+Miranda secured a seat near Mrs. Percival, who watched with pleasure her
+evident admiration, mingled with a certain awe, of the brilliant,
+unaccustomed scene before her. Much to her relief Miss Vavasour came up
+with the Cravens, and commenced a critical review of Miranda's and other
+dresses, which soon obliterated all trace of timidity and strangeness.
+
+"Well, my princess," began Miss Vavasour, "and how does this gay and
+festive scene strike you? Isn't it a fairy tale--a dream of the _Arabian
+Nights_? Don't you expect to see the fairy godmother come when the clock
+strikes twelve, and your carriage turn into a pumpkin and white mice?"
+
+"It is a scene of enchantment," said Miranda. "I hardly expected
+anything so dazzlingly beautiful. How the naval uniforms seem to light
+up the throng, and the soldiers too. I don't wonder at all the pretty
+things we read about them in books."
+
+"Yes, they do strike the unaccustomed eye," said Miss Vavasour. "I wish
+I saw them for the first time. I'm afraid I'm growing old. Oh! my
+coming-out ball! I didn't sleep for a week before in anticipation of
+delicious joy, or a week after in retrospection. Ah! me, my youth is
+slipping away unsatisfied, I much fear. And now, unless my eyes deceive
+me, we are going to have the first quadrille. Miranda, we must show
+these good people that we dance in our island. How about partners and a
+_vis-a-vis_?"
+
+We were not left long in doubt. One of the aides-de-camp, a gorgeous
+apparition in gold and scarlet, came up bowing, and intimated his Royal
+Highness' wish to dance with Mrs. Telfer. This, of course, was
+equivalent to a command. I looked for some indecision or hesitation on
+the part of Miranda. But it appeared to her evidently just as much a
+part of the proceedings as if (as had happened before) she had been
+asked to dance with the captain of a man-of-war at one of their island
+fetes, where waltz, quadrille, and polka had long been familiar. I had
+provided myself with an enviable partner in the shape of Mrs. Neuchamp;
+and her husband having promptly arranged matters with Miss Vavasour, we
+betook ourselves to the next set, where we had a full view of the
+viceregal party. My sisters had apparently no difficulty in deciding
+between several aspirants for their respective hands, as they and their
+partners helped to make up the set.
+
+When the melodious crash broke forth, in commencement from Herr
+Koenigsmark's musicians, recruited from an Austrian military band which
+had visited Australia, a murmur of admiration made itself audible, as
+the Prince and his partner stepped forth in the opening measure of the
+dance. I turned my head and was lost in astonishment as I noticed the
+unconscious grace with which Miranda moved--calm as when rivalling the
+fairies in rhythmic measure on a milk white beach beside the moonlit
+wave. How many a time had I watched her!
+
+"Who in the world is that lovely creature dancing with the Prince?" I
+heard a middle-aged dame behind me ask. "She has a foreign appearance,
+and I think she is the most exquisitely beautiful woman I ever saw in my
+life. What a figure, too! How she smiles, what teeth, what eyes! Is
+there any news of a migration of angels? Such strange things happen
+nowadays on account of electricity and all that. Who and what is she,
+Mary Kingston, again I ask you?"
+
+"My dear Arabella!" answered the other dame, evidently one of the
+aristocracy of the land, "you are so enthusiastic! She came with the
+Frankston party. That's her husband quite close to us, dancing with Mrs.
+Neuchamp. He's the son of Captain Telfer of North Shore, and has been
+away among the islands and nobody knows where for ever so long. He
+married her at Norfolk Island. I believe she is one of those wonderful
+Pitcairn people that we hear such good accounts of."
+
+"H'm; he's a young man of distinctly good taste, I must say. I wish my
+Cavendish had gone to the islands too, if that is the sort of girl they
+grow there. Mrs. Percival seems to be a great chum of hers. How did that
+come about?"
+
+"I believe they came back in the _Florentia_ together. Captain Carryall
+touched at Norfolk Island on the way from Honolulu, and it seems that
+Mrs. Percival's little boy fell overboard on the voyage, and the girl
+was into the sea after him like a shot, and swam with him in her arms
+till the boats came. There was something about a shark too. Mrs.
+Percival tells everybody she saved his life. No wonder she raves about
+her."
+
+"What a pearl of a girl! No wonder, indeed! And to think of her having a
+world of courage and fire in her with all that delicacy and beauty. I
+can't take my eyes off her. The Prince admires her, apparently, too; and
+she smiles like a pleased child, with as little thought of vanity or
+harm, I dare swear, as a baby. She ought to be a princess, no doubt of
+it. So I see it's the last figure. I must go and look up my old friend,
+Paul Frankston, and make him tell me all about her."
+
+After the dance and the usual promenade, Mrs. Neuchamp and I recovered
+our respective spouses, and took the opportunity to make a detour of the
+ball-room, and even to go through the next apartment, where refreshments
+were procurable, into the ample gardens. The night was superbly
+beautiful. The full moon lit up the grove of tropical foliage and
+richly-flowering plants, the glades carpeted with velvet lawn, the wide
+sea-plain traversed by shimmering pathways of silver. Below, in the
+sleeping bay, lay several men-of-war, half in shadow, half illuminated
+with coloured lamps hanging from their rigging. Gay and mirthful, grave
+or earnest, the frequent partners passed to and fro like shadows of
+revellers beneath the moon, or turned to the lower paths to gaze at the
+motionless vessels, the silver sea, the whispering wave. It was an
+ecstatic experience, a fairy pageant, a supernal revelation of an
+enchanted landscape.
+
+Miranda pressed my arm. "Oh, Hilary! how lovely all this is! But you
+must not laugh at me. Now that I have seen it, I do not think I shall be
+anxious to follow it up. There is something almost intoxicating about it
+all. I can imagine it unfitting people for their everyday life."
+
+We had hardly returned to the ball-room when the glorious strains of the
+"Tausend und einer nacht" waltz pealed forth from the band, and hurrying
+and anxious swains in search of their partners, not always easy to
+discover in such a crush, were seen in every direction. Instant request
+was preferred to Miranda by a naval officer high in command, but to my
+surprise, as we had not spoken on the subject, she graciously, but
+firmly, declined the honour. He protested, but she quietly repeated her
+negative: "I only dance round dances with my husband, Captain Harley!
+and, indeed, these not very often."
+
+He was inclined to be persistent, though most courteous. "I am sure you
+used to dance them once. Indeed, I heard such an account of your
+waltzing, Mrs. Telfer."
+
+"That was before I was married, Captain Harley!" she replied, with such
+evident belief that this explanation fully answered every objection that
+neither the captain nor I could help smiling.
+
+"Look at your friend, Mrs. Neuchamp!" he said, as that dainty matron
+came gliding past with a military partner, looking like the very
+impersonation of the waltz, "and Mrs. Craven, and Mrs. Percival."
+
+"I am so sorry that I can't comply," she answered. "They are quite right
+to dance waltzes if they please. I do not care for them now, and am only
+going to have one with Hilary to-night. He is fond of it, I know. I will
+dance the Lancers with you, if you like."
+
+"Anything with _you_," murmured the captain gallantly, as he carefully
+wrote her name on his card, and departed to secure a partner for the yet
+unfinished portion of the dance.
+
+"I see by this lovely programme," she said, "that there is another
+waltz, a polka, and then the Lancers, which I used to know very well;
+and after that I will dance the next waltz with you, Hilary, just to
+feel what this wonderful floor is like. You are not angry with me for
+refusing Captain Harley? I really feel as if I _could_ not do it."
+
+"You can follow your own way, my dear!" I said, "in this and all minor
+matters. It concerns you chiefly; and, considering how many husbands
+think their wives are rather too fond of dancing, I shall certainly not
+quarrel with mine for not caring for it enough."
+
+I was not altogether without interest as to this set of Lancers which
+she had promised to the gallant captain of the _Arethusa_, knowing as I
+did that the fashion had changed considerably since the Lancers was a
+decorous, somewhat dull dance, differing from the quadrille only in a
+more complicated series of evolutions, and, like that very proper
+performance, affording much opportunity for conversation. Not intending
+to take part in it myself, and being, indeed, more than sufficiently
+entertained as a spectator of the novel spectacle, I stationed myself
+near the "tops," one couple of which Miranda's partner elected to be. I
+saw by the composition of the set, and the looks of some of the youths
+and maidens who eagerly took their places with their pre-arranged
+_vis-a-vis_, that the pace would be rapid and the newest variations
+introduced.
+
+I provided, therefore, for a _contretemps_. My younger sister having
+professed herself tired with the previous waltz, had declined the
+invitation of a partner not wholly acceptable as it appeared to me. I
+therefore persuaded her to walk up with me to a seat near Miranda, so
+that we, as I explained, might see how she got on.
+
+What I anticipated exactly came to pass. The first few non-committal
+quadrille steps were got through without unusual display, but when
+Miranda saw the damsel next to her leaning back as far as she could
+manage, while her partner swung her round several times, as if he either
+wished to lift her entirely off her feet, or drag her arms out of the
+sockets, a look of amazement overspread her features. She stopped with a
+startled air, commingled with distaste, and saying to her surprised
+partner, "I cannot dance like this--I did not know--why did no one tell
+me?"--walked like a queen to the nearest seat. Now my foresight came in.
+Knowing that a girl of nineteen would be willing to dance with a naval
+officer of the rank and fashion of Captain Harley, if she was ready to
+drop with fatigue, I said promptly, "Allow me to introduce you to my
+sister Captain Harley, who will, I am sure, be happy to take my wife's
+place;" a look of joyful acquiescence lit up her countenance, and before
+any serious hitch took place in the figure the vacancy was filled.
+
+I fancied that my sister Elinor, who was at the age when girls are not
+disinclined for a little daring frolic out of pure gladsomeness,
+performed her part in the figures with somewhat less unreserve after
+noticing the look of quiet surprise with which Miranda observed some of
+the more vivacious couples.
+
+We contented ourselves, when the next series of waltzes commenced, with
+a single dance, which we enjoyed as thoroughly as the perfection of
+floor, music, and surroundings warranted.
+
+"Oh, what a floor!" said Miranda; "if I were as fond of dancing as I
+used to be, I could dance all night; and such music! Quite heavenly, if
+it is not wicked to say so. And there is the sea, too, with the
+moonlight on it as in old days! We have been taken to an enchanted
+castle!
+
+"But there is something different. I can hardly describe my feelings.
+Why, I cannot explain, but going back to dancing now for the mere
+pleasure of it, when I have entered upon the serious duties of life,
+appears like returning to one's childish passion for dolls and
+playthings."
+
+"And yet, how many married people of both sexes are dancing now, not
+with each other either."
+
+"I see them, and I wonder. I am not surprised at married men dancing--if
+they like it. If they come at all, they may as well do so as sit down
+and get weary. But I think the married women should leave the round
+dances to the girls."
+
+"Would not balls be rather slow if the married women only danced
+squares?"
+
+"I don't see why. Yet many of the girls have no partners--wall-flowers,
+I think you call them. And that is hardly fair, surely."
+
+As this dance only came before supper, which was now near at hand, we
+danced it out. I hardly noticed until the music closed how many of the
+other couples had stopped, or that quite a crowd had collected around
+us. This was a tribute, I found, to Miranda's performance, which had an
+ease and grace of movement such as I never saw any living woman possess.
+She hardly seemed to use the ordinary means of progression. Hers was a
+half-aerial motion, in time to every note and movement of the music,
+while the rhythmic sway and yielding grace of her figure presented the
+idea of a mermaiden floating through the translucent waves rather than
+that of a mortal woman.
+
+As she swayed dreamily to the wondrous music of "Tausend und einer
+nacht," her head thrown slightly back, her parted lips, her wondrous
+eyes, her faultless form so impressed the by-standers with the ideal of
+supreme beauty, that they scarce repressed an audible murmur as the
+music ceased and the dance came to an end.
+
+When supper was announced there was the usual crush, but before the
+doors were opened a few of the more favoured guests, including the
+Frankstons and ourselves, were conducted by one of the aides-de-camp to
+a place near the viceregal party. Miranda was taken possession of by
+another of our naval friends, who seemed to think that they had special
+claims upon her, as having knowledge of her island home. I was requested
+to take in our good friend and fellow-voyager Mrs. Percival, who was
+more warm and effusive in praise of Miranda than I ever thought possible
+before her child's danger broke through the crust of her ordinary
+manner. Now nothing could have been more sisterly and unreserved than
+her tone and expression.
+
+"It has been quite a luxury to all of us to look on at that wonderful
+darling of a wife of yours dancing! The whole room, including Lady
+Rochester, was in ecstasies, I assure you. You came in for your share of
+compliments also, which I mustn't make you vain by repeating. How
+exquisitely, how charmingly she does dance! I have seen some of the best
+_danseuses_ in Europe and India--on and off the stage--and not one
+worthy to be named with her. She is a dream of grace--the very poetry of
+motion. I said so before to-night, and now every one agrees with me. It
+is rather a disappointment in some quarters that she declines to dance
+except with you. It would seem odd for some people, but being the woman
+she is I understand it."
+
+"She is free to follow her own course socially," I said. "She will soon
+decide upon her line of action, and will not be turned from it by
+outside influence. Fortunately she and my mother are much in harmony as
+to leading principles, which relieves my mind considerably."
+
+"You are fortunate in that, then, as in several other respects; may I
+add that I think you worthy of your good fortune. I trust that my boy's
+simple prayers for your welfare--and he prays for you both every
+night--may be answered."
+
+Just before the conclusion of the supper I saw that Miranda had been
+presented to his Excellency the Governor, who was standing near the
+Prince. Both of these personages were most complimentary and flattering
+in their attention to her, and when we left, as we had arranged,
+immediately after that most important function supper, leaving the girls
+to go home with Mr. and Mrs. Neuchamp, we were gratified to think that
+we could not have been more graciously received--treated even with
+distinction--and that nothing had occurred to detract in the slightest
+degree from the unwonted pleasure and modest triumph of the night.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After this, our first experience of "society," in the higher sense of
+the word, unexpectedly agreeable, as it had been, Miranda's fixed
+resolve, in which I fully concurred, was to detach ourselves from it and
+its code of obligations, except at rare intervals--to live our own
+lives, and to trouble ourselves as little as might be with the tastes
+and fancies of others.
+
+I was likely to have my time fully occupied in the development of my
+business. Miranda had, partly from observation, partly from information
+supplied by my mother and sisters, discovered that there was even in
+prosperous, easy going, naturally favoured Sydney a section of ill-fed,
+ill-clothed, ill-taught poor. "While I meet them daily, such as I never
+saw on our island, I cannot occupy myself with the vanities of life." My
+mother was delighted to find a daughter willing to co-operate with her
+in the benevolent plans of relief which she was always organising for
+the poor and the afflicted. Between them a notable increase of
+efficiency took place in the management of children's hospitals,
+soup-kitchens, and other institutions, commonly regarded with
+indifference, if not dislike, by the well-to-do members of society.
+Outside of these duties, our chief pleasure at the end of the week, when
+only we could afford the time, was a cruise in our sailing boat the
+_Harpooner_, which soon came to be known as one of the fastest in the
+harbour, as well as one that was rarely absent from the Saturday's
+regatta, when a stiff breeze was sending the spray aloft.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our life henceforth was that of the happy nations "that have no
+history." My business prospered, and as it largely increased and
+developed from its original proportions, Captain Carryall began to tire
+of his voyages and settled down on shore.
+
+Within a year of the founding of our commercial enterprise one of the
+ideal houses we had so often pictured came into our possession. In an
+afternoon stroll, Miranda and I had ventured into a deserted garden,
+lured by the masses of crimson blooms on a great double hibiscus. The
+heavy entrance-gate was awry--the stone pillars decaying--the avenue
+weed-grown and neglected--the shrubberies trodden down and disfigured by
+browsing cattle. Exploring further behind a screen of thick-growing
+pines, we found the house,--a noble, wide-balconied freestone building,
+which I well remembered in my boyhood. Then it was inhabited, carefully
+tended, and ringing with the voices of happy boys and girls in
+holiday-time. What blight had fallen on the place, or on the pleasant
+family that once dwelt there? On the north-eastern side the land sloped
+down to a little bay, sheltered from the prevailing wind, and provided
+with pier and boat-house--all marine conveniences, in short. "Oh! if we
+had a house like this," said Miranda, clapping her hands, "how happy we
+should be! Not that I am otherwise now; but I should enjoy having this
+for our own. We could soon renovate the poor garden." I assented, but
+said nothing at the time--resolved to take counsel of our good friend
+and trusted adviser then and now--who else but Paul Frankston?
+
+From him I learned the history of the house and its old-time inmates.
+Some were dead and some were gone. The story was long. The gist of it
+was, however, that it was now in the hands of certain trustees for the
+benefit of the heirs-at-law. "I think I can find out about it," he
+concluded. "And now come down and look at my little boat. I've had some
+painting and gilding done lately; I want you all--father, mother,
+sisters, wife, and everybody--to come for a sail next Saturday. I'm
+going to have a race with Richard Jones to the Heads and back, and I
+want your wife to steer. Then we'll win, I'm sure, and we'll call in at
+Edenhall--that's the name of the old place you saw--been its name for
+fifty years or more--and we'll have another look at it."
+
+I said "Yes, by all means."
+
+The next Saturday proved to be a day specially provided by the gods for
+boat-sailing. The wind was in the right quarter, the weather fine. The
+_Sea-gull_ swept across the harbour like a veritable sea-bird, spreading
+her broad wings. The whole party had punctually assembled at our jetty
+after an early lunch. The breeze freshened as the day wore on; we had
+our friendly race against an old comrade of Mr. Frankston's--like him,
+not all ignorant of the ways of those who go down to the deep in
+ships--which we won handsomely, thanks to Miranda's steering, as Paul
+loudly averred. And that young woman herself, as the _Sea-gull_ went
+flying past her sister yacht in the concluding tack, lying down "gunnel
+under," with every inch of canvas on that she dared carry, was as eager
+and excited as if she had been paddling for her life in one of the canoe
+races of her childhood.
+
+We got back to Neutral Bay in time for afternoon tea, a little later
+than the established hour. But instead of having it on board, Paul
+proposed to have it at Edenhall, where he said he had permission to go
+whenever he pleased. He had arranged with the caretaker too.
+
+We landed at the long unused pier. "How many times have I been here
+before, in poor old Dartmoor's time," said Mr. Frankston, "and how many
+a jolly night have I spent within those old walls! Well, well! time goes
+on, and our friends, where are they? Life's a sad business at best.
+However, we can't make it better by crying over our losses. Ladies and
+gentlemen, follow me!"
+
+With a sudden change of tone and manner, Paul stepped briskly along the
+upward winding path, long unused, which led to the house. The hall door
+stood open, and passing along a noble hall and turning to the right, we
+entered a dining-room of fine proportions. In this was an improvised
+table on trestles whereon was spread a tempting collation. Two men
+servants, whom I recognised as the Marahmee butler and footman, stood
+ready to serve the company. A needful amount of sweeping and repair had
+been effected. The windows had been cleaned, and a fine view of the bay
+thereby afforded. Altogether the effect was as striking as it was
+unexpected; a general exclamation broke from the company.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," said Paul, "I have prepared a surprise for you,
+I know; but oblige me by making yourselves at home for the present, and
+dining with me in this informal fashion--I will explain by and by."
+
+The day was nearly spent. It would probably be near the time of
+twilight, which in summer in Australia is nearer nine o'clock than
+eight, before we reached our homes. So the majority of the guests hailed
+the idea as one of Paul's eccentric notions with which he was wont to
+amuse his intimates. The Marahmee champagne was proverbial, and after a
+reasonable number of corks had been drawn a progressive degree of
+cheerfulness was reached. Paul rose to his feet, and requested the usual
+solemnities to be observed, as he was about to propose a toast. "Those
+of my friends who have been here before, in its happier times, will
+remember the former owner of this once pleasant home. Little is left now
+save the evidences of decay and desertion--the memories of a long past
+happy day. But there is no reason why it should not be again inhabited,
+again be filled with pleasant and pleasure-giving inhabitants. It is
+solid and substantial; if somewhat old-fashioned, all the better I say.
+There was no jerry building in the old days. The garden is here--to be
+easily renewed in beauty--the jetty, and the boat-house. The sea is
+here, much as I remember when as a boy I used to get 'congewoi' for bait
+off those very rocks."
+
+"Hear, hear!" from the guests, and Mr. Richard Jones.
+
+"And now I come to a piece of news which I am sure you will hear with
+pleasure. The house and grounds have been purchased by a young friend of
+mine, whose health, with that of his charming wife, I now ask you to
+drink with all the honours. The health of Mr. and Mrs. Telfer, their
+long life and prosperity! and may we all have many as pleasant a sail
+round the harbour as we have had to-day, and come here to enjoy
+ourselves at the end of it."
+
+The applause which followed was tumultuous. Paul has sprung a surprise
+upon his guests with a vengeance. I was as much astonished as anybody;
+for though I knew that he had promised to make inquiries about the price
+put upon the property, I had no idea that he would go further in the
+matter, still less that he would purchase it on my account, as it was
+evident that he had done.
+
+I said a few words, chiefly to the effect that it seemed to me quite
+unnecessary to go through the form of exerting myself for my advancement
+in life, as my friends, Mr. Frankston and Captain Carryall, were bent on
+making my fortune for me. I trusted to prove not wholly unworthy of such
+unselfish friendship, and thanking them all in the name of my wife and
+myself, trusted that a meeting like this would often conclude a happy
+day such as we had just completed. As for Miranda, she went up to the
+old man, and placing her hand in his, looked up into his face with an
+expression of heartfelt gratitude, which hardly needed the addition of
+her words: "You have made us both perfectly happy--what can I say? My
+heart will not let me speak. We have nothing to wish for now in this
+world."
+
+The old man looked at her with an expression of mingled admiration and
+paternal affection. "I have two daughters now," he said, "and two sons;
+I was always wishing to have another pair, to gossip with when Antonia
+and Ernest were away. Now I have found them I am sure. The only thing we
+want now is another boat."
+
+Miranda's eyes glistened at the allusion, and she looked as if she was
+only prevented, by a half-instinctive doubt as to the fitness of the
+occasion, from embracing Paul before the assembled company.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Years have passed since that day. Children's voices have long since
+echoed in the wide verandahs and amid the shrubberies of Edenhall. The
+house, thoroughly renovated, is one of the most comfortable, if not the
+most aristocratic, of the many embowered mansions which look over the
+Haven Beauteous.
+
+My boys have been "water babies" from earliest childhood, and we can
+turn out a crew not easy to beat, particularly when their mother can be
+persuaded to steer. My girls have inherited a large proportion of their
+mother's fearless spirit, though people say not one has equalled her in
+beauty. Their partners in the dance, however, appear to consider them
+sufficiently good-looking, if one may judge by the competition which
+their appearance at balls usually produces.
+
+Our business, always aided by the cool heads and steady courage of the
+senior partners, has increased, with the growth of the city of Sydney
+and the development of the island trade, beyond all hope and
+expectation. I am a rich man now, and, indeed, somewhat in danger of the
+occasional mood of discontent with the uneventful, unvarying tide of
+success upon which life's barque appears ever to float. But one look at
+Miranda's face, serenely happy in her children, in her daily life of
+charity and almsgiving, in the devoted love and trust of my parents, is
+all-sufficient to banish all vagrant ideas.
+
+Sometimes, in the train of unbidden fancies which throng the portals of
+the mind, the scenes and sounds of a far clime claim right of audience.
+Again I see the paradisal woodland, the mysterious mountain forest, the
+ceaseless moan of the billow upon the reef sounds in my ear; while
+forms, now fair, now fierce, flit, shadow-like, across the scene. I hear
+again the soft voices of the island girls as in frolic race they troop
+to beach or stream. I see the sad, bright eyes of Lalia, or mark the
+fierce regard of Hope Island Nellie as she stands with bared bosom full
+in the track of the deadly arrow flight. I hear the lion roar of Hayston
+as he quells a mutiny, or towers, alone and unarmed, above a crowd of
+hostile islanders. I shudder in thought at the dangers which I have
+escaped. Once more sounds from afar the weird voice of the tempest in
+the midnight wreck of the _Leonora_. Lastly, the harbour lights
+disappear as I sit in my cane lounge in the verandah of Edenhall, and in
+place of the wooded heights and distant city I see the breakers upon the
+reef of Ocean Island, and discern a solitary figure in the stern of a
+small boat sailing out into the illimitable gloom; I fall a musing upon
+the mysterious problems of Fate--of man's life and the strange
+procession of circumstance--until the hour strikes and I retire. Yet my
+thoughts are still dominated by the majestic figure of the Captain,
+grand in his natural good qualities, grand in his fearless courage, his
+generosity, his friendship--grand even in his vices. He was not without
+resemblance to a yet more famous corsair, immortalised by the poet--
+
+    Who died and left a name to other times,
+    Link'd with one virtue and a thousand crimes.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes
+
+The macrons in words like "L[a]lia" and "Mo[u]t" have been removed.
+
+The following corrections to spelling or punctuation have been made:
+
+  Page  59 Added missing period "."
+  Page 119 "Utwe" corrected to "Utwe"
+  Page 128 "for'rard" corrected to "for'ard"
+  Page 129 "Likiak Sa" corrected to "Likiak Sa"
+  Page 135 "beeches" corrected to "beaches"
+  Page 142 "Likiak Sa" corrected to "Likiak Sa"
+  Page 171 "turtle" corrected to "turtles"
+  Page 174 "Tulpe" corrected to "Tulpe"
+  Page 196 Added missing period "."
+  Page 205 "courier" corrected to "courrier"
+           "filibustier" corrected to "flibustier"
+  Page 232 "itelf" corrected to "itself"
+  Page 309 "brough" corrected to "brought"
+
+Instances of inconsistent hyphenation have been left intact.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Modern Buccaneer, by Rolf Boldrewood
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MODERN BUCCANEER ***
+
+***** This file should be named 35431.txt or 35431.zip *****
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+
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