153CHAPTER XXIITHE PEARL OF THE PACIFIC
There, at the front of the oyster, and slightly to one side, was the most marvelous pearl upon which the eyes of the men had ever rested. It was the size of an ordinary hen’s egg, clear and pure, and worth a sum of money which neither of the astounded men dared attempt to guess.
For a few seconds they were speechless, and then Inez clapped her hands with delight, and asked:
“Is that for me?”
“Yes, that is yours,” replied Captain Bergen. “The mate and I give it to you, to be yours and no one’s else.”
“Isn’t it splendid?” cried Inez, catching it up, passing it from one hand to the other, holding it up in the sunlight, and showing as much genuine pleasure as if she were a veritable South Sea Islander, presented with some new trinket.
“That,” said Mate Storms, “may be called The Pearl of the Pacific!”
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“No,” objected the captain, “it is she who is the pearl of this great ocean, for it was upon its surface that we first saw her, and she has proved herself far above the worth of pearls or diamonds or rubies. To her, under heaven, my life, and not impossibly yours, is owing. The greatest pleasure of this voyage has come from her companionship, and all that I ask now is that we shall be able to preserve this wealth for her, and that the opportunity may be ours to do our full duty toward her.”
Mate Storms looked admiringly at the captain, who had so eloquently expressed his own sentiments.
“You are right, Jack,” said he, speaking in his familiar way. “It is she who is the Pearl of the Pacific!”
The men surveyed, with the greatest pleasure, the frolicsome delight of the little one, who was all unmindful of the immense treasure which had fallen to her lot, and of the title of honor which her friends had given her. Naturally, the entire party were so absorbed that for a time they hardly glanced beyond their immediate surroundings; but when Abe Storms came up for the last time, he glanced, by the merest accident, out to sea, and exclaimed:
“Oh, my goodness! Just look there, Jack!”
No more than half a mile distant, a flying proa was seen, speeding with great swiftness over the water,155while a number of dark figures were discovered on the deck, evidently looking with no little curiosity at the white men.
The singular craft, however, came no nearer, and soon vanished in the distance. Its appearance caused some apprehension and uneasiness on the part of our friends, and after discussing the matter they decided, as a matter of precaution, to bury the pearls.
Inez was persuaded, without difficulty, to trust hers to the keeping of her friends, who dug a small well in the sand, and inclosing the entire number of pearls in strong canvas bags, made for that purpose, buried them out of sight, there to remain until one or both of the men should choose to dig them up again, and it was agreed that that should not be done until the way opened for them to leave the island.
The long afternoon was well advanced when this task was completed, they fixing the precise spot so clearly in their minds that there was no necessity of landmarks, either being sure of finding it whenever it should become necessary.
“It seems to me the swells are larger than usual, and they make more noise when they break upon the beach,” observed Mr. Storms, looking curiously at the sky.
They had just dumped back the remains of the pearl-oysters into the sea, so as to leave no trace of156their work, and Captain Bergen straightened up and surveyed the sky.
“There’s a storm coming––a regular screamer! Look, by the great horn spoon!” he added, in no little excitement.
There was good cause for the emotion of the captain, for the light of the sun was obscured by a thick, yellow haze, which was fast overspreading the sky, and, far out to sea, the long line of mist seemed to be churning the water into foam, and to be advancing rapidly toward the island, where stood the two men contemplating the coming fury of the elements.
The light of the sun was obscured, and there was a perceptible chilliness in the air, and the barometer––which they had brought from theCoral––showed a most startling change. One of the fiercest of the tropical tempests was gathering, and was sure to break upon the island in a few minutes.
This was alarming to contemplate, for the men knew well what kind of elemental disturbances spring up on the shortest notice in the South Seas. But it was not this alone which startled them.
Looking directly out to sea, toward the yeasty waters, they saw a schooner sinking and rising upon the long swells, and certain to be caught, in the very vortex, as may be said, of the hurricane, or tornado, or typhoon, or whatever it should be termed. The157craft was not an unfamiliar one––both knew it well––for it was theCoral, with the mutineers on board.
Unarmed as they were, they would not dare place themselves in the power of those toward whom they had shown such enmity, but that they were literally forced to do so to escape almost certain destruction from the impending tempest.
If they should run into the lagoon to wait until the storm should subside, neither the captain nor mate would disturb them––provided they took their departure as soon as it became safe. Still, knowing their treacherous character so well, Bergen and Storms did not mean to trust them at all. Inez was therefore placed within the cabin, while her protectors made certain they were armed and ready for any contingency.
Now that the sun was shut out from sight, a darkness like that of night overspread land and water, while the strong gale howled among the palms, which swayed and bent as if they would soon be uprooted and flung out into the boiling sea. The swells were topped with foam, and large drops of rain, sweeping almost horizontally across the island, struck against the face like pebbles.
The mutineers were heading, so far as was possible, towards the opening in the atoll, but they were not in position to strike it, and, with the deepening darkness158and increasing tempest, the task was becoming more difficult every minute. Suddenly a vivid flash of lightning illumined the gloom, and the schoonerCoralwas observed on the crest of a high wave, heading toward the island; but the two men who saw her, saw also, that she missed the opening and was too close in to make it.
The rumble of thunder continued for some minutes, when once more a blinding flash swept across the murky sky, lighting up sea and island for the instant, as if with the glare of the noonday sun. Captain Bergen and Mate Storms were straining their eyes to catch sight of the little schooner and its crew, but it was invisible. In that single searching glance, they could not have failed to see her had she been afloat. The conclusion, therefore, was inevitable. She and her crew had gone to the bottom of the sea.
Such was the fact. The mutineers had met a frightful though merited fate, and could trouble our friends no more.
159CHAPTER XXIIIA DISMAL HOME
Captain Bergen and his mate were not certain that one or more of the mutineers had not survived the foundering of the schoonerCoral, and had managed to reach the island.
If such were the case, they considered it important that it should be known as soon as possible, and on the morrow, therefore, they made careful search, but none of the three men was ever seen again. A few fragments of spars, floating here and there, were all the signs that such a craft had ever sailed over the Pacific.
Since the captain and mate were now given the opportunity to think of their own situation, they did so like men of gravity and sense. They were safely upon Pearl Island, as they had named it. They had secured the prize for which they had come so many thousand miles, and they were, as the world goes, wealthy men. More than that, they had found a pearl of such marvelous size and purity that, being dedicated160to little Inez Hawthorne, it was a great fortune indeed to her.
And yet, in one sense, the little party were paupers; that is, so long as they were held prisoners upon the atoll, for the treasure of pearls could not purchase them food, clothing, friends, happiness––nor, in fact, were they anything more than so many valueless pebbles. They must reach civilization again to realize anything from the riches which had come into their possession.
But how were they to leave the island? This was the one great question which faced them, and which they were called upon to solve, for now that there was no further cause for staying, the homesickness of the men increased, and it was not long before they felt they would give half their wealth for the means of getting back to Boston.
Since they were absolutely without this means, it was evident they could do nothing but rely upon Providence to send some vessel to their relief. It was not impossible that Abe Storms, gifted as he was with so much wonderful ingenuity, might have attempted to construct some sort of craft from the palm trees, and it is quite likely he would have succeeded in making something that could be utilized. But the awful blotting out of theCoral, before their eyes, had alarmed161both, and made them more timid than they otherwise would have been.
It was a good many miles to the nearest inhabited island, as laid down on their chart, and they might succeed in reaching it, provided they could be assured of a week of good weather. But there could be no such assurance, and a disturbance meant the same fate that overtook the mutineers.
It is not at all unlikely, too, that the presence of little Inez Hawthorne increased this timidity. Had they been without her, they would not have hesitated to take great risks, but, somehow or other, her life was inestimably precious in their eyes, and they would never have forgiven themselves had any ill befallen her through their dereliction of duty.
“There is a mystery about her life which shall yet be cleared up,” Abe Storms frequently remarked; “and we must not do aught that shall endanger or delay the solution of the question.”
There were comparatively few stores which the schooner had left them before its final departure, and the survivors were forced to rely mainly upon what the island afforded. Of course there were fish in abundance, and they frequently rowed out in the lagoon in the tender, or small boat, or cast out their lines from shore, and never failed in a short time to catch all they wanted.
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The spring of clear, cool water bubbled and trickled steadily, and never failed them. And the several species of tropical fruits about them were used sparingly, the men having the prudence to seek to prevent the supply giving out.
It was a great relief to Storms and Bergen to find, after the most thorough exploration they could make, that there were no poisonous reptiles upon the island.
“We may as well face the situation,” said Captain Bergen, after they had held frequent consultations; “we have been here five weeks now, and we haven’t caught sight of the first sail, with the exception of our own, which has gone to the bottom, and it may be that weeks and months more may pass before we shall see another.”
“It is not unlikely that it may be years,” added Storms, gravely; “for, according to the narrative of Grebbens himself, he was here a long time before he was taken away. The wisest thing we can do is to prepare ourselves for an indefinite stay.”
A long time before, the captain had laboriously climbed the mast which was erected in the sand by the inlet, and had securely fastened an old garment to the highest point. There it was still, fluttering in the wind, when there was enough breeze to raise the irregular folds, but, alas! it had not brought the friendly sail which they longed for, and they had been forced163at last to look upon an extended residence upon the island as not only possible, but very probable.
Like philosophers, they governed themselves accordingly. The signal was kept flying and they busied themselves fishing, talking or doing odd things which were done simply to pass away time. But the two felt that a most urgent duty was upon them, respecting Inez Hawthorne.
“We must do what we can for her,” said Storms. “With the material which I have on hand we can construct garments that will keep her clad with comeliness, though she may not be in the fashion; and yet I don’t know but what she will,” he added, with a smile, “for we may strike some of the vagaries without knowing it. Then, too, she must be educated.”
“I’m not well up in the line of an education,” said the captain, with some embarrassment, “being as I never attended any other than a district school, but I believe you graduated, didn’t you, Abe?”
“Yes, I went through Harvard three years ago, and stood second in my class. I haven’t any fear that I won’t be able to teach her, for she is a child of unusual brightness.”
And, as may be supposed, the mate went to work thoroughly in the instruction of Inez Hawthorne, who proved herself one of the most apt of pupils, and advanced with a rapidity which delighted her teacher.
164CHAPTER XXIVTHREE YEARS
Three years have passed, and still Captain Bergen, Mate Storms and Inez Hawthorne are upon the lonely Pearl Island in the South Sea.
Could they have believed when they left Boston that they would be doomed to such an imprisonment, it may well be doubted whether they would have made the voyage, even if assured of the vast fortune which thereby came into their hands.
The three years had been dismally monotonous to them, and their courage had been tried to the utmost, for there had been times when both agreed that they would probably stay there until released by death, and then they fell to speculating as to which would be the last one to survive. According to human logic, it would seem that that lot would fall to Inez, and their hearts sank at the thought of her being left to perish in the lonely spot.
When the coat fluttering from the top of the mast was blown away by the gale, Captain Bergen climbed165up and nailed another in its place, grimly remarking that it looked as if they were going down with their colors flying.
It was surprising what was done by Mate Storms, whose ingenuity was almost incredible. With the material at his command, he kept Inez clothed in a tasteful manner.
She wore dresses and shoes which fitted her well, and her hat was renewed with extraordinary skill, from material obtained from the palm-trees.
Those three years, although of indescribable weariness at times, were marked by some startling incidents, and by many worthy of record. The great object of Storms was to educate Inez, and he did his utmost in that direction, assisted by the bright intellect of the girl and her own ardent desire to explore the wonders of knowledge.
There were few facilities in the way of furniture, considered so indispensable in these later days. He had no pens or ink, and only a Bible in the way of books. He had some blank paper and a single lead pencil, which were utilized to their fullest extent. For a slate or blackboard, he used the beach, as did Archimedes of the olden time.
Selecting a place where the water had left it hard and smooth, Storms, with a sharp-pointed stick, made166his characters and gave his instruction in the mysteries of mathematics.
It would sound incredible were we to say that, during those three years, the dwellers on the lonely atoll had never descried a sail; and such was not a fact, for there are few shores on this globe where a human being can bury himself so long from sight of the white-winged birds of commerce. They had seen many ships, but it looked very much as if they themselves had not been seen, nor had their presence been suspected by any of them.
“The idea of our being so nervous lest some one should get here ahead of us,” remarked Storms, more than once, “when we might have delayed our coming a dozen years without any danger from that cause.”
They had discovered the cloud-like picture of the canvas sail as it came up over the horizon, and their hearts swelled as it expanded and came closer. But all hope faded again when it grew less in the distance and finally passed from view altogether.
This had happened repeatedly, and more than once Captain Bergen had laboriously made his way up the smooth mast to the very top, where he swung his hat wildly; but it must have been that the little island in the South Seas possessed slight interest in the eyes of the navigators who occasionally drifted in that direction, for had they seen the signal of distress, or caught167sight of the man frantically waving his hat from the top, they would have learned what its meaning was.
The greatest dejection which took possession of the couple was when they, through the glass, saw the Stars and Stripes fluttering from the mizzen of the ship which came the nearest and then made off again. The sight of that most beautiful banner in the world was like a glimpse of their distant New England home, and they seemed to feel the cool breeze fanning their hot brows as it bore steadily toward them.
When it went over the convex sea out of sight, Captain Bergen covered his face with his hands and wept, and when, after awhile, he looked up again, he saw the tears on the cheeks of Abe Storms, who stood motionless and gazing silently off upon the deep, as if he expected the vessel would come back to them. It was a severe blow, and it was a long time before they recovered from it.
The exact age of Inez Hawthorne when she became, by an extraordinary turn of the wheel of fortune, the protégée of the two sailors, was, as given by herself, six years, but both the captain and mate were confident that she was fully one, if not two years older.
Now, at the termination of the period named, she was a girl as fully developed mentally and physically as one of a dozen years, and she was growing into a woman of striking beauty. She was still a child, with168all the innocence and simplicity which distinguished her at the time she was taken from the deck of the steamerPolynesia, but in a few years more, should she be spared, she would become a woman.
Captain Bergen and Mate Storms were honest, conscientious men, and Christians, and they performed their full duty in that most important respect to Inez Hawthorne. Never passed a day in which Storms did not read, in an impressive voice, from the great Book of all books, and the sublime passages, the wonderful precepts, the divine truths and the sacred instruction from that volume were seed which fell upon good ground and bore its fruit in due season.
If ever there was a good, pure, devout Christian, Inez Hawthorne became one, and her greatest desire, as she repeatedly expressed it, was that she might go out in the great world among all people, and do her utmost to carry the glad tidings to them.
“The time will come,” replied Abe Storms, when he listened to these glowing wishes. “God never intended you should live and die upon this lonely island when there is such need for missionaries like you. I don’t see that we are of much account, but I believe He has something for us, too, and we shall be given the opportunity to do it.”
“Ah,” said the skipper, with a sigh, “you have been saying that for three years, and the sails that come go169again and care nothing for us. I am beginning to believe we are to stay here for the rest of our lives, and that I am to be the first one to take the long, last sleep that awaits us all.”
170CHAPTER XXVAN ARRIVAL
When Captain Bergen was inclined to become pessimistic, the mate treated it lightly, for he feared the strong sailor would break before long from sheer homesickness.
It was fortunate that neither had any family, the mate being one of those who are without any close living relative, while the captain had a sister in New England, and his aged mother was in San Francisco, living with a nephew, of whom she was very fond.
Thus the three years passed away, and the second era in their lives approached. There was something curious in the fact that all the inhabitants of the lonely Pearl Island had lost their reckoning. No two could agree on the day of the week, and when they compromised on one, which was called Sunday, and observed as such, they were much in doubt whether they were right, and, as it afterward proved, they were not.
One afternoon, when the sun had hardly passed171the meridian, the mate and captain were stretched upon the beach under the shade of a palm-tree, and looking out upon the sea, over which they had come to this desolate spot so long before. The day was cooler than usual, and a steady breeze blew, rendering the position of the friends in that respect as pleasant as they could wish, though their weary, homesick feeling was telling upon them. Both the ragged sailors were thinner, and there was a yearning, far-away look in their eyes, especially in those of the captain, which presaged the approach of insanity or death at no distant day, unless a change were made in their condition and surroundings. This lamentable state was partly due, no doubt, to the diet to which they had been subjected for many months.
Inez, who seemed happy everywhere and at all times, was busying herself in the cabin, where she could find plenty to do; and ever and anon the sound of her voice could be heard, as she sang some snatch of song, which came through the mist of memory from her infancy.
“I tell you what it is,” said Captain Bergen, in his low, determined voice, “this thing cannot continue much longer.”
“You are no more weary of it than I, Jack; but show me the way in which it can be ended.”
“We’ve got to take the risk. The tender there is172large enough to carry us and a good supply of provisions––that is, enough water, to last several days. We can rig some sort of sail, and, in less than a week, by keeping to the northwest, we shall reach some inhabited island, unless we should be picked up before that time, which I consider quite likely.”
“I’ve thought a good deal of it, Jack,” said the mate, in a voice of equal seriousness. “We have been restrained heretofore by the fear that it would endanger too greatly the safety of Inez, and mainly by the feeling that we couldn’t stay here long without assistance being summoned by that signal fluttering up there. And yet, three years have come and gone,” continued the mate, “and not a living soul has come to us. There have been hundreds of days within this long period when we might have embarked on board the little boat and safely made our way to some other port, but we could not know it, and the result is––here we are.”
“And the situation is very different from what it was when we first landed, for it is now a choice between staying here with the certainty of miserably perishing––every one of us––and of starting boldly out upon an unknown sea, as it may be called, with the chances between life and death about even.”
“You have stated the case correctly,” assented Mr. Storms; “and though it is your place to command, yet173as you have deferred to me, I give you my promise that to-morrow we shall begin rigging the best sort of sail we can, and at daylight on the next day we will start for whatever port Providence directs us.”
“That has put new life into me, Abe. I feel now as I did three years ago, when we first caught sight of those pearls. I am ten years younger. I prefer a bold stroke for life to a weak submission to fate, with this dismal waiting for help to come to us. By the great horn spoon! a thousand such pearl banks as we cleaned out wouldn’t tempt me to spend another year on this hated island–––”
At this instant the voice of Inez was heard, excitedly calling to them, and while they rose to the sitting position and looked inquiringly in that direction, she was seen to spring through the open door of the cabin, and to come running toward them on the beach, bareheaded and with her long, yellow hair streaming in the wind.
“What can be the matter with her?” exclaimed the captain, rising to his feet. “What is she saying?”
“Hark!”
The distance was so short that the girl was at their side a second or two later. She was laughing, and uttering something in her excitement, which, until that moment, they did not understand.
“Who ever saw any one so stupid?” she called out,174cheerily. “What are your eyes for? Why don’t you look out to sea?”
The two obeyed, and an exclamation of amazement escaped both, for there, while they had lain on the beach talking in such disconsolate tones, and looking dreamily out upon the ocean, a craft had been steadily approaching, and neither of the two saw it.
At the furthest, it was no more than a mile distant, and, since it was heading straight in toward the atoll, the chances were a hundred to one that the signal of distress had been seen, and the lonely island at last was going to have a visitor.
Captain Bergen muttered something about the “great horn spoon,” under his breath, while Storms said nothing, but gazed steadily at the craft, upon which his hopes were so suddenly and strongly fixed. It might be that the hearts of all three bounded with hope at this sight of a vessel, but the hope was mixed with apprehension, for the sailors saw it was not the sort of vessel for which they had been praying so long.
Instead of a gallant ship, with the Stars and Stripes streaming from the fore, it was what is termed a flying proa, which is the name applied to the narrow canoes used principally in the Ladrone Islands. They are about thirty feet long, three feet wide, and are steered by a paddle at either end. The sail is lateen,175with a boom upon one mast; the prow and stern curve to a high point, and the depth being considerably greater than the width, the proa would, if unsupported, capsize instantly, but a hollow log or heavy-pointed spar rests on the water, parallel with the windward side, and, being secured in place, acts as an outrigger and removes the danger of overturning. The same name is applied to the boats used by the Malays, and which are propelled by both oars and sails.
But the one which greeted the astonished eyes of Storms and Bergen had its huge lateen sail spread, and was moving with great velocity, for the proas of the Indian and Pacific oceans are probably the fastest boats in the world. It rode the waters like a bird, and would soon enter the lagoon within the island, for there could be no doubt that the men on board had seen not only the signal, but the persons themselves who were waiting for them.
Inasmuch as a couple of men were discernible with the naked eye on the proa, it followed that the latter must descry the three individuals who were standing out in full view upon the shore of the island.
“How about this?” asked Captain Bergen, stepping to the side of his mate, and speaking in an undertone. “Shall we rejoice or not?”
“It’s uncertain,” was the dubious reply. “Those boats generally carry the vagabonds of the ocean, and176the last motive which, as a rule, brings them to a spot like this is humanity.”
“Where’s your glass?”
“I declare, I never thought of that––I was so surprised!”
Storms carried it with him always, and he now brought it to bear upon the singular-looking craft approaching. It was so close inshore that, with the aid of the instrument, he was able to see everything distinctly, especially as the boat at that moment bore off a little and then headed toward the entrance again.
So far as could be ascertained, there were three persons on the boat, and the captain reached the same conclusion after using the glass.
“If that’s the case,” said Captain Bergen, “we haven’t anything to fear from them, for, with our guns and ammunition, we can hold our own against a dozen South Sea Islanders.”
“There may be others concealed about the craft, but I incline to think not. However, it’s best to be prepared. So let’s get to the house and make ready to receive them––whether they come as enemies or friends.”
The suggestion was a prudent one, and the two men hurried up the beach in the direction of the cabin, while Inez remained to watch the proa. The men examined their rifles and saw they were loaded and177ready for instant use, and then, bearing one apiece, they came forth again. As they did so, something like a shadow seemed to shoot through the trees, and, looking toward the lagoon, they saw the cause. The proa had entered the quiet waters within, and was coming to rest as gracefully as a sea gull stops in its flight.
178CHAPTER XXVITHE FLYING PROA AND ITS COMMANDER
The lateen sail of the proa descended with a rattle and bang, the man at the oar gave it several vigorous sweeps, and the strange-looking but astonishingly swift craft came to rest almost in the same position that the schoonerCoraloccupied three years before.
“Helloa, there! How are you? How long have you been here?”
When it is stated that this hail came from aboard the proa, it is unnecessary to say that our two friends were surprised, for they supposed that the visitors were natives, who at the best could not speak more than a few words of broken English.
This astonishment was turned to literal amazement when they saw that the speaker was a Caucasian like themselves, one of the two standing at the prow, and looking out upon them with a smiling countenance. There was no mistaking the ruddy, sunburned face, the curling hair, and the regular, European features of the young man, whose expanded smile showed a179set of white, even teeth, and he seemed to enjoy their astonishment after hearing his words.
It was curious that they had failed to notice him before, inasmuch as his dress was dissimilar from the others, he having the usual tarpaulin hat and the broad trowsers of the American and English sailor. It was plain, too, that he was scarcely a man, being, in fact, a boy, who by some strange means was adrift in this part of the world.
As soon as the proa was within reach of land, the youth sprang ashore, and, walking straight up to Captain Bergen, extended his right hand to him and his left to Mr. Storms, shaking both warmly, while, as he spoke, he looked from the face of one to the other.
“How long have you been in this place? Judging from your clothes and looks, I should say about twenty years? Do you want to emigrate? Where are you from? What are your names? How came you here? My name is Fred Sanders, and I’ve been knocking about among the South Sea Islands for the last five years.”
There was no resisting the jolly good-nature of the young man, who had a habit of laughing heartily, when no one else could see anything to laugh at, and whose high spirits always infected others with whom he came in contact. But it would not have required much study for any one to discover that he was a180wild, reckless youth, who had probably run away from home, and taken to bad ways from a natural inclination in that direction.
While this interview was going on, Inez Hawthorne was absent, she having withdrawn at the suggestion of her friends, though of course the visitors knew of her presence, from having seen her on the beach.
Captain Bergen replied to the greeting of his friend:
“We have been here full three years. If I’m not mistaken, it is three years and two weeks this very Thursday.”
“Then that’s just where youaremistaken!” broke in Fred Sanders, with his ringing laugh, “for it so happens that to-day isn’t Thursday, by a long shot!”
“Of course not,” Mr. Storms hastened to say. “I don’t know how many arguments I have had with the captain to prove he was wrong, and that this is Friday–––”
And Fred threw back his head and roared louder than ever.
“It’s a toss up between you. I don’t wonder that you got muddled when you were forced to stay in such an outlandish place as this so long. I think I would have got mixed myself.”
“Pray tell me what day of the week it is.”
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“This is Tuesday afternoon, with a half-dozen hours of daylight left to you yet.”
While this brief conversation was going on, the two natives were upon the boat, waiting as if for permission to land. They sat as meekly as children, in a partly crouching position, intently watching, with their glittering black eyes, the three figures before them. They appeared to listen with absorbing attention to the words, as if they understood them––which they did not, excepting so far as they were interpreted by the vigorous gestures.
Inez Hawthorne, as we have stated, had withdrawn to the house, when requested to do so by her teacher, but her curiosity led her to step forth and look upon the parties and listen to the conversation––the distance being so short that she could hear all that was said. The natives saw her, and so did Fred Sanders, who occasionally glanced over the shoulders of the two men with whom he was talking, in a way which they understood. The visitors could not fail to be greatly interested in her, but Fred refrained for a time from referring to the girl.
Mate Storms explained that the craft in which they came to this portion of the world was wrecked, and that three of the crew were lost, and the captain, mate and a single passenger saved. Since then they had looked in vain for the coming of some friendly sail;182plenty enough, however, having appeared, only to depart again and leave them in greater depths of gloom than before.
“Where are you from?” asked the captain, putting the question directly to the young man.
“I’m an American, born in New England, and am seventeen years old, and it is a long time since I have seen my home.”
“How came you in this part of the world?”
“Why not here as well as anywhere else?” asked Fred Sanders, in reply. “I left home when I was only ten years of age, and have knocked about the world ever since.”
“But you are now among the Paumotu Islands.”
“Where I have been for a good while. Some time, perhaps, I will give you the whole history, but it is too long to tell now.”
It was apparent, from the manner of the boy, that he wished to conceal some facts of his previous life, and neither the captain nor mate pressed him––for, in truth, it was of no special interest to them, their all-absorbing subject of mental anxiety being as to how they were to get away from the hated place.
“Where are you directly from?” asked Mr. Storms.
“From an island, the name of which I have never heard in English, though its native name is something like Wauparmur.”
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“Inhabited, of course?”
“Yes. There are four or five hundred natives and their families. The island is a dozen miles in extent, is very fertile, and has several native towns. At one place is a good harbor, and nearly always some foreign vessel is there. Sometimes I have seen three or more, and when I left, four days ago, a trading-ship from Boston had arrived.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Abe Storms. “So near and yet so far!”
“I think it will probably stay a week longer, for they are doing a good trade with the islanders.”
“You have awakened a hope that is really painful,” said Captain Bergen, while the pale face of Mr. Storms showed he was affected fully as profoundly.
“I don’t know why it need be painful,” said the young man, in his off-hand manner, which was so captivating; “for we were going on a little cruise, when we caught sight of your signal flying, and we put in to find out what the trouble was.”
“And are you willing to take us off?” asked Storms, who, while he felt the question was unnecessary, was still trembling with anxiety lest something should prevent their going.
“Will we take you off?” asked Fred, with a ringing laugh. “That’s a pretty question to ask us, when we came for the express purpose of doing so. Of course,184we’ll take you straight away to the island we came from, and, of course, we’ll put you in the way of getting back to Boston as soon as possible, and we only regret that we hadn’t the chance to get here three years sooner, so as to save you this dreary waste of time.”
Tears came to the eyes of both the men, and, as Captain Bergen took the hand of the youth, he said:
“We will thank you forever, and will pay you well.”
It was an unfortunate speech, and the cooler-headed mate would never have uttered it.
It might result in no harm; but why let the reckless youth know that they possessed the ability to pay him well? It would be time enough to present him with some of their valuable pearls after reaching Wauparmur, when no possible complication could result from Sanders knowing that these two ragged sailors were very wealthy men. But the words had been said, and could not be recalled, though a vague uneasiness shot through the mind of Abe Storms when he saw a sudden flash of the dark eyes of the youth, who said, in the cheeriest of voices, slapping the captain on the shoulder with a vigor that staggered him:
“Who talks of paying one for doing his simple duty? If you or your friend repeats that insult, there will be war between us; and then––excuse me, but185ain’t you joking when you talk of paying well? For, begging pardon again, you don’t look like millionaires with a very heavy bank account.”
Storms trembled, but he could not restrain the captain.
“Of course, we wouldn’t insult you, but you will be remembered; and though we are not very extravagant in the way of dress, and don’t look like very wealthy men, yet I can promise you you shall be well recompensed, and, what is more, we can carry out the promise, too, in a way that will open your eyes.”
Having uttered these compromising words, Captain Bergen laughed in a way which alarmed the mate still more; for there was a peculiarity in his friend’s actions which he had never noticed before.
“I know we are dressed very poorly,” added the captain, “and we wouldn’t be very popular in a drawing-room, but if you set us down as poor men you will make a great mistake. Won’t he, Abe––eh, boy?”
And he facetiously punched the astonished and grieved mate in the side, and danced about as if he had perpetrated the best joke of his life.
Just then Storms caught the eye of Fred Sanders, and he significantly tapped his own forehead to signify that the captain was not exactly right, mentally. And, when he did so, the kind-hearted mate spoke the truth.
186CHAPTER XXVIIFRED SANDERS
Captain Bergen was so affected by the joyful awakening to the fact that his long, dismal sojourn on the lonely island in the Pacific had reached the end at last, and by the belief that now he would be carried as rapidly as wind and sail could take him to his beloved New England again, that his mind was unsettled and he behaved in a way that pained, as much as it astonished, his companion.
Inasmuch as such was the fact, Mr. Storms hoped that it would be accepted as an explanation of the strange utterances in which he had indulged, for he believed that the cupidity of the young man had already been excited, and a most unfortunate complication threatened.
“You will excuse the excitement of my friend,” said he to Sanders, “though mine is nearly as great; but he had almost settled into the belief that we were doomed to perish in this desolate spot, and the reaction187caused by your joyous tidings is too much for him.”
“Oh, that’s all right!” was the cheery response. “I understand how that is. But, begging pardon, I believe you have another companion?”
Fred looked so earnestly at the figure of Inez Hawthorne, standing a short distance off, that his meaning could not be mistaken.
“It is I who should beg your pardon,” said Storms, in turn, beckoning to Inez to approach; “but we were so much interested in you that we forgot her for the time.”
While the girl was approaching the group, Captain Bergen turned about, and without a word, walked slowly away in the direction of the cabin, his manner showing still more clearly than ever that his mind was unbalanced––a fact which caused Storms great discomfort. Aside from his love for the good, honest man, he saw that he had already imperiled, and was likely still further to imperil, their great possessions by his rambling, and yet significant, talk.
The pearls still lay some distance away, buried in the sand in their canvas bags, and must be procured before leaving the island.
Since the captain had already awakened suspicion respecting the truth, the difficulty of getting the prizes away without detection was immeasurably increased,188while the likelihood of his making still further disclosures remained.
Storms was fearful that this sudden movement on the part of Bergen meant something of the kind, but the situation was such that he could not interfere, and all he could do during the few minutes remaining of the trying interview, was to keep a furtive watch, so far as possible, upon the movements of the captain.
“Mr. Sanders,” said the mate, “this is Inez Hawthorne––a little girl who became a companion of ours through no fault of hers or of either of us. She has been here during the three years we have spent on the island, and though she has stood it so much better than we, she is fully as anxious to get away. Inez, this is Mr. Fred Sanders, who has come to take us off.”
The handsome young fellow doffed his hat and bowed with a certain grace and deferential regard in his manner, which led Storms, who was narrowly watching him, to suspect that he was of high birth and had moved in good circles before he had made his début in this strange part of the world. Inez possessed the same charming simplicity which had distinguished her in her earlier years, though she was more reserved, as was natural with her. She extended her hand to Sanders, who gave it a gentle pressure, while he said:
“When I saw the signal fluttering up there I suspected189there were persons here who wanted help, but I never dreamed that we should find you.”
“And why not me as well as any one else?” asked Inez, with a smile. “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t have misfortune the same as other persons? If there is any such rule, I have never heard of it.”
“I know of none; but shipwreck, as a general thing––and certainly in the case of your companions––has been a great injury to them. They look emaciated and ill, and the captain is surely injured in the mind. But you––why––well, never mind.”
Fred laughed and broke down, for he really meant to say nothing that could be construed into flattery or impertinence. There was an air of goodness and refinement about the girl which compelled the respect, for the time at least, of the wild youth.
“I am so glad you have come,” said Inez, without commenting upon his last words; “for though I have been as cheerful as I could, it has been mainly on account of the captain and Mr. Storms. I saw how dejected they were, and tried to cheer them as best I could.”
“Which was very kind in you. But, thank heaven! it is all over now, and I hope we shall soon bear you away from this place, that no doubt has become so detestable in your eyes that you never want to see it again.”