To all of which the penitent savage merely answered with a sigh:
"Me make mistake. Kill missionary by accident. Man aoui-ouitell me Queenie England no care for Scotchman, an' me too much believe him. Now Captain tell me Queenie send gunboat for eat me up, and kill all my people. No listen any more to man aoui-oui."
And then we put off in triumph to theAlbatross. The family meeting that ensued on board when Macglashin stood once more upon a British deck with his wife and children, I won't attempt—rough sailor as I am—to describe: I don't believe even the special correspondent of a morning paper could do full justice to it. To see those two lads, too, catch their pretty little sister once more in their arms, and cover her with kisses, while she clung to their necks and cried and laughed alternately, was a sight to do a man's heart good for anothertwelvemonth. And as we sat that same evening round the cabin-table (where our Malay cook had performed wonders of culinary art for the occasion), and drank healths all round to everybody concerned in this remarkable rescue, the toast that was received with the profoundest acclamations from every soul on board, was that of the two brave boys whose courage and skill had guided us at last, as if by a miracle, to the recovery of all that was nearest and dearest to them.
Indeed, if Martin and Jack don't get the Victoria Cross when we return to England, I shall have even a lower opinion than ever before of her Majesty's confidential political advisers of all creeds or parties.
Transcriber Notes:Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of the speakers. Those words were retained as-is.The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate. Thus the page number of the illustration might not match the page number in the List of Illustrations, and the order of illustrations may not be the same in the List of Illustrations and in the book.Errors in punctuation and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected unless otherwise noted.On page 32, "to" was replaced with "too".On page 35, "aud" was replaced with "and".On page 39, "inportance" was replaced with "importance".On page 82, "reparing" was replaced with "repairing".On page 97, "Macglasin's" was replaced with "Macglashin's".
Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of the speakers. Those words were retained as-is.
The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate. Thus the page number of the illustration might not match the page number in the List of Illustrations, and the order of illustrations may not be the same in the List of Illustrations and in the book.
Errors in punctuation and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected unless otherwise noted.
On page 32, "to" was replaced with "too".
On page 35, "aud" was replaced with "and".
On page 39, "inportance" was replaced with "importance".
On page 82, "reparing" was replaced with "repairing".
On page 97, "Macglasin's" was replaced with "Macglashin's".