"The finder of this document is earnestly requested to communicate its
contents to Lloyds, the British Admiralty, the leading London
newspapers, and Sir Ernest Trevor, K.C.M.G., Judge of Her Majesty's
Supreme Court, Bombay.
"On the--day of --, in the year 18--, the ship _Golden Fleece_, Captain
Rainhill, sailed from London for Melbourne, having on board, among other
passengers, Miss Flora Trevor, daughter of the above-named Sir Ernest
Trevor, and Mr Richard Leslie.
"On the night of the--day of --, in the same year, the ship's reckoning
at noon on that day being Latitude 32 degrees 10 minutes North and
Longitude 26 degrees 55 minutes West, the _Golden Fleece_ was run into
and sunk by an unknown steamer during a dense fog. The only known
survivors of the wreck consisted of the above-named Flora Trevor,
Richard Leslie, and a seaman named George Baker, belonging to the ship.
These three persons were picked up and rescued on the following day by
the brig _Mermaid_ of London, James Potter, master, which sailed from
the last-named port on the --th day of --, bound for Valparaiso.
"On the date of the rescue of the three above-named persons by the brig,
Captain Potter met with an accident, from which he died on the --th day
of --; and the mate, Thomas Purchas, succeeded to the command of the
vessel. Then Purchas gave way to drink, and on the night of the --th
day of -- committed suicide by jumping overboard. Thereupon Mr Richard
Leslie, who had at one time been an officer in the British navy, assumed
command of the brig, with the intention of navigating her to Valparaiso.
During the passage of Cape Horn, however, the _Mermaid_ encountered
contrary winds and very heavy weather, in which she was dismasted, with
the loss of three of her crew. The brig was then put under jury rig, so
far as the resources of the vessel permitted; but it was not of a
sufficiently efficient character to permit of her being worked to
windward, and a persistent succession of contrary winds drove her deep
into the heart of the Pacific Ocean, where, during a gale that sprang up
on the night of the --th of --, she was driven ashore, and became a
total wreck on the outlying reef of an unknown island, not marked on the
charts, but situate in Latitude 16 degrees 8 minutes South, Longitude
120 degrees 56 minutes West. During this gale the _Mermaid_ was again
dismasted, and Mr Leslie, who was at the wheel, was knocked down and
injured on the head by the falling wreckage, in consequence of which he
was conveyed below, where Miss Trevor remained in attendance upon him.
He lay insensible for nearly thirty-six hours; and it was during this
time that the brig struck on and was driven nearly the entire width of
the reef, where she now lies. The only survivors of this disaster are
Miss Trevor and Mr Leslie, who undoubtedly owe their lives to the fact
that they were below when the brig struck. It is urgently requested
that help be sent to them as quickly as possible, as the island upon
which they have been wrecked lies quite out of the usual track of
shipping, and their prospects of rescue by a passing vessel are
consequently small.
"(Signed) Flora Trevor. Richard Leslie.
"Dated this--day of --, 18--."
"There," exclaimed Leslie, as he read over the completed document, "that
ought to bring us help if the bottle happens to be picked up. But we
must not count upon it, for it may drift about for years before it is
found. However, we will do what we can to attract attention to it. A
mere floating bottle is a very inconspicuous object, and may be passed
within a hundred feet without being noticed; but I will pack it in a
good big packing-case before sending it adrift. A floating case,
especially if conspicuously marked, stands a hundred times as good a
chance of being picked up as does a mere bottle."
Accordingly, on the following day, the bottle, with the document
hermetically sealed within it, was taken on board the brig and carefully
packed away in the centre of a large packing-case filled with fine
shavings from other cases; and then the entire exterior of the case was
painted black and white in a bold chequer pattern, with the words
"Please open" in bold red letters on each side, and as soon as the paint
was dry Leslie put it on board the catamaran, and, running some three
miles to leeward of the island, launched it overboard. The case, being
light, floated high, and, with its bold chequer pattern, formed a
conspicuous object, calculated to attract attention at any distance not
exceeding a mile. Then he returned to the brig, and, with Flora's
assistance, resumed his task of breaking out cargo.
There is no need to state in detail the contents of each case and bale
that they hoisted on deck; suffice it to say that the cargo, being what
is known as "general," comprised almost every imaginable thing, much of
it being of a character that would either conduce to their present
comfort or be possibly useful to them in the future. Only a small
proportion of the whole, therefore, went overboard; and since the
remainder would in any case be irretrievably lost to its proper owners,
Leslie had no scruples whatever in appropriating it to their own use.
The goods thus appropriated comprised an infinite variety of articles,
among which may be enumerated enough lamps to illuminate a small
village; a few pictures, with which they adorned the interior of their
tent; household furniture of all kinds, such as bedsteads, with their
bedding, wardrobes, dressing and other tables, chests of drawers,
domestic utensils of every kind, cutlery, china and glass, carpets, a
huge pier glass, and, to Flora's infinite delight, a magnificent Kaps
grand piano. Then there was more clothing--enough to last them both for
the remainder of their lives--a case of repeating rifles and revolvers,
another case containing ammunition for the same, and a quantity of
valuable jewellery, watches, etcetera, cases of perfumery, handsome
fans, bric-a-brac--in short, a sufficiency of everything to enable them
to convert their humble tent into a most comfortable, elegant, and
luxurious abode.
This, however, was not all, or even their most valuable find. There
were cases containing picks, shovels, and other implements, some steel
wheelbarrows, a case containing a large assortment of carpenters' and
joiners' tools, cases of assorted nails and screws, and a very long
packing-case, which, upon being opened, was found to contain a handsome
and highly finished set of spars, evidently intended for a yacht of
about fifteen tons measurement. Close to this was found another case,
bearing the same marks as the first, and containing two complete sets of
cotton canvas sails, clearly intended for the same craft. These
valuable finds not only filled Leslie's heart with immeasurable delight,
but set him eagerly searching for further cases, similarly marked. Nor
was he disappointed, for the next day's search resulted in his finding a
third case, the contents of which consisted of a complete set of
gun-metal belaying-pins and other fittings, together with a number of
patent blocks, single, double, and threefold, that he had no difficulty
in identifying as intended for the same craft.
"Little woman," he exclaimed, "this find is worth more than all the rest
of them put together. These spars and sails will save me months of
work, and shorten our term of imprisonment here by just that much. They
are intended for a craft of about the size that I had in my mind, and
now, of course, I shall design her of exactly such dimensions as they
will fit. Are you not glad?"
"Of course I am, Dick," she replied; "I am glad of anything that will
ease your work for you, for indeed you have been making a perfect slave
of yourself ever since we landed here. The discovery of these things
has, I suppose, relieved your mind of a great deal of anxiety; and I
hope that now you will be able to take matters more easily."
"I am afraid," said Dick, "there still remains a great deal to be done
before I can think of `taking matters easily.' I must complete my
examination of this cargo, for one thing; and when that is done I must
begin to pull the poor old brig herself to pieces for the sake of her
timber, that being the only material available out of which to build our
boat."
"But surely there is no such very urgent need for hurry over all this
work, is there, Dick?" remonstrated Flora.
"Oh yes, there is," insisted Dick; "for the reason that, if another gale
were to spring up, the brig would most probably go to pieces, and then
everything in her would be lost, excepting, of course, such matters as
might be washed ashore. And the timber of which she is built would be
more or less smashed up and generally made less fit for use than it will
be if I am afforded time to break her up carefully."
"I see," assented Flora, thoughtfully. "In that case I suppose we had
better go to work again, hadn't we?"
So they resumed operations; Dick descending into the hold and slinging
the cases, one by one, and then coming on deck and taking the tackle
fall to the winch, and heaving the package on deck while Flora hung on
to the tail-end of the rope to prevent it slipping round the winch
barrel. It was easy work for the girl, and such as she could do without
becoming greatly fatigued; but for the man it was hard labour indeed,
and such as sent him back to the island at night almost too weary to
eat.
But a day or two later he met with a find that more than rewarded him
for all his toil, and rendered a further continuance of it unnecessary.
Among the first cases that he came upon was a long and heavy one, marked
like those containing the spars and sails, that, upon being opened, was
found to contain copper sheathing, already cut to shape and carefully
marked. There was also, in the same case, a small, light, flat box,
containing two drawings to scale; one being a sheer, half-deck, and body
plan of a very smart, handsome, and wholesome-looking cutter,
thirty-five feet long on the water-line, and ten feet beam; while the
other was a drawing similarly marked to the copper sheathing, showing
exactly where and how every sheet ought to be applied. Near this case
was another, similarly marked, a very large case as to length and
breadth, but of no great depth. Wondering what this could possibly
contain, Leslie eagerly opened it and found in it the complete set of
steel frames for the cutter, packed one inside the other, and each
marked and figured in accordance with the sheet of plans. And finally,
not to dwell at undue length upon this discovery, important though it
was, he also found the keel, stem and stern-posts, rudder and trunk,
deck-beams, wales, stringers, skin and deck-planking--in short, every
scrap and item of material and fittings required for the little vessel;
so that nothing remained but to put the whole together. A more
fortunate find could by no possibility be conceived for two people
circumstanced as he and his companion were.
It goes without saying that the whole of this valuable material was most
carefully and promptly transferred to the beach; and as the last item of
it was unloaded from the catamaran Leslie flung himself down upon the
sand and exclaimed, in accents of infinite relief--
"There, that is a good job well done; and I care not now though the old
hooker should go to pieces to-morrow!"
"And now," returned Flora, "you will be able to give yourself a little
holiday, and take some much-needed rest, will you not? Promise me that
you will, Dick, please. You have been looking very anxious and worried
of late, and have been toiling the whole day through, day after day, in
the hot sun. I am sure such arduous work is not good for you; and
indeed I have more than once been tempted to refuse to help you, because
I knew that, if I did, you would be compelled to desist. But when I saw
how eager you were I thought it would be cruel; and I could not bring
myself to be that, even though I felt that it would be for your good."
"You have been infinitely good to me, Flora," answered Leslie, with deep
feeling--"infinitely good, and infinitely patient; while I have been
impatient and exacting. In my impatience--I can see it now--I have
worked you cruelly hard--"
The girl put her hand over his mouth. "You shall not say another word
until you talk sensibly," she declared. "The idea of saying that you
`worked me hard'! Why, what _I_ did was child's play; a girl of fifteen
could have done it without being distressed. Please do not let me hear
you say such things again!" she insisted, imperiously; immediately
adding, "Now, you will promise to take a day's rest to-morrow, will you
not, Dick?"
"Certainly, if you wish it," assented Leslie. "We will both take a
day's holiday, and go fishing along the inner edge of the reef, shall
we?"
"By all means," agreed Flora. "I have often thought that I should like
a little fish, as a change of diet; I am getting most horribly tired of
salt beef and pork and tinned meats. But you have been so feverishly
busy that I did not like to ask you."
"Then," said Leslie, with severity, "please do not do it again. How
many times must I tell you that you have only to express a wish, to have
it gratified, if I can do it, before you will believe me?"
"I do believe you, Dick; indeed I do," she answered softly. "I know
that there is nothing I could ask you that you would not willingly and
gladly do for me if you could. You are the kindest, most generous, most
chivalrous gentleman that I ever met--"
"Stop, please!" exclaimed Leslie, with a sudden fierceness of energy
that frightened the girl; "you must not say such things as that, or I
shall some day forget myself and--But you have not yet heard my story; I
must tell it you some day, Flora; yes, the time is drawing near when it
will be imperatively necessary for me to tell you my story. Then we
shall see what your opinion of me will be."
"So you really have a history?" remarked the girl. "The people on board
the _Golden Fleece_ suspected as much, and freely said so; and as I have
watched you from time to time, and have observed your sudden fits of
melancholy, I have often thought that they must have been right in their
surmise. Yes; you shall tell me your story, Dick; I shall be profoundly
interested in it, I am certain; and if it is a sad one--as I more than
half suspect--you shall have my whole-hearted sympathy. But, whatever
you may have to tell me, it will never alter my opinion of you; you may
have met with misfortune, or suffered grievous wrong, but nothing will
ever persuade me that such a man as you have shown yourself to be can
ever have done anything of which you or your friends need be ashamed.
Tell it me now, Dick, if you will."
"No," answered Leslie, resolutely, though he longed for her promised
sympathy more intensely than he had ever longed for anything else in his
life; "no; I will not tell you now; the time is not yet ripe. But it
will be ere long; and then I will tell you."
"So be it," agreed Flora. "Until then I can wait. And now let us go to
dinner, for I see by the appearance of the cooking-stove that it is
ready, and I am sure you must need it."
On the following morning, in accordance with their over-night
arrangement, they got on board the catamaran after breakfast and,
sailing out to the reef, anchored on its inner edge, and started to
fish. They appeared, however, to have chanced upon an unfavourable spot
to start with, for after about half an hour their efforts were rewarded
by the capture of only four fish, so small as to be quite worthless,
except for bait; Leslie therefore tripped his anchor and, setting his
canvas, determined to try his luck somewhat further to the
north-eastward, and nearer the entrance channel.
They had been under way some ten minutes, slipping along over the very
inner edge of the reef, with the deep-water of the lagoon on their port
hand, when Flora, who was peering abstractedly down into this deep,
pellucid water, suddenly cried out--
"Oh, look, Dick, look; what is that huge object over there? Is it
another wreck?"
"Where away?" asked Leslie, gazing out over the reef.
"Down there in the water," answered the girl, pointing to a spot over
the port quarter. "I cannot see it now, because of the light on the
water; but I saw it most distinctly a moment ago. We sailed almost
directly over it."
"And you thought it looked like a sunken wreck?" asked Leslie.
"Yes," answered the girl; "I certainly did. It was as large as a ship,
and had somewhat the appearance of one."
"Well, we will go back and have a look at it," said Leslie; and, bearing
up for a moment and then putting his helm down, he tacked, bringing the
catamaran round in such a manner as to pass back over practically the
same ground as before. And presently they both sighted the same object
again--a huge something that certainly bore some resemblance to the hull
of a ship, lying submerged upon the sandy bottom of the lagoon, about
fifty fathoms from the inner edge of the reef. They were too far away
from it, however, to distinguish it clearly, the light reflected from
the surface of the water rendering their view of it indistinct; Leslie
therefore this time wore the catamaran round, and, lowering her sails,
allowed her to drift gently forward with the way that she still had on
her. And this time they passed right over the object, when, as soon as
the catamaran was fairly clear of it, he let go his anchor and allowed
his craft to drive astern again until she floated fair and square over
the mysterious thing. Then, lying down flat upon the deck of the
catamaran, he peered straight down into the crystal-clear water, in the
shadow of the craft, and saw beneath him what was unquestionably the
weed-grown hull of a ship of antiquated model, of some four hundred tons
measurement. She was heading straight for the reef, with her stern
pointing toward the island. And as Leslie lay there intently studying
her every detail, he presently made out a stout rope cable leading from
her starboard hawse-pipe toward the reef, the end of it being buried in
the sand. Her posture was such as to suggest to the experienced eye of
the sailor that she had driven over the reef, somewhat in the same way
as the _Mermaid_ had done; but, unlike the latter craft, had cleared it
altogether and had there been brought to an anchor, subsequently sinking
where she lay. She seemed to have been a three-masted ship, for Leslie
could see the stumps of the fore and main masts, and believed he could
make out the stump of the mizzenmast broken close off at the deck. She
had the appearance of a craft of somewhere about the Elizabethan period;
being built with an excessive amount of sheer and a very high-peaked
narrow poop, upon the after end of which the remains of what were
probably three poop-lanterns could still be distinguished. She had a
slight list to starboard, and had, in the course of her long
submergence, either settled or become buried in the sand to the extent
of about half the depth of her hull. What her nationality may have been
it was of course impossible to tell, clothed as she was in a rankly
luxuriant growth of weed. Leslie carefully noted in his pocket-book the
exact bearings of the wreck; and then, lifting his anchor, they resumed
their fishing, their efforts being rewarded with an excellent day's
sport.
Leslie now set to work with earnestness and enthusiasm upon his great
task of putting together the cutter, the component parts of which had so
fortunately happened to form a part of the _Mermaid's_ cargo. And the
first thing he did was to name the prospective craft the _Flora_, as a
compliment to his companion.
Now, the _Flora_, when completed, would be a craft of very respectable
dimensions; far too bulky, indeed, to be launched by the simple process
of pushing her off the beach into the water, as one would launch a small
boat. The method of launching, therefore, was a matter requiring
consideration, and would have to be arranged for before a stroke of work
was done upon the boat herself. Leslie thought the matter over
carefully, and at length arrived at the conclusion that there was
nothing for it but to build the boat upon properly constructed launching
ways. And for these he would require a considerable quantity of good
stout timber properly squared; the provision of which involved a task of
very considerable labour and difficulty. Trees there were in plenty on
the island, of ample dimensions for his purpose; but how was he,
single-handed, to get them down upon the beach, even after they had been
trimmed and squared? And how was he to square them without a sawpit.
The pit-saw itself he had, having found several among the other tools
that formed part of the brig's cargo; but to work such a tool
single-handed was an impossibility. Weighing all these difficulties in
his mind, Dick at length came to the conclusion that there was no
alternative but to draw upon the brig for the necessary material; and he
accordingly went, rather reluctantly, to work upon the task of breaking
up the poor old _Mermaid_. He decided that the deck-beams of the brig
would be the most suitable for his purpose; and to obtain these it was
necessary to break up the deck--a long and arduous job, only to be
accomplished with hard labour and the assistance of an elaborate system
of tackles.
It was while he was thus employed that the first break occurred in the
fine weather that had prevailed ever since their arrival at the island.
It began with the gradual dying away of the trade wind, followed by a
heavy banking-up of dark thundery-looking clouds along the western
horizon. With the cessation of the wind the temperature rose to such a
pitch that work became an impossibility, and Dick was at length
reluctantly compelled to knock-off and return to the shore, much to
Flora's satisfaction--for she was continually in dread lest the untiring
and feverish energy with which he laboured should result in his
suffering a serious breakdown.
As it was too hot even to walk about, the pair were perforce compelled
to remain inactive all the afternoon; and Flora inwardly decided that
this would be a good opportunity for Dick to relate to her his promised
story. It needed a very considerable amount of persuasion and coaxing
to induce him to do so; but eventually he yielded and told her the whole
miserable history from beginning to end, winding up with the words--
"And thus you find me here to-day, a disgraced and ruined man, under an
assumed name, without prospects or hope of any description, with only a
hundred pounds wherewith to begin a new career in an alien land, and no
possibility whatever, so far as I can see, of ever being able to
establish my innocence and so win reconciliation with my poor, proud,
heart-broken father. Were it not for the fact that you are here, and
must be restored to your friends with as little delay as may be, I could
be well content to end my days here on this unknown island, alone and
forgotten by all. Indeed, I think it more than likely that as soon as I
have discharged my duty to you I shall return here."
"My poor Dick," exclaimed Flora, in tones of profound sympathy; "how you
must have suffered! I am no longer surprised at your frequent fits of
depression and melancholy; the wonder to me is that you did not go mad,
or die of shame, in that horrible prison. But now that you have told me
all you must put everything that is past behind you, and try to forget
it; _I_ believe your story implicitly; you could not be the man you have
proved yourself to be to me, and be guilty of so mean an act as theft;
oh no, nothing save your own admission could ever make me believe that
of you. And you have all the sympathy of my heart, Dick; all my
sympathy; all my esteem; all--oh, the thought of what you have been
compelled to endure is terrible--terrible!"
And, to Leslie's unspeakable consternation, the girl suddenly buried her
face in her hands and sobbed as though her heart would break. The
expression of her whole-hearted sympathy and perfect faith in him
touched him profoundly.
"Don't cry, darling, please don't; I cannot bear it--and I am not worth
it," he protested. "I ought never to have told you. I was a selfish
brute to extort your sympathy by the miserable recital of my own
misfortunes; I have basely worked upon your feelings."
"You shall _not_ say it," she answered, laying her hand upon his mouth;
"I will not have you abuse yourself, you who have already suffered such
unspeakable cruelty at the hands of others. You are _not_ selfish; you
are _not_ base; you are nothing that is bad and everything that is good;
you are a very king among men! Oh, Dick," she continued, taking his
hand in hers, "do not think me forward or unmaidenly in speaking thus to
you, dear; I am not. But do you think I do not know what your feeling
is toward me; do you think I do not _know_ that you love me? You poor,
simple-hearted fellow, you are far too honest and straightforward ever
to be able to deceive a woman, especially in such a matter as that; you
may have thought that you were very successfully concealing your
feelings from me, but I have known the truth--oh, ever since we have
been on this island."
"It is true; God help me, it is true!" exclaimed Dick, smiting his
forehead. "But it is also true that I never intended you to know. For
what right have I, a disgraced and ruined man, to seek the love of any
woman? And if I may not seek her love in return, why should I tell her
that I love her?"
"You are looking at the matter with jaundiced eyes, Dick," answered
Flora, still retaining his hand in hers. "I cannot wonder that you feel
your humiliation cruelly; but the humiliation is really not yours; it is
that of those who so shamefully plotted to ruin you. You are guiltless
of this horrible charge--I am as sure of that as I am that I am a living
woman. Besides, who is to know that Richard Leslie is one and the same
man with him who stood in the dock charged with that shameful crime, and
was pronounced guilty upon the strength of cunningly devised and
manufactured evidence? No one, of course, except my father; he must
know; because, Dick dear, it is my fixed determination that he shall
help you in this matter; you will accompany me to Bombay, and personally
deliver me over into my father's care. Then I shall tell him all that
you have done for me, and been to me; and you will tell him your whole
story, just as you have told it to me. And I am sure that, if only for
the sake of his daughter, he will take up the matter and bring the truth
to light. And, Dick, I am not going to allow your morbid feelings, or
even maidenly reserve, to stand in the way of my happiness; you have
confessed that you love me, and I know it to be true, for your eyes and
your actions have told me so daily, for months past. It cannot be
unmaidenly, therefore, in me to confess that I return your love with all
my heart and soul."
"Oh, Flora, my love, my heart's darling, are you _sure_ of this?"
demanded Dick, laying his hands upon her shoulders and gazing into her
eyes as though he would read her very soul. "Are you sure that you are
not mistaking mere gratitude for a warmer feeling?"
"Yes, Dick," she answered, "I am quite, _quite_ sure. My gratitude you
won long ago; it was yours when we first stood on the deck of the
_Mermaid_ together, dripping from our long night's immersion in the
sea--for had you not, even then, saved my life? And it grew even deeper
as I noted day by day your thoughtful care and anxiety for my welfare.
But gratitude and love are two very different feelings; and while I
should of course have always been profoundly grateful to you for your
unceasing care, I am sure that I should never have learned to love you
had I not first seen that you loved me."
"Then God be praised for His unspeakable mercy in bestowing upon me this
pricelessly precious gift of your dear love!" exclaimed Dick, fervently.
"I will accept it, ay and I will moreover prove myself worthy of it.
This blessed day marks a turning-point in my life; from this moment I
leave my wretched past behind me; there shall be no more useless
fretting and grieving for me. My work, now, is first to restore you to
your father; next to free myself--by his help, if he will give it me,
but anyway, to free myself--from the undeserved stigma that attaches to
my true name; and, finally, to win for you such a home and position as
you deserve. And, God helping me, I will do it!"
This was the second time within a few minutes that Dick Leslie had
spoken the name of the Deity, and nothing could more clearly have
indicated the change wrought in him by the knowledge of Flora's love.
Hitherto he had felt himself to be an outcast, cruelly and unjustly
deserted by his Creator; despised and condemned by his fellow-men; but
now everything was different; he firmly believed that God had at last
relented and had given him this girl's love to comfort and encourage him
in his great trouble and humiliation; and he once more took hope into
his heart. If God had relented, everything, he felt convinced, would
yet be well with him.
And what is to be said of Flora; is any excuse needed for the extreme
step that she took in forcing a confession of love from Leslie? Well,
possibly there is; it may be that there are people who would assert
that, despite her disclaimer, she was unmaidenly. If such there be, and
if excuse for her be needed, then let it be found for her in the
following facts. In the first place Leslie, despite his utmost caution,
had betrayed his intense love for her in a thousand different ways,
until the fact had become clear, unmistakable, and indisputable; a thing
not to be doubted or gainsaid. And, in the next place, she saw that,
for some unknown reason, he never intended to declare his love if he
could possibly help it. A dozen times the declaration had trembled on
his lips, yet he had resolutely withheld it. Why? Clearly for some
reason that he deemed all-sufficient, and which, she fancied, must be
intimately associated with those oft-recurring fits of gloom and
depression from which she could not help seeing that he suffered.
Finally, she loved him, and believed that--he also loving her--the
knowledge of this fact might go far toward restoring his lost happiness.
And when she had heard his story--told with all the bitterness and
grief and indignation that had been eating into his soul and destroying
his faith in God and man for over seven interminable years of
suffering--she knew that she was right; that there was but one remedy
for his misery; and, conscious of the nobility of her own motives, she
fearlessly administered it. Who can or will blame her?
Meanwhile the brooding storm was slowly gathering its forces together
for an outburst; the bank of cloud had piled itself so high above the
western horizon that it had long ago obscured the sun; a weird twilight
had fallen upon the scene; the stagnant air had grown even more
oppressively hot than at first; not a bird uttered a single note; not an
insect raised a chirp; not a leaf stirred; and in the profound silence
the roar of the surf on the reef became thunderous in its resonance.
They dined somewhat earlier than usual that night, and while they sat
over their meal the darkness fell and they lighted the lamps. Then
Leslie went out to see to the security of the catamaran, making her fast
to the shore with additional moorings; and upon his return Flora
insisted that he should lie down on the sofa while she sang and played
to him. Then Leslie, in his turn, his heart lightened with returning
hope and happiness, lifted up his voice, and for the first time since
that terrible and memorable day, nearly eight years ago, broke into
song. And finally they began to sing duets together, his clear, rich,
mellow tenor blending well with Flora's sweet, sympathetic soprano.
The concert was interrupted by the distant muttering of thunder and the
fitful flickering of lightning; and they went out together down to the
shore to watch the gathering storm. It was a long time in coming, but
by-and-by, as they stood together close to the water's edge, a sudden
swishing sound, like that of wind stirring leaves, became audible, and
in another moment the blast was upon them and tearing across the glassy
surface of the lagoon, darkening its surface and lashing it into foam.
Then, a minute or two later, down came the rain in sheets, and they had
to beat a precipitate retreat to the tent, getting a thorough drenching
on the journey, though it occupied them but a minute. The gale raged
all through the night and up to nearly noon on the following day, when
it broke, the sky cleared, and the wind gradually dropped to a moderate
breeze, veering all the time round by north to east until the south-east
trade wind was once more blowing, but very much more gently than usual.
Upon going out, the next day, Leslie was delighted to find that the gale
had done no damage whatever anywhere, all stores and materials having
been effectually protected from the rain, while the direction of the
gale had been such that it could not possibly harm the brig.
Although the gale actually broke--as has been said--shortly before noon,
it moderated so gradually throughout the afternoon that it was not until
the next day that the sea had gone down sufficiently to permit of the
catamaran being taken alongside the brig without danger. As soon,
however, as this was the case, Leslie went off again, accompanied by
Flora, and resumed his task of breaking up the brig's deck. It was
about the middle of the afternoon when Flora, who had been allowing her
gaze to wander out over the sea to the southward and westward, called
her companion's attention to a small object floating at a distance of
about a mile in the offing. Leslie, ever on the alert, at once brought
the telescope to bear upon the object, which appeared to be drifting
helplessly before wind and sea toward the surf beating on the weather
side of the reef, and immediately pronounced it to be a small canoe,
apparently empty.
"We must have that craft; she will be very useful to us," he exclaimed,
dropping the telescope and preparing to cast off the catamaran. "Will
you come with me, sweetheart? You can be useful to me by taking the
tiller, when we come alongside her, while I jump aboard and make fast a
rope. But we must be smart or she will be among the breakers before we
can reach her."
A minute later they were under way and slipping along toward the
entrance channel, upon clearing which Leslie at once hauled his wind,
standing to the eastward for about a mile, which took him far enough to
windward to enable him to fetch the canoe on the next tack. He then
hove about without a moment's delay, for the little craft was by this
time perilously close to the surf, and it was questionable whether they
would reach her in time to save her from being caught and dashed to
pieces in it. So close, indeed, was she that Leslie began to seriously
ask himself whether he was justified in taking the catamaran into a
situation of such danger for the mere sake of an insignificant canoe;
but reflecting that she was evidently light enough to enable Flora to
paddle about in her without much exertion, and that it would afford the
girl pleasure to do so; also that the little craft would be very useful
for fishing and other purposes, he decided to risk it; and accordingly
steered to shave just past her to windward. Then, when they were
drawing close up to her, he handed over the tiller to Flora--who was by
this time quite an expert helmswoman--instructing her to tack to the
eastward the moment that he sprang into the canoe. Then, taking the end
of a rope in his hand, he stood by to jump into the canoe as the
catamaran shaved past her. Another moment and they were alongside the
little craft, into which Dick nimbly leaped, with the rope's-end in his
hand, crying, as he did so--
"Down helm, dear, and put her round!" A moment later he added, under
his breath, "Hillo! here is a complication; a couple of naked savages in
her! I wonder whether the beggars are dead!"
That, however, was not the moment in which to enter upon an
investigation of the matter, for the two craft were on the very edge of
the surf, and if by any chance the catamaran should miss stays nothing
could save them. So Dick, with lightning-like rapidity, took a turn
with his rope and made it fast to a sort of broad thwart in the centre
of the canoe, and then, hauling quickly up alongside again, he regained
the deck of the catamaran just as she was paying-off on the right tack.