When Ready arrived, he found them all plunged in such deep distress,
that he did not consider it advisable to say anything. The evening
closed in; it was time to retire. The countenance of Mr Seagrave was
not only gloomy, but morose. The hour for retiring to rest had long
passed when Ready broke the silence by saying, "Surely, you do not
intend to sit up all night, Mr Seagrave?"
"Oh, no! there's no use sitting up now," replied Mr Seagrave, rising up
impatiently. "Come, my dear, let us go to bed."
Mrs Seagrave rose, and retired behind the canvas screen. Her husband
seemed as if he was about to follow her, when Ready, without speaking,
laid the Bible on the table before him. Mr Seagrave did not appear to
notice it; but William touched his father's arm, pointed to the book,
and then went inside of the screen, and led out his mother.
"God forgive me!" exclaimed Mr Seagrave. "In my selfishness and
discontent I had forgotten--"
"Yes, sir, you had forgotten those words, `Come unto me, all ye who are
weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'"
"I am ashamed of myself," said Mrs Seagrave, bursting into tears.
Mr Seagrave opened the Bible, and read the psalm. As soon as he had
closed the book, "good night" were all the words that passed, and they
all retired to rest.
During the night, the wind howled and the rain beat down. The children
slept soundly, but Mr and Mrs Seagrave, Ready, and William were awake
during the whole of the night, listening to the storm, and occupied with
their own thoughts.
Ready was dressed before daylight, and out on the beach before the sun
had risen. The gale was at its height; and after a careful survey with
his telescope, he could see nothing of the vessel. He remained on the
beach till breakfast-time, when he was summoned by William, and returned
to the house. He found Mr and Mrs Seagrave up, and more composed than
they were the evening before; and they welcomed him warmly.
"I fear, Ready," said Mr Seagrave, "that you have no good news for us."
"No, sir; nor can you expect any good news until after the gale is over.
The vessel could not remain here during the gale--that is certain; and
there is no saying what the effects of the gale may be. She may lie to,
and not be far from us when the gale is over; or she may be obliged to
scud before the gale, and run some hundred miles from us. Then comes
the next chance. I think, by her running for the island, that she was
short of water; the question is, then, whether she may not find it
necessary to run for the port she is bound to, or water at some other
place. A captain of a vessel is bound to do his best for the owners.
At the same time I do think, that if she can with propriety come back
for us she will. The question is, first, whether she can; and,
secondly, whether the captain is a humane man, and will do so at his own
inconvenience."
"There is but poor comfort in all that," replied Mr Seagrave.
"It is useless holding out false hopes, sir," replied Ready; "but even
if the vessel continues her voyage, we have much to be thankful for."
"In what, Ready?"
"Why, sir, no one knew whether we were in existence or not, and probably
we never should have been searched for; but now we have made it known,
and by the ship's name on the flag they know who we are, and, if they
arrive safe in port, will not fail to communicate the intelligence to
your friends. Is not that a great deal to be thankful for? We may not
be taken off by this vessel, but we have every hope that another will be
sent out to us."
"Very true, Ready; I ought to have seen that before; but my despair and
disappointment were yesterday so great, that it almost took away my
reason."
The gale continued during the day, and showed no symptoms of abatement,
when they again retired for the night. The following day Ready was up
early, as usual, and William accompanied him to the beach.
"I don't think that it blows so hard as it did, Ready."
"No, William, it does not; the gale is breaking, and by night, I have no
doubt, will be over. It is, however, useless looking for the vessel, as
she must be a long way from this. It would take her a week, perhaps, to
come back to us if she was to try to do so, unless the wind should
change to the northward or westward."
"Ready! Ready!" exclaimed William, pointing to the south-east part of
the reef; "what is that? Look! it's a boat."
Ready put his telescope to his eye. "It's a canoe, William, and there
are people in it."
"Why, where can they have come from? See! they are among the breakers;
they will be lost. Let us go towards them, Ready."
They hastened along the beach to the spot nearest to where the canoe was
tossing on the surf, and watched it as it approached the shore.
"William, this canoe must have been blown off from the large island,
which lies out there;" and Ready again looked through his telescope:
"there are two people in it, and they are islanders. Poor things! they
struggle hard for their lives, and seem much exhausted; but they have
passed through the most dangerous part of the reef."
"Yes," replied William, "they will soon be in smoother water; but the
surf on the beach is very heavy."
"They won't mind that, if their strength don't fail them--they manage
the canoe beautifully."
During this conversation the canoe had rapidly come towards the land.
In a moment or two afterwards, it passed through the surf and grounded
on the beach. The two people in it had just strength enough left to
paddle through the surf, and then they dropped down in the bottom of the
canoe, quite exhausted.
"Let's drag the canoe higher up, William. Poor creatures! they are
nearly dead."
While dragging it up, Ready observed that the occupants were both women:
their faces were tattooed all over; otherwise they were young, and might
have been good-looking.
"Shall I run up and get something for them, Ready?"
"Do, William; ask Juno to give you some of whatever there is for
breakfast; anything warm."
William soon returned with some thin oatmeal porridge, which Juno had
been preparing for breakfast; and a few spoonfuls being forced down the
throats of the two natives they gradually revived. William then left
Ready, and went up to acquaint his father and mother with this
unexpected event.
William soon returned with Mr Seagrave, and as the women were now able
to sit up, they hauled up the canoe as far as they could, to prevent her
being beat to pieces. They found nothing in the canoe, except a piece
of matting and the two paddles which had been used by the natives.
"You see, sir," said Ready, "it is very clear that these two poor women,
having been left in charge of the canoe, have been blown off from the
shore of one of the islands to the south-east; they must have been
contending with the gale ever since the day before yesterday, and, as it
appears, without food or water. It's a mercy that they gained this
island."
"It is so," replied Mr Seagrave; "but to tell the truth, I am not over
pleased at their arrival. It proves what we were not sure of before,
that we have very near neighbours, who may probably pay us a very
unwelcome visit."
"That may be, sir," replied Ready; "still these two poor creatures being
thrown on shore here does not make the matter worse, or the danger
greater. Perhaps it may turn to our advantage; for if these women learn
to speak English before any other islanders visit us, they will
interpret for us, and be the means, perhaps, of saving our lives."
"Would their visit be so dangerous, then, Ready?"
"Why, sir, a savage is a savage, and, like a child, wishes to obtain
whatever he sees; especially he covets what he may turn to use, such as
iron, etcetera. If they came, and we concealed a portion, and gave up
the remainder of our goods, we might escape; but still there is no
trusting to them, and I would infinitely prefer defending ourselves
against numbers to trusting to their mercy."
"But how can we defend ourselves against a multitude?"
"We must be prepared, sir: if we can fortify ourselves, with our muskets
we would be more than a match for hundreds."
Mr Seagrave turned away. After a pause he said, "It is not very
pleasant to be now talking of defending ourselves against savages, when
we hoped two days ago to be leaving the island. Oh, that that brig
would make its appearance again!"
"The wind is going down fast, sir," observed Ready; "it will be fine
weather before the evening. We may look out for her; at all events, for
the next week I shall not give up all hopes."
"A whole week, Ready! Alas! how true it is, that hope deferred maketh
the heart sick."
"It is a severe trial, Mr Seagrave; but we must submit when we are
chastened. We had better get these poor creatures up to the house, and
let them recover themselves."
Ready then beckoned to them to get on their feet, which they both did,
although with some difficulty. He then went in advance, making a sign
for them to follow; they understood him, and made the attempt, but were
so weak, that they would have fallen if they had not been supported by
Mr Seagrave and William.
It required a long time for them to arrive at the house. Mrs Seagrave,
who knew what had happened, received them very kindly, and Juno had a
mess ready, which she put before them. They ate a little and then lay
down, and were soon sound asleep.
"It is fortunate for us that they are women," observed Mr Seagrave: "we
should have had great difficulty had they been men."
"Yes, sir," replied Ready; "but still we must not trust women too much
at first, for they are savages."
"Where shall we put them to-night, Ready?"
"Why, sir, I have been thinking about that. I wish we had a shed close
to us; but as we have not, we must let them sleep in the storehouse."
We must now pass over a space of fifteen days, in which there was
nothing done. The expectation of the vessel returning was still alive,
although each day decreased these hopes. Every morning Ready and
William were at the beach with the telescope, and the whole of the day
was passed in surmises, hopes, and fears. In fact, the appearance of
the vessel and the expectation of leaving the island had completely
overturned all the regularity and content of our island party. No other
subject was broached--not any of the work proposed was begun, as it was
useless to do anything if they were to leave the island. After the
first week had passed, they felt that every day their chances were more
adverse, and at the end of the fortnight all hopes were very unwillingly
abandoned.
The Indian women had, in the meantime, recovered their fatigues, and
appeared to be very mild and tractable. Whatever they were able to do,
they did cheerfully, and had already gained a few words of English. The
party to explore was again talked over, and arranged for the following
Monday, when a new misfortune fell on them, which disconcerted all their
arrangements.
On the Saturday morning, when Ready, as usual, went his rounds, as he
walked along the beach, he perceived that the Indian canoe was missing.
It had been hauled up clear of the water, so that it could not have
floated away. Ready's heart misgave him; he looked through his
telescope in the direction of the large island, and thought he could
distinguish a speck on the water at a great distance. As he was thus
occupied, William came down to him.
"William," said Ready, "I fear those island women have escaped in their
canoe. Run up, and see if they are in the outhouse, or anywhere else,
and let me know as soon as you can."
William in a few minutes returned, breathless, stating that the women
were not to be found, and that they had evidently carried away with them
a quantity of the large nails and other pieces of iron which were in the
small kegs in the storehouse.
"This is bad, William; this is worse than the vessel not coming back."
"Why, we can do without them, Ready."
"Yes; but when they get back to their own people, and show them the iron
they have brought with them, and describe how much more there is to be
had, depend upon it, we shall have a visit from them in numbers, that
they may obtain more. I ought to have known better than to leave the
canoe here. We must go and consult with Mr Seagrave, for the sooner we
begin to work now, the better."
They communicated the intelligence to Mr Seagrave when they were
outside. He at once perceived their danger, so they held a council, and
came to the following resolutions:--
That it would be necessary that they should immediately stockade the
storehouse, so as to render it impossible for any one to get in; and
that, as soon as the fortification was complete, the storehouse should
be turned into their dwelling-house; and such stores as could not be put
within the stockade should be removed to their present house, or
concealed in the cocoa-nut grove.
It was decided that nothing should be begun on that day, Saturday; that
Sunday should be spent in devout prayer for help and encouragement from
the Almighty, who would do towards them as his wisdom should ordain; and
that on Monday, with the blessing of God, they would recommence their
labour.
"I don't know why, but I feel more courage now that there is a prospect
of danger, than I felt when there was little or none," said Mrs
Seagrave.
"How little do we know what the day may bring forth!" exclaimed Mr
Seagrave. "How joyful were our anticipations when the vessel hoisted
her colours! we felt sure that we were to be taken off the island. The
same gale that drove the vessel away brought down to us the island
women. The fair weather after the gale, which we hoped would have
brought back the vessel to our succour, on the contrary enabled the
women to escape in the canoe, and make known our existence to those who
may come to destroy us. How true it is that man plans in vain; and that
it is only by the Almighty will and pleasure that he can obtain his
ends!"