A QUARTERDECK DREAM.

"Once a sailor, gentlemen," began Halcott, as he filled his pipe, gazing

thoughtfully over the sea, "always a sailor.

"That's a truism, I believe. Why, the very sight of the waves out

yonder, with the evening sunlight dancing and playing on their surface,

makes me even at this moment long to tread the deck again.

"And there are, perhaps, few seafarers who have more inducements to stay

at home than I, Charlie Halcott, have.

"I have a beautiful house of my own, and some day soon, I hope, you will

both come and see it, and judge for yourselves.

"My house has a tower to it. Many a night, while walking the

quarterdeck keeping my watch, with no companions save the silver-shining

stars, I have said to myself--`Charlie Halcott,' I have said, `if ever

you leave off ploughing the ocean wave, and settle down on shore, you

must have a house with a tower to it.'

"And now I've got it.

"A large, square, old-fashioned tower it is, with a mullioned window on

each side of it; and up the walls the dense green ivy climbs, with just

enough Virginia creeper to cast a glamour of crimson over it in autumn,

like the last red rays of the setting sun.

"One window looks up the valley of the Thames, where not far off is a

little Niagara, a snow-white weir: I can hear the drowsy monotone of its

foaming waters by night and by day, and its song is ever the same.

Another window looks away down the valley, and the river here goes

winding in and out among the meadows and the green and daisied leas,

till, finally, it takes the appearance of a silver string, and loses

itself, or is lost to me, amidst the distant trees. A third window,

from which I dearly like to look early on a summer's morning, while the

blackbirds are yet in fullest, softest song, shows an English landscape

that to me is the sweetest of the sweet. As far as eye can reach, till

bounded by the grey horizon's haze, are woods and wilds and meadows

green, with the red gables or the roofs of many a stately farm peeping

up through the rolling cloudland of foliage; and many a streamlet too,

seen here and there in the sunbeams, as it goes speeding on towards the

silent river.

"But though this house of mine has a tower to it, it is not a castle by

any means, apart from the fact that every Englishman's house is his

castle. I have a tower, but no donjon keep. My castle is a villa--`a

handsome modern-built villa,' the agent described it when I commenced

correspondence with a view to its purchase. It is indeed a beautiful

villa, and it is situated high up on the brow of a hill, all among the

dreamy woods.

"Though I have been but a short spell on shore, my town friends already

call me the `Sailor hermit,' because I stick to my castle and its woods

and gardens. Not for a single day can they prevail upon me to exchange

it for the bustle and din of hideous London. But I retaliated on my

city friends by bringing them down to my `castle' in spring time, when

the early flowers were opening their petals in the warm sunshine, and

the very tulips seemed panting in the heat, and when there was such a

gush of bird-melody coming from grove and copse and hedgerow that every

leaf seemed to hide a feathered songster. And I rejoiced to see those

friends of mine struck dumb by the wealth of beauty they beheld around

them. For Philomel was making day melodious with a strange, unearthly

music.

"All through the darkness the bird sang to his mate, and all through the

day as well. No bolder birds than our nightingales live. They sing at

our side, at our feet; they sing as they fly, sing as they alight, sing

_to_ us, ay and _at_ us defiantly. No wonder we all love this sweet

bird, this sweet spirit of the spring.

"So my quarterdeck dream has become a dear reality.

"Strange to say, it is always at night that I think most of the ocean.

And on nights of storm--then it is that I lie awake listening to the

wind roaring through the stately elms, with a sound like the sough of

gale-tossed waves. It is then I long to tread once more the deck of my

own bonnie barque, and feel her move beneath me like a veritable thing

of life and reason. My house with the ivied tower is well away among

the midlands; and yet on nights of tempest, sea-birds--the gull, and the

tern, and the light-winged kittywake--often fly around the house and the

trees. I can hear their voices rising shrill and high above the roar of

the wind.

"`Kaye--kay--ay--ay,' they scream. `Come away--come away--ay,' they

seem to cry. `Why have you left us? why have you left the seas? We

miss you. Come away--come away--ay--ay.'

"Never into my quarterdeck dreams, gentlemen, had there come, strange to

say, a companion fair of womankind. My house with the tower to it

should be just as it is to-day, just what--following out my dreams--I

have made it. Its gardens all should bloom surpassing fair, my woods

and trees be green; the rose lawns should look like velvet; my ribboned

flower-beds like curves of coloured light; the nightingales in spring

should bathe in the spray of my fountains,--there should be joy and

loveliness and bird-song everywhere, but a wife?--well, I had somehow

never dreamt of that. If any of the officers--for I was captain and

part owner of the good barque _Sea Flower_--had been bold enough to

suggest such a thing--I mean such a _person_, I should have laughed at

him where he stood. `Who,' I should have said, `would many a simple

sailor like me, over thirty, brown-red in face, and hard in hands. Who

indeed?'

"But into my quarterdeck dreams companions had come. Should I not have

jolly farmers and solid-looking red-faced squires to dine with me, and

to smoke with me out of doors in the cool of midsummer evenings, or in

the cosy red parlour around the fire in the long forenights of winter,

and listen to my yarns of the dark blue sea, or talk to me of the

delights of rural life? Well, it was a pretty dream, it must be

admitted.

"But it never struck me then, as it does now, that all the joys of life

are tame indeed, unless shared by some one you love more than all things

bright and fair.

"A pretty dream--and a beautiful dream. A piece of ice itself is

beautiful at times; but perhaps, as we stand and admire it, the sunshine

may steal down and melt it. Then we find that we love the sunshine even

more than we loved the ice.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It is not every sailor who has the luck to be captain, or, to speak

more correctly, master, of so fine a sailing craft as the _Sea Flower_,

at the age of twenty-six. But such had been my fortune; and I had

sailed the seas in her for six long years, and, with the exception of

the few accidents inseparable from a life at sea, I had never had a

serious mishap. Many a wild gale had we weathered in her, my mate and

I; many a dark and tempestuous night had we staggered along under bare

poles; more than once had we sprung a leak, and twice had we been on

fire.

"But all ended well, and during our brief spells on shore, either in

England or in some foreign port, though James and I always managed to

enjoy ourselves in our own quiet way, yet neither he nor I was sorry

when we got back home again to our bonnie barque, and were once more

afloat on the heaving sea.

"James was perhaps more of a sailor than I. Well, he was some years my

senior, and he was browner and harder by far, and every inch a man. And

though a very shy one, as far as female society is concerned, he was a

very bold one nevertheless. But for his courageous example on the night

of our last fire, the _Sea Flower_ would have helped to swell the list

of those ships that go to sea and are heard of no more.

"When we were taken aback in a white squall in the Indian Ocean, and it

verily seemed that we had but a few minutes to float, James was here,

there, and everywhere, his manly voice, calm and collected, ringing high

above the roaring of the wind and the surging of the terrible seas. The

very fire of his bravery on that occasion affected the men, and they

worked as only bold men can work in face of death and danger, till our

craft was once more righted and tearing along before the wind.

"And just as brave on shore as afloat was sturdy James Malone.

"When our steward was attacked by fifty spear-armed savages on shore at

the Looboo Island, my mate seized a club that a gorilla could hardly

have wielded, and fought his way through the black and vengeful crowd,

till he reached and saved our faithful steward.

"And, that day, it was not until he had almost reached the ship that he

told me, with that half-shy and quiet smile of his, that he believed he

was slightly wounded. Then he fainted dead away.

"I nursed poor James back to health. Yes, but more than once, both

before and after that event, he nursed me, and I doubt if even a brother

could have been half so kind as my mate James.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"For many a long year, then, James and I had sailed the salt seas

together. Without James sitting opposite me at the table at breakfast

or at dinner, the neatly painted and varnished saloon, with all its

glittering odds and ends, wouldn't have seemed the same. Without James

sitting near me on the quarterdeck on black-dark evenings in the

tropics, I should have felt very strange and lonesome indeed.

"But James and I didn't agree on every subject on which we conversed.

Had we done so, conversation would have lost its special charm. No, he

aired his opinions and I shook out mine. There were times when I

convinced James; there were times when James convinced me; there were

times when neither convinced the other, and then we agreed to differ.

"`Very well, sir,' James would say, `you has your 'pinions, and I has

mine. You keeps to your 'pinions, and I sticks to mine.'

"It will be noted that James's ordinary English would scarcely have

passed muster in the first families of Europe. But, like many of his

class, James could talk correctly enough when he set himself the task.

But there was no better sailor afloat for all that, and on the stormiest

night or squalliest day I always felt safe when my first mate trod the

planks.

"James could tell a good story too, and I used to keep him at it of an

evening--any evening save Sunday. On Sunday, James did nothing in the

intervals of duty except read the Bible--the `Good Book,' as he called

it. This New Testament was one of those large type editions which very

old people use.

"His mother--dead and gone--had left him that Book, and also her

gold-rimmed specs, and it was interesting, on a Sunday afternoon, to see

James sitting solemnly down to the Book, and shipping those specs

athwart his nose.

"`What on earth,' I said once to him, `do you use the specs for, my

friend?'

"When James looked up at me, half-upbraidingly, those eyes of his, seen

through the powerful lenses, looked as big and wild and round as a

catamount's. It was unearthly.

"`My mother bade me. Would you disobey your mother?'

"This was a bombshell, and I said no more.

"But there was one subject on which James and I never disagreed--namely,

`the ladies,' as he called women folks. `They are deceitful above all

things, and desperately wicked,' James would say, `and I means to steer

clear on 'em.' And James always did.

"There was one pleasure James and I had in common--namely, witnessing a

good tragedy on the boards of Liverpool theatre. You see this was our

port of destination on our return from the far, far south. Mind, we

wouldn't go to see a drama, because there might be too much nonsensical

love business in it, and too many of `the frivolous antics of women'--

James's own words. But in a tragedy the women often came to grief,

which James thought was only natural.

"So we chose tragedy.

"Now, one night at this same theatre, I had one of the strangest

experiences of my life; and never yet have I found any one who could

explain it.

"James and I had gone early that evening, because there was something

specially tragic on, and we desired to secure good seats. We sat in the

front row, and at the left end of the row, because we wished to leave

the theatre between each act to enjoy a few whiffs of tobacco.

"The play was well begun, and my eyes were riveted on the stage. There

was a momentary silence, and during this time I was sensible, from a

slight rustling noise, that the private box behind and above me was

being occupied.

"Did you ever hear psychologists mention the term or feeling `ecstasy'?

That was what stole over me now. For a few minutes I saw nothing on the

stage; only a feeling of intense happiness, such as I have seldom

experienced since that night, stole over me, occupying, bathing, I may

say, my whole soul and mind.

"I turned at last, and my eyes met those of a young lady in that private

box. Never before had I seen such radiant beauty. Never had I been

impressed with beauty of any kind before. My heart almost stood still.

It was really an awful moment--that is, if intense happiness can ever be

awful.

"Well, if it is possible for a sailor, with a face as brown as the back

of a fiddle, to blush, I blushed. She, too, I think, coloured just a

little.

"What was it? What could it mean?

"I know not how I sat out the act. When I rose with James to go out, I

dared one other glance towards the box. The lady had gone, and a

feeling of coldness crept round my heart. I felt as depressed now as I

had recently felt happy.

"`James,' I said, `take me home, I--I believe I'm ill.'

"`Why,' said James, `you look as though you had seen a ghost.'

"I got home. Something, I knew not what, was going to happen; but all

that night dream after dream haunted my pillow, and of every dream, the

sweet young face I had seen in the private box was the only thing I

could remember when daylight broke athwart the eastern sky."

Book 2--CHAPTER FOUR.

"DEAR, UNSELFISH, BUT SOMEWHAT SILLY FELLOW."

"I never had a secret from James Malone; no, not so much as one. Had I

known what was the matter with me on the evening before, I should have

told James manfully and in a moment.

"But when he came to my rooms in the morning, to share my humble

breakfast, and consult about the duties of the day, we being just then

fitting out for sea,--

"`James,' I began--

"And then--well, then I told him all the story, even down to my strange

dreams and the sweet young face that had haunted them.

"`Why, James,' I concluded, `I have only to close my eyes now to see her

once again, and I can neither read nor write without thinking of her.'

"James sat silently beholding me for fully a minute. His face was

clouded, and pity and anxiety were in every lineament of his manly

features.

"`I'm taken aback,' he stammered at last. `White squalls is nothin' to

it. Charlie Halcott, you're _in love_. It's an awful, fearful thing.

No surgical operation can do anything for you. It's worse by far than I

thought. A mild touch of the cholera would be mere moonshine to this.

A brush wi' Yellow Jack wouldn't be a circumstance to it. O Halcott,

Halcott! O Charlie! what _am_ I to do with you?'

"`James,' I interrupted, `light your pipe. Did _you_ see the beautiful

vision--the lovely child?'

"`I followed your eyes.'

"`And what saw you, James?' I asked, leaning eagerly towards him.

"`I saw what appeared to be--a woman. Nothin' more and nothin' less.'

"`James, did you not notice her blue and heavenly eyes, that seemed to

swim in ether; her delicately pencilled eyebrows; the long lashes that

swept the rounded rosy cheeks; her golden hair like sunset's glow; her

little mouth; her lips like the blossom of the blueberry, and the

delicate play of her mobile countenance?'

"`Delicate play of a mobile marling-spike!' cried James, jumping up. He

rammed a piece of paper into his pipe and thrust it into his pocket.

"`Charles Halcott, I'm off,' he cried.

"`Off, James?'

"`Yes, off. Every man Jack shall be on board the _Sea Flower_ to-day,

bag and baggage. We'll drop down stream to-morrow morning early, ship a

pilot, and get away to sea without more ado.'

"He was at the door by the time he had finished but he stopped a moment

with a look of wondrous pity on his handsome face, then came straight

back and clasped my hand in brotherly affection, and so, without another

word, walked out and away.

"Now, I was master of the _Sea Flower_, but in the matter of sailing

next day--three or four whole days before I had intended--I should no

more have thought of gainsaying honest James Malone than of disobeying

my father had he been alive. James was acting towards me with true

brotherly affection, quite disinterestedly in my behalf, and--_quien

sabe_?--probably saving me from a lifetime's misery.

"I would be advised by James.

"So after he had left, and I had smoked in solitary sadness for about an

hour, I rose with a sigh, and commenced throwing my things together in

the great mahogany sea-chest that while afloat stood in my state-room,

and which on shore I never travelled without.

"For the whole of that forenoon I wandered about the streets of

Liverpool, looking chiefly at the photographers' windows. I was

bewitched, and possessed some faint hope of seeing a photograph of her

who had bewitched me. I even entered the shops under pretence of

bargaining for a likeness of my sailor-self, and looked over their books

of specimens.

"Had I come across her picture, the temptation to purchase it would, I

fear, have proved irresistible.

"Suddenly I pulled myself taut up with a round turn, and planked myself,

so to speak, on my mental quarterdeck before Commander Conscience.

"`What are you doing, or trying to do, Charles Halcott?' said Commander

Conscience.

"`Only trying,' replied Charles Halcott, `to procure a photograph of the

loveliest young lady on earth, whose eyes shine like stars in beauty's

night.'

"`Don't be a fool, Charles Halcott. Are you not wise enough to know

that, even if you procure this photograph, you will have to keep it a

secret from honest James Malone? His friendship is better far than love

of womankind. Besides,' added Commander Conscience, `you need no

photograph. Is not the image of the lady who has bewitched you

indelibly photographed upon your soul? Charles Halcott, I am ashamed of

you!'

"I stood at a window for a few minutes, looking sheepish enough; then I

threw temptation to the winds, put about, and sailed right away back to

my chambers, studding-sails set low and aloft.

"I finished packing, saw my owners in the afternoon, and when James came

off to the ship he found me quietly smoking my biggest pipe in the

saloon of the _Sea Flower_.

"He smiled now.

"`Better already,' he said; `His name be praised!'

"James was a strange man in some ways. This was one: he thanked Heaven

for every comfort, even the slightest, and did nothing without, in a

word or two, asking a blessing thereon.

"In three days' time we were staggering southwards, and away across

Biscay's blue bay, with every inch of canvas set. And a pretty sight we

were--our white sails flowing in the sunshine--the sea as blue as the

sky, and the waves sparkling around us as if every drop of water

contained a diamond.

"All the way to the Cape, and farther, James treated me as tenderly and

compassionately as if I had been an invalid brother. He never

contradicted me even once. He used to keep me talking and yarning on

the quarterdeck, when he wasn't on watch, for whole hours at a stretch;

and in the evenings, when tired spinning me yarns, he would take his

banjo and sing to me old sea-songs in his bold and thrilling voice. And

James could sing too; there were the brine, and the breeze, and the

billows' roll in every bar of the grand old songs he sang, and indeed I

was never tired of listening to them. Sometimes I closed my eyes as I

sat in my easy-chair; then James's banjo notes grew softer and softer,

and ever so much farther away like, till at last it was ghostly music,

and I was in the land of dreams.

"When I awoke, perhaps it would be four bells or even six, and there

would be James, with his specs athwart his great jibboom of a nose,

poring earnestly over his mother's Bible.

"`You've had a nice little nap,' he would say cheerfully. `Now you'll

toddle off to your bunk, and when you're safe between the sheets I'll

bring you a tiny little drop of rum and treacle.'

"Poor James! Rum and treacle was his panacea for every ill; and yet I

don't believe any one in the wide world ever saw James the worse of even

rum and treacle.

"When we got as far as to Madeira, he proposed we should anchor here for

a few days and dispose of some of our notions. Notions formed our

cargo; and notions must be understood to mean, Captain Weathereye, all

kinds of jewellery and knick-knacks, including table-knives and forks,

watches, strings of bright beads, cotton cloths, parasols, and guns.

Now I knew very well that we could easily dispose of all our cargo at

the Cape and other parts; but I also knew very well that James's main

object in stopping at Madeira was to give me a few delightful days on

shore.

"This was part of the cure, and I had to submit with the best grace I

could.

"We had, at that time, as handy and good a second mate as any one could

wish on the weather side of a quarterdeck. So it was easy enough for

myself and James to leave the ship both at the same time, though this

had very seldom been our custom, except when in dock or in harbour.

"To put it in plain language, James did not seem to know how good to be

to me, nor how much to amuse me. The honest, simple soul kept talking

and yarning to me all the while, and pointing out this, that, and the

other strange thing to me, until I was obliged to laugh in his face.

But James was not offended; not he. He was working according to some

plan he had formulated in his own mind, and nothing was going to turn

him aside from his purpose.

"About midday we entered the veranda of a cool and delightful hotel, and

seating ourselves at a little marble table, James called for cigars and

iced drinks. Then he proposed we should luncheon. No, he would pay, he

said; it was not often he had the honour or pleasure of lunching with

his captain, in a marble palace like this. So he pulled out an old sock

tied round with a morsel of blue ribbon, and thrusting his big brown paw

into it, brought forth money in abundance.

"`Never been here before?' he asked me quietly.

"`No,' I said; `strange to say I've touched at nearly every port in the

world except this place.'

"`Well, I have,' said James, `and I'm going to put you up to the ropes.'

"`Now,' he continued, when we stood once more under the greenery of the

trees that bordered the broad pavement, `will you have a hammock or a

horse?'

"Not knowing quite what he meant, I replied that I would leave it to

him.

"`Well,' he said, `this must be considered a kind of picnic, them's my

notions, and as you're far from well yet, I'll have a horse and you a

hammock.'

"Both horse and hammock were soon brought round to the door. The

hammock was borne by two perspiring half-caste Portuguese, and was

attached to a pole, and on board I swung, while James got on board the

horse. The saddle was a hard and horrid contrivance of leather and

wood, the stirrups a pair of old slippers, and the horse himself--well,

he was a beautiful study in equine osteology, and I really did not know

which to pity most, James or his Rosinante. But in my hammock I felt

comfortably, dreamily happy.

"We passed through the quaint old town of Funchal, then upwards, and

away towards the mountains. The day was warm and delightful--hot indeed

James must have found it, for he soon divested himself of coat and

waistcoat, and even then he had to pause at times to wipe his streaming

brow. The peeps at the beautiful gardens I caught while being carried

along were charming in the extreme; the verandaed and trellised villas,

canopied with flowers of every hue and shape, the bright green lawns

where fairy-like children played, and the flowering trees--the whole

forming ever-changing scenes of enchantment--I shall never forget. Then

the soft and balmy air was laden with perfume.

"`How nice,' I thought, `to be an invalid! How kind of James to treat

me as one! And he jogging along there on that bony horse's back, with

the boy holding fast by the tail! Dear, unselfish, but somewhat silly

fellow!'

"Upwards still, steeper and steeper the hill. And now we seemed to have

mounted into the very sky itself, and were far away from the tropics and

tropical flora.

"We came at last to a table-land. For the life of me I could not help

thinking of the story of `Jack and the Bean-stalk.' Here gorgeous

heaths and heather bloomed and grew; here birds of sweet song flitted

hither and thither among the scented and the yellow-tasselled broom; and

here solemn weird-like pine-trees waved dark against the far-off ocean's

blue.

"Under some of these trees, and close to the cliff, we disembarked to

rest. We were fully half a mile above the level of the sea. Yet not a

stone's throw from where we sat was the edge of the awful cliff that led

downwards without a break to that white line far beneath where the waves

frothed and fumed against the rocks.

"But far as the eye could reach, till lost in distance and merged into

the blue of the sky, lay the azure sea, with here and there a sail, the

largest of which looked no bigger than a white butterfly with folded

wings.

"A delicious sense of happiness stole over me, and for the first time,

perhaps, since leaving England I forgot the sweet young face that had so

completely bewitched me.

"I think I must have fallen asleep, for the next thing I was sensible of

was James tuning a broad guitar.

"Then his voice was raised in song, and I closed my eyes again, the

better to listen.

"Poor James, he played and sang for over an hour; no wild, wailing

sea-songs this time, however, but verses sweet and plaintive, and far

more in harmony with the notes of the sad guitar. The romance of our

situation, the stillness of our surroundings, unbroken save in the

intervals of song by the flitting of a wild bird among the broom, and

the low whisper of the wind through the pine-trees overhead, with the

balmy ozonic air from the blue ocean, continued to instil into my soul a

feeling of calm and perfect joy to which I had hitherto been a stranger.

"Just as the sun was sinking like a great blood orange through a purple

haze that lay along the western horizon, James laughingly handed the

guitar to the boy who had carried it. Then laughing still--he was so

strange and good this James of mine--he pulled out a silver-mounted

flask and poured me out a portion of its contents.

"It was a little rum and treacle.

"`The dews of night isn't going to harm you after that,' said James.

"Lights were glimmering here and there on the hills like glow-worms, and

far beneath us in the town, long before we reached the streets of

Funchal.

"We went straight to the hotel and discharged both horse and hammock.

"Then we dined.

"I thought I should be allowed to go on board after this. Not that

there was the slightest hurry.

"However, I was mistaken for once. James had not yet done with me for

the night. I had still another prescription of his to use; and as I

knew it was part and parcel of James's love cure, I could not demur. He

had given me so much pleasure on that day already, that when he asked me

to get up and follow him I did so as obediently as the little lamb

followed Mary.

"But that he, James Malone, who feared womankind, if he did not

positively hate them, should lead me to a Portuguese ballroom of all

places in the world, surprised me more than anything.

"I could hear the tinkling of guitars, the shuffling of feet, and the

music of merry, laughing voices, long before we came near the door.

"I stopped short.

"`James,' I said, `haven't you made some mistake?'

"His only answer was a roguish laugh.

"I repeated the question.

"`Not a bit of it,' he answered gaily.

"`Charlie Halcott,' he added, `if you were simply suffering from Yellow

Jack I'd hand you over to a doctor, but, Charles Halcott, it takes a

_man_ to cure love. And you've been sorely hit.'

"This had been a day of surprises, but when I entered that ballroom

there came the greatest surprise of all. Those here assembled were not

so-called gentle-folks. They were the sons and daughters of the

ordinary working classes; but the taste displayed, the banks of flowers

around the orchestra, the gay bouquets and coloured lights along the

walls, the polished and not overcrowded floor, the romantic dresses of

the gallants that transported one back to the middle ages, the

snow-white costumes of the ladies, and, above all, their innocent,

ravishing beauty, formed a scene that reminded me strongly of stories I

had read in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments.

"I was almost ashamed of my humble attire, but the courtesy of the

master of ceremonies was charming. Would the strangers dance? Surely

the stranger sailors would dance? He would get us, as partners, the

loveliest senoritas in all the room.

"So he did.

"I forgot everything in that soft, dreamy waltz--everything save the

thrilling music and the sylph-like form of my dark-eyed partner, who

floated with me through the perfumed air, for surely our feet never

touched the floor.

"But the drollest thing of all was this--James was dancing too. James

with his--well, I must not say aversion to, but fear and shyness of

womankind, was dancing; and I knew he was only doing so to encourage me.

A handsome fellow he looked, too, almost head and shoulders taller than

any man there, and broad and well-knit in proportion. The master of

ceremonies had got him a partner `for to match,' as he expressed it;

certainly a beautiful girl, with a wealth of raven hair that I had never

seen equalled, far less surpassed. I daresay she could dance lightly;

but James's waltzing was of a very solid brand indeed, and he swung his

pretty partner round the room in a way that seemed to indicate business

rather than pleasure. Several couples cannoned off James and went

ricochetting to the farther end of the room, and one went down. James

swung past me a moment after, apparently under a heavy press of canvas,

and as he did so I heard him say to his partner, referring to the couple

he had brought to deck,--

"`They should keep out o' the way, then, when people are dancing.'

"The hours sped quickly by, as they always do in a ballroom, and by the

time James and I got on board the _Sea Flower_ four bells in the

middle-watch were ringing out through the still, dark night. But all

was safe and quiet on board.

"I took a turn on deck to enjoy a cigar before going below, just by way

of cooling my brow. When I went down at last, why, there was James

seated at the table, his mother's Bible before him, and, as usual, the

awful specs across his nose.

"Poor James, he was a strange man, but a sincere friend, as the sequel

will show."

Book 2--CHAPTER FIVE.

"TILL THE SEA GIVES UP ITS DEAD."

From Madeira, where we stayed for many days, going on shore every

forenoon to sell some of our cargo to the shopkeepers, and every

afternoon for a long ride--horse and hammock--over some part or other of

this island of enchantment, sometimes finishing up with a dance--from

all this pleasure and delight, I say, we sailed away at last.

"South and away we sailed, and in due time we reached and anchored off

Saint James's Town, Saint Helena.

"Now, Saint Helena had not figured in our programme when we left Merry

England. But here we were, and a most delightful place I found it.

Hills and dells, mountains and glens; wild flowers everywhere; and the

blue eternal sea dotted with many a snow-white sail, engirdling all.

This, then, was the `lonely sterile rock in the midst of the wild

tempestuous ocean,' to which Napoleon had been banished.

"James had been here before, although I had not, so everything was of

interest to me, and everything new. And my good mate determined to make

it as pleasant for me as possible. He seemed to know every one, and

every one appeared delighted to see him. Such remarks as the following

fell upon our ears at every corner:--

"`Well, you've got back again, James?'

"`What! here you are once more, James, and welcome.'

"`Dee--lighted to see you, certain--lee!'

"`Ah! Jeames,'--this from a very aged crone, who was seated on a stone

dais near her door, basking in the warm, white sunshine--`ah! Jeames,

and sure the Lord is good to me. And my old eyes are blessed once more

wi' a sight o' your kindly face!'

"`Glad to see you alive, Frilda. And look, I have got a pound of tea

for you. And I'll come to-night and read a bit out of my mother's Good

Book to you.'

"`Bless you, Jeames--bless you, my boy.'

"We went rambling all over the island that day. We visited the fort,

where James had many friends; then we went up a beautiful glen, and on

reaching the top we struck straight off at right angles, and a walk of

about half a mile took us to one of the most pleasantly situated farms I

have ever seen. It was owned by the farmer, a Scotsman of the name of

MacDonald. Nothing flimsy about this fine house. The walls were built

of sturdy stone, and must have been some feet thick, so that indoors in

the cheerful parlour it was cool and delightful, especially so with the

odour of orange blossom blowing through the open window and pervading

the whole room.

"`Man, James, I'm so pleased. Here! Hi! Mrs Mac, where are you?

Here's James Malone, the honest, simple sumph come back again. Jamie,

man, ye must stop all night and give us a song.'

"`We--ll--I--'

"`No _wells_ nor _I's_ about it. And your friend here too.'

"Mrs Mac was a very little body, with rosy cheeks, a merry voice, and

blue eyes that looked you through and through.

"A little girl and boy came running in, and James soon had one on each

knee; and while I and MacDonald talked in the window recess, he was deep

in the mysteries of a mermaid story, his tiny audience listening with

wondering eyes and rosy lips apart.

"Mrs Mac had gone bustling away to send in a dram of hollands,

cunningly flavoured with seeds and fruit rind. She disappeared

immediately again, to send orders down to James's Town for fish and

fowl.

"Of course we would stay all night?

"`Well,' I said, `the ship is safe, unless a tornado blows.'

"`There will be no tornado, sir,' said Farmer Mac.

"`I'll send off, then, and tell the second mate.'

"`My henchman is at your service, Captain Halcott.'

"`And look, see,' cried James, `just tell your henchman to bring my Good

Book and specs. I haven't the heart to disappoint old Mother Banks.'

"`And the guitar,' I added.

"`Well--well, yes.'

"The children clapped their hands with glee, and Maggie, the girl,

pulled James's face towards her by the whiskers and kissed him.

"We started next for Longwood and Napoleon's tomb. Maggie and Jack--ten

and nine years old respectively--came with us, and a right pleasant day

we spent. There were bright-winged birds flitting hither and thither in

the dazzling sunshine, and singing sweet and low in trees of darkest

green; but the happy voices of the children made sweeter music far to my

ears, and I'm sure to James's too.

"All along the roadsides at some parts grew the tall cacti; they were

one mass of gorgeous crimson bloom, and here and there between, the

ground was carpeted with trailing blossoms white and blue; yet, in my

opinion, the laughing rosebud lips of Maggie and Jack's saucy eyes of

blue were prettier far than the flowers.

"And here, on the top of the dingle or glen, and overlooking the sea,

were Napoleon's house and garden.

"`Why, James,' I cried, `this isn't a dungeon any more than Saint Helena

is a rock. It strikes me--a simple sailor--that Nap must have had fine

times of it.'

"`No, sir, no,' said James, shaking his head. `Plenty to eat and drink,

plenty o' good clothes to wear, but ah! Charles Halcott, he wasn't

free, and there burned inside him an unquenchable fire. When in action,

on the field, or on the march, he had little time to think; but here, in

this solitude, the seared conscience regained its softness, and in his

thoughts by day and in his dreams at the dead hours o' night, Charles

Halcott, rose visions of the terrible misery he brought on Europe, and

the black and awful deeds he did in Egypt. O sir, if you want to punish

a man, leave him alone to his conscience!'

"James Malone was in fine form that evening at Farmer Mac's. He sang

and he yarned time about--the songs for the children, the yarns for us.

Parodying Tam o' Shanter, I might say:--

"`The nicht drave on wi' sangs and clatter,

Wi' childish glee, wi' bairnies' patter;

The sailor tauld his queerest stories,

The farmer's laugh was ready chorus;

Till, hark! the clock strikes in the hall

The wee short oor ayont the twal.'

"Before dinner that evening simple James had gone to see old Mother

Banks, and he spent a whole hour with her.

"`Good-bye, dear laddie,' she said, when he rose to leave; `I'll pray

for ye on the ragin' sea, but I know the Lord will never let me behold

ye again.'

"And simple James's eyes were wet with tears as he held her skinny hand

for a moment, then dropped it and bore away up the street, never once

looking back, so full was his heart.

"When the clock struck one, James shyly proposed a few moments'

devotion. Then he mounted the awful specs and opened the Good Book.

"Half an hour after this, all in the great house were asleep, and not a

sound could I hear--for I lay long awake thinking--save the sighing of

the wind in the trees above my open jalousies, to me a very sweet and

soothing sound.

"`Heigho!' I murmured to myself. `Will I _ever_ have a home on the

green earth, I wonder, or shall I die on the blue sea?'

"Then I began to doze, and mingling with my waking thoughts came dreams

which proved that poor James's prescriptions had not yet been entirely

successful.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Just three weeks after this we were far away in the centre of the South

Atlantic Ocean, and bearing up for Rio de Janeiro. The sea around us

was of the darkest blue, but sparkling in the sunshine, and there was

just sufficient wind to gladden the heart of a sailor.

"What induced James and me to change our plans and sail west instead of

south and east, I never could tell, though I have often thought about

it. A friend of mine says it was Fate, and that Fate often rules the

destinies of men, despite all that can be done to alter her plans and

intentions. This line of reasoning may be right; my friend is so often

right that I daresay it must be.

"But one thing now occurred to me that at times rendered me rather

uneasy, and which, when I tried to describe it to James, caused that

honest sailor some anxiety also. I have spoken of it more than once to

so-called psychologists and even to so-called mediums; but their

attempted explanations, although seemingly satisfactory enough to

themselves, sounded to me like a mere chaos of words, the meaning of

which as a whole I never could fathom. But the mystery with me was

this: I seemed at times to be possessed of a second self, or rather, a

second soul.

"I struggled against the feeling all I could, but in vain. James read

his mother's Bible to me, and otherwise, not in a spiritual way, he did

all he could to cheer me up, as he phrased it. But--and here comes in

the most curious part of it--I did not feel that I wanted any cheering

up. I was happy enough in the companionship of my second self. This

was not always present. Sometimes absent for days indeed, and never as

yet did it talk to me in my dreams. At other times it came, and would

be with me for hours; and it spoke to my mind as it were, I being

compelled to carry on a conversation, in thought, of course, but never

once did I have any notion beforehand as to what the remarks made were

to be. They were simple in the extreme, and usually had reference to

the working or guidance of the ship, the setting or shortening of sail,

and making the good barque snug for the night.

"We called at Rio. The harbour here could contain all the war fleets in

the world; grand old hills; a city as romantic as Edinburgh--that is,

when seen from the sea--quaintness of streets, a wealth and beauty of

vegetation, of treescape and flowerscape, that I have never seen

equalled anywhere, and a quaintly dressed, quiet, and indolent people.

"We landed much stores here and filled up with others. On the whole,

James and I were not sorry we had come, we drove such excellent

bargains.

"Again, at Buenos Ayres, with its fine streets and public buildings, and

its miles upon miles of shallow sea all in front, we did trade enough to

please us.

"`When I retire from sailing the salt seas, sir,' said James, `it's 'ere

and nowhere else I'm goin' to make my 'ome; and I only wish the old lady

were livin', for then I'd retire after the very next voyage.'

"Shortly after resuming our voyage southwards towards the stormy Cape

Horn, we encountered gale after gale of wind that taxed all the strength

of our brave barque, as well as the skill of the officers and seamen.

Again and again had we to lie to for long dark days and nights; and when

we ventured to run before the storm, we had literally to stagger along

under bare poles.

"But when we reached the Cape at last, and stood away to the west around

the bleak and inhospitable shores of Tierra del Fuego, or the Land of

Fire, never before in all the years I had been to sea had I encountered

weather so fearful or waves so high and dangerous. So stormy, indeed,

did it continue, that hardly did either James or I dare to hope we

should ever double the Cape. But we both had a sailor's aversion to

turning back, and so struggled on and on.

"The danger seemed to culminate and the crisis come in earnest, when one

weird moonlight midnight we suddenly found ourselves bows on to a huge

iceberg, or rather one vast island of ice that appeared to have no

horizon either towards the north or towards the south. The barrier

presented seemed impassable. We could only try, so we put about on the

port tack, the wind blowing there with great violence from the west and

north.

"This course took us well off the great ice island. It took us

southwards, moreover.

"`But why not steer northwards?' said James. `We'd have to tack a bit,

it is true, only we'd be lessening our danger; leastways that's my

opinion. This berg may be twenty or thirty miles long, and every mile

brings us closer to great bergs that, down yonder, float in dozens.

Before now, Charles Halcott, I've seen a ship sunk in the twinkling of a

marling-spike by a--'

"`By striking against a berg, James?' I interrupted. `So have I.'

"`No, sir, no; you're on the wrong tack. Wherever big bergs are there

are small ones too--little, hard, green lumps of ice, not bigger than

the wheel-house, that to hit bows on would scarcely spill your tea.

But, friend, it is different where there are mountain seas on. These

little green bergs are caught by a wave-top and hurled against the

ship's side with the strength of a thousand Titans. And--the ship goes

down.'

"There was something almost solemn in the manner James brought out the

last four words. It kept me silent for minutes; and shading my eyes

with my hand, I kept peering southwards into the weird-like moonshine,

the ice away on the right, a strange white haze to leeward, and far

ahead the foam-tipped waves, wild-maned horses of the ocean, careering

along on their awful course.

"`James,' I said at last, `danger or not danger, southwards I steer.

Something tells me to do so; everything bids me. "Steer south--steer

south," chimes the bell when it strikes; "steer south," ticks the clock.

James Malone, my very heart's pulse repeats the words; and I hear them

mournfully sung by the very waves themselves, and by the wind that goes

moaning through the rigging. And--I'm going to obey.'

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"For nights I had hardly slept a wink, but now I felt as if slumber

would soon visit my pillow if I but threw myself on the bed. The moon,

a full round one, was already declining in the west when I went below

and turned in all standing, and in three minutes' time I had sunk into a

deep and dreamless sleep.

"James told me afterwards that it had taken him one long minute of solid

shaking and shouting to arouse me, but he succeeded at last.

"`Anything wrong, James?' I said anxiously, as I sat up in my cot.

"`Can't say as there's anything radically wrong, sir,' he replied

slowly. `Leastways, our ship's all right. Wind and sea have both gone

down. We've doubled the berg at last, and a good forty mile she was,

and now we're nearing another. But the strange thing is this, sir.

There is men on it, a-waving their coats and things, and makin' signs.

I can just raise 'em with our Mons Meg glass.'

"`Some natives of Tierra del Fuego, perhaps,' I said. `Anyhow, James,'

I added, `keep bearing up towards them.'

"`Ay, ay, sir.'

"In ten minutes' time I was on deck, glass in hand.

"It was a grey uncertain morning, the sun just rising astern of us, and

tingeing the wave-tops with a yellow glare.

"I could see the people on the ice with the naked eye. But I steadied

Mons Meg on the bulwark, and had a look through that.

"`Mercy on us, James!' I cried, `these are no savages, but our own

countrymen or Americans. I can count five alive, and oh, James, three

lie at some little distance stretched out dark and stiff. Shake another

reef out--those people want us. A sad story will be theirs to tell.'

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We got them all on board at last, though with difficulty, for the surf

was beating high above the snow-clad ice, and twice our boat was dashed

against the hard, green edge of the monster berg, her timbers cracking

ominously. We brought off the dead too, and buried them in a Christian

way, James himself reading over them the beautiful service of the

English Church. Though they were strangers to us, yet, as their bodies

dropped down into the darkling sea, many a tear was shed that our

fellows scarce took pains to hide.

"`And there they'll sleep,' said a voice behind me, `till the sea gives

up its dead.'

"I turned slowly round, and the eyes of the speaker met mine. Hitherto

I had paid most attention to the lifeless, and scarce had noticed the

living.

"But now a strange thrill went through me as this man, who was the

skipper of the lost ship, advanced with a sad kind of smile on his face

and held out his hand.

"`We have met before,' he said.

"`We seem to have met before,' I answered falteringly, `but where I

cannot tell. Perhaps you--'

"`Yes, I can; I have seen you in a dream. We must both have dreamt.'

"I staggered as if shot, and pressed my hand to my brow.

"`You seem puzzled,' he continued, `yet I am not. I am a man who has

studied science somewhat. I am often called a visionary on account of

my theories, yet I am convinced that there are times when, in answer to

prayer, the mind during sleep may be permitted to leave the body. You,

sir, have saved the few poor fellows of my ship's crew who have escaped

death, and I thank you. Think nothing strange, sir, in this world

simply because you do not understand it. But you have an errand of

mercy yet to perform. Heaven grant you may be as successful in that as

you have been in taking our poor helpless men from off the ice.'

"`Come below,' I said, `Captain--a--'

"`Smithson,' he put in.

"`Come below, Captain Smithson, and tell your story. James, will you

bear us company?'

"I and James sat on one side of the table, our guest, with his thin,

worn face and dark eyes that seemed to pierce us with their very

earnestness, on the other. He told his story rapidly--ran over it, as

it were, as a school-boy does something he has learned by heart.

"`It is but little more than five weeks since the good yacht _Windward_

cleared away from San Francisco--'

"`James,' I said, interrupting him, `how long have we been at sea?'

"`Wellnigh four months, sir.'

"`How the time has flown! Pray, sir, proceed.'

"`I have never known a quicker passage than we had. The wind was fair

all the way, and our little craft appeared to fly with it. But it fell

dead calm about the latitude of 20 degrees south of the line. My only

passengers--in fact, it was they who had chartered the _Windward_ to

take them to Monte Video--a lady and her daughter, began to be very

uneasy now. They had heard so much about the fleetness of the

_Windward_ that they never expected a hitch. No wonder they were

uneasy. Their business in Monte Video was a matter of life or death.

The doctor there had assured them that if they were not out by a certain

time, the husband and father would never again be seen by them alive.

"`But the calm was not of long duration. Worse was to come--a tornado

burst upon us with awful fury, and all but sunk us. We were carried far

to the west out of our course. Fierce gales succeeded the tempest; and

when the wind once more sank to rest we found ourselves surrounded by a

group of islands that, although I have sailed the South Pacific for many

a long year, I had never seen before.

"`That the natives of the largest and most beautiful of these islands

are savages and man-hunters I have not the slightest doubt. The king

himself came off, evincing not the slightest fear of us; but both he and

his people remained so strangely pacific that it excited our suspicions

for a time. We were glad, however, to be able here to repair damages

and to take on board fresh water; and the kindness of the natives was so

marked that our suspicions were entirely lulled, and for days we lived

almost among them, even going on shore unarmed in the most friendly way.

"`I must tell you, sir, that, owing to the heat and closeness of the

atmosphere, a screen-berth or tent had been rigged for the ladies close

to the bulwark on the port side, and almost abreast of the main-mast.

The first part of the night of the tenth was exceedingly dark, and it

was also hot and sultry. The ladies had retired early, for a

thunderstorm that had been threatening about sunset broke over us with

tropical fury about ten by the clock, or four bells--the first watch.

"`And now, sir, comes the mystery. The moon rose at twelve and silvered

all the sea, shedding its earth light upon the green-wooded hills of the

mainland till everything looked ethereal. Not a sound was to be heard,

except now and then the plaintive cry of a sea bird, and the dull, low

moan of the breakers on the coral sand.

"`As was her custom just before turning in, the ladies' maid drew aside

their curtain to see if they wanted anything, and to say good-night.

"`I was walking the quarterdeck smoking, when pale and scared she rushed

toward me.

"`Oh!' she almost screamed, `they are gone! The ladies have gone!'

"`No one thought of turning in that dreadful night; and when in the

morning the sun, red and flaming, leapt out of the sea, arming a boat as

well as I could, I rowed on shore and demanded audience of the king.

"`But we were not allowed to land. The savages had assumed a very

different attitude now, and a shower of spears was our welcome. One

poor fellow was killed outright, another died of his wounds only an hour

afterwards. In fact, we were beaten off; and in an hour's time,

observing a whole fleet of boats coming off to attack our vessel, we

were forced to hoist sail and fly.

"`That is my story, and a sad one it is. I was on my way to the nearest

town to seek assistance, when our vessel was crushed in the ice and sank

in less than twenty minutes, with all on board except those you have

seen.'

"Smithson was silent now. With his chin resting on his hand he sat

there looking downwards at the deck, but apparently seeing nothing. For

many minutes not a word was spoken by any one. The vessel rose and fell

on the long, rolling seas; there was the creak of the rudder chains;

there was occasionally the flapping of a sail; all else was still.

"James Malone was the first to speak.

"`Charles Halcott,' he said--and I think I hear the earnest, manly tones

of his voice at this moment--`Charles Halcott, we have a duty to

perform, and it leads us to the northward and west.'

"I stood up now, and our hands met and clasped.

"`James Malone,' I replied, `Heaven helping us, we will perform that

duty faithfully and well.'

"`Amen, sir! Amen!'"

Book 2--CHAPTER SIX.

"O MY FRIEND, MY BROTHER," I CRY.

"That same forenoon," continued Halcott, "the wind went veering round to

the southward and east. The sea was darkly, intensely blue all day.

The sky was intensely blue at night, and the stars so big and bright and

near they seemed almost to touch the topmasts. But here and there in

the darkness, on every side of us, loomed white icebergs like sheeted

ghosts, and every now and then there rolled along our beam--thudding

against the timbers as they swept aft--the smaller bergs or `bilts' we

could not avoid.

"James was on deck, and determined to remain there till morning, in

order, as he said, to give me the quiet and rest my health so much

required.

"In two days' time we had weathered the stormy Cape, bidden farewell to

the ice, and, with every stitch of canvas set which it was possible to

carry safely, were sailing westward and north, away towards the distant

islands of the South Pacific.

"In a few days we got into higher latitudes, and the weather became

delightfully warm and pleasant. The sky was more than Italian in its

clear and cloudless azure; the rippling waves were all a-sparkle with

light; they kissed the bows of our bonnie barque, and came lapping and

laughing aft along our counter, their merry voices seeming to talk to us

and bid us welcome to these sunny seas.

"Birds, too, came wheeling around our ship--strange, swift gulls, the

lonesome frigate-bird, and the wondrous albatross, king of storms, great

eagle of the ocean wave.

"Had we not been upon the strange mission on which we were now bound,

and the outcome of which we could not even guess, both James and I would

have enjoyed this delightful cruise; for, like myself, he was every inch

a sailor, and loved his ship as a landsman may love his bride.

"`In five days' time,' said Captain Smithson to me one forenoon, `if it

holds like this, we ought to reach the Unfortunate Islands.'

"`Is that what you call them, captain?' I said, smiling; `well, my

first mate and I mean to change their name.'

"`Heaven grant you may,' he answered. `O sir, the loss of this yacht,

clipper though she was, and a beauty to boot, is nothing to mourn for--

she was well insured; even the death of my poor men is but an accident

that we sailors are liable to at any moment; but the fate of those two

innocent ladies--the mother so good and gentle, the daughter so

childlike and beautiful--is one that, if it is to remain a mystery, will

cloud my whole life. Think of it, sir. The savages must have crept on

board in the midst of the thick darkness and the storm, crept on board

like wet and slimy snakes, gagged their poor victims, and borne them

silently away--to what?'

"`It is all very terrible,' I said.

"`Well, now,' said James, `it strikes me talkin' about it isn't goin' to

help us. Charles Halcott, I served on board a man-o'-war for seven

years.'

"`Yes, James.'

"`Well, sir, I know what they'd do now in a case like this.'

"`Yes, James.'

"`They'd muster their forces, and prepare for 'ventualities.'

"`You see, gentlemen,' he added, `we may have a bit o' good, solid

fightin' to do. Heaven knows that, if it would do any good, I'd gird up

my loins and go all unarmed, save with the Word o' God--my mother's

Bible--among those poor, benighted heathens, and try to bring 'em to

their senses. But I fear that would do but little good. When we go

among the more humble and simple savages of lonely islands in the sea,

or on the mainland of Africa itself, our work o' conversion is easy,

because the creatures have no form o' religion to place against the

gospel. But these head-hunters--and I know them of old--have their own

ghastly, blood-stained rites and sacrifices--I cannot call it religion,

sir--and these they set up as an awful barrier against the glad tidings

we fain would bring to their doors, to their lives.

"`No, gentlemen, we may have to crack skulls before we get the Word in.

But to save those helpless ladies Is a duty, a sacred duty we owe to our

own white race, as well as to our own consciences, for we'd ne'er be

happy if we didn't try.'

"`Heaven grant,' I said, `they may still be alive!'

"`That we must find out,' said James. `Now, sir, shall we call all

hands, and see to rifles and ammunition?'

"James's suggestion was at once acted upon.

"The _Sea Flower_ was a very large barque, and once had been a

full-rigged ship. And our hands were more numerous than are generally

carried, for many were working their voyage out, and might have been

called passengers.

"So now forty bold fellows, including two strong and sturdy black men,

and the negro boy we called the cook's mate, put in an appearance, and

drew shyly aft. There were, in addition to these, Captain Smithson and

his four men.

"But these latter we determined the savages must not see, else their

suspicions would at once be raised, and, instead of our being able to

act peacefully and by strategy, we should have at once to declare

red-eyed war.

"`Will you speak first?' I said to Captain Smithson.

"Without a word he strode forward, and, when he held up his hand, the

men came crowding round him.

"`Men of the _Sea Flower_!' he began, `I am going to tell you a story.

It is short and simple, but also a very sad one. Maybe you know most of

the outs and ins and particulars of it already. My men must have told

you all about our voyage and our lady passengers.'

"`Repeat, repeat!' cried the men; `we would have it all again from your

own lips, sir.'

"Briefly and pathetically Smithson did so, relating to them all the

particulars we already know.

"`Men,' he continued, `you are Christians, and you are Englishmen. It

is on this latter fact I rely chiefly, in case we have to fight with the

savages of those Unfortunate Islands. The elder of the two ladies we

are going to try to save is English, though she married an American,

though her home was on the Pacific slope, and her innocent and beautiful

daughter was born in San Francisco. They are your country-people, then,

as much as ours. But, apart from that, when I say they are women in

bondage and distress, I have said enough, I know, to appeal to the brave

heart of every Englishman who now stands before me.'

"A wild, heroic shout was the only reply.

"`Thank you,' said Smithson, `for that expression of feeling! and I will

only add that these ladies, especially the younger, were, all the way

out, the light and life of our poor, lost yacht, and that, by their

winning ways, they made themselves beloved both fore and aft.'

"`Now, lads,' cried James, and as he spoke he seemed a head taller than

I had ever seen him, `if we've got to fight, why, then, we'll fight.

But against these terrible savages we can't fight with porridge-sticks.

Luckily, in our cargo we have a hundred good rifles, and that is two for

each of us; and we have revolvers, too, and plenty of ammunition. All

good, mind you; for I chose the whole cargo myself. So now, bo's'n,

pipe up the guns; and this afternoon, men, and every day till we touch

at the Unfortunate Islands, I'll put you through your drill--which,

bein' an old navy man, I fancy I'm capable of doing. Are you all

willing?'

"The cheer that shook the ship from stem to stern was a truly British

one. It was their only answer, and the only answer needed or required.

"So the drilling was commenced, and entered into with great spirit.

After all, this drill was merely preparation for `possible

'ventualities,' as honest James called it, for fighting would be our

very last resort, and we earnestly prayed that we might not be driven to

it.

"At last, and early one morning, just as the sun was beginning to pencil

the feathery clouds with gold and green and crimson, land was discovered

on the lee bow.

"I brought the big telescope which James had named Mons Meg to bear upon

it. Then I handed Meg to Smithson. He looked at the land long and

earnestly, and glanced up at me with beaming face.

"`That's the principal island, Captain Halcott,' he said; `the king's

own. How well we have hit it!'

"That same forenoon we cast anchor in Treachery Bay, close to the spot

where the yacht had lain not many weeks before.

"Our sails were furled in quite a business-like way. We wanted to show

the savages that we were not one whit afraid of them, that we had come

to stay for a short spell, and hadn't the remotest intention of running

away.

"That you may better understand the shape or configuration of this

strange island, gentlemen, here I show you a rough sketch-map. This

will enable you also to follow more easily our subsequent adventures in

the fastnesses of these terrible savages.

"Rude and simple though this plan is, a word or two will suffice to

explain it. The island trends west and east, and is not more than

sixteen miles long by about ten to twelve in width. It is divided into

two almost equal parts by a very rapid and dark-rolling river, which

rushes through rocky gorges with inconceivable speed, forming many a

thundering cataract as it fights its way to the sea. It is fed from the

waters that flow from the mountains, and, probably, by subterranean

springs. The whole western portion of the island, with the exception of

some green woods around the bay, is pretty low, but covered throughout

with the remains of a black and burned forest. This forest is supposed

by the natives to be inhabited by fearsome demons and witches, and is

never visited, except for the purpose of sorcery by the medicine-men of

the tribe, and to bury the dead. In the centre of the eastern portion

of the island, which is beautifully clad with woodlands, and rugged and

wild in the extreme, is a lake with one small, lonely isle; and around

this the mountains tower their highest, but are clad to their very

summits with forest trees, many of them bearing the most luscious of

fruits, and all draped with wild flowers, and sweetly haunted by bird

and bee.

"The only things else in the map I wish to draw your attention to,

gentlemen, are the parallel lines. These mark the spot where was the

only bridge leading into the fastnesses of these savages, and the only

mode of communication with the lower land and bay, without walking round

by the head of the river, or following its course to the sea and

crossing in a boat.

"This bridge was primitive in the extreme, consisting merely of three

straight tree stems, and a rude life-line composed of the twisted withes

of a kind of willow.

"I have sad reason to remember that bridge, and shall not forget it

while life lasts.

"I have said nothing in my story yet about Lord Augustus Fitzmantle.

But it is time to do so. Lord Augustus was our cook's mate. It is well

to give a nigger boy a high-sounding name, and, if possible, a title.

He always tries to act up to it. Lord Augustus was very, very black.

The other niggers were black enough certainly, but they looked brown

beside his merry, laughing little lordship. Yes, always laughing,

always showing those white teeth of his and rolling his expressive eyes,

and good-tempered all day long. Even a kick from the cook only made him

rub a little and laugh the more. Lord Augustus wore a string of

sky-blue beads about his neck, and on warm days he wore very little

else. But if Lord Augustus was black, he was also bright. The sunshine

glittered and glanced on his rounded arms and cheeks, and he had

sunshine in his heart as well. It goes without saying he was the pet of

the _Sea Flower_ and everybody's friend, and though all hands teased as

well as petted him, he took it all in good part.

"So long as Lord Fitzmantle kept his mouth shut, and didn't show those

flashing teeth of his, he was as invisible as Jack the Giant Killer on a

dark night.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Seeing our independence, the savages for hours held aloof. At last a

white-headed, fearful-looking old man paddled alongside in a dug-out.

From the fact that he had a huge snake coiled around his chest and neck,

I took him to be the medicine-man, or sorcerer, of the tribe, and I was

not mistaken.

"He was certainly no beauty as he sat there grinning in his dark

dug-out. His face was covered with scars in circles and figures, so,

too, was his chest; his eyes were the colour of brass; his teeth

crimson, and filed into the form of triangles. But he climbed boldly on

board when beckoned to, and we loaded him with gifts of pretty beads,

and engirdled his loins with red cloth, then sent him grinning away.

"This treatment had the desired effect, and in half an hour's time the

bay was alive with the boats and canoes of the head-hunters. Each of

their tall, gondola-like prows bore a grinning skull, the cheek bones

daubed with a kind of crimson clay, and the sockets filled with awful

clay eyes--not a pretty sight.

"Presently the king himself came off, and we received him with great

ceremony, and gave him many gifts. To show our strength, James drew up

his men in battle array, and to the terror of all in the boats, they

fired their guns, taking aim at some brown and ugly kites that flew

around. When several of these fell dead, the alarm of the king knew no

bounds. But he soon recovered; and when, a little later on, I with a

dozen of my best men went on shore, the king placed a poor slave girl on

the beach and made signs for us to shoot. I would sooner have shot the

king himself.

"Lord Augustus came with us, and we soon found that he understood much

that the king said, and could therefore act as our interpreter.

"It is needless to say that the men of the lost yacht were kept out of

sight.

"Our walk that day was but a brief one. The king did not seem to want

us ever to cross the bridge. On climbing a hill, however, I could see

all over the wild and beautiful country. I pointed to the lake and

little island, and was given to understand that the medicine-men dwelt

there. But from the shiftiness of the savage's eyes, I concluded at

once that, if they were alive, that was the prison isle of the unhappy

ladies. The king dined with us next day, and we considered it policy to

let him have a modicum of fire-water. His heart warmed, and not only

did he permit our party to cross the bridge, but to visit his palace.

The sights of horror around it I will not dare to depict, but, much to

my joy, I noticed from the king's veranda the flutter of white dresses

on the little prison isle.

"My mind was made up, and that night I dispatched Lord Augustus on shore

with a note. It was a most hazardous expedition, and none save the boy

could have undertaken it with any hope of success. In my letter I had

told the ladies to be of good cheer; there would be a glimmer of

moonlight in a week's time, and that then we should attempt their

rescue; anyhow they were to be prepared.

"Three whole days elapsed, and yet no Lord Augustus appeared, but on the

night of the fourth, when we had given him up for lost, he swam off to

the ship. Poor boy, he had hardly eaten food, save fruit, since he had

left, and his adventure had been a thrilling one. Yet he was laughing

all over just the same.

"Yes, he had managed to give the note, and had brought back a message.

The ladies had not, strange to say, been subjected to either insult or

injury by the king. They were well fed on fruit and milk and cooked

fowls, but were guarded day and night by priests.

"The most startling portion of the message, however, was this: in a

fortnight's time a great feast and sacrifice were to take place, and

during that they knew not what might occur. They begged that the boy

might be sent again, and with him a sleeping-powder, which they might

administer to the priests on the night of the attempted rescue. I

confess my heart beat high with anxiety when the boy told us all this,

for not one word of his message had he forgotten.

"I consulted now with James and Smithson. Would it not be as well, I

advanced, to attempt to rescue the ladies by force?

"This was at once vetoed. Both James and the captain of the yacht knew

more of savage nature than I did, and they most strongly affirmed that

any show of force would assuredly result in the putting to death of the

two unhappy ladies we had come to rescue.

"So it was finally agreed that stratagem, not force, must be resorted

to, in the first place, at all events. So a night was chosen, and on

the previous evening faithful Lord Fitzmantle was dispatched once more,

taking with him a powder for the medicine-men, or priests.

"To our great joy and relief, the messenger returned before daylight

with the news that all would be ready, and that they, the ladies, would

be found at midnight in a cave by the banks of the lake, if they were

successful in escaping in a canoe from the island.

"`And you know this cave, Fitz?' I asked.

"Fitz's eyes snapped and twinkled right merrily.

"`I done know him, him foh true, sah!' he said, which signified that he

had a perfect knowledge of the position of the cave.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"As I speak to you even now, gentlemen, a portion of the anxiety I felt

on that terrible night when, with muffled oars, our boat left the ship,

comes stealing over my senses. I could not tell then why my feelings

should be worked up to so high a pitch, for I'd been in many a danger

and difficulty before. But so it was.

"The king had dined with us, and we sent home with him a supply of

fire-water, which has worked such ruin among many savage races. But

surely on this occasion we were partially justified in doing so. We

knew, therefore, that the king and some of his principal officers were

safe enough for one night.

"The largest boat was cautiously lowered about an hour before midnight,

when everything was still as the grave on the island; a long and

plaintive howl, however, being borne on the gentle breeze towards us

every now and then, telling us that sentries were here and there in the

woods.

"We were fifteen men in all, including James and myself, and excluding

our little black guide, Lord Fitzmantle. During the nights of terror he

had spent in hill and forest he had surveyed the country well, and so we

could safely trust to him.

"We rowed with muffled oars to the beach near the haunted forest, and

drew up our boat under some banana-trees; then, silent as the red men of

the North American forests, we made our way towards the bridge.

"The moon was about five days old, and served to give us all the light

we desired. We took advantage of every bush and thicket, and finally,

when within seventy yards of the river--the hustling and roaring of

which we could distinctly hear--we dispatched little Fitz to

reconnoitre.

"He returned in a few minutes and reported all safe, and no one on watch

upon the bridge.

"We marched now in Indian file, taking care not even to snap a twig,

lest we should arouse the slumbering foe. I do not know how long we

took to reach the cave. To me, in my terror and anxiety, it seemed a

year. They were there, and safe.

"We waited not a moment to speak. I lifted the young lady in my arms.

How light she was! James escorted the elder, sometimes carrying her,

sometimes permitting her to walk.

"Then the journey back was commenced.

"But in the open a glimmer of moonlight fell on the face of the

beautiful burden I bore. She had fainted. That I could see at a

glance.

"But something more I saw, and, seeing, tottered and nearly fell; for

hers was the same lovely and childlike face I had seen that evening,

which now appeared so long ago, in the Liverpool theatre.

"I felt now as if walking in the air. But I cannot describe or express

my feelings, being only a sailor, and so must not attempt to.

"We might have still been a hundred yards from the bridge and river,

when suddenly there rang out behind and on each side of us the most

awful yells I had ever listened to, while the beating of tom-toms, or

war-drums, sounded all over the eastern part of the island.

"`On, men, on to the bridge!' shouted brave James. No need for

concealment now.

"It was a short but fearful race, but now we are on it, on the bridge!

"On and over!

"All but James!

"Where is he? The moon escapes from behind a cloud and shines full upon

his sturdy form, still on the other side, and at the same time we can

hear the sharp ring of his revolver. Then, oh! we see him tearing up

the planks of the bridge, and dropping them one by one into the gulf

beneath. We pour in a volley to keep the savages back.

"`Fly for your lives!' shouts brave James. `Save the ladies; I'll

swim.'

"Next minute he dives into the chasm! For one brief moment we see his

face and form in the pale moonlight. Then he disappears. He is gone.

"`O my friend, my brother!' I cry, stretching out my arms as if I would

plunge madly into the pool that lies far beneath yonder, part in shade

and part in shine.

"But they dragged me away by main force. They led me to the boat. The

savages could not follow. But I seemed to see nothing now, to know

nothing, to feel nothing, except that I had lost the dearest friend on

earth. He had sacrificed himself to save us!"

Book 2--CHAPTER SEVEN.

"I THINK YOU'RE GOING ON A WILD-GOOSE CHASE."

Halcott paused, and gazed seawards over the great stretch of wet beach.

So wet was it that the sun's parting rays lit it up in great stripes of

crimson chequered with gold.

And yonder are the children coming slowly home across these painted

sands.

A strange group, most certainly, but united in one bond of union--oh,

would that all the world were so!--the bond of love.

The brother's arm is placed gently around his sister's waist; the

Admiral is stepping drolly by Ransey's side, with his head and neck

thrust through the lad's arm.

Something seems to tell the bird that fate, which took away his master

before, might take him once again.

Bob brings up the rear. His head is low towards the sands, but he feels

very happy and satisfied with his afternoon's outing.

Halcott once more lit his pipe.

The two others were silent, and Mr Tandy nodded when Halcott smiled and

looked towards him.

"Yes," he said, "there is a little more of my story yet untold; there is

a portion of it still in the future, I trust. With this, however,

destiny alone has to do. Suffice it to say, that as far as Doris and

myself--my simple sailor-self--are concerned, we shall be married when I

return from my next cruise, if all goes well, and, like two vessels

leaving the harbour on just such a beautiful night as this, sail away to

begin our voyage of life on just such a beautiful sea.

"You must both know Doris before I start. But where, think you, do I

mean to sail to next? No, do not answer till I tell you one thing.

Neither Doris nor her mother received, while in that little lake island,

the slightest injury or insult."

"Then there is some good in the breast of even the wildest savage," put

in Weathereye. "I always thought so; bother me if I didn't. Ahem!"

"Ah, wait, Captain Weathereye, wait! I fear my experience is different

from yours. Those fiendish savages on that Isle of Misfortune were

reserving my dear Doris and her mother for a fate far more terrible than

anything ever described in books of imagination.

"We rescued them, by God's mercy, just in time. They were then under

the protection of the awful priests, or medicine-men, and were being fed

on fruits and on the petals of rare and beautiful flowers. Their hut

itself was composed of flowers and foliage.

"The king, no, not even he, could come near them, until the medicine-men

had propitiated the demons that live, according to their belief, in

every wood and in every ravine and gully in the island.

"Then, at the full of the moon, on that tiny islet I have marked on the

map, the king and his warriors would assemble at midnight, and the awful

orgies would commence.

"I shudder even now when I think of it. I happily cannot describe to

you the tortures these poor ladies would have been put to before the

final, fearful act. But the king would drink `white blood.' He would

then be invulnerable. No foe could any more prevail against him.

"While the blood was still flowing, the stake-fires would-be lit, and--

"But I'll say no more; a cannibal feast would have concluded the

ceremonies."

"You mean to say," cried Weathereye, bringing his fist, and a good-sized

one it was, down with a bang on the sill of the open window by which he

sat--"do you mean to tell me that these devils incarnate would have

burned the poor dear ladies alive, then? Oh, horrible!"

"I said that they meant to; but look at this!"

He handed Weathereye a small yellow dagger.

"What a strange little knife! But why, I say, Halcott, Tandy, this

knife is made of gold--solid, hammered gold!"

"Yes," said Halcott; "and it is this dagger of hammered gold that would

have saved my poor Doris and her mother from the torture and the stake.

"But," he added, "not this dagger only, but every implement in the cave

of those fearsome priests was fashioned from the purest gold."

"This is indeed a strange story," said Tandy.

"And now, gentlemen," added Halcott, "can you guess to what seas my

barque shall sail next?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tandy rose from his seat and took two or three turns up and down the

floor.

He was a man who made up his mind quickly enough, and it is such men as

these, and only such, who get well on in the world.

Weathereye and Halcott both kept silence. They were watching Tandy.

"Halcott," said the latter, approaching the captain of the _Sea

Flower_--"Halcott, have you kept your secret?"

"Secret?"

"Yes. I mean, do many save yourself know of the existence of gold on

that island of blood?"

"None save me. No one has even seen the knife but myself and you."

"Good. You love the _Sea Flower_?"

"I love the _Sea Flower_ as every sailor loves, or ought to love, his

ship. I wish I could afford to buy her out and out."

"The other shares are in the market then?"

Tandy was seated now cross-legged on a chair, and leaning over the back

of it, bending towards Halcott with an earnest light, in his eyes, such

as few had ever seen therein.

"The other shares _are_ for sale," said Halcott.

It was just at this moment that Ransey Tansey and little Nelda came, or

rather burst into the room. Both were breathless, both were rosy; and

Bob, who came in behind them, was panting, with half a yard of tongue--

well, perhaps, not _quite_ so much--hanging red over his alabaster

teeth.

"O daddy," cried Babs, as father still called her, "we've had such fun!

And the 'Ral," (a pet name that the crane had somehow obtained

possession of) "dug up plenty of pretty things for us, and he wanted Bob

to eat a big white worm, only Bob wouldn't."

One of his children stood on each side of him, and he had placed one arm

round each.

Thus Tandy faced Halcott once more, smiling, perhaps, a little sadly

now.

"_I_ can buy those shares, Halcott. Do not think me ambitious. A

money-grabber I never was. But, you see these little tots. Ransey here

can make his way in the world.--Can't you, Ransey?"

"Rather, father," said Ransey.

"But, Halcott, though I am not in the flower of my youth, I'm in the

prime of my manhood, and I'd do everything I know to build up a shelter

for my little Babs against the cold winds of adversity before I--But I

must not speak of anything sad before the child."

"You have a long life before you, I trust," said Weathereye.

Tandy seemed to hear him not.

"I'd go as your mate."

The two sailors shook hands.

"You'll go as my friend, and keep watch if you choose."

"Agreed!"

"Bravo!" cried Weathereye. "Shiver my jib, as sailors say in books, if

I wouldn't like to go along with both of you!"

"Why not, Captain Weathereye?"

The staff-commander laughed. "Not this cruise, lads, though I'm not

afraid for my life, or the little that may be left of it, and you must

take care of yours. I think myself you are going on a kind of

wild-goose chase, and that the goose--that is, the gold--will have the

best of it, by keeping out of your way. Well, anyhow, I'll come and see

you both over the bar. Where do you sail from?"

"Southampton."

"Good! and the last person you'll see as you drop out to sea will be old

Weathereye in a boat waving his red bandana to wish you luck.

Good-night!

"Good-night, little Babs! How provokingly pretty she is, Tandy! better

leave her at Scragley Hall, and the crane too. She'll be well looked

after, you may figure upon that. Come and give the old man a kiss,

dear."

But Nelda hung her head.

"Not if you say that, Captain Weathereye. Wherever _ever_ daddy goes, I

go with him. I'm _not_ going to let my brother run away to sea and

leave me again."

"And you won't give me Bob?" said Weathereye.

"Oh, _no_!"

"Nor the Admiral?"

Nelda looked up in the old captain's face now.

"I'm just real sorry for you," she said; "but the Hal's going and

all--_you_ may figure on that."

Weathereye laughed heartily.

Then he drew the child gently towards him and kissed her little

sun-browned hand.

"May God be with you, darling, where'er on earth you roam! And with you

all. Good-night again."

And away went honest Captain Weathereye.

Book 2--CHAPTER EIGHT.