Gazing up in the direction to which he pointed, I saw distinctly against
the sky the figure of a man. How he was dressed it was impossible to
say; still, he had on clothes of some sort.
"He's not a native savage, at all events," said Jim. "We'll hail him,
and if he's an Englishman he'll answer."
We shouted at the top of our voices, but no reply came, and the figure
disappeared.
"That's strange," said Jim; "I thought he would have come down and had a
talk with us, whoever he is. Can't we try and find him?"
"We mustn't both leave our post," I answered; "but if you stop here I'll
try and get up to where he was standing, and unless he has run away he
can't be far off."
Jim didn't like my going, but I persuaded him to stop, and hurried
across the valley. When I got to the foot of the cliff I could find no
way up it, and, after searching about, had to abandon the attempt.
I returned to where I had left Jim, and we resumed our walk, thinking
that perhaps the figure would again appear.
"Perhaps if he sees us he won't show himself," said Jim. "Wouldn't it
be better to go and stay under the trees? And then perhaps he'll come
back."
We did as Jim proposed, keeping our eyes in the direction of the cliff,
but we looked in vain for the reappearance of the stranger.
"He guesses that we are watching for him," said Jim. "Perhaps if we
were to shout again he would come back. If he's a white man he'll
understand us, and know that we are friends."
"There can be no harm in shouting," I answered, "though he may be a
native and there may be others with him; they would have come down
before this and attacked us, had they had a mind to do so."
We accordingly went from under the trees, and standing in the open
ground, I shouted out--
"Hillo, stranger, we're friends, and want to have a talk with you. We
have just come here for a day or two, and intend to be off again on our
voyage."
Jim then said much the same sort of thing, and as his voice was even
louder than mine, we made sure that the stranger must have heard us. He
didn't, however, show himself, though we sometimes shouted together,
sometimes singly. At last we heard voices in the cocoanut grove.
"I hope that no enemies have got down between us and the sea," I said.
"We had no business to come so far away from the camp."
We stood with our muskets ready, watching the wood. In a short time our
anxiety was relieved by the appearance of the doctor and Mr Griffiths.
"Why, lads, what made you shout out in that fashion?" asked the mate.
"We fancied you wanted help."
We told him of the man we had seen on the cliffs.
"It's very extraordinary," said the doctor; "I don't think he can be a
native, or he would not have shown himself in that way. He must be some
white man who has been left by himself on the island, and has lost his
wits, as often happens under such circumstances. He's been accustomed
to see savages visit the island, and has kept out of their way to save
himself from being killed or made a slave of. He had not the sense to
distinguish between us and them."
"I believe you are right," said Mr Griffiths. "We must take means to
get hold of him, both for his own sake and ours. He'll soon come round,
supposing he's an Englishman, when he finds himself among countrymen,
and he'll be able to show us where to get provisions if the island
produces any. He can't have lived always on cocoanuts and shell-fish."
By this time the dawn began to appear, and after waiting a little longer
we all returned to camp, and roused up the men to prepare for breakfast.
Miles Soper and Sam Coal again climbed the trees to get some cocoanuts.
Some of the men went down to the shore to collect shell-fish. Others
made up the fire, while the mate and the doctor examined the boat to
ascertain the damage she had received, and to see how she could best be
repaired.
"We have a few nails, and we must try to find some substance which will
answer the purpose of pitch," observed the mate. "Doctor, I dare say
you'll help us. We will strengthen her with additional planks, and get
a strake put on above her gunwale. It will be a work of toil to cut the
planks, but it must be done, and she will then be fit to go anywhere."
At breakfast the mate told the men of his intentions. They all agreed
to do their best to carry them out.
We had first, however, to search for provisions. Not knowing whether
there might be savages on the island, even supposing that the man we had
seen was not one, the mate did not like to leave the boat unprotected.
He therefore ordered Brown and one of the men to remain by her while the
rest of us proceeded together to explore the island.
The mate would not allow us to separate until we had ascertained whether
or not there were inhabitants besides the man we had seen on the island.
One musket was left with Brown, the mate carried the other, and we set
off, keeping up the stream I have before described towards the end of
the valley. We looked out on either side for the stranger, but he
didn't appear. Some of the men declared that we had not really seen any
one, and that we had mistaken a small tree or shrub for a man; but Jim
and I were positive, and the doctor, at all events, believed us.
On reaching the top of the hill, we looked down into a large hollow,
with water at the bottom, dark rocks forming its sides, grown over with
creepers, huge ferns, and various other plants. The doctor said that it
was the crater of a long extinct volcano, and that the whole island was
volcanic. There were many other hills out of which smoke was rising.
The doctor said that this was an active volcano; indeed, the country in
that direction presented a very different aspect from the part where we
had landed. It was black and barren, with only here and there a few
green spots. We therefore turned to the east, the direction which
promised us a better chance of finding roots or fruits, or vegetable
productions of some sort.
The strange thing was, that though the island appeared fertile, not a
single habitation or hut could we discover. The doctor supposed that
this was on account of the occasional outbreak of the volcano, and that
the people from the neighbouring islands were afraid to take up their
residence on it.
We now descended the hill, and went along another valley, of course
looking out all the time for the stranger.
We were passing a small grove near a hollow in the side of a hill, which
was partly concealed by trees, when we heard a cock crow just as an
English cock would do. At once that sound made my thoughts, as it did
those of the others, probably, rush back to our far-distant homes.
"If there's a cock, there must be hens and a hen-roost hereabouts,"
observed Miles Soper, hurrying in the direction whence the sounds
proceeded.
We followed; there, sure enough, sheltered by the hill, and under the
shade of the trees, was not only a hen-house of good size, but a hut
scarcely bigger than it was neatly built and thatched with palm-leaves.
"It must be the residence of the stranger. He himself can't be far
off," said the doctor.
The hut was just large enough to hold one man. It had a door formed of
thin poles lashed together with sennit. At the farther end was a
bedstead covered with rough matting, and in the centre a small table,
with a three-legged stool.
No one had any longer any doubt that we had seen a man, or that this
must be his abode, and that he must be a white man, but whether English
or not was doubtful. Miles Soper examined the matting, and as he was
looking about he found a knife on a shelf close to the bed. Taking it
up, he examined it with a curious eye, opening and shutting it, and
turning it round and round.
"Well, that's queer, but I think I've seen this knife before," he said.
"If the owner is the man I guess he is I am glad."
"Who do you suppose he is?" I inquired, eagerly.
"Well, Peter, that's what I don't want to say just yet. I must make
sure first," he answered.
"Can he be my brother Jack?" I exclaimed, my breath coming and going
fast in my anxiety.
"Well then, Peter, I'll tell you. Jack knew how to make matting just
like this, because he learnt the way on board the _Harriet_, and so did
I. He had a knife which, if this isn't it, is the fellow to it, so you
see that I have some reason to think that the man who built this hut,
and lives in it, is he. But then again, you know, I may be mistaken.
"Why, if he is Jack, he should run away from us puzzles me. If he
couldn't see our faces he must have known by our dress that we were
English or American, and that there was no reason for him to hide
himself. There are many men who know how to make this sort of matting,
and there are many knives just like this, and that's the reason why I
can't tell you whether he's Jack or not. But if Mr Griffiths will let
me I'll go on alone and look for him, and when he sees who I am he'll
come fast enough to me, and you may depend on it, Peter, if it's he I'll
bring him back with a lighter heart than I've had for many a day."