"Where do the men in your land go when they die?"
"All go to Beek."
I then held my hand up to the sky to point to it, and said, "God dwells
there. He made the world, and all things in it. The moon and the stars
are the work of his hand. God sends the wind and the rain on the earth,
and the streams that flow: He hides the face of the sky with clouds,
makes the grass to grow for the beasts of the field, and herbs for the
use of man. God's love knows no end. When we pray, He draws near to us
and hears us."
It was a real joy to my poor slave to hear me talk of these things. He
sat still for a long time, then gave a sigh, and told me that he would
say "O" to Beek no more, for he was but a short way off, and yet could
not hear, till men went up the hill to speak to him.
"Did you go up the hill to speak to him?" said I.
"No, Okes go up to Beek, not young mans."
"What do Okes say to him?"
"They say 'O.'"
Now that I brought my man Friday to know that Beek was not the true God,
such was the sense he had of my worth, that I had fears lest I should
stand in the place of Beek. I did my best to call forth his faith in
Christ, and make it strong and clear, till at last--thanks be to the
Lord--I brought him to the love of Him, with the whole grasp of his
soul.
To please my poor slave, I gave him a sketch of my whole life; I told
him where I was born, and where I spent my days when a child. He was
glad to hear tales of the land of my birth, and of the trade which we
keep up, in ships, with all parts of the known world. I gave him a knife
and a belt, which made him dance with joy.
One day as we stood on the top of the hill at the east side of the isle,
I saw him fix his eyes on the main land, and stand for a long time to,
gaze at it; then jump and sing, and call out to me.
"What do you see?" said I.
"Oh joy!" said he, with a fierce glee in his eyes, "Oh glad! There see
my land!"
Why did he strain his eyes to stare at this land, as if he had a wish
to be there? It put fears in my mind which made me feel far, less at
my ease with him. Thought I, if he should go back to his home, he will
think no more of what I have taught him, and done for him. He will be
sure to tell the rest of his tribe all my ways, and come back with, it
may be, scores of them, and kill me, and then dance round me, as they
did round the men, the last time they came on my isle.
But these were all false fears, though they found a place in my mind a
long while; and I was not so kind to him now as I had been. From this
time I made it a rule, day by day, to find out if there were grounds for
my fears or not. I said, "Do you not wish to be once more in your own
land?"
"Yes! I be much O glad to be at my own land."
"What would you do there? Would you turn wild, and be as you were?"
"No, no, I would tell them to be good, tell them eat bread, corn, milk,
no eat man more!"
"Why, they would kill you!"
"No, no, they no kill; they love learn."
He then told me that some white men, who had come on their shores in a
boat, had taught them a great deal.
"Then will you go back to your land with me?"
He said he could not swim so far, so I told him he should help me to
build a boat to go in. Then he said, "If you go, I go."
"I go? why they would eat me!"
"No, me make them much love you."
Then he told me as well as he could, how kind they had been to some
white men. I brought out the large boat to hear what he thought of it,
but he said it was too small. We then went to look at the old ship's
boat, which, as it had been in the sun for years, was not at all in a
sound state. The poor man made sure that it would do. But how were we to
know this? I told him we should build a boat as large as that, and that
he should go home in it. He spoke not a word, but was grave and sad.
"What ails you?" said I.
"Why, you grieve mad with your man?"
"What do you mean? I am not cross with you."
"No cross? no cross with me? Why send your man home to his own land,
then?"
"Did you not tell me you would like to go back?"
"Yes, yes, we both there; no wish self there, if you not there!"
"And what should I do there?"
"You do great deal much good! you teach wild men be good men; you tell
them know God, pray God, and lead new life."
We soon set to work to make a boat that would take us both. The first
thing was to look out for some large trees that grew near the shore, so
that we could launch our boat when it was made. My slave's plan was to
burn the wood to make it the right shape; but as mine was to hew it,
I set him to work with my tools; and in two months' time we had made a
good strong boat; but it took a long while to get her down to the shore.
Friday had the whole charge of her; and, large as she was, he made her
move with ease, and said, "he thought she go there well, though great
blow wind!" He did not know that I meant to make a mast and sail. I cut
down a young fir tree for the mast, and then I set to work at the sail.
It made me laugh to see my man stand and stare, when he came to watch me
sail the boat. But he soon gave a jump, a laugh, and a clap of the hands
when he saw the sail jibe and fall, first on this side, then on that.
The next thing to do was to stow our boat up in the creek, where we dug
a small dock; and when the tide was low, we made a dam, to keep out the
sea. The time of year had now come for us to set sail, so we got out all
our stores, to put them in the boat.
One day I sent Friday to the shore, to get a sort of herb that grew
there. I soon heard him cry out to me, "O grief! O bad! O bad! O out
there boats, one, two, three!" "Keep a stout heart," said I, to cheer
him. The poor man shook with fear; for he thought that the men who
brought him here, had now come back to kill him.
"Can you fight?" said I.
"Me shoot; but me saw three boats; one, two, three!"
"Have no fear; those that we do not kill, will be sure to take fright at
the sound of our guns. Now will you stand by me, and do just as you are
bid?"
"Me die when you bid die."
I gave him a good draught of rum; and when he had drunk this, he took up
an axe and two guns, each of which had a charge of swan shot. I took two
guns as well, and put large shot in them, and then hung my great sword
by my side. From the top of the bill, I saw with the help of my glass,
that the boats had each brought eight men, and one slave. They had come
on shore near the creek, where a grove of young trees grew close down to
the sea.
They had with them three slaves, bound hand and foot, and you who read
this, may guess what they were brought here for. I felt that I must try
and save them from so hard a fate, and that to do this, I should have
to put some of their foes to death. So we set forth on our way. I gave
Friday strict charge to keep close to me, and not to fire till I told
him to do so.
We went full a mile out of our way, that we might get round to the wood
to bide there. But we had not gone far, when my old qualms came back
to me, and I thought, "Is it for me to dip my hands in man's blood? Why
should I kill those who have done me no harm, and mean not to hurt me?
Nay, who do not so much as know that they are in the wrong, when they
hold these feasts. Are not their ways a sign that God has left them
(with the rest of their tribe) to their own dull hearts? God did not
call me to be a judge for Him. He who said, 'Thou shalt not kill,' said
it for me, as well as the rest of the world."
A throng of thoughts like these would rush on my mind, as if to warn me
to pause, till I felt sure that there was more to call me to the work
than I then knew of. I took my stand in the wood, to watch the men at
their feast, and then crept on, with Friday close at my heels. Thus we
went till we came to the skirts of the wood. Then I said to. Friday, "Go
up to the top of that tree, and bring me word if you can see the men."
He went, and quick as thought, came back to say that they were all round
the fire, and that the man who was bound on the sand would be the next
they would kill. But when he told me that it was a white man, one of my
own race, I felt the blood boil in my veins. Two of the gang had gone to
loose the white man from his bonds; so now was the time to fire.
At the sound of our guns, we saw all the men jump up from the ground
where they sat. It must have been the first gun the I had heard in their
lives. They knew not which way to look. I now threw down my piece, and
took up a small gun; Friday did the same; and I gave him the word to
fire! The men ran right and left, with yells and screams.
I now made a rush out of the wood, that they might see me, with my man
Friday at my heels, of course. We gave a loud shout, and ran up to the
white man as fast as we could. There he lay on the hot sand. I cut the
flag, or rush, by which he was bound, but he was too weak to stand or
speak, so I gave him some rum. He let me know by all the signs that he
could think of, how much he stood in my debt for all that I had done for
him.
I said, "We will talk of that bye and bye; but now we must do what we
can to save our lives." Friday, who was free to go where he chose, flew
here and there, and put all the men to the rout. They fled in full haste
to their boats, and were soon out at sea; and so we got rid of our foes
at last.
The man whom we had found on the sand told us that his name was Carl,
and that he came from Spain. But there was one more man to claim our
care; for the black men had left a small boat on the sands, and in this
I saw a poor wretch who lay half dead. He could not so much as look up,
so tight was he bound, neck and heels. When I cut the bonds from him he
gave a deep groan, for he thought that all this was but to lead him out
to die.
Friday then came up, and I bade him speak to the old man in his own
tongue, and tell him that he was free. This good news gave him strength,
and he sat up in the boat. But when Friday came to hear him talk, and
to look him in the face, it brought the tears to my eyes to see him kiss
and hug the poor old man, and dance round him with joy, then weep, wring
his hands, and beat his own face and head, and then laugh once more,
sing, and leap. For a long time he could not speak to me, so as to, let
me know what all this meant. But at length he told me that he was the
son of this poor old man, and that his name was Jaf.
It would be a hard task for me to tell of all the quaint, signs Friday
made to show his joy. He went in and out of the boat five or six times,
sat down by old Jaf, and held the poor old man's head close to his
breast to warm it; then he set to work to rub his arms and feet, which
were cold and stiff from the bonds. I told Friday to give him some rum
and bread; but he said, "None! Bad dog eat all up self." He then ran off
straight to the house, and took no heed of my calls, but went as swift
as a deer.
In an hour's time, he came back with a jug in his hand. The good soul
had gone all the way to the house, that Jaf might have a fresh draught
from my well; and with it he brought two cakes, one of which I bade him
take to Carl, who lay in the shade of a tree. His limbs were stiff and
cold, and he was too weak to say a word.
I set my man to rub his feet with rum, and while he did so, I saw Friday
turn his head round from time to time, to steal a look at the old man.
Then we brought Carl and Jaf home from the boat on our backs, as they
could not walk. The door of my house was at the top, and the poor sick
men could not climb the steps by which I got in, so we made for them a
tent of old sails.
I was now a king of these three men, as well as Lord of the isle; and
I felt proud to say, "They all owe their lives to their king, and would
lay them down for him if he bade them do so." But I did not think that
my reign was so soon to come to an end. The next thing for us to do was
to give Carl and Jaf some food, and to kill and roast a kid, to which we
all four sat down, and I did my best to cheer them.
Carl in a few days grew quite strong, and I set him to work to dig some
land for seed; for it was clear we should want more corn now that we had
two more mouths to fill. So we put in the ground all the stock of grain
I had, and thus we all four had as much work as we could do for some
time. When the crop grew, and was ripe, we found we had a good store of
grain.
We made a plan that Carl and Jaf should go back to the main land, to
try if they could get some of the white men who had been cast on shore
there, to come and live with us; so they got out the boat, and took
with them two guns and food for eight days. They were to come back in a
week's time, and I bade them hang out a sign when they came in sight, so
that we might know who they were.
One day, Friday ran up to me in great glee, and said, "They are back!
They are back!" A mile from shore, there was a boat with a sail, which
stood in for the land; but I knew it could not be the one which our two
friends had gone out in, for it was on the wrong side of the isle for
that. I saw too, through my glass, a ship out at sea. There were twelve
men in the boat, three of whom were bound in chains, and four had fire
arms.
Bye and bye, I saw one of the men raise his sword to those who were
in chains, and I felt sure that all was not right. Then I saw that the
three men who had been bound were set free; and when they had come on
shore they lay on the ground, in the shade of a tree. I was soon at
their side, for their looks, so sad and worn, brought to my mind the
first few hours I had spent in this wild spot, where all to me was wrapt
in gloom.