"It was well I thought of lashing you securely, or you would have fallen
and been killed," said a voice in Humphry's ear.
Consciousness returned. He recognised Ned Hadow.
"It will be wise in you not to ask any questions, Mr Gurton," he
whispered. "Just be sure that you are wide awake, and I will cast off
the lashings. I have done the best I could for you. The men did not
ask you to join them because they believed you would not, nor do I
either. I am too grateful to you for what you have done for me to wish
you to be among them. They have now possession of the ship, and intend
to keep it. As we shall be at daybreak close in with the island we saw
last night, they give you your choice of being put on shore there, or
taking the oath of fidelity to them, and joining their cause. As I said
before, I don't suppose you will hesitate about the matter."
"Indeed I will not," answered Humphry; "whether or not the island is
inhabited or means of subsistence can be found on it, I would rather be
put on shore than remain an hour longer than I can help on board the
ship, after what I fear has taken place."
"As I said, Mr Gurton, you must ask no questions," repeated Hadow. "I
wish I could go with you, but I am sworn to stay by the rest. I would
give anything to be out of the ship, but it is too late now to draw
back; though, as I have heard it said, that hell with sinners often
begins on earth, so it has begun with me. Yes, Mr Gurton, I almost
wish that I had been carried off by the fever instead of living on, to
become what I now am. I was bad enough before, but I am a thousand
times worse now. There is no one on board I can say this to, and I
cannot help saying it to you."
"Surely you could manage to come on shore with me," said Humphry. "Your
messmates will probably release you from any oath you have taken if you
wish it."
"They will not do that, sir, they will not do that," answered Hadow in a
despairing tone. "I am bound hand and foot to them; their fate,
whatever that is, must be mine. You must not stay up here longer. I
will cast off the lashings now, but you must take care, as your arms
will be stiff after being bound so long, that you don't fall. I will
hold you till you get the use of them."
Saying this, Ned cast off the rope, and grasping Humphry round the body,
assisted him to get on his legs; then, after he had stood for a minute
or two, helped him to descend the rigging.
On reaching the foretop, Hadow told him to wait there till he should
come for him.
"I don't want you to go among the crew," he said in a low voice. "I
have got four men whom you looked after in their sickness, who have
agreed to pull you on shore, which we hope to reach as soon as there is
light enough to land. The boat is already in the water, and we are
stowing her with things which we think will be useful to you. As you
saw nothing of what happened, even should you be taken off the island
some time or other, you cannot swear against any one. All you know is
that you were lashed in the rigging, and were put on shore the same
night before daybreak. If any one asks you questions on deck, that is
what you must say to them--you understand me?"
Humphry replied that he did understand, and, suspecting that his safety
depended on his answer, said that he would do as Ned advised.
"Well, then, stay here till I come for you," and Ned disappeared down
the rigging.
Harry had not long to wait when he again heard his voice.
"All is ready," he whispered. "We took the bearings of the island
before dark, and can steer a straight course for it. Don't speak to any
one. Follow me into the boat; she is waiting under the forechains; you
will find a rope by which you can lower yourself into her."
Humphry followed Ned without ever stepping on deck, and took his seat
near him in the stern of the boat, which noiselessly shoved off from the
ship's side. The crew bent to their oars, while Ned steered by a boat
compass lighted by a lantern at his feet.
Humphry breathed more freely when he felt himself out of the ship. Yet
what a fate was to be his. To be left alone on an island where he might
have to spend long, long years, cut off from all intercourse with his
fellow-creatures. Yet anything was better than having to associate with
the wretched men on board the _Wolf_.
They soon lost sight of the ship, and the boat made her way across the
dark water, the island not being yet visible ahead.
"Are they all dead, have none been spared?" asked Humphry at length, yet
half fearing to speak on the subject which occupied his thoughts.
"I told you, Mr Gurton, to ask no questions," answered Ned in a hollow
voice. "The sooner you put all thoughts of what happened last night out
of your head the better. Just think of what you have got to do. You
will have to keep your wits awake where you are going, depend on that.
I wish we could stop to help you, but we have promised to be back as
soon as we have landed your things. All I can tell you is, that there
is said to be water, and you will probably find cocoa-nut and
bread-fruit trees, and other roots and fruits; and as we have put up
lines and hooks, and a gun and ammunition, and a couple of harpoons, and
lines for catching seals, it will be your fault if you do not manage to
find as much food as you want."
"But how shall I be able to live all alone by myself on the island?"
said Humphry with a sigh.
"Better to be all alone than food for the sharks, I have a notion,"
observed one of the men who overheard him.
Humphry made no further remark. He now felt more than ever certain that
a fearful tragedy had been enacted, and that he ought to be thankful to
get out of the company of the perpetrators. Yet he was sorry to leave
Hadow among them, for he had observed, he thought, the signs of
something better in him than in his companions, rough and ignorant as he
was.
As day dawned the island appeared ahead, rising out of the blue water
with black rocks piled one upon another, and some hills of considerable
elevation. Humphry observed also a deep sandy bay between the rocks,
but an encircling coral reef intervened, over which, even on that calm
morning, the sea broke in masses of foam.
They pulled along till the bay opened out more clearly, and just in
front was a cascade, which came tumbling down the rocks. A narrow piece
of dark water was seen between the masses of foam which danced up on
either side of it.
"There is a passage," exclaimed Ned. "Give way, my lads, and we shall
get through it without difficulty."
The men bent to their oars, and the boat, dashing between the two walls
of foam, was in a short time floating on the calm surface of a lagoon.
Pulling up the bay, they reached a small sandy beach, though the dark
rocks which everywhere rose up around it gave the place a gloomy aspect.
The boat was hauled up, and the men quickly landed the various articles
which Ned had secured for Humphry's benefit.
He and Humphry searching about soon found a level spot on one side of
the bay where the ground looked capable of cultivation.
"This will do for you, my lad," said Ned. "And as I found some papers
of seed in the captain's cabin, I put them into one of the casks; though
I don't know what they are, maybe if you sow them they will come up, and
supply you with vegetables."
The men now brought up all the things from the boat. They all wished
him good luck and a happy life on the island, and then hurried back to
the boat.
"I only wish I could stop with you, that I do!" exclaimed Ned with some
feeling, as he wrung Humphry's hand. "I dare not say `God bless you!'
but I hope He will, that I do with all my heart," and Ned ran down to
join his companions, who were already shoving off the boat. He would
not have been sorry if they had gone without him.
Humphry watched them going down the bay. They passed through the reef,
and pulled out to sea till the boat was lost to sight, though he could
distinguish the ship hove to in the offing waiting for her return.