The state of things on the island was now considerably improved. Peggy,
under the influence of gratitude for restored felicity, became more
helpful than she had formerly been, and more loquacious than ever. Her
female companions, being amiable and easily pleased, were rather amused
than otherwise, at the continuous flow of discursive, sometimes
incomprehensible, and always good-natured small talk--particularly small
talk--with which she beguiled the hours that might have otherwise hung
heavily on their minds while their hands were busily engaged with the
bone-needles and sinew threads which the coxswain had manufactured for
them. For the clothes with which they had landed on the island--
especially those of the men--had begun to wear out after eight or ten
months, and new garments had to be made, while repairs never ceased.
Meanwhile, the men were fully occupied each day in hunting seals or
fishing, cutting firewood with the axe they had found in the hut, and in
making their home more comfortable. A door was fitted to the hut; a
wooden partition was put up to cut off more effectually the women's
apartment from that of the men; the open crevices in the walls were
stopped up with moss, and many other improvements were made. A few
nails extracted from the walls of the hut were converted into
fish-hooks, by means of the file which had been found, and Nellie spun
some excellent fishing-lines from flax found growing wild in abundance.
The file also enabled them to strike fire with broken flints picked up
on the shore. The ash of burnt cotton, as the doctor knew, makes good
tinder; so in the public interest, John Mitford agreed to part with the
ragged remains of the cotton shirt he had long worn--quite
unnecessarily--over his woollen jersey. Thus they could afford to let
the fire go out, and were relieved from constant watching, as well as
anxiety in regard to it.
They did not, however, cease their nocturnal vigils, for the hope of
deliverance never died out, though it at last sank very low. Besides
keeping their seal-skin flag flying, they kindled a beacon-fire every
night, to guard and replenish which became the nightly duty of one or
other of the men--watch and watch about--all the time they stayed on the
island.
During the earlier part of each night, however, the beacon-fire was not
watched. It was merely lighted and left for some hours to look after
itself. During this period, after supper, the whole party were wont to
draw round the blazing fire in the hut, and each contributed his or her
share to the entertainment of the social circle. Then it was that
lugubrious John Mitford developed amazing powers of inventive
story-telling, and Joe Slag came out strong with thrilling lifeboat
tales, every word of which Bob Massey corroborated, while Terrence
O'Connor displayed powers of sarcastic criticism of the highest order,
and Tomlin, Black Ned, and the women proved an intensely appreciative
audience. But the latter were not merely listeners. True, Peggy did
nothing for the general good. Having quite exhausted her lungs with
incessant talk during each day, she was fortunately almost incapable of
speech in the evening, but Nellie, who possessed a voice as sweet as
herself, and clear and true as that of a nightingale, was induced to
"favour the company"--chiefly with pathetic or patriotic ditties and
hymns--while Eva thrilled her audience with terrible tales of slavery,
in many of which she had acted a part. Of course Dr Hayward lent his
aid, both with song and story; but, like a true leader, he devoted
himself chiefly to drawing out the powers of his companions, directing
or diverting the flow of conversation, and keeping order. He also
instituted what may be truly styled family worship at night, by
repeating from memory portions of the word of, God and engaging in
prayer just before retiring to rest. Bob Massey and Tomlin were induced
to help him in this, and never was a prayer put up from that hut in
which there was not an earnest petition that a ship might be sent for
their deliverance.
"But a ship is long, long o' comin'," said Slag to Jarring as he
accompanied the latter part of the way to the beacon-fire one night when
it was Black Ned's turn to watch.
"A ship'll come, Joe, when God sees fit to send it," said Ned.
Slag glanced at his comrade in surprise, the reply was so very unlike
Ned's usual style of speech that he felt uncertain whether it was
uttered in earnest.
"The only thing I feel an awful longin' for now, at times, is a bit o'
'baccy," continued Ned.
"So does I, Ned, an' I sometimes think Dr Hayward has got the advantage
of us there, for he never smoked, so he says, an' in coorse it stands to
reason that he can't have no longin' for a thing he don't want--an' he
seems as jolly an' happy as the best of us without it!"
"Ay, jollier and happier!" replied Ned, shortly.
"But, I say, Ned, don't ye ever feel a longin' for grog? Ye used to be
raither fond of it."
"No--not now, Joe. It's the best thing as ever happened to me, bein'
cast on this here island--wi' Dr Hayward to give a feller a word of
advice."
Slag, who felt a sort of self-righteous superiority over his comrade,
inasmuch as _he_ had never given way to drink, said, "You should be
thankful for that, Ned."
"I _am_ thankful," returned the other in a tone that induced Slag to say
no more.
It was a very dark night, and cold, so that Black Ned involuntarily
shuddered as he approached the beacon-fire alone--Joe having left him--
and commenced to heap on fuel. Then rain began to fall heavily. There
was no shelter, and the watchman was soon drenched to the skin. Heaping
on more logs till the fire roared again, he tried to warm himself, and
stood so close to the blaze that his garments smoked--they would have
burnt had they not been wet--but no heat seemed to penetrate the
shivering frame of Black Ned.
Next morning the poor man was smitten with a raging fever. From the
first the doctor had little hope of his recovery. With a constitution
fatally injured by dissipation and drink, his chance was very small; but
of course every effort was made to save him. He was laid on a soft bed
of moss in the warmest corner of the hut, and the women took their turn
in nursing him, night and day--the coxswain's wife, however, being the
chief nurse; for, besides being sympathetic and tender by nature, she
had been trained in a rough school where self-reliance and capacity were
constantly called into action in circumstances of difficulty, so that
she was better fitted for the post than either of her companions. But
their efforts were of no avail. After a week, Black Ned died, with a
smile of gratitude on his dark face as he gazed in Hayward's eyes, and
held his hand until the spirit returned to God who gave it.
The gloom cast over the little community by this sudden appearance of
the King of Terrors lasted for many days, and had the good effect of
turning the thoughts of all of them to those subjects which are
obviously and naturally distasteful to fallen man--the soul and the
world to come. But gradually the gloom passed away, though it left in
the party a greater longing than ever to escape from their island
prison.
One day, while some of them were at breakfast, Terrence O'Connor rushed
into the hut with the news that a ship was in sight! Instantly the boat
was manned, and they rowed with all their might towards the vessel,
which was seen like a white speck on the horizon. They rowed to within
four miles of her, with an oar set up as a mast, and a jacket attached
thereto as a flag, but a breeze sprang up, and the strange sail actually
passed on without taking the slightest notice of them--though the people
on board could not have failed to see the boat!
Profound was the disappointment, and violent the indignation, that
filled the thoughts of the castaways as they rowed slowly back to land.
"Sure it's devils that must live in the bodies o' some men," growled
O'Connor, in the bitterness of his soul.
"You're too hard on the devils, Terrence," said Bob Massey. "Some men
in this world do the worst _that they can_, an' surely devils can do no
more than that."
This incident, however, aroused the hopes and expectations of the party
to a high pitch, so that the beacon-fire was kept burning more steadily
and brightly than before, and the look-out hill was more frequently
visited; still, weeks and months passed by, and no deliverance came to
them.
During this period, the seal-hunting, fishing, clothes-mending,
etcetera, were carried on with unflagging energy, and the nightly
entertainments became more and more entertaining, by reason of use and
effort developing new capacities and talents that might in less
favourable circumstances have lain altogether dormant. All this was due
very much to their leader; for, besides being a God-fearing man, Hayward
was pre-eminently cheery, and full of fun as well as vigour. The
coxswain, too, was like-minded, and of great capacity in every way;
while his wife's voice was so charming that the party became almost
dependent on it. They could scarcely have gone to rest at last without
Nellie's hymn or song as a lullaby! We must state, however, that Tomlin
did not share in this pleasure. That poor man had been born musically
deaf, as some people are born physically blind. There was no musical
inlet to his soul! There was, indeed, a door for sound to enter, and
music, of course, sought an entrance by that door; but it was
effectually destroyed, somehow, in passing through the doorway, so that
poor Tomlin showed no symptom of pleasure. What he heard, and how he
heard it, is known only to himself!
Once or twice during this time they visited the cavern of the wreck,
with the view, if possible, of recovering something from the sunk
vessel, but though most of the men could swim, none of them could dive,
therefore the result was failure.
They succeeded, however, in making soap by boiling wood-ash and seal's
fat in their cast-iron pot. Those who are accustomed to the celebrated
"Pears" can scarcely understand what an addition to cleanliness and
comfort resulted from this coarsely manufactured article.
Gulls' eggs were found in great quantity on the cliffs, and the
discovery and capture of wild pigs added to the luxury of their table--
which latter, by the way, was an ingenious contrivance of Joe Slag.
Binding four sticks together in the form of a stout oblong frame, Joe
had covered this--filled it in as it were--with straight branches about
a finger thick, laid side by side and tied to the frame. This he fixed
on four posts driven into the ground, and thus formed an excellent, if
not an elegant, table.
One morning at breakfast, Terrence O'Connor was observed to be unusually
busy with a large hook.
"Are you goin' to fish for sharks to-day?" asked Slag.
"Faix, no; it's to the woods I'll go fishin' to-day, Joe. Now, Nell,
gi' me the stoutest line ye've got on hand, mavourneen."
"Will that do? I made it the other day specially for sharks--or
whales!" said Nellie, with a light laugh, for she expected him to reject
the line she held up.
"The very thing, Nell. Hand it over. Now, boys, I'm off to try my luck
i' the woods, for I'm gittin' tired o' the say."
O'Connor went off alone, bestowing a mysterious wink on Peggy Mitford as
he left.
The Irishman had observed that the wild pigs were particularly fond of a
certain root which was plentiful in a valley about three miles distant
from the hut. Repairing to that valley, he dug up one of the roots,
baited his hook with it, hung it from a low branch to attract attention,
fastened the other end of the line to a tree, and went off to hide and
bide his time. Before half-an-hour had elapsed, a gay young pig visited
the scene of its former festivities, saw the pendent bait, smelt it,
took it in its mouth, and straightway filled the woods with frantic
lamentations. The struggle between the Irishman and that pig was worthy
of record, but we prefer leaving it to the reader's imagination. The
upshot was, that the pig was overcome, carried--bound, and shrieking--to
the hut, and tamed by Peggy. In a short time, other pigs were caught
and tamed. So, also, were rabbits. These bred and multiplied. The
original pig became the mother of a large family, and in a short time
something like the sounds and aspects of a farm began to surround the
old hut. Still further--by means of the cast-iron pot, which already
boiled their soup and their soap--they managed to boil sea-water down
into salt, and with this some of the pigs were converted into salt
pork--in short, the place began to assume the appearance of a busy and
thriving backwoods settlement.
"It's risin' tide with us again, after a fashion, Nell," said the
coxswain to his wife, as they stood one evening on the sea-shore
watching the sunset.
Nellie sighed. "It is, Bob," she said, "and I'm very thankful; but--but
I'd rather be at home in Old England among kith and kin, even though the
tide was low!"
"What! alongside o' Aunt Betty?"
"Yes, even alongside o' Aunt Betty; for if this voyage has taught me
anything at all, it has taught me that, after all, `there's no place
like home!'"
"Right you are, Nell," said Joe Slag, who came up at that moment,
"there's no place like home--when it's a happy one; but if it ain't a
happy one, there may be difference of opinion even on that pint, d'ee
see?"
That very night, a great ocean steamer, bound from the Antipodes to Old
England, chanced to diverge from her true course, and sighted the
beacon-fire which Tomlin--on duty at the time--was stirring up to
fervent heat. The Captain was not one of those whom Terrence O'Connor
credited with diabolic possession. He was a good man; and, knowing that
men did not light beacon-fires on lonely islands merely for amusement,
he resolved to lay-to till daylight, which was due in about an hour from
the time the island was sighted. Meanwhile, he sounded his steam
whistle.
At the sound, the hut instantly disgorged its male inmates, who,
recognising the familiar noise and the steamer's lights, sent up a shout
of mingled joy and thanksgiving.
"Get out the boat, boys!" cried Hayward, as he ran back to the hut to
rouse the women.
"Get ready, quick! Eva; a steamer at last, thank God, in the offing!
Don't lose a moment. They may have little time to wait. Boat will be
ready in a few minutes."
"Ay, an' pack up all you want to carry away," cried the coxswain,
crossing the threshold at that moment.
"So it is all going to end suddenly like a dream!" said Eva, as she
hastened to obey orders.
"Home, sweet home!" murmured Nellie, trembling with joy at the prospect.
"Wherever you are, my dear, the home will be sweet," said Peggy.
"Though of course it wouldn't be that without your 'usband, for it takes
two to make a fight, you know, an' it takes two no less, I think, to
make things pleasant, but--dear, dear, what a disagreeable thing it is
to 'ave to dress in a 'urry, though one shouldn't--"
"Look alive, there! look al-i-ve!" roared O'Connor, putting his head in
at the door. "Daylight's a-breakin', an' they won't--"
"Oh! Terrence, that reminds me--don't forget our pets," cried Nellie,
who had steadily declined to speak of them as "live stock."
"All right, missis. It's lookin' after them I am this minnit."
The Irishman ran, as he spoke, to the styes and hutches where the pigs
and rabbits were kept and opened the doors.
"Out wid ye!" he cried, "the Act of Emancipation's passed, and ye're all
free--ivery mother's son of ye."
Accustomed to his voice and his caressing hand, the astonished creatures
seemed to look up at him in surprise.
"Be aff, at wance, hooroo!" cried the excited man, with a clap of his
hands and a Donnybrook yell that sent all the "pets" leaping and
squealing into their native jungle.
Soon after that the boat was bounding out to sea under the impulse of
strong arms and willing hearts. A few minutes more, and they were
receiving the warm congratulations of the passengers and crew of the
steamer. Then the order was given to go ahead full speed, and the
engine's great heart seemed to throb sympathetically within the hearts
of the rescued ones as the vessel cut her way swiftly through the
Southern Ocean--homeward bound for Old England! Nevertheless, there was
a touch of sadness in the breasts of all as they turned their farewell
gaze on the receding island and thought of the pets, the old hut, the
long period of mingled pleasure and suffering, and the lonely grave.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We cannot part from the friends whose footsteps we have followed so long
and so far without a parting word or two.
On returning to his native village, Bob Massey found that his successor
as coxswain had died, and that another man had not yet been appointed to
the lifeboat--he was therefore installed, with much rejoicing, in his
old position as a rescuer of human lives. Joe Slag, naturally and
pleasantly, also fell into his old post at the bow. Nellie found that
Aunt Betty had had what the villagers called "a stroke" during her
absence; which crushing blow had the effect of opening her eyes to many
things regarding herself and others, to which she had been particularly
blind before. It also had the effect--indirectly--of subduing much of
the evil in her character and bringing out much of the good. As evil
begets evil, so good begets good; and one result of this law was, that
the seven children, whom she had brought--or banged--up, became seven
repentant and sympathetic and reasonably good creatures when they saw
the old mother, whom they used to think so harsh and so physically
strong, reduced to amiable helplessness. Thus it came to pass that
there was not in all the village an old woman who was so well looked
after by her progeny as Aunt Betty.
Terrence O'Connor continued to rove about the world in the capacity of a
ship's cook till near the end of his days. John Mitford and Peggy
unexpectedly came into a small inheritance soon after returning home,
and settled down for life close to the coxswain's cottage. Tomlin went
to New Zealand to seek his fortune. Whether he found it or not, we
cannot tell! Last, but not least, Dr Hayward and his wife returned to
their native land, and for many years afterwards kept up a steady
correspondence with Nell Massey, in which, you may be sure, there were
frequent and pleasant allusions to the time which they had spent
together on the lonely isle in the southern seas.
One morning, Nellie presented her husband with a baby boy. Bob was out
with the lifeboat rescuing a shipwrecked crew at the time the
presentation was made. On his return, he opened the door and stood
before his wife dripping wet.
"Fifteen saved this time, Nell," he began, but the nurse stopped him by
exhibiting the baby boy.
"Thank the Lord!" he said, with a glad look in his wet eyes.
"You mustn't come near us," said the nurse, with a look of warning.
"Only a look just now."
"The tide has risen to the flood now, Bob," murmured the young mother,
softly.
"Ay," said the coxswain in a deep voice, "an' it's a high spring tide
too. God bless you, Nell!"