So quickly had this happened that none of the others had seen it. But
Jack quickly apprised them of his discovery.
“If the man’s face was painted, would that mean he was on the war-path?”
asked Billy rather nervously.
“Not necessarily,” rejoined the captain, “but still, he might be
hostile. On feast days the natives paint themselves up and that may have
been the reason for his decorations.”
“Ugh! He was hideous enough to stop a clock or scare a locomotive off
the track,” exclaimed Jack.
“The village must be near at hand,” said the captain presently. “Let us
press on.”
They had reached the end of the ravine now, having crossed almost the
entire island. The path widened and others branched off from it. But
they stuck to the main thoroughfare and in a few moments came in sight
of a native village lying not far back from the shore and amidst a grove
of magnificent palms.
The rhythmical throbbing of tom-toms reached their ears and they could
see natives dancing in their peculiar swaying manner to the sound of the
skin drums. Suddenly the dancing ceased. The natives in a swarm, among
them the man with the painted face, descended on the travelers. Many
wore flowers in their hair and others added to these decorations by
brass rings in their noses and ear-rings composed of old china door
knobs. The men were remarkably handsome and the women pretty.
After the first uncertainty as to their reception, there was no doubt of
their friendliness as they pressed about. Several of them could talk
English and the captain soon learned that they were indeed on one of the
Pamatou group, as he had surmised. The village, which was celebrating a
feast day, was one of two on the island occupied by pearl fishers. The
natives were civilized; schooners and ships frequently touching there.
To the south of them they said were “bad men,” meaning cannibals, and
the boys were glad they had not landed on one of them.
Nothing would do but that the white men must sit down and partake of the
feast which was just ready. The boys stuffed themselves with roast pork,
goat-meat, sweet potatoes, yams, roasted bread-fruit, fish and fruit.
They washed this down with cocoanut milk. During the meal, a young
Pamatouan attached himself to each of the boys. Each of these lads was
about sixteen and wore, like most of the rest, a single white garment,
although some of the natives sported trousers, and a few even had
shoes—which they carried in their hands!
The two lads, who had thrust their services on Jack and Billy, informed
them that they were their friends and would be so all the time the _Sea
Gypsy_ lay at the island. They waited on the amused boys hand and foot,
not letting them do anything. Jack’s acquisition was called Bolabola;
Billy’s savage servitor was called, so he said, Anai. Each could speak a
little English and they informed the boys that they were “their friends
for always.” From the captain the lads learned that this is a common
custom among the islanders who value the friendship of a white man
highly, and think it an honor and a credit to wait on him. He suggested
giving them some little presents. Jack presented Bolabola with a
pocket-knife and Billy gave Anai a fountain pen, having nothing else
with him. Anai promptly stuck the pen through a big hole bored in the
lobe of his ear and capered about delighted with his new ornament.
When it came time to go back to the ship, the friendly natives could not
hear of the adventurers trudging back on foot. A great war canoe was
launched and paddled by fifty strapping natives, singing musically, and
so they were paddled round the island in state. On their arrival at the
ship, the boat which had been left under guard was signalled to return,
and presents of calico, straw hats, cheap cutlery and glass beads and
fish-hooks and lines,—the latter highly prized,—were dealt out from
the yacht’s stores. The natives swarmed all over the ship and it was
hard to induce them to leave at all. As for Bolabola and Anai, they
refused to go till they had extracted promises from their “friends,”
Jack and Billy, to visit them ashore and visit a pearl cave they knew of
along the coast.
This exactly suited the boys, and their delight, when Mr. Jukes decided
to stay at the island for some days, was unbounded. The reason for the
decision to remain there was arrived at after the millionaire had held a
consultation with Captain Sparhawk. Tahiti was not far off, and that
night Jack was ordered to raise the wireless station on the French
island and find out if a small vessel could not be despatched at once
with coal to replenish the _Sea Gypsy’s_ exhausted bunkers.
The next morning Jack had the satisfaction of informing Mr. Jukes that
the details had been arranged and that a small tramp steamer might be
expected to come to their relief in a few days. The expense was
considerable, but this did not appear to bother Mr. Jukes, who chafed at
the delay in his search for the survivors, if any there were, of the
_Centurion_.