FAREWELL TO TOPS ISLAND
"I spent nearly two months on Tops Island," said Madame to me, when
telling her story in Whitehall, "and I was exceedingly loath to depart.
I had by accident picked out the very best season in the year. There was
not a drop of rain, the big sun shone gloriously all day long, and the
regular rise and fall of the south-east trade wind kept down the heat.
In my tent, which was wide open by night and day, and had generous air
spaces between the walls and roof, the temperature never rose above 85
nor sank below 65. We called that winter in the South, but it was just a
perfect English summer, smiling upon the tropical growth of a Pacific
island. Whenever I thought of a return to a desolate European autumn, I
shuddered to my bones. If I were not an intensely modern woman," she
went on reflectively, "I would spend three months of every year in Tops
Island. But it takes such a devil of a long time to go and return. And
perhaps my second stay would be so unlike my first--there would be no
Willatopy and no _Humming Top_--that I should never go again. It is
always a mistake to seek the repetition of a delightful experience. I
don't suppose that I shall ever again see little Mrs. Toppys, the Hula
wife of wise mad William, or those dear girls in the banana-leaf
petticoats. They had lost their shyness of me, and clung about my neck
when the motor boat came to bear me off for the last time. I consoled
them with bright chains for their brown necks, and gave to the Topy
family two of Sir John's tents and quite a lot of his camp gear. I am
afraid that all through my Southern adventure I made very free with the
property of our good profiteer of Wigan. He never called me to account,
the dear thing. The last I saw of my camping ground, as the boat sped
off, was the three Topy women kneeling on the sand crying to me to come
back. I wonder what they would think of me now if they knew all."
William, Lord Topsham, and his legal adviser had already gone off in a
whaleboat, so that when Madame mounted the accommodation ladder all was
ready for departure. The mooring hawsers had been cast off, and the bow
anchor cable hauled short. The tide was flowing into the bay so that the
_Humming Top's_ cutwater pointed towards the Coral Sea outside. At a
word from Ching, who stood alone on the bridge, the steam winches
rattled, and the anchor was run up.
John Clifford had discreetly vanished below, but Willie stood not far
from Madame Gilbert on the boat deck. Ching rang for half-speed astern,
and the long narrow yacht backed into the bay to give herself room to
make the entrance. At the sound of the engines Willie started and his
eyes flashed. For a moment he became once more the sailor and the
incomparable pilot. By instinct, rather than intention, he moved towards
the bridge ladder and mounted the rungs. At the top Ching faced him.
"Do you wish to take charge, my lord?" asked the Skipper.
"No," mattered Willie, "I am not a pilot. I am Lord Topsham."
"Then," replied Ching, very firmly, "I must request Lord Topsham to
leave my bridge. No passengers are allowed here."
Willie returned to the boat deck and seated himself gloomily by the
rail. He could not keep his skilled eyes off the channel through which
they had begun to pass, but he felt grievously the rebuff that Ching had
dealt him. The loss of Madame's friendliness had taught him something;
the Skipper's cold professional words had taught him more. He began to
realise that an idle English Lord is of no account in a ship in
comparison with a pilot. As Willatopy, the pilot, he had been, by sheer
merit, Lord of the Bridge; now he was titular Lord only of Topsham, a
far-off Devonshire hamlet. It was a bitter lesson in relative values.
Madame walked over to where he sat, and made her last effort towards a
reconciliation between the new friendless Lord of Topsham and the real
world of men and women.
"Willie," said she gently, "I heard Captain Ching. He means that though
he won't have Lord Topsham on his bridge he will give the most kindly
welcome to our pilot Willatopy."
But Willie remained stupidly sullen. "There isn't a Willatopy any more,"
said he.
"I am sorry," said Madame, and for the last time she turned her back
upon him. She was never a patient woman, but I think sometimes that she
might have commanded a little more patience had she chosen. Willie was,
after all, a boy, a boy of nineteen, puffed up and exalted by his new
uncomprehended dignities. She, a woman of the world, a woman of nearly
twice his age, might have dealt more gently with his boyish follies. I
think that she would have acted differently had she ever borne a son of
her own. She would not then have been so resentful of the snub of a
silly youth.
Captain Ching, sensible that a far better pilot was watching every
movement of the vessel, was taking no risks. In his cautious navigation
there was nothing of the splendid free-hand verve of Willatopy. With the
tide flowing under him he was content with eight knots of speed, and the
Chief Engineer down below, watching the slow response of the
foul-bottomed yacht to the revolutions of the propellers, gave thanks
for his superior's moderation. They toddled along at a "vairy economical
consumption," they kept rigidly to the deepest of channels, there was
none of that spirited corner cutting so characteristic of the confident
Willatopy, the performance was altogether lacking in flair, but it was
safe and sound. Ching made no mistakes, and as Willie watched the course
he learned yet another lesson--that no man in this world is
indispensable. He had expected appeals for assistance, and might perhaps
have consented to abate the dignity of his lordship, had Madame and
Ching been reduced by necessity to a gratifying condition of grovelling
humility. But of that there was no sign. The Skipper serenely conned the
yacht from his own bridge, Madame had disappeared into the smoke-room,
the sailors moved about upon their lawful occasions, the lordly
passenger was wholly neglected. And above all other evidences of
indifference to his feelings, the _Humming Top_ proceeded steadily upon
her way, and never came near to a bump on the reefs.
Presently Willie got up and went sullenly below. He had been allotted a
handsome stateroom with bath and dressing-room attached on the main
deck--it was on the starboard side opposite Madame's quarters--and
thither he went and sulked by himself. I am afraid that he was not
happy, and perhaps began to grasp some little inkling of the great truth
that no man is happy unless he fills the place and does the job for
which he is fitted. On the bridge in charge of the yacht he would have
grinned joyously--the round man in the round hole which he perfectly
fitted; here in a modern luxurious cabin, the boy, who had spent his
life in a palm-thatched hut, or in a 30-foot yawl, was ill-placed and
miserable.
A light step tripped along the corridor outside. Willie opened his door
and saw Marie vanishing into a room just opposite. He called, and she,
turning, showed for an instant a frightened face. Then she vanished, and
Willie heard the snap of a drawn bolt. So even Marie, his white
mistress, had flown at the sight of him, and bolted her door against
him. He knocked, but there was silence within. He waited for what seemed
a long time. But the door that he watched remained closed. Weary of
waiting he went back to his cabin, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep.
I do not know what had happened to John Clifford except that he had been
given a room aft on the main deck, and kept resolutely to his own
quarters. His one great anxiety was to keep out of sight of that
terrible straight-shooting Madame Gilbert.
When night drew on the yacht was brought to anchor under shelter of a
large cay, and the Skipper drew a sigh of deep relief. He felt quite
confident now that he could tackle the channels, and that his carefully
constructed chart was to be depended upon. He received Madame's earnest
congratulations with modesty, and the pair of them--closer friends now
than at any period of their association--went down to the saloon for
dinner. At the right of Captain Ching had been laid a place for William,
Lord Topsham, and on his left sat Madame Gilbert. Beyond her the Chief
Engineer had elected to deposit his ample person. When Willie came in,
escorted by the now obsequious steward, the other three were waiting.
The boy was bare-footed--he had never worn shoes in his life--and for
the first time showed some sense of the inadequacy of his simple holiday
dress of white shirt and Palm Beach trousers. He gazed with involuntary
admiration upon our dazzling Madame--who, as always in the yacht, wore a
dinner dress--and eyed the smart uniforms of the officers. He looked
down at his own brown feet, and passed one hand nervously through the
long frizzy tresses which stood out from his skull. The dark brown of
his skin flushed into purple. Madame, who saw his embarrassment, at once
spoke to him exactly as she would have done to an English guest. She
drew him into the familiar chat of the group of old friends, and tried
to make him forget for a moment the raw novelty of his inherited social
status. Presently they were all seated at table, and Willie felt more
at ease now that his obtrusive feet were hidden. Just as daring that
lunch in the saloon of a fortnight earlier, he watched how the others
handled their dinner tools and committed no gaucheries. Unobtrusively,
Madame observed and approved. The boy had many of the instincts of a
gentleman; if only he could summon sense to his aid there might be hopes
for him. But when she thought of that unstable mixed blood, unstable as
nitro-glycerine, she sighed. More was needed than a smattering of
carefully acquired table manners to turn a half-caste Hula into a
civilised white man.
Willie observed that no wine was served at dinner, and that no liqueurs
accompanied the after-dinner coffee. The _Humming Top_ had become a "dry
ship." By Madame's orders--accepted heartily by Ching, and no less
heartily, though sorrowfully, by Alexander--the carefully selected
cellar of Sir John Toppys had been locked up, and the key deposited in
Ching's pocket. As with the saloon so also with the officers' mess and
foc's'le. There were many groans and deep curses, but Madame was loved,
and the senior officers respected. The need for the ordinance had been
discreetly explained and accepted. His lordship was heartily consigned
to the bottomless pit, but there was no mutiny.
It was in the smoke-room afterwards that Willie sprang upon our friends
a request which showed how the white blood was beginning to stir in his
veins. The Skipper had announced his intention not to stop at the
unattractive Thursday Island, but to make without delay for the deep
water beyond.
"I should like to have a word with Mr. Grant," observed Madame. She was
anxious, if that were possible, to remove, by adroit explanations, the
ill-opinion which she feared Willatopy's austere banker would form of
her proceedings.
"Better go straight on," growled Ching stolidly.
"Very well," Madame sighed, for she hated that any man should think ill
of her. Then Willie broke in. He was sitting with those conspicuous bare
feet tucked under him, and with his eyes fixed on Madame's neat shoes
and perfectly fitting silk stockings.
"I hope that you will stop," said he shyly. "I wish to go ashore."
"Is it urgent, Willie?" asked Madame. "Had we better not get on now that
we have started for home?"
"I should like to see my banker. He was my father's friend, and has been
very good to me. I should like to get some money."
"We have plenty here. Thanks to the business operations of the great
Alexander, our treasure chest is bursting with wealth. We can supply all
that you need."
"I want," murmured Willie, and his dark skin flushed again with that
significant purple. "I want--to--get--some--clothes--and some shoes."
Madame looked away, and tried not to smile. "Certainly, if you wish. I
quite understand. We will stop for a few hours, Captain."
The Skipper grunted, and reluctantly gave in. He could not say that he
had elected to give Port Kennedy a miss in order that the dryness of the
_Humming Top_ might not be tempered by fiery island liquors. He knew
very well what would happen if Lord Topsham and his seducer, John
Clifford, were let loose upon that outpost of white civilisation.
Down below, when later Willie descended, he again caught a glimpse of
his Marie. But again she fled from him, skipped into an empty cabin, and
fastened the door against him. Again he waited, and did not retire to
his own room until he heard Madame's steps approach. Madame Gilbert had
deliberately chosen that he should be housed where his doings could be
kept under her close personal observation. Willie, in his cabin, heard
the mistress and maid go to their own quarters, and devoured his nails
in helpless rage. His boyish love for Madame had already gone; in its
place was growing up a passion not far removed from hate. Was he, a
great English Lord, to be cabined and spied on by a mere widow? She had
cut him off from the wine which he was learning to love, and she had so
terrified Marie that the girl was afraid even to look upon him. The
goddess whom he had spurned he now cursed.
Marie, eager above all things to earn that reprieve of which Madame had
hinted, told how she had escaped from Willie, and locked herself up at
his approach. Her degenerate passions had been stirred by Willie's
colour, and she had sought to advance herself by a marriage with an
English Lord before the boy could recover from her novel fascinations.
But of love for him, in the nobler sense, she had not a scrap. She would
sacrifice half-a-dozen Lord Topshams, now that she had no prospect of
marrying one of them, to be saved from a return to that awful
revengeful France. Eagerly, in rapid emphatic French, she spread before
Madame the proofs of her abandonment of Lord Topsham, and again and
again protested her resolution never, never to sport with him again. She
would not speak with him if she could possibly help. If he touched her
she would shriek for protection.
"But, Madame," she went on, "I am as frightened of him as I am of you. I
have seen in his bright blue eyes that cold look for murder which
sometimes glares out from yours. I feel sure that he will kill me. But I
would sooner that he killed me--if he did it quickly--than that I should
be tried and shot in France. The shooting I might face bravely--death
many times came near me in Amiens and I smiled upon it--but the trial,
the awful remorseless faces, the shame and the horror of my treachery,
the cold, deliberate preparations for my death--I could not face them,
Madame. I would far sooner kill myself now at your feet."
"Keep that shame and terror before you," said Madame harshly. "They
shall be yours if you disobey me, even for one instant. For you then
there shall be no escape by the easy way of suicide. I will have you
locked up and watched day and night by my sailors."
From Tops Island to Port Kennedy is about one hundred miles, and the
_Humming Top_, at the cautious speed set by Ching, did not arrive until
the early afternoon of the second day out. She had come through all the
channels without touching once, and the First Officer, who with Ching
had prepared the home-made chart, shook hands with him in mutual
congratulation.
"This," said the First, "is a great occasion wasted. What it really
needs is a long drink."
"It does," lamented Ching. "I have always been strictly temperate in my
habits, and will have no officer or man with me who cannot be trusted to
keep down his elbow. But this terrible drought which has fallen upon the
_Humming Top_ makes me dream of bottles by night and think of them by
day. The most beautiful music which I could hear would be the flop of a
pulled-out cork."
"There is nothing to do now, sir," whispered the First. "Shall we hand
over to the Second--he is a happy teetotaller--and go ashore--for a
stroll?"
"I think that we might," replied the Skipper judicially. "I think that
we might. For a stroll. After all those hours on the bridge my legs are
powerful stiff."
The boat which took the Skipper and First Officer for their stroll also
contained Willie and John Clifford. No one except the officers' steward
had seen John Clifford since he came aboard. He lived in the seclusion
of his cabin aft, to which retreat sustenance was borne by the not
unkindly steward. Clifford during the voyage on a hostile ship desired
nothing so much as forgetfulness of his presence--the steward always
excepted.
An hour or so after the others had gone, Madame had herself put ashore
in the motor launch, and went up to Grant's office. The banker received
her at once, and she found him much agitated.
"Willatopy has been here, yet told me little," said he. "He made a
larger demand upon me for money than he has done hitherto, and, though
he is a minor, I felt unable to refuse. As trustee, I have invested the
Topy funds for years, and the family of Baru are much richer than they
realise. I noticed a very marked change in Willatopy, a most lamentable
change. Tell me everything, Madame Gilbert."
"He is not Willatopy any longer. He is William, Lord Topsham."
"So I suspected. Now I fear the worst. I warned you to sail away in your
accursed yacht and trouble the boy no more."
Madame told all that she knew, all that I have told in this book. She
described, with genuine emotion, her happy days on the Island of Tops,
her friendship with the simple brown family, the shark hunt, and the
wild fishing on the Barrier Reef. When she came to the casting up of the
Hedge Lawyer on the peaceful strand of Baru, her listener groaned.
"Wheresoever the carcass is there will the vultures be gathered
together." She explained eagerly, anxiously--for she valued the good
opinion of this honest Scotsman--how she had tried to win the confidence
of Willatopy, and to set at naught the unscrupulous seductions of the
legal poacher. She admitted failure. She showed how Willatopy had been
led astray, first, by the visit in the yawl to Thursday Island, and the
introduction to port and cherry brandy--("He never came near me then,"
ejaculated Grant)--and, secondly, by the wiles of the French girl Marie.
She ended by declaring that Willie, godless--for he had spurned his
gods--was on his way to England.
"He has come ashore," said she, "to buy clothes and shoes."
"And Clifford has come to buy drink," added Grant. "Among you all you
have ruined my poor boy. He was a brave honest lad, and you are making
of him a devil. I could bring myself to curse you, Madame Gilbert."
"It was not my fault," pleaded Madame, in distress. "I am as grieved as
you possibly can be. Even if I had followed my first righteous impulse,
and thrown John Clifford to the sharks, another vulture would have
followed after a ripe carcass. In my hands Willie was becoming white. It
was the lawyer and Marie who corrupted him, not I."
"You carried the girl Marie to him."
"Mr. Grant. You are a just man who knows the world. If it had not been
John Clifford it would have been some other hedge lawyer. If it had not
been Marie, it would have been some other shameless white woman. I have
at least done something to protect Willatopy from his lawyer, and I have
stopped utterly the intrigue with Marie. In order that Willie may not in
his ignorance be plundered, I shall take him now to England, and put him
in the legal charge of his own Trustees of Topsham. The Hedge Lawyer
shall be shot ashore at Singapore, and left there baffled and marooned.
I can still save Willatopy from the worst disasters that threaten him."
"I have never doubted your good intentions, Madame. Hell is paved with
good intentions. If you had intended to carry him off you should have
done it at once. In the yacht you could have kept the boy and the girl
apart. I gravely fear that your precautions are now too late. You may
stop the intrigue, but you will conjure up new perils. Remember that
Willatopy is of the blood of New Guinea head hunters and ceremonial
cannibals. He is by no more than two generations removed from
untrammelled bloodthirsty man-eaters. Under the restraint which you now
put upon his passions, he will turn towards revenge. I pray that murder
may not be done in your beautiful yacht yonder. Believe me, you and that
girl Marie, you no less than the girl, go in grievous peril. You should
have foreseen, after my warning, the danger of bringing that intemperate
maid of yours to Tops Island. You are deceiving yourself if you suppose
that the evil train which she has led can be rendered harmless by any
damping now."
"Surely you would not ..." began Madame in astonishment, but Grant cut
in brusquely:
"No, of course not. Though it would now be the lesser peril. I have
warned you once, and you disregarded my words. I will most gravely and
solemnly warn you again. In that yacht you will live in daily, hourly
peril of your life. You are a woman of high courage. It is written upon
your face. But I implore you for once to live in fear--for yourself and
your maid."
"I hesitate to believe you," said Madame, slowly and thoughtfully.
"Willie has not changed so much as that would imply. His head is swollen
with a sense of high lordship, but I am certain that he would not raise
his hand against me. I allow that danger threatens Marie, and I will
guard her against it. But for myself, no. The boy has worshipped me as a
goddess; he has knelt at my feet and kissed my coat. He has flown to me
in trouble, and I have comforted him. He has changed towards me, but not
by so much as all that."
"For twelve years he worshipped his father as a live god. For seven
more years, until almost yesterday, he worshipped his father's memory,
and treasured all the little words of wisdom which fell from the lips of
the god. Where is that father's godship now? The solid image of the
father has been overthrown just as you--a newly erected idol--have been
overthrown. I say to you again, Madame Gilbert: Live in Fear, in Hourly
Deadly Fear."
When Madame rose to go, the Scotsman rose with her. He smiled kindly
upon her and held out his hands. She took them both and pressed them
with affection.
"Have you forgiven me?" whispered she.
"I cannot forgive you," said Grant, but though his words were stem his
eyes smiled kindly. "I can never forgive you, but I acquit you wholly of
evil intention. The evil that we do, however free from intention, lives
after us, and sometimes it lives longer than we do. Take grave heed to
my warning, for I wish you well."
Madame smiled almost gaily as she walked away. Grant, in words, had
denied to her forgiveness, but his smile had been a benediction. She
thought to dismiss his warning, but it marched with her, and would not
be thrust aside. Almost against her own will she found herself examining
the doors of her cabin, of Marie's adjoining room, and of the bath and
dressing-room on the other side. All the rooms opened upon the corridor
from which Willie's cabin also opened. Marie entered as Madame was
testing the strong brass bolts with which the doors were fitted.
"Always be careful to bolt your door at night," commanded Madame. "You
are within the width of a passage from two great dangers: the love and
the hatred of Lord Topsham. I do not know which is the more deadly. Bolt
your door firmly against both."
Marie promised, for she already walked in the Hourly Deadly Fear
demanded by the banker Grant. When the maid had left her, Madame picked
up her automatic, flicked open the magazine, and saw that five
cartridges lay within. In her stormy life that pistol, always loaded,
had never been far from her hand. She had neglected somewhat of habitual
precaution in the yacht, but Grant's words, spoken with the most solemn
energy, would not be thrust away. She selected a bit of ribbon, and tied
it to the ring on the pistol butt. Then she adjusted a loop to her own
wrist.
"It is quite like old times," murmured Madame, when she had adjusted the
ribbon so that the pistol hung conveniently from her wrist with the butt
against her quick fingers. "It is quite like old times when I never went
to sleep without this brave little fellow at my right hand. And
sometimes but for his comforting presence I might almost have been
frightened."