fresh cases of leprosy that had broken out since the departure of the
last boat. On the shore were the friends and relations of the doomed
passengers, weeping tears as bitter as those of the Athenians in the old
story, when the ship each ninth year left the port with the cargo of
youths and maidens for the Minotaur. Molokai was only seven hours
distance from Hawaii, and on the north side, where the two leper
villages lie situated, are high precipices guarded by a rough sea.
Inland there are dense groves of trees, huge tree-ferns, and thick
matted creepers. Here brilliant-plumaged birds have their home, while
about the cliffs fly the long-tailed white bo'sun birds; but as a whole
Molokai cannot compare in beauty with the islands which Father Damien
had left behind him.
A hospital had been built for the worst cases, and when Father Damien
arrived it was quite full. He at once went to see the poor people and
did all he could to relieve them a little; and when that was impossible,
he sat by their bedsides, speaking to them of the new life they were
soon to enjoy, and often he dug their graves, if nobody else could be
found to do so. The rest of the lepers had taken fright, and had built
themselves wretched houses, or, rather, sheds, of branches of the
castor-oil trees, bound together with leaves of sugar-cane or with
coarse grass. They passed their time in playing cards, dancing, and
drinking, and very rarely took the trouble to wash either themselves or
their clothes. But this was not altogether their fault. Molokai, unlike
many of the other islands, was very badly off for water, and the lepers
had to carry from some distance all that they used. Under these
circumstances it was perhaps natural that they should use as little as
possible.
Such was the state of things when Father Damien reached Molokai, and in
spite of his own efforts, aided sometimes by a few of the stronger and
more good-natured of the lepers, such it remained for many months. The
poor creatures seem to have grown indifferent to their miseries, or only
tried to forget them by getting drunk. Happily the end was at hand; for
when a violent gale had blown down all their huts it was plain, even to
them, that something must be done, and Father Damien wrote at once to
Honolulu the news of the plight they were in.
In a very short time a ship arrived with materials to enable the lepers
to have comfortable houses, and carpenters to put them up. Of course
these carpenters lived quite separate from the inhabitants of the
island, and as long as they did not touch the lepers, or anything used
by them, were in no danger of catching the disease; while in order to
hasten matters the Father turned his own carpentering talents to
advantage, and with the help of some of the leper boys built a good many
of the simpler houses, in which the poorer people were to live. Those
who were richer, or who had rich friends, could afford more comforts;
but all the houses were made after one pattern, with floors raised above
the ground, so that no damp or poisonous vapours might affect them.
But while all this was being done, Father Damien knew that it was
impossible to keep the village clean and healthy unless it had a better
supply of water. He had been too busy since he came to the island to
explore the country in search of springs, but now he began to make
serious inquiries, and found to his joy that there existed at no very
great distance a large and deep lake of cold fresh water, which had
never been known to run dry. At his request, pipes were sent over from
Honolulu by the next steamer, and Father Damien was never happier in
his life than when he and some of the stronger men were laying them down
from the lake to the villages with their own hands. Of course there were
still some who preferred to be dirty, but for the most part the lepers
were thankful indeed for the boon.
Little by little things began to improve, and the king and queen of the
islands were always ready and eager to do all they could to benefit the
poor lepers and to carry out Father Damien's wishes. Regular allowances
of good food were sent weekly to the island, a shop was opened, some
Sisters of Mercy came to nurse the sick and look after the children, a
doctor established himself in the island, and one or two more priests
and helpers arrived to share Father Damien's labours and to comfort him
when he felt depressed and sad; while from time to time a ship might be
seen steaming into Molokai from Honolulu filled with the relations and
friends of the poor stricken people. The sick and the healthy could not,
of course, touch each other--_that_ was forbidden--but they might sit
near enough to talk together, and what happiness it must have been to
both! Late in the evening the ship weighed anchor, and good-byes were
shouted across the water. No doubt hearts were heavy both on deck and on
the shore, where the green cliffs remained crowded as long as the ship
was in sight. But it gave the exiles something to look forward to, which
meant a great deal in their lives.
* * * * *
Now anyone would have thought that, after all Father Damien had done and
obtained for them, the lepers of Molokai would have been filled with
gratitude to their priest. But among the inhabitants of the island there
was a large number who met him sullenly, with downcast faces, and spoke
evil of him behind his back. The priest took no notice, and greeted them
as cheerfully as he did the rest, but he knew well the cause of their
dislike, and he could take no steps to remove it. The reason was not far
to seek; he had tried, and at last succeeded, in putting down the
manufacture of spirits from the ki-tree, which grew all over the island,
and made those who drank it, not stupid, but almost mad. He had been at
Molokai for ten years before their enmity died out, and that was only
when they knew that he, like themselves, was a leper!
For the doom, though long delayed, fell upon him. When he first
suspected it he consulted some of the doctors then on the island, as,
besides the one always living there, there were others who came for a
few months to study the disease under great precautions. They laughed at
his words, and told him that he was as strong as ever he was, and that
no one else could have done what he had done for ten years without
catching the disease, but as he had escaped so far he was probably safe
to the end. Father Damien did not contradict them. He saw that they
really believed what they stated, and were not seeking to soothe his
fears; but he went to a German doctor who had not been present with the
rest and told him the symptoms he had himself noticed. 'You are right,'
said the doctor after a pause, and Father Damien went out and sat in a
lonely place by the sea.
[Illustration: Father Damien went out and sat in a lonely place by the
sea.]
In a little while he had faced it all and was master of himself
again--and more; as his condition became known he felt that he was
working with a new power. Those who had turned a deaf ear to him before
listened to him now; he was no longer a man apart from them, whose
health had been preserved by some sort of charm, but one of themselves.
And the awful curse had not fallen on him by accident, as it had fallen
upon _them_, but he had sought it, wilfully, deliberately, for their
sakes. Thus, out of his very distress, came a new joy to Father
Damien.
Armed with this knowledge he grew more cheerful than he had ever been
before, till the people wondered at him. He held more frequent services
in the churches which had sprung up, held classes for the boys, and
taught them some of the games that he himself had played in the far-away
days in Belgium. The boys were pleasant, well-mannered children, with
the strangest names, some native nicknames, others picked up by their
fathers from the white people and given to their sons, whereas often
they should have been kept for their daughters. In the class of Father
Conradi there were Mrs. Tompkins, The Emetic, Susan, Jane Peter, Eyes of
Fire, The River of Truth, The First Nose, The Window; while in Honolulu,
from which many of them had come, lived their friends, Mrs. Oyster, The
Man who Washes his Dimples, Poor Pussy, The Stomach, and The Tired
Lizard. We should like to know what their sisters were called, but they
were not Father Conradi's business. The Father also took the greatest
interest in the experiments which the Sisters of Mercy were carrying on
in their school, not only to stop the spread of the disease, but to cure
it, for a healing oil had been discovered which had worked marvels in
many people. He encouraged the love of music and singing which existed
among the exiles, whose most precious possession was a kind of
barrel-organ which could play forty tunes, a present from a Scotch lady.
This barrel-organ was never absent from any of the entertainments which,
with the priests and doctors for audience, the lepers got up from time
to time. It even played its part in a performance on one Christmas Day,
which consisted of scenes from Belshazzar's feast. Unluckily it was so
dark that it was not easy for the audience to know exactly what was
going on, but they _did_ perceive that the Babylonish king sat the whole
time with his head on his arms and his arms on the table, like the
Dormouse in the play of 'Alice in Wonderland.' However, the actors were
intensely pleased with themselves, and that was all that mattered.
* * * * *
Father Damien lived for nearly six years after he became a leper, and as
long as he was able he took his part in all that was going on, even
helping to build the churches (there were five of them now) with his own
hands. It was only three weeks before his death that his strength gave
out, and he laid himself on his bed, knowing that he would nevermore
rise from it. So he died, with his friends around him and the noise of
the sea in his ears. His task was done, for he had 'set alight a fire'
in Molokai 'which should never be put out.'
THE CONSTANT PRINCE
When, some years ago, a banquet was given at the Guildhall to king
Alfonso of Spain on the occasion of his marriage to an English princess,
the lord mayor said in his speech that four queens of England were
Spaniards by birth. Can any of you tell me without looking at your
history books what were their names?
Yet in different ways three out of the four are very well known to us.
One flits through a delightful romance of the great deeds of the
Crusaders; a second is remembered for having risked her life to save her
husband from a speedy and painful death, and for the crosses which he
set up on every spot which her body touched on its road to its last
resting-place; while the fourth and latest had a troubled life and every
kind of insult heaped on her.
_Now_ can you guess?
* * * * *
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries marriages between England and
the countries south of the Pyrenees were very frequent, for in those
times Spain was our natural ally, and France our enemy. Two of Edward
III.'s sons, John of Gaunt and Edmund of Langley, married the daughters
of Pedro the Cruel, king of Castile, and Constance, wife of John of
Gaunt, had the pleasure of seeing her own daughter reigning by-and-by in
her old home, while Philippa, John of Gaunt's elder daughter by his
first wife, became queen of Portugal.
Philippa's husband had no real right to the kingdom of Portugal, for the
legal heir was the queen of Castile, the only child of Fernando. But her
uncle, grand master of the order of Aviz, was dear to the hearts of the
Portuguese, who would tell their children in low voices the sad story of
his father's first wife, the beautiful Inez de Castro, whose embalmed
body was crowned by her husband, many years after her cruel murder. And
besides their love for the master of Aviz, the Portuguese hated the
Castilians, as only near neighbours _can_ hate each other, and were
resolved to choose their own sovereign. So war followed, and John of
Gaunt fought with his English soldiers on the side of the master of
Aviz, or 'John I.,' against his wife's nephew, Henry III. of Castile,
and during the war he kept his daughters with him in the peninsula.
* * * * *
It was in 1378 that John I. married Philippa, the elder of the two
princesses. According to the notions of those times the bride must have
been 'quite old,' for she was twenty-seven, only a year younger than her
bridegroom, and very happy they were. The queen of Portugal had been
brought up in England amongst clever people, had heard grave questions
discussed from her childhood, and seen her father grow uneasy as fresh
reports of Richard II.'s follies and extravagance came to his ears. From
her stepmother, Constance of Castile, she had learned to speak Spanish,
and knew much of the customs of the kingdoms south of the Pyrenees; so
that it was easy for her to fall into the ways of her new country,
though she never ceased to love her old land, and to teach her children
to love it too. She trained her sons to bear hardships without
complaining, to be true to their word, and to be affectionate and
faithful to each other, while she had them taught something of the
histories of other countries, and saw that they could speak Latin and
English, as well as Spanish and French. As to the art of war, and all
knightly exercises, she left those to her husband.
* * * * *
When the eldest of the princes, dom Duarte, or Edward, was twenty years
old, he came one day to the king, telling him that he and his three next
brothers, Pedro, Enrique, and John, were burning to strike a blow
against the infidel Moors, and besought him to lead an expedition
against the town of Ceuta, on the African coast. In those days it was
considered a good deed to fight against the followers of Mahomet the
prophet, and king John agreed gladly to what his sons proposed; but he
was more prudent than they, and did not intend to raise the standard of
the Cross before he had made sure of defeating the Crescent. Therefore
he took means to find out secretly the exact position of Ceuta, the
extent of the fortifications, and other things it was needful for him to
know, and then he laid his plans before queen Philippa, who always gave
him good counsel. To his surprise and disappointment Philippa prayed him
to give it all up.
The country, she said, was still poor from the wars of succession with
Castile, which had seated her husband on the throne, and if the men were
taken away across the seas, who would till the fields and reap the
crops?
But, urged the king, he felt sure that the people would welcome the
crusade; he had bidden one of his trusted officers to go amongst them,
and had heard how their faces brightened at the bare idea that perhaps
_some_ day, no doubt in the future, the golden shores of Africa might be
snatched from the unbelievers' grasp. Oh, no, he had no fears about his
army, though of course he would take every care to make victory certain.
Queen Philippa listened, but only shook her head.
'At least you will not go yourself?' she answered after a pause; 'the
kingdom needs you'; then like a wise woman she held her peace and began
to talk of something else.
* * * * *
Although king John did not give up his cherished scheme, he hesitated
about carrying it out for three years longer, and then he succeeded in
blinding the eyes of Europe as to the real object of his preparations. A
large fleet was assembled in the mouth of the Tagus, 'to punish the
Dutch pirates,' it was said; but, just as it was ready to sail, the
queen caught the plague which was raging in Portugal. By this time she
had made up her mind to the war, though she was hardly convinced of its
wisdom, and as soon as she felt that she was nearing death she sent for
her sons, and giving them each a splendid sword which she had ordered to
be specially forged and beautifully inlaid, she added a few words of
counsel. Then she bade her husband farewell, and entreated him to leave
her, lest he also should catch the plague and be lost to his country.
Her sons she kept with her to the end.
A week later, on July 25, 1415, the fleet sailed for Ceuta.
* * * * *
Only two of the king's five sons remained in Portugal, and they were the
youngest, dom John and dom Fernando. Fernando was a delicate boy of
thirteen, versed in Latin, and, like his brother Duarte, a passionate
lover of books, only happy when alone with some old manuscript or roll
of illuminated prayers, yet thirsting to do his duty by ridding the
world of as many infidels as possible. It was a blow when he found that
he was not allowed to join the army of Africa, but, as was his way, he
made no complaint; only when the news came of the fall of Ceuta his
heart burned, half with envy and half with triumph. How he longed to
make one of the group of brothers who had covered themselves with glory,
and had been knighted by their father in the mosque, which was now
consecrated and declared a cathedral. But he was getting stronger every
day, and by-and-by he felt that a halo of glory would enshrine his name
also. And so it has, and will for all time, only it was won in another
way from those of his brothers.
* * * * *
It was soon after his return from Africa that king John's health began
to break down, and though he lived for eighteen years longer, he left
the government of Portugal mostly to his son Duarte, who was guided in
military matters by the advice of his father's old friend, the constable
of the kingdom. Fighting still went on in the neighbourhood of Ceuta,
but though the other princes, or infantes, took part, Fernando stayed in
Portugal.
We know little as to how he passed his time. Probably he shared the
studies of prince Duarte, who collected a large library and himself
wrote a book of philosophical maxims, which gained him the surname of
Duarte the Eloquent. The two brothers were bound together by the same
tastes, and we may be sure Duarte approved when by-and-by Fernando
refused the pope's offer of a cardinal's hat, on the ground--unheard of
at that period--that, not being a priest, he was quite unfitted to wear
it. For the same reason, though the cases were rather different, he
wished also to refuse the office of grand master of the order of Aviz,
which had been held by his father; but in the end Duarte's counsels
prevailed, and he kept it.
* * * * *
Fernando was thirty years old when his father died, and never yet had
his sword left its sheath, though he longed from his soul to join in the
frequent expeditions that went out from Ceuta to attack the strongholds
of the unbelievers scattered about the coast. But king John always
refused to let him leave the country, thinking he was too delicate to
bear the hardships of a soldier's life; and so Fernando stayed at home,
making himself as happy as he could with his books and his prayers, and
long philosophical talks with Duarte. Now Duarte was king, and perhaps
Fernando would be able to gain his heart's desire.
The new king was putting on his robes for the ceremony of his
proclamation when his physician craved humbly an immediate audience. Dom
Duarte wondered what could have happened which made an interview so
necessary at that inconvenient moment, but master Guedelha was an old
friend, so orders were given to admit him at once.
'Oh, senhor,' exclaimed the physician, as soon as they were alone, 'do
not, I beseech you, suffer yourself to be proclaimed before noon; the
hour you have fixed on is an evil one, and the stars which rule it are
against you.'
Sad though he was, dom Duarte could hardly help smiling at the
earnestness of the man; but he answered gravely that, greatly as he
respected the knowledge of the stars, his faith in God was greater
still, and nothing could befall him that was contrary to His will. In
vain Guedelha fell on his knees and implored him to delay till the fatal
hour was past; Duarte refused to change his plans, and at length the old
man rose to his feet.
[Illustration: In vain Guedelha implored him to wait till the fatal hour
was past.]
'I have done all I could,' he said; 'on your own head be it. The years
of your reign will be short and full of trouble to yourself, and to
those you love, and to the country.'
Although dom Duarte had so steadily declined to listen to the prayers of
Guedelha, he had enough 'respect,' as he had said, for the science of
astrology, as the study of the stars was called, to feel very
uncomfortable at the prophecy of the physician. But he could not draw
back now, even if he wished, and 'Eduarte, king of Portugal,' was
thrice proclaimed and the royal standard unfurled and raised. When this
was done, the nobles and officials kissed the king's hand and swore
allegiance to him. Then Duarte went back to his palace, and took off his
crown and robes of state, and put on deep mourning for his father.
* * * * *
For some time dom Duarte had been governing the kingdom under the
direction of John I., so affairs went on much as before. He and his
brothers were the best of friends, and he often sought their counsel,
especially that of dom Pedro, only a year younger than himself. Pedro
was one of the wisest princes in Europe, as well as one of the best, and
if his brothers had listened to his advice the prophecy of master
Guedelha might have come to naught. Like the rest, he loved books, and
even wrote poetry, and during his father's lifetime made many voyages
along the coast of Africa, though he was no discoverer of strange lands
like dom Enrique. But for the present his duty was in Portugal, where
Duarte wanted him.
In this way things went on for two or three years, during which the
plague broke out in Portugal, and people died like flies, as they did in
those days when dirt and ignorance helped infection to spread and
prevented cure. The king and his brothers did all in their power to
check it and assist the poor people; but nothing was of much good, and,
as usual, the plague was left to wear itself out, which in time it did.
Meanwhile the years were going by, and the physician's prophecy was
drawing near fulfilment. And this is how the disasters came about.
The infante--so the Spaniards and Portuguese formerly called their
princes--the infante dom Fernando grew tired of remaining idle at home,
and besought Duarte to allow him to travel and take service under some
foreign king, most likely that of England, where his young cousin Henry
VI. was reigning. 'Of course,' he said, 'if his own country needed him
he would come back at once, but the Portuguese had ever been wanderers,
and it was his turn to go with the rest.'
To his surprise Duarte's face clouded as he listened, and there was a
long pause before he spoke. Then he implored Fernando to think no more
of his cherished plan, but to remain quietly in Portugal, else wrong
would be done to both of them in the minds of men, for strangers would
hold that he, the king, treated his brother so ill that Fernando was
forced to seek his fortune elsewhere, or that Fernando was so possessed
by desire for gain that he was ready to give up all for its sake.
Fernando heard him to the end without speaking; it was plain that even
this brother, who he thought knew him best, had judged him wrongly. For
years the young man had kept silence about his desire to see other
countries, and the ruins of the cities which had once given law to the
world, and the result was that he had been held by all to be a man of no
spirit, a bookworm, content with the little duties that every day
brought him. Ah, no! the hour for those had gone by, and a freer life
called to him!
Seeing that his words made no impression on dom Fernando's resolve, the
king sought dom Enrique, praying him to use his eloquence in order to
prevail on Fernando to give up his plan. But he would have been wiser to
have left things alone, for Enrique merely turned his brother's thoughts
into a new and more alarming direction. Why take service under a foreign
king when there were Moors at hand to fight? Let them cross the sea and
deliver Tangier from the Moslem.
* * * * *
When the king heard of this new project he was nearly beside himself.
After the long wars which seated John on the throne, and the constant
expense of maintaining the fortress of Ceuta, the country was too poor
to be able to undertake a fresh expedition, and then the plague had
carried off so many men that he did not know where the army was to come
from. But the match had been put to the wood, and Enrique secretly went
to the queen and asked for her help to persuade the king, promising that
when he and Fernando should have conquered the north of Africa, they
would go and live there, and leave their possessions in Portugal to her
children.