Turn we now to Miss Pritty--and a pretty sight she is when we turn to
her! In her normal condition Miss Pritty is the pink of propriety and
neatness. At the present moment she lies with her mouth open, and her
eyes shut, hair dishevelled, garments disordered, slippers off, and
stockings not properly on. Need we say that the sea is at the bottom of
it? One of the most modest, gentle, unassuming, amiable of women has
been brought to the condition of calmly and deliberately asserting that
she "doesn't care!"--doesn't care for appearances; doesn't care for
character; doesn't care for past reminiscences or future prospects;
doesn't care, in short, for anything--life and death included. It is a
sad state of mind and body--happily a transient!
"Stewardess."
"Yes, Miss?"
"I shall die."
"Oh no, Miss, don't say so. You'll be quite well in a short time," (the
stewardess has a pleasant motherly way of encouraging the
faint-hearted). "Don't give way to it, Miss. You've no idea what a
happytite you'll 'ave in a few days. You'll be soon able to eat hoceans
of soup and 'eaps of fat pork, and--"
She stops abruptly, for Miss Pritty has gone into sudden convulsions, in
the midst of which she begs the stewardess, quite fiercely, to "Go
away."
Let us draw a veil over the scene.
Miss Pritty has been brought to this pass by Mr Charles Hazlit, whose
daughter, Aileen, has been taken ill in China. Being a man of unbounded
wealth, and understanding that Miss Pritty is a sympathetic friend of
his daughter and an admirable nurse, he has written home to that lady
requesting her, in rather peremptory terms, to "come out to them." Miss
Pritty, resenting the tone of the request as much as it was in her
nature to resent anything, went off instanter, in a gush of tender love
and sympathy, and took passage in the first ship that presented itself
as being bound for the China seas. She did not know much about ships.
Her maritime ideas were vague. If a washing-tub had been advertised
just then as being A1 at Lloyds' and about to put forth for that region
of the earth with every possible convenience on board for the delight of
human beings, she would have taken a berth in it at once.
We do not intend to inflict Miss Pritty's voyage on our reader. Suffice
it to say that she survived it, reached China in robust health, and
found her sick friend,--who had recovered,--in a somewhat similar
condition.
After an embrace such as women alone can bestow on each other, Miss
Pritty, holding her friend's hand, sat down to talk. After an hour of
interjectional, exclamatory, disconnected, irrelevant, and largely
idiotical converse--sustained chiefly by herself--Miss Pritty said:--
"And oh! The pirates!"
She said this with an expression of such awful solemnity that Aileen
could not forbear smiling as she asked--
"Did you see any?"
"Gracious! No," exclaimed Miss Pritty, with a look of horror, "but we
_heard_ of them. Only think of that! If I have one horror on earth
which transcends all other horrors in horribleness, that horror is--
pirates. I once had the misfortune to read of them when quite a girl--
they were called Buccaneers, I think, in the book--and I have never got
over it. Well, one day when we were sailing past the straits of
Malacca,--I think it was,--our captain said they were swarming in these
regions, and that he had actually seen them--more than that, had slain
them with his own--oh! It is too horrible to think of. And our captain
was _such_ a dear good man too. Not fierce one bit, and _so_ kind to
everybody on board, especially the ladies! I really _cannot_ understand
it. There are such dreadfully strange mixtures of character in this
world. _No_, he did not say he had slain them, but he used nautical
expressions which amount to the same thing, I believe; he said he had
spiflicated lots of 'em and sent no end of 'em to somebody's locker. It
may be wrong in me even to quote such expressions, dear Aileen, but I
cannot explain myself properly if I don't. It is fearful to know there
are so many of them, `swarming,' as our captain said."
"The worst of it is that many of the boatmen and small traders on the
coast," said Aileen, "are also pirates, or little better."
"Dreadful!" exclaimed her friend. "Why, oh _why_ do people go to sea at
all?"
"To transport merchandise, I suppose," said Aileen. "We should be
rather badly off without tea, and silk, and spices, and such things--
shouldn't we?"
"Tea and silk! Aileen. I would be content to wear cotton and drink
coffee or cocoa--which latter I hate--if we only got rid of pirates."
"Even cotton, coffee, and cocoa are imported, I fear," suggested Aileen.
"Then I'd wear wool and drink water--anything for peace. Oh _how_ I
wish," said Miss Pritty, with as much solemn enthusiasm as if she were
the first who had wished it, "that I were the Queen of England--_then_
I'd let the world see something."
"What would you do, dear?" asked Aileen.
"Do! Well, I'll tell you. Being the head of the greatest nation of the
earth--except, of course, the Americans, who assert their supremacy so
constantly that they _must_ be right--being the head, I say, of the
greatest earthly nation, with that exception, I would order out all my
gun-ships and turret-boats, and build new ones, and send them all round
to the eastern seas, attack the pirates in their strongholds, and--and--
blow them all out o' the water, or send the whole concern to the bottom!
You needn't laugh, Aileen. Of course I do not use my own language. I
quote from our captain. Really you have no idea what strong, and to me
quite new expressions that dear man used. So powerful too, but _never_
naughty. No, never. I often felt as if I ought to have been shocked by
them, but on consideration I never was, for it was more the manner than
the matter that seemed shocking. He was so gentle and kind, too, with
it all. I shall _never_ forget how he gave me his arm the first day I
was able to come on deck, after being reduced to a mere shadow by
sea-sickness, and how tenderly he led me up and down, preventing me, as
he expressed it, from lurching into the lee-scuppers, or going slap
through the quarter-rails into the sea."
After a little more desultory converse, Aileen asked her friend if she
were prepared to hear some bad news.
Miss Pritty declared that she was, and evinced the truth of her
declaration by looking prematurely horrified.
Aileen, although by no means demonstrative, could not refrain from
laying her head on her friend's shoulder as she said, "Well then, dear
Laura, we are beggars! Dear papa has failed in business, and we have
not a penny in the world!"
Miss Pritty was not nearly so horrified as she had anticipated being.
Poor thing, she was so frequently in the condition of being without a
penny that she had become accustomed to it. Her face, however,
expressed deep sympathy, and her words corresponded therewith.
"How did it happen?" she asked, at the close of a torrent of condolence.
"Indeed I don't know," replied Aileen, looking up with a smile as she
brushed away the two tears which the mention of their distress had
forced into her eyes. "Papa says it was owing to the mismanagement of a
head clerk and the dishonesty of a foreign agent, but whatever the
cause, the fact is that we are ruined. Of course that means, I suppose,
that we shall have no more than enough to procure the bare necessaries
of life, and shall now, alas! Know experimentally what it is to be
poor."
Miss Pritty, when in possession of "enough to procure the bare
necessaries of life," had been wont to consider herself rich, but her
powers of sympathy were great. She scorned petty details, and poured
herself out on her _poor_ friend as a true comforter--counselled
resignation as a matter of course, but suggested such a series of bright
impossibilities for the future as caused Aileen to laugh, despite her
grief.
In the midst of one of these bursts of hilarity Mr Hazlit entered the
room. The sound seemed to grate on his feelings, for he frowned as he
walked, in an absent mood, up to a glass case full of gaudy birds, and
turned his back to it under the impression, apparently, that it was a
fire.
"Aileen," he said, jingling some loose coin in his pocket with one hand,
while with the other he twisted the links of a massive gold chain, "your
mirth is ill-timed. I am sorry, Miss Pritty, to have to announce to
you, so soon after your arrival, that I am a beggar."
As he spoke he drew himself up to his full height, and looked, on the
whole, like an over-fed, highly ornamented, and well-to-do beggar.
"Yes," he said, repeating the word with emphasis as if he were rather
proud of it, "a beggar. I have not a possession in the world save the
clothes on my back, which common decency demands that my creditors
should allow to remain there. Now, I have all my life been a man of
action, promptitude, decision. We return to England immediately--I do
not mean before luncheon, but as soon as the vessel in which I have
taken our passage is ready for sea, which will probably be in a few
days. I am sorry, Miss Pritty, that I have put you to so much
unnecessary trouble, but of course I could not foresee what was
impending. All I can do now is to thank you, and pay your passage back
in the same vessel with ourselves if you are disposed to go. That
vessel, I may tell you, has been selected by me with strict regard to my
altered position. It is a very small one, a mere schooner, in which
there are no luxuries though enough of necessaries. You will therefore,
my child, prepare for departure without delay."
In accordance with this decision Mr and Miss Hazlit and Miss Pritty
found themselves not long afterwards on board the _Fairy Queen_ as the
only passengers, and, in process of time, were conveyed by winds and
currents to the neighbourhood of the island of Borneo, where we will
leave them while we proceed onward to the island of Ceylon. Time and
distance are a hindrance to most people. They are fortunately nothing
whatever in the way of writers and readers!
Here a strange scene presents itself; numerous pearl-divers are at
work--most of them native, some European. But with these we have
nothing particular to do, except in so far as they engage the attention
of a certain man in a small boat, whose movements we will watch. The
man had been rowed to the scene of action by two Malays from a large
junk, or Chinese vessel, which lay in the offing. He was himself a
Malay--tall, dark, stern, handsome, and of very powerful build. The
rowers were perfectly silent and observant of his orders, which were
more frequently conveyed by a glance or a nod than by words.
Threading his way among the boats of the divers, the Malay skipper, for
such he seemed, signed to the rowers to stop, and directed his attention
specially to one boat. In truth this boat seemed worthy of attention
because of the energy of the men on board of it. A diver had just
leaped from its side into the sea. He was a stalwart man of colour,
quite naked, and aided his descent by means of a large stone attached to
each of the sandals which he wore. These sandals, on his desiring to
return to the surface, could be thrown off, being recoverable by means
of cords fastened to them. Just as he went down another naked diver
came up from the bottom, and was assisted into the boat. A little blood
trickled from his nose and ears, and he appeared altogether much
exhausted. No wonder. He had not indeed remained down at any time more
than a minute and a half, but he had dived nearly fifty times that day,
and sent up a basket containing a hundred pearl oysters each time.
Presently the man who had just descended reappeared. He also looked
fagged, but after a short rest prepared again to descend. He had been
under water about ninety seconds. Few divers can remain longer. The
average time is one minute and a half, sometimes two minutes. It is
said that these men are short-lived, and we can well believe it, for
their work, although performed only during a short period of each year,
is in violent opposition to the laws of nature.
Directing his men to row on, our skipper soon came to another boat,
which not only arrested his attention but aroused his curiosity, for
never before had he seen so strange a sight. It was a large boat with
novel apparatus on board of it, and white men--in very strange costume.
In fact it was a party of European divers using the diving-dress among
the pearl-fishers of Ceylon, and great was the interest they created, as
well as the unbelief, scepticism, misgiving, and doubt which they drew
forth--for, although not quite a novelty in those waters, the dress was
new to many of the natives present on that occasion, and Easterns, not
less than Westerns, are liable to prejudice!
A large concourse of boats watched the costuming of the divers, and
breathless interest was aroused as they went calmly over the side and
remained down for more than an hour, sending up immense quantities of
oysters. Of course liberal-minded men were made converts on the spot,
and, equally of course, the narrow-minded remained "of the same opinion
still." Nevertheless, that day's trial of Western ingenuity has borne
much fruit, for we are now told, by the best authorities, that at the
present time the diving-dress is very extensively used in sponge, pearl,
and coral fisheries in many parts of the world where naked divers alone
were employed not many years ago; and that in the Greek Archipelago and
on the Turkish and Barbary coasts alone upwards of three hundred diving
apparatuses are employed in the sponge fisheries, with immense advantage
to all concerned and to the world at large.
Leaving this interesting sight, our Malay skipper threaded his way
through the fleet of boats and made for the shores of the Bay of
Condatchy, which was crowded with eager men of many nations.
This bay, on the west coast of Ceylon, is the busy scene of one of the
world's great fisheries of the pearl oyster. The fishing, being in the
hands of Government, is kept under strict control. It is farmed out.
The beds of oysters are annually-surveyed and reported on. They are
divided into four equal portions, only one of which is worked each year.
As the fishing produces vast wealth and affords scope for much
speculation during the short period of its exercise, the bay during
February, March, and April of each year presents a wondrous spectacle,
for here Jews, Indians, merchants, jewellers, boatmen, conjurors to
charm off the dreaded sharks, Brahmins, Roman Catholic priests, and many
other professions and nationalities are represented, all in a state of
speculation, hope, and excitement that fill their faces with animation
and their frames with activity.
The fleet of boats leaves the shore at 10 p.m. on the firing of a
signal-gun, and returns at noon next day, when again the gun is fired,
flags are hoisted, and Babel immediately ensues.
It was noon when our Malay skipper landed. The gun had just been fired.
Many of the boats were in, others were arriving. Leaving his boat in
charge of his men, the skipper wended his way quickly through the
excited crowd with the wandering yet earnest gaze of a man who searches
for some one. Being head and shoulders above most of the men around
him, he could do this with ease. For some time he was unsuccessful, but
at last he espied an old grey-bearded Jew, and pushed his way towards
him.
"Ha! Pungarin, my excellent friend," exclaimed the Jew, extending his
hand, which the skipper merely condescended to touch, "how do you do? I
am _so_ overjoyed to see you; you have business to transact eh?"
"You may be quite sure, Moses, that I did not come to this nest of
sharpers merely for pleasure," replied Pungarin, brusquely.
"Ah, my friend, you are really too severe. No doubt we are sharp, but
that is a proper business qualification. Besides, _our_ trade is
legitimate, while yours, my friend, is--"
The Jew stopped and cast a twinkling glance at his tall companion.
"Is _not_ legitimate, you would say," observed Pungarin, "but that is
open to dispute. In my opinion this is a world of robbers; the only
difference among us is that some are sneaking robbers, others are open.
Every man to his taste. I have been doing a little of the world's work
openly of late, and I come here with part of the result to give you a
chance of robbing me in the other way."
"Nay, nay, you are altogether too hard," returned the Jew, with a
deprecating smile; "but come to my little office. We shall have more
privacy there. How comes it, Pungarin, that you are so far from your
own waters? It is a longish way from Ceylon to Borneo."
"How comes it," replied the Malay, "that the sea-mew flies far from
home? There is no limit to the flight of a sea-rover, save the
sea-shore."
"True, true," returned the Jew, with a nod of intelligence; "but here is
my place of business. Enter my humble abode, and pray be seated."
Pungarin stooped to pass the low doorway, and seated himself beside a
small deal table which, although destitute of a cloth, was thickly
covered with ink-stains. The Malay rover was clad in a thin loose red
jacket, a short petticoat or kilt, and yellow trousers. A red fez, with
a kerchief wound round it turban fashion, covered his head. He was a
well-made stalwart man, with a handsome but fierce-looking countenance.
From beneath the loose jacket Pungarin drew forth a small, richly
chased, metal casket. Placing it on the table he opened it, and,
turning it upside down, poured from it a little cataract of glittering
jewellery.
"Ha! My friend," exclaimed his companion, "you have got a prize. Where
did you find it?"
"I might answer, `What is that to you?' but I won't, for I wish to keep
you in good humour till our business is concluded. Here, then, are the
facts connected with the case. Not long ago some Englishmen came out to
Hong-Kong to dive to a vessel which had been wrecked on an island off
the coast. My worthy agent there, Dwarro, cast his eyes on them and
soon found out all about their plans. Dwarro is a very intelligent
fellow. Like yourself, he has a good deal of the sneaking robber about
him. He ascertained that the wreck had much gold coin in it, and so
managed that they hired his boat to go off to it with their diving
apparatus. Somewhat against their will he accompanied them. They were
very successful. The first time they went on shore, they took with them
gold to the value of about twenty thousand pounds. Dwarro cleverly
managed to have this secured a few hours after it was landed. He also
made arrangements to have a fleet of my fellows ready, so that when more
gold had been recovered from the wreck they might surround them on the
spot and secure it. But the young Englishman at the head of the party
was more than a match for us. He cowed Dwarro, and cleverly escaped to
land. There, however, another of my agents had the good fortune to
discover the Englishmen while they were landing their gold. He was too
late, indeed, to secure the gold, which had been sent on inland in
charge of two Chinamen, but he was lucky enough to discover this casket
in the stern-sheets of their boat. The Englishmen fought hard for it,
especially the young fellow in command, who was more like a tiger than a
man, and knocked down half a dozen of our men before he was overpowered.
We would have cut his throat then and there, but a party of
inhabitants, guided by one of the Chinamen, came to the rescue, and we
were glad to push off with what we had got. Now, Moses, this casket is
worth a good round sum. Dwarro wisely took the trouble to make
inquiries about it through one of the Chinamen, who happened to be an
honest man and fortunately also very stupid. From this man, Chok-foo,
who is easily imposed on, he learned that the casket belongs to a very
rich English merchant, who would give anything to recover it, because it
belonged to his wife, who is dead--"
"A rich English merchant?" interrupted Moses, "we Jews are acquainted
pretty well with all the _rich_ English merchants. Do you know his
name?"
"Yes; Charles Hazlit," answered the Malay.
"Indeed! Well--go on."
"Well," said Pungarin, abruptly, "I have nothing more to say, except,
what will you give for these things?"
"One thousand pounds would be a large sum to offer," said the Jew,
slowly.
"And a very small one to accept," returned Pungarin, as he slowly
gathered the gems together and put them back into the casket.
"Nay, my friend, be not so hasty," said Moses; "what do you ask for
them?"
"I shall ask nothing," replied the Malay; "the fact is, I think it
probable that I may be able to screw _more_ than their value out of Mr
Hazlit."
"I am sorry to disappoint your expectations," returned the Jew, with
something approaching to a sneer, as he rose; and, selecting one from a
pile of English newspapers, slowly read out to his companion the
announcement of the failure of the firm of Hazlit and Company. "You
see, my good friend, we Jews are very knowing as well as sharp. It were
better for you to transact your little business with me."
Knowing and sharp as he was, the Jew was not sufficiently so to foresee
the result of his line of conduct with the Malay rover. Instead of
giving in and making the best of circumstances, that freebooter, with
characteristic impetuosity, shut the steel box with a loud snap, put it
under his arm, rose, and walked out of the place without uttering a
word. He went down to the beach and rowed away, leaving Moses to
moralise on the uncertainty of all human affairs.
Favouring gales carried the Malay pirate-junk swiftly to the east. The
same gales checked, baffled, and retarded the schooner _Fairy Queen_ on
her voyage to the west.
"Darling Aileen," said Miss Pritty, recovering from a paroxysm, "did you
ever hear of any one dying of sea-sickness?"
"I never did," answered Aileen, with a languid smile.
Both ladies lay in their berths, their pale cheeks resting on the
woodwork thereof, and their eyes resting pitifully on each other.
"It is awful--horrible!" sighed Miss Pritty at at the end of another
paroxysm.
Aileen, who was not so ill as her friend, smiled but said nothing. Miss
Pritty was past smiling, but not quite past speaking.
"What dreadful noises occur on board ships," she said, after a long
pause; "such rattling, and thumping, and creaking, and stamping.
Perhaps the sailors get their feet wet and are so cold that they require
to stamp constantly to warm them!"