The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER XIX.

  Shoemaking--The even tenor of our way suddenly interrupted--An unexpectedvisit and an appalling battle--We all become warriors, and Jack proveshimself be a hero.

  For many months after this we continued to live on our island inuninterrupted harmony and happiness. Sometimes we went out a-fishing inthe lagoon, and sometimes went a-hunting in the woods, or ascended to themountain top, by way of variety, although Peterkin always asserted thatwe went for the purpose of hailing any ship that might chance to heave insight. But I am certain that none of us wished to be delivered from ourcaptivity, for we were extremely happy, and Peterkin used to say that aswe were very young we should not feel the loss of a year or two.Peterkin, as I have said before, was thirteen years of age, Jackeighteen, and I fifteen. But Jack was very tall, strong, and manly forhis age, and might easily have been mistaken for twenty.

  The climate was so beautiful that it seemed to be a perpetual summer, andas many of the fruit-trees continued to bear fruit and blossom all theyear round, we never wanted for a plentiful supply of food. The hogs,too, seemed rather to increase than diminish, although Peterkin was veryfrequent in his attacks on them with his spear. If at any time we failedin finding a drove, we had only to pay a visit to the plum-tree beforementioned, where we always found a large family of them asleep under itsbranches.

  We employed ourselves very busily during this time in making variousgarments of cocoa-nut cloth, as those with which we had landed werebeginning to be very ragged. Peterkin also succeeded in making excellentshoes out of the skin of the old hog, in the following manner:--He firstcut a piece of the hide, of an oblong form, a few inches longer than hisfoot. This he soaked in water, and, while it was wet, he sewed up oneend of it, so as to form a rough imitation of that part of the heel of ashoe where the seam is. This done, he bored a row of holes all round theedge of the piece of skin, through which a tough line was passed. Intothe sewed-up part of this shoe he thrust his heel, then, drawing thestring tight, the edges rose up and overlapped his foot all round. It istrue there were a great many ill-looking puckers in these shoes, but wefound them very serviceable notwithstanding, and Jack came at last toprefer them to his long boots. We ago made various other usefularticles, which added to our comfort, and once or twice spoke of buildingus a house, but we had so great an affection for the bower, and, withal,found it so serviceable, that we determined not to leave it, nor toattempt the building of a house, which, in such a climate, might turn outto be rather disagreeable than useful.

  We often examined the pistol that we had found in the house on the otherside of the island, and Peterkin wished much that we had powder and shot,as it would render pig-killing much easier; but, after all, we had becomeso expert in the use of our sling and bow and spear, that we wereindependent of more deadly weapons.

  Diving in the Water Garden also continued to afford us as much pleasureas ever; and Peterkin began to be a little more expert in the water fromconstant practice. As for Jack and I, we began to feel as if water wereour native element, and revelled in it with so much confidence andcomfort that Peterkin said he feared we would turn into fish some day,and swim off and leave him; adding, that he had been for a long timeobserving that Jack was becoming more and more like a shark every day.Whereupon Jack remarked, that if he, Peterkin, were changed into a fish,he would certainly turn into nothing better or bigger than a shrimp. PoorPeterkin did not envy us our delightful excursions under water, except,indeed, when Jack would dive down to the bottom of the Water Garden, sitdown on a rock and look up and make faces at him. Peterkin did feelenvious then, and often said he would give anything to be able to dothat. I was much amused when Peterkin said this; for if he could onlyhave seen his own face when he happened to take a short dive, he wouldhave seen that Jack's was far surpassed by it. The great differencebeing, however, that Jack made faces on purpose--Peterkin couldn't helpit!

  Now, while we were engaged with these occupations and amusements, anevent occurred one day which was as unexpected as it was exceedinglyalarming and very horrible.

  Jack and I were sitting, as we were often wont to do, on the rocks atSpouting Cliff, and Peterkin was wringing the water from his garments,having recently fallen by accident into the sea,--a thing he wasconstantly doing,--when our attention was suddenly arrested by twoobjects which appeared on the horizon.

  "What are yon, think you?" I said, addressing Jack.

  "I can't imagine," answered he; "I've noticed them for some time, andfancied they were black sea-gulls, but the more I look at them the more Ifeel convinced they are much larger than gulls."

  "They seem to be coming towards us," said I.

  "Hallo! what's wrong?" inquired Peterkin, coming up.

  "Look there," said Jack.

  "Whales!" cried Peterkin, shading his eyes with his hand. "No! eh! canthey be boats, Jack?"

  Our hearts beat with excitement at the very thought of seeing human facesagain.

  "I think you are about right, Peterkin;--but they seem to me to movestrangely for boats," said Jack, in a low tone, as if he were talking tohimself.

  I noticed that a shade of anxiety crossed Jack's countenance as he gazedlong and intently at the two objects, which were now nearing us fast. Atlast he sprang to his feet. "They are canoes, Ralph! whether war-canoesor not I cannot tell, but this I know, that all the natives of the SouthSea Islands are fierce cannibals, and they have little respect forstrangers. We must hide if they land here, which I earnestly hope theywill not do."

  I was greatly alarmed at Jack's speech, but I confess I thought less ofwhat he said than of the earnest, anxious manner in which he said it, andit was with very uncomfortable feelings that Peterkin and I followed himquickly into the woods.

  "How unfortunate," said I, as we gained the shelter of the bushes, "thatwe have forgotten our arms."

  "It matters not," said Jack; "here are clubs enough and to spare." As hespoke, he laid his hand on a bundle of stout poles of various sizes,which Peterkin's ever-busy hands had formed, during our frequent visitsto the cliff, for no other purpose, apparently, than that of havingsomething to do.

  We each selected a stout club according to our several tastes, and laydown behind a rock, whence we could see the canoes approach, withoutourselves being seen. At first we made an occasional remark on theirappearance, but after they entered the lagoon, and drew near the beach,we ceased to speak, and gazed with intense interest at the scene beforeus.

  We now observed that the foremost canoe was being chased by the other,and that it contained a few women and children, as well as men,--perhapsforty souls altogether; while the canoe which pursued it contained onlymen. They seemed to be about the same in number, but were better armed,and had the appearance of being a war party. Both crews were paddlingwith all their might, and it seemed as if the pursuers exerted themselvesto overtake the natives ere they could land. In this, however, theyfailed. The foremost canoe made for the beach close beneath the rocksbehind which we were concealed. Their short paddles flashed like meteorsin the water, and sent up a constant shower of spray. The foam curledfrom the prow, and the eyes of the rowers glistened in their black facesas they strained every muscle of their naked bodies; nor did they relaxtheir efforts till the canoe struck the beach with a violent shock; then,with a shout of defiance, the whole party sprang, as if by magic, fromthe canoe to the shore. Three women, two of whom carried infants intheir arms, rushed into the woods; and the men crowded to the water'sedge, with stones in their hands, spears levelled, and clubs brandished,to resist the landing of their enemies.

  The distance between the two canoes had been about half a mile, and, atthe great speed they were going, this was soon passed. As the pursuersneared the shore, no sign of fear or hesitation was noticeable. On theycame like a wild charger,--received but recked not of a shower of stones.The canoe struck, and, with a yell that seemed to issue from the throatsof incarnate fiends, they leaped into the water, and drove their enemiesup the beach.
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  The battle that immediately ensued was frightful to behold. Most of themen wielded clubs of enormous size and curious shapes, with which theydashed out each other's brains. As they were almost entirely naked, andhad to bound, stoop, leap, and run, in their terrible hand-to-handencounters, they looked more like demons than human beings. I felt myheart grow sick at the sight of this bloody battle, and would fain haveturned away, but a species of fascination seemed to hold me down and gluemy eyes upon the combatants. I observed that the attacking party was ledby a most extraordinary being, who, from his size and peculiarity, Iconcluded was a chief. His hair was frizzed out to an enormous extent,so that it resembled a large turban. It was of a light-yellow hue, whichsurprised me much, for the man's body was as black as coal, and I feltconvinced that the hair must have been dyed. He was tattooed from headto foot; and his face, besides being tattooed, was besmeared with redpaint, and streaked with white. Altogether, with his yellow turban-likehair, his Herculean black frame, his glittering eyes and white teeth, heseemed the most terrible monster I ever beheld. He was very active inthe fight, and had already killed four men.

  Suddenly the yellow-haired chief was attacked by a man quite as strongand large as himself. He flourished a heavy club something like aneagle's beak at the point. For a second or two these giants eyed eachother warily, moving round and round, as if to catch each other at adisadvantage, but seeing that nothing was to be gained by this caution,and that the loss of time might effectually turn the tide of battleeither way, they apparently made up their minds to attack at the sameinstant, for, with a wild shout and simultaneous spring, they swung theirheavy clubs, which met with a loud report. Suddenly the yellow-hairedsavage tripped, his enemy sprang forward, the ponderous club was swung,but it did not descend, for at that moment the savage was felled to theground by a stone from the hand of one who had witnessed his chief'sdanger. This was the turning-point in the battle. The savages wholanded first turned and fled towards the bush, on seeing the fall oftheir chief. But not one escaped. They were all overtaken and felled tothe earth. I saw, however, that they were not all killed. Indeed, theirenemies, now that they were conquered, seemed anxious to take them alive;and they succeeded in securing fifteen, whom they bound hand and footwith cords, and, carrying them up into the woods, laid them down amongthe bushes. Here they left them, for what purpose I knew not, andreturned to the scene of the late battle, where the remnant of the partywere bathing their wounds.

  Out of the forty blacks that composed the attacking party, only twenty-eight remained alive, two of whom were sent into the bush to hunt for thewomen and children. Of the other party, as I have said, only tensurvived, and these were lying bound and helpless on the grass.

  Jack and Peterkin and I now looked at each other, and whispered our fearsthat the savages might clamber up the rocks to search for fresh water,and so discover our place of concealment; but we were so much interestedin watching their movements that we agreed to remain where we were; and,indeed, we could not easily have risen without exposing ourselves todetection. One of the savages now went up to the wood and soon returnedwith a bundle of fire-wood, and we were not a little surprised to see himset fire to it by the very same means used by Jack the time we made ourfirst fire,--namely, with the bow and drill. When the fire was kindled,two of the party went again to the woods and returned with one of thebound men. A dreadful feeling of horror crept over my heart, as thethought flashed upon me that they were going to burn their enemies. Asthey bore him to the fire my feelings almost overpowered me. I gaspedfor breath, and seizing my club, endeavoured to spring to my feet; butJack's powerful arm pinned me to the earth. Next moment one of thesavages raised his club, and fractured the wretched creature's skull. Hemust have died instantly, and, strange though it may seem, I confess to afeeling of relief when the deed was done, because I now knew that thepoor savage could not be burned alive. Scarcely had his limbs ceased toquiver when the monsters cut slices of flesh from his body, and, afterroasting them slightly over the fire, devoured them.

  Suddenly there arose a cry from the woods, and, in a few seconds, the twosavages hastened towards the fire dragging the three women and their twoinfants along with them. One of those women was much younger than hercompanions, and we were struck with the modesty of her demeanour and thegentle expression of her face, which, although she had the flattish noseand thick lips of the others, was of a light-brown colour, and weconjectured that she must be of a different race. She and her companionswore short petticoats and a kind of tippet on their shoulders. Theirhair was jet black, but instead of being long, was short andcurly,--though not woolly--somewhat like the hair of a young boy. Whilewe gazed with interest and some anxiety at these poor creatures, the bigchief advanced to one of the elder females and laid his hand upon thechild. But the mother shrank from him, and clasping the little one toher bosom, uttered a wail of fear. With a savage laugh, the chief torethe child from her arms and tossed it into the sea. A low groan burstfrom Jack's lips as we witnessed this atrocious act and heard themother's shriek, as she fell insensible on the sand. The rippling wavesrolled the child on the beach, as if they refused to be a party in such afoul murder, and we could observe that the little one still lived.

  The young girl was now brought forward, and the chief addressed her; butalthough we heard his voice, and even the words distinctly, of course wecould not understand what he said. The girl made no answer to his fiercequestions, and we saw by the way in which he pointed to the fire that hethreatened her life.

  "Peterkin," said Jack in a hoarse whisper, "have you got your knife?"

  "Yes," replied Peterkin, whose face was pale as death.

  "That will do. Listen to me, and do my bidding quick. Here is the smallknife, Ralph. Fly both of you through the bush, cut the cords that bindthe prisoners and set them free. There! quick, ere it be too late." Jacksprang up, and seized a heavy but short bludgeon, while his strong frametrembled with emotion, and large drops rolled down his forehead.

  At this moment the man who had butchered the savage a few minutes beforeadvanced towards the girl with his heavy club. Jack uttered a yell thatrang like a death-shriek among the rocks. With one bound he leaped overa precipice full fifteen feet high, and, before the savages had recoveredfrom their surprise, was in the midst of them; while Peterkin and Idashed through the bushes towards the prisoners. With one blow of hisstaff Jack felled the man with the club, then, turning round with a lookof fury, he rushed upon the big chief with the yellow hair. Had the blowwhich Jack aimed at his head taken effect, the huge savage would haveneeded no second stroke; but he was agile as a cat, and avoided it byspringing to one side, while, at the same time, he swung his ponderousclub at the head of his foe. It was now Jack's turn to leap aside, andwell was it for him that the first outburst of his blind fury was over,else he had become an easy prey to his gigantic antagonist; but Jack wascool now. He darted his blows rapidly and well, and the superiority ofhis light weapon was strikingly proved in this combat, for while he couldeasily evade the blows of the chief's heavy club, the chief could not soeasily evade those of his light one. Nevertheless, so quick was he, andso frightfully did he fling about the mighty weapon, that, although Jackstruck him almost every blow, the strokes had to be delivered so quicklythat they wanted force to be very effectual.

  It was lucky for Jack that the other savages considered the success oftheir chief in this encounter to be so certain that they refrained frominterfering. Had they doubted it, they would have probably ended thematter at once by felling him. But they contented themselves withawaiting the issue.

  The force which the chief expended in wielding his club now began to beapparent. His movements became slower, his breath hissed through hisclenched teeth, and the surprised savages drew nearer in order to renderassistance. Jack observed this movement. He felt that his fate wassealed, and resolved to cast his life upon the next blow. The chiefsclub was again about to descend on his head. He might have e
vaded iteasily, but instead of doing so, he suddenly shortened his grasp of hisown club, rushed in under the blow, struck his adversary right betweenthe eyes with all his force and fell to the earth, crushed beneath thesenseless body of the chief. A dozen clubs flew high in air ready todescend on the head of Jack, but they hesitated a moment, for the massivebody of the chief completely covered him. That moment saved his life.Ere the savages could tear the chief's body away, seven of their numberfell prostrate beneath the clubs of the prisoners whom Peterkin and I hadset free, and two others fell under our own hand. We could never haveaccomplished this had not our enemies been so engrossed with the fightbetween Jack and their chief that they had failed to observe us until wewere upon them. They still out-numbered our party by three, but we wereflushed with victory while they were taken by surprise and dispirited bythe fall of their chief. Moreover, they were awe-struck by the sweepingfury of Jack, who seemed to have lost his senses altogether, and had nosooner shaken himself free of the chief's body than he rushed into themidst of them, and in three blows equalized our numbers. Peterkin and Iflew to the rescue, the savages followed us, and, in less than tenminutes, the whole of our opponents were knocked down or made prisoners,bound hand and foot, and extended side by side upon the sea shore.