The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER XXI.

  Sagacious and moral remarks in regard to life--A sail!--An unexpectedsalute--The end of the black cat--A terrible dive--An incautiousproceeding and a frightful catastrophe.

  Life is a strange compound. Peterkin used to say of it, that it beat adruggist's shop all to sticks; for, whereas the first is a compound ofgood and bad, the other is a horrible compound of all that is utterlydetestable. And indeed the more I consider it the more I am struck withthe strange mixture of good and evil that exists not only in the materialearth but in our own natures. In our own Coral Island we had experiencedevery variety of good that a bountiful Creator could heap on us. Yet onthe night of the storm we had seen how almost, in our case,--andaltogether, no doubt, in the case of others less fortunate--all this goodmight be swept away for ever. We had seen the rich fruit-trees waving inthe soft air, the tender herbs shooting upwards under the benigninfluence of the bright sun; and, the next day, we had seen these goodand beautiful trees and plants uprooted by the hurricane, crushed andhurled to the ground in destructive devastation. We had lived for manymonths in a clime for the most part so beautiful, that we had oftenwondered whether Adam and Eve had found Eden more sweet; and we had seenthe quiet solitudes of our paradise suddenly broken in upon by ferocioussavages, and the white sands stained with blood and strewed with lifelessforms; yet, among these cannibals, we had seen many symptoms of a kindlynature. I pondered these things much, and, while I considered them,there recurred to my memory those words which I had read in my Bible,--theworks of God are wonderful, and his ways past finding out.

  After these poor savages had left us, we used to hold long and frequentconversations about them, and I noticed that Peterkin's manner was nowmuch altered. He did not, indeed, jest less heartily than before, but hedid so less frequently, and often there was a tone of deep seriousness inhis manner, if not in his words, which made him seem to Jack and me as ifhe had grown two years older within a few days. But indeed I was notsurprised at this, when I reflected on the awful realities which we hadwitnessed so lately. We could by no means shake off a tendency to gloomfor several weeks afterwards; but, as time wore away, our usual goodspirits returned somewhat, and we began to think of the visit of thesavages with feelings akin to those with which we recall a terribledream.

  One day we were all enjoying ourselves in the Water Garden, preparatoryto going on a fishing excursion; for Peterkin had kept us in suchconstant supply of hogs that we had become quite tired of pork, anddesired a change. Peterkin was sunning himself on the ledge of rock,while we were creeping among the rocks below. Happening to look up, Iobserved Peterkin cutting the most extraordinary capers and makingviolent gesticulations for us to come up; so I gave Jack a push, and roseimmediately.

  "A sail! a sail! Ralph, look! Jack, away on the horizon there, justover the entrance to the lagoon!" cried Peterkin, as we scrambled up therocks.

  "So it is, and a schooner, too!" said Jack, as he proceeded hastily todress.

  Our hearts were thrown into a terrible flutter by this discovery, for ifit should touch at our island we had no doubt the captain would be happyto give us a passage to some of the civilized islands, where we couldfind a ship sailing for England, or some other part of Europe. Home,with all its associations, rushed in upon my heart like a flood, and,much though I loved the Coral Island and the bower which had now been ourhome so long, I felt that I could have quitted all at that moment withouta sigh. With joyful anticipations we hastened to the highest point ofrock near our dwelling, and awaited the arrival of the vessel, for we nowperceived that she was making straight for the island, under a steadybreeze.

  In less than an hour she was close to the reef, where she rounded to, andbacked her topsails in order to survey the coast. Seeing this, andfearing that they might not perceive us, we all three waved pieces ofcocoa-nut cloth in the air, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing thembeginning to lower a boat and bustle about the decks as if they meant toland. Suddenly a flag was run up to the peak, a little cloud of whitesmoke rose from the schooner's side, and, before we could guess theirintentions, a cannon-shot came crashing through the bushes, carried awayseveral cocoa-nut trees in its passage, and burst in atoms against thecliff a few yards below the spot on which we stood.

  With feelings of terror we now observed that the flag at the schooner'speak was black, with a Death's head and cross bones upon it. As we gazedat each other in blank amazement, the word "pirate" escaped our lipssimultaneously.

  "What is to be done?" cried Peterkin, as we observed a boat shoot fromthe vessel's side, and make for the entrance of the reef. "If they takeus off the island, it will either be to throw us overboard for sport, orto make pirates of us."

  I did not reply, but looked at Jack, as being our only resource in thisemergency. He stood with folded arms, and his eyes fixed with a grave,anxious expression on the ground. "There is but one hope," said he,turning with a sad expression of countenance to Peterkin; "perhaps, afterall, we may not have to resort to it. If these villains are anxious totake us, they will soon overrun the whole island. But come, follow me."

  Stopping abruptly in his speech, Jack bounded into the woods, and led usby a circuitous route to Spouting Cliff. Here he halted, and, advancingcautiously to the rocks, glanced over their edge. We were soon by hisside, and saw the boat, which was crowded with armed men, just touchingthe shore. In an instant the crew landed, formed line, and rushed up toour bower.

  In a few seconds we saw them hurrying back to the boat, one of themswinging the poor cat round his head by the tail. On reaching thewater's edge, he tossed it far into the sea, and joined his companions,who appeared to be holding a hasty council.

  "You see what we may expect," said Jack bitterly. "The man who willwantonly kill a poor brute for sport will think little of murdering afellow-creature. Now, boys, we have but one chance left,--the DiamondCave."

  "The Diamond Cave!" cried Peterkin, "then my chance is a poor one, for Icould not dive into it if all the pirates on the Pacific were at myheels."

  "Nay, but," said I, "we will take you down, Peterkin, if you will onlytrust us."

  As I spoke, we observed the pirates scatter over the beach, and radiate,as if from a centre, towards the woods and along shore.

  "Now, Peterkin," said Jack, in a solemn tone, "you must make up your mindto do it, or we must make up our minds to die in your company."

  "Oh, Jack, my dear friend," cried Peterkin, turning pale, "leave me; Idon't believe they'll think it worth while to kill me. Go, you andRalph, and dive into the cave."

  "That will not I," answered Jack quietly, while he picked up a stoutcudgel from the ground. "So now, Ralph, we must prepare to meet thesefellows. Their motto is, 'No quarter.' If we can manage to floor thosecoming in this direction, we may escape into the woods for a while."

  "There are five of them," said I; "we have no chance."

  "Come, then," cried Peterkin, starting up, and grasping Jack convulsivelyby the arm, "let us dive; I will go."

  Those who are not naturally expert in the water know well the feelings ofhorror that overwhelm them, when in it, at the bare idea of being helddown, even for a few seconds,--that spasmodic, involuntary recoil fromcompulsory immersion which has no connection whatever with cowardice; andthey will understand the amount of resolution that it required inPeterkin to allow himself to be dragged down to a depth of ten feet, andthen, through a narrow tunnel, into an almost pitch-dark cavern. Butthere was no alternative. The pirates had already caught sight of us,and were now within a short distance of the rocks.

  Jack and I seized Peterkin by the arms.

  "Now, keep quite still, no struggling," said Jack, "or we are lost."

  Peterkin made no reply, but the stern gravity of his marble features, andthe tension of his muscles, satisfied us that he had fully made up hismind to go through with it. Just as the pirates gained the foot of therocks, which hid us for a moment from their view, we bent over the sea,and plunged down t
ogether head foremost. Peterkin behaved like a hero.He floated passively between us like a log of wood, and we passed thetunnel and rose into the cave in a shorter space of time than I had everdone it before.

  Peterkin drew a long, deep breath on reaching the surface; and in a fewseconds we were all standing on the ledge of rock in safety. Jack nowsearched for the tinder and torch, which always lay in the cave. He soonfound them, and, lighting the torch, revealed to Peterkin's wonderinggaze the marvels of the place. But we were too wet to waste much time inlooking about us. Our first care was to take off our clothes, and wringthem as dry as we could. This done, we proceeded to examine into thestate of our larder, for, as Jack truly remarked, there was no knowinghow long the pirates might remain on the island.

  "Perhaps," said Peterkin, "they may take it into their heads to stop herealtogether, and so we shall be buried alive in this place."

  "Don't you think, Peterkin, that it's the nearest thing to being drownedalive that you ever felt?" said Jack with a smile. "But I've no fear ofthat. These villains never stay long on shore. The sea is their home,so you may depend upon it that they won't stay more than a day or two atthe furthest."

  We now began to make arrangements for spending the night in the cavern.At various periods Jack and I had conveyed cocoa nuts and other fruits,besides rolls of cocoa-nut cloth, to this submarine cave, partly foramusement, and partly from a feeling that we might possibly be driven oneday to take shelter here from the savages. Little did we imagine thatthe first savages who would drive us into it would be white savages,perhaps our own countrymen. We found the cocoa-nuts in good condition,and the cooked yams, but the bread-fruits were spoiled. We also foundthe cloth where we had left it; and, on opening it out, there proved tobe sufficient to make a bed; which was important, as the rock was damp.Having collected it all together, we spread out our bed, placed our torchin the midst of us, and ate our supper. It was indeed a strange chamberto feast in; and we could not help remarking on the cold, ghastlyappearance of the walls, and the black water at our side, with the thickdarkness beyond, and the sullen sound of the drops that fell at longintervals from the roof of the cavern into the still water; and thestrong contrast between all this and our bed and supper, which, with ourfaces, were lit up with the deep red flame of the torch.

  We sat long over our meal, talking together in subdued voices, for we didnot like the dismal echoes that rang through the vault above when wehappened to raise them. At last the faint light that came through theopening died away, warning us that it was night and time for rest. Wetherefore put out our torch and lay down to sleep.

  On awaking, it was some time ere we could collect our faculties so as toremember where we were, and we were in much uncertainty as to whether itwas early or late. We saw by the faint light that it was day, but couldnot guess at the hour; so Jack proposed that he should dive out andreconnoitre.

  "No, Jack," said I, "do you rest here. You've had enough to do duringthe last few days. Rest yourself now, and take care of Peterkin, while Igo out to see what the pirates are about. I'll be very careful not toexpose myself, and I'll bring you word again in a short time."

  "Very well, Ralph," answered Jack, "please yourself, but don't be long;and if you'll take my advice you'll go in your clothes, for I would liketo have some fresh cocoa nuts, and climbing trees without clothes isuncomfortable, to say the least of it."

  "The pirates will be sure to keep a sharp lookout," said Peterkin, "so,pray, be careful."

  "No fear," said I; "good-bye."

  "Good-bye," answered my comrades.

  And while the words were yet sounding in my ears, I plunged into thewater, and in a few seconds found myself in the open air. On rising, Iwas careful to come up gently and to breathe softly, while I kept closein beside the rocks; but, as I observed no one near me, I crept slowlyout, and ascended the cliff a step at a time, till I obtained a full viewof the shore. No pirates were to be seen,--even their boat was gone; butas it was possible they might have hidden themselves, I did not venturetoo boldly forward. Then it occurred to me to look out to sea, when, tomy surprise, I saw the pirate schooner sailing away almost hull-down onthe horizon! On seeing this I uttered a shout of joy. Then my firstimpulse was to dive back to tell my companions the good news; but Ichecked myself, and ran to the top of the cliff, in order to make surethat the vessel I saw was indeed the pirate schooner. I looked long andanxiously at her, and, giving vent to a deep sigh of relief, said aloud,"Yes, there she goes; the villains have been baulked of their prey thistime at least."

  "Not so sure of that!" said a deep voice at my side; while, at the samemoment, a heavy hand grasped my shoulder, and held it as if in a vice.