CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SECOND
OF OUR DEPARTURE FROM PALM TREE ISLAND; OF THOSE WHO WON THROUGH, ANDOF THOSE WHO FELL BY THE WAY
For several days after this conversation I observed that Billy was notnear so cheerful as he was wont to be, and when I spoke to him aboutit, and asked what ailed him, he returned me only evasive answers. Onenight when we were abed, but not asleep, he sighed so often and soheavily that I said I would and must know what was the matter, and thenhe surprised me beyond measure by saying, in a sort of mumble, "I'monly thinking of my little girl." I thought his wits were wandering,but I asked him, "What little girl?" and he said, "Her name's ElizabethJane." I asked him what on earth he meant, and then, unbosominghimself, he told me that Clums' mention of _his_ little girl, and ourtalk about Henry the Eighth's wives, had set him thinking of a littlegirl he used to play with at home, when his own mother was alive--aneighbour's child, who used to come into the smithy at all hours, andwhom his father used to call "Billy's little sweetheart."
"Of course she wasn't," says Billy, "not real, 'cause I was only eightor nine and she less; but them things we was talking about made methink of her, and I thought she was growed up now, same as me, and Iwondered if she was hanging on a fellow's arm like I used to see 'em inLimehouse Walk, and it made me want to punch his head; and then Ithought I want to go home, and I can't, and I'm that wretched I can'tabear myself."
Our Lamp]
Here was a pretty posture to be in! I was vastly amused, never havingbeen so taken myself, at the thought of Billy in love with a child hehad not seen for perhaps a dozen years, for he told me that she nevercame to the house after his mother died, and had gone to liveelsewhere; but I did not laugh, and Billy could not see me smiling, andI said quietly, "Well, and why shouldn't we go home?" He gave a shoutthat set Little John barking, and bounced out of bed, and struck alight, kindling a little lamp we had made of half a cocoa-nut filledwith its own oil, and some twisted threads for a wick, which gave agood light and had no offensive smell like our torches of candle-nuts.And then he sat down on his stool by my bed, and looked me in the eyes,and I saw his eyes shining like coals when he asked me what I meant. Isaid to him that there was now a goodly company of us, and what twoboys could hardly do alone might be done by such a number, and thatwas, to make a vessel big enough to hold us all, and sound enough toventure ourselves upon the deep. Billy was enraptured with the notion,and instead of raising difficulties, as he usually did when I broacheda new project, he refused to see those that I myself mentioned, such asour want of instruments and charts, and the danger of storms, and thedanger of falling in with cannibals, and so forth. Theseconsiderations did not trouble him in the least; but one thing did, andthat was the question whether the men would be willing to undertake thelong and arduous preparation that would be necessary. But I bade himleave that to me, and he went back to bed much happier, and slept verysound.
[Sidenote: Planning a Voyage]
Next day I put the matter to the men, and they were one and allexceeding favourable to it. Their life was pretty easy now, for therewas not much work to do; but I saw that lack of work did not make forhappiness, and indeed Pumfrey said plainly that he would willinglyexchange his present life for what he had formerly called his dog'slife on board ship, for there was more variety in that, and spellsashore, not to speak of rum and tobacco. So I found them all ready tostart work at once, the only thing that daunted them being theirignorance, for there was not a shipwright among them, and Pumfrey, theship's carpenter, said he might mend a ship, but couldn't make one.However, I told them that we would not try to build a vessel withplanks, but would make a larger canoe after the model of the _FairHope_, which we had found to be perfectly seaworthy and suitable forthe navigation of those seas. Mr. Bodger shook his head and declaredthat no vessel of that shape would ever reach the old country, but Ipointed out that there were many lands nearer than England, some ofthem in the possession of our own people, and if we could strike any ofthe trade routes we should certainly fall in with a vessel, and thenour troubles would be over. "S'pose she's a Frenchman?" says Clums. Iasked "What then?" for France and England were at peace when we sailedfrom the Thames, and I had no patience with the folk who looked onevery foreigner as a dragon or a monster, and I said so. "That's alltrue enough, sir, I dare say," says Clums, "but there's the frogs, d'yesee?" and I found that he looked at it from the cook's point of view,and did not relish the idea of preparing, much less eating, thearticles of French fare. But though these little objections wereraised, there was a common readiness to set to work, and we went outimmediately into the woods to find a tree suited to our needs.
[Sidenote: The New Vessel]
We soon found a giant, perfectly straight and sound, and we madepreparations to fell it forthwith. Billy explained to the men ourmanner of using fire, which pleased them very much, and some of themhaving good steel axes, it took not so long to fell this great tree asit had taken to fell the one for our canoe. The tree being situated atsome distance from the edge of the cliff, I was for a time puzzled howto transport it, as I had been before, for I thought it hazardous toroll a tree of such great weight over the cliff to the beach below.But when we had moved it to the edge over rollers, one of the menproposed that we should lower it by means of ropes, which we did,suspending the trunk to half-a-dozen trees that grew close togetherthere, and paying out the ropes until the great burden was let down toa spot whence it might roll the rest of the way without hurt. Havingthus got the trunk safely to the foot of the cliffs, we hollowed it outwith fire and axes, as Billy and I had done before, and while some wereat this work the rest prepared a mast and spars, and also a largeoutrigger; and all toiled with such a good will, having the prospect ofdeliverance before them, that the vessel was fully equipped and readyfor sea in about four months, as I guessed, from the day we began workon her. I did not think of painting her, remembering the prodigiouslabour the _Fair Hope_ had cost us in that particular; but when some ofthe men said that a good coat of paint would make her more seaworthy,we resolved to do it, and for many days we did nothing but express oilout of nuts and mix with it the sap of the redwood tree; and I laughedto see what strange objects some of the men made of themselves, forthey would raise their hands to their brows to wipe off the sweat, theweather being warm, and left great streaks of red behind; and it cameinto my head that the savages' custom of painting themselves might havebegun in just such a way.
When the vessel was painted there was still the naming of her, and thismatter came up one evening when we were having our supper on the openground near our hut, for we usually had our supper with the men in apleasant family manner--Hoggett and Wabberley and Chick having beentaken back to the rock. When I asked what we were to call her, beforeany one else could speak Billy blurted out "Elizabeth Jane," and younever heard such a shout of laughter as then rang through the air, forBilly was so ready, and his face turned such a fiery hue the moment hehad spoken, that the men "smoked" him, as the saying is, and theytwitted him (being on very friendly terms with him now) on the lass hehad left behind him, and when he explained, very sheepishly, that shewas no more than eight years old when he saw her last they shoutedagain, and told him that she certainly wouldn't know him now, with hiswhiskers coming thick, and did he think she would wait for him whenthere were properer men about? Billy took it all with surprising goodtemper, and I found out afterwards that he and Clums had become veryclose friends, and Clums told him that if he could not find ElizabethJane, or if she was already wed, he would present him to his owndaughter Georgiana, called after the king, and a winsome lass, saidClums, and just husband high.
We named the vessel _Elizabeth Jane_, and launched her, not by thatdevice of the windlass we had used for the _Fair Hope_, but making aslipway of rollers, over which the men tugged her with ropes. Then wesailed her on a first trip round the island, by which we learnt whatlittle changes were necessary in the outrigger to keep her steady. Shebehaved exceeding well, and the seamen were mi
ghty pleased with her,and began in wondrous good spirits the preparation for the great voyagewe purposed making. They were greatly disappointed when I told themthat we should have to wait a good time yet, until the season of stormsand unsettled weather passed; but we had plenty to occupy us in themeantime, for there was pork and fish to salt and cure, and breadfruitto be prepared, for we did not know how long our voyage might last, andI was in some dread lest our vessel would not have stowage room for allthe food I thought it necessary to take. We had to make alsowater-pots of a special shape, so that they would lie snugly in thebottom of the vessel, and we made hurdles to cover them, so that theyshould not be broken. This matter of water gave me much concern, and Iresolved to fit up the _Fair Hope_ as a victualler, to follow ourlarger vessel, as such vessels do the warships: we found that she hadroom enough for a good many water-pots and a great quantity ofcocoa-nuts beside, the juice of which was both agreeable and wholesome,if we did not drink it at night. We fitted up on each vessel a lighthoarding made of thin poles let into the gunwale, and carrying a canopyof bread-bark cloth, which would not only defend us from the sun'srays, but help to save the fresh water from evaporating. During theperiod of waiting, moreover, the men made a good number of new arrowsand spears, and diligently practised themselves in their use. We keptthe muskets in good order, but there being scarcely any powder and shotleft we could not place much reliance on them if we should have tofight, which I hoped very sincerely would not be the case.
[Sidenote: Retribution]
One thing I had resolutely determined on, and that was that Hoggett andWabberley and Chick should not accompany us. The two last I owed aspecial grudge against, because it was they who had led my poor uncleon to undertake his expedition, when they were all the time meditatingthe treachery which they put in act when the opportunity came. And asfor Hoggett, he had built, so to speak, very well on their foundations,and had been the controlling force in the mutiny and all that happenedafter. Moreover, these three were the only men who did their work onthe island sullenly and unwillingly, for Chick's obligingness wasmerely put on as a cloak. Though I had said nothing to make themsuppose they would be left on the island, so that they had as great anincentive to further our preparations as any man, they did not in theleast change their usual behaviour, but performed all the tasks setthem ungraciously and with a grudge.
They were marched to the Red Rock every night at sunset, and this hadbecome so much a part of the order of things that they did not show anysurprise when it was done on the very night before we were to set sail.I had said no word of my resolution to anybody as yet, but that night Itold it to Billy, and he was greatly delighted, saying that the onlything he feared in the voyage was the presence of Hoggett. I told himthat if we could have kept the men prisoners I might have relentedtowards them, but since that was impossible, I feared that if they werelet loose among the crew their bad influence would ruin any chance ofsuccess we might have.
Accordingly, when they were brought over next morning, expecting to begiven places in the _Elizabeth Jane_, I had a parade of all the menbefore me, and told these three plainly that they were to be leftbehind. Hoggett went white to the lips, but said never a word, whereasWabberley and Chick whined and whimpered and behaved like the sorrycurs they were. They pled with me with the most abject entreaties andpromises, uttering the most piteous plaints of the horrors of solitude,and so forth; whereupon I pointed out to them that they were ininfinitely better case than they had left us on the first day we cameto the island, having a house to live in, and arms and tools, as wellas animals and well-grown plantations. I told them that after theirmany wickednesses they might be thankful that their lives were spared.Finally I showed them, to the great amazement of all, the shaft belowthe hut, and explained our device for getting water from the lake, andthe uses to which we put the cavern beneath, and told them also of thepassage to the shore; and then I thought Hoggett would die of rage andmortification, especially when he saw Clums and the rest looking at himwith a kind of mocking pity. He broke through his silence now, andpoured out upon me such a torrent of invective and curses as I havenever heard before or since, foaming at the mouth in a manner that washorrible to see. Then all of a sudden he ceased, as though his wordswere choking him, and throwing upon me one last look full of hate andmalevolence he went away by himself, and I never saw him again.
We then embarked on the _Elizabeth Jane_, taking Little John with us.Wabberley and Chick stood on the beach, very dejected, when we launchedthe vessel, no doubt hoping to the last that I would relent. Theyremained there until they looked but tiny specks, and we were far awayon the ocean. My heart was very full as I watched the islanddiminishing in the distance, and thought of the years we had spentthere, and of all our trials and blessings, the latter outnumbering theformer, by the grace of God. Billy was very silent, telling meafterwards that it gave him a queer feeling inside, to leave the islandwhich had been a proper home. We set our course due west, as near aswe could judge, and avoiding the island at which we had been soinhospitably received, we made for a small group somewhat to the north,where Mr. Bodger told me the men had settled for a time as mercenariesof the native people. We put in at one of the islands, the peoplerunning away at our approach, and filled up our water-vessels, and alsolaid in a small stock of fresh cocoa-nuts, as well as fowls and otherthings, in the room of those we had consumed. During their stay on theisland some of the men had picked up a smattering of the language ofthe people, and they now confirmed, when the natives took courage andcame back, what they had before understood, that there was anothergroup of islands two days' paddling to the west. With the aid of afavouring breeze on our quarter we came to these islands in a day and ahalf, and ran for the outermost of the group, so as to be nearest tothe open sea if any attack were made upon us. But here we werereceived in friendly wise, and we were fortunate again in getting newsof another group still farther to the west. However, when we got tothis, after two or three days' sail, we found that the people spoke atongue which none of our men understood, so that though we tried inevery possible manner to learn from them how we should sail to come toother islands, we failed utterly, and saw ourselves forced to put tosea again, having taken in fresh food and water, without any guidancewhatever. There we were, then, afloat on the wide ocean, without chartor compass, the sport of chance, as some might think; but when I lookedup to the sky in the stillness of night, and thought that the birdshave no chart or compass, and not one so much as falls to the groundbut God knows, I felt perfectly contented and easy in mind, believingthat we should some day arrive at the haven where we would be.
[Sidenote: The Voyage]
It being very necessary that we should make land before our food andwater were all spent, the men took turns at the paddles, even while thewind held, so that we should proceed with all possible speed. We werefive days without sighting land, and our water was all consumed when atlast we came to an island; but we could not land, because a greatmultitude of savages in war-paint came to the shore brandishing clubsand spears, and we had to wait till night, and then some of the menwent with me in the _Fair Hope_ to another part of the coast, andlanding there unseen, we were able to fill our vessels. I will nottell all the incidents of that voyage, even if I could remember them;but I may tell of one time, when we were chased by a fleet ofwar-canoes, and should most certainly have been caught, only when thefirst of the pursuing craft was but a biscuit's throw away, I fired amusket shot, which terrified them so much that they turned their prowsand fled away shrieking.
After several weeks, the weather having been fair all the time, we werecaught by a storm in mid-ocean, out of sight of any land, and then forthe first time my heart sank, and I feared we should go to the bottom.We had little rigging to make us top-heavy, and we managed to get thatdown before the blast took us; but the waves swept over us with suchforce that we had much ado to prevent ourselves from being washed out,and had no thought of anything except to cling to the thwarts, and,when each
wave had passed, to bale for our lives. The rope by which wetowed the _Fair Hope_ was snapped, and she was carried away, and nodoubt before long submerged. In the merciful providence of God thestorm was quickly over, but then our case was dreadful in the extreme,for all our provisions were ruined or else swept overboard, and themost of our paddles were gone. To make matters worse, the winddropped, and we had nothing but light airs that scarcely moved thevessel a yard a minute. For two days and nights we lay thus, the widewaste of water all about us, the hot sun above, and neither land norship in sight. On the first day not a man of us ate, and at night wesought to moisten our parched lips by sucking the dew from our shirts;but on the second day some of the men gnawed the sodden fish and fleshthat remained, which did but increase their thirst, so that in thenight they began to rave, and in the morning Pumfrey and Hoskin weredead. We committed their bodies to the deep with great awe andtrembling, none knowing but he might be the next. But not long after astrong breeze sprang up in the east, and carried our vessel along at soround a pace that hope revived in our sad hearts, and Billy mounted thegunwale and, clinging to the supports of the canopy I have mentioned,he looked out eagerly for land. When he saw none after a while he camedown again, feeling very weak and dizzy, and had not the heart or thestrength to try again, and so we sped on almost blindly, having justcare enough to keep the vessel's head to the west. And then, when wewere again on the point of despairing, some one cried that he saw landahead, and when I looked, I saw a long dark shape upon the water, abovewhich a huge bank of clouds seemed to rest. We fixed our longing eyesthereon, and as we drew nearer the clouds broke slowly apart, and wesaw the sides of stupendous mountains, ten times as lofty as themountain on Palm Tree Island, even in the part we saw, for their topswere wrapped in mist. It was many hours, I am sure, before we drewnear to the coast, which we saw was very precipitous, so that wedespaired of finding a safe landing; but we steered north, skirting it,and came by and by to a part where the cliffs fell away, and there,being perfectly reckless now, for we could but die, we drove our vesselashore, and it struck on a ridge of rock very like the lava beach ofPalm Tree Island. By great good fortune there was no depth of water onit, and we were able to wade ashore, which we reached more dead thanalive.
When we had rested somewhat we looked about for food, the inland partsbeing very well wooded, and we were inexpressibly thankful when wefound both bread-fruit and bananas, and cocoa-nuts too, of which wemade a meal, some eating so ravenously that they were very ill, and Ifeared Billy would die. But he and the others recovered, to my greatjoy, and we camped there, and slept so heavily that if any savages hadcome upon us we should have been killed without being able to lift ahand to defend ourselves. However, we saw no savages during the weekwe stayed there, and at the end of that time, being marvellouslyrefreshed and invigorated, we towed our vessel off the ridge (she hadsuffered no hurt, the sea being calm) with ropes, some we had with us,and others we made with creepers, swimming out into the sea with them.Then we plaited baskets, and carried in them as much food as we couldload into the vessel, and once more set sail.
We found that our passage westward was barred by this island, whichextended in a north-westerly direction for many miles, at least ahundred, I should think.[1] When we arrived at the northern extremityof it, we drew in, so as to get more food, but perceiving a strangeblack smoke arising from the earth, we were afraid to approach nearer,nor indeed did the land appear very fertile; so we sailed past, hopingto discover another island before our provisions, of which we had agreat store, were exhausted. But day after day went by without ourseeing any, and though we were very sparing with our food, it was atlast all gone, and we again suffered the torturing pangs of hunger andthirst. And when we woke one morning after a terrible night, we didnot think we should live through the day, and the wild look in the eyesof some of the men made me fear they would go mad, or even propose toeat one another. I had already observed them gazing ravenously atLittle John, but I held him constantly at my side, being determined tokeep him as a memento of our sojourn on Palm Tree Island. I do notknow but I might have been prevailed on at last to consent to hisdeath, but towards evening Billy, using his little remnant of strengthto climb on to the gunwale, cried out that he saw a sail, and called tome in a very hoarse voice to make a signal. I took up my musket atonce, and fired a shot, and then another, and then saw with great agonythat I could fire no more, for there was no more powder in my horn, andthe little that was in the others had been spoiled by the sea water.But by and by we heard a shot, and Billy cried that the vessel wasclapping on more sail, and was coming towards us. We were in terribledread lest she should not come up with us before night, for she mightpass us in the dark, and then we must have died. But she came upapace, and heaving to, hailed us in a tongue I did not understand,though the vessel was of European make. Clums, however, told me shewas Dutch, and he answered the hail in that tongue, though his mouthwas so parched that his voice was nothing but a croak. He said we werefamishing, whereupon the skipper lowered a boat, sending food and waterto us. When we were somewhat revived, I told the officer in the boat,by the interpretation of Clums, something of my story, at which hemarvelled greatly, especially at our strange vessel, and would haveheard more, only the skipper shouted for him to come back. I askedwhether the skipper would not take us aboard, assuring him that myuncle would pay our charges very willingly, and when he returned to hisvessel the skipper consented to this, saying, as I heard afterwards,that none but Englishmen, who were all mad, would have ventured to seain such a crazy craft.
Accordingly we went on board the Dutch vessel, some of us having to behauled up the side in slings, we were so weak. We left the poor_Elizabeth Jane_ derelict, and Billy shed bitter tears, being stillvery much of a child at heart, and taking this as a sad omen,portending the death of the Elizabeth Jane he had known. As for me,having nothing of this kind to be superstitious about, I was so joyfulat falling in with a friendly vessel, and at the hope this engenderedin me, that I did not spare a sigh upon the _Elizabeth Jane_, beingindeed much more sorrowful at the loss of the _Fair Hope_, much as afather might feel the loss of his firstborn.
I said a "friendly vessel," but it was not so friendly neither. Shewas a Dutch Indiaman bound for Java, and the skipper, though humaneenough to pick us up (after a promise of pay), never looked on us verykindly, because we were English, and the Dutch were exceeding jealousat the presence of English mariners in those waters, seeming to thinkthat the ocean was their highway by right. (I have observed that theFrench and the Spanish, as well as ourselves, hold the same opinion, ordid hold it until that late gallant gentleman Lord Nelson taught thembetter.) However, the Dutch skipper brought us to the island of Java,whither he was bound, and handed us over to the Governor, who put methrough a very strict interrogation, with the aid of one of hisofficers that knew English, a clerk sitting by and writing all I said.He did the same afterwards with Billy and Mr. Bodger, each by himself,and Billy was mightily indignant when the Governor, having had read outsome parts of my story, asked him if they were true.
I do not know what would have happened to me but that the Governor'swife, who had lived in England and spoke English, was greatlyinterested when she heard of our strange adventures: and it chancingthat I fell ill of a low fever, she had me brought to her house, andtended me with great kindness, as much as Billy would let her, for hewas very jealous, and would not leave me. When I was recovered, andthis kind benefactress asked me what I would do, I said I must go home,and though I had no money, my uncle would right willingly pay mycharges. Accordingly, by her kind interest I was provided with money,and clothes of a Dutch cut, and took passage in a Dutch Indiaman thatwas returning to Holland with a freight of sugar, in which Java is veryprolific, and Billy was to go with me as my servant, and Little Johntoo. I learnt that Mr. Bodger and Colam were dead, being carried offby a fever like mine; but the rest of the men, all but two, had foundberths on the same Indiaman, she being short-handed owing to a
nepidemic fever that had broken out aboard on her way out. The two lastof our party remained at Batavia for some time, being ill and unfit towork; but afterwards they worked their way to Calcutta, and thence on aBritish vessel to London, as they did not fail to inform me when theyarrived. As for me and Billy and the dog, we went on the Dutchman,which touched at the Cape of Good Hope, and thence sailed direct forAmsterdam, and from there we got a passage to London, where we arrivedon April 2, 1783, eight years and seven months after we departed on theill-fated _Lovey Susan_.
[Sidenote: Billy's Stepmother]
I wrote a letter to my uncle that same day, telling him of my return,for I thought if I went home too suddenly the shock might do him aninjury, especially if he had the gout. Billy went to see his old dad,promising to come back next day, since I had resolved to take him homewith me, and show my uncle the good companion of my solitude. He wastrue to his word, and when I asked him how his people fared, he saidhis father was the same as ever, only not quite so spry, and hismother-in-law (as he called her) was fatter, but no less ill-tempered.Her first words when she saw him were, "Back again like a bad penny!"and after he had told her and his father somewhat of his strange lifesince he left them, all she said was, "Well, you've growed a lot, andbig enough to work the smithy, and me and your father can take thatlittle public we've had our eyes on." "Not if I knows it," says Billyto me; "I know what it 'ud be. She'd always be in the bar, a-taking alittle drop here and a little drop there, and she's a tartar when she'shad two glasses. Dad's a deal better off as he is, and he knows it."I asked him whether he had made any inquiry for Elizabeth Jane, and helooked at me very seriously, and said, "I knowed it meant somethingwhen that there boat of ours went down. They don't know what's becomeof her, but her dad was hanged for house-breaking a year or two ago, soI reckon I've had a lucky escape. I'll go and see Clums when I getback."
[Sidenote: Home Again]
We went down to Stafford next day. The news of my return had alreadygot abroad, and folk were expecting me, for there was a great crowd atthe door of the _Bell_, and when I clambered off the coach, there wassuch a shouting and cheering as you never heard. I didn't know I hadso many friends. Two great youths pushed their way through the throngand, gripping me by the arms, began lugging me into the inn, and one ofthem cried, "Well done, old Harry!" and then I knew it was my cousinTom, and the other, who was James home from Cambridge, says, "Come on,Harry, Mother's in there," and when I asked where was Father, they toldme he was crippled with the gout and couldn't come. My aunt, goodwoman, round and rosy as ever, was all of a tremble when she saw me,and burst into tears as she flung her arms around my neck; and then upcomes honest John King, the landlord, with a tumbler of rum shrub,which he made her drink, saying it was the finest thing in the worldfor the staggers; and the pot-boy was close behind him with fourfoaming tankards of ale, and John lifts his and cries, "Welcome home!"his honest face shining like the sun. And then I remembered Billy, andcalled him in, and he came, rather red and uneasy, and the landlordsent for another pot when I explained who he was, and there was such alaughing and chattering that my head fairly buzzed.
When we had emptied our tankards (Billy whispered to me, "Master, didyou ever taste such beer?") my aunt said Father would be dying ofimpatience, so we went out again among the crowd and found them lookingwith curiosity and amazement at Little John, who sat on the door-step,keeping guard. "Never seed a beast like that," says one; "what is he?"Billy laughed, and said it was a dog, at which they scoffed: and I maysay here that it was a long time before the other dogs in our partwould own Little John as one of their kind. We got into a carriagewaiting for us, and nothing would satisfy some of the young 'prenticesbut they must unyoke the horses, and drag us the two miles to myuncle's house, and there were the maidservants at the gate (more ofthem than when I went away), and they waved handkerchiefs ordish-clouts, I don't know which, and Billy's face was redder than ever.
I found my uncle sitting in his great chair, with his leg stretchedout, and I was not a bit surprised nor hurt when his first words were,"Mind my toe!" and then he cries, "God bless you, Harry, my boy," andflings his arms round me, and kisses me as if I were a child againinstead of a tall fellow of near twenty-six. And then he wiped hiseyes and said he was an old fool, and catching sight of Billy he wantedto know who that was, and I tried to explain, but somehow the wordsstuck in my throat, and I couldn't say more than "Billy." "Billywhat?" shouts my uncle. "Bobbin, sir," says Billy, and everybodylaughed, and laughed again when Billy, looking very much puzzled, said,"Rightly, William, sir." And then James, the graver of my two cousins,said we had better have something to eat, and so we did, my aunt havingprepared a feast of fat things fit for kings, as Billy said, and finerby a great deal than I ever had when I was king of Palm Tree Island.On which everybody demanded to know what he meant, and I had to beginmy story there and then, and it lasted all through supper and manyhours beyond, and even then I had not told the half of it. You mayguess how rapt an audience I had, and how they cried out againstWabberley and Chick, and the indignation of my uncle and aunt at theirvillanous doings; and my admiration of Aunt Susan was vastly increasedbecause she did not turn round upon her husband, as many good womenwould have done, and beg him to note that she had told him so. Whenthey heard what a close comrade Billy had been to me during those yearsof solitude and trouble they perfectly overwhelmed him with kind wordsand praises, and he said to me afterwards that he knew now why my unclehad called his ship the _Lovey Susan_, and he wished he had an AuntSusan himself, instead of a mother-in-law.
[Sidenote: Pleasant Places]
When I, in my turn, came to hear of what had happened during my longabsence, I found that after two years had passed my uncle began to bevery restless, and when the third was gone without bringing any news ofus, he was much perturbed, and made many visits to London to ask if wehad been spoken by any vessel, and to see the captains of outgoingships and beg them to make what search they could. At the end of thefourth year he gave us up for lost, and was in such terrible distressof mind that he fell ill, and was a long time of recovering. When hedid get about again he collected all his books about the sea, and thevoyages of navigators and discoverers, of which he had a great many,and burnt them every one, and never in all his life looked into anybook of the sort again, but took to poetry instead. His business hadthriven amazingly, and he led me into his private room one day andshowed me a book in which he had entered, quarter by quarter, the sumsof money he had put away for me in case I should ever come back. I hadnot been home a week when he drew out a deed of partnership, on suchgenerous terms that by the time I was thirty I was what the countryfolk call a very warm man. He presented Billy immediately with fiftypounds, and learning from him that he wished to remain with me, he saidthe best thing he could do was to learn the pottery trade, which Billyaccordingly did, and he is now the manager of our factory.
We had not been at home above six months when Billy came to me oneevening, and said that he was a good deal bothered in his mind. Iasked him what was the matter, and he asked me back whether I thoughtthere was anything unlucky in names. When I told him that I did notthink so, and he still seemed troubled, I said he had better make aclean breast of it, whereupon he said: "It's that little girl again,sir." "Clums's girl?" I said. "No, sir, it's Elizabeth Jane." "Youhave found her, then?" I said. "It's not _her_," says he; "it's them,"looking very gloomy.
I told him to light his pipe (he had become a very great smoker) and totell me all about it. Accordingly, between puffs of his pipe, heexplained that he thought one of my aunt's maids, whose name wasElizabeth, a very fine young woman; and he also thought the parson'scook, whose name was Jane, a very fine young woman; but that after thesad fate of our vessel, and the distressing discovery that the firstElizabeth Jane's father had been hanged, he was afraid there wassomething "unchancy," as he put it, about both names. Moreover, heliked both Elizabeth and Jane so much that, even if there had been noshadow on their names, he
could not make up his mind between them: "AndI can't have 'em both," says he; "not even Harry the Eighth, by whatyou said, had more'n one wife at once." I said it was a very hardcase, and after considering of it very deeply (as he thought) for agood while, I told him that, being quite inexperienced in thesematters, I was afraid my advice would be of little worth, but he mightask them whether they would go back with him to Palm Tree Island, andchoose the one that said yes. "I've done that, sir," says he heavily,"and they both say they'd like it ever so, if it was me." This was afacer, and I knew not what to say, until by a happy thought I suggestedthat he should consult my aunt Susan, with whom he was a primefavourite.
He came to me a day or two after and said it was all settled. "I spoketo Mrs. Brent, sir," says he, "and she said 'Bless the man! What next,I wonder!' and then she says that she had nothing to say againstElizabeth, who does her work well, but has rather a fancy for ribbonsand laces, she says; and as for Jane, she is a very decent respectablewoman, and a good cook, and makes dough cakes the very way Mrs. Brenttold her, she says. 'She'd make any man a good wife,' she says."
"Well, you must bring Jane to see me," I said.
"Oh, but it ain't Jane; it's Elizabeth," says he, and when I had donelaughing, and asked him why he had ignored my aunt's recommendation, helaunched forth into a very rambling and confused statement of which Icould make nothing. He married Elizabeth soon after, and I do notthink my aunt ever thoroughly forgave him.
[Sidenote: One Mariner Returns]
One day, about ten years ago, I was sitting with my uncle in hisgarden, chatting with him as I frequently did in the evening, becausehe could not get about much, when we saw an old man, very crooked andinfirm, hobble up to the gate on two sticks, and lift the latch.Thinking he was a beggar, my uncle bade him very sharply to be off.For a moment he hesitated; then he opened the gate and came slowlytowards us, my uncle shaking his fist at him, and daring him to moveanother step. There was something strangely familiar, and yetunfamiliar, in his appearance; but as he still hobbled along, it cameupon me all of a sudden who he was, and I told my uncle I believed itwas Nick Wabberley. "The scoundrel! The villain!" cried my uncle."How dare he show his face here!" and then he added under his breath,"I'm getting old, Harry," remembering, I suppose, that he and Wabberleywere much of an age.
Wabberley came towards us very slowly, and I saw that his hands wereshaking and his features twisted. He looked at my uncle, and then atme, but it was plain that he did not recognize me; and then he began tospeak, and it was very pitiful to hear him, because with palsy upon himhe could not pronounce some of his words aright, and the story he toldwas pitiful too. He related how he had been left with Hoggett andChick on the island by me and the stowaway, "who didn't ought to haveleft us, men what they ought to respect," said he. Chick died; thenHoggett fell into a melancholy and took to going off for days alone.One day there was a dreadful eruption of the volcano, which terrifiedthem so much that they went down into the cavern below the hut to hide,and when the danger was past, Hoggett refused to go up; he had lost hiswits and thought he was in his grave. Wabberley let down food to himin a basket, but he did not touch it, and so remained until he starvedhimself to death.
"I was all alone; d'ye know what that is, Stephen Brent?" saysWabberley. How long he lived thus solitary he knew not, but he wasnearly out of his mind when one day a ship's boat came ashore forwater, and brought him home, the wreck we saw him. "You won't forgetyour old schoolmate, Stephen Brent?" says he; and my uncle, who hadmuttered "Dear, dear!" and "Poor fellow!" and suchlike things, whileWabberley was speaking, now thrust his hand into his pocket, and saying"God have mercy on us all!" gave him a handful of silver. Wabberleytouched his forelock in the old mechanical fashion, and without asecond look at me he hobbled away, and as he came to the gate, whomshould he meet but Billy, walking up to the house with his eldest son,a boy of twelve. Billy stopped, and in his face I saw a greatamazement; but Wabberley passed him by, not knowing him again. Andthen I was surprised, and touched too, to see Billy follow after thepoor old man, and take him by one arm, and make his boy take the other,to help his tottering footsteps, and so they passed out of my sight.
[Sidenote: The End]
I have been long of telling my story; yet I might have told much morebut for the fear of wearying you. Billy sometimes says he wouldn'thave minded taking a trip to the South Seas and having a look at OldSmoker; but if it had come to the point I think he could hardly havetorn himself away from Elizabeth and the little Bobbins. As for me,though I have neither wife nor child, I am too busy a man, and maybetoo old, to think of entering upon what would, I fear, be a long andtroublesome search. There have been many voyages of discovery in thoseparts since my time, and if Palm Tree Island is now marked on maps andcharts for the guidance of captains and navigators, I think I shouldfeel a trifle sorry did I see it under another name.
[1] This must have been Bougainville Island, one of the SolomonGroup.--H.S.
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND
BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.
HERBERT STRANG'S
BOOKS FOR BOYS
"_Mr. Strang is the legitimate successor to the late Mr. Henty. Therewere many chapters of Henty's, however, which boys were prone to'skip'; they will not be tempted to skip anything of Mr.Strang's._"--BIRMINGHAM POST.
Humphrey Bold: His Chances and Mischances by Land and Sea
Illustrated in Colour by W. H. MARGETSON. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant,olivine edges, 6/-. Special Presentation Edition, 7/6 net.
In this story are recounted the many adventures that befell Mr.Humphrey Bold of Shrewsbury, from the time when, a puny slip of a boy,he was befriended by Joe Punchard, the cooper's apprentice (who nearlyshook the life out of his tormentor, Cyrus Vetch, by rolling him downthe Wyle Cop in a barrel), to the day when, grown into a sturdy younggiant, he sailed into Plymouth Sound as first lieutenant of the_Bristol_ frigate. The intervening chapters teem with excitingincidents, telling of sea fights; of Humphrey's escape from a Frenchprison; of his voyage to the West Indies and all the perils heencountered there.
"A most thrilling and romantic story. We can easily understand any boybecoming so interested and fascinated as to want to read it at asitting."--_Schoolmaster_.
Rob the Ranger: A Story of the Fight for Canada.
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Rob Somers, son of an English settler in New York State, sets out withLone Pete, a trapper, in pursuit of an Indian raiding party which hasdestroyed his home and carried off his younger brother. He is capturedand taken to Quebec, where he finds his brother, and escapes with himin the dead of the winter, in company with a little band of NewEnglanders. They are pursued over snow and ice, and in a log hutbeside Lake Champlain maintain a desperate struggle against a largerforce of French, Indians, and half-breeds, ultimately reaching FortEdward in safety.
This book is recommended by General Baden Powell first among scoutingstories for boys.
One of Clive's Heroes: A Story of the Fight for India.
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Desmond Burke goes out to India to seek his fortune, and is sold by afalse friend of his, one Marmaduke Diggle, to the famous Pirate ofGheria. But he escapes, runs away with one of the Pirate's ownvessels, and meets Colonel Clive, whom he assists to capture thePirate's stronghold. His subsequent adventures on the other side ofIndia--how he saves a valuable cargo of his friend, Mr. Merriman,assists Clive in his fights against Sirajuddaula, and rescues Mr.Merriman's wife and daughter from the clutches of Diggle--are told withgreat spirit and humour.
"An absorbing story.... The narrative not only thrills, but alsoweaves skilfully out of fact and fiction a clear impression of ourfierce struggle for India."--_Athenaeum_.
Settlers and Scouts: A Story of the African Highlands.
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An Englishman and his son emigrate to a remote part of British EastAfrica, where they settle down as farmers and stock raisers. The storytells of their difficulties through the depredations of wild beasts,and the yet more formidable attacks of an Arab engaged in the ivorytrade. The story is a worthy successor to "Tom Burnaby," also anAfrican tale, by which Mr. Herbert Strang made his reputation as awriter for boys.
Samba: A Story of the Congo.
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The first work of fiction in which the cause of the hapless Congonative is championed.
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"Mr. Herbert Strang has written not a few admirable books for boys, butnone likely to make a more profound impression than his new story ofthis year."--_Scotsman_.
Barclay of the Guides: A Story of the Indian Mutiny.
Illustrated in coiour by H. W. KOEKKOEK. With Maps. Crown 8vo, clothelegant, olivine edges, 5/-.
Of all our Native Indian regiments the Guides have probably the mostglorious traditions. They were among the few who remained true totheir salt during the trying days of the great Mutiny, vying ingallantry and devotion with our best British regiments. The storytells how James Barclay, after a strange career in Afghanistan, becomesassociated with this famous regiment, and though young in years, bearsa man's part in the great march to Delhi, the capture of the royalcity, and the suppression of the Mutiny.
"One of the best boys' books of the year, and one which will findfavour everywhere."--_Journal of Education_.
With Drake on the Spanish Main
Illustrated in Colour by ARCHIBALD WEBB. With Maps. Crown 8vo, clothelegant, olivine edges, 5/-
A rousing story of adventure by sea and land. The hero, DennisHazelrig, is cast ashore on an island in the Spanish Main, the solesurvivor of a band of adventurers from Plymouth. He lives for sometime with no companion but a spider monkey, but by a series ofremarkable incidents he gathers about him a numerous band of escapedslaves and prisoners, English, French and native; captures a SpanishFort; fights a Spanish galleon; meets Francis Drake, and accompanieshim in his famous adventures on the Isthmus of Panama; and finallyreaches England the possessor of much treasure.
Jack Hardy: or, A Hundred Years Ago.
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The old smuggling days! What visions are called up by the name--ofstratagems, and caves, and secret passages, and ding-dong fightsbetween sturdy seamen and dashing King's officers! It is in thesebrave days of old that Mr. Herbert Strang has laid the scenes of hisstory "Jack Hardy." Jack is a bold young middy who, in the course ofhis duty to the King, falls into all manner of difficulties anddangers: has unpleasant experiences in a French prison, escapes bysheer daring and ingenuity, and turns the tables on his captors in away that will make every British boy's heart glow.
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Swift and Sure: The Story of a Hydroplane.
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Palm Tree Island Page 27
