Rídan The Devil And Other Stories

by Louis Becke

  Produced by David Widger

  RIDAN THE DEVIL AND OTHER STORIES

  By Louis Becke

  Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company 1899

  CONTENTS:

  RIDAN THE DEVIL

  A MEMORY OF 'THE SYSTEM'

  CHAPTER I

  CHAPTER II

  CHAPTER III

  A NORTH PACIFIC LAGOON ISLAND

  BILGER, OF SYDNEY

  THE VISION OF MILLI THE SLAVE

  DENISON GETS A BERTH ASHORE

  ADDIE RANSOM: A MEMORY OF THE TOKELAUS

  IN A NATIVE VILLAGE

  MAURICE KINANE

  THE 'KILLERS' OF TWOFOLD BAY

  DENISON'S SECOND BERTH ASHORE

  A FISH DRIVE ON A MICRONESIAN ATOLL

  BOBARAN

  SEA FISHING IN AUSTRALIA

  AN ADVENTURE IN THE NEW HEBRIDES

  THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE OF CHARLES DU BREIL

  THE WHITE WIFE AND THE BROWN 'WOMAN'

  WITH HOOK AND LINE ON AN AUSTRAL RIVER

  THE WRECK OF THE LEONORA: A MEMORY OF 'BULLY' HAYES

  AN OLD COLONIAL MUTINY

  A BOATING ADVENTURE IN THE CAROLINES

  A CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE FAR SOUTH SEAS

  RIDAN THE DEVIL

  Ridan lived alone in a little hut on the borders of the big Germanplantation at Mulifenua, away down at the lee end of Upolu Island, andevery one of his brown-skinned fellow-workers either hated or fearedhim, and smiled when Burton, the American overseer, would knock him downfor being a 'sulky brute.' But no one of them cared to let Ridan see himsmile. For to them he was a wizard, a devil, who could send death in thenight to those he hated. And so when anyone died on the plantation hewas blamed, and seemed to like it. Once, when he lay ironed hand andfoot in the stifling corrugated iron 'calaboose,' with his blood-shoteyes fixed in sullen rage on Burton's angered face, Tirauro, a GilbertIsland native assistant overseer, struck him on the mouth and called him'a pig cast up by the ocean.' This was to please the white man. But itdid not, for Burton, cruel as he was, called Tirauro a coward and felledhim at once. By ill-luck he fell within reach of Ridan, and in anothermoment the manacled hands had seized his enemy's throat. For fiveminutes the three men struggled together, the white overseer beatingRidan over the head with the butt of his heavy Colt's pistol, and thenwhen Burton rose to his feet the two brown men were lying motionlesstogether; but Tirauro was dead.

  Ridan was sick for a long time after this. A heavy flogging always didmake him sick, although he was so big and strong. And so, as he couldnot work in the fields, he was sent to Apia to do light labour in thecotton-mill there. The next morning he was missing. He had swum toa brig lying at anchor in the harbour and hidden away in the emptyforehold. Then he was discovered and taken ashore to the mill again,where the foreman gave him 'a dose of Cameroons medicine'--that is,twenty-five lashes.

  'Send him back to the plantation,' said the manager, who was a mereGerman civilian, and consequently much despised by his foreman, who hadserved in Africa. 'I'm afraid to keep him here, and I'm not going topunish him if he tries to get away again, poor devil.'

  So back he went to Mulifanua. The boat voyage from Apia down the coastinside the reef is not a long one, but the Samoan crew were frightenedto have such a man free; so they tied him hand and foot and then lashedhim down tightly under the midship thwart with strips of green _fau_bark. Not that they did so with unnecessary cruelty, but ex-LieutenantSchwartzkoff, the foreman, was looking on, and then, besides that,this big-boned, light-skinned man was a foreigner, and a Samoan hatesa foreigner of his own colour if he is poor and friendless. And then hewas an _aitu_ a devil, and could speak neither Samoan, nor Fijian, norTokelau, nor yet any English or German.

  Clearly, therefore, he was not a man at all, but a _manu_--a beast, andnot to be trusted with free limbs. Did not the foreman say that hewas possessed of many devils, and for two years had lived alone on theplantation, working in the field with the gangs of Tokelau and SolomonIsland men, but speaking to no one, only muttering in a strange tongueto himself and giving sullen obedience to his taskmasters?

  But as they talked and sang, and as the boat sailed along the white lineof beach fringed with the swaying palms, Ridan groaned in his agony, andPulu, the steersman, who was a big strong man and not a coward like hisfellows, took pity on the captive.

  'Let us give him a drink,' he said; 'he cannot hurt us as he is. Else hemay die in the boat and we lose the price of his passage; for the whitemen at Mulifanua will not pay us for bringing to them a dead man.'

  So they cast off the lashings of _fau_ bark that bound Ridan to thethwart, and Pulu, lifting him up, gave him a long drink, holding thegourd to his quivering mouth--for his hands were tied behind him.

  'Let him rest with his back against the side of the boat,' said Pulupresently; 'and, see, surely we may loosen the thongs around his wristsa little, for they are cutting into the flesh.'

  But the others were afraid, and begged him to let well alone. Then Pulugrew angry and called them cowards, for, as they argued, Ridan fellforward on his face in a swoon.

  When 'the devil' came to and opened his wearied, blood-shot eyes, Puluwas bathing his forehead with cold water, and his bruised and swollenhands were free. For a minute or so he gasped and stared at the bigSamoan, and a heavy sigh broke from his broad naked chest. Then he puthis hands to his face--and sobbed.

  Pulu drew back in wondering pity--surely no devil could weep--and then,with a defiant glance at the three other Samoans, he stooped down andunbound Ridan's feet.

  'Let him lie,' he said, going aft to the tiller. 'We be four strongmen--he is but as a child from weakness. See, his bones are like to cutthrough his skin. He hath been starved.'

  * * * * *

  At dusk they ran the boat along the plantation jetty, and Pulu andanother man led Rfdan up the path to the manager's house. His hands werefree, but a stout rope of cinnet was tied around his naked waist andPulu held the end.

  'Ah, you dumb, sulky devil; you've come back to us again, have you?'said Burton, eyeing him savagely. 'I wish Schwartzkoff had kept you upin Apia, you murderous, yellow-hided scoundrel!'

  'What's the use of bully-ragging him?' remarked the plantation engineer,with a sarcastic laugh; 'he doesn't understand a word you say. Club-lawand the sasa {*} are the only things that appeal to him--and he getsplenty of both on Mulifanua. Hallo, look at that! Why, he's kissingPulu's toe!'

  * Whip.

  Burton laughed. 'So he is. Look out, Pulu, perhaps he's a _kai tagata_'(cannibal). 'Take care he doesn't bite it off.'

  Pulu shook his mop of yellow hair gravely. A great pity filled his bigheart, for as he had turned to go back to the boat Ridan had fallen uponhis knees and pressed his lips to the feet of the man who had given hima drink.

  That night Burton and the Scotch engineer went to Ridan's hut, takingwith them food and a new sleeping-mat. He was sitting cross-leggedbefore a tiny fire of coco-nut shells, gazing at the blue, leaping jetsof flame, and as the two men entered, slowly turned his face to them.

  'Here,' said Burton, less roughly than usual,' here's some _kai kai_ foryou.'

  He took the food from Burton's hand, set it beside him on the ground,and then, supporting himself on his gaunt right arm and hand, gave theoverseer one long look of bitter, undying hatred; then his eyes droopedto the fire again.

  'And here, Ridan,' said Craik, the engineer, throwing the sleeping-matupon the ground, 'that'll keep your auld bones frae cutting into theground. And here is what will do y
e mair good still,' and he placed awooden pipe and a stick of tobacco in 'the devil's' hand. In a momentRidan was on his knees with his forehead pressed to the ground ingratitude.

  The men looked at him in silence for a few moments as he crouched atCraik's feet, with the light of the fire playing upon his tattooedyellow back and masses of tangled black hair.

  'Come awa', Burton, leave the puir deevil to himself. And I'm thinkingye might try him on the other tack awhile. Ye _have not_ broken thecreature's spirit yet, and I wouldna try to if I were you--for my ownsafety. Sit up Ridan, mon, and smoke your pipe.'

  * * * * *

  Two years before, Ridan had been brought to Samoa by a Germanlabour-ship, which had picked him up in a canoe at sea, somewhere offthe coast of Dutch New Guinea. He was the only survivor of a party ofseven, and when lifted on board was in the last stage of exhaustion fromthirst and hunger. Where the canoe had sailed from, and whither bound,no one on board the _Iserbrook_ could learn, for the stranger spoke alanguage utterly unknown to anyone of even the _Iserbrook's_ polyglotship's company--men who came from all parts of Polynesia and Micronesia.All that could be learned from him by signs and gestures was that agreat storm had overtaken the canoe, many days of hunger and thirst hadfollowed, and then death ended the agonies of all but himself.

  In a few weeks, and while the brig was thrashing her way back to Samoaagainst the south-east trades, Ridan regained his health and strengthand became a favourite with all on board, white and brown. He was quitesix feet in height, with a bright yellow skin, bronzed by the sun;and his straight features and long black hair were of the trueMalayo-Polynesian type. From the back of his neck two broad stripes ofbright blue tattooing ran down the whole length of his muscular back,and thence curved outwards and downwards along the back of his thighsand terminated at each heel. No one on the _Iserbrook_ had ever seensimilar tattooing, and many were the conjectures as to Ridan's nativeplace. One word, however, he constantly repeated, 'Oneata,' and thenwould point to the north-west. But no one knew of such a place, thoughmany did of an Oneaka, far to the south-east--an island of the GilbertGroup near the Equator.

  The weeks passed, and at last Ridan looked with wondering eyes upon thestrange houses of the white men in Apia harbour. By-and-by boatscame off to the ship, and the three hundred and odd brown-skinned andblack-skinned people from the Solomons and the Admiralties and thecountless islands about New Britain and New Ireland were taken ashoreto work on the plantations at Vailele and Mulifanua, and Ridan alone wasleft. He was glad of this, for the white men on board had been kind tohim, and he began to hope that he would be taken back to Oneata. Butthat night he was brought ashore by the captain to a house where manywhite men were sitting together, smoking and drinking. They all lookedcuriously at him and addressed him in many island tongues, and Ridansmiled and shook his head and said, 'Me Ridan; me Oneata.'

  'Leave him with me, Kuehne,' said Burton to the captain of the brig.'He's the best and biggest man of the lot you've brought this trip. I'llmarry him to one of my wife's servants, and he'll live in clover down atMulifanua.'

  So early next morning Rfdan was put in a boat with many other new'boys,' and he smiled with joy, thinking he was going back to theship--and Oneata. But when the boat sailed round Mulinu's Point, and thespars of the _Iserbrook_ were suddenly hidden by the intervening line ofpalm trees, a cry of terror burst from him, and he sprang overboard.He was soon caught, though he dived and swam like a fish. And then twowild-eyed Gilbert Islanders held him by the arms, and laughed as he weptand kept repeating, 'Oneata, Oneata.'

  * * * * *

  From that day began his martyrdom. He worked hard under his overseer,but ran away again and again, only to be brought back and tied up.Sometimes, as he toiled, he would look longingly across the narrowstrait of sunlit water at the bright green little island of Manono, sixmiles away; and twice he stole down to the shore at night, launcheda canoe and paddled over towards it. But each time the plantationguard-boat brought him back; and then Burton put him in irons. Once heswam the whole distance, braving the sharks, and, reaching the island,hid in a taro swamp till the next night. He meant to steal food and acanoe--and seek for Oneata. But the Manono people found him, and, thoughhe fought desperately, they overcame and bound him, and the women cursedhim for a Tafito{*} devil, a thieving beast, and beat and pelted him asthe men carried him back to the plantation, tied up like a wild boar, toget their ten dollars reward for him from the manager. And Burton gavehim thirty lashes as a corrective.

  * The Samoans apply the term 'Tafito' to all natives of the Gilbert Group and other equatorial islands. The word is an abbreviation of Taputeauea (Drummond's Island), and 'Tafito' is synonymous for 'savage'--in some senses.

  Then came long, long months of unceasing toil, broken only by attemptsto escape, recapture, irons and more lashes. The rest of the nativelabourers so hated and persecuted him that at last the man's naturechanged, and he became desperate and dangerous. No one but Burton daredstrike him now, for he would spring at an enemy's throat like a madman,and half strangle him ere he could be dragged away stunned, bruised andbleeding. When his day's slavery was over he would go to his hut, eathis scanty meal of rice, biscuit and yam in sullen silence, and broodand mutter to himself. But from the day of his first flogging no wordever escaped his set lips. All these things he told afterwards to VonHammer, the supercargo of the _Mindora_, when she came to Mulifanua witha cargo of new 'boys.'{*}

  * Polynesian labourers are generally termed 'boys.'

  Von Hammer had been everywhere in the North Pacific, so Burton took himto Ridan's hut, and called to the 'sulky devil' to come out. He came,and sullenly followed the two men into the manager's big sitting-room,and sat down cross-legged on the floor. The bright lamplight shone fullon his nude figure and the tangle of black hair that fell about hisnow sun-darkened back and shoulders. And, as on that other evening longbefore, when he sat crouching over his fire, his eyes sought Burton'sface with a look of implacable hatred.

  'See if you can find out where the d--d brute comes from,' said Burton.

  Von Hammer looked at Ridan intently for a minute, and then said one ortwo words to him in a tongue that the overseer had never before heard.

  With trembling limbs and a joyful wonder shining in his dark eyes, Rfdancrept up to the supercargo, and then, in a voice of whispered sobs, hetold his two years' tale of bitter misery.

  * * * * *

  'Very well,' said Burton, an hour later, to Von Hammer, 'you can takehim. I don't want the brute here. But he is a dangerous devil, mind.Where do you say he comes from?'

  'Oneata--Saint David's Island--a little bit of a sandy atoll, as big asManono over there, and much like it, too. I know the place well--livedthere once when I was pearling, ten years ago. I don't think the nativesthere see a white man more than once in five years. It's a very isolatedspot, off the north-east coast of New Guinea. "Bully" Hayes used to callthere once. However, let me have him. The _Mindora_ may go to Manilanext year; if so, I'll land him at Oneata on our way there. Anyway, he'sno good to you. And he told me just now that he has been waiting hischance to murder you.'

  The _Mindora_ returned to Apia to take in stores, and Von Hammertook Ridan with him, clothed in a suit of blue serge, and with silenthappiness illumining his face. For his heart was leaping within him atthe thought of Oneata, and of those who numbered him with the dead;and when he clambered up the ship's side and saw Pulu, the big Samoan,working on deck with the other native sailors, he flung his arms aroundhim and gave him a mighty hug, and laughed like a pleased child when VonHammer told him that Pulu would be his shipmate till he saw the greenland and white beach of Oneata once more.

  * * * * *

  Six months out from Samoa the _Mindora_ was hove-to off Choiseul Island,in the Solomon Group, waiting for her boat. Von Hammer and four handshad gone ashore to land supplies for a t
rader, and the brig was awaitinghis return. There was a heavy sea running on the reef as the boat pushedoff from the beach in the fast-gathering darkness; but who minds suchthings with a native crew? So thought Von Hammer as he grasped the long,swaying steer oar, and swung the whale-boat's head to the white line ofsurf. 'Give it to her, boys; now's our chance--there's a bit of a lullnow, eh, Pulu? Bend to it, Ridan, my lad.'

  Out shot the boat, Pulu pulling stroke, Ridan bow-oar, and two sturdy,square-built Savage Islanders amidships. Surge after surge roared andhissed past in the darkness, and never a drop of water wetted theirnaked backs; and then, with a wild cry from the crew and a shoutinglaugh from the steersman, she swept over and down the edge of the reefand gained the deep water--a second too late! Ere she could rise fromthe blackened trough a great curling roller towered high over, and thenwith a bursting roar fell upon and smothered her. When she rose to thesurface Von Hammer was fifty feet away, clinging to the steer-oar. Aquick glance showed him that none of the crew were missing--they wereall holding on to the swamped boat and 'swimming' her out away fromthe reef, and shouting loudly for him to come alongside. Pushing thesteer-oar before him, he soon reached the boat, and, despite his ownunwillingness, his crew insisted on his getting in. Then, each stillgrasping the gunwale with one hand, they worked the boat out yard byyard, swaying her fore and aft whenever a lull in the seas came, andjerking the water out of her by degrees till the two Savage Islanderswere able to clamber in and bale out with the wooden bucket slung underthe after-thwart, while the white man kept her head to the sea. But thecurrent was setting them steadily along, parallel with the reef, andevery now and then a sea would tumble aboard and nearly fill her again.At last, however, the Savage Islanders got her somewhat free of water,and called to Pulu and Ridan to get in--there were plenty of sparecanoe-paddles secured along the sides in case of an emergency such asthis.

  'Get in, Pulu, get in,' said Rfdan to the Samoan, in English; 'get inquickly.'

  But Pulu refused. He was a bigger and a heavier man than Rfdan, he said,and the boat was not yet able to bear the weight of a fourth man. Thiswas true, and the supercargo, though he knew the awful risk the menran, and urged them to jump in and paddle, yet knew that the additionalweight of two such heavy men as Rfdan and Pulu meant death to all,for every now and then a leaping sea would again fill the boat to thethwarts.

  And then suddenly, amid the crashing sound of the thundering rollers onthe reef, Ridan raised his voice in an awful shriek.

  '_Quick! Pulu, quick!_ Some shark hav' come. Get in, get in first,' hesaid in his broken English. And as he spoke he grasped the gunwalewith both hands and raised his head and broad shoulders high out of thewater, and a bubbling, groan-like sound issued from his lips.

  In an instant the big Samoan swung himself into the boat, and Von Hammercalled to Ridan to get in also.

  'Nay, oh, white man!' he answered, in a strange choking voice, 'let mestay here and hold to the boat. We are not yet safe from the reef. Butpaddle, paddle... quickly!'

  In another minute or two the boat was out of danger, and then Ridan'svoice was heard.

  'Lift me in,' he said quietly, 'my strength is spent.'

  The two Savage Islanders sprang to his aid, drew him up over the side,and tumbled him into the boat. Then, without a further look, they seizedtheir paddles and plunged them into the water. Ridan lay in a huddled-upheap on the bottom boards.

  'Exhausted, poor devil!' said Von Hammer to himself, bending down andpeering at the motionless figure through the darkness. Then somethingwarm flowed over his naked foot as the boat rolled, and he looked closerat Ridan, and--

  'Oh, my God!' burst from him--both of Ridan's legs were gone--bitten offjust above the knees.

  Twenty minutes later, as the boat came alongside the _Mindora_, Ridan'the devil' died in the arms of the man who had once given him a drink.

  A MEMORY OF 'THE SYSTEM'