The Girl Crusoes: A Story of the South Seas

by Oliver Optic

  "It will take an age to tidy up," grumbled Tommy. "Is it worth whileto bother about a hut again?"

  "I don't like being without a roof over our heads," replied Elizabeth;"but we won't start yet if you don't feel inclined. Let us go and takea look round."

  "We shall want some breadfruit for dinner," said Mary, "so we hadbetter go that way. I dare say we shall find all we need on theground."

  They set off towards the breadfruit-trees. Everywhere there were signsof the violence of the storm, but they were surprised and interested tonotice that the worst havoc had been wrought in almost a straight lineacross the island from south-west to north-east.

  It was as though some huge giant had gone steadily forward wielding amonstrous scythe. The tornado had cut a clean path through the forest,leaving scarcely a tree standing over a wide space. Where there hadbeen close, unbroken woodland was now a bare avenue, interrupted by thetrunks of trees that had been thrown this way and that. Impressed asthe girls had been with the fury of the tornado during the time oftheir exposure to it, its devastating power was brought home to themnow much more strongly. They looked with awe upon its ravages.

  "How thankful we ought to be that we were not in its direct path!" saidElizabeth. "A little more to right or left and we should have hadtrees crashing down upon us; we might have all been killed."

  "It is a dreadful place," said Tommy, subdued and thoughtful. "Oh,Bess, shall we never be found and taken away?"

  "We must hope on, dear. It will never do to get downhearted. While weare all well and strong we need not mind so very much, and a ship issure to come this way some time or other."

  "But it might pass us," said Mary. "I am sure our flag is blown away.Shall we go and see?"

  "Hadn't we better fetch our breadfruit first, now we are in thisdirection?"

  "Of course. We shall have to light another fire, too; ours is sure tobe out."

  They went on, and on arriving at the breadfruit plantation found, asthey had expected, that the ground was littered with fruit, which wasalready being devoured by land-crabs, insects and birds. They pickedup several that were in good condition, and retraced their stepstowards the shore.

  As they were passing through the fringe of woodland, Tommy stoppedsuddenly, and went down on her knees.

  "Oh, do look!" she cried. "Here's a nest on the ground, and thedearest little white parrot you ever saw. Poor little thing! I thinkit has lost its mother."

  The girls stooped to look at it, and Tommy put her hand into the nest.The tiny bird rustled in alarm, opening its beak to let out a plaintivecry; but it was too young to use its wings, and Tommy took it up andheld it gently.

  "Its little heart is beating frantically," she said. "Let us take itback with us and try to rear it. You know I wanted one."

  "Do you think we can rear it?" said Mary.

  "It will starve if we leave it," replied Tommy. "I shall love to try."

  The others agreed that there was no harm in trying, so Tommy carried itcarefully back with her, now and then stroking the ruffled feathers.When they got to their camp she laid the bird on a bed of grass, peeledone of the breadfruits, and held a few crumbs of the pulp in the palmof her hand just below the parrot's beak. But it was too young, orperhaps too frightened, even to feed itself, and it would have faredill had not its captor been a country girl and known how to deal withsuch an emergency. She had seen young birds fed by hand, and she atonce cut a thin stick and sharpened its end, upon which she stuck alittle bit of breadfruit. Then holding the bird in her left hand, shewaited until it opened its beak to cry, and quickly slipped the foodin. The little bird swallowed it greedily, much to Tommy's delight,and she went on feeding it until Elizabeth suggested that she wouldkill it with excess.

  "The poor thing was hungry," said Tommy. "It's not nearly so muchalarmed now. I shall keep it for a pet."

  "You'll have to clip its wings, then," said Mary, "or it is sure to flyaway as soon as it is strong enough."

  "You do it, Mary. Be very gentle, won't you?"

  "There's no need yet, perhaps," suggested Elizabeth. "Do it in a dayor two when it has got over its fright. It would be just as well toput it in the boat while we are busy. You must take care not tooverfeed it, Tommy."

  After dinner they went first to the flag-staff. Not a shred of theirscarves was left. As they had no material for making another flag,except their handkerchiefs, which they did not care to part with, andtheir wraps, which they could not spare, they had to give up for themoment any idea of erecting a signal. Then they hastened in theopposite direction, southward, to fetch bananas and oranges for theother meals of the day. A grave disappointment awaited them. Therewas plenty of fruit on the ground, but the trees themselves, standingin the direct path of the storm, had all been uprooted or broken off,so that when they had used their present supply they could obtain nomore at this spot. It would be necessary to go once more in search offood, for they found the breadfruit too insipid to form their onlyvegetable diet. They knew the district between their camp and theruined plantation; nothing edible was to be had there. The only otherplace where they knew that fruit existed was to the east, beyond theridge; and even now they could not make up their minds to revisit thescene of their scare.

  Next day, however, when Tommy had fed her bird and Mary had clipped itswings, and they had spent an hour or so tidying up the site of the hutpreparatory to rebuilding, they set off again in a southerly direction,having resolved to extend their exploration within easy distance of theshore. Crossing the broad path of uprooted trees, flattened grass, andtorn undergrowth, they found as they proceeded that the ridge hemmedthem in, closer and closer to the sea. This was partly due to thecurving of the shore, and partly to the diagonal lie of the risingground. Little foothills of the ridge extended downwards towards thecoast, forming ridges in miniature, cut here and there by streamlets.

  On such expeditions Tommy almost always led the way, for her restlessand active temperament was impatient of the sedater going of hersisters. But she never went far ahead, and every few minutes, as ifalarmed at her own daring, she would run back and keep with the othersfor a time. She was thus a few yards in advance when, as she mounted ahillock, she came in sight of a number of trees clustering almost atthe edge of the sea, and uttered an exclamation of surprise andpleasure.

  "Oh, do look here!" she cried. "I believe we have come to somecocoanut palms. You remember we saw some at Valparaiso."

  The others ran to join her, and Mary at once declared that she wasright. There was no mistaking the tall, smooth stems with theirfeathery crowns. They all rushed forward eagerly. Thanks to thestorm, there were several huge nuts strewing the ground around each ofthe trees. Tommy, who was first on the scene, picked up one of themand turned it over in her hands in a puzzled way.

  "Is it a cocoanut after all?" she said. "It's not a bit like those Ihave seen in shops."

  "It's a cocoanut right enough," replied Mary. "But you've got to stripoff the outer husk before you come to the nut itself."

  Tommy whipped out her knife and began to cut away the coarse, fibrouscovering. It was very tough, and she soon declared that it would nevercome off unless the others helped her. So they all knelt on the groundwith the nut in the middle, and employed their knives energetically,until at last the husk was removed. The shell inside was ivory-white,very different from the old brown nuts they had been used to see inEngland. Being quite brittle, a small piece was easily cut off thetop, and they saw the inside full of a pale, milky liquid.

  "You first, Tommy," said Elizabeth. "You saw the trees first."

  Tommy took a sip of the liquid.

  "Delicious!" she said. "I don't think I ever tasted anything so nice."

  She drank more, and, handing the nut to Mary, continued--

  "It's sweet, Bess, and sour too, something like lemonade, only not likeit. It's like--oh, I don't know what it's like; just itself, Isuppose. Don't drink it all, Mary."

&n
bsp; Elizabeth, when her turn came, pronounced it a very refreshing drink,and they were all delighted at so welcome an addition to their larder.They collected as many nuts as they could carry, and, returning totheir camp, stored them in the boat. In the course of the next fewdays they went several times to the same place, until they had broughtback all the nuts that lay on the ground. It was fortunate that somany had been thrown down, for they did not see how they could haveobtained them otherwise. Even Tommy, the climber of the family,confessed that she would have been beaten by the smooth, straight stemof the cocoanut palm. Mary had a dim recollection of reading that thenatives had a way of climbing the trees by means of a rope, but shecould not remember the details of the method, and in any case, Tommycould hardly have used it successfully without a good deal of practice.

  Once more relieved from anxiety about food, the girls devotedthemselves industriously to the reconstruction of their hut. Theirformer practice made their task easier. In a few days the new housewas finished, and they were especially glad of its shelter at night,instead of the cramping narrowness of the boat.

  Days had lengthened into weeks. The notches on their calendar trunktold them how time was flying--a sad reminder in many ways. With solittle to do they felt the hours hang heavily on their hands, thoughTommy's parrot gave them a little amusement and interest. The bird hadbecome quite used to its mistress, and had learnt to take its food fromher hand. Its voice, not of very charming quality, as all confessed,grew stronger, and it became accustomed to give a quaint little screamwhenever Tommy approached. She would set it on her finger and talk toit, using the same word over and over again, in the hope that it wouldby and by pick up a phrase or two. But although it became perfectlytame, it could never be induced to substitute civilized words for itsnatural scream and squawk.

  "You little silly-billy!" cried Tommy one day, after an hour's patientinstruction. "What's the good of you for a pet? There! Perch on myshoulder, and don't make such an idiotic noise, for goodness' sake."

  Tommy at last gave up the attempt in despair; but she became very fondof the bird, and declared that when they were rescued she wouldcertainly take it home with her.

  It was wonderful how the hope of rescue never died. When each dayended without the sight of the longed-for vessel, they would say,"Never mind, perhaps it will come to-morrow." And when to-morrow hadthe same disappointment, there was still to-morrow. So they lived fromday to day, veering from hope to despondency, and from despondency tohope again.

  They had almost forgotten Tommy's fright. Surely, they thought, theymust have seen some one by this time if the island was inhabited. Yetthere was the same misgiving, the same disinclination to cross theridge. Elizabeth laughed at herself, and more than once said shereally must break through her reluctance. But it ended there. Herheart failed her when it came to the point.

  Easy though their life was, it had its discomforts. The breadfruitgave out, and having found no more oranges or bananas, they grew verytired of a diet of fish and cocoanuts. They had seen other fruits, andshrubs bearing berries that looked very enticing, but the fear ofpoison deterred them from trying anything that they did not know.

  The want of a change of clothes, too, was a trouble to them, and theirboots had become unwearable. They had often been soaked in sea-water,and then, drying in the sun, had cracked and become worse than useless.They got into the habit of going barefoot, except when they set out fora long walk. In the hut, and when walking on the grass, they werecomfortable enough, but on rough ground they suffered a good deal atfirst. In course of time, however, helped by frequent soaking insea-water, their feet became hardened, and they felt no inconveniencein going about unshod.

  They had more than once noticed some very small bees, hardly largerthan houseflies, flitting among the flowers. One day Elizabethsuggested that they should try to find out whether these Polynesianbees made honey, and if so, where it was. Tommy hailed the suggestion,and started at once to track the bees to their nests. For a long timeshe had no success. Only after many days did she, almost by accident,light upon a bees'-nest in a hole in the trunk of a tree. Informingher sisters of the discovery, she proposed that they should smoke thebees out.

  They kindled a small fire at the base of the tree, immediately beneaththe hole. When they thought they had allowed plenty of time for thesmoke to stupefy the bees, they put on their macintoshes, pulling thehoods well down over their heads, and prepared to rifle the hole. Itwas so small that a hand could scarcely pass through it, and Marysuggested that they should enlarge it, so that they might see what theywere doing. Accordingly they stripped off the bark round the hole,until it was much more capacious. Unluckily, the inrush of fresh airappeared to revive the little inhabitants, which darted out with fiercebuzzings, putting the robbers to utter rout. They ran off with theirheads down, waving their arms wildly to beat off the furious insects.Tommy got off scot free, but Elizabeth and Mary were stung slightly,and but for the smoking, which had not been wholly ineffectual, thebees would probably have hurt them severely.

  "We won't be beaten by a parcel of silly bees," said Tommy, as theywent home. "You aren't much hurt, are you?"

  "I feel a burning spot in my cheek," said Elizabeth.

  "And one of my fingers is swelling," added Mary.

  "As we haven't any ointment, or anything, you'll just have to get wellby yourselves," remarked Tommy. "You'll have another try, won't you?"

  "Oh, yes! We'll give them a larger dose next time," said Elizabeth."I think we ought to have some reward for our enterprise."

  A day or two afterwards they visited the hole again. By means of alarger fire, fed with leaves that gave off a very pungent smoke, theymanaged to stupefy the bees thoroughly. When they examined the holethey were surprised to find, not large combs, as in an English hive,but a collection of bags of brown wax, about the size of a walnut,united in a regular mass.

  "Fancy bees having foreign ways!" said Tommy. "I should have thoughtthat bees were the same all the world over."

  "I don't see why bees shouldn't be different, like people," said Mary."They're very intelligent."

  The others laughed at this curious reason for differences of habit.The honey, they found, was more fluid than they were accustomed to inEngland, and in taste and smell it was slightly scented. They took agood quantity home with them, but it did not go very well with fish,and even with cocoanuts it was a doubtful joy.

  "If we only had some breadfruit, or even bananas, we should like itbetter," said Mary.

  "We can only get those by going across the ridge again," saidElizabeth. "Shall we venture?"

  "I won't," said Tommy decidedly. "I'm not going to be scared out of mywits for anybody."

  "I'll go with you, Bess," said Mary, after a little hesitation. "Itreally is silly to be afraid of nothing."

  But, as it turned out, the first of the three to brave the peril was,after all, Tommy herself.

  CHAPTER XIII

  LOST

  That night, for the first time in their residence on the island, thegirls were awakened by a patter of rain. Only once before had rainfallen, and that was during the tornado. Now the sound of it upon thethatch of the hut was very slight, but the girls slept so lightly thata whisper was almost enough to disturb them.

  "I hope we are not in for another smash up," said Elizabeth, findingthat her sisters were both awake.

  "There's no wind at present," returned Mary. "Rain alone won't hurtus. I expect it's the rainy season beginning, and we shall have weeksof it."

  "How disgusting!" exclaimed Tommy. "I always hated having to stayindoors, and it will be worse than ever here, with no cosy fire andnice story-book. What's the time, Bess?"

  She leant over towards Elizabeth, who lay next to her, and showed alight with her match-lighter. Elizabeth looked at her watch, which shenever forgot to wind.

  "It's about four o'clock," she said.

  "Time for another snooze before daylight," said Tommy, snug
gling downagain into her wraps. In a minute or two she was fast asleep.

  The other girls remained wide awake, and talked quietly together.

  "I wish we knew our whereabouts better," said Elizabeth. "If we onlyknew what those islands are that we have seen in the distance, we mightperhaps row to one of them and find friends."

  "Yes; of course there are missionaries," said Mary. "Don't youremember Uncle Ben told us of a friend of his who was returning to hisstation? What was his name, Bess?"

  "I forget. We can't venture across the sea, can we?"

  "Oh, no! There are thousands of islands, and I believe some have neverbeen visited by white people at all. We might land among cannibals!"

  "We are certainly better off here. I can't believe there are anypeople on this island, in spite of Tommy, or why haven't we seensomething of them? We'll go to the ridge after breakfast, as we said,and settle the matter once for all."