CHAPTER XXVI.
Mischief brewing--My blood is made to run cold--Evil consultations andwicked resolves--Bloody Bill attempts to do good and fails--Theattack--Wholesale murder--The flight--The escape.
Next morning I awoke with a feverish brow and a feeling of deepdepression at my heart; and the more I thought on my unhappy fate, themore wretched and miserable did I feel.
I was surrounded on all sides by human beings of the most dreadfulcharacter, to whom the shedding of blood was mere pastime. On shore werethe natives, whose practices were so horrible that I could not think ofthem without shuddering. On board were none but pirates of the blackestdye, who, although not cannibals, were foul murderers, and moreblameworthy even than the savages, inasmuch as they knew better. EvenBill, with whom I had, under the strange circumstances of my lot, formeda kind of intimacy, was so fierce in his nature as to have acquired thetitle of "Bloody" from his vile companions. I felt very much cast downthe more I considered the subject and the impossibility of delivery, asit seemed to me, at least for a long time to come. At last, in myfeeling of utter helplessness, I prayed fervently to the Almighty that hewould deliver me out of my miserable condition; and when I had done so Ifelt some degree of comfort.
When the captain came on deck, before the hour at which the men usuallystarted for the woods, I begged of him to permit me to remain aboard thatday, as I did not feel well; but he looked at me angrily, and ordered me,in a surly tone, to get ready to go on shore as usual. The fact was thatthe captain had been out of humour for some time past. Romata and he hadhad some differences, and high words had passed between them, duringwhich the chief had threatened to send a fleet of his war-canoes, with athousand men, to break up and burn the schooner; whereupon the captainsmiled sarcastically, and going up to the chief gazed sternly in hisface, while he said, "I have only to raise my little finger just now, andmy big gun will blow your whole village to atoms in five minutes!"Although the chief was a bold man, he quailed before the pirate's glanceand threat, and made no reply; but a bad feeling had been raised and oldsores had been opened.
I had, therefore, to go with the wood-cutters that day. Before starting,however, the captain called me into the cabin, and said,--
"Here, Ralph, I've got a mission for you, lad. That blackguard Romata isin the dumps, and nothing will mollify him but a gift; so do you go up tohis house and give him these whales' teeth, with my compliments. Takewith you one of the men who can speak the language."
I looked at the gift in some surprise, for it consisted of six whitewhales' teeth, and two of the same dyed bright red, which seemed to mevery paltry things. However, I did not dare to hesitate or ask anyquestions; so, gathering them up, I left the cabin and was soon on my wayto the chief's house, accompanied by Bill. On expressing my surprise atthe gift, he said,--
"They're paltry enough to you or me, Ralph, but they're considered ofgreat value by them chaps. They're a sort o' cash among them. The redones are the most prized, one of them bein' equal to twenty o' the whiteones. I suppose the only reason for their bein' valuable is that thereain't many of them, and they're hard to be got."
On arriving at the house we found Romata sitting on a mat, in the midstof a number of large bales of native cloth and other articles, which hadbeen brought to him as presents from time to time by inferior chiefs. Hereceived us rather haughtily, but on Bill explaining the nature of ourerrand he became very condescending, and his eyes glistened withsatisfaction when he received the whales' teeth, although he laid themaside with an assumption of kingly indifference.
"Go," said he, with a wave of the hand,--"go, tell your captain that hemay cut wood to-day, but not to-morrow. He must come ashore,--I want tohave a palaver with him."
As we left the house to return to the woods, Bill shook his head:
"There's mischief brewin' in that black rascal's head. I know him ofold. But what comes here?"
As he spoke, we heard the sound of laughter and shouting in the wood, andpresently there issued from it a band of savages, in the midst of whomwere a number of men bearing burdens on their shoulders. At first Ithought that these burdens were poles with something rolled round them,the end of each pole resting on a man's shoulder. But on a nearerapproach I saw that they were human beings, tied hand and foot, and solashed to the poles that they could not move. I counted twenty of themas they passed.
"More murder!" said Bill, in a voice that sounded between a hoarse laughand a groan.
"Surely they are not going to murder them?" said I, looking anxiouslyinto Bill's face.
"I don't know, Ralph," replied Bill, "what they're goin' to do with them;but I fear they mean no good when they tie fellows up in that way."
As we continued our way towards the wood-cutters, I observed that Billlooked anxiously over his shoulder, in the direction where the processionhad disappeared. At last he stopped, and turning abruptly on his heel,said,--
"I tell ye what it is, Ralph, I must be at the bottom o' that affair. Letus follow these black scoundrels and see what they're goin' to do."
I must say I had no wish to pry further into their bloody practices; butBill seemed bent on it, so I turned and went. We passed rapidly throughthe bush, being guided in the right direction by the shouts of thesavages. Suddenly there was a dead silence, which continued for sometime, while Bill and I involuntarily quickened our pace until we wererunning at the top of our speed across the narrow neck of land previouslymentioned. As we reached the verge of the wood, we discovered thesavages surrounding the large war-canoe, which they were apparently onthe point of launching. Suddenly the multitude put their united strengthto the canoe; but scarcely had the huge machine begun to move, when ayell, the most appalling that ever fell upon my ear, rose high above theshouting of the savages. It had not died away when another and anothersmote upon my throbbing ear; and then I saw that these inhuman monsterswere actually launching their canoe over the living bodies of theirvictims. But there was no pity in the breasts of these men. Forwardthey went in ruthless indifference, shouting as they went, while highabove their voices rang the dying shrieks of those wretched creatures,as, one after another, the ponderous canoe passed over them, burst theeyeballs from their sockets, and sent the life's blood gushing from theirmouths. Oh, reader, this is no fiction. I would not, for the sake ofthrilling you with horror, invent so terrible a scene. It was witnessed.It is true; true as that accursed sin which has rendered the human heartcapable of such diabolical enormities!
When it was over I turned round and fell upon the grass with a deepgroan; but Bill seized me by the arm, and lifting me up as if I had beena child, cried,--
"Come along, lad; let's away!"--and so, staggering and stumbling over thetangled underwood, we fled from the fatal spot.
During the remainder of that day I felt as if I were in a horrible dream.I scarce knew what was said to me, and was more than once blamed by themen for idling my time. At last the hour to return aboard came. Wemarched down to the beach, and I felt relief for the first time when myfeet rested on the schooner's deck.
In the course of the evening I overheard part of a conversation betweenthe captain and the first mate, which startled me not a little. Theywere down in the cabin, and conversed in an under-tone, but the sky-lightbeing off, I overheard every word that was said.
"I don't half like it," said the mate. "It seems to me that we'll onlyhave hard fightin' and no pay."
"No pay!" repeated the captain, in a voice of suppressed anger. "Do youcall a good cargo all for nothing no pay?"
"Very true," returned the mate; "but we've got the cargo aboard. Why notcut your cable and take French leave o' them? What's the use o' tryin'to lick the blackguards when it'll do us no manner o' good?"
"Mate," said the captain, in a low voice, "you talk like a fresh-watersailor. I can only attribute this shyness to some strange delusion; forsurely" (his voice assumed a slightly sneering tone as he said this)"surely I am not to suppose that _you_ have be
come soft-hearted! Besides,you are wrong in regard to the cargo being aboard; there's a good quarterof it lying in the woods, and that blackguard chief knows it and won'tlet me take it off. He defied us to do our worst, yesterday."
"Defied us! did he?" cried the mate, with a bitter laugh. "Poorcontemptible thing!"
"And yet he seems not so contemptible but that you are afraid to attackhim."
"Who said I was afraid?" growled the mate, sulkily. "I'm as ready as anyman in the ship. But, captain, what is it that you intend to do?"
"I intend to muffle the sweeps and row the schooner up to the head of thecreek there, from which point we can command the pile of sandal-wood withour gun. Then I shall land with all the men except two, who shall takecare of the schooner and be ready with the boat to take us off. We cancreep through the woods to the head of the village, where these cannibalsare always dancing round their suppers of human flesh, and if thecarbines of the men are loaded with a heavy charge of buck-shot, we candrop forty or fifty at the first volley. After that the thing will beeasy enough. The savages will take to the mountains in a body, and weshall take what we require, up anchor, and away."
To this plan the mate at length agreed. As he left the cabin I heard thecaptain say,--
"Give the men an extra glass of grog, and don't forget the buck-shot."
The reader may conceive the horror with which I heard this murderousconversation. I immediately repeated it to Bill, who seemed muchperplexed about it. At length he said,--
"I'll tell you what I'll do, Ralph: I'll swim ashore after dark and fix amusket to a tree not far from the place where we'll have to land, andI'll tie a long string to the trigger, so that when our fellows cross itthey'll let it off, and so alarm the village in time to prevent anattack, but not in time to prevent us gettin' back to the boat; so,master captain," added Bill with a smile that for the first time seemedto me to be mingled with good-natured cheerfulness, "you'll be baulked atleast for once in your life by Bloody Bill."
After it grew dark, Bill put this resolve in practice. He slipped overthe side with a musket in his left hand, while with his right he swamashore and entered the woods. He soon returned, having accomplished hispurpose, and got on board without being seen,--I being the only one ondeck.
When the hour of midnight approached the men were mustered on deck, thecable was cut and the muffled sweeps got out. These sweeps wereimmensely large oars, each requiring a couple of men to work it. In afew minutes we entered the mouth of the creek, which was indeed the mouthof a small river, and took about half an hour to ascend it, although thespot where we intended to land was not more than six hundred yards fromthe mouth, because there was a slight current against us, and themangroves which narrowed the creek, impeded the rowers in some places.Having reached the spot, which was so darkened by overhanging trees thatwe could see with difficulty, a small kedge anchor attached to a thinline was let softly down over the stern.
"Now, lads," whispered the captain, as he walked along the line of men,who were all armed to the teeth, "don't be in a hurry, aim low, and don'twaste your first shots."
He then pointed to the boat, into which the men crowded in silence. Therewas no room to row, but oars were not needed, as a slight push againstthe side of the schooner sent the boat gliding to the shore.
"There's no need of leaving two in the boat," whispered the mate, as themen stepped out; "we shall want all our hands. Let Ralph stay."
The captain assented, and ordered me to stand in readiness with the boat-hook, to shove ashore at a moment's notice if they should return, or toshove off if any of the savages should happen to approach. He then threwhis carbine into the hollow of his arm and glided through the bushesfollowed by his men. With a throbbing head I awaited the result of ourplan. I knew the exact locality where the musket was placed, for Billhad described it to me, and I kept my straining eyes fixed upon the spot.But no sound came, and I began to fear that either they had gone inanother direction or that Bill had not fixed the string properly.Suddenly I heard a faint click, and observed one or two bright sparksamong the bushes. My heart immediately sank within me, for I knew atonce that the trigger had indeed been pulled but that the priming had notcaught. The plan, therefore, had utterly failed. A feeling of dread nowbegan to creep over me as I stood in the boat, in that dark, silent spot,awaiting the issue of this murderous expedition. I shuddered as Iglanced at the water that glided past like a dark reptile. I looked backat the schooner, but her hull was just barely visible, while her taperingmasts were lost among the trees which overshadowed her. Her lower sailswere set, but so thick was the gloom that they were quite invisible.
Suddenly I heard a shot. In a moment a thousand voices raised a yell inthe village; again the cry rose on the night air, and was followed bybroken shouts as of scattered parties of men bounding into the woods.Then I heard another shout loud and close at hand. It was the voice ofthe captain cursing the man who had fired the premature shot. Then camethe order, "Forward," followed by the wild hurrah of our men, as theycharged the savages. Shots now rang in quick succession, and at last aloud volley startled the echoes of the woods. It was followed by amultitude of wild shrieks, which were immediately drowned in another"hurrah" from the men; the distance of the sound proving that they weredriving their enemies before them towards the sea.
While I was listening intently to these sounds, which were now mingled inconfusion, I was startled by the rustling of the leaves not far from me.At first I thought it was a party of savages who had observed theschooner, but I was speedily undeceived by observing a body ofnatives--apparently several hundreds, as far as I could guess in theuncertain light--bounding through the woods towards the scene of battle.I saw at once that this was a party who had out-flanked our men, andwould speedily attack them in the rear. And so it turned out, for, in ashort time, the shouts increased ten-fold, and among them I thought Iheard a death-cry uttered by voices familiar to my ear.
At length the tumult of battle ceased, and, from the cries of exultationthat now arose from the savages, I felt assured that our men had beenconquered. I was immediately thrown into dreadful consternation. Whatwas I now to do? To be taken by the savages was too horrible to bethought of; to flee to the mountains was hopeless, as I should soon bediscovered; and to take the schooner out of the creek without assistancewas impossible. I resolved, however, to make the attempt, as being myonly hope, and was on the point of pushing off when my hand was stayedand my blood chilled by an appalling shriek in which I recognised thevoice of one of the crew. It was succeeded by a shout from the savages.Then came another, and another shriek of agony, making my ears to tingle,as I felt convinced they were murdering the pirate crew in cold blood.With a bursting heart and my brain whirling as if on fire, I seized theboat-hook to push from shore when a man sprang from the bushes.
"Stop! Ralph, stop!--there now, push off," he cried, and bounded into theboat so violently as nearly to upset her. It was Bill's voice! Inanother moment we were on board,--the boat made fast, the line of theanchor cut, and the sweeps run out. At the first stroke of Bill's giantarm the schooner was nearly pulled ashore, for in his haste he forgotthat I could scarcely move the unwieldy oar. Springing to the stern helashed the rudder in such a position as that, while it aided me, it actedagainst him, and so rendered the force of our strokes nearly equal. Theschooner now began to glide quickly down the creek, but before we reachedits mouth, a yell from a thousand voices on the bank told that we werediscovered. Instantly a number of the savages plunged into the water andswam towards us; but we were making so much way that they could notovertake us. One, however, an immensely powerful man, succeeded inlaying hold of the cut rope that hung from the stern, and clamberedquickly upon deck. Bill caught sight of him the instant his headappeared above the taffrail. But he did not cease to row, and did notappear even to notice the savage until he was within a yard of him; then,dropping the sweep, he struck him a blow on the forehead with hisclenched fist that felle
d him to the deck. Lifting him up he hurled himoverboard and resumed the oar. But now a greater danger awaited us, forthe savages had outrun us on the bank and were about to plunge into thewater ahead of the schooner. If they succeeded in doing so our fate wassealed. For one moment Bill stood irresolute. Then, drawing a pistolfrom his belt, he sprang to the brass gun, held the pan of his pistolover the touch-hole and fired. The shot was succeeded by the hiss of thecannon's priming, then the blaze and the crashing thunder of themonstrous gun burst upon the savages with such deafening roar that itseemed as if their very mountains had been rent asunder.
This was enough. The moment of surprise and hesitation caused by theunwonted sound, gave us time to pass the point; a gentle breeze, whichthe dense foliage had hitherto prevented us from feeling, bulged out oursails; the schooner bent before it, and the shouts of the disappointedsavages grew fainter and fainter in the distance as we were slowly waftedout to sea.
The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean Page 26