The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER XXIX.

  The effect of a cannon-shot--A happy reunion of a somewhat moistnature--Retrospects and explanations--An awful dive--New plans--The lastof the Coral Island.

  I almost fell upon the deck with the tumult of mingled emotions thatfilled my heart, as I gazed ardently towards my beautiful island. It wasstill many miles away, but sufficiently near to enable me to tracedistinctly the well-remembered outlines of the two mountains. My firstimpulse was to utter an exclamation of gratitude for being carried to myformer happy home in safety; my second, to jump up, clap my hands, shout,and run up and down the deck, with no other object in view than that ofgiving vent to my excited feelings. Then I went below for the telescope,and spent nearly ten minutes of the utmost impatience in vainly trying toget a focus, and in rubbing the skin nearly off my eyes, before Idiscovered that having taken off the large glass to examine thephosphoric water with I had omitted to put it on again.

  After that I looked up impatiently at the sails, which I now regrettedhaving lowered so hastily, and for a moment thought of hoisting the main-top sail again; but recollecting that it would take me full half a day toaccomplish, and that, at the present rate of sailing, two hours wouldbring me to the island, I immediately dismissed the idea.

  The remainder of the time I spent in making feverish preparations forarriving and seeing my dear comrades. I remembered that they were not inthe habit of rising before six, and, as it was now only three, I hoped toarrive before they were awake. Moreover, I set about making ready to letgo the anchor, resolving in my own mind that, as I knew the depth ofwater in the passage of the reef and within the lagoon, I would run theschooner in and bring up opposite the bower. Fortunately the anchor washanging at the cat-head, otherwise I should never have been able to useit. Now, I had only to cut the tackling, and it would drop of its ownweight. After searching among the flags, I found the terrible black one,which I ran up to the peak. While I was doing this, a thought struck me.I went to the powder magazine, brought up a blank cartridge and loadedthe big brass gun, which, it will be remembered, was unhoused when we setsail, and, as I had no means of housing it, there it had stood, bristlingalike at fair weather and foul all the voyage. I took care to grease itsmouth well, and, before leaving the fore part of the ship, thrust thepoker into the fire.

  {A terrible surprise: p352.jpg}

  All was now ready. A steady five-knot breeze was blowing, so that I wasnow not more than quarter of a mile from the reef. I was soon at theentrance, and, as the schooner glided quietly through, I glancedaffectionately at the huge breaker, as if it had been the same one I hadseen there when I bade adieu, as I feared for ever, to the island. Oncoming opposite the Water Garden, I put the helm hard down. The schoonercame round with a rapid, graceful bend, and lost way just opposite thebower. Running forward, I let go the anchor, caught up the red-hotpoker, applied it to the brass gun, and the mountains with a _bang_, suchas had only once before broke their slumbering echoes!

  Effective although it was, however, it was scarcely equal to the bangwith which, instantly after, Peterkin bounded from the bower, in scantycostume, his eye-balls starting from his head with surprise and terror.One gaze he gave, one yell, and then fled into the bushes like a wildcat. The next moment Jack went through exactly the same performance, theonly difference being, that his movements were less like those of Jack-in-the-box, though not less vigorous and rapid than those of Peterkin.

  "Hallo!" I shouted, almost mad with joy, "what, ho! Peterkin! Jack!hallo! it's me!"

  My shout was just in time to arrest them. They halted and turned round,and, the instant I repeated the cry, I saw that they recognised my voice,by both of them running at full speed towards the beach. I could nolonger contain myself. Throwing off my jacket, I jumped overboard at thesame moment that Jack bounded into the sea. In another moment we met indeep water, clasped each other round the neck, and sank, as a matter ofcourse, to the bottom! We were well-nigh choked, and instantly struggledto the surface, where Peterkin was spluttering about like a wounded duck,laughing and crying by turns, and choking himself with salt water!

  It would be impossible to convey to my reader, by description, anadequate conception of the scene that followed my landing on the beach,as we stood embracing each other indiscriminately in our drippinggarments, and giving utterance to incoherent rhapsodies, mingled withwild shouts. It can be more easily imagined than described, so I willdraw a curtain over this part of my history, and carry the reader forwardover an interval of three days.

  During the greater part of that period Peterkin did nothing but roastpigs, taro, and bread-fruit, and ply me with plantains, plums, potatoes,and cocoa-nuts, while I related to him and Jack the terrible andwonderful adventures I had gone through since we last met. After I hadfinished the account, they made me go all over it again; and, when I hadconcluded the second recital, I had to go over it again, while theycommented upon it piecemeal. They were much affected by what I told themof the probable fate of Avatea, and Peterkin could by no means brook theidea of the poor girl being converted into a _long pig_! As for Jack, heclenched his teeth, and shook his fist towards the sea, saying at thesame time, that he was sorry he had not broken Tararo's head, and he onlyhoped that one day he should be able to plant his knuckles on the bridgeof that chief's nose! After they had "pumped me dry," as Peterkin said,I begged to be informed of what had happened to them during my longabsence, and particularly as to how they got out of the Diamond Cave.

  "Well, you must know," began Jack, "after you had dived out of the cave,on the day you were taken away from us, we waited very patiently for halfan hour, not expecting you to return before the end of that time. Thenwe began to upbraid you for staying so long, when you knew we would beanxious; but when an hour passed, we became alarmed, and I resolved atall hazards to dive out, and see what had become of you, although I feltfor poor Peterkin, because, as he truly said, 'If you never come back,I'm shut up here for life.' However, I promised not to run any risk, andhe let me go; which, to say truth, I thought very courageous of him!"

  "I should just think it was!" interrupted Peterkin, looking at Jack overthe edge of a monstrous potato which he happened to be devouring at thetime.

  "Well," continued Jack, "you may guess my consternation when you did notanswer to my halloo. At first I imagined that the pirates must havekilled you, and left you in the bush, or thrown you into the sea; then itoccurred to me that this would have served no end of theirs, so I came tothe conclusion that they must have carried you away with them. As thisthought struck me, I observed the pirate schooner standing away to thenor'ard, almost hull-down on the horizon, and I sat down on the rocks towatch her as she slowly sank from my sight. And I tell you, Ralph, myboy, that I shed more tears that time, at losing you, than I have done, Iverify believe, all my life before--"

  "Pardon me, Jack, for interrupting," said Peterkin; "surely you must bemistaken in that; you've often told me that, when you were a baby, youused to howl and roar from morning to--"

  "Hold your tongue, Peterkin," cried Jack. "Well, after the schooner haddisappeared, I dived back into the cave, much to Peterkin's relief, andtold him what I had seen. We sat down and had a long talk over thismatter, and then we agreed to make a regular, systematic search throughthe woods, so as to make sure, at least, that you had not been killed.But now we thought of the difficulty of getting out of the cave withoutyour help. Peterkin became dreadfully nervous when he thought of this;and I must confess that I felt some alarm, for, of course, I could nothope alone to take him out so quickly as we two together had brought himin; and he himself vowed that, if we had been a moment longer with himthat time, he would have had to take a breath of salt water. However,there was no help for it, and I endeavoured to calm his fears as well asI could: 'for,' said I, 'you can't live here, Peterkin;' to which hereplied, 'Of course not, Jack, I can only die here, and, as that's not atall desirable, you had better propose something.' So I suggested that heshould take a good
long breath, and trust himself to me.

  "'Might we not make a large bag of cocoa-nut cloth, into which I couldshove my head, and tie it tight round my neck?' he asked, with a haggardsmile. 'It might let me get one breath under water!'

  "'No use,' said I; 'it would fill in a moment and suffocate you. I seenothing for it, Peterkin, if you really can't keep your breath so long,but to let me knock you down, and carry you out while in a state ofinsensibility.'

  "But Peterkin didn't relish this idea. He seemed to fear that I couldnot be able to measure the exact force of the blow, and might, on the onehand, hit him so softly as to render a second or third blow necessary,which would be very uncomfortable; or, on the other hand, give him such asmash as would entirely spoil his figure-head, or, mayhap, knock the lifeout of him altogether! At last I got him persuaded to try to hold hisbreath, and commit himself to me; so he agreed, and down we went. But Ihad not got him half way through, when he began to struggle and kick likea wild bull, burst from my grasp, and hit against the roof of the tunnel.I was therefore, obliged to force him violently back into the cave gain,where he rose panting to the surface. In short, he had lost his presenceof mind, and--"

  "Nothing of the sort," cried Peterkin, indignantly, "I had only lost mywind; and if I had not had presence of mind enough to kick as I did, Ishould have bu'st in your arms!"

  "Well, well, so be it," resumed Jack, with a smile, "but the upshot of itwas, that we had to hold another consultation on the point, and I reallybelieve that, had it not been for a happy thought of mine, we should havebeen consulting there yet."

  "I wish we had," again interrupted Peterkin with a sigh. "I'm sure,Ralph, if I had thought that you were coming back again, I wouldwillingly have awaited your return for months, rather than have enduredthe mental agony which I went through! But proceed."

  "The thought was this," continued Jack, "that I should tie Peterkin'shands and feet with cords, and then lash him firmly to a stout pole aboutfive feet long, in order to render him quite powerless, and keep himstraight and stiff. You should have seen his face of horror, Ralph, whenI suggested this: but he came to see that it was his only chance, andtold me to set about it as fast as I could; 'for,' said he, 'this is nojokin', Jack, _I_ can tell you, and the sooner it's done the better.' Isoon procured the cordage and a suitable pole, with which I returned tothe cave, and lashed him as stiff and straight as an Egyptian mummy; and,to say truth, he was no bad representation of what an English mummy wouldbe, if there were such things, for he was as white as a dead man."

  "'Now,' said Peterkin, in a tremulous voice, 'swim with me as near to theedge of the hole as you can before you dive, then let me take a longbreath, and, as I sha'nt be able to speak after I've taken it, you'llwatch my face, and the moment you see me wink--dive! And oh!' he added,earnestly, 'pray don't be long!'

  "I promised to pay the strictest attention to his wishes, and swam withhim to the outlet of the cave. Here I paused. 'Now then,' said I, 'pullaway at the wind, lad.'"

  Peterkin drew in a breath so long that I could not help thinking of thefrog in the fable, that wanted to swell itself as big as the ox. Then Ilooked into his face earnestly. Slap went the lid of his right eye; downwent my head, and up went my heels. We shot through the passage like anarrow, and rose to the surface of the open sea before you could counttwenty!

  "Peterkin had taken in such an awful load of wind that, on reaching thefree air, he let it out with a yell loud enough to have been heard a mileoff, and then, the change in his feelings was so sudden and great, thathe did not wait till we landed, but began, tied up as he was, to shoutand sing for joy as I supported him with my left arm to the shore.However, in the middle of a laugh that a hyaena might have envied, I lethim accidentally slip, which extinguished him in a moment.

  "After this happy deliverance, we immediately began our search for yourdead body, Ralph, and you have no idea how low our hearts sank as we setoff, day after day, to examine the valleys and mountain sides with theutmost care. In about three weeks we completed the survey of the wholeisland, and had at least the satisfaction of knowing that you had notbeen killed. But it occurred to us that you might have been thrown intothe sea, so we examined the sands and the lagoon carefully, andafterwards went all round the outer reef. One day, while we were uponthe reef, Peterkin espied a small dark object lying among the rocks,which seemed to be quite different from the surrounding stones. Wehastened towards the spot, and found it to be a small keg. On knockingout the head we discovered that it was gunpowder."

  "It was I who sent you that, Jack," said I, with a smile.

  "Fork out!" cried Peterkin, energetically, starting to his feet andextending his open hand to Jack. "Down with the money, sir, else I'llhave you shut up for life in a debtor's prison the moment we return toEngland!"

  "I'll give you an I.O.U. in the meantime," returned Jack, laughing, "sosit down and be quiet. The fact is, Ralph, when we discovered this kegof powder, Peterkin immediately took me a bet of a thousand pounds thatyou had something to do with it, and I took him a bet of ten thousandthat you had not.

  "Peterkin was right then," said I, explaining how the thing had occurred.

  "Well, we found it very useful," continued Jack; "although some of it hadgot a little damp; and we furbished up the old pistol, with whichPeterkin is a crack shot now. But, to continue. We did not find anyother vestige of you on the reef, and, finally, gave up all hope of everseeing you again. After this the island became a dreary place to us, andwe began to long for a ship to heave in sight and take us off. But nowthat you're back again, my dear fellow, it looks as bright and cheerfulas it used to do, and I love it as much as ever."

  "And now," continued Jack, "I have a great desire to visit some of theother islands of the South Seas. Here we have a first-rate schooner atour disposal, so I don't see what should hinder us."

  "Just the very thing I was going to propose," cried Peterkin; "I vote forstarting at once."

  "Well, then," said Jack, "it seems to me that we could not do better thanshape our course for the island on which Avatea lives, and endeavour topersuade Tararo to let her marry the black fellow to whom she is engaged,instead of making a long pig of her. If he has a spark of gratitude inhim he'll do it. Besides, having become champions for this girl oncebefore, it behoves us, as true knights, not to rest until we set herfree; at least, all the heroes in all the story-books I have ever readwould count it foul disgrace to leave such a work unfinished."

  "I'm sure I don't know, or care, what your knights in story-books woulddo," said Peterkin, "but I'm certain that it would be capital fun, so I'myour man whenever you want me."

  This plan of Jack's was quite in accordance with his romantic, impulsivenature; and, having made up his mind to save this black girl, he couldnot rest until the thing was commenced.

  "But there may be great danger in this attempt," he said, at the end of along consultation on the subject; "will you, lads, go with me in spite ofthis?"

  "Go with you?" we repeated in the same breath.

  "Can you doubt it?" said I.

  "For a moment," added Peterkin.

  I need scarcely say that, having made up our minds to go on thisenterprise, we lost no time in making preparations to quit the island;and as the schooner was well laden with stores of every kind for a longcruise, we had little to do except to add to our abundant supply aquantity of cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, taro, yams, plums, and potatoes,chiefly with the view of carrying the fragrance of our dear island alongwith us as long as we could.

  When all was ready, we paid a farewell visit to the different familiarspots where most of our time had been spent. We ascended the mountaintop, and gazed for the last time at the rich green foliage in thevalleys, the white sandy beach, the placid lagoon, and the barrier coral-reef with its crested breakers. Then we descended to Spouting Cliff, andlooked down at the pale-green monster which we had made such fruitlessefforts to spear in days gone by. From this we hurried to the WaterGarden and too
k a last dive into its clear waters, and a last gambolamongst its coral groves. I hurried out before my companions, anddressed in haste, in order to have a long examination of my tank, whichPeterkin, in the fulness of his heart, had tended with the utmost care,as being a vivid remembrancer of me, rather than out of love for naturalhistory. It was in superb condition;--the water as clear and pellucid ascrystal; the red and green sea-weed of the most brilliant hues; the red,purple, yellow, green, and striped anemones fully expanded, andstretching out their arms as if to welcome and embrace their formermaster; the starfish, zoophytes, sea-pens, and other innumerable marineinsects, looking fresh and beautiful; and the crabs, as Peterkin said,looking as wide awake, impertinent, rampant, and pugnacious as ever. Itwas indeed so lovely and so interesting that I would scarcely allowmyself to be torn away from it.

  Last of all, we returned to the bower and collected the few articles wepossessed, such as the axe, the pencil-case, the broken telescope, thepen-knife, the hook made from the brass ring, and the sail-needle, withwhich we had landed on the island;--also, the long boots and the pistol,besides several curious articles of costume which we had manufacturedfrom time to time.

  These we conveyed on board in our little boat, after having carved ournames on a chip of iron-wood, thus:--

  JACK MARTIN, RALPH ROVER, PETERKIN GAY,

  which we fixed up inside of the bower. The boat was then hoisted onboard and the anchor weighed; which latter operation cost us great labourand much time, as the anchor was so heavy that we could not move itwithout the aid of my complex machinery of blocks and pulleys. A steadybreeze was blowing off shore when we set sail, at a little before sunset.It swept us quickly past the reef and out to sea. The shore grew rapidlymore indistinct as the shades of evening fell, while our clipper barkbounded lightly over the waves. Slowly the mountain top sank on thehorizon, until it became a mere speck. In another moment the sun and theCoral Island sank together into the broad bosom of the Pacific.