The Coral Island

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER NINE.

  PREPARE FOR A JOURNEY ROUND THE ISLAND--SAGACIOUS REFLECTIONS--MYSTERIOUS APPEARANCES AND STARTLING OCCURRENCES.

  Scarcely had the sun shot its first ray across the bosom of the broadPacific when Jack sprang to his feet, and hallooing in Peterkin's ear toawaken him, ran down the beach to take his customary dip in the sea. Wedid not, as was our wont, bathe that morning in our Water Garden, but inorder to save time, refreshed ourselves in the shallow water justopposite the bower. Our breakfast was also despatched without loss oftime, and in less than an hour afterwards all our preparations for thejourney were completed.

  In addition to his ordinary dress, Jack tied a belt of cocoa-nut clothround his waist, into which he thrust the axe. I was also advised toput on a belt and carry a short cudgel or bludgeon in it, for, as Jacktruly remarked, the sling would be of little use if we should chance tocome to close quarters with any wild animal. As for Peterkin,notwithstanding that he carried such a long and, I must add,frightful-looking spear over his shoulder, we could not prevail on himto leave his club behind; "for," said he, "a spear at close quarters isnot worth a button." I must say that it seemed to me that the club was,to use his own style of language, not worth a button-hole; for it wasall knotted over at the head, something like the club which I rememberto have observed in picture-books of Jack the Giant-killer, besidesbeing so heavy that he required to grasp it with both hands in order towield it at all. However, he took it with him, and in this manner weset out upon our travels.

  We did not consider it necessary to carry any food with us, as we knewthat wherever we went we should be certain to fall in with cocoa-nuttrees--having which we were amply supplied, as Peterkin said, with meatand drink and pocket-handkerchiefs! I took the precaution, however, toput the burning-glass into my pocket lest we should want fire.

  The morning was exceedingly lovely. It was one of that very still andpeaceful sort which made the few noises that we heard seem to be quietnoises (I know no other way of expressing this idea)--noises which, sofar from interrupting the universal tranquillity of earth, sea, and sky,rather tended to reveal to us how quiet the world round us really was.Such sounds as I refer to were the peculiar, melancholy--yet, it seemedto me, cheerful--plaint of sea-birds floating on the glassy waters orsailing in the sky; also the subdued twittering of little birds amongthe bushes, the faint ripples on the beach, and the solemn boom of thesurf upon the distant coral reef. We felt very glad in our hearts as wewalked along the sands, side by side. For my part, I felt so deeplyoverjoyed that I was surprised at my own sensations, and fell into areverie upon the causes of happiness. I came to the conclusion that astate of profound peace and repose, both in regard to outward objectsand within the soul, is the happiest condition in which man can beplaced; for although I had many a time been most joyful and happy whenengaged in bustling, energetic, active pursuits or amusements, I neverfound that such joy or satisfaction was so deep or so pleasant toreflect upon as that which I now experienced. And I was the moreconfirmed in this opinion when I observed--and, indeed, as told byhimself--that Peterkin's happiness was also very great; yet he did notexpress this by dancing, as was his wont, nor did he give so much as asingle shout, but walked quietly between us with his eye sparkling and ajoyful smile upon his countenance. My reader must not suppose that Ithought all this in the clear and methodical manner in which I have setit down here. These thoughts did indeed pass through my mind; but theydid so in a very confused and indefinite manner, for I was young at thattime and not much given to deep reflections. Neither did I considerthat the peace whereof I write is not to be found in this world--atleast in its perfection--although I have since learned that, byreligion, a man may attain to a very great degree of it.

  I have said that Peterkin walked along the sands between us. We had twoways of walking together about our island. When we travelled throughthe woods we always did so in single file, as by this method we advancedwith greater facility, the one treading in the other's footsteps. Insuch cases Jack always took the lead, Peterkin followed, and I broughtup the rear. But when we travelled along the sands, which extendedalmost in an unbroken line of glistening white round the island, wemarched abreast, as we found this method more sociable and every waymore pleasant. Jack, being the tallest, walked next the sea, andPeterkin marched between us, as by this arrangement either of us couldtalk to him or he to us, while if Jack and I happened to wish toconverse together we could conveniently do so over Peterkin's head.Peterkin used to say, in reference to this arrangement, that had he beenas tall as either of us, our order of march might have been the same;for, as Jack often used to scold him for letting everything we said tohim pass in at one ear and out at the other, his head could, of course,form no interruption to our discourse.

  We were now fairly started. Half-a-mile's walk conveyed us round a bendin the land which shut out our bower from view, and for some time weadvanced at a brisk pace without speaking, though our eyes were notidle, but noted everything--in the woods, on the shore, or in the sea--that was interesting. After passing the ridge of land that formed oneside of our valley--the Valley of the Wreck--we beheld another smallvale lying before us in all the luxuriant loveliness of tropicalvegetation. We had indeed seen it before from the mountain-top, but wehad no idea that it would turn out to be so much more lovely when wewere close to it. We were about to commence the exploration of thisvalley when Peterkin stopped us, and directed our attention to a veryremarkable appearance in advance along the shore.

  "What's yon, think you?" said he, levelling his spear as if he expectedan immediate attack from the object in question, though it was fullhalf-a-mile distant.

  As he spoke, there appeared a white column above the rocks, as if ofsteam or spray. It rose upwards to a height of several feet, and thendisappeared. Had this been near the sea, we would not have been sogreatly surprised, as it might in that case have been the surf, for atthis part of the coast the coral reef approached so near to the islandthat in some parts it almost joined it. There was, therefore, no lagoonbetween, and the heavy surf of the ocean beat almost up to the rocks.But this white column appeared about fifty yards inland. The rocks atthe place were rugged, and they stretched across the sandy beach intothe sea. Scarce had we ceased expressing our surprise at this sightwhen another column flew upwards for a few seconds, not far from thespot where the first had been seen, and disappeared; and so, at long,irregular intervals, these strange sights recurred. We were now quitesure that the columns were watery, or composed of spray; but what causedthem we could not guess, so we determined to go and see.

  In a few minutes we gained the spot, which was very rugged andprecipitous, and, moreover, quite damp with the falling of the spray.We had much ado to pass over dry-shod. The ground, also, was full ofholes here and there. Now, while we stood anxiously waiting for thereappearance of these waterspouts, we heard a low, rumbling sound nearus, which quickly increased to a gurgling and hissing noise, and amoment afterwards a thick spout of water burst upwards from a hole inthe rock and spouted into the air with much violence, and so close towhere Jack and I were standing that it nearly touched us. We sprangaside, but not before a cloud of spray descended and drenched us both tothe skin.

  Peterkin, who was standing farther off; escaped with a few drops, andburst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter on beholding our miserableplight.

  "Mind your eye!" he shouted eagerly; "there goes another!" The wordswere scarcely out of his mouth when there came up a spout from anotherhole, which served us exactly in the same manner as before.

  Peterkin now shrieked with laughter; but his merriment was abruptly puta stop to by the gurgling noise occurring close to where he stood.

  "Where'll it spout this time, I wonder?" he said, looking about withsome anxiety and preparing to run. Suddenly there came a loud hiss orsnort; a fierce spout of water burst up between Peterkin's legs, blewhim off his feet, enveloped him in its spray, and hurled him to theground. He fell with so mu
ch violence that we feared he must havebroken some of his bones, and ran anxiously to his assistance; butfortunately he had fallen on a clump of tangled herbage, in which he laysprawling in a most deplorable condition.

  It was now our turn to laugh; but as we were not yet quite sure that hewas unhurt, and as we knew not when or where the next spout might arise,we assisted him hastily to jump up and hurry from the spot.

  I may here add that, although I am quite certain that the spout of waterwas very strong, and that it blew Peterkin completely off his legs, I amnot quite certain of the exact height to which it lifted him, beingsomewhat startled by the event, and blinded partially by the spray, sothat my power of observation was somewhat impaired for the moment.

  "What's to be done now?" asked Peterkin ruefully.

  "Make a fire, lad, and dry ourselves," replied Jack.

  "And here is material ready to our hand," said I, picking up a driedbranch of a tree as we hurried up to the woods.

  In about an hour after this mishap our clothes were again dried. Whilethey were hanging up before the fire we walked down to the beach, andsoon observed that these curious spouts took place immediately after thefall of a huge wave, never before it; and, moreover, that the spouts didnot take place excepting when the billow was an extremely large one.From this we concluded that there must be a subterraneous channel in therock into which the water was driven by the larger waves, and finding noway of escape except through these small holes, was thus forced upviolently through them. At any rate, we could not conceive any otherreason for these strange waterspouts, and as this seemed a very simpleand probable one, we forthwith adopted it.

  "I say, Ralph, what's that in the water? Is it a shark?" said Jack justas we were about to quit the place.

  I immediately ran to the overhanging ledge of rock, from which he waslooking down into the sea, and bent over it. There I saw a very faint,pale object of a greenish colour, which seemed to move slightly while Ilooked at it.

  "It's like a fish of some sort," said I.

  "Hallo, Peterkin!" cried Jack. "Fetch your spear; here's work for it!"

  But when we tried to reach the object, the spear proved to be too short.

  "There, now," said Peterkin with a sneer; "you were always telling me itwas too long."

  Jack now drove the spear forcibly towards the object, and let go hishold. But although it seemed to be well aimed, he must have missed, forthe handle soon rose again; and when the spear was drawn up, there wasthe pale-green object in exactly the same spot, slowly moving its tail.

  "Very odd!" said Jack.

  But although it was undoubtedly very odd, and although Jack and all ofus plunged the spear at it repeatedly, we could neither hit it nor driveit away, so we were compelled to continue our journey withoutdiscovering what it was. I was very much perplexed at this strangeappearance in the water, and could not get it out of my mind for a longtime afterwards. However, I quieted myself by resolving that I wouldpay a visit to it again at some more convenient season.