Thee ceremony had lasted just over an hour; so when they came out from the shade of the Meeting House the midday sun blazed down upon them from almost directly overhead. Reluctantly Gregory' faced the stiff walk uphill back to the bure, and before he had taken fifty paces he had broken out into a sweat. Glancing over his shoulder to speak to him James noticed it, halted and spoke to two big warriors who were kneeling respectfully beside the path until he had passed. They came grinning to their feet add advanced on Gregory as James said to him
`My poor friend, you are not conditioned to exert yourself in this heat. These two men will carry you.'
`No; no!' Gregory protested. `Although I may look on the thin side, I weigh a good twelve stone.'
`Don't worry,' came the airy reply. `Some of our Nakapoan beauties weigh nearly as much as that, and they are always carried from the boats to the shore. These men will take it in turns and find it no hardship. Later they will beat their broad chests and tell their families with pride how they were given the honour of carrying their Ratu's friend up to the bure.'
Feeling rather a fool, Gregory submitted to being picked up like a baby, but he was relieved at not having to trudge up the steep hill. When he had been safely deposited at the top, both men, without a trace of shyness, extended hands for him to shake, then gave him friendly pats on the shoulder.
Back in his room he stripped, then decided that in such surroundings there was, after all, something to be said for a shower. Stepping into the bath, he turned on the spray above it and allowed the needles of cold water to reinvigorate his tired limbs. Nevertheless, within ten minutes of his having dried himself and lain down on his bed, he was fast asleep.
At five o'clock he was still sound asleep when James came in. The dignified calm that the young Ratu had shown earlier in the day had now deserted him. With unconcealed anxiety he said:
`I have just been informed that the Resident intends to call on me here at six o'clock. Do you think that means that he has received an order to have me arrested?'
Gregory yawned and knuckled the sleep from his eyes. `It is quite possible. But you told me this morning that your people would not let you be arrested. Has nothing come in from Ribaud?'
`No. I sent orders to the telegraph operator that should any communication come in for Dantès it should be sent up to me immediately by runner. But no message has so far arrived. It looks as though Ribaud has decided to ignore your threat and do his best to get us.'
`It's early yet to be sure of that. As you have been away for two months, the Resident may be coming to see you on some other matter. Anyhow, if he does cut up rough, you can tell him to go to hell. Before troops can be flown in and deployed we should still have plenty of time to get out to another island.'
Reluctantly Gregory got up and dressed. James took him out to the swimming pool and fortified him with a long drink, of well iced passion fruit juice laced with rum. Then they awaited with considerable anxiety the arrival of the Resident.
A little after six o'clock they caught the sound of the labouring engine of an evidently elderly car coming up the steep drive. Five minutes later Kalabo led Commandant Elboeuf round from the front of the bure. He was a small man, bronzed from living for many years in the tropics. His hair was white, he had a drooping, grey moustache and in his right hand held a thick stick, upon which he leaned heavily as he advanced towards them.
Appropriate greetings followed. The Commandant was happy to accept a neat cognac in a tumbler, he suggested, because one could better appreciate the bouquet. When he had been furnished with a triple ration they settled down to talk not of any serious matters, but whether James had enjoyed his visit to Noumea, of the price of copra, of the prospects of the yam crop, and of the weather.
At length, with apparent casualness, the elderly Frenchman asked, `Tell me, Ratu. In accordance with ancient custom, you are permitted to retain a private body guard of fifty warriors. In the event of serious trouble here you are under obligation to order them to support my small force of gendarmes. But say it was simply a matter of enforcing law and order, so that the administration of justice could be carried out in peaceful conditions, would you be prepared to use them in that way or, if ‘the matter in question was against your interests, order them to ignore the obligation to assist my men?'
This, thought Gregory, is it; for he took the question really to mean should an attempt be made to arrest James, would he submit and order his body guard to quell a rising of the townsfolk to protect their Ratu, or use his men to defy the gendarmes? Although James' spy in the telegraph office had failed to inform them of it, a signal must have come in. Possibly it had been graded `Top Secret and Personal to the
Resident'. Anyway, it looked as though, whatever the risk to himself, Ribaud meant to get them if he could.
James evidently thought the same, for he replied with caution, `Commandant, it all depends on the circumstances in which you requested the assistance of my warriors. Perhaps you would enlighten me further by putting a hypothetical case.'
At that moment Kalabo arrived at James' elbow with a buff envelope on a salver. With a murmured `Excuse me, please', the Ratu tore the envelope open, read the flimsy it contained, then passed it to Gregory. The telegram was addressed to Dantès and read:
Replacements on way. Request return compatriots earliest. For security reasons instruct communicate with no one and report direct to me. Grateful for execution of promise. Regard transaction as completed. Unnecessary inform Lorraine. Ribaud.
Gregory smiled across at James. After all, the shrewd Ribaud had decided to accept the handsome bribe rather than risk an ignominious end to his career. They had won, and had no more to fear from James' brainstorm act of having thrown do Carvalho out of the window.
The Commandant remarked, `Good news, I see,' then went on, `This is no hypothetical case, but trouble that we have been faced with during your absence, Ratu, which may occur again. It concerns the gold that is said to lie in the wrecked Reina Maria Amalia. Ten or twelve days ago a party of ex Colons from Algeria arrived here, in an old tub named the Pigalle. They were headed by a man named Pierre Lacost. Ahead of them they had sent a professional diver, who had been here for several weeks and brought with him salvaging apparatus, so it was clear to me that they intended to attempt to get the gold up from the wreck.'
Under his heavy eyelids the Commandant gave a swift glance at James
`As I informed you, Ratu, when you were here towards the end of January, for a salvaging operation a licence is required. Long before Lacost arrived here I had been notified by my superiors in Noumea that such a licence had been granted to the Brazilian millionaire Maua de Carvalho. I therefore went out in my launch to the wreck and ordered Lacost to take his apparatus back to harbour.
`He proved extremely truculent. He and his companions were armed and they defied me. Naturally, I was loath to expose my gendarmes to a gun battle. But the following day he did bring his gear back to harbour. Apparently his visit to the wreck had been only for his professional diver to carry out a reconnaissance. As I understand it, one man could not possibly remove the heavy beams in the wreck that obstruct the passage leading to the place where the treasure is believed to be. Lacost had counted on the assistance of a dozen local Tujoa divers for this, but they all refused their services. Why, I do not know; but without such help he was forced to suspend his operations. Even so, he and his friends continued to linger on here, hoping, I suppose, to persuade our divers to change their minds.
`Soon after Lacost's arrival de Carvalho turned up here in his yacht. He brought no salvaging equipment, but he also had with him a professional deep sea diver. They went out twice to the site of the wreck, then, for some reason unknown, sailed away again. By then Lacost seems to have abandoned any hope of securing divers here and also sailed away, but he left his salvaging equipment.
`Now, Ratu, this is what I wish to know. I am told that when Lacost left he intended to go to Fiji. It seems probable to me that his o
bject is to collect divers there and bring them here. Should he succeed and, with them, defy my authority as an administrator of the law to protect the rights assigned to de Carvalho by the French Government, would you be willing to order your body guard to support my gendarmes in, if necessary, using weapons to drive off these Colons? I ask this because I am aware of your own interest in the treasure, and, forgive me, but it had occurred to me that, as you failed to secure a licence, you might be employing Lacost to get the treasure for you.'
Gregory and James had difficulty in keeping straight faces. It was a most amusing twist in events that with legal backing they should be asked to prevent their most dangerous rival from getting at the treasure by openly attacking him.
James bowed gravely to the Commandant. `Monsieur, you may rely on my full co operation should a situation such as you fear come about. I would be happy to lead my warriors in person to prevent this man Lacost from illegally getting away with the gold. And now, please, permit your glass to be refreshed a little.'
With barely concealed eagerness Commandant Elboeuf held out his tumbler to the attendant Kalabo. It was returned to him nearly full. Sipping happily, he said to James, `It is a treat to come here, Ratu. Our government is not overgenerous to anciens de la premiere guerre like myself, and even in the islands good French cognac is expensive for those who have ill lined pockets:
They talked on for a while until the old man had finished his brandy. A little unsteadily, he was then escorted by Kalabo back to his ancient car. As he disappeared from view, Gregory said to James
`Thank God it worked. We have nothing further to fear from Ribaud now. As for old Elboeuf, he did his job none too badly; but if when we start on salvaging the gold he tries to make trouble I don't think we'll have much difficulty in dealing with him.'
After a moment he went on, `Now about Ribaud's telegram. An aircraft bringing our belongings can be expected to land here within a few hours, and we don't want its crew to ask Fournier and Joubert what they are doing in Tujoa; so it would be best to get them off on their way back to Noumea as soon as possible.'
James nodded. `I will arrange all that. I'll send Aleamotu'a down to see to it. He is fluent in French as well as English. I'll give him Ribaud's telegram so that he can show it to our prisoners and impress on them that they must keep their mouths shut until they report to the General. He will also arrange for a meal to be ready for the crew of the aircraft that brings in our baggage, and see them off on their return journey. Now, as we had no lunch, we had better have a snack; then get to bed.'
Gregory considered for a moment, then asked to see the telegram again. Having re read it, he nodded. `Yes, I think that should be all right. To prevent them from talking to anyone before they see Ribaud they must be shown this message. They will realise, of course, that he has now agreed to connive at our escape. But that can't be helped. They would tumble to that, anyhow, when he takes no further steps to get us. And he is clever enough to deal with that. He will probably tell them more or less the truth that we've promised to keep mum about the Russians, so as a matter of high policy he thought it better to do a deal.'
Three quarters of an hour later they were both in bed and asleep.
In the morning Aleamotu'a reported. Fournier and Joubert had been in poor shape, as for some fourteen hours the whole of their bodies had been exposed to mosquitoes and they were half crazy from scores of bites. Cursing, but anxious to get away as soon as possible, they had flown off in their refuelled aircraft about eight o'clock. The plane from Noumea had not come in until after midnight. The crew of two had taken an hour for rest and refreshment, then cheerfully set out on their return journey. With him Aleamotu’a brought the baggage which Gregory and James had been forced to leave behind in Noumea two months before. On checking it through, they were pleased to find nothing missing.
After they had breakfasted they drove in James' jeep down to the town. It consisted of only one main street, parallel to the waterfront, with a few side streets running inland from it. There were only half a dozen brick buildings; the others were of wood, the larger ones having arcades in front to shade the sidewalk, the roofs of the arcades being used as balconies. In the side streets the buildings were mainly one storey, their occupants sweltering under corrugated iron roofs. At one end of the town there was an open air market, protected from the sun by a thick thatch of palm leaves.
The shops were all run by sleek looking Indians, many of the older ones wearing turbans, but the majority displaying their straight, black hair neatly oiled and arranged in contrast to the frizzy gollywog heads of the natives. The market, on the other hand, was the province of the Nakapoans. In addition to meat, fish, a wonderful variety of fruit, yams, dalo, kasava and yaggona root, there were stalls that offered for sale basketwork, cheap jewellery, tapa cloth dyed in patterns of black and brown, woven hats, and treasure from the beaches such as tortoise shell, mother of pearl, coral, conches, cowries and many other lovely shells.
While walking down the main street, Gregory had noticed that, in addition to a small Roman Catholic Church and little Hindu temple, there were no fewer than three Nonconformist chapels, and he remarked to James upon there being so many religious buildings in so small a town.
With a shrug of his broad shoulders, James replied, `I doubt if anywhere in the world such a high percentage of the population, as in the South Seas, now strictly observes some faith or other. Here, owing to French influence, the majority of the Christians are Catholics. In the British and American territories they are mostly Protestants; but the different sects are innumerable and fanatically opposed to one another. The high spot of such rivalry is Tonga. There not only are there Lutherans, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists and many Latter Day Saints, as the Mormons call themselves, but three different kinds of Wesleyans: the followers of the original missionaries, a group that broke away and, as the King who preceded Queen Salote did not approve of either, a third sect that he created which practises a special variety of ritual invented by himself. Football and religion are the absorbing interests in all the islands. Believe it or not, one Sunday when I was in Tonga the charming head waiter at the Date Line Hotel actually mildly reproached me because I said I was not going to church.'
Having made the round, they returned to the Bonne Cui sine guest house, outside which they had left the jeep. The proprietor, a portly Indian, was standing on the doorstep, fanning himself. He wished them good morning politely, but showed James none of the deference which he received from his own people. When James asked for the diver from Fiji who was staying there, the Indian casually flicked his fan towards two men who were seated nearby, drinking beer at one of a dozen iron topped tables under an awning.
Both were half castes. The taller of the two was Hamie Baker, the man that Mr. Trollope had sent from Fiji; the other proved to be Lacost's diver from Tahiti, Philip Macauta, who had been left behind to look after their gear. Both being of the same profession, they had formed a friendship and were whiling away their time together.
Baker said that he had almost given up expecting the Mr. Sallust for whom he had been sent there to work; but, as he and the salvaging equipment had been hired for three months, he had meant to wait another week before writing to Mr. Trollope to arrange for the gear to be shipped back to Suva.
Gregory told him that they now expected to start work quite soon. Upon which Macauta made a grimace and said, `Lucky for you, bass, that you seem to be on the right side of the Ratu. My lot couldn't get a single one of the divers here to work for them. Though why, beats me. They were offered good money.'
`My people are very independent,' said James, `and easily offended. It may be that Monsieur Lacost approached them in a way that upset them. I am told that some days ago he left for Fiji, hoping to engage divers there.'
`That's right,' Macauta nodded. `He and the Brazilian gent had several talks, then their two boats sailed away in company.'
After a few moments' further desultory conversation Gregory as
ked Baker how he was off for money; then, learning that he was pretty low, and wishing to gain his goodwill, he gave him some French banknotes that had been returned from Noumea with his passport and other papers.
As the two friends climbed back into the jeep, James said, `This new development is very interesting.'
`Very,' Gregory agreed. `It's evident that de Carvalho and Lacost have gone into partnership. On the face of it, that's quite a sound arrangement, as one has the licence and the other the equipment already to hand.'
`I find it rather surprising, seeing that de Carvalho wouldn't do a deal with us.'
`That was different. We had nothing to offer him, and he was then under the impression that after a month or two Lacost would get fed up and leave him a free field. When he got there he found, to the contrary, that the Colons were not only still in the game but intended to go ahead, licence or no licence, as soon as they could get divers. So he was faced with the strong possibility that they would beat him to it. All Lacost apparently has to gain is legalising his operations. But I wouldn't mind betting that it was he who put up the proposition, and that he is only jollying de Carvalho along until he can get his hands on the goods. Then he'll push the Brazilian overboard.'
'I do hope you are right,' James said, with charming candour. `That would leave Olinda free, and I feel almost sure she would marry me.'
Gregory laughed. `You are not taking into account that
Lacost has no reason whatever to do de Carvalho in until after they have got up the gold. And the odds are now all against them. While they are still busy engaging divers in Fiji, unless something quite unforeseen happens we shall have salvaged the treasure ourselves.!
'Yes, of course.' James' face fell. `And I suppose the sooner we get to work, the better. I thought we might go out to the wreck late this afternoon, so that I can show it to you. We must get back by sundown, though, as my people mean to entertain you with a meke. Then I'll engage divers tomorrow and arrange for Baker's equipment to be towed out.'
The White Witch of the South Seas gs-11 Page 24